Why would she want to?
Alien lifeform aside, his touch was like magic. While all other men were freaked out by her, Dhiro appreciated her. He’d chuckled at what she did, not because he mocked her profession but because he knew. He was another the other lifeform she sought.
He was everything.
“I never knew you could smell so good.”
She opened her eyes, staring down, watching him. His fingers stroked between her thighs. She had a small patch of pubic hair. He spread her lips, and then his tongue danced along her folds.
She couldn’t hold back the moan. He was so good. So thorough and incredibly talented. “Dhiro,” she said. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Do you not want to feel me?”
“I don’t know you.”
As quickly as he touched her, he stopped.
Her and her stupid mouth. The pleasure had been intense. How far would they have gone? At this point, what did she have to lose?
Dhiro stood, and she watched in amazement as he stripped out of his layers of clothing. He was rock hard all over. His cock … holy shit. He was huge. Everything about him was extra-large. He wrapped his fingers around his length. “Do I not please you?”
“Er, you do please me. I didn’t mean for you to get naked.”
He took her hand, pulling her to her feet. His arms banded around her waist. In quick movements, he had her completely naked. She tried to hide her nakedness.
“Do not hide from me. Your body is a gift.”
Dhiro didn’t have a single mark on his body. No blemishes, nothing that made him imperfect. She had the ugly scar.
“Do not be nervous.”
“Is nakedness part of your custom?” she asked.
“We prize our bodies above all else. However, we are modest, except with our mates.” He smiled at her, then it faded away.
“What is it?” she asked. “Why are you so sad?” She didn’t like to see him in any kind of pain and to her, it looked like something had upset him. She could almost feel it.
“Children,” he said.
“What about them?”
“We can no longer have children. Our females are infertile. We haven’t seen a child in decades.”
“Oh,” she said. “That’s so awful.”
There was so much to take in. It was an information overload. She wrapped her arms around him, trying to offer him comfort in any form.
His fingers stroked through her hair. “It’s why I need you,” he said.
She titled her head back to look at him. “You need me?”
He glided his hand down to her stomach, resting his palm close to her pussy. “Your body is fertile. You can conceive my child.”
Ella tensed up. “Dhiro?”
“It’s why I brought you here, Ella. You’re my little human. You will be the vessel of my children, and in return, you will want for nothing.”
His words scared her.
Children.
Vessel.
There was nothing romantic about any of this. Dhiro didn’t let her go.
“You came to our planet for a woman,” she said.
“Yes. I know you can help my lineage. You are perfect. Your body is built to take a man like me, and we will make beautiful children.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she felt so stupid. Dhiro wasn’t attracted to her. She was a means to an end. He only wanted what he could get—her body, or more importantly, her womb. As quickly as she’d been aroused, she was no longer feeling it.
After pulling out of his arms, she grabbed her shirt, but he’d somehow torn that from her body, too. All she had left were scraps.
“Ella?”
“I don’t know how you treat your women here, but telling a woman you only want her for her ability to have children is cruel and unfair.”
“Why are you upset?” he asked. “You agreed.”
She thought back to the deal he’d made on his ship. Great, just great. “The deal is off. I want to go back home. To Earth.” She was done with this.
Once home, she was never going to go and look for other civilizations again. No more looking to the stars.
“No,” Dhiro said. “You will never go home. You are mine.”
Chapter Three
He was confused by her wild range of emotions.
She enjoyed his touch yet pushed him away.
Ella craved to learn about alien civilizations yet was eager to return to Earth without learning a thing. Where had he gone wrong? He hadn’t planned on these variables. He should have researched more thoroughly.
“I never asked to be brought here. You drugged and kidnapped me,” she said.
“I had to make some quick decisions,” said Dhiro. “And I couldn’t have risked leaving you behind. You’re very valuable. You have no idea how much.”
“Because you need me to breed your children.”
“Yes.”
She huffed and whirled around, gathering as many scraps of her outfit as she could to cover her nudity. “Did you ever think about what I wanted? Maybe I don’t want to be some breeding experiment for an alien.”
“It’s more than that, I promise,” he said. “You’re to be my mate.”
“Your mate. That’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
His mother had warned him about this. Love should be part of the equation, but he assumed the Earthlings would be too savage. Ella was a mate he was proud to have, even if she was another species.
“We are unlike humans. Trenuians are a monogamous race. Once we choose a mate, our match is for life. Our males will do anything to protect their females, even die for them.” Then he continued. “As I would do for you.”
“You consider me your lifemate? We don’t even know each other.”
“Tell me your mating customs, and I’ll do what I can to fulfill them. I don’t want you unhappy, Ella. I will learn in order to please you.”
She exhaled. “This is just too much. I don’t even know where I am.”
He partially dressed and beckoned her to follow him through his home. His study was in upheaval as he’d been deep into research on Earth for months before his voyage. There were star maps and printouts about human culture.
What he wanted her to see was the large map of space on his wall. It would help her understand where they were in relation to her planet.
“Here. This is Trunu Zel.” He drew a finger along the map. “This is Earth.”
She narrowed her eyes, leaning over his desk to get a better look. “That’s not possible. This is a completely different solar system.”
“Our technology is far superior.”
“Have you known about us? Have your people ever visited Earth before?”
He shook his head. “I was a pioneer. None of my colleagues supported my expedition, but now that I have returned successful, they will feel differently.”
“I just can’t believe all this is happening. You look human. Are you human?”
She was endearing. And curious. Curiosity was better than fear.
“We’re humanoid, the same as you. But we are more advanced than human beings in numerous aspects.”
“How so?” She began walking around the room, touching everything with her dainty fingers.