Page 74 of Stranded with the Alien

“We both have two eyes.” He stroked the bridge of her nose. “Two nostrils.” A finger traced the outline of her bottom lip. “One mouth.” Each fleeting touch sent delicious little butterflies tumbling in her stomach. “Why do you think our mouths were made so alike, human?”

“Maybe it’s just the best biological design,” she mumbled. “For… for talking. And eating. And breathing.”

He bent closer and heat curled at her core. She was finding it hard to concentrate.

“And kissing?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “And kissing.”

Mere millimeters now separated them, the tension between them thick and syrupy. Vahn knew it was a mistake, that kissing the human would only make it harder to break thekalehshbond. But he found himself unable to focus on anything except her lips.

He imagined the pleasure of claiming them, tasting them. Ravishing them until they were as plump and tender asgaciaberries and just as sweet. He moved closer still until his breath feathered across her skin.

Somewhere at the back of his mind he wondered why Kara wasn’t resisting. And for that matter, why she hadn’t resisted three days before when he’d feasted on her. She should have been repelled by his advances but she was not. Indeed, she had willingly invited intimacy between them. He just didn’t know why.

Hewas affected bykalehsh, true, but she was not. As a human, she couldn’t be. Yet looking now at her dilated pupils and parted lips, he was fairly certain that if he kissed her she would kiss him back.

An unwelcome notion seeped into his feverish thoughts. He tried to shake it off yet it was impossible to ignore.There’s only one reason Kara would ever kiss a Vraxian. And it had nothing to do with her own desires.

It was him. He was releasing mating pheromones. It was the only explanation.

On Vraxos whenkalehshmates found each other, the release of biological chemicals was mutual. But Kara was human and had no idea what was happening.

That was why she’d let him taste her that night by the lake. And that was why she’d allowed him to hold her after her bad dream. It all made sense now. She was simply under the influence of his alien biology.

Drek.

Abruptly, he unwound his serpetri from her and pushed her from his lap.

“If the cur isn’t convinced by now, it never will be,” he said shortly.

He picked up the bag and resumed walking as if nothing had happened.

Kara gasped as though she’d had a bucket of ice water dashed in her face. She got to her feet, confused and disorientated, and wondered what the hell had just happened.

Thirty Three

They walked in silence. As the hours passed, Kara’s initial shock turned to embarrassment, shame, and finally anger.

What right did he have to humiliate her, she thought furiously? She was convinced he’d been about to kiss her. It hadn’t been play-acting, she was absolutely certain of that. And then he’d what, changed his mind?I mean, what thefuck?

It wouldn’t have been so embarrassing if she hadn’t wanted him to do it. That was what she had a hard time admitting.

She had totally been up for it.

Sweet Jesus. Please tell me I don’t fancy him.

The truth was she’d been different around him ever since that heated ‘research’ in the tent when he’d made her come with his mouth.

No, let’s be honest. It was that first time in the cave when he used his serpetri on me.

The memory still made her face hot.

She liked him. She couldn’t deny it. More than liked him. Even now, as angry as she was, she couldn’t help dwelling on the play of his muscles as he strode through the trees.

But damn, he’d pissed her off. They were supposed to have a truce. She’d even told him they were friends. And the alien asshole had thrown it back in her face.

They reached the banks of the river they’d seen from the plateau and Vahn set up the tent. He worked quickly, wanting to make sure Kara had shelter before he left.

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