Ka'Cit's Haven: A Sci-fi Alien Romance (Riv's Sanctuary Book 3)

by A. G. Wilde

  Forget that she had an audience. Her sense of self-preservation apparently did not care if she died of embarrassment.

  She was focusing on the clanking in the background while trying to measure her breathing when she heard the song once more.

  The alien was humming again.

  Nia’s eyes flew open and her head snapped in his direction.

  Green eyes studied her through the metal mask and he stopped humming for a moment.

  When she said nothing, he continued.

  And it helped.

  She didn’t know how, but his strange alien song…helped.

  “Thank you.” She smiled and the alien’s gaze flicked to her lips.

  Maybe he was trying to figure out what she was saying.

  Another breath shuddered through her and she focused on the deep rumble of his voice.

  It was a deep, low hum coming from the depths of his throat, but it was utterly enchanting.

  So much so that she could only stare at him, her panic attack fading once more.

  The sound reminded her of Slavic music; there was simply something hypnotizing about it.

  If she didn’t think about where she was, if she focused on everything except the small space they were stuck in, she could possibly survive this ordeal without going into another panic attack.

  She had to force herself to do this, because she could feel the anxiety simmering in her chest, as if ready to squeeze her throat shut and cut off her air supply if she dropped her guard.

  She pulled her gaze away from the alien.

  In the short time since she’d met him, he’d seen her at her most vulnerable and she didn’t like it.

  She hadn’t had a panic attack like this in a long time.

  The last one had been when she’d been carried in a box to Riv at the Sanctuary, but this was a stark reminder that she still had a problem.

  At least the guy didn’t appear to be judging her.

  He seemed confused and concerned more than anything else.

  For the next few minutes, they sat in silence while Nia focused on her breathing.

  The longer she worked on it, the easier it became.

  13

  She reckoned a quarter of an hour passed before she was able to breathe normally again.

  And in all that time, the alien beside her hummed. He was watching her, too, observing her every movement.

  His presence was…surprisingly calming.

  Glancing around them once more, Nia repeated the question she’d asked before her panic attack had flared up.

  She motioned to the space around them. “What is this place?”

  He stopped humming then, and his gaze followed her movements as he looked around.

  She wondered if he would understand what she was trying to ask.

  Just how could they communicate when her words probably sounded like gibberish to him?

  “This was food storage long ago,” he said after a few moments, and Nia felt a jolt of triumph. He had understood her, somehow. “I doubt Herza will look for you, for us, here.”

  Herza. That damn female captain.

  If she hadn’t been so greedy…

  Nia’s gaze flicked over the gray walls.

  And if her rescuer hadn’t known about this place…

  She’d heard when Herza ordered that the henchmen should kill her on sight.

  A bit drastic, but she’d long come to realize that this new world was an unforgiving place.

  Nia breathed out a hard, steady breath.

  Just how had she found herself in this mess?

  As the silence surrounded them, her senses alerted her to something else.

  The little room was warm, but that warmth was slowly becoming almost unbearable.

  She fanned a hand in front of her face to try and get some of the air moving, but it had little effect.

  “You are…uncomfortable in the warmth? The main engines are close. That’s what’s causing the heat.”

  Nia glanced at the alien beside her. He was still watching her. She hadn’t realized that.

  “If we move this panel,” he pointed at the wall to their left, “and crawl through the channel for a few minutes, we would end up at the engine room.”

  Nia’s eyebrows rose a little.

  First the panel in the floor and now this.

  How did he even know about these things?

  She thought he was a farmer.

  He must have seen the question in her eyes because she was sure she picked up a soft chuckle underneath his mask.

  She glanced around them some more.

  It was getting really warm, almost as if they were in a closed room.

  But they weren’t.

  There was a tunnel in front and the light apparatus he’d set on the floor only thinned the darkness in the tunnel for a few meters. Farther down, it looked like she was staring at a wall of darkness.

  Another shudder went through her and she pulled her gaze away from the tunnel.

  Once again, she fanned her hand in front of her face to try and get the air moving.

  It was so hot, beads of sweat were forming on her forehead and underneath her cloak was starting to feel clammy.

  It wasn’t the best of feelings, but it was better than being dead.

  She’d take sweaty over dead any day.

  It was concerning, though, how hot it was becoming.

  Maybe it was because she was thinking about it, but the heat was increasing with each second.

  And she seemed to be the only one affected by it, too. Beside her, the alien appeared as if he was completely fine, even with his mask on.

  “Why the mask?” she motioned to her face.

  She couldn’t read what he was thinking behind those green eyes, but every time she looked up, they were focused on her. It wasn’t a hostile look either, but one of interest.

  “The mask,” she repeated, putting her hands to the side of her head like she was framing it. “What’s it for? Do you always wear it? Why?”

  She almost shook her head at herself.

  That was quite a lot of questions to shoot at someone who couldn’t understand even one of the words she spoke.

