by Karen Kelley
She snapped it in two and laid it on either side of the rug, then sat with legs crossed.
Calmness stole over her as she began to softly hum to herself. This was much better. She hadn’t meditated all day. A good healer meditated at least four to five times a day. Her mind, body, and spirit grew stronger as they converged. Her sense of completeness strengthened.
She floated above the rug as her spirit began to separate from her body. She saw Sam still sitting in the rocker in the other room, but she didn’t linger. She needed spiritual cleansing.
She rose above the cabin, above the trees. If only she could travel as far as Nerak, but that wasn’t possible. Instead, she looked down upon the trees, passed over a half-circle of buildings that were not far from the cabin. She rose to the sky, felt the warmth from Earth’s sun.
Peace enveloped her, and with it came the strength to resist.
Her mission was to find the plant that would cure the Elder. She would not forget her quest. She was beyond the temptation of the flesh.
She was Lara.
A healer.
She was superior.
Chapter 5
S am wondered what Lara could be doing in her room. He glanced at the clock. Hell, she’d been in there for three hours, and he hadn’t heard a peep out of her. Just humming every once in a while.
He’d never thought to ask Kia about Nerakian rituals. He hoped like hell she hadn’t made a doll of him and was sticking pins in it. He rolled his right shoulder in a circle. Come to think about it, he did have kind of a twinge.
Nah, she wouldn’t do anything like that. He was almost positive. It was time to find out just what she was doing, though. Dinner was ready. Not much. Just sandwiches, chips, and the last of the sodas. He’d brought lunchmeat and the other stuff in his ice chest.
He looked toward the guest room again. Maybe he should check on her. Make sure she was okay. Not that he thought she could get into a lot of trouble in the guest room.
He tapped lightly on the door.
Nothing.
He tapped again.
Silence.
This was ridiculous. She could’ve tripped or something. Hit her head, maybe. He wouldn’t put anything past her. After all, she was from Nerak.
He turned the knob and eased the door open. It smelled good inside. She must’ve sprayed some kind of perfume. It was kind of sweet like…
Ah, crap.
He closed his eyes, counted to three, then opened them.
She was floating. There wasn’t a damn thing holding her up that he could see. He was tempted to wave a broom handle under her just to see if she was putting one over on him. He had a feeling she wasn’t.
Okay, he knew Mala could read emotions and Kia could zap something and make it disappear, but this was…was…
Take a deep breath. Inhale, exhale.
It didn’t help. Her eyes were closed, and she was sitting with her legs crossed, and she was still about a foot off the floor.
Man, when she meditated, she meditated.
It was unnerving as hell.
Okay, get over it. She wasn’t human; she was an alien. He’d known that from the start. She would never be like women on Earth.
There was something strange about looking at a woman who floated above the floor. She must be in a really deep trance. He noticed how still she was. Like a statue.
Was she breathing?
His gaze moved over her. She wore a white, gauzy robe thing that sparkled and shimmered. And it was transparent. Real transparent. He could see her rosy-tipped breasts, and looking at her started an ache deep down inside him.
But yeah, she was breathing. At least he knew she was alive.
He had two choices. Either he could close the door, or he could stand there and stare until she came out of her trance. Right now, staring looked like a pretty good choice.
He was beyond pathetic. Ahh, but what a fantastic view. He had a feeling she wouldn’t appreciate his ogling her, though. His stomach growled, reminding him it had been a long time since lunch, and he made up his mind. He figured she was probably hungry, too. He didn’t want to disturb her, though.
“Are you ready to eat?” he whispered.
She landed on the floor with a thud. Her eyes flew open. She seemed startled. Then she saw him.
He smiled. “I thought you might be hungry.”
“You disturbed my transcendental meditation.” She glared at him.
“That’s what you call…” He waved his arm. “Floating in the air and everything.”
“No, that’s called floating in the air. Transcendental meditation is when I leave my body.”
“You were outside your body? Where did you go?” He’d heard of stuff like that and wondered if people could really do that sort of thing. The possibilities would be endless. No more standing in line to get tickets for the football game. He could hover right above the field. “Can you teach me?”
She arched a mocking eyebrow. Man, aliens could get really testy. He’d only asked a simple question.
“Apparently, you wanted something since you disturbed me,” she said, changing the subject.
“Dinner is ready.”
“Dinner?”
“Yeah, you know—food.”
