Page 12 of Ulfar

A warm, easy smile blooms across her face. It’s one of satisfaction. Of peace. What I wouldn’t give to see that smile forever. But I know it can’t last. She probably has a life to go back to on Earth. Family. Friends. And that reminds me...

“You never told me much about your family,” I start, cautious.

I feel her body tense under my touch, but it lasts only a moment before she relaxes again. Bet she thinks I didn’t notice. I know better.

“There’s not much to say,” Sarah says casually with a shrug. “I live with my father and I work at a library. That’s about it.”

There’s more to the story. There always is. But if she’s not willing to tell, then I’m not going to force her.

I just hope a time will come when she trusts me enough to tell the truth.

“Why are you taking such good care of me?” she asks, changing the subject. It’s an absurd question, but she turns her head to meet my gaze, expression serious. “You don’t have to do all of this. When I read the brochures and reports about what to expect, I didn’t think...”

I snort. “Those pamphlets are woefully outdated. And how can a block of text describe such a precious experience as this?”

She purses her lips with momentary doubt but relaxes against the edge of the tub at last. Tilting her head back, I carefully wash the suds away and run my fingers through the strands to work out any tangles.

“But why?” she asks again. It seems so obvious to me, but maybe she isn’t feeling the same way. Maybe I was only projecting my own hopes and dreams onto her. My heart thuds painfully for a second. What if she’s not happy here? What if she wants to leave?

“Why do the suns come up in the morning? Why do the birds sing their song? It pleases me to take care of you. It’s a drive all alphas share. We may be intimidating on the battlefield, sure, but we fight hard and love harder. Nothing brings me, or any alpha, more pleasure than ensuring that their omega is well looked after.”

Sarah stills at last, going soft and pliant beneath me. Her hair splays out in lovely waves where it touches the water, and as her dark eyes meet mine, I feel a wrenching in my heart that I know will never go away as long as I live. I never expected to fall for this female. Especially not so hard, and so fast.

The worst part of it all is that she’s not even mine.

“I’ll take care of you,” I murmur, breathing in the sweet scent of her and hoping I can remember it forever, long after she’s gone. “As long as I’m able to.”

It’s almost imperceptible, but I’ve been trained to notice micro expressions that most do not. A brief flicker of guilt passes over her face. A muscle ticks in her jaw. A single tear wells up under her long eyelashes.

She’s hiding something. And it might not be today or tomorrow, but I’m going to find out what.

FALLEN STARS

SARAH

When I worked as a librarian, one of my guilty pleasures was reading the steamiest romance novels I could get my hands on. I imagined it was me having all those sexy escapades, even though I knew it would likely never happen in real life. Fiction is always better than reality, right?

How wrong I was.

I’m lying under the cool satin sheets, enjoying the feel of the cloth against my bare skin as I stare up at the clouds through the skylight. My heat’s finally passing, and even though my body’s sore from all the sex, I’ve never been so satisfied and confident in my life.

Since I started working with my heat instead of against it, I’ve experienced heights of pleasure I’d only read about. I surprised myself with how easily I gave in. How submissive I become when I’m with him, and how his stern voice and loving dominance make me feel powerful in a way that I never have before.

I began asking for what I wanted. I began to respect not only him, but my own body as well.

And with every night that passes, I find my heart opening further. Feel myself slipping into feelings I have no right to feel.

It will make my eventual betrayal that much harder, and yet...

I wouldn’t take it back for the world.

I sit up and throw my legs over the bed, yawning and stretching before padding over to the dresser. Ulfar had it filled with clothes in his people’s style, and while I found some of the garments a bit odd at first, I can’t deny they’re extremely comfortable. Slipping a soft, airy dress over my head, I run a brush through my hair before putting it up into a ponytail.

I’m leaving the cottage today for the first time since my heat started. Vi and I are going to meet at the gardens nearby, and I can’t help but wonder how she’s doing. Vi is the only other person I even slightly know around here, and it will be nice to talk to someone who isn’t Ulfar for a change.

My clit throbs at the thought of him. Even though my heat is finally dissipating, I can’t help the way my body reacts to him. At first, I thought it was purely a hormonal thing, an artificial attraction no more trustworthy than a love potion, but as time went on I realized that my feelings went deeper than that.

I think I’m actually falling for him.

---