It’s more complicated than that, but Professor Virgil used the same metaphor to explain it to me back in the days when I was still a student. Since then, every spaceship that tried to chart and investigate that spot of the intergalactic map ended up disappearing or returning without finding a thing.
The Phadh won’t reveal more information about the weapon in fear that other species will try to copy it, but I’m sure that they know more things that they let us believe. Even so, plunging into empty space, it’s a certain and utter death.
Only that this isn’t what exactly happens to us.
We keep falling for some time. My guts feel like scrambled eggs, and I’m sure I would have thrown up if Jay wasn’t there for me. His rocky build and stable demeanor make me feel safe. If anything, I would love to die in his muscled arms. Not that I do want to die in general, but it would be better than dying alone back in that bridge.
I wait for the absolute freeze of space to kick in but it never comes. Jay squeezes me between his arms and then I start feeling uncomfortable. He’s squeezing me a bit too hard and soon I can’t even breathe. I feel the same pressure coming from inside my chest, at the place my lungs are. Every time I try to breathe in, I feel dizzy.
“Jay...Jay, what’s going on?” I say, but since we're still falling, my words come out of my mouth muffled.
“I’m not sure. Everything is dark,” he shouts out, trying to be heard over the whooshing sound of our free fall.
Dark? And we’re still falling? That must mean...we’re not in space anymore.
And just like that, I’m starting to push Jay away. Of course, he doesn’t let me.
“What’s wrong with you? Do you have a death wish?” I hear him saying, but he doesn’t understand. I have to see.
“Jay! Let me go,” I tell him.
“Are you crazy? What’s going on?”
There’s a theory among the science circles back at the Institute. The Nova Bomb might have been able to mask the existence of these dark planets into an electromagnetic sphere. The rumors said about advanced space manipulation creating a time-space folding so tight that when a spaceship tried to get inside that sphere, it ended up on the other side.
It’s highly hypothetical, but no one could believe that the Phadh could manipulate light particles to that extent before setting off the Nova Bomb, and their adamant stance over the information is evidence enough that they’re trying hard to hide something important about their creation.
So, I’m only trying to see the results of that creation with my own eyes and try and find a space ledge. Another hypothesis in space folding theory talks about invincible places in midair, especially amidst highly folded patches of space, that gravity is significantly weaker. Luckily, before Jay finally sets me free, we stumble upon one of those ledges that were supposed to be impossibly rare, and land on solid land unharmed.
“Oh, I get it now,” Jay bellows while lying on my side, “that’s what you wanted to do. To lead us into one of those gravity bubbles?”
Damn. That’s a better name. Gravity bubbles! I should have thought that.
“Yes. Exactly. And just so you know, we’re very lucky that we stumbled upon one of them because we would have ended up dead otherwise.”
“Honey, I’m not sure it’s luck. This place is full of those things,” Jay says at me and points me towards the dark sky.
A piece of the hull of our spaceship is floating in mid-air, heading straight for us in slow motion.
“Do you think it would be a good idea to--?” he says.
But suddenly the floating debris breaks away from the gravity bubble and the actual gravity of the planet draws it towards us fast.
“Move, Jay! Now!” I scream, and we run as fast as we can away from the falling spaceship.
We’re in the middle of an overgrown forest. Unearthed roots arch over our heads, and I almost stumble on something that looks like a spider’s web, only it’s made from wood. The research worth of everything we pass by is immense, but if we don’t survive, we won’t be able to share this with the rest of the world.
The land shakes when the piece finally falls. By then, we’re far away, safe from the impact. A gust of wind picks up from the blast, a wind that almost pushes me to the ground. Thankfully, Dark Jay is there, catching me before I land on my butt.
I giggle as he pushes me to my side and I end up looking straight into his eyes, that perfect shade of purple and magenta. He stares back at me and smiles. Dark Jay has a more mature smile than Jay, a grin that speaks volume of his intentions.
“We have to stop ending up like this, don’t you think?” he says in a whimsical tone.
I snort and lower my eyes. Holding me in his muscled hands, full of pumping veins, he makes me blush.
“I...I didn’t...I…”
Dark Jay leans in and kisses me. I kiss him back.
Now I can’t hold back my urges anymore. It’s like a scorching flame started burning inside and I want him, Dark Jay, to make love to me. Last time, everything with Jay was rushed, adventurous. This time, I want him to go slow. This time, I want him to have me in the middle of this dark, unknown forest.
I stretch my free hand behind and head and push him closer to me. His kiss now becomes deep, intimate. He’s breathing into me, savoring every moment that our mouths are united. I feel his nostrils opening up to release that warm wind that suddenly engulfs my whole body.
When he releases me, I see him smiling. “You’re hot, you know that?” he says to me.
