Chapter 11

Paige

W e sit perched on the rocky mountainside until even Varek’s warmth can’t stop me from shivering. He wraps me up in his arms and carries me against his chest, and for the attention I'm thankful.

He walks us back through the glowhollows to the leather I've come to recognize as the opening to his chamber. We pass through and my heart stops.

“Where is the hammock?” I ask.

Instead of the leather stretching longways across the cozy chamber, there's a bed of furs.

“The hammock was made for one. A single male’s bed. It doesn't suit mates.”

Warmth spreads through me as he sets me down on my feet. He nudges me forward toward the furs and a deep rumbling sound comes from somewhere deep in his chest.

I spin around just as his leathers slide down his thighs and he kicks them to the side.

I swallow hard. “Um, I–”

Varek approaches me, his eyes darker than I've seen him. His chest is glowing bright as he stares at me, his manhood long and thick between his legs.

“It is our first true night together, Mate.”

Okay well, I wasn't expecting it to be that big of a deal. I wring my hands in front of me as Varek stands naked, unabashed and waiting.

He sees me as his mate. His female. His. In his eyes, I am who he has been searching for–the answer to his longing and loneliness. I can help him help his people.

But to me, he is an alien I just met. One that stole me away from my friends.

I don't hate him. I don't think I fear him either. But I'm not ready to crawl underneath him and let him do all the dirty things Vruts do with their mates.

Even if there is a little part of me that wonders.

He approaches me slowly, reaching out and gripping my hips. I startle, but his rough fingers caress the curve of my waist and the tension melts away as fast as it appeared.

“You want me,” he rasps.

My stomach dips and arousal pools between my legs.

His nostrils flare. “You cannot hide it, Paige. Your body yearns for mine.”

Oh my God, he can smell me? I'm mortified and I try to pull away but he holds me steady. This is all still so crazy. A week ago, I was still on Earth preparing to travel to Mars. I was studying up on the effects of solar winds on Mars’ atmosphere and what that means for solar radiation. Now I’m alone with a male of a species I hadn’t even fathomed existed, he’s naked, and thinks I’m his forever.

His fingers dig into my hips.

“It’s time to make our bond official. It’s time to mate.”

His amber eyes flash something dark and needy.

My breathing goes ragged as he crowds me. He’s right. My body does yearn for his. He’s a specimen. Strong. Gentle. Handsome for an alien with gray skin.

But kind.

With slanted eyes that look at me with so much emotion, it almost makes me want to cry.

“I don’t know—” I mumble as he pushes my hair out of the way, exposing my neck.

“You don’t carry my scent,” he grits. “Do you know how maddening it was having other males look upon you and not scent your mate?”

No. I have no idea how maddening that is.

“I could barely contain myself from pushing you up against the wall in the Luminary and claiming you beneath the skies,” Varek rasps. “You’re mine, Paige. And I need you to feel it.”

He leans in closer, dipping his head into the crook of my neck. His breath is hot and tickles my skin, sending chills up and down my legs. I lean in closer as he purrs into my ear. His scent grows stronger—misty and sexy. Primal and sweet all at the same time.

I squeeze my thighs together as an ache forms and I’ve never felt more empty. More needy.

“You feel that?” he asks.

I breathe deeply, intoxicated by him.

“You were made to take me, troublemaker. To take my seed.”

My mind goes blank as he kisses my neck, his hands rubbing down my back and squeezing me against him. His cock is firm and hot against my belly and it’s all I can think about.

I want him. I do. But it’s all so confusing. If I take this step with him, if I give in to this strange but intense desire, it feels too permanent. Like I’m accepting him. Accepting the mating bond for real and not just living in a dream until everything goes back to normal. A part of me doesn’t want to acknowledge that I’m really at his mercy, stuck amongst his people.

I’m still looking for a chance to escape.

Aren’t I?

He nuzzles in closer, his lightly-furred skin dragging against mine and eliciting the most delicious sensation down my spine. I reach up and snake my arm around his neck, digging into the short black hair at the base of his neck. I can’t help the needy moan that slips from my lips when Varek finally lifts me up and carries me to the furs.

I’m on fire, nearly begging for him to pull off my leathers that suddenly feel too tight. To use those rough hands to touch every sensitive inch of my skin. He lays me down gently, covering my body with his and sliding between my already open legs.

I can’t help myself.

Maybe even my human body can sense this mate bond.

He wraps his hand around my neck and tilts, forcing me to look at him.

