by Tammy Walsh
“Why?”
“Because you’re a stranger. And you’re male.”
“The floor looks pretty hard…”
“You can have the blankets. We might have food but we don’t have anything else we need. No towels or soap or toilet paper.”
“That’s okay,” he said, chomping happily on his steak. “We can ask the replicator for it.”
The fork froze halfway to my mouth.
“The replicator?” I said.
“Sure. It can make anything you ask for.”
“You’re joking. I thought it was just for food.”
“Nope.”
I dropped my fork.
“Then why are we sitting here dressed like this?” I said.
I stomped toward the machine.
“Computer,” I said. “I want a nice big hoodie with a front pocket. Grey. And warm.”
A moment later, the hoodie was there. I snatched it up and put it on.
“And pants,” I said. “Jeans. Faded.”
It spat those out too and I put them on.
“I cannot believe you didn’t mention this earlier,” I said.
“Why?” he said. “I was enjoying looking at you.”
I pressed my lips together in agitation and gave him the finger.
“Computer,” I said. “Pants for a male Titan. And a t-shirt.”
The machine produced them. A pair of black pants like an office worker might wear and a plain white t-shirt. Unless I specified what I wanted, the machine would always give me a generic version of the item.
I tossed him the clothes.
“Put them on,” I said.
“I’m eating,” he said.
“So put them on and then eat.”
Chax growled.
“Are all human females so bossy?” he said.
I jabbed him on the chest.
“You don’t know what bossy is, Mister,” I said.
Our eyes met.
I’d intended for it to sound sinister and scary but when we looked at each other, with him still half-naked, my mouth turned dry.
I stepped back and looked away.
“Anyway,” I said. “Eat up. And dress. We’ve got work to do.”
We? Since when did this become “we”? From the moment he appeared in this room. For better or worse, we were stuck together.
I tucked the fork up my sleeve. I’d attack him with it if he tried anything. It was a big step up from the red pen.
“What work?” he said.
“We’re getting out of here.”
“There’s no door.”
“Then we’ll make one with our handy little buddy the replicator machine.”
I asked the replicator to produce a door but nothing happened.
“It can only make things that can fit inside the machine,” Chax said.
“Oh,” I said. “Well, that’s not very advanced, is it?”
I turned back to the machine.
“Then give me a cellphone,” I said.
It created one. I was so excited, I could barely wait for it to finish before picking it up and pressing the buttons.
Nothing happened.
I put it to my ear.
“Hello?” I said.
The damn thing didn’t have any power. I handed it to Chax.
“They’re not going to make it that easy for us to escape,” he said.
“Then what do you suggest we do?” I said.
I was growing frustrated. How could he be so relaxed about this whole thing? Didn’t he hate being locked up like this?
“We need to figure out another way to get out of here,” he said.
“Like what?” I said. “There’s no door! What do you expect us to do? Make our own?”
He stared at me and I stared back at him.
We had infinite amounts of food and water and plenty of time on our hands. Why couldn’t we do it?
“Move out of the way,” I ordered. “Computer, give us a jackhammer.”
“It needs power,” he reminded me.
“Then give us a power generator!” I spat.
“It’s too big,” Chax said.
“Gah!” I yelled. “Fine. We’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Give us hammers and chisels. And safety goggles.”
“You can’t be serious,” Chax said. “What makes you think they aren’t on the other side of the wall armed with blasters?”
“I don’t. But they put us in here somehow. They might be technologically advanced but there’s nothing a hammer and chisel can’t break.”
I scooped up the instruments from the replicator and handed them to Chax.
“You’re one of a kind,” he said, shaking his head at me.
“You better know it,” I said with a wink. “I’m an engineer by trade. I can tell you we can tunnel our way through anything given enough time and will.”
I lowered the goggles over my eyes and slipped the work gloves on my hands. I put the chisel to the wall’s surface and hammered at it. The material chipped off and fell to the floor. I breathed a sigh of relief. The one thing I was concerned about was finding the wall was built of some kind of impenetrable substance. It turned out our abductors weren’t as advanced as Chax warned me they were.
I grinned up at Chax.
“See?” I said. “It can be chipped, which means it can be destroyed. Now, pick a section of wall and get to work.”
Twelve hours later, and I’d dug a tunnel through the wall three feet deep. My hands hurt and my wrists were tender and sore from the constant hammering. I developed a rash on my arms where the shards of stone had embedded themselves in my skin. And the dust was itchy as hell.
Chax worked on a separate area on the other side of the room. He was so much stronger than me that he managed to carve two tunnels in the time it took me to dig one.
I leaned back on my elbows and removed the protective goggles from my face. I wiped the sweat from my brow.
“Anything?” he called to me.
I tossed the goggles to one side.
“Not a dicky bird,” I said.
He frowned at me in confusion. No doubt the expression didn’t translate well and he couldn’t understand what a bird had to do with anything.
