by Liz Paffel
The King gave a single nod and turned to leave. Pausing, he glanced back at Priya. “I am pleased to see you helping our physician, and I am thankful that you are treating my mate’s brother. However, I need you to attend to Quixx as we previously discussed. It is of great urgency. If nothing else, train him to keep his mouth shut.”
“I’ll… I'll do my best.”
“No,” Tryllin said as he walked past Quixx. “You will do better than your best. But I understand your concern of failure. I’m adding a precaution to ensure things go smoothly.”
“Oh, good. I feel like I need some backup here.”
“The backup is you, Priya. You’ll be accompanying Quixx on his mission to make sure everything goes as planned.”
Chapter Eight
Priya sat back on the stool and rubbed a hand over her face.
Brandon was stabilized, a slow infusion of nutrients he needed quietly running into his veins. She’d tried to absorb as much as she could of what Yawnlit showed her, but the equipment was so very different than anything she’d trained with. He’d seemed overjoyed to have her help, even if she was a little overwhelmed.
It had been satisfying to work with a patient again. To do something good. The soft whoosh of the diamond-shaped intravenous pump reminded her of being in the hospital, checking on her patients in post-surgical recovery. It was gratifying to see people get better because of her skill and ministrations. She’d been doing something important back then. Until it had all gone wrong and she’d done nothing to rectify it except lie in her bed and pretend it never happened.
She hadn’t done the hard work to get over the shock of what had happened. And now her important work included babysitting an alien so he kept his mouth shut while they retrieved a weapon that could help save humanity. A laugh puffed from her mouth. It was ludicrous, really. All of this was like a dream she couldn’t wake up from.
Everyone had left the medical bay some time ago, and she relished the quiet while keeping watch over a sleeping Brandon until Yawnlit returned. While she enjoyed having a few moments without the Axxeon hovering, she was acutely aware of the captive in the containment room. He didn’t make a sound, but she was oddly aware of his presence. More than once, she had the sensation that he was standing over her shoulder. Of course, when she turned to look, there was no one there. She’d been tempted to approach his cell a couple of times but resisted. Something about the alien both intrigued and terrified her.
The physician inside her wanted to do something to help him. Yawnlit had assured her there was nothing to be done but watch and wait. The prince had entered a metamorphosis state, which he himself had said he may not survive. Yawnlit thought it would be easier to monitor him here than in the prison. Time would tell, and all they could do was watch and wait. The back of her neck tingled. Cupping a hand there, she glanced back at the prince. He lay motionless as always, blood staining the sheets in various shades of orange-red.
The door swooshed open, startling her as if she’d been in a trance. How long had she been staring at the prisoner?
“Do not approach him under any circumstances. Yawnlit was clear in his order to leave the enemy to his own devices.”
She groaned and sat up straighter in her chair. So much for quiet time. “Hi, Quixx.”
She did a double take. He’d changed his clothes, just as she’d suggested. His sand colored top had long sleeves and a waffle-like, thermal texture. It fit snuggly against his sculpted chest, showing off the squared, tight pecs and muscled line of his torso. His pants looked suspiciously like jeans, fitting him as if they’d been tailored specifically for his long body. Leaning back nonchalantly in her chair, she tipped her head and pretended to stretch her arms while catching a glimpse of his ass. Jesus. High and tight and round, and firm. So, firm. Hitching an eyebrow, she settled back in her chair.
“Are those jeans?”
“You told me I must change my clothing so I would not frighten females.”
“Yes, but… are those jeans?”
He glanced down and shifted a little as if he didn’t like the feeling of the fabric. “They are a configuration using Axxeon fabric and a pattern of the popular human leg coverings.”
“So, they’re alien jeans. Interesting. They look good on you.”
His brow scrunched as if he were considering what she’d said. “Look… good?”
Rising from the chair, she indicated to his pants. “Yeah, you know. You look nice in those clothes. They fit you well.”
“So, you are saying that you find me attractive.”
Trapping her lower lip between her teeth, she gave his backside another quick glance. “I find some of you attractive.”
“I do not understand.”
With a sigh, she looked down at herself. Yikes. He did a great job of listening to her suggestion to be more presentable, but she was a mess. Stains covered her front and she didn’t want to think about where they may have come from. Going to Brandon, she checked his monitors and treatments, not at all reassured that she’d recognize if something was wrong considering her lack of usefulness with the equipment.
A pleasant heat wafted over her back, gooseflesh bursting out all over her body. A smooth, musky note laced with pine invaded filled the air. Quixx was right behind her, close enough that he was blanketing her with his scent and his warmth.
“I need you to change my personality immediately. I would like to get started. I hoped you would find my clothing acceptable so we could get to work.”
Checking the site where Brandon’s IV was located, she readjusted the tubing and made sure he was well covered with a blanket. Quixx’s words rubbed in her mind.
“We’re not trying to change your personality, Quixx. Why do you think that?”
“My King said I needed to work on my personality because it is currently broken.”
