Odin (Alien Adoption Agency #5) - Tasha Black Page 0,7

is willing to try,” she said. “Are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I know you didn’t exactly like me in the beginning,” she said. “And then there’s some obvious… chemistry between us.”

He clenched his jaw, but didn’t argue.

“But I’m not looking to fall in love again,” she said. “Not that I think that’s what you’re looking for, of course.”

She took a deep breath and wished he would bail her out by saying something - anything.

But he simply fixed her with his dark gaze, making it hard for her to focus on what she wanted to say next.

“What I’m trying to say is that we’re going to be in close quarters for the next twenty years,” she said at last. “I’d like for us to be more than two separate people serving Colton’s needs. I’m going to need good advice and it’s clear that you and Colton have a strong relationship. You deserve to be more to him than just a guard.”

“What are you saying?” Odin asked.

“I’d like for us to be friends,” she said simply.

He gazed at her for another moment and then his face lit up with another of those rare smiles.

“Friends,” he said, offering her his arm.

She clasped it and he wrapped his hand around her whole elbow in return, as if she were a tiny doll.

And in spite of the wild sparks of attraction she had to fight back, Liberty felt at home for the first time in a long time.

6

Odin

Odin began to wake from a dream so sweet he fought to stay in it. He was enveloped in warmth and goodness.

But the cries of the morning birds and the scent of strong coffee burst through his senses and he reluctantly opened his eyes.

Though they had gone to sleep fully dressed on opposite sides of the massive bed, Liberty must have been drawn to him in her sleep.

Odin still lay on his back, an arm behind his head.

But Liberty’s cheek was resting on his chest, her hand splayed on his rib cage, and one of her long legs was flung possessively across his hips.

His body responded before he was awake enough to stop himself. He rolled her over, pinning her to the bed, and nuzzled her neck.

Liberty moaned lightly and wrapped her thighs around him, arching her back so that he could feel her nipples pebbling against his chest, even through their clothing.

Yes, the dragon roared.

But Odin clenched his jaw and rolled off of her, landing on his feet on the far side of the bed.

Liberty’s eyelids fluttered and for a moment he simply watched as her body sought his.

He throbbed in sympathy with her need, they had both been so close to the edge of ecstasy.

Her eyes opened and she gasped and sat up.

“O-Odin,” she murmured, searching for him.

“I’m here,” he told her.

Her eyes met his and she flushed, breaking eye contact to look at her hands, which she clasped together nervously.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to, that is, did we...?”

“We didn’t,” he reassured her.

“Good,” she said distractedly. “Good.”

“I’m going to wash up,” he told her.

“Of course,” she said. “I’ll, um, I’ll see to the baby.”

He nodded and headed to the washroom, hoping a cold shower would help him make it through the endless cart ride without going back on his word to her.

Mate, the dragon growled.

Friend, he reminded it.

Odin hadn’t had many friends. There were his brothers-in-arms of the Invicta, of course, but they hardly counted. The warriors had each other’s backs for survival.

And a soldier’s life of travel and adventure meant he hadn’t had the opportunity to make a lot of friends outside the regiment.

He turned on the shower and began to strip off his clothes.

While it might be difficult, maybe even impossible to be friends with the woman he needed so desperately to claim, he had to find a way to make it work.

It went beyond his respect for the woman, whose attempts to honor her dead loved one had squeezed at his heart.

It went beyond his own guilt, and his desire not to accept comfort. He had forgotten all that last night when she stepped out of this room.

No, the reason he had to make their friendship work was so much more simple. It cut to the quick of his heart.

Colton’s happiness was on the line.

Where the whelp was concerned, Odin would cut no corners.

No matter how hard it was, he would be a friend to Liberty Clark. Damn the consequences.

He stepped into the shower and closed his eyes.

But