that without permission again.”
He gave Jane a formal bow. “There is nothing to forgive, Matriarch.”
Tugging at his arm, Jaz said, “We need to get going. Let’s get together for lunch at my place soon, Jane. We’ll do some Earth home cooking for the bottomless pits we’re married to.”
Not waiting to hear the woman’s reply, Jaz led him away from Jane and her husbands, taking him to one of the dozens of private rooms that lined the corridor. Each held a different example of a slice of life on Kadothia, everything from elegant cities to rough mountain passes covered in snow and ice. This room was styled to showcase a carefully constructed exhibit of the Blue Sea kelp gardens at the Palace of Oblivion back on Kadothia. They were in a small bubble with two viewing love seats, surrounded by the long fronds that glowed faintly in the blue- and purple-tinted waters. Fish and a few insects swam about, each luminescent in its own way. The soft rustle of slowly moving water filled the air and he calmed as Jaz studied him closely.
“Did you really have to be so rough with her? You treated her like one of your troops.”
Knowing his words could damn him, but refusing to be less than honest with her, he nodded. “Actually, if she were one of my troops, she would be doing a survival course clad only in a pair of shoes and running through a swamp filled with blood-thirsty insects until she passed out from exhaustion.”
Gaping at him, Jaz took a step back and he feared he’d scared her away. The thought made him panic and he realized he already really liked this little Matriarch, and not just because she was his blood brother’s bondmate. Her dark curls framed her face perfectly and he longed to brush them aside so he could kiss along her slender neck.
“Wow, your troops must love you,” she said in a sarcastic voice with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “Listen up, we’re not your underlings. We’re human females and we don’t respond well to being scolded.”
He laughed. “No female responds well to being scolded, but that does not mean you are never wrong.”
She scrunched her nose at him. “I don’t think I like you very much.”
“Oh, little Matriarch, do not say such untruths. We both know your body is ripening itself for me this very instant. You smell delicious.”
That wasn’t a lie, even now the faint perfume of her arousal flavored the air between them, growing stronger as he began to close the distance. They were alone in the room and he sent a mental request to the ship’s computer to seal off this chamber temporarily. Then he sent a message to Mavet, letting him know that Jaz was fine, and requesting a little bit of assistance from Mavet and Xentix to help Jaz relax.
Tandar wanted Jaz with an obsession that was growing by the minute, and now that they were alone he fully intended to sample her exotic beauty. The more he was around her, the more he wanted to lick her, suck her, claim her as his. He wanted to explore the fascinating folds of her sex, to watch her surrender to her passion, to feel her orgasm. Her body was lush and perfect, rounded in the best way and designed to cushion a man between her shapely thighs.
Mavet replied that they would do their best to seduce Jaz from their end while Tandar began the first stage of the courting ritual with her…the tasting.
Chapter
Any second now, Jaz was going to push the dangerously handsome man away, was going to release her clutching grip on his firm biceps, was going to stop inhaling him like a drug addict, and was certainly not going to give in to the desire to suck on his full lips.
His erection pressed into her as he pulled her closer, then slowly lowered his head to hers. “You are very beautiful, Jaz, so very sweet and filled with so much love for everyone. You are what the Lord of Life wishes us to be.”
“Shush.” Blushing, she hid her face against his chest. “I’m also a brat, according to Mavet, and as