Free Fate Unexpected (Earth Defender Book 1) by Marisa Chenery Page B

don’t have sex with men I don’t. I know you aliens
have been hunting humans. You take them away and they never come back.”
    “Come sit with me.” Rune took her hand and led her over to sit in
front of the fire. He sat next to her. “As I said, before I met you, I really
had no real interaction with Earthlings. I did my job, and that was that. The
two days I’ve spent with you have changed that, especially after you told me
what happened to you.”
    “What about the sex?”
    “Okay, that has had something to do with it too. You can’t say it
hasn’t changed things between us.”
    Kylah met Runes gaze. “It has. So does this mean you want to be my
boyfriend?” she asked sarcastically.
    “I’m not sure what you mean by that. I’m male, and I could be your
friend.”
    She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. A
boyfriend is a man who has a committed relationship with a woman. They could get
married after a while or eventually end things.”
    “As your boyfriend, I could be a prospective mate?”
    “I guess that would be the best way to put it.” At Rune’s look of
unease, Kylah shook her head again and huffed out a chuckle. “Don’t look so
scared. I never said that was what I wanted. I asked if that was where you
headed with this talk.”
    “That isn’t the reason. There’s something I need to tell you.”
    “Then get on with it.”
    “I did some thinking while you went to get the wood. About me
working for the Xphens. As I told you, I don’t condone what they did to you
Earthlings. Releasing chemicals into a planet’s atmosphere to almost eradicate
a species is not what people in my galaxy would stand for. I think the Xphens
did it for something more than that, though. Yes, as their troops, we’ve been
ordered to round up any humans who aren’t changed. We weren’t told why. Now I
think I know the reason behind it.” Rune reached over and ran the backs of his
fingers across Kylah’s cheek. “They’re looking for you.”
    Kylah stiffened and pulled his hand off her face. “Me? Why the hell,
out of all the people on the planet, would I be on their radar?”
    “Not you specifically. I think they released those chemicals as an
experiment. The humans brought on board the ships are tested by Xphen
scientists. I think they’re looking for someone like you. An Earthling that has
abilities he or she didn’t have before the red rain. Someone who is faster and
stronger than would be considered normal. Who can fight better and heal at a
fast rate. I saw a cut on your forehead heal in a matter of seconds.”
    “You mean they made the red rain in the hopes of creating a super
solider?”
    Rune nodded. “Yes. And you’re it. I’ve seen how strong you are,
especially when you’re angry and your eyes glow. The way you use that sword of
yours, I doubt anyone could defeat you, even with a gun. You move so fast I almost
can’t track you.”
    “So you’re going to quit working for the Xphens because of what I
am?”
    “And because I know what they’d do to you if they ever got their
hands on you. You’d be experimented on to find out why you survived the
sickness without changing and became what you are. They’d want to duplicate it
many times so they could have an army of super soldiers.” Rune captured Kylah’s
hand in his. “I know you now, and I’ve been inside you, as close as any male
can get to a female. I can’t be impartial anymore.”
    “If you quit, you’ll be stuck here on Earth, never able to go home.
Before the red rain, a few countries had space programs, but no longer. I don’t
even know what happened to the international space station that orbited our
planet. That was as far as humans were capable of traveling into space.”
    “I realize that. You said mercenaries do some gruesome things all
for the money. Well, I have done some…things…I’m not very proud of. Protecting
you from the Xphens is the right thing to do.”
    “You want to