Leigh
Shit.
Well, now I’d done it. I had a man in my bedroom, begging to see me naked so he could be faithful while he jerked off—an act that apparently was necessary for his people given the state I’d left him in—and I pissed him off to the point where he literally ran away from me.
Ran away crying. Fuck.
I sighed and closed the window before stripping out of my flannel PJs to change into something more appropriate for traipsing across the farm at … three in the morning? Oh, man.
Once I had a warm sweater, wool socks, and jeans on, I stepped into my work boots and tiptoed down the stairs. I didn’t want to wake Dad. It would be impossible to explain why I was sneaking out at nothing in the morning to go see my alien boyfriend. Despite T’raat’s pure but misguided intentions,I didn’t think Dad would appreciate the gesture of his visit as much as I did.
I managed to make it downstairs without a peep from Dad. Good. I grabbed my coat from the rack by the kitchen door and threw it on as I slipped outside.
Using my phone as a flashlight, I made my way across our farm to the barn. The door was ajar, so I figured T’raat had been too upset to close it behind him. I shut it quietly behind me as I snuck in, looking around for the Xalanite man.
He wasn’t anywhere to be seen right off, so I figured he was either sulking in his ship or up in the loft. Wherever he was, I was going to find him and apologize.
Since I wasn’t sure how I got into the ship in the first place, I hoped he was in the loft. It would make things much easier, though the ship might’ve been warmer. I shivered and cinched my coat tighter, gripping the lapels closed around my exposed throat. Fall in Wisconsin was frigid, and that night was no different. The sooner I found T’raat and made things right, the sooner I could get back to my warm bed.
My luck held out; I found him in the loft, sitting on a hay bale with the most morose expression on his face.
I climbed the rest of the way up the ladder and stood, dusting myself off. “You know, it’s fucking freezing out there. You could’ve closed my window on your way out.” I meant it as a joke, but the pained expression on his face made me regret saying it. “Sorry. I was only kidding.”
“First I made you doubt me,” he said, his voice soft, “then I endangered you.”
“I’m sorry. Whatever I said that bothered you, I’m sorry for it.”
He looked up at me, and the tears in his yellow eyes broke my heart. I did that. I hurt him, and I didn’t even realize what I’d said to hurt him so much.
“Please, T’raat. Tell me what I said.”
He sniffled and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “You think me dishonest. You believe that I was trying to … manipulate you. To coerce you into an act that you did not want to commit.”
Oh, shit. I knelt beside him and put a hand on his knee. “T’raat, honey, I was talking about human boys.”
He turned away from me. “You accused me of having the same condition.”
Throwing my arms around him, I gave him the biggest hug I could. “No! I didn’t mean it that way. I was just—I was trying to make an Earth analogy, and clearly I failed.”
“Your analogy was cruel.”
Ouch. He was right, but it still stung to be called cruel by a man who minutes before had been doing his damnedest to be faithful to me, even in his imagination.
“I know. And I’m sorry for that. I don’t know what else to say.”
His arms wrapped around me slowly, hesitantly, until he returned the hug. “Is it really your experience that males would lie about pain to engage in mating activities?”
“Pretty much.”
“Then I am the one who is sorry. I wish I could take those experiences away from you. Allow you to trust males again.”
“I trust you, T’raat.”
He froze, his body stiffening against mine. “But—”
I sat back and broke the hug, but only so I could have my hands free. “Let me show you how much I trust you.”
T’raat’s eyes widened as I opened my coat and pulled up my sweater. I hadn’t been wearing a bra underneath—no time for that when he’d been so upset—so my chest was exposed to him. I shivered against the cold of the barn, wishing he’d saysomething, do something besides just stare open-mouthed at my tits.
