Pregnant by the Alien Healer

1 “So, they’re both princes?” Jessica Kallson, Jess to her friends, sipped her drink and watched the small group of men on the other side of the room. Unlike Jess and the two women standing next to her, they weren’t human. Standing well over six feet apiece, with more muscles than she’d ever seen on a man, they were Lathar, the warrior race who had attacked and captured the frontier defense base she’d been stationed on. Since then, relations had warmed somewhat. Not quite captives anymore, Jess and the other women who’d been brought to the Imperial Court on Lathar Prime were now treated as honored guests of the emperor. The emperor with the very nice ass in his tight warrior’s leathers she was ogling as he greeted the two men in front of him—both his nephews. But her attention didn’t remain on Daaynal, the emperor, for long. Instead it was hijacked by one of the other men. Laarn K’Vass was identical to his brother, the husband of Jess’ best friend Cat, but where Tarrick’s hair was cut short, Laarn’s was long. Where Tarrick wore the red sash of a war commander, Laarn’s was the teal that denoted he was a healer. There were other differences as well. His eyes were green, not gold like Tarrick’s, and the body under the jacket Laarn wore buttoned to his neck was badly scarred. The scars were from his profession. She’d only seen them once, brutal marks that decorated his lean, hard body like artwork. “Hmmm… say what?” She blinked as Cat, standing next to her, clicked her fingers in front of Jess’ face. “If you can tear your eyes away from my brother-in-law for a moment,” Cat chuckled, amusement on her face. “I said that yes, they’re both technically princes. Their mother was Daaynal’s litaan, his twin.” “Huh,” Jess started a little in surprise. “I didn’t realize they had male-female twin sets.” “Yeah. At least, they used to.” Cat sighed. “But with girl babies dying in the womb… there haven’t been any born for a long time.” Jess nodded, silent at the reminder that for all their military might, the Lathar were facing doomsday as a species. She swirled the drink in her glass and continued watching the three men. Well, she continued watching Laarn as he stepped aside from his brother and uncle, leaving them to talk. She’d noticed that about him. Although he was as big-built and muscular as his brother, he often stepped back out of the way when Tarrick was talking, as though not wanting to take the attention. He wasn’t shy, though. She’d seen him training and interacting with the other warriors, and he had an easy aura of command they all obeyed. He was quieter, but no less alpha for it. It was more a quiet power, as he watched all around him with a critical eye, and it sent shivers down her spine. “He’s going to see you looking soon, you know?” Cat commented, her eyes alight with amusement as she looked over the rim of her glass. Like Jess’ it was filled with a Champagne-type drink, but lilac in color. And, unlike Champagne, she’d found it didn’t give her a hellish hangover in the morning. That wasn’t to say it wasn’t strong. Already she felt a little merry, so she always made sure only to drink one or two glasses. While they were “honored guests” of the court, there were more than enough dangers to watch out for… Unbidden, her gaze slid to the other side of the room where a large group of warriors had congregated. Most of them were drinking and laughing amongst themselves, and… yes, there was a fight going on in the far corner. Nothing serious by the looks of it, just a friendly bout between two warriors. In the middle, though, one warrior stood steadfast and silent, his light gaze fixed on her. Saal. Quickly Jess looked away, not making eye contact. Saal had been pursuing her since they’d arrived on Lathar Prime, the fact that he’d happily claim her for his own clear. But, handsome as the guy was, Jess’ attentions lay elsewhere. With a tall, handsome healer… Her gaze returned to Laarn, who also had a drink in his large hand. But he wasn’t drinking it. Instead, all his attention was on the pad in his hand. A sheet of flexible plastic, it was the Lathar equivalent of a computer and cell phone all rolled into one, but it could be folded up and slipped into a pocket. “I doubt he’ll even notice, or care much.” She buried her nose into her glass and took another drink, hating the hurt little sound in her voice. Laarn was a healer and dedicated to his work. He probably hadn’t noticed her, or the fact she was a woman. His entire interest in her was solely based on the fact she was Terran. She’d tried to chat with him when she’d been in the medbay, offering to spend countless hours in the high-tech hologram bed thing in there as he scanned her DNA over and over, but he’d only ever talked about medical issues. What was her medical history, had she had any diseases in her lifetime, had anyone in her family had anything unusual? He’d been fascinated when she’d told him about cancer, even though it had all but been eradicated, and about childhood diseases. As soon as she tried to get something personal out of him though, he clammed up, declared they were done for the day and left medical. She’d soon learned not to ask him anything personal, in the hope of spending more time with him. Perhaps if he saw her often enough, he might start seeing her as a woman. So far, though, no such luck. “Hmmm… yeah, he’s very focused on his work,” Cat admitted, a frown between her brows. The frown was noticed as they were joined by a third woman, her fingers laced through that of a tall, heavily built warrior. Jane Allen had been the Marine commander on the base but was now happily married to one of their former captors, Karryl. “Who is? What did I miss?” Jane asked, her gaze following the direction they were both suddenly not looking in. She sighed. “Laarn? Is he still being obtuse?” “Obtuse? What is this word?” Karryl looked around the small group, his expression curious as, obviously not satisfied with just holding Jane’s hand, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. “It means he’s being dense,” Jane explained, her hand on the broad chest of her man. Jess all but sighed at the loved-up look the two exchanged. She wanted that, the all-consuming love and passion she saw between Cat and Tarrick and now Jane and Karryl. “It means he’s not seeing what’s standing right there in front of him. In this case, Jess.” Karryl blinked, the surprise evident. “But she isn’t standing in front of him. She’s standing right here.” “No, that’s not what I me—” Jane paused as she clocked the tiny curve at the corner of his lips. “Asshole. You know what I mean.” He grinned. “I do. But why do you think he doesn’t see her? Laarn’s a healer, but he’s as male as the rest of us. I think you’ll find he’s probably very aware of Jess.” “He is?” Cat and Jess asked at the same time. Then Cat gestured toward where the big healer stood, his attention still riveted on the pad in his hand. “How does that equate to being aware of Jess?” Karryl’s expression went blank for the moment in a neutral expression Jess had noticed a lot of the warriors used, usually when they didn’t want to talk. He shrugged. “A man is a man, whatever else he does.”