Page 17 of The Pregnancy Pact

“Easy,” intoned the alien. His hand tentatively touched my back. “Hungover?”

“What do you think?” I growled.

He chuckled softly. “I may have something that will help.”

The mattress shifted as he stood. I heard rustling. Clanking. I wondered if he were digging in his magical liquor cabinet for a hangover cure. Made sense he would have one in there, considering how much booze he had stashed away.

I doubt I’m the first woman he’s brought on board ship and got drunk to seduce her.

Except…he hadn’t actually tried to seduce me. Not that I could recall, anyway. My clothing was rumpled but intact. I had no memories of anything sexual happening between us. I did have a hazy memory of waking up sometime in the night, talking to him, drinking more, and then—well, I wasn’t sure. I definitely didn’t remember sex. Which meant…

I guess I’m not attractive enough for him to try to seduce, I thought, which produced a weird sting of bitterness and sadness.

I didn’t have long to dwell on that uncomfortable truth. By the noise of his footsteps, I could tell he was returning. Then his voice spoke, saying, “Here, female. Try this. It might alleviate your symptoms.”

Female. Was he really calling me that?

It was so derisive. So insulting, reducing me down from a person to nothing more than a human…well, merely a female.

Which, I supposed, was how he saw me.

I wanted to be angry about the term, but my head was pounding too fiercely for me to hold onto the anger and blot out the pain. Accepting the inevitable, I opened my eyes and saw a silver-skinned hand offering me a glass filled with cloudy yellow liquid.

“What is this?” I asked suspiciously.

“I’d best not say,” he replied. “However, know that, if you drink it, you will recover quickly.”

I wasn’t sure that reassured me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about drinking something an alien had concocted with secret ingredients. On the other hand, I lacked a lot of choices at the moment, didn’t I?

Forcing down my hesitations, I accepted the cup, choosing to throw caution to the wind and toss it back. Honestly? It burned going down. I coughed and wiped away tears the heat brought to my eyes.

“Water, please?” I croaked.

The alien complied, fetching me a glass of water from a crystal decanter. I took a few grateful sips, chasing the hangover drink with the water until the burn eased and the tears stopped leaking from eyes.

Then, and only then, did I realize…the pounding inside my head was lessening. I could open my eyes fully against the lights of the room. The ship was no longer spinning around me. The nausea in my stomach was evaporating.

Damn.

Whatever was in that drink, it had worked quickly, as the Overlord had promised.

Fortified, I placed both palms on the mattress and pushed down, hoisting myself to my feet, despite the—“I would not—?” warning from the Overlord.

Too late.

I’d figured the hangover was, well, over. It wasn’t. I’d attempted to stand too quickly. A violent surge of dizziness broke over me. The room spun fiercer than before. Thankfully, the bed was behind me. As soon as I stood, I knew I was going to fall. I didn’t even try to fight it.

“J’tet!” the Overlord hissed. I heard a rush of movement. Before I completely collapsed back onto the mattress he was there, catching me, an arm around my back.

I gasped softly, whether from the near fall or surprise that the alien had cared enough to actually catch me. His arms eased me down onto the bed with more strength than I would have ascribed to his lean frame. He sank down with me, both arms wrapped around me, holding me while I recovered my breath.

Embarrassed, I tried to shy away. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” I mumbled.

“You will be soon.” The alien’s voice was so calm. “I meant to warn you. You will feel better soon, but you should not try to stand quickly.”

“Right. I figured that part out,” I sighed.

He wasn’t letting go of me. Why wasn’t he releasing me? A minute ago, I’d been spewing hateful words at him, but he’d still kept me from falling and still had his arms around me. I had no idea what to say or think or do anymore. So, I did the one thing I probably shouldn’t have done, which was to give in and lean against the Asterion male holding me. Temporarily allowing him to be my support, my strength.

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