  “You want me to take it off? I don’t usually… Not in front of…” He paused.

  “Oh, I wasn’t asking you to remove it.” She shook her head, but she couldn’t deny that she was more than curious to see the face of the man underneath.

  He studied her for a few moments before he lifted his hands to the side of his mask and paused again.

  Nia held her breath.

  There was a soft click and then he lifted the mask from his head.

  She couldn’t help it. Her brows shot up on her forehead and her eyes widened.

  The first time she’d seen him, his mask had been open, but she had been standing at an angle where she hadn’t been able to see his face.

  …and she’d expected a lot of things, but not this.

  His green eyes seemed even greener when framed by his blue skin, and they blinked back at her from a ruggedly handsome face.

  A strong jaw, a firm chin, full lips…

  There was a single frown line between his brows, and the muscles in his jaw twitched as her gaze moved over them.

  He watched her, unblinking, and though it wasn’t polite to stare, Nia found that she couldn’t look away.

  He was Merssi like Riv and Sohut, that much she knew…but there was something different about his appearance—something she was sure should stand out, but for the life of her, she couldn’t put a finger on what it was.

  “Nia.” She outstretched her hand for a handshake, but he only looked at it.

  “My name’s Nia,” she repeated. This time, she brought her hand against her chest.

  “Nia.”

  The corners of his lips moved a little before, “Nee-ya.”

  Nia blinked.

  The way he said her name…

  He stretched it out like Riv and Sohut did, but whenever they said
her name, she didn’t feel a flutter in the pit of her stomach.

  His deep tones caressed the syllables as if he was undressing her with his lips.

  Clearing her throat, Nia nodded.

  “That’s right. And you are?” She gestured to him and his gaze followed her hand.

  “Ka’Cit.”

  “Kah…Cit.” She took care to say it right. “Ka’Cit?”

  The corners of his lips moved again, but he didn’t correct her so she assumed she said it correctly.

  “Ka’Cit,” she said it again and this time, she smiled at him. “Thanks for coming to help me out, even though I have no idea how you knew I was in trouble. I’m grateful nonetheless.”

  His gaze was on her lips as she spoke, but if he could even pick up the words, she doubted he’d understand them.

  Language uploads had to be bought or the translators updated through the interplanetary system.

  Otherwise, she had to rely on nonverbal cues.

  Not that such cues had helped her at all so far.

  Something beeped on Ka’Cit’s arm, the same thing that had given an alarm when they’d been above deck. It looked like a large dark band that curved around his wrist.

  He glanced at it and pressed something.

  There was no immediate change, and she was wondering what he’d just done when a voice came from the band.

  “What’s your status?”

  The voice was so crisp and unexpected, it startled her a little, but she tried not to show it.

  Ka’Cit’s eyes were still on her when he answered. “There’s been a…situation.”

  “Will you be able to intercept the package?”

  Ka’Cit let out a breath and his brows furrowed. That’s when she realized what was so different about his face—what differentiated him from all the other Merssi she’d met so far.

  His face was smooth, like hers.

  All the other Merssi she’d seen—Riv, Sohut, and even that boss lady, Herza—had ridges running along their brows, down their noses, and even down their chins.

  Ka’Cit had none.

  His face was as humanlike as an alien face could get.

  There were still differences, like his bone structure was a bit different, harsher, but not unattractively so, and his ears were elf-like. Now that she was staring at him hard, they perked off the sides of his head.

  “That might not be possible,” he spoke to whoever was on the line and she saw bits of his teeth as he enunciated the words.

  Yeaaaa…humans didn’t have teeth like those.

  His fangs looked vicious, like he could tear into raw meat without trying hard. Plus that blue skin and those eyes…even his hair was thicker, richer, than human hair.

  She only realized she was really staring when his head tilted a little. Startling diopside met hers and she saw something change behind them.

  Nia forced herself to look somewhere else.

  She saw it in his eyes.

  He knew what she’d just realized—that he was different from the others.

  “I cannot leave the base until our scheduled time to meet. What are the chances of us losing that package?” The voice almost sounded robotic, like a super-advanced male version of Siri, and Nia wondered if Ka’Cit was talking to a computer.

  “I’ll get you that package, one way or another. It might just take some…time.”

  “Time is what we don’t have, brother.”

  Ka’Cit released a breath as if he knew.

  “Keep me updated. I will contact you again.” With that, the call clicked off.

  She couldn’t help the feeling that she was the reason he’d said he might not be able to collect this “package.”

  Should he be somewhere else right now?

  When she glanced at him again, he was still looking at her.

  Here she was feeling self-conscious for staring while he was doing it as if it was perfectly normal.

  “Work,” he said, gesturing to his wristband.

  Nia granted him a soft smile.

  Work, huh.

  Was he some kind of soldier then?

  He sure looked built for it.

  “Were you on a job? A mission when you came after me?”

  Confusion swam in his eyes but before he could even attempt to answer a hum so loud, it felt like it was about to deafen her, roared in the small room.

