Page 48 of Tempted By the Alien Warrior

“Right before we were taken, she wanted to go camping in the woods behind our grandparents’ place. Just like we used to do when we were little. I had this horrible feeling that something was going to go wrong. So, I told her we were too old for that kind of thing, but she said it’d be like one last adventure.” Her voice cracks, and she shakes her head. “Maybe if I wasn’t so weak, if I’d just said no, none of this would’ve happened.”

I lean toward her, a fierce ache tightening in my chest, and the words are out before I can call them back. “Emily, this isn’t your fault. You went with her because you care. Because your first instinct is to protect the people you love. That’s not weakness or failure. That’s strength.”

She whispers, “I don't feel strong.”

“You are,” I say, my voice low. “More than you know. You’ve carried fear and loss and guilt on your back, and you’re still here, fighting. Still hoping. That is strength, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”

And I mean it. I was a fool, and I see now that strength isn’t only physical. Ir’s the kind that keeps going when it would be easier to give up. The kind that holds on when everything else is slipping away.

Silence settles between us, thick with everything she’s not saying. I watch her shoulders rise and fall with a breath that seems too heavy for one person to bear. And if I could take even a sliver of that weight from her, I would, without hesitation.

Her eyes meet mine, and it’s almost as if she’s searching for something in my gaze. Almost as if she’s trying to make a decision. Finally, she breaks contact, and her gaze drops to her hands.

“Vrok,” she starts, her voice tentative. “Back at the cave, when I woke up in your arms—” She cuts off and takes a shaky breath. “I’ve never felt so…” She lifts her eyes again, and something raw and vulnerable shines in them. “Safe.”

That single word punches through hard, like a physical blow. Me, the male who is feared, loathed, and distrusted by my tribe. To hear her say she feels safe with me, it’s everything I didn’t know I needed.

I turn toward her, lifting my hand to hover near her cheek, not quite daring to touch. “I don’t deserve your trust, but I’ll do everything I can to protect you, Emily. I swear it.” The words rasp out of my throat.

Without speaking, she turns her head and presses her cheek against my palm. My eyes slip shut against the rush of unfamiliar emotions surging through me. Just for a heartbeat, I let myself feel everything. When I open them, she’s still there.

I can feel the tremble that goes through her body, not from fear, but from something else. Something electric that charges the air between us. Her gaze flicks to my lips, and I forget everything else. Our mission to find her cousin, my father, the guilt that weighs me down.

"Vrok..." she whispers. She’s so close now her breath warms my lips.

I lean in slowly, giving her every chance to pull away, but she doesn’t. Instead, she meets me halfway.

The kiss is soft at first, tentative even, but it doesn’t stay that way. It deepens with a hunger that takes me by surprise.

Emily’s lips part on a moan as she wraps her arms around my neck. Sliding my hands to her waist, I pull her closer. Her heart hammers against my chest, matching the wild rhythm of my own.

When we finally pull apart, we’re both breathing hard. Her cheeks are flushed red and her lips are swollen.

“I don’t know if this is the right time for this,” she says with a shaky laugh.

“Probably not,” I admit. “But if this is a mistake…” I pause and brush my thumb against her lower lip. “It’s one I’ll never regret.”

Her fingers skim down my chest, trailing heat in their wake. “Then, don’t stop. We can figure out the rest later,” she whispers.

Then, she kisses me again and it’s nothing like before.

It’s hungry and wild. All heat, no restraint. Her teeth nip at my lower lip and when I open, her smooth, nimble tongue sweeps in to tangle with mine. She presses as close as she can against me like she’s trying to crawl under my skin, and goddesses help me, I want her to.

I want her everywhere. On me. Around me. Wrapped in me so tight there’s no beginning or end.

A low growl rises from deep inside me as I drag her into my lap. She settles over me without hesitation, straddling my thighs, and it feels like our bodies were made to fit together in this way. Her curves mold to my hard chest and her sweet, intoxicating scent surrounds me.

My hands rest carefully at her waist, keeping myself in check even as everything inside me roars to take more. To flip her over and bury my cock inside her. But I won’t rush this. I want to savor every heartbeat of my time with Emily. Every touch. Every nibble. Every sigh that leaves her lips.

Her hands roam over my chest, greedy and searching. Every brush of her fingers sends sparks zinging through my veins, lighting something deep and primal inside me. My cock jerks beneath her, straining against the confines of my loincloth, desperate for her.

“You’re so warm,” she murmurs against my lips. Her hand moves lower, sliding from my chest along the thick ridges that protect my abdomen. “And hard.”

I growl her name, and it’s part warning, part plea. “Emily.”

“Hmm?” She pulls back and tilts her head at me. Her eyes are wide and innocent, but the hand creeping even lower, skimming along the waistband of my loincloth is anything but.

It’s exploring, teasing, and driving me sarding wild. Stars, she’s going to undo me.

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