Riv's Sanctuary: A Sci-fi Alien Romance

by A. G. Wilde

  She was chuckling when a shadow seemed to come over the room and she turned to see Riv standing in the doorway, his furious gaze on her.

  Well, no. His furious gaze was on her lips, as if he hated that she was smiling.

  She could almost feel the energy emanating from his presence.

  His shirt clung to his chest from whatever exertion he’d been doing outside and it outlined the cords of muscles on his chest.

  He was all sexiness and rage. And that was confusing.

  She liked him and she didn’t as well.

  She couldn’t decide.

  Lauren’s smile died on her lips and Sohut turned.

  Riv growled when he met his brother’s gaze.

  He actually growled and it was unlike any other time she’d heard him growl before.

  It was an animalistic sound that spread through the air and made it vibrate against her skin.

  “Stop fraternizing with the female,” was all he said before he turned and stormed back out the door.

  17

  After Sohut left on his assignment, the grumpster had still not returned. Against her better judgement, Lauren ventured outside.

  As she passed the enclosure with the tall purple giraffe-like things, one popped its long neck over the barrier so it could look at her. She wasn’t sure if it was the same one that had licked her before.

  Off in the distance, she could see Riv hauling what looked like large bales of hay toward another enclosure.

  She moved forward a little and Riv glanced in her direction. His shoulders stiffened, his irritation evident, but he didn’t say anything. She realized he wanted his space.

  She could do that.

  As she neared the enclosure he had disappeared into, she saw a new type of animal she hadn’t seen before.

  These ones were shaped like large crocodiles, and she’d have been alarmed that he’d entered an enclosure filled with about twenty of them if they didn’t look so…docile.

  They were shaped like crocodiles but without the hard edges. Their skin looked soft and brown and when one opened its mouth to grab some of the hay, she saw large flat teeth.

  Definitely not a carnivore.

  As her host emptied some of the hay into a pile, one of the animals closed its jaw around Riv’s boot.

  “For phek’s sake, Jaik. Let go.”

  Jake?

  The animal’s name was Jake?

  Of all the names…

  Riv shook his leg and dislodged the animal but as soon as it lost its grip, it came right back and bit his boot again.

  As a tug-of-war between the two ensued, Lauren fought hard to keep her composure.

  It was such a strange sight that she had to fold her lips to stop from laughing.

  “Every phekking day.” Riv managed to pull his boot from the animal’s mouth before glancing her way. When he found her watching, he scowled some more.

  Turning away, he began spreading more of the hay when Jake grabbed his trousers by the teeth and began pulling, almost making the large male lose his balance.

  “Phek!”

  That’s it. She had to laugh. A chuckle escaped before she could cover her mouth.

  Another of the animals joined in and then another and soon they were all piling on top of him, his curses being drowned out by the strange mewing sounds they were making.

  They seemed to be biting at his clothes and licking him at the same time, almost as if they were playing, and his look of utter bewilderment only made her laugh more.

  When his eyes locked with hers, Lauren pressed her lips together once more.

  He was glaring at her as if daring her to laugh some more and that in itself made more laughter bubble within her.

  As he cursed at them and pushed them off him gently, finally managing to free himself, Riv refused to look her way.

  Lauren’s gaze softened.

  Despite his constant cursing and general standoffishness, he was kind to the animals. It was obvious he loved them.

  That told her more about him than he realized but it also made her wonder why he seemed to dislike her so. He had a bad attitude, that was for sure, but there was softness underneath all that—except that soft, caring side was locked away. She only got his hard side.

  Riv exited the enclosure finally, securing it behind him and his gaze fell in her direction. His gaze was pointed as he looked at her and the more he stared, the more he frowned.

  “You,” he finally said. “Are leaving. Right now.”

  By the time he pulled up at the exchange, there was resilience and determination in the female’s gaze and he had the distinct impression she’d been preparing herself for the trip just as he was, except maybe for different reasons.

  The entire way, she’d been repeating something to herself. Over and over she’d said it till her shoulders stiffened and her chin lifted a bit—a motivational talk of sorts, he assumed, for she refused to meet his gaze, only focusing on the way ahead as she repeated the line minute after minute.

  To think that not long from now he wouldn’t be hearing her voice anymore and those large brown eyes would no longer turn on him.

  A strange feeling settled in the pit of his belly, almost as if a part of him didn’t want her to leave.

  Ludicrous.

  The only being who would be missing her would probably be Grot—the traitorous tevsi. He’d never look at Grot the same again. Falling so easily for a female.

  Glancing at the tevsi now, his eyes met Grot’s four. Grot had insisted on tagging along, as if he knew the female was leaving—as if he didn’t want to see her go.

  Well…too bad.

  Exiting the hover craft, they walked through the gates of the exchange and Riv paused to adjust to the cacophony inside.

  Grot let out a low boom on the other side of the female.

  He supposed the tevsi was suddenly remembering his hatred of beings.

  Good.

