Page 24 of Protected By the Alien Knight

“Mom, we’ve got the flowers ready for—holy shit!”

Alice slaps a hand over her eyes in horror even as Max openly gapes, the blooms tumbling forgotten to the floor in a kaleidoscope of color. I growl low in my throat, shielding Annie’s nude, sweat-slicked form with my body in a futile attempt at preserving her modesty.

“Alice! Max! I... this isn’t... oh god,” Annie stammers, burying her flaming face in the curve of my shoulder.

I can’t exactly scold Alice and Max over propriety when they’ve caught us in the throes of... well, this rather brazen situation. SoI settle for a flat look that dares them to comment further as I gently ease Annie’s legs back to the floor.

“If you two are quite finished traumatizing your mother and me,” I rumble at last, wrapping a towel protectively around Annie, “Perhaps you’d care to state your reason for this intrusion?”

Alice recovers first, clearing her throat awkwardly while keeping her eyes averted. “We, uh... we wanted to wish Mom good luck on her big treaty signing today. With flowers and... stuff.”

From beside me, Annie huffs out a ragged laugh, clutching the terrycloth tighter around herself. “Well, it looks like the signing will have to wait a few minutes while my knight and I regain our composure.”

I can’t quite suppress the growl of frustration rumbling in my chest. After getting Annie to agree to be my mate, I’d hoped to properly consummate our union in far more indulgent fashion. But the abashed looks from her children tell me this intimate moment is over for now.

“Yes, well...” I bend to scoop up the rumpled blooms, depositing them in Alice’s arms before gently shooing her and Max back toward the door. “We’ll be along directly once we’re... decent.”

“I think decency left a while ago,” Max shoots back with a laugh.

As soon as we’re alone again, Annie dissolves into helpless giggles, collapsing back against the tiled wall in a thoroughly debauched tangle of damp hair and flushed skin.

“Oh, Crux, you should have seen your face!” She reaches up to cup my cheek, eyes sparkling with mirth despite her own residual embarrassment. “I never thought I’d live to see the legendary Avenian warrior mantled in burning scarlet mortification!”

I growl low, nipping at the pad of her thumb just to savor the way it makes her breath catch. “Your offspring’s wretched timing is only eclipsed by their appalling lack of boundaries.”

“Aw, don’t be so gruff,” she murmurs teasingly, wrapping her arms around me in a loose embrace. “They’re just happy for their mother finally finding someone.”

Pinning her with a look of smoldering intensity, I brush the matted waves back from her face with infinite tenderness. “You are everything to me, starlight. My radiance, my honor, my path through every shadow yet to come. I will spend every waking breath making you realize precisely how deserving you are of such boundless devotion.”

Annie’s breath escapes in a quivering sigh, her eyes shining. Then she gathers me close and simply holds me, our heartbeats settling into a shared, contented rhythm.

The treaty signing goes smoothly, a new dawn for peaceful relations with the Folmodians after months of tumultuous negotiations. As Annie exits the council chambers, a diplomatic datapad tucked under one arm, her cheeks are flushed with exhilaration, those expressive eyes sparkling like newborn stars. Despite the crisp professionalism of her diplomat’s outfit, there’s an aura of barely contained giddiness about her, as though she’s fighting the urge to outright skip down the corridor.

My mate is resplendent in her hard-earned glory. And damn if I don’t feel like the luckiest male in the universe to have her brilliant light shining upon me for eternity.

I rest my palm against the small of her back, unable to resist leaning in to murmur low against the delicate whorls of her ear.“You were magnificent in there, my radiant one. Tark and the others had no chance against your brilliance.”

Annie’s cheeks flush becomingly as she slants me a sidelong look from beneath her lashes. “Why, Sir Cruxian, one might think you’re becoming a silver-tongued diplomat yourself with such compliments.”

I growl softly, the rumbling sound seeming to shiver straight through her slight frame in a delicious frisson. “For you, starlight? Only the unvarnished truth will suffice.”

She opens her mouth to reply, but startles when a familiar baritone cuts through the din of the crowded promenade.

“Annie? Annie Agnew, is that you?”

I stiffen instinctively, abdominal muscles clenching as that voice summons a rush of protective territoriality to the surface. Even before I turn, the sight of her unease washes over me.

Sure enough, striding toward us with an overly suave, almost predatory confidence is a figure I recognize from intelligence briefings—Richard Valente, Annie’s ex-husband. My lip curls in revulsion as the male looks her over with naked appraisal, as though she were another deal to be evaluated and conquered.

“Richard,” Annie recovers first, her tone infused with a cool formality I’ve rarely heard directed at anyone. “It’s been quite some time.”

“Too long,” he agrees with an oily smile, not even acknowledging my presence as he continues his unsubtle perusal. “I caught wind you were handling the Folmodian agreements today. Had to catch you before you flew the proverbial coop. Make sure we did a bit of catching up.”

I bristle at the none-too-subtle innuendo, instinctively stepping closer so that my shoulder brushes Annie’s in a silent show of possession. Valente’s gaze flicks at me dismissively before returning to my radiant mate with a predatory smirk.

“Perhaps you’d do me the honor of joining me for a celebratory late lunch? I’d love to hear how you’ve been keeping these days. Among other... catching up activities.”

The bold insinuation drips like acid from his thin lips. Before I can unleash the caustic rebuttal searing the tip of my tongue, Annie beats me to it.

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