Zander quietly entered Pria’s room that night, half hoping that she was asleep. He was battling complex feelings toward her, and wasn’t sure she would be able to accept him. He wasn’t the same as human men, and he knew that the tests he had been asked to administer to her would put him to the test if she allowed him to perform them.
He was almost hoping that she would refuse so that the matter would be taken out of his hands. Captain Kane would take over and she would have no choice but to listen to his reasoning. He was one of the most persuasive men in the Driad community, and if anybody could explain the importance of their mission to her, it would be him.
Pria was sitting up on the thin grey couch they had set up in her room to make it more comfortable. She was holding a very outdated magazine that had been placed on the end table. It was flipped open, but her eyes were staring out into the room.
“Are you all right?” Zander asked softly, approaching her as the doors hummed closed behind him. She registered the care in his voice, the concern on his face, and shifted over to make room for him on the couch beside her. He understood the cue and sat down close to her, his leg pressed against hers. He was hot to the touch, she realized, not just warm like she was. Feeling his body pressing against hers seemed to carry that heat straight into her loins, and she felt a hot red flush creep across her cheeks.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said softly. “I’ve just been thinking, that’s all.”
“What about?” he asked, his magnetic and unique eyes boring into hers. She let herself get lost in them for a moment before answering.
“About what you said.”
“Which thing?” he asked with a small smile.
“The…I’ll do it.”
“What?” he asked, genuinely surprised.
“I don’t see how I could say no. Most people aren’t just handed a chance to help to play a part in saving the entire universe. What kind of jerk would I be to say no?”
“I…do you understand what this would entail?”
“I think so…”
“You would have to trust us completely. Put your life in our hands. Be willing to fall under the scalpel at any time of day or night. You would be surrendering control to us. Is that what you want?”
“Well…”
“And that’s just for the vaccination. What about…”
“I’ll do that too.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Zander asked, his eyes wide.
Pria smiled, putting his face in her hands and pulling him close to her. Zander’s hearts both began to quicken and he tried to speak but he faltered. He had been so nervous about this moment, but now with her hands on his skin, nothing could have felt more right.
“I’m sure,” she said, her long-lashed eyes speaking volumes that she couldn’t dare to say out loud. She couldn’t possibly explain to him how he lingered in her mind long after he left. How she longed to let herself explore the entirety of his body. What other little differences would she find?
Zander ran his strong hands through her soft auburn hair, exhaling quietly as he did so. She melted under his touch and leaned her hand against his cheek. He pulled her face close to his, and waited for a brief pause as he gazed at her face. She was the most captivating person he had ever seen. He loved the way her blue eyes glowed when she looked at him, and the way her body looked in the clothes she had arrived in from Earth. They hadn’t changed them yet since the procedures hadn’t been very invasive, but he came to her now with a new change of clothes. And something else.
“Are you sure?” he asked, not wanting to get his own hopes up if she would back out. He felt a stiffening of his groin as the reality washed over him. Her hands on his skin, cool and sensual. Her body offered up to him on a silver platter to unlock secrets that could save the galaxy.
“Yes,” she whispered.
She wanted something. Her voice seemed high pitched. Her full lips were so close to his own. He was tempted to draw her close to him, to feel the tender mouth against his own. But Able and Krill would be there, watching from the observation room. He had only come to get an answer.
Zander stood up abruptly, looking down with pained eyes at Pria.
“I’m so glad you decided to help us. Please put this gown on. The testing will begin tomorrow.”
“All right, Zander,” Pria said, her voice disappointed.
He could feel her eyes watching him as he handed her the gown and headed out of her room. He couldn’t give in to his temptations. Especially not when Able and Krill were watching. It just wouldn’t be ethical. It might even stir dissent upon the ship and get him demoted. Worse, he would be labeled unworthy and sent back to population control on the mother ship, where the ordinary Driad citizens tried to carve out a life for themselves as much as they possibly could.
He couldn’t allow that. And he couldn’t love Pria. Not when their lives were so different. Even their bodies, their hearts. And that was what love really boiled down to. He would just have to hold back.
* **
Pria watched Zander go, feeling dissatisfied. She felt sure they’d had a connection, and even opened the door for him to feel her attraction to him. But he didn’t quite seem to get it. In fact, he looked confused, or pained in some way. Did he find her repulsive? Of course he did. Men on Earth could be shallow enough. What would a man from another planet think of a woman who was nothing like the women on his own world?
Pria sighed. She shouldn’t have bothered to get her hopes up. And yet, she hadn’t done so consciously. Every time she saw Zander, it was like her body couldn’t help but react to him in one way or another. She was craving his touch, more of that hot skin on her own. How could she help herself? It was a physical reaction she was having, nothing more and nothing less. She would just have to accept that and let it go. He wasn’t going to be attracted to her. She had been wasting time even considering it.
She would just have to do what they wanted her to do and hope that the process was fast and easy. Anything short of that would be difficult and she hoped they would let her revoke her permission. But somehow she doubted it. If what they were saying was true, then their tests on her would be too important. She had agreed. Of course, Zander would probably let her out of it. He seemed kind and compassionate enough. But was he really? He had just left her hanging there. What did she really know about these people anyway?
What if they were lying to her? But the doubt seemed weak. She had already felt in her intuition, and Pria’s intuition was rarely wrong, that Zander was telling the truth.
She leaned back against the couch and sighed, wondering what in the world she had gotten herself into.