Sohut's Protection: A Sci-fi Alien Romance (Riv's Sanctuary Book 2)

by A. G. Wilde

  Her spine stiffened a little. “What is it? Aren’t you happy to be home?”

  “Delighted.” Sohut glanced at her and his green gaze softened a little. “It’s just that…my brother is a bit…” He trailed off. “Riv doesn’t like strangers.”

  Oh.

  She didn’t know what to say about that. She wasn’t planning to stay in his brother’s way anyway.

  She turned her gaze back to the Sanctuary.

  It looked…beautiful. Serene and beautiful.

  There were huge trees on the property and she could make out several different fenced areas that held animals, but something, or rather someone, caught her gaze.

  Cleo squinted.

  Now that they were getting closer, she could make out the form of the person standing on the grounds.

  It was a male, no doubt Sohut’s brother judging from the blue skin.

  He was shirtless and she watched as he lifted his head, undoubtedly having caught the sound of the approaching vehicle.

  “That’s Riv. He’s seen us,” she heard Sohut say but she couldn’t pull her eyes away.

  Sohut’s family.

  For some reason, there was anxiety building within her and she realized she really wanted this Riv to like her.

  Sohut was obviously close to his brother. If Riv didn’t like her, it would definitely strain their relationship.

  Even as she watched, she saw Riv reach down and lift a massive weapon that was no doubt a gun from Mad Max judging from the size of it.

  Riv lifted the weapon, pointing it their way.

  “Sohut?” She glanced at her man. “What’s he doing?”

  Sohut squeezed his eyes shut for a second. “I think he thinks we’re Geblit.”

  “Wha—”

  Her words were cut off as something bright flew through the air above the hover vehicle.

  Her mouth fell open.

  “He’s shooting at us!”

  To her horror, Sohut chuckled. “Don’t worry. He has great aim. He’s just letting us, well, Geblit, know he doesn’t want him to come closer.”

  Cleo pressed her mouth into a thin line and Sohut chuckled again.

  “He’s sane. I promise.” He paused. “I wonder what Geblit did to make him react this way though.”

  As she turned to stare at Sohut’s possibly insane brother, the hover car stopped at what appeared to be an energy barrier that surrounded the property.

  On the other side, a female, a human female was rushing toward Riv. Cleo could only watch, her eyes wide as the female smacked Riv on the arm holding the blaster, pointing their way as she did.

  She could feel the guy’s frown even from where she was.

  Sohut stood in the hover car and shouted something that didn’t translate and his brother’s head turned from the indignant female beside him.

  In the next moment, Riv and the female were both rushing to the barrier.

  “Sohut?” Riv said as the barrier stopped zinging. “Phek. I thought you were that excrement pipe, Geblit.”

  Sohut chuckled before hopping from the vehicle and touching his brother on the shoulder. Riv pulled him in and they touched foreheads.

  “I thought…” Riv trailed off and Sohut chuckled.

  She knew what he’d been thinking. His unspoken words were ones she’d forced away while she’d waited in that terrarium.

  “You can’t get rid of me so easily,” Sohut said.

  Cleo blinked.

  Now that his brother was so close, she couldn’t help but stare.

  They looked like twins. The resemblance was uncanny.

  When her gaze drifted to the side and met the human female’s, her eyes widened a little.

  The woman was smiling at her but not approaching, as if knowing this was all a bit to take in and she was giving her time for it all to settle.

  When she glanced back in Sohut’s direction, two sets of green eyes were now on her—his and his brother’s.

  Only, Riv was staring at her with a mixture of fear, disgust, and anger. “What the phek is that?!”

  The female beside him moved closer, her hand at the back of his arm in a way that gave Cleo the impression she was pinching the large blue male.

  She smiled at Cleo. “Hi, I’m Lauren and don’t mind Riv. He can be a lot more hospitable.”

  Sohut grunted.

  But Riv was still looking her way with the same expression and it took her a moment to realize his gaze wasn’t pointed at hers but at her neck.

