Page 14 of Secretly Married To My Monster Alien Boss
He was obviously attracted to Alissia.
That shouldn’t matter.
It couldn’t matter.
He’d proposed to her not out of love–the most traitorous sentiment in all the universe. It was a business transaction and he’d do well to remember that.
Alissia certainly did. She’d walked out of his office without a second glance and hadn’t said anything to him afterwards.
He had no clue what he’d do if she said no.
He couldn’t live with a stranger, even for one month. He couldn’ttrusta stranger. Especially not with this secret.
Deruzians frowned upon dishonesty. It wouldn’t do the Te’Oken dynasty any good if the sole heir was found lying.
So picking a fellow Deruzian was also out of the question. A promise spoken was a promise kept. If Deruzians agreed to a union, they would stick to it.
Which made Rynar wonder why the thought of marrying Alissia didn’t sound an alarm within him.
Maybe he was different than the rest of Deruzia. His father had told him so more than once.
Perhaps Rynar was calm because he knew he would only agree to a one-month marriage. Logic always prevailed.
Whatever the reason, he was glad he wasn’t having an existential Deruzian crisis. It would’ve complicated his Sunday evening even more.
The glare of Earth’s sun had long since vanished over the horizon of the city, and Alissia still hadn’t given him any sign.
Rynar had been tempted to call her, but he’d promised her time and that’s what he planned on doing.
Just as these thoughts threatened to make him pace again, Zinny jumped on his lap. The cat’s Deruzian collar jiggled–a marvel of his home planet’s technology mixed with human ingenuity. The small feline always liked to keep Rynar hostage in his leather armchair whenever he got the chance.
Zinny looked at him with those big, gray eyes and meowed. Rynar huffed a laugh and patted his head, just like he’d seen in those human instructional videos.
When he’d found Zinny near his townhouse, after one of those awful autumn rains that flooded the streets–just like the spring one shaking the windows tonight–he had been nothing but a wet ball of fur, more eyes and mouth than cat.
Rynar couldn’t let him drown. He’d picked him up and brought him inside, instantly searching for animal sanctuaries that could take care of him.
But Zinny, smart animal that he was, had walked off the towel Rynar had placed him on and jumped into his lap. Then he’d snuggled into his hand, always keeping his big eyes on Rynar, as if trying to show him just howcu-tehe was.
With a sigh, Rynar had changed his search to tips on taking care of a youngling cat. And that was that.
Zinny had become his sole companion, sleeping the days away and patrolling the house at night like he owned it.
Zinny certainly thought he did. Perhaps he was right.
Rynar only came back here to shower and sleep. It didn’t feel like home, no matter how much heat he pumped into the house.
Deruzia was dry, its cities stretched out over large expanses of ground, burrowing into mountains if need be. Deruzian might knew no obstacle. The human Capital was wet, its buildings soaring toward the sky. It made sense–humans could only fly in their machines with wings, so they’d constructed their homes to be as close to the sky as possible.
On his home world, Rynar hadn’t had trouble finding company. As the intelligent and charismatic heir to his dynasty, he’d attracted more attention than he needed. He wouldn’t haveany issues now, either. But coming to Earth after his father had died had made him seek solitude.
It seemed like the obvious course of action at first.
He’d lost the last family he knew and had come on a strange, cold planet, against the advice of the elders, surrounded by a species he hadn’t interacted with before.
Yes, he met with his Deruzian companions outside of the office and they sometimes gathered here. Had met a few humans. But nothing more.
Rynar had thought he didn’t need any other interaction. He had been wrong, but he hadn’t found a solution. Yet.
