Free Alien Intent (Captured by Aliens Book 3) by Jaide Fox

the gun downstairs
and she knew it. He hadn’t propositioned her—not enough to get that kind of
tongue lashing from her. She realized if she didn’t make an effort to smooth
things over with him, her mind wouldn’t allow her to rest tonight. She could be
her own worst enemy, and the least little turmoil in her brain would keep her
from sleep for days. She knew she’d been acting like a hormonal bitch lately,
and she disliked facing the truth and her effects on everyone around her. Part
of her reasoning for going along on this ride had been to chill out. Besides,
it wasn’t like Dar had been nasty to her—she heard worse than that walking down
the street back home.
    Making
up her mind, she exited the room and fumbled her way back down the stairs in
the dark, catching her toe on cracks in the wood flooring and nearly losing her
balance. The bannister saved her and warned Dar that she was coming. So much
for subterfuge.
    “Back to
lash me with your tongue some more? My apologies if slamming the door
interrupted your beauty slumber. I’ll try, forthwith, to be more considerate of
you,” he said from his position on the couch. He was stretched along its
length, his head on a pillow and his arm draped over his eyes where she
couldn’t see anything but his mouth and stubbly jaw, which admittedly looked
darkly sexy. He’d also removed his shirt, exposing a riveting amount of hard,
muscled flesh. With irritation, she noticed he looked like he’d been
constructed from a mold of the ideal man—broad shoulders, washboard abs, narrow
hips. He couldn’t be any leaner or more defined.
    She took
a deep breath, ignoring the fluttering in her stomach and the throbbing pulse
that had suddenly picked up in the most unwanted of places—smack in the middle
of her sex. She was not a sucker for big muscles and handsome faces.
    While
she struggled for words in silence, gorging on eye candy, he finally uncovered
his eyes and glared at her, making her want to scurry back up the stairs and
forget about making apologies.
    “You
come down to gloat? I didn’t think you were capable of extended silence when in
my presence,” he muttered sullenly.
    Jasmine
cleared her throat, shifting from one foot to another. “Uh. No. I…I just want
to say I’m sorry. I had some time to think it over and I realize I shouldn’t
have reacted like that to you. You brought me food and water, things to make me
comfortable, and I threw it in your face. You were just flirting with me, am I
right?”
    Dar sat
up on the couch. She found herself fascinated by the reactions of his muscles,
one by one, as he moved with fluid grace swinging his legs to the floor and
standing. He crossed the floor, stopping on the other side of the couch and
leaning a hip against it. He shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Thank you. You are right. It is wrong for me to not come forward with my
feelings. To insinuate. You deserve more respect than that. I do want you,
Jasmine. It is all I can do to resist crossing this space and taking you into
my arms and showing you just how much I want to please you. Go back upstairs.
Get into bed. Leave if you don’t want to find out right now that I mean every
word I say.”
    The wind
gushed from her lungs in a shocked gasp. She backed up a step; felt the
bannister hit her in the backside. His eyes gleamed, glittering with lust. She
wasn’t sure if it was his carefully constructed announcement or the tone of his
voice when he’d said it, but she believed every word he said and it sent a
thrill racing through her. If that wasn’t enough to convince her she’d lost her
ever-loving mind, she didn’t know what could.
    “I’ll
give you one more chance to go upstairs and bar the door from me. All it takes
is one word from you, and I’ll join you tonight—yes.” He stepped forward,
closing the distance between them and sucking all the oxygen out of the room.
Her heart pounded. Blood throbbed in her temples. She couldn’t