by Mel Teshco
“Yeah, well, believe it or not, infidelity is not all that uncommon,” she sniffled.
“On Carèche it is a crime of the highest order.”
She pulled back and stared up at him, overwrought with emotion and yet somehow curious, too. “You take commitment that seriously?”
His eyes fairly blazed with righteous anger. “We do. And even if we didn’t, I’d never abuse your love like that.”
She managed a wobbly smile, trying not to read too deep into his statement. “I’m starting to think I really like your planet.”
Her heart stuttered. Like you.
She stepped back. “I believe I have some cooking to do.”
He nodded, expression inscrutable. “Is this your roundabout way of telling me to get lost?”
She released a breath. “You know, sometimes I think you really are human.”
Chapter Five
Ally turned off the gas stovetop and leaned over the three saucepans bubbling away. She breathed in the fragrant smells. Yum.
One saucepan held the contents of a can of vegetable soup; another one a can of braised steak. The last saucepan steamed with a packet of chicken noodles—out of date, but she didn’t have the luxury of being fussy.
She ladled a generous spoonful from each saucepan into two clean bowls and placed them on the table. Renate sat at one of the chairs, looking awkward and uncomfortable. Did they not use chairs on his planet? She picked up her spoon and took a mouthful. O.M.G. It tasted divine. The first hot, decent meal she’d had since her memory loss.
Renate watched her carefully. She smiled and leaned across the table to dip his spoon into the broth. “Here.” She offered the spoonful of hot food to him and he obediently opened his mouth.
His lips closing over it, she pulled the spoon free, giggling at the long noodle left dangling from between his lips. “Suck it up,” she said. At his perplexed frown, she twirled her spoon around one of the noodles in her bowl. Deliberately allowing the noodle to dangle from her lips like his, she drew it slowly into her mouth. “See? Just like that.”
He sucked and the noodle disappeared. “I’m starting to like your human food,” he acknowledged with a wry grin.
They ate the rest of the noodle, beef and vegetable soup concoction in shared silence, before she doled out the leftovers between Bonnie and Leopold.
Placing her empty bowl on the sink, she turned and observed the dog and cat as they ate. “Look, they’re already friends.” She felt proud somehow, in the same way a parent would of two bickering children suddenly playing nicely together.
She closed her eyes for a moment, joy dimming as she unconsciously pressed a hand to her belly, all too aware of the sudden ache inside, the void.
“So they are.” Renate’s warm chuckle filled a little of the emptiness within. And as he placed his bowl and cutlery in the sink with hers and rinsed them beneath the water, he turned to her and said, “Thank you for cooking your earth meal. It was very enjoyable.”
The ache disappearing, she didn’t need to force another smile. His appreciation left her feeling ridiculously pleased. “Technically, I just heated the food.”
He stepped toward her, his mouth covering hers until tingles of desire were shooting from her lips to her toes and back. When he finally drew back he said huskily, “You fed me. All else is irrelevant.”
When she walked back to the pantry, she wondered if she just might be walking on air, despite the weariness that had descended upon her like a lead weight. “I think I’ll be getting me some more of that canned food.”
Renate’s voice held amusement, though the topic was all too serious. “I’m going to search the house, see if there’s anything useful we can take with us tonight.”
She swung the pantry door closed and turned toward him. “Tonight?” she breathed. “What about the wild dogs outside?”
“It’s a risk we’ll have to take. Nighttime means there’s less chance we’ll be seen by my alien brothers, even with the mother ship’s sensors.”
“Sensors?” she repeated. Though chairs—even a spoon—seemed a mystery to Renate, she had no doubt the aliens’ technology would be far superior. They had arrived here from another galaxy, after all.
“Yes.”
A sick feeling inside her gut told her Renate wasn’t telling her everything. Should the alien ship have found them already? Were the aliens playing with them?
Renate dipped his head toward the hallway. “I found a locked cabinet in the study. I’m hoping it holds a gun or some kind of weapon to better protect us.”