She closed her eyes. “I don’t eat.”
“You’re pulling my leg.” Everyone ate. Even aliens had to eat. Kia ate.
“I take food capsules, and I assure you, I didn’t pull your leg.”
“Figure of speech,” he explained. “You mean to tell me you don’t eat anything? Not even a cracker now and then?”
“No.”
“Well, if you change your mind, there’s a sandwich with your name on it in the kitchen.” He closed the door as he left.
Lara thought her planet was so much better than Earth, but they didn’t hug, they didn’t eat, they didn’t even have water. Sex was with a robot. He didn’t see anything so damn perfect about it. Sounded weird to him.
He went back to the kitchen and sat at the table. He’d finished half his sandwich when he heard Lara moving about. She went to the bathroom, the water came on, then off. When she entered the kitchen, she wore her green robe again.
A shame. He liked the transparent white one better.
“Change your mind?” he asked.
“No. I was curious to see what food looked like.” She sat across from him and picked up the slice of bread, looking under it, then looked at his half-eaten sandwich before curling her lip in distaste. “It doesn’t smell good. What is it?”
She was sexy as hell, vulnerable at times, and curious. He could handle all that. It was the damn condescension that drove him crazy. Right now, she was being very condescending.
“It’s mayo, ham, and cheese between two slices of bread.”
“And this will sustain life?”
“Yeah, if it doesn’t clog your arteries and kill you, but I figure everyone’s gotta die sometime or other.”
She picked up a chip and turned it over, then put it back down.
“What’s ham?”
“It comes from pigs.”
“Which are?”
“Small animals.”
Her eyes widened. “Like the ones at Kia’s?”
“No.” Damn, what did she take him for? “Those are puppies. We don’t eat dogs.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Only other small animals.”
“Do you know that you can take something really simple and make it complicated?”
She crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m only trying to understand.”
“Your sister likes food well enough.”
“She has given in to temptation. I’m stronger.”
“You seemed to like water well enough.”
Her mouth opened, then snapped closed. Yeah, he figured that would shut her up.
“I have to succumb to some of Earth’s temptations. My survival depends on it, and it’s imperative that I keep my body free from germs. I’m a healer.”
“So you’ve told me.” He was thoughtful for a moment. “Kia never mentioned hospitals or anything like that on Nerak. Just how many people have you healed anyway?”
“None. Nerak is perfect. People don’t get sick.”
“A doctor without patients. That must be a hard pill to swallow. Makes your job all but obsolete.”
She twined her fingers in her lap. “I’m very knowledgeable about healing.”
He’d hit a soft spot. And now he felt guilty. Why the hell did he take jabs at her anyway? “But now you have an Elder to heal.”
She visibly relaxed. “Yes, I do have that.”
He glanced out the window. “Tomorrow, I’ll show you some of the plants.”
Her gaze followed his. The color drained from her face. “Darkness is descending. We’re going to die!” Lara jumped from her seat and ran to the window.
Now what the hell was going on? “No, the sun is only going down.” He joined her. “The sun will rise in the morning. Doesn’t it get dark on Nerak?”
She shook her head. “We have two suns which rotate opposite each other. The light never goes out.” She looked up at him. “Are you sure it will return?”
“Positive.”
She nodded, then reached into the voluminous folds of her robe and brought out a packet. He noticed the slight tremble in her hands.
“I thought you didn’t eat.”
“It’s a relaxation smoothie.”
“You just do drugs.” If he lived on Nerak, he’d probably do drugs, too.
She gave him a confused look. “You have something I can mix it in?”
“Sure.” He reached into the cabinet and gave her a glass. “Knock yourself out.”
“I don’t think I’d want to knock myself out.” She frowned. “Is that another figure of speech?”
“Yeah.” He leaned a hip against the counter and watched her as she stirred liquid from another packet into the powder. She had pretty hands with long, slender fingers.
He should go back to the table, sit on the porch, or something, but his feet might as well have been glued to the spot because they weren’t moving.
She took a drink of her smoothie, closing her eyes. From the look of pure enjoyment on her face, it must taste pretty good. Damn, she was so beautiful.
Man, he was wading in deep water here. Maybe he should go sit on the porch. “Is there anything else you need?” he asked before he left.
She sighed. “I’m horny.”
He laughed and choked at the same time. She handed him her smoothie, and he automatically took a big gulp.
