by A. G. Wilde
How? She didn’t know.
Alien magic.
“Yes,” Crex agreed. “But it seems he acted foolishly because of a yooman. One of your species.”
Athena.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Is Athena ok?”
Crex shrugged and continued pacing again. “I do not know. I can only go on what Yce has gathered.”
This Yce person was puzzling. Plus, the fact that Athena’s status was a big question mark was worrisome.
Hope for the best. That’s all she could do.
Athena was alive. Athena was fine. She had to be.
“And it’s human, not yooman,” she pointed out.
“Human?”
“Yes. My species. It’s human.” She stressed the word.
Crex just blinked but didn’t stop pacing. “Human,” he mumbled as if testing out the sound on his tongue.
Wrapping the towel closer around her body, she rubbed her bare shoulders. She’d noticed it earlier but had thought it was her imagination.
The cell seemed to be getting colder and by the goosebumps all along her arms, the temperature was dropping fast.
“Is it just me or is it getting cold in here?”
That stopped his pacing as he seemed to contemplate the surroundings. “It is.” Then he turned on her. “Your skin is thin. You felt the temperature change quickly.”
Piper flashed him a tight smile. Were all aliens so...scathing in their remarks?
“Thanks.”
Crex seemed momentarily puzzled. “What are you showing gratitude for?”
Resisting an eye roll, Piper shuffled to the far corner of the slab and pulled her knees up to her chest. “Nevermind.”
He seemed to dismiss her comment and continued pacing.
For the next few minutes, she watched him in silence. But it was getting colder.
So cold now, she could see her breath evaporate in front of her. The cold didn’t seem to be affecting him, but as he said, her skin was “thin.”
Piper made a face as she repeated that in her head.
Finally, Crex stopped pacing to look at her.
“It is not by mistake,” he said. “They are starving us of warmth on purpose.”
Piper nodded.
She’d figured.
That only meant one thing.
They meant for them to freeze to death.
* * *
She wasn’t moving.
Still sitting in the corner of the slab, knees pulled up to her chest, the Piper wasn’t moving.
Crex stopped pacing to look at her, very aware of the concern growing within him...and something else.
It was part of why he’d been pacing the entire time.
That swelling feeling he was having inside...he didn’t want to admit it, but he knew what it was.
It could only be one thing. His jagazen was awakening. How? He didn’t understand. Why? That was even more of a puzzle. For whom? Well…that was clear.
It was awakening because of the Piper.
The jagazen...that mystical experience he’d never thought he’d ever have, was occurring because of her, a yoo—human, the Piper.
It only happened once in a Ceqtaq’s life, bonding him to a mate forever.
But the Piper?
Surely, his instincts were leading him astray.
Yet, he couldn’t deny it. Even now, standing far from her, her scent was pulling him in and the urge to act on his instincts was getting stronger by the hour.
It didn’t make sense for him to bond with her, of all beings, but he had been aware of it the moment it happened.
It was that moment the human had decided to sacrifice herself for him, giving herself to the Tasqals even though she had no idea that doing so would have meant certain death.
Would she have acted differently had she known?
And when she’d screamed as they were taking her away, it had broken something within him that he’d been holding back for years.
And now, the jagazen.
He was bonding to her and he couldn’t stop it.
It was puzzling, worrisome even. He had always thought Ceqtaqs only bonded with their own kind.
The words of the soothsayer he’d seen years ago suddenly floated back into his memory. “Your jagazen will awaken for one like you with raven hair.”
But the Piper wasn’t like him. And she didn’t have raven hair—well, only on that triangle hiding her female parts between her thighs.
If she were only afraid of him, things would be easier. But no, the little human instead had no qualms about letting her soft hands roam all over his skin.
At the memory, his skin tingled at spots she’d touched, as if her small hands were still there.
This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.
He would have to ignore it until the mission was over, they destroyed the ship, and he was no longer around her.
Surely, when she was gone, the jagazen would cease to make his heart swell.
All he had to do was wait a day or two more.
Xul would get back on the ship and execute the second phase of the plan. That included setting the bombs, rescuing the captives, and he and the rest of his brothers of the Restitution would play their part in fighting their way off the ship before it blew up.
That’s all he had to do. He’d focus on that—not on the alluring thing in the corner of the slab.
He needed to stay far from the Piper.
But as he watched her, huddled in the corner, he knew he couldn’t do that.
He could handle the drop in temperature. He had often swum naked in frozen waters without a problem.
But the Piper, she looked as if she was going to freeze to death.
Looking at her now, he assumed that on her planet, the weather never grew cold or, in the very least, her species wore heavy fur to keep themselves warm. He couldn’t see how that would be comfortable.
Gulping hard, he weighed his options.
