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WHEN DAWN BREAKS
By
Kaitlyn O'Connor
©copyright by Kaitlyn O'Connor, November 2007
Cover art by Eliza Black, © copyright November 2007
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author's imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
Chapter One
If he'd been kicked in the gut, Lucifer thought with a mixture of fury and disbelief he carefully concealed, he did not think it could more effectively have knocked the breath from him than the question lodged at him by the group of scientists studying him with the same clinical detachment they would have felt for a fungus.
All of them, that is, except for the woman-Nicole.
As usual, she was struggling hard to pretend she was somewhere else, or part of the furnishings in the Spartan room where they held him.
She was keenly aware of him, though, maybe more aware of him than any of the others, as hard as she tried to pretend that wasn't so.
Curious to know if the question had stunned her as much at it had him, he allowed his gaze to wander over her assessingly-or tried. He found it difficult to maintain any sort of detachment when he looked at her.
It was hard to pinpoint what it was about her that made that impossible when it shouldn't have been.
He was sure he should have found the pale, wingless creature unappealing if not repulsive. He would have, he thought, if he had only been told about one such as her.
That had not been the case, though-unfortunately.
Despite all reason, from the moment he had first set eyes upon her he had been-fascinated with her.
Obsessed might have been more accurate and that had been a purely physical reaction. The longer he studied her, though, the stronger the pull. Nothing had lessened the primal desire for her-not the pain and humiliation they inflicted on him, not her determination to ignore him or at least keep her distance-but the more he observed her, learned about her, the stronger the invisible chains that coiled around him until he could no longer discount it as purely physical. Unfortunately, as much as he would have liked to deny it, the attraction was on both a physical and an intellectual level.
She was tiny, wingless, fragile, and so pale her skin seemed almost translucent, as speckled as a tynal egg-he had no idea why just looking at her was enough to make it nearly impossible for him to drag his mind from thoughts of claiming her, but so it was, and no amount of reasoning would banish the thoughts, and nothing she had done had even served to lessen what had quickly become an obsession.
It wasn't just his interest in her that appalled him. Under other circumstances he wouldn't even have questioned it. He was a man-she was a woman-an exotic creature unlike any he'd ever seen before-and it had been a long time since he had had any opportunity to assuage his needs-a very long time.
It was his inability to focus on anything else when she was near him that disturbed him when, at the very least, he shouldn't have been able to dismiss the disaster from his mind even if he could have dismissed his personal circumstances. "I will demonstrate-with her," he responded finally, mostly, he thought, to see how she would react-if he could get a reaction out of her at all.
Or perhaps not, he thought ruefully when she lifted wide, pale blue eyes to meet his gaze for the first time-ever.
Once, he thought, it would take only once and she would be his-and she would not be able to deny it.
Then, maybe, he would be able to gain a little perspective.
Nicole had been doodling on the pad she'd brought to make notes on, trying, without a great deal of success, to present an outward appearance of cool scientific objectivity in the subject under discussion-the sexuality of the Saitren, an alien race from a world he called Nadryl-but at that announcement she lifted her head with a jerk of surprise. For a handful of seconds, she met the gaze of the alien chained to the wall on the other side of the room, noted with an uncomfortable gallop of her heart rate that he was staring directly at her, and then looked around the room uncertainly, wondering who he was planning on 'demonstrating' with. Discovering that every eye in the room was now focused speculatively on her, she felt a heated blush begin in her face until her cheeks felt as if they were glowing.
The realization that he'd meant her hit her between the eyes like a hammer blow, undeniable once it sank into her head that he'd been looking straight at her when he'd said it, and everyone, except her, had grasped that immediately.
In vain, she waited for her fellow scientists to veto the suggestion-to scoff, express outrage.
She realized after a few moments that they were waiting for her response.
No-more accurately, she could see from the speculation in their eyes and the expectancy on their faces that they were wondering what she might have done to prompt the suggestion to start with and waiting for her to accept the 'scientific' challenge.
