by Tracy Lauren
“No more coddling, remember?” he tells me in his best authoritarian voice. The fact that he can’t hide his smile takes away most of the bite to it, though.
When I still stand frozen like a mannequin, he pushes me ahead of him. Holding my shoulders, he marches me out onto this uncharted planet. And oh lord, am I glad he does.
This place is breathtaking. Towering hundreds of feet up into the air are massive stone archways; they go on and on for as far as the eye can see.
“Oh my!” I exclaim, trying to take it all in. “What created these? Was it people?” I ask, looking to Dax for an explanation of these wild and complex stone formations. Dax is silent, walking a few feet forward through a grassy glen that slopes down the hillside. He indicates the bottom of the glen, and I join his side to peer down.
“Erosion,” he tells me, and I see the thin but steady stream of water flowing between the apex of two rolling hills.
“No, I can’t believe it, they’re so big and you’re saying it was just water?”
“Perhaps the flow was greater at another point in history, or perhaps these rivers have been here for a very long time,” he responds.
“This is just completely magical,” I sigh, craning my neck to look up at the high arches. Vines climb the sides and trees sit perched in precarious places along the tops and edges. The ground crunching beneath my feet prompts me to look down. It is covered in a small, smooth river rocks and fields upon fields of soft green moss. Dax closes the ramp, startling a flock of miniature yellow birds that go whizzing by us.
“Time to gather supplies,” he says, tossing me my emptied-out rucksack and slinging his own over his shoulder.
“How will we know what to get?” I ask. He holds up his small handheld scanner and gives it a little wiggle for my benefit. “Oh yeah…”
“Come.” He waves me along. “We are heading to that cluster of vegetation down by the river.”
“Will that scanner be able to warn us if it detects aliens coming our way?”
“That is a good question, but I have a better one,” he says.
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“How about we race?”
“Pfft, no thanks. And you still didn’t answer my question.”
“Vivian, let us try to have a little fun. I will even trade you for it.”
“Trade? What would we trade?”
“Hmmm, if you can beat me, I will fly the ship when we leave this planet.”
“And if you win are you going to force me to do some crappy thing I hate?
“Yes.”
“I’m going to stick with my original answer: no thanks. You’re just going to make me fly the ship anyway, and when I lose the race then I’ll have to fly the ship and do some other crappy thing on top of that. It’s a lose/lose scenario for me, you get that, right?”
“I do, but I was hoping you would not,” he laughs.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I scoff, and we continue our stroll down to the river.
“Okay, how about this? You pick a contest. Anything you wish. Choose something you know you will have an advantage at.”
“I can pick anything? Really? And if I win I don’t have to fly the ship?”
“You do not have to fly the ship when we leave here,” he specifies.
“I think you have yourself a deal,” I say, looking around and trying to decide what I might be able to beat him at. It’s not like we can have a Dewey Decimal sorting race. What can I do that this massive alien can’t? I eye him from head to toe and stop for a moment on those monstrous feet of his. Hands on my hips, I slow my pace. A series of low hanging vines dangling from a nearby stone arch catches my eye.
“You think those are strong enough to hold our weight?” I ask. Dax approaches the vines to inspect them. He gives them a few hard tugs before climbing up a short distance.
“They appear strong enough to me,” he calls with a cocky smile before jumping back down.
“Okay, here’s the deal. Whoever can hang from the vines the longest wins—”
“Vivian, I hate to point it out, but this is about as fair as the deal I tried to make with you.”
“You didn’t let me finish. Whoever can hang the longest wins, but we are going to be hanging upside down, with no hands.”
“That is not even possible,” he protests, and now it’s my turn to shoot him a cocky smile.
“Look, I’ll even give you an advantage. I’ll go first and show you how it’s done.”
Dax approaches swiftly and reaches his arms around me. I take a small step back in surprise, but he only helps to pull the empty rucksack from my back. “I am eager to see how this might be done,” he tells me, speculative, but clearly excited.
“I wouldn’t be too eager if I were you,” I tell him. “You’re about to lose a bet.” I’m shocked at the tease and challenge in my tone. You would never have caught me talking to a guy in such a way back on Earth. Not in a million years. Heck, you wouldn’t have even seen me talking to a guy period! I shake the thought from my mind and plop down onto the fluffy moss, pulling off each boot and socks. I appraise the vines. They look smooth enough, no sharp twigs protruding from them or anything. I pick out two that are positioned appropriately for the task and start climbing them. Already I can see the shock emanating from Dax. His jaw drops. I bet he didn’t even think I could climb up these things on my own. I climb higher, just showing off.
“Vivian, stop! You are going too high!” He positions himself below me, obviously planning to catch me if I fall. But my feet are only as high as his head.
“Who’s the scaredy cat now?” I laugh, happy to be doing the one thing I feel confident at and perhaps even happier to be doing it in front of the one person who has seen me at my lowest. “Okay, watch closely. You’re next.”
