by Sabrina Kade
We remain silent, but I almost yelp in surprise when Drozass’ hand creeps down the front of my shirt, sneaking under the fabric. From the back, no one can see what he’s doing, and though this interaction is starting to turn a little naughty, I don’t fight it. It feels good. I haven’t felt this good in a while. He’s not asking, but I’m not stopping him either, so that’s probably good enough for him. His fingers continue their trek down my shirt and eventually stop right above my nipple.
A small gasp escapes my lips, and though Drozass doesn’t look down, his hand continues to move. He cups my breast. He doesn’t do anything else. His hand is so large that I’m barely a handful for him, but one glance at the front of his shorts reminds me that at least cup size is nothin’ but a number. My nipple pebbles against his palm, and I lean against him. It’s such an innocent touch, but it sets all my senses on fire. Warmth blossoms in my chest as he gently squeezes my breast. It’s harmless, but so damn possessive at the same time. I shouldn’t like it, but I do. I close my eyes, simply enjoying the closeness and innocence of this interaction.
We remain standing like that for a little while. Maybe five minutes. Maybe an hour. I don’t know. It’s hard to keep track of time when I’m with Drozass. But eventually, he releases my breast and returns to simply standing beside me. “Did Chocal do anything to you that I need to know about?”
I frown. “I don’t fuck everyone because they ask, you know. At least, not here.”
“Did I say this? I’m asking if he touched you in any way that you didn’t like, or if he said anything to you that made you uneasy.”
“Oh…” I trail off. He said a lot of things. None of which I’m ready for Drozass to know. “No. He was all right. We just talked.”
He hums softly in response. “I do not like him being here. He left so easily when we first arrived, and now he’s returned, and Prince Korben is completely okay with it.”
“He didn’t do… uh… any trials or anything?” I shift, feeling slightly embarrassed at how little I know about aliens sometimes. I’m supposed to be the best in my line of work, but other than sexual manners and bedroom behaviors, there’s so much I don’t know. “I mean, you said he left when you guys first arrived? That means he didn’t help build the lairs, right?”
“Correct. He fled.” He lowers his chin. “We are not permitted to speak about these things with those who are not our mates, so please don’t let it be known that I broke the rules.”
“Right.” My voice shakes slightly. “Because we’re not mates.”
He hums once more. “He and others either headed north and south. Chocal is the first to return, though I am not entirely sure what his motives are. I was fine with him spending time with the sour-faced female, but I must admit, I did not like seeing him speak with you. I did not enjoy observing you joking with him.”
“That was—” I stop myself short. I can’t finish that sentence without telling him everything. It was all an act. Just a way to smooth things over in his eyes. Of course, it didn’t work. If anything, it may have backfired. “He’s different than you guys. The way he thinks. He’s interesting.”
“Interesting is neither a complaint nor compliment. Be careful around him.”
“Why?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood. “Are you going to punch him again?”
He shakes his head, pulling me close to his body. “If he touches you like that in front of me, I would do much worse than spar him.”
Yup. My attempt to lighten the mood has failed. Drozass looks completely serious, staring out into the fields, and seeing him so upset about another male touching me, touches me. For years I’ve been passed from male to male and never minded. I’m property as far as I’m concerned, and honestly, I don’t really mind it. I never enjoyed sex. But I can make it look like I do. And clients like that. It gave me power. They snuck me credits I could use to barter at other assignments. To help my girls. Protect my family. Dealing with unwanted sex proved to be a powerful weapon in my line of work, and no one is more powerful than me. Clients pay extra for Arizona’s girls. Training centers wanted me there. All the aliens want human females like Arizona. I felt powerful. Strong.
Even though I hated every moment of it.
But not with Drozass. No. I love every moment I’m with him. Even now. Thinking about his hands all over me reminds me that sex can be more than a duty or currency. It can be pleasurable. It can be enjoyable. It can be—
“Get behind that tree,” Drozass says suddenly, moving me behind a thick trunk so no one sees us.