Outrage surfaced. She ignored the slow churn of heat low in her belly that was a purely unscientific reaction to the suggestion and the look on the alien's face-Lucifer, he called himself, appropriately enough, since he bore an uncanny resemblance to an ancient mythological being that had been known by the same name.
Speculation over that similarity was rife, and the study team had broken into two factions.
Half were convinced his kind had visited Earth centuries before and that the myths arose from these beings.
The other half was equally convinced that he had somehow gained access to the ancient texts, realized the resemblance to himself, and was trying to convince them he was a descendent of beings who'd visited the Earth before.
There were a few inconsistencies with the last that didn't seem to bother those who clung to the latter theory so determinedly-he hadn't claimed any such thing, and he spoke a Latin based language-English-in a previously unknown dialect which he called Saitren.
The story, he might have managed, somehow, to access. The language-primarily Latin-was dead, had long fallen into disuse except as a written language, and, even at that, was not widely used. Moreover, there was no hesitancy to his speech, no groping for unfamiliar words as one might expect if it wasn't his native tongue. He spoke it fluently and with the emphasis on specific words that carried the emotions behind the comments.
She wasn't a mathematician, but even to her the odds seemed astronomical that the same language would've developed on his world as theirs.
The heavily manacled, dangerous being across the room from them certainly wasn't a 'nut case' trying to convince them he was from the country of Heillius on another world-Nadryl-regardless of the uncomfortable similarity between the name of his land, his name, and his appearance to those ancient myths. Although in some respects he was amazingly human-like-from his physical appearance, to his internal organs, and right down to his DNA-not just humanoid-in many more ways he was shockingly un-human. His skin was red-not just carrying a faintly reddish tint, but the red of a deep blush on a swarthy skinned person-not even close to anything considered 'normal' for humans. His hair was black, but the highlights greenish in tint-highlights no human hair held. Beyond the coloration of his hair and skin, he had horns-a pair of short, slightly curled, pointy nubs approximately an inch and a half long-sprouting from his forehead at the hairline-and wings which more nearly resembled the wings of a bat than anything else known to man-a thin membrane of reddish/purple skin stretched over spiny, jointed bones similar to the bones found in the hands and feet-or more accurately, she supposed, a bird's wings.
Her throat closed with emotions she didn't want to identify when it dawned on her that her team mates were actually taking his suggestion seriously. "No!"
Although she spoke to the room at large, her gaze had been snared by the Saitren man, and she couldn't seem to look away. Something glittered in Lucifer's dark eyes, but it was impossible to tell from his expression what was going through his mind-sex, she had to suppose, although there was nothing about his hard expression to indicate barely leashed, or even barely warm, passion.
It was easier to decipher the expressions of the others.
"We'll consider this," Dr. Murray said decisively, getting to his feet as if to dismiss the session.
Nicole surged to her feet, as well, but before she could object further, the research team flowed around her. Someone grasped her arm in a firm grip, and she was ushered from the room. Too stunned to react at first, she shook the hand off when she discovered it was Dr. Sam Clements. "We need to consider this offer from a scientific standpoint," he said coolly.
Nicole felt her jaw go slack with disbelief. "There's nothing to consider!" she snapped.
"He's offered to cooperate. This is the first time he's cooperated in any way with our studies. We can't simply dismiss the opportunity to study the Saitren procreation process due to a hysterical, purely feminine reaction. You're a scientist, Dr. Williams! Your first priority should be in advancing our studies of this important species."
"She isn't a guinea pig!" Dr. Sandra Waters volunteered indignantly.
"Thank you for the voice of reason!" Nicole exclaimed, a little surprised that the younger woman, who'd never seemed to like her, had planted herself firmly on her side. "It's outrageous for you to even expect me to volunteer-and I noticed no one asked! If you're so hot to 'explore' the sexuality of the Saitren, you fuck him!"
Dr. Boyd Murray glared at her. "That's a prime example of hysteria if I ever heard one! You've no need to resort to crudities! He was very pointed in singling you out, Nicky. Obviously, he has a preference, aside from the fact that I am not a female and would be useless for the experiment."
