Tempting Auzed: The Clecanian Series Book 4

by Victoria Aveline

  “I should go see what happened to Meg,” she murmured in a voice already half asleep.

  He grunted in response. Not wanting to admit just how unhappy he was with the idea of her leaving this exact spot.

  She let out a long, unnecessary groan, then finally rose. Auzed went with her, scooping a sleeping Wilson into his elbow as he did.

  When they reached her room, Alex swung the door open and chuckled to see a snoring Meg sprawled on her bed. She turned to him and gave him an unreadable look. “I should probably sleep in here with her, but I could come tuck you in?” She gave him a flirtatious grin and ran her finger down his chest. The scent of her arousal lifted to his nose.

  Zed had to ensure he didn’t crush Wilson now sleeping in the crook of his elbow. Spotting the issue, Alex carefully lifted the tuey and rushed into her room to set her down. Heat raced through his veins, filling every vessel with need, but now was not the time. Before she could return, Auzed had grunted good night and sped down the hall to his room.

  “Hey,” she whispered, catching him before he could disappear behind his door. “Wait for me.”

  He froze in his doorway, back to her, and reeled in all the instincts and emotions telling him a hundred different things to do in that moment. He wanted her. Badly. But the depth of emotion he felt at that moment scared him. If he buried himself in her supple body now, when a torrent of warmth already lingered in his chest…he’d never be able to leave her and return to his job.

  He’d decided after speaking with Daunet that he’d enjoy his time with Alex while they remained in Sauven. But he’d also promised himself he’d only allow that enjoyment if he ensured his heart remained caged.

  Emotion was kept out of Clecanian relationships for a reason. But it wasn’t kept out of Traxian ones, and right now it was taking all of his control to keep the fiery urge to pull her into his room at bay.

  ***

  Alex couldn’t understand Auzed’s sudden mood shift. The rigid lines of his body were practically radiating with something. Not anger or lust. It was more like he was trying to gain control.

  They only had three days before they left for Tremanta and whatever was between them became infinitely more complicated. She wanted to stay in this bubble just a little while longer and take advantage of every second she could. She placed a palm on his bicep to turn him, but he surprised her by rounding on her so fast she took a step back.

  “Not tonight,” he all but growled.

  Tonight was the perfect night! She’d had an amazing day and an even better evening. Hanging out with her new human friend and Auzed. It’d felt easy and right and so, so fun. Now he wanted to ruin it by being upset with her for some unknown reason when she was offering to fool around with him?

  Well, fuck that. Fine. If he wanted to be mad, that was his problem. She wouldn’t let it mess with her mood. With a bit less grace than she’d hoped, she turned on her heel and started down the hall, intending to leave him alone until he fixed his mood.

  Like lightning, his hand shot out, and he wrenched her back to him. Not hard enough to hurt but hard enough to make her breath catch and her sex tighten. Pulling her into his room, he backed her against the door. “Not with her in the nest,” he rumbled, green eyes staring down at her with an intensity that made her insides heat. Was that why he’d said not tonight? Embarrassed at someone hearing them? Maybe, but the uncertain glint in his eyes made her think it was more than that.

  She grinned. “It’s okay. I can be quiet.”

  The slow, wicked grin that curled his gorgeous mouth had her own smile disappearing in an instant. His deep voice skated over every nerve, sparking them alive. “Not when I’m through with you.”

  She shivered involuntarily and made a choked sound.

  When his nostrils flared and his gaze darkened, she knew he’d smelled how his words affected her. With a low groan, he dipped his head and moved his lips against hers, coaxing them apart. His delicious tongue swept over hers in movements that were gentle yet commanding. In the part of her mind still functioning, she realized he was doing it on purpose. Kissing her like this to make her melt while not losing himself completely.

  The control and the utterly dominant way in which he worked his tongue…this was the kind of man who made sure his woman was all but panting for him before taking his own pleasure, and she couldn’t get enough. On a whimper, she moved to lace her hands behind his neck, but he gripped her wrists before she could.

