by Octavia Kore
“I didn’t.” Without taking his focus off of the cat, Oshen stepped back toward Amanda, loosening the hold he had on her with his tail. “It is Oshen.”
A loud bang rang through the room as the front door was thrown open, and another even smaller female rushed into the dwelling. Her black hair was tangled wildly around her round face and her dark, nearly black eyes blazed angrily. In her hands was a primitive-looking plasma shooter aimed directly at his chest.
“Amanda!” she ground out, turning her gaze to the female at his side. “Did he hurt you?” Her eyes whipped back to him and he could practically feel the heat of her glare on his skin. “I’ll kill you, putang ina.”
Motherfucker, his translator supplied helpfully. “That is an awful thing to call someone.” Oshen’s lips curled in disgust. “I do not fuck my dam!”
The little tigeara—cat, he corrected himself—bristled, its ears flattening to its head before it turned tail and bolted back down the hall. Oshen stared at its retreating form. It was scared of the tiny female but not him? Coward. Were his claws not big enough? His teeth too blunt? He was far more intimidating than the small human. Wasn’t he? He looked back toward the door.
“Hades!” Amanda called after him. “Come back! She’s not here for you!”
“Tiny female, I am not a threat to you or Amanda.” Oshen raised his hands to show her he was unarmed. “Why don’t you just lower the weapon?” His tail tightened reflexively around Amanda’s leg as he tried to keep the fragile calm.
The female raised the weapon from his chest to his head. Her lips pulled back over her teeth in a snarl as she locked eyes with him. This human was threatening a Venium warrior. She clearly had no sense of self preservation. “Let her go.” She jerked her head toward his tail. “Now.”
Oshen reluctantly withdrew the appendage, curling it at his feet. The loss of contact made him feel exposed, almost empty. A grimace stretched across his face as the angry female waved the weapon at him, indicating she wanted him to put distance between them.
“You can breathe outside of the water, yes?”
“Well, yes,” Oshen responded with a frown.
“Good. Go lie down on the bed with your arms and legs spread.”
“Jun, this really isn’t necessary. I’ve got this under control.” Amanda tried to interject but stopped short when angry eyes flashed her way. “Right. To the bed.”
Ah, Jun. Finally, a name for the furious voice from the comm. Oshen walked backward down the hallway after Amanda, not willing to give the armed female a chance to catch him off guard. He could have easily overpowered both of them, but this was technically first contact, and as a Venium ambassador, it was his duty to behave with dignity.
With another glance at Amanda, he stepped through the doorway she had stopped in front of and looked around. It was decorated in the same way the other room had been, with pictures and objects placed randomly around the space. There was a bed sitting in the center and he stared at it for a moment before turning to Jun as she stepped inside. “You want me to lie on this bed?”
“Are you having a problem comprehending?” came her snide remark.
He wasn’t so sure he liked this human. She was rude and demanding, but he couldn’t blame her entirely. If her only experience with aliens was the Grutex, he was sure she had good reason not to trust him. With his hands still raised in the air, Oshen sat down on the bed and turned his body so that he was lying in the middle of the small mattress. His legs hung over the end and his arms bumped the wall behind the frame as he waited.
From somewhere behind her, Jun pulled out a few small metal confines, handing them to Amanda as she jerked her head toward him. “Cuff him to the frame.”
“Why do you own handcuffs?” Amanda asked with a raised brow as she stepped toward him.
“Why not? You never know when you’ll need them.”
As she enclosed one of his ankles in the metal, Amanda grimaced. “I don’t like this, Jun. He saved me, tore apart a Grutex who almost abducted me.”
“Do you hear yourself? He tore apart a Grutex? Imagine what he could do to us.”
Amanda closed the last one over his wrist with a sigh, letting her fingers trail over his skin before she stepped back.
“Take this.” Jun pressed the weapon into Amanda’s hand. “Keep it on him.”
“Wait, I don’t want to take this—”
“You want me to stitch him up?” Amanda nodded. “Then I have to run to the car for my bag. Just stay here and do not lower the gun.”
Jun glared at him one last time before she darted from the room. The weapon trembled in Amanda’s hands as she frowned down at it. It was pretty obvious his female didn’t have much experience, but he would remedy that as soon as he was free.
My female? He grimaced, trying to shake the possessive feeling that rushed through him. They had known one another less than a few hours, and already his subconscious was trying to claim her? The female wasn’t Venium, but perhaps that didn’t matter. Something or someone had called him down here, and perhaps he was looking right at her.
“I’m really sorry about this,” Amanda whispered.
“Stop being sorry,” Jun hissed as she rushed back into the room with a large bag hanging from her shoulder. “This is for our safety.” Amanda tried to hand the weapon back, but the little female refused. “I need my hands free to work. Just hold it on him until I’m finished.” She pulled a small stool close to the bed and sat down. “I can’t risk giving you anything for the pain since I have no idea how it will affect you, so you’re going to have to suck it up for me.” She looked back at Amanda who was chewing on her lip nervously. “Some people can’t control their response to pain. I’ve had patients lash out at me and I’m not risking it with an alien this size.”
