by Linda Mooney
The sun set a little before eight. Jeb liked to keep the window near the bed open. He liked to smell the forest. They could also watch the last rays of the sun glance off the opposite bedroom wall and fade away with an orange goodbye.
As he had the last few nights, Jeb grew more restless at dusk. Tonight was no different. As soon as the show Denizens of the Deep was over, he released her, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and began to put on his boots.
“Going running?”
“Yeah.” Sitting up, he half-turned and reached over to pat her hand that lay on the coverlet. “Why don’t you go ahead and shower while I’m gone? And don’t—”
“…Forget to take your medicine,” she intoned with him. “All right. But, Jeb? We have a lot more to talk about.”
“I know.” He nodded. “It can wait.”
She sat up, crossing her legs Indian-style. “Yeah, most of it can wait. Just answer me one thing, though, before you leave.”
He waited, giving her that patient stare she knew too well.
“When are we going to make love?”
What she didn’t expect to see was a flash of real pain in his wonderfully strange eyes.
“Hannah … can we talk about this later?”
“Sure. Of course. I’m just wanting to know if we’re going to make love. That’s all. I don’t need a date or a time, or to make any kind of appointment. Just tell me if we’re ever going to make love because, to be frank…” She reached out to touch his shirt sleeve. Her voice dropped, echoing her need. “…I’m dying to feel you inside me right now.”
Another emotion blazed momentarily in his gold-flecked eyes. Desire, mixed with controlled lust. He was deliberately keeping himself on the edge, and again she could not figure out why. Maybe it was a religious thing. Maybe it was nothing more than a personal thing with him. But at least she had told him she wanted him. The rest would be his decision.
“Yes. We’re going to make love. Soon,” he added, almost making it sound like an afterthought.
He got up from the bed and walked over to the door where he paused. Turning back to her, Jeb tossed her a feeble smile. “I’m sorry I can’t give you anything more definite. But it will happen, Hannah. I promise.”
A light bulb suddenly turned on inside her. “Jeb, are you a virgin?” Of course! It would explain a lot.
That bubble burst when he slowly shook his head. “No. Why do you need to know?”
“Then … can I ask when the last time was you slept with a woman?”
His grin broadened. “I thought I slept with one last night, or have you forgotten?”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. If you’re not a virgin, when did you last make love?” She squinted at him slightly. “You’ve only made love to women, right? Not to other men.”
The remark had him stiffening his back. “We … no. Yes, I mean…” He sighed and hung his head as if inspecting the toes of his boots. Finally he looked back at her. “It has been nearly ten years since I loved a woman. I have never touched a man in that way, although on my w—in my country, the men have no qualms about demonstrating their affection for each other. Not in that manner, however.” He bit his lips, adding, “Why are you asking me this now?”
She was still reeling from the fact it had been ten years since he was physical with another woman. Ten years? Why so long? Had he been a monk or something before leaving the order?
There was so much she didn’t know about this man she had fallen in love with. Fallen truly in love with, not with the “get me out of here” infatuation she realized she’d felt for Carl.
“I’m asking because you told me you loved me.”
“I do,” he interrupted.
“Then why are you holding back? Love isn’t just an emotion. It’s also a physical response two people share. The physical act cements the emotional one. At least it does here in America. I don’t know how your values differ where you’re from…” Hannah trailed off as it suddenly dawned on her. Maybe he was reticent because of how he had been raised. After all, he was a foreigner. It was very likely he believed in courting her in a different manner. “Never mind,” she quickly said, pasting what she hoped would look like a warm smile to her face. Thank goodness it didn’t hurt anymore to smile or laugh. “Go on. Enjoy your run. I’ll wait up until you get back.”
She could literally see him relax when she backed away from her interrogation. “You need the rest, and I have to be at the mill before seven,” he responded. “I won’t be long. Don’t wait up if you get sleepy.”
Before she could say anything more, he slipped out the door, closing it firmly behind him.
Hannah had no idea when he got back to the cabin. After he left, she took her shower and crawled into bed to watch some more television. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything worth viewing, so she’d turned it off and slid under the covers.
She was vaguely aware of Jeb coming in and dumping his clothes in the chair by the small writing table. It was a habit of his. Habits she was growing accustomed to. Like the fact he went commando. At least not boxers or briefs. Initially she had been surprised when she had gone to the laundromat to wash their clothes. In the end, she had put it down in the Odd Because They Didn’t Do It Like That In His Country column and let it go.
He took a quick shower. Very quick. The man wasted no time dawdling in the bathroom. While he was in the bathroom, she lay with her back to the door, hoping he wouldn’t notice her playing ‘possum. She had taken pain medication, but not the one with the sleeping agent in it. For one thing, she was afraid of becoming addicted to it, even though the label assured her she wouldn’t. For another, she was curious to know how long he stayed away. What time did he return? Having Carl not come in until nearly two-thirty or three most nights, and knowing he would usually find something to get angry about when he did so he could rough her up had left her wary, but not afraid. She knew Jeb would never hurt her. He would never raise a fist to her. Still, she was curious.
