Page 19 of I Punched an Alien and Now We’re in Couples Therapy

Strokes quickening, I heard wood crack as I swallowed around his cock, his deep voice rising to desperate whimpers until his hips stalled with a raw shout, then jerked. Fingers wove tight into my hair as he held me still, releasing warm ropes of cum to splash against my tongue before trickling down my throat. Greedy for it, I swallowed it all as I worked myself faster. I glanced up to meet him, eyes wide, awestruck, and I opened my mouth to let him see the mess he’d left in my throat.

Osid rasped my name, and more seed hit my chin as his cock jerked. I stroked faster against my clit, groaning as I cleaned the head of his cock before I came with a shudder.

With a tug on my arm, Osid urged me toward him. He gripped my waist and picked me up, carrying me back to the bathroom before setting me on a bench beside the shower. He took a cloth from the rack and dampened it with hot water. I relaxed into the seat and let him clean me up with gentle hands. He leaned over and fervently kissed my temple, my lips, my neck before returning to his bed, wrapping me tight in his arms.

Some time later, I woke slowly, savoring the warmth of Osid’s body against my back. For a short while, I let myself live in that moment. A special kind of peace that only happens when you let your guard down and bare it all for a stranger. But delusions could only last so long, and the unfamiliar smells of smoke and herbs, and the fact that the arms wrapped around me were fucking gray, had me coming to my senses a little quicker than normal.

Carefully, I untangled myself from Osid’s embrace, pausing as he stirred slightly. His brow was furrowed in his sleep, no doubt putting someone in their place even in his dreams. I wondered if there was ever a time outside of this bed where he got to be vulnerable. Leading whatever society this was didn’t seem to be doing him any favors. Man had an assassin pretending to be his friend, and his own people trying to attack him in meetings. I wished there was a way for me to help him. But it wasn’t like I could just grab a sheet of paper and write “Hey good morning, last night was fun, your buddy Jivorn tried to skewer you like a meat kabob when we met. With love, Blair.”

Moving silently, I gathered up my clothes and dressed quickly. My body thrummed with a delicious satisfaction from last night. I allowed a last lingering glance at Osid’s sleeping form, then slipped out the window into the gray predawn.

Chapter 10

Osid

The bed was empty when I woke. My hand instinctively reached for the warmth of my charm beside me, but the only thing that greeted my fingertips were cold sheets.

Rubbing the tiredness from my eyes, I called her name, voice still groggy from sleep.

Silence.

“Blair?” I tried again, this time scanning the dimly lit corners of my bedchamber. The vibrant spiked jacket that rested on the chair beside the fireplace was gone. Nor was there any sign of wild purple curls or the infuriating creature they belonged to. I closed my eyes and searched for the anthemic beat of her current, but the song was dead. Gone. A knot twisted in my gut.

We made no promises, couldn’t even if we wanted to. My body ached for her, and she obliged. I may have sought to keep her as mine, but I had no way of knowing if she felt the same pull toward me. After risking her life to save me, she didn’t owe me anything else.

My palms felt wet.

I looked down to find blood pooling from where my nails dug deep into the skin.

I threw the furs off me and leapt to my hooves. By the time I’d made it out the door, smoke had started to billow from the end of my tail, only darkening my mood further. Warriors scrambled out of my path, pressing themselves against the wall.

I ran a hand down my face, trying to hold it together. My eyes locked at the guard stationed at the main entrance of the castle. I didn’t recognize him, but the arrow on his throat told me enough. He had the same tall, broad features that were common among his clan. “You there,” I called. His spine straightened as he snapped to attention. “Did you see the female come this way?”

“No, sire, I haven’t seen anyone come or go since I started my shift.”

“When did you start?”

The guard swallows hard. “About two hours ago. Though the previous guard had nothing to report.”

I gritted my teeth. “Nothing? So she simply walked out of here with no one noticing?”

“We…we haven’t seen her, Your Majesty. Not since last night when you both retired to your quarters.”

Rage mounted on his every word until I snapped. “Then find her! I want every inch of this fortress searched. Now!”

He fled quickly, barking orders to the surrounding men. I continued my warpath toward the main hall, trying and failing to reel in my anger. A king can’t afford to lose himself to emotions. If I looked unfit to rule in any way, the next usurper would have knives trained on my back in seconds. I should know. I spent weeks monitoring King Towei’s movements after the Biwban dropped us here in that cargo ship.

I had led my people away from the ship’s sight as soon as the doors opened. As expected, Stormforge and Singing Arrow fought for control of the ship and all the supplies it had in its hold. When the Arrows lost their king, they lost the will to fight, and disbanded to either mourn on their own or assimilate into another clan. By that time, I had already claimed all the best farmland in the area and was more than happy to swear them into my service.

The Stormforge king was known to be weak of heart and even weaker in constitution. His greatest strength was the near infallible king’s guard that he kept near him at all times. But even the legendary might of his champions wasn’t enough to protect his hide when his people grew scared and hungry.

All I had to do was keep their forces spread thin enough with small skirmishes until the provisions they found on the ship ran out. As the attacks continued and bellies grew hungrier, his own people grew to hate the idle king that hid behind his strongest warriors instead of allocating them to protect his own. By the time I offered citizenship to any Stormforge who defected, even his champions didn’t have the heart to kill their own people when they rebelled and came for the king’s head.

“Did the beast finally bite the hand that feeds?” a cheeky voice called out.

I whirled around to see Jivorn leaning casually against a pillar.

“Not now,” I warned, resuming my march.