“Or,” Oshen grinned up at them, “you could just put the weapon away. I’ve already told you that I’m not a threat, and I’ve had far worse wounds than this. I’m not going to attack you for helping me.”
“Shh!” Jun hissed. “No talking. Take a few deep breaths and let me know if you need to bite down on something.” She rummaged around in the bag at her feet, pulling out the things she thought she would need. “Stay still so I can get this done.”
It was the only warning he got before something sharp poked his side. “What are you doing?”
“I’m stitching you up. Stop moving.”
Another sharp jab to the wound had him growling. “That hurts worse than the actual wound.”
The female merely shrugged, “You have tough skin. Stop whining.”
Just then, his wrist comm began to blink, alerting him to an incoming call. He struggled against the metal holding him to the bed and received another painful stab.
“I’m trying to stitch you up. If you move one more time, this is going to turn into a vivisection.”
“Ooh!” Amanda’s eyes lit up with a playful interest. “I bet we could learn so much about your species. I wonder if you can collapse your lungs the same way a Cuviar Beaked Whale can.”
Jun stopped her stabbing for a moment to stare at Amanda. “There is something wrong with you, really.”
His female stuck her tongue out and laughed softly. “It’s for science.”
The flash on his wrist caught his attention again. “Mouni, answer the call.”
“Ahh! Do not answer that call!” Jun commanded.
“She is my AI and she will do as I say.” He growled. “Answer the call, Mouni.” The AI did as she was told, but nothing came through aside from the sound of interference. “Brin?” No response. “Brutok!” A sharp jerk on his wound as the flesh came together made him hiss as the call dropped. Why is this female so violent? “I’m beginning to doubt you have any med training at all,” he grumbled.
For the first time since meeting her, he heard a laugh burst from Jun’s lips. “I worked hard for this training.” Although the stitching continued to be painful, he did notice that her touch became gentler. “How do you
know English, Fishboy?”
“My name is Oshen, not Fishboy.” He winced as the needle passed through his skin again. “I have an implanted translator that allows me to understand and speak any of the known languages in our database. Since the Grutex have been studying your people, we have a limited number of your languages available to us.”
“Lucky you. I had to learn English all on my own,” Jun mumbled.
“Humans are quite primitive. Even the comm you spoke on earlier, though similar to mine, is far behind anything you would find on Venora.”
“Primitive? That phone you smashed was the latest model on the market, and it took me months to afford it!” Amanda’s little snarl sounded almost Venium.
He felt a prickle of guilt at the fact that he had destroyed something valuable to her, but he wasn’t actually sorry for eliminating a potential threat to both of them.
Brushing her hair away from her face with her forearm, Jun sighed. “I don’t know much about your anatomy, Fishboy, but I think that should do for now. Like I said earlier, I would give you something for pain, but I have no idea how you might react. I’d hate for you to die from a bad reaction after all my hard work.” She double-checked the adhesive strip she had placed along the new bandage and stood.
“My thanks.” Oshen watched as Jun gathered her things, shoving them into her bag before she left the room. He glanced up at his silent comm and frowned. Something was wrong. They had never had issues getting in touch before, even from great distances. “Mouni, try pinging Brin.”
“Pinging the most handsome man in the verse,” she responded cheerfully. “No signal, Meatface. Would you like me to try again?”
“Yes.”
He waited anxiously as his AI sent the call, but sagged in disappointment, letting his head fall back on the bedding, when it was immediately dropped. A small, warm hand rested on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see Amanda with the weapon hanging at her side in her other hand.
“I’m sorry for all that.”
“How many more will I have to deal with?”
Her brow furrowed. “How many more what?”
“Family members. How many more should I expect to stab and insult me?” He tried and failed to keep the irritation from seeping into his voice. The soft light that glowed off of her skin told him that his fushori was reflecting his uncontrolled emotions, and he took a deep breath to try to calm himself.
“I actually live here alone.” Amanda frowned, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling with a sigh. “That’s probably not something I should be telling strangers.”
“Alone? Without your sister or parents?”
“My parents passed away a few years ago in a boating accident, but even then I didn’t live with them and I’m an only child so I don’t have siblings.” She shrugged her shoulders as her fingers danced along his skin, tracing the glowing lines of his fushori.
The soft touch sent a shiver racing down his spine. “And Jun? Is she not your family?”
A warm smile spread across her face. “Jun is my best friend, but we aren’t related by blood. I guess she’s the only family I have left though.”
“My apologies. I am very sorry for your losses,” he said sincerely. Although his family was large and drove him crazy, he couldn’t imagine losing any of them.
“What about you? Do you have a family back home waiting for you?”
“The Venium, my species, live together in family units to help care for the young. Many pups do not leave the dwelling even after they have mated and started their own families. My dam birthed a total of fourteen pups, of which I’m the second oldest.”
“Holy hell! Fourteen kids? That’s a pretty big family.”
“It is,” he grinned, “but my dam has a big heart. I think she would like you.”
Before she could respond, Jun called for her from outside the room. “I’ll be right back.”
Disappointment at the loss of her company rolled through him, but he nodded as she smiled sweetly before rushing through the open door.
