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  T’Kar motioned to a clear goblet filled with a bright-orange liquid. “I prepared a curative for you. I thought you might need it after last night.”

  Even though the glass was next to him, she took a seat on the bench nearest her and across from him, sliding the drink over to her. “I’m assuming a curative means it will do something about the jackhammers in my head?”

  He watched her. “If jackhammers are something that make your head pound after too much wine, then yes, the curative will help.”

  She sniffed at the contents of the goblet before tossing it back in a single gulp. Aside from a slightly bitter aftertaste, the curative wasn’t bad. She’d definitely had worse.

  He passed a basket to her, the yeasty scent of bread wafting up from beneath the cloth covering. “This will also help.”

  Holly plucked a piece of bread from inside and took a bite. “Where was this last night?”

  He raised an eyebrow at her. “Here on the table. You did not seem interested in food at the time.”

  Touché. He was right. She’d had a one-track mind, and that single track hadn’t included dinner. Too bad, because the bread was delicious. She scanned the rest of the table, her stomach growling at the sight of fresh fruit, some sort of grilled meat, and even what appeared to be scrambled eggs.

  “Sorry about that. I guess wedding nights are different where I come from.”

  He flinched visibly, his eyes dropping.

  Nice going, Holly. You’ve known the guy all of a day and you’ve already thrown yourself at him and been a total dick.

  “Not that I don’t appreciate the gentleman routine,” she added, trying to smooth over her snarky response. “It just wasn’t what I was expecting.”

  He squared his shoulders. “You assumed I would force myself on you?”

  So much for making things better. “No. I mean, I didn’t know what to expect. I just met you, and then we were saying I do. Well, you were saying I do. And then we were back in this tricked-out seduction suite, with wine chilling and a fireplace going. Where I come from, all that means one thing.”

  “I am sorry to disappoint you.” His tone was so cool she almost rubbed her arms to warm herself.

  Holly swallowed another mouthful of bread and sighed. “Why are you taking this personally? I’m the one who got rejected.”

  His gaze flew to hers. “I did not reject you.”

  “Um, yeah you did.” She leaned her forearms on the edge of the table. “Trust me. I know rejection when I see it. Not that I’ve seen it often.”

  “You would have preferred to mate with someone you just met?”

  She spotted a carafe of a melon-colored liquid, and poured some into her now-empty goblet. “Not if you’re going to call it mating.” She took a sip of the surprisingly tart drink. “Some species just call it sex, and it doesn’t have to have anything to do with mating.”

  He held her gaze before letting out a breath of his own. “I apologize if you thought I was rejecting your kind offer of…sex.”

  Holly took another drink, part of her wishing the drink was boozy. She winked at him. “You’re forgiven.”

  He frowned, clearly not sure how to handle her, and splotches of pink appeared on his neck. If he had this much of a hang-up about sleeping with her, maybe it was a good idea it hadn’t happened. It obviously meant more to him than it did to her, and the last thing she needed was a hot alien getting attached.

  Whether he helped her get out of the city, or her crew mates broke her out, she had no plans to stay in the Crestek city for long. And she had no plans to pick up an alien boyfriend along the way, either.

  T’Kar stood quickly, standing at the table and giving her a curious look.

  Too bad he was so fucking hot, she thought, as she let her gaze wander from his face to the sexy tattoo emblazoned cross his gold chest. She wouldn’t have minded running her hands across his ridges, either. They made him look fiercer than he did when he was covered in his black cloak, and reminded her of the Dothveks, who barely wore any clothes at all. She definitely preferred him in fewer clothes.

  Even if she couldn’t touch, she liked looking at his bare skin and hard muscles and the flat bumps of his stomach. Her eyes caught on the vee of ridges disappearing below the waistband of his pants, and she reached for her goblet.

  If only she could see where those went, she thought, taking a sip of her drink.

