Page 13 of Touch the Stars
“Yes.”
Another step.“That is impossible.”
“Bullshit.”
That was a new word.He had listened to many transmissions in many languages as he had approached her planet.His translation device could decipher most of her words now.This “bullshit” was one word it had not learned.
“Whatever this contraption is that we’re in can move.”She patted her hip with her free hand.“I’ve got the bruises to prove it.So, since you took us off our planet, you can put us back.”
“I am sorry, but I do not know your sister.”A third step.
“That’s close enough, buster.”She shook the shoe at him again.“I’m the ace pitcher of the Azura Airport Softball Team.Next time, I won’t miss.”
“Ball” and “team”?She must be an athlete of some sort, which meant she was physically fit.But, could she move as fast as an Undetan warrior?The corner of his mouth twitched.He lunged forward, leaping onto the bed and crossing the mattress in two steps—the same amount of time it would take to blink—not slowing as he raised his hands toward her shoulders in preparation to lift her from the floor.
Slam!
Stinging pain exploded across his cheek, and he sucked in a sharp breath.She did it!She struck him with the flat underside of her shoe.What an impressive show of courage.But still not enough to stop him.
Her dark eyes widened, and a small squeak passed through her parted lips as he closed his hands over her delicate shoulders and carried her with him.Then she was pressed between him and the wall behind her, pinned at eye level.Like a soft, warm cushion.Her breath fanned across his face, her lips a mere finger’s width from his.
I may have made a slight miscalculation.
But there was no undoing it now.Follow-through was necessary.
He moved his head back to put more distance between their lips.“You will not go back.If you agree not to attack me again, I will explain why this is.Will you listen now?”
Kaitlyn.
Jesus, Not Big Foot moved fast!Getting pinned between the wall and his hard, muscled body wasn’t part of her plan, yet here she was slightly oxygen deprived with her girl parts feeling all tingly.How warped was that?Too bad he didn’t seem to be in the mood to compromise, but that’s what happened after smacking someone in the face with a shoe.
Even if that someone was an alien.
With sexy, high cheek bones.Long, straight, raven-black hair that practically screamed for her to run her fingers through it.Penetrating blue eyes that were too gorgeous to look away from.They stood out like sapphires against the dusky sable tone of his skin.
This was so not what her first impression of him had been.Even five seconds ago, she’d thought she had a chance of convincing him to take her home.But now, not so much.Holy fuck, she was in trouble.
“I need your agreement.”His deep voice hummed through her body and settled in the juncture between her legs.He sucked in another sharp breath.“Bestill.”
A jolt of awareness shot through her.Dammit.How had she not realized she was gyrating her hips like a twerking teenager?
She wet her lips with her tongue.“If it’s such a problem, then put me down.”
Her stomach let out a long, gurgling moan and warmth crept up her neck.Great.Here she was, ready to proposition the hot alien she should hate, and her body decided it was time to remind everyone within thirty feet that it’s hungry.
Not Big Foot smirked.“You may eat once I have your agreement.”
How weird that the movement of his lips didn’t match the English words she heard.“Youshotme.Ya really think I’m going to let you poison me next?”
“A blanker is not used to kill, only to incapacitate.And poisoning you is not in the best interest of the empire.If you do not believe me, then I will eat with you.”
“How come I can understand you now?”
“I fitted you with a translator similar to my own.”He turned his head slightly, and a glint of a blue gemstone sparkled in his earlobe.It looked like an earring with a gold chain that ran up to a cuff clamped to the side of his ear.“The audio-stone receives the words, and the cuff transmits the translation to the language center of the brain until the wearer becomes fluent.”
Ooh, pretty and functional?“You mean I could literally learn to understandandspeak your language with that thing?”
He raised one black eyebrow as if he couldn’t believe she’d asked such a stupid question.Well, all right, then.Guess the answer was yes.