"Crude language!" Nicole gasped furiously. "Exactly what would you call asking-no demanding-that I let that-alien mount me as if I was some sort of brood mare-nothing more than a lab animal? It sure as hell isn't 'making love'. If it offends your sensibilities to call it what it is, you'll have to pardon me!"
"I'll volunteer," Dr. Waters interjected just as everyone tensed to argue the matter.
The comment took the wind out of everyone's sails. Nicole gaped at the woman, wondering, since it let her off the hook, why resentment instantly swelled in her breast. "There!" she said, trying to infuse enthusiasm in her voice that she was far from feeling. "You have a female volunteer."
"You don't think his sudden willingness to cooperate is suspect?" Dr. Mark Collins asked cautiously.
The question drew everyone's attention away from Sandra Waters.
Mark, the youngest member of the team, reddened. "I'm just saying he hasn't cooperated before. He's resisted every step of the way-quite violently at times. Why would he suddenly capitulate-and on this point?"
"We've been holding him for study for weeks," Clements said dryly. "The sex drive of a human male is generally a good deal stronger than what he's displayed thus far. I think it would be safe to assume his drive has overcome his reluctance to perform, especially with a human female-however unappealing he might find them." He looked thoughtful when he'd finished and missed the glares both Nicole and Sandra sent him. "Can we assume, I wonder, that the Saitren don't have the same drive as the human male? Or is it the circumstances? Or maybe just a lack of interest in the females available?"
He looked Sandra and Nicole over speculatively, apparently noticed, then, that they'd taken exception to his assessment of their appeal to the male, and reddened slightly. "Not but what Drs. Waters and Williams aren't reasonably attractive females-ah women."
Thank you for the high compliment, Nicole thought angrily. As if he had any room to talk about 'reasonably' attractive!
"I can't tell you how devastated I am to discover your opinion is that I fall somewhere between 'reasonably' attractive and unattractive, dough boy!" Sandra snapped.
"Must we descend to juvenile name calling?" Murray demanded.
"I guess we must if Dr. Clements is determined to share his personal opinion with us!" Sandra retorted.
Clements glared at her for a moment but then turned thoughtful. "She has a point," he murmured. "We should consider the 'attraction' factor of his request. If we're to pursue this from a scientific standpoint, we should pull up all of the research we can in case studies on human sexuality and try to determine if he actually is sexually aroused by Nicky or if he had other motivations for offering and, if so, what they were. The studies would probably help us determine where Nicky stands in relation to her attraction to the human male, which would hopefully, in turn, allow us to determine the points of interest in the Saitren."
Not that he could figure it out himself, Nicole thought irritably, the pursuit of science having, apparently, neutered him somewhere along the way.
She supposed she had no reason to quibble. She didn't find Clements particularly attractive, and she certainly didn't want him to be attracted to her. She had been moderately interested in Dr. Murray-the jackass!-but obviously that wasn't mutual or he wouldn't have suggested what he had. "I think this entire idea is in poor taste, aside from being less than 'scientific'! I can't believe any of you are actually considering it! We don't have a Saitren female, so we can't really study the reproduction of the Saitren-or their mating habits. Aside from-possibly-making him happy, exactly what is it you hope to accomplish with such an 'experiment'? Sexuality isn't even our field."
"We were called upon to discover everything we possibly could about this species," Murray pointed out. "Whether it's a specialty or not, we need to learn whatever we can. If, as the government suspects, he's some sort of … scout, maybe his purpose for suggesting it is because that's one of the things he wants to learn to take back to his people? Whether or not our females would be suitable for mating purposes?"
"That's … really reaching!" Nicole snapped. "It's obvious from his physiology that they procreate like most of the animals on this planet, including mankind-which means they have females. Why would they have any interest in females of another species?"
"They're actually more like another race than another species," Mark pointed out. "We've already determined that-that there are only very minor differences between us-on a genetic level."
Nicole narrowed a look at him. "Fine! It's obvious the majority have already decided to pursue this avenue of study. I don't agree that it's necessary or desirable, but since Dr. Waters has volunteered, I'm willing to leave it at that-that I disagreed with the general consensus."
