Free Auctioned to the Alpha: A SciFi Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 5) by Lisa Lace

do you call this instrument?"
    "It's a theremin. Ironically, it's a device from Earth. I believe a Russian physicist created it. I'm not sure how it made its way from Earth to space, but I retrieved it from an old junkyard and tinkered with it until I got it to work."
    "Interesting," said Eden slowly, rising to help Thiago dismantle the device. She ran a tongue over her lips thoughtfully, clearing her throat as she handed him the pieces to stow away behind the arsenal. "Thanks for the food, by the way. It was tasty despite the appearance. I'm not sure if the burnt edges were intentional, but it was just like Dad used to make it."
    "No problem. I followed a recipe I found from your home planet. It wasn't yellow, but I did what I could."
    "It tasted fantastic," said Eden gently, playing with the wrinkled creases on her elbows. "It was sweet."
    "I'm pretty sure it was meant to be a savory dish."
    "I meant, what you did was sweet. You know, like all the 'garbage' sodas you bought for me in the fridge."
    "I ordered everything in one sitting and had it delivered," Thiago said hastily. He had hardly ever received praise from those around him and he was growing increasingly uncomfortable. "Besides, you're too stubborn to drink anything other than that toxic swill. I didn't want to come home to find you starved to death and staining my floors."
    "Oh, right. Sure," laughed Eden, punching him playfully on the arm. She fell back on a large cushioned armchair. Thousands of microscopic alien creatures in individual bean casings shifted under her weight. They swarmed together, massaging the tension out of her back through the fabric of the chair. "I think I'm growing on you."
    "You're welcome to think whatever you'd like," said Thiago tonelessly. He grabbed a jug of Pasquin ale from the cabinet above him and poured a shot into a clean goblet.
    As he guzzled down the bitter liquor, Eden stood up. She crossed the kitchen and moved to the kitchen countertop next to Thiago. He was facing away from her. Wordlessly, she inspected the aged scars on the side of his neck. One ragged scar appeared to stretch down his back, disappearing from the neckline of Thiago's hooded jumpsuit. Biting down on her tongue, she traced the mark with her fingertip.
    Thiago shivered at the unexpected contact, turning back questioningly. "Hey!"
    "Did you get this from the warehouse, or is it an old battle scar?"
    "I guess you could say it was my first. It turns twenty-four this year," said Thiago glumly.
    "Can I see it?" said Eden, her mossy-green eyes widening.
    "What? What for?" Thiago asked. Noting the adamant expression on Eden's face, he grudgingly agreed. He unzipped his jumpsuit from the waist, shedding off the top half of his outfit and casting it aside. Eden was taken aback by the ripples of muscle in his naked upper body, sculpted naturally by years of strenuous bounty hunting. Her diverted eyes roamed back to his scar. The flesh-toned wound stopped halfway down his spine.
    "Hang on a minute. Twenty-four years ago? You were just a kid."
    "I was nine."
    "The bombing from the Noxx territory wars was twenty years ago," Eden whispered. Her chest tightened. "What happened?"
    "Like you said, it happened over twenty years ago. There's no sense in bringing it up now."
    "I'm not going anywhere."
    "Fine, if you insist. We used to live out in the countryside, in an area called Myron Plains. There were a few hundred or so families, mostly similar to mine – husbands who'd fallen for their human mail-order brides and decided to start families of their own. Our unique family dynamic wasn't accepted or tolerated by society, which was why we were living in the country outskirts."
    Eden listened intently. She watched as she saw a fleeting look of vulnerability cross Thiago's steely composure.
    "My mother was making sweet bread in the kitchen. My father was out in the yard sharpening handmade tools he traded with other villagers in Myron. I'd just completed one of the passages