She shuddered. She hated guns, loathed them. But in the circumstances, there really wasn’t a lot of choice. “You know how to use a gun?”
He nodded. “We have similar weapons we use to hunt caltronians.” At her perplexed look he added, “Caltronians are big, ferocious beasts. They’ve been known to tear even the best hunters in half with a single swipe of their claws. They also happen to have the most flavorsome meat you could eat and their red fur makes for the softest bedding.”
Her eyes widened. If the alien males had a similar physique and strength to Renate, then the beasts must be very big and powerful indeed. “Even so, I’m pleased we don’t have anything the same on our planet.”
His expression was all fierce adoration. “I’d protect you, kitten.”
Her chest hurt at his words that were said with absolute conviction. “I think you just might.” Her chin tilted a little. “Although I know how to look after myself.”
She’d been alone—and alive—long enough to prove it.
He smiled gently. “You most certainly do.” His eyes narrowed a little, examining her face. Apparently she looked as bone-weary as she felt. “Perhaps you should get some sleep?” he suggested. “There’ll be no time for that luxury later tonight.”
She let out a sigh, sagging a little. “I think I might.”
Bonnie’s nails clicked on the linoleum floor as she followed her mistress down the hallway and into the smaller, less musty bedroom. Ally stroked the dog’s head before she went in search of the linen cupboard. Then stripping the double bed of its sheets, pillow slips and quilt cover, she changed them for fresh ones.
Climbing under the covers with Bonnie flopping on to the floor beside the bed, Ally’s eyes drifted closed to the sound of Renate’s quiet tread on the floorboards in the room next door while he rummaged around—looking for a key to the locked cabinet?
She snuggled deeper into the surprisingly comfortable mattress. It was odd just how reassuring it was to have someone else around, despite the fact his alien friends were looking for him…for her.
Renate had promised he’d not share her with any other alien men. Even with her reservations, she could only trust him in that.
Leopold let out a plaintive meow from the hallway before his orange head appeared around the doorway. His eyes widened with a feline flash of triumph when he saw her. The next moment he raced into the room and bounded on to the bed, his claws digging in and out of the quilt as he loudly purred.
Ally couldn’t help but smile. And as she drifted into sleep she realized in that moment everything felt almost…normal.
* * * * *
“A divorce?” Luke sounded incredulous. He glowered at her, as though her request was absurd and something he’d not even contemplated. “What about the kids? You leaving will destroy them.”
Ally closed his office door behind her. Pressing outspread hands on his polished mahogany desk, she leaned forward, the dominant position helping to strengthen her resolve and feel every inch in control. “What about you, Luke? How do you feel about me leaving?”
His eyes narrowed in a pinched face. In that moment he looked older than his thirty-four years. “I don’t want you to go.”
She stared at him. “No undying words of love? No promises to never stray again?”
He had the grace to look shame-faced.
She straightened. “Tell the kids I’m sorry—sorry I couldn’t turn a bl
ind eye to your fucking any beautiful woman who takes your fancy. I’m sure they’ll understand why I had to leave.”
Ripping free her gold wedding ring, she tossed it on his desk, ridiculously lightened by its absence on her finger. And as she spun away and opened his office door, she couldn’t help but feel just a little bit pleased when Luke called out her name with a note of desperation.
As the door clicked firmly shut behind her, she didn’t look back.
* * * * *
She woke with Renate’s arms around her, his warmth surrounding her. She sighed. Luke had never made her feel this protected, this…loved. With Renate she felt adored. Beautiful.
She pressed closer to all his hard length, enjoying his musculature. He was so big. And so damn handsome it almost hurt to look at him. It seemed inconceivable that he could want her. Yet every look he cast her way was full of longing, every touch full of wanting.
She sat with a frown, deeply unsettled. But it wasn’t anything to do with her elated thoughts. It was something else entirely.
At the foot of the bed, Leopold rolled onto his back and stretched with feline bliss. She hardly noticed.
