The Alien’s Touch by Zoey Draven

 

FOUR

Cecelia stared at the broad-shouldered alien that was kneeling next to the bed in shock, his hand frozen just above his leather pants, where she could see a very distinct outline of a very massive alien cock.Or at least what she assumed was a cock.It was also entirely possible it was a third arm.

Oh my God, she thought, pressing a warm hand to her even warmer face.She felt feverish.She supposed it could be due to the cancer…but it was also a possibility that it was due to the alien in front of her.

Those words he’d spoken to her…

He’d said, “Your cunt aches for your male.”

And, heaven help her, those naughty words had done things to her.

What the hell is happening to me? she panicked to herself silently.She felt flushed and lightheaded and strangely and intensely aroused, even though sex was the absolute last thing she should be thinking about right then.

She froze.Had that damn doctor given her something to make her react like this?God, was she part of some alien breeding experiment after all?Hadn’t he said something about a human woman procreating with one of the Luxirians?

She was screwed.Royally screwed.She knew she shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up.And now, she might be in a worse situation, one she probably wouldn’t be able to get out of.

“Okay, look buddy,” she began slowly, eyeing the bulky, blue-eyed alien.It was the same one from the hallway…the one that had literally made her faint with one look.And he was just as potent, just as male, as she remembered.It was even worse up close because she couldn’t escape from or hide this odd attraction to him.But she could damn well try.“I, uh, don’t want to have sex with you.No, uh, mating, okay?”

Smooth, her tired brain chastised.Real smooth.

His mouth pulled down into an almost thoughtful scowl, if that expression was possible.Slowly, he rasped, “I can smell your arousal, female.Does this scent mean something different to your males?”

Mortification burned her up even more when she fully processed the words his thick accent was butchering.Shit, he could smell how turned on she was?

“I, um…I don’t…” she trailed off, speechless.Instead, curling her legs more tightly underneath her, her back pressed against the steel wall of the bedroom she was in, she changed the subject, hoping it would take his mind off of his inquiry, “Who are you?”

The Luxirian didn’t seem too thrown by her question, but he did study her silently for a brief moment before his hand slowly drifted away from his pants.Cecelia felt her shoulders relax, her eyes straying to his other hand, which was lying on the furs.He’d clutched her waist before she’d scrambled away and she remembered the strength, the warmth of him.His fingers—he had five, just like her, and she found a strange comfort in that similarity—were long and they tapered off into sharp black-tipped claws.

Suppressing a shiver, she asked, simply because his silence was making her jittery, “What’s your name?”

It seemed as if it took him great effort to say, “I am Rixavox, Ambassador of the Velraxa outpost and an appointed war general to the Prime Leader of Luxiria.”

Cecelia stared at him.“Right,” she said slowly.It was all gibberish to her, but she tried to remember the key words, like Ambassador, war general, and Prime Leader.Privanax, that damn sneaky doctor, had mentioned an Ambassador and a Prime Leader, hadn’t he?

Wait.

Rixavox?Hadn’t Privanax said that was who would be escorting her to these northern lands to be…cleansed?

“You’re…you’re the one taking me to these pools tomorrow?” she asked slowly, fighting a blush.

He jerked his head in a nod.“Tev.”

Damn…what an awkward journey that would be.Terrific.

“What is your name, female?” he asked her, his voice making an unexpected shiver run down her spine.God, his voice sounded good, even with that thickened accent.It was warm and deep and raspy.

She cleared her throat, half-wishing that she wasn’t a sweaty mess right now as she held out her right hand.“My name is Cecelia.It’s, uh, very nice to meet you, Rixavox.”She pronounced his name like ‘rick-sa-vox,’ even though he’d added a little purring trill in there, which she didn’t think she could replicate.

When he stared at her hand between them, Cecelia flushed a little again and slowly lowered it.Of course, he probably didn’t know about shaking hands.Stupid, stupid, stupid.

His blue eyes locked on her again and he murmured, “Sessela.”

“Cecelia,” she repeated slowly.

“Sessela.”

Cecelia blinked and found herself unexpectedly charmed and flustered by the alien in front of her.How had that happened?

“Yes,” she said softly, her voice almost dropping to a whisper, her eyes unable to break away from his piercing, hypnotic gaze.“Sessela,” she said, giving in.

The air in the room felt heavy as they studied one another.When he nudged forward slightly, she caught whiff of something that resembled that glorious scent of rain on concrete.Something almost indescribable.But it made her inhale sharply as more wetness flooded between her thighs.

Rixavox did that purring growl again, but before Cecelia could even think about what to do about this odd situation—torn between leaning closer or scooting farther away—a voice interrupted them.

“You’re awake!” the woman said, standing just inside the doorway.Cecelia didn’t know what shocked her more…that there was a human woman that she didn’t recognize coming into the room or that this human woman was heavily pregnant.

“Where is Vaxa’an?” Rixavox asked sharply, standing from his kneeling position and moving away from the bed.

“Down the hall.One of the elders caught him,” the woman replied, approaching the bed before plopping herself down, groaning softly.She saw Cecelia eyeing her in shock and she gave her a soft smile.“Some days, I don’t even want to get out of bed to carry around this giant,” she murmured, patting her stomach.

“What is going on?” Cecelia whispered, shaking her head.“I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone.Seriously.”

