Read Alien's Bride: Lisette for Free Online Page A

fancy him then simply refuse his
advances.”
    Lisette felt her stomach tighten into a
knot. Pushy people always trampled her. She could fantasize all she
wanted about telling Jorenkis off. In reality the words would stay
stuck deep inside her throat.
    “ I’ll report Jorenkis to
Lord Elentinus if he dares to press things against your wishes.” He
turned back to glance at her. “Lord Elentinus is your master, you
know. Not Jorenkis.”
    She nodded.
    Prax-Denay turned away from her again
and took a breath deep enough to make his shoulders rise and fall.
She wanted to crawl over and hug him from behind. He seemed to need
that, but that action was on par with telling off Jorenkis to her.
She could fantasize about doing it all she wanted, but would never
budge an inch. (Besides, he might grab her and kiss her and make
use of the bed they were on.)
    He continued to sit there. She stayed
in place also. The superficial situation was that he’d told her to
get up and get ready for work. If that was all that was going on
she might have fidgeted enough to get him to leave. That wasn’t
what was important, and she knew it with the whole of her heart.
Prax-Denay was aching to say more. Unlike her, she knew he wasn’t
used to holding back his words.
    They’d had but a single day together.
If they could just continue as they had yesterday their connection
would evolve naturally. There was no need to rush things with
meaningless words. His silence—his hesitation—was more powerful
than anything he could say.
    Prax-Denay sighed again. This time he
verged on a groan. Lisette felt confused.
    “ You might as well know,” he
said at last. “Jorenkis is from the highest caste of the
Dak-Hiliah. He’s descended from royalty. There’s the opposite end
of this spectrum. Where I come from. I’m of the lowest caste.
The…foulest.”
    Lisette remained confused. He had to
know they were all big blue aliens to her. She could care less
about their ranking system. She was a slave, after all. How much
lower can you get than that?
    “ My people, the Etiken, were
considered beasts in our ancient history. The druids have always
ordered us to live separate from the rest of society. Etikens are
supposed to deal with dead bodies, sewage, trash—all these things
are centered in the Etiken district in the Dak-Hiliah capital.
We’re…not allowed to interbreed with anyone outside the Etiken
caste.” He partway turned back toward her, but didn’t meet her
eyes. “I’m not allowed to fraternize with you. We’re forbidden to
be anything more than colleagues. Do you understand
that?”
    Lisette’s lips parted. She didn’t
answer despite knowing she was required to.
    Prax-Denay turned further and looked at
her. “Well?”
    She lowered her head. Her heart raced,
but she still forced out the words. “What happens if we…if we,
um…?”
    He became aghast. Then he gave an
exasperated smile. He turned his back to her once again and laughed
with chagrin. “You’re arguing with me…that’s just
stupendous.”
    She bit her lower lip.
    He shot her a narrow eyed glare. “What?
Is it just curiosity?”
    Lisette shook her head with the
slightest of movements.
    Prax-Denay gave the acrimonious laugh
again. Then he balled his hands into fists. “Damn it!” It took
moments for him to overcome what Lisette perceived to be
frustration.
    “ What will happen?” he said
through a clenched jaw. “Jorenkis will accuse me of being a fiend
who defies the will of the druids—who can’t control himself around
a helpless human slave. He’ll demand I be castrated. And those
bastards, those self-righteous…they’ll actually agree to it. Even
the king of compassion, Lord Elentinus. He made my brother do it,
you know. They’ll give me a choice—if you can call it that. Accept
castration or go back to the slums.”
    Lisette squeezed her eyes closed. Tears
dripped out. The grief hit like a sudden ache behind her eyes. Was
it really like that? This was her