“Better?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and reminded himself he’d have to watch the words he used. Kia would kill him. Then again, he was almost sure he’d heard her use some pretty colorful language. Nick was certainly no saint.
“Aren’t you horny, too?” she asked.
Her voice suddenly seemed to come from a long way off. He tried to clear his head, but he couldn’t. Heat traveled through his veins, warming every inch of his body. Ah, crap, the smoothie was probably spiked with Nerakian drugs. But he’d only taken a drink, a big one, but only one, for Pete’s sake.
He looked at her. She acted as if she was waiting for him to say something. Oh, yeah, she’d asked if he was horny. Sex would be good. He’d been horny since he saw her in the hologram months ago.
What the hell was he thinking? She was an alien. Not human. Anything could happen if he had sex with an alien. Ah, man, she was really hot, though. Apparently, sex with Kia hadn’t hurt Nick. As far as he knew, nothing had fallen off. Still, it paid to be cautious.
“We just met,” he finally said, feeling as if he was doing some kind of role reversal.
She sighed. “You have strange customs on Earth.” She untied her robe and parted it. “Don’t you want to touch me?”
Ah, Lord, there was that luscious body again. He swallowed past the lump in his throat. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to touch a healer?” he croaked.
“I think we would both benefit. I’m curious to see how a human has sex.”
“I’m not a research subject that you can test.”
What the hell was she trying to do to him? Drive him insane? Maybe he’d already lost his mind. The walls of the cabin had taken on a deep purple color swirled with pinks and reds.
What had happened to the knotty pine?
Amazing. He felt as if he was at one of those laser light shows. He reached out to touch the walls. The colors floated toward him. They were warm, too.
His gaze moved back to Lara as she slipped off her robe and walked toward the guest room.
“I was hoping you would want to copulate.” Her sigh was long and deep.
He shook his head to try to clear it. Didn’t work. “Hey,” he called, trailing after her.
She stopped in the living room and turned to face him. “Yes.”
He couldn’t speak. Not one damn word. Nope, he could only stare. She was perfect. At least, as close to perfect as he’d ever seen. High-pointed breasts, gently rounded hips, flat stomach, a thatch of blond curls…he’d never seen a true blond. He was fascinated, staring at those curls. He wanted to run his fingers through them and see if they were as soft as they looked.
“Did you change your mind about having sex?”
It took a minute for her words to register. When they did, he could only nod. Hell, he was human. Right now, he didn’t give a damn what she was.
“Good.” Her smile brightened the room.
She walked the rest of the way to the bedroom, then turned again at the doorway.
“Are you coming?”
Not yet, but he planned to.
He obediently followed. You alien, me slave.
“Don’t think,” his dick said.
No, his dick couldn’t talk. Could it?
Hell, after the smoothie, he wasn’t sure about anything anymore. His brain had definitely quit functioning.
He watched as she pulled the covers back on the bed and moved to the middle of the mattress, where she lay back and spread her legs.
“I’m ready to experience intercourse with a human.”
He laughed.
She frow
ned.
Oh, God, he’d probably just blown his chance for hot sex.
Chapter 6
W hatever the hell was in that smoothie, it was doing a number on his head. Maybe this was all some weird dream or something.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again.
Lara sat up in bed. “Have you changed your mind again?”
She was clearly exasperated.
“Oh, honey, I haven’t changed my mind. But haven’t you ever heard of foreplay?”
“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”
“Well, you’re about to find out.” He unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it, except instead of dropping to the floor, it just sort of hung in the air for a few seconds before drifting downward. Oh, God, that was so cool.
His gaze moved back to her. She didn’t even seem to notice the neat trick with his shirt. Her attention was all on him. Okay, that was pretty cool, too. She watched without embarrassment as he stripped. She seemed curious and not the least bit embarrassed. Not that he thought she would be.
“You did say you’ve had sex before, didn’t you?”
Hadn’t she mentioned her own personal companion unit? It cracked him up just thinking about them.
He hoped she told him she had one. If not, he was going to be in a world of hurt. He wouldn’t have to just take a cold shower—hell, he’d have to spend the night in one.
“We have companion units,” she told him. “If we find the need to relax, then we have sex with them.”
He toed off his boots, then unfastened his pants and pushed them downward.
“They perform quite adequately.”
He just bet they did. As long as she didn’t try to rate his performance against that of a machine, he’d be okay. He shoved his briefs down.