Grumpy Alien King by Celeste King
Xxuric
Primal satisfaction surged through me as I curled Heather against my chest. She fit against me like she’d been made to do so. I normally didn’t linger after sex, but as she smiled up at me with a sated, lazy smile a strange, tugging sensation in my chest urged me to hold her even closer.
Earlier, I would have panicked and hidden in my office.
But now I just tucked her beneath my chin.
I pressed my nose into her auburn hair. Her shampoo smelled like strawberries from Earth. My fingers, of their own accord, brushed her hair out her face and lingered against her cheek.
Even though we were alone in her pod, I almost looked around to make sure no one was around to see us. It was embarrassing. I’d slept with her twice, and now my insides were disgustingly gooey, like maple syrup. Worse, I was starting to like it.
There was no doubt about it. Either I’d hit my head during the chase, or she was indeed my mate.
But I couldn’t tell her that. I could barely make myself think the words, much less say them out loud. Besides, we had more pressing matters to cover.
I’d been so relieved to catch her, that I hadn’t yet considered why I’d needed to chase after her in the first place. Had something happened?
“Why were you leaving?”
She was silent for a long time before she looked up at me and sighed.
“After what happened between us, I knew I couldn’t marry Dahrial. I called Teshie’s, and they told me the potential groom could sign a cancellation form.”
“A form?” This made no sense. I had not seen any form.
“I gave it to Dahrial to sign, and he released me.”
She tilted her chin up to kiss me, but I turned my head.
“I want to make sure I understand.” I could be reasonable. I was not a brute. Rage burned inside me, devouring the warmth of our afterglow. “You fled, without notice.”
“I told Dahrial.”
Dahrial. She might as well have told a house pet. “Dahrial does not make decisions in my household! He does not sign legal papers.”
“I was not marrying you.” She shoved away from me. “The signature form was for my husband to sign. You never even planned a wedding!”
“I’ve been busy!” I thundered. Did she not understand that the lavish lifestyle I provided my household took actual work? This woman was infuriating.
“Too busy to step outside your office for days on end?”
“It’s been two!” I hurled myself to my feet and began to pace. I longed to smash something, anything, but a small pod was not the best place to indulge that impulse. “Two days! And I saw you! You walked into my office and…” What had she done there? I didn’t recall. I didn’t have time to coddle some human girl just because her feelings were hurt. Was I going to have to chase her down in a shuttle every time I worked late? “And I saw you! If you had a problem, you should have told me then.”
“Really? So, we hooked up and you told me to clean up the room and then disappeared, and I was just supposed to wait for you to make a decision.”
“Of course.”
“And I should have brought the cancellation papers to you, not your son.”
“Precisely.”
Finally, she was seeing reason.
I didn’t particularly like how she still glared at me, but I knew human emotions could be overwhelming. I graciously ignored her blatant disrespect until she could get herself under control.
“And if I had brought you the papers, would you have signed them?”
Just the thought of her flying away and marrying someone else felt like swallowing t’rashhi without peeling off their claws.
“Absolutely not.”
Her hands flew up into the air. “I can’t marry your son!”
“What’s wrong with my son?” There were many things, but it was not her place to say any of them. Paternal pride warred with my common sense. “He is an excellent provider, seeing as I provide for him, and I am one of the richest men in this entire system. Women would pull each other’s heads off in battle in order to be in the same position as you.”
“Dahrial doesn’t want to marry me.”
Hadn’t we covered this already? “Dahrial is not in charge! I am.”
“And you really want me to marry your son?”
I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.
She continued. “You wanted me to sleep with your son, and then crawl into bed with you as he slept?”
I imagined, against my will, Dahrial touching her as I had. It curdled my stomach. I wanted to peel the paneling off her pod and leap into the vacuum of space before I thought of it again.
“You would do that?” Had I misjudged her?
“No!” Her exasperation could be heard from space. “No, I couldn’t! That’s why I sent for cancellation papers!”
Ah, back to the papers. This was the part of the argument where I could win. “Yes. The papers. They are null. I will address Teshie’s and explain.”
“He’s a legal adult!”
I snorted. Adult. What battles had he won? What deals had he signed? To my shame, he’d never so much as touched a woman! How could he be trusted to make any decisions?
“Legal adult and actual adult are two very different things. Did he not tell you to speak with me first?” I knew my son. There was no way he had decided any of this on his own. “If you had any problems or concerns, you should have brought them to me.”
“How?”
“You seem to have no trouble at the moment! What else is wrong? Have your baths been too tepid? Your clothes too plain? Maybe you’d like more lobster or p’aj for dinner.”
“You listen so well to me, it’s no wonder your son can’t tell you anything.”
“My son!” I laughed. “Please. Tell me. What kind of secrets could Dahrial possibly be keeping from me?”