“It was worth a try,” he said. “I’m proud of you for even coming up with the idea. I would never have thought of something like this.”
“Then you wouldn’t have ended up wasting half a day,” I grumbled.
“Hey,” he said. “All we have is time. If we’re not using it to try and escape, what are we supposed to do with ourselves?”
I massaged my wrists. He had a point. We were trapped in this room. There was precious little else we could do.
“How about we take a break?” he said.
“We should keep going,” I said.
But God knew I didn’t want to. My arms were suffering from serious pain. It wasn’t good for them to keep getting these shuddering shocks.
“You’re going to lose the use of your wrists if you keep going like that,” he said. “May I?”
He reached for my hands. He wanted to take them, but to do what? I wasn’t sure I wanted him touching me—
Ohhhhhhh.
He massaged my wrists and forearms with his thumb and forefingers, making concentric circles over the surface of my skin. Who would have thought someone so big and powerful could be so gentle?
“I can feel it in there,” he said.
“Mm?” I said. “Feel what?”
“The tense muscles. If you’re not careful, you could do some serious damage.”
“I’ll be okay,” I said.
“We’ve done enough for today. Let’s take a break and relax for the rest of the evening.”
“Evening? It’s not evening yet.”
His fingers found a nub of swollen muscles and worked them firmly.
“Computer, make a clock for us, please,” Chax said.
A clock? Now that was a good idea. Why didn’t I think of it
? It wasn’t like me to forget something like that—
Ohhhhhhh.
One of his hands worked up my forearm and elbow. His touch was magical.
“How does that feel?” he said.
“Good,” I said. “So good.”
My eyes were firmly shut now and my head lolled to one side. I suddenly felt exhausted.
His other hand worked its way up my arm, massaging and working out the kinks and turning them to mush. If I wasn’t careful, I would fall asleep. And snore. Then I’d drool.
So what did I care about that? He was a stranger.
A hot stranger. With one of the most ridiculous bodies I’ve ever seen in my life. And I had seen a lot.
His hands were on my shoulders now. He must have shifted position. He got to work kneading the firm muscles. My arms sagged. I was putty in his hands. He eased my body forward with my face between my knees and really got into the crevices.
This Titan had the hands of a god.
And then I became aware of the other effect the sensation was having on me.
I got a tingling sensation across my body like he’d tossed a pebble in a pond and the ripples washed across the surface of my skin. The ripples weren’t evenly spread. They seemed to gather in one place in particular…
Down there…
My eyes bolted open and I shot up onto my feet.
“Okay!” I said. “Wow. Yes. That’s much better now. Thank you. I feel as good as new.”
“I didn’t finish yet,” he said.
He stood up and approached me with those devil mitts of his.
He said, “I need to finish your neck and work on your—”
“Woah-ho!” I said.
I knew exactly what he wanted to work on! Well, not with me. And not on the first day, buddy!
Not the first day? Then the second day would be okay?
No!
“I feel plenty good enough, thanks,” I said.
“All right,” he said. “But if you want more, you know where I am.”
He smiled and those damn dimples beamed.
I would have slapped myself if he wasn’t staring right at me.
“Right,” I said. “It’s…”
I spotted the clock produced by the replicator.
“Seven o’clock in the evening,” I said. “Wait. Seven already? Wow. I guess we should be winding down for the day, huh?”
“It’s a good idea,” he said. “The walls will still be here when we wake up tomorrow. We can start again then. If your wrists and arms feel up to it.”
I massaged them and was surprised at how much better they felt.
A whole lot better.
They’d feel even better with his hands on them again…
“I’ll tidy up the tools and then we can take a shower,” I said. “I mean, I can take a shower. We can—individually. Of course.”
“Whatever you say,” he said. “You’re the boss.”
If I was the boss, why did I feel so lightheaded suddenly? Why did my legs feel like they were about to give way beneath me?
Get a hold of yourself, girl! You might be trapped in this room with him for ages yet. You need to get a grip before you do something you regret.
Oh, I don’t think I’d regret anything…
Hussy.
With a strange man sharing my room, I didn’t feel comfortable getting naked in the shower. He could wander in there any time and have his way with me.
Him and that ridiculous body of his…
Egad! Put a cork in it!
I stripped the sheet off the bed and, with the taller Titan’s help, hung it up over the hole where the door was meant to be. What was it with these abductors of ours and their fear of doors? It wasn’t much protection but it made me feel better. It would prevent him from glancing in.
I stripped off and placed my dirty clothes in a laundry basket. The replicator was the most useful machine invented anywhere ever. Goodbye Main Street—you just got replaced by a tiny machine that everyone would have in their homes.
I checked the water temperature and climbed inside. Every few seconds, I glanced through the spray of water, wiped the droplets from my eyes, and peered in the direction of the bedsheet door.
