Page 7 of All for the Beast

Katy felt her face flushing, which simultaneously caused her mind to go blank. She didn’t remember the last time anyone had made her feel that flustered by their presence alone. It usually took her a few dates to start to fall for someone, and it was rarely because of how they looked.

She realized she was wringing her hands when he gave her a million-dollar smile, his teeth twinkling in the battling suns.

“Let’s walk and talk,” he suggested.

Katy nodded sheepishly, then started alongside the tall alien man toward the area he was just coming from.

He spoke with his hands behind his back, towering over her so severely that he was able to act as Katy’s own personal beachside umbrella.

“So you are from Earth, Katy?”

She nodded frantically.

“Yes, born and raised. I have an abundant amount of experience with tourism and activities that could generate money if that is what you are seeking. I am currently on leave as cruise manager on a liner in the Caribbean. Have you heard of it?”

She was rambling and tried to tell herself to slow down as Vharlk gave her a small smirk.

“Of the ocean or the liner?” he quipped.

His sea-soaked eyes glimmered at her, and before she could correct herself, a few fellow shifters came by, greeting him by name. He nodded at them, giving them a polite greeting, and turned back to her promptly.

“Does everyone know you here?” Katy said, the words firing out of her mouth.That is a good sign, she thought to herself.A man of the people.

Vharlk continued to walk along, nodding.

“I’m not just a cruise operator,” he said, looking onward at the pier. “I’m also an heir around here.”

Katy instinctively frowned, looking at the half-built vessel they were walking toward. Katy often dealt with occurrences she hadn’t predicted with humor, and since Vharlk was so handsomely intimidating, she put it into play quickly.

“What, are you some kind of prince or something?”

He stopped abruptly, his face turning dark. He turned to her, looming over her tiny stature.

“I am,” he said. “I am Prince Vharlk of Siborim. And you, Katy Jacobson, are my fated mate.”

For a moment, Katy thought she was on some kind of reality show. Or perhaps she actually was tripping on acid. She stared into the depths of Vharlk’s eyes, losing herself, like falling down a rabbit hole.

There were no sounds along the pier other than her own heart beating in her chest like an angry drum. The prince stood there, waiting for an answer.

Katy, once again, lost her voice and merely stared back, the soft crashes of pink water filling the void of silence.

“I … I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Katy said finally.

She felt her body tense in defense, the way it would when anyone tried to force their beliefs upon her. Her mind became a carnival of fearful thoughts, accompanied by the possibility that she was going to regret leaving her own planet.

FOUR

VHARLK

Katy stepped away from him. Her face betrayed her shock.

“What isthatsupposed to mean?”

Vharlk felt as though he had been hit. Surely, she must have been interested in him. Even if she did not know what being a mate entailed, her pheromones betrayed how much she wanted him. He could smell that she was as into him as he was into her.

“It means that you and I belong to each other. It means we are bonded for life.”

She scrunched her face in disgust. “So I’m your property. Got it. Really nice.” She laid the sarcasm on thick with the last part.

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