Page 48 of Alien Protector's Mate

“No!” she said quickly, too quickly. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “I mean, I’m okay. Really. I want to learn, to be useful.”

He studied her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Finally, he nodded. “Very well. But if you start feeling worse, I want you to tell me immediately. Understood?”

She nodded, relief washing over her. As they continued their walk, she stole glances at his powerful form from under her lashes. The memory of him in the shower, water cascading over his sculpted muscles, flashed through her mind. Heat bloomed in her cheeks, and she quickly looked away before he could notice.

They arrived at the lab, and she settled into her workstation, trying to focus on the tasks at hand. But her mind kept wandering. The memory of his voice as he’d called out her name, her pretend name, echoed in her ears, and she squirmed in her seat.

A gentle chime announced the arrival of their first appointment, not a moment too soon. She’d felt like the silence was stifling her, cutting off all the air in the room. Her breath caught in her throat as a young woman entered the room, her eyes wide.

“Welcome to the mate program,” S’aad said, his voice low and soothing. “I’m S’aad V’Renn, and this is my assistant, Jay. We’ll be handling your intake appointment today.”

Jade watched as S’aad went through the familiar routine, explaining the process and answering the woman’s questions. She tried to focus on her work, inputting data and running preliminary scans, but her attention kept drifting to the interaction behind her. Moving her chair slightly, she angled it so she could see them out of the corner of her eye, telling herself that if she learned how to do the intake appointments, it would be one more reason for him to keep her around. In reality, though, she was just watching him.

“Alright, let’s get you prepped for the genetic sampling,” S’aad said, his deep voice reassuring. He reached for a translucent band, holding it up for the woman to see. “This might feel a bit tight, but it’s just to make the vein easier to find.”

The woman nodded, extending her arm slowly. “I’m not great with needles,” she admitted, a nervous laugh escaping her lips.

S’aad smiled, the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkling in a way that made Jade’s heart flip-flop. “No worries. I promise you’ll barely feel a thing. I’ve had a lot of practice as a blood-taker. Sharp scratch coming up.”

The woman bit her lip, turning her head away. Jade held her breath, watching S’aad’s movements with rapt attention. The needle slid in smoothly, and the woman’s shoulders relaxed.

“There!” S’aad announced, his voice warm. “All done.”

The woman’s eyes widened in surprise. “Is that it? That’s all you needed?”

“Absolutely,” S’aad chuckled, the sound sending a shiver down Jade’s spine. “Just a few patches now,” he explained, holding up two small, translucent squares. “One is a standard biotic in case you react badly to anything aboard the base, and the second contains a neuro-translator so you can understand what everyone’s saying.”

The woman gasped as the patches dissolved. “Wait, what… where did they go?”

“They’re absorbed into your skin,” he explained patiently, and she wondered how many times he’d done this. “The patch then integrates with your nervous system and allows for real-time translation. Follow me, I want to show you something.”

He moved over to the workstation, his powerful frame graceful despite its size. He waved the pendant he wore around his neck in front of the screen, and the woman’s eyes widened in wonder.

“Hey!” she exclaimed. “I can read that!”

S’aad’s smile was genuine. “Perfect! That means it’s working. Now, let’s see what the genetic analysis shows us.”

S’aad prepared the blood sample for analysis, and Jade noticed the woman’s expression tighten. She recognized thatlook… It was the fear of rejection, of not being good enough. Jade’s chest tightened with empathy. She knew how it felt to worry about not being good enough. It was her entire life.

The machine chirped, and the big Latharian turned to the woman with another reassuring smile.

“All looks good so far. You’re definitely human,” he said with a wink. It was so practiced and slick that Jade realized he probably made that joke with every new arrival. It will take us a few hours to run the matching program to see if there are any matches for you, so you’re good to go. Head on out and enjoy the rest of your day.”

“Really?” The woman stood, a grateful smile on her face. “Thank you so much. This was much easier than I thought it would be.”

“Oh, we keep the probes strictly for the warriors.” S’aad winked. “And you’re very welcome. Take care of yourself.”

“I will. Goodbye, and thanks again.” With a final nod to both of them, the woman left the room.

When the door closed behind her, Jade turned to face S’aad, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to find the words.

S’aad’s lips quirked into an amused smile. “Something on your mind? You look like you’re about to burst. Go on. Spit it out.”

Jade took a deep breath, her cheeks burning as she blurted out, “How do humans and Lathar actually… you know… fit together? You’re so much bigger than we are.”

The moment the words left her mouth, she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. S’aad’s eyebrows shot up, surprise evident on his face before it morphed into something… darker and more intense.

“That’s quite the question,” he said, his voice low and rich. He leaned in closer, and his scent surrounded her, making herhead spin. “Are you asking out of concern for our potential mates, or is your interest of a more… personal nature?”

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