Page 35 of Bound to the Alien King
Clasping it, he grinned at Roxxanne and me, but then under the weighted glare of Maxx, he averted his gaze, dropped my hand, and shielded his face with both of his.
“You’re welcome, but it was nothing.Absolutely nothing,” he rushed to say, “and I hate to interrupt all this fascinating talk about pee, but if we don’t get back to the cruise ship soon, they won’t leave us behind since I’m the host, but they’llthinkabout leaving us behind, and we can’t have that now, can we?”
Miekil nodded.“Understood.”
Pete helped him to his feet, and Roxxanne clung to her dad while he stood.The two of them embraced wordlessly, carving out my heart with how sweet they were together.
Then the three of them sauntered away, Pete chatting nonstop about who knew what, Roxxanne smiling politely, and Miekil giving her long, lingering sweeps of his eyes.
Maxx’s attention, however, was locked on me.“Nera, I’m… I’m sorry I frightened you.”
I shrugged briskly, trying and failing to blow the whole thing off.“I guess I figured that artificial scales wouldn’t soak in the effects of peed-on poppies like normal scales and skin, but what do I know?”
“The only thing artificial about me is the Faid tech plugged into my brain to power it on.The rest of me is very much real.Cloned from my former body, an exact replica, and still just as real.My thoughts.My memories.”Slowly, carefully, as though reaching toward a cornered animal, he took my hand and placed it on his chest.“And my hearts and my feelings.All very real.”
His hearts beat like dueling drums against my palm, speeding faster the longer I touched him.He felt real and warm, not like Rain who had synthetic skin that felt cool to the touch.
He felt like Maxx, the alien king I’d fallen in love with.
Being with him, touching him, warred my mind and body in two different directions.Flinch away or lean in?Accept or refuse?The answer seemed to change from one second to the next, but one thing stayed the same.
I still loved him.If the trip to Xenoxx had shown me anything, it was that.I loved him irrevocably and completely, but what was I supposed to do with that knowledge?And love him or hate him, how would I ever trust him again?
Exhaling, I sagged against him, my forehead to his chest and the remnants of his singed-away shirt.“This doesn’t change anything.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what I meant by that.Me leaning against him?Me admitting to myself that I was still hopelessly in love with him?
That he was still a Faid?
Words were hard when I’d crashed head-first into important realizations.
“Of course not,” he breathed, seeming to understand somehow.
His fingers brushed over my back but hesitated, as though he wanted to hold me but give me space at the same time.
I wanted both.I wanted neither.
More than anything right then, I wanted some goddamn answers from my employer.
Chapter fourteen
Maxx
Wewereheadedbackto Klio-3.Not the smartest move since the planet was always trying to kill us, but Xenoxx, my home, had also tried to kill us.
It seemed my luck with staying alive on any planet was wearing thin.
It had been a tearful goodbye with Roxxanne, one that clenched my hearts even now as the cruise ship sailed away from her.One of the hardest things in my entire life was leaving her behind, something I rarely did unless I had no other choice.Axxel had stayed there to protect her, a small comfort, one that Nera had easily given in to.
I had seriously considered buying my way offAlien Love Islandto stay as well, but there were too many things left unfinished.Between me and Nera.Between us and Earth Space Fleet.
They’d hired someone to assassinate my daughter.I’d be damned if I let that slide.
“I can fix your tears,” the curly blonde of Nera’s style team—Oreo—was saying as they marched back toward the stage room.“But I can’t fix your smell before we go live other than dipping you into a vat of perfume.So, no more crying.No more flinging yourself into wildfire smoke.Got it?”
“But both of those things are so much fun.”Mirth glittered in Nera’s bottomless eyes until she flicked them over me, and then they went hard as stone, twin daggers to my hearts.
I was the reason for her tears, and every single one of them chipped away at my being.If I could take away the pain and betrayal I’d put her through, I would in a split second.