When he disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door, she peered at the clock on the nightstand. Eleven seventeen. Late, but not unreasonably so. That was good. Jeb was an early riser, getting out of bed before the sun rose. When she had worked at the diner, she’d had to get up even earlier. If Carl had forced himself on her, or put a few more marks on her when he had come home from the bars, it had taken everything out of her to crawl out of bed with barely three hours of sleep and go to work a full eight-hour shift. Many evenings she had gone home and simply turned over her tips to him before he asked, just so he would go ahead and leave. Leave so she could go to bed and rest before he got back home, and the cycle would continue.
Without thinking, she reached down between the bed and nightstand to feel the paper sack still sitting where she’d first put it. She had given Carl all her tips … except for one. She never gave him the five dollars Jeb always left her at breakfast. Sometimes it was a fiver, sometimes five ones. Sometimes bills and coins combined. But always five dollars. Five dollars for a meal that never added up to that much to begin with. It was that money she had started to squirrel away.
At first she couldn’t understand why. Maybe deep down, she couldn’t bear the thought of giving Carl something that had come from Jeb. Nevertheless, she had taken the money and stashed it in an old sweet potato can that had a plastic lid, and hidden it on the bottom shelf in the back underneath the cash register.
Five mornings a week for five months the money added up. She probably had several hundred dollars accumulated. She didn’t know for sure; she had never stopped to count it. Barb was the only other person who knew she had it, which was why she hadn’t been surprised when the woman had gathered it up and given it to Jeb when he had told Barb he was taking Hannah away.
The water turned off. A minute later, the door to the bathroom opened. Hannah heard him stop in the doorway and sniff. The room smelled of pine. It was a clean smell she also enjoyed. Not quite like his own personal smell, but cl
ose.
Closing her eyes, she feigned sleep as the mattress tilted when he crawled in beside her. A double bed didn’t give them much room to stretch out. And Jeb was a big man anyway.
Her mind changed gears as she envisioned what other parts of his anatomy were big. Like that bulge in the front of his pants she had seen on other occasions. The same bulge she had felt shoving into her stomach. The mere thought of him sliding it into her was enough to put a huge smile on her face and a tingle between her thighs.
Soon. Soon.
Her eyes opened when the wall of his back touched hers. If the man didn’t wear any underwear … what did he wear to bed?
Her face flamed. One thing she had quickly noticed was that he always made certain she was asleep when he came to bed, and didn’t awaken until he left it. Last one in and first one out, with her blissfully unaware. It was probably another reason why he insisted on her taking the pain capsules with the sleeping agent. A reason now very clear.
The man slept in the nude.
Hannah stifled the groan rising in her throat. What she wouldn’t give to be able to reach over with her hand and run her palms over his hard muscles. Down his waist. Over those narrow hips and thighs before wandering across those buttocks that drew her attention every time he turned his back to her.
He shifted to get comfortable. The bed jiggled in response. A warmth spread across her skin from head to toe. His warmth. He was probably lying on his side, facing away from her. Presently she felt a certain lightness come over him, and she realized he was asleep. Almost instantly, he had gone to sleep. How was he able to do that?
Taking a slow, deep breath, she carefully rolled over and opened her eyes. The room was pitch dark except for the pale glow of moonlight filtering through the trees. Jeb was a large, wide figure in front of her. Without thinking, Hannah raised her hand and touched his back. Her fingertips barely grazed the top of his spine. Lightly running over the ridges. The sharp little peaks rose along his spine like thick quills. Or plates.
What?!
Hannah jerked her hand upward as she whirled around and searched for the lamp on the nightstand. She fumbled for a second with the tiny pull chain before the forty-watt bulb came on. Squinting against the sudden brightness, she turned back around to see what it was she had touched.
A monstrous creature with shiny, dark green skin reared up to stare back at her. Dimly her mind took in the sight of its bald head and the pointed rows of teeth, and she screamed.
“Hannah!”
She flailed against the beast, but it caught her wrists and held them with long fingers tipped with thick claws. She screamed again before the creature’s other hand clamped down over her mouth. A brief struggle ensued before she could grasp the fact that the horror staring at her with liquid brown eyes was holding her firmly without harming her, or allowing her to inadvertently harm herself.
It was going to eat her. It was going to rip out her throat with those cannibal teeth and devour her alive. Her chest constricted to think this monster had overcome Jeb. Maybe killing him before it sought her out.
Terrified beyond any further thought, she continued to stare into its pain-filled brown eyes. Brown eyes flecked with gold.
“Hannah. Stop! It’s me, Jeb!”
The words came out of its mouth; a mouth containing those ungodly sharp little teeth. With a voice that sounded just like…
It had lain down beside her. It had come out of the bathroom after taking a shower, and gotten into bed like Jeb did.
Her body was trembling violently. She could not think; her mind was focused on the thing that continued to resist her struggling while also maintaining a warm—
claw?
—over her mouth.
The pounding at the door distracted her.
“Mr. Morr! Miss Pitt! Open the door! Open the door!”
She swung her eyes toward the portal and tried to warn them about the creature, but the only sound she could utter was the whining in the back of her throat.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Newburg!” a voice called out behind her.