  “I do not think that is a good idea,” he said, causing her eyes to snap to his, and her grip on the glass to loosen. “Not unless you wish me to take you right here on this table.”

  Eleven

  T’Kar watched her eyes flare with surprise and desire. He regretted the words as soon as they’d left his lips. He did not want the female to know how much she affected him, how hard it was to resist her. He also should not let on that he could pick up on her emotions. This was a hallmark of the Dothvek, not of his people, and as proud as he was of his burgeoning abilities, he knew it would not be looked upon favorably by his people. Most importantly, it would not be appreciated by his father.

  “So, you can read my mind?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. “Like Danica’s guy can read hers?”

  He cursed to himself. So much for keeping his secret a secret. “No. Cresteks are not empaths like Dothveks. Not anymore.”

  She nodded, but looked wholly unconvinced. “I don’t actually know all that much about the differences between you two. How is it that you look almost identical, but they live on the desert and read minds, and you guys live behind stone walls and don’t?”

  T’Kar did not know where to even begin to explain the complicated history between the two clans—people of the same species who’d broken apart millennia ago and developed contrasting cultures. “It all happened a long time ago.”

  Holly nibbled on her piece of bread, her gaze never leaving his. “That’s not much of an explanation.”

  “I am sorry. I do not have a good answer for you except to say that our peoples have been enemies for generations, and the reasons have been lost in history.”

  “I get it. Earth history had a lot of that. Feuds that went on for so long that no one knew how or why they ever started. Pretty pointless, if you ask me.”

  “Earth is your home planet?”

  Another brief nod. “Not that I’ve been there in ages. Let’s just say it’s not what it used to be.”

  He sensed a flicker of something from her, but he couldn’t quite place it.

  She reached for her goblet, smiling at him over the rim as she took a sip. The curative seemed to have worked its magic. “You still haven’t explained how a Crestek who’s supposed to have no empathic powers can tell what I’m feeling.”

  He pushed the bench back and it scraped against the floor. “I am afraid you are mistaken. I cannot sense your emotions, although I am sure the loss is mine.”

  Holly studied him for a moment, then gave him an arch smile before imagining something so arousing, he had to grip the edge of the table to keep his knees from buckling.

  She stood and walked around the table until she stood in front of him, her body nearly touching his. “I smell pants on fire.”

  He sniffed the air, confused by her statement, then glanced at his own pants.

  She laughed. “It means that I know you just lied to me. Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

  Heat crawled up T’Kar’s face. He did not like being called a liar, but he disliked that he had lied even more.

  Holly reached for an empty goblet and poured some of the sweet juice in it, then handed it to him. “You look like you could use this. I mean, it would be more helpful if it was alcoholic, but it’s better than nothing.”

  He took the glass and drank, grateful for the cool liquid and for the moment to gather his thoughts.

  She watched patiently before taking the goblet from him. “Don’t get me wrong. I like a man with a little mystery, but do you care to explain what’s going on here? Are you even a real Crestek?”

 
He bristled at the suggestion that he was not a real Crestek, and her grin widened. “Okay, I don’t need to be empathic to know that pissed you off. So, you’re really a Crestek and not a clever imposter. So, then what gives?”

  He wanted to tell her everything—about his lifelong fascination with the Dothveks, about the feeling he’d never really belonged among his people, about his father’s disappointment that he did not have a son as ruthless and power-hungry as himself, about how hard he’d worked to develop his empathic skills—but he barely knew her. As beautiful and captivating as she was, how could he trust her with his most dangerous secrets? Secrets that could destroy him.

  She shrugged and turned away from him. “That’s fine. I’m sure I can ask someone else. Maybe your father can explain how you can read my mind.”

  He caught her by the arm before she could make a move toward the rest of the suite. “Do not. Please.”

  She twisted back around to face him. “Okay. I won’t tell him. But only if you give me something in exchange for my silence.”

  His heartbeat steadied, and he narrowed his eyes at her. Maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe she was not so different from Crestek females, after all. “What do you want?”

