And oh-my-god-he-smells-so-good. All my pheromones sit up and take notice, absolutely down to clown with the fire-starting fool.

“No,” I finally choke out. “They don’t.”

“Then what is the problem? You have your… undergarments on. I promised not to touch you, and I meant it. I just need to hold you, to transfer our scents.” His tone is gently bewildered, but matter-of-fact.

I scrutinize him, trying to get past his nearness and make my brain function. Easier said than done. This whole thing is crazy.

I want to accuse him of lying, but… I know the Suevans do use scent. And I know there are species out there who would absolutely abduct me, because the one lying next to me already has.

“Fine,” I grit out. “Just…”

Whatever I was about to say vanishes from my mind as Nydo carefully, so carefully, scooches closer.

“Lift your head,” he growls, and the command sends a hot tingle straight down my spine.

“No fire powers!” I blurt out.

He blinks at me. “I’m not.”

“Right, right, right, right,” I mutter, feeling idiotic. Not using fire power. Must be the lust drugs. “Right,” I repeat, remembering he asked me to lift my head. I do, and he slides an arm under my neck.

Wow. His skin is so, so velvety soft. It reminds me of a pet my friend had once, a chinchilla, but with shorter hair. I rub my cheek against his bicep, transfixed by the sensation.

He makes a low noise in his throat.

“You feel like a shaved chinchilla.” It slips out. I close one eye, because damn if that doesn’t sound dirty as hell.

“I do not know what that means, but I hope it is a good thing,” he says seriously.

“It’s fine,” I lie. It’s definitely a good thing, for him. Fuck! I don’t want him to feel like a shaved chinchilla. I don’t want him to feel nice at all. “Is the scent thing working?”

“I don’t know,” he murmurs, his gaze locked on mine. “Maybe I should try harder.”

He pulls me closer, a big hand on my back, until my breasts are touching his chest. Nydo is so warm, and soft, and being all up close and personal with him is… surprisingly nice.

And I am unsurprisingly turned on.

He looks at my mouth. I stare at his face. Warm breath spills over my forehead.

If either of us moved a fraction, we could kiss. It’s too much.

I don’t want to think about kissing him. I’m not going to kiss him!

“I’m going to just roll over. You can spoon me.” I can’t be face-to-face with Nydo. There’s no way I can sleep like this.

“Spoon?” he asks. “Utensil you? I don’t understand.”

I sigh. “Just… I’m going to put my back to your front, and you hold me. Like… my body will fit inside yours. Like a spoon.” I flip over, then scoot further back, until his soft, hot body is snug against mine. I gulp, trying to find my train of thought.

Nope. It’s gone.

It’s derailed, falling into a canyon below, probably exploding into smithereens.

Because I’m not the only one turned on, and the evidence of Nydo’s spooning enthusiasm is pressed hard against my back. I arch away as far as I can.

“Keep that away from me.” My demand comes out strangled and breathy.

“I cannot hold you like this and not have my cock on you,” he says in a strangled voice. “It is too large, and you are too tempting.”

I want to scream. I take a deep breath instead. “Fine, I’ll spoon you. You roll over.”

Nydo gently extracts his arm from under my head, then rolls over to his other side. Grumbling, I scoot closer to him.

Like this, my face to his back, it’s easier. Less intimate.

Gingerly, I throw an arm over him. I go stiff as he catches it, tucking it around his waist. Oh no. Now my hand is on his abs. They feel nice.

I don’t want them to feel nice!

“You are tense,” he remarks.

“I am sharing a bed with my enemy.”

A soft sigh gusts out of him, and to make things worse, I can feel it, his chest falling, his abs moving under my fingertips. His hand is still on mine, and I’m too afraid I’m going to accidentally touch something I don’t want to to bother shaking him off.

“I can’t apologize for the things that have happened to you, Leigh. I cannot take responsibility for the things the Roth Overlord ordered, the crimes committed against you and your people. All I can tell you is that I wish things had begun differently between us.”

I don’t know what to say to that, because dammit, he seems… sincere. A swirl of dark grey arcs over his shoulder, and I trace it down his back, where it ripples across acres of muscle.

“But I cannot be too mad, because now your skin is against mine, and you are in my bed.” His voice is smug.

“You’re the worst,” I tell him, but I don’t mean it, because… well, because despite the smug tone, I think he’s sincere. And it’s kind of… nice.

Or maybe my bar for nice is so low that it’s actually chilling in hell.

He laughs at my salty response, and for some reason, the sound loosens my stiff shoulders, and a small smile curves my lips.

There’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep like this. It’s like trying to hold on to the world’s hottest velveteen pillow. Except it’s hard, and it’s literally hot, not in the metaphorical sense. Holding onto Nydo is like holding onto a furry hot water bottle. With muscles. Yards and yards of gorgeous muscles.

I swallow hard, and in the silence of the room, I wonder if he’s heard it. If he can hear my heartbeat, feel it through the thin material of my sports bra. The persistent ache continues between my legs, and I sigh through clenched teeth, forcing my thoughts anywhere else but there.

Which leads me straight back to the alien king holding my arm hostage around his tree trunk waist. He isn’t treating this like it’s fake… and it’s not like I can forget how he claimed I was his mate back on the prison planet.

Of course, one of the women on Sueva, Captain Jacks, told me that he tried to steal her away, too. So maybe I’m just convenient and available, unlike the rest of the women stuck on Sueva who are already married off.

I frown at his shoulders.

Does he actually think we’re mates? Or is this whole thing really some long con where he just uses me and I use him to get home, and sex with me would be a fun benefit?

I don’t know what to think.

I don’t know if this was a huge mistake.

But I do know there’s a handsome, deadly alien male naked in bed with me, and that it’s too late to turn back now. My mind spins on and on and on, the overhead lights dimming in the stillness of the room, until there’s nothing but the soft emergency glow around the door.

Nydo seems untroubled by the fact I’m next to him. By the fact that I’m having a sudden crisis of character, that I’m considering how good his warm body feels pressed against mine, how I even might like the way his big, calloused hand circles my wrist.

His breathing is deep and even, like me spooning him is the most natural thing in the world. I don’t know what to think about him, other than that I don’t trust him. Not at all. I’m in bed with the enemy, and I can only think of one way to keep him closer than he already is, and my body is all for it.

I don’t know how I can sleep like this.

But when the rumble of the ship’s main engine starts again, my eyes get heavy, and I stop fighting it.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER SEVEN

OceanofPDF.com

NYDO

The gods have blessed me. Their hands must be upon this, must be upon me, a blessing as I reach for the throne, my birthright. This is a sign that they approve. She is a sign.

I cannot stop staring at her.

Leigh slumbers sweetly, her vivid hair tumbling around my shoulders, contrasting with the grey of my skin, fire to my ashes. Her cheek’s pressed against my chest, one arm flung over my body, a leg twined over my thigh.