I smile back to him, but I don’t talk. Words are not necessary anymore. Just actions. I fall on my knees and unbuckle his belt. He’s in his underwear now, and I’m topless. My hands fumble the inside of his boxer briefs, the thin fabric unable to hold back his throbbing bulge.
I hear him moan, but he stops me immediately.
“This isn’t right,” he says in the gravest expression I’ve seen him wear.
“What? What did I do wrong?”
“Nothing. It isn’t right for a lady to try so hard to please a man. Men are easy to please. A true man takes care of his woman first and then of himself,” he says and falls on his knees.
He helps me lie on a blanket of greenery. Then, he smoothly spreads my legs apart and leans in between them. When I sense his fiery tongue on my clitoris, I moan loudly. Without doing anything more than fulfilling my inner wishes, Dark Jay makes me lose control.
I moan and feel the tender side of my nipples harden. His hands travel all the way to my belly, caressing me, squeezing me, touching me. Then, he stops and gets above me, removing his boxer to reveal his erected dick.
Without losing another moment, he slips inside me, my wet and horny inside, where I feel him explore his way towards my vagina. His cock is as large as I remember. Every time he thrusts inside me, I moan a bit louder. He’s going slow but steady, kissing me all the way in and then moaning with me on his way out.
He starts thrusting deep inside me, making me feel his balls on my skin. I stretch my hands and grab his tight butt and push him even deeper, even though I know it’s not humanly possible. I close my eyes and feel the friction between our bodies get the best of me.
Soon, I sense that familiar warm feeling in my belly.
“Jay...I’m close,” I say to him.
This is the first time I notice he keeps his eyes closed as well. His face is a sweet mix of pleasure and fuck. Just plain, old, fuck. I want to kiss him but I can’t. That’s because watching him fuck me slow and deep gives birth to another feeling inside me.
With a quick move, I swoon my waist deep inside him and see his expression tense. He’s close as well. Now I’m the one that wants to see him cumming. I start moving my pelvis in and out sensually, practically fucking myself below him, until I hear him mumble something.
That’s my cue, my countdown to that warm explosion. I breathe in and then out, and I start moaning loud like I’m asking for help. I feel his warm cum inside me and stop. My body still trembles f
rom the orgasm, but mostly because of that soft and vulnerable expression that Dark Jay gives to me after lying on my side.
Right at this moment, we’re alone in the middle of nowhere, and honestly, I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Chapter Forty
Jay
When everything it’s over, I turn and look at her ruffled hair spreading on the ground. She looks breathtaking. I comb her hair with my fingers and sit against one of those overgrown trees. This whole planet is weird. The sky is black like it’s covered by a veil of soot.
I don’t want this moment to end. Everything’s so quiet and lukewarm. Yes, that’s the word. Neither warm nor cold, everything’s lukewarm and gray. The only thing that matters is for her to stay alive and happy. I keep telling myself that my mission is to crack the code of that damned cube, but I’m not sure that is my mind I keep talking to.
You’re right about that. It’s not.
I hear my voice reply to me in a sudden moment of perfect clarity. It’s like I said something to myself years ago and it came to haunt me now. Either way, all this fucking and adventuring must be getting in my head. There’s no way I would talk to myself in the second person. This is all an illusion.
“Hey, Eladia.” She snaps; she looks lost. “Don’t keep your hair up anymore. You look better like that,” I say to her. Her face brightens, and I’m sure I glimpse the start of a smile in the edge of her mouth.
“It’s not practical, but I’ll try. Imagine running to get away from the next disaster and your hair getting in the way,” she says, over-explaining her thought.
She’s so cute when she does that.
I shake my head trying to empty it from all those infatuations. She makes my head light.
She’s not yours. Don’t even think about it.
What the fuck? Here it goes again. I get on my feet as quick as I can and get dressed. Something is going wrong with me, I can feel it deep in my bones.
“What? What’s wrong?” she asks me immediately.
I’m going crazy, that what’s wrong. I talk to myself in the second person.
“I think it would be better if we reunited with the rest of the crew. Do you have a way to find your robot? I’m sure she and that hairy man will be together. I don’t have a good feeling about this planet,” I say.
She seems to bite the bait. Eladia gets on her feet I get one last glimpse of her beautiful body. She looks perfect naked as well, but I’m not in the mood to fuck her anymore. God...me, Jasih of the Esuh, a Prime Officer and one of the First Kind I’m not in the mood for more fucking?
I feel the hair on the back of my neck prickle. Something's coming, something dangerous and overwhelming.
“Eladia, get behind me. If anything happens to me, you run. Run as fast as you can. I will cover you,” I say to her but the words are not my own.
I hear twigs snapping, leaves rustling, the sounds getting louder and louder by the moment until suddenly a figure appears out of nowhere. I roar after I see a yellow haired human with big, expressive, blue eyes. I’m ready to attack him when Eladia shouts:
“Jay, no! He’s my friend!”
