Page 86 of What Makes an Alien a Dad?

That didn’t surprise him. Women were rare in Voran. Single women, even more so. A man had to act fast if he wanted a chance at female attention.

“Relax, Kear.” Maya shook her head, her expression shifting from playful to serious. “I told him I’m already seeing someone.”

“That wouldn’t stop a Voranian man from pursuing a woman,” he replied bitterly.

Women in Voran often dated several men simultaneously and received multiple marriage proposals before choosing a husband. That was just a way of life on his planet, stemming from the severe population imbalance.

He never wished to join a dating game like this. But he wasn’t going to retreat now. Maya was his, and he would fight for her, no matter how many rivals there were.

He had to come up with a plan. He’d known her the longest. He’d learned what made her smile and what she was passionate about. He knew the things she liked.

He’d take her to the most amazing places, on and off the planet. He’d break into that botanical exhibition as early as tonight if he had to. But he wasn’t letting any other man have her, even if he happened to be a botanist with a career in the area that Maya loved.

“What we have won’t stop Laihar from trying to win you from me,” he said.

“Maybe.” She finished applying the makeup and rose from her chair. “But I will. And I already did. I told him there could never be anything romantic between him and me. I’m already dating a man, and I don’t want to date more than one.”

He remained motionless, letting her words sink in and relief sweep through him.

“Kear,” she spoke again, since he couldn’t muster a word in reply yet. “I want to make it clear, I’m not choosing between men. I’m just trying to decide whether to stay with you. You are my one and only option. I don’t need more. There is no competition.”

He didn’t deserve her.

She was way too good for him. But he would spend his entire life striving to be worthy of this woman. If only she let him be at her side for as long as they both should live.

“I’m coming over right now.”

He’d sit on the floor by her door if he had to while she got ready. But he needed to be as close to her as was physically possible.

* * *

SHE DIDN’T MAKE HIM wait by the door. She let him in. By the time he arrived, her hair had been dried and styled into thick flirty waves. But she was still wearing nothing but the towel.

He grabbed her into a hug, needing to feel her.

“I love you.” He nuzzled the side of her neck, breathing in her warm, fresh scent mixed with the soap aroma lingering after her shower.

She released a moan, melting into his touch.

“I love...hearing you say it.”

These weren’t exactly the words he yearned to hear from her. But she turned her face to his, eagerly catching his kiss on her lips.

He’d wait. He’d wait for as long as it took for her to say those words back to him.

She twined her arms around his neck, pressing her body to his. He ran his hands up her sides, feeling her every curve through the absorbent but thin towel.

His mind swam with lust. His cock throbbed so hard, he feared he would burst in his pants. She moaned when he cupped her breast through the sheet.

Then, she pulled away.

“I need to get dressed if we want to make it to the movie on time.”

Fuck the movie. He wanted nothing more than to keep holding her just like this. But she’d already taken her hands off him.

He knew he deserved every prolonged moment of this torture. He endured it as an atonement for the way he’d wronged her before. He’d endure it for as long as it took for her to forgive him.

“The movie it is then,” he conceded.

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