Khrelan is looking intently at me, taking in my reaction.
“What do you think?” he asks, and I see that smile at the corners of his lips again. It makes him even more handsome than he already is, and I wonder what he would look like if he really smiled.
“It’s beautiful,” I whisper.
Honestly, I don’t know if I’m talking about his smile or the garden.
4
Khrelan
As I escorted Emma through the palace, it was impossible for me to keep my gaze off of her.
I don’t know what’s come over me. She’s somehow the most bewitching creature I’ve ever seen. When Malav and Harper first arrived in my throne room after taking a ship from Wauru, I didn’t see the appeal of the human woman. Malav’s mate is tall and thin, beautiful in her own way, I suppose. My military advisor clearly adores her, but I didn’t see the attraction.
Emma, however, is entrancing.
The moment I saw her, it suddenly all made sense, how my warriors might have suddenly been overcome with desire for these females. She’s softer than most of the others, a bit shorter and curvier, with breasts that would fill a man’s hands and hips that I haven’t been able to tear my gaze away from. A figure that looks like it could bear a warrior.
She’s lovelier than any of the other human women, in my opinion. She wears her hair shorter than most of the others, in waves around her soft face that brush just above her shoulders, and her eyes are a dark shade of green, like the leaves proliferating all around us.
As we walked through the palace, she kept up a stream of chatter, informing me about the politics of various countries back on Earth, and while I found the topic interesting, I couldn’t help but wonder why she talked so much. I was raised to keep my words few and consider everything I say before I speak. A prince has to be careful about what he says, and about who might hear. But there was an almost manic energy about her as she rambled, her hands moving as she spoke.
I couldn’t figure out what was causing it, and if it had been anyone else, I might have been annoyed by it. I prefer calm and peace around me. That’s why these gardens are my favorite part of the palace, besides the solitude of my own chambers.
But I was surprised to find out that I wanted to know what she was telling me. Not only out of my own curiosity about how the human race functions, a necessary thing to understand if I’m to allow them to assimilate, but also because I simply enjoy the sound of her voice.
I can tell I make her nervous, which is nothing strange to me—many people feel nervous in the presence of royalty. But she seemed to be somewhat soothed by the process of explaining it all to me, and I found that I wanted to know more, not just about her planet, but about her.
I want to know more about who she is, and that desire caught me off guard.
There’s no part of the palace as impressive to me as the gardens, both indoors and out, and so I decided to take her to them. When I opened the door and ushered her in, I could hear her small intake of breath. The look on her face as she saw the expansive gardens laid out in front of her was one of pure awe.
She still has that look on her face, and it pleases me. Not only because I’m proud of this place and the beauty of it, the way it shows off the best of what Kalix has to offer, but also because I enjoy the delight on her face. She all but claps her hands together, looking around as she takes it all in. The room is empty of anyone but us, and I’m suddenly very aware of that fact as she turns to look at me, the warmth of the sun-washed room and the sweet scent of the flowers surrounding us.
“What do you think?” I ask, a smile pulling at my lips. I’ve been in this room a thousand times, but somehow it’s different seeing it through the eyes of someone looking at it for the first time.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispers, her eyes wide.
“Come and see the rest of it.” I gently touch the small of her back, steering her down the path.
She starts down the pathway, just a step ahead of me as she cranes her neck to take in her surroundings. She’s so caught up that she steps away from my guiding hand for a moment, turning to look at a huge, flowering plant that we just passed… and her toe catches on a cracked stone in the path, sending her lurching sideways as she tries to catch her balance.
Before I can make a move to catch her, she stumbles into the edge of the fountain—and then goes over the low rim.
I freeze in place, unsure of what to do as she falls head over heels into the water, a small yelp coming from her as it splashes up around her.
She jumps up almost immediately, her cheeks flushed and red with obvious embarrassment, her hair and dress soaked through and clinging to her face and body. As I watch her stand up in the fountain, hurriedly pushing her wet hair out of her face, flustered and pink with embarrassment, a desire like I’ve never known hits me in the chest, pounding through my blood with a force that nearly throws me off balance.
“I’m so sorry!” Emma exclaims, her green eyes wide. “I’m so clumsy, I wasn’t paying attention…”
I barely hear her apology—not that I’m upset anyway, only worried about whether she’s all right. But more than that, I can’t take my gaze off of her.
My pulse is thundering in my ears, every muscle going rigid as a feeling I’ve never experienced tears through me. It’s as if the world has narrowed down to the two of us, every sight and sound gone except for the vision of her in front of me, her dress plastered to every inch of her body, molding to the round shapes of her breasts, the deep curve of her waist, and the flare of her hips, letting me see every line of her that I could run my hands and mouth across…
My cock has never been so hard in my life. I’m suddenly grateful for the long tunic that I wear, because I’m straining against the thin silk of my trousers, my throbbing length feeling as if it’s on the verge of tearing through the material. I can feel the pulse of it in my bones.
Urges that I’ve never known rise up in me. All I want is to step forward, pull her out of the fountain and rip the dress away from her body, drag my mouth across her soft, damp skin and pull her down to the stone path, taking her here and now.
I want her desperately. I want to claim her.
To make her mine.
And then it hits me, as I stare at her, trying to think past the fog of desire and the painful ache of my cock. I realize, in a flash of understanding, what’s come over me—something I’ve never felt and never thought I would feel.
This woman, this small, shy, human woman… is my Irisa.
It can’t be. But I have no other explanation for what I feel, for the suddenness of it or the overwhelming need that has suffused every bit of me, skin and bones and blood.
My soul has recognized hers.
This woman is my mate.
But I am still a prince of Kalix, and I have never been ruled by my desires or my emotions.
Somehow, with a feat of strength I didn’t know I had in me, I wrestle the torrent of feelings down and reach out to gently help her out of the fountain.
Still, it’s there, a fresh wave of certainty washing through me as I touch her.
My Irisa.
5
Emma