Possessive Alien’s Mate by Luna Hunter

Chapter Nine

Viliana

Just one time.

That’s what I told myself.

How many times did we do it? Five? Four times in bed in every position imaginable. One time under the shower.

I’ve completely lost track of time. I was lost in a sea of lust and sex and… no, not love. I can’t feel that way about him. Sure, he makes my back arch and my toes curl and when he looks at me with those stunning black eyes of his like I’m the sexiest damn creature in existence I feel exquisite and desired and wanted, but…

He just walked out of the room after receiving Commander Dhauk’s transmission without as much as a kiss goodbye. No hug. Not even a look. He went cold, just like that, after being hot for me for hours.

It’s the same old song. Every time I told a guy I loved them, they ran for the hills. I’m probably just a tool to him, a distraction, a means to an end. That’s why the Dohan want women, right, because they can make babies? This Thaana probably has some ulterior motive as well.

Someone wanting me for just me? I’m not buying it.

Still. It was a lot of fun to let go, to experience those highs, to believe for just a moment… but now the truth is back with a vengeance. My Dohan friends are being hunted, and our life is anything but safe — even if it doesn’t feel that way in Thiray’s presence.

I get dressed and make my way over to the kitchen, glad to see the other girls haven’t woken up yet. I wrestle with the replicator until I get it to make me a smoothie.

Aliyah is the first to trickle in, her hair looking like a bomb just exploded.

“Morning!”

“Morning,” she croaks, her voice barely audible. “You’re chipper. My head feels like it’s being run over by a truck constantly. How much did we drink?”

I place a glass of freshly replicated fruit juice in front of her.

“More than we should have. Here.”

“Thanks.”

Naomi and Skylar aren’t far behind. I serve them all breakfast pancakes and I tell them the news about Commander Dhauk. We eat in silence, the girls hungover, and me with my heart aching.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Thiray. What did it all mean to him? We were so close, and then he just… pulled up a wall.

Just one time. Yeah right, dumbo. That was a mistake.