Mismatch

by Lisa Lace

  A person of importance had more credibility than a nobody like me. If he said he had found me as a stowaway, they were going to charge me. I was on a starship without a ticket. They didn’t need much more evidence than that.

  I needed to stop thinking about Allex and get some sleep. I didn’t know what would happen tomorrow. Allex was supposed to do some more reconnaissance, and perhaps if I got lucky, he would let me come with him. I wanted to do something to help.

  I nodded off imagining Allex snuggling with me and holding me tightly.

  Something woke me in the middle of the night and I didn’t know what it was. I listened to the evening sounds, wondering if a pirate had made their way into our quarters.

  I didn’t hear anything more. I wrapped myself tightly in a blanket and noticed a peculiar silence. I could no longer hear the pirates, and there was no noise coming from anything but me. I couldn’t even hear Allex breathing. I hadn’t realized how comforting the sound was; it was a reminder I wasn’t alone anymore.

  I must have awakened when I heard Allex leave. Where was he going? What was he doing? And why was it happening in the middle of the night?

  I felt betrayed. I had thought we made progress today in becoming friends.

  I crept out of the maintenance door into a brighter area near the pipes. Allex had only been gone for a minute. I should still be able to see him.

  A shadow moved far away in the space between the two largest pipes. If it was Allex, I would have to move quickly or I would risk losing him in the darkness.

  I felt a fleeting fear of getting lost; all the pipes looked about the same. But I needed to know what Allex was doing. Before long, I was so close that I didn’t have to worry about losing him. My biggest concern was him hearing me. I slipped off my shoes, carried them in my hands, and stayed as far back as I dared as I walked softly on my bare feet.

  He stopped and paused, then moved off in a new direction. An enormous shaft appeared in front of me. It extended from the floor to the ceiling high above our heads. It looked like an old elevator shaft, but there was no elevator.

  I don’t know what I thought Allex was doing. Perhaps he was having a meeting with the police or pirates. I would never have imagined the truth.

  As I peeked into the empty shaft extending hundreds of feet above my head, I saw him bent over, every muscle taut as if he was in terrible pain.

  His face cleared and he stood up, removing a stick from between his clenched teeth. The agony was completely erased from his features, and I wondered if I had imagined it.

  I didn’t have a chance to wonder much longer. Allex was standing in front of me shirtless, and I couldn’t help noticing his broad chest and well-defined six-pack. His arms were well-muscled. But what stood out to me most was a set of huge white wings that extended from above his head to below his knees.

  He gave them an experimental flutter, and a look of sheer joy came over his face. He jumped into the air, pumped his huge wings, and flew straight up into the empty shaft.

  Allex was an angel.

  I watched in awe as he flew for about fifteen minutes. Each time he moved his beautiful wings I imagined I could feel a breeze. In the small space, he was only flying up and down, but I could imagine him swooping and diving across a clear blue sky. I had never seen anything like it before.

  When he landed, his attitude completely changed. He pulled out the stick he had spit out earlier and put it back into his mouth. He bit down hard, and a resolute expression appeared on his face. He flinched when his wings retracted.

  For Allex, everything changed. He groaned and bent over, holding himself as if he were trying to contain the pain. Tears came to his eyes, but he didn’t let them fall.

  His turmoil seemed like it would never end. I wanted to go to his side, but I didn’t want him to know I had followed him. After a few minutes, he stood up and discarded the piece of wood. There was no trace of the suffering which had been etched on his face only moments earlier. I wondered how he could be in such pain one moment and completely normal the next.

  He was leaving. I slipped away into the shadows, heading toward our sleeping area. I had to get back into bed before he returned and discovered I was missing.

  I moved quickly, but not quickly enough. Allex’s legs were longer than mine and he was catching up to me. I would have taken another route, but I was afraid of getting lost, and if I started to run, he would hear me. What could I do?

  I thought of a plan in a flash. I turned around and walked straight back at him. He was closer than I expected and I ran right into him.

  “Allex?â€� I gasped when I felt his body. He grabbed me, and I wrapped my arms around his waist. He held me a moment before gently pushing me away.

  “Priya?â€� He peered at me in the dim light. “What are you doing out here?â€�

  “I might ask the same of you. Are you running somewhere in the middle of the night?â€�

  “It’s none of your business.â€� The Allex who didn’t like me had returned, and he was keeping his true nature a secret. If he couldn’t tell me about his wings and was willing to lie to me about his true nature, why should I trust him? How could I believe a word he said?

  Turning away, I didn’t bother replying to his rude statement. I was behaving like an idiot. Even though I was attracted to him, it didn’t mean I should be with him. There were a lot of reasons why we shouldn’t and couldn’t be together.

  The biggest one was that he didn’t want me, and the attraction between us was one-sided. A prince would have no interest in a stowaway, and lest I forget, he had even called me a criminal at one point.

