Page 118 of Riv's Sanctuary

The familiarity of her body was strange—like he’d memorized every line of her frame, every curve from when he’d had her against the cleansing room’s wall that night.

This was the exact reason he'd been keeping away from her.

She made him think of things he would never have and reminded him of things others had, but not him.

Never him.

Walking inside, he went towards his room. The door slid open and the hiss made her snuggle further into him.

Phek him, if this wasn’t going to come back and bite him later. Resting her on his sleeping cushion as gently as he could, he stepped back and looked down at her.

Phek.

He should have taken her to her room, not his.

It was strange seeing someone in his bed.

Grot padded in behind him, looking over the sleeping cushion at the human and then back at him.

"What?" Riv whispered as harshly as he could without waking the female. "It’s temporary.”

Grot made a low sound in his throat as if he disagreed and Riv frowned at the tevsi.

He hadn’t realized it till the human arrived, but he and Grot didn’t see eye to eye on several things.

Probably because Grot had an advantage in that department.

His cock pulsed as his gaze fell back on her and he thanked Raxu that Sohut wasn't home.

He couldn’t imagine his brother’s reaction at finding out that he, Rivenendrus U’xol Cal-Pholy, was so wholly affected by a female, he was losing his edge.

As La-rehn groaned and snuggled further into his sleeping cushion, Riv turned around and hurried from the room.

The longer Riv stayed, the more his cock ached, and the more it ached, the more he felt like doing something stupid like waking her and telling her how he felt.

That would be the worst thing he could do and he was already having a helluva time trying to stick to his own rules.

26

Her entire body ached and when she opened her eyes, it felt like she'd had a steamroller doing laps over her muscles.

At first, it wasn't clear where she was, but as soon as her eyes opened fully, Lauren bolted upright.

What the heck was she doing in his room?

Had she walked in there by accident?

She knew she'd been tired, but...

Tensing, she looked around her.

Riv wasn't anywhere to be seen. As a matter of fact, the door was closed and, judging from the placement of the covers on the bed, she'd been alone all night.

Releasing a breath, Lauren fell back against the mattress, trying to get her thoughts together.

The mattress was firm.

Hard, like it's owner.