Pregnant by the Alien Healer

Chapter 2-1

2

Laarn had disappeared on her yet again.

Jess sighed in frustration as she slipped from the ballroom unnoticed and made her way toward where she was sure he would be.

His lab. She sighed. Seriously, the guy took workaholic to the next level and then some. Attached to the med-bay, he seemed to spend most of his time in there. So much so, she was sure he either had a pallet set up in his office, or he simply didn’t sleep.

If she had to guess, she’d say the latter. Sometimes he looked bone-weary tired. Hot as hell, but tired down to his soul despite the determined aura that surrounded him like a cape.

Biting her lip, she turned the corridor. She just wished he’d turn some of that determination on her, the way Tarrick had with Cat, or Karryl with Jane. With the latter couple, Jane had wanted nothing to do with Karryl, but the big alien warrior had persevered, stuck at it like a terrier with a bone and not given up on getting the woman he wanted.

Now they were happily married… or mated… Whatever you wanted to call it, they were it. All she knew was that Jane had a ring on her finger and Karryl had tattoo-like marks around his wrists all the other warriors looked at with envy. It was a love story from beyond the stars… and her silly romantic heart couldn’t help sighing and wanting that herself.

Her slippered footsteps were near silent in the high vaulted corridors. Like the Lathar ships, the Imperial Palace was built on a much bigger scale than anything she was used to, but then, so were they. She was getting used to it though. She’d always been a little bit claustrophobic in space, sometimes feeling the metal walls and bulkheads were pressing in on her, but not on a Lathar ship. Not with all the wide open spaces and high corridors.

Yeah, she could get used to living in a place like this, leaving the dirt and dust of the crowded human colonies behind…

As she looked up a tall, leather-clad figure stepped into the corridor, just before she reached the double doors to the medbay, and blocked her path.

Saal. Again.

She came to a stop, the long sweep of her skirts disguising the fact she’d almost skidded to avoid running into him. The Lathar were touchy-feely if they could get away with it, but mostly only if contact was initiated first. Bumping into, brushing up against, stepping close to… all counted as initiation, and she really didn’t want to go there with Saal. Like really didn’t want to go there. The keen look in his eyes and the determination said that would only end one way—with him trying to formally claim her in front of the court.

According to the weird rules the Lathar worked by, she could only refuse a claim three times before it got ugly. Originally, when they’d first been taken, the human women had been warned they’d end up in one of the pleasure houses—prostitutes used over and again by any warrior that walked through the door. Now they were under Daaynal’s protection, she doubted it would come to that, but she’d probably be sent home. Away from the alien culture she was starting to love… away from Laarn.

No way. No how.

“Good evening.” She inclined her head, trying to imitate the cool elegance she’d noticed Cat use around the Lathar warriors. Her voice came out breathy and cutesy.

Dammit, where was her inner b***h when she needed her? There was no way she could do what Cat did, her graceful manner a far cry from Jess’ bumbling ineptitude. They’d been friends for years, but at times she was envious of her beautiful, slender friend for her poise and grace. She loved Cat to bits, but she was so perfect… and Laarn was Tarrick’s twin, presumably with a similar upbringing and likely the same tastes. Probably why Laarn didn’t see Jess as a woman.

“Good evening? It would be a good evening if you would allow me to spend time with you.” Saal smiled as he stepped closer. Jess resisted the temptation to step back. It would be an admission of fear and she knew better than to show fear to a predator. Even one that walked on two legs like a Lathar warrior… especially one that walked on two legs like a Lathar warrior.

His gaze flickered over her hair, her face, and downward, over her figure encased in the floating robe-like dress of a Lathar woman. Pleasure flashed over his features. “You are the most beautiful female I have ever seen.”

Probably one of the only females he’d seen in recent years, the snarky voice in the back of her head added.

She ignored it, inclining her head in thanks for his compliment. Warlike they might be, but Latharian society did have rules and etiquette, and the human women had discovered the best way to deal with them at times was with politeness and formality.