  As soon as the female left, that meant things would go right back to normal.

  The marketplace was already bustling with beings and the situation immediately made an unpleasant taste develop in his mouth.

  It reminded him of the exchange he’d been in as a chid.

  This one was different, though.

  Cleaner.

  It was overseen by the Interplanetary Union so that meant most beings obeyed the laws when it came to buying and selling.

  There wasn’t any smuggling…at least, not out in the open.

  It was the best chance for the human in terms of finding a new home.

  Walking beside her, Riv couldn’t keep his gaze from falling to her constantly.

  Most of the aliens walking through the exchange were bigger than she was. She could easily get lost, separated from him in the throng, and the thought made him close a hand lightly around her arm.

  He was surprised she didn’t shake him off, but it seemed she was more concerned with taking in the sights of the exchange instead.

  There was a stiffness in her shoulders as her gaze moved over the many beings shopping in the exchange and the stalls upon stalls on either side of the paved street.

  There were beings selling all sorts of things. Whatever was needed, it could probably be found at the exchange.

  There were Treggonians selling their urine, which was known for its healing properties, Movadrians selling fashionable garments made from materials only found on their home planet, a Lothrian selling klo ears, several sellers of woogli smoke, a Huvrarian selling pulse drives, and many other stalls.

  There wasn’t much space to walk except for weaving their way through the constant push-pull of the shoppers.

  Grot took to walking directly behind them for easier passage.

  As there were so many beings in the street, he reckoned there’d be even more at the central trading station. He shouldn’t have a problem finding the female a new place to stay. She’d have a choice of who to go with, of course; he was only there to make sure she didn’t end up in the ha
nds of some being that would harm her. Most of all, he was also there to ensure she didn’t return to his Sanctuary.

  That was the priority.

  Glancing behind to check on Grot, Riv’s gaze landed on a Merkannian not far behind them. The gold-skinned male had his gaze fixed on the human by his side and it caused Riv to frown a little behind his eye-shades. It was a focused gaze.

  The Merkannian was watching her.

  As they continued walking, every time he glanced behind them the Merkannian was there, his gaze always on the female, never distracted, completely focused.

  Riv bristled.

  He didn’t know why that bothered him.

  He was at the exchange for her to find a new home, wasn’t he?

  If the Merkannian was interested, that was a good thing.

  Merkannians were some of the wealthiest on Hudo III. He wouldn’t be surprised if the male had a good home for the human to go to.

  For, despite that he didn’t want her at the Sanctuary, and although he knew all females were poison, he wasn’t cruel.

  He wanted whoever took her out of his hands to at least care for her.

  Every being deserved that.

  Pulling the human a little closer, they continued on.

  As they arrived at the central trading station, where aliens congregated looking for odd jobs, long-term employment, and the like, he surveyed the buyers there.

  Several of those seeking jobs were trying their best to catch potential employers’ attention. Some were lifting weights and displaying their muscles, possibly trying to land jobs as security detail. Some were giving out samples of baked food, possibly trying to land employment as cooks. Some were even interacting with families traveling with young, possibly trying to land jobs taking care of chids.

  But through all this, it wasn’t lost on him that when they arrived, they’d gotten the immediate attention of several males in the vicinity.

  Every bone in his spine stiffened.

  He was used to being stared at when he wore his face covering and eye-shades.

  But these looks were directed at the female by his side and he didn’t need a degree in male cocks to know exactly what they were thinking. What surprised him more was his own response.

  His nostrils flared and a rumble began in his throat.

  It wasn’t until the human jerked an elbow in his side that he realized he was squeezing her arm too hard.

  “What sort of being is this?” One of the males approached. A Zedrurian. His mandibles moved with interest as he eyed the human.

  Riv’s eyes narrowed behind his eye-shades.

  He hated Zedrurians. They were always trouble.

  “Why do you want to know? What employment do you have?”

  The Zedrurian’s eyes flicked to Riv’s only momentarily. “What can she do?”

  The Zedrurian’s tone was suggestive and Riv felt the need to grab him by the throat and stuff the words he’d uttered right back down whence they came.

  Two more Zedrurian males approached, one adjusting his cock in his trousers without care to be subtle.

  Sex workers weren’t outlawed but…he didn’t like the idea of the female becoming one.

  He’d been forced into that life.

  He knew what it entailed.

  He knew how it could harm a person.

  The human didn’t like the idea, either, for she took a step backward, her soft features scrunching up as she looked at the males.

  “Very soft,” one of the other males murmured as his gaze traveled over the human. “I can give you good credits for a being like this.”

  The cock-jerker was the most forward of the two. His arm shot out and he grasped the human, who reacted immediately, jerking her arm as if trying to dislodge it so she could attack the male suddenly holding on to her.

  But Riv reacted before she could do so, his hand closing over the male’s arm as he took a step forward.

  “Don’t touch what doesn’t belong to you.”

  The male paused and looked down at Riv’s hand gripping his arm.