Chapter 5
Amanda
“Let me get this straight, you thought you were just going to sneak out with your gear, steal the company’s boat, and what? Dive at night with no one there to look out for you? Are you crazy?”
Amanda winced. “Okay, so it was really, really stupid. I didn’t think it through. I was upset about the project getting bumped.”
“I know you love what you do and I wish you could do it without the threat of abduction, but it’s honestly for the best that it got postponed.” Jun rubbed a tired hand over her face. “More and more people are coming into the ER every night because of the Grutex. I don’t want to see you end up like them.”
“I’m sorry,” Amanda mumbled, shuffling her feet awkwardly. Anytime she got a lecture from Jun, it felt like she was a kid again.
“I have to go. My supervisor has been calling me since I got here. Something must have happened at work.” Jun frowned and pulled Amanda in for a hug. “Be careful, okay? I know you don’t think Fishboy is a threat, but try to keep him locked up until I can get back here. If he has to use the bathroom, use the gun.”
“Sure, Mom.”
“I’m serious.” Jun laughed, shoving her away.
“I hear you. Thanks again for coming. You’re the best.”
“Damn straight I am.”
With a wave, Amanda watched her friend back out of her driveway and sighed. The sun was already beginning to peek over the roofs of the neighboring houses, and she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. It wasn’t until she turned to open the door that she realized the gun was still clutched in her hand, but no key was left with her. Damn it, Jun.
Although she knew her friend had purposely left the gun for her protection, something deep inside of her told her that she wasn’t going to need it. At least not for Oshen, though she needed the key. Walking to the kitchen, Amanda opened one of the drawers and carefully placed the gun inside, making sure the safety was on before closing it. Hopefully the alien wouldn’t need to use the restroom until Jun got back.
The sun peeked in through the window above her sink, and she stood there for a moment, letting the rays play over her face. Hades jumped up on the counter, meowing frantically. She was sure he was giving her hell about Jun barging in and Oshen hissing at him, but she couldn’t help but smile as she scratched behind his ears.
“Did that big alien think you were some vicious creature?” The memory made her giggle as Hades bumped his head against her chest. “You’re just a big ol’ baby, huh?”
Speaking of big babies, she should probably check on her house guest. The alien intrigued her more than she wanted to admit, but she couldn’t help wanting to know more about him. It wasn’t just that he was something new and she wanted to know more about his species, his biology, his culture; she wanted to know him. She dumped a cup of dry food into Hades’ bowl and hurried down to her bedroom.
“Hey,” she said awkwardly as she popped her head inside. “How are you?” Oshen’s irritated gaze met her own and she winced, stepping hesitantly into the room.
“Are you going to release me anytime soon?”
He looked ridiculous, legs hanging over the end of her small mattress, his body stretched out across it as he stared at her. His muscles bunched and flexed with every intake of breath, rippling beneath his dark gray skin, and she felt tingles run from her toes up the insides of her thighs, warmth settling deep in her belly. Arousal clouded her thoughts as she looked him over.
Wow, Amanda, pull yourself together. He’s still hurt and you’re over here salivating and ready to jump his bones. She glanced at her nightstand where her favorite toy was hidden and groaned, knowing she wasn’t even going to get in any self-play while he was in her house.
A growl brought her back to reality and she felt the blush creep into her cheeks. “Sorry. I was… distracted.”
“Oh?” One of his brows arched in question, and she was sure he was playing with her.
>
He knew exactly what she had been thinking. It was written all over his face.
“I shouldn’t be surprised that you can smell better than humans since fish can too. The deeper or darker the water is, the more dependent they are on their sense of smell…” She trailed off nervously as he watched her. “Look, I would let you out, honestly, but I’m pretty sure Jun took the key and I have no idea how to pick the lock on those.” Moving to the far wall, Amanda closed the blackout curtains, casting her room into comfortable shadow. “I’ll shower and change real quick and then come out to clean you up.”
Grabbing something comfortable from her dresser, Amanda headed into the bathroom. After taking the world’s fastest shower, she threw on the shorts and an oversized T-shirt before grabbing the pretty basin her mom had given her years ago from beneath her sink, filling it with warm water. As she walked out, she snagged a washcloth and a soft towel from the shelf near the door.
“Still here?”
“Where else would I go?” Oshen drawled. The golden lines on his skin pulsed softly, and she smiled at his tone.
Setting the basin down on the nightstand, Amanda pulled over the small step stool to sit on as she dipped the washcloth in the water and rang it out. “Would you tell me about your home? Where do you live?” She smoothed the cloth over his skin, wiping away the dried blue blood.
“My planet is called Venora.”
“Is it far from Earth?”
“It depends on the vessel you are in, but no, not terribly far.”
She could feel his eyes on her face as she worked and willed herself not to blush any more than she already had. “Do you live underwater?”
“We do.” He nodded. “In ancient times, we lived in deep trenches, but now we reside within dome cities.”
“Why is that?”
“As we became more advanced, we began interacting with different species. In order for them to visit our officials, we needed to be able to accommodate them. The Venium, while most comfortable in water, are also capable of surviving on land. The dome cities now provide dwellings and safety to the majority of our species.”