“You did have explanations.”
That was not the ringing endorsement I’d hoped for. “Please. Let me prove I wasn’t involved with him.”
Cair gave a curt nod, his lips thinning into a line as he considered my entreaty.
I opened my mouth to beg. The ground beneath me suddenly felt less solid, like at any moment it might open up and swallow me whole. Interrogation implied a process, but not mercy. Anddefinitely not trust. I’d survived the abduction. The crash. An alien fistfight. And somehow, this felt like the most dangerous moment yet, while I waited for his decision.
“I will finish my interrogation.”
Chapter Seven
“Oh,”I responded inarticulately. The words should have terrified me. Instead, fear tangled with curiosity, and a reluctant awareness that whatever came next would not leave me unchanged. Yellow eyes in an impassive face watched for me to make my own decision. Already anticipating my answer. As if I had a choice. Would I choose differently if I did? My nether regions warmed at the thought of the continued sexual interrogation. I matched his curt nod and steeled myself.
“Stand.”
I obeyed, rising with my feet hip-distance apart, arms loose at my sides. Exactly as if he’d positioned me himself.
Cair rose slower, his eyes trained on me, flicking from my face to my prisoner’s garb, to my bare feet. He stepped closer.
My head tilted up to maintain eye contact as his body heat buffeted me. The alien was like a furnace.
His hand cupped my cheek before he ran his thumb along my lower lip. When the action parted my lips, he inserted his thumb into my mouth, like Xelthar had. Except this time, I closed my lips around the digit, gently sucking. His eyes widened a fraction before he smoothed the reaction away. Surprised? I’dhave thought he wasn’t unaccustomed to the occasional positive reactions to his interrogations.
Cair’s other hand rose to my neck, slow and deliberate, goose pimples rippling across my skin before my brain could catch up. His hand slid past my clavicle to my chest, fingers spreading to palm my breast through the thin prison shirt. My nipples hardened against the fabric. Releasing my face, Cair lowered that hand to capture my other breast. His fingers worked in concert, massaging through the shirt’s material.
Warmth spread through me, and I clenched my legs together. Cair gave a small shake of his head before one hand skimmed my ribcage to my hip and then dropped between my legs. His hands inserted between my clenched thighs forced them apart.
“You must let the tension rise.”
He surprised me by not cupping my sex, even through the prison pants. With desire building, I remembered. Cair wouldn’t allow me to quench it until he finished the interrogation.
“Are you working with Xelthar Zarnoth?” Cair whispered his question as his hands gripped the bottom of my shirt.
“Only briefly so he’d bring me home.” My breath hitched.
“Raise your arms.”
I complied, and in one swift motion, Cair removed my shirt. My nipples, which had been softening following the removal of his palms, now stood at attention again in the cool alien atmosphere.
“Did you know Xelthar Zarnoth prior to last night on Earth?” Cair lowered his head to my chest.
“No.” I gasped when his tongue flicked against my left nipple.
He lifted his head, yellow eyes pinning me in place while his hands now found the waistband of my blue prisoner pants. His thumbs hooked inside the band, and he used both hands to slide the pants down over my hips. With a nudge, they slipped past my ass and pooled at my feet.
I drank in the fragrant alien air, fighting the way my body responded as I stood exposed before Cair.
He stepped away from my naked form. His gaze tracked every breath I took, every involuntary shift of my weight. The pupils in his now-amber-hued eyes dilated. With want? I guessed our species had more similarities than I’d considered.
Light from the planet’s sun filtered through the tall foliage, highlighting Cair’s pearlescent skin, visible through tears in his long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants.
I gasped at his beauty.
Cair’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you gasp?”
“Your skin is beautiful,” I said, and meant more than color.
He dropped his gaze to take in the tears in his clothing. If my comment surprised him, he didn’t show it. His darkly lustrous hair sparkled in the light.
