Alien, Mine by Sandra Harris Read Free Book Online Page B

over the craggy mountains near his home, he gestured for her to precede him back to base.
    As she headed down hill with Eugen at her back, she realized the conversation they shared, stilted somewhat at the beginning by her embarrassment and anxiety and his anger, had nevertheless alleviated her feeling of being a very vast minority.
    The next day Sandrea sat crossed legged on the floor of her room, listening to the information Drengel had forwarded. She followed the links he suggested to further her understanding of Angrigan personal interaction and discovered that romantic liaisons across the three allied species were not uncommon. Though a Magran and Legolopanth association could produce offspring, a partnering with an Angrigan would not result in conception.
    Angrigan females had no requirement for breasts as their young were born with a full set of teeth ready to consume solid foods. It also seemed the Angrigan species were not much larger than humans. The soldiers here were on the big end of the scale and Eugen Mhartak was an exceptionally impressive example.
    Fine, I like my men well built.
    She stared at the brazenly honest thought, then with a mental shrug accepted it. Yes, she was attracted to a hot, sexy alien.
    Hell, she’d never been one to judge another by their skin. Besides, Spock’s mother had fallen for an alien, and one with green blood at that. Humans had no right to stick their noses in the air when it came to antecedents.
    Anyway, the whole mental exercise was academic. Just because Eugen had been kind enough not to rip her head off when she’d groped him, didn’t mean the attraction ran both ways. Besides, as a general, he had enough to concern him without some refugee alien with the hots for him complicating his life.
    She sighed and returned to her research to hear that Angrigans did not share casual contact— especially on the cranial ridges. Nausea slid through her stomach. Now she discovers this? The only acceptable time for contact was during intimacy.
    Hell, she’d not only acted out of character by feeling the man up, she’d overstepped a major cultural boundary. Damn, she’d not just overstepped it, she’d pole vaulted the bloody thing. A cringe slithered over her skin.
    She owed Mhartak a huge apology. An image of his swollen head ridges came to mind. What had he said? They were products of high emotion. Yeah, right, he’d probably been fucking appalled by her behaviour when she’d caressed them.
    Why hadn’t he said anything?
    Well he had, hadn’t he? He’d asked her not to touch them. Oh, but she already had—and it felt like touching warm, living gold pulsing beneath an overlay of thick silk. Sweet heat twisted through her stomach and aimed a lick at her core.
    Go ahead, girl, you torture yourself.
    But why ask her to continue? And he’d been so charming afterwards. Why? Had he endured her molestation so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable? Cut her some slack because of her origins? Or because of the information he suspected she could provide?
    She slapped a palm to her head.
    Ugh! So not a good start towards integration. Right, note to self, no casual touching. And apologize to Mhartak. Pronto! And maybe I should start thinking of him as General Mhartak.
    No doubt he’d be glad to get her off his hands. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to continue fact-finding.
    After three hours or so, her body begged for exercise and she threw in the towel to go in search of Drengel.
    “How deep is the lake?” she asked after tracking him down in the pristine main area of medical.
    “Hello to you, too,” he replied with a welcoming smile, glancing up from inspecting some instruments. “What lake? Oh, the sea. I don’t know. Why?”
    “I want to go swimming.”
    His eyes widened so far his eye ridges rose. “Oh. Well, I think it’s probably deep enough for that.”
    “Anything in there that might eat me?”
    “No, there is no indigenous life on Kintista.”
    “Great.” She