Page 23 of Alien Jeopardy

She watches me carefully, a skittish expression on her face. That is not the reaction I anticipated.

Perhaps the human mating dance is more complicated than I thought. Perhaps they have many dances and I’ve just offered her a grave insult.

I scratch my chin, confused about where I went wrong.

I have never been a male to give up in the face of hardship. I wouldn’t be here if I were.

Recalling her movements, I slow down, attempting to repeat what she did. Her face twists up as I squat, touching my horns, then stand back up.

A moment passes.

Another.

We stare at one another.

Finally I huff in annoyance at myself.

She must not have been doing a mating dance, after all. I am a brainless worm for having made such an assumption. Behind me, my wings sag, and I bow my head, my heart falling, even the relentless skith of my cock ceasing as reality sets in.

Ellison might be in heat for me, might have agreed to do this contest, but if she were truly interested in being my mate, she would have responded to me in the way of a mate by now.

My palm scrubs across my face because I have never wanted something so badly as I want the female before me, the scent of her heat starting a reaction in my own veins—but I refuse to take.

I have had too much taken from me in my life to do the same to another.

Especially the one I have marked as my own.

My hand stretches out to her, practically of its own accord, and her eyes narrow. Darting between my sharp-taloned fingers and my face, her gaze flicks back and forth until she finally stands on her own.

As if she doesn’t trust the merest touch.

“Come,” I tell her, letting my hand fall to my side. “We must make haste to the first stage of the competition.”

It’s strange, not being able to fly where I want, but if we want to win, we must abide by the rules set forth by the Roth.

I want to win. I want to win the translator so I can know what is happening in her pretty head.

But I want to win more than this competition—I want to win my mate over, body and soul.

I started this journey for the chance to get away from the autocratic Draegon politics, but this female? She is the true prize I seek.

CHAPTER

NINE

Ellison

My legs are shaking.

Straight up trembling. Sweat slicks every inch of my skin, dirt clinging to me more easily with every fresh drop.

The terrain is harsh, and the soles of my bare feet are peppered with cuts and bruises already. Overhead, blue sky peeks out above tall trees, a distant planet hanging large in the sky, visible even now.

It’s darker, though, darker every time I glance up.

And I’m glancing up a lot, because I’ll be damned if I look at Ka-Rexsh’s delicious wide shoulders and biceps up ahead of me.

His wings are pulled in tight, huge enough that they cover the perfect bubble of his ass.