I yelp. “What are you doing?”
“Your scent changed. Tell me.”
My eyes widen. “Tell you what?”
“Tell me it’s okay. Tell me you want me to touch you. Arizona. I need to touch you. Now.”
“So do it.”
He shakes his head, breathing hard. Almost like he’s losing control of himself. His body bends over mine, sliding a hand down my side and around the meat of my ass. He squeezes it tightly, and an exquisite mixture of pain and pleasure erupts inside of me. I lift my head, and Drozass is looming over me.
“You want this,” he growls. “I know you do. But I need to hear you say it. Need to hear it.”
“Drozass, you don’t need to ask me—”
“Ari,” he hisses, locking his eyes with mine. “Say it.”
My breath hitches. “I… I don’t understand why—”
“Say it.”
“I want you to touch me.”
A throaty hiss erupts from his throat, and his fingers snake their way down through my skirt. My heart pounds heavily, and I can’t seem to catch my breath, I’m so overwhelmed by Drozass’ body, scent, and desire. Everything about him sets me on fire and makes me dizzy. I can barely think. And then, when I think I’m going to lose my mind, his fingers make their way to my folds and part them open. I feel the hot breeze of the outdoors kiss the curls over my slit before Drozass’ hand covers the entire area.
“Mine,” he rasps. “I may not be your Chosen mate, but this is mine.”
“Yours,” I gasp, unable to censor myself. “It’s yours, Drozass. You know that.”
“Do I?” he hisses, pushing two fingers through my core and making me gasp. “Do I know that, Ari?”
“Of course. I’m not with anyone else.”
“What if you could be?”
“I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.” The truth sounds strange on my lips, but I don’t dare take the words back.
“I like hearing that almost as much as I enjoy feeling this,” he says, pulling his fingers out from my pussy and holding them in front of my face. “I want you to taste this. Taste how much you want me if you won’t admit it to yourself.”
“But I just did.”
“Taste the truth,” he says, pushing glistening fingers toward my lips. When I don’t part them, he slowly drags them across my skin, as though applying lip gloss, eyes locked on mine and never looking away. I smell my heat, the headiness combined with musk and earth. My need for him smells like this? It’s not bad. I slick my tongue across my lips and taste myself just as he asks… right before his mouth finds mine. His tongue darts inside, and I tightly wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. I’m needy for him. Too damn needy.
I’m needy for him. Needy for more. Needy. Weak for him.
Weak.
Startled, my eyes snap open, and I push Drozass away as hard as I can, but he barely moves. He has me tangled up in his web, and I’m not going anywhere apparently. He stares down at me.
“Why did you stop?”
“Weak,” I mutter. “I don’t want to be weak.”
“Huh?” He cocks his head to the side. “You are not weak. What does that mean?”
“I mean…” I quickly try to cover up my slip. “You’re young. That’s what Chocal told me today. You’re too young for me.”
“I’m not that young,” he says, voice dropping to something closer to a growl.
“Compared to me, you are.” I shake my he
ad, still trying to shake away the need I have for him growing in my belly. I can’t have Drozass finding out my other reasons for pushing him away. It’s the age. It must be the age thing. It doesn’t matter how much I want him. I won’t be weak. I won’t lose respect from my girls. I’ll disappoint Alaska. Kansas will never let me live it down. And so, as much as I want to keep going, I struggle in Drozass grip to put more distance between us. “You’re over ten years younger than me.”
“So what?”
“So what? I’m over thirty! You’re barely twenty. This can’t work. We shouldn’t even spend so much time together. It’s bad—”
“No.”
My head shoots up. “No?”
