Page 131 of Riv's Sanctuary

Phek.

He wanted to try again.

“We should stop,” she said, pulling out of his grasp.

Her arms were folded now, her back turned to him.

“You should go.”

Deep rejection.

Rejection of the sort he’d inflicted on her in the past.

It hit him like a hovercar at full speed.

She didn’t meet his gaze. Her head was hung, her breaths coming ragged.

She wanted him to leave and he would.

He’d never force her to do anything she didn’t want to do.

And she didn’t want him.

As he walked away, he knew right then.

There was no way his life would return to normal after he’d tasted her.

That one taste had pushed him past a barrier he’d been standing behind for so long.

Now, his world as he knew it was shattered.

28

Lauren stayed in the room for most of the next two days.

She couldn’t exit.

She could still feel his lips against hers and her body responded every time she thought about it.

She couldn’t allow herself to fall for a guy who didn’t want her in his life.

Life out here on a new world was complicated enough.

Every decision she made now was going to affect her future and God knew she didn’t want to be nursing heartbreak while trying to navigate a new world.

It wasn’t until the late evening when she heard voices in the main room that she thought of leaving the room after her two-day absence.

Thinking it must be his brother, Sohut, that returned from his mission, she slipped on her trousers and put a smile on her face.

She had to exit her room some time. Better to do it when there was someone else there to absorb some of the tension, which she knew was bound to fill the room.

Silent barefooted steps took her toward the main room when she slowed her pace.

There were more than two voices and she didn’t recognize them except for Riv’s.

Not wanting to interrupt his meeting or eavesdrop on his conversation with whomever, she turned around and was about to tiptoe back when she heard the next line.

“We have intelligence that you may have a human at the Sanctuary.”