He could either leave her alone in the corner, or he could do something about the fact that she was freezing to death.
Well, those weren’t options, were they? There was obviously only one thing he could do.
Climbing atop the slab, he lay on his side and looked at her.
She didn’t seem to notice his presence, or she didn’t care. Either way, that was probably for the better. He didn’t need her acknowledging what he was about to do.
Pulling her body toward his, he was surprised at how easily she moved.
And, as her skin touched his, his eyes widened in their sockets. She felt like ice.
“Drak,” he cursed underneath his breath. He should have realized how badly the cold was affecting her sooner.
Leaving all reservations behind, he pulled her pliant body toward his, resting her back against his chest as his arms engulfed her.
Swallowing hard, he tried to ignore her softness and the fact that it was making the jagazen swell within him again.
Her head rested on the side of his arm and her neck lay open to him, her hair falling to the side.
There was something in her earlobe that he hadn’t noticed before, a metal ornament of some kind, seemingly put there of her own will. But that wasn’t what caught his attention.
The ornament was in the shape of a creature in water, one with a large fin and teeth like his own…and it was caged in a heart.
Chapter Twelve
Piper regained consciousness slowly. She was still cold but not freezing.
Instead, there was an incredible warmth surrounding her and something firm, yet comfortable, beneath her head.
As things became clearer and she stretched, she realized a naked leg was draped across her thighs.
As a matter of fact, his entire body was naked, and so was she!
What the fu—!
“You’re awake,” Crex’s deep voice flowed into her ear and she stopped moving immediately.
If she moved, she was going to feel more of him and by God
, she didn’t know if she wanted that or not.
She didn’t trust herself to choose the latter.
“What are you doing? W-why am I naked? Why are you naked?” She stuttered.
“You needed warmth.” His answer was simple as if that was all the explanation she needed.
As she shuffled to put some space between them, his arm tightened around her. “Stay.”
Yes, sir.
She realized his free arm was raised and that he was playing with her earring.
“What is this?” He finally asked.
“An earring.”
“This thing. That’s a funny name for an animal,” he mused.
A small giggle erupted within her. “No, the metal in my ear is called an earring. The animal is a shark.”
“A shark,” he mused. “Why is it on your ear?”
“It’s my favorite sea creature.”
“Why? Why is it your favorite?”
Answering that was easy. “Because they’re vicious, but also highly misunderstood. A little like me,” she mused.
Her answer seemed to make him freeze and she spun to face him, gulping when she realized that in doing so, all she had to do was look down and she’d be staring his...erm...thing right fucking between them.
“Can you,” clearing her throat, she looked over his shoulder, anywhere but directly at his gaze, “put your pants back on?”
“Why? This is the best way to keep you warm.”
Piper cleared her throat again. “Yes, but—”
Grasping her lightly by the chin, he tilted her face towards his, bringing their lips dangerously close.
Piper gulped. Did he not know how to behave around women?
You don’t just strip naked with your muscly body, pull them up against you, tilt their head to meet your gaze, and not expect them to get wet between the thighs.
Was she getting wet between the thighs?
Oh God, she hoped not.
“What are you doing?” She whispered.
When he didn’t respond, she swallowed hard, mesmerized as he watched the movement of her throat.
His eyes were cold, luminescent, but being this close to him, maybe she was imagining it, but there was definitely something else there too.
And being this close to him...damn, he was actually a frickin’ handsome dude. She could admit that. There wasn’t anything wrong with admitting that. Was there?
Her eyes dropped to his lips and, even if she had the help of Odin, she was sure she couldn’t move her gaze.
Surely, this wasn’t the time or the place to be having wild thoughts in her head.
One: he was an alien.
Two: he was a dangerous, killing machine alien.
Three: she was literally in a life or death situation.
But she couldn’t help it.
Maybe it was the stress of everything.
Maybe it was the fact that he’d been so good to her. She didn’t know what it was...hell, maybe it was just gratitude.
Or maybe it was that alien magic…alien black magic.
But...
Without thinking about it, she raised her head the few centimeters between them and, as their lips touched, her eyes fluttered closed.
She fully expected him to jump back, push her away, or do something, anything to knock her back into the land of people who weren’t losing their minds...but, instead, he opened his mouth to hers and pulled her closer.
As they kissed tentatively, the lightening sparks going off within her could not be ignored.
The last time that happened was when she was in high school. Shit, she was twenty-six now. She thought she’d left those days of having butterflies behind.
But here they were.
And fuck, they felt good.
His lips were soft, much softer than she expected and she reveled in the feel of his tongue exploring her mouth.
She could tell he was being cautious, using the opportunity to explore their similarities and differences. And she was doing the same.
