Page 21 of An Alien for the Farm

Iwake to zero sound. Not the low hum of the refugee ship. Not the chatter of other females who’d been rescued by the Restitution. Not the screams that haunted me after we were all attacked by the Tasqals. But also not the sound of my alarm blaring from my bedside clock either. Not the sound of my neighbors cutting their lawn. Or the sound of my cat at my door demanding I rise and serve her breakfast, or else.

I wake to quiet.

My gaze shifts to the window. To the pink sky and the morning sun streaming in.

I’m on Hudo III and it’s peaceful here.

I blink at the view, my brain slowly coming back online as I stretch and release a slow breath. With a groan, I sit up, grimacing.

It feels like I slept with a metal pipe across my back. Every bone underneath my skin is annoyed. But when I’d gone to the bedroom the night before, I’d realized with sorrow that the mattress, now inflated, is much heavier than it was when I’d put it on the bed. Back then, the small pack it was delivered in only weighed about forty pounds. I could move it. Now on its side where I’d pushed it to protect it from debris, it’s like a wall stuck between the bed frame and the actual wall. I can’t maneuver it in the narrow confines of the bedroom.

Whether that means I’ll be sleeping on the large storage box for the foreseeable future is unclear. Maybe I won’t be smashing the thing to bits after all because it will be my new bed.

A hard, uncomfortable bed Goldilocks would definitely not approve of.

I rise, rubbing sleep away from my eyes as I head to the bathroom. Bits of debris crunch under my feet as I go, and although I’d gotten most of it out of the house, working until late into the night, there’s still a lot of cleaning left to do.

I wash my face and that wakes me up a little more as I grab my toothbrush and get my teeth clean. It’s more like a hard cotton swab infused with mint, but it works. Finished, I head to the front door, gaze shifting to the roof membrane above me—a stark reminder that Zynar will be returning today.

As my hand closes over the doorknob, I let out a slow breath. He probably isn’t here yet. It’s early morning, but when he arrives, what will I say?

I’d hurried away last evening, heart in my chest beating too hard, tingles all over my body. I’d wanted him to kiss me. I’d come so close to actually letting him do it. If his brother hadn’t suddenly appeared, I’d have let our lips touch. Heck, I might have initiated it myself.

I don’t know if it’s shame or anticipation that even fills me now, but I have to…I don’t know…I have to get rid of it, right? There’s no way this works out well for me. Getting entangled with the first male I see will only leave me heartbroken and feeling even more alone than I already am.

I’m bigger than some silly crush! Because that’s all that this is. A crush. A harmless, unexpected crush.

The moment I pull the door open, pep talk making me a little more confident, is the moment I step outside and all that confidence just…disappears.

Because before me is a yard I didn’t have when I went to bed yesterday.

“Oh…my…” I step off the porch, feet hitting the ground as I turn in a slow circle, my eyes wide.

All the weeds, every single one of them, are gone. The tall grass that was in some spots is gone too. I can see the slightly reddish earth beneath my feet and my heart cracks a little when I notice something else. The flowers are still there. All the wildflowers stand tall, unhindered by grass or weeds.

“How…”

“Good dawn, Liora.” I jump a little at the sound of the deep voice above me. A delicious shiver goes through my entire being as I turn and look up to see Zynar standing at the highest peak of the roof. My eyes widen even more and I see, rather than hear, his soft, deep chuckle. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

He’s doing more than frickin’ startling me. My heart’s doing the cha-cha and picking out wedding china while my brain screams for some semblance of sanity.

“Hi!” Where have my words gone? There’s a lump in my throat that I swallow down, all the memories of the evening before coming back like a wildfire. My skin heats. My whole body responds as my breath picks up. Everything I said to myself before I opened that door is forgotten. “Good morning, Zynar.”

He grins at me, flashing fang, and makes his way down a central beam. His balance is exceptional as he reaches the edge, and crouches there above me. Fiddling fish sticks, he’s gorgeous. It’s the closest we’ll get if he doesn’t come to the ground and even then, it feels too close. As if I can feel his breath against my skin.

There’s a twinkle in his eyes as he watches me. “I am ready to work.”

I clear my throat, blinking as my cheeks warm. Glancing around the yard, I shake my head in disbelief. “It looks like you’ve already started working. I didn’t expect you to…”

“Get rid of the weeds?” His voice is a deep rumble that sends the question like a vibration through me. “I do what I say I will do, Liora.”

Why do those words sound like they have more weight than they should?

I turn in a slow circle, little shivers going across my spine and just under my skin as I turn my back to him. “You did it all.”

“I did not want you to hurt yourself again. Syleen weeds are notorious for rending flesh, and yours, Liora, is far too precious to bleed.”

I face him again, blinking to clear my thoughts. His words warm me. Make me feel special when they shouldn’t. Do all Kari speak like this? Are all Kari this…intoxicating? I’d ask his brother, but like yesterday, he’s not here again.

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