by E. A. James
“Men,” her father addressed the Commander and his team. “Take this specimen to high security.”
The men didn’t respond verbally but jumped quickly into action. Before they could take Amias away from her, Nicole turned and looked up at him. Pressing her hand softly to his chest, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“I know,” he replied just as the men wrapped their strong hands around his arms and pulled him away. As they led him down the hall, he looked back at her over his shoulder. She wanted to go after them, to make sure he was all right.
“Give me one reason that I shouldn’t fire you right now,” her dad’s voice broke into her thoughts.
She turned her attention to him. “Because I’m telling the truth, sir. I really am.”
He shook his head and looked down at her with a look of disappointment. “I’ve already given you too many chances to do this job right. After this whole disaster, I’m tempted to just send you home right now.”
“Please,” she said once again resuming her submissive air. “Let me stay. I promise I can do this. I’m learning; I’m getting better. I believe you, sir. All he’s told me is lies,” she said the words as convincingly as she could. She had to make him think she believed what she was saying, that was her only chance to continue working with Amias.
“Fine,” her dad said turning to leave the room. “But Nicole?” he asked her before leaving. “This really is your last chance.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
It took a few days, but eventually she convinced Allen and the others on the research team to let her continue to work with Amias. Her dad wasn’t very happy about it, but begrudgingly he also agreed.
They had moved him to the higher security holding rooms on the other side of the Gen-Lab campus. They were separated slightly from the other buildings and surrounded by nothing but open fields of grass.
When she finally saw him again, she had to bite her bottom lip to keep from letting out a quiet gasp of concern. His face and chest were badly bruised from the beating of the guards, and running along his arms were cuts and scratches from the fangs and claws of the mountain lion-like creature that attacked her.
“I never had the chance to thank you,” she said as she sat on the cold, hard concrete floor next to him, cleaning his wounds.
“I would do it again,” he replied watching her carefully as she worked.
“I realized just the other day,” Nicole continued, “that I don’t really know that much about you.”
“There’s not really much to tell.” He was quiet for a moment while he thought. “Back home I was a pilot,” he added slowly. “I had to work really hard, but eventually, I was able to work my way up through the ranks and earn the title of Captain.”
“That’s impressive,” she said trying to keep herself focused on her work, and not on the way her heart raced in her chest every time her fingers brushed against his soft skin. “What was your planet like?” she asked.
“Zexilon?” he said thoughtfully. “It was a beautiful place. Everything was green and lush. Not like here,” he added.
“Well, you’ve only seen a small part of Earth,” she pointed out to him. “You were found, where?” she tried to remember the information Allen had given her about him. “The South-Western United States, right?”
“I believe so, yes,” Amias confirmed.
“Well,” she laughed a little. “That’s your problem. You landed in one of the driest, most arid parts of the country! Now, if you had landed in Colorado or Montana, you would know that Earth has some pretty lush areas as well.”
“Yeah, well,” Amias said shifting his weight around and placing his hand on hers, stopping her from dabbing the damp cloth on his wounds, “Zexilon only had a small portion of the entire planet that wasn’t covered in trees and green spaces.”
“What happened to it?” she asked, looking from his hand up to his eyes. They were more intense than usual—a deeper green and a more focused look.
“Our planet,” he began to explain. “It was much smaller than Earth, you see. And despite the fact that there weren’t nearly as many populous places, the amount of toxins that were thrown into the air still did their damage to the protective layer of our atmosphere. Slowly, it began to deteriorate, and the small planet couldn’t sustain itself anymore.”
“That’s horrible,” she said turning away slowly, so as not to become completely consumed by his stare.
He placed his hand under her chin and turned her face back to his. “What’s horrible is the way your father spoke to you the other day.”
“Oh, that?” she asked nervously. “That’s just how he is. He’s a very passionate man when it comes to his work at least.”
“What about his family?”
“He loves my mother,” she said surely. “I don’t doubt that at all. But I think he loves her for her qualities more so than for who she is.”
“What do you mean?”
“My mother is very submissive. She’s the perfect woman for an overbearing, demanding man like him. She seems to enjoy making him happy.”
“What about her happiness?” Amias pointed out.
“She’s happy as long as her family is happy.”
“And is her family happy?”
“I suppose we are,” Nicole responded with a shrug. “My brother and sister are all successful in their careers, even though they’re not the careers my father would have chosen for them.”
“And you?”