“No.” He pulls me back closer to him, surrounding my body with his, and I can barely focus. “I don’t care that you’re older than me. I don’t think you do either. There is something else bothering you, but for whatever reason, you won’t tell me. Maybe you told Chocal.” My lips part, but he continues. “You can say many things, but don’t you dare say we should stop spending time together. Don’t you dare.” He lowers his head, and captures my mouth, this time with a much softer, and yet much more possessive kiss. A kiss that makes my pussy tingle and my nipples harden. If only I could let go—no.
What if this assignment ends tomorrow?
What if this was all an elaborate joke put together by Kansas to get back at me for giving her a hard time about the Entla she loved? It’s a crazy conspiracy, but I’m feeling pretty nuts right now.
What if Washington was watching me right now?
“You don’t understand how hard this is for me,” I mutter. “I’m their leader. I’m Arizona. State Girl. Top State Girl. I work. I’ll probably die before I stop working.”
“Don’t talk like that.”
“You think I don’t want you?” I say, changing the subject. “Do you think I can look at you and not want to jump your bones twenty-four seven? Drozass, you’re the hottest alien here. You’re built, and kind and strong and handsome and all sorts of sexy. You could have your pick. There are lots of hotter females here. Younger females. Females that don’t want to work.”
“I don’t believe you actually want to work,” he says in a challenging tone.
“I won’t lose their respect!” I yelp, hating that I sound like a petulant child. But the alien standing over me is over seven feet tall and built like a pro-wrestler. It’s hard not to raise my voice to make sure he hears me up there. “Drozass, you could have anyone you want. Kansas warned you that I’m a bad idea. So why do you keep trying to be with me? You can have anyone.”
For a few moments, he’s silent. I can’t bring myself to lift my head. I’m afraid to see his expression. Everything I said was true. I don’t understand why he’s here, or why he’s fighting so hard for a woman he can’t have.
“Arizona.” He says my name and immediately, I lift my head. He’s staring down with an expression I’ve never seen before, and its legit skin-crawling. He looks as though he’s trying to give up. Maybe he wants to give up. But instead, he wraps his arms me and pulls me in for a chest crushing hug. I can barely breathe; he’s holding on so tightly. I want him to say something, though. Something to explain that look. What’s going through his mind? Have I finally pushed him too hard? Have I pushed him away? The hardness of his cock says no, but what guy can keep his cock soft when hugging a woman he thinks is even remotely attractive?
“Say something else,” I whisper when I can no longer take the quiet. “Please. Say something else.”
“I’m not sure what else there is to say.”
I find myself pulling him closer to me. What does that mean?
“Arizona. Don’t you get it? I—”
“Everything is all right here, yes?”
Startled by the new voice, I jump away from Drozass, and he’s also shocked enough to let me go. Chocal stands before us with a strange smirk on his face.
“What are you doing here?” Drozass hisses.
“I heard some strange sounds,” he says, eyes darting between myself and Drozass. He turns his full attention to me. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know—”
“She is fine,” Drozass interrupts. “We’re fine. Go off and mind your business, Chocal.”
“Very well.” He says this with an easy-going shrug, and thankfully, doesn’t stick around. I’m still dying to know what Drozass was about to say.
Nervously, I turn back to Drozass, who’s still watching where Chocal appeared. He’s probably making sure he leaves for good this time. God. I need to know what Drozass was going to say. But I don’t want to push him. I shouldn’t even care, but I know that I do. Drozass’ words matter. He matters. If he pushes me away, I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do.
“I could, couldn’t I?” His voice is like a whisper across the stuffy air, and I spin in his direction. His chin lifts and his eyes meet mine. “What you said earlier. I could find an easier female, couldn’t I? One who doesn’t push me away. One who isn’t obsessed with respect and titles. Younger. I could find a female like that pretty easily, couldn’t I?”
My heart drops to my feet. “You could…”
He reaches out and pulls me back to him. “I don’t want to.” A boyish grin crosses his handsome features, and he captures my mouth once more. He doesn’t ask permission, but I don’t give a fuck; his words sound too fantastic in my ears. “I don’t want easy. I don’t want a young female for the sake of her being young. I want you. It’s not your age, I want. It’s you. And whatever you’re dealing with is a part of who you are. I want all of it.”