  She put a hand on his chest, her gentle touch making his heart skip a beat. “A real kiss. I didn’t get one at our wedding ceremony.”

  His pulse raced, and his mouth went dry. Even the thought of a kiss drew his gaze to her lips, pale pink and plump. He cleared his throat before he could speak. “If I kiss you, you will not tell anyone of your suspicions?”

  Her tongue slowly wet her bottom lip. “A real kiss. Not some little peck. And, yes, I won’t tell anyone that you’re an empath.” She tilted her head at him. “So, Crestek who claims he can’t read my mind, am I telling the truth?”

  He sensed no deception from her, and he’d gotten very good at detecting deception. Living in the Crestek city and spending so much time with his father, he’d had plenty of practice. “You are.” He also sensed a hum of desire from her, and it ignited a flame in his core.

  “I have to tell you, this is the first time I’ve had to bargain for a kiss,” Holly said. “I’m usually talking my way out of these situations, not into them.”

  He raised a hand to her face, cupping her chin and dragging his thumb across her bottom lip. “I should not want you.”

  Holly hitched in a breath. “I thought it was customary to want to kiss your wife.”

  The word sent an arrow of possessive desire through him, which he fought to suppress. “Not if the wife plans on leaving you as soon as she can.”

  She moved the hand on his chest, her fingers brushing over his nipple. “I’m not gone yet. No reason we can’t have some fun in the meantime.”

  Her touch made his skin tingle and his cock throb. “I will kiss you, Holly, but if I claim you, it will be about more than fun. It will be about making you mine, and only mine. I do not think you are ready for that.”

  She twitched, pulling back a fraction, but he held her face, wrapping his other arm around her waist before she could slip from his grasp, and crushing his mouth to hers.

  Twelve

  When his mouth took hers, it was nothing like what she’d expected. T’Kar was so controlled, so measured that she expected his kiss to be the same. It was not.

  She groaned as he took possession of her with a hard sweep of his tongue, opening her mouth to him. He tasted sweet, like the juice they’d drunk, each stroke of his tongue turning the low simmer in her belly to a fiery blaze.

  Holly buried her hands in his hair and pulled him deeper. She didn’t care about what he’d said. She just knew she wanted more of this side of him. More of this.

  His hands moved down her body, his fingers skimming the hard peaks of her breasts and slipping to her lower back. He cupped his hands over her ass and lifted her, his deep kisses never slowing.

  She let out a small squeal as he walked her out of the dining area, pushing through the gossamer fabric wall and lowering her onto the bed. Need flared hot, as his big, hard body pressed into hers. Holly lifted her legs until she felt the hard bar of his cock between them.

  He tore his mouth away from hers, panting as he held himself above her on his elbows. His eyes were molten, desire pulsing off him. And something else. Something deeper.

  She didn’t care if they were technically married or, if in his world, she was his wife or mate or whatever. She needed to keep this fun and easy and just sex. They could have lots of hot, alien sex, as long as he didn’t make it something more.

  The searching look in his eyes made panic flutter in her chest. He knew she was leaving, right? She couldn’t stay. She never stayed. It was how she preferred it and how this had to be.

  Something shuttered in his eyes, and the heat faded as if doused with water. He sat back, wrenching his gaze from her.

  She propped herself up and watched him step back from the bed. “What’s wrong?”

  “You wanted a kiss.” He did not look at her. “I have fulfilled my end of the bargain.”

  Ouch.

  “That was more than a kiss, and you know it,” she snapped.

  He turned back quickly, taking one long step and reaching the bed. He leaned over and she dropped back. “It was much more than just a kiss, but that is the problem. You do not want to feel more.”

  The hard growl of his voice made her flinch. Of course, he knew what she’d been feeling. Even though he wouldn’t tell her how or why, the guy was an empath just like the Dothveks, and that meant that as long as she was around him, her thoughts were not her own.

