by C. R Corbin
"Ready?" he asked me as I got into the car, slipping the seatbelt on and starting it. We were in the middle of the woods but there was some "road" that could lead us out of here. By road I meant a dirt path littered with rocks, it would have to do.
CHAPTER THREE
Penny
We arrived at a used car lot on the outskirts of town soon after, dumping the car off in some junkyard before speaking to the salesman at a used car lot. He was a greasy bastard, strands of brown hair linger on his forehead and stains marred his jeans. He stands there, rubbing his hands together while I asked him how much 4000 could buy.
"I'll give you that one." the salesman said, his car lot was this dirt patch in the midst of the woods, his eyes glimmered with greed.
"How about that one, i'm sure you don't mind right?" I asked him, pointing to something a bit bigger, not to mention a bit newer, I didn't want to ride in something possibly infested with roaches.
"That's extra." he said, remarking on the blue minivan that I had my eyes on, it seemed to be much more in line with what I wanted. New as he could give us, big, in working order, no roaches, but I underestimated his callousness.
That's when Kelian stepped in.
"How about no?" he asked.
I stared at Kelian in his human form, there was this cloaking chip embedded in his skin that they managed to not find that helped him hide his identity. Instead of grey his skin was a shade of tan, the horns disappeared under his swatch of black hair, there were black tattoos across his arms and chest, he wore a tight fitting grey t-shirt and black cargo pants that he took off one of the bodies. He was still as tall as his ordinary figure, a towering man that had a glare that could kill. He had brown eyes during this state, eyes that quickly flashed gold to scare the man, it worked.
"Alright then, well if you'll come in here ma'am." he said in a scared voice, running back into his office with his tail tucked in between his legs.
"You're good at this." I said to him with a smile, perhaps the first smile I gave him since I met him, he quickly returned it.
"I do my best." he said with bemusement as I walked inside, filing all of the necessary paperwork, under a different name of course.
When we finally got on the road to drive to the shopping center, some of the tension was definitely relieved. I felt my shoulders relax and so did his, his cloaking turning off while he nestled in the back seats, the windows tinted to prevent anyone from seeing him. I tried to think of something to talk about, he didn't seem to want to ask me any questions, he was probably still afraid of humans.
"So uhh.......Zebrin. What's it like?" I asked.
"Oh it's a star system, there's many planets. The one I live on is Verona, a medium sized grassy world with one massive city, Dharna." he said.
"Is it nice?" I asked.
"No, not particularly. There's lots of crime, a lot of violence there, not the kind of place a pretty woman like you would be interested in." he said to me and my eyes fluttered.
"I'm pretty to you?" I asked him in shock and he nodded.
"Yes, very much so." he said and I smiled, a grin that grew wider than anything that I could muster in the last couple of months.
"Men here don't think so." I said.
"They don't? Well they're missing out then." he said.
"They don't like my body, they say it's fat." I said.
"Oh I don't know about that. To me it's much better, to me it's quite....exciting." he said, a bit of mirth in his voice, he was beginning to open up a bit more and flatter me at the same time, I could admire that.
"Dharna......is it far from here? How long would it take for you to reach it?" I asked him.
"A couple hundred light years away, nothing achievable by humans but enough for me to get there in a couple of weeks on my ship." he said.
"And that's in pieces now right?" I asked.
"That's right. That's why getting to the pod is so important, if I can't get to it then well.....I might have to find a Trezodian ship instead." he said.
"Trezodians....I've seen them. They're powerful from what I gather?" I asked.
"The most powerful in the galaxy, the only reason you reached them was because a colony of theirs was near your exploration zone, a colony that was quite far from the rest of us." he said.
"If they already know Trezodians then why would they kidnap you? Why would they experiment on you? Isn't one alien enough of a fix?" I asked.
"My species is close to extinction. Outside of this planet there are certain protections bequeathed to me but here....I suppose they just wanted to learn about me." he said.
"I'm sorry about that." I said, referring to his species.
"Oh it's not all bad. It does get a bit lonely sometimes, knowing that you don't have a culture left." he muttered, fiddling with one of the knives.
"Do you have family?" I asked.
"I did, my parents passed away, not from anything in particular just old age I suppose. I'm the only Ithyrian left as far as I can tell, I know there were others that escaped and are out there but I haven't heard from any of them." he remarked.
"And you're not sad? Seems like something to get caught up on." I said, turning wide as we barreled down the highway, the shopping center coming into sight.
"I get bothered about not knowing sometimes. But it's just something I have to deal with, we all have our problems." he said, his voice seems a bit defeated.
"I feel the same...." I muttered, turning into the shopping center.
"There are certain things I do remember though, that I will cherish. Our home planet was warm and lush, it was a good place but now it's lost in the stars. Certain songs and customs remain alive in me and i'm proud to at least know a little." he said.
"You should be I guess, I don't know how I would hold on if I didn't know what the species I belonged to was like." I said, shifting the car into park and sitting there for a brief moment, he turned his cloaking on and stepped outside, saying not another word as I got out to follow.
