Riv's Sanctuary: A Sci-fi Alien Romance

by A. G. Wilde

  Something told her he wasn’t the type that slept in.

  She’d go out there to try to get some water really quickly but two things stopped her.

  First, she didn’t want to run into Riv. She had no idea what to say to him and he made her nervous for more than one reason—his obvious dislike of her was the first reason. The other reason was one she didn’t really want to contemplate.

  Second, whatever had scared her out of her wits last night was still out there somewhere.

  There was no way that loud booming from the night before hadn’t been coming from some huge animal and she’d rather not meet it, even though it’d sounded like it really wanted to meet her.

  Chewing, she kept the food in her mouth for much longer than she usually would have, just to soften it some more so it was easier to swallow, and turned to look through the window once more.

  As she watched the cow-hippos move, she realized something.

  The Sanctuary didn’t smell like a farm.

  With the cow-hippos alone she’d have expected the entire place to smell like fresh manure, but it didn’t.

  As a matter of fact, there was no smell at all.

  She was mulling over this without much interest when movement by the side of one building caught her eye.

  Riv came into view, a large sack that looked quite heavy flung over one shoulder.

  He walked over to the cow-hippos and opened their pen before moving inside and setting the sack down.

  Flipping something from his trousers, he cut the sack open and the animals all lifted their heads at the same time.

  In a mini stampede, they all headed to the sack, fighting each other to get mouthfuls of whatever was inside.

  Greedy bastards. A smile tugged at her lips before her gaze drifted back to Riv.

  He was moving to a corner of the cage to one of the animals that hadn’t joined the stampede and she had to stand on tiptoes to get a better view of what he was doing.

  She watched as he knelt and placed a hand on the cow-hippo’s side in a touch that was so surprisingly gentle, her eyebrows shot up toward her hairline.

  The way he behaved gruffly, he didn’t give the impression he had any compassion within him but obviously, looks were deceiving.

  He was frowning, she could see even from where she was, as he touched the animal’s leg.

  As he lifted the limb gently, the animal tried to kick him with the other leg but he didn’t react. His entire focus was on the leg he was holding.

  It looked like it was injured, because he set the limb down lightly and stood with his hands bracing his hips as he frowned down at the animal.

  He was wearing a shirt today and with that realization came a little thread of disappointment followed by her nictating as she wondered who sewed that thread there.

  It wasn’t till she focused again that she realized her host was no longer frowning down at the animal. Now, he was frowning in her direction.

  Lauren’s eyes widened as their gazes locked.

  Shit.

  She ducked.

  And as she ducked out of view, crouching below the window, she wondered what the hell was wrong with her.

  Why was she hiding?

  But even as she asked herself this, she didn’t dare stand and look out the window again.

  Doing so felt like she was doing something wrong. As if she was spying on him or something.

  It took a few long moments for her to berate herself enough to lift her head and look out the window once more. But when her gaze moved back to the spot he’d been standing, she realized he was no longer there.

  Letting out a breath, Lauren frowned at herself shortly after.

  She’d dealt with a disagreeable alien before—the zookeeper, specifically. So why did this one make her so nervous?

  He didn’t mind it, but it puzzled him a bit.

  He’d expected the female to leave the room, but she hadn’t.

  Granted, he’d spent almost all day tending to the sick ooga, which had somehow gotten its leg broken, so he hadn’t been inside the dwelling.

  He only knew she hadn’t exited because he’d seen her watching him from the window.

  Every time he went to check on the ooga and the cast he’d put on the animal’s leg, she’d been watching him from the window.

  Usually, that sort of thing would piss him off and annoy him to no end, but somehow it didn’t this time.

  Instead, he was curious.

  Curious as to why she’d spent the entire time in the room.

  When he entered the dwelling after spending all day outside, he was sure she hadn’t left the room.

  Her scent was faint, which meant she hadn’t been walking about.

  Not even for food, and he was sure she was hungry.

  Her body was small and frail. From his experience, such types of creatures needed sustenance regularly.

  She wasn’t of the type bred for resilience.

  Setting down his gloves on the table, he stretched his arms, reveling in the ache of his muscles.

  That ache felt good.

  Nothing felt better than exhausting himself so much that he knew he’d fall asleep when he went to his sleeping cushion. It was one of the reasons he worked so hard every day. It was almost a guarantee that he’d fall asleep. His eyes would close and his brain would shut down when he went to bed.

  Beside him, Grot settled down on the floor.

  The tevsi was tired too, it seemed. He’d been in the fields chasing the robots and hunting small game, no doubt.

  Rubbing a hand over his jaw, Riv cast a glance down the corridor toward the room he knew the female was in.

  If Sohut was here, he’d be able to help him navigate this problem that had happened upon their doorstep courtesy of Geblit Cakhura.

  He still didn’t know what he was going to do with the human but the longer he had her at his residence, the more she was going to settle in and that was the last thing he wanted.