Jeb’s voice.
“What’s happening! We heard a scream! Open this door!” the woman shouted, banging again on the door.
Hannah jerked her head back around, coming nose to nose not with the green-skinned monster, but with Jeb’s familiar, beloved visage. Her eyes flew open as he leaned closer to her face.
“Say nothing, Hannah. If you love me, say nothing. I will explain.”
He gave her long enough to reply with a nervous nod. Immediately he released her wrists and mouth, and crawled off the bed.
The pounding came again. “Open this door, or I’ll call the sheriff!”
She remained staring at him as he grabbed the jeans he had thrown on the chair and hurriedly pulled them on. She caught a glimpse of his manhood a second before he stuffed it inside his pants and zipped them up as he strode to the door.
The beating on the door continued until he unlocked it and threw it open. Outside Mrs. Newburg and a couple of other motel guests were gathered, wide-eyed and fearful.
“It’s all right, Mrs. Newburg. An owl flew into the room and frightened us,” Jeb told her calmly. He continued to hold the door open wide enough so they could see inside. See Hannah sitting up in bed with the sheet bunched under her chin. Above the bed, the window was clearly open.
Mrs. Newburg gave him a cautious glare before examining the woman in the bed. “Is that the truth, Miss Pitt?”
Without blinking, Hannah nodded. “Scared the bejeebers out of me. Sorry if I woke anyone.”
The motel owner relaxed. It was clear her worst fears had not come to pass, and Jeb had not attacked the young woman as they all had believed.
Jeb continued the charade. “It’s gone now. Sorry for the trouble.”
Giving them both a nod, the woman said, “Better keep that window closed, or it could happen again.” She paused, then added, “You sure no one got hurt?”
“No, ma’am,” Hannah quickly offered, glancing at the man—
a human-looking man
—who remained by the door but didn’t look back at her.
After another moment, Mrs. Newburg nodded and bid them goodnight. Jeb remained at the door until they all had dispersed back to their rooms. Then he closed and locked the door. With that done, he turned to face her. Finally. Yet he remained leaning against the jamb, not coming near her.
A shiver raced through her as her heart slowly calmed. Her eyes never left him.
“When I came to bed, I thought you might be awake, because you tend to dream aloud,” he said softly. “You didn’t take the sleeping pill, did you?”
“No.” She shook her head. Her eyes raked over his figure, and she realized this was the first time she had seen him shirtless. His chest was as broad as she knew it would be. Broad, with muscles that looked like they had been carved into his flesh. Large, dark nipples contrasted sharply against his pale skin.
Pale skin. Not the dark forest green color she remembered seeing.
“What are you?” Biting her lower lip, she added, “I know what I saw, so don’t try to lie your way out of it. You’re not human, are you?”
This time it was his turn to shake his head and reply, “No.”
He made a move away from the door. Hannah’s instinctive reaction was to scramble back across the bed to keep as much distance as she could between them. When he saw her attempt to stay away from him, a look of deep pain crossed his face. But instead of rejoining her on the bed as she thought he was going to do, Jeb went over to sit on the chair by the writing table.
“Tell me the truth,” she ordered him, her voice soft but threatening. “All of it.”
“Very well.” He sighed and looked up at her. The pain was still there on his face. In those beautiful brown eyes with their amber flecks. “But remember this, Hannah. Despite what happens after I do, and what you may think or decide, I will always love you.”
The admission tugged at
her heart. She tried to swallow, but tears were threatening to clog her throat. “I’m listening,” she managed to say, pulling the sheet closer to her. It wouldn’t matter now what he told her because her mind was already made up.
She knew what her decision would be before he spoke another word.
Chapter 12
Confession
“Feel free to ask me anything,” Jeb insisted.
“Don’t worry. I will.”
“Where do you want me to start?”
Hannah cocked her head at him. “The beginning is always good. Like, how did you get here? Or have you always been here, living among us?”
“We arrived here on Earth a little more than five years ago.”
“We?”
“There were thirty-one of us,” he explained. “Men, women, and children.”
“Where are they now?”
“I have no idea.” He shrugged to emphasize his point. “For safety’s sake, we split up. The only Ruinos I know who is nearby is my brother, Simolif.”
Her eyes grew wide. “You have a brother? Where is he?”
“In Templeton.”
“Templeton? Cripes, Jeb. That’s not nearby. That’s in the next state!”
Somehow he managed a small smile. “In galactic terms, it’s next door.”
“Simolif?” She tried to say the name the way he had.
“He goes by Simon.”
“Simon Morr?”
“Yeah,” Jeb nodded.
She gave him another quizzical look. “What’s your real name?”
“Jebaral. Jebaral Gitall Morr.” He watched as her lips formed his name. Lips that had kissed him. Lips that had clung to his when she told him she loved him. Pain twisted inside him.
“What does that mean?”
“Well … Jebaral is the name my parents gave me upon my birthing. Gitall is my mother’s name. Morr is my father’s.”
“So, Simon’s full name is Gitall Morr, too.”
“Yeah. Simolif Gitall Morr.”
“No other siblings? No sisters? Cousins? Grandparents?”
