The possibility of getting back to her planet. And if she thinks I’m leaving her there, she is incorrect. Now I have found my mate, now I rut for her, I will give her what she craves, and I will stay by her side.
I return to my quarters and extract the weaponry I wish to take with me from my personal armory. I can hear sounds of movement in the quarters my mate inhabits, which at least means she is no longer in her small aquium.
Given it is not in the middle of her sleep cycle and the sounds I hear are not those of distress, I do not enter immediately. Instead I press the chimer, to let her know I wish to enter. Then I wait.
There is no response.
I press it again.
My blood spins in my veins, the mating mix pumping through me. Is my mate okay, even if I cannot hear her distress? My claws extend, reaching for the door, intending to break the agreement I made with my mate about leaving her alone when the door snaps open and she glares at me.
“What do you want?”
Her cheeks are flushed and her breath is short. I peer into the room, expecting an assailant.
She is alone.
“I wished to check on your wellbeing.”
“I’m fine.” She huffs a breath, and it blows little strands of her hair from around her face. The rest of the silky strands are tied up behind her head in a similar manner to a Sarkarnii female.
“You are fine?”
“I’m fine, Dalox.” She turns away and walks back to the central pit and sits down in it with her back to me, reaching for a canister of water.
I follow, but I don’t sit. She still has not looked at me, and I can almost feel the sharpness of fangs against my skin.
“I have secured a ship to take us to the second continent,” I hear myself say. “We can obtain the mapping system, and once it is installed on my long-range ship, we can leave for yourUrth.”
Gillian’s shoulders rise and fall, but she does not turn. A silence stretches out between us.
“We can leave any time you want,” I say, eventually.
“Then we leave now,” she says, getting to her feet. “The sooner I get out of here, the better.”
GILLIAN
I’m more annoyed with myself than with Dalox. I’ve known him a very short time. I’ve let him in. I’ve let him take me to places I never thought possible.
I let him do all of this because he’s the first alien who hasn’t tried to hurt me or force me into doing things I don’t want to do.
I can still smell the dust of the pit. Those memories aren’t fading fast.
But it doesn’t mean I should trust him. I can still hold onto my pride and my desire to get back to Earth. Even if the way I feel about him has changed so fast.
No one falls in love overnight. I’m reacting to my situation by allowing Dalox under my skin. This is all an emotional reaction to my situation.
There is nothing between us, nothing for me anyway, nothing which isn’t artificially created by my mind and being abducted by aliens.
I appreciate my fellow humans have found some form of life here. I don’t know them well enough to judge their decisions, but I am firm in mine.
“Then we leave now. The sooner I get out of here the better.” I say, my jaw tight.
As we leave my room, Dalox hands me something curved and metal. “Have you used a pulsar?”
“Is this a ray gun?” I turn the item over in my hand. It fits snugly, despite the fact it’s clearly made for a being much larger than me.
It’s not like I expected from the movies. Instead, it’s rather elegant and lightweight. Hardly a weapon.