“It’s a lot to take in, I know,” the woman said, reaching out to pat her hand.“But I’ll stay here for as long as you like and answer any questions you have.I know these guys,” she pointed a finger at Rixavox, scowling near the doorway, “aren’t exactly the picture perfect example of communication.”

Cecelia couldn’t help but immediately like the woman, even though she truly had no idea what was going on.There was something genuine and comforting about her.Her eyes were soft and bright and she seemed happy.Completely and utterly happy.

“My name is Kate,” the woman said.“And this is Rixavox, in case he didn’t introduce himself.”

“Sessela knows my name already,” Rixavox said from the doorway.Cecelia’s gaze flickered over to him and found he was watching her with his arms crossed over his chest, bunching his biceps.

“Oh, Sessela does, does she?” Kate repeated in a teasing tone, raising an eyebrow at Rixavox over her shoulder.She turned back to Cecelia and in a conspiratorial loud whisper, so that the Luxirian could hear, said, “Watch out for this one.He’s a total ladies’ man.I’ve seen him in action way too many times.”

“Oh,” she murmured, dropping her gaze.For some reason, that disappointed her.Hell, judging by the serious chemistry they had going on before Kate walked in, Cecelia couldn’t be too sure that she wouldn’t have been added to his seemingly long list of conquests.It made her feel…less special.

How crazy and insecure was that?

But she’d never had any luck with men.She’d always been on the quieter, shy side.Her cancer certainly hadn’t helped in her early twenties.And there she was…getting all hot and bothered by an alien player with a silver tongue.

Terrific.

She cleared her throat, her spine straightening, even though her body ached a little from her long visit to the labs.“My name is Cecelia.”

“Ah,” Kate said, shaking her head with an amused smile.“Yes, well, Sessela sounded quite exotic.I was wondering if he’d gotten it right.They pronounce my name like Kat instead of Kate.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” she replied with a small quirk of her lips.She tried not to look at Rixavox, still hovering in the doorway.She didn’t want to give him any ideas because she certainly wasn’t interested in being another notch on his bedpost, even if she was crazily attracted to him.Besides, she had other more pressing problems.Those were the things that should be occupying her thoughts.

Kate patted her hand again and said, “I heard you had a little fall in the hallway.Would you like to rest more before we talk?”

This was her chance to finally get some answers.There was no way in hell she’d miss out, even if she was tired.Cecelia shook her head and said, “No, I’d like to talk.”She couldn’t help her gaze straying to Rixavox this time, wondering if he would be standing there the entire time.His nipples piercings glinted in the light, catching her attention, and she swallowed hard.

Get yourself together, woman,she chided herself.

Kate noticed her gaze and looked over her shoulder.“Thank you, Rixavox.I can take it from here.I’m sure you must be tired after your time away.”

“I will stay,” Rixavox grunted.

“It’s unnecessary,” Kate said, insisting.“Vaxa is just down the hall.Get some rest.That’s an order, Ambassador.”

Rixavox was clearly torn.He didn’t move an inch for a moment, as still as a blue-toned marble statue, his eyes never straying from Cecelia.His attention made her squirm a little.She was unused to such focus.

Finally, however, he jerked his head before bowing his head slightly and said, “Tev, lavrix’an.”

When he met Cecelia’s gaze again, there was something in his eyes that made her skin prickle with awareness.She suppressed a pleasurable shiver and quickly glanced down at the furs covering the bed.She didn’t look up again until she was sure he had left and she counted his heavy footsteps down the hallway until she couldn’t heard them anymore.

“They are all a little intense, aren’t they?” Kate murmured, smiling lightly.“That’s exactly how Vaxa is.It was intimidating at first, but they are all just really big softies inside.”

Cecelia almost snorted.There was nothing soft about that Luxirian.Instead of commenting on Rixavox, Cecelia questioned, “Vaxa?”

“Yes,” Kate said, touching her hand to her stomach.Cecelia started, almost forgetting that the woman in front of her was pregnant.She looked like she was five or six months along.“Vaxa’an, they call him.He’s the Prime Leader.And my mate.”

“Your…mate?”

“It’s a long story,” Kate said, that soft smile touching her pinks lips again.“But one I think we have time for.”

*   *   *

Rixavox tried to suppress a scowl as he strode further and further away from his mate.His Instinct yowled inside him, urging him to return to her side, to ensure her safety, to feel her touch.He could physically perceive the distance between them growing, an unsettling sensation and one he’d never encountered before.But Kat had ordered him to leave.And if he disrespected the lavrix’an, he disrespected Vaxa’an, his leader, his brother in war, and his friend.

Sometimes his duty clashed with his desires.He didn’t like it, but he accepted it, as any trained warrior would.

You will see her again soon, he reminded himself.Rixavox would escort her to the northern lands, his true home, where he felt most at peace with himself.He would take her there to help restore her health and strength.He would do everything in his power to win her over.He would not think of the possibility that when she was cured of her illness, she would choose to return to her home planet.For now, he would think of the immediate present.As a war general and Ambassador to his people, his strength lay in his ability to form and execute plans efficiently and effectively.In courting his mate, he would do the same.

The mating dance was like war.One either lost or won.One was either ravaged or victorious.

Rixavox would do everything in his power to ensure their outcome was the latter.