5. Iris

FIVE

The scent of cinnamon rolls wafted through the room as I checked Lordek"s bandages. The rub burns on his arms were healing nicely, the angry red skin starting to knit back together already.

"I'm still stunned by what your healing discs can do." Imagine having something like that in our hospitals. It could make the difference between life and death.

"I'm not sure how they work, but I can give some to you if you'd like." He gazed up at me with an odd look in his eyes, something I took for appreciation, though he couldn't be attracted to me. How pale I must seem when compared to his rich green skin. And his thick black hair gleamed like the deepest night, infinitely prettier than my regular old dirty blonde. He was bigger than human males. At least seven feet tall, and broad. Were all his people as big as him? "I want to thank you for your help. Giving you discs is just one way I can do it."

"I'll take some when you…" I didn't want to say when you leave.

I didn't want him to go, but I knew he had to.

He'd probably been here too long already. My pulse flatlined whenever a vehicle drove past the farmhouse, and each time my phone rang, I jumped. Yeah, like the government would call before storming the place. Nah, they'd set up full SWAT teams with armored vehicles in the road and fields all around and move in with tear gas and weapons raised. We'd be lucky if either of us made it out of a confrontation alive.

Would Lordek fight back or surrender?

The thought of them taking him made my throat close off tight. It wasn't just that I'd never see him again; this wasn't about me and my growing feelings. Silly feelings, actually. I barely knew him. I couldn't care for him yet.

But I hated to think of what they would do to him if they caught him.

"I need to assess the damage to my ship, fix it if I can." His soft gaze met mine. "We both know I can't remain here for long. I need to leave as soon as I can get my ship running again."

I suspected he'd take a big chunk of me when he left, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. His life was in the stars and mine was here on Earth. I had the farmhouse I'd inherited from my grandparents, my new business to grow, and the friendships I was building in this cute little town. A full life with a lot of promise.

There wasn't anything for me outside my planet's atmosphere even if Lordek was inviting me to go with him, which he wasn't.

He'd only been here a short time, but my heart was tugging me in his direction, telling me there was something precious growing between us. My feelings had to be one-sided. What would he think if he knew I was crushing on him already?

Some nurse I was. Talk about a poor bedside manner.

"Are you hungry?" I bunched up the soiled bandages to throw in the trash. He didn't need the wounds covered; they were no longer open, and I suspected within a day, I'd only find faint scars.

"I am." His grin made my bones quiver. Everything quivered actually, whenever he looked my way. "Whatever you've made smells amazing."

"Cinnamon rolls. I didn't make the dough. It came from a can."

He frowned.

"What do you eat on your ship?" I asked.

"Food fabricated from a paste."

Even canned cinnamon rolls sounded better than that. "I suppose you can't carry fresh food with you on such a small ship." If it had been larger, it wouldn't have fit on my wagon and my winch wouldn't have been able to move it.

"It's rare to have fresh food, though I do get into port on one planet or another on occasion and buy it then."

I helped him sit up on the side of the bed, glad when he didn't sway or look like he was about to pass out. "Are there many planets with ports out there?"

"More than I can count."

I tried to imagine multiple species of aliens and just as many cities, but the thought made me dizzy. My world shrunk to this small place. Earth was such a tiny speck when compared to everything else out there. The farmhouse was smaller. And I was a fraction of a speck in comparison to that.

I tugged an old pair of my grandfather's sweatpants over Lordek's ankles. They'd be much too snug, but mine would be even tighter. And he couldn't walk around naked—though I suspected I'd enjoy the view.

He shifted his hips, pulling the sweats up around his waist, keeping the sheet over his cock. I'd seen it; hard to miss something big and green like that even when I was trying to remain clinical as I cut away his clothing last night. My mind kept dragging me back to that moment. His cock was thick and long and it had nubs along the sides. What purpose did the nubs serve?

My body overheated at the thought of how they'd feel moving inside me.

