Page 35 of Aria's Desire

Just as she was reaching out to remove the lid from the very pretty silver carafe, she felt heat against her back.

“Did you find him appealing, mysarasha?” Rellik asked, trying and failing to make the question sound casual.

It didn’t. It sounded distinctly tense.

Is that jealousy?

Glancing at Sin from the corner of her eye, she found him watching her intently, waiting for her to answer Rellik’s question.

She probably shouldn’t find their possessiveness quite so intensely pleasing, but it was damned nice to know she wasn’t the only one whose feelings were being out-of-control little assholes.

Biting back a smile, she shrugged a shoulder offhandedly and purposefully misinterpreted his question. “He seemed nice, sure.” Feeling impish, she kept going. “His cock piercings were partic—” She cut off mid-word when she lifted the lid off the carafe and a familiar scent hit her nose.

Sin made a low, inarticulate sound of ire at either her sudden pause or the mention of Nichi’s cock while Rellik snarled softly at her back. She didn’t pay attention to either, her focus centered on the familiar scent wafting up to her.

“Sarasha, you—”

Whipping around, she interrupted whatever he was about to say with a sharp, “What is this?”

Rellik blinked then peered around her, following her pointing finger with a frown. “Thekashkatea?”

Turning back around, she bent forward, breathed deep, and could almost feel her eyes glaze over with bliss.

“It smells like coffee,” she whispered reverently.

Feeling them both move around so they could see her, she rolled her eyes up to pin Rellik with an intent look.

“I need you to be real honest right now. Is this caffeinated?” At his confused look, she amended, “Does it make your heart pound and your brain tingle?”

He blinked a couple of times before his lips quirked up in a curious smile. “Yes. If you drink enough.”

“Perfect,” she purred.

Chapter 20

“Aroínseah? Wha—”

“Shhh, I’m having a moment here.”

Back on Earth, Aria had been unapologetically and irrevocably addicted to coffee. It started during her training at Quantico and escalated once she became an FBI agent. The long, oftentimes odd and unpredictable hours could be hell on a person’s system. Coffee had been absolutely crucial.

She’d been denied the life-giving liquid for so very long. She’d tried the different caffeinated drinks from the fabricators back at the complex, but none of them had been remotely similar. One, in particular, had definitely not been meant for humans. Her eyebrows hairs weren’t supposed to wave about like tiny tentacles. It was just wrong.

Giving Rellik a look, she demanded, “Why didn’t you tell me you have coffee here?”

He returned her look with a very droll one of his own. Which, okay that was fair. He couldn’t have known kashka tea was going to be Aria catnip.

He started to answer, but paused, his expression changing to something cunning as a devilish smile curled his lips. Reaching for the carafe, he picked it up off the tray.

“Shall I prepare a cup for you, mysarasha?” he all but purred.

Wary of what he was doing with his face, she hesitated, but… she wanted that coffee. “Yes?”

He set to work, slowly, pouring the tea into a pretty saucer. Rolling his eyes up to her, his voice deceptively casual, he asked, “I believe you started to say something a moment ago?”

Ahh, blackmail, huh?

“Crafty. You think I won’t pounce on you because you’ll spill it.”

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