Page 30 of Fated to the Alien Hero

“You are welcome to become friends with anyone you would like. I will never stop you from that.”

Astrid taps my arm with the side of her head. “I know you won’t. Heck, you’ve already nudged me in their direction once.”

“Only because I want you to be happy. Not only as a member of our tribe, but also with me.Iwant to make you happy.”

“You have no idea what it means to hear you say that.”

A shadow passes over us and we glance up. A shimmering illusion moves across the sky. I tip my head down to meet Astrid’s gaze.

“The Bohnari have come early.”

Chapter 14

Astrid

Ever since the Bohnari were mentioned I’ve been curious about them. Up until I arrived on Tavikh, I’d only ever seen one other race of aliens when a contingent of them arrived on Earth to negotiate some type of contract with our government. My father hadn’t been part of the negotiations, but one of his lawyer friends had been. I’d gone to their office building to take my dad something and I’d passed the group of them in the lobby.

“Are they flying in stealth mode?”

“I believe so. It is how they always arrive,” Evren explains. “First Alik, and once he deems it safe, then the rest show themselves.”

“Why wouldn’t it be safe? Aren’t you all friends? Or at least allies?”

“Yes, we are allies, but since they do not live on Tavikh, they do not know what they will find when they arrive. Perhaps our village has been destroyed. Or perhaps another warrior has stripped Zander of his role of shefir and does not want to remainon friendly terms with the Bohnari,” Evren says. “Not that either of those things will happen, but Alik has been betrayed before and vows he will not repeat the same mistakes.”

He’s said that name twice now. “Who’s Alik?”

“The Bohnari leader.”

“Why does he arrive first? Wouldn’t he want to send a subordinate to scout things out before potentially risking his own life if things down here aren’t what they expect?”

Evren chuckles. “Alik doesn’t fully trust anyone but himself and his crew. Zander is a distant place behind all of them. He also would not send anyone to do something he would not do himself first.”

The Bohnari leader sounds kind of scary. As though sensing my hesitation, Evren’s tail caresses my back in a comforting gesture.

“I promise, Alik is a friend of the Tavikhi. He is also extremely fond of human women so do not be surprised if he flirts with you. That is what Zara calls it anyway. When he does, I promise I will try not to be jealous.”

The thought makes me laugh. “I doubt your friend will flirt with me.”

Evren stops in the middle of the path next to the field we finally reached, which causes me to as well. I turn to glance over at him. There’s a fierce expression on his face.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Why do you think the Bohnari would not flirt with you?”

I laugh again, only this time nervously. “I’m not really the kind of woman guys flirt with.”

“You are exactly the type of female Alik would like,” Evren says sharply and steps into my personal space. I should be scared, but the intensity and heat of his stare makes my body burn. “You are beautiful and your curves make a male want to run his hands along them. Your ass is plump, and every time you walk I watch the way it moves and my fingers itch to know what it feels like beneath them. You are soft, but I do not worry that you can take me when the time comes for me to be inside your cunt. Everything about you is perfect, so the Bohnari has every reason to flirt with you.”

With each blunt word Evren says, I grow hotter and my pussy throbs like it had when he made me orgasm back inside the cave. Maybe I should be bothered by the presumption that we’ll fuck, but every day that passes, I wonder why I’m holding back. I shouldn’t be loyal to Grady. Not after everything.

The only response I can come up with is to rise up on my toes, palm the back of Evren’s neck, and claim his lips with mine. I withdraw and lower myself back down.

“Thank you.”

From this moment on, I’m going to do whatever I can to forget every little dig about my appearance that Grady has made over the years. His opinion is worth less than shit. It’s not going to be easy, but I want to get back to the woman I was before I let him erode away my self-esteem. I want to be the confident woman my mother made me. The one who doesn’t let any man make me feel less than. She was right. The degrading comments are the ones that stick with a person.

Evren takes my hand again and leads me along the path, and soon we’re walking past the bizele crop and the elders’ tents. Instead of heading to the healer’s tent, we make our waytoward the central fire where a crowd has already gathered in preparation of the Bohnari’s arrival.

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