Page 68 of An Alien for the Farm

His complete seriousness in this whole thing only makes my worry rise. Am I crazy for even attempting this? But there’s still that nervous energy flooding through me. Anticipation. Need. Hope. I… I want to help him. I want Zynar to come through this. But more importantly, I want this to work. I smile for a second, remembering when he chased me in that field before handing me the bouquet.

Oh God, I hope Varek’s plan works.

The loud bang that echoes through the now softly falling rain makes me jump, my eyes flying open. I know what it is, knew it was going to happen, and still it makes my heart ricochet in my chest.

Varek’s driven the hover truck into the barn doors. I’d been skeptical but apparently, it’s worked. The sound of the wood breaking is enough proof. I stop pacing, staring from the bedroom to the open front door, my heart still in my throat.

When Varek suddenly appears there, my heart thuds again.

His headgear is off and he gives me a small, hesitant smile, his shoulders heaving.

“Done?” I ask.

He nods. “I broke it down. Now he has to come out.”

He’s walking toward me, all business as he grabs ropes from where he’s left them on the floor just outside the door.

“That was easy,” he says. “Now for the hard part.”

A lump rises in my throat even though there’s an excited little quiver in the center of my chest. “Are you sure he’ll be able to get out on his own? He’s chained up.”

“Trust,” Varek says, that still slight smile on his face. “The lure will work.”

My focus shifts to the front door, my gaze landing on the doorknob. I can feel my cheeks heating, that quiver in my chest spreading down to my core at the thought of what’s about to come next. Because hanging on my front door is the ‘lure’—one of my worn panties, swaying in the wind.

A peculiar way to go fishing, but I’m not trying to catch a trout here. I’m trying to catch my mate.

The word sends another quiver through me. One that ramps up the nervous energy in my bones.

“I can hear him,” Varek suddenly says. “He’s breaking free.” His gaze shifts around. “I must hide.”

Before I can open my mouth to go over the plan with him one more time, I hear a sound. One I can only describe as a roar that comes from somewhere outside. There is the sound of chains, and then everything goes silent.

“Varek, I’m trusting you in all this. If Zynar hurts himself I will beat you personally.”

All I hear is a deep chuckle from somewhere in the room. I don’t get to even check where he’s hiding before there’s movement on the window facing the porch. It’s fast. A flash of fuchsia that sends my heart hammering against my ribs. My breath stops as I wait, standing there like some bait. But that’s exactly what I am. Bait that’s about to be rutted well and good.

A nervous quiver goes through my privates. After spending the majority of my life never reaching those mind-bending orgasms I used to read about, I’d prayed to God one time about it. My ma used to say all prayers are answered—

My heart stutters as I see a claw reach for my panties. He touches them so gently before his head comes into view. Crouched, Zynar grips the fabric, bringing it to his nose. The low rumble that goes through him vibrates through the air and everywhere around us before his head turns and those piercing eyes of his lock onto me.

—I guess I never, in my wildest dreams, expected my prayers to be answered like this.

I take a step back, the backs of my legs bumping into the bed as I stare at Zynar.

I’m not afraid, but there’s a thrill. A thrill that makes me shiver. Something in the back of my mind says I shouldn’t be getting turned on by just one primal look, but instead of that voice growing louder, there’s a little throb between my legs.

Because despite the strangeness of this, the intensity, this is the most vivid experience of my life.

It’s how I imagined my heart should have beaten at my wedding. Only, it didn’t. How I imagined nervous energy should have gone through my veins my very first time. But, it didn’t.

This is all different. As if I’m starting over. And after all the pain, I shouldn’t be giving this a chance. Except I am. Because some part of me says this isn’t the same as those other times.

Zynar stands, his gaze still locked with mine. He does look bigger. Bulkier. Taller. Stronger. Faster.

He’s still naked and my breath hitches as he walks in, locks of his hair swinging slightly with the movement and something else swaying down below that I refuse to look at. Not yet. We have a plan and I have to stick with it.

“Zynar,” I breathe. His ears flick and a lump rises in my throat. I have to keep his attention on me. That was the plan. If he realizes his brother is hiding in here, the whole thing will go upside down. He steps closer, nostrils flaring as he inhales. I just have to hope the other panties I placed on various furniture will dampen Varek’s scent. I have to keep Zynar focused on me. And so I smile. It isn’t hard. Relief is flooding through me just from the fact that he’s here again. But my smile falters when I spot the fresh bruises on his arms and torso. Some of them bleeding from where the chains dug into his skin.

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