Page 48 of The Commander

Maybe she could get used to the color difference. His skin looked like something that belonged in the ocean, even though there was nothing fishy about him. No, the shape of his face—where were his ears—was not rounded and amphibian. The bony lines of his shoulders and chest with swaths of muscle over his sides, his belly, his back, and his big round ass gave her the impression of some kind of mixed up, demon/humanoid/dinosaur that moved with the light-footed lethal grace of a cat. The parts didn’t fit together right. He was uncompromisingly alien.

His extra-long fingers, the fact that he was naked, but she hadn’t caught a glimpse of a cock—and what she was just realizing were knees that could swing both ways, couldn’t be reconciled with any human shaped reference. All she could come up with were animal or dinosaur comparisons. Even those old outer space reels she’d seen didn’t feature a creature like him.

“Why do you need clothes? I have regulated the room temperature.” He slid a gelatinous mess of food in front of her.

Had it gone from chilly to warm? She was too busy losing her mind to notice.

When she didn’t move, he said, “Shall we bargain? While you eat, I will put something on your scrapes and sore spots. Then, if you are a good pet, you can have clothes.”

“Can you at least heat that?” She pointed to the plate.

“You eat it warm?” He sounded shocked, as if the idea had never occurred to him.

“If I can. How do you eat it?”

“When I need to feed, I just punch a hole in the bag and swallow it down. I do not consider the taste.”

“Human food doesn’t bother you?”

“It has all the requirements.”

“You have turkeys where you’re from?” It was the dumbest question. But as different as he was, it was weirder that they would eat the same foods. It had never occurred to her that the aliens had done something to the prepared food supply, and it should have. Was that why she’d lost her mind?

“No. But we have avian creatures that have much the same make up. There are a few minerals on this planet that are lacking but are easily supplemented. They wouldn’t be good for you and are not in these meals. Do not fret, Kitten. I will not permit harm to come to you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you are mine.” She met his eyes. Couldn’t help herself. It was night outside, his apartment dimly lit, but it wasn’t enough to hide his details. Despite the sharpness of cheekbones and his wide mouth, the alien wasn’t ugly. He wasn’t sloppy like the muzzle heads.

He was handsome. Inappropriately handsome, with a set of damn fine shoulders and the long slope of a back that curved into a cupable round backside. She hadn’t known men had asses like that, or that she’d want to touch it, until him.

His lips curved as if he knew her thoughts, as if he heard her pulse pick up as she eyed his physique, enjoying what she was looking at. The smile became a grin when she blushed, revealing all of his wicked sharp teeth crowded together in rows of upper and lower fangs. He’d rip her skin off if she put a finger in his mouth.

She had to look away, hide her expression, remembering that his mouth had been on her. Between her legs. Giving her nothing but pleasure.

There was a weird indent in his bottom lip, the dark line of a seam in the flesh that went down and under the blunt squareshape of his chin. She’d seen him do something to his face out of the corner of her eye that made her think there were other alien things about him that she had yet to explore. Than she ever wanted to explore.

Pulling her gaze away, she watched him take the plate of food out of the heater and bring it to her. It looked like a tiny saucer in his hands. Heating it had bubbled the gravy. Her stomach rumbled.

Nice to look at or not. She recognized an edible meal when she saw one. He handed her a spoon. “After I eat, I get clothing?”

“I will get the ointment for your scrapes.”

The kitchen was a small cubicle meant for a family of three. His bulk filled it, blocking the hallway which led to the front main room, she guessed, and the front door out of this place.

Scooping food into her mouth, Cara ate without tasting.

He’d just left her there. Like she didn’t want to escape him, like she had accepted this arrangement, like Mister Big And Tall would get whatever he wanted and after one good bang, she was his.

Cara was both insulted and suspicious. Could she really just walk out the front door?

Was he so superior and big headed that he’d leave her alone, untied?

He came back with a square thing that looked like a med kit and kneeled beside her chair. “Tell me more of what is happening in the town.”

It was a request and an order, packaged in authority, that left no room for argument.

Cara pulled her legs together, hiding her naked center, and hunched over the table, giving him a side eye. He acted like he didn’t notice how weird this was. Opening the kit, looking fora tube that must contain the ointment he wanted to put on her scrapes.

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