“You aren’t?”
She shakes her head. “I sorta just want to curl up with you and fall asleep after the most intense orgasm of my life. Is that shitty?” She looks down my body. “We didn’t even take care of you.”
I frown. “Take care of?”
“You know… Get you off.” Obviously still seeing my confusion, her cheeks go pink but she continues. “Get you to orgasm.”
“Oh I did,” I say confidently, happy to assuage her concerns. She must not be able to see the wet spot on my dark pants. It is mildly uncomfortable, but far less than my aroused male parts when they were erect and confined by the cloth. It will dry. “Yours triggered mine.”
“Oh.” Her eyebrows rise in surprise and then she smiles. “It did?”
I do not think she felt or understood the full extent of my connection to her while I suckled and tasted her. That is sad that it was only a one-way sharing. Still, I am so glad for the gift of glimpsing her, body and spirit, that all I can do is lift up and kiss her.
Her essence is not as strong when merely tasting her lips but it is still there. And I like the hungry way she devours my mouth, even though she does not have a scenting tongue.
Still, I can see her fatigue when she finally pulls back.
I pull her close to my side, her head on my smooth chest. “Sleep now.”
“I— We should talk. Everything tonight was—” But her eyes are sleepy and her blinks become longer until she is fast asleep.
Chapter Thirteen
Juliet
I wake with the dawn, so comfortable and safe-feeling that I’m positive I’m still asleep. I don’t feel safe. I never feel safe.
Not since that night three years ago when I caught Robbie’s, aka, Butcher’s, eye in a bar I never should have been in and agreed to go on a date with him.
I curl into the heated pillow underneath my head. Just five more minutes. Just five more minutes and then I’ll get up and face my shitty life again.
And then I realize the pillow is moving up and down. Like…breathing. I jerk back and holy shit. It’s Shak.
Who’s an alien.
Who killed and then flam-bayed to a crisp the leaders of Robbie’s motorcycle gang.
Who then went down on me in the most insane and amazing and intense oral sex I’ve ever had in my life.
Holy.
Shit.
My hands fly to the sides of my head. Serious. Holy. Shit.
I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, carefully and slowly so as not to wake Shak. I still have my skirt on but no panties.
I pull them on quickly, along with my sandals, grab my purse and hurry on tiptoes towards the door.
I ease the door open, wincing when it squeaks, my eyes shooting back to Shak. He sleeps on, his face peaceful. Gorgeous. Kind.
What the hell are you doing, Juliet?
My forehead drops to thump against the door jamb. Why the hell am I running now?
Shak is the first good thing to happen to me in forever.
And dear God, he’s an alien! I can’t even wrap my head around it. Maybe because he looks completely human.
Plus, he saved my life.
But he doesn’t know me. And I’ll only disappoint him like I do everybody else if I don’t get out now and—
He stirs on the bed and that decides it.
I slip out the door and close it quietly behind me.
Chapter Fourteen
Shak
When I wake, Juliet is not in bed beside me.
I leap to my feet and am about to race out the door when it suddenly opens. And Juliet is there, smiling and holding a bag and two beverages.
My racing heartbeat slows and I immediately rush over to her and enclose her in my arms.
“I was scared to waken and find you gone,” I breathe out in a rush.
She smiles affectionately at me as she pulls back and moves to sit down on the bed. “You always just say what you’re feeling, don’t you?”
Her question takes me by surprise and I think about it a moment as I sit down next to her and look at the pastries she is pulling from the bag. I quickly extend my tongue and taste the aromatic sweetness of the food she has brought along with the bitter smell of the liquid.
“To be honest, it is only with you that I’m so open. The Draci live long lives and those among the highest families and castes are known for their secrecy and cunning. They make pacts and secret alliances and their lives are full of nonstop politics and manipulation. It is a dangerous world for an honest man.”
She pauses with one of the pastries close to her mouth. “And are you? An honest man?”
She has caught my gaze and I do not look away as I tell her the truth. “I have been both honest and dishonest to get where I wanted to be in life. I was very concerned for many years with my status and caste. Some in my family will not respect a person if they cannot display a familiarity with manipulation.”