HASH: Human Alien Species Hybrid by April M. Reign Read Free Book Online Page A

and my mind twirling. I had never been this close to a man, to anyone before, and the feeling was euphoric.
    Aric slowly leaned in, his warm breath brushed against my lips. I looked deep into the depths of his eyes, spotting the silvery flecks of living metal, even there. Then we did the one thing I could never have imagined doing.
    We kissed.
    It was a sweet kiss, a surprisingly good kiss, not that I exactly had any points of comparison. His lips were so gentle against mine, but I could feel the hard strength of him pressed against me. Nonetheless, as the moment drew out, and out and…
    And we weren’t sitting in the park.
    Instead, we were in space with black walls, studded here and there with points of silver-like stars. Silvery lines ran along the walls, and it was only because of them that I could tell there were walls at all. Em was standing in the middle of it all, turning slowly with her arms outstretched in obvious joy. It occurred to me that if she was over there, then she must have been a part of this moment with me.
    I felt a movement on my back as if the metal had started to move, flow like a river up and down my spine. It wasn’t the familiar tingle nor was it the pain I had felt when Em would download directly to me. It was calm and beautiful as if we were floating amongst the stars enveloped in the warmth of a thriving universe.
    When our lips parted, I was dizzy and couldn’t breathe. It took a few seconds to catch my breath and find my equilibrium again and while I regained both of those, Aric pulled me into him, embracing me with comforting arms.
    I was nineteen and no one had ever held me like that. No one had ever comforted me in such a way that my insides wanted to melt and if I could, I would have melted into him.
    “Are you okay?” he whispered in my ear. His warm breath sent goose bumps up and down my arms.
    “Yeah. What happened?”
    “I kissed you.”
    I laughed. “I know that! But I saw things and felt things. I was floating.”
    “You were taken away from the barrier that your body has naturally built around the metal. I let you feel some of its strength; I took you out of here and away from this world.”
    “Literally?”
    He chuckled. “Not literally. Humans have a tendency to think in a box. The mind is powerful and the metal makes us even more powerful.”
    “Em was there.”
    “Of course she was. She’s your metal.”
    Em plopped down on the grass next to us. “Aric is right, but I was there. I saw the whole thing and…” She started to clap. “My eyes watered during the whole ceremony.”
    Ceremony?
    “Now I feel awkward,” I whispered. “I didn’t know we had an audience.”
    “How did it feel to kiss royalty, Jade?” Em asked.
    “Royalty?” I said.
    “The Cerens give the best implants to their royal family, alter them to be as close to perfect as they can manage.”
    “What do you mean by royal family? You’re just making things up now.”
    “He told you, I talked to Aric’s implants. Not that the level of conversation was exactly up to much. But I still got some information. Aric here is royalty. Tell her, Aric.”
    Aric sat up. “I don’t remember much before the crash. I was too young. My parents were…important, I think.”
    “That’s one way of putting it.” Em stretched out in a motion that would have brushed across Aric’s skin if she had been able to touch him. “They were like the hub of a wheel. I was, I guess. Everyone had implants, and I could connect to everyone. I could tell Aric’s family what everyone wanted.”
    “A kind of instant democracy,” I suggested.
    “Exactly. At least, I think it was like that. I don’t really remember a lot before…well…you.”
    “Plus, it explains why you never shut up.” I laughed.
    “Hey!”
    Aric laughed at that, and he seemed so much less intimidating, so much less otherworldly, when he laughed.
    Aric went to release my hand but Em stopped him. “Keep us here so that they can’t see or