by A. G. Wilde
As he got closer, Lauren had time to take him in.
He was tall, muscular…she could see his biceps bulging through the simple dark tunic he wore. The tunic hung over his dark trousers, which were tucked neatly into his dirt-encrusted boots.
He was wearing a wide-brimmed hat of some sort with dark glasses covering his eyes. Black hair in partial locs and some loose strands hung over his shoulders, decorated with golden adornments, and over his nostrils and mouth a cloth was tied, like a handkerchief turned into a mask.
One arm hung at his side idly as he approached but the other held a large weapon, a gun of some sort, thrown over his shoulder.
“What the actual fuck?” she breathed. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Geblit glare her way, silently telling her to shut up.
This was the person he wanted to leave her with?
This Riv looked like a bounty hunter—as if one wrong move and she’d be cut down with the weapon slung over his shoulder. The fact she couldn’t see his face properly or even his eyes only made the apprehension snake thicken and grow heavy on her spine.
Despite that his shades gave no indication of where he was looking, something told her he was looking her way and she fought the urge to scramble away deeper into the box, as if she had space there.
“Riv.” Geblit was speaking, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the male that was now in their presence.
He was blue all over, it seemed. A cobalt blue that made the bits of visible flesh on his face and arms look inviting to touch.
He came to a stop in front of where the barrier was and she felt, rather than saw, his focus move from the box to Geblit.
“Why are you here? I told you I don’t like visitors,” he said.
Fun guy, this one. She could already tell.
“This isn’t technically a visit. I am merely dropping the human off.”
This time, Riv’s head turned and she was positive he was looking at the box.
“Human?” The way he said the word, she could practically see his lips curl. “The phek is that?”
“A new species I found at the animal market.” When Riv said nothing, his head still turned in the box’s direction as if he was trying to see through it, Geblit rushed on. “It is quite tame. It will fit in well with your oogas.”
Geblit motioned to the hippo-looking things grazing quietly in the long yellow-orange grass of one of the enclosures.
He thought she would fit in well with those?!
“Looks too small to fit in with an ooga,” Riv noted.
Smart man.
There was no way one of those things could even come close to fitting in the box so she was obviously much smaller than they were.
Geblit’s eyes darted around for a bit. “I mean in temperament. Very easy to…take care of.”
“If it’s so easy to take care of, you keep it then.” Riv turned as if he was about to leave, and she could almost feel Geblit’s anxiety.
“I can’t! Cargga doesn’t want it at our residence. It will die if I leave it on its own.”
No, she wouldn’t!
…
Well, she probably would, but most likely not by her own hands but by the hands of some merciless alien.
If it came to that, though, she would fight till the final moment. Even if she had to use her teeth as her only weapons.
She would bite her enemies then run.
Riv paused, his head angled in the direction of the box once more.
“Why is the box closed?”
Geblit’s four eyes darted from the box to Riv and back. He was so bad at lying.
“I didn’t want to risk it escaping. It is not a very intelligent species.”
Remind her to throttle the skinny alien whenever she had a chance to.
Despite Geblit’s pleading, Riv began to walk off. “Take it back to wherever you got it from.”
At this point, a wail pierced the air, pulling her gaze away from the tall, blue alien to Geblit.
Geblit’s mouth was in the shape of a long oval as another of the horrible wails left his lips.
Was he…was he crying?
Lauren’s face scrunched up as she watched the alien. He really was a sight when he got hysterical.
It wasn’t she alone who was affected by Geblit’s sudden emotional outburst. Even the big, blue male seemed to shift uncomfortably, his brows rising over his shades.
“What is it?” Riv’s voice reflected annoyance and mild frustration.
“I can’t bring it back. I was bested, Riv! No returns!” Geblit wailed. “My Cargga will be most unhappy.”
Riv let out a sound like a groan.
“You have to help me, Riv. I call on that favor you owe me.”
Again with that. She was starting to wonder what this favor was.
There was a silence that hung heavily in the air as they both waited for Riv’s next words.
“Fine,” he finally said. As he walked toward Geblit, his towering frame was even more noticeable beside the lesser male.
“But that means we’re even now. You helped me after I left the mines. I help you with this.” He moved over to her side of the hovercar and placed his blaster on top of the box. “Debt paid.”
Without even a grunt of exertion, he lifted the box against his chest and proceeded to move away from the hovercar. The movement was so sudden, she almost yelped.
Fastening her hand over her mouth, she looked through the slits, her eyes focusing on Geblit.
He was watching the box with such relief in his eyes, she didn’t know how to feel.
“Tell me,” Riv’s voice boomed close to the box. “What did you buy this thing for?”
“Cargga wanted a new bedmate to make things more exciting.”
Riv’s groan of disgust mimicked her feelings. He paused just on the other side of the barrier as the particles activated once more, locking Geblit on the other side.
“You were going to phek an ooga?” His disgust seemed to grow as he said the words.
