Page 58 of Stranded with the Alien

The SDF’s mission is to dismantle the Empire and destroy its leaders. You are betraying your planet.

“Shut up, shut the fuck up,” she muttered.

At least the experience had proved one thing. That Vraxians and humans weren’t so different after all. And if she and Vahn could find a way to co-exist while they were marooned on this planet, then maybe there was hope for the rest of their people.

She would explain that to him. Reassure him over what had happened. Remind him that all knowledge was useful on some level. And when they got back to their own people, the information they’d gleaned about each other could prove valuable.

What, like the fact that Vraxians are unbelievably gifted at oral sex?She flushed. She probably wouldn’t be sharing that tidbit with the rest of her SDF unit.

She drew Vahn’s jacket over herself and left the tent. The rain had softened considerably from the first deluge and was now amild shower. She plucked one of the canisters off the ground and drank deeply.

Tomorrow she’d have a proper wash, she decided. But for now she made do with turning her face up to the rain and scrubbing her teeth with a finger. She slicked her hair back and searched for Vahn.

She found him a few hundred yards away, sheltering under a tree with a brooding expression.

“Hey,” she said lightly. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer.

“Look, I know you’re feeling bad about what happened. Mortal enemies and all, I get it. But the point of the experiment was to see if we could get along and we definitely demonstrated that.”

“We took it too far,” he said flatly. “I should not have done what I did.”

“I’m not complaining.”

He turned to look at her and the coldness of his stare took her aback.

“The experiment is concluded, human. We will not do that again.”

“Human? You can at least call me by my name after what you just did to me.”

“At your insistence. It was never meant to be part of our research.”

“Yeah?” Her temper flared. “I didn’t hear any arguments from you, snake-boy. And don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy it because I saw your reaction.”

“My reaction is irrelevant,” he snapped. “It was wrong and it cannot happen again.”

“Jesus Christ, was I asking for a replay? No, I was not! I just came to see if you were okay!”

“I am fine!” he roared.

“I’m fine too!” she yelled back. Angrily, she stumbled to her feet. “Just tell me one thing, Vraxian. Do we still have a truce or are we back to trying to kill each other?”

“Of course we have a truce,” he growled.

“Good. Then I’m going to sleep in the tent and you can bloody well wallow out here all night for all I care.”

She stamped off.

Vahn watched her go, fighting the urge to sweep her into his arms and tell her the truth, that he wanted to repeat what he’d done to her a hundred times over. A thousand.

By the Temple of Ayanlesh.He exhaled wearily.

As if things couldn’t get any harder on this gods-forsaken planet.

Twenty Six

The rain petered out in the early hours of the morning, but the damp heaviness of the air promised more to come. The temperature, though still hot, was no longer desert-like which was a blessing.

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