“Well,” she breathed. “If Axxeon are like humans, you are who you are. Who you are at the baser level is who you’ll always be. We aren’t trying to change your personality. We’re simply trying to soften you around the edges.”
She turned, fully expecting him to say that he didn’t understand. She had no idea how many words actually translated in their true form through the implanted devices in their skulls. Some things seemed to continually get lost in translation. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were bright. So, so bright. Cocking her head slightly, she looked deeper into his lavender eyes. There were silver rings around black pupils, the purple of his iris fractured in various shades.
“Wow, your eyes are really beautiful.”
The silver rings began to glow. With a soft gasp, she jerked back. The lines demarcating the pattern of the solarderm on his neck brightened with an underlying glow that was slightly electric in appearance. Would she get a shock if she touched him?
Maybe that was why they needed to charge their solarderm. The skin tissue stored various forms of energy. But, why?
“That is correct.”
Priya snapped Quixx a look. “What?”
“Axxeon solarderm does indeed store energy. However, we are getting off track. We must focus on me.”
Her mouth dropped open, shut. Opened again. “How did you know that I was thinking about your solarderm?”
Quixx’s gaze shifted away from her, a tiny smile bouncing on his lips. “I had a fortunate assumption.”
“A lucky guess?” Oh, this alien was nothing short of entertaining. His interpretation of English was amusing, enduring even. But only when he wasn’t being a bossy asshole. The lines on his skin began to slowly fade until it tempered to a pleasant glow. Knowing she shouldn’t, but willing to take the consequences if there was one, she pressed her fingertips to the side of his neck. They both jerked, heat radiating from him straight through her fingers and down into her hand and through her arm. She needed to pull away, but she couldn’t.
Their eyes locked. Priya tried to yank her hand back but her fingers seemed welded to his flesh. Her nipples pebbled with a bu
rst of pleasure as they rubbed against the inside of her shirt. The air rippled between them, almost like static sparking from Quixx’s body against hers. Her brain absorbed the feeling, reading it as if the feeling translated into words.
Desire.
Wanting.
Mine!
“Quixx?” Her voice wavered with near panic. What the hell was happening?
He blinked and his eyes began to blaze, the white circles glowing nearly as brightly as his skin. With a rush of breath, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her hand away.
She would have fallen had he not pulled her against the chair. Gasping, she put her palms on top of it and leaned over her arms. She was winded as if she’d just ran a long distance, yet her body burned with the desire to be touched by him, to have his big hands running the length of her body. A demanding ache pulsed between her legs. Her panties were undeniably damp.
“What the hell was that?”
His expression was stony as if he were terribly displeased about what had just occurred. She’d touched him and the entire world wobbled on its axis.
Just then, the doors opened and Yawnlit hobbled inside. He pulled up short and glanced between them, a small grin curving his lips. “Well, then. Well, well.” Going to Brandon’s bedside, he gave an annoyed wave of his hand. “You two have other business. Go, go.”
Trying her best to shake off the lingering reaction, Priya hurried past Quixx and out the door. “I need to freshen up.”
“I will accompany you.”
“No. No, I can meet you when I’m done.”
He moved as if to snag her wrist but pulled his hand away before touching her. “I said I will accompany you. You can soften me while you freshen up. We do not have much time to prepare.”
She didn’t argue as they walked to her quarters. He followed her inside and she had a moment’s panic. The room was stark and lofty with only a half partition to hide the facilities and bathing area where a shower head dropped down from the ceiling. Another partition near the bed allowed her to dress in privacy, but there were no real walls. No real barriers.
Nothing to keep Quixx from touching her if he wanted to.
God, right now, she fucking wanted him to.
Clearing her throat, she gestured to the shower. “I’m going to jump in quick. Can you turn your back or something? There’s not much privacy here.”
With a scowl, he turned around and crossed his arms. “Is this common human interaction? The male looks away while the female is nude?”
Going behind the partition, she made quick work of undressing and pushing the button to turn the water on. “Only if the female doesn’t wish the male to see her nude. In that case, he probably wouldn’t be invited into her residence so it would be a non-issue.”
“You wish me to see you nude?”
He moved as if he intended to turn around.
“No! No… you invited yourself inside, remember? That’s not the same thing.”
“I have not seen a human female without clothing.”
She went still. “And I haven’t seen an Axxeon without clothing, either. But we’re not about to play doctor here and quench our curiosity.” She ran her hair under the water and added soap. “Before you ask, playing doctor is just an expression that I don’t feel like getting into right now.”
“Were you playing doctor with the Queen’s brother?”
Lathering her body, Priya peeked at him and rolled her eyes. “No, Quixx. I am a doctor. I was helping Brandon with my medical skills. Playing doctor is when… oh, gosh… it’s when people explore each other's bodies, maybe touch and see what feels good. It’s a bad nickname for sexual experimentation.”
She swore she could hear the wheels turning in his head. "If playing doctor is part of the human mating ritual, I will need to become familiar with it. Is that correct?"
Priya ran a hand over her face, her entire body flushing at the thought of Quixx examining her body. Naked. Wet. Body. Christ, she really needed to start keeping her mouth shut.