“I’m happy, I guess,” she said, knowing that her tone wasn’t convincing, however.
“You don’t have to lie to me,” he said placing the palm of his hand against her cheek, in the exact place her father had slapped her just a few days before. “No one could be happy being around someone that makes them feel the way your father makes you feel.”
She took a deep breath. “I want to make him proud,” she admitted. “But I don’t think I ever will. I don’t think I’ll ever be good enough for him.”
“What about yourself?”
“I’m sorry?” she asked confused.
“Are you proud of yourself?”
“I suppose I am,” she said shyly. “I did well in school—really well, actually. And I do enjoy biology, although I’m not sure I enjoy working with it this way.”
“Then don’t,” he said inching towards her slowly.
“I don’t have another choice,” she said softly. “I need this job.”
“No you don’t,” he said as he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her closer to him. “You’re very intelligent, Nicole. You could do anything you wanted to.”
She felt her hands become sweaty and heart began to pound in her ears. She leaned forward removing the small space that was between them and pressed her lips to his. Once again she was filled with the almost electrifying spark of passion that she had felt the night he saved her.
She lifted her hands, now shaking, and wrapped them around him. She felt his strong muscles beneath her fingertips and the warmth that seemed to float off of his body. He pulled back slowly, looking at her with an expression of longing and desire. “You’re a very special woman, Nicole. I just wish you could see yourself the way I see you.”
“How do you see me?” she asked, running her fingers through his hair.
“I see who you are; I see how you feel. You’re kind and genuine. You’re soft, but not weak. You’re a strong person, but you just haven’t figured that out yet.” He pulled her close again, kissing her passionately.
“I don’t feel strong,” she said when they pulled apart again. “But when I’m with you, I feel different than I ever have before.” She ran her hands over his chest, tracing the outlines of his muscles. “I feel safe and confident. I may not feel strong, but I don’t feel weak—like I usually do.”
“Good,” he smiled at her as he pulled her close to him again. He lay back onto the ground, pulling her down with him. She let him reach down and pull off her shirt, and when she once
again found herself in his arms, the feeling of his skin pressing against her filled her with a warming sensation.
He ran his hands over her body, moving them slowly up her sides, then around to her chest. The sensation of his touch filled her with a passionate longing. She let herself release all of her inhibitions—all of her fears. She gave herself to him completely, both physically and emotionally.
The experience of their bodies intertwined together was unlike any she had had before. His movements were strong and sure, but delicate and caring at the same time. The connection that formed between them at that time was one she knew she would never be able to fully let go of. He had changed her; he had made her whole. It wasn’t just being with him, but knowing that he believed in her, that he saw her for who she really was—or at least for who she had always wanted to be, but was too afraid to let herself recognize before.
When they pulled apart, she felt a cold sensation run over her, a shiver that ran up her spine and left her longing for his warm touch again. “How do you do it?” she asked, as she lay on the floor next to him, resting her head on his chest.
“Do what?” he asked, stroking her back slowly.
“How do you seem to always know what I’m feeling—what I’m thinking?”
He laughed a little and kissed her on the top of her head, pausing to inhale deeply, absorbing her scent. “It’s a secret,” he whispered.
“All right,” she said quietly. She was fine with not knowing. She didn’t need to know how he did it; all that mattered was that he did. He understood her in a way no one else ever had, and that was enough.
CHAPTER NINE
Over the next week, Nicole continued working long hours with Amias. Even though she didn’t need to, she would go back at night, and they would spend hours talking and getting to know each other. The bond that had formed between them that night in his cell continued to grow.
But one day, it seemed like something changed. It wasn’t in the way he spoke to her, or looked at her—those were the same kind, genuine actions they had always been. But, his movements were more agitated, and his body seemed to tense nervously more and more frequently.
Nicole was worried that it was something she had done. She was afraid that he was beginning to lose interest in her, or that the unspoken reality that they were from different worlds had started to weigh on him.
After a few days of the uncomfortable feeling, she couldn’t take it any longer. “What’s wrong?” she asked him nervously after she had finished collecting her sample for the day.
“What do you mean?” he asked her looking at her with a hint of concern.
“You seem different lately. It’s almost like you’re nervous or uncomfortable around me.”
“What?” he asked, reaching out and pulling her close to him. “No, Nicole. It’s not that; it’s not that at all.” He leaned back and looked at her, his eyes suddenly very serious.
“What is it?” she asked, afraid to hear the answer.
