Free Invasion Earth by Loribelle Hunt Page A

experienced a moment of despair. There was no
way they could prevail against a force this size. She shook the
thought off and whispered to herself. Find another way.
    Past the ships, as if hung up for background,
was the Earth. From space it looked blue and white and green and
perfect. None of the damage the years of pollution and war had
wrought was evident. It took her breath away. This was what she’d
fought so long for. This is what she’d continue to fight to
preserve. Even if it meant sleeping with the enemy.
    “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
    She didn’t turn to meet Alrik’s gaze, though
she was a little surprised she’d been so distracted she’d missed
his arrival. He stood close behind her. So close she felt his body
heat, knew if she leaned back she would rest against his chest. A
curious ache twisted her heart. She’d never had anyone she’d
trusted enough to lean on, but for some inexplicable reason she
knew she could trust this alien invader to catch her if she
fell.
    “It is beautiful,” she answered softly.
    He took her elbow and tugged. “Come sit over
here.”
    Grudgingly—she wasn’t quite ready to give up
that view—she turned and followed him the few feet to one of the
small round tables closest to the window. He pulled a chair out for
her and then disappeared into the small crowd. When he returned he
held two glasses filled with blue liquid. After setting them on the
table he took the seat next to her, pulling it aside so he could
stretch his long legs out into the path. His pose was languid, his
movements smooth. The casualness belied his strength. She’d never
before known a man who was so, well, male. Her pulse kicked up at
the thought, at the memory of what he could do with all that
masculine power. Looking for distraction, she picked up the glass,
raised it to her nose and sniffed.
    “Trying to get me drunk on alien wine?” she
joked.
    He grinned. “Would it work?”
    She laughed. She was a lightweight.
“Probably.”
    “It’s called gazzi . Very popular at
home. Try it.”
    She took a small sip, then another. It was
light and sweet like a good dessert wine. But how much alcohol was
in it? Best to go slow. She didn’t want to get even a little tipsy
until she had some answers, and not even then, probably. Who knew
what would happen to her disappearing inhibitions if she got a good
buzz going? She set the glass down and met Alrik’s gaze, trying
desperately to ignore the heat she saw in them and the answering
swell of her own libido. She took another long drink. Maybe drunk
would be better.
    “You should have brought the whole bottle,”
she muttered.
    He laughed. “You have a one glass limit.”
    What the hell? She may be forced to marry an
alien, but this would not be his traditional man in charge arrangement. “Excuse me?”
    “You could be pregnant.” His voice was
completely calm as he delivered the statement, but the gleam in his
eyes told her that was a development he’d welcome.
    As for herself? She waited for the surge of
fear but it didn’t come. She’d never considered having children.
The very idea had always engineered abject terror. But the thought
of having Alrik’s baby didn’t make her want to run for cover and that scared her. It took her addled brain a minute to work
out the real problem. God, she was an idiot. She could be pregnant
because it had never once occurred to her to use protection.
    But pregnancy was the least of her worries.
There were some very nasty STD’s making the rounds since the
century-old HIV virus had begun to mutate. The kindest killed you
quickly. The others disfigured you and let you linger half dead for
years. She couldn’t believe she’d been so careless and was very
shook up. The oversight could cost her dearly. The noise level in
the room finally registered and she looked around at the growing
crowd. Not that she wanted to discuss it here. She changed the
subject.
    “So tell me why I need guards.”
    He shrugged. “Your