And when his breathing steadied and he closed his eyes from sheer exhaustion, she ran her fingertips over his creased forehead, her sightless eyes burning with tears and unmistakable pity. Her fingers encountered the hard plastic of his goggles and she wondered why he wore them. Was he blind too? Though she was small and slight, the human managed to get Elyes’ upper body off the floor, and she proceeded to drag him slowly to his bed. When she was sure he was comfortable, she set about emptying the metal basin and hanging up the rag in the kitchen. Knowing nothing else could be done, she said a silent prayer that her captor would live through the night.
Elyes finally awoke two days later, the fever gone from his body and his health fully restored. He was lying in his bed covered by a duvet and his human pet was sitting in an old rocking chair beside him. She had drifted in and out of a restless slumber, her chin resting on her hand, during her vigil over the sick man. But she woke as soon as she heard the rustling of bedding. When the blurriness of his eyes dissipated, he focused on the blind woman, vaguely recalling some of her ministrations as he had lain incapacitated on the floor.
“You…you took care of me.” She nodded in confirmation, which confused him all the more. “Why?”
“I…” Her voice was rich and gentle, an unexpected pleasure for Elyes. He had never heard her speak. “I didn’t want you to die after you rescued me from that place.”
He sat upright in his bed and studied the earnestness of her features. “What is your name?”
“I have had no name since I came to Plutarch. But when I was on Earth, my name was ‘Vera’.”
Elyes tested out her name with careful pronunciation through his dry lips. “Ve-ra. Vera, thank you. I am now forever in your debt.”
Vera shook her head and clumsily handed him a warm bowl of soup that she had made for him. “Don’t think about that now. You are still very weak and need to rest.” She nodded her head politely and left the room quietly, leaving Elyes Mort to ponder on the wisdom of bringing such a moral and compassionate creature into his existence.
Chapter 5
When Elyes had recovered fully, he began to take more notice of Vera. His human pet had become an appealing feature in his humble abode, always doing what she could to keep the place neat and infusing a positive feminine atmosphere that had been severely lacking for many years. As a gesture of thanks to her, he found himself going out of his way to make her life more comfortable. He bought her new clothes and ensured that the house had everything she needed and wanted. He even went one step further and began installing various instruments in his home to help her navigate her way around better. In short, Elyes Mort was beginning to care about someone other than himself.
A sand storm swept across Plutarch one morning, rendering it impossible to venture outside. So while Vera dusted the living room, Elyes set about building a bed frame for her mattress. Carpentry wasn’t a popular pastime in Plutarch, but Elyes’ human mother had taught him to master the skill as a child. The pounding of hammer on nail and aligning the wooden pieces correctly gave him a sense of purpose and tranquility—it took him out of the morbid scope of his unusual profession. The wind howled outside like a ghoulish banshee, and sand swirled about, ferociously pelting the windows at regular intervals as the sun burned bright red on Plutarch.
Vera finished wiping the grime from the pewter coffee table with a rag and exhaled a huff of fatigue. The sweat from her labor was cloying, yet she was happy to be free and doing something of her own volition for the first time in 10 years. Though Elyes had been hesitant to pry too much at first, he soon discovered that Vera was able to talk about her wretched past without showing too much emotion.
“When did they take you?” Elyes questioned. He had finished nailing the planks of wood to the base and now sought to attach the headboard.
Vera ran the back of her hand over her forehead to rid herself of the droplets that had formed. “I was 17 and living in Pennsylvania with my family when Stratan raiders attacked our neighborhood. There was so much confusion and destruction; to this day, I still don’t know which, if any, of my loved ones actually survived. I was put on board a slaving vessel and sent to Strata, where I was bid on and sold like a common mule. I changed ownership so many times, I slowly stopped caring about trying to run. Things got worse when some Stratan rebels bombed a transporter I was in—that’s how I lost my sight. Then Yul Ulari acquired me nearly five years ago and I’ve been with him ever since. Well…till you got me out,” she corrected, a blush forming on her cheeks.
