Page 41 of Fated to the Alien Rebel

Knowing the pleasure it brings her, I stroke her clit. I want her to reach her climax once more before I join her. It does not take long before she cries out my name and I lose myself to the most wonderful feeling ever. My whole body goes rigid as I spill my fluid. With my chest heaving with the effort, I stroke Sage’s cheek. Her eyes flutter open to meet mine. The most perfect smile forms on her lips andshe turns her head to touch her mouth to the inside of my hand. Her fingers loosen their grip on my shoulders and she runs then along the crest of them.

Not wanting to crush her, I withdraw from her cunt and move to my side. She turns to face me and snuggles against my chest. My tail loops down the length of her leg and the end of brushes up and down the lower part of it. A sense of peace settles within my chest.

“Did I please mykeeshla?” I believe I did, but perhaps in my inexperience I missed something.

Sage rubs her cheek along my upper arm and murmurs a small sound. “You were perfect.”

I had hoped merely to not embarrass myself with my inexperience. “I am glad you believe so.”

She tips her head back to stare up at me. “Everything about you is perfect, actually. Or at least perfect to me. You make me feel special. As though I am the most important person in the world to you. No one’s treated me like I’m important. No one.”

“Then they were all fools.”

Sage stretches up and places her mouth on mine. It is gentle. Soft. Sweet. Like her. She ends our mouth touching and presses herself closer to me. Her breath is hot against my skin and my mating marks have not stopped tingling. It is a constant vibration that rattles over my flesh. In the pale firelight, I can tell they have darkened more. A sign that the mate bond is deepening.

I continue holding Sage as her breathing deepens and she makes faint rumbling sounds. My eyes grow heavy as well. I tighten my hold on her and slowly drift off, content to have my mate in my arms.

Faint whimpers make their way into my consciousness. I open my eyes to a darkened interior. The fire has died down and a chill is in the air. In my arms, Sage jerks and cries out. Her head swivels back and forth and her hair lies damp on her brow. She mumbles what sounds like “no” and she twitches more.

“Sage.” It is only a whisper as I do not want her frightened. “All is well. Can you hear me?”

The wetness she called tears spills down her cheeks. What is causing her distress? I tighten my hold, hoping to comfort her and she thrashes against me, pushing me away. I call her name once more and in a move that startles me, she sits straight up and takes in harsh, ragged breaths. I gently lay my hand on her arm and she scrambles away from me with a shriek. Her eyes are wide and filled with panic.

“Sage. It is I, Jodah.” I do not raise my voice, but rather keep it soft as if calming a frightened dreri.

At last, her gaze grows focused and lands on me. Her face crumples and she covers it with her hands, shaking her head back and forth, apologies spilling from her lips. Slowly and carefully, I close the distance between us and gentlytouch her shoulder. She flinches, but before I can guess her intent, she throws herself in my arms and buries her face in my neck. The tears she sheds glide down my flesh, but I do nothing to wipe them away. I merely hold her.

I do not know how much time passes before her tears slow and she sags against me. Her breathing slows although she takes in one long shuddering breath. At last, she draws away and wipes the wetness from her face. She folds her legs and brings them up toward her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

“Sage?”

Her eyes meet mine and they are filled with so much sorrow. “I guess it was good while it lasted.”

Chapter 20

Sage

It’s been since before Jodah was injured that I had a nightmare. Of course, right after the most beautiful night of my life, one had to show up to ruin everything. I should have known it wouldn’t last. Because once Jodah learns the truth, not having a soul light will give him the excuse he needs to reject the mate bond. To reject me.

“Sage?” he says my name like a question again.

I don’t want to see the disgust in his eyes when he learns the truth, so I stare at the fire, but don’t really see it. “I told you that when I lived on Earth, I worked for a biotech company. It wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life, but I’d hoped by getting my foot in the door, it would lead me to something better. Mannori Technologies is one of the biggest names in science. After I graduated from college, Isomehow lucked out and was hired as an assistant to the CEO—the boss.”

I’d been twenty-two and confident that once I got hired and could show Mr. Griffith how smart I was, he’d allow me to shadow a few of his scientists, but there was always one excuse after another from him.

“Almost from the beginning the sexual harassment began. He’d make inappropriate comments about my body or my clothes. That went on for a while. I told him more than once he made me uncomfortable speaking to me that way and he’d stop, but it didn’t take long before he’d start up again. This went on for a few years. It was a constant issue. Then it escalated. He continued making suggestive remarks, but then he would also touch me. They were only fleeting. Sometimes I wondered if I’d imagined them. But then he got bolder.”

The same helpless feeling runs through me.

“One night, I had to work late to finish up some reports. I’d just dropped them off on Mr. Griffith’s desk and was about to leave when he walked through the door.” I still haven’t looked at Jodah and he’s remained quiet this whole time. I’m not sure I can bear to see his face. “I knew something bad was going to happen as soon as I laid eyes on him. The way he undressed me with his eyes. He came toward me and I tried to avoid him, but he pinned me to his desk. He kissed me. Grabbed my breast. Inched up my skirt. My hand bumped against something heavy on his desk, and I didn’t think. I just grabbed it and hit him. Over and over, I hit him with it. Even after I saw the blood I kept hitting him. All Iwanted was for him to stop. I never meant to…to kill him.”

All the tears I’d shed have dried up. My eyes are gritty. There’s a sick feeling in my stomach and I want to run out of Jodah’s tent and throw up. I only hug my knees tighter to my chest with my chin resting on my knees. It’s almost a relief, really, getting it all out in the open. There isn’t the constant threat that my secret will get out. All I have left to do is face the male who already has a reason to reject me.

Gathering the minuscule amount of courage I have, I turn my gaze from just beyond the fire to Jodah and brace myself for his rejection.

He doesn’t speak. But the muscles in his jaw shift, rolling along the sharp edge of it, drawing my attention. It’s the only movement I can see. I’m not sure he’s even breathing. And then in my periphery there’s the slightest twitch of his hands, and I realize they’re clenched in fists. I jerk my eyes back up to meet his, my heart dropping into my stomach at the visible sign of his rage.

“Males on your planet hurt their females? They touch them in places only a mate should touch without their consent?” Jodah grinds out the question through clenched teeth. “He hurt you?”

---