Maddison, Karly - Time Slip [The Xephon Alliance 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Karly Maddison Read Free Book Online Page B

exhibited a slight blue tint to them. She couldn’t help remembering as she looked at them that some other males’ claws had ended up in his arm. What had that been all about?
    After the meal, he dragged her back to his room and showed her the shower and toilet and some cupboards where she could keep her clothing and meager supplies. She couldn’t help noticing the bed. It looked big. Covered in plush, faux-fur blankets, it seemed tempting to lie on for a moment. If she jumped in it, she might disappear.
    The bedroom had a few glowing, blue mini lights above the bed that gave it a peaceful ambience. There appeared to be no separate bed for her. Did he think he would ever get her in there with him? Well, he probably did, come to think of it. He’d already shown what he could do to her on the couch earlier. If he wanted to, he could make her march to his bed and climb right into it.
    She went back out to his tiny lounge and stared at him. He fiddled with some contraption on the table. It appeared all metal and wires and glass, like a mechanical brain. He seemed to have forgotten that she was in the room.

    * * * *

    Tinny used the device as a distraction from his situation. If he didn’t have something to do, he started to think too much about the likelihood of never returning home. His mind would stray to the possibility that he might never see his four sisters again, his mother, his father, or the northern lights dancing in Xephon skies. If he didn’t occupy himself with activity, he also noticed he had a hostile female in his room intent on challenging him at every opportunity she could find. He pushed his thoughts down with a slight grimace.
    “What the hell is that?”
    “Must you always swear? For someone so pretty, you are not much of a lady.”
    Kash snorted at his comment and appeared to home in on the pretty. “You think I’m pretty?”
    “Yes…” He glanced up from his machine. “Pretty arrogant, and pretty rude and pretty cantankerous,” he said, with a slight twist of his lips.

    * * * *

    For a heart-stopping moment she was distracted by his mouth as she remembered the taste of him. “You’re a smartarse,” she replied. “Always got an answer.”
    She stared at his bent back. He had such long hair. It lay all the way across his back down to his tail bone. Did he have a tail? She stared at his peachy buttocks with approval then looked back to his hair. Bits of it twisted like matted rope. She wanted to reach forward and touch it, so she did. It was much silkier than she thought it would be despite the unkempt knots. Might it be a woman’s job in Xephon society to keep their mate’s hair tidy? Is that why all the single soldiers and the captain had matted hair? She had to be right, because since some had been paired off with Earth women, gradually their hair had become tidy and sleek. She smiled at her little insight of some cultural norm. Unkempt hair was like a sign that you were an unpaired male. No woman was looking after it for you.
    “When was the last time you had smooth, silken hair?”  
    He shot upright and glared at her, and she knew she had hit the nail right in the middle of its proverbial head.
    “That is not your concern,” he snarled, tapping her over to the corner to sit on the edge of the couch. She couldn’t do much when her legs were beyond her own control.
    “This is a contraption I’ve been working on that can bend time.” He deliberately distracted her from her overly personal question.
    “Oh, what rubbish! If you sent us back in time to before we came here, all those happy couples at the dinner table will no longer exist, or even know each other anymore. Did you think about that?”
    “It is not rubbish, my beauty. Already I have sent an apple and a rat through two days into the future. As for going back in the past…I haven’t worked that out yet.”
    “Looks like junk to me. When are you going to release me?”
    “When you stop insulting me.”
    “I have