Elyes cleared his throat awkwardly at Vera’s last remark. Neither one of them liked to think too much about the circumstances of their first meeting. They were content with how things had turned out in the end.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s difficult to imagine someone like Yul Ulari keeping a blind girl with him solely for his own twisted amusement.”
Vera grinned sardonically and Elyes thought that smiling in any form suited her very well. “I myself don’t really know why Yul kept me all these years. I guess he was the kind of man who liked collecting trophies, no matter how unappealing they might seem to others. Still, I had my uses,” she concluded, a sudden hard edge to her voice.
Elyes stopped hammering away as the air grew cold and tense between them. He knew exactly what she was referring to and he despised the ball of despair that formed in the pit of his stomach. “Yul…did that to you?”
“Yul and his men, and anyone else who wanted to. After a while, I found a way to detach myself completely from what was being done to me. I found a reason to keep going somehow even when I got pregnant. Of course, Yul didn’t like that very much and ordered some of his goons to rough me up. The baby didn’t make it.” She stopped talking and sniffled, wiping away a tear that had spilled unwanted from her eye.
For the first time since it happened, Elyes had found another reason to be glad he had killed Yul Ulari. “I’m so sorry, Vera. You didn’t deserve any of the bad things that happened to you. Not even me taking you away only to make you a prisoner again,” he stammered, feeling utterly wretched.
He stiffened ever so slightly when Vera inched closer and laid her pale hand on his tanned arm. “You taking me away was the best thing that could’ve ever happened. I owe you everything, Elyes Mort. You are…an exceptionally good man.”
Elyes felt an unfamiliar and very uncomfortable heat surge up the back of his neck. He rubbed at the spot with his free hand and looked away from his human pet—from Vera. “You know what I’ve done and how I live. I’m not good at all, Vera.”
Vera retracted her hand and sighed audibly. “Please don’t be angry with me. But I have to ask: why do you do such terrible things for money?”
“I never set out to be this way. I come from a typical broken home where I watched my Stratan father murder my human mother. Then he was sent to work in a mine on the planet of Ku’aitarn as punishment for his crime. I worked as a miner for many years after that, met a human girl and married her. I loved her and we were even expecting a child… But she died during labor and the child did too. After I lost everything that meant anything to me, I turned away from my human emotions and completely embraced my Stratan instincts for cruelty and domination. I had no reason to be anything else…till I met you.”
Vera stunned Elyes when she lifted her hand and let her fingers run over the rough stubble of his chin up to the arches of his cheekbones. It was her way of judging his emotions in that moment, but it also allowed her to better acquaint herself with the smooth patterns of his face.
“You have experienced so much sadness and loss in your life, Elyes Mort. But the human in you should’ve known that you never counter anger and grief with violence and apathy.” She whispered this sternly in a way that made him feel uncharacteristically ashamed. Then she surprised him as she ran a lone finger over his goggle strap and laid a soft kiss on his right temple. “However, my opinion of you has not wavered. There is still good in you.”
An
d for the rest of that day, all heaviness of shared sorrows was soon forgotten. Vera began humming the tune of an old childhood lullaby as they listened to the sound of wind whistling and sand beating ceaselessly on the doors and windows.
Chapter 6
Elyes found himself seated in The Pluto Inn with Ivos, having a much-needed drink. The past few days spent indoors with Vera had been illuminating and confusing all at once. Like Elyes, Ivos was a hybrid, but of the Stratan and Ku’ait persuasion. While he too was prone to be menacing when his anger was aroused, he normally had a jovial and tranquil disposition that contrasted greatly with Elyes’ brooding personality.
“I still can’t believe that you took one for yourself,” Ivos remarked for the umpteenth time, emitting a loud drunken burp as punctuation.
Elyes rolled his eyes behind his googles as he put his empty glass on the levitating tray, sending it back toward the bar. Ivos was the only person he ever confided in, but that didn’t stop him from being annoyed with his friend’s propensity to openly laugh at the predicament he found himself in. “She would’ve died if I’d left her there,” he defended.