  “Wait, that didn’t come out right. Priya!â€� I heard him calling after me, but I didn’t turn around. The worst thing we could do was be nice to each other. We needed to get through a few days together before going our separate ways. There was no way anything else could happen between us.

  ALLEX

  Priya had been spying on me. She was a criminal, so I didn’t know what I had expected. I was dumb and naive. I couldn’t trust her even when she was sleeping.

  What would have happened if she had seen my wings?

  I needed to stop grabbing her when she ran into me. I had done it out of necessity back at the testing center. If I hadn’t caught her, she would have fallen, but she wasn’t in danger this time.

  Was I already becoming attached to a thief? I knew I was lusting after her breasts and hips, but she was annoying. And she had treated me differently since learning I was a prince.

  On the other hand, she had given me one of her blankets on a cold night and shared her meager food supply. Her face when she had felt the sun lights and eaten the fresh vegetables had been absolutely gorgeous.

  I had to get her out of my head. We couldn’t possibly be together. I was a prince, and she was a stowaway. We didn’t have a chance.

  And she wasn’t into me. I had no reason to think she was.

  I was fighting a battle in my head. I kept imagining her nude at inappropriate times. I was never going to be with her, so I needed to stop thinking about her.

  When I returned to the room, I crawled through the door. Priya was angrily cleaning again. I wondered if she tidied when she was upset.

  “Priya, don’t follow me anymore.â€�

  “I’m an adult. I can tail you and I will if I think it’s necessary.â€� She turned and glared at me. “We’re on the same side, for now. You shouldn’t go on a midnight excursion without me. Take me with you next time.â€�

  I stared at her. She couldn’t be serious, could she? Everyone was always telling me what to do. I was sick of it.

  “I won’t do it.â€� I walked over to her and noticed her chest was rising and falling quickly in her anger. I towered over her and trie
d to use my height to intimidate her.

  “Sneak off without me again and see what happens.â€� She wasn’t intimidated by me at all.

  “People think I don’t know how to make the right decisions, but I do. I won’t have a thief like you giving me orders.â€�

  “You’re a bastard. You know nothing about me.â€�

  “I know enough.â€�

  “Fuck you, Allex.â€� She pushed my chest.

  Her cursing was what finally pushed me over the edge. I was wound up from flying and full of adrenaline from nearly being caught with my wings. I was angry at Priya. The energy between us was running high. She was too close to me.

  I pulled her into my arms and pressed my lips against hers. It was the craziest thing I had ever done, and she didn’t pull away from me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned against me, melting around my body. I kissed her like I hadn’t kissed anyone before. Our lips merged, our tongues tangled, and our bodies touched along their entire length. I was so hard that I thought I would explode from her touch.

  Her soft body rubbed against me. It felt like we were meant to be together. Priya made a noise in her throat, and I groaned. I moved my hands from her hips, sliding them under her shirt. The touch of her soft skin made me want more. My hands moved higher. I was finally about to feel her breasts when we both heard voices.

  We froze, and I pulled my lips away from her. I squeezed her against me again before letting her go, making her gasp.

  “Allex, what are we going to do?â€�

  “We have to get rid of them. They can’t find out about this place.â€�

  It was important for both of us to keep our location a secret. If the site became public knowledge, Priya would have to find another place to stay.

  I didn’t want her to get caught, and I didn’t know what I was doing. I only knew I wanted to kiss her again, and soon.

  Chapter Seven

  PRIYA

  We had been fighting in the beginning. Allex loomed over me, trying to get me to back down, but I wouldn’t, of course. Suddenly I was in his arms, and his lips were on mine. It was better than I had imagined.

  My body hummed and my heart pounded. Where was my head? Pirates were coming our way, and I didn’t have my trusted chunk of heavy pipe. Having Allex around was making me sloppy.

  He whispered into my ear as I held back a shiver. “Let’s go get your whacking stick. It worked once before.â€�

  I nodded and led the way back to my secret quarters. The voices were nearby. I guessed they were only a few minutes away. What would they do with me if they caught me?

  I knew I wasn’t beautiful like a runway model, but I was young and female. Allex’s body had reminded me of that when I felt his hardness pressing against me. The pirates would certainly add me to their pool of sex slaves, and if they captured Allex, he would be the perfect hostage. They would have all the leverage they would ever need over the royal family. With Allex under their control, they could force his family to come out or fork over a ransom.

  I realized I could protect him. Even if the pirates learned someone was living down here, they wouldn’t know there were two of us. If they were going to catch anyone, they might as well grab me. I could tell them I had been a stowaway and there was no one else down here. Allex could hide here indefinitely.

  It would be terrible if they had him as a bargaining chip. And what if they decided to carry out their threat to kill all the men? Even if I became a slave, at least I would still be alive.

  On the other hand, they might not be able to overpower us. It sounded like there were only two of them. If they found us, could we take out two pirates? I looked at myself with doubt. Even if we had surprise on our side and a hundred pipes, we weren’t going to be able to beat anyone up.

