Page 8 of Secretly Mated To My Monster Alien Boss
His body tensed, fingers flexing against Kiara’s back. The pungent odor was the most illegal aphrodisiac for Deruzians. It triggered arousal unlike anything else. Deryg had been blessed by the Nines and hadn’t smelled it–until now.
But he knew how his species reacted to drinking it–out of control, violent, aroused. Reduced to their basic urges.
F’tare on Earth would be a disaster.
Even smelling it was challenging all his training and self-control–and Deryg didn’t know how much longer he could take.
He gritted his teeth as his fangs descended further. He fought against his instincts with all his Deruzian might.
He wasn’t the only one affected, though. Kiara couldn’t take her intense gaze off him. Her cheeks flushed in that delightful shade of red human skin sometimes turned to, mirroring the color of her fiery hair. Her heartbeat vibrated straight from her chest into Deryg’s twin hearts.
So f’tare’s effects weren’t limited to Deryg’s kind.
He clenched his jaw, torn between desire and duty. As head of security, it was his responsibility to ensure contraband didn’t enter the building. As a Deruzian, it was his duty to uphold his planets’ moral standards, even galaxies away–as his older brother, Rexan, used to remind him. It was one of the reasons Deryg had stopped talking to him. That and the Nines-damned contract he couldnotthink about right now.Especiallywith Kiara in his arms.
He should not have been imagining what Kiara’s lips tasted like. Nines, he wanted to lick her neck and suck on her earlobe.
They stood in complete silence, motionless.
Finally, Kiara broke the stillness.
“Well,” she began with a half-laugh, voice shaking. She didn’t move away from his embrace. “Thanks for not letting me fall tothe floor. A gash on my chin wouldn’t have matched my outfit for tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
Deryg nodded. He feared any word that would come out of his mouth would be a growl of desire. His pants had turned unbearably uncomfortable. He wondered if Kiara could feel how hard he was. Maybe she couldn’t, because she inched closer.
“We…we need to remove the crate off the premises. Immediately,” she went on. “It’s making me…woozy.”
“You’re aroused.”
“Oh, God, you can tell?” Kiara’s blushed harder. “I don’t know–”
Deryg stifled a groan. “The alcohol is called f’tare. It’s a potent aphrodisiac that seems to affect humans, too.”
She blinked up at him too many times, even for a human. Finally, she exhaled a half-laugh. “Oh, sothat’sit.”
Deryg frowned. “Why do you sound relieved?”
“I was getting worried there for a second. I’ve never wanted to climb you like a tree before.”
Deryg should have been relieved as well. After all, he valued his friendship with Kiara. The late evenings planning her elaborate corporate parties; she added more guests and entertainment, Deryg grumbled each time, increasing the personnel and cameras. But he liked doing it. Kiara’s enthusiasm was infectious.
She came up with the ideas, he made them work in a safe way.
It was a very delicate balance. One he didn’t want to jeopardize.
He knew that. Felt it in his entire body, all the way through the wings he kept tucked away from curious human eyes, like all Deruzians had promised to before coming to the small blue planet.
But even so, he said, “Why not?”
Of all the things to ask right now, Kiara not wanting to bed him was the most important?
Apparently so.
“I–” It was Kiara’s turn to frown–and bite her lower lip. Deryg liked that. A lot. He wanted to do it for her. “Well, you’re attractive…You’re insanely tall and muscly and have those lips that I can only describe as tempting and those horns I want to wrap my–”
Deryg couldn’t stop his growl this time.
It seemed to snap Kiara out of whatever reverie had taken hold of her. Nines damn it. Words had never been his allies.
