Page 43 of An Alien for the Farm

“Do you know why we Kari will never find a home?” I whisper, my voice no more than a low growl.

Eleanor shakes her head.

“For Kari, home is not a place. It is not a lodge. It is not a planet. It is a being. Our homes lie with our mates.”

She blinks, gaze shifting to my lips and then back to my eyes as she considers my words.

“You don’t have a mate?” Then her cheeks flush almost immediately. “A question I should have asked before I let you kiss me.”

I smile, flashing fang as my claws knead her hips. Frakk. She’s even softer than I could have ever dreamed.

“I have no mate. My core-rhythm has never sung.”

“Your core what?”

Reaching for her hand that’s resting on me, I lift it to the center of my chest. “Here. Kari have a core-rhythm here. A vibration that binds around our core-beat. It awakens when we find our mates, binding us to them forever.”

“Forever?”

“For our entire existence,” I say with pride.

Her digits flex underneath mine, brushing against my skin. “That’s a long time.”

“And it is all we desire.” I freeze again, because those are words I have never uttered. Not to Varek. Not to any other Kari. Not even to myself. “To be bound to our mate forever is all we dream of. She is…home.”

A part of me wants to hide away from this utterance. This rawness. But I don’t. With Eleanor, opening myself like this doesn’t feel like a vulnerability. She won’t criticize me. Didn’t the first time I showed her a part of me, told her of my past when I don’t talk about it to anyone else. Her maturity makes me feel safe.

“I don’t understand, Zynar. Why would you think this is something you’ll never have? You’re kind, helpful, young, handsome, sexy…”

Every word she utters makes me purr a little louder, the sound vibrating in my throat.

“You think all these things of me?

Her face heats, and she adjusts herself, but doesn’t slide her hand from within my grasp. Her heat spreads across my abdomen.

She looks down at where her hand is under mine, her face still warm. “I think you’re all of those things.”

I purr again. “Just as you are radiant. Your softness. Your beauty. You, Liora, are utterly captivating.”

Eleanor’s eyes widen slightly, and her cheeks flush even deeper. “You really think that?”

“More than anything.”

Her gaze shifts to my lips then and my cock jerks to further attention. I try to angle my hips away from her so I don’t poke her in the back. I’m pretty sure this sweet moment between us will be interrupted if she feels my cock prodding her for attention.

When she leans in slowly, everything within me goes still. Even my cock stops jerking. I freeze, breath held as Eleanor leans closer until we’re simply a breath apart.

“I know I said I wanted to keep this professional…” she whispers. Her breath brushes against my lips like a promise of what will come next if I can just frakking keep still. “This completely goes against that.”

I run my tongue over my lips, breath still held and my entire body heating up like I’m lying on a furnace. I’m captivated as this entrancing female watches the movement as if she, too, is hypnotized. Her throat moves as her gaze shifts up to mine. So close, I see pure water in her gaze—her eyes the color of the coolest springs. I am intoxicated by this Liora. I want nothing more than for her to—

Eleanor leans in and time stills. When her lips brush against mine, almost hesitantly, heat rises in my shaft. I grunt, claw tightening on her hips as she nibbles on my lips. A soft little moan leaves her throat as she sucks on my lower lip. Her eyes flutter closed then but I can’t close mine. I can’t take my eyes off her. The expression on her face as she brushes lips with mine is almost enough to make me release against my leg.

I grip her tighter, a groan shuddering through me as I open my mouth to hers. It’s the first movement I make. When Eleanor doesn’t pull away but increases her sucking and licking of my lips I grunt and grip her even tighter. Our tongues brush and I lose it.

My mind fogs with desire, and the only thing I can focus on is Eleanor. Her softness, her warmth, her intoxicating scent. Every touch, every kiss, only fans the flames burning within me.

“God, why do you smell so good?” she murmurs against my lips and my eyes flutter closed, a deep groan rumbling through me when she pulls her lips from mine to nuzzle her face into my neck. At the same time, she rocks her hips where she sits on my abdomen, a thick scent slipping into my nostrils that makes my fangs bare with need.

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