But she was afraid that if she went back out to the terrace, she’d do something stupid. Like try to catch another peek of the alien that had sent her heart skipping. And no man in her entire life hadevermade her heart skip. It was almost a badge of pride, that no man had control of her heart. Only Lainey did.
She made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat and grabbed a handful of soap granules that Crystal must’ve found somewhere. At least she hoped it was soap. And she scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed her body until her skin was pink and she felt a little more like herself.
When Lainey retreated to her room that night, she couldn’t help but look at the window, almost half-expecting to seehimstanding there.
It took her a long time to fall asleep that night, but once she did…she dreamed of him. In the middle of the night, she woke up in the midst of an orgasm, her mouth opened in a silent cry, her hips grinding into the furs. And as she looked up at the ceiling of her quiet room, her chest heaving with the force of it, Lainey knew she was in trouble.
* * *
Lainey yawnedas she walked in the living room the next morning, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her stomach had woken her, growling, and not for the first time she wondered if these Luxirians hadanythingthat remotely resembled coffee.
She’d had it sparingly back on Earth. Caffeine made her hands shake and shaking hands didn’t make for an effective session at her piano bench.
But with no piano in sight, all Lainey wanted was coffee. Black coffee with half a teaspoon of sugar, just the way she liked it. Bitter with a slight sweetness she had to search for.Just like me, she thought with a twist of her lips, though her chest felt hollow at that thought.
As she stepped into the living room, the hairs on her arms stood on end before she even heard his voice. Or saw him. Like her body sensed him before her mind did.
It was unnerving. She stopped just on the threshold of the room, frozen in place. The alien Ambassador’s back was to her and he was speaking with Vixron near the front door of their house. The strange, guttural words and sounds that streamed from his lips were oddly mesmerizing and the rich, deep tones of his voice made a shiver of awareness race down her spine.
God, why did he have to sound sodelicious?
With strange fascination, Lainey watched as his shoulders stiffened. He stopped speaking. He shifted and suddenly, those blue eyes were on her and that regal, fucking beautiful face was turned towards her.
Lainey’s knees actually shook and she had to force herself not to nervously adjust her Sleep Hair as his eyes seemed to memorize every inch of her. She hadn’t been prepared for this. Not this early in the morning, not when she was coming off erotic dreams of him.
Something became clear: he was even more devastating in the sunlight than he’d been in the moonlight. His skin had taken on an almost blue, silvery hue the night before—all Luxirian skin shifted with changes in light—but now, it glowed a subtle gold.
Mentally, she shook herself. She’d seen plenty of men in her life that had left her speechless. None quite like the alien standing in front of her, but still. Lainey could deal with this until they got off Luxiria and returned to Earth. No problem.
So, true to her nature, as she did with any major problem in her life…Lainey ignored it. She deflected.
“Vixy,” she said, turning her gaze from the Ambassador, whose name she still did not know, to the guard behind him, “who do I have to bang around here to get some breakfast?”
Poor choice of words, perhaps, she realized the moment they slipped out of her mouth.
Oh well.
Vixy frowned, but shesworethe Ambassador’s lips quirked up a bit, as if he wasamusedby her.
Lainey didn’t know why, but that grated.
“Vixron is leaving, female,” the Ambassador said, stepping forward. Lainey’s eyes ran down his body, almost unconsciously, and she was both relieved and disappointed that he was dressed. Tight, leather pants, and a soft grey tunic that molded to his generous, bulging muscles.
Lainey’s hard swallow seemed to echo around the room.
“Why?” she asked. Why did her voice sound so nervous?
“He has had no relief in three spans. He needs rest,” the Ambassador said, taking another step towards her. “I will stand guard until he returns.”
Alarm flashed through her and without realizing it, she began to pick at the skin around her nail beds. A disgusting habit she’d never been able to break.
“Crystal and I are fine on our own,” she argued, her back straightening. “We don’t need a babysitter.”
He frowned at ‘babysitter,’ the confusion evident on his ridiculously sculpted face. Lainey wouldn’t ever call himprettyper se, but the alien had the bone structure of a model. And not just any model, but like a high-end, ‘I just did a shoot for Vogue,’ type of model.
Why were Luxirians so freaking attractive? It simply wasn’t fair.
He didn’t respond to her, however. Instead, he looked over his shoulder and addressed Vixy with, “You may take your leave now, warrior. Before you return to your dwelling, have a meal sent up for both females.”
