Page 66 of Claimed by an Alien Warrior

One corner of his mouth rose in a half-smile, displaying his right pair of fangs. “No. I wouldn’t.” Keeping his upper arms on the table, he settled his lower hands over his abdomen, twining their fingers together. “I want you to remove your harness — yourbra— and hand it to me. You don’t have to take off your top covering.”

Zoey stared at him blankly. “You want my bra?”

“I’ll return it later.”

Laughing, she shook her head. “Okay. You sure I can’t just go and grab one out of my suitcase?”

“Only if you wish to incur my wrath, human.”

“Of course not.” Zoey stood up and turned her back to Ren. She pulled her arms into her sweater, reached behind her back, and unhooked her bra. After sliding theharnessoff, she passed it between her hands as she slipped her arms back into her sleeves.

She turned to face Ren and held her bra out to him. “Your prize.”

Ren leaned forward and plucked it from her grasp. He raised the bra to his face, inhaled deeply, and smiled. Zoey’s jaw dropped. That small action, combined with the smoldering intensity in his eyes, made her body react instantly. A flush spread throughout her body, and her breasts, now free of restriction, felt heavy and full. Her nipples tightened as they brushed against her sweater.

He draped her bra over the empty chair beside him. “Your move, Zoey.”

“You’d better hope I don’t get another king,” she said, sitting down.

“Part of me hopes you do.”

They played a few more turns, and it felt like a cat and mouse game — she’d move her king up, then he’d crowd her and force her back. Her brow fell as she studied the board. His moves grew bolder with each passing turn; he had her on the defensive, and he knew it.

He slid another piece into a square at her end of the board. “King me.”

She stacked one of his fallen checkers onto the new king and met his gaze expectantly.

“Let your hair down,” he said.

Zoey released a slow breath and did as he instructed. Not so bad. On her turn, she jumped one of his few remaining pieces.

“What are you going to do when you get home?” she asked.

“I will honor my fallenUmen’rakas my final duty, and then I will have earned the right to claim a mate and live out the remainder of my life in peace.”

“Oh.”

Claim a mate— those few, simple words were like a punch to her gut. But what had she thought was going to happen? He was going home to live his life on another planet. If it included a…a mate, and a family, that was his business. Just like she’d be moving on with her life when he was gone…

The thought of him having that life proved a powerful distraction; two turns later, he jumped another of her checkers and landed on her end of the board. He demanded she king him again.

Maybe she shouldn’t have given him an incentive to play better.

“You are troubled,” he said. “What are you thinking about?”

“You.”

“Me? What specifically?”

“I answered you honestly. You only won a single question.”

Mischief lit in his gaze again. “Is that how we’re going to play, then?”

“Haven’t we already been playing it that way?” she asked, arching a brow as she glanced at her bra.

He placed all four of his hands on the edge of the table, lifted himself slightly, and scooted his chair back. When he eased down again, he spread his arms to the sides. “Come and sit.”

“What?”

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