  Looking down, she realized Wawa’s face was visible from underneath the hood of the robe.

  “That’s not a slizz, is it?” Riv was still staring at Wawa, his blaster rising in the air again.

  Sohut touched the weapon, pushing it back down.

  “It’s fine. He’s her pet.”

  This time, Riv’s eyes did meet hers and she couldn’t read them.

  Sohut moved to her side. “This is Cleo. My gnora.” The pride in his voice was so unmistakable, she had to glance at him.

  “Your gnora?” Riv moved to stand beside his brother, his face expressionless.

  Sohut nodded.

  For a few beats, neither of them said a word and Cleo could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

  Out of the blue, Riv hugged his brother, patting him on the shoulder as he did.

  “Brother,” Riv finally said. “I am happy for you.” He turned his attention to her. “Clee-yo, my brother’s gnora, welcome to the Sanctuary. Any gnora of my brother is a sister to me.”

  Riv turned to look at the female beside him. “This is my gnora, La-rehn.”

  Sohut almost choked on air. “What?”

  Lauren chuckled. “There’s a lot that happened since you left.”

  Sohut glanced at her, his eyes twinkling. “Tell me about it.”

  It turns out the Sanctuary was exactly as she’d pictured it to be.

  As they brought the hover car in, Cleo saw several enclosures with animals she’d never seen before in her life.

  There were fat hippo-like animals they called oogas and tall giraffe-dinosaur-looking things called tilgrans.

  There were umus that looked like little balls of fluff and a field filled with hairy fruit that she and Lauren joked about not chopping down lest the Lorax appear.

  Needless to say, neither Sohut nor Riv caught that joke.

  As she was being given a tour by Lauren, Cleo took her time looking around.

  This was where she was going to live now.

  She’d never lived on a farm before and this one reminded her of a lovely homestead.

  There was something warm and welcoming about seeing the well-fed, happy animals, feeling the cool breeze, and the fact it was out in the middle of nowhere with people that were now to be her extended family.

  “So, this is the Sanctuary,” she murmured.

  “Yep!” Lauren answered and Cleo’s eyes widened in surprise a bit.

  She hadn’t realized she’d spoken loud enough for the other woman to hear.

  Staring at her now, she still couldn’t believe there was really another human on this strange planet.

  “Do you like it? I know it’s not much in terms of facilities, but we try hard and the animals are nice.” Lauren grinned at her and Cleo got the impression she was the type that usually tried to find the sunshine on rainy days. “You can have Sohut’s room.”

  Lauren’s cheeks grew warm. “I mean, of course you’re going to stay in Sohut’s room. You’re together.” Her cheeks grew warmer. “Nia is using the spare room anyway.”

  “Nia?”

  As she said the name, another human female rounded the corner, a bucket in hand.

  “Nia!” Lauren exclaimed, waving the woman over. “Meet Cleo. She just arrived. I know we have a lot to talk about, but we can do it later after you come in.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Cleo said, awestruck.

  Nia smiled and extended her hand for a handshake before she grimaced and pulled it back.

  �
��Hey! I’d shake your hand but mine is full of umu poop. Not the best of introductions.”

  Lauren chuckled and Cleo smiled.

  This was unbelievable.

  To meet not one, but two more humans, after she’d spent so long thinking she was alone.

  “How’d you come? Did Geblit bring you in a box?” Nia asked.

  “No, I came with Sohut.”

  She was about to ask about Geblit and the box before Lauren spoke up.

  “She’s Sohut’s gnora.” Lauren beamed.

  Nia’s eyes bugged out.

  “Really? Wow.” She smiled, but there was a sudden sadness behind her eyes. “That’s…That’s amazing.” Nia forced her smile wider.

  “Thank you,” Cleo answered. The woman’s response was a bit confusing and she couldn’t help but wonder if Nia and Sohut had met before.

  He hadn’t mentioned her.

  As if she summoned him, Sohut and his brother rounded the corner of another building.

