A Soldier in Love

by A. Petrov

  “Oh, Serik, ahhh, that feels so much better,” she choked out. Michelle closed her eyes and relaxed. She was grateful for Serik; he was nurturing and kind. Without him she surely would have been dead. She was amazed at how quickly the pain began to diminish.

  Serik continued with the pressure point therapy. He was thankful that her eyes were closed. Her calling out his name had sent him into a state of arousal with his shaft beginning to harden. He silently cursed to himself. It had been far too long since he had interacted with a female and his body was trying to betray him. The slight brush of her hand against his skin drove him mad with desire. He breathed in her feminine scent only causing matters to get worse.

  “Just relax, Michelle,” he cooed.

  Before he knew it she was back to sleep.

  He silently cursed at himself as he looked over her as she slept.

  I’m her protector; I’m not some lovesick mate hunter. I have to stop these thoughts. She’s just in my care until I can get her somewhere safe for humans; nothing more.

  Nothing more.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Michelle woozily opened her eyes. She blinked a few times and tried to shake the sleepiness from her body. It didn’t seem to want to leave but she pushed harder. Finally things seemed to come back around.

  “Hey, I didn’t wake you did I?” Serik said softly as she awoke.

  “No,” she replied softly as she sat up slowly.

  “How are you feeling?