Page 26 of Fated for the Alien Fighter

Well, she could try.

Leah put on a smile and raised her hand. Then she dropped it. She couldn’t shake hands with a bush–could she?

“Hi!” she said, sounding much too naive. “Can I come closer and look at your flowers? The super sturdy ones, not the buds, that would be rude and–”

The bush bristled, its tiny yellow flowers closing.

Some Quillons snickered from behind. Leah’s cheeks heated up.

“I guess that’s a no,” she muttered just as a car-sized bullet whistled into view.

It was so fast, her eyes had a hard time tracking it. It came to a halt right in front of them.

Its side slid to the left, revealing two of the most comfortable seats Leah had ever seen, covered in what looked like clouds. Literally. Fluffy clouds made out of fabric.

“The plants don’t understand what you are yet. But when they do, they can be very friendly,” Taryn said and raised his arm toward one of the branches hanging above. The branch lowered slowly. One of its plump, blue flowers fell and glided right into his palm.

“I want to be able to do that,” Leah whispered, fascinated.

“You will.”

Before she could ask how–and when–Taryn twirled the flower between his fingers and placed its small stem against Leah’s ear, fixing it in her hair.

The movement didn’t take more than a millisecond–he was insanely fast–but it ignited every nerve ending in her body.

This was ridiculous. Taryn hadn’t even touched her.

But it had been a long time since anyone had given her anything. And he’d done it just because.

Her fingers gently traced the flower. It felt warm against her skin and hair.

“Thank you,” she said, a curious lilt in her voice. Like she couldn’t believe someone was being nice to her without expecting anything in return.

“You’re welcome. It matches the color of your eyes,” he said, staring down at her with that unrelenting intensity that turned the tingles into shivers.

He must have been spinning some dark magic for her to react like this whenever he so much as breathed.

This was bad.

She wasn’t supposed to feelanythingfor him.

She ripped her gaze away from his before she did something stupid, like hug him. Or kiss him. “This is our ride?”

“We’re going inside, not riding on top of it,” he said, confused. “But yes, it’s ours.”

More snickers resounded from the Quillons as Taryn helped Leah inside the ship. He stilled, before turning.

Leah couldn’t tell what he was doing, but that weird aura of his changed. In an instant, the Quillons around them fell silent. One of them bowed, a bit unsure.

Wow. Leah had never seen someone silence so many with one look.

Taryn gave a curt nod, before returning his attention to her. His face softened instantly. He guided her closer to the ship, making sure not to touch her skin directly. The warmth from his hand ignited the small of her back, seeping through her gauzy dress. Leah clenched her jaw against the heavenly sensation.

No. She couldn’t do that.

He was off-limits.

She had to get information, not get caught, then go back home.

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