Page 14 of Chased by the Alien Mercenary (Monster Mercenary Mates #6)

Lyra

I must have dozed a little on my warm rock, because when I blinked, the cave seemed darker.

The light could be going out, and I didn’t know what to do about that.

Turn it off to preserve the battery? Groggily, I cast about to locate the little lamp, but it had rolled behind the pile of bottles and was oddly distorted through the transparent surfaces.

Then my protector suddenly slipped back into the cave, and the light abruptly flared brighter.

Motion activated, then. He was carrying a handful of things this time, including a coat he shook out—stained with blood on the collar—and a pair of too-large boots.

Yup, he’d heard what I was missing and gone to fetch it.

What a goof and a sweetheart. He was trying so very hard to please me.

How had I ended up with a guy like that?

Sheer luck. Maybe I wasn’t all out after all.

My eye fell on the grayish thing he had stuck beneath an elbow, and I gasped.

Was that a hand? Oh god, that was a hand!

He’d brought an honest-to-god dismembered hand with him!

What the fuck? I made a shocked, choked sound that had him spin toward me and raise that thing to wave it in my face.

Like he wanted me to understand what it was and didn’t realize I was utterly horrified.

“Ew, get that away from me!” I warned, dancing back and stumbling over the blankets I’d been forced to abruptly abandon.

His free hand shot out and caught me by the arm, preventing me from planting on my butt.

The dismembered, gray-and-pinkish hand came awfully close to my face, and I winced, wondering if he was planning to feed it to me or something.

No—with a growl that sounded frustrated, he yanked the communicator from my fingers.

I’d forgotten I held it, and I must have kept clutching it while I’d napped.

I wobbled on my feet when he let go of me, and then he brought the thumb of the hand he’d taken to the tiny device, and with a beep, the screen unlocked.

I tried not to be disgusted when he tossed the hand in a corner and focused on doing something with the little device.

When he handed it back to me, I hid a wince at having to touch what he’d swiped that dead hand on.

And then my eyes grew huge. “A camera. Oh. Man, oh man, I really have to watch what I say around you, don’t I? ”

He’d fetched the freaking hand to unlock the comm because I’d lamented missing my camera.

I was… touched—so touched, in fact, that, disgust forgotten, my eyes filled with tears.

This guy, he might not speak, and he was clearly a big, dangerous murder machine, but he was undoubtedly incredibly sweet to me. He was my murder machine.

His expression was turning incredibly frantic as I swiped the tears from my cheek.

“It’s okay,” I mumbled with a choked voice.

“You’re just so nice to me, and I don’t understand.

I’m grateful, but I don’t understand. The past few days have just been a lot, okay?

A week ago, I was on the fringes of the Alpha Quadrant, and now I don’t know where the fuck I am…

” I stepped closer and patted his chest. “But at least you’re with me. Thank you for that.”

He trapped my hand against his chest with one of his, his red palm engulfing mine.

It instantly warmed my cold fingers, and I dared to step a little closer.

If there was one thing I was absolutely certain of by now, it was that I could trust him not to harm me.

I believed that with all my heart. So I burrowed a little closer, resting my head against his chest and soaking up his warmth.

“Can you talk at all?” I asked, intense emotion and exhaustion dragging at me.

I wouldn’t have asked otherwise, certain he would have by now if he could.

I just really wanted to hear a voice—his voice—and be reassured that everything was going to be fine.

I never expected him to answer, so when a sound vibrated through his chest—right against my ear—I was not prepared.

“Yes,” he said. That was it: a rough, hoarse, growly yes.

That sound, it was like the best thing ever.

My head jerked up, our eyes met, and his gaze was serious, focused.

His eyes dipped to my mouth, and with intense concentration, he repeated the word. “Yes.”

“You can speak?” I repeated, barely able to believe what was happening.

He nodded this time, just a slow jerk of his chin up and down.

His eyes were turning pensive, something big and important moving in that head of his.

If only he would put it into words, but “yes” seemed to be all he was capable of.

He appeared as frustrated by that as I was, his red eyes flashing inside the dark sockets, framed by bone-white brows.

With a growl, he cupped the back of my head, pinning me in place, and then his face tilted forward.

Our foreheads pressed together with a gentle thump, his eyes boring into mine from up close.

His warm breath ghosted over my cheeks, sending shivers down my spine.

Was he going to kiss me? I found that I wanted him to, but it wasn’t the oddly plush bottom lip that pressed against mine.

A sudden rush of heat came over my head, washing through my skull and vibrating down my nerves.

I blinked rapidly, but suddenly I wasn’t seeing anything—just blackness.

I would have panicked, but his grip was still tight around the back of my head, grounding me.

The warmth of his forehead, braced against mine, reminded me that I was not alone in that dark. And then I wasn’t.

Images began to flash in front of my eyes.

At first, they did not make much sense, as if I were seeing pieces of a jigsaw—disjointed and incomplete.

My brain ached, warm and heavy, as if it were struggling to keep up and comprehend.

When clarity came, I gasped, shocked to see myself sprawled back on thick, soft-looking furs, utterly naked.

My feral alien was there too, between my spread thighs, his head bobbing as he licked me.

This had better not be what he was thinking right now…

Was this what he wanted to do to me? If so, I should strenuously object, shouldn’t I?

I mean, all those sharp teeth, those feral growls, and possessive hands…

Okay, nope, I wasn’t objecting to this at all. Especially when those images just kept coming, and in them, I was coming too. Moaning loudly, with abandon, and screaming something—oh, was that his name? Solear? Did he imagine me screaming his name as he pleasured me with his mouth?

Trembling, I was trapped between wanting to step away, end the sexual onslaught pushed into my mind, and wanting to keep watching.

Maybe even turn those images from something just in our brains into something real.

My companion growled—loudly —and abruptly his head jerked back.

Our eyes clashed, his wide and startled, and then they began to swirl with heat.

Oh boy, had he heard that? Did he know what I was thinking?

His species had to be telepathic, that’s why he didn’t speak.

Now I wasn’t so sure if I liked having him in my head instead.

Solear. If that was his name, it fit him.

What a way to introduce himself, though, I should tell him never to do that again.

Except my panties were utterly soaked. No—scratch that—I wasn’t wearing proper panties beneath this stolen shirt; I was wearing a stupid, skimpy thong.

Wetness was actually dripping down my thigh, that’s how turned on I was after that…

assault. Was it really an assault when I wanted nothing more than to turn those pictures into reality?

His eyes sparked at me, his mouth twisting into a grin.

He knew. He knew what I was thinking, damn it!

Had he been in my head this entire time?

What was going on? Whatever it was, he still wasn’t talking, not really.

That sensual smile, the heat in his eyes, they conveyed loads, but those weren’t answers.

They just made me squirm and press my legs together to ease the ache between them.

His fingers were still around the back of my neck; they tightened once, just a little squeeze.

Reminding me that they were there. “Solear,” I whispered, my voice husky and hoarse, as if I really had spent the past moments moaning and shouting his name.

I squirmed beneath that grip, unsure of what to do or say.

His growl—husky, definitely aroused rather than angry—decided for me.

He was already so close, our foreheads nearly touching but not quite any longer.

Going onto my tiptoes was all I needed to press our mouths together like I’d wanted.

He tasted like the wilds outside, cool lips, hot tongue, and a hint of danger as my tongue licked a sharp fang.

His growl vibrated between us, against my breasts and hardened nipples.

That possessive hand on my neck clenched, and I felt the prick of claws against my skin.

His other hand found my hip, yanking me close until one of his massive thighs pressed between mine.

That pressure against my core was all I apparently needed to come apart.