“There’s a lot to be learned before you get that far, big guy.”
Turning off the water, she grabbed the towel hanging at the end of the partition and dried off. Realizing she’d have to walk around Quixx to get her clothing, she looked around the room and determined the safest route. “Go stand closer to the door, please, and keep your back turned.”
He did as she asked, and she hurried to the shelf where one meager stack of clothing sat. There wasn’t much to choose from. Snagging a simple black dress and her undergarments, she darted to the other partition and slid into her clothes. She didn’t have makeup or a hair dryer. Normally, getting ready for a date would take her an hour. But this sham of a date with Quixx required her to run a brush through her hair, twist it into a long braid, and slip into cloth flats.
“Okay, I assume we’re going somewhere other than here where we can talk? We need to be able to get back to medical quickly, though, in case something happens with Brandon.”
“Understood. I can turn around now?”
“Sorry. Yes, you can. Thank you for asking.”
Smoothing her dress, she looked up as the weight of his gaze pressurized against her body. How the hell could she feel him looking at her, as if a stare could be tangible? Something odd had happened when she’d touched his neck, and the effects were messing with her head.
“You look pleasing to me.” The words were bland, basic. “This confuses me as I did not find you pleasing to look at previously.”
Her body responded to that as if a switch had turned off, taking every last flicker of desire with it. “Wow, Quixx. Thanks for your honesty.”
“Well, perhaps I did. It was difficult for me to allow myself to feel a reaction to you. I believe your talk about playing doctor has softened my resistance.”
Great. He was horny, and now he found her attractive. So typical. He wasn’t any different than the human jerks she was used to dating. Some things never changed. Her mood soured and fell over her in a dark wave.
“You know what? We have a job to do and I’m starving. Let’s go eat and get this over with. I’m already tired.”
She pushed past him and out the door, not remembering which hallway in this stupid underwater compound lead to the food. Turning right, she figured she’d take her chances.
Either way, she was heading to a losing end.
Chapter Nine
Quixx took a seat across from Priya at the dining table just as vibrating metallic sound like snapping, high-tension wire rent through the room.
The table vibrated, empty chairs rattling their feet on the metal floor. With a gasp, Priya clutched the table with both hands. Their trays of food bounced off, the contents scattering.
“What’s happening?”
Quixx wasn’t sure how to answer. He had not experienced anything like this in his three years inside the underwater compound. The structure had been built four human decades before, designed and reinforced to withstand the pressure of ice as the water froze around them in the winter. The compound was created in likeness of buildings on Axxeon 8, built to withstand the harsh, frozen winters of his home planet. This location had been chosen specifically for its lack of fault lines and zero-sum seismic activity.
An alarm blasted. Quixx jumped to his feet and reached for Priya. She clung to his wrist with both hands. The quaking slowed, then stopped as a dull whine cut through the air, followed by creaking that seemed alive as it creeped up the walls. The lights flickered, then went out completely. The darkness elevated the concerned voices of the others inside the cruex.
“Quixx.” Priya’s voice was the only one he cared about.
“Hold onto me.”
Her small body pressed up against him, lighting his arm with sparks where they touched. Her fingers crept up to his bicep where she grabbed in a death grip. The lights flickered again and burst back to life. Her relief was palpable.
“I need to get to medical to check on the patients.” She moved as if to
pull away from him, but he held her tightly.
“I am going to the Command. You’re coming with me.”
“But—”
He tapped his comlet and called Yawnlit, who gave the all clear.
Priya nodded, seemingly satisfied all was well for now and pressed closer to him. Glancing down, he had the urge to place his lips on the top of her dark, silky hair. To comfort her. How ridiculous.
“Stay close to my side in the event the lights fail again.”
They barely made it out to the hall before three young warriors approached him. “Commander, what has happened?”
“I do not yet know. Man your stations and wait for orders.”
“Commander.” Hiarion, the highest ranking of the three, stepped forward. “I would like to prepare my counterattack team. May I accompany you to Command?”
“Counterattack? Are we under attack?” Priya’s grip tightened.
Quixx pressed a hand against Priya’s mouth. “Do not speak.” He crooked a finger at his young warrior. “Come with me. You two, at your stations.”
Priya faltered as he pulled her along, but quickly recovered her footing and kept up with his long stride. The alarm got louder as they approached the Command center. Inside, his men were watching monitors and pointing at something on a screen he could not see. All eyes turned to him as he entered.
“Commander, we’ve had a system failure. A seam has been compromised by the ice.”
Quixx bent down to look at the monitor. “Where?”
“Section 5.”
“Impossible.” The small group of men around him all tensed, a sense of urgency filling the air. How could this be? The compound was secure as stone, built purposely to withstand conditions like this. Yet, the monitor did not lie. A crack in the ice must have sheared off a massive block that shifted and caused a support wall in section 5 to fail. It appeared to be holding for the moment. But if it failed completely, it would take out the compound’s oxygen filtration system.
