So I let them trick me out until I couldn’t recognize myself in the mirror anymore. I looked like a girl , complete with a long, flowing dress and high heels. If any of my pilot collegues saw me like this, they’d die laughing. I started to wrap my belt holding my phaser around my waist but was given another lecture about “tradition”. Apparently, it wasn’t okay to bring weapons to a wedding party.
There was a knock at the door and the younger women around me started giggling again.
“Should I get that?” I asked.
“Tradition,” the elderly woman said, nodding her head.
I threw open the door, hoping it would be Jana.
“Oh,” I said, taking in the Dezrian male standing there. He gave me a grin, sharp canines showing, dark eyes sparkling. “Oh,” I said again, blushing because this male was so damn easy on the eyes, and the giggling behind me proved that the other women thought so as well.
“This is Slyte,” the elderly woman said, stepping next to me and giving me a push against the small of my back. “Go now.”
“Okay,” I said, grinning, “but only because it’s tradition .” Despite the long trip from Earth to Dezra, I was wide-awake and a rush of adrenaline surged through my blood. Easy to guess why I was so excited. I was one of the first human visitors on this planet.
But the Dezrian bowing to me while locking eyes with me was an even bigger kick.
* * *
Slyte still eyed me with dark, hot eyes and hand-fed me fruit dripping with sticky juice. And he had done so tirelessly for at least the last hour.
I couldn’t complain.
Who knew what his official role was though. He was either my protector or a guard to make sure I kept my human toes in line. I’d probably never know.
“You don’t talk much, do you?” I asked him, but it was a rhetorical question.
He hadn’t said a word throughout the evening, not that it bothered me. I fully intended to take a big bite out of him later. He was all coppery skin and bulky muscles. It had been too long since I’d taken a bite out of anyone.
Screw the bruises on my heart, they’d heal some day.
I closed my eyes and listened to the voices all around me. The Dezrian language sounded brusque if melodious, especially when hundreds of wedding guests chattered all at once. Due to some local tradition, Jana wasn’t attending the festivities, but I’d been told I’d see her tomorrow. So, I was the odd one out at this party—pale, short, human —but I didn’t feel awkward, thanks to Slyte. I tipped my head back, stared up at the giant transparent dome, thankful for the shield it provided against the sun’s rays. But daylight had long faded anyway, the dome a dark tint of blue.
“Fancy a tour of my space glider?” I sought his gaze and winked, seeking nothing more than mutual pleasure—love need not apply.
A soft, cool breeze caressed my forehead, and there was the faintest noise inside my head but no actual words. So, the rumors that some Dezrians were able to communicate with their thoughts were probably true, but even so, my brain was deaf.
“Sorry, it’s not working on me,” I said. “But we’ll get along just as fine.”
He flashed me a wicked smile, making me certain that he sensed where my intentions lay. Maybe he was an empath. Or lust was written too plainly on my face. But before I tried my hand at seducing an alien, a sip of liquid courage wouldn’t hurt. Reaching to my right, I grasped one of the many long-stemmed glasses that were arranged in a neat circle on top of the table.
I raised my glass. “To a world without rules, the vastness of space and to your hard body.” Chiding myself for being a sexist, I took a sip.
It ran smoothly down my throat, oily in texture, definitely not the light and bubbly mixture I’d expected. A piquant, peppery essence coated my tongue. I swirled the drink around in the glass. There was a fine shimmer to the clear liquid as if it were dusted with glitter. If I were a romantic, I’d have called it Starlight. I lifted the drink to knock back the rest and drank deeply.
Someone hit the glass out of my hands. “That stuff isn’t good for you, Kyra.”
My heart stopped, stuttered and then raced. Garrett. What on earth was he doing on Dezra? My vision wavered suddenly, and I grasped the edge of the table for a hold. I’d managed to down half the drink and it burned its way down my throat, hitting my stomach. It was as if fire spread through me, radiating in pulsing heat waves. I looked at the broken shards of glass on the floor before I lifted my head.
My breath hitched as I met the gaze of my former business partner. He hadn’t changed much. Tall with a set of wide shoulders, his nose slightly crooked, matching his personality. If he had smiled, I’d have seen the dimple in his cheek. His dark hair was shorter, his face narrower and he needed a shave. He looked hardened, as if carved from iron. Except for his skin. He’d always had this golden glow, coupled with a certain air, a certain charm.
I’d fallen for that charm, for that dimpled smile, for the bad-boy crooked nose. Fallen right into that narrow, single bed with him that night.
“How are you?” Garrett asked, his voice gentle.
“How I am,” I repeated quietly, unable to answer. I wanted to ask him why he’d left me, why he’d just disappeared after we spent the night together, but my throat was too tight.
“Kyra, do you feel sick? Answer me.”
“’Course I’m not feeling sick,” I said, which was a lie. I felt sick to my stomach.
He gave a sigh, as if my answer had been important. “Could we talk somewhere alone?”
Before I could reply, pain seared through my left hand. I winced, dragged my fingernails across an itch on my wrist. My veins stood out oddly, as if my blood was too thick. A sliver of heat shot into my core, drawing a yelp from me.
I tugged at my dress, knowing that this wasn’t the right place to strip naked, but couldn’t stop myself. Being naked seemed so called for. My hands flew of their own accord between my legs and bunched the fabric there. When my knuckles rasped across my mound, I inhaled sharply. My body ached with a deep desire only a male could satisfy.
That drink…
I froze, realizing that I was having an alien reaction to the ingredients of Starlight.
Garrett cursed—proving he knew a thing or two about what was happening to me—and held out his hand. “Let me take care of you.”
I shook my head no so hard it sent my hair flying. He’d already bruised my heart once and only a fool would allow him to do so again. I looked at Slyte, focusing. Big, hard, silent. Damn, yes. I wanted him, needed sex. Now .
Garrett’s dark eyes locked on to mine, held me captive, threw me for a loop. By the stars, I wanted him too.
I was so fucked.
I reached across the table, grabbed Slyte’s hand. “Get me out of here and into your room. Right now .”
Since he didn’t seem inclined to honor my admittingly forward request, I climbed with my knees on the table, crossed over to his side to give him a better idea about what I wanted from him. He exclaimed something in Dezrian, probably voicing his astonishment that I had climbed into his lap.
Twining my arms around his neck, I pressed against all that hardness, inhaling the unfamiliar but irresistible scent of his skin. My entire body hurt with an aching emptiness. I’d give him anything if he would thrust his cock into my pussy and make it all better. I rocked my hips, feeling how his arms closed around me. It was wonderful to be touched and—
Slyte rose from his seat, with me clinging to him as if he were my source of oxygen. He forced me gently back on my own two feet. His brows were drawn together as if he couldn’t figure out my crazed behavior—so much for being an empath.
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