The Alien's Accidental Bride

by C. V. Walter

  Again, the thought of her in the shower, water pouring over every delicious curve assailed him, joined quickly by the feel of her in his hands, slick soap the only thing between them.

  "I never would have guessed that the thought of a shower would be enough to tempt me to put off a day of work," he told her. He backed up and let go of her reluctantly. "Get your clothes. You'll want them to go through the hall."

  She smiled, obviously amused at his reluctance to remove his hands from her flesh. "You're too kind," she said. "Think we'll see anybody else on the way there? I'd like to at least meet another alien while I'm here."

  "Do I not satisfy you, Maw-lee?" he asked, his lips turned up in a smirk. "Am I not alien enough?"

  "You satisfy me in ways I never thought possible," she told him. His eyes were focused on her backside as she bent to pick up the pants he'd pulled off her earlier. "But I'm not altogether convinced you're not the only alien on this ship. What if you came here all by yourself to capture a human woman to do all sorts of breeding experiments on?"

  "Breeding experiments?" he asked, his eyebrow raised. He swallowed hard when she bent to pick up the shirt and tried to school his face so she couldn't see just how distracted he'd been by her body.

  "Well, you said we were compatible," she said and turned to him. "That's what the, um, recognition thing was all about. And you claim you're a doctor so maybe you're here all by yourself and finding human women to breed with."

  "I claim I'm a doctor?" he asked.

  She gasped and fluttered her hand to her chest melodramatically. "An alien doctor who has seduced me to take part in his wicked experiments. I must escape and warn the others!"

  "Are you finished?" Mintonar asked, trying not to smile.

  "Oh, woe is yours truly!" she said, putting her hand to her forehead and throwing her head back.

  She stayed where she was, clutching her clothes to her chest, her head thrown back until she peeked at him.

  "No," he said.

  Maw-lee straightened up and giggled. "Not buying it?"

  "A marvelous performance, I applaud your talent."

  "You're too kind," she said, dropping her clothes on the table. She started dressing and ran her eyes over his body. "Don't you need to put some pants on, at least? If I'm dressing in case we see someone in the hall, you probably should, too."

  "Why? Nothing they'd see would be shocking to them."

  "Wait, has everybody else on the ship seen you naked? I thought you guys didn't do casual relationships."

  "Not me specifically, no, but nudity doesn't have anything to do with casual relationships among my people. I am an average example of my kind, with nothing extra or anything missing, and my walking through the hallway without clothes on would likely go unremarked upon."

  "Well, if you do casual nudity, why am I getting dressed?" she demanded.

  "Because," he said. "You seemed more comfortable being dressed."

  "When I thought you weren't interested, I was. When I was convinced you were going to get me all worked up and then leave me like that, I didn't want you to have the opportunity to do so accidentally."

  "And now?" he asked, a growl in his voice.

  She gave him a sharp look. "Well, I don't really want to have sex in front of an audience but I don't give a shit who sees me naked. I'm not exactly super self-conscious unless you draw attention to my flaws. "

  "You don't-" he frowned, parsing the phrase.

  "I don't care," she said. "Unless somebody can't keep their hands to themselves or says something rude. And since I can't actually speak your language or understand it because no universal translator, how would I know?"

  "I thought your people objected to nudity. Or, at least, seeing specific parts of the human anatomy without some kind of reason or relationship."

  "Yeah, modesty is a thing and most humans feel better with clothes on. I like wearing clothes so I'm not cold and I don't bother anybody else but as far as caring who sees me, I don't. Not really. And how did you know we don't like showing parts of the anatomy?" she asked. "I had pretty specific reasons for not being nude around you and they had very little to do with modesty."

  "Ah, some of the videos we've been able to recover from your suit had obvious censors over portions of the anatomy they showed. They did appear to be some kind of medical instruction?"

  "Wait, you've recovered things from my suit?" she asked. "When? How long have you been able to see them? I thought the whole thing would have been destroyed by the accident and exposure to vacuum."

  "Alvola has been working on reverse engineering the suit and asked me to have you explain how to access more of the things in it. He says most of the controls are in the helmet."

  Chapter 17

  Molly didn't know whether to laugh or yell. "Do you have the helmet with you or did he want me to come by wherever he's taking the suit apart?"

  "He wants you to come by the lab but he has to have his bio-nanos updated first."

  "Fine," Molly said. "I'm assuming that's one of the things you're planning on doing today?"

  "Yes, though you can show me how to access the controls in the helmet first. He sent that with me a couple days ago."

  "Days," Molly said, her temper rising. "You've had my helmet for days and this is the first thing you've said about it?"

  "We were busy," he said with a shrug. "And Alvola obviously managed to get enough data from the suit to update the translator and language programs so I can speak to you. There wasn't anything pressing in it."

  She ground her teeth together to keep from yelling at him. "Can I see it?"

  He watched her and she could see the considering look in his eyes. It struck her as strange how well she was able to read him now. When she first woke up, she had no idea what his different expressions and movements meant. This look then would have terrified her, now she recognized the universal body language of a man trying to placate his lover without setting her off.

