Page 2 of Star Defenders (My Alien Mates 2)

Surely since the IF was letting us leave Dendra, they had determined our innocence? That, or they hadn't found proof of guilt. Nor would they. I wouldn't even know how to tamper with a spaceship if I wanted to. Which I didn't. I was a nurse. Of the four of us, Slek and perhaps Brinley were the only ones with that kind of knowledge.

"So, two more nights here, hmmm?" Slek said. He slung an arm over my shoulder and toyed with my hair. He was fascinated with my crazy curls. I was fascinated with his ridiculously enormous muscles, amongst other things.

"So J'avet said," I agreed. "Why, what do you have in mind?"

His hand trailed down my back to cup my ass. "I can think of a few things."

"Oh?" I asked teasingly. His touch made my blood hot and the butterflies in my tummy were doing flips. They did that around Slek and Danec. In the couple of months I'd known them, they hadn't diminished in the slightest. If anything, they'd increased.

"Can you cure the Iri?" Danec asked. His expression suggested he'd been thinking hard and didn't realise he was going to speak until he did.

"Cure?" I echoed. "As in, get rid of the nanobots?"

Danec nodded vigorously. Damn, he was cute when he got all excited.

"They could potentially be switched off," Slek said thoughtfully. "But there's a long list of problems with that."

"Like what?" Brinley asked.

Slek counted them off his fingers. "We'd have to switch them all off at once, or more would infest the host. We'd have to find a way to do that, which would require IF support. Then there's the issue of consent."

"Right," I sighed. "The Iri might like being hosts."

"What if they don't?" Danec asked insistently. "They might want to be free."

"If we ever meet another one, you can ask them." Slek patted him on the shoulder.

Danec looked disappointed, but he didn't press the matter. Still, I knew he was thinking about it. He had that look in his eye, like cogs and wheels were turning in his mind.

"In the meantime," I said as brightly as I could. "Who's up for popcorn and some movies?"

"If by movies, do you mean, long, slow foreplay?" Slek asked.

"No. By movies, I mean movies," I replied.

Now he looked disappointed, but nodded anyway. "Sure, I guess I could watch one or two before bedtime." Now his mischievous smile was back.

"I have a training flight," Brinley said regretfully. "Apparently my evasive manoeuvres weren't up to par." She made a face.

"You saved our asses," I pointed out, offended on her behalf.

She raised her hands to either side, palms up. "A pilot can never know too much."

"That's true." I gave her a quick hug. "I'll never stop learning either."

I turned to the guys as she trotted off.

"I have some things I need to do," Danec said reluctantly. "I have classes I have to catch up on."

"Why do I have a feeling you'll never finish learning either?" I asked.

He smiled briefly. "There's always something else to discover about something." He didn't quite meet my eyes.

"I suppose there is," I agreed. I gave him a sidelong look, but he flashed me a smile and turned to disappear down the corridor.

"Now that was odd," I said.

"Really?" Slek asked. "I didn't think it was that odd. I mean, he obviously wants to give us some time alone together."

---