Page 6 of Who Did This To You?

"It isn't embarrassment," I said quickly. "It is because the sight of you arouses me, and there is a strong possibility that I am emitting pheromones, and I thought I should let you know before you removed more clothing."

"Pheromones?" she asked. "You mean your smell?"

Her eyes widened.

"What do these pheromones do?" she asked. "Why are you emitting them?"

"It isn't a conscious action, and I am not certain I am emitting them, as it is not something I've done before," I said. "It is something my kind does when we find a deeply compatible partner that we wish to form a family niche with. The scent is mildly unpleasant to anyone but our potential mate, who then emits a compatible scent or a repulsing one."

"Would your scent have an arousing effect on others?" she asked.

"It would only arouse my mate," I said. "Again, I'm not certain I'm doing it, as I haven't emitted the mate scent before, but the reactions of the males on the way here were… strange. I know for certain that I am attracted to you, and pairing that with their reactions… that would explain things. I am happy to wash with you or wash by myself; my arousal is my own problem to deal with, and I am not communicating anything more than that; it's just that my arousal will become obvious when I remove my clothing. My body's reaction to you isn't any form of expectation."

I felt awkward explaining far more than was necessary; such things were obvious in my culture. My visible arousal was not a request, nor was it an expectation of her consent. But the ship's rules were clear, and the existence of the ones regarding mating implied that such things were not obvious to everyone on board.

My mission was too important to jeopardize.

Róisín's arms relaxed, her hands moving to her hips as she looked at me.

"To be clear, you're saying you want to mate with me?" she said. "But you don't expect me to want the same thing?"

"Essentially," I said. I could explain that if I was emitting the mating scent, it wouldn't go away until it was matched or repulsed, but that embarrassing issue wasn't her problem to deal with. There had to be alien medics on board. After I showered and confirmed the scent wasn't going away, I could find a medic who could help with a pheromone blocker if that was the issue.

"Thank goodness," she said, a sigh of relief in her heated words. "Take off your clothes."

She reached one hand behind her back, and the garment that was covering her chest suddenly sprang loose, and my arousal spiked, hard and fast at the sight of how her flesh tumbled free, falling down to flatten and dangle against her body. She tossed the fabric into the cubby, letting her two mounds greet the air, the small peaks on them standing to attention even as they swung loose.

I almost tore my shirt, ripping it off over my head.

I knew she hadn't said specifically what she wanted, but it didn't matter. If she was happy to wash with me while I was openly aroused, I wasn't going to turn down her company. Either I would have a delightful release to this sudden intense attraction to an alien, or I would have a torturous time behaving myself and spend some time alone later imagining things had gone a different way while I worked out those feelings with my hands. Both would make a fun moment in time to look back on, and there were so many options between those two extremes. Perhaps she would let me find some release while staring at her. Perhaps she would enjoy teasing me and making me suffer. Perhaps she would be brisk and professional, and all I would get was the sight of her beautiful body.

Whatever happened, it could only be casual fun. She was an alien.

She couldn't be my mate.

I had all of my clothes off in seconds, violently throwing all of them into the cubby. My mating rod bobbed in the air, twitching as her eyes dropped to it.

She let out a small sound, and her breath came faster, her eyes locked on me as she licked her lips. Then she grabbed the edge of her leggings and pulled all of her lower coverings off.

As she did, an aroma filled the air, and my knees buckled.

The hard tiles pinched into the skin of my knees as her smell enveloped me, my anticipation of lighthearted enjoyment spinning on its head and crashing into the walls.

I let out a groan and heat flared through me, pleasure clenching around my mind like a vice, and before I knew it, my abs were clenching as a small burst of seed shot out to honor the moment.

I caught it in my palm before it hit the ground.

The only place it belonged was inside of her.

I needed to be inside her. I needed to pin her against the wall, kick her feet apart, and sink into her as she screamed my name.

No, this couldn't be happening.

"Did you just…?" she asked, staring at my hand. "At just the sight of me?"

"But you're an alien," I said, horror washing over what should have been the most joyous moment of my life. "It isn't possible."

As I stared up at her, studying the strange differences between us, the sheer beauty of her strangeness, I saw all the ways we were similar. I saw the glaze in her eyes, the way her nostrils flared as she stepped closer to me, the telltale signs that my scent was affecting her.