  Lowering them back to her sides, he dipped his mouth to her ear. “I’ll take care of you tonight.” He nipped her lobe, sending an electric pulse straight to her nipples. “But we’ll do no more.”

  Alex balled her hands and tried to control her erratic breaths as his hand fisted the material of her loose shirt around her midriff.

  He slipped his fingers below her pants and cupped her sex hard, putting just the right amount of rough pressure on her clit. “When I get you alone, I won’t worry about company.” Sliding one finger inside her core, he kept his mouth pressed to her ear, his hot cheek firm against the side of her face, forcing her to hear every word he said. “I won’t worry about your cries or how far up into the house we get before I bury my head between these gorgeous thighs.”

  She let out a moan as he began to rock his hand in the way she liked, slipping another digit into her heat. An unexpected cry burst from her lips when he curled his fingers in time with the motion of his palm.

  With a snarl, he roughly covered her mouth with his other hand, smothering her moans as the pressure built and coiled in her core. He kept whispering dirty things to her, but she couldn’t concentrate. He hadn’t fondled her breasts or ran his hands along the curves of her body. He hadn’t even kissed her for very long. This was controlled and raw and oh so efficient, just like Auzed. He’d begun breathing deep, hot breaths onto her ear between his rumbled words, his chest rising and falling quickly, and his hand over her mouth tight and unmovable. Her eyes rolled back when he pressed firm open-mouthed kisses to her throat.

  The pressure in her sex built and built until she was crying into his palm on every exhale. Needing something anything to grab, she gripped his forearm. Muscles tightening and knees trembling, she struggled to hold herself upright. Her eyes flashed wide as her orgasm hit. Wave after wave of molten pleasure crashing over her.

  He stilled his hand as she came and pressed his body close, inhaling deeply against her neck. A soft, buzzing tingle traveled over her scalp. Her cries turned to soft whimpers against his palm, still firmly wrapped around her jaw, but he didn’t release her.

  His rigid body was strung tight, and his fingers remained inside her now-slick sex. His hold on her tightened even more. She shuddered with oversensitive pleasure as he roughly pumped his fingers inside her twice, making a clipped growl against her neck each time he did. His whole body moved in time with his hand. The action was so intense and precise. She couldn’t help but think he was imagining coming inside her, his cock in place of his fingers.

  At length, he slid his hand out from between them and lifted his head. White-hot lust raged in the depths of his cool green eyes, but his jaw was set, his expression determined. He pressed his lips to the back of the hand covering her mouth as though not trusting himself to actually kiss her. Then rumbled, “Go to sleep now, Alejandra.”

  She wanted to argue, to stay and make him feel as good as he had her, but she also felt compelled to do as he said. He’d just made her see stars with nothing but his fingers and a sizzling tongue. He deserved a little compliance for once.

  So, against his palm, she nodded. He let out a low hum of approval before stepping away. Not waiting for her to leave, he stalked to his bathroom.

  She paused a moment to let the shaking in her legs subside. Once outside his room, she paused again and actually fanned herself. She scanned the hallway, not sure what the hell to do now. How could she just go lie down and fall asleep after that? Dragging her feet, she shuffled through her room and into her bathroom,
where she used the foam shower.

  She then stared out the window into the dark city of Sauven for a few minutes, mind still clouded with thoughts of her fake fiancé. Would he even want to hang out with her once they got to Tremanta?

  Silently, she slipped into bed beside Meg and stared at the ceiling. An ache built in her chest the more she thought about not seeing him every day. What if… No. She couldn’t think about what-ifs. The thing he treasured above everything else, what he’d worked his whole life to get, was his career. She wouldn’t do anything to threaten that.

  “Hey,” Meg murmured groggily. “I fell asleep.”

  Alex chuckled and turned onto her side to face the woman. “Yeah, I noticed.”

  Eyes still closed, Meg waggled her eyebrows. “Did you and Auzed hang out after I left?”

  “Hell yeah.” She couldn’t keep the goofy grin from her face.