He had two other, smaller cocks, one above and one below his main staff. Only in my steamiest dreams could I imagine what they could do while he pumped into me.

"It must be exciting to travel from planet to another, to meet new people, to see the stars from all angles." I struggled to keep the conversation neutral. I didn't just like him, I was sexually attracted to him. I doubted he wanted me to nudge him down on the bed and climb all over him, however, despite his amazing kiss. That had been fever-induced. He may not remember doing it.

I helped him stand, and while he grunted and some of his vibrant color fled his face, he remained upright, putting most of his weight on his good leg.

"It's been amazing, but I'm growing weary of traveling all the time." His gaze locked on mine, and I sensed he was searching for something, though I didn't know what. "Would you ever want to travel like I have, or do you see yourself remaining here on your own planet forever?"

"Travel among the stars? How could I? My home's here on Earth. I inherited the farmhouse from my grandmother. I have friends, and I recently opened a bookstore in town. Do you have books where you come from?"

He lifted his arm and only then did I see a small device fused to his wrist as if it was partly made up of his green skin but also mechanics. "I love to read. I have billions of books stored on my wrist com."

"Wow. You have an entire library at your disposal." I couldn't imagine such a thing. "How do you read it?"

"Watch." He tapped on the "com" and it projected a screen with writing unlike anything I'd seen before. He scrolled through it, turning pages like a book I might read here. In some ways, this was the same; in others, completely different.

"That's amazing. Do you have physical copies of books?"

"Not many. Long ago, we did. The material used to craft them is expensive, and it takes resources, stripping them from our planet. We chose long ago to embrace technology where we could to save those resources and preserve our planet."

"I understand." I released a heavy sigh. "I guess there's just nothing like holding a book in my hands, scrolling through the pages. Smelling them. It's a special experience. I have some collector's editions. First editions that belonged to my grandparents. I treasure them."

"Many families on my home planet feel the same. Books are rare and a collector's item there as well."

Then we were alike in that way as well. That was comforting.

"Whenever I put into port, I sync with their mainframe and add to my collection as long as I can understand the book's language," he said. "Most interstellar beings speak Universal, however, and write it too."

"Everyone can communicate?"

"All but those who've chosen to remain isolated."

Except Earth, though we didn't make a choice. We hadn't been discovered yet, I supposed. Would we one day read Universal and communicate with other species among the stars? If Lordek could crash here, others could land. It was coming. I wasn't sure there was anything we could do to stop it, assuming anyone wished to hold something like that back.

Perhaps aliens already had reached out. Our governments might not have shared such information with us.

He put most of his weight on his good leg, but fortunately, I'd found an old pair of wooden crutches hanging in the barn and adjusted one to the tallest height. It was still much too short, but he it would support his leg until it fully healed.

He frowned at it until I explained.

"Ah, perfect." The smile he shot me was full of warmth and a hint of something I craved.

No, I craved him. I suspected I would for a lifetime.

How could I feel this much so fast? It had to be the intensity of the moment. I knew the authorities could find him soon and take him away from me. My mind must be eager to stuff a lifetime into each second.

Katie slunk into the room, eying Lordek. Her spine arched, fluffed up with indignation, but she didn't hiss. She'd stopped doing that sometime last night when she saw that he wasn't going to attack her. I'd caught her on the bed once, sniffing his leg through the blankets. My kitty was friendly. She wouldn't hold back once she discovered he was a sweet guy.

She wouldn't be able to resist him any easier than me.

"What would you do if you didn't travel?" I asked, walking beside him as he slowly made his way from the room and down the hall toward the kitchen.

Katie scampered behind us, watching him intently. She rushed close, sniffed his ankle, then darted back. The final time, she took a swat at him, though without her claws.

He stared at her, frowning.

"She's a pet," I said. "Her name's Katie Purry after a famous singer. My cat doesn't sing, however, although she does like to howl when she wants her wet food in the morning."

