Page 3 of Secretly Mated To My Monster Alien Boss
From what she understood, the Deruzians feared another attack. At the party.
But everything was going well so far. Maybe the stress and anticipation was getting to all of them.
Kiara took a deep breath, surveying the area. Everything was going as planned. Perfect. “I’ll be insanely happy if this turns out how I want it.”
“It will,” was all Deryg said.
Kiara frowned. “No monologue about the stuffy investors drinking themselves into a stupor and then your security team having to carry them out the door?”
“No.”
Deryg was usually composed when there were other people around, but…he seemed off.
Kiara looked back at him. The mighty frown was mightier. There was a weird tension in his arms and shoulders, like he wanted to strangle someone, but couldn’t.
“You okay?” she asked, voice low enough for only his super Deruzian hearing to catch.
“I am, as you say whenever you’re grouchy in the morning,fine.”
“You don’t seemfine.”
He looked down at her, piercing her with those fiery eyes. “The senior secretaries say I’m always fine.Mighty fine, to quote them directly.”
Kiara rolled her eyes. “That’s because those lovely old ladies think you’re hot.”
“Also correct.” He flashed a bit of fang as he smirked. “Deruzians have a higher body temperature than humans. So I’m also hot.”
“You’re also avoiding an answer. Is it the…you know–” She lowered her voice. Kiara had a feeling this information was beyond her pay grade, but Deryg had told her. “–potential attack?”
“I’ve already taken the necessary measures to make sure we can deal with any human interference tomorrow, if it happens.” A shadow passed behind his penetrating gaze. “I received some news from home that I wasn't expecting.”
Kiara frowned. “Is your family okay?”
“They will be.”
She took a step closer to him. “Do you want to talk about it?”
A bit of Deryg’s menacing air softened a bit as he sighed. “It’s–”
He froze. That hint of vulnerability vanished as the muscles in his neck tensed. He lifted his head slowly, like a panther waiting to pounce. He looked dangerous. Well, more dangerous.
He sniffed, the furrow in his sharp brows deepening as his eyes scanned the mass of people crowding the atrium.
His gaze locked on a scrawny dude struggling to push a dusty crate down toward the beverage area.
Deryg clenched his jaw.
“What’s going on?” Kiara asked, suddenly worried. Deryg only got that look in his eyes when there was a threat.
A real threat.
“Contraband,” he said. “The dangerous kind.”
2
DERYG
The one thing Deryg didn’t particularly enjoy about Earth–apart from the low temperatures, especially in this eastern part of North America–was that humans had this curious rule of not immediately neutralizing an obvious threat.