* * * *
No one was more stunned by her offer than Sandra was. She wasn't even certain of where it had come from.
It had been an impulse, and it was a while before she could decide whether it was the most stupid urge she'd ever yielded to or the most brilliant.
She decided as they settled to discussing the 'project' that it was the most brilliant after all. Obviously, brains weren't enough to get anywhere in this field dominated by men. She wanted recognition while she was still young enough to bask in it, to really enjoy it. She didn't want to be recognized posthumously for her achievements.
If fucking an alien was the root to glory, then, by damn, she could do it.
She was terrified at the prospect but strangely titillated by it, as well.
He wasn't hard on the eyes-definitely scary looking-but not repulsive.
His cock unnerved her. If anything, it was more alien looking than he was. It was ridiculous, she assured herself, to consider it dangerous in any way. It was big, and it was going to be a challenge mounting something that damned big, but, despite the appearance of it, it was a cock and designed for impregnating their females. It wasn't going to suddenly transform into something horrible the moment he was inside of her.
She didn't have to worry about his cock.
It was him she had to worry about, because it did cross her mind that he'd only made the offer because he was hoping to get the chance to kill at least one of his tormenters.
She'd taken care not to cause him any more pain than she could help, though. She hadn't empathized with his plight, hadn't tried to befriend him. She'd been careful to remain completely professional at all times, but she'd been careful not to add any more to his discomfort than she could help.
She could see the hatred simmering in his eyes any time any of them went near him, though. She doubted her efforts had been appreciated-maybe not even noticed.
He'd noticed Nicole, though, she thought irritably.
Why, she had no idea. The woman was a mouse-pretty enough, she supposed, in a fresh faced, clueless way-very girl next doorish-but certainly nothing to get all excited about.
In fact, she strongly suspected Lucifer had chosen her because she was such a mouse. Not chosen her, she corrected, made the offer for her because he knew Nicole would pass out from sheer terror at the thought. He'd probably thought it would be amusing to see her reaction.
She'd seen the look on his face when Nicole had bolted out of her chair and flatly refused. He'd expected it, anticipated that reaction.
It had enraged him, but she'd seen a glint of satisfaction in his eyes, too, that he'd managed to breach that frozen wall Nicole held before her like a shield, daring any man to cross it.
Obviously, he'd wanted the challenge.
Too bad. He was going to have to settle for her-damn him!
She should've known he was the type of man that preferred being the hunter.
Inwardly, she shrugged. Actually, she'd deduced that, but it had been too late to retract by then. She'd allowed him to see she wasn't disinterested, that she appreciated that fine body and impressive tool he carried around.
She hadn't thought she'd been that obvious when she'd examined him, but realized, too late, that she had when she'd seen the look in his eyes. Luc was a man accustomed to female appreciation. He knew it when he saw it, and, unfortunately, it had only seemed to antagonize him-being helpless and exposed to her curious gaze.
She wasn't certain if it was that incident that had made him turn to Nicole, or if it was just the challenge Nicole represented, and, maybe, she had put the notion in his head when he'd seen at least one human female didn't find him distasteful.
She didn't care either. Dr. Murray wanted to do this series of tests on the alien, and he needed a volunteer. She was going to get to experience what it was like to have sex with an alien and, at the same time, make points with her boss-bosses-that was going to make them take her more seriously as a scientist.
After all, the most famous, respected scientists of all were those who went boldly where no one else would tread, those willing to risk their lives for knowledge that would help mankind when needed.
She could be the Madame Curie of alien investigation!
* * * *
Nicole hadn't been happy before she'd been briefed on the special project she'd been called in on. It was only the none too subtle threat that the government might pull her grant money that had brought a grudging agreement to start with.
She hated working with the government. She'd only been called upon one time before, and that had left a bad taste in her mouth.
This was worse.
Much worse.
Despite everything they'd said-which wasn't really much-she'd expected to find the corpse of an alien creature when they'd finally been escorted to the observation room to see what they'd been gathered to study. She'd expected something that looked 'out of this world', maybe not even like a living thing at all-a rock or plant or something of that nature.
