Saving Verakko: The Clecanian Series Book 3 by Victoria Aveline (books to read for teens TXT) 📕

Lily gazed into the fire, her brows knit in thought. Verakko wanted to shout. She’d been asking him the same types of questions he’d wanted to ask her. Were her questions meant to be asked for the same reason? Was she trying to figure out how to be with him?

Verakko didn’t know how he should act with her. He couldn’t sleep with her. It’d be a breach of contract and result in him being drafted off-world, but he couldn’t push her away either. If he somehow managed to figure out a way out of his contract, he’d need her to like him. He had to keep her interested in him without crossing any of the lines he desperately wanted to cross.

Lily shivered again, and he cursed. The sun had almost set, and the night was only going to get colder; he couldn’t put this off any longer. “We need to get our clothes dry.”

Her gaze became heated, making him want to flee. “I agree.”

They’d eaten a small meal of nuts and fruit while setting up camp and had both agreed Verakko should wait until the following day to hunt. There was nothing left to do. No other distractions.

Silently, he rose and undressed, hanging his clothes on a nearby branch. He kept his eyes averted as he listened to her do the same.

Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look.

He laid on his side on the bed of leaves, leaving a sizable spot for Lily to lay in front of him. She’d be warm here, nestled between his considerable body heat and the fire. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her delicate feet walking toward him, and he slid his lids closed.

Her scent hit him first. Clean from the river but tinged with a light smoky scent, courtesy of their fire. Then the brush of her hair swept over his arm as she settled in front of him. Verakko kept his eyes squeezed tightly shut and tried to block out all thoughts of her naked body so close to his. She rested her head on his outstretched forearm, facing away from him and shattering the last bits of his control. What would be the harm? He’d only see her back, after all.

As soon as his eyes opened, he regretted it. She’d tucked her arms and legs into her body, and goosebumps had broken out on her bare arm, only a breath away. His hand rose of its own volition and hovered above her shoulder, not touching but close enough to feel the meager heat from her skin. With a defeated sigh, he allowed his hand to ghost over her rib cage and narrow waist, then up and along the flair of her hip. Her hips were thin, but the bone structure underneath hinted that they’d be lush once she regained the weight she’d lost during these past few weeks. They were the perfect shape to hold her steady while burying himself in her. His fingers flexed, and his shaft hardened.

Then he scented it. Her arousal. He couldn’t do this, wasn’t strong enough. In a hoarse whisper, he swayed, “Roll onto your back.”

***

The command rang through her mind, sticking like glue to the forefront of her thoughts, but she discarded the sway. She could feel heat from his palm as it glided over her curves, hovering maddeningly close. Her breath was coming in pants. She clenched her legs together tightly, trying to hide the smell of her arousal.

Verakko had said he couldn’t be with her even though he wanted to. Being naked together must be torture for him. She piled her hair underneath her and peered over her shoulder at him.

“Why?” she asked in a breathy voice.

His head dipped to her now-bare shoulder. A low, rattling growl emanated from somewhere deep inside him. “Because I want to see you.”

Her sex clenched, and she stifled a whimper. “Is that allowed?”

He propped himself on his elbow, and his heated gaze bore into her. “Looking is allowed.”

Lily bit her lip, releasing a shaky breath through her nose. Keeping her arms banded around her chest and her legs pressed firmly together, she rolled onto her back. The movement brought her even closer to Verakko, the left side of her body brushing against the front of his.

A hot, rigid bulge prodded her thigh, and she sucked in a breath. Verakko hissed at the touch.

Lily rested her head on Verakko’s forearm and watched him. His glowing emerald eyes trailed down her body hungrily. The tense hollows and valleys of his torso glimmered in the green firelight, and his chest rose and fell quickly. When his gaze stopped at the vee of her thighs, he licked a sharp fang. She felt the length of him pulse against her side.

A flush broke out all over her body. To know she was causing this reaction in a man like Verakko made her feel powerful. Lily wanted him to see all of her. She lowered her arms, exposing her breasts.

Verakko groaned. His large, warm palm hovered above her chest but didn’t touch, making her want to arch her back into his hands. The heat radiating off his palm as he swept it above her skin left a scorched trail in its wake. Her breathing became erratic, making her breasts quiver with every shaky exhalation.

“So beautiful, Lily,” he rasped. He dipped his head and blew hot air on her nipple. It pebbled instantly, and he grinned, then moved to excite the other nipple.

“You can’t touch me at all?” Another wave of smoky cedar hit her, and she felt like she was going to burst. Her sex was throbbing now, needing release.

“Not the way I want to. There would be consequences.” He ghosted his knuckles over her trembling belly then lower. “Open,” he commanded, hovering above the apex of her