“Believe me, I am watching very closely.”
I tie off double foot knots for each leg. The expression on Dax’s face is taken over by curiosity. I stretch back up to my full height and position my arms appropriately, twisting so the vines make an x across my back. I can’t see Dax right now, but his silence is palpable. I shift my hips into a straddle and my body flips upside down. I’m suspended by the vines now, hanging upside down with my legs spread wide, eye level with Dax.
The look on his face.
I may be a librarian in training and a certified social leper, but I do have one thrilling secret. For the past three years I’ve been taking pole dancing and aerial fitness classes at night. I could hang upside down like this all day.
“Your turn,” I tell Dax triumphantly. He doesn’t speak, he just stares at me with an expression I’m not familiar with. “What? Aren’t you even going to try?”
He is still silent, probably planning his turn. He eyes me hard and begins to stalk a circle around me. When he finally appears in front of me again I’m shaken by his expression. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him look so serious.
“Vivian…”
“Yeah?”
“I must tell you. This is the most erotic thing I have ever seen.”
“Huh? Oh! Um…I’m sorry…” I mumble awkwardly and begin my dismount. Once my feet hit the ground I wipe my palms on my pant legs and refuse to make eye contact with him. “Are you going to try, or is the bet off?”
A rumbling laugh comes from Dax, and I feel a hot blush creep up my neck. “The win is yours. I definitely cannot do that.”
“Never mind.” I shrug. “It was a cheat. I knew you couldn’t,” I say quietly as I pull my boots back on.
“Still, it was very deserving of a win.”
I can’t believe I just did that. I never told anyone about my fitness classes, and here I am showing off my skills in front of Dax. It’s just that he’s only ever seen me at my worst, and frankly it’s kind of embarrassing. I wanted to show him something I’m actually competent at. Lot of good it did me. Now I can’t even look him in the eye.
The silence between us feels tense, and I’m not really sur
e how to fill it. “So, supplies?”
Dax grunts in response, so I get up and start leading the trek down the sloping hill. Normally I’d want him to carry me, or I’d at least be cowering behind him, but my embarrassment is too great. That familiar feeling creeps up inside of me: I want to run, to run away and escape. I don’t want to feel what I’m feeling right now. I quicken my pace, and Dax follows suit. I keep my head down, trying to pretend he isn’t there. But then he does the unthinkable, he starts laughing at me again. I don’t know what comes over me, but I snap. In retrospect I guess it was inevitable…
I spin around to face Dax, furious, and he plows into me. His hard chest collides with my face and I push him away. He actually stumbles back a step at the force of my push. “What is your problem?” I shout at him.
“Problem?” he asks, and the smile on his face slips, quickly replaced by confusion.
“I can hear you, you know! Laughing at me! You think you’re so great, but you’re just… just…” I don’t know what I want to say, I just know I’m mad. Furious, as a matter of fact. I don’t think I really want to say anything. I just want to beat him… well, I want two things… to run and to beat him. So, I push him hard again and once more for good measure. Then I turn around and start running, as fast as I can, with everything in me.
I pay no heed to the cobbled ground, only loosely held together by fragile carpets of moss. I’m pretty sure if I fall I’ll just keep on rolling down the slope until I’m bruised and dead. But I can’t bring myself to care. I just want to run, to beat him and run.
Chapter 12
Dax
“So…are we racing then?” I shout after Vivian. Somehow, I am not surprised when she does not reply.
I am further shocked to see that Vivian is much faster than I would have anticipated. If I have any desire to win I must catch up with my human now. I give chase as I think back on her behavior toward me, quickly traversing the mossy ground. Though the provocation was unintentional, I clearly caused Vivian’s anger. I admit, I was lost in my thoughts over her…exhibition.
Her performance left me astonished and I find it hard to reconcile the strength and agility she displayed with the faint-spirited female I have had my eye on over the past few weeks. I would never have imagined her engaging in the erotic, body contortionist stunt she just impressed me with. It is my impression that this human has more than one secret.
I really must figure out what a librarian is.
It was my absent laughter that spurred her anger. Though I hardly understand why such a thing might offend. What she does not seem to realize is that I am not laughing at her. I am simply amazed by her. She is just such a conundrum. So full of fears and sadness, but clearly capable of many extraordinary things. She can handle a ship like second nature and she can do whatever it was she was doing on those vines.
Vivian pulls farther ahead, causing me to feel inclined to cheat. I fall onto all fours and bolt after her. Something inside me roars to life and I am like a predator stalking his prey. I close the distance between us in a few short bounds, but we are quickly nearing the water’s edge. It is little more than a stream, crystal clear and inviting—a stark contrast to the muddy pond Vivian scrambled to free herself from on Elysia. I notice she does not slow as we approach it. As a matter of fact, I notice a great many things about her suddenly: the sound of her feet hitting the ground, the breath she sucks in to fill her lungs, I even feel as if I can sense something else coming from within her. A drumming, or the rapid beat of…of…
I do not care what it is, but it pulls me to her. I have to be near her, I have to touch her. I leap and tackle her from behind, wrapping my arms around her and twisting our bodies so that she is safely cocooned in my embrace just before we hit the water.