She hadn't expected to see the intelligent, uncomfortably man-like being she had.
She hadn't expected him to be very much alive.
She hadn't expected the rage she sensed in him, although she supposed she should have and would have if she'd realized beforehand that it was a living, sentient being that they had captured and brought in to torment for the sake of science.
It was as clear as a bell when they'd first arrived that the government/military had tortured him for the scant information they'd gotten out of him-and there was precious little. Language specialists had been brought in first, but he'd spoken so few words in the beginning that it had taken them a while to figure out he was actually speaking a language similar enough to one particular-ancient-Earth language that they could understand him.
By the time her team had been called in, they had translators in place. That should have made their job easier except that he hadn't been any more inclined to talk to them than he had the torturers that had come before. Guiltily, she thought what they'd done was probably nearly as bad as the torture.
Dr. Murray, who was in charge, hadn't been the least bit perturbed about the fact that he wouldn't talk. None of them were actually accustomed to getting their answers delivered to them through speech. They'd simply set about running tests, poking and prodding, and collecting 'samples' for analysis as if he was dead.
It had bothered her-a lot. She hadn't said anything because she knew she'd be ignored-or worse. She hadn't left because she couldn't. She wouldn't have come to begin with if she'd had a choice.
But it was a nightmare to her. She couldn't even begin to imagine how horrible it must be for him.
She wished herself a thousand miles away at least once a day.
She'd been looking forward to the conclusion of their study almost since she'd arrived. The only reason she wasn't looking forward to it any longer was because she'd come to realize that, at the conclusion, they were going to kill him.
There were a lot of very good reasons why they couldn't let him go, but she thought the strongest was because they realized after what they'd done there was no way they were going to 'make friends' with these aliens. Even if he wasn't the scout for an invasion as they'd first thought-and there was no evidence either way-his hatred was evident. He wouldn't be returning to his own people with anything good to say about them.
If she hadn't been terrified of the consequences, she would've considered releasing him.
She actually had considered it. She'd dismissed it almost as quickly. Assuming he didn't linger long enough once she removed his restraints to take her apart for having a hand in his torture, he still couldn't escape. Security was unbelievably tight, and she had no clue of how it might be circumvented, was pretty sure it couldn't be breached.
It occurred to her after a while that he might not care, that, after all he'd been put through he might prefer the chance of escape even if the probability of his death in the attempt was high.
It might be quicker and less painful.
But then she would have to pay the price because she was pretty sure she couldn't get away with it without being caught.
And since she'd begun thinking about it, her conscience had been at war with her sense of self-preservation.
This was going to end badly for her, she knew, one way or another. Either she was going to reach a point where her sympathy and her conscience overrode her sense of self-preservation. Or she was going to protect herself and then she was going to have to live with it.
"You're afraid."
The comment so closely followed her thoughts that Nicole sent Lucifer-or Luc as she thought of him-a startled look, wondering, briefly, if he had telepathic abilities. They'd seen nothing to indicate that possibility, though, and she thought it was probably her expression that had given her thoughts away. She was tempted to ignore the remark. "Shouldn't I be?" she asked instead, wondering if he would try to convince her he wasn't dangerous.
Which she sure as hell wouldn't believe for a moment. She'd seen the things he was capable of. No human man possessed such amazing, frightening strength. It took two very strong men to hold him even when they'd drugged him until he was hardly able to stay on his feet. He'd broken free of his restraints twice since he was captured, and each time they'd brought in heavier cuffs and chains. After the first two times, when he'd nearly escaped, they'd cuffed his wrists and his ankles with thick chains sunk into the wall that only allowed the range of half the room when he was free to 'move around'. It took four strong men to secure him to the gurney when they wanted him supine for tests.
"You have no reason to fear that I would harm you … but that isn't what's really bothering you, is it? You're afraid you might enjoy it."
She could no more prevent the blush that scalded her cheeks than she could stop the quiver deep in her belly at his words. She cleared her bone dry throat, ignoring the shiver that went through her that had absolutely nothing to do with fear. The taunting note of his voice pricked her, making her incautious. "Spoken like a man," she said, striving for a dry tone. "I'll need to make a note that the Saitren male's ego is as inflated as the human male's."
