Read Online Ark: A Scifi Alien Romance by Lucy Snow - Free Book Online

over the rest of the day.

    I hadn’t been on one of these stations before. The Kreossians had many designs for them, based on the biology of the species they were interacting with, but this was the first time I had been assigned for a first contact mission. It was bare and functional - the way all things created by the Kreossians were - the way I liked it.

    I had time before the conference was set to resume for the day, and now that morning calisthenics were done, I might as well explore the station. I knew it wasn’t large, but there were probably some interesting rooms I hadn’t yet seen.

    Just as I finished getting dressed, my stomach began to rumble. It had been hours since I had eaten - not since I had been with Melissa.

    Just thinking back to that meal brought a rush of feelings back to wash over me. I knew that I needed to resist her, no matter what my body was telling me, but at the same time I recognized the futility of doing so. Whether I accepted it or not, Melissa Crane of Earth was my mate, and I had to deal with that.

    I sighed and finished getting dressed in my customary dress uniform, not nearly as comfortable as my well-worn battle fatigues, but necessary when dealing with diplomatic situations. The word ‘diplomatic’ rolled through my mind as I shook my head.

    I didn’t like it one bit, and I couldn’t wait till this mission was over. As I left my quarters and walked down the low-lit corridor toward the dining room, I wondered where the Kreossian empire would send me next. Hopefully somewhere far, far away.

    I expected the dining room to be empty, the lights down low as they were by default when no one was around. The lights were indeed dim, but my deep eyes, well adjusted after years of low-light battles, could easily tell when I walked in that the room wasn’t empty.

    Melissa Crane sat at the same table we had used for dinner a few hours earlier. Her back was to me, but I knew it was her from the curves of her body, barely hidden under her uniform. My breath caught in my lungs; I didn’t expect to see her here, alone, not this early. What defenses I had were down.

    I had half a mind to turn and leave the room before she noticed me, but as I stood there, silent as I could be, momentarily trying to decide, Melissa turned and looked back at me with those large eyes of hers, almost glowing in the stark light.  

    “Oh!” She exclaimed, putting her hand to her mouth in surprise. “Ark! I didn’t notice you there.”

    “I just got here.” Now I had no choice, so I stepped into the room. “Do not let me disturb you.”

    I walked around the room, avoiding her at the center, trying to look out the portholes instead of focusing on her. I did glance over to see her as I crossed the circular room and saw that Melissa had a plate of half-eaten food in front of her.

    On the opposite side of the room were the food generation machines. I stood in front of them, mulling over which nutritional supplement to choose from the ones I enjoyed early in the morning.

    Then it hit me. I tapped on the screen till the last request showed up and I ordered that. The machine whirred for a few seconds and then I removed the plate from the dispenser, holding it up, my back turned to Melissa so she couldn’t see.

    According to the readout, this was…scrambled eggs, sausage, and hash browns, whatever those were. I was happy to see the machine had used the traditional first meal nutritional supplements - even if the taste didn’t appeal to me I knew I would get the right sustenance.

    I gathered utensils then turned around and walked to the table. Melissa was focused on her plate and I didn’t make a sound till I sat down. She started again, surprised I was so close, and I smiled at my stealthy capabilities.

    Melissa looked down at my plate as I set it on the table and her eyes grew wide before she smiled at me. “I didn’t know you went in for such traditional farmer’s breakfasts.”

    I glanced back