“Incorrect. The expedition was to the third planet in the Hetalian systems, but for some reason was knocked off course and apparently ended up on Earth where it evolved, and its descendants became humanity. With some additional DNA, which I assume was from cross-breeding with hominid species native to the planet.”
Jay nodded and circled back to his original point. “So basically, the Jevenar variant body is human?”
Miisan blinked. “In very simplistic terms, yes.”
He grinned as he turned back to Nyek. “Humans are, I believe, under the protection of the emperor himself. Isn’t that right?”
Nyek didn’t move for a moment, but then he inclined his head. “That is correct.”
The asshole on the end of his sentence was silent, but Jay heard it all the same. His grin widened. “Perfect, then Keris is under his protection and she’s leaving with me. Now. Do you have a problem with that?”
Nyek didn’t answer. He stepped aside, sweeping his arm out so they could leave.
“Come on, sweet stuff. Let’s get you out of here.”
He hustled Keris out of there as quickly as he could. It was partially practicality but mostly selfishness. If they stayed, someone else might object or… more likely… Nyek would say something else, Jay’s temper would flare and he’d introduce the alien’s face to his fist.
Which would then mean said alien would probably wipe the floor with him. Hence practicality. He didn’t want to be spending any more time in the medical bay. Not now Keris was here.
Here. She was actually here and alive. Finally she had a body. And fuck… what a body. He was trying hard not to notice the slender yet curvy form under his shirt as she walked ahead of him into their quarters.
“It’s bigger than I remember,” she breathed, pausing in the middle of the space and staring around with wide eyes. Jay kept his gaze locked on her.
“Well, you were a lot bigger before,” he pointed out. Her metal body had been at least a foot taller than he was and big, more serviceable road truck than sleek sports car. “And you’re just a tiny little thing now.”
He grinned as she turned around, looking down at herself. Barefoot, she could only be a shade taller than five feet and delicate to boot, with an air of haunting fragility that got him right in the caveman instincts.
“Yes… I didn’t anticipate being this small. I thought I’d be taller.” She looked up at him suddenly, spearing him with a sharp gaze. “Do you like this body?”
Heat hit him broadside, his cock jerking in answer. Fuck yeah, he liked her body. He’d been semi-hard since the moment he saw her, an erection hard enough to hammer nails a mere thought away. But there was no way he was going to take advantage. She was less than a day old… cradle snatching was not the word here.
“Yeah.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “It’s a nice body.”
She didn’t move.
“Nice?”
Her expression folded, disappointment stark on her face as she looked down at herself again. “I… uhm… I didn’t expect to look this way. I’m sorry, I had hoped for something…”
Shit. His heart lurched in his chest at the torn note in her voice. It was like kicking a puppy.
“Hey, no,” he said quickly, stepping up to her. “I… shit, you can’t just go about asking men if they like your body.”
She tilted her head as she looked up at him, confusion written on her delicate features. “Why not? I would have thought that was a primary consideration to ascertain attraction.”
It was, but… “It’s not how humans do things. We don’t talk about shit like that.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Humans seem to talk in circles and make wild guesses rather than just ask.”
He chuckled. “Yeah. We kinda do. It’s how we work. Part of the give and take of getting to know someone… flirting. You can’t just charge in there and ask shit like that. But,” he inclined his head, “yes, your body is very nice. Frankly, you’re beautiful.”
“Yeah?” Her smile warmed his heart.
He nodded. “Yes. You are. So stop stressing. Okay?”
“Okay.” Her eyes wide, she searched his face for long moments.
Before he could do something stupid, like lean down and kiss her, claiming those soft lips for his own and finding out if they were as sweet as they looked, he stepped back.
Running a hand through his hair, he glanced around the room. Like most Latharian personal quarters he’d seen, it was one large chamber sectioned into areas. The first one, near the entrance, was a seating section, obviously for relaxation, with large, low couches made from leather. Since the panels were single pieces, he seriously did not want to know what animal they’d come from. Knowing his luck, probably some monstrously large murder chicken or something.
The sitting section gave way to a dining area, with a table that could seat six. He’d never seen that in personal quarters before. What did they expect them to do… host dinner parties in here?
To the side of the dining area was what he assumed was an office section, with a large desk, comfortable-looking chair, and a screen. Try as he might, though, he hadn’t been able to get it to switch on… perhaps one of the base systems that weren’t yet operational. A single door set opposite the office led to the bathroom.
The last area, furthest from the entrance doors and separated from the rest of the room by a large floor to ceiling divider, was the bedroom.
There was only one bed.
Sure, it was big enough for a football team, but that wasn’t the issue. There was no way he could share a bed with her and sleep. Share a bed with her, lie awake and get up tomorrow with blue balls… yeah, no problem. But there was no way he’d be able to sleep next to her with the myriad of fantasies currently running through his skull in full swing, all with her in the starring role.
Shit.
“You can sleep here,” he told her, leading her through to the sectioned off area. As always, it was neatly made. Housekeeping bots came in each morning, chirping at him if he didn’t move out of the bed fast enough, and dealt with everything from dirty sheets to the glass he’d dropped and broken the other day.
“I can?” Keris rounded the divider, her eyes wide.
Even though they’d been sharing a room since she’d rescued him from D’Corr’s ship, she’d always stayed in the main area and stood in the corner to sleep… or shut down, or whatever it was that AIs did. She seemed to go dormant when he slept. That was all he knew. Out of courtesy, he’d made sure to be decently dressed around her, rather than treating her like a piece of furniture the way most of the Lathar did.
“Wow, I never had a bed before.”
As he watched, she padded toward it, slowly putting a knee on the soft surface. A gasp escaped her lips as it gave beneath her, and she leaned down to run her hand over the fabric.
“It’s so soft… and cool,” she murmured. “I didn’t think it would be this soft.”
He wasn’t sure the comment was intended for him. Hanging back, he watched the delight flow over her face as she crawled into the middle of the bed, bouncing up and down slightly on the plush surface. It was innocent joy, and utterly adorable.