Tempest felt like she was having an out-of-body experience.

Her time in the life nectar further proved that it was by far the most intense experience she’d ever felt.

When she first stepped in, she thought maybe it was a fluke. Maybe during the transformation, while she was at the medical facility, that life nectar was more potent.

Nope.

Tempest found herself in a state of ecstasy every moment that she was in the tub with Dron.

Being with Dron actually complicated the matter.

Being so close to him in the tub allowed her to be freer than she had been with a man in all her life. Her discretion was nonexistent, and for a while there she’d completely forgotten about her vow to save herself for true love.

Thankfully, whoever was at the door broke her out of that spell.

Tempest splashed some of the water on her face, hoping to get her hormones under control.

In all the time that she’d been with Sam, he’d never made her as hot as Dron had made her in the few short minutes that they’d been in the tub.

The way he held her. The way he took control of her when she felt like she was spiraling but still didn’t push more than he needed to. At any point, Dron could’ve stopped waiting and just taken what he wanted, but instead he waited for her to give him permission.

He begged her. He pleaded with her.

And not one time did it feel like he was pressuring her.

Sam, on the other hand, would make a show of it. He’d make her feel guilty for not giving in to him. Make her feel like she was making him feel unworthy.

Not once did Dron give off those vibes.

Tempest didn’t know if it was the life nectar talking or what. She had to get out of the liquid if she were ever to start thinking straight.

Slowly, she pulled herself out of the tub, and looked around the bathroom for something to dry herself with. There was nothing.

"How the hell..." Tempest spun around, looking over the room once again, but she came up with nothing.

I guess with the atmosphere being so dry all the time, they didn’t really need any towels, but Tempest didn’t really like to walk around wet.

She spied Dron’s shirt. She bit the side of her cheek as she had a thought. She could use it to dry. It was already dirty.

Hopefully he wouldn’t mind.

She quickly rubbed most of the nectar off her body and went back for her clothing. The short dress kept its form as she slipped it over her still damp body.

Tempest knew that Dron had told her to stay put, but now that the tension between them had broken, the last thing she wanted to do was stay in the bathroom. She was embarrassed and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

She recognized the lights flicking on and off to mean that there was someone at the door. Maybe it was Mexyn? Maybe she had come back for something.

Tempest suddenly felt very excited. She desperately wanted to talk to someone apart from Dron in fear that all the pent-up sexual desire would resurface.

She rushed out of the bathroom and down the hall. She couldn’t hear Mexyn’s voice; instead, she heard Dron’s deep, gravely voice and nothing else.

Tempest made her way into the receiving area, where the front door actually was and looked over Dron’s shoulder.

She was surprised to see that it was Gerax.

After the procession and the marriage ceremony, she assumed that she would never see the man again. It wasn’t Mexyn but Tempest was still happy to see someone else.

"Gerax, what are you doing here?" Tempest smiled at the man and started walking in his direction.

"Don’t come any closer." Dron ordered.

Tempest jerked back as if Dron had physically smacked her instead of just demanding that she’d do something.

"Excuse me? Who do you think you’re talking to?" Tempest narrowed her eyes at the suddenly domineering man.

"You smell delectable." Gerax actively licked his lips and tried to take a step around Dron.

"Make your next choice wisely." Dron gritted through his teeth and put his hand out to stop Gerax from taking another step.

Gerax continued to stare at Tempest. The attention was getting a bit uncomfortable for her.

After a second, Dron turned to look over his shoulder at her. "What part of ’stay away’ did you not understand?"

Tempest focused on him, "The part where you thought you had any say on whether or not I come out of the bath or not. I’m not your slave or did something change I’m unaware of?" Tempest pressed her hands against her hips and the action caused her dress to hitch up a little now showing even more of her legs.

"Did the two of you orchestrate this?" Gerax spoke and Tempest turned her attention back to the man who was now backing away from Dron and looking down at his feet.

"Orchestrate what?" Tempest questioned and tried to take a step forward.

Both men, barked at her, "No!"

Tempest couldn’t understand what the problem was. She didn’t know why all of a sudden she wasn’t allowed to go near Gerax.

Gerax and Dron exchanged a few words that Tempest couldn’t here. She did catch one phrase though. It was of Dron apologizing to Gerax.

