Alien Protector: Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Paranormal Romance by Ashley West Read Free Book Online Page A

being a pest. She crossed her fingers that this would be one of the weekends where he did whatever it was he did when he wasn’t there making her life harder than it needed to be and made her way inside, finding Nate in the employee lounge drinking coffee.
    “You don’t work on Saturdays,” he said when he saw her.
    “I know. But I was hoping that…”
    Nate laughed before she could finish. “Let me guess. You were hoping that Clive wouldn’t be here and that I would be so you could look at the blade again.”
    Stephanie sniffed. “Am I that transparent?”
    “I wouldn’t say transparent,” Nate replied. “Just I know you pretty well by now. As it happens, Clive isn’t here, and I’d be glad to let you have another look.”
    “Thank you,” Steph gushed, grinning and bouncing on the balls of her feet. She tried to keep her excitement to a minimum while Nate finished his coffee, but as soon as he beckoned her to follow him, she was on his heels, shooting him rapid fire questions about the progress they’d made since the last time she’d been allowed to have a look.
    “Not much new to report,” Nate told her. “We cleaned it up and it’s...well. I’d be really interested to find out what it’s made of because it seems to stay just as bright no matter what kind of light it’s under, and regular metals just don’t do that. Judging from the area it was found in and how long it’s been since it was disturbed along with some of the minerals that we pulled off the blade when we cleaned it, it’s been buried for at least a hundred years.”
    Steph frowned. “But it doesn’t show any signs of wear. No rust, no tarnishing. Nothing.”
    “I know. That’s what’s baffling us. It…” He trailed off with a strange look on his face. “It’s almost like something from another planet.”
    That was hardly what she had been expecting him to say, and she glanced up at him with a furrowed brow. “You’re not serious, are you? Just because you don’t know what it is yet doesn’t mean it’s something from outer space. And how would something like that even get here?”
    Nate shrugged, hands in his pockets. “Who knows? There are plenty of unexplained things on this planet, Steph. They all had to come from somewhere. I think it’d be pretty easy to get a sword to Earth if someone wanted to badly enough. Anyway, it’s all just speculation. The fact remains that we have no idea what we’re dealing with.”
    His words were still buzzing in her head when he handed her a pair of gloves and put on his own before letting them into the room. No one else was there, and it was quiet as Stephanie walked closer, peering down at the shiny strip of metal in its case on the table. With careful fingers she lifted the lid and reached out a hand, immediately feeling that sense of power and warmth that she’d felt the first time.
    This wasn’t an ordinary find, and she positively itched to know what it really was. Both to satisfy her own curiosity and so she’d have something to tell Draco if he came back.
    He’d said he would, and Steph found herself hoping that he’d hold true to his words. The way he’d listened to her speak had made her feel...good. It hadn’t been the same as when other people on tours listened to her either. There had been an interest in his eyes that seemed to go beyond what she’d been talking about, and while she didn’t want to get her hopes up and make an idiot of herself, she had to admit that he’d been very good looking.
    Tall and broad with features that managed to be both classic and striking at the same time. He had that strong jaw line that she favored and eyes that seemed almost muddy at first but then glinted with warmer, almost reddish tones in the right light.
    And god, she’d only spent about fifteen minutes in his presence and already she was thinking dreamily about the color of his eyes.
    It was definitely time to get a hold of herself, but she didn’t think there was