Carver grinned and started moving his hips again, and Vivian moved with him, wanting him to feel pleasure, too.
An hour later, she was waking up in a sweaty tangle of limbs. Carver's arm was heavy where it was draped across her middle, and she wiggled her way out from under him, wincing at the state of her hair. Her clothes were scattered around the room, and she didn't bother to hunt them down, instead grabbing Carver's shirt and tugging it over her head. He was tall enough that it fell to her thighs anyway.
She made her way to the kitchen, careful to be quiet so she didn't wake Carver. What she needed was a glass of water and some time to think.
This wasn't like her, to be honest. She didn't leap headfirst into things involving other people. Her mother had tried to set her up with plenty of men who had been nice enough, and even some who had been more than nice, but none of them had ever lasted. Part of her had assumed that she just wasn't interested in a relationship at all and that she just preferred to focus on her work, but there had been those pangs of loneliness sometimes, and she knew that she wanted to be with someone.
"Good job falling for an alien who has to go back home, then," she muttered to herself, drinking her water and leaning against the counter in the small kitchen.
It was dark outside and in the cabin, so when the glow of her phone suddenly illuminated the room, Vivian jumped and then went over to it before the buzzing could wake Carver.
"Hello?"
"Viv? Where are you?"
Eli. Vivian had been so careful about not telling anyone about Carver. Mostly because she was determined not to have Carver become some kind of spectacle, and also because she was pretty sure that no one would believe her anyway. She felt bad about lying to her best friend, but she knew it was for the best.
"Just out," she replied. "What's up?"
There was a moment of silence and then Eli sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to be all up in your business or anything, but you're ‘just out' a lot these days, and I can't help but wonder… Are you seeing someone?"
Leave it to Eli to cut right to the heart of the matter. "Define seeing someone. I see people all the time."
Eli snorted. "You're avoiding the question, which means I'm right. What, do you not want me to meet him? Is this a secret romance or something?" He gasped dramatically. "Was he an English major?"
"Shut up, you idiot," Viv said, laughing. "It's nothing like that."
"If you're sure. I'm only asking because I never see you anymore, and when I do see you, you've got this… I dunno. This look. Like you've got a secret and are really happy about it all at once. I've never seen you look like that before. Not even about new computer parts, which is saying something. I mean, I'm happy for you, whatever it is, but I just wanted to see if you'd tell me."
Vivian glanced at the door to the bedroom, where she could just about make out the shadow of Carver in the bed. "Maybe one day," she murmured under her breath. "I gotta go, okay? I'll see you… tomorrow, probably."
Because by tomorrow, Carver would be gone.
He would be on a ship headed back to Khaosali and his people where he belonged. Vivian, had never believed in soul mates, and now she thought the whole practice was rather cruel if it could bond two people from different planets together and make them want each other but be doomed to be separated.
She hung up her phone and put it back on the counter, drumming her fingers on the smooth surface and worrying her lip between her teeth.
After a few moments of that, she sighed and shook her head at herself.
This was stupid. They were together now, and there was no way she was going to waste the last few hours they had together with sitting around being mopey. Vivian couldn't keep him from leaving, and would never even consider doing something like that since she knew how important this was, so she was going to have to trust that if this was meant to be and their souls had led them together or however it worked, it would work out how it was supposed to.
Chapter 10: The Beginning at the End
Waking with the first light of morning spilling through the windows into the bedroom was a wonderful sensation. Carver had gotten used to how much brighter it was here than on Khaosali, and he found that he actually liked it. But waking up with those first soft rays of light spilling over the sleeping form of Vivian, still curled up against him in the bed was something so unique and so amazing that it actually hurt for a second.
Because there was a very good chance that he would never see this sight again.
By the end of the day, he would be on a ship headed back home, and she would still be here, left to live her life and perhaps find someone else to kiss her and touch her and watch the sun highlight the reds in her hair.
That definitely hurt to think about, and Carver shoved the thought away viciously. She was his. Whatever force determined which two souls would be drawn to each other had decreed that Vivian should belong to Carver and vice versa, and he had to believe that it had happened for a reason.
And that they would see each other again.
It was still early, so he didn't move, instead curling himself around her more firmly and stroking her hair back from her face. Her skin was soft, lightly indented with lines from the pillow, and Carver, who had seen all manner of lovely sights in his life, didn't think he'd ever seen anything as lovely as she was.
When it came down to it, she made him happy. Back at home, Carver spent so much time doing things for other people and trying to make his family happy and proud, and he spent very little time thinking about his own needs and wants. But here she was, all he needed and wanted, curled up with her face pressed to his chest. And it hurt to think of her in someone else's arms. But she'd said that she felt it, too. She was just as drawn to him as he was to her, so she wouldn't go to anyone else. It wouldn't feel the same.
He wasn't happy about the implication that they would just be pining for each other indefinitely, but once this crisis was over and he had some time to think, Carver would come up with a plan.