  The roar seemed to grow in intensity as the entire space shook.

  Wide eyes turned to the alien beside her as she flattened her hands against the walls to brace herself.

  It sounded like a rocket engine had just fired and that thought made her entire nervous column wither.

  The sound could only mean one thing…

  “Herza is leaving.” He spoke loud enough for her to hear, and his words only confirmed her fears.

  Fuck!

  When he said leaving, she was sure he meant like…going into frickin’ outer space, didn’t he?

  She began to stand but a hand rested against her arm.

  “No use!” he shouted. “We will have to wait until the upper decks calm down. Right now, they are on the hunt and we are outnumbered. I don’t want to…”

  Fuck, he didn’t need to complete that sentence. His pause spoke volumes.

  He didn’t want her to get shot.

  Hell, she didn’t want to get shot either.

  “We will wait,” he said. “We will wait then grab a shuttle, get off the ship later.”

  “But that means we’ll be in space by then!”

  The idea of going into outer space would have been exciting in another circumstance, but it terrified her in a way she never thought it would.

  She liked her feet on the ground. On Earth—or on Hudo III in this case.

  He leaned closer to her ear so he didn’t have to shout, possibly in case his voice carried because the sound of the engines was levelling off.

  “Later, Herza will dim the lights above deck once she’s on her way. To save power. She’s cheap. That will be our chance. Niftrills can’t see well; the dimness will help us.” He paused. “It is best.”

  Reluctantly, Nia sat back down.

  He knew more than her, she hoped he was right, and so far, he’d only helped her.

  There were a lot of the brutes above deck and they had an order to kill on sight. She hadn’t forgotten that.

  Her eyes fell once again to the blasters on Ka’Cit’s hips.

  He had two, possibly she could use one?

  She was out of practice, but she was confident she could hit more than a few of them if they had to shoot their way out. But…did she want to purposefully put herself in that situation?

  No.

  As she settled back against the metal wall, Ka’Cit removed his hand from her arm.

  “What now?” she whispered, more to herself than to him.

  There was another loud roar from what she assumed was the ship’s engine and the small room they were in shook once more.

  Fucking fuck of fucks.

  They were going into space, in the belly of a ship.

  It didn’t seem safe in the least.

  Was there even life support down here?

  That thought made another spike of anxiety shoot through her and she looked at Ka’Cit again, but he was just sitting there, seemingly unbothered, his eyes on her.

  How could he be so calm?

  Her nerves were shaking as hard as the metal wall behind was vibrating from the stress from the engines.

  Shit.

  Her thoughts flew to Lauren and Riv back in the market.

  She wasn’t going to get back to them anytime soon and they were probably worried sick.

  She could only hope that Ka’Cit knew what he was doing, hope and pray, and she would get back to the Sanctuary soon.

  Her heart ached.

  The Sanctuary was home.

  Forcing herself to close her eyes, she focused on her breathing.

  The rumbling and the shaking grew in intensity and if the li
ttle room wasn’t pressed between the wall and Ka’Cit, she was sure she’d have been thrown around like a rag doll.

  The horrible rumbling continued for a few more moments till it suddenly petered off.

  There was a sense of weightlessness and when she opened her eyes, her entire body was floating a few inches off the floor.

  Whoa.

  Her hand found Ka’Cit, her fingers digging into his thigh as she grabbed on to him.

  But the effect lasted for only a few seconds before the gravity controls kicked in and she was planted firmly back on the floor.

  She didn’t need to ask Ka’Cit what just happened. She’d watched enough sci-fi movies to know at least this one thing.

  They weren’t on the ground anymore.

  They were in orbit.

  14

  Nee-ya may be terrified of the strangest things, but…she wasn’t afraid of him.

  Despite that he was trying to appear as non-threatening as possible, he was still worried about that.

  The first time he’d met Riv’s mate, La-rehn, she’d been a bit apprehensive of him.

  He guessed it was the effect of his mask. He glanced at it now.

  Maybe taking it off had made the human more comfortable?

  Nee-ya. He repeated her name in his head.

  He liked it.

  It was short and sweet.

  Like her…

  Phek.

  He had to put a rein around that thought and pull it back. He had no right to be allowing his mind to go down that road.

  Farther into the ship, he could hear the rhythmic sound of the engines firing and he tried to focus on that instead.

  Herza was probably heading to Port Six and it would take a few days to get there.

  They had to get off this vessel long before then.

  Port Six was where some of the worst scum of the universe harbored.

  Laws didn’t exist there which made it a place where anything was possible.

  Ka’Cit’s gaze moved back to the human.

  It was warm enough in the nook now that he was happy he’d removed his mask but he could see the effect of the warmth on her.

  Little balls of perspiration had gathered at the strangest spot, in the middle of her nose, and he felt the urge to reach forward and touch the tiny spots of moisture.

  Unlike him, it seemed she was sensitive to temperature changes.