Page 15 of Her Alien Delegate
"Not presently," I try to keep the gravel of lust from my words. Without her knowing the stories then my trophies mean nothing.
"What did you come here for?" she asked while her fingers stroked across my ormete. I groaned, unable to stop it from lifting up my throat. I regretted it immediately as her fingers stopped moving, retreating from me.
"I am to claim a title from the palace as a diplomat of AsunGor, and return with a mate to further my planet's relations with Trillume."
Perhaps she will accept being my delegate and I can court her properly, but the way her hand twitched in my hold told me that returning to my planet probably reminded her of being forced tomate with me as the trill had tried to do. "I will not harm you," I assured.
"Right..." she sighed before she whispered, "I'm sorry." Then she tried to extract her hand from mine, and I did not wish for our contact to be forced so I eased my hold, feeling her slip through my fingers.
Chapter seven
Evie
He was here to find a trill mate, and I'd been responsible for him killing a trill diplomat.
My lower jaw trembled at what it would mean for both of us to be found with Ter-ak's body. The palace would be furious.
"Will they punish you for harming Ter-ak?" I held my body to comfort myself, the chill from fighting off the poison still coursing through my veins. It was selfish, but I knew whatever they would do to punish him would be much worse for me and I needed to know if I would die because of this.
"Ter-ak? Is that his name? I had not expected him to have given you his name. That was presumptuous of me. I believe I've heard his name as one of the trill I was supposed to meet with at the palace later. If he is wise, he will not wish to mention this incident when we meet again. You are the only one who needs to know what this scar will remember for us. If he decides differently, all it does is add to my reputation."
I breathed a sigh of relief. Ter-ak wasn't dead; not if he was still speaking of him as if he would see him again. But then a chill traveled up my spin.
"Will he..." I couldn't bring myself to ask what would happen when he wakes.
"Wake again? Yes, the trill are a resilient species. They hibernate and come back time and time again from near death instances. I could sever his head to make sure he doesn't heal, if you are afraid of him?"
"No," I squeaked.
"That is a relief. It would be more difficult to bargain with the palace after knowing I have killed a diplomat of theirs, though I am under no obligation to disclose my actions while in the Blue District."
"You mean to bargain for a mate," I mumbled, feeling oddly jealous of another woman that would have a better match than the one I found lying in the other room. I wasn't a diplomat, or even under the protection of my contract anymore.
"Among other things," he agreed. "The trill are very attached to their contracts, and they have many resources, includingcontrol over Earthling trade and customs. It is rare to find a human outside trill protection."
"Me," I gasped, wondering if I should be backing away from this large, yet strangely alluring alien. His hair had braids that glowed silver, and skin that looked like granite rock that twinkled in the light. It would have been nice to see his eyes, since his voice was even and deep. I didn't really know what was going on in his head.
"Is there another?" he teased, and my worries evaporated.
A boldness came over me as I leaned in once more to whisper, "What kind of skills will you show your mate to earn her approval?"
There was something empowering about knowing he couldn't see me, and if he tried to hurt me the AI, BOD, would send a contract out to kill him.
"Is that an invitation?" His normally even voice vibrated with a growl that made me shiver. Fuck, he was so attractive, and the adrenaline of nearly being forced to mate with someone by poisoning was heightening my fear of knowing I may die tomorrow with regrets. The Blue District was about having experiences and yet he was still asking for my permission. My body heated all over and I absently stroked his jaw line with my free hand.
"Show me," I pleaded quietly.Show me what it means to be a cherished mate. Show me what it means to earned, not taken.
The strands of his hair floated in the air, and I gasped as one braid gently stroked across the back of my hand that held his cheek. Glowing silver, his hair twined around my wrist, tugging at me to come closer. And I silently obeyed, crawling into his lap, where his arms wrapped around me and lifted me up.
I stared at his features around the black sap molded to his eyes. There were fine grey lines, one darker on his chin thatdespite the smoothness of his skin, made me think these were scars as I ran my finger over the larger one in particular.
"Will you tell me about them?"
"Once I've earned the right to boast and have removed the fear that my failures would tarnish your thoughts."
I stifled a giggle at the ridiculousness of this large man being afraid of anything after easily taking down a trill like Ter-ak.
We stood at the sliding door out of the lavatory when he chuffed.Oh, right, I thought, at realizing he couldn't see anything. I pressed my hand to the wall, and the door slid open, but it wasn't to the room. The hallway was clear and I saw that this was actually a second entrance to the room.