I hate how much relief flows through my body.
“You will be really and truly mine one day, Ari,” he promises, capturing my mouth with yet another heart-stopping kiss. “Even if that day isn’t today. Even if you don't admit it, you will be mine. You watch.”
I can’t bring myself to fight with him. Not when it feels so good.
Chapter Five
Arizona
It was only for a moment, but I couldn’t find it within myself to fight him. I wish I weren’t who I was, then Drozass and I could have more moments like the one we shared out in the field, but I know nothing that good lasts forever.
I don’t know what Chocal wants from me. Over the next few days, he spends more and more time hanging around, and though it’s evident that Lacey is bothered, she doesn’t do anything about it. Maybe she doesn’t care. She was a bitch from the get-go, so perhaps she’s finally grown tired of the one who doesn’t annoy her.
Drozass, however, is annoyed.
And since I’m getting a little tired of his grumpy ass face and worrying that he’s going to clock Chocal in the nose, I seek out company with Dakota – the only one of my family members who I’m pretty sure doesn’t have ulterior motives.
“How are you these days?” I ask, hoping Dakota doesn’t think I view her as a last resort for conversation. She’s beautiful, but she’s never been the most interesting. She doesn’t challenge me. She never has. No matter what happens, she deals with a smile on her tanned face. “Still spending time with Cade?”
She nods. “Yup.”
“How’s he treating you?” This is a sensitive subject for her. She doesn’t often talk about the way clients treat her, and usually, I have to beat an answer out of her. I don’t mind, but I know Cade has particular tastes, as does Kansas’ client, Dash.
“He’s the same as ever,” she says vaguely, avoiding my dark brown eyes with her light brown ones. “He just… he is who he is, I guess.”
“Are you guys…”
“No, Ari. We’re not Chosen mates. It’s not like that with him.”
I cock an eyebrow. “What is it like?”
“Like… none of your business.” She says it with a smile on her face, but I know she’s politely telling me to back off.
I settle down on the floor of Cade’s lair, not looking to sit on their bed where the scent of sex is entirely too strong,
even for me. But I do reach into my top and pull out a few flatbreads the color of Pepto Bismol, and hand one to Dakota. Her smile reaches her eyes this time, and she takes the bread and bites into it slowly. A soft moan escapes her lips.
“That good, huh?”
“I usually don’t care for alien food, but there’s always that one thing for each species you can count on.”
“So…” I try not to sound like I’m digging for information, but despite Dakota’s valley girl look, she’s also sharp as a tack. “Have you talked to Kansas at all lately?”
Her expression finally drops into a frown. I don’t know why I’m so desperate. Kansas may be annoying, but I want to believe that for the most part, she’s got my back. But something is going on lately, she’s pushing something, and I’m desperate to understand what. And more importantly, why.
“She doesn’t have a mate either,” Dakota says in a low voice. “None of us do. You know that. We’re not going to do anything like that behind your back, Ari.”
“No?”
“No. I know we’re each hanging out with different guys, but it’s the same as always. Give em’ your body, but don’t give em’ your heart.”
“Is everyone following that?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re not with Cade?”
“I’m with him every night,” Dakota says in a gentle reminder. “But no. He hasn’t Chosen me. Even if he did, I wouldn’t say yes.”
“Why? Don’t you care about him?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“Then, why?”
“Because I know how much it would devastate you.”
A wave of nausea rushes over me. Dakota may like Cade, but because of me, she won’t take him as a mate. I hate that. I hate that it feels so much like pity. I don’t need anyone’s sympathy, dammit. I’m a strong ass woman. I created this family. Even if another member left, I could replace her – ugh. No. I don’t know if I could. But I want to believe that the girls are keeping their hearts available not only because they don’t want to hurt my goddamn feelings.
“You guys can do whatever you want,” I grumble.