Page 32 of His to Take

“Elizabeth and Maria were good too,” she said softly, in love with the way his eyes shone in the darkness.

“Maybe. I didn’t know them, but you, you were always good. You didn’t even skip school.”

“I didn’t see the point. We’d be out soon enough, able to do what we wanted, and getting on with life.”

“Sure, but it was nice to be out during the weekday. Like you were spying on this secret world that only adults and kids that had doctor’s notes would ever see. It wasn’t just the thrill of doing something I wasn’t supposed to that I liked, it was seeing that side of the world. The side we never saw because we were always in school.”

“That sounds, wow, I never thought of it like that.” It sounded far more profound than maybe it really was, but she liked it, the way he described it.

“Even with a note, it didn’t have that same secret quality to it. You were with your parents, accepted into the secret world, but if you weren’t supposed to be there, if you were being delinquent, then it was like this whole new world.” He smiled, a happy smile at his memories.

“I wish you’d have talked to me more back then.”

“I couldn’t. You were my nerdy neighbor, and I was too awesome for that.”

“I think you mean you knew I wouldn’t let you in my pants, just because of the sports you played.” The words came out snarky, harsh, but his had stung too.

“Yeah, probably some of that too. Man, I remember, Jennifer Harmon let me in her pants the day we met. She was brand new to school and hot as fuck.”

“Seriously, Rex?” Ann sat up, disgusted.

“What? You’re the one that’s about to marry an alien, not me. Save the dramatics for someone that gets to marry you. I don’t get that luxury.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it, Rex. You’re just being petty again.” She got up from the table and went to the door. “Look, there’s not a lot we can do to change this, so don’t go causing trouble. We just have to face reality. I wanted to be a part of your life for a long time. You had your chance, and you didn’t take it in time. I hate it, I really do, but our time is past now. I have to think of the people that will get hurt if I refuse.”

“Good to the end, aren’t you, Ann?” He smirked, but he stood up and waltzed over to the railing. “I don’t accept this, just so you know. I will change it. You will be mine.”

She sighed as he disappeared, frustrated with him, as always. She knew a blood pressure monitor would explode if she wore one the entire time she was with him. Why did he always have to be such an ass?

She closed the doors quietly behind her and went to the bathroom to take the bath she’d been about to run when he interrupted her. She needed to relax, just for five minutes. She wanted to take that alien right out of her brain for just a little while and a nice hot bath would help her do that.

With a pleased breath, she sank beneath the water a few minutes later and tried to let her brain stop working. It didn’t help. Every time she closed her eyes, she heard him say her name. Or felt his phantom touch from her dreams.

She wondered again if he had the same dreams she did. If they had done all of those things in that dream world, and he knew just how dirty she could be. She had no control in her dreams, no way of knowing that it was real. They just happened.

She needed him, wanted him, more than anything else on Earth, in those dreams, even when she was aware enough to know it was wrong. It didn’t matter. She craved him when she was near. She remembered how her body had reacted when he’d come to the house earlier that day.

Every hair on her body, which wasn’t many nowadays, stood on end. Then, other things had happened, things she’d ignored. Her nipples had gone tight as they prepared for his touch. And down there, in the place only she had ever touched once she was potty trained, that place had turned to liquid heat.

Her eyes had devoured him, longed for every inch of him to be naked in front of her, and ready to give her what she needed. But she’d controlled herself, she hadn’t given anything away. That she knew of.

Even now, her body responded to the thought of him with eager desire, ready to be touched, and to touch. It was embarrassing, but she was alone, so that made it better. Not like earlier when it had happened in a room full of people.

What would it be like to be married to him? In her dreams, she was good, as long as he didn’t touch her. She wanted him, yearned for him, to touch her, but if he didn’t, she could cope. It was when he actually touched her that she lost her mind.

Not like when Rex touched her. His touched caused her heart to flutter in her chest, but little else. She didn’t feel the burning desire, that low, hot, ache deep between her legs, that made her almost crazy with need. Rex didn’t cause that at all.

Mainly, Rex caused her annoyance.

She could admit it now, now that she had no other choice in her life. Maybe her mom had been onto something earlier. Ann had given up sports so that Rex could excel and be the best in their school. She didn’t remember it, but she had to believe what her mother told her. Maybe she’d been doing that for a long time, letting Rex win so that he could be happy.

She’d been infatuated with him most of her life, it would make sense that she would put her own needs after his. Even when he’d ignored her, she’d done things for him to try and cheer him up. She was always doing things for him, so he wouldn’t have to, so he could stay in his room and mope. As he deserved to do.

He hadn’t ever cared what she needed though, had he? He’d never even brought her a flower, she realized, and sat up now that the water had started to cool. As she scrubbed herself clean and washed her hair, she thought that maybe it wouldn’t be so heartbreaking not to marry the boy after all.

Because that’s what he was, really. A boy. Not a man. Real men didn’t act like kids all the time and spout off about stupid revolution ideas. Damn, that was such a stupid notion of his. She wrapped her hair in a towel. She found a gift, wrapped up in a white box with red ribbon, sitting on her bed when she went back into her bedroom.

Wondering if Rex had read her thoughts, she sat down and opened the box to see what was inside. A portable, personal DVD player, with a memory stick full of movies and television shows! Oh my, now that was exciting! She hadn’t seen any television or movies since the end came. None of them had had time to record or download anything, and it was oddly lacking in the entertainment department in the bunker. Her mom had a few old black and white films on her phone, they’d watched those a few times, but the phone’s charger had stopped working after a few months.

“To my bride. May you sleep peacefully, tonight. I’ll see you soon.”

She frowned. It wasn’t from Rex. Of course, it wasn’t, she told herself. He wouldn’t be that thoughtful, even if he had found it, he would have kept it for himself, as was his due.

She really shouldn’t be such a bitch about him, she thought, but it was hard. For most of her life, she’d done whatever it took to make him happy, she’d put up with his moods, those awful moods that always looked so… romantic, in films. In real life, she’d often found herself wanting to kick him.

In the last couple of months, her eyes had really started to open about him. He wasn’t some romantic figure, a poet in need of inspiration. He was just a jerk.

Ann wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince herself or if this was just truth that she finally understood. She had no choice, she had to marry the alien, but she didn’t have to hate Rex to do it, did she?

She put the memory card into the DVD player and started to go through the list of items she could watch. She couldn’t stop thinking about Rex though. She felt as if she was on a constant roller coaster when it came to him. One minute she hated him, never wanted to speak to him again, and the next she wanted to have his babies while she promised to be his doormat forever.

She had a sneaky suspicion that, if the world hadn’t ended and she’d been able to go off to the state university and get away from him, she’d have been over her infatuation with him a long time ago. Instead, she’d been thrown into close quarters with him for five years. Well, that was all over now, she said to herself, she had a new direction to go in, and Rex would have to be a part of the past. She was to be the alien’s bride, and there wasn’t a thing any of them could do about it.