Geblit smiled at him weakly but said nothing.
Instead, he turned and hopped into his hovercar just as Riv started walking again.
Goddammit.
She knew why Geblit didn’t respond. They both knew she was nothing like an ooga.
Only, Riv didn’t know.
How the fuck was he going to respond when he found out?
The box bumped and swayed as she was carried toward the large building. As they moved in silence, she could just about hear the soft sound of the wind rustling the grass in the fields. It was such a serene existence, so far out, it was still hard to believe that the owner of the sanctuary wasn’t an old, feeble alien that looked like Geblit.
But as they passed various small enclosures, the animals barely noticing them, she could see enough of the enclosures to tell it took a lot of work taking care of the place.
She doubted an alien of Geblit’s stature could have managed it all without machines to help.
It made sense.
She just hadn’t considered it before then.
Before long, the light of the outside disappeared as she was brought into a dimmer area. Eyes darting around, she could see they’d reached inside.
The box was promptly set on the floor with a jerk and a curse.
Spinning so she could get a better idea of where she was, she looked out the other side of the box.
The area was cluttered with things upon things that she couldn’t even distinguish. A light layer of dust covered everything, so it was clear nothing had been moved in a while.
Frowning a little, she looked out the other side of the box.
There was a table, some chairs, and a rectangular slab that looked like it had bunched-up hay laying on its surface.
It looked so similar to the slab she’d been sleeping on for a year that it made a horrible taste rise in her mouth.
A loud sound caught her ear, followed by what sounded like another curse and her eyes flew to what she
could see of the alien—his legs.
The blaster was now on the table and she assumed when he’d thrown it there, that was what had made the loud sound. The shades and the mouth covering landed on the table next.
“Phekking Geblit,” Riv muttered, his voice so deep it felt like it rumbled in her chest. He walked back toward the box and the top moved as he fumbled with it.
Wait.
She wasn’t ready for him to see her yet. It didn’t feel like she’d had time to acclimate with her new surroundings at all.
Suddenly, with Geblit no longer there, the fact she was completely alone with this new alien was making goosebumps appear all over her body.
It didn’t take him long to release the top of the container and soon light flooded inside as the box was opened.
Crouching, her hand shading her eyes, she blinked quickly, trying to get her eyes accustomed to the new light, all the while very, very aware that there was silence all about her.
When she finally was able to look up fully, she realized the blue alien was crouching there, unmoving, his hands still grasping the flaps of the box as he looked down at her, saying nothing.
Pointed green eyes stared at her and his brows were almost at his hairline so she assumed he was surprised?
Well, she guessed it was up to her to say hello then.
“Hello.” She smiled weakly.
First impressions, Lauren. First impressions.
But instead of saying hello, it was as if her voice snapped him out of some trance.
A sudden deep snarl left his lips as his teeth bared. Sharp fangs protruded over his lips as he hissed and Lauren scrambled backward, eyes wide.
A sharp sound like blades opening caught her ear and she became vaguely aware that black claws suddenly appeared on his four-fingered hand.
Shit.
Shit shit shit shit.
The pupils in his eyes dilated so much and so quickly, his eyes were almost completely black and Lauren swallowed hard.
Shit.
He was going to kill her, wasn’t he.
He was going to slit her throat with those claws and wet his fangs in her blood.
Fucking Geblit.
But then again, he hadn’t said Riv was nice.
He’d been bested?
Bested?
Riv growled deep in his throat, a sound that carried through the room and made the creature in front of him move farther into the box even though there was no more room for her to go.
He’d been bested?
Geblit Cakhura was a phekking liar.
He, Riv, was the one that had been bested. Bested by a weak Torian by the name of Geblit.
Phek!
He should have looked in the box before taking it. He should have known something was not right. It had been much lighter than an ooga was, much quieter. And that was because it was nothing like an ooga.
It was a female.
Undoubtedly a female!
And in his house!
Her pale, soft midsection heaved as she stared at him and her large brown eyes widened. Her chest was rising and falling quickly as she gripped the edges of the box and her throat moved as she watched him.
She was trembling slightly; he could see the mop of light-colored strands that hung from her head shaking as she looked at him.
The tiny bump on her face that was her nose flared at the edges as she inhaled deeply, her small mouth forming a thin line after a few seconds.
Another growl rumbled low in his throat and he watched as the female’s brown eyes grew even larger.
He was scaring her.
He knew he was.
He probably looked like he was about to pounce on her and snap her neck. He wanted to snap someone’s neck, but it wasn’t hers.
Geblit Cakhura’s, preferably.
Every muscle in his being was tense, anger boiling beneath.
If he could see himself, he knew what he’d see—a large threatening male.
It’s what most beings saw when they looked at him and so far, this persona had served him well.
But the utter fear in the female’s eyes as she stared at him only made him growl again in anger.
Chest heaving, the female’s eyes darted from him around the room to land on his blaster.
She wouldn’t dare.
