Page 8 of Taming the Alien Outlaw (Brides of the Bohnari #2)

Janik

Being this near to Olivia is torture. Especially when she suddenly emits a new scent. One with notes of musk that should clash with the softer, cleaner ones that make up what is uniquely her, but rather, enhance them.

With my fingertip, I caress the long line of her neck where her pulse quickens.

“Does the thought of that excite you?”

“No.” Olivia’s breathless response declares it a lie.

“Tell yourself whatever you have to to feel better.” I reach around her and open the door, doing my best to ignore the invitation in her gaze. Otherwise, I’ll drag her back to my bedroom and fuck her until she can’t walk and my seed drips down her thighs while her neck bears my mating mark.

It takes her several beats before she recovers, but I can see the shield she puts back up.

Her eyes shutter and her facial muscles go taut.

She sweeps past me with her head high and back straight as though she’s royalty.

Perhaps when I’m the prince—. I nearly laugh, because Olivia would probably stab me in the heart before agreeing to be my mate.

My dwelling is near the center of camp. Surrounding it are other residences and various storage structures. Approximately two hundred rebels reside here, but we have been actively sowing dissent throughout the residents of Preska and many more Bohnari within the city are loyal to our cause.

As though reading my mind, Olivia speaks up. “You have a surprisingly large number of people prepared for an uprising.”

“There are an unsurprisingly large number of people displeased with Alik’s rule.”

Although the sun has long been up, the rainforest remains in shadows and the air is cool. Beside me, Olivia shivers and rubs her hands up and down her bare arms.

“My apologies. I didn’t realize humans are susceptible to the elements.”

“We’re not. Well, not usually, but that’s because we wear shirts with long sleeves. Besides, I can’t help it if you live in a place that barely gets a drop of sunshine due to all the trees. Maybe if you weren’t hiding out in here, I wouldn’t be cold.”

Olivia has only been in camp for a half a turn, and already I’m tired of fighting with her. She has clearly made up her mind about who I am.

“I’ll get you something warmer to wear when we get back to my home.”

She looks at me strangely. “Thanks.”

Mak lopes toward us. Prepared, I bring out a berry from my pocket since they’re her favorite.

“Could I give it to her?” Olivia asks.

I hand her the fruit, but unlike last night when I passed her the glass of tavese, I make sure we don’t touch. My control is barely hanging on by a thread, and I don’t know what will happen if my flesh brushes against hers.

She casts a quick glance up at me, but turns her attention to Mak who’s slid to a halt at our feet.

“Sit,” Olivia commands, but her tone is gentle.

Still, Mak complies.

“Good girl.” She holds the sweet out and as usual, Mak takes it from her with great care. “Will she let me pet her?”

“Next to the lulesh berry, affection is her favorite thing.” The phinnek hasn’t received nearly enough attention from me of late, since my focus has been on rebellion planning.

Olivia carefully strokes Mak’s head and behind her ears. With each one, her confidence grows, and soon she’s scratching her with both hands and speaking to her in nonsensical words about being a pretty baby.

“How could I have ever thought you were scary?” Olivia coos. “You’re a big sweetie, aren’t you?”

“She’s your friend for life now.” I’m not at all envious of the phinnek.

“Quinn would love this.”

“Quinn?”

She glances up at me. “My best friend. The one mated to Horek.”

Ah, yes, I vaguely recall the female Olivia had been with that first time in the market when we collided. I’d had eyes for no one but Olivia.

“Do you not have animal companions on Earth?”

“Not those of us from the bottom tier. We can barely afford to survive on our own. No way can we also care for a pet.” She glances at Mak. “I mean animal companion.”

“Is that what made you come to Bohna? To have a better life?”

“Yes, and to become a wife and mother,” Olivia says.

“You could become neither of those on your own planet?” I am barely able to push the words from my mouth with my jaw clenched as tightly as it is.

My fangs descend and pierce the skin on the inside of my lip at the mere thought of her with another male.

Blood drips from the wounds and spreads across my tongue.

“Of course I could have, but what kind of life would that be? I don’t want my kids just surviving or barely getting by.

I want them to thrive. To be kids for as long as they can and not have to work so they can help make sure we have a roof over our heads and protein bars in our bellies like I had to. ”

By the time Olivia finishes speaking, her voice has grown slightly hoarse, and tears sparkle in her eyes.

