Page 18 of Soren

LARA

I stir awake to brilliant rays of sunlight pouring in from the window. My eyes flit open and I squint against the sudden brightness.

"Janie?" I mutter, rubbing my eyes.

And that's when I remember.

Janie isn't here. Iris neither.

I'm not even on Earth anymore. I'm on an alien planet called Aesirheim, and I just slept with a giant golden alien.

Who, by the way, gave me the best sex of my life. I blush at the memory, my thighs clenching in response. Speaking of...

I roll over in bed and there he is, sitting upright and looking right at me.

"Aah!" I yelp, jumping backward and pulling the blanket around me. "What are you doing?"

Oh, wait, he can't understand me...how am I going to...

"You are very...cute when you sleep. I was simply observing your habits."

Wait a second. I understood that. How did...

His huge golden hand snakes across the covers and cradles my face. With his other hand, he takes my own and lifts it up to cup the left side of my head. I gasp at the small device there, resting over the shell of my ear.

"Your translator," he says. "I fixed it for you while you slept. I hope you do not mind."

My fingers brush over the small device. My stomach lurches for only a moment. I thought it would have to be implanted or something, but it rests over my ear as easily as a pair of glasses.

"Do not worry," Soren continues, as if sensing my concern. "You will not have to wear it forever. It simply interprets the auditory signals and relays them back to the language processing center of your brain. That, and the omega serum you took before embarking here, work in tandem to accelerate language learning. All you have to do is focus..." His face curls up into a knowing grin. "And communicate."

"I..." I stare down at my hands, unsure what to say. Now that I know that he can understand me, I'm second guessing every sentence. What if I say something wrong? What if I offend him -- or worse -- what if he realizes how dull and boring I actually am and decides to call the whole thing off?

"Thank you," I mutter, looking up to give him a soft smile. I grip the covers to pull them aside and get out of bed, but gasp when I realize I'm still naked. My cheeks flush, the familiar heat building in my groin once more. It's nowhere near the level and intensity of the raging inferno that brought us together last night, but it's a warm, pleasant ache that simmers in the pit of my belly.

"Do not be anxious," Soren says, placing one large hand on my bare shoulder. He gestures at my covered form. "I've already seen everything, remember?" His eyes flash and I swear he throws me a wink, which sends my stomach twisting even further.

"I...uh...I need to go to the bathroom." I gently pull away from his grasp and scoot toward the edge of the bed, covers still wrapped around my body.

"Wait." Soren's voice rumbles through me like thunder, the smallest word burrowing straight to my heart like a shot of liquor.

I look over my shoulder to find he's holding a tablet, not unlike the one I saw Orvox using at orientation.

"I thought you might be hungry after last night, so I took the liberty of researching what foods humans like to eat for breakfast. I wasn't sure what you liked, so I was going to order one of everything, but..."

"What? No!" I snatch the tablet from him.

Soren raises an eyebrow. "What is wrong? Did I do something wrong? I spent all night reading about humans and..."

"No," I assure him. My heart warms at his words. The thought of him staying up, reading how to best take care of me and my needs melts my heart. "This is just...a lot. I'm not used to someone caring about me like this." I trail off, mentally cursing myself. He probably thinks I'm ungrateful, now.

"I am sorry that you feel that way." Soren's voice holds no irritation, only a sad acceptance. "The manner in which you were treated on your home planet is inexcusable. You should not be afraid to ask for what you want and need. You are mine to care for, and I will not let you starve."

My belly gurgles in response, and before I can stop them, tears prick the corners of my eyes. What did I do to deserve this? This was supposed to be a big, scary business transaction. A great sacrifice in order to keep my family safe. But when he acts like that...I might not want to leave.

Swallowing that thought, I distract myself by looking down at the menu on the tablet. My eyes widen. When I see the array of options laid out on the page, my mouth waters even further.

Eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, pancakes... the list goes on and on. A spike of homesickness rips through me as I look at the Earth foods. Janie always loved eggs -- over easy, she wouldn't take them any other way -- and Iris loved nibbling on pancakes, the few rare occasions when we had them.

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