Carefully extricating herself from Renate’s arms, she left his beckoning warmth and moved on silent feet to the small window. Outside the sky was darkening, shadows lying long on the ground. The air was silent and unnaturally still.
Too still?
Bonnie moved from beside the bed and sat next to her and Ally absently ran a hand over her head.
What had woken her from such a deep sleep?
The bed creaked behind her, sheets rustling. This once she took little notice of Renate. Not with alarm pushing her throat almost closed.
“Ally, what is it?”
“They’re coming,” she whispered. She couldn’t see any craft. She didn’t need to. Renate’s words came back to her as if he was saying them right then. If the other males should happen to come near, you will experience something we call trans-alien hypersensitivity. Their thoughts are centered on you now, and the closer they get to you the more heightened their awareness of you—and you of them. And the easier they will find you.
His hands encircled her forearms and he turned her around, snapping her from whatever it was that had her frozen at the window. “Let’s get out of here,” he growled.
She nodded. And it took just seconds for her to clip on Bonnie’s leash and scoop up the cat—she wouldn’t leave Leopold to starve inside the house.
As Renate slung the backpack over a shoulder they raced for the back door.
Leopold hissed, aware of the tension, or perhaps he sensed the craft heading their way. Ally put the ginger cat on to the long grass outside, trying not to think about what might happen to him when they were gone. He’d survived this long, it stood to reason he’d survive many more years to come.
The still dusk air abruptly vibrated with sound overhead.
Oh. Shit.
With one hand snared in Renate’s, her other hand wrapped around Bonnie’s leash, she ran for all she was worth, pulse pounding as she sprinted beside Renate. Adrenaline tore through her veins with the knowledge that this time they just might not outrun and hide from the craft closing in above them.
Renate pulled her into an alleyway, where big buildings loomed either side of a narrow lane and shielded them in shadows.
The aircraft that slid above the buildings emitted a high-pitched whine. And as the sound receded, Renate said urgently, “We don’t have much time before they return. We have to keep going.”
Chest heaving and lungs burning, all she could think about was the deep knowing she was “felt” by the aliens promised to her. She gave a jerky nod and he squeezed her hand in return.
They took off sprinting down the ever-darkening alleyway, their footsteps echoing eerily and all too loud. Bonnie emitted a ragged growl a nanosecond before Ally saw the flash of hungry eyes ahead.
She stilled beside Renate as shapes emerged from the shadows. Feral dogs. A dozen or more of them. She shuddered. She didn’t need sunlight to imagine their sharp fangs, their ribbed and undernourished bodies after gorging for so long on human remains—and then nothing.
Renate pulled a rifle out of the backpack. And without taking his eyes off the dogs he said softly, “Back away slowly. The moment even one of them breaks from the pack, you run like hell. Get out of the alley and find somewhere to hide. Take Bonnie, she’ll protect you.”
“I’m. Not. Leaving. You.”
He leveled the gun at the dogs. “Just this once please do as I say.” When she stayed put, unwilling to leave, he said hoarsely, “Go!”
No! I can’t lose you!
She swallowed past the fear and grief lodging inside her throat. “I don’t want you to be a hero.” She backed away a few steps, heart in her throat, her pulse flailing loudly in her ears. Tears were streaming down her face but she barely noticed, too focused on the alien who was more man than anyone she’d ever known.
She took another couple of backward steps, all too aware the dogs were moving toward them, step-for-step. Tears flowed harder. “Did you hear me, Renate? Don’t be a hero. Don’t you dare die on me!”
The dogs abruptly broke formation. Bonnie whined, fearful. Only then did Ally spin around and push into a run. Gunshot ricocheted in the alley, thunderous in her ears. She heard a yelp, followed by another shot.
There’s so many of them. He’ll never make it.
A loud thud sounded and then another. Renate had been reduced to striking the attacking dogs with the rifle butt? Snarls echoed down the alley, along with an all-too-human curse.
Heart in her throat, Ally veered left at the end of the dark lane, perceiving he and Bonnie weren’t alone. She risked a glance over her shoulder.
