can’t imagine how bad it’d be to be a human prisoner in an alien jail.
I’m also pretty sure I can’t kill him. Just seeing him in pain and groaning is enough to twist my heart. He’s so very miserable, and every time his hips flex, he cries out, as if he’s in pain. It makes me feel SO damn guilty.
I mean, sure, he’s been threatening me, but I’m not sure I’m made of the same cruel material he is. I can’t stand to see another living being suffer, even this jerk.
Also, I’m really, really confused.
He’s left slaughtered animals on my porch…but he says he likes me? I look over at his towel-covered brow. His mouth is open, panting, the tip of his tongue curled. I suddenly want to grab him by the facial tufts and shout at him. Why do you like me? I wonder silently. What did you mean?
“Kim,” he mutters, tossing his head so violently he flings the wet towel aside. “Kim.”
“Right here. Haven’t gone anywhere.”
“Brushed…tail…for you…”
I calmly get up and retrieve the towel, then wet it again and drop it on his brow. “What does that mean?”
“All…for…you…”
I grit my teeth. “Seriously, either you start telling me what this means or I’m not going to give you any more water.”
“Lick you,” he demands, panting. “Let me lick you.”
“No—”
“Won’t tell anyone. Just let me touch you.” He looks over at me with bright eyes, but are they a bit clearer than before? It’s so hard to tell.
I frown at him. “You can lick me if you give me answers.”
“Anything…”
I present him with the back of my hand. “Go wild.”
I’m not sure what I expected, but he falls upon it ravenously, licking and stroking with his tongue, moaning as if he’s never been more turned on in his life by some knuckles. And…okay, it’s hard for me not to get affected. He drags his tongue over my skin in such a way that it’s difficult to ignore.
But…I don’t want to have sex with him. I don’t want any sex. I just want him to go away.
So…answers. I pull my hand away and he cries out. “You can lick it again if you tell me what’s going on.”
“W-was my idea,” he manages.
“What was?”
“Being your mate… Let me lick you again.”
Being my mate was HIS idea? I hold my hand out, and at his groan of pleasure, feel a spike of my own. Ugh. I don’t know how I feel about that. I pull back again. “What do you mean it was your idea?”
“I…saw you talk to her. You paid her…I paid her more.” His gaze locks on me. “Because I want you.”
“You mean you want me in a shallow grave?”
“No…want you as mine.” He groans, eyes closing again, and his hips jerk. The cloth goes flying, and I scurry to pick it up. “Want you in my bed. Want you as my mate. Want your smile…”
I’m so utterly bewildered by his responses that I automatically hold my hand out for him to tongue bathe again. He nuzzles at my palm, and then strokes hard over it with his tongue, and I squeeze my thighs together. “Then why are you threatening me?”
“Never…”
“What’s with the door? It took me all day to clean that off!”
“Marking…territory…” he says against my palm.
I gasp, because he flicks his tongue against the sensitive skin between my fingers and sends a bolt through my body…just as I realize what’s going on.
He marked his territory. Sprayed like a cat. The kills on my doorstep remind me of my first cat, Mouser, who left me birds and dead mice at the foot of my bed.
Oh my god.
I’m being cat-courted and I never realized.
“You—you paid Bethiah?” I ask, curling my throbbing hand and placing it over my breast. “Why?”
“Didn’t…want anyone else even looking at what’s mine.” He says it so forcefully that it takes my breath away. “Because you are mine, Kim.”
“I don’t belong to you,” I protest.
“Not yet.” His agreement is soft, and then he starts to pant again. “Not yet. But eventually.”
I stare at him for a long moment. Then, I take a deep breath. Calmly dip the towels into the cold water and drape them—one over his junk, and one over his brow, covering his eyes. “I need to lie down.”
I’m not sure if my situation has just gotten better or worse. The bounty hunter betrayed me. My murdery neighbor? I don’t have to kill him, I guess. I just…really don’t know what to do with him now.
12
NASSAKTH
I