The Alien’s Seduction by Zoey Draven
Chapter Twenty
Waking up the next morning was like an out of body experience.
Crystal came awake slowly, blinking her heavy lids open to see the wall of Cruxan’s bare chest.
She swallowed, careful not to move, as she raised her gaze to his face. His eyes were closed, his breaths deep and even. She’d never seen him sleep before. The one night that he might’ve slept—the night when she’d laid, naked, in his arms, trying to warm up from the rain—he’d been awake before her.
Crystal remembered it all. A part of her had hoped to forget, if only to escape the embarrassment of how she’d acted last night. But it was there, all the same, and she wondered how in the world she would be able to face him when he woke up.
Which was why she laid as still as she possibly could, wrapped in his arms. They were laying side-by-side, facing one another. Cruxan’s leg was draped over her outer thigh, keeping her in place, while his arms were bracketed around her body.
It had been a necessity last night, she remembered, heat burning her cheeks. He’d almost had to keep her restrained, in order to keep her from doing something she might regret later.
Her core burned. Still. But it was to a much lesser degree, nothing like the mindless lust and haze of desire of last night. Nothing like the purely animalistic need to mate.
She felt sore from the way her muscles had contracted throughout the multiple orgasms she’d experienced. She felt sore from fighting against the way Cruxan had needed to restrain her, sore from thrashing against him in an effort to assuage her need. Her sex tingled still from the seemingly endless orgasms she’d had, sensitive and swollen.
Oh God, she thought, swallowing hard. How could she face him? After how horribly she’d acted last night? She’d thrown herself at him—repeatedly—only to be rejected and held off at every turn.
Crystal was staring up at his face, trying to keep her breaths as even as his, when she thought: he is good.
That knowledge didn’t surprise her as much as she thought it would.
He’d been respectful, he’d been honorable, he hadn’t tried to take advantage of her, though she’d been begging for him. He could’ve easily taken what he’d wanted.
Crystal had seen the torment, the agony, the pain on his face from that want and need. Never had it been more obvious to her, how much he wanted her. She felt dizzy from that realization.
Yet, he’d resisted. He told her she would regret her actions, that she wasn’t herself.
He’d been right. If they had had sex last night…Crystal didn’t know how she would feel right then, considering sex was so complicated for her.
She knew she was his mate, that his Instinct had awakened for her. She’d said as much last night, drunk on desire, but truthful nonetheless. And yet, he’d resisted her advances. Would any other male have done the same? Could any other male have done the same, considering the power of a Luxirian’s Instinct?
Even though she was lying still, it was as if his Instinct sensed she was awake because she watched as his eyelids flickered open, his pupils contracting on her immediately.
Crystal couldn’t help but stare, cheeks flaming, lips parted, no words coming out.
He made a dark grumbling sound in the back of his throat, the sleepiness in his gaze slowly giving way to a kind of calm satisfaction. It fascinated her. It frightened her too because that look made her feel…warm.
Crystal’s tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip and she said, “How can I ever apologize enough for last night?”
Cruxan’s eyes flickered. His arms shifted around her back, tightening, as if afraid she would scramble away.
“I thought I told you to stop apologizing for things you do not need to apologize for,” he said, his voice gravelly and rough and absolute delicious from sleep.
“I put you in a difficult situation,” she whispered. “That warrants an apology.”
She remembered the feel of his fingers on her bare sex, remembered the way they’d curled, almost unconsciously, into her. The memory sent a tingle down her spine and her core gave a throb, which made him groan. He must still be able to smell her.
“You were under the influence of tevvax. Undiluted tevvax, in its most pure form. Ask any Luxirian and they will tell you you have nothing to be ashamed of,” he told her. “As your mate, you certainly owe me no apology.”
Your mate.
It was such a surreal moment, lying in his arms, feeling both nervous and embarrassed and yet comfortable, after the night they’d had.
“How about a ‘thank you’ then?” she asked, giving in. She licked her dry lips again, swallowing the lump in her throat. “For preventing me from doing anything I might regret later.”
His gaze shuttered a little, though she didn’t know why. “That I will accept,” he murmured a moment later. “How do you feel this morning?”
