Page 35 of Matched to the Alien King
Nera
Wewalkedalongthebeach in comfortable silence, me with my own thoughts eating up all my energy, Maxx with his.
I hadn’t allowed myself to think about Rain in quite some time. I wasn’t sure I was ready to either. Still, if she was here and I ran into her…
Well, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. And then I would throw up. Or maybe throw up and then kill her. Decisions, decisions, but only because the mere thought of her coursed acid into my gut.
After a while, Maxx dropped my hand, and when I turned to him ready to protest, he started speaking. “Doesn’t it bother you that I’m on two sides of the Faid War?”
“No,” I said simply.
“Why?” He leaned in to read me, to understand me, so I turned to let him try. He’d need a lot of luck, a plate of tacos, and probably some elbow grease to do that though.
“You have your reasons. In your shoes, I’m sure I’d do the same,” I told him.
“In my shoes, you wouldn’t have the same experiences with the Faid that you’ve had.”
“Your shoes are doing the exact same things mine are—fighting for those we love. You’re fighting for the Xenoxx and the memory of your wife. If that puts you on two different sides of a war, I can’t, and won’t, blame you for that.” I reached up and tried to smooth away the worry from his face. “Not even a little bit. I respect the hell out of your shoes.”
“Same, Nera.” A brief smile flitted over his mouth as he took my hand again and squeezed. “Same.”
“Even though I’m barefoot and can’t stand wearing heels?”
He nodded solemnly. “Even though.”
After a few more steps in silence, I came to a halt in the sand. “We’re here.”
“What?”
“Space Fleet headquarters on Klio-3.”
“But…there’s nothing here except us.” His brow furrowed at our beachy surroundings, empty except for the surf and sand, and then he snapped his lightning eyes to mine again. “Are you seeing things I’m not? Should I be worried?”
I chuckled. “Avery said to head east to location 12456. It’s a Space Fleet code. She skipped the three, which means that’s the most important number. It refers to the third land formation from the bungalow.” I pointed out to the little islet in the middle of the sea, the third one I’d seen, the only land formation around for miles in this direction. “Headquarters is below us. They always are.”
His sexy chin dimple deepened when his jaw dropped. “I’ve always been a fan of maps and coordinates and finding locations. Always. But to provide a specific location with code is…”
“Harder on the brain to remember all that junk? Yup.” I nodded and jerked my head toward the sandy ground underneath our feet. “Are you coming?”
He crossed his arms as he continued studying our surroundings. “Genius.”
“Fine. Are you coming,genius?” I grinned, kind of loving it when I could surprise him with my mad skills.
Or Space Fleet’s mad skills. I sure as hell hadn’t come up with that code.
He shook his head. “I better sit this one out. My presence will raise too many questions and slow you down.”
“Good point. We have about an hour and fifteen before we have to ‘participate fully and with the utmost enthusiasm’ in the show. This should only take a few minutes.”
“I’ll be waiting in the jungle.” He stepped in closer and speared his fingers through my hair, his thumb tracing my cheek. “If you need anything—”
“You. I need you.” With my hand on his scaled chest, I breathed all of him in. “I’ll be back before I need anything else. I promise.”
He kissed me then, a single peck that had more meaning and feeling behind it than all my other kisses with other men combined. He nodded once and then sauntered toward the jungle, the machete in his makeshift handkerchief/scabbard swinging at his side.
I tried not to enjoy the show of all those muscles flexing, of all those sunlit halos shimmering over his scales, but damn it was hard. The Xenoxx was too stunning for my own good.
Even with our morning and afternoon filled with unbelievable sex, I still couldn’t get enough of the alien king.