It is deeper than I had anticipated, but the flow is a languid one, and we slowly sink together. Though it does not feel like sinking, it feels more like flying.
The spell is broken sooner than I would have wished. She kicks her legs, aiming for the surface. I dutifully follow.
“You cheated!” she bellows as we break the water’s surface, her brow furrowed and her eyes alight with spirit. I have never seen her this alive and I am enthralled by it.
“I did cheat,” I say with a smirk.
“That’s not fair!” she shouts, splashing water in my direction as we tread water.
“I thought that was how we decided to play. Did you not admit to cheating yourself?”
She has nothing to say to that, though her anger is still evident. Since she has no words, she throws water instead, splashing as fiercely as her small, human hands will allow. I can practically feel the anger coming off of her in waves. She is truly upset, but I am happy. I will endeavor to help her feel the same. I dive beneath the surface and grab her ankles, giving her a quick dunk. Again, she is yelling at me when we break the surface.
“It’s not a fair fight!” she shouts. “You’re stronger than me!”
“Yes, but you are filled with more surprises,” I counter.
She lunges at me suddenly, placing her hands on my shoulders and pushing down, trying to dunk me. Her weight is so slight, there is no way she could push me beneath the surface. But I enjoy the game, so I allow her to think she has strength enough, if only so that I can pull her under with me.
Beneath the water we are a tangle of limbs, she grabs hold of my horns and tries to twist my head down maliciously. She is like a fledgling learning to wrestle. Even underwater a laugh escapes me and bubbles go rushing to the surface.
We bob back up again, arms still wrapped around each other. Her touch is angry, but mine is playful. Which only seems to make her more upset. It is as if she actually wants to best me in a fight. The idea is laughable, but I bite my tongue.
I support both her weight and my own in the water fully now. Vivian is too lost in her attempts to bring harm to me to swim. Her legs kick at my shins and her arms work to throw me off my balance. All the while I enjoy the feel of her body wriggling against my own. Her soft skin slips and slides across my own flesh, causing all my senses to come to life. Finally, I can no longer hold back my laughter. Anger flares in her eyes again and she reaches around behind my head and grabs a fistful of my braid and pulls.
“Yee-ouch!” I call out. “That hurt!” I say, reaching back and rubbing my scalp.
A look of triumph crosses her features and she tugs it again. Then her hand slips to the more sensitive skin beneath my arm. For half a second, I feel a thrill building in my core at her touch, but then she pinches me!
“Bah! You witch! What are you doing to me?” I shout, trying to free myself from her grasp.
She does not answer, but she pinches again, harder this time, twisting my flesh. I lean to the side to avoid her wrath, but as I do, I leave my shoulder exposed. The next thing she does shocks me to my core. She takes the opportunity to bite into my flesh with her dull and rounded little teeth.
“That is it, you crazed female! I will show you how that feels!” My words are only part of the game, I would never truly bite into Vivian. Well, I would not bite her very hard at least…
She squeals and half-heartedly pretends to fight me off, but I can’t help but notice that her legs wrap themselves tightly around my waist. I gently grab a fistful of her wetted locks and use them to pull her head to the side, exposing her milky flesh to me. I lean in to pretend a bite is coming to her. Instead of fighting me off, instead of crying or squealing at me, she grows quiet and still. She watches me with parted lips and shallow breaths, waiting for me to take my bite. Our eyes lock…and then I hear something. I freeze, cocking my head to the side to listen. It is like…the sound of distant drums. But then I hear something closer. I see the moment Vivian notices it too. Her gaze shoots to the shore and her mouth falls open, her eyes rapidly scanning the situation.
Along both sides of the shore, cautiously advancing on us, is the race of beings we came here to spy upon. They do not seem to be of an advanced culture, for
I notice only spears in their hands as weapons. Though I don’t suppose they’d even need them with the sharp teeth and claws they possess.
“Dax?” comes Vivian’s desperate whisper.
“We swim. We swim hard downstream and stop once we’ve outrun them. Then we double back to the ship. Got it?” I whisper quietly to her.
“Don’t leave me, okay?”
“They would have to kill me first.”
She whimpers at my words.
“Go!” I shout, and we are off, taking wide and powerful strokes. Immediately the inhabitants of this primitive world begin their pursuit. I keep eyes on them and stay close to Vivian’s side. The beings run on all fours, stopping periodically to rear up on hind legs. They are in a frenzy, chirping and grunting at us.
