Page 10 of Chosen By the Alien
Tahl watches me with a calm I don’t deserve. “Does this frighten you?”
I don’t answer right away. Iamafraid, sort of, but not in the way I expected. I’m not scared of being hurt. I’m scared of howbeautifulhe is. Of how my body reacts to his.
“I…” I start, then shake my head. “I don’t even know what I’m looking at.”
He kneels slowly in front of me. “I have come to Earth for a mate,” he says, like this is the most natural thing in the world.“I’have studied your language. Your customs. I followed your scent.”
The air leaves my lungs in one messy breath. “My scent.”
“Yes.” He’s so close now, I can feel the heat radiating from his skin. “You do not realize how loud you are to me. How alive. I knew the moment I saw you.”
I laugh. Nervous. Weak. “This is crazy. People don’t… this isn’t how things happen.”
“People,” he says, his eyes locking on mine. “People are not me.”
His hand touches my knee.
Same jolt.
Like earlier, like a pulse through my bones. My breath hitches.
I should pull away. Ishould. But I don’t. I’m rooted in place by something I don’t understand. My heart is hammering, not out of fear, but anticipation.
I whisper, “I don’t understand what’s happening to me.”
Tahl cups my face, fingers warm and sure. “Let me show you. You can stop any time.”
His lips are on mine before I realize what’s happening.
Soft.
Warmer than I expected.
Not rushed. Not rough. Justthere, pressing gently, asking instead of taking. And something in me breaks open, something I didn’t even know I’d been holding back. Because my mouth opens to his. My hand finds his bare shoulder. My head tilts. And then I’m kissing himback.
God.
His lips taste like heat and ozone. Like the air right before a storm breaks. His tongue teases at the seam of my mouth, not demanding, just asking. I let him in. I don’t think. I justfeel.
His hands slide down, one at the nape of my neck, the other brushing over my side, and I shiver. My skin is on fire. I’ve kissed women before, plenty. But this… this is different. Not just because he’s a man. Because he’shim. He kisses like he’s learning me. Like he’s hungry for something he doesn’t know the name for yet.
And maybe I am too.
I don’t know what to do with my hands, so I hold his waist. His body isso warm, his skin slick in this unreal way, but still familiar enough that I don’t want to stop touching. I grip tighter. He makes a sound in his throat—deep and satisfied—and kisses me deeper.
I moan before I can stop it.
Fuck. I’m hard.
It’s not subtle. There’s no hiding it.
Tahl slows the kiss. Pulls back just enough to look at me.
His eyes, glowing and golden, search mine. “Do you want to stop?”
I don’t speak. I can’t.
Ishouldsay yes. Ishouldwalk away and pretend none of this happened. I’m not… I’ve never even thought about guys this way.
