Page 46 of The Alien's Major Dilemma

Chapter 20

Slipping into Marissa's mind to tease her with increasingly erotic images kept his focus off his own body enough to hold off the nausea. The pain from his injuries slipped back enough from his conscious mind that he could ignore it for a while.

Besides, he enjoyed feeling her become overwhelmed with pleasure. The hard ache of his member was a welcome distraction from everything else and his anticipation of being able to ease it inside her helped him maintain their connection.

They were both trying hard to avoid thinking about things, he could feel her mind shy away from different words and thoughts, and that was okay. Talking like they were helped both of them but they were going to need to touch each other soon. Better to get the physical needs dealt with before they addressed the highly emotional ones.

He could feel her worry about him and he wondered if he could get a clean set of clothes before he saw her. It would take too much energy to look more human but a new shirt and clean pants would be a good idea. His torturers had removed his shirt and boots when they started and the doc had cut away most of what was left of his pants to check his injuries.

Maybe he'd ask for some socks and boots, too, to hide the parts he was regrowing.

Did you want to get some sleep?his mate asked when the silence between them stretched.

I need to rest,he admitted.But I am loathe to do so without you here.

Is there anything I can do to help?

Cooper was tempted to tell her to get her own rest, that he would sleep while she did, and suffer through his discomfort alone. He knew, however, that not only wouldn't she appreciate that, she'd likely be suffering as well.

Do you know how much longer this is going to take?

Let me ask.

He could feel the shift in her attention while she talked to someone else. It was odd to be able to feel her and know what she was doing without actually being able to hear or see her. Like she was a presence in the back of his mind that he was always aware of. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, the way it had been during his training, with a judgmental instructor watching his every thought, waiting to pounce.

Marissa felt like a part of him he hadn't realized was missing until it was suddenly there and he was complete.

He didn't intend to drift off to sleep, and hadn't truly, but his doze was interrupted when the door to his cell was opened and the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen walked in.

Had she always been that beautiful? Was he just now realizing how magnificent she was in every way? The first time he'dseen her, smelled her, she'd captivated him but he hadn't truly appreciated her.

"You're projecting," she said softly when she knelt down next to him. "And that tells me just how tired you are."

"Are you truly here?" he asked, pulling back to look at her when she tried to lay with her face against his chest. "I'm not imagining you?"

"I'm here," she said. "I think you might be embellishing all my qualities in your head but I'm not going to argue with you about them."

Marissa pulled a blanket over them that he hadn't noticed she'd had and pressed the front of her body to his. She buried her nose in his neck, her hair tickling at his chin, and inhaled. Tension slid out of her body and the constant buzz of anxiety he'd felt in her mind quieted.

"I can't touch you," he said, an apology and a complaint.

"I can touch you a little," she told him and spread her hands against his chest. "But we have three guards on the door and an audience on a visual feed."

He noticed her hands were restrained together the same way his were just in the front of her body and he nodded.

"It's enough," he said, shimmying until his chin rested against the top of her head and their bodies were pressed together.

Cooper took a deep breath and felt his body relax. His mate was there, they were together, everything else would work out. He drifted into sleep with the feel of her breath against his skin.

He woke with a screech of agony that he quickly bit down on until it was just a hard breath coming out of his nose. He'd been so focused on Marissa joining him that he hadn't noticed she was still wearing her boots. She'd shifted in her sleep and kicked what was left of his toes.

"Are you hurt?" she demanded from the seated position she'd shoved herself into. "What's wrong?"

Cooper rolled onto his back and did his best to breathe through the pain.

"I'm making a new rule," he said through gritted teeth. "No shoes in bed."

Marissa looked at her boots and then down at his legs.

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