Page 52 of Matched to the Alien King
“I’lllead, Nera.” I was already bringing up a finger to shush her rebuttal. “Only because I can hear.”
The reminder clenched her lips together under my finger, but they were so plump and warm that maybe I should shush her more often. Oh, she’dhatethat. Just as much as someone questioning her ability to lead. Which I wasn’t. At all.
Still, the fire burning in her eyes stirred my cock awake. Whether angry or not, she could turn me on with the ease of a flashlight.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all,” she said through clenched teeth. “I am learningsomuch about my fellow contestants right now, like which of us demands to be the manly leader at all times because a female surely can’t do it.”
“I only want to protect you,” I told her, skimming my fingers over her deep scowl. “That’s all.”
“Are we going or what?” Judge asked.
The Killian crossed his arms and leaned casually against the doorframe, one green eyebrow peaked. “No, I think they’re just going to argue about who has more authority—a Space Fleet captain or the Xenoxx king. You know, becausethat’swhat’s important right now.”
“Okay, okay.” Nera waved me ahead, reluctance written clearly all over her face. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” I assured her, even about the massive hard-on I now sported.
Good thing I was leading with my dick…thought no intelligent man or alien ever.
With the end of my flashlight, I adjusted myself through my pants. My kaxxui took that as an invitation to come out and play and heighten my arousal by flickering their forked tongues up and down my shaft while they stroked it with their bodies.
My breaths quickened, but I tried to swallow them all back. If it weren’t for the others, I’d shove into Nera with one thrust and get lost with her. Together. Screw our escape, quite literally.
No, I needed to stay focused, which was almost impossible with Nera’s heat right behind me, but I shut down my overwhelming need for her. Reluctantly, my kaxxui slithered back into the sides of my Adonis belt, and my cock went from rock-hard to…well, still rock-hard.
“What about the others?” Bling asked. “Where do you think they are? Is it just us in here because we’re so lucky?”
“Maybe they have it worse than we do,” the Killian said from all the way in the back of our train.
“Are you always such an optimist?” she asked.
“Only in mirror mazes, apparently.”
“It feels like we’re walking in circles,” Nera said softly behind me. “With the mirrors and our reflections, everything looks exactly the same.”
She was right. Not so lucky for me, though, I’d had some experience with mazes.
I half turned toward her and angled the light so it shone on my face for her to read my lips. “Notice my right elbow?”
“Yeah.” She frowned as she ticked her gaze to it, skimming across the mirrored wall as we continued onward. “Why?”
“You follow one wall with touch for long enough, and you’ll eventually get out,” I explained. “I learned that the hard way. The Killians live in a system of intricate caves that are designed to make enemies lost.”
“Not just enemies,” the Killian called. “Food too. And stragglers who just happen inside. But the way out is easy. Our cave exits are always on the north, so just look for the light-blue moss that grows on the north side of all the rocks. Not the yellow moss, but the light-blue. You’ll find the exit that way.”
My brain scratched, and I came to an abrupt halt that ran Nera straight into my side. I blinked hard at the Killian, the shock of his words unfurling deep within me.
He’d said it so casually, this great secret that no one in Xenoxx history had ever known or figured out before. And he didn’t even look guilty about it, or like he hadn’t meant to say that out loud, or like it was some kind of psychological warfare hinted at by a calculated twist of his stupid mouth.
No, he didn’t look like any of those things. He simply stared at me over the heads of the others, every single green feature controlled.
“Are you fuxxing with me right now?” I demanded in a tone that made both Bling and Judge flinch. “Whywould you tell me that?”
“To get you to trust me, obviously,” he said. “And so you’ll tell me what you’re hiding in the upstairs bathroom of the beach house.”
My breath rasped out in a choked grunt. Everything inside of me froze. My hearts stalled and then beat in triple time toward Nera who was looking back and forth between us.
Had she heard him? Because if she had, she was too smart to not realizeexactlywhat I was hiding. From her. From the Killian. From everyone.