“Watch me. Watch me devour you,” he whispers, just a sliver away from my lips. I arch into him but he pulls away, delving his attention to my neck. He licks and kisses, sucking at my skin. My eyes flutter shut and I can’t help the way I’m flailing, my fingers dragging down his back, down the mane of fur along his spine. He shivers and drives his hips forward, the friction sparkling little stars behind my eyelids.

He’s driving me crazy and I’m still fully clothed.

“Varek,” I whine as he tugs at the hem of my leathers, sliding it up my hips until it bunches at my waist. The thin fabric isn’t doing anything to hide my hardened nipples. Like points, begging for attention.

“Mm,” he grunts as he looks down on me, his eyes darkening. His chest is lit up like a spotlight, thrumming with the pounding beat of my heart. “Say my name again, Paige. Call out to your mate.”

I can’t think straight as he slides his hand up beneath the tunic and drags a teasing finger across my nipple. I jump and groan under his touch and Varek only smirks.

“So sensitive. You’re enjoying this?”

The words escape me.

My legs widen and he settles deeper, grinding his thickness between my legs in the place that I need it. Want it.

I lift up, wrapping my arms around him, desperate to taste his lips. My heart constricts as I realize how badly I want him. How badly I need him to cherish me. To show me just how much this mate bond means to him.

To love me.

I move closer and he freezes, his brows knitting. He weaves and goes for my throat again, licking and kissing down to my collarbone and back again.

His hands slide the tunic up until I’m slipping out of it completely, unbothered that I’m on display for him.

I’m heaving, my pussy drenched and I don’t even care that he can scent it.

I reach for him again, closing my eyes and going in for a kiss but he pulls away again, his mouth showing attention to the curve of my breast.

Does he not want to…

Kiss me?

My eyes pop open.

Suddenly, the attention doesn’t feel so beautiful anymore.

I pause, pushing at his chest. He pulls back just enough and I slide out from under him, rolling to my side and tugging a fur with me.

“Mate,” he grunts. “I am not finished with you.”

I wrap myself in the soft pelt, pawing for my discarded leathers. The intensity and emotion I felt seconds ago has melted away.

He won’t kiss me.

Maybe his kind don’t do that…

Or maybe the mate bond isn’t quite what I think it is.

“Paige,” he says, tugging at my shoulder.

I swallow hard, fighting back the emotion clawing up my throat. It’s like needles, prickling and scratching so hard I can’t find the words.

This intense desire for him… there has to be a reason for it. It isn’t logical. It defies all reason.

The Paige I was on Earth would never fall into a bed after knowing him for two days and certainly not after how Varek and I met. There’s no way I would have felt anything but disgust.

And yet, I want him so bad. Even as my chest constricts and the moment continues to sour—my body yearns for him.

It must be magic. Or a lie.

“Paige,” Varek says with a tone in his voice. He tugs harder and I give in to his strength, rolling onto my back.

Tears brim my eyes but I blink them away, staring at the ceiling and refusing to look at the handsome alien hovering over me.

“Talk to me.”

I shake my head. What is there to say? That I’m too confused to let myself get fucked by an alien? That I’m too dumb to not fight him like the kidnapper he is?

That there is something about the fantasy of being loved and cherished that makes me want to give in?

I could say all those things, but I made a deal with him.

“It’s too fast,” I whisper, my voice cracking somewhere deep in my throat.

He huffs and reaches for my cheek. I refuse to look at him. I can’t.

“Our bond is inevitable, Paige. You were born to stand beside me and help me lead my people into the future.”

My heart aches.

“If that’s true,” I whisper, “then we have forever to bond.”

If I’m meant to be here like he says, then there is no rush, right? I can’t sacrifice the safety of the other girls by upsetting him. I can’t betray the deal. And if I reject him, I don’t know how he will react.

But I can’t ignore the rock in my belly telling me something isn’t quite right.

I finally look at him, not really seeing him. “Give me more time.”

His jaw clenches as he looks down at me. The moment stretches and so does my fear. So does my anxiety.

But eventually, he nods.

“Whatever you need, Mate.”

He lays down on his side and pulls me to him, wrapping me in his arms. I wiggle to get free but he huffs and holds me tighter. His warmth seeps through me like an electric blanket and even though I can’t move, I’m not uncomfortable.

I focus on my breathing and the steady rise and fall of his chest, aware that his eyes are still on me.

And that I’ve probably let him down.

And I hate that it cracks my heart open to disappoint him.