“Only because you took it upon yourself to kill Yul Ulari and his entire empire! You do realize that you’ve set a dangerous precedent in Plutarch? Any deadbeat or thug on this moon will definitely think twice before they mess with you now,” Ivos chortled loudly.
“That was the general idea. I couldn’t take the risk of Yul or anyone else coming after me and Vera afterwards,” Elyes said solemnly just as the levitating tray returned with more shots for him and Ivos. “That still leaves the problem of what to do about her.”
“I don’t know what you’re complaining about, my friend. The little lady does the cooking and cleaning and generally makes you more palatable than usual in mixed company. The only thing lacking in your extraordinary dynamic is that you have not made her your woman.”
Elyes snorted at the blatant innuendo and gulped down another shot. It is torture being close to Vera on a regular basis without claiming her for myself, he silently admitted. Under his care and attention, she began to show more of her compassionate and nurturing nature. And, contrary to his first assessment of her that day he stripped her naked to wash her, she was blossoming as a striking beauty. He actually thought she was at her loveliest when he snuck peeks at her as she bathed. Elyes knew Vera was devoted to him now out of gratitude—but what if her feelings changed later? She couldn’t possibly want to be linked to someone like him indefinitely, could she?
This assessment was suddenly reinforced when the bar filled with the sounds of a self-important trumpeting. A hue of blue and purple appeared in front of Ivos and Elyes and from it emerged the head of a man with a grave cast to his features.
“News is on,” Ivos murmured, putting his glass down on the table. “Let’s see what the bastards have to say this time.”
“Breaking news: after more than a decade of bloodshed and bedlam, the Allied Forces have managed to drive Stratan rebel forces back and reclaim what was once known as the state of Pennsylvania on Planet Earth. The situation remains bleak and uncertain, but AF members are confident they will rebuild and re-populate the major cities in just a few short months.”
Elyes dropped the empty glass in his hand and it shattered on the floor. Ivos laid a hand on his shoulder when he saw that his friend looked dumbstruck. “Elyes, what is it? You look like you’re in the family way.”
“It’s Vera, Ivos. She has to go home…”
Chapter 7
“You can’t stay here anymore.”
Vera stopped scraping the dirty pot as he made his pronouncement. She’d grown accustomed to listening carefully for Elyes’ return; the sound of his footsteps and breathing let her know what kind of mood he was in. But tonight, he sounded agitated and afraid and she couldn’t understand why. She walked cautiously out of the kitchen and felt her way to the threadbare sofa where Elyes sat. After some careful maneuvering, she sat down beside him; she could smell the alcohol wafting from his pores.
Elyes’ breath caught in his throat when Vera ran her hands over his face. Her index fingers danced over the corners of his mouth and then she tried to thumb away the creases that had formed on his forehead.
“You are sad right now.” Her heart constricted in her chest when he moved her hands away from his face.
“It’s not good for you to be here, for either of us. I can’t live my life like how I used to.” His words were cold and his tone exacting. But deep within, he cried out for her to save him from this abyss he’d fallen into.
“Why would you want to live that way anymore?” Vera asked softly.
“Because it’s what I know, Vera! When I use my brain and my body, I know what’s expected of me. When I hurt and kill people, it only mutilates my soul; that isn’t such a heavy cross to carry. But my heart…my heart cannot sustain any more pain or promise of happiness only to lose it...”
Vera said nothing. Her hands moved again to Elyes’ face, but this time to fasten around the straps of his goggles.
“Stop! What are you doing?!”
“I want to see the real you, Elyes Mort.”
Elyes didn’t stop her this time, but his heart palpitated ominously in his chest as Vera freed the clips on the rubber straps and lifted the goggles away. She hadn’t dared to remove them even when he’d been close to death; she sensed that he would’ve resented her for intruding on his privacy back then. But now, there was nothing held back between them save for the fervent desire for intimacy in their own hearts.
