Page 16 of The Alien's Vicious Starflash Manor

Her jaw tightens, and for the first time, I truly see the resemblance between Izzy and Lara. “Then you can’t buy us.”

“I already have,” I remind the younger sister.

After all this time manipulating events, I find myself wishing there had been another way. But wishes are luxuries I cannot afford.

So many things I can’t afford.

That’s really nothing an Icecaix duke should ever have to say to himself.

Lara steps closer to her sister, reaching for her hand. She inhales deeply before she starts speaking. “I promised I’d explain everything, remember? Well, we’re going to a planet called Trasq.”

“That’s where you’ve been all this time?”

Lara makes a sound of assent, then gestures toward me with her chin. “He’s some kind of alien ice duke there.”

A burst of hysterical laughter escapes Izzy. “A what?”

“It’s like an ice elf—but not like Santa’s elves.” She pauses and huffs out something resembling a laugh. “Except I guess he does kind of live at the North Pole. At least, that’s what it feels like.”

“Perhaps I can help clarify.” Cyan takes on a pedantic tone. “Trasq is the fourth planet in the Caix system, primarily inhabited by two races of what humans might call ‘fae’—the Icecaix and the Starcaix—and a third race, the firelords. His Lordship, a noble among the Icecaix, holds the title of Duke of Starfrost, and as such, is responsible for the domain of the same name.”

I pull up navigation displays from the controls in the captain’s chair, pretending to study them while actually watching the sisters. The two girls stand close together, Lara slightly in front of Izzy as if to shield her, Izzy on her toes as if prepared to dart in any direction as soon as she sees a way out.

Lara’s copper-gold curls catch the blue light from the displays, while Izzy’s darker hair absorbs it.

Fire and shadow, I think, though they share the same amber-flecked eyes—eyes that draw me to her in Lara’s case, make me want to own her, keep her, protect her… and do no such thing in Izzy’s case. I find myself regarding Lara’s sister with the same cold analysis that she turns on me.

If not for Lara, I would not care about this human’s wellbeing at all beyond my plans for the sisters.

Goddess, why couldn’t I have reacted to Lara the same way?

“The Caix are an ancient race,” Cyan continues, clearly enjoying her role as lecturer. “The Caix possess significant magical abilities, particularly in relation to temperature manipulation and stellar energies. The Icecaix control the frozen regions, while the Starcaix?—”

“This is insane,” Izzy interrupts. “Magic? Aliens? You’re all completely crazy.”

I push away from the captain’s chair, fighting the urge to massage my temples as my magic once again flickers and dims. “Cyan, prepare the stasis fruit.”

“Already done, Your Lordship,” she responds, managing to make the title sound like gentle mockery.

A panel slides open beside me, revealing the clear storage unit where the fruit gleams like rubies caught in ice.

The sight sends memories flooding through me—how I fisted my hands in Lara’s hair, pulled her to me, and pressed the fruit to her lips. The way her breath hitched, her defiance as she tried to turn away, the heat of her mouth when I finally forced the fruit past her resistance.

Even now as I retrieve one of the globes, my cock hardens instantly at the memory of her submission—willing or not.

Lara’s eyes narrow as she watches me handle the fruit. She remembers too—I can see it in the way her breath quickens, the slight parting of her lips that makes me want to claim her mouthagain. The ribbons around her wrists pulse with my need, in time to my cock’s throbbing.

Even here, surrounded by technology that would see me exiled from court, I am still Icecaix. Still driven by duty and blood to save my dying world. Still fighting this maddening need to possess her completely.

Goddess save me, but I want to recreate that moment. Want to back her into a corner and shove the fruit down her throat as she fights against my control. Want to taste the sweetness on her tongue afterward, to feel her melt against me as the sedative takes hold.

“Your core temperature is rising again, Your Lordship,” Cyan announces cheerfully. “Shall I log this as another physical response to?—”

“Stop.” With effort, I turn toward Izzy instead of her sister, though every fiber of my being screams to do otherwise.

The sooner everyone else is in cryosleep, the better. Everyone. Including Lara.

Because I am not free to do what I want. Even here, surrounded by technology that would see me exiled from court, I am still Icecaix. Still driven by duty and blood to save my dying world. Still fighting this maddening need to possess her completely.

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