“May I open my eyes now?” I asked.
“Fine.”
She stood at the edge of the pool in a soft golden gown. Thin straps held the bodice up and the material fell in a graceful wave to the floor, cinched at her waist.
“It’s too long and too tight in the chest,” she said by way of apology.
“I see no fault.” Indeed, I am half hard just looking at her and the way her breasts strain against the bodice. Her wet curls hung long and rested on her shoulders.
Do it now. My body urged me to rush forward, hold her curves to me, claim her lips and the rest of perfect her form. Make her my mate.
I remained immobile in the water.
Vera narrowed her eyes at me, as if she could sense my thoughts. “Why do you say things like that? Things that make me think you like me?”
“It is not my duty to like you,” I said.
She rolled her eyes and walked away, my unpleasantness confirmed.
We shared a meal of apple slices topped with portions of the ration bars. It was agreeable. I then reset the security shutters, sealing the house. The front door had to be pulled down manually. Finally, Vera went crawled into the large bed in the master suite. I took the smaller, adjacent room. Once satisfied that she was asleep, I took the batteries to the power supply room in the basement of the house.
I chose this house because it was one of the few with a functioning power source. It being comfortable was a pleasant side effect. There was a small warehouse at the back of the building. The original occupants seemed to be merchants but the shelves did not hold the tools I needed.
I have not been entirely honest with Vera or myself. I cannot repair the batteries tonight. Tomorrow I will search the colony for supplies to repair and then hunt. I am sick of ration bars.
Chapter Eight
Vera
I woke in darkness, the security shuttered firmly in place. An enticing aroma filled the house, reminiscent of chicken. I pillage the wardrobe and dressed quickly, stomach rumbling.
Glin waited in the kitchen with a plate of juicy meat, sliced apples and a mug of what appeared to be tea.
“Thank you,” I said, wrapping my fingers around the hot ceramic mug. The aroma of evergreen and lemon wafted upward and enveloped my senses. A tentative sip proved bright and lemony. The only thing missing was sugar.
I took another dose of the anti inflammatory meds.
“How do you feel?”
“Better. Sore. A good long soak and more rest and I’ll be right as rain,” I said. I tucked into the plate. A crispy skin covered the roasted meat. The juices ran down my fingers. It tasted like chicken. “What am I eating?”
“Haivaln.”
So basically chicken.
After the meal, we went scavenging. Glin wasn’t exactly forthcoming in what we needed but I guessed it was for the batteries. The first house was empty of any technological tools. The second house had a collection of ancient tools. Glin said nothing but added them to the carrier bag. The building was empty except for a thick layer of dust and grime; no automated service bots here. Glin frowned and studied the tiny map on his wrist comm.
The next building was a warehouse. The doors creaked on neglected hinges as Glin pried them open. Lights flickered on, at least the solar lighting still worked after a century of abandonment. Metal shelves stretched to the ceiling, the warehouse designed to hold resources the colony produced for export. Completely empty, the warehouse was probably emptied during the evacuation. I ran a hand along a shelf and inspected my fingers. They were completely dust free.
“Do you think we’d have better luck with the buildings that are shuttered?” I asked when we emerged from the building.
“I think we’d have better luck if we found a machine shop.”
I scanned the buildings, looking for a helpful clue. “There,” I said, pointing to a smoke stack.
The smoke stack belonged to blacksmith and forge. I’m not sure what Glin was looking for but he seemed pleased. He loaded a few tools and a box of components into the bag. I opened all the cabinets and closets. In the shop’s office I found a familiar grey plastic box with two headsets: a VR entertainment unit. With luck it would still work. Wiping away a layer of dust, I pressed the power button but the unit was not responsive.
“There is no power here,” Glin said, coming into the room.
“I know, I was just hoping for something.”
“What did you find?”
“Just an old thing that plays movies and shows.”
He rubbed his chin and shook his head. “I have too much to carry. We will leave it.”
Right, why would I need a little entertainment while stranded with such a wonderful conversationalist? “Wouldn’t it be easier to bring the batteries here, rather than shift the tools back to the house?”
He shook his head. “There is no power here and the house is defensible.”
“I still don’t know how those four little rods are go to get us into orbit and to Fremm.”
He rubbed his chin but said nothing.
I grew suspicious. “I mean, you said you could repair them, right? So they can get us to Fremm?”
“It does not matter.” He picked up the bag and slung a strap over his shoulder. He headed back towards the house.
“Of course it matters,” I said.
“I sent a distress beacon. They will find us in time.”
This was crazy talk. Two days ago the plan was to fix the batteries and be on our way. Now we have to sit tight and wait. “Why? What happened to the plan? And what if I don’t want to wait on Spooky-as-Hell Blackborn?”
“We needed shelter,” he said. “We found shelter.”
“Fine,” I said, realizing there was no reasoning with the stubborn man. “But we’re taking this.” I pointed to the ancient VR unit.
“You know how to use this?”
“Of course.” We had one just like when growing up. Being poor meant you got technology several generations old, so I knew my way around ancient entertainment systems. Glin said nothing but tucked the unit under his arm.
The sun was setting. We needed to return to our base of operations.
