Page 10 of The Pregnancy Pact

“I…I am?”

Slowly, he nodded his head.

“You are looking at me in a fashion that says you are…attracted to me, perhaps.”

“I…I am?”

I couldn’t think of anything else to say. The longer our gazes meshed, his golden eyes and my pale blue ones, the longer I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. Like this had to be a dream, or I’d suddenly been transported into an old romance movie from before the Final War, when humans had the time and money to devote to making movies. We were too fixated on survival now for such luxuries, but some astute humans, adroit in older electronics, had been able to get some of the ancient equipment working again where we could watch those films.

At any rate, the alien—and it occurred to me I still didn’t know his name—continued gazing down at me. Was it my imagination? Or were his sharp, golden eyes softening?

“I find you beautiful too,” he said softly, reaching out to cup my cheek with his hand. “Older, perhaps, than most of the human females I’ve bedded, but lovely, nonetheless.”

I should have been offended by that. If not for the blitza, I probably would have been offended. I was too mellow from the alcohol, too happy to hear a compliment, and too mesmerized by his touch to get mad over the ageist remark.

“Well, neither of us are married,” I breathed, swaying towards him.

“Not that it matters…” he mumbled, his expression altering slightly.

I drew back, uncertain I’d heard him right. “What?”

“It was nothing,” he assured me, shaking his head. He lowered his hand from my face, slid it down my shoulder, my arm, all the way to my fingertips which he took and lifted to his lips.

“You are correct, human female,” he said. “Neither of us are married. We could indulge in…” His gaze roved up and down my body in a way that said he was clearly interested in what lay beneath my clothes, despite their primness and modesty. I could have been creeped out. Instead, my body flushed, heat spiraling through my waist, my stomach, my core. “Sensual pleasures,” he finished, practically purring the words.

Then he touched my fingertips to his lips. Slowly, one by one, his mouth pressed soft, sweet kisses against them. His eyes glowed like molten gold, promising so much more. I shivered, unable to think of anything except those kisses being pressed elsewhere on my body…

“I still—still can’t remember the name of my ship,” I whispered, my voice shaky from anticipation, desire, fear. “But I bet—you’ve got a room, don’t you? Or—or a ship?”

A wicked smile curved one corner of his mouth.

“Oh, I’ve both,” he murmured. “And my ship is much closer. The room is rather small; the bed rather narrow. But…” He slid an arm around my waist, drawing me against his body. “That does not matter.”

“No,” I whispered, so arrested by him that I had turned into a mush-brained fool. “That doesn’t matter at all.”

Sweet merciful heavens, a narrow bed with him on top?

Or me on top?

All sorts of scenarios were racing through my mind. Sex acts and sex positions that Charlie and I hadn’t tried in forever. Our sex life had progressively grown stale through the years—since, unbeknownst to me, he was doing half the women outside the walls of the Citadel—but that didn’t mean I’d forgotten what it was like to be young and fiery and interested in trying new things.

In fact, the longer we stood there, pressed against each other, the fierier my thoughts grew. This Overlord was staring at me in a way that said he was ready to absolutely devour me. And I was more than prepared to let him. I was hoping he’d kiss me first, though. I was eager to feel those lips on mine, that tongue tangling with mine when—

A loud clanging, like a bell or an alarm. Instantly, my focus on sex snapped.

“What’s that?” I asked, pulling away.

The Overlord let me go, but kept a hand on my back so that I didn’t stray too far.

“The alarm for the shift change,” he said. “Those left on duty here at their ships will be replaced so everyone can take a turn in the pleasure centers.”

“Oh.” I rolled my eyes a little. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Men are men universally.”

The alien gave me a strange look, even as hatches lifted and doors opened on all the ships around us, humans and aliens of every sort scuttling down gangplanks and ladders, eager to be out of the ship bay and into the fun houses.

“Perhaps we are,” he agreed. “However, unless I misread every signal, you were prepared to take your indulgence with me, were you not?”

“Yeah, but…”

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