Vivian stirred against him, blinking open pale eyes as she smiled to see him. "You're thinking very loudly," she murmured, pressing a kiss to his chest.
"Force of habit," he replied, smoothing a hand through her hair. "Did you sleep well?"
She nodded, yawning and stretching a bit. "Hours of sex will do that to you. I also need a shower for obvious reasons."
Carver could use a good cleaning as well, sticky as he was, but her breasts were soft where they pressed against him, and he was reluctant to get up. "Or we would make a bigger mess and have an even better reason to clean up," he suggested, smirking smugly.
Viv snorted. "Or we could kill two birds with one stone."
"What?" Carver frowned. "Why would we kill birds? Is that a human thing?" It would make sense, after all. Humans were always killing something from what he had heard.
She laughed and shook her head, amusement and good humor sparkling in her eyes. "No, silly. It just means to accomplish two things at once. Basically I'm saying we should have sex in the shower."
"Oh." That did make more sense. "I'm amenable to that plan." Already he was thinking about hoisting her up and pressing her back to the warm, slick tiles of the shower while he moved inside her tight, perfect heat. Showers back at home were too small for things like that, built to clean one person as effectively as possible as they were, so he figured that he might as well take advantage of the extra space the shower here provided.
Vivian slipped out of the bed, treating Carver to the glorious sight of her sun dappled backside as she stretched and pushed her hair out of her face. She smirked over her shoulder at him, arching an eyebrow.
"Are you coming?"
Oh, he very much was.
Shower sex was as wonderful as it sounded. Carver had gotten Viv to wrap her legs around him, and he'd taken her hard among the steam and cascading water. Her soft cries for him had echoed off the tile around them, spurring him on as he pushed deeper and deeper inside of her, face pressed
to her neck while he kissed and panted for breath.
Eventually they had managed to separate and get clean, and Carver had sat down obediently while Vivian brushed out his hair for him and then had returned the favor with hers, watching as it curled while it dried.
It was domestic and intimate, the kind of thing that Carver imagined that happily married couples did when they didn't have anywhere else to be, and he wanted it. He wanted every morning to be like this: slow and sleepy, but also full of passion and familiarity.
It was the kind of thing he imagined that his parents had done before he and his siblings had come along. And probably after as well, before his mother had been killed. He wondered at how much it had hurt his father to have his other half ripped away like that, and if perhaps that had played a part in his death.
Sadness was a disease as well, he figured.
Together they had breakfast (though it was nearly midday at that point), and Carver went around the cabin, gathering his things. He'd meant to be neater with them, but in the weeks that he had been stranded some things had gotten flung to the far corners of the cabin.
Vivian was wearing one of his shirts, and he liked the way it looked on her so much, that he very pointedly didn't say anything about it, deciding that she was welcome to it.
The day passed easily with the two of them talking and getting everything ready for Carver's departure. All the questions they could have about each other were asked and answered, in an attempt to push days of getting to know each other into a few hours.
Among other things, he learned that Vivian couldn't really cook, that her parents were divorced, that she had a best friend named Eli, and that she loved spicy food even though it made her stomach hurt. In return he told her about his siblings and his parents and how his mother had died. He told her that he'd never really wanted to be leader, but that he'd been groomed for it his entire life, so he knew what he needed to do. He talked about missing his father and reading his notes, and how he was afraid that it was too late to save Ithril from whatever it was that he was becoming, and when she held him after that, he clung to her for a moment, relieved to get that off of his chest.
But their time wasn't infinite, and just as night was falling, the sound of something touching down outside of the cabin could be heard.
Carver and Vivian looked at each other, and Carver made his way to the door, opening it and looking out. The ship was shielded and in stealth mode, so he couldn't see it, but it only took a few steps for him to feel the heat coming off of it and hear the engine.
It was here. He could go home.
He looked back at space where the cabin was, looking at Vivian who was standing in the door way, still in his shirt and wearing a sad smile. "You can go home," she said softly.
"I… still have to refuel," he said.
She nodded and watched eagerly as he opened the cargo door to pull out the fuel E'lira had included. Her eyes were wide as she peered inside the ship, taking in the dials and meters. "It's so big inside," she murmured, running a hand along the door panels.
"It can seat at least two people. People my size," Carver replied.
He made the task last as long as he could, but finally he knew he had to go. Vivian had put his bag inside the ship and was standing there, biting her lip with anxious eyes.
"Be careful," she said, flinging herself at him and holding him tight. "I know he's your brother, but just. Be careful."
"I will. And you take care of yourself. Remember to sleep and not stay up all night fiddling with things, alright?" Struck by a sudden idea, Carver let her go and then ducked into the transporter, returning with a com device. "Here. I want you to keep this. Then we can talk to each other while I'm gone. You'll have to modify it to work with human charging ports, but I know how much you enjoy that sort of thing."
She smiled fondly at him and hugged the tablet sized device to her chest. "I do. What about yours, though? It's been modified as well."