  “What are you ladies talking about?” Sohut’s eyes found her immediately and he moved to stand by her side.

  “Sohut, this is the other human I was telling you about.” Riv all but growled the words. “She is called Nee-ya.”

  Sohut pulled his eyes away and they landed on Nia. “Nice to meet you.”

  When Nia met his gaze, there was no recognition there. Still, sadness lingered behind her eyes. “Nice to meet you too.” She smiled. “Well, this is nice! You’re all paired up!”

  Sohut pulled Cleo closer against him.

  “I’m delighted to be,” he said.

  There was a beat before Lauren spoke up.

  “Well, it’s almost dinner time! I hope you like rai and braised meat!” Lauren grinned as Riv pulled her small body against his.

  “Everybody loves rai and braised meat,” Riv growled, casting a serious eye their way that said they shouldn’t protest.

  Chuckling, the party headed into the house.

  As the three beings walked ahead of them, Cleo slowed her steps and Sohut turned a questioning gaze her way.

  “Clee-yo…is something wrong?”

  Cleo moved her gaze from the Sanctuary and the view of the plain beyond to the man that had literally entered her life and turned it completely around.

  “No, I just…”

  Sohut moved close to her and pulled her into his arms. “I know it’s not much, but—”

  “It’s perfect,” she interrupted him. “It couldn’t be more perfect.”

  Tears filled her eyes and she willed them back.

  She wasn’t the emotional type, damnit.

  Sohut reached a finger to her face and wiped a tear away, just as Wawa pushed his head out from under the hood.

  “I’m not making her cry,” Sohut said to Wawa and Wawa bumped his head against her cheek.

  Burying her face into Sohut’s chest, she wrapped her arms around him.

  “Clee-yo?” Sohut whispered.

  “I just…that day when I escaped from the orc’s cart, I never imagined I’d ever have this…”

  Sohut was silent for a few seconds and when she looked up at him, there was a bewildered look on his face.

  “But your eyes leak…are you not…happy?”

  Cleo chuckled and sniffled at the same time.

  “Oh, Sohut, I’m more than happy.”

  Sohut pulled her into him. “Sure?”

  “Sure.”

  They stood like that for a few moments before she whispered into his chest, “I love you.”

  Sohut pulled her tighter into him.

  “I love you too, my gnora.”

  And if that wasn’t the best feeling in this alien world, she didn’t know what was.

  Epilogue

  “Ka’Cit is coming to help me get that thing off your neck.” Sohut walked toward her and massaged her neck.

  Cleo leaned back into his touch. She’d begun to get used to the pressure there to the point that it was almost just a part of her existence.

  The blue ring only bothered her when she had any sort of high emotion and being on the sanctuary, life was calm.

  Still, that didn’t mean she wanted to keep it on her neck.

  “When will he get here?” she asked.

  “Maybe after dinner,” Sohut answered.

  In the kitchen, she could hear deep chuckles that could only belong to a man and she knew Riv was in there laughing with Lauren. How the woman managed to do such a feat she didn’t know.

  For the most part, Riv only seemed to smile for Lauren and his brother.

  She was thinking about that when a huge figure suddenly loomed in the doorway.

  Instincts kicked in quickly and she reached into the boots Sohut had given her for her trusty piece of metal.

  The intruder was male, and he was wearing a sort of welding mask.

  “Ka’Cit. You arrived much sooner than I thought you would.” Sohut smiled, moving over to touch the male on his shoulder.

  “I was in the area,” the stranger replied.

  She didn’t know how she knew it, but this Ka’Cit was staring straight at her. She could feel it.

  She couldn’t see his face because of the mask he wore but she could sense his gaze anyway.

  “This is Clee-yo. I need that disruptor for her.”

  “A bio-tracker,” Ka’Cit mused as he moved toward her, stopping just short of her. It was clear his complete attention was now on the intangible blue clasp around her neck.

  “Yes,” Sohut said. “Funny you had the disruptor with the right frequency to disband it.” He paused. “Just how did you get a disruptor with that frequency, and so quickly, anyway?”

