Page 9 of Her Alien Soldier (Asterion Station #1)

T he Bellarian finally left, smirking at Xarek and vowing to seek him out again for another game. He was ready to stop hours ago, when Maggie first arrived for her shift. He had been envisioning since the night before how this would go.

He could not get her out of his mind. Not after having her warm, curvy form on his lap, smelling her, seeing the way he affected her.

It had taken everything in him not to tear that flimsy little top off of her and devour her plump breasts with their hard nipples right then and there. And the hours since had done little to quell his need.

He watched her, timing it perfectly. She walked past him after her break, and when she did, he reached out and pulled her onto his lap, nearly growling at her gasp as he grabbed her. She looked up at him, blushing, chuckling a little breathlessly.

“Were you trying to get my attention?” she teased.

“I have it now, I think,” he said in a low voice, and her blush deepened.

“Yeah, you do,” she said with a nod.

“Good. I want it often,” he said, and was rewarded by a widening of her eyes, the sight of her nipples hardening again beneath her top.

He snaked his arm around her waist, one hand resting on her lower belly as he held her on his lap, and he felt a little shiver go through her as he held her there.

“Seems fairly quiet tonight,” he murmured a few moments later, and she nodded.

“The end of the cycle is usually pretty quiet. Most long-distance delivery ships have already been through, and most business-related things for the month are wrapping up.”

“So I have you to myself for a little longer,” he said in a low voice against her ear.

“Y-yes,” she whispered, and the sound of it made his cock throb.

This woman was going to be the end of him. She was testing every ounce of his discipline and self control.

“Careful or I might have to punish you,” he said, giving her body a little squeeze, and she whimpered.

“What did I do?” she asked breathlessly.

“That soft, submissive tone. Like you would do anything I told you to.”

He could see her biting her plump bottom lip, worrying it with her teeth as she watched their surroundings. “Wouldn’t you, Maggie?” he pressed, and she clamped her mouth shut.

He reached up, resting a large hand at the base of her throat, feeling her delicate collar bone beneath his fingers. “I expect an answer,” he said, and she whimpered.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Yes, what?” he asked, bringing his hand to her neck, gently wrapping his fingers around her throat.

“Oh my god… I would do anything you told me to,” she whispered.

“Good girl,” he murmured, giving her throat the slightest squeeze before lowering his hand. “It looks like you are needed,” he said, gesturing toward the bar where one of the servers waited with an empty tray.

She nodded and got up, looking back at him almost shyly as she walked to the bar. He watched her tug her shirt, straighten her spine, trying to assert control over herself again.

But he’d seen how much she wanted him to take control.

It would be nearly impossible to stay away from her now.

He split his attention between staring at Maggie and keeping an eye on the door.

It would help their act, that he could not seem to stop staring at her.

The fact that he could see how it was affecting her, the way she kept nervously tucking her hair behind her ear, worrying her gorgeous lower lip when she noticed him watching her, was enough to raise every possessive, hunter instinct he had.

Before war, before the Redlians, his people had been renowned as hunters. First as hunters of food, then hunters of rare items. People. His people to this day were regarded as the most efficient bounty hunters in the galaxy.

That had been his role, before it had all fallen apart. He missed it. This… the waiting, the subterfuge… it all reminded him even more deeply of what had been lost. What they would regain, if the Paraxian came through.

Just him, his ship, and his skills against his prey.

This, with Maggie, was a different kind of hunt, but he was unable to resist the pull it had on him. He would not be satisfied until she was his. He would see her on her knees, begging in her soft, throaty voice. He would adore her and protect her. She would want for nothing.

He took a deep breath. That was a dream, at this point. He could not spare the focus. Not now, with victory within their grasp. But he could start making her see that she belonged to him.

He had ignored that first flare of recognition when they had initially crossed paths. But that flare had grown to a roaring inferno.

And it was not one he could ignore.

Though rare, now, his people possessed a mating instinct.

Once upon a time, it had guaranteed the flourishing of the Altarian people.

Pairings had resulted in strong children who had grown to become the bedrock of their society.

As they’d thrived, the instinct had become less vital, and had begun fading.

It cropped up, occasionally, in beings of one of the ancient lines of Altarians.

Which, he was. And here it was, gnawing at him, heating his body and licking at his mind like flames. The fact that it was flaring to life for a human was different, and he could not explain it.

But he also had no desire to ignore it. Especially since he had wanted her since he had first laid eyes on her. Her scent permeated his senses. He swore he could even smell her when she was in her quarters and he was stuck in the lounge on his frustrating vigil.

Another bartender arrived, and he watched as Maggie spoke to the tall Cendilax male. He had been in here with that one several times since his arrival. He was a shameless flirt, and females seemed to like him.

Maggie was friendly but businesslike with him, even as he smiled and joked. His mate was no fool. She had seen enough of life to know how to handle herself, and he admired her. In that way and so many more.

He shifted impatiently in his chair as she filled her coworker in on whatever he needed to know, watching the door.

The sooner she finished, the sooner she would be on his lap again.

He watched a human sanitation worker come into the bar, then a pair of Bellarian women. A few moments later, he was surprised by a soft hand on his shoulder. Not the one he wanted. He knew that immediately.