What did he have to apologize for? Maybe acting like a brute? Tempest didn’t know but she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

A few beats later Gerax is leaving without so much of a word to her. It was the most cold he’d been to her since she’d met him.

And that was saying a lot since he was designated to be her handler while she chose a suitor and was hellbent on making sure that everything was by the book.

Tempest waited for the door to close before she continued walking in the direction of Dron. "Now are you going to tell me what—"

He cut her off before she could finish the words coming out of her mouth. "How could you be so senseless. Are you just a cruel woman? Determined to find the vulnerabilities in a male so you can exploit them? I’ve heard of omegas like you."

Tempest gaped at Dron, she didn’t know what he was talking about but never in her life had anyone ever called her cruel.

"What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything. How was I being cruel to Gerax?"

"You walked out here covered in arousal. It’s one thing to drive me crazy, but Gerax? A beta who will never have a chance at being with you or any other omega. If he would’ve touched you in a suggestive manner, it could’ve gotten him killed."

"You mean, like he’d go to jail?"

"No, he would’ve been killed either by the alphas of high society or by me." Dron kept her gaze.

Tempest didn’t want to back down, especially for something that she couldn’t control. Then it dawned on her. He said that she came out smelling of her arousal.

"Wait... you can smell when I’m turned on?"

"Of course I can. We all can."

"All! Like everyone?"

"Yes." Now Dron was the one who was staring at her like she was crazy.

"Oh my god! That’s so damn embarassing."

"You’re telling me you were unaware?" Dron deflated a bit.

"Of course I was unaware. On earth, people aren’t able to smell when someone is turned on." She huffed and pulled her dress tighter around her body. At that moment she was hyperaware that she was in a short dress.

She pushed her fingers through her hair and tried to change the subject. "So I was... affecting Gerax? Tell me my arousal isn’t strong enough that he would have smelled it wherever he was." The fear threatened to take root inside of her.

Dron scoffed, "No, of course not. Usually proper attire will mask the scent."

She looked down at her bare legs. This definitely wasn’t proper attire.

"Then what was he doing here?"

Dron huffed and tried to walk away from her as if he’d had enough of the conversation. "Dron, I asked you a question." She grabbed for him to stop him.

He turned in her direction, but Tempest could see that he was uncomfortable. Not because she was touching him but because he didn’t want to admit what Gerax was doing there.

"Dron?" Tempest questioned again.

"He was here to check on you. After your last episode, you were fitful. I didn’t know... I’ve never had to..." He heaved a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose as if it were truly hard for him to talk about it. "I didn’t know whether you were well or not. I wanted to make sure that you were healthy, so I called Gerax. He helped me set up an application on my device that tracks your vitals. He had the same application on his device connected to mine."

He was worried? Dron went through all this because he was worried about her. It made Tempest’s heart melt.

"I’m fine. I’ve been fine." She shook her head and smiled gently up at the rough man.

"Yes, but when you were in the life nectar, it seems your vitals fluctuated so wildly Gerax thought something was wrong. He came over to lend a hand." Dron explained.

Tempest couldn’t help but laugh. She’d known exactly what happened that caused her vitals to go crazy. She was being worked over by one handsome alien in a substance that gave her constant soft orgasmic tingles. She was in heaven, not dying.

"I’m sorry to have caused all this commotion."

"If you would’ve done what I asked, it wouldn’t have escalated to that point." Dron went back to being angry.

"No, if you would’ve explained to me what was going on, I could’ve made a better informed decision." Tempest retorted.

Dron opened his mouth as if he were about to say something in return, but he simply nodded his head once before saying, "Communication, I guess."

"Exactly, communication." Tempest nodded her head sharply.

They stared at each other for a moment. A long moment. The tension in the room was building once again.

Dron was the one to break the spell this time. He shook his head as if he were trying to clear his mind.

"I need to step out and make sure the kraznok isn’t lurking around. Don’t leave the house...please." He added at the very end.

Tempest nodded her head, and he left her there standing. She knew he wasn’t leaving because he had something to do; he was leaving because he didn’t want to be in the same space as her.

He didn’t want to admit what was happening between them.

If Tempest was being honest she didn’t want to admit it either.