Free Alien Interludes by Tracy St. John Page B

bargain—” Israla held her hand up. “No need, Colonel. Your heart wouldn’t be in it.”
    Did she imagine the flash of disappointment on his face? It was gone as fast as it had appeared. “You are too kind, Saucin. I realize I’m not your usual choice of playmate.” She let her eyes drift to the window overlooking the side lawn of her property. About a dozen boy-men, clad only in tight-fitted shorts, romped on the lush mossy surface. They tossed an oblong object they caled a footbal and tackled one another. So innocent and fresh. Pretty things to play with. She taught them carnal amusements and then sent them on their way. They often left her wilingly, eager to experience others and expand their horizons. A few wanted to stick around for longer than Israla was comfortable with, but her aides often stepped in, distracting the younglings’ pursuit of happily ever after.

    Israla found it imperative to not just teach the boy-men techniques for pleasing a woman sexualy. They needed to know that relationships weren’t guaranteed, that ‘forever’ was actualy a finite time span.
    “You are a very attractive example of your species, Colonel, and I enjoy looking at you,” Israla assured him. She realy did. Her gaze had already drifted from the younglings to peruse Tyler’s wide shoulders, the lovely vee of his torso as it tapered from those shoulders to his trim waist and the muscled thighs il-concealed by his olive pants. Israla sighed before she could stop herself.
    She cleared her throat. “However, you are not the kind of man I choose to share my body with.”
    Tyler’s blue eyes were sharp as he stared at her face. “Who was he?”
    Israla stiled. “Who was who?”
    “The man you’re stil in love with.”
    She pressed her lips together. Pain closed a fist around her heart. It would be rude, but she considered ordering him out of her office.
    Tyler cocked an eyebrow at her. “That bad, huh? Sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
    No, she certainly didn’t. And she was going to make Tyler Carter leave. Israla opened her mouth and was shocked to hear herself say, “We were monogamous for twenty years.”
    “I didn’t realize Plasians ever practiced monogamy.”
    Israla’s eyes lowered to her long fingers. They had laced together without her noticing, and she had curled her hands tight into a single fist. “Usualy we don’t. Sex is as natural to us as breathing, and it is only right to experience the beauty of body sharing with others. To not do so is like keeping a work of art locked away from the eyes of others, or preparing a fine meal without sharing it with the hungry.”
    “That’s an interesting way of looking at it,” Tyler mused. “Yet you found someone that kept you from, ah, giving others the good fortune of intimacy with your body.” Israla shot him a sharp glance, but there was no hint of judgment, humor, or disgust. Tyler seemed genuinely interested and open-minded.
    She sighed. Was she realy going to discuss this with him? She’d never spoken of her love affair with Aserb, not even with her dearest friends. None of them had experienced the madness of nidlos , or soul-binding.
    But this Earther had. It was in the empty pain in his eyes when he’d spoken of his Heather, the warmth with which he stil spoke her name. Israla thought she might be able to trust him with the ache, of which the jagged edges had smoothed over time but stil remained in the pit of the gut forever.
    “Sometimes you find another who is like a missing puzzle piece of yourself,” she began. “Someone who eclipses al others in the shadow of his brightness. The more I was with Aserb, the less I cared for the company of others.”
    “No one else truly existed anymore.” Tyler nodded.
    Relief poured through Israla. “You do understand. I didn’t think I was explaining it wel.”
    Tyler smiled at her, his careworn face regaining some of the warmth of his early youth. He settled back on his seat, leaning back