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He’d caught himself staring at her fingertips more than once. Her nails were perfectly manicured in a light pink color and in his mind’s eye, he could picture them on his back, scratching his skin while he buried himself deep inside her.
Even as she made the statement about gas, she’d rocked her delicate shoulders in tune to a song and let her head lull back and forth. He didn’t know when he’d realized it, but he could stay like this forever. Them, not talking. Nisha being Nisha, and him watching her and soaking it all in.
He’d never craved a mate before. That life wasn’t for him—or so he’d thought. Taking the space exploration assignment meant he could explore the galaxy, meet new people and enjoy new experiences.
Settling down in one place? Never. Having the same bedmate every night? Laughable. Falling in love? Not him.
But here he was, heart doing strange things, watching the most beautiful specimen in the galaxy and so afraid that he would wake up to find that she’d just been a figment of his imagination.
Nisha turned into a rest stop and pulled next to the gas pump. She handed him her credit card. “Do you remember how to do this?”
He nodded and took it from her. She asked the same question each time and he also answered the same. “I remember.”
“I’m going inside for snacks. Do you want anything?”
“Beer and Mountain Dew.”
“You’re going to leave Earth with an alcohol, sugar and caffeine addiction,” she grumbled.
He watched as she made her way inside the building, unable to keep his eyes off her small frame. After she entered through the double doors, he exited the vehicle and pumped the gas. Then went inside to find the bathroom.
He spotted Nisha by a coffee stand with her back toward him. She tossed her hair to one side and laughed at something a male was saying to her.
“I would take you anywhere you wanted to go,” the male said as Kien angled closer.
“How is that possible when you don’t know where I’m headed,” Nisha replied.
She’d never talked to him in that high-pitched voice she now used with this male.
The man smiled with his full teeth on display. “That could change if I was your man.” He ran a finger across the back of her hand. “Can I be your man?”
Enough!
In three long strides Kien reached her side. He looped a protective arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his hip. Nisha startled but he stared directly into the man’s eyes. He had to look down to do it since the man was shorter than him. “She already has a man.”
“I wasn’t aware the lady had a man. She looked all alone to me.” The man glanced from Kien to Nisha then cocked his head at Nisha. “He’s claiming you. Are you claiming him?”
Kien held his breath.
She smiled softly. “He’s mine.”
“Nisha?” a girl in a green apron called out from behind the counter. “Your order is ready.”
“Sorry about that, man,” the male said. “You can’t blame me for trying.”
While Nisha went to retrieve her coffee, Kien smiled tightly at the other male. “She’s beautiful and she’s mine.”
The man put up his hands and backed away.
* * *
“AND WHY WERE YOU ACTINGlike a jealous boyfriend at the truck stop?” Nisha fluffed her pillows by punching them. She’d spent the last half of the trip pissed. He’d embarrassed her. There had been a little,no, therehad been abigpart of her that had really wanted that feeling.
She’d practically melted when he’d put his arm around her and pulled her close to his body. She’d wanted to wrap an arm around him too and yell out, “This is my man, y’all!”
Wearing only his boxer shorts and fresh from a shower, Kien crawled into the other bed. The hotel they’d selected for the night had a room with double beds so he could sleep comfortably.
“Isn’t that how I was supposed to behave? Like a jealous boyfriend? Remember, anyone seeing us should think we’re together. Why were you talking to that man anyway?”
