by Kimber Vale
Maybe I’ll reconsider my turtleneck plan, after all.
Chapter 3
Stella stepped out of the bathroom with her hair twisted up in a towel and a fluffy pink robe snuggled around her. She wasn’t too surprised to see Rayna Hamid belly-down on her bed.
“So, what plans for tonight?” Rayna asked without looking up. She occupied the other room of the suite, and the two girls shared the living area and kitchen that separated their rooms. A Cosmo magazine filled the space between Rayna’s manicured fingertips. Stella was fairly confident she had left that magazine in a drawer.
Stella’s cat, Marmalade, was sprawled out on Rayna’s back, snoring softly. The long-haired orange stray was more like the dorm cat, smuggled in one night by an intoxicated girl who lived on the second floor. But the feline seemed to prefer Stella. She had been honored with the title “Most High Food-Giver and Litter-Changer.” It was fine with her. Mar-Mar’s company was welcome on lonely nights.
“Just make yourself comfortable there, Ray.”
“I figured you’d be out eventually. Derek and Eric are planning something in their room tonight, although I have a feeling I might be the only one invited. If I head over there I’ll need backup. Those two have been trying to pin me down for a three-way forever. Of course, they always have good beer, so I’m tempted.” Rayna looked up with pleading penny-brown eyes.
“But they’re brothers!”
“And twins. They’ve been sharing their whole lives, Stell. Why should my ass be any different?”
“I don’t really know how to respond to that.” Stella shook her head with a look of disbelief before she decided to change the subject. “There’s a keg party at McSorley’s, but last time I went to one of those I was a waste of space for the rest of the weekend. I might just grab a movie at the Red Box and chill out tonight.”
Stella had a paper due next week. “The Benefits of Second Language Instruction in Children with Autism Spectrum Diagnosis” would be even tougher to write with a hangover. Plus Jared would probably be there, and she could totally do without a post-breakup face-to-face.
“Jessica said she was partying tonight. Maybe I’ll call her and see where she’s headed.” Rayna rolled to her side, upsetting the sleeping cat. Both cat and girl stood up and stretched seductively. Rayna looked sort of feline with her dark Indian coloring and exotic yellow-brown eyes. The girl should have moved to Bollywood and made it big instead of bothering with a liberal arts degree.
Rayna’s extremely traditional parents insisted she get a good education, though. If they only knew Rayna never found the time for schoolwork, they might drag her back home. Studying didn’t fit into her party schedule. How she managed to maintain a passing GPA was beyond Stella.
Rayna snatched both her phone and the magazine off Stella’s bed and walked out to the common area to plan her evening. Her voice faded with each step.
When Stella was dressed, her damp hair left long and loose to dry, she grabbed her keys and stepped out into the pitch-black living space. The crack under Rayna’s closed door was equally dark.
“Guess Ray left,” she muttered, somewhat let down. She had unrealistically hoped her dorm mate would decide to stay in as well. A good chick flick was always better with a friend, and now she’d end up eating all the popcorn herself. There’d be no stopping her.
Her gray Toyota winked its headlights as she unlocked it. The parking spaces in front of her building were largely empty, as the majority of students were out enjoying their Friday night. She backed out and headed toward Albertson’s.
Stella grabbed a basket at the door. Lacing her arm through the metal handles she strolled around waiting for a snack food to grab her. Eventually, she had a box of microwave kettle corn, a six-pack of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey. Bananas never tasted so delicious. Her mood was picking up despite the loneliness factor, and she made a final pass by the sushi chest. She should quit while she was ahead. She couldn’t eat that much, and anything left in the common fridge would be gone come the morning, guaranteed.
A familiar head of hair caught her attention as she walked past the small dine-in area near the pizza counter. Dark tufts splayed out in irregularly chopped hanks and spilled across a fierce brow. A tingle of excitement and recognition shot through her as Noth seemed to sense her stare. He pinned his near-black eyes on her, and a hesitant smile of greeting touched his lips. He had a sensuous, generous mouth that had her immediately conjuring obscene thoughts.
“Hi. I’m Stella.” She gave a little wave with the fingers sticking out of the basket handles and pointed to her chest with the other. She wasn’t sure how much she should bother saying at all. The guy couldn’t speak a lick of English. Good for him, though—he had the borrowed English Conversation textbook spread out in front of him. It was right next to a paper plate with a spindly pizza crust resting on it.
His gaze swept over her breast with open curiosity, and she felt her face suffuse with red heat. He’d be calling tits “Stellas” from now on.
“I’m Noth.” He emulated her little wave.
Wow. Had he just copied her use of the personal pronoun? He must have. He knew two, count ’em, two English words this morning. She’d bet her life on it.
He stared at her. The silence stretched out uncomfortably.
Damn, this is awkward.
They had already exceeded the limits of their shared means of communication. She should probably try for a graceful getaway, if such a thing were even possible at this point.
“Sit?” He gestured to the chair across from his at the bistro table, and Stella nearly dropped her basket. She sat with an astonished thump, unable to walk away now. She had to figure out how the hell this guy had learned so much English in such a short period.
“Wow. You’ve been studying that book all day, huh?”