  "I have it here," he told her. "But I can see no benefit to giving it to you now rather than after you have had a shower and a meal. And perhaps a rest. As energized as you are, you will get tired soon and I do not want you to push yourself so quickly after your recovery."

  "Not more than I already have, right?" She could hear the irritation in her voice and she cringed but couldn't bring herself to apologize for it.

  Mintonar folded his arms and glanced down at his comm. "Yes," he said. "And I'm tempted to feed you before you get clean but I don't think either of us would profit from that delay."

  She glared at him and grabbed her pants. "Fine. I'm getting dressed. Get me to the 'facilities' and I'll get clean. Then you can feed me, pat me on the head and put me to bed like the cranky child you apparently think I am."

  He glanced down at his comm again and she ground her teeth. Looking around, she found his pants and threw them at him before going back to putting her shirt on. The outfit was still comfortable, still obviously pajamas, and she felt ridiculously under dressed.

  "Put your pants on and let me into the room so I can take a shower. Since you're so busy, and so eager to get rid of me so you can get to work, you can take your own shower later." She hated the tears that sprung up in her eyes, hated that he might think they were a sign of hurt feelings rather than the effort to keep her anger in check. Those tears are what made her a lousy lawyer and confirmed her decision to change careers every time she'd fought with her ex-husband.

  With barely a glance at her, he did what she'd asked, then motioned for her to lead the way out of the medical bay. She had no trouble finding the facilities on her own and was slightly disappointed they didn't see anybody else on the way there. She went directly to the shower and started the water before stripping out of the clothes he'd given her, pointedly ignoring him when he leaned against the door and watched her get undressed.

  Pressure on her bladder reminded her she hadn't used the bathroom since she'd gotten ready for bed a while ago. Leaving the water running, sh
e went to the toilet thing in the wall and sat. "You can leave," she told him. "I promise not to hurt myself in the shower."

  "You indicated you'd welcome help cleaning your back earlier. Have you changed your mind?" he asked, his voice carefully neutral.

  Her cheeks flushed. He was handling her, she would recognize that tone anywhere, and it grated on her nerves. Especially when the thought of him washing her, running his hands all over her naked body, sent her hormones into orbit. Parts of her that she had thought had gone back to being quiescent lit up with interest and she wanted to punch something.

  "I'm not sure I want to deal with everything else that goes along with that right now," she told him and her traitorous hormones. She flinched as the water splashed on her nether regions then stood up and walked to the shower. The water was the perfect temperature and she stood under the spray with her eyes closed, just enjoying the feeling of it washing over her skin.

  A deep breath helped her force her emotions down. Rolling her shoulders to release some of the tension she ran her hands through her hair. Thinking how much she really needed to ask about conditioner to keep her hair from drying out and frizzing, she wasn't prepared for the drip of cold soap down her back that made her shiver, followed by the gloved hands that started working it over her skin.

  "What-?" She started to turn and he gripped her shoulders to keep her facing away from him.

  "You have difficulty reaching this spot, right?" he said, his fingers sliding along her back when she pulled her hair over her shoulder.

  "I do, yes," she said, her breath shaky.

  "Then I shall reach it for you." His gloved fingers moved over her back, working the soap in, then digging into the knots in her shoulders. She put her hands against the wall and relaxed, letting the hot water flow over her while he massaged the muscles that bunched with her stress and tension.

  When his hands slid down her sides to her hips, he worked his thumbs into the muscles in her lower back and she moaned. Yesterday, he would have stopped and asked her if she was okay. This time, he pressed harder, familiar with her sounds of pleasure. He cleaned her backside and made her spread her legs so he could clean her thighs. With the lightest touch, he moved his fingers over her mound and she shivered.

  He made it to her ankles and pulled his hands away. She turned to see him crouched, his pants wet, bright yellow gloves covering his hands and a cautious admiration in his eyes.

  "Would you like help with your front?" he asked, staying in his crouch.

  Molly nodded, unable to speak as he stood and started soaping her belly. His hands moved up her body and she shivered, watching how he focused on every inch of skin while he touched it. When his hands brushed along the side of her breasts, she couldn't help the gasp she gave, her head swimming with pleasure.

  "Are you well, Maw-lee?" he asked, his voice low.

  She nodded and looked up into his face. "Your pants are wet."

  "So they are. Do you object?"

  She shook her head. "Thank you. I'm sorry for being a bitch."

  "Apology accepted. I'm sorry for not seeing to your needs before this. I can only claim ignorance and that is a poor excuse when we are both capable of communicating."

  "Well, it's not like we've known each other long. Maybe a little understanding is appropriate. I'll try and do better."

  "As will I," he returned. His soapy fingers were running over her neck and shoulders and she closed her eyes and leaned into his hands. Gently, he turned her into the water and rinsed her, helping the suds slide off her body.

  She stretched, tears pricking at her eyes for a completely new reason, and she turned to him. "Thank you for helping clean my back." She looked down. "And everything else."

  "It was my pleasure," he told her with a smile. "Is there anything else you'd like?"

