The Commander's Mate by Morganna Williams Page A

happily, while she devoured everything on her own.
    Izzy sat back with a smile, beyond full but still wanting a piece of Madge’s famous pecan pie. She didn’t even have to order; Madge put a piece in front of her when she came to get Izzy’s dinner plate.
    “You look good, Izzy,” Madge observed.
    “Thank you, healthy food and air, but I’ve really missed your home cooking, Madge,” Izzy said softly. Madge smiled once more at Izzy before heading back to the kitchen.
    Izzy rolled her eyes back theatrically after taking a bite of the pie. “Grayson, you have to try this!”
    He watched as she cut another piece with her fork and offered it to him. Grayson obeyed her summons, taking the sweet pastry into his mouth. Izzy grinned, watching his eyes light up as the sweetness melted across his tongue.
    “May I have another bit, little fire?” he asked hopefully.
    Izzy frowned at him thoughtfully. “I don’t know, I usually don’t share my pie with anyone.”
    “I’m not just anyone,” Grayson pointed out with a heavy-lidded smile.
    She blinked, feeling her lady bits wake up at his steamy look. Oh my, that look didn’t usually come her way until bedtime. It was even harder to resist in the broad light of day. “I’m done.”
    Izzy pushed the pie across the table. Grayson took one deliberate bite, running his tongue around his lips as if to catch every morsel while eating her with his eyes.
    She squirmed in her seat. “Check, please!”
    Grayson laughed. “I will pay for our meal, little fire, you wait here.”
    The minute he was gone, Carl Tinton approached her. Carl used to come into the library just to leer at her while making fat spinster jokes at her expense. He’d told her he could go fat for a night or to just to help her with her dry spell. “Well, if it isn’t the chubby little librarian. Hey, Izzy, you porkin’ the big bad alien now? I wouldn’t mind a bit of action with your curvy body myself.”
    “Go away, Carl,” Izzy said with disgust.
    Carl grabbed her arm and pulled her close as he leaned into her face, his breath hot with garlic and something sour. “Don’t you get uppity with me, little lady. When these boys go home, you’ll have to make do with the locals again.”
    “Let me go!” she cried out when he squeezed her arm painfully.
    An enraged bellow filled the dinner when Grayson looked over and saw the little earth man with his hands on Izzy.
    Grayson was in front of her in an instant, sending Carl flying across the room and into the jukebox. “You dare to put your hands on my mate?”
    Carl looked up fearfully at the huge enraged alien. “Hey, man, I didn’t know. She was flirting with me when you turned your back. I knew she was boinking you but I didn’t realize it was more than casual. She’s always been a bit of slut.”
    Izzy gasped, “You liar!” She pushed her way around Grayson to confront the odious little man.
    Grayson caught her easily up in his arms. “You will not, Isabella. This creature is beneath your notice. He is merely regretting his loss of opportunity with you. He knows he will never now have the chance to touch you. I will leave you this time, but know this, earth man, if you dare touch my mate again I will kill you. Do not ever make the mistake of touching a Ramelian’s mate again.”
    “I touched her plenty before you got here!” Carl yelled.
    Grayson shook his head at the little man. “Isabella would never have allowed one such as you to touch her, she was waiting for me.”
    Izzy looked up at Grayson from her cradled position in his arms. Feeling her heart swell, she raised a hand to touch the side of his face in wonder. “You love me.” She said the words with certainty, all the doubt suddenly gone from her heart.
    He smiled and turned his face to press a kiss into her palm. “Of course I love you, little fire. I knew you were mine from the moment I saw you on that dark little road. Mine to love, mine to cherish, mine to correct. I’ve