Read Online Domestic Duet: Domestic Alliance & Asset by Cora Blu - Free Book Online

longer live on the moon, preferring a more civilized existence on a space station.”
    “No one can live on the moon, Captain,” she commented. “Where did your people come from?”
    He ran a hand over the bare skin of her shoulder, while his attention went to the manmade sky. “Once we lived on a planet that gravitated toward Saturn. Many abandoned our world to begin anew on the moon. We debated going to Earth. After the report of seeing animals in zoos and slaughtering of people that were different from the majority, my people created the space station. Over time, our technology grew from hours and hours of studying the galaxy. We’re slightly uncivilized compared to humans, but our people are brilliant.”
    They had to be to have built this fake vacation home.
    They walked to a black and white striped cabana and the captain knelt on the sand taking Sadie’s hand to settle her at his side.
    “Where is your family, Captain? Parents, siblings?”
    “My sister, Nedra, lives on a different station with her husband. Once I mated a human, my parents no longer considered me their son.”
    “I’m sorry,” she offered, placing a hand on his forearm. “They’ve never met Norese, have they?”
    He shrugged. “And they never will.”
    “What about Norese’s mother? Her family? They should be involved in her life. What happened?”
    An eerie sadness fell over his face, then his color came back just as fast. “Norese’s mother died in childbirth. That’s the extent of what I’ll answer in that regard. I want you to help Norese develop a balance between her two different heritages, not reunite her with a family that will ridicule her very existence.”
    That lit his match. Sadie knew not to play with fire.
    “Why do you think I can help her with that?”
    His straight brows drew together in a strained grimace. She’d missed something? “I’ve watched you interact with the little boy, directing him appropriately when he needs discipline.” He drew a knee up to rest one elbow and lean in closer to her face. “You’re kind yet unyielding in teaching him respect for others regardless of their differences. Something I have a hard time with.” He paused. “Most important to me, you handle your mixed heritage well.” His finger brushed her face at the edge of her upturned eyes. “You’re African American and Japanese, yet you don’t hide anything about your features. I’ve noticed humans hide what they don’t appreciate about themselves, when it differs from what’s popular.”
    “How long have you watched me, Captain?”
    He sat quiet for a long moment before digging his heels in the sand. “Long enough.”
    The sound of sand crunching under footsteps brought both their faces up to greet a male approaching with a tray of food.
    The succulent aroma caused her to surrender, and she picked up what she hoped was shrimp. She lifted the pinkish-peach meat to her nose; the fresh ocean scent made her salivate.
    “Here,” the captain said, bringing her hand to his lips to close his mouth around the tip and taking a portion of it into his mouth. “I won’t hold your suspicions against you, Sadie.” He chewed appreciatively, savoring the hunk of meat and sighing deeply as he swallowed. He licked his thumb then index finger. His lips suctioned around the digit. “Under certain circumstances, I’m a killer by all definition.”
    She cursed under her breath, then drew in her hand.
    “What would you do if I attacked you?”
    She sprang to her feet, kicking sand onto the blanket while scurrying away from Aroc. “Fight back!” Her fingers curled into fists she brought to her chest, positioned to challenge. “I’d get knocked on my ass, but I’d fight back until one of us stops moving.”
    He popped the other half of the meat in his mouth, then reached for another piece, offering it to her. “And what if someone came after Norese? What would you do, Sadie Alexander? Would you fight to save my daughter?”
    Sadie