Page 10 of Found By the Alien Warrior

I could ask Vessa, too, though I didn’t see her after the matches tonight. Maybe she was somewhere getting checked for injuries.

“Human Sonya," an attendant called, beckoning me closer, "Aurik requests your presence in his quarters."

Looks like it was time. Steadying myself, I allowed the attendant to lead me to the section of the chamber where I was given another bath and dressed in a sheer gown. In the right or wrong light, depending on how one looked at it, it barely covered anything.

A guard waited outside to take me across the complex to Aurik’s quarters. As we walked through the rest of the male fighters' living quarters, I couldn't help but notice how cramped their spaces were. The low-ranking fighters were shoved into small cells, barely larger than a prison cell. My heart ached for them; this was so unfair and cruel.

"Here we are," the guard announced, gesturing towards a lush garden that led to Aurik's space. As the door to Aurik's living quarters opened, I caught my breath. There he stood, his hair damp from a recent bath after his fight. I marveled at how quickly the lacerations from the battle had already begun to heal.

"Sonya," he breathed, eyeing me in my thin gown. I couldn't help but feel self-conscious as I noticed my nipples hardening beneath the fabric. Aurik wasted no time, striding over to me and planting a searing kiss on my lips, his hand gripping the back of my neck.

"Leave us," he ordered the guard. "You did your job and brought her here. Now go." His large, hot hands found their way to my ass, eliciting a gasp from me. Were we still pretending? My body certainly didn't seem to think so.

I tried to regain some sense of control. If he wanted to play this game, I'd play along. Still, I needed to remember who he was, an alien bounty hunter just trying to make a prison break. I couldn’t let myself get lost in him.

The door closed behind the guard and his footsteps faded, leaving Aurik and me alone. He released his grip on my body and stepped back, a flicker of regret in his eyes.

"Sorry about that." He pushed his fingers through his damp hair. "I needed to make the guard think this was just a conjugal visit." A smirk lined his lips as he took in my revealing attire. "Glad to see you dressed the part."

"And I can see you’d be a great Method actor with that makeout kiss.” I had jokes, but my neck burned with embarrassment.

“My words to the guard were an act. The kiss was not.”

Whoa. Did he just tell me he liked making out with me? Why did I care so much about what he thought? But everything about Aurik lured me in - his chiseled muscles glistening with water droplets, the masculine scent of him lingering in the air. My heart pounded as if it were trying to escape my chest. Yet he was an alien... How could I feel this way about him?

Hold it together. He couldn’t possibly return my feelings. Could he?

Aurik leaned against the wall, his kinetic blue eyes studying me. "I'm building rapport with some of the other fighters. I've got two on our side already. Next, I'm going to focus on Raze, who was stolen from his home planet. We need allies before we can escape."

“Sounds like a good idea.”

"Can I trust you to be part of the team, instead of doing things your own way?"

I hesitated for only a moment. "I told you, I'm in."

Aurik crossed the distance between us in a few strides and cupped my chin, his thumb tracing a line down my cheek. His lips followed, planting soft kisses along the path his thumb took. The heat of his mouth sent tendrils of desire down my spine.

"I thought I saw another guard in the garden, watching," he rumbled into my ear. "We need to keep up the act."

"Alright," I agreed, trying to suppress the thrill that raced through me at the thought. "As long as it helps our plan."

"Good." His voice remained low and intense. "Because we’ll need to act out this conjugal visit now."

I stood there in Aurik's living quarters, my blood rushing through my veins. The whole idea seemed ludicrous. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. The guards would never suspect that we were planning an escape if they believed we were lovers.

A rustle outside drew my attention, and I realized I was holding my breath. I crept towards the window. As I pulled the curtain down, I caught a glimpse of a guard lurking in the garden. There was a huge possibility he was watching us.

"Okay, then," I whispered, turning back to Aurik. Without another word, I grabbed his hand and placed it on my hip, hoping he understood the silent agreement. His eyes hooded, and he leaned down to press sensual kisses along the back of my neck. My skin prickled with goosebumps as he trailed down my shoulders, lifting my hair to gently bite at the delicate flesh of my neck. The pleasure sent shivers through my body.

"Are you sure about this?" Aurik asked, his voice low but laced with concern. I knew that, despite the situation, he cared for me. This wasn't just some act for him; it was a means of protecting both of us.

"Let's make it convincing." I attempted sound confident. In truth, I was terrified of what might happen if we didn't pull this off. It was a fine line between survival and disaster, but we had to walk it.

I tried to ignore the fact that we might be watched from outside, my eyes flickering toward the window. How opaque was the curtain? My breathing sped, but I found myself distracted as Aurik's lips moved from my neck to my ear, a whispered breath sending more tiny currents of heat along my body. His hands roamed up and down my back, and I couldn't help but arch into his touch.

"Is this okay?" he asked, pausing. I nodded, swallowing hard. This was all an act, I reminded myself.

"Keep going," I murmured, concentrating on the sensation of his fingers finding my nipples through the flimsy fabric of my dress. He rubbed the hardened points until I gasped at the pleasure. I heard his breath catch in his throat, and I knew he was feeling the tension, too.

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