It hadn’t been disturbed.
That was a good thing.
Then why did I feel disappointed?
I concentrated on scrubbing myself in the shower. I’d already asked the replicator for shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and a loofah. The replicator even knew the specific brand of shower gel I liked to use. Not bad for an alien machine, I thought.
I was so dirty, the water turned a dull grey as the dust washed off me and disappeared down the drain. Clean hair made a world of difference. I felt like a new person.
Once I was done, I reached for the faucet to turn the shower off. I surprised myself when I hesitated.
I’d already seen how my subconscious acted around Chax. Did I really want to see what would happen when we were both clean and fuzzy with warmth?
Who knows what might happen.
I needed to release my sexual repression. I needed to let go so I wouldn’t act on my baser impulses. Yes, I would still think them but I didn’t have to act.
The water was nice and warm and soothing as it washed over my body. I glanced at the blanket once more, checking the coast was clear.
I imagined him out there right now, waiting patiently for me to finish…
And then I imagined he wasn’t so patient. That he was attracted to me as much as I was to him. He’d been nothing but a gentleman but sometimes I wanted something a little more… visceral.
He would stride into the bathroom and see me standing there, the water running down the curves of my body. He would be turned on and instantly notice the look in my eye. He would approach me. I wouldn’t shy away, which would tell him everything he needed to know.
I want you.
He would lower his lips to my nipples. They were already pert with yearning. He would take them in his mouth and work his tongue around them, his big powerful hands reaching around and cupping my ass.
I worked hard for this body. It wasn’t always fun sweating in the gym. I lived for moments when a man appreciated how good I looked.
He’d grab my ass, spank me a little, and reach around, and slip a finger inside me from behind. His lips would keep working my breasts. Now, he would pinch me harder between his teeth until it was almost painful. Then I’d lift my leg a little to help him rub his finger in a little deeper.
He’d curl his finger, knowing just how I liked to be touched. Then he’d press his lips against mine, hungry, and passionate.
Then he’d bring his finger up and slip it in his mouth. He’d taste me and he’d like it. Then I’d take it from him and nibble on it.
I strummed myself in the shower, slipping my finger inside and playing out the fantasy I imagined him doing to me.
Then he would ram that big cock of his inside me. No warm-up, no hesitation. He would claim me and I would be his. I knew it was big. I saw his underwear earlier, and even unexcited as he’d been, it made my lips quiver with anticipation.
The water would spill down our bodies the way it was now over mine. He would press me against the wall and thrust inside me mercilessly as I held onto him, raking my nails down his back.
I’d seen how fast he could heal. He could take it. And I’d bite him viciously on the chest and neck. I’d do to him what I’d been too cautious to do with men back home.
And that thought—that I could do whatever I wanted to him—pushed me over the edge. The explosion was powerful. It swept over me. I groaned with joy as I imagined his hot come pumping inside me and—
“Are you okay in there?” Chax said.
I almost slipped and fell over.
“Huh? Wha?” I said.
“I thought I heard you scream,” he said.
Had I?
I’d been so engrossed in my fantasy I hadn’t checked to make sure I wasn’t making re
al-world noises. I cursed myself.
“Uh, no,” I said. “I’m fine. It just… feels so good! I’m screaming with joy!”
He didn’t say another word. I shook my head.
I was such a dumbass.
The whole point of doing this was to reduce my pent-up sexual energy. Not make it worse!
But I knew nothing would happen between us. How could it? He didn’t feel the same way toward me that I did with him.
I took the opportunity to glance at his package after he gave me that stupendous massage. There hadn’t been so much as a peep out of the little guy.
I cleaned myself up and continued with my shower.
It would remain a fantasy, nothing more.
Chax
The water felt fine. It was hot and soothing and eased my aches and pains.
All but one.
The one that really mattered.
Maddy.
She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on. And lately, I’d seen a lot of them.
They were each charming and charismatic but they lacked something. And the moment I saw Maddy, I knew there was something special about her.
Something different.
Something indescribable.
She was even worth the high price I had to pay to get here. Not that I had much choice in the matter.
I was walking through the woods near my parents’ farm when I saw the light. It turned the world so bright I could barely open my eyes.
Great columns of silhouetted trees swung around like spokes in a giant wheel as that light swung around in an arc across the sky. First one and then many.
I knew what they were right away.
Everyone living on a Titan planet knew what they were.
They were trouble.
Bad trouble.
It came in the shape of alien creatures called Changelings.
They liked to attack Titan settlements. They tended to steer clear of the larger, more powerful planets and moons in the Titan empire. They were simply too well-protected.
Unlike the outer rim planets like mine. We were but humble farmers and didn’t have family or contacts in the upper echelons of Titan society. We were not considered high enough value to defend properly.
All Titans knew to look away when the lights came. We were taught the same lullaby at school:
When the bright lights come from the trees,