  “Easy,” Ka’Cit said. “Break a few fingers and a few toes…you can get anything.”

  She didn’t know if he was joking or if he was serious. After all, she couldn’t even see his face to determine his emotions.

  Just as she was thinking that, he lifted the welding mask and smiled at her.

  “Ka’Cit,” he said. “Nice to meet another…gnora of my friends.”

  There was a note of bitterness there, she was sure. Only, she didn’t know why.

  He dropped on his knees before her then, taking tools from his pocket and Cleo glanced up at Sohut, who nodded at her.

  Sheathing her piece of metal back in her boot, she turned her head to the side so Ka’Cit could take a look at the energy band that was there.

  “Unique…such unique technology,” Ka’Cit murmured as he moved his fingers in the air above her skin and she assumed he was touching the band.

  “Well, time to get this phekking thing off you,” he said, sending a smile her way and again there was a note of bitterness…or was it sadness…in his eyes.

  He was working for maybe five minutes with tools and devices she’d never seen before, when Nia stepped into the room.

  “Hey, Cleo. Wanna go check on the robots that are in the field? Gets a bit lonely when I do it myself,” she said. Her gaze flicking over the room before landing on Ka’Cit.

  The clang of metal hitting the ground drowned out Cleo’s answer and her gaze fell on Ka’Cit too.

  His mouth was slightly agape, wide enough for her to see his fangs and he was staring in Nia’s direction.

  “I—Yea, sure. I think he’s almost done removing this thing from my neck,” Cleo answered, her gaze still on the large male kneeling before her.

  Nia smiled back. “Ok, cool,” she said before turning and heading back toward the guest room.

  “Ka’Cit?” Sohut broke the silence that enveloped the room and Ka’Cit shook his head a little before he picked up his tools.

  “All done,” he said. But he didn’t meet her gaze or even Sohut’s.

  As Cleo rubbed her neck, it felt like nothing had been removed, of course, but the pressure that was there was gone.

  Sohut moved over to her, his hands touching the spot.

  “Is it gone?” she asked.

  Sohut nodded. “How do you feel?”

&
nbsp; Her gaze met his.

  “Better, much better,” she answered truthfully, tilting her head so she could plant a kiss on his lips. “Thank you,” she said.

  “For what?”

  “For everything.”

  His gaze searched hers for a moment before he dipped his head and his lips touched hers.

  “My gnora, I’d do anything for you.”

  “And you have.”

  She stood and Sohut straightened with her against him, their lips entwined.

  Someone cleared their throat as Riv and Lauren walked in.

  “Oh, you got that thingy taken off!” Lauren noticed immediately.

  “Yes, Ka’Cit came and removed it,” Cleo answered, clearing her throat as Sohut put a little space between them.

  “Ka’Cit? He was here?” Riv asked and it was then that she realized Ka’Cit was nowhere in the room.

  Sohut looked just as confused.

  “He must have left when we weren’t looking,” Sohut murmured.

  She didn’t even get to thank him, Cleo realized.

  “Aw,” Lauren pouted a little, “we’d prepared enough for him since you’d said he was coming. Now, what are we going to do with all the extra food?”

  Sohut raised his hand immediately. “I nominate myself to take that burden.”

  “You.” Lauren rolled her eyes.

  Cleo smiled.

  This was her new home, her new family.

  She couldn’t have asked for anything better.

  A note from A.G

  You reached the end!

  I hope you loved Sohut and Cleo’s story!

  Sohut is a good-natured lad—the complete opposite of his brother—and I had a lot of fun writing him.

  I’m beginning to fall in love with this little world on Hudo III and I’m pretty sure we will revisit it after Ka’Cit’s book drops.

  On that note, Ka’Cit’s story is coming next in this series and I know a lot of you are dying to learn more about him. There’s no date for his story yet, but it’s in the works.

  Also, keep an eye out for the Restitution series. I’m having the covers done and...omg, I’m in love with my own characters.