His dark eyes glittered with anger, but a faint smile curled his lips that held just enough certainty to send a warning peeling through her. "If you believe it is no more than a hollow boast, you have no reason to concern yourself at all, do you? You can yield to your scientific curiosity regarding the mating habits of the Saitren," he said coolly.
"Since what they've suggested wouldn't be even remotely akin to mating, I can't see that it would be of any scientific value," she said tartly.
"You may be absolutely certain that it will be mating, that you will know when I am done that you are mine, and that I will give you pleasure such as you've never known."
Disconcerted didn't even begin to describe her feelings, and the fact that she was didn't detract one iota from the heated arousal that wafted through her, setting her nerve endings to jangling. "If you mean sexually, and you could," she said in a suffocated voice, "that wouldn't be much of a challenge. I've been told I'm frigid, and I'm pretty sure they're right."
She had been before, at any rate. She wasn't nearly as certain now. The only thing she was sure of was that she wanted to take him down a few pegs-partly because of his supreme self-assurance but mostly because she was afraid he was right.
She refused to meet his eyes again, staring hard at the readouts from the monitors. She could tell he was studying her, though.
"I believe that is a challenge."
Nicole sent him a startled look despite her determination to ignore him. His gaze caught and held hers while her heart rate hitched upward a few more notches. She'd made it a point to avoid eye contact with him altogether, which meant she hadn't actually looked at his face-not enough to actually detail it-only a glimpse from time to time when she couldn't avoid looking in his direction.
A flicker of surprise went through her when she discovered he was actually a handsome creature, his facial features far more human-like than she'd realized. In point of fact, if not for the coloration of his skin-if she ignored the horns and the folded wings behind his shoulders-he looked just like a man in the face and one, moreover, well above average in terms of attractiveness. His features were regular, pleasingly symmetrical if somewhat harsh and angular. There was nothing 'pretty' about him, that was certain, but handsome-reluctantly, she admitted to herself that she thought that he was.
She dragged her gaze from his with an effort. "I hate to disappoint you, but it wasn't a challenge. It was merely a statement of fact."
His lips curled in a smile that made her stomach do a jitter even though she only caught it out of the corner of her eye. "That you have no doubt I could pleasure you as no other?"
She felt her face redden. "That if you gave me any at all it would be bound to be more that I'd 'ever known'. Unfortunately, we'll never know."
"You will. I promise."
A shiver skated through her. She couldn't resist meeting his gaze again. What she saw there both unnerved her and sent a fresh, uncomfortable wash of excitement along her nerve endings. She swallowed with an effort against the sudden tightness in her throat as it flickered through her mind, suddenly, that this man would never know pleasure again, let alone give it. "I'm sorry, Luc. I really am sorry," she whispered, clasping her clipboard more tightly to her chest and moving quickly away from him.
"What did he say to you?" Sandra asked as she scurried out of the room and quickly closed the door behind her.
Nicole sent Sandra a startled glance. "I didn't understand it," she lied.
Sandra's pencil thin, arched brows rose almost to her hair line. Speculation flickered in her dark eyes. "I thought you were starting to understand him without the translators?"
Nicole feigned a look of surprise. "Why would you think that?"
"Because it sounded like you were answering him."
Nicole shrugged offhandedly. "I told him I was sorry I couldn't understand him. Maybe he needs something? You should check."
* * * *
Pain and rage had been his constant companions for so long that Lucifer had lost track of the time he had been entombed in the darkworld of mankind's making, and the irony was that he had come-this time-with good intentions. He had known about this world because his people had come before to conqueror and subjugate-known about all the worlds they had plundered long ago. But that was long ago-generations-and they had evolved beyond the barbarians they once were, turned their energies to building their own civilization instead of plundering and destroying the civilizations of other peoples.
He had come to warn them of the swarm that threatened every planet in its path.
He had come in hope of finding help for his own world, if it came to that, but the benefit would have been to both-help for his world, an early warning for the world of mankind.
