Page 60 of An Alien for Her Heart
“Wh-what are you doing here? H-how did you f-find me?” I manage to ask, my teeth still chattering.
For some seconds, he doesn’t answer. I’m dimly aware of him burying his face into my wet hair and inhaling deeply as his arms tighten around me. His chest shudders with heavy breaths that feel like relief washing through him.
“I…I came because I…I needed to see you again.”
I choke on a cough and he presses me even closer to him, giving me no option but to steal his warmth. “You saw me earlier today.”
“I know. It doesn’t make sense, but…I couldn’t rest. I needed to return to you.” He breathes out a breath into my hair, the warmth tickling my scalp. “When I got to your lodge, the door was wide open and you weren’t there…” He trails off, his chest still heaving with those heavy breaths. “I’ve never felt such fear in my existence.”
“You f-fought in a war…”
“Not even then was I this afraid.”
His admission startles me. Varek, scared? The idea seems almost inconceivable. But then I remember the panic in his voice when he was calling my name, the desperation in his eyes when he saw me.
“I’m s-sorry,” I whisper. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I was only trying to get some water and—”
He pulls back just enough to look at me, his gaze intense and searching in the dim starlight. “Don’t apologize, sura. I’m just glad I found you in time.”
The sincerity in his words, the depth of emotion in his eyes…it steals my breath away. And suddenly, I realize just how close we are, our bodies pressed together from chest to toe, our faces mere inches apart.
My heart stutters in my chest, my skin tingling with a warmth that has nothing to do with the cold water. Varek seems to feel it too, those luminous eyes of his dropping to my lips.
For a moment, everything else fades away—the chill of the water, the eerie glow of the bioluminescence, the ache in my limbs. There’s only him and me, suspended in this timeless, charged moment.
Slowly, tentatively, Varek leans in. His breath ghosts over my lips, making me shiver. I tilt my head up, my eyes fluttering closed as our lips meet.
It’s tentative, barely a brush of mouth against mouth, as if we’re seeking out each other again, both unsure if the other wants this. But when my fingers dig into his scales, Varek lets out a low moan, his hot lips crushing against mine.
His kiss is like a soothing warmth that eases some of the cold. I cling to him as his lips press into mine, my legs wrapping around him as his tongue dances with mine.
He kisses me as if he’s trying to breathe life back into me, as if he’s pouring all his fear and relief and longing into this single, searing moment. I melt into him, my fingers tangling in his hair, my body molding to his as if we were always meant to fit together.
But then reality comes crashing back in. A violent shudder wracks my body, my teeth chattering together almost painfully. Varek pulls back with a curse, shaking his head as if to clear away a fog.
“I cannot lose you.”
I follow the light of his eyes as he looks around. It’s clear just from the way he moves, slowly turning with me in the water, that he can see much better than I can. Even with the bioluminescence, I can hardly see a thing. When he curses under his breath, a sense of guilt and trepidation fills me.
“You can’t get out, can you? We’re both stuck in here.”
There’s an answering rumble in his chest, the vibration making me rest my head against him once more. As he continues turning in the water, trying to spot a way out of our predicament, I realize I’m not nearly as frozen as I was before.
His body is so hot, his mere presence is making blood flow through my veins.
When he curses under his breath, I lift my head to look at him.
“I’ll find a way out, but there’s not much time. Your body is like ice, sura.”
I nod. “But I’m much better, now that you’re here.”
I’m not sure what about my words makes him pause. Those eyes that were searching the walls for some kind of foothold shift to me and I’m transfixed. Under the light of the stars, Varek looks like a god.
Water drips from his hair and scales, each droplet catching the faint glow and shimmering like diamonds against his skin. His eyes, always so intense, seem to burn into me, bright with an emotion I’m almost afraid to name.
“Catherine,” he breathes, and the way he says my name, like a prayer and a plea all at once, makes my heart stutter in my chest.
His claw comes up, cupping my cheek with a tenderness that steals my breath. His thumb brushes over my skin, tracing the line of my cheekbone, the curve of my jaw. I lean into his touch,my eyes fluttering closed for a moment as I savor the warmth of his skin against mine.