Free Auctioned to the Alpha: A SciFi Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 5) by Lisa Lace Page A

my mother assigned to me, so I ran outside to play. I went to a creek I visited every day. I remember leaning over the bank of the river, playing with a couple of baby anuras. Out of nowhere, a blaring sound filled the air. All the anuras swam away from me for cover faster than I'd ever seen them move before."
    "Oh no," Eden breathed, her stomach twisting as she braced herself.
    "There was an explosion of course, but I barely remember it. The next thing I knew, I was washed up on the bank of a creek about thirty miles south from where I'd started. I still don't know how I managed to survive the blast. I wandered for days but eventually hiked back to my town. Everyone I knew was dead. They completely obliterated Myron. We made it into a graveyard shortly after."
    "The Land of the Fallen," said Eden morosely, tugging at the sleeve of her robe.
    "Right," said Thiago, averting his eyes. He cleared his throat, downing the rest of the ale and chucking his goblet into the sink.
    Thiago hadn't thought about the incident for over two decades, but it was always lurking at the corner of his mind, waiting to take over his thoughts. The memory started a wave of dormant emotions flowing through his body. Like everything that discomforted him that wasn't a physical problem, he tried to flush it out of his system. Thiago took a deep, revitalizing breath, swallowing a tickle building up in his throat.
    "I'm sorry," Eden murmured, her voice thick with emotion.
    Her fingers gingerly scraped down the length of his scar, feeling his shoulders tensing up under her wandering touch. There were no more words to say, but her chest swelled with the burning desire to ravage his deliciously firm body and take away his pain. She resisted her urge. Instead, she closed in on his rigid back, planting a line of softly sensual kisses along the length of his scar.
    Thiago spun around without warning, his hands smoothly circling her waist and pulling her close to him. Eden's surprised giggles trailed off timidly as the distance between his strikingly handsome face and hers dwindled. He cupped his hands around her chin and kissed her, delicately dragging down her bottom lip against his.
    Eden moaned, sinking into the kiss. As their lips collided, her hands traveled up and over the back of his head. The patterns on his shaved head felt bristly against her palms. His groping hands slid down her back and found their way to her butt. He smirked, awarding himself a hearty grab as he hoisted Eden off the floor and wrapped her legs around his waist.
    The pair continued to kiss as he carried her past a napping Hercules asleep in its nest. They teetered up the flight of steps, knocking sideways into the wall and railing before making it up the landing. Thiago gently placed her slender frame onto his bed. Eden's robe came undone as she toppled backward, the globes of her milky, bare breasts jiggling into view. She made a face, rubbing on her bandaged waist.
    "Be gentle. I'm injured, remember?"
    "Sorry." The impish grin on Thiago's face weakened Eden's legs. He climbed into bed and crawled on top of her. The back of his hands graced the supple bottom curves of her pear-shaped breasts. With his intense gaze steadily fixed on hers, his lips latched onto her nipple. She moaned, feeling herself hardening in his mouth as his tongue swirled around her.
    "When I was bandaging you today, it took all the restraint I had to refrain from looking at your body."
    Her appreciative whimpering was stifled while she chewed her lip. Squirming against the wrinkled sheets, she snatched his taunting hands and slapped them roughly onto her breasts. With her fingers interlaced through the gaps of his fervently kneading hands, she positioned her legs around him. The sole of her foot moved against his cock bulging through his jumpsuit. Her toes wriggled as she pressed down and began to move her foot in circular motions.
    "You better do something about that before I do."
    Eden flashed him a quick