“Huh?” he repeated. When Stella said the word book, he had glanced down at it with obvious understanding.
“You read this book, yes?”
“Yes. Furthermore, I listened to this … CD. It is short for compact disc, correct?”
Dumbfounded, Stella nodded her head. A two-headed alien sitting in the middle of the grocery store would have been less shocking than his amazing absorption of language in a single day. His English was stilted, slow, and planned out, but impeccably clear and formal.
“You must have known more than you let on.”
“I learn … fast.” He toyed with the CD as he spoke. “This is a large receptacle for very small information.”
She ignored that.
“So, where are you from?”
“Artanos,” he said quickly, and then looked as if he’d like to eat his words.
Don’t worry. Even if it’s a total dump I won’t hold it against you. I don’t have the slightest clue where that is.
“Artanos? Is that the name of a city or a country? I’ve never heard of it.”
His face registered relief as she spoke. Boy, his homeland must really suck! No wonder he moved here.
“Yes,” he answered, and Stella decided he didn’t quite have the English language mastered after all.
“Yes to which? Where is that?”
He gave her a blank stare.
“Closer to the Americas or Europe?” It had to be Europe. If it were this side of the ocean, he would speak English or Spanish. Okay, maybe Portuguese or French, but the majority of Canadians spoke English as well. And he just came off as a major fish out of water. A very tasty fish, that is.
“Europe. Far Europe. North.” He nodded affirmatively before grabbing his pizza crust and shoving it in his mouth as if to end the conversation.
“Oh.”
That figures. How many different countries has Russia broken up into? Too many to count.
“Noth is an interesting name. It reminds me of Sex in the City. Do you guys get that show over there? You know, Chris Noth?”
Blank stare.
“Mister Big?” She s
miled, searching for a slight resemblance between the two. Both were tall, dark, and handsome, although this Noth was hands-down better looking. Her very own Mister Big. The idea was enticing.
“No, huh? So what does it mean, Noth?”
“Noth was a great treasure hunter. A legend says he claimed a brilliant golden star for his own. To be nearer to it, he agreed to live forever in the night sky. There is a star picture of the two in the sky where I come from.”
“A constellation?”
“Yes. That is your word. Noth the Star Catcher is a constellation.”
Was that what Russians called Orion? And Stella’s name meant star. There’s some irony for ya. She stared at his dark, penetrating gaze. Did she want him to catch her? So far, all signs pointed to yes.
“And what are you studying here? What will you do when you finish school?” She felt the need to clarify in case he didn’t quite get it.
He paused as if searching for the word. “Doctor,” he answered finally.
“Really?” This guy got better and better. She had already checked to make sure there was no ring on his left hand.
“I study anatomy and physiology at your school, as well as your language.”
“So you plan to work as a doctor in America?” She smiled at him, butterflies apparently forming a mosh pit in her gut. This one looked oh-so-promising.
“Yes,” he spoke quietly, looking down at his book again as if ashamed.
“No worries. It might take a while to relearn all that medical stuff in a new country, but some of it has to transfer over. You’ll get there eventually. Look how fast you learned English!” She gave him a reassuring pat on the hand. He had long tapered fingers. Noticeably strong, they were perfect doctor’s hands.
She’d be willing to wait for him to finish his schooling. Stella gazed at his closed expression and gave herself a mental shake.
Way to dive down the rabbit hole. You just met the guy, Stella!
The conversation ground to a halt. She had overstayed her welcome. Stella was already planning their life together while he probably just wondered when she would get lost.
“Hmmm. Well, I guess I should get going before my ice cream melts.” She gazed down at the sweating container in her basket. An action film starring Mark Wahlberg rested beside it. She had decided against the chick flick after all. But what the heck, Marky Mark was total eye candy as far as she was concerned—the guy was made for chicks.
He followed her gaze.
“Eyes … scream … melts?” He looked grossed out.
She laughed out loud. Ah, foreigners. They can be so amusing. She gazed at his perplexed countenance. His thick eyebrows knit to a furrow while his sculpted cheeks were sucked in with revulsion.
It would be fun to play with this one.
Her eyes traveled down the formfitting T-shirt he wore, imagining a chest to rival Mark Wahlberg’s underneath. She’d really enjoy playing with this one.
“Come on. Enough studying.” She snapped the book shut and grabbed his hand. “I just have to pay for this, and then I’ll show you what melting eyes scream tastes like.” She grinned evilly at him and had to laugh at his look of horror.
Stella managed to drag Noth through a checkout, and then to her car despite his obvious misgivings. Shoving her handsome abductee into the passenger’s seat, she slammed the door and walked back to throw her other packages in the trunk. An insane wave of anticipation hit her as she fired up the engine and glanced over at the gorgeous guy she was taking home. Stella had plenty to keep her busy tonight.
* * * *
Noth liked popcorn. And sushi. And he adored the Chunky Monkey. If Stella was worried about her leftovers, she need not have feared. Noth was an industrial-strength vacuum cleaner. The only thing he didn’t care for was the alcohol. After finishing half a bottle of hard lemonade, he told her it made him slozzy, whatever that meant. Stella finished it for him, and then had two more.