“I’m sorry that is the kind of life you were forced to grow up in.” It’s no wonder she’s a survivor.

Olivia waves off my apology. “It doesn’t matter anymore, because that life is in my past. As soon as Alik and Horek send in the cavalry and I’m back in Preska, I plan on finding myself a Bohnari husband.”

An image of her beneath some faceless male appears in my mind and a growl erupts from deep inside my chest at the same time a sharp pain rips through my belly. I double over with agony.

“Shit.” Olivia’s hand grips my shoulder and greater agony shoots through me. “What’s happening, Janik?”

I try to breathe through it, to clear the burning sensation that’s eating me from the inside, but I’m struggling.

The only thing keeping me from destroying everything around me is Olivia.

My one thought is her. The way she smells.

The softness of her skin against mine, and the uncontrollable need to discover what her cunt tastes like.

I want nothing more than to tear off her clothes and fuck her.

Seed her. See her belly swell with my young.

“What did you do to him?” A shrill voice belonging to someone I know I should recognize rings loud in my ear.

“Nothing,” Olivia cries out. “We were just talking, and then whatever this is happened.”

A hand that doesn’t belong to Olivia lands on me, and I snap and bare my teeth at its owner. “Don’t touch me.”

“Janik, it’s your mother. You need to calm down.”

Blindly, but also somehow knowing exactly where she is, I clutch Olivia’s arm and manage to lift my head to meet her gaze. “Take me to my house.”

The command is guttural, but understanding flashes across her face, and she nods.

Gently, she curls her arms around me and guides me back in the direction from where we came.

Mak walks on my other side and whines softly.

I wish I could reassure her, but this is the worst attack of mating fever I’ve had yet.

I don’t know how Olivia can bear touching me. My body feels alive with flames.

Murmurs of conversation from the rebels we pass reach me, but I can’t make them out. Instead, I focus entirely on the female holding me and her calming presence.

It takes far too long, but we finally manage to reach my dwelling. I get the door open and the two of us stumble inside, leaving Mak to maintain watch. To my surprise, Olivia redirects our path from the sofa where I’d been heading and leads me into the bedroom. She gently guides me onto the bed.

“Rest for a minute. Let me get a cold cloth.”

Before I can keep her from leaving me, she rushes into the hygiene room and quickly returns with a wet towel. She wipes my brow and my chest, and while it’s soothing, it does nothing to dampen the raging fire.

“Where’s your powder stuff? I’m guessing this is the mating fever you’re all afflicted with?”

I grab her hand and hold her palm tightly against my chest, directly over my heart. Olivia’s touch is the only thing that affects me. “I don’t have any more.”

“What do you mean?” Her voice rises in pitch.

“Shhh. Just be here with me.” My eyes remain closed and I breathe in the scent of her. In and out.

To my relief, she does. The gentle strokes of her other hand through my hair and across my brow are the most soothing sensation.

I lose all track of time while I lie here, but with each slowly passing tick, the fever and pain subside.

When it finally becomes manageable, I carefully open my eyes and stare up at Olivia.

Concern is etched deeply into the lines on her face.

“You scared the shit out of me. Do you know that?”

I try to smile. “I’m sorry. But know I would never harm you, no matter what state I might be in.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, you asshat. I know you’d never hurt me. I thought you were fucking dying.”

“That would have solved many of your problems, though, I suppose.”

Olivia smacks my shoulder. “Don’t even joke about that, dickhead.”

“Ouch. I’m a wounded male you’re abusing.”

She rolls her eyes, but a small smile curls her lips up. “Stop trying to play the sympathy card. It’s clear you’re feeling better.”

“I am. Thanks to you.”

She props her hip onto the bed next to me, and I realize I have not loosened my hold on her hand that continues lying over my heart. I gently stroke the softness of her flesh. The fact she has not removed it herself does not escape me.

“Why don’t you have any of that drug?” Olivia asks quietly.

“I used what small amount I had left of the nearly non-existent supply we purchased from Alik this morning before you woke.”

Her brow crinkles. “I don’t understand. From everything we’ve been told, the prince makes sure every person on the planet gets enough. Even you guys. It’s pissed Horek off that he’s tried—and failed—to catch the person at the drop-off point each time.”

With my free hand, I brush Olivia’s hair back that has fallen over her shoulder and tuck it behind her ear. “On my honor—what little of it you think I have—I swear, we do not receive what you are being led to believe we are.”