  “That’s nice.” Meg chuckled weakly. “It’s so weird, ’cause at the Temple he was always so…professional. Always bossing everyone around and being all emotionless. Like a robot. I’ve never seen him smile like that before.”

  A lump formed in Alex’s throat, but she swallowed it. It only now occurred to her how long Meg had known Auzed. She’d been living at the Pearl Temple in Tremanta for months, after all.

  Emotionless. Was that how he’d treat her once they got to Tremanta? She supposed it made sense if his job required him to protect and look after everyone. He’d have to detach himself a bit to do that properly. How sad. Though still rare, Alex got a thrill every time he so much as quirked his lips at her.

  “Tell me what it’s like there,” Alex said, shifting the topic away from Auzed. “How are the women getting along? Have they all accepted it?”

  Meg creaked her lids open and shifted onto her back. “Mostly. There are a few women who are pits of despair. Naomi for one. She is just so angry all the time. Hannah did nothing but cry for, like, three months, but she finally got over that stage. Now she’s in the fighting stage. She and a group of other humans have formed a type of human-rights thing. They’re working with the Queen to get laws changed and stuff so they can go back home.”

  “What?” Alex said, shooting up into a sitting position. The rush of her blood pounded in her ears. Home? They’re trying to go back home?

  “Whoa,” Meg breathed, gripping her head. “No fast movements, alright?”

  “Do you think they can do it?”

  “Eh.” She shrugged. “Maybe eventually. From what I’ve heard, laws take ages to change, especially when it comes to something like this. All the planets within The Intergalactic Alliance would have to convene and agree that they should reveal the larger universe to the humans. Then they’d have to agree on how to do it. Yada yada. It sounded like it could happen, but I didn’t pay a ton of attention. I don’t want to leave.”

  There was something in Meg’s voice at the end. It wasn’t happiness. More like fear. Meg had told her her life on Earth hadn’t been the greatest. She now wondered what exactly had happened. “You don’t have any family you’d want to see again?”

  Her full lips thinned, and her lids slid closed. “I guess that’s an upside of being an antisocial orphan. No one to miss.” She groaned and raised a hand to her forehead. “The room is spinning.”

  Alex winced. Poor girl was gonna be in pain tomorrow. “Need a bucket?” She chuckled.

  “Do—” Meg shot to her feet and sped to the bathroom before she could finish her sentence.

  Alex stared in front of her, unseeing. There were women and a freaking Queen fighting for the right to go back to Earth. Hope that she hadn’t allowed herself to feel roared to life in her chest. What if someday, eventually she could go home?

  Chapter 19

  No amount of jostling or urging could make Meg extricate herself from the bed the next morning. Alex and Auzed ate, dressed, and prepared for the second round of marriage games while Meg nursed her hangover, and Daunet, who’d shown up ready for day two of the games, lounged in the living room, reading.

  Either Alex drank way too often or Meg was a lightweight because after a couple of hours, breakfast, and multiple glasses of water, Alex’s mini hangover had all but disappeared. The games wouldn’t be nearly as fun without Meg and Daunet, but excitement at having extended alone time with Auzed tempered her disappointment. Even if he looked like he’d spent the night tossing and turning.

  “How’d you sleep?” she asked as they boarded a platform and made their way to the arena.

  “With difficulty,” he grumbled behind her.

  Stepping back into his chest, she looked up at him and gave an exaggerated pout. “Pobrecito,” she crooned. “Maybe you should’ve let me stay, huh?”

  His lips twitched, and he let out a low growl. “Careful, female, or I’ll have to make you miss the game entirely.”

  “Maybe I wouldn’t hate that.” She turned in his arms, feeling more confident in her ability to balance on the transport platform these days.

  Auzed raised a brow and gave her a crooked grin. “Hmm. We have to make an appearance, but perhaps we could sneak out early. Day two is not as exciting as one or three anyway.”

  “Yeah? What happens today?” She ran her hands over his tight sleeveless vest, smoothing the wrinkles that didn’t exist as an excuse to touch him.