He turned his head to find a curvy Tilesian female standing close. “You look lonely. Want some company?” she asked, winking at him, making no secret as to what kind of company she meant.

He glanced Maggie’s way to see her walking toward him, pausing a moment in her steps.

He nodded at her, then looked at the Tilesian.

“No, thank you. The only company I want is finally joining me,” he said, earning a smile from Maggie as she stepped up to his other side, and he pulled her down onto his lap.

“Oh! Well I’m glad you’re not sitting here alone, handsome. Have fun!” The Tilesian said, smiling and waving at both of them before sauntering off to the bar.

“She seemed friendly,” Maggie said, and he squeezed her hip.

“She did,” he agreed. “How was your shift?”

She smiled. “Quiet. I spent far too much of it staring at you.”

That pleased him far more than it probably should have, and he gripped her hip, pulling her closer so her curvy body was resting against his stomach and chest. When she rested her head on his shoulder, her soft hair gently tickling his upper arm, he took a deep breath.

It was perfect. She was perfect.

“Careful, or I won’t want to leave,” he murmured, slowly running his hand up and down the soft curve of her side.

“But you will,” she responded.

He had no answer for that. They both knew it was true and neither was naive enough to make promises otherwise. That he would stay, or that he would come back to her. Or that she would wait for him. They had both lived enough to know that life rarely worked out the way one expected it to.

“I was asking Baris, the bartender on duty now,” she nodded toward the tall Cendilax male, and Xarek nodded. “He hangs out with that Bellarian sometimes.”

“Oh. In a social way, you mean?”

“Yes,” she said with a smile. “They run laps around the station whenever the Bellarian guy is here. Sometimes play cards and drink together.”

Xarek nodded at this bit of information, continuing to rub her side. “And did he have anything interesting to share?”

“That he’s known the Bellarian for many years and he’s one of the few people he would trust with his life.”

Xarek thought for a moment, and she lifted her head, looking at him. “How did you bring this up with him?”

“I said that he’d been hitting on a friend of mine and I was doing what I could to check him out.”

Xarek squeezed her hip, still mostly lost in the feel of her body on his. “It was smart to frame it as such. The Cendilax revere females of their race and others. They are a maternalistic society. He would not lie about such a thing.”

“But he would never be able to tell me the whole truth, either, if the Bellarian is what he says he is. He would be skilled enough to know exactly what to say to a Cendilax to earn his trust. Especially a Cendilax who works in the most popular bar on the busiest station in the quadrant. Good for information.”

Xarek nodded in agreement. “He would not. But it gives us insight into his general character. Thank you, Maggie,” he said quietly, feeling warmth deep in his core for this smart, caring female.

He held her gaze, very much enjoying the hold he had on her, the way she kept her gaze on his, that pretty blush rising to her cheeks, her pupils dilating.

“When you look at me like that, it makes me want to carry you back to your quarters and see just how deeply I can make you blush, Maggie,” he said quietly.

Maggie could barely breathe. He was rock hard beneath her thighs, his thick cock poking against her as he held her on his lap, both physically and with that deep, heated look in his eyes, the one that made clear that he expected her to do as he wished.

“Pretty deeply, I bet,” she managed after a moment.

“Perhaps. I wonder how well you would take being ordered around, made to serve, made to take me for as long as I wanted you.”

Her mouth fell open, and she pressed her thighs together.

“You get off on bossing women around, huh?” she whispered, still unable to look away.

“No. But I very much think I will enjoy bossing you around. Seeing just how obedient you can be.”

She whimpered, and he took some mercy on her, looking away, breaking the gaze between them, and it felt like she could finally breathe. She rested her head on his shoulder again, looking around at the other patrons. Willing the Paraxian not to choose now to make his appearance.

Shivers coursed along her spine as Xarek started slowly rubbing his big, warm hand along her side again.

Only this time, his hand moved up higher, and his thumb stroked along the side of her breast before he slid his hand down again.

He did it over and over again, making it clear with his touch that it wasn’t an accident, that he knew very well what he was doing.

His teasing was hidden, his hand under the light cardigan she was wearing, and it excited her even more, that he was touching her like this right out in the open.

Her nipples strained against the fabric of her top, and she ached between her thighs in a way she hadn’t in a very, very long time.

And then, he lowered his head, leaning in close, his lips teasing just a breath from the side of her neck.

She could feel his warm breath on her, and she pressed her lips together to keep from whimpering.

In the next moment, his warm lips were on her sensitive skin, and it was like electricity coursing through her veins, a shiver running up her spine as he lingered there, teasing her, still driving her insane with those barely-there caresses to the side of her breast.

“Please,” she whimpered, and he rewarded her by scraping his teeth along the side of her neck.

“Say it again,” he murmured against the side of her neck, his voice a low, rumbling growl.

She did. It was the only word she could think of, as if her brain had one mode and it was pure, desperate need. “Please, Xarek,” she whispered.

“Is your bartender colleague reliable? Will he alert us if my contact shows up?” he asked, gently biting the side of her neck.

“Yes. I can make sure to remind him…”

“Do that. And then we need to leave.”