Dad turned on his heel and left, muttering something about Spanish being a better choice.
“Harrison does not care for me.”
I sighed. “Yeah, on Earth we call that ‘stating the obvious.’ But don’t worry. He’s just salty because there’s an attractive guy on the farm, and I’m his only daughter. He’s just being extra protective.”
T’raat’s face lit up. “You find me attractive?”
Oops. “Well, sure. You’ve got a nice build. Good, uh, bone structure. You’re fit.”
His grin spread so wide it almost looked painful. “I am attractive.”
That seemed to boost his spirits for the rest of the day. I left him to his ship while I tended to the heifers—even with an alien hottie on the farm, we still needed to get the girls milked—but every time I saw him that day he still had that elated grin plastered on his face.
To my surprise, Dad invited T’raat back to the house for dinner. It was something simple, a frozen meal that Dad popped in the oven, but I appreciated the gesture. Dad was trying, though with his overprotectiveness he occasionally gave mixed signals. Like when T’raat decided to declare my attraction to him during dessert.
“What do you mean ‘Leigh finds me attractive’?” Dad’s eyes swiveled over to where I sat. I ducked my head to hide my guilty expression, but I suspected the blush burning in my cheeks still gave me away.
“It’s nothing, Dad. It just came up in conversation. That’s all.”
“In what universe does that ‘just come up’ in conversation?”
Ever the helpful guest, T’raat answered for me.
“It happened in this universe, Harrison. Earlier today.” He smiled that cute, clueless smile of his. I didn’t think he understood what a rhetorical question was, nor how much it would rile Dad up to answer it literally. Then, much to my horror, he followed it up with: “I find Leigh quite attractive as well. She would make an excellent mate.”
Dad stood up from the table, red-faced clear up to his hairline, and his chair screeched across the tile as he pushed it back. “I’m going to bed. If the two of you know what’s good for you, you’ll steer clear of each other for the night.” With that, hestomped upstairs. A few seconds after his departure, T’raat and I both jumped in our seats as his bedroom door slammed shut. The dishes in the cupboard rattled from the impact.
“Leigh?”
“Yeah, T’raat?”
“I assume your father was not discussing navigation when he said to ‘steer clear.’ Am I correct?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose with a sigh. “Yeah. You’re correct.”
Chapter 4
T’raat
Once I learned what “steering clear” meant and what atrocities Harrison was likely to commit if I did not steer clear of Leigh for the night, I retired to the barn—alone—and settled in for the evening. I did not wish to lose either of myn’rilto his anger, as Leigh explained might happen if I tried to join her in her bedroom. Human fathers were vicious in defense of their young! To think that he would sever myn’rilfor merely looking at Leigh with amorous intent … I shuddered and wrapped myself tightly in the blankets she provided, more for protection than warmth.
My conversation with Leigh after her father retired to bed repeated in my mind as I sought sleep.
“He isn’t really all that bad. He’s just worried that you’ll take advantage of me.”
“I do not understand. You are an adult, of mating age. Why does he not wish for you to mate? Does he not want his lineage carried on?”
Leigh had blanched at that, but she did not explain why.
“Um, listen. Just don’t mention attraction or mating or anything like that around him. He’ll calm down eventually as long as we don’t remind him of it. The sooner we all forget I even said you were attractive, the better.”
Except I did not wish to forget. I wanted to hear her affirm my attractiveness again. I wanted to affirm my own attraction to her. And I wanted to court her. Some of the human “tella vision” programs indicated that courting was preferred prior to mating. Mating without courting was not entirely unheard of to us Xalanites, but it was my understanding that programs which omitted mating were designed to be watched for physical pleasure only. While I wished to please Leigh physically, I also wished to please her emotionally. It brought me great joy when she smiled at me.
Leaving Xalan had been a gamble. I had earned many military commendations during the recent uprising, and the new leader of our people had granted me an early retirement for my efforts. When asked where I wished to retire, I begged for passage to Earth. Who could resist the myriad tales of Xalanites finding their true lifemates among the alien women? Q’on, the first Xalanite to arrive on Earth, landed in his lifemate’s backyard, and even our new king’s son, N’kal, found his lifemate within seconds of landing on this planet.
Was Leigh my lifemate? Was she mytyr’il, the twin to my hearts? I certainly enjoyed her company, as did myn’ril. She was healthy, strong, and intelligent, all excellent qualities for a mate.
I would never find out if her father continued to separate us. Despite my fear of castration should I fall out of Harrison’s good graces, I vowed that night to do whatever I could to interact more with Leigh, to learn human courting practices and apply them to her. It would be a risk, but I decided it was worth the effort.