  “Yesterday was a contest of strength and ability; today is intellect. It’s never quite the same, but most of the time they’re given problems of some kind and have to solve them. People usually have a favorite day of the games. Today is my brother Luka’s favorite.”

  “That’s interesting. Which day is your favorite?”

  He looked at her funny as if it hadn’t been an obvious question. “The third, I suppose. It combines a bit of everything.”

  “Tell me more about your other siblings?” Alex pried. Auzed always tensed up whenever she tried asking him personal questions. Apart from the few meaningful conversations they’d had about their parents, he consistently steered clear from talking about his personal life.

  A clipped “There isn’t much to tell” was all he said.

  Alex gave him a small smile as she spun back around to hide the jab of pain in her chest. Although her feelings for him continued to grow, it seemed he wasn’t allowing their relationship to become anything more than a temporary fling. And she needed to be okay with that.

  Swells of people gliding by on platforms told her they were getting close. She turned and spotted Relli floating a few trees over. That initial surge of excitement at unexpectedly seeing someone you knew while out went through her, and she flapped her arms in the air, trying to get Relli’s attention.

  Alex lowered her arms. She’d see her tomorrow anyway. Relli had invited them to an afterparty at their nest. Though Relli hadn’t seen her, she’d unfortunately drawn everyone else’s gazes.

  The rapt attention didn’t lessen as they made their way in a slow circle around the arena. She recognized a few males who’d introduced themselves to her before. Did they think she wouldn’t remember? Or were they just trying to introduce themselves again in the hope they’d recognize her?

  Finally, her shoulders began to relax as they pushed their way through the crowd and found their sitting area, but what was waiting for them was somehow worse. Fierad reclined in the seat Alex usually took.

  Glancing to Auzed, she caught the smoldering anger in his shocked expression a second before it was gone. His impassive countenance slid back in place, and he became immovable, stony Auzed once again. She could throw her shoe at Fierad for ruining Auzzy’s good mood.

  With a hand on her spine, he urged her forward. “Fierad,” Auzed acknowledged politely, but she could just make out the sharp undercurrent to his tone.

  “Ah,” Fierad exclaimed, rising with a wide, toothy smile. “Wonderful.” To her, he raised his tail in greeting. To Auzed, he remained still. Asshole. “I wanted to say hello before the games start.”

  Alex nodded with pursed lips, wary of whatev
er his true motives were.

  He shot her a grin, and though Fierad was not unattractive, she found her insides squirming with unease all the same. There was something about his expression today. Some confidence he hadn’t had before that registered in her mind and sent ice down her spine.

  “How’s the investigation going? Still convinced we’re lying?” Alex asked in a monotone. She couldn’t help it.

  The flash of shock and then irritation on Fierad’s face was worth the jab. Auzed placed a large palm on her shoulder, in essence saying, Down, girl. She shrugged it off and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “We’re tying up a few loose ends,” he answered cryptically. “Most still have trouble believing you agreed to marry him after only a few days. That is, they have trouble believing you’d do it if you were given all the facts about our world and how it works. How long were you with Auzed before you agreed to marry him again?” Fierad asked, raising his brows and studying her face. He kept looking at her as if she were a confused little puppy who didn’t really understand the things that had happened to her.

  She frowned. She’d been vague when she’d first lied; now he wanted a timeline.

  “Three days,” Auzed growled from her right, making her insides uncoil with relief.

  “I was asking Alejandra.” Fierad’s tone scraped against her brain. Her palm itched to slap him, but Auzed only shrugged, unconcerned.

  The wind instruments alerting the crowd that the game was starting soon sounded. “How much of our world did he explain to you before you agreed?”

  “Enough for me to fully understand what I was agreeing to,” she all but spat.

  Fierad’s brows crinkled in a way that told her he still thought of her as naïve and woefully misguided. “If you knew you’d have your choice of all the available males in the ceremony and that they’d be vying for you, why would you settle with him?”