Perhaps he also had his sore spots.
#
Kelian
It was a rather peculiar feeling. Never have I met a person so resilient that could recover from such trauma in a matter of days.
She skipped in front of me, her hat and glasses on to obscure her face as she shoved the clothes into the basket. I tagged along and she lifted some shirts for me to try, asking me if they would look good on her.
"How about this?" she asked me with a smile.
"I....I don-" I began before she smiled and nodded.
I had no reference frame, from my point of view she would look much better out of the dress and nude on my bed but I knew that it wasn't polite to say.
And to her credit she did pick out some for me as well.
I was rather tall so we had to go to a section called...."Big & Tall".....i've never been to a shopping establishment so centered on one species but it was quite the experience. She got me a black jacket and some new pants so I wouldn't have to wear those garments that I had to take off the corpses. I look at myself in the mirror and nodded, it was good enough, good enough for a day.
"Well then....I have to say I look......presentable." I said to her.
"I'm so glad you like it." she said.
I gazed at my backside.....it looked rather nice if I said so myself, she was staring at it with great intent and when I looked at her for an explanation she offered none. I started to suspect that the attraction went both ways in this case and I was not the only one feeling this strange feeling of affection between us.
"Alright, I think that's enough." she said, lugging along a bag of clothes, I tailed her, unfamiliar with human customs. Back home I never really bought clothes, I just took what I found along the way.
She hands the cashier the money and we get back outside, she takes me directly to the grocery store after stowing the clothes away. I follow her inside and looked around, their food was so c
olorful, on Verona it was much more restrained, the food there was more bland, grey in complexion. It was more solid, almost like rocks, human food was a blessing and perhaps one of the only redeemable qualities from the food that I was served in the lab was that it was better than my homeworlds.
"So this is the good stuff." she said, holding up a bag of orange chips up to my face.
"Is it nutritious? Back home they don't offer us much." I said to her.
"Well no....but it tastes good. You don't have good food back home?" she asks me and I shake my head.
"Well if you're rich enough they actually feed you grown food instead of the scraps that the aristocrats eat and toss down into the lower city, quite the system." I said and I could see the visible shock on her face.
"That's horrid." she said.
"I suppose it was, you earthlings have the best cuisine I have ever had the pleasure of tasting." I said to her with a great deal of sincerity in my voice.
"Is there anything you want in particular?" she asked.
"Well your father did....he did give me something. I forget what it was, a brown sweet thing, it had dark brown chips and...." I began and spoon she was sauntered over to another aisle, returning soon after with this bag of....'cookies'.
"That's it!" I nearly shouted, attracting some attention before I remembered where I was.
She giggled, I felt my heart flutter a bit, a physical response that I didn't even think was possible for my species until I met her.
"Well come on, it can't all be junk food." she said.
We went back outside and she behaved like it was just any other day. I was shocked at how carefree she was, I suppose she knew that they wanted us both alive so she didn't bother cowering away. She smiled at me and held my hand, dragging me along while I pushed the cart with my free arm. My eyes couldn't help but wander, my senses going crazy, I tried to pick up every little signal with my hearing, I tried to even smell the scent of gunpowder, of men trying to come and do us harm.
But I could sense nothing.
"I'm really glad we took the time to do this." she said as we got back in the car, I nestled in the backseat, leaning against it and peeking out the window, they likely knew that we had killed their men by now, it was just a matter of time before they caught onto the trail.
"Well it can't all be murder and fear now. Not for a pretty woman such as yourself." I said to her with a smile, shyly sliding my hands over my knees while she smiled.
"I'm glad you think so." she tells me.
"I do, I do think so." I said.
We sit there for a while, sorting through the goods before she decides to start driving, as we leave town and entered the highways crowned by forest and mud, our small talk begins once more, and it starts with a rather personal interrogation.
"So you have no family." she said.
"Yes that's right." I told her.
"And no friends." she started.
"That's also true." I stated.
"So you're not lonely?" she asked me with great innocence.
"I'm not....no not really I suppose. Sometimes it does get a bit cold though, you know that feeling where there isn't something quite right inside of you and you stir for a while, ruminating on whether or not you made the right choices by choosing this life.....I have those." I said to her, munching on my snack while she continued.
"I feel the same way.....Did my father tell you a lot about me?" she asked.
"He did, you were the pride of his life." I warmly declared, she grew a bit morose when I said this, but a smile peeked through eventually.
"I'm glad that I have that at least." she stated.
"Indeed." I told her with a smile, nodding to myself.
I watched her for the first time since I met her, for the first time in a few hours and then I really felt the feeling of attachment wash over me. Whatever this human woman was doing....it was working, and I felt every inch of my being, every fiber, it all yearned to have her, it all yearned to take her, to protect her. She looked back and smiled, the sunbeams sliding over her cheeks as she clicked her tongue and gazed at me, I looked back and smiled.
I would protect you Penny.
