Page 83 of What Makes an Alien a Dad?

“Kear, is what you wrote in your last letter true?”

“Every word.” Taking my face in his hands, he lifted my head until our gazes collided. “I love you.”

My heart thudded at hearing it from him out loud. Tenderness flooded my limbs with warmth.

“I love you, my beautiful flower,” he repeated softly. “It was a sudden realization on my part, but one without any doubt. I never thought I’d ever fall in love. But here I am...” He spread his arms at his sides, as if offering himself to me. “I’m desperately in love with a woman who has every right to curse my name for eternity.”

That’d be a sad and lonely eternity for both of us if I chose to hate him for that long.

I splayed a hand on his chest, just above the baby harness. My palm was cushioned by the thick fur under the soft material of his shirt. I took a step closer, and he met me half-way.

“Maya...” His eyes searched mine, saying even more than his words.

His face was so close to mine, just a heartbeat away from a kiss. I realized that as brilliant as this man was academically, he had absolutely no experience in romance or sex. If I wanted a kiss, I had to do it myself. I had to abandon my natural role as a follower and take the lead.

Sliding both my hands up his chest, I rose to my tiptoes and reached for his mouth with mine. His lips parted under my touch, but he didn’t go much further. Maybe because he didn’t know how.

Holding his head in my hands, I took his bottom lip between mine, kissing him gently. I did it slowly, giving us both time to adjust to this new intimacy between us.

He “adjusted” quickly, however. With a strangled groan, he grabbed me, tugging me to him so tightly, my feet lifted off the ground.

Deepening the kiss, he swallowed my gasp. His hand slid up my back, his fingers sinking into my hair on the back of my head. Even when he let me come up for air, he wouldn’t remove his mouth from me, kissing my face, then the side of my neck. His breathing came in sharp, ragged puffs. The hard ridge of his erection grew, pressing against my thigh.

My head was spinning with giddiness. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he held me in a crushing embrace. Next to the stairs, we were out of view from the people strolling along the paths in the park, but anyone going to or from the parking platforms could witness our wonderfully messy make-out session that went way past the chaste kiss I’d first intended.

Reluctantly, I pulled back. My heart was racing in my chest. My face felt flushed. Kear’s expression was unguarded, open, and raw.

I smoothed the fur over his forehead. “Ask me again how long I’m staying on Neron.”

“How long?” he breathed out.

“I’ll take the full month after Anika’s birth. As per the contract.”

His shoulders sagged with relief. “Two more weeks left, then.”

“A little more than two weeks. We can have another date.” I smiled, warm excitement tingling inside me like champagne bubbles. “If that’s what you w—”

“Tomorrow,” he blurted out before I even had a chance to finish. “Can I see you again tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow it is.” My smile stretched so wide it could probably reach from here all the way back to Earth. “Now go, Kear. Before you scare all the passersby with that hard-on of yours. It’s about to reach the size of this tower.”

He leaned his head to mine, the base of his horns pressing gently on each side of my forehead.

“Tomorrow.”

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