Page 18 of Guardian's Heart

Thankfully, his finger had retreated when I hissed. I covered my arm with the cape and ran the fingers of my other hand over the lines. It didn't even come close to the effect his touch had on me. Besides that, the skin didn't feel any different from when I usually touched myself. No raised lines, no hardened skin. Nothing.

"Now what?" I asked.

"I'll take you back to the city and from there to Astrionis, just like I told you I would." He stretched under me. Was he still hurting, too?

"I told you before I don't want to be a beggar."

"You won't be. Lord Protector Garth is building an entire colony. You will have to work to earn your keep," Zaarek filled me in.

"I can work." I nodded, slowly rising, using one of the gnarled roots to keep my balance. But I wasn't sure I was up to living among a lot of people. "How many will be there?"

"As far as I know, Lord Protector Garth is saving humans by the tens of thousands."

Zaarek's words were meant to reassure me, but instead, I made a face.

"What?" He knotted his brows.

"I'm not much of a people person," I admitted.

"You don't say." He chuckled, which seemed to cause him some discomfort in his stomach region. Served him right. I was glad I wasn't the only one suffering from the aftereffects of the pain from yesterday.

"No, seriously. I don't think I can live in a colony"—I made air quotation marks around the word—"filled with happy people, celebrating that they're still alive."

"Would you rather live in a gloomy colony where people were upset over what happened to them?" Zaarek queried, making it almost sound like a challenge.

I shook my head. "No, neither sounds very appealing."

He tilted his head slightly. "You know, this might be surprising, but I'm not much of a people person either. I like my solitude."

We stared at each other in silence, appreciating our strange traits.

"Still, we should get going." He checked the fire to make sure it was completely out.

"I would much rather stay here." I looked around the forest.

"I'm sure they'll find the right accommodations for you. You know what? If you hate it that badly, I promise I will bring you back here."

He grinned as if he meant his words as a joke.

"I'll take you up on it," I countered, throwing the words out like a challenge.

His grin didn't falter, and he held out his hand. "Good."

I was about to take his hand, but the aliens seemed to have other customs; his hand reached for my arm, clasping it, and I automatically copied his moves, not remembering our new marks.

The shock was instant and simultaneous.

"Whoa!" He let go and shook his arm.

I did the same, staring at him in utter bewilderment.

"Yeah, whoa," I echoed, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart. Fuck, that had been like an electric shock. No, screw that. An electric shock hurt; this didn't exactly hurt… it was… fuck, say it, Nova. It had felt as if we had been in the middle of fucking, and he hit my G-spot. Yes, that's exactly what it had felt like. Except I hadn't been sexually turned on before. Now…don't look, Nova, don't you dare.

Fuck, his cock was huge and pressed hard against his pants.

He was as aroused as I was.

There was no way I was going to let him fuck me. Nope, not happening. Not today, anyway… shit where hadthatcome from?

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