Page 26 of Maid for the Alien Prince

Growling at the back of his throat. His eyes fixed firmly on my ass as I was bent over a particularly beautiful antique table, my skirt hitched up, almost exposing my underwear to anyone who might have been passing.

How embarrassing.

I colored immediately, my cheeks glowing bright red. I didn’t need more than one guess to know exactly what was running through his mind right at that moment.

I straightened up, pulled my skirt back down so it covered my ass, held my dirty rag in my hands, and lowered my eyes.

He entered the room and completely dominated it. How anyone could have mistaken him for a poor commoner was hard to comprehend.

He walked with a grace, athleticism, and control that no peasant possessed. Perhaps he only graduated into this role after he learned the truth of his birth and heredity.

He stopped in front of me and waited as I gradually raised my eyes to his. He didn’t say a word but I heard the high-pitched “Eep!” from Emma’s throat at my side.

I met Rayaw’s gaze. His golden syrupy eyes melted my own, but I held my resolve.

I would only be here for a week. He couldn’t fire me—not if he wanted to keep his Steyatt plaything close by.

He tore his eyes from mine and strode out of the room. Only then did I release the breath I didn’t know I had been holding.

Emma let out her own deep sigh of relief. “Thank God he’s gone! I always get nervous when he’s around. He always makes me feel like he’s some kind of predator, and me his unwilling prey.” She shook her head. “I feel sorry for whoever he ends up using as his Steyatt mate this week. That’s a fate I’m glad I avoided, that’s for sure.”

She turned and resumed scrubbing at the furniture. She might have avoided his advances… not all of us were so lucky.

I had recognized the hungry look in Rayaw’s eye the moment his golden orbs locked on mine.

It is time, they had screamed at me.

That, coupled with the deep growl at the back of his throat, told me just about everything I needed to know. It was time to carry out my duty—my ‘service’ as he undoubtedly considered it to be.

“I… need to take a break,” I said. “I’ll be… right back.”

I tucked the rag in the front pocket of my apron and left the room.

I moved through the hallways like a zombie, my mind whirring at a thousand miles an hour, knowing that if I wanted, I could just turn, run, and leave the palace right now, and I would not have to go through with this.

But no matter how I turned down those long hallways, I seemed to end up where I had set out to go in the first place:

The Pink Petal Suite.

I took a deep breath and checked the hallway was empty—I was disappointed to see that it was—and straightened my uniform and tucked my hair behind my ears.

As if he even cared what I looked like!

I was a piece of meat to him, I had to remind myself. He hadn’t chosen me because I was the best option. He had chosen me because I was the only option.

I ground my teeth. I don’t know why that bugged me so much, but it did.

“That’s it!” I growled. “I just want to get this over and done with.”

I knocked on the door and waited for him to reply. When he didn’t, I knocked again. And when he didn’t respond a second time, I refused to wait any longer, depressed the handle, and entered.

The room appeared to be empty. I shut the door behind myself, crept towards the bathroom, and put my head inside. He wasn’t there either.

I didn’t know if I was relieved or disappointed. My emotions were a jumbled mass of confusion.

So… what exactly did he expect me to do now?

He had given me the eye—at least, I thought he had—but perhaps I was mistaken. Maybe he didn’t want me here at all. Maybe I had completely misread his intentions.

---