Naima: A SciFi Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 7) by Lisa Lace Read Free Book Online Page B

I had these problems was when Ronnie was my neighbor. He was an untalented dirtbag who lived in the upstairs apartment when I used to live with Jake. Getting well-rested before I had to get up for work was impossible when the sounds of a struggling artist playing grating 'music' into the dead of the night filled the apartment.
    I opened my eyes reluctantly. They adjusted to the bright yellow glow of the emergency light stuck against the wall. The only companion around was my shadow. I sighed. Laz was still out.
    I knitted my eyebrows together and peered out at the faint traces of light streaking across the hazy sky. It was almost daybreak. Great. My first sunrise on a wretched alien planet. How romantic. The thought of starting a new day made me shudder.
    My head fell back on a small pillow. What could be keeping him away for so long? I fluffed the pillow absent-mindedly.
    Although I was grateful for the rescue, I wasn't sure how I felt about Laz. I couldn't get a read on him for the life of me. I felt shaken up when he exploded.
    To be fair, I supposed I could have kept my mouth shut and given him time to process what was going on around him. I wondered if I had caught him at the wrong time or if he had an unstable, explosive temper. What if my encounter was merely a taste of what was coming in the future?
    I was responsible for everything that was happening to me. What was I thinking? How could I have accepted someone's hand in marriage without knowing anything about him? He was my husband already and the facts I knew about him could be counted on one hand. For all I knew, I had married a psychopathic serial killer, and I was going to be another one of his wives who met an untimely demise.
    Even though it was a stereotypical premise, it could be true. That would explain why he chose me so quickly in the first place. Had he given the marriage any thought at all? Why else would he have chosen me out of all the other TerraMates brides?
    Maybe trusting my gut was reckless and stupid. I rubbed my head, thinking about all the information I knew about Laz. The Maztek army men answered to him, so he was a commander. Early on, I thought he was a man of few words. Now that I had interacted with him, it seemed he was a man of no words. It had even crossed my mind that he might not speak much Standard, but now I knew that was not the case.
    'Sorry' didn't seem to be part of his vocabulary, although he did leave me with light, water, and bedding before he abandoned me for the night. I would have appreciated it more if he had told me what time he would be back, but I enjoyed the comforts.
    Other than that, I had a blank for the rest of Laz's profile. What were his likes and dislikes? What was his family like? Did he have brothers? Sisters? A drunk great-uncle? Did he drink his coffee black, or with sugar? Did caffeine even exist on Maztek? The unanswered questions in mind were coming far too late to help.
    I clucked testily and lifted my back off the ground. Unscrewing the jug, I took a large gulp of refreshingly cold water. My eyes flicked to the empty cave entrance and back to the ground.
    I draped the blanket around me like a cape and huddled up against the wall. Damn it. Where was he?
    Laz had returned briefly during the night for a couple of minutes before disappearing again. Groggy but lucid, I had peeked out from under my covers to observe him in action. After he had crept back into the cave, he made a beeline for a knapsack of weapons. I was surprised by how much he could fit into a seemingly bottomless bag and wanted one for myself. I didn't feel comfortable asking him for one or borrowing something.
    It felt creepy pretending to be asleep while I observed him, but I didn't want him to know I was awake.
    I realized something was off when I heard him suppressing grunts of pain. I had noticed earlier that he was favoring one of his arms. There were jagged teeth marks along his right bicep, and electric-blue alien blood jetted out