  T’Kar was so close to her their breath mingled, and the low buzz of his voice sent unwanted shivers down her spine.

  “I know what you want, my bride.”

  Her chest hitched. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t be sneaking into my mind.”

  He recoiled slightly. “I did not sneak anywhere. Your feelings are so loud they are impossible to ignore.”

  Did he just call her loud? Irritation flared, and she put a hand on his chest and pushed him back. “I don’t get it. I know you want me.” Her eyes dropped to his cock, still tenting his pants. “I might not be a mind reader like some people, but I’m not blind.”

  He crossed his arms in front of him. “But that is all you want from me.”

  “What’s wrong with wanting to fuck?” She shook her head. “Since when are big, hunky aliens like you such prudes? Are all Cresteks like you?”

  Something dangerous flashed behind his eyes. “No, they are not.”

  Holly wondered if she wanted to know what other Cresteks would do in his place, and decided she didn’t. It was clear this guy felt that he was protecting her, or protecting himself, but either way, she decided to back off.

  She stood. “You know, I’m not usually into guys who play hard to get, but I’m going to make an exception with you. Since we’re married and all. You need time? I’ll give you some time.”

  He cocked his head at her, then the corners of his mouth quirked up. “That is generous of you.”

  She flipped her hair back. “I’m nothing if not generous. Ask anyone.” She ran a finger lazily down his bare chest, slipping it under the waistband of his pants and stroking his ridges. “And I have a feeling you’ll be worth the wait.”

  He hissed out a breath, the muscles in his shoulders tightening. There was no doubt in Holly’s mind he wanted her. She just didn’t want to admit how much she wanted him, too.

  Thirteen

  T’Kar glanced down at her, glad the ivory cloak covered most of her skin. He did not need any more temptation, and the human seemed to relish in tempting him, even when she didn’t know it. It had been both exhilarating and shocking to sense her arousal for him, and disconcerting when he’d barely been able to tamp down his own desire.

  No, it was good that they were outside his suite and moving among other Cresteks. And it was good she was wearing a long, hooded cloak that covered up the revealing gown. He did not want ot
her males to look at her the way he knew he looked at her. Even now, he could feel the gaze of the Cresteks in the city as they walked through a square.

  Of course, few had seen a human female. Only the ones who’d seen Max, but those had primarily been other high-borns. Now they were moving among the general population, and curious gazes followed them.

  Since it was the middle of the day, vendors had set up in the open air, their carts covered with faded awnings. Some sold food—items that could easily be eaten when walking—while others sold clothing or trinkets. Holly’s head swiveled as she took in the various offerings, her attention lighting on a jewelry stand.

  T’Kar followed her, staying so close to her the hems of their cloaks swirled together. The old female behind the display smiled, giving him a small bow with her head before turning her attention to Holly.

  Holly scanned the necklaces and rings made out of polished stone. Most of them glittered gold like much of the planet, but some were polished to an almost transparent shine. “I was surprised there were no rings yesterday.”

  “Rings?” T’Kar asked.

  Holly tipped her head back since he stood so close. “On Earth, people exchange rings when they get married. I know not every species does it, and I guess you guys are one of those.”

  T’Kar couldn’t explain why, but he instantly wished he’d known this before. “Would you like a ring?”

  She laughed and nudged him. “I didn’t say that to get you to buy me something. It was only an observation.”

  “I would not buy you a ring out of obligation. But if human weddings have rings, I want you to have one.”

  Her cheeks reddened. “I’m telling you it’s no biggie. It’s not like…”

  He pressed his lips together. He knew what she had been about to say. She was right. Theirs was not a real marriage. Not in the way he would have wanted it to be. Not in the way his father wanted it to be, either.

  She moved along to the next stand, and he followed, pausing as he saw a Crestek male gape, open-mouthed. T’Kar caught up to Holly and lifted her hood so it covered her head.