  The air suddenly changed and Riv’s ears pricked from the sides of his head.

  Through the corner of his eye, he could see the other two males place their hands over their hip blasters.

  Grot’s low boom behind him told him the tevsi also felt the change in the air.

  Riv sighed, his shoulders lifting and falling dramatically.

  He was getting too old for this.

  “I’ll say it again and only once,” he said, not bothering to hide the threatening tone that had come into his voice. “Let. The female. Go.”

  The first Zedrurian, who he supposed was the leader of the trio, stepped forward slightly.

  “Or what?” said the leader. “Far as I see it, it’s one of you and three of us.”

  Riv brought his free hand up and used a finger to massage the center of his brow where the line of raised frilli that ran up his nose dissected.

  This is why he hated most beings.

  They were always so phekking selfish.

  So self-centered.

  So phekking entitled.

  “Fine,” Riv breathed, his eyes still on the male holding on to La-rehn and he felt her stiffen beside him even more.

  He let go of the male’s arm and the male glanced at his companions, a smug look on his face.

  Fool.

  That’s why he didn’t see it coming.

  As Riv’s palm loosened from around the male’s arm, without warning he reached out and clasped the male by the throat.

  His other hand had already retrieved his small blade from his pocket while the males had been too busy not paying attention.

  The male choked, his mandibles swaying as he released the female and grabbed on to Riv’s hand, which was slowly restricting his airway.

  His companions drew their weapons and when Riv heard the boom behind him, he almost smiled.

  Grot was a blur as he launched into the air, landing on the male to his far right.

  The male went down easily under the weight of the tevsi, his weapon flying across the space and out of reach as he shouted in surprise.

  The leader raised his blaster to Riv’s head.

  “You must be really stupid to think you could take all us three because you have a phekking tevsi,” the leader said. “Looks like you’re outnumbered, fool.”

  Riv fought the urge to glare at the Zedrurian.

  “You pull that trigger and your friend here can say goodbye to his gonads.” His reply was calm. “My tevsi happens to like small game.”

  That made the male he was choking widen his eyes as he struggled and the leader’s gaze moved to fix on his companion’s crotch.

  Riv tilted the blade he had positioned there and the metal pressed into the cloth of the trousers.

  The leader paled a bit but his blaster didn’t fall.

  The one whose gonads were in jeopardy began to gurgle something, which Riv assumed was some sort of protest to his boss.

  After this, he doubted they would be friends anymore.

  As the leader moved his weight from one leg to the other, Riv glanced to his side, intending to check on the female, but when he looked, his eyes fell on an empty space.

  The human wasn’t there.

  In alarm, his gaze scanned the area quickly to see where she’d run off to hide when he spotted her behind the male with the blaster in his hands.

  “Dohnt moove muhth-er-fuhk-er.”

  Chapter 17.5

  Why had she thought this was going to be a simple trip?

  Of course, nothing in this universe was simple. And she’d thought life on Earth had been complicated.

  Moving behind Riv as slowly as possible so as not to catch the eyes of the aliens confronting them, she made her way to his other side.

  Grot was snarling in the face of one of the aliens and not biting him to death, but it was obvious from the dog’s stance that one word from Riv and he would tear into the male without hesitatio
n.

  The one that was choking was still gripping Riv’s arm at his throat, trying to free himself, and the other male seemed to not think of her as a threat because he looked like he’d forgotten she existed.

  Good.

  Moving slowly, she slipped her mother’s watch from her wrist.

  Fuck.

  She had no idea what she was going to do but Riv was in trouble because of her and she had to do something.

  As soon as she was in range, she spun and pressed the watch into the back of the alien’s head.

  The male stiffened and Lauren swallowed hard.

  “Don’t move, motherfucker.”

  The alien froze.

  For a few seconds, no one said anything before the slow laugh of the one she was holding up with a watch, the leader she assumed, met their ears.

  He began to turn his head to look at her but she pushed the flat face of the watch into the back of his head some more.

  “I said don’t move, fucking Predator, or this thing will blow your head off.”

  Winging it.

  She was totally winging it.

  Here’s to hoping he had no idea what a watch was and that he didn’t decide to test her theory.

  At the very least, she hoped she was buying Riv some time so he could think of something.

  “Tell your jekin to remove whatever device she has against my cranium or I will shoot a hole in yours.”

  Riv’s head turned slightly and she knew he was looking at her.

  “You can’t understand her, can you?” he said after a few moments, so calmly it was as if he didn’t notice the gun at his head.

  She was mildly aware that there was an audience around them and that only made this trickier. But chances were that none of them could understand her either.

  And that was her advantage.

  “He can’t understand you,” Riv said to her. “Pity.”

  The way he said it had her frowning slightly till it dawned on her.

  He was speaking in not-so-code. But she’d already been planning on using what he was hinting at to her advantage.

  Hopefully, he’d play along and they could get of this shit.

  “This is just a watch but you don’t know that.”