Page 72 of I Punched an Alien and Now We’re in Couples Therapy

“Right.” Setting my glass down on an end table, I picked up a pillow and ran my fingers over it, deftly feeling for anything out of place. I wasn’t entirely sure what a hidden camera looked like, but I’d figure that out if I came across one.

She slid out from under the bed, face flushed. Her head whipped around to the lamp on the nightstand. “Aha!” She pounced on it and shook it like a rattling children’s toy, then smashed it against the wall and picked around the scattered remains. “Not here either…”

No item was safe from her rampage, and in mere minutes, the once-pristine suite looked like the battlefield after a bitter war. She strode over to the wall mirror, tapping its edges, then rapped on the glass with her knuckles. She froze when the knocks turned hollow. “Now I got you, you son of a bitch.”

Grinning like a mad woman, she picked up the chair by the desk and slammed it through the mirror, revealing a maze of wires. “I KNEW IT!” she roared, and tore at the wires like a raptor disemboweling her latest kill. When the evil mirror was destroyed, she threw herself onto the bed with a relieved sigh. She lifted her head briefly to regard me, then let it fall back down and patted the space beside her.

I moved to join her and stopped to rest a hand on the side of the bed. “If I join you, will I end up like that mirror?”

“Do you plan on selling our secrets to the Biwban?”

“I do not.”

She patted the space beside her again, and I lay down next to her, staring up at the ceiling. To my surprise, she scooted closer and curled into me, resting her head on my shoulder. Blair threw an arm around my waist, plastering her soft body against my own. Which was suddenly throbbing with need. I swallowed thick, determined to let her dictate how far things went tonight. As much as I’d liked to end this night with my cock kissing her womb, any attempts at pushing Blair too far ended in a battle. And I was so tired of fighting her.

The feel of her curves against my side felt like a dream, and when her fingers curled against my shirt, her earlier words rang clear in my mind. I forgive you.

I would be patient. I would let her take the lead. Anything to keep her love and affection on m—

“I don’t love you,” she whispered against the heart she just shattered.

My brow furrowed. “I thought—”

“I don’t love you,” she interrupted, driving the knife deeper. “Not yet anyway. But…I think I could get there, if you give me time.”

“I…I can do time.” So long as she didn’t try to leave me again.

“And I want to be able to come and go as I please.”

She wants me dead. That’s the only explanation.

I took several slow, steady breaths. “Blair, you are my queen. I can’t let you go any more than I could stop my heart from beating.”

She worried her bottom lip. “I’m not saying I want to run off and leave you for another man or something.”

The mere thought had heat rising from my tail. I shifted the limb off the bed and hoped she wouldn’t notice the smoke.

Control yourself.

Her fingers left my shirt, and I squeezed my fist against the mattress to avoid pulling them back to me. Blair ran a hand over her hair and sighed. “It’s just…the thought of being tied to a man, relying on him for everything, scares the shit out of me.”

“You should rely on me. I’m yours.”

She gave me a soft smile. “I know, alien mate bonds and all that. But just—fuck, look, this is very much a me thing, but I need to know I’m not trapped.”

The thought of her leaving me again sent tendrils of rage down to my bones. I sealed my eyes shut, refusing to scare her off again. “This is my fault. I never should have taken you hostage—”

“No, it’s not that.” She paused. “Well, no, you’re right; you shouldn’t have.” Her voice took on a dangerous edge. “And don’t you ever, ever do that again. You hear me?”

At my nod, she relaxed. “But that’s not what I meant. Long story short, my parents didn’t have the best marriage. My mom didn’t have any money or a car of her own and was forced to be completely reliant on my dad. A fact he took advantage of often. When I first landed here, I was grateful you took me in, don’t get me wrong, but I knew nothing about you or your customs or even your language. I was completely at your mercy.”

Realization dawned. “That’s why you fled.”

She nodded, burying her face into the crook of my neck. Shame rattled me. This poor creature was protecting herself the only way she knew how, and like a brute, I dragged her back into her worst nightmare. “Blair, I’m so sorry.”

“I know. But now that you see where I’m coming from, do you think you could give me a mount of my own or something? Just so I don’t feel trapped in the kingdom?”

“I’ll get you a fleet if that’s what it takes for you to feel safe with me.”