Page 12 of Alien Jeopardy (Mated & Afraid #1)
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
Ellison
Groggy, I sit up—or try to. Ka-Rexsh places a huge hand over my mouth as I struggle against him, trying to get my bearings.
I go still immediately, my eyes wide as my memories of the day rush back to me.
Reality TV.
Mated and Afraid .
The first challenge.
I’m in heat.
As if summoned by my thoughts, my entire body shivers with the need for relief, and not any that Tylenol could provide.
Not unless that’s what my big ole alien dragon is shooting out his?—
I clear my throat, tearing my gaze away from where my hip’s pressed against his lower abdomen.
It would be so easy to just pull the leg of my pajama pants wide, tug his pants down, and shove him right up in there. My lower body tightens at the mere idea, and I lick my lips.
My lips, which are still covered by his hand.
I just licked his hand.
I grimace, and he stares down at me with those wild orange and gold eyes, a soft exhalation on his lips.
“Challenge?” I whisper, forgetting he can’t understand me.
Yeah, that seriously blows. We need to win whatever this is so we can communicate.
I shift slightly in his arms, quiet as I can be, my spine tingling with the sense that silence is very, very important right now. Slowly, so slowly, I turn my head, fear making my heart slam against my ribs.
My fingers curl into his shoulders.
What is it that has him afraid, this huge, muscled alien?
Maybe we have to fight some sort of awful alien monster, or a lion, or go through an obstacle course over lava?—
I blink, narrowing my eyes at the sight that has my mate, er, dragon alien partner, silent and crouching in the underbrush.
Lights cascade over a shining platform, an audience of Roth and green-scaled Suevans alike chatting amicably in front of it.
What the hell are the Roth and Suevans doing here? And chatting… with each other?
I swallow hard. Sure, the Federation told us all that the Suevans and Roth had brokered a peace treaty, that the leader who ravaged our planet had been replaced with someone less homicidal, but it’s one thing to hear it from the international government who basically threw women at the Suevans for technology, and another to see it with my own eyes.
My gaze drifts from the assembled all-male crowd back up to the smooth-surfaced platform, where a bevy of lights shimmer across the surface.
The truth of it hits me like a ton of bricks.
It’s a stage.
A stage?!
“What the fuck?” I breathe, only to have a huge hand clap over my mouth. Ka-Rexsh drags me up against his body, and I squirm, trying to get free.
Mostly because nobody puts baby in a corner—er, a hand over my mouth—but also because being pressed flush against his chest with his hands all over me is doing very delicious things to my body.
Delicious but also things that I do not need to be doing while filmed.
Cheese and crackers.
Ka-Rexsh is too late, though, because even my miniscule exhalation of a curse has attracted attention.
The nearest Suevan and Roth, sitting in the back corner, both stand at once, their handsome alien faces much more normal to me than the Draegon I’m currently cowering against. My body positively ignites at the idea of three handsome-as-hell dudes all staring me down, and I let loose a whimper.
A whimper that causes something very hard and long to rock against my ass.
I go still, my eyes wide.
Because whatever that is on my dragon dude… it’s moving. Squirming even, like a huge boa constrictor I was forced to hold at a fifth-grade field trip to the local zoo.
I do not like that, no sirree, I do not like that at all.
Some memories are best left repressed.
I squeal, pushing away from him with strength I didn’t know I had, tumbling straight into the arms of the Suevan standing in front of me. His eyes go wide, and I recoil slightly as I stare up at him, a third eyelid winking over his pupil, his alligator-like tail whipping behind him.
The Roth says something under his breath, and the Suevan snarls at him in response.
I cringe away because even though my body is begging to be touched, their touch doesn’t feel right, not at all.
A rough voice grates across my ears, and taloned fingers prick through the flimsy fabric of my dirty pajama top as Ka-Rexsh pulls me back against him.
If I moan a little, frickin’ sue me. I’m in heat, and everything about my big Draegon alien protector partner just feels right.
Honestly, I’d be enjoying it if it weren’t for two pretty glaring problems: one, the fact that the two of us are making a scene, and two, the fact that I’m becoming increasingly sure that the boa constrictor in his pants is not a boa constrictor at all.
“Is that a snake in your pants or are you just happy to see me?” I choke out, then let out a high-pitched, manic excuse for a laugh that leaves the Roth and Suevan cringing at the noise.
Ka-Rexsh just holds me tighter, though, still snarling what sounds like threats to the other two aliens.
A remote, detached part of me can’t help but think this is going to make for great reality TV. Heck, maybe it will make it into a promo reel.
“Oh, there they are! They beat us here after all,” a familiar voice says.
Relief leaves me sagging against Ka-Rexsh as Poppy appears on stage, looking fresh as a daisy and as gorgeous as always. Her plumps cheek are bit pink, and maybe there is a trace of dirt along her thigh, but otherwise, she seems completely at ease and camera-ready.
My hands clench into fists as she glances over the alien holding me upright.
That’s my alien, and she shouldn’t be looking at him at all.
I shake my head, confusion replacing the possessive thought.
The heat. It’s got to be the heat, right? Poppy may have fucked up royally by entering us into this mess, but she’s my friend.
Besides, based on the way she looks coquettishly through her lashes at the brawny red alien Draegon holding her hand, she is clearly not interested in mine.
A bit more of the odd possessiveness clears, and I blink, staring at Poppy and the red-winged alien on stage.
Since when did I start thinking of Ka-Rexsh as mine?