Gathering himself, he made to stand only for the female to jump suddenly from her box, so suddenly he hadn’t expected the movement, and within moments she was at the table.
Before he could even consider what she was about to do, he watched in shock as she lifted his blaster and pointed it right at him.
His own weapon.
Geblit Cakhura was a liar.
Not a very intelligent species, he’d said.
Well, you wouldn’t get one of his oogas pulling a blaster on him any day. Within seconds of freeing this, this … being, it was already threatening him.
The female’s breathing was coming hard as she watched him, her brown eyes still wide, and Riv let out a grunt of annoyance as he stood.
He must have stood much faster than she’d expected or maybe she was frightened because she was so small, for as he rose, she took a few steps back, her eyes moving up his frame to only get larger as they landed on his face.
“Look,” she spoke.
Her voice caught him off guard…or maybe it was that he hadn’t heard the voice of a female in so long, for hers was like music. Soft like a caress, even though she’d hardened her voice to speak firmly to him.
That one word stroked across his body, only making his annoyance grow.
“Ai dohnt meen yoo en-ee hahrm. Ai didn ahsk fer dis eederr.”
What?
She was speaking words, he assumed. The sounds didn’t appear to just be random.
The next time he saw Geblit, he was definitely going to snap his neck.
“Put down the weapon.” He could barely get the words through his gritted teeth.
The female didn’t budge.
Maybe she couldn’t understand him just as he couldn’t understand her.
Great. The least Geblit could have done was get her a translator chip.
The Torian had been right about one thing, though. He’d said she was a…he forgot the word. He hadn’t recognized the species and now that he was looking at her, it was clear the female standing in front of him wasn’t of any species he’d seen before. She was similar to other species he’d seen, of course, but not the same.
One could say she was similar to his species but there were obvious differences.
For one, she was pale all over it seemed and she wasn’t carrying the horns that were a feature of the females of his kind.
Taking a step toward her, he paused as she jerked the blaster in his direction.
“Dohnt moove uhntil yootell mee yoo arnt goh-ing to-hurrht mee.”
A growl rumbled low in his chest.
He could move across the room and take the weapon from her small hands within a second. He doubted she even knew how to use it. The safety was still on. But she looked so…daring, pulling strength from her own bravery, that he paused and considered leaving her with the thing.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he surveyed her, wondering what she was about to do next.
She took a moment, watching him with eyes that were becoming less wide as the moments passed. Finally happy that he was no longer moving towards her, she let out a breath.
“Oh-kay. Lehts stahrt ah-gen.”
7
The big blue guy wasn’t responding but at least he’d stopped growling at her as if he was about to advance and break her in two.
So far, this first impression wasn’t going well. It wasn’t going well at all.
Lauren gripped the blaster in her hands, still pointing it at the male in front of her.
The darn thing was heavy and her arms were already protesting—this was what a year without proper exercise brought her—but she wasn’t going to lower the weapon. Not when he still stood there as
if ready to pounce and not while his entire frame seemed to fill the small room.
She doubted she could skirt around him and head for the door without him catching her. Wherever she ran, he would be there in a second. She reckoned the only reason he wasn’t in front of her, snatching the blaster from her hands, was because she had it trained on him.
That gave her the upper hand for a little while—at least until she could figure out how to calm him down enough so he wouldn’t hurt her.
She didn’t even know how to use the damn blaster. He would find that out soon enough. For now, she had to play it smart.
“You should sit and I’ll explain everything.” She used the blaster to motion to the chair, but he didn’t move. He didn’t even turn his head to glance at it.
Dammit. She wished he would at least say something.
Instead, his mouth was curled with distaste as he glared at her.
Shit.
Clearing her throat, she continued. “We got off on the wrong foot. I’m not a threat.” She glanced at the blaster…well, it certainly wasn’t helping with that point.
Shaking away the thought, she continued. “I didn’t ask to be here—” Well, you kinda did, Einstein. “—and it’s obvious you don’t want me here either. I completely understand that. But, and I know this is rich coming from an outcast you just met, I would like a chance. I could help out around here. I could even stay in the barn…that is, if you have a barn. You wouldn’t even know I’m here. I won’t stay long. Just long enough for me to get my bearings. Then I’ll be out of your hair. I promise.” She paused. “Geblit said you were a nice guy.”
Okay, so that last part was a lie but he didn’t know that.
As she waited for him to respond, the blaster making the muscles in her arms burn, she prayed he’d say something friendly. Something that would reduce her fears. Something agreeable.
A sound of annoyance left his lips.
“Phekking Geblit,” he muttered. “Sit.”
Pushing the chair toward her with his boot, he turned and moved across the room, pulling a comm device from his pocket.
Not the reaction she’d been looking for but better than knocking the blaster from her hands and wringing her neck.
Glancing at the chair, she bit her bottom lip nervously. She needed to sit, the blaster was too heavy. But she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t look very threatening sitting with the blaster, now would she.
