Page 35 of An Alien for Her Heart

I sit staring at the thing where it remains at the center of my table, untouched.

A sex toy.

My cheeks heat as I stare at the thing. Is this a usual gift among aliens? Goodness, who am I kidding? Of course, it isn’t, right? I practically feel as if I’m going to burst into flames as I stare at it. Do I really look like I need an orgasm?

I choke on an incredulous laugh, tears brimming in my eyes from the sudden lack of air, and it takes a few moments before I replace the air in my lungs. He probably thought I needed to orgasm from the mere fact that I’ve been so rigid with him. Probably thought my expressions meant I was in pain and that I needed to relax.

I laugh but almost choke again.

I’ve been gifted a vibrator and I have all the time in the world to use it.

My cheeks heat even more.

I’m staring at the thing for whole long minutes when there’s suddenly a sound at the door. Grabbing the device, I shove it into my pocket as I jerk to my feet, silently cursing myself forbehaving like a teenager who’s been caught with marijuana in their bedroom.

Making my way to the door, I pause just before it, straightening my tunic.

“Not that it matters,” I murmur. “You tried wearing homemade lipstick this morning as if possessed by some alter being and look where that got you?” Varek’s response to my little effort of trying to dress up will make me laugh in a few years when I look back and remember this day. But today, I’ll just have to wallow in a bit of embarrassment at the fact that I tried to dress up for him in the first place.

Because why?

Some part of me fears doing that deep dive. A big part of me doesn’t want to face the reason why.

As I pull the door open, I plant a smile on my face, my heart already doing a strange unsteady thing instead of beating properly. But there’s no purple iridescent muscular hunk of an alien on my doorstep. My gaze drops and it’s the Raki there.

His long ears flap the moment my gaze falls on him.

“Oh.” Blast it. The disappointment in my tone is so strong I can only pray the Raki doesn’t pick up on it.

He dips his head slightly. “Greetings.” In his paw, he outstretches something toward me. “This is for you.”

Ah, it appears I’m getting a lot of gifts today. First the gift of gab, practically telling Varek my life story. Then his…stress relief instrument. Now this.

My confused gaze drops to the little round wooden canister in the Raki’s paw.

“For me?” I ask, confused.

“For the wound you received because of my negligence.”

Oh. “It’s okay, really you—”

“I must. I did not sleep for the entire dark cycle, worried about you, human female. My mate is in tatters with worry too.”

My eyebrows shoot upward. “Oh, you really don’t have to worry. It was only an accident. I don’t even feel the pain anymore. I’m over it.”

He stretches the gift toward me anyway, forcing me to take it in my hands.

“Ointment from my homeworld,” he says. “It will heal any mortal wound.” He dips his head. “My apologies again.”

Releasing a slow breath, I smile a little. “Thank you, Raki.”

He dips his head again.

You know, he isn’t so bad after all.

I don’t know what causes me to look up at the barn roof. Maybe the movement there. The soft glint of sunlight across pink and purple scales. Something within me titters and comes to life even as I stop moving. Varek is there, watching us. His eyes are on the Raki, the look on his face unreadable, except for his eyes. Even with the distance between us and the gap between our species, the look in his eyes is unmistakable.

He’s…annoyed.

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