Chapter Nine
Vera
Setting up the unit was easier said than done. The outside required a good clean and a century of accumulated dust waited on the inside. I needed to wait until tomorrow to finish my project.
The next morning Glin hunted and brought in a small rabbit looking creature he called a Kyll but I suspected it was native. I’m not familiar with the fauna of Blackborn. I really hope it wasn’t sentient or poisonous. Regardless, we didn’t keel over after eating it and anything was better than ration bars.
Glin would not allow me to forage for edible plants, which rubbed me the wrong way. Not that there would be anything growing wild in the colony. The chances of any winter crops going wild and surviving was also nil. Well, maybe cabbage or garlic. Still, needing the Fremmian warrior’s permission, and being denied, frustrated me.
Glin spent the day in the building’s workshop, fussing over the batteries. I fussed over the entertainment unit. One of these things had a real chance of succeeding. By the evening, after another meal of the near-rabbit, I had the entertainment unit ready.
“I just wish we had popcorn,” I said. Frayed wired prevented the headsets from functioning but the projector worked like a dream.
Thin silvery light flickered against a plain white wall. I turned off the lights. The movie selection was a century out of date and mostly old, out of copyright films from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, which was fine me. These were the type of films I grew up on.
“Whatcha in the mood for?” I asked as Glin settled onto the floor next to me. Pilfered pillows and blankets created a nest on the front room. A gentle fire smoldered in the hearth. It was cozy.
“I care not.”
Crankypants. Five days I’ve spent with this man and who knows how much longer until we fix the batterie
s or rescue comes. His sour attitude is not going to get me down, I decided. “Well I think we need to lighten the mood. How about a comedy?” I scrolled through the list and spotted a favorite. “Or the greatest comedy of all time?”
He grunted, unmoved.
The evening started with Blazing Saddles, followed by Cat Ballou and ended with Support Your Local Sheriff. Did I mention I liked Westerns? Big shock, the girl who moved to a frontier colony likes films about the Old West. But that’s not the amazing part. The amazing part was that halfway through the first movie, Glin relaxed and I leaned in against him. His arm draped over my shoulder, protective and comforting. It felt right to be curled up next to the big grump. It felt even better when his abdomen gave short, sharp jolt of a suppressed laughed. Glin would deny it if I called him on it. Fremmian warriors do not have a sense of humor. It’s all super serious space warrior stuff.
“Do people sing what they are seeing on Terra?” he asked halfway through Cat Ballou.
“What are you talking about?”
“Those men? Do Terrans do that?”
I shook my head. “It’s a narrative device.”
His face was blank.
“It’s supposed to be funny.”
He grunted and relaxed back into the cushions.
“Hard to believe,” I said, “that Earth once had empty space.”
“Is it much changed?”
I nodded. “It’s crowded, at least where I grew up in the Eastern Metropolis. Space costs money and my family didn’t have money. I don’t even think I saw the horizon until I went off planet.” Sure, the mega cities had green parks and trees at regular intervals but true wide open spaces were unheard of. My steady diet of old Westerns gave me a craving for big sky, dramatic sunsets and solitude.
Glin rubbed his chin, watching the scenic vistas projected on the wall. “My family is from the Western Province. It is similar to this.”
“Are you a farm boy?” I asked, excited to learn something about the gruff man.
“I am.”
“How did you end up in the military?”
“Two year military service is mandatory on my planet. I happened to be good at it, so I stayed.”
I can imagine. “What about after? You can't be a warrior forever.” If anyone could, it’d be this prime example of masculinity.
“I do not understand your question.”
I shifted on a cushion and tilted my head back, trying to get a gander at his expression. Guarded, as usual. “Terrans don’t normally serve in the military for more than a few years. Very few make it a lifelong career.”
“Ah. When my prowess diminishes, I will train younger warriors. I assure you, my prowess is unmatched.”
That braggart. Prowess, indeed. Still, his words made me blush. Good thing he couldn’t see me in the dark. “But what about family? Don’t you want a mate, kids, all that?”
Glin stiffened and pulled away from me. “Some things are not meant for me,” he said. Obviously a sore point. I said nothing but leaned back into him, one arm snaked around his waist. He wasn’t getting away from me that easily. Eventually the tension left him and we returned to easy and relaxed companionship.
“Do you think about having a mate and kits, Vera?” he asked.
“I guess.” What woman hasn’t thought about finding the perfect man and having children? You don’t exactly spill the beans about wanting a dozen kids on the first date. Oh no, I was not thinking of this as a date night. Nope. So not a date with the super serious, seriously sexy warrior.
And then I spilled the beans. “I’ll tell you what I do think about. I want a house, maybe a farmhouse, in the middle of nowhere. Just like in one of these films, on the fringes of civilization where there’s nothing but prairie and sky and hard work. And I want to raise my kids there, free from polluted air, overcrowding, water rationing and all that damn megacity noise. That’s what I want.” Fuck it. What I wanted was light years away. I had no man, no house, and no land. If we ever got off this abandoned colony, I might not even have a job anymore.
