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.Crazy should always look that good.Once back in her room, Hannah slipped quickly out of her jeans, pulled the shirtover her head and wrapped herself in her long, warm bathrobe before climbing backinto bed.The near nudity made her feel both better and more vulnerable, which didn tmake sense.But nothing made sense right now, and when everything was senseless, itdidn t make sense to make sense of things. Oh God. Hannah rolled her eyes at the twisted state of her own mind.She pulledone pillow over her eyes and brought her thoughts to what she did understand.The31 Iris Astressafe harbor of her desk held a collection of love poems to be annotated, a compiled listof film clips she had to okay.Where would she start today? With Lorca? Baudelaire?She d almost convinced herself to get up and start working when a change in airannounced Oliver s presence in the room.She emerged from behind the pillow to seehis strong, graceful body move toward her.In his hands were two steaming mugs.She took one, thanked him, then paused to frown into the dark, fragrant liquid. Ican t call you Oliver anymore, can I? You can. He lowered himself to the foot of the bed. I m used to it.And it sactually very close to my real name. Which is? Yom Lister. Yum? She made a face. Yom, he corrected. How is that like Oliver? Most people call me Lister.Lister.Oliver. He demonstrated a plausible similarity. I see. She remembered her coffee and took a sip.It was strong and slightly sweet.Exactly how she liked it, and he d even served it up in her favorite bluebird mug. How do you know everything? she asked. Do you read minds or something? No.Not much anyway. He reached a long arm to her knee and patted itreassuringly. I know because I ve been living here for three weeks. Oh yeah. As her cat.How could she forget? You can learn a lot about a person in three weeks. Hannah went back to her cup, trying to take this in.What had he seen? Should shequiz him again? What would that prove? Maybe he d used cameras to spy on her.Maybe he d been watching her from tiny holes in the wall.She took a bigger cowboyswig of coffee and brushed the creepy image from her mind.Why the hell would anyone spend three weeks watching her? Do what? Read?Rummage through her messy desk? Wouldn t drying paint be more exciting? Sure, sheundressed sometimes, but& Suddenly Hannah gasped and almost choked. What? He reached for her mug.She wouldn t let go.The coffee tasted good andshe wanted lots more.Inadvertently, her eyes shifted to her dressing room and the intimate equipment she kept in the red box. That? He smiled, instantly recognizing the direction of her gaze.She pushed against his thigh with her toes, wriggling away from him. You shouldbe ashamed of yourself, she told him. I should? He looked genuinely surprised. I don t see why.You knew I wasthere. She gaped at him in disbelief. I thought you were a cat! 32 Alien, Interrupted Oh right. He nodded thoughtfully. Perhaps I was a little out of line.In mydefense it would have been impossible for me to take my eyes off you.I ve never seenanything so lovely.Those particular memories were the best thing about an otherwisefabulous trip. Trip? Yes. Trip, she repeated. Yes.I m here on vacation. Vacation. He smiled at her. Yes.Are you all right? You re looking a little blank. So fill me in, she prompted.Later she would deal with having been an accidentalporn star. Here from where? He paused and looked slightly left.When he inhaled, his eyes narrowedprotectively as though he were expecting a bad reaction.She got ready to give it to him. Thalia, he said.Hannah gave no reaction at all. Where the hell is that? Not far. He watched her carefully. It s about six planets east of Saturn. Hannah relinquished her cup and sank under the covers. You re from a different planet? She moaned into her hands.Then flipped on herbelly and grabbed for the pillow.A space alien.Either a real one or someonedelusional and given the cat-to-man trick, smart money said real.That seemed unfathomably bad, but then again, what explanation for her catturning into a man had she been hoping for? Space alien was as good as any, wasn t it? Wait, she said, flipping herself back over. You re not here to eradicate theexisting population and colonize the planet, are you? No. He solemnly shook his head. I am not here to do that. And you re not going to cook us up and eat us. What? His expression morphed from confusion to alarm and back again. With a recipe book for how to make human stew called To Serve Man, like thoseTwilight Zone aliens, she prompted.It was all the science fiction she knew that and alot of laser beams blowing things up.He shook his head at her, the beguiling expression of patience melting her reserve. Why not let me tell you everything from the beginning. Everything, Yom Lister reminded himself, was a relative term.But he would tellHannah something at least.She was naked under that robe he could tell by the wayshe looked at him, by the way she moved.He stood up from the foot of the bed wherehe d been sitting, looking meaningfully down at the mattress.She looked at it too.33 Iris Astres Scoot over, he said.She glanced uncertainly to her left, before frowning back at him. Why do youalways do that? she demanded. There s plenty of room all over this bed and youalways come over on this side and want me to move. She was obviously thinking backto when he d been a cat, which was good.If she could marry those two identities intoone person, she d probably be able to handle the rest.But of course she could do it.Complex stories were what Hannah did.She had ataste for narrative.A serious talent.If she could handle epic poetry, she d easily managehis simple storyline.He suddenly felt great pride in his Hannah.Pride, mixed withtenderness, soaking in a generous vat of increasingly insistent lust. I like to be where your body s been. He answered her question by nodding at herplace in the bed.Hannah flushed and then paled, looking at a loss
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