CHAPTER FOUR
Penny
That night we parked in a backcountry road somewhere in Ohio....or was it Indiana? I didn't really remember, not in his presence. He scoped out the area, looking around over the tall grass to see if there were going to be any intrusions. He sits back down near the SUV once it became clear that they couldn't see us. Wrappers and empty bags of produce are bundled up into a corner of the truck. I sighed and stroked my knees, looking over at him, sitting just a couple feet away from me.
"Why is Markham hunting me in particular? I know my dad never talked that highly of him but......I didn't expect he'd send his men after me like that." I said, Kelian rested his chin on his palm, his golden eyes glimmering and his grey skin shining in the moonlight. I could barely see around but for some reason I saw every inch of him, when I looked at him it was as if he was glowing, a conduit of light both figuratively and literally.
"He hated your father in every sense of the word. I saw them argue almost every day, in a lot of ways I think he wants to get to you just for some twisted sense of vengeance." he said.
"What does he want? To torture me? To kill me?" I asked.
"His paranoia knows no bounds. Years ago your father blew the whistle on some sort of operation that would have led to Markham gaining a large sum of cash. He ended up getting out scot-free but without the project he was still a regular officer, not some kind of baron. Now he likely thinks that you're a threat to him as well. He's just using me as an excuse and because his employers want me back desperately." he explained.
"Do the Trezodians know you're here?" she asked.
"They likely do, i'm not going to lie to you. They're a much graver threat than the human military." he elaborated.
"How many are after you?" I asked.
"That I don't know and that's the thing that scares me. For all my years on the road and committing all manner of mayhem across my galaxy....this is possibly the hardest situation i've found myself in. I'm sorry to drag you into it....I really am. Once this is all over i'll be sure to repay you as best as I can." he said.
"I don't need anything. If anything i'm sorrier for you." I said, inching closer on instinct, I wanted to sit beside him, to listen to what he had to say to me. To see the tattoos on his chest, to see his grey skin glimmer and his golden eyes flash, I wanted to see it all.
"I'm grateful...." he said.
We sit there, quietly reflecting on the moments that brought us here, I rest my hand on his and leaned in, resting my head on his shoulder. He sighed and looked over at me, grinning while I leaned into him, looking out onto the night sky, the stars infinite and their light combating void continuously.
"It's funny....this is the happiest i've been in a while and i'm on the run." I said.
"It is?" he asked.
"Yeah, oh yeah. Things weren't going so well back home, I have to say." I said, sadly reflecting on all the friends that drifted away over the last year, after my dad's disappearance I came close to ending it all but I held on, after I met him i'm glad I did.
"You didn't get into the school? I know. Your dad informed me, i'm sorry." he comforted me, stroking my back.
"I felt so worthless." I admitted, scowling at the memory of being envious of all my contemporaries fulfilling their dreams while I was left behind to languish at a lab job that likely would lead to nowhere unless I went back to school for something else.
"You're not. You're much braver than any other woman i've ever met, I know that for a fact." he said and I smiled.
"Thank you, you're too kind Kelian......All my life I knew what I was good at, I was good at thinking, at solving problems, at school. Although I suppose it was for the best, these things happen for a reason after all." I muttered.
He strokes my ba
ck and I looked at him once more, my eyes surveyed his abs, I glanced at his handsome face, that grey skin shining as his eyelashes fluttered over the golden orbs. Those horns glimmered in the moonlight, the white light shining down onto their grey shape in the midst of a sea of black hair. His muscles tensed under his shirt, I could see his strong arms and his back tensing up as I leaned in closer. I wanted to press my lips against his, he was so incredibly sexy at this moment.
"You are...." I began, unable to finish my sentence as I leaned in, my lips near his, I looked into his eyes and rest my hand near his thighs, I could feel him hardening, that flesh swelling up, that thick member throbbing against my pinky.
I thought about its shape, how big it would be. The bulge certainly supported the notion that it would be larger than average, much larger than a human's. I wondered if he had any curves or strange anatomical features on his that would make the experience....all the more comfortable. I run my hand over his abs and his chest, rubbing his muscles as they tensed and he rested his hand on my neck, stroking it before running it down to my breasts. He grabbed my mounds and massaged them slightly, rubbing my nipples with his thumb as I gasped and groaned, drawing closer and leaning into him. I run my lips against his, moaning as he runs his hands across my back, my curves shifting against his thick hard muscle while we draw the kiss out. He blinked twice, his golden eyes shining down onto me, my hands run up to his head and I stroked his horns, he sighed, his breath growing ragged.
"I don't know what's happening, it's so strange." he confessed, pulling away before any more could be done.
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"Back home, on Ithyria. We have a system of reproduction, mating, a man is supposed to know when someone is his mate and.....well I think you're the one." he told me.
"What? Are you sure? That can't be right. I'm a human." I said to him, shocked at the sudden rush of information granted to me.
"I'm not sure, and I don't know what to do." he said to me.
"So what do you want to do?" I asked, pulling in closer, wanting to press my lips against his once more.