As her tongue ventured into his mouth, Piper paused. She’d forgotten his teeth were sharp. It felt strange, different, new, and interestingly not off-putting.
As he pulled her closer and there was no space between them, she was almost sure she could feel his heart beating.
Wait. No. That was his heart beating. It was beating so hard it felt as if it was outside of his body.
Wide-eyed, she pulled away to stare at his chest, blinking as if that would make sense of what she was seeing.
It was almost pushing out of his skin. She could see the outline. A much bigger heart than her own, she was sure.
She’d watched enough Grey’s Anatomy to know what the human heart looked like and what she was seeing wasn’t anything like one of them.
“What the hell is that?” Glancing up at him, she realized something else that made a gasp escape her lips.
His eyes had changed color completely. They were no longer that cold gray. His vision seemed to have gone to a shade of...violet?
Easing back even further, she pointed at his eyes. “And what the heck is that?”
Crex blinked a few times before swallowing hard.
With his eyes a different color, he didn’t seem like the predator she was used to viewing him as. Now, he was something else.
“The jagazen.” His voice was hoarse.
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he dropped his gaze and seemed as if he was trying to regulate his breathing.
It was the first time she had seen him display so much emotion that wasn’t rage.
It was…fascinating.
“Are you dying?” She whispered, staring at his chest. His heart was still imprinted there as if it was swollen and about to burst out of his chest. “Are you allergic to my saliva or something?”
He looked at her then, and she wasn’t sure, but it seemed as if there was a small sad smile threatening on his lips.
“I’m not dying. Far from it.”
“Then what the—”
“It will go away. It will go away when you go away.”
Was that his way of saying that she was the reason for this supernatural change? What did that even mean?
“Tomorrow,” he continued, his voice dropping low. “Tomorrow we leave.”
Her heart jumped as she waited for him to continue.
“Tomorrow, my brothers and I will destroy this ship. You will be rescued. Then you can go where you wish.”
Piper just lay staring at him in silence for a few minutes, trying to digest the information he’d just dropped so suddenly.
“You mean Earth? I can go back home?”
He looked away as he answered, turning his gaze to the wall behind her. “Your planet is unreachable.”
Instead of skipping a beat this time, her heart fell.
“What do you mean ‘unreachable’?”
“The Isclits used a wormhole to get to your planet. It only opens every twenty million of your planet’s years or so. We are now on the other side of the galaxy.”
Piper lay frozen as her world suddenly stood still.
No more Earth.
There was no way to return to Earth.
She was on a ship in the middle of God knows where with no hope of returning to Earth?
“We can take you to our base. You can send a message to your planet from there.”
“I thought you said we’re on the other side of the galaxy.”
“We are.”
“So if I send a message, will it reach Earth?”
“It will. But...”
She didn’t need him to explain. She understood enough from her own knowledge of space. The message would arrive but she would probably have lived a full life and died long before then.
It didn’t matter anyway. And it wouldn’t matter even if they could send a message that reached Earth tomorrow. If they were on the other side of the galaxy, there was no way the US President would send a ship
to rescue them.
There was no way he could. They were having problems just going to Mars for Pete’s sake.
It was futile even holding out any hope for that.
“I can never go home,” she finally said.
Crex didn’t reply, and, as the space between them grew colder, she moved back against him. He didn’t move away, but though his heart seemed to have calmed down, she could still feel its heavy beats underneath his skin.
“I can never go home,” she repeated.
“You have ones you love there.” It was more of a statement than a question, but Piper shook her head.
“No,” she swallowed hard. “I lost everyone I loved when I was taken away from there. There’s nothing left for me on Earth.”
Saying it made it real.
She had no reason to return to Earth.
Callie was gone. She had no other family. She had no real home.
There was nothing there for her.
“Tomorrow,” Crex said. “When things get dangerous, you must stay back.”
“Ok,” she replied. It didn’t really matter anyway, did it? Die tomorrow. Die later. Fact was, her future looked grim.
What was there to look forward to when you were literally lost in space?
As Crex wrapped his arms around her again, something came into her mind as an answer but Piper pushed it away immediately.
Whatever was happening between him and her ended tomorrow.
There was no future there.
Chapter Thirteen
Crex was pacing again.
He’d put on his pants and wrapped the towel around her. He was forcing her to pace as well to keep her blood flowing.
It was still cold, but as he paced, she could see his muscles tense.
She could almost feel his anxiety.
Whatever was about to happen meant she was either getting out of the cell or she was going to die in there.
She chose the former, thank you very much.
They’d been up for what felt like hours, pacing in silence. It was hard telling the time while in the cell. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t quite sure how many days she’d been in there with Crex. Time felt different when there was no rising or setting sun.