Saal stepped closer, almost into her personal space, and she froze as he leaned in. “I want you, little human female, and I intend to have you,” he murmured in a deep voice, his lips not far from her ear. “You can run as much as you like, but you will be mine.”

The shiver rolled down her spine and she’d taken a step back before she could stop it. The feral smile that curved his lips said he’d seen the small movement. f**k.

“Not this evening, she won’t,” a cold voice sounded from behind him.

Saal turned quickly to reveal Laarn standing in the doorway of the medbay, his arms folded over a broad chest. The look on his face was hard as he looked at Saal, but it softened somewhat as his gaze flicked to Jessica.

“Miss Kallson, thank you for coming so promptly. The test we were talking about is now ready.” He stepped slightly to the side, sweeping an arm toward the open door behind him. “If you would step this way?”

She could have kissed him out of sheer relief, sweeping past the hulking form of Saal where he almost filled the corridor and into the safety of the medbay behind Laarn. She turned just in time to see the look of fury that crossed the other warrior’s face as he squared up to Laarn. The temperature in the corridor dropped a couple of degrees. Although the healer hadn’t moved, the set of his body and the sudden tension in his frame said he was more than happy to meet violence with violence should Saal offer it.

Holding her breath, she waited as the two men locked gazes, a tremor running down her spine. She’d seen challenge fights erupt between warriors over the slightest little thing, and they were always brutal. But fights over women seemed to be something else.

She’d only seen one, when they’d first arrived on Lathar Prime and a warrior had taken a liking to Jane. The fight between him and Karryl had been furious and ruthless, and it had nearly claimed Karryl’s life when the other guy cheated. Karryl only survived because one of the women, not giving two hoots about the warriors’ honor code, pulled a gun on the challenger and threatened to blow his brains out.

But the three of them were the only ones here, and she didn’t have a gun. Saal didn’t back down, taking a half step toward the big healer. The tension between them was electric. She wouldn’t have been surprised to see sparks flying between them as Laarn dropped his hands to his sides.

“You want to do this?” the healer growled, his voice far lower and more dangerous than Jess had ever heard it before. The rough edge and tones shivered over her skin, the sound turning her on. Hell, what was wrong with her? A guy’s voice alone shouldn’t turn her on this much.

Laarn lifted a hand, and the sound of tearing fabric filled the corridor as he ripped open his jacket, shrugging it off to dump it on the floor at his feet. Jess caught her gasp as his body was revealed, all hard, ripped muscle and scars over every inch of skin. The power there turned her on, even as what he’d been through made her heart ache. The scars were from his healer’s trials, where he’d suffered through every disease, ailment and surgery he would treat as a healer. In the Lathar tradition, the more pain a healer could take, the higher their level of training.

Laarn was a lord healer… the highest level of doctor they had. The highest-ranking healer in the empire.

Saal’s expression shifted as he saw the scars, his eyes widening imperceptibly. His skin paled a little as he inclined his head.

“My apologies, Lord Healer. I meant no offense. I merely wish to protect Lady Jessica.”

Laarn clenched his fists, white showing over his knuckles. “That duty is not yours to assume. Lady Jessica and the other Terran women are under the protection of the emperor, and by extension, his family. Me. Leave. Now. Before you overstep your bounds, warrior.” Laarn practically spat the words.

Saal backed up before he started to step forward, ducking his head. “Of course, Lord Healer. My apologies,” he muttered, and turning, disappeared down the corridor.

Jess sagged a little, her hip against the nearest diagnostic bed as relief washed through her hard and fast that it hadn’t come to a fight.

“Oh my goodness, thank you.” Her voice was soft, heartfelt, as the double doors to the medbay shut at a wave of Laarn’s hand. She’d seen the gesture many times before, but not the one that followed it. The door turned red, indicating he’d locked it.

“You shouldn’t thank me,” Laarn’s voice was a growl as he turned and she sucked in a hard breath at the look on his face. “All you’ve managed to do is shut yourself in with a worse danger. Me.”