Free Alien Adoration by Jessica E. Subject Page B

I’d dropped it before being transported from the ship.”
    He glanced down at the floor, loosening his grip on her. “I thought maybe they would come back for me.”
    Her chest tightened at the hitch in his voice. If anyone knew what it was like to lose parents, she did. Even though she never had the best relationship with them, her life had shattered when they died. They’d abandoned her just like Luke’s mother and father.
    “I’m sorry.” She trailed her hand down his arm, needing his comfort as much as she wanted to give the same to him.
    His eyes became glassy. “You don’t need to be sorry. You’re the one who, as a child, accepted me without pause. I can’t say the same about everyone else I’ve met. And they never knew of my origins.”
    God, how she could relate. Yet, everyone had known about her parents. Christine had been the only one who didn’t shun her because of their actions.
    The orb began to pulse. She leaned closer. “What did you mean when you said it likes me? What does it do?”
    He squeezed her against his body. “It’s like a guardian, glowing red when it disapproves of my actions and blue when it approves. You’re the only woman who can see the light from the orb, and also the only one who has ever made it turn blue.”
    How had no one ever noticed? She immediately observed the light when she entered his house, though never thought much of it until it had turned red.
    Wait! “The first time I went to your house, it glowed red when we were in the middle of….”
    Squeezing her thigh, he chuckled. “Yes, it disapproved of me moving so fast. Yet, the next day my guardian wanted you upstairs.”
    She stared at the giant crystal again. At least it approved of her. Now, she just had to be sure of Luke’s true intentions. Was he ready to commit?
    He ran his hand down her back. “Why don’t we eat? You made this wonderful dinner for us. Let’s not waste it.”
    Conversation flowed freely for the next half hour. She shared parts of her childhood, while he revealed what he’d experienced growing up. Like her, he’d been an outcast, not due to his parents, but because he didn’t have any.
    If only he’d remained in Hanton.
    Yes, if only…. She focused on him. “Why did you leave? Why didn’t you stay here? With me?” Maybe her life would have gone differently if he’d stuck around.
    Setting down his fork, he gripped the edge of the table. “I didn’t have a choice. When I went outside to grab my guardian, a police car drove by. Because the cop didn’t recognize me from town, and I couldn’t tell him where I came from, he turned me over to Children’s Services.”
    She gasped. “You must have been so scared.” Many times she wished she would be taken away until her father told her what happened to children in foster homes. Remaining with her parents seemed to be the lesser evil.
    “What I went through does not compare to the day you lost your mother and father.”
    A chill ran through her body. How would he know how she felt? And how did he even know about her past? She’d kept that part of her life out of the conversation. Even after so many years, her stomach still churned when she remembered the night of their deaths. “You don’t know anything about that.”
    He reached out for her hand, but she shrank back. Why did he have to mention her parents?
    “I do, Rachel. I experienced the same terror when you found them, the shock, then anger, and even the regret. I felt it all along with you.”
    A tear trailed down her cheek. “How? You have no idea what I went through.” Nobody knew.
    He left his chair to stand behind her, squeezing his fingers into her shoulder muscles. “Ever since the first day I met you, I’ve had an emotional connection to you. I experience all of your joy and sorrow, as you do.”
    A new pain clutched her heart. She glanced back at him. “Then why didn’t you come back, then?” On the night she discovered her parents’ bodies—dead after