I stop, not because she asked me to, but because there is something there, in the back of my mind, like an itching you can’t scratch.
The blond human is trembling in front of me, making him a target unworthy of my wrath. However, my instincts are still on alert, and I await eagerly for the true danger to reveal itself.
Close behind him, Silver and Zan appear, the second on his fours holding a pointy stick, probably made like that by him to use as a weapon. It’s useless in my opinion, but thoughtful. He could act as the first line of defense if anything happens.
I turn and watch Eladia hurry to their side, hugging every last one of them, even that blonde man.
“Isn’t anyone going to introduce me to this man?”
Doctor Dale Cross; friend.
“What the hell?” I yell.
This time, I’m sure. Something is wrong with me. Someone else is inside me.
Jasih of the Esuh, you’re not alone. I’m your other half, the light of your soul, your brother. Follow me.
The voice commands me to run deeper into the woods, away from the people I care about. I don’t want to do it, but it doesn’t seem like I have a choice.
Before I turn and leave, my eyes fall on Eladia. Something tells me that it’s going to be some time before I see her again. So, even though I’m not sure my actions are my own anymore, I move to her side. She’s talking to her friends about something, mostly technical and science stuff. I smile at her enthusiasm and her loose hair. For the first time, she doesn’t use her hands to tighten her ponytail even more.
I lay closer to her and whisper something in her ear. The weird thing is even I don’t hear what I say. There’s only a warm feeling coming from the tips of my fingers and toes as I turn and run away.
“Jay stop!” I hear her say but I can’t.
I want to…
but there’s something I have to do.
Chapter Forty- One
Eladia
Everything’s a mess. Running amidst that forest must be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. One part exhaustion and one part running behind a strange alien I’ve met over six months ago makes me feel bad about myself. Oh, who am I kidding? I would have chased him even if he didn’t ask me to.
Zan is running in front of me, barely visible while standing on all his fours, using his hands as legs. My mind drifts back to the moment Jay ran away.
I was having a conversation with Silver about the electromagnetic events of this planet, and she tried helping me understand the principles behind these events as best as she could while disconnected from the Grid. The intergalactic network called the Grid was used by androids and every species everywhere in the galaxy to collect info about targets and possible locations of Nusae Artifacts and every kind of information.
Well, some only use it for online dating, but that’s another story.
On this planet, the Grid is off limits and Silver was malfunctioning, unable to use her scanning services to help us with our mission. No matter how we try to see it, we’re trapped on an empty planet. But, nothing could have prepared me for what happened.
Jay walked in behind me and leaned next to my ear. In that short moment, his breath was caressing the back of my ear making me a bit ticklish. I turned and smiled at him and he smiled back. He’s close now, closer than before, and I was ready to lean towards him and kiss him. Only that he stopped and headed straight for my ear.
Right then he whispered to me: Follow me.
Before being able to realize what’s going on, he’s gone. In agony, I called for him to stop, only that he didn’t.
Those first crucial minutes I started chasing him with Silver, Zan and Doctor Dale behind me I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to go since this forest is full of tall bushes and thick branches with wide leaves. Five minutes later, though, I stopped out of breath.
“It’s impossible. I don’t know where he’s gone. Silver, can you do something?” I asked her, desperate for a solution.
“No. I can’t track him or the Nusae energy signal. But…”
“But?” I quickly got my hopes up. Silver had an idea.
“Zan might be able to follow him. These two seem to have a special connection of some sort. Zan was the one who led me to you two back on Primordial Earth, and Zan will do the same here as well.”
I hadn’t thought about that before. Zan had to adapt to a really harsh environment, very familiar with the environment of this planet. He might be able to track his movements as long as we’re not too late.
“Zan?”
I’m sure he’s able to notice the agony in my voice because the boy moved towards me and stretched his hand to touch my chest.
“I will follow Jasih, Eladia. But don’t let him break your heart again,” he said with the look of an old, wise man.
I nodded; the boy left me speechless once aga
in. I’m not sure there was anything else I can do either way. Silver and Zan immediately started in front of me, and I followed them close behind.
To this moment, almost nothing changed to our formation. Not before Dale runs to my side and adjusts his pace to keep up with me, not wanting to leave me behind. It seems like there is something he wants to ask me.
“So, that was Jay’s other form, the one you call Dark Jay?”
I almost fall from the surprise.
“How do you know about Dark Jay? I’ve never talked to you about him,” I complain while never slowing down.
Alien Romance Box Set: Romantic Suspense: Alien Destiny: Scifi Alien Romance Adventure Romantic Suspence Trilogy (Complete Series Box Set Books 1-3) Page 88