  A kiss, she was tempted to say. Oh, how she was tempted. He'd give her one, too, she knew. And she could push enough for him to pleasure her again but it would be hollow. If he couldn't join her, if she was deliberately keeping him from his other duties, there would be no satisfaction in it.

  "Breakfast, I think," she said, returning his smile. "And maybe we could eat somewhere other than the medical bay."

  He held her hand as she stepped out of the shower and onto the dryer, the only place their bodies were touching was through his gloved hands.

  "If you don't object, I'll move you to my suite so the medical bay can be cleaned and used for other patients."

  "It's probably the only safe place to put me for now," she agreed. "I do understand some of what you need to do, even if I don't know all your protocols, the ones I've seen are similar enough in principle to ours to make sense."

  "Then I'll make you breakfast and you can amuse yourself going through my things," he said with a laugh. "You can see how much you can figure out how to use by the time I come back for the night cycle."

  "That sounds like a challenge," she said.

  "Perhaps it is. See how many of my things you can figure out how to use without breaking them down into their component parts."

  "That's not fair," she told him. "You broke me down into my component parts. And your friend is taking apart my suit."

  "Yes, but I was able to put you back together. How about this; anything you take apart has to be put back together before I get back."

  "Deal," she said with a grin.

  He stepped back and removed the gloves then handed her the clothes he'd brought her the night before. She slipped them on with much better grace this time and watched him put his shirt back on.

  "Willing to get the pants wet but not the shirt, huh?" She asked him.

  "I was perfectly willing to get the shirt wet," he told her, his gaze focused on the fastenings. "But if I was going to be tormented by your naked body, touching it but not feeling it, I thought it was only fair if you were slightly uncomfortable as well."

  He smiled at her then turned to the door while her face turned multiple shades of red.

  Chapter 18

  Mintonar got Maw-lee set up in his suite and made her breakfast. The speculation in her eyes when he showed her how to operate the bed was almost enough to make him reschedule everything in his day and stay there to help her get to sleep. Walking out the door was one of the hardest things he'd had to do since she'd come on board.

  The trip to Alvola's lab in engineering passed in a bit of a haze, his mind still running over everything that had happened in the last day. His comm had so much data to go through, he almost couldn't wait to see what it had captured, and he felt more than a little guilty just how much of their activities had been recorded.

  It was only data points, he reminded himself. And the warning he'd programmed to let him know when she was reacting because of low blood sugar or hormonal triggers rather than in a rational way had saved him a lot of concern already. It was one of the few pieces of information he'd been able to understand and input into the medical bay's computers and he was very happy that his suppositions were already proving to be correct and helpful.

  Alvola was waiting for him in the lab and waved him in before he'd activated the chime to let him know he'd arrived.

  "Well, you've certainly taken your time getting back to me," Alvola said, turning to the parts on the table. "What did she say about the videos? The controls? Was there anything useful?"

  "Ah," Mintonar said, grimacing slightly. He'd ignored the questions Alvola had commed him over the last few hours and still didn't have a good answer. "She hasn't looked at the helmet yet, actually."

  The look Alvola gave him spoke volumes. "I gave it to you over twenty-four hours ago. You said you'd have her look at it when she woke up. You said if I helped get the translator working faster, you'd be able to convince her to explain how it worked."

  "And she will," Mintonar told him. "There were some other things that came up that were more important."

  "What could possibly be more important than figuring out how to get the information out of the helmet?"
Alvola asked. "We're burning time and fuel hiding from this planet. If we're not stopping, we have to figure out how to resupply and how much trouble that's going to cause."

  "I know that," Mintonar said. "But the patient's needs had to come first."

  "I thought you said she was mostly recovered," Alvola said. "You said you were removing her from the room when you put in the order for the cleaning crew. All of whom are waiting for their vaccine update, by the way, so they can't even start working until you get that taken care of."

  "She is mostly recovered," Mintonar told him. "There's just been some complications."

  "Complications like what?" Alvola demanded.

  "I'd like to hear that answer as well," a deep voice said behind him.

  Mintonar and Alvola spun and snapped to attention, saluting the captain. He was taller than Mintonar, with broad shoulders and a deep chest. His horns were thick with a slight curl at the ends which, combined with the silver streaks in his hair, gave him a dignified look that would have demanded respect even without the well-fitted uniform.

  "At ease," the captain said, coming to look at the mess on the table. "I believe you were saying something, Doctor?"

  "I've gathered a lot of data on the alien we recovered," he started. "Some of which it will take me years to fully understand and-"

  "Complications, Doctor. You were talking about complications. What could have gone so badly wrong that you were unable to retrieve the information you needed from the alien to give to Alvola?"

  "Nothing went wrong, precisely," Mintonar hedged. "It went right in a way I could not have predicted and did not have a plan to deal with. I was forced to improvise."

  The captain looked at him, his eyebrow raised in expectation.

  Doing his best not to look uncomfortable, Mintonar continued. "I was able to get some of the videos to play. I noted some very interesting societal norms that-"

  "Get to the point, Mintonar," Alvola ground out. "I don't care about norms, I care about accessing data and without more information, I've gotten all that I can."