  Moving to the cook room, he washed his hands and pulled out a pre-made bowl of dried rai from the food box. Reaching into the cooling unit, he grabbed a can of gada paste and poured it into the bowl, waiting for it to reach an acceptable level before he lifted the bowl and brought it to the table.

  The hover chair slipped out easily and, as he sat, he stared at the bowl of rai in front of him.

  The female was still on his mind.

  Why hadn’t she left the room?

  Wasn’t she hungry?

  Didn’t she have to relieve herself in the cleansing room?

  Riv frowned at the rai soaking up the paste, a snarl curling his lips.

  Why the phek did he care anyway?

  If she wanted to come out, she could come out. He didn’t care, as long as she stayed out of his way and didn’t remind him of her existence.

  Lifting the bowl, he was about to put it at his lips when he paused.

  Why hadn’t she come out, though?

  His frown deepened and he slammed the bowl on the table, almost spilling its contents.

  Phek.

  She was in his head.

  Memory of her body falling against his filled his mind and Riv leaned back against the chair, flexing his fists.

  He’d caught her in his arms as if it’d been the most natural thing to do.

  It’d been such an alien feeling, holding someone so close, that he still didn’t know what to make of it. Only that it had messed up his thoughts for the greater part of the dark-cycle and for most of the day.

  Her body was unbelievably soft. It seemed as if she had no rough edges, only pure softness.

  Squeezing his eyes shut, he asked Raxu why on Hudo III did he send this being into his solitude to disrupt it.

  He couldn’t even eat a bowl of rai without wondering about her.

  She was distracting and he didn’t need distractions.

  He’d said it before and he’d say it again for as many times as it took for the universe to listen: he had enough trouble in his
life; he didn’t need any more.

  Opening his eyes, he looked down into the bowl of rai and sighed heavily.

  Phek.

  He knew what he was going to do before he even began moving.

  Standing, the bowl in hand, he looked down at his tevsi on the floor. Grot blinked up at him, his tail wagging in friendly adoration.

  “Stay,” Riv said and the tevsi made a low sound of understanding in his throat.

  11

  Riv rolled his neck as he stood in front of the door, bowl in hand.

  Just what the phek was he doing?

  He should turn around, head back to the main room, and eat his rai in peace.

  Yet…

  Slamming a hand against the locking panel, the door slid open with a hiss.

  Wide brown eyes flew to the door and met his immediately.

  She was sitting half-way up, as if she’d been resting on the sleeping cushion, and her shoulders stiffened when she saw him standing there.

  Riv resisted the urge to set the bowl down and walk away.

  The only reason he didn’t do that was because he’d have to return for it later.

  She’d placed the chest in the middle of the entryway and he had to step over it to enter.

  Eyes moving over her quickly, he didn’t see any physical ailments. She looked the same as she did the day before…unless she was ill and didn’t show it outwardly.

  He knew animals like that—animals that hid ailments because they were scared exposing such weakness would surely lead to their exclusion.

  If that was the case, he reckoned she belonged to some species of pack animal. Being the weakest in the pack was usually seen as a liability.

  If she was ill, that would explain why she’d stayed in the room the entire day.

  Watching her now, a weak smile spread her lips as her eyebrows lifted a little and her eyes fastened on the bowl in his hands.

  Her small, pink tongue exited to wet her lips before her eyes met his again.

  Riv’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  “Eat.” He thrust the bowl toward her and she paused for a second before throwing her legs over the side of the sleeping cushion and sitting upright.

  She took the bowl from his hand and stared at the contents.

  “See-ree-uhl?”

  Riv’s eyes narrowed a little more as he stepped back and leaned against the wall, watching her.

  “Gess soh.”

  She blinked at him and smiled a little more. “No supoon doh.”

  Then she shrugged and brought the bowl to her lips.

  Riv tilted his head a little as he watched her, a frown materializing on his brow as he studied her.

  She took a tiny sip and, for a moment, she froze. For that moment, he thought she didn’t like how the food tasted but then her eyes flew to his. There was such growing awe there that it surprised him and his frown disappeared immediately.

  The female’s face lit up, her mouth falling open.

  “Oh mai Gohd. Dis iz…ahmayzin!”

  Her glee caught him off guard as she bared her teeth in a seriously confusing challenge before bringing the bowl to her lips and taking a huge gulp of the rai.

  Riv stood, dumbstruck, as the female ate. He’d never seen someone guzzle rai so fast. Not even Sohut could do that. It didn’t even look as if she paused to chew.

  She ate like this for a few moments before she froze again and looked over at him. Wide brown eyes blinked at him before she lowered the bowl slowly.

  “Saw-ree, was dis for bowth ov us?” She stretched the half-full bowl toward him and jerked it a little as if she was offering him some of the food. “Dihd yoo wahnt som?”

  Riv stared at her outstretched hand.

  He didn’t know what to make of that.

  She was obviously hungry and needed to eat it all.

  “You eat.” He met her gaze and she looked at him without a speck of fear before she smiled again and gulped down the rest of the meal.

  Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she smiled.

  The other hand moved to her midsection and rubbed the soft flesh there in a slow circular motion, a smile on her face.

