The Alien's Equal (Drixonian Warrior #7) - Ella Maven Page 0,19
He’d warned me and let me know what was to come. He hadn’t pushed yet, and even though he planned to, he’d given me a pretty large window of time to raise my defenses.
But to be fully prepared, I needed to know exactly what he meant about not waiting. What would happen tomorrow at sundown? Was he planning something minor like a kiss or something zero to sixty like butt plugs? Ah, there was that snowball working itself into a frenzy in my head.
“Nero?” My voice sounded loud in the darkness.
His chair squeaked as he turned to me, but his face was in shadow, backlit by his screens. I could just barely make out the glow of his eyes.
I swallowed. “How do you plan to make your move?”
His chair creaked again as he leaned back and propped his elbow on the armrest of his chair, then cradled his chin in his palm. “Are you working on a defense?”
“Um, no.” I snorted with a little too much indignation. “Not at all. No way. Why would I do that?” I scoffed loudly.
His chuckle sounded sexy, and I hated that I felt the deep rumble in my belly. “Well first you’ll move in here permanently. We’ll eat all our meals together. When you’re upset about something, you’ll tell me, and we’ll talk it out so you’re no longer filling with anger. We can talk about the family members we miss and plan some activities together for when we win this war. Mate stuff.”
I gaped at him. This was… no. Kisses and groping—while they scared me—were something I could compartmentalize, but this… sharing of feelings? This couple shit? Oh, hell no, that was just a low blow. “Excuse me?”
“What were you expecting?”
“I was expecting you to throw me on the dashboard and ravage me. Give me hickeys.”
“What’s a hickey?”
“Don’t you want to … do cock things?”
He was not successful in suppressing a laugh. “Cock things?”
“You know what I mean!”
“Sure, I want to stuff you full of cock, but that’s not what’s important. Not to you. Not to me. I know you’ll be able to give me your body but shy away from giving me the rest of you. That’s not what I want. We’ll be mates, Justine. Inside and out.”
I began to tremble. This was an absolute nightmare. Why couldn’t I have gotten ass slapping Xavy for a mate? He wouldn’t have wanted to have intellectual discussions about our feelings. “Nero, that’s… you don’t want that.” I hated how weak my voice sounded.
When he spoke, his voice held an undercurrent of a warning. “I warned you, Justine. Don’t tell me how I feel.”
The growl his in his voice made me shiver, sending confusing flickers of attraction to mingle with my nerves. “I don’t mean it that way. I mean that you don’t want to get to know me. I’m not sure who you think I am, but I’m not that woman. You deserve someone who’s going to be what you want. I’m not what anyone wants.” I winced as soon as the last few word left my mouth. I hadn’t mean to confess that. From the outside, I was a confident bitch, but on the inside, I was terrified of everyone finding out I was really a fraud.
He was quiet for so long I thought he’d given up on the conversation when he spoke again. “I want to know who made you feel like you’re not what anyone wants. You’re what I want. I know it. I’ll prove it, Justine. That’s how I plan to make my move.”
He turned around, so all I could see was the back of his chair. I swallowed as my heart raced. I scrambled, trying to throw up mental walls but only got about half of one slapped with mortar before my eyes drifted shut and I was out.
Six
Nero
I opened my eyes to the sound of wet slurping. I jolted in my chair to find Justine sitting beside me with her hair pulled back into a short ponytail at the crown of her head while loudly sipping on a steaming mug of pula. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” she smiled at me.
I rubbed my eyes and eyed the shadows on the ground, noting the sun had just began to creep over the horizon. “You’re up early.”
“I’ve always been an early riser,” she shrugged as she handed me my own mug.
I eyed her curiously. She seemed in a good mood this morning, which I didn’t expect would be the case based on