Oh, hell.
Four dogs had broken from the pack and followed, their flashing eyes revealing their intent to kill.
A warehouse loomed ahead. A handful of steps led to a small concrete landing and a steel door. Oh, god. Please don’t let the door be locked.
She heard a savage growl—so close! She half-screamed as a dog leaped and hit her from behind, its dead weight bouncing against her spine as its canines sank deep. She kept right on running. If she stopped she’d be dead. It was as simple and as terrifying as that.
She heaved out a sob as a chunk of her flesh gave way, tearing free. Warmth poured down her back and the dog fell to the ground with a snarl.
Bonnie strained against the leash, all but pulling Ally up the warehouse steps.
Breath rasping, Ally fumbled for the door handle. It didn’t budge. Bloody. Fucking. Hell.
She twisted to face the dogs, scanning desperately for a weapon—anything. Bonnie stood her ground, hackles standing on end and her teeth bared as she growled.
The big tan dog in front revealed bloodied canines, his top lip curling high. Oh, shit. This was undoubtedly the dog that’d attacked her. And by the way he stalked forward and the others fell back at his flanks, he was the alpha male, the top dog.
She’d need to take him out first. Lop the head off the dragon. If only she had something to defend herself with aside from her bare hands.
The lead dog suddenly leaped, hitting her chest and knocking her to the ground. As another two dogs fell on Bonnie, Ally pulled her knees up to her chest and kicked out hard. One of her feet connected to the alpha’s thick snout, the other on his barrel chest. He let out an irate yelp, slamming into another one of his pack members.
She glanced over at Bonnie. Her dog labored under the double attack and was struggling to stay on her feet. Bloody hell. She sucked in a desperate breath. The dogs were taking out Bonnie so the alpha could dispatch Ally without any outside threats.
It was human meat these animals craved.
She moved backward, slipping in something wet. She looked down. And froze. Blood, and lots of it.
Hers?
Everything abruptly spun around her. She battled not to pass out, not to give in. And didn’t even see
the alpha dog until he bit deep into her thigh. She screamed at the piercing pain. The dog shook his head, shredding right through her jeans and savaging her flesh.
She struggled, growing weaker and more ineffectual by the second. But somehow she took absurd comfort in the fact she’d gone numb to any pain.
Gunshot boomed, much closer this time. Or was she dreaming? Then she heard Renate’s frantic shout. “Ally!”
Everything blurred and her eyes fluttered closed. Her lips tilted into a half-smile.
Renate was alive.
Chapter Six
Sounds infiltrated Ally’s consciousness. The murmur of voices. The soft tread of someone moving around. Strange scents filled her sinuses. Rich earth and something sharper, more pungent. Foreign. She moved a little, aware of something extremely soft beneath her spine.
“She is waking, my friend.”
Who the hell is that?
She frowned, struggling to open her eyes.
A hand moved gently over her brow. “Ally, can you hear me?”
Renate. Oh, thank god.
She pushed into his hand. “Yes.”
His relieved sigh fanned her face. Warm. Comforting. His thumb stroked her too-hot skin as he murmured heavily, “You’re okay. Thank the gods.”
Her eyelids strained apart. Light hit her pupils and she turned away with a moan, waiting as her vision adjusted. Damn. Her head felt all kinds of fucked up, her stiff muscles and aching bones telling her she’d been hit by a truck, or worse.
“Where am I?” she managed. Hell, it even hurt to speak.
“You’re on the mother ship, kitten.”
She shrank back, breath hissing. No! And then it all came back to her. Escaping the mother ship. Racing down the dark Ally. The dog attack.
Her eyelids jerked wide apart. Pain lashed her head, her eyeballs. Her leg and back.
Fuck.
Renate’s large form blurred before her, then came into focus. “They caught us?” she asked, horror thickening her voice.
“No. I…I brought you here.” At her obviously shell-shocked look, he gathered one of her hands in his and said hoarsely, “I had no choice. You needed help.”