Her gaze darted a bit but then returned to his eyes. “Back to normal. Almost.”
His pupils dilated when she said that last word. She still felt a little…on edge. But he’d be able to smell that anyways.
“Can you travel?”
“Yes,” she said, trying to steer the subject away from last night. “How far away are we from Kroratax now?”
“Less than three spans perhaps.”
She nodded and said, “Good.”
Something in his gaze shifted. “Eager to get back to your goblins?”
Surprised, she said sheepishly, “Maybe a little.”
Drawing had always been her escape. It had always made her feel centered when everything felt tilted. And right then? She felt decidedly very, very tilted…especially looking into Cruxan’s electric blue eyes.
“Eager to draw me?” he asked next.
Crystal sucked in a breath. “What?” she whispered.
“Last night,” he murmured and suddenly she remembered what he was talking about. Her face flamed. “You asked to draw me, once we reached Kroratax.”
“That…” she trailed off, not knowing what to say. So much for a subject change. “That was…”
His grin made her stomach feel fluttery. “Why is it that you want to?”
Oh God, he was going to make her say it.
Drawing in a deep lungful of air, she murmured, “You’re just very…eye-catching.” His grin deepened and she rushed out with, “During school we would draw nude models all the time. It’s not a big deal. It’s just…you learn a lot about the lines of a body, about shadows and highlights, and, um, movement.”
Why did her voice suddenly sound so weak?
His brow raised, his interest deepening, “You wish to draw me nude?”
Shit.
“Um, well…no?”
Since she was pressed tightly against his body, she felt his deep laugh first. It shook her front and her eyes widened at the richness of the sound, her stomach doing somersaults again.
She was in trouble. Deep, deep trouble.
“I will have to insist now, luxiva,” he rasped quietly.
She didn’t know what else to say, but found she couldn’t look away from his face. He went silent too, watching her with the same intense scrutiny. Strangely, she didn’t feel all that self-conscious as he studied her at his leisure. Of course, he’d been witness to dozens of her orgasms last night, so perhaps there wasn’t anything left she should be embarrassed about when it came to him.
There was a slight chill in the air but Crystal felt decidedly very warm regardless. The jungle was quiet that morning, though most sounds were probably blocked out by the buffer of the giant agave-like trees that cocooned them.
His eyes were warm, but there was tension in the lines of his forehead. His horns were still ramrod straight, as they’d been last night. Not once last night had he released some tension with her, so he must have felt a little on edge that morning himself.
When he broke the heavy silence between them, it was to murmur quietly, “I could lie here with you for the rest of my life span and be perfectly happy.”
Crystal’s breath hitched. There was a kind of surprised realization in his softened tone that tugged at her, as if he had just come to that conclusion.
She blinked back sudden tears. It felt different between them for the last day or so. It felt different between them now, especially after last night. The fact that she was still lying in his arms, the fact that she hadn’t pulled away from his embrace yet told her a lot.
She realized it didn’t matter if her feelings for him were changing. She would be leaving. She had no intention of staying on Luxiria once the crystal was found, not like the others. She had her sister, she wanted to finish school, she had her dreams back on Earth.
Not to mention the fact that she didn’t think she was ready for another relationship. It had been five years since she’d left Leo. Lauren, her sister, had been bringing up dating again, to dip her toes in, for the past year or so. But Crystal had only felt panic and dread whenever she thought about having another boyfriend.
An alien boyfriend? She didn’t think she could handle that any easier.
There was no place for her there, not with Cruxan, though a part of her wanted to cry at the thought. A part of her wanted to cry at the raw awe she heard in his voice, because she didn’t want to hurt him when she eventually left.
Crystal cleared her throat and said quietly, “We should, um, get a good start today.”
She felt like a villain as she said it, obviously dismissing his words. She pulled away then, her limbs feeling a little loose and wobbly, and Cruxan shifted, letting her go.
He went quiet, letting her escape. Letting her escape behind the high, thick walls she’d built around herself for so long. Walls that he’d begun to crack and crumble with his charm and his honesty and his smile.
But she needed to remember that if she let herself get in too deep, it would only hurt both of them.
