C14 Knox - Trust or Untrust

Had I misread her? Had she merely wanted sex and that was all? I’d thought she had liked me a little, but after I came, she went colder than the cell.

My heart twisted in my chest at the pain that I had caused her somehow.

She couldn’t be working with the Roulex. Otherwise, she’d be shimmying up to me, rubbing herself against me and tempting me to mate with her.

No. This was different. No actress or spy, no matter how good, could send off the vibes she was doing now. Perhaps I’d misjudged her.

Carefully, I stepped closer to her. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” She pushed up, wiping a hand down her face, and leaving a gray smear. “Sorry. I made a promise to myself never to get involved with an unavailable guy.”

“What does that mean? Unavailable? I’m right here.” I pulled my shoulders back and my wings folded closer to my body.

A sob broke through a small laugh. “No, I mean someone too young for me—”

“How old are you?” I arched an eyebrow. The few humans I’d come in contact with had been few and far between, but I’d never thought to ask how old they were.

“You know,” she fiddled with the hem of her prison pants. “That’s one of the questions no one is ever supposed to ask a woman.”

“Why not?” I frowned. “How am I to know if I’m too young if I don’t know your age?”

“Fine. I’m twenty-six. Happy?” She looked up at me. “How old are you, then?”

“In Earth years? About thirty-one. My planet has faster annual cycles than yours from my science class.” I thought my declaration of not being younger than her would make her smile, it did the opposite. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. “Why are you sad now? Am I too old?”

She hiccupped a cry, placing her face in her hands and started sobbing, muttering. “You’re too damned perfect. Well, except the married thing. How does your kind view marriage? I mean do you all have cheating?” Her voice broke on the last word.

“No. We believe we mate for life.” I knelt beside her, rubbing her back as she leaned into me.

At my admission, she cried even louder, sniffling. My guilt that I was causing some of her pain twisted my gut.

“Samantha—I need to tell you something.”

“This is all my fault.”

“No, no, why would you think that?”

“Because of what we did—what we’ve done. And here’s the crazy part, I wanted to before they even injected me with that sex-crazed shot. Did you feel the same?”

For a moment, I couldn’t answer her. Roulex had interfered with dousing her in the sweet-smelling shampoo and soap they used to get me to want her. No. That wasn’t entirely true. She’d gotten past my barriers and wrapped herself around my heart. “Yes. Though I wished they hadn’t bathed you in my kind’s pheromones.”

She let out a yawn. “They didn’t.”

“What?” I stiffened, my body going rigid. “That’s impossible. I could smell the shampoo and soap on you from day one.”

“It was a fragrance enhancer?” She yawned, her eyes drifting closed. “They said they couldn’t get the right combination to make pheromones and that the herbal shampoo just brought out my natural scent.”

Was that true? I had assumed when I scented the herbs then the underlining alluring aroma. The same when I had tasted her down there. It wasn’t a trick. Her own pheromones had ensnared me. She let out a soft snore and I smiled.

I lay awake, watching her sleep and brushing my fingers through her hair.

Through the small window in the corner, the moon was nearly full, shining an almost golden light down onto Samantha’s face. It was as though Celica, whose name meant bright moon in our language, was giving me her blessing.

Something unlocked in my chest. I'd never believed in signs before, but Celica always had, and I trusted that she was sending me a message.

And I knew, without a doubt, that I would do anything for this female asleep in my arms. Samantha. Somehow, she’d broken through my barriers and had wrapped herself around my heart.

I never thought I’d feel this way again. Never love again. But here I was with my legs falling asleep and my wings cramping so that I wouldn’t disturb her sleep.

I had been suspicious of her and her motives, but I was wrong. I could admit that now.

And I wanted to taste her again. Be with her. It would be too damn tempting not to have intercourse with her. Then that would doom us both and any children we had.

As much as I wanted to do something with her, and in my wildest dreams I wanted to give her all the pleasure she deserved, she simply looked so peaceful sleeping on me. I couldn’t wake her, couldn’t tell her that she was making me addicted to her.

That loving me was dangerous.

What if she proved fertile? And the Roulex decided to breed her with one of the other species in this Simitarhole?

Rage burned swift and hard in my veins at the thought of anyone else touching her. No one else would hear the sounds she made when I brought her pleasure. Or answer her questions that she prattled on when she was nervous.

She was mine.

A rumble rattled in my chest and Samantha stirred.

She looked up at me with sleepy eyes, her hand cupped my cheek. “My angel. Knox.”

“Shhh… go back to sleep.”

“Nah, I’m already damned to hell for loving a married, celestial being.”

It was time to tell her the truth about Celica. “I’m not—”

She wrapped her hands around my neck, pulling me down for a kiss and I was lost.