  I grabbed the pipe as soon as we arrived at our quarters. I felt more confident wielding a weapon. Allex looked around for something he could use to fight, but all he found was a pail.

  “If we take them out, the other pirates are going to know someone’s down here when they don’t return.â€� I followed Allex out the door. “What are we going to do?â€�

  He stopped and looked back at me. When he spoke, his words came out in a whisper. “You’re right.â€� He set down the pail. “What do you think we should do?â€�

  “We can’t let them find out anyone’s living down here. If they find the room, someone is going to start looking for us.â€�

  “Come over here for a minute.â€� Allex took my hand and pulled me back to the door. The darkness of the sleeping area enveloped us. We stood next to each other so we could talk quietly. I briefly wondered if there was another reason why we were so close.

  “What might encourage them to avoid searching this area thoroughly, Priya? We need to make them want to leave voluntarily.â€�

  “Wasn’t there a bunch of rotten fruit in the greenhouse?â€�

  “That’s perfect. All we need to do is gather some of the worst-smelling food. We’ll make this place stink to high heaven. They won’t want to come down here, and we can clean it up after they leave. Brilliant idea!â€�

  I was glad he couldn’t see me blush in the dark. “Are you sure the prince doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty?â€�

  “The prince will do whatever it takes to stay alive.â€� I wished I could see his face. I was sure his eyes were dancing.

  “Okay. What should we do?â€� I was gratified when he didn’t tell me to stay and wait but included me in his plans. I wasn’t sure if it meant anything, but it made me happy.

  ALLEX

  It didn’t take long to gather the ingredients and assemble the vile package. I took a small risk and concealed it in the search path of the pirates. Once I knew it was secure, I dashed over to where Priya was waiting, took her hand, and led her back to our sleeping quarters.

  There was no reason for me to touch her again, but I liked it. She was becoming more important to me than I could have ever imagined a couple of days ago. I would need to sort out my feelings soon.

  “Go inside, and I’ll close the door behind us.â€� She nodded, dropped to her knees, and crawled in. I followed after and started to seal the conduit door.

  “Allex, what are you doing?â€�

  “I don’t want to smell that stuff. By my estimates, we should have about eight hours of breathable air in here. If we can make the cracks lightproof, we can turn the lights on, too.â€�

  “I didn’t know you could secure the door like that.â€�

  “I’m not just easy on the eyes. I’m smart, too.â€� I tapped my temple.

  “Aren’t they going to wonder who left that pile of rotten fruit for them?â€�

  I shook my head. “If they bother reporting it and they investigate further, they’re not going to find much. I tried to spread it around and make it look as natural as possible. In fact, they might think it shows the area has been vacant for so long that the food is spoiling.â€�

  “What do we do now?â€�

  I thought of all the things I wanted to do to her. Some of what I was thinking must have shown on my face because she started to blush.

  “We’re stuck in here for the next few hours.â€� I tried to avoid staring at her. “Do you have any ideas?â€�

  I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but she seemed to get even redder. She dropped her eyes and avoided my stare. I wondered if her thoughts were anything like mine. If so, they likely involved putting our lips together and pressing our bodies against each other.

  “We can start by getting to know each other a little better. I’m starting to wonder how a woman like you ended up being a stowaway.â€� />
  Something wasn’t adding up. Priya wasn’t a criminal, I could feel it in my soul. The more I got to know her, the less I believed she might be a thief. If she was, she must have a good reason, and I wanted to know it.

  “To be honest, I’m starting to wonder why a prince would run to the basement of the ship. Where’s the rest of your family?â€�

  I felt my lips curve up into a smile. “They’re safe.â€�

  “I’m sure there’s more to the story. Have a seat on my comfortable couch.â€� She gestured to the futon next to her. It looked a lot more comfortable than my pile of blankets.

  I walked over and sat down, leaning back on the conduit wall. I got up the courage to pat the space beside me. Priya’s lips twitched like she was trying not to smile. She accepted my invitation but was careful to make sure we weren’t touching each other.

  I took the lead. “I have a question for you. I’ve been watching you, and something doesn’t add up. Are you really a stowaway?â€�

  She shook her head. “No, I’m not. And it’s your fault I ended up here in the first place.â€�

  “That’s impossible.â€� I was becoming more intrigued by her.

  “Do you remember the day we ran into each other at the testing facility?â€�

  “I do. It would be hard to forget something like that.â€�

  “I was really upset when I left, and I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening around me. It was dark, and some assholes jumped me.â€�

  “Did they hurt you?â€� I was concerned even though it was clearly behind her and I couldn’t change the past.

  “Don’t worry. The worst thing that happened was losing a few credits. A passerby saw us and shouted at them, and when they were distracted, I ran and got out of there. I hid in a shuttle near the testing center.â€