Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
He turned his gaze on her, giving her his sternest expression.
“You are here to fulfill a scientific contract, Alexandra—that’s all. Don’t forget it.”
Her blush deepened. She bit her lip again, that soft, maddening lip, and looked away. But not before he caught the spark of heat in her eyes. Anger, yes—and maybe something else. Hurt? Disappointment? Was she upset that he was only treating her as a test subject and not a romantic love interest.
No, surely not. They barely knew each other—she didn’t want that from him. Did she? Even if she did, he couldn’t give it.
Brandt’s chest tightened. He forced himself to look ahead once more, his face a mask of control.
This is research. It is only research. It cannot be anything else.
And yet the seed of doubt, of longing, had already taken root. He feared it was only a matter of time before it grew into something he could no longer control.
11
LEXI
Back in the mushroom shaped building, T’linga led them down a softly lit corridor, the walls alive with glowing vines that perfumed the air with something sweet and drowsy. The air itself seemed to hum, and Lexi wondered if the whole place was designed to lull newcomers into a state of docile calm.
“Here we are—your rooms. I hope you don’t mind—I thought adjoining rooms would be best in case Alexandra had difficulty with her nectar during the night,” T’linga said.
She opened two sliding silver doors, revealing two rooms side by side. Only a curtain of blossoms and trailing greenery separated them, acting as the “connecting door,” Lexi supposed.
She peeked in, her eyes widening. The furnishings looked as though they had grown straight out of the walls and floors rather than having been built. The bed was enormous, covered in sheets woven from broad, overlapping purple leaves with silver veins, and the mattress peeking out from under them was a thick pad of moss.
The floor was carpeted in living green as well, springy underfoot, and faintly damp like a forest floor after rain. A table of twisted vines, polished smooth, stretched along one wall with stools that seemed to have sprouted right up from the floor.
“It’s like a fairy tale in here,” Lexi murmured under her breath, though she wasn’t sure if it was more enchanting or unnerving.
“You’ll find everything you need, here including new clothing and bathing supplies in your bathing room,” T’linga said kindly. She squeezed Lexi’s arm, her four eyes shining. “Sleep well, dear friend.”
Then she disappeared down the hall, leaving Lexi alone with Dr. Brandt.
He gave her one of his steady, golden-eyed looks, and Lexi felt heat coil in her belly despite her exhaustion.
“Get some rest, Alexandra. Tomorrow we begin nectar collection in earnest. I will test your output to determine if the Bacillus has taken hold.”
“Yes, Sir,” Lexi muttered.
He looked at her more closely.
“Are you well?”
She pressed her thighs together against the throbbing ache that wouldn’t leave her. Her breasts were so heavy they ached, her nipples still raw from the clamps and his mouth. Her pussy was so swollen, her clit so tender she felt sparks of sensation with every step she took.
Don’t tell him. Don’t you dare tell him. If you do, he’ll touch you again. And what if you secretly want him to? What if you beg him to? You can’t do that—you’re nothing to him but a test subject.
“I’m just fine,” she lied. She forced her lips into something that might pass as a smile. “Good night.”
He inclined his head.
“Good night, Alexandra.” His voice was calm, as if he hadn’t just had his fingers buried inside her behind a tree in the middle of a public park. As if he hadn’t been sucking and teasing her nipples since they got here, making her half-crazy with lust without offering her any relief.
Then he stepped through the curtain of flowers into his own room, leaving her trembling, conflicted…and alone.
Well—she would just have to take care of herself, Lexi decided. But she was going to do it in private. She’d had enough public exposure today to last a lifetime.
Since the flower and vine curtain between her room and Brandt’s wasn’t exactly soundproof, she slipped into the adjoining bathroom, looking for privacy.
The room was just as fantastical as the bedroom—organic and strange, yet oddly functional. The shower stall, when she pulled aside the vine curtain to see it, looked enchanted. A broad waterfall poured from a sculpted stone ledge into a shallow basin below, mist rising in a fine spray around it.
Lexi put her hand in the water but pulled it back with a hiss— it was freezing cold!
“But there must be some way to adjust it—I hope,” she muttered. Looking around, she saw a twisted, shell-like device embedded in the wall next to the shower. When she brushed her hand over it, the mini waterfall shifted from icy cool to pleasantly warm. Lexi tried running her hand back and forth, marveling at the control. At least now she knew she could take a hot shower.