Page 82 of Captured By the Alien

Thirty Five

Wordlessly she turned in the circle of his arms until she could push her face into the crook of his neck and breathe him in.

“You found me.”

Kara’s voice was small and lost, and Vahn frowned.

“I will always find you, beloved. What is wrong?”

His concern touched something vulnerable inside her and she was mortified to find tears pricking at her eyes.

“Nothing. I just miss you.”

“I miss you tookalehsha.You do not know how hard it was for me to sit so close to you and not kiss you. You were the most beautiful thing at the ball tonight.”

She snuffled into his neck.

“Even more beautiful than Layahn?” God, she sounded like a jealous child.

“A hundred times more beautiful. A thousand.” His voice held a note of amusement. “There are no multiples large enough to describe how much more beautiful you are.”

“Rhyn said I could be grossly ugly for a human and no-one would ever know.”

“Then Rhyn will be dead by morning.”

He was joking but a shiver ran down Kara’s spine. If he ever thought someone had hurt her for real, he wouldn’t be able to control himself. She had to remember that.

She kissed his neck, then his jaw.

“I wish we could be together all the time,” she said.

He put a finger under her chin and tilted her head back so he could look at her.

“I wish the same thing,kalehsha.When you are my Zhaalini I will never leave your side again.”

“Promises,” she said, laughing. Too late she saw his face darken.

“You are injured,” he said heavily. “Your face. It’s bruised.”

Shit.She honestly hadn’t expected to see anyone and she hadn’t applied any concealer. The bruise had darkened to an angry blackish red, covering her cheekbone and part of her eye socket.

“It’s nothing,” she said quickly. “I got it in the challenge.”

“Somebody hit you.” His pupils narrowed to slits. “Tell me who did this to you.”

“Vahn…”

“Tell me.”

“Nobody.”

“Who. Did. This?”

Rage began to boil off him and she did the only thing she could think of. She slapped him. It wasn’t a hard slap, more of a tap on his cheek, but it shocked him into focusing on her rather than the bruise.

“Enough of the macho shit,” she said, thankful her voice wasn’t shaking. “Nobody hit me. I ran into a tree during the challenge. Okay?”

“A tree.”

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