Page 8 of Roar Letter Word

She simply arrived, and it was assumed he would provide food and board for one week? No other rules? This was some dating agency …

“That sounds acceptable to me,” Mahes said. “What do you say? A week on Nova Aurora?”

That sounded acceptable to him? A woman from a dating agency shows up and asks him to live with a woman he’s never met for a week, and he just says yes? With no questions?

“It’s not an imposition, is it?”

Mahes smiled and gestured at his house. “Does it not look like I don’t have space for a guest room?”

He held out his hand to her. Addie felt acutely aware of the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

That was when she remembered what Pritesh had said.

A 100 percent success rate.

What if that was really true? What if this man was someone she could actually fall in love with? For real and forever? She’d have to be a fool to back away from that just because she was nervous about spending one week with a strange guy.

What was one week? And Gerri certainly wouldn’t have brought her here if this man was dangerous or unstable, right? And she had to give her at least one point … this Mahes guy was certainly good-looking enough.

A 100 percent success rate …

“I can do one week,” she said finally and clapped hands with Mahes. His hand and arm were both large, but his grip was gentle and sensitive. “That sounds fun.”

What’s the worst that could happen? A one-week fling. Even if he turned out to not be that interesting, she could enjoy one week with a guy who looked like this.

“Well, that’s perfect,” Gerri said. “I’ve got some other clients to attend to, but I’ll see you in a week.”

FOUR

MAHES

The woman standing there in a long summer dress … blood orange, the shade of one of Nova Aurora’s suns … looked rather fetching. But the great King of the Tellahn knew there was more to the story than her pleasing aesthetic appearance. No, she had just traveled across dimensional space, quite literally from another planet. He imagined she would be quite tired.

As much as he wanted to lead her by the hand to his royal chambers and see just how compatible they were, he knew it wouldn’t go down well. She was human, after all, and he knew about them as much as any king should.

King Alyx’s wife, Queen Bella, was a human. They were significantly smaller and fluctuated greatly in personality. Plus, they had a need for romance …to be wooedwas what he had heard. Shifters on Nova Aurora just knew who their mates were and were instantly possessed by an aching desire for one another.

It was primal, it was cosmic, it was something no one had control over. But Addie was human and had no such instinct. That was a hurdle he had to conquer.

He turned to one of his staff members, a newbie standing with his arms pinned behind his back, ready to serve and please.

“Have you taken our guest’s things to her room yet?” Mahes asked.

“Indeed we have, My King,” the staff member replied.

He turned back to Addie, standing with a rather bright conviction, long and lean. Mahes momentarily forgot what he was about to say, caught by her beauty. As far as fated mates went, he certainly couldn’t complain. Her chestnut eyes sparkled with humor, and she had a body full of curves that his hands itched to touch for himself.

“I presume that you are rather tired from your adventure. I have never personally traveled across a wormhole, but I would like to think that a nice dip in the pool would be rather refreshing. What do you think?”

Addie nodded, her mouth broadening to reveal a mouthful of dazzling white teeth. The lips that surrounded them were supple and glossy in their scarlet hue. The king had to force himself to keep from studying the entirety of her form, the lovely creases of her eyes and pitted dimples making the core of his chest thunder.

So this is what it is like to find your fated mate? Bewitching.

“Oh, a dip in the pool actually sounds incredible,” Addie said, sounding genuinely excited. “It was a long trip. Let me get changed, and I’ll meet you by the pool?”

No one had ever spoken to him that way. So honest, fresh, and firm. His lion purred at the thought.

He nodded, and Pritesh led her down the hallway to where her guest room was all primed for her.

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