Page 13 of The Marriage Bargain

I flipped onto my other side with a groan. My friend would be aghast to know his boss was having such thoughts about his sister-in-law. What little interaction I’d had with Delle told me she would likely be both aghast and disgusted.

CHAPTER 9

DELLE

Shoot.

I couldn’t sleep. My mind wouldn’t stop racing. Worrying for my sister and her unborn baby. Wondering what tomorrow would bring. But mostly thinking of the visitor out in the next room. Not merely a visitor—an actual Overlord. An alien of an entirely different species. But drop-dead gorgeous. And the way he’d interacted with me, leaving me wondering if he was somehow attracted to me, as crazy as that sounded.

I couldn’t help wondering what was going on in the living room. Was he sleeping? Restless, like me, due to the weirdness of the whole situation? Disgusted by being trapped in an Earthling hovel? This had to seem like a hovel compared to what he was probably accustomed to at the Citadel, being an Overlord and everything. Was he angry at me? His last remarks before I’d fled to my room about not having servants and taking care of himself…

They had caught me a little off guard. I guess there was a part of me that wanted to think, because he was an Asterion instead of a human, that his life as an Overlord must be so different from mine. But…was it? Maybe he looked different but, wasn’t really all that different from me and other humans.

Which meant, what? That I could legitimately be attracted to him?

“Get a grip,” I whispered aloud with a quiet, harsh laugh. “Even if you are, what good is it going to do you?”

None. It wouldn’t do me any good. Oh, there were Overlords who had taken human females as side pieces. Some human women seemed to enjoy the notoriety and prestige. Most of them were dumped pretty quickly. According to rumor, it seemed Asterion men didn’t like being challenged by their females. I guess Asterion women were taught to be quiet, and human women didn’t take that so well, especially after surviving the horrible Final War. I knew I didn’t. My big mouth would forever be my biggest source of trouble. Anyway, it wasn’t like our Overlords didn’t sleep with human women, because they did. But I hadn’t heard of many long-lasting relationships forming, and I didn’t expect to, either.

Long-lasting relationships between inter-planet species? Not likely.

I twisted to my other side, pulled a pillow over my head, and tried to shut out the world around me.

Man, I was suddenly horny. It had been a long time since I’d had sex. Months. Over a year, actually. My last boyfriend and I had fooled around a few times, had sex, and then he was called to the Citadel and stopped coming to the eatery. I hadn’t seen or heard from him again, despite sending him several messages though Zyn. Messages that weren’t responded to, leaving me hurt and confused. Feeling used.

That’s all men are good for, human or alien. Using you and forgetting. You’re nothing but a sex toy, and then they move on to the next thing.

I knew from Zyn that my ex had gotten a girlfriend over at the Citadel, which was why I assumed he hadn’t bothered returning my messages. And despite knowing I shouldn’t, I couldn’t help wondering what was better about her that made him choose her over me. Was she sweeter? Quieter? Taller? Slimmer?

I hadn’t had the heart to ask my brother-in-law. Instead, I had erected walls around my heart and body that hadn’t come down for over a year. Now, lying in the darkness, lonely, I remembered what it was like to be skin-to-skin with someone you cared about, then to lay there with them afterward, enjoying the fading glow of romance. Cheesy, maybe, but nice. Really nice.

I was horny. I was lonely. And outside in the living room was a male from another species who seemed to possibly be sending signals that he was attracted to me.

A wild, crazy, insane thought entered my brain.

What if I went out there and just…invited him back to my room? The girls are asleep. We could be quiet. They’d never know.

It didn’t have to be anything. Didn’t have to mean anything. Just him and me. A few minutes of pleasure. Not having to feel unwanted, rejected, forlorn for one night of my life.

Reality returned with a crash.

What if I was reading the signals wrong and he rejected me? Maybe with absolute disgust at a human woman propositioning him. How would that make me feel?

Wretched. Worse than ever before.

You’re an idiot, Delle.

At the end of the day, I simply didn’t have the courage to get up and go out there. I didn’t even know what I’d say.

Hey, want to come do me?

I almost snort-laughed at the mental image of me saying that to the beautiful alien creature.

Yeah. Right.

I could imagine those golden eyes narrowing with surprise, distaste. I couldn’t handle actually seeing it.

Heaving a sigh, I flipped over onto my other side, squeezed my eyelids tightly shut, and conjured up mental images of sheep jumping a fence.

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