Page 84 of What Makes an Alien a Dad?

Chapter 27

Kear

It was at least an hour before he had to leave the hospital building to pick up Maya for their third date, but he was itching to see her right now.

“Call Maya,” he ordered his house AI.

The large screen in his main living room blinked to life. Maya’s face appeared on it a moment later.

“Hi, Kear.” She smiled, brushing her hair. It was damp. A thin towel sheet was wrapped around her. She must’ve just had a shower, getting ready for their date. “Sorry, I’m not dressed yet.”

Her smile turned teasing, and his cock jumped to attention. It was his own fault, he ambushed her with a call without warning.

She tilted her head, her eyes sliding down his frame from his freshly painted horns to his smoothly polished hooves. “You look completely ready, though. Aren’t you a bit early?”

He shrugged, trying to downplay his obvious desperation. “I couldn’t wait.”

Throughout the day, he did his best to focus on his work, but the moment his brain was free from charts and formulas, all his thoughts immediately drifted to her.

She sat down in front of the mirror in her room. “You’ll have to watch me getting ready, then. I still need a few minutes.”

He’d watch her in anything she wished to do—getting ready, drying her hair, getting dressed... His eyes drifted to the towel sheet hugging her curves. He stared at it unblinking, wishing his gaze had the power to vaporize it.

“How was your day?” she asked innocently.

He tore his attention from the sheet and focused on her face instead as she rubbed some cream into her skin.

“Good.” He cleared his throat, banishing his lustful thoughts. Though they would never leave him for long.

He wanted Maya more than anything, but it had to be on her terms. He had messed up so badly before, every step she took now had to be because she wanted to take it. He’d wait for her to come to him, even if it took a lifetime of atonement on his part.

“How about yours?” he asked.

“Oh, I had an excellent day!” she gushed. “I spent the morning and most of the afternoon with Laihar, the building’s botanist I told you about, remember?”

“Right.”

She did mention on their last date that she had met the man who'd designed the indoor gardens of the Liaison Committee building. He now supervised the army of drones and the AI that maintained the complex system of the indoor plants in every room there.

She never said, however, that she was on a first-name basis with him already.

“Laihar allowed me to shadow him for the day. It was a great way to gain insight into how all these gorgeous flowers are planted and maintained here in Voran.”

Plants were her passion. Her face lit up when she talked about them. It pleased him that she enjoyed it so much. But the thought of someone else having her attention nearly the entire day caused a tendril of envy to slither into his chest.

“So, Laihar was good to you then?” He tapped his hoof on the soft rag covering his floor.

“Very good. He didn’t leave my side, taking his time to explain everything to me and answering any questions I had.”

“How so very nice of him,” he muttered, wishing he could bury Laihar in one of his flowerpots. “Is he married?”

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