"How can I risk it? The fate of my planet depends on my actions here. If you're lying to me..." He sounded conflicted, an emotion at odds with his normal demeanor. It showed in his skin, which was swirling with greens, blues, and purples.
"Trust me. Please." That's all she could think to say. His nearness made her weak.
"You tempt me so. I just have to--" He leaned in the rest of the way, pressing his lips against hers.
His kiss was soft, so soft. He teased hers lips, coaxing her to open her mouth just before his tongue slid across hers, setting off little sparks that made her moan. Without realizing it, she'd reached up a hand on the side of his thick neck, his skin smooth like a human male. Her fingers tangled in the tendrils that flowed down his back past his shoulders, which was softer than she could have ever dreamed.
The regent deepened the kiss, his tongue probing farther. She closed her eyes and sucked on it softly, not sure if her willingness to let him kiss her was in hopes of surviving or to fill her own sensual curiosity. He pulled back and nibbled softly on her lip, a groan leaving him that sent desire straight into her core. She'd never experienced a kiss so right, so good. It was over much too soon, the effects of it leaving her panting like a silly schoolgirl.
Opening her eyes, she watched as the regent's color shifted. Deep purple flashed into yellow before she could blink. He pulled her hands from around his neck and flung them to her sides, then pulled her up once again by her shoulders.
"They sent you to do a job, and by Marivagia, you're gonna do it."
"Mary who?" Her brain wasn't working after the kiss.
"Marivagia, goddess of wandering women." The regent scowled at her. "Never mind. You're going back to your cell."
The seductive timbre of his voice had become cold steel. She'd upset him, and she didn't know how. Had he hated the kiss?
"Look, Your Majesty, I'm sorry."
"Stop calling me that. My name is Xivthar."
"Ok, Ziffer, I'm sorry."
"Xivthar. X-I-V-T-H-A-R."
"Right. How about I just call you X?"
He ignored her, pulling her behind him, out of his chambers and into the rounded hallways. Once again she was being dragged along to the lab. She wasn't eager to return to staring at the opaque walls.
"Look, X, I think I've upset you. I'm sorry if you didn't like what we did back there."
He snorted. "It wasn't that I didn't like it, Sylvia. It's that I liked it too much."
Liked it too much? "Then why are you doing this? And it’s Sylvie. Stop using my full name!"
He stopped suddenly, spinning around to grab her face with his overly large hands. "Fine, Sylvie. If I were the Hareema and I got word that the leader of my enemies has an attraction to Earthling females, don't you think I'd use that information to my advantage?"
"But you can't mean me? I volunteered for this mission. No one recruited me."
His eyes narrowed. "A human female, the object of my wildest fantasies, is dropped into my lap and I'm supposed to believe she doesn't have an ulterior motive? That she's so willing to seduce me right after I just shot five milliamps through her?"
Sylvie's jaw dropped. "You kissed me!"
"And you responded. You can't deny that."
This conversation couldn't be more surreal. Sylvie pushed past the regent and stalked down the hallway.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Back to my cell. Four blank walls are better company than you."
She heard his footsteps behind her but didn't slow down. It didn't take long for him to overtake her.
"I wouldn't be so eager to return if I were you," he muttered, his black eyes glowing against yellow skin.
"Why is that? Are you gonna lock yourself in there with me and keep pestering me with your amazing Taser trick?"
