Page 6 of Her Alien Soldier (Asterion Station #1)

“That is it. I can smell it on your shirt. Though I suspect that if one was lucky enough to run his fingers through your hair, he would have that fragrance clinging to his hands as well.” He was talking to her in that low, quiet voice, the one that made her feel like she was the only person in the universe.

Her stomach fluttered in a way she wasn’t sure it was still capable of until right that moment.

“He might,” she whispered, turning her head and looking into his eyes. He was close enough to kiss, if either of them moved even the slightest bit.

He seemed to realize it, too, answering her next random thought, which was whether his people kissed or not. His gaze fell to her lips, and he cleared his throat and sat up straight again.

The second he did, she was tempted to drag him back. Or climb onto his lap.

She took a sip of her tea, willing her body to calm down. Her heart was pounding, her stomach was fluttering, and she was fairly sure she must be glowing from blushing so hotly.

This was worse than the crushes she’d had as a schoolgirl, or even when she’d been infatuated as an adult.

“The Bellarians,” he said after a moment, blowing out a breath, and she shook herself, trying to will herself to snap out of it.

“Oh! Right. Yes, I don’t really know anything about that band, other than that I like their music. Sorry,” she said.

He shook his head. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for, Maggie. I was merely wondering. I spoke to the lead singer after you left yesterday.”

“Oh?” she asked, taking another sip as she studied him. He seemed deep in thought, and then it was like he made a decision. He set his cup down and leaned back in his seat, slinging his big, powerful arm across the back of the seat.

“He claims to be Bellari intelligence. Claims to know that I am waiting to meet a certain Paraxian that caused quite a bit of damage and then fled.”

Maggie set her cup down, her entire demeanor seeming to change before his eyes. Her green gaze became sharper, her spine straightened. “Do you believe him?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? The one he’d been wrestling with like one of the bog beasts back home since he’d spoken to the Bellarian the night before.

He finally just blew out a breath, shaking his head. “I do not know. I want to. But, that is what the best agents do, is it not? Make us trust them while they play their games.” He could hear the snarl in his own voice, and he looked up at her. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten Maggie.

She seemed unfazed, deep in thought.

Stars, she was beautiful. Even now, when he wrestled with the fear and stress of what the Bellarian could mean for his people, he could not help but notice.

And this side of her, in her home, seeing this soft, quiet side of her…

and now this deeply intent, serious side…

there was no way he would be able to get her out of his head at this rate.

She thought for a moment, nodding slowly. “Did he say anything else?”

He relayed his conversation with the Bellarian, the agent’s claim of a possible partnership to protect his own people.

“So your planet is like the last barrier between the Redlians and this quadrant. And his planet would likely be the next one attacked.”

“Yes.”

She was quiet for a few moments. “I mean. It makes sense. But as you said, it’s very convenient, is it? You’re waiting for a Paraxian on a secret mission and this random Bellarian knows all your business, or at least acts like he does.”

“I want to believe. The idea that my people may not be alone in this fight is too tempting. But, as you say, that is what he would count on.”

“Right,” she said. “Have your people ever had any indication that the Bellarians were interested in helping you?”

He nodded. “We have been negotiating with them for a very long time. They have been understandably hesitant to put their people in danger.”

“Still doesn’t mean he was being honest. Every society has people who sabotage things. Maybe he’s on the other side, doesn’t think his people should get involved. Messing up whatever you have going on here could be to his benefit.”

“Exactly.”

She picked up her tea and took a sip, leaning back in her seat.

The way they were sitting, his arm was behind her now, and he could feel her warmth against his forearm.

The temptation to move closer, wrap his arm around her, and forget anything except her scent and the feel of her body against his was nearly overwhelming.

He tamped it down. Not the time.

Which led him to the next thing he needed to discuss.

“He did bring up a point, which I must admit is a valid one, no matter which side he is on.”

She turned her head and studied him, and it took everything in him not to bury his face against the side of her neck the way he’d been so tempted to earlier. Breathe in her scent, crush her body to his and not let go.

He cleared his throat. “He said I am too obvious. It is too clear that I am waiting for someone, and since my kind is rare here already, an Altarian waiting for hours on end for someone makes it clear that I am here for a matter of some importance. News has also spread about the damage an anonymous Paraxian did to the systems at the Redlian’s headquarters.

It would not be hard to link the two. And spies abound.

We know they use them. That is how their first attack on my people worked so well. ”

Xarek watched her as she listened. The small, delicate nod. The way she pressed her soft lips together when she was thinking. Licked her lips when she was about to speak.

“You’ve been so focused on not missing the Paraxian you didn’t even think of that,” she finally said, meeting his gaze.

“No. That was foolish of me. So single-minded…”

“It’s important. But he’s probably not wrong. Though if he’s a spy it doesn’t really matter at this point, does it?”

He barely suppressed a snarl at his own stupidity.

They sat in silence for a few moments. He would have called it comfortable silence, except that when he was not thinking about how foolish he was, he was fighting the urge to pull her close and see what it felt like to kiss a human.

“Did he say anything else? Anything that might help us figure out whose side he’s actually on?”

He shook his head. “Some airheaded thing about how I should try to look like I’m actually here for rest and recuperation. That I should look like I’m having fun and relaxing instead of staring at the door to the bar for hours on end.”

“You are sort of obvious,” she said softly, and he narrowed his eyes and looked at her. She grinned, then laughed when he grumbled.

“If I were as obvious as that, we would be having a very different conversation right now, Maggie.”

He watched her, seeing the moment it registered. That gorgeous flush to her cheeks, the soft, shaky breath.

She was as affected as he was.

“He said I should spend time with you on my lap, as if I am here having a grand time during my recovery.”

“He said what?” she gasped, staring at him.

“He also said you probably would not mind it.”

It was almost comical, the way she opened and closed her mouth. Her blush deepened, and she gripped her hands in her lap.

“What an asshole,” she finally muttered.

He could not help laughing. He had heard her curse before, of course, joking with patrons in the bar.

“Would you mind it? Was he wrong?” he asked, even as he wondered what he was thinking, asking such a thing as if he was even considering it.

She just stared at him for a few moments. And then she surprised him by laughing, and he was lost. Her laugh was full, loud, as bright as a summer day on his home world. It made him long for things he hadn’t dared to even think of in a very long time.

He felt the corners of his mouth turning up, and before he knew what was happening, he was laughing too.

He was not even sure he still knew how, until that moment.

Her chuckles died down, and she smiled at him. The warmth in her gaze made his entire body heat and he couldn’t stop looking at her.

“He wasn’t wrong. I wouldn’t mind it, Xarek,” she said softly, still smiling at him. “And he’s probably right, assuming he’s not playing you. Having one of the bartenders perched on your lap would definitely make it look more like you’re here for a good time.”

“As opposed to?” he asked, and she laughed again.

“Sitting there with your arms crossed, glowering at the door like it’s your lifelong enemy,” she teased, and he shook his head.

“You are saying you volunteer for lap duty, then?”

She nodded, tucking a stray curl of dark hair behind her ear. “I volunteer.” She stood up and smiled at him. “In fact, I think we should practice so it doesn’t look awkward the first time I sit there in public.”

“What? Now?” he asked, heat growing deep in his center.

“Now,” she said quietly, moving to stand in front of him. He watched her for a moment, then opened his arms, offering his lap to her.

There was no way he was going to make it out of this without embarrassing himself.