Page 11 of Loving the Alien Spy

Our gods must be punishing me because I seek out its source, and on the other side of the market are Lindsey and another female. They stand in front of a booth selling various plants and flowers. Already, she carries a pot of nebjyre. Their leaves are rubbery, but the flowering teal buds give off bioluminescence. They are perfect for indoors.

Unbidden, I move closer, and with each step I take, my body heat intensifies. While no debilitating pain strikes me yet, another, more fervent ache grows. The need to fuck and claim. To fill Lindsey with my seed and watch her belly swell with it.

I swallow the groan and focus on my breathing. Still, I move closer. Lindsey’s scent calls to me, and I inhale every note. A tension enters her. It’s in the way her shoulders push back and her spine lengthens. A single tick passes before she turns partially my way and searches for something. For…me?

Our eyes lock, and a flicker of awareness flashes in hers. I don’t need to glance at my flesh to know its coloring has deepened several shades or a reflective surface to know my eyes have darkened and the flame has sparked.

The other female speaks to Lindsey, but my heart’s fire doesn’t turn from me. Her companion glances my direction and halts whatever it is she’s saying. Without looking anywhere but at mymate, I move once more, closing the distance between us. No matter what I tell myself, I can’t stop. Not until I’m close enough to Lindsey I could reach out and touch her.

“Can we help you, Bannik?” the other female asks, and her use of that name yanks me back to the present, severing the hold my heart’s fire has on me.

I have no true answer because I shouldn’t be here. I’ve made more than my share of mistakes in life, and standing this near to the female I can’t have is the worst of them.

“Breathe, Bannik,” a soft but firm voice commands, and a cool, soothing touch brushes across my chest.

My vision comes into focus once more, and standing close enough to me that I can almost count each one of her eyelashes is Lindsey. Concern furrows her brow. The scent of blood hits me at the same time a bead of liquid slides down my finger. The pain of the puncture wounds in my palms reaches me and, with a hiss, I retract my claws.

“Ah, shit,” her friend rasps, but I don’t acknowledge her in any way.

Lindsey still has not removed her small hand from where it lies over my pounding heart.

“Better?” she whispers.

I jerk my head in a shaky nod. When Lindsey draws back from me, I mourn the loss of her touch. After clearing the roughness from my throat, I speak.

“My apologies.”

She glances between her companion and me. “Dev, would you mind giving us a minute?”

The other female—Dev—narrows her gaze at my heart’s fire. “You sure that’s a good idea?”

Lindsey blows out a puff of air. “Please?”

Dev turns her focus to me and glares before looking at my mate and softening. “I’ll be right over there.”

My heart’s fire’s mouth quirks, and her friend walks to a nearby vendor’s booth. Close enough to keep an eye on us, but far enough away to offer a small amount of privacy. An uncomfortable silence hangs between us, despite Lindsey asking for a moment of my time. Still, I would give her however many she needs. I shouldn’t, but the request would be impossible for me to ignore.

She finally clears her throat. “Why now?”

I also hear an unasked, “Why you?”

Even with all my discreet inquiries, I was not able to discover how well acquainted Bannik was with any of the females besides Quinn, whom he’d been courting before the commander realized she was his heart’s fire. But the rest, I am uncertain.

“I don’t know.” It is as truthful as I can be.

Lindsey releases a ragged breath. “We’ve been around each other several times before. Danced with each other on numerous occasions. Why is this happening now and not before? And I don’t just mean before Quinn and Horek got together. I mean before the rebel attack. Why did this have to happen after…everything?”

“I don’t know.” What else can I say?

Lindsey drops her head back between her shoulders, and she exhales heavily. She raises her head once more and stares.

“You’ve said you don’t know why you betrayed Alik or why this thing between us happened. What do you know?” She tosses her hands up in obvious frustration.

Hands I want touching me again. Lingering on my heated flesh. But that aching need must stay locked up tight.

“I know you believe me to be a traitor to my people.” The ache worsens. “I also know there is no future for us.”

A flicker of…pain, perhaps, crosses her face. “Not that I’m saying I want there to be a future, but you sound awfully certain of that.”