Page 17 of Adored By the Alien Warlord
“I won’t be long.” He turned and trudged from my room and down the hall, his boots thumping on the stairs. It didn’t take him long to fill the tub. While steam skimmed across the surface, he backed from the room. “I’ll stand at the top of the stairs. No one will pass me.”
Pure heaven awaited me. I couldn’t stop grinning.
I stripped quickly and sunk into the bath, leaningback against the smooth metal. Heat poured through my limbs, and I’d never felt anything as wonderful as this.
My moan of joy ripped out.
Thuds echoed on the stairs, and Davon appeared in the doorway, clutching the frame, his gaze frantic as he sought threats in the room before focusing on me.
“Are you hurt?” he growled. “I will kill anything that comes near you.”
Chapter 8
Davon
She clutched a scrap of my old tunic against the swell of her breasts.
There was no one lovelier than my mate with her dark hair spilling around her bare shoulders, her light tan skin coated with steam, and pinkness brightening her face.
Pain seared across the back of my hand, and I lifted it, gaping at the symbol appearing there.
Shewasmy fated mate.
My cocks stiffened, pressing against my pants, and there was no hiding something like that. I was bigger than most Zuldruxians all over.
“I . . .” She shook her head, her gaze gliding down my body to lock on my groin. A swallow worked its way down the smooth column of her throat. “I’m sorry. The water feels good. I . . . I should know better than to make sounds.”
“I’m a fool.” With some difficulty, I lowered my gazefrom her beauty, directing it to the floor. “Ishould’ve known it was nothing.”
She wouldn’t point out my arousal, would she? I’d die of shame.
“You . . .”
I backed into the hall and spun, running before she could complete her thought. I didn’t finish fleeing until I’d reached the top of the steps. There was no one about. Wortek would be fast asleep, and the rest of the staff had left the building. I’d made sure the inside lock was secure before bringing her the metal pan for bathing.
I wished there was someone around I could glower at.
Finally, I leaned against the wall inside the stairwell and waited until she’d called out that she was finished. Then I made my way back down to her room. Without looking her way, I hefted the tub and emptied it into the sink.
“I’ll have to return this to the kitchen,” I said gruffly.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shake her head. She’d washed her hair, and it gleamed like the black wings of the dreedelar bird that sometimes nested in the tallest trees near one of the oases. I’d sit on the shore and watch the fledglings learn from their parents how to skim above the water, how to dive into the deeper parts of the pools for small fish. When the sun hit their feathers, they shimmered in black, gold, and blue.
The sun on dreedelar birds was nothing compared to Maggie’s hair.
She’d dressed in one of the outfitsI—I—had purchased for her, and it lovingly hugged her slender frame. She was as delicate as a newborn bribard and stronger than a mundrek, the large, tan-colored creatures we rode in the desert. They could go for days without food and water and could drive off any predator with a snap of their fangs.
“I’ll bring food next.” I turned with the metal pan propped on my shoulder.
“You don’t have to keep being kind to me,” she whispered.
“Yes. I do.”
Her head jerked in a nod, and her eyes sparkled with water of sadness. I wanted to make her happy, but all I seemed able to do was make her feel bad.
I raided the small kitchen behind the bar, taking bits of this and that, making sure I didn’t remove enough for anyone to notice. They didn’t cook much here, just simple snacks for the patrons, but there was enough to feed my mate. I brought it down to her and leaned against the doorframe, still not looking fully at her while she ate.
“Can I get you anything else before I leave?” I asked, taking her plate when she’d finished.