Glin’s arm squeezed me and not having any of the stepping stones to my ultimate goal seemed irrelevant. Suddenly I became very preoccupied with his prowess. Warmth surged in my core and I squeezed my thighs together. Five days spent in close proximity to this sexy man and I’m a ball of sexual frustration. Down, girl. Didn’t he just say that the whole wife and kids thing was not for him? He’s not interested.
Couldn’t we just say that what happens on Blackborn stays on Blackborn? I was doing a piss poor job rationalizing with myself.
No. My gut told me that if I ever got to kiss and caress this warrior next to me, I won’t let him go. Ever. He belonged to me.
Mine.
I didn’t know where that thought came from but it felt correct. Right. I turned it over in my mind a few more times. Glin was mine.
Movie night was a success, I guess. No bickering. No arguing. We just enjoyed each other’s company and even laughed at the same jokes, even if it made my crush worse.
It was nice. Peaceable, even.
Of course it couldn’t last.
Chapter Ten
Vera
As a botanist, Blackborn was a once in a lifetime opportunity to study Terran engineered plants left entirely on their own. The orchard of snow apples thrived but about wheat or plain old Earth grass? Did the plants create hybrids with native species or were they invasive? I can’t imagine a company willing to pay money for such an esoteric expedition. Well, maybe if some hybrids could be commercialized and patented but fuel, staff, and equipment made the endeavor too expensive when there was no guarantee of success. This was my only chance so it’s no wonder being inside the shuttered the building was driving me crazy.
Basically there’s a giant science buffet out there and I’m stuck inside this house with my nose pressed against the window, drooling. Well, I would be, if Glin allowed us to open the damn security shutters.
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I hoped to find a hybrid interesting enough to sell to a biotech company. I was unsure of any discovery I made here would be considered my employer’s intellectual property or if it would be mine alone as I was on vacation. If the company owned it, I’d get a bonus. If it not, the right sample could start a bidding war. The farm was back within my grasp.
The next morning I seized my opportunity. Glin announced that he would hunt for our meal and look for more components for the batteries. From his gruff tone, I understood that the repair project ran into complications. His tone was always gruff but there are certain nuances within gruff but I’m not fluent yet. For all I knew, he could be moments away from total repair. It’s hard to tell with him.
Glin didn’t offer to let me tag along and I didn’t ask to go. “Can you get some more Douglas Fir for tea?” I held out the last handful of buds.
His nostrils flared but then he nodded.
After he left, I gathered my supplies: functional shears, a heavy duty spoon and small plastic containers. I dressed in winter clothes found upstairs, including a coat made from a shaggy bubblegum pink fur. The material felt real, not artificial, promising that Blackborn had some type of a shaggy pink beast. While ridiculous, the coat was insanely warm, so I wasn’t going to get picky. It also had lots of pockets on the inside.
I didn’t find any samples in the town center. The paved streets decayed slightly with age and snow covered green spaces. I headed to the West, the direction from which Glin and I arrived.
The first greenery I spotted in the snow was the leaves of crocus and snowdrops. I pressed further, wading into ankle deep snow and heading for a thicket of trees. The trees had an ashy grey bark, no wider than my hand but the canopy reached well over eight feet. I pulled down a branch took a sample of glossy, pointed leaves and red berries. These were holly trees.
My hands worked effortlessly, picking through the pointed leaves and branches. My thoughts turn to the twilight shaded warrior. I’m so drawn to the gruff warrior
, more than I’ve been with any man, human or alien. I think the attraction is more than a healthy appreciation of muscle and a tight rear. Yes, I looked. I’m only human. This attraction was deeper than that.
I like him. I like how he’s grumpy and gruff. I like how his actions are deliberate and thoughtful. I like the way he’s always working. Getting him to relax and watch movies with me took some cajoling. He’s not lazy. He goes hunting and found shelter and heat on this snowy planet. He’s taking good care of me. I like that. Not once has he made me feel like I owe him gratitude. I was grateful but he doesn’t expect thanks. Or sex as payment.
Stars, I would totally pay that tab.
Just give me a moment. I’ve never been so ramped up and turned on before. It must be the stress of our situation. Right after the crash, I was ready to jump his bones, him bleeding and me all bruised. Stress. Has to be.
Anyway, he said this is his duty. Nothing more. Like he’s not enjoying being a good provider and protector, because I saw the gleam in his eyes when he thought I wasn’t looking. His actions made me feel cherished.
A girl could really get use to being cherished.
Further in, the hollies transitioned into a dense growth of blood red bamboo-like reeds, only these had the same red berries as the hollies. A hybrid? Or merely a coincidence? My shears were out to clip another sample when a low growl caught my attention.
The snow was at mid-calf on me now. How far off the path did I wander? I turned around; a large wolf like creature was staring at me. I say wolf-like because it was generally wolf shaped with twice the mass and had a wolfy face, despite the four eyes, and black fur, even if the fur waved in the air like tentacles. Well, no “like” about it. The creature had tentacles. All that I could wrap my Terran mind around. This was a wolf, just different. Squid inspired, even but still a creature within the realm of understanding.
Alien Warrior's Mate: Alpha Alien Romance (Alpha Aliens of Fremm Book 3) Page 5
