Page 15

It’s set into a rock depression maybe twenty feet in diameter. Thick smoke billows out of the pot, and unlike some of the others in the area, this one is constant.

Zorn points to a flat basalt rock near the lip of the pot and says, “Perfect.”

I’m wondering exactly what I was expecting him to do.

Maybe watch it or sneak close to it and inhale the steamy warmth?

What I did not expect him to do was shuck the coat and leave it on the rocky ground near my feet.

What I definitely did not expect was for him to keep peeling off layer after layer until he was buck ass naked. In public. On government land.

“Ohh,” he moans, sounding even more sexual than last time.

He strides over to the flat rock he had his eye on and lies on it. Not, mind you, on his tummy, not even on his side, but he lies face up, worshipping the sun and the warmth like his ancestors must have.

Occasionally, the hot, smoky steam billows over him and he hisses in bliss. At other times, he just lies there, basking.

A couple approaches us, the women holding hands, a one-year-old in a carrier on the shorter one’s back.

“I thought the best thing we’d see today was going to be the geological sites,” the taller one says.

“Who knew we’d see a naked Draalian breaking two or three indecent exposure laws?” her partner exclaims.

“Oh, please don’t.” I plead. “Please don’t call the authorities on him. He’s a good male. He’s new here. He received a faulty social customs download.”

He stirs, moving into the same pose that’s on my van, trying to cover himself with the bent-leg trick. He must hear our conversation, but now doesn’t know how to return without exposing himself more.

“Oh, honey,” the brunette says as she takes pictures with her comm bracelet, “this is going to be the highlight of our trip.”

“Turning in my Draalian?” I ask on an offended gasp.

“Turn him in? No. Why would we do that? It’s such a treat to see him responding to his natural instincts here in nature.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think this park was created for Draalians instead of humans.

” She takes a few more pictures, then says, “What do you say, honey? Think we’ve got enough? ”

After they amble away laughing spiritedly, Zorn calls, “How badly did I fuck up?”

“Luckily, they thought you were adorable. Why don’t you bask a bit more? You’ve got great hearing, right? Have you recovered enough to fade?”

He nods.

“If you hear anyone else approach, just use your camouflage magic.”

I follow the trail of discarded clothing he left and wind up about a hundred feet from the Draalian.

How did I ever think Draals weren’t the sexiest of the three alien species we’ve invited to Earth? Beautiful markings, gorgeous muscles, and the most charming personality, a combination of dutiful, loyal and protective.

Watching him rise up out of the steam, almost as if he dematerialized and is now materializing before my eyes, I notice how every thick, ropey muscle plays under the scales of his strong arms and thick thighs.

How will I be able to watch him walk out of my life when we find his brother?

How will it feel to drop him off at the Newcomer Center and hover away knowing he’ll fly back to Draal and I’ll never see him again?

“Ready?” he asks when he’s less than a foot from me. He shrugs into his knee-length coat and carries his clothes.

“Done basking?” I ask as I scoot into my seat.

“Basked out, at least for today. What’s Old Faithful?”

“Where’d you . . .” His hearing is so much better than mine he must have heard that couple talking about it.

“That’s next.”

The park is huge, as big as some districts back east, but it’s not too long a hover to the Old Faithful geyser. The lot is packed, but I convince Zorn no one wants to inspect his papers. Everyone will be too busy looking at the eruption.

We assemble on a boardwalk along with hundreds of other people, waiting for the eruptions that always seem to come about ninety minutes apart.

Basking warmed him up, so he’s wearing black jeans and a t-shirt that hugs him like a second skin. There are few other males here, some Saveet and some Zresta, but like everywhere on Earth, it’s ninety-nine percent women.

And ninety-eight percent of that ninety-nine percent are checking him out. Granted, most are surreptitious about it—sidelong looks that last too long, subtle second glances.

Some of them though, aren’t shy about their appreciative perusal. They look him up and down and up again. Some make no secret of their interest as they check out his package or the way the jeans hug his buns.

“Two minutes,” one of the women at the railing shouts. She must have something on her wrist-comm that alerts her of the time of the next eruption.

“So, steam,” he clears his throat, “just shoots out of the ground?” He’s trying to focus on my face rather than the hundred pairs of eyes that are ogling him.

“One to two hundred feet.” I’m getting better at reading his alien features. He’s nervous. “As soon as it’s over, we’ll leave. Then two more sites—”

“It’s not natural,” a mother with her five-year-old daughter in tow says as she approaches me.

I don’t need ESP to know where this conversation is going.

“I think we can see from a better angle over here,” I say as I grab Zorn’s hand and pull him down the boardwalk toward the van.

“The freak must be seven feet tall,” she says. “He can see from anywhere.”

“Leave us alone,” I say as more heads are turned toward us than the natural wonder that’s getting ready to make its display.

“It’s a travesty. A crime against God.” The last word thundered out of her mouth.

“Want to go, Annora?” Zorn dips his head to whisper in my ear. “I don’t know if I can keep you safe without hurting people if things get out of control.”

“Snake,” the little girl accuses, pointing her finger at the perfectly polite male at my side and then hissing.

Every cell of my body wants to charge at this woman and possibly take a swipe at her little spawn.

“Don’t want to mate an alien?” I ask. “Then don’t. But leave those who do alone.”

My adrenaline is pumping, my thoughts are whirling in my head so fast I can’t think. I’m not sure I can control myself. My body is on fire with a fight-or-flight response, so it’s baffling when my crazed thoughts decide to do neither of those things.

Instead, I reach my arms to touch the swath of smooth scales above his shirt’s neckline. Pulling him down toward me, I brush my lips against his. What started as an attack, a visible display of affection to shock and dismay the evil bitch, instantly morphs into lust.

I’m no longer even aware of the anti-alien woman or her child who even now is making derisive hissing noises. Nor am I wondering what the two-hundred onlookers might be thinking. Right this moment I’m consumed by my warm lips on his cool ones.

He kisses me back, leaning down to me, his arms surrounding me and tugging me even closer.

He makes an intimate sound, for my ears only.

It’s a combination of a hiss and a growl full of all the lust and longing that’s been growing between us since he watched me eat that brownie as if I were licking his cocks.

The shouts of people around me bring me back to my senses as I wonder if they’re organizing a posse to arrest us both. When my eyes fly open, though, I see Old Faithful is shooting over one-hundred feet into the air.

The horrible woman is taking pictures of us as if kissing in public is illegal. I allow my anger to slip away as I assure myself that she probably came a long way to see this and now she’s too consumed with me and my sweet Draalian to be able to enjoy nature’s show.

It only lasts a few minutes, during which I split my attention between watching the geyser and assessing exactly how I feel about the incontrovertible fact that I think of Zorn as my sweet Draalian now.

I think I like it.