  His gaze fastened there, at where her hand touched her skin, and he found himself staring, unable to look away.

  “T-ank yoo. Yoo hav noh aidee-yuh how good dat was.”

  No idea what she was saying, but she looked far too pleased about this.

  Pleased wasn’t what he’d been going for.

  Phek.

  He had no idea what he’d been going for.

  He shouldn’t have brought the bowl to her in the first place.

  It was this same generosity that always got him in trouble in the past.

  Growling, he lifted himself off the wall and stalked forward, taking the empty bowl from her hands.

  He made to walk away when he felt the warmth of her palm against his arm.

  Stiffening, his gaze fell to where the heat was spreading across his skin, and he realized she’d held on to him.

  He stopped moving, staring at her hand for moments that seemed to pass by slowly.

  She was touching him.

  Touching him. AGAIN.

  The one sense he’d denied himself of for so long was now something he’d received twice in such a short space of time.

  Her palm felt as if it was burning against his skin and when she snatched her hand away and his gaze met hers, her wide-eyed stare was frozen on his face.

  “Saw-ree, ai—” She blinked a few times, her gaze darting away before returning. “Ai need too sho-wher.”

  She was talking again.

  Riv frowned at her as she went on, seemingly unable to stop once she’d started now.

  She was making motions with her hands, her mouth moving quickly and she ran her hands through her hair, over the skin on her face, and down her body.

  It was hard focusing on what she was trying to tell him. All he could feel was the imprint of that small hand against his skin.

  It took him a few moments as he frowned down at her before he realized what she wanted.

  The cleansing room.

  With a grunt, he jerked his head toward the corridor. He didn’t trust himself to speak at the moment.

  12

  Lauren awoke, her eyes flying to the wall again and expecting to see the transparent shield there.

  No.

  She wasn’t in the zoo anymore. She was at Riv’s Sanctuary.

  Swallowing hard, she turned onto her back and stared ahead.

  She’d slept soundly again. After she’d spent the previous day doing nothing, she’d been sure she’d have a hard time falling asleep but it turned out the warm shower was just the thing she’d needed to put her in the mood for sleep.

  After he’d brought her the food and showed her the shower, her host had disappeared for the night.

  She could still remember how he’d stood there and watched her eat, a look of surprise and something else she couldn’t determine in his eyes.

  At first, she’d felt self-conscious but the taste of real food had been too divine to resist.

  It’d been filling, that meal, because even now, she wasn’t hungry.

  Rising, she cast her gaze out the window.

  There were the cow-hippos grazing again and the beautiful clear sky above, the sunrise casting a reddish tint over the pink.

  Off in the distance, she couldn’t see the robots anymore. Maybe they had moved to another section of the farm. But that wasn’t what she was really looking for.

  Her gaze flicked over the Sanctuary in search of a hint of blue.

  She saw him for a second before he disappeared behind one of the buildings.

  The rest of the day went like this.

  Now and then she caught glimpses of him but for the most part, Riv was out of sight.

  When the sun finally left the sky, Riv entered her room with a bowl of food. He said nothing and she wasn’t sure what she should say.

  Whenever she
opened her mouth to talk, the growing irritation on his face was almost comical. Still, he said nothing. He just watched her as she ate with those piercing eyes of his.

  For the next day and the next, the same thing happened. She’d watch him work through the window and in the evenings he’d come to her room with a bowl of food, staring at her as she ate and then leaving for the rest of the night.

  Now, Lauren settled on the bed when the sun was almost in the middle of the sky, her bottom lip between her teeth.

  Wasn’t she a free woman?

  She wasn’t in the terrarium anymore. She was no longer at the zoo.

  But it sure felt as if she was in captivity, being stuck in the room.

  Not that he’d explicitly said she should stay in there. It’d been her choice not to move.

  That and the fact the large animal she’d heard was somewhere out there. It hadn’t come back to her door but she could still remember the terror of the night when it came like the big bad wolf trying to get in.

  Gulping, she decided she needed to be brave and step out of the room.

  If she was ever going to regain her independence, she needed to take the first step.

  Lauren moved to the window to look out again before her gaze shifted to the door.

  She was going to do it.

  Pressing the panel on the wall, the door hissed open to reveal the corridor and Lauren froze, her ears perked for any sound.

  Nothing.

  As she stepped into the corridor, she stiffened and waited.

  Still nothing. Only the sound of the door hissing shut behind her.

  When she reached the main room, she paused again.

  There were piles of gadgets all over the place, even on the floor, and a thin layer of dust coated them all.

  Stepping over to some, her gaze moved over the items with mild interest. She had no idea what they were, but they looked old and out of use.

  She continued moving slowly around the room, looking at this and that, the only sound being her bare feet tapping the hard floor as she walked.

  When she reached another corridor on the other side of the room, Lauren paused again. There was a window and a door there and she had to go on tiptoes to look out.

  When her glance out the window showed no big blue guy, her shoulders set as she moved toward the door.