The drinks were nearly the only thing left for her with his big appetite around.
Stella was shocked that Marmalade had warmed up to him so quickly. When Noth first walked into the common room, the kitty had been lying on her back on the couch, paws in the air in one of her weirdo cat positions. She cracked an eye open when they entered and jumped to her feet, puffing her tail and back fur and hissing in Noth’s direction.
Stella thought the cat was about to go into full-on attack mode, but Noth had stood stock still. He stared intently at the animal with a hushed sound emanating from his pursed lips. The cat immediately backed down. She even jumped off the couch and walked over to rub against his leg. It was totally strange, especially since she always seemed to hate guys. Stella figured the reason she had been adopted by the stray was because she rarely had men over to her place.
Now, Marmalade was lying on Noth’s lap and gifting him with the privilege of rubbing her tummy. He and Stella sat on the common-room couch, thighs teasing together as they watched the movie.
“Be careful. She usually bites when I touch her stomach.”
“I assured your feline I mean her no harm. She will not injure me.”
“Oh, really? What are you, the cat whisperer?”
“I do not whisper. I am simply one who communicates well with animals.”
“I guess I can’t argue with that. She never acts like this.” Stella looked up from the fluffy orange cat to examine the man who was making her purr like crazy.
Mark Wahlberg was shirtless on the TV, but Stella sat next to the hottest guy she’d ever seen, either on or off the silver screen. His aquiline nose, strong chin, and dark, fathomless eyes pulled at something deep within her. His gaze was somehow both warm and caring and stern and calculating in equal turns. The combination made him magnetic.
And the alcohol was making her unusually aggressive.
She placed a hand on his knee and smiled seductively when he glanced her way. The film had captured his attention. He asked what the names of different guns were. She didn’t know. He asked what “the flying thing was called,” and Stella supplied the word plane, and now Mr. Wahlberg was kissing the love interest. Stella was caught up by this part as well, especially the shirtless aspect.
Her hand rubbed suggestively on Noth’s muscular thigh.
“What is that called?” He pointed at the kissing couple and looked at Stella. “With the mouths,” he added.
“Kissing. We call it kissing. Why? What do you Slavs call it?”
“I do not know.”
“How could you not know?” She grinned at him. Was this some kind of a game—a sort of “teach the guy from a deserted island how to kiss because he’s never done it”? The idea of a little role-playing made her nipples hard. He was staring at her mouth with intense concentration. Stella licked her lips, and he copied her motion.
“Here, you poor, deprived thing.” She spoke in an exaggerated tone of sympathy. “I’ll show you what kissing is.” She leaned in, enjoying her own joke. If he balked, she might be able to act like she was kidding up to the last instant before contact. Then her lips touched his. At first, he didn’t respond.
Oh crap! I’ll have to play it off somehow.
She’d pull away right now. Tell him to get an English/whatever-freakin’-language-he-spoke dictionary next time he was confused. In just a moment she’d break contact, but then his lips softened slightly against hers. Had he imitated her movements the tiniest bit? She gave a little nibble on his lower lip, with a suck at the end because they were fabulously suckable lips, after all.
When in Rome … make out with complete strangers? What was she doing? Stella sat back, her head swimming from either too many drinks or the lip-locking. Most likely, it was the awesome combination.
Noth stared at her, his eyes wide and his mouth open as if he had a million questions but couldn’t find a single word. His fingertips reached up to touch his lips, and she worried she had hurt him with the bite. He moved his hand from his own mouth to hers, tracing her bottom lip with
a featherlight index finger. So he’s okay with it, then?
*
“I call it solum,” Noth answered the intriguing Earth woman sitting beside him.
He continued to trace a finger on her warm lips. Something stirred deep within him, but he found it difficult to give that sensation a name as well. He had never experienced anything like it in his life. And the kissing? Such a thing was never done on Artanos. Mouths were for eating food. The word he had given her actually translated more like “connect,” but that was how the kiss made him feel.
“I like it. Will you kiss me again?”
“Sure, I’ll solum you again.”
Stella grinned up at him. She certainly was a happy female, smiling most of the time. It was a pleasant change from his home planet. The Artanians were a serious group, but there was not much to smile about where he came from. Too much uncertainty and a history rife with bloodshed made them a somber race.
She leaned into him again, and he met her partway. The cat jumped off his lap, and he used his mind-speak to call a quick apology. In addition to his familial ties, Noth could communicate with lower life forms. Both domestic and wild subspecies understood his projected thoughts. Many schools of animal science had attempted to recruit him because of the ability, but Noth wanted to help his own kind. His true gift was his passion for medicine.
Their lips touched again, and Noth was lost in the sensation. This kissing activity is incredible! Her mouth moved all over his, sucking on his top and then his bottom lip.
He thought he was doing a commendable job of keeping up, but just when he began to feel secure in his technique, she licked the seam of his closed mouth. He opened it in surprise, and the unpredictable human put her tongue inside. It was soft and warm, tasting of lemons from her drink. He followed the movement, the soft caress of wet skin causing his respiratory rate to speed up mysteriously.