The Alien's Equal (Drixonian Warrior #7) - Ella Maven Page 0,24

looking me in the eyes. “It is, but I won’t be making a move.”

I went stiff, and despite my anxiety all day about this deadline, disappointment swamped me. “What?”

He shook his head. “You want to fly, Justine. I won’t be the one responsible for trying to control you and claim you.”

I blinked at him, struck speechless. “You… but I thought you said…” I clamped my jaw shut before I could say something I couldn’t take back. Why was I so disappointed? I’d want to avoid his affections, so why was this hitting me so hard?

Because he was rejecting me. That was why. I’d laid out who I was, and he’d decided that I wasn’t for him. Well, fine. I didn’t want him anyway. Not at all. Not even a little bit. I sniffed. This was ridiculous. I was ridiculous. I made to turn away, but he stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. I resisted, but he held firm. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s nothing wrong. It’s fine. You’re right. I don’t want anyone controlling me, and I’m sure you realized I’m a hell of a lot more of a mess than you thought. It’s okay, you’re not the first one who doesn’t want to take on me and my issues.” I shrugged out of his grasp. “We don’t have time for a romance anyway. We have a lot of work to do.”

But I didn’t get far.

With a twist of his body, Nero pinned me with my butt on the edge of the control panel, his arms caging me in with his face inches from mine.

I gasped at the intensity in his eyes, the violet sending off an otherworldly glow as he pinned me with his gaze. “You misunderstand me,” he snarled. Struck dumb, all I could do was stare back. “There is nothing you can do to make me want you less. If anything, hearing about all you are has only convinced me more I’d be honored to have you as a mate. But that’s why, despite my self-control hanging by a flecking hair, I’m trying to respect your wishes and not push. The last thing I want is to be the one who grounds you, little bird.”

I sucked in a breath, finding so much to analyze there, including how he knew what a bird was. All those feathered thoughts flew out the window when his face loomed closer and the softest brush of his lips coasted across mine. “And as far as us not having time… I’ve committed my life to the survival of my species, but right now, I’d let the whole world burn if it meant I had the chance to make you mine.”

My heart stuttered in my chest, and my breath caught as my lungs compressed. Unable to vocalize how much his words meant to me, I grabbed the sides of his face and smashed our lips together.

He let out a grunt of surprise, but that didn’t last long. It was like I’d given him the permission to be let off his leash, because immediately his arms circled my back and he pressed me to his chest.

He deepened the kiss, sliding his long tongue past my lips to explore every inch of my mouth. I lashed my tongue along his, the feel of his ball piercings sending jolts of pleasure down my spine to pool in my core. He kissed me like the world was ending. Because … maybe it was.

We were still kissing when the door to his hut flew open. Nero pulled away from me on a jerk to hiss, “What the fleck?” as Daz’s body filled the doorframe.

Daz didn’t say a word about us clutching each other. His eyes were wild as he took a step inside, his bulk clogging the room with tension. “The plan has changed. You two leave now.”

Seven

Justine

“Now?” I shrieked.

Nero shoved his body away from me to round on his drexel. “The fleck you say.”

“You have two yoras.”

Nero’s nostrils flared. “We haven’t had time to practice—”

“And there’s nothing I can do about it.” Daz’s jaw was hard. “The Uldani are seeking reinforcements from the Plikens. We have to get inside and shut down their communication now.”

I felt like I had whiplash. One minute Nero had been kissing the hell out of me, and now I was being thrown into the lion’s den with a few hours’ notice. Nero didn’t look any happier about the news. His shoulders heaved and his fists were clenched as if poised to fight. I’d never