Alien Terrain Read Free Page B

mouth—wide and firm. A
handsome face beneath the damage. But then, she’d heard all Bods were
handsome, which was something that would come in handy if your livelihood was
sex.
    As she examined his exposed chest for more wounds, Jane
found herself absorbed by all the muscles she could see around his stomach. His
physique was truly beautiful. And probably useful too. Those muscles would have kept his vital organs from getting too badly hurt. At
least that’s what she told herself.
    “Would you like to touch?”
    “What?” Her gaze lifted to his.
    “You can touch me if you like.”
    “Sorry.” Jane rolled her eyes with mild self-reproach. “I
was staring, right? Don’t take offense. It’s just that I’m a very zoney person.
I have the kind of brain that likes to wander off.”
    She grabbed a dish towel full of ice and very gently pressed
it over his swollen eye, watching him for signs of pain. “The cold will ease
the swelling,” she explained. “Use it as often as you can, but only for short
periods. All right?”
    Once in place, the ice pack hid the damaged portion of his
face. The untouched half was shockingly handsome, a perfect frame of cheek and
jaw for sooty eyes and curving mouth. Maybe even she would pay to look at him
for a few hours.
    Smiling slightly at the thought of someone like her in a
brothel, she capped the ointment and snapped the top off the ibuprofen, shaking
three pills into her hand.
    “Here.” She held them out, then reached beside him for the extra pillow. “Let me help you sit up for a second.”
    Jane’s breasts were always bumping into things. His chest
was no exception. But did he arch a little higher, or did she just imagine that
he did? She pulled away. Held out the water glass and pills.
    He cast an unenthusiastic glance into her hand.
    “You don’t like pills?”
    “Not when I need to stay alert.”
    “Alert?” She swept her eyes around
the empty room. “I wouldn’t bother with alert. Besides a lot of nothing,
there’s just me, and I’m not all that entertaining.”
    That made the smile reappear, a fraction broader now that
she’d spread balm over his lips. “Are you a boring girl?”
    “Completely,” Jane said with no hesitation.
    He studied her with that one sooty eye and did not look even
a little bored. “So that would make you dull and zoney. What else should I know
about you?”
    “What else?” Jane thought about what she could say to that.
She was serious, cautious, plodding. Predictable in all the ways bleeding
hearts tended to be. She was also an amazing fuckup, which was embarrassing
considering how much effort she put into doing the right thing. Hopefully he
wouldn’t find that out too soon. She pushed the pills a little closer.
    “With due respect to your assurances,” he said, “I’d like to
be awake if any of those men return.”
    “Ah.” She handed him the water. “Like I said, there’s no way
they can find us, but these drugs won’t knock you out. They’ll just help bring
the swelling down.” She paused, curling her fingers back around the pills. “At
least I think that’s true. But you’re not human, are you?”
    “Humanoid.”
    “Right.” That ugly word held all
the comfort of a loaded gun.
    “Our species are remarkably compatible.”
    Jane sat back, eyebrows raised. That was a pickup line. A pretty good one too. His delivery was so sinful even she
could feel a tingling effect. Lips pressed together in a sort of matronly
discouragement, she watched him take the pills from her and swallow them.
    “What’s your name?”
    “It’s Raj.” He handed back the glass.
    “Rodge?” It couldn’t be.
    “No, Raj. The final sound is soft and long like the last
sound of plea sure . Ra j . You see?”
    “I see,” she said and looked into the empty glass. “You were
thirsty. I should have thought.”
    “You did think. You are thinking.”
    “Well, yes,” she allowed. “But not that well. You could have
used some water in the