It did not matter, now, what his intentions had been. It was too late for both worlds to find the weapon to fight the plague. His world was probably dead already, and this one's days were numbered.
And he hated them too much, now, for what they had done to him to care what happened to them, to give a gods be damn if they, eventually, decided to listen to what he had come to tell them.
If it was too late for his world because they were more interested in torturing him than believing him, he hoped they all died.
The thought had no more settled in his mind than it was followed by a prickling awareness of untruth.
He did not want Nicole to die. There were a lot of things he wanted to do to her himself that might make her wish she was dead, but he had no intention of leaving her to the swarm.
Her, he would take with him when he escaped the bastards-and he would escape. He had found the way at long last. The pity in her eyes, as much as it infuriated him, as much as it withered his soul to see such a look in the eyes of a woman he desired, told him all he needed to know about her weakness-she was soft hearted and empathetic to his pain. All he needed was cunning-and the right human to manipulate.
Nicole.
* * * *
Every precaution had been taken for Sandra's safety, and Nicole had to admit that the way they had the room rigged it was a far cry from a 'porno' set up, which was something like she'd envisioned.
She still wasn't comfortable being an observer, but it was expected of her, and she thought she'd already made it too obvious her heart wasn't 'in' this project-any aspect of it. Their military liaison had given her more than one uncomfortably speculative look, and Dr. Murray had cooled toward her noticeably.
They thought she was a loose cannon. If she didn't watch herself, she was going to be in deep shit.
The men had taken 'front row' seats, thankfully, hovering over the monitors and giving directions to Mark, who was in the room with Luc, applying the sensors to points of interest-his head, chest, and groin area.
Nicole tried not to look at his genitals, but one glance was enough to rivet her attention and answered at least part of the question as to why the men in the group were so fascinated with his reproductive equipment. It was long and thick and like nothing she'd ever seen before except that it was the same general shape as a human penis.
It looked as if it was covered in knobby warts, however, from root to tip. She didn't know what the things were and couldn't imagine what purpose they might serve, but it wasn't any sort of infection, she was sure-or certain Dr. Murray was convinced it wasn't or he wouldn't have agreed to the study.
He didn't have the growths anywhere else on his body, in any case, which certainly seemed to rule out the possibility of any sort of eruption.
It piqued her scientific curiosity at the same time it unnerved her on another level. If she'd been close enough to examine him more thoroughly ….
He had two penises, she discovered with a jolt, or at least something jutting from his belly just above the thick member she'd been studying. It was much smaller than the one she'd been studying, and her mind went chaotic with the effort to figure out the purpose of that.
It popped in her mind that, in the mythology she'd studied in search of similarities between their alien and the 'evil demon' of Earth lore, he'd been described as having a 'forked' tail in many of them.
As far as she was concerned, that clenched it. His species, or race if she accepted Mark's theory, had been to Earth before. Just as obviously, his more advanced species had terrified the indigenous people, at the very least, or they wouldn't have become part of human lore as 'demons'.
It was debatable whether they'd actually done anything to deserve such notoriety. He unnerved them, all of them, whether they wanted to admit it or not, and they weren't ignorant and superstitious as early man had been. Their appearance alone would probably have been sufficient to terrorize the natives, and any sort of advanced technology they'd displayed would have seemed like magic-completely incomprehensible 'abilities' to the primitive minds of the time.
When Mark had attached the wires to the electrodes, he fitted what looked like a dog's choke collar around Luc's neck-except it had an electric cord instead of a lead. "If there is any attempt to harm the woman this will be used to render you unconscious."
Luc's eyes narrowed on Mark's face, but he didn't say anything.
Sandra, wearing a full length lab coat, entered the room as Mark finished adjusting the control collar. Luc's gaze moved from Mark to Sandra, settled on her face for a long moment, and then moved to the two way mirror that fronted the observation booth-or, more specifically, directly to her. She froze. As certain as she'd been before that he couldn't possibly see them-or, more importantly, her-a shiver skated down her spine when she met his gaze and saw the glitter of absolute fury in his eyes.
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