Vera saw with her fingers what Elyes had been hiding from everyone else all these years: she traced curious lines over the thick, silken scars that formed ragged circles around his eyes. She heard him clear his throat awkwardly, felt the rumbling of his Adam’s apple in his throat while he struggled to look anywhere but at her. She was astonished when her fingers encountered slippery tears cascading down the man’s face.
“My father, he uh…” Elyes struggled to keep it together under Vera’s unnerving stare as it seemed to bore straight into his soul. “He burned me with a branding iron when I intervened during one of his and my mother’s fights. I lost my sight for a few weeks and when it came back, I swore that no one would ever see these ugly scars, the symbol of my great unhappiness.”
Vera sobbed quietly at this and hastened to lay two long and tender kisses on each scar surrounding Elyes’ eyes. “You’re beautiful.”
It was too much for both of them and when Elyes gripped Vera’s face roughly in his hands and kissed her hard, she didn’t resist. She closed her pale blue eyes instinctively and succumbed to the hungry and pain-evoked desire Elyes exuded. It had been a long time since Vera had been kissed like this, passion and love reverberating between parted lips and quick breaths. It sent buoyant ripples of desire through her body. Her hands crossed urgently around Elyes’ back as her tongue traced new, exhilarating patterns over his impatient mouth.
As their lips finally parted with a sensation of wondrous reluctance, it was only to allow Elyes to deftly sweep Vera up into his arms and carry her to his bedroom. There they undressed one another with clumsy and artless insistence, now and then coming together in feverish kisses then returning to the task at hand. Vera felt absolutely no fear or hesitation when Elyes laid her back, his body over hers. She grasped him tightly needing to feel every inch of him, wanting to melt into him. In her unabashed need to explore long-awaited sensations, she wrapped her leg around his hip and linked her arms around his muscular shoulder blades, revelling in the hard, callous flesh that rippled as they moved together.
When they were finally joined, Vera emitted an orgasmic moan that seared through Elyes’ senses. He let his hands caress every soft rise and fall of her body, his mouth following eagerly, tasting every inch of her quivering skin. When the pleasure became too intense to even vocalize, Vera’s hot mouth instinctively sought his. Their arms clasped tightly around each other’s bodies as they made love in time to the frantic p
ace of their beating hearts.
Chapter 8
“No, let me go! You can’t do this to me, you asshole! Elyes! ELYES!”
Elyes winced at the screeching fury of Vera’s voice as she struggled against Ivos’ grip. He was trying unsuccessfully to drag her to the drop ship, which would soon be transporting her back to Earth. Even after the incredible night they had spent together, Elyes couldn’t deny the inevitable: no matter how much he loved and wanted Vera, she didn’t belong with him.
For Vera’s part, she wanted to hate Elyes for doing this to her. After everything she’d been through alone, after all he knew about her painful past, she couldn’t believe he could betray her so. She had given all of herself to him, only to be cast aside for something she wasn’t even sure she wanted any longer.
Elyes held up an appeasing hand and Ivos acquiesced, letting go of Vera. She shoved him unnecessarily away from her and stalked back to the Stratan-human hybrid. Before he could say anything, she touched his cheek briefly then swiftly swung her hand back and delivered an angry slap to that same cheek. He started to doubt her ability to locate his face so easily next time.
“How can you let him take me away from you?” she hissed in a deathly low voice. She pointed an accusing finger behind her at Ivos, who had the good sense to look away and whistle uncomfortably.
Elyes hung his head in shame, willing the cloying tears forming in his eyes not to begin falling. “I’m doing this for you, Vera. Plutarch is a dangerous place and you deserve to have some normalcy in your life. You need to find your family and let them know you’re still alive. It was wrong of me to keep you here against your will... Forgive me.”
Romance: Alien Romance: Simply Aliens: A Ten Book Alien Romance Collection (Paranormal Scifi Interracial Romance) (Fantasy New Adult Alpha Short Stories) Page 34