"I like it that way," he said. "I can get someone to make it work both ways when I get home. There's enough of a charge to get me back to where I need to be. And this will make me think of you."
"I'll be thinking of you either way," Vivian said softly.
Carver couldn't help himself after that. He leaned down and grabbed her up, crushing her against his chest as he kissed her thoroughly. If anyone happened to wander by and see them, it would look very strange indeed, but he didn't care. All he cared about was imprinting the feel and taste and smell of this woman into his senses so he would keep her with him while he was gone.
She kissed him back with just as much fervor, just as much passion, clinging to him with one hand while she held onto the com device with the other.
When they finally parted for breath, she was wide eyed and dazed, and she smiled at him one more time, trailing a hand down his chest. "Be safe."
"Stars guide you, Vivian," Carver whispered softly, grabbing her hand and kissing the back of it. He took a deep breath and pulled away, getting onto the ship and letting the door close. He then waited for the sensors to stabilize the pressure and register the fuel so it could take him home.
Carver hadn't expected to feel like this. Like his loyalties were torn by leaving. The Sitheri were his priority. They always had been, and now that he was their leader and quite possibly the only thing standing between them and war with the Des'kos, they had to be first in his mind more than ever.
But there was no denying that as he got farther and farther from the little cabin in the middle of the field and the woman he had left behind there, a part of him wanted to turn around and go back.
He'd never been selfish a day in his life, though, so he knew he wasn't going to do that. He was going to keep moving forward and fix the mess his brother had landed their people in.
There was another twelve hours or so left in his trip back to Khaosali, when he couldn't take it anymore.
Carver pulled out his modified com device and punched in the frequency number for the one he'd given to Vivian. It was likely very early on Earth, but he needed to see her and speak to her to settle his nerves.
The connecting screen ran for a while and then cleared, revealing an image of a half asleep Vivian with her tousled hair and tired smile. "Hey," she said, voice soft. "You alright?"
He nodded, eyes never leaving the screen. "I am. I'm sorry I woke you; I just… needed to see you. To talk to you."
"Don't be sorry. I wanted to talk to you, too. I went home and had dinner with my friend, and the whole time he could tell there was something wrong, but I didn't know how to say that I was missing my alien soul mate who had to go home and keep his brother from letting a bunch of other aliens kill his people."
Carver laughed. "You said that very well, actually. I take it that he wouldn't have been too pleased to hear that?"
"More like he wouldn't believe me."
"Mm. Understandable, I suppose. I don't think many people would believe that I have given my affections to a human, either. My people think yours are dangerous and brutish."
"They are for the most part, actually."
"You aren't. You are… You are wonderfully kind and intelligent and beautiful, and it's only been hours and I already miss having you with me. I considered being dumped on Earth as a terrible fate, but you turned it into something that I am so glad I experienced."
Vivian swallowed hard, and Carver wanted to reach out and touch her. "I feel like… like there's something missing. Something I never even noticed before, but now it's gone, and." She shook her head. "I miss you. I know why you have to go back, but I wish you could go fix all that stuff and then come back to me. Nothing's going to be the same."
Carver gave in and stroked fingers across the screen. "You have not seen the last of me, Vivian. I swear it. I care for you too much for this to have been it."
She laughed, and it was a strangely hollow sound. "Promise?"
"I swear," he said again. "I should go before the battery dies. I just… needed
to see your face before I do this."
"You can do it," she said firmly. "I know you can."
They disconnected the call, and Carver leaned back in his seat. There were still many miles to go before he arrived, and somehow, it felt less like going home than he had expected it to.
Chapter 11: Homecoming
"This is a disaster," Ithril said, slamming his hand down on the table. "This is a disaster, do you understand me? Why isn't this working? Why don't people want the revenge against these beasts that we deserve?"
The Council was mostly silent at the barrage of questions, sitting there with their heads bowed and their eyes on the shiny surface of the table instead of on their irate leader. Besides, what could they even say that would calm him down.
Ithril was right when he said that this was a disaster.
More Sitheri had died since he had started this campaign than in the last fifty years combined, and the people were not pleased. They made no efforts to contain their disdain for what had happened, and just moments before, the guards had dragged away a hysterical woman who had been yelling about the death of her husband for senseless means.
Ithril felt like his head was about to explode. It wasn't meant to be this hard. He had expected… Well, apparently it didn't matter what he had expected because none of that was going to happen.
"Perhaps if we came up with a better plan," one of them ventured. "I understand your need for vengeance, Leader, but this only seems to make more of our people die, which is the opposite of revenge."
Anger sparked in him. "Do you think that I don't know that?" Ithril snapped. "If you have nothing useful to say, then you should keep your mouth shut."
No one else seemed like they wanted to venture an opinion, and Ithril snarled under his breath, turning away from them while he got himself under control. He was the leader here, but without the Council, there was no way he'd be able to reach all the Sitheri, so he couldn't have them turning their backs on him.
Alien Soulmate (Paranormal Romance Aliens) Page 8