“My people,” he said softly. “They’re coming.”
“I know,” she said, remembering what he had told her before.
“No,” he said grabbing her hands and holding them tightly. “They’re coming soon.”
“How soon?”
“I can’t know for sure, but we don’t have much time.”
“How do you know?”
He sighed and lifted her hands to his lips, placing a light kiss on her knuckles. “Remember when you asked me how it was that I seemed to always know what you’re feeling?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“It’s because I do always know what you’re feeling.”
“What?” she asked, looking at him with wide eyes.
“It’s an ability we have—everyone from Zexilon. It’s a sense that we’re all born with. We can sense what people are feeling.”
“Really?” she asked, finally understanding why he looked at her the way he did. She understood why she felt like his eyes were piercing into her, reading her thoughts—because they were in a sense.
“It’s not just that,” he continued. “We have an ability to identify people. We can pick up on a sort of signature that they put out.”
“Like an aura?” she asked, scrunching up her eyebrows and trying to understand.
He chuckled a little. “I suppose you could call it that.”
“What does that have to do with your people coming here soon?”
“I can sense them,” he explained. “A few days ago it started. I can sense that they’re near.”
“So, if you can sense that they’re coming, does that mean that they can sense that you’re here?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly.
“Yes,” he confirmed her fear. “And they’re not happy, Nicole.”
“What will they do when they get here?”
“You’ve seen what my people are like,” he replied. “That first day you came to see me—you saw what we really are.”
“So, everyone from our planet can change like you?”
“Yes,” he replied with a firm nod of his head. “And even though your people here outnumber those of mine that are coming, it won’t matter. We’re stronger than you, and I told you before—we will use force if we have to.”
“Then we have to get you out of here!” she exclaimed. “You have to go to them, to tell them not to attack us.”
“Will you help me?” he asked.
“Of course,” she replied. “Tonight. I’ll come back tonight, and I’ll free you.”
“Thank you, Nicole,” he said wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into him.
“But,” she said pulling back slowly, a sad realization washing over her. “Does that mean that after tonight, I won’t see you again?”
His eyes filled with sadness. “I don’t know,” he said softly.
“You’ll have to leave, won’t you? You and your people—you won’t be able to stay on Earth.”
He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand tightly. “I don’t think we’re welcomed here.”
A crushing sadness rushed through her. She inhaled sharply and tightened her jaw, determined not to let herself cry. “What matters now is that we get you out of here; you can go to your people, and somehow prevent them from attacking.”
“Yes,” he said firmly. “That’s what we need to focus on for now.” He pulled her closer to him and kissed her passionately.
When she pulled back, she pushed herself up quickly and headed for the door without turning to look back at him. She couldn’t—if she did she would cry. She knew she would cry. When she exited his room, she let the door slam shut, the bang echoing down the hall. Once she was alone, she let herself slump forward to the ground, and the feeling of heartbreak slowly consumed her.
What would she do when he was gone? He had changed her life—he had helped her be someone she could have never been without him. She hugged her knees tightly to her chest and let her cries come out in soft sobs.
Right there, in that moment, she realized it. It wasn’t just the feeling of being around him that she would miss. It was him—everything about him. She leaned her head back against the stone wall and sighed. “I love him,” she said to herself, tears streaming down her face.
CHAPTER TEN
Despite the overwhelming feeling of heartache that it gave her, Nicole still found herself sneaking back to the Gen-Lab facilities later that night. She had to help Amias, no matter what her feelings. This wasn’t just about her and him, this was about his people and hers—it was about trying to prevent the inevitable. What he had said was true. Even if his people didn’t want to fight, they may be forced to, to save him. And if it did come down to that, no matter how many Earthlings tried to stop them, they were still bigger, stronger, and more powerful. The results would be bad for both sides, but she feared they would be worse for hers.
Driving out to the off-site high-security holding area where Amias was being kept, she had to fight to resist the urge to let her emoti
ons overtake her. She set her jaw tight and took a deep breath before exiting her car.
The entire place had the feeling of being abandoned, but still, something in the air felt off to Nicole. She hurried her step, wanting to get inside the building as quickly as possible. She had to jiggle her purse around before finding her key, scolding herself the entire time for not pulling them out before she got out of the car.
With a sigh of relief, she finally found them. But just as she was lifting it to slide it into the lock, something reached out from behind her and pulled her back. “Where is he?” a gruff voice demanded.