"I see," he said with a frown.

"She's harmless. You don't need to worry about her hurting you."

"What about you? Will she cause you pain?"

I shook my head. "As I said, she's a pet. Like a friend. She might smack me with her claws, but only then in play."

"Such a strange creature."

"That's a cat for you. They're independent. Ferocious in their own way. I adore cats and Katie in particular."

"Then I adore her too."

I couldn't hold back my smile. "Maybe you're a cat person too."

"I'm sure I am."

My laugh burst out. "Some people prefer dogs."

His head tilted. "Why?"

"Because they adore you no matter what?"

"I can see the benefit in that. As for what I'd do if I didn't travel, I've thought of settling on my home planet, Sathoria, and become a farmer. I could raise a family if the fates granted me a fated one."

There was that term again, fated one. He couldn't have meant to apply it to me. He'd vocalized the words during a fever dream.

My traitorous mind shot to me holding his child, a baby made up of the best of us. I stood outside our farmhouse, watching as he strode toward me after a long day working in our fields. Katie sat on the stoop nearby, taking in this strange, alien world, with her cat-like eyes.

And she purred—just like me.

Silly, Iris,I chided. Something like that will never happen.

Shoving aside my vision, I helped him into the kitchen and over to the small table, pulling out a chair. "Sit. I'll finish breakfast and we can eat."

He settled onto the chair, propping his bad leg on another, and I was grateful not to see him wince. Hopefully he wasn't in too much pain.

I placed two over the counter pain killers and a glass of water on the table. "Take these. They'll help."

He stared at the pills. "How do I take them?"

"Swallow them with water."

He tentatively placed them in his mouth and chewed, grimacing at how bitter they must be, before washing them down with the drink.

"I meant you were supposed to swallow them whole," I said. Although, would they react with his body chemistry in the wrong way?

Well, there was no calling them back now. Hopefully, they'd help.

"Ah, yes." With a frown, he placed the empty glass on the table. "They don't taste good."

"No, they don't."

"Something bad is good."

"Supposedly."

He nodded slowly.

After refilling his glass, I took the cinnamon rolls out of the oven, coating each with the orange frosting that came in the package. I took plates to the table and served us both, also pouring both of us a cup of coffee, placing his by his plate.

I nudged my chin to the steaming liquid and added cream to my mug. "I don't know if you drink anything like coffee in outer space. It's good. Adults drink it here each morning. It has caffeine, a stimulant, and it helps wake us up."

His face creased with a frown. "You're awake already, as am I."

"I mean, like it really wakes us up."

He stared down at the liquid, swallowing hard.

Lifting his mug, he sniffed it. "I've never smelled anything like it before." A cute frown scrunched the green skin of his forehead. Like me, he added cream, watching as it swirled around, making it cloudy. "You're sure it tastes good?"

"I promise. Although, not everyone enjoys coffee. Some prefer it with sugar, but I don't. Try it first this way first."

He held the mug with both hands, bringing it to his lips, and took a tentative sip. His breath caught. "It's amazing. What is it made from?"

I explained how the beans were grown in mountainous regions and how they dried and ground the beans before we brewed them.

"I can feel it making me wake up further already," he said. "Look at my eyes. They are wider, aren't they?"

I laughed. "I think they are. Mine are too." With a grin, I waved to the cinnamon buns. "If you think coffee is good, wait until you try these."

"If you made them, I suspect they're equally amazing." He lifted one and popped the entire roll into his mouth. His eyes closed, and he groaned out his pleasure as he chewed.

My breath caught. My heart floundered. And heat flared deep inside me at the sound.

Fire plundered through my veins, flipping me this way and that.

Damn, he was hot when he drank coffee. Hot when he grabbed a second bun and stuffed it into his mouth and chewed.

And even hotter when he moaned out his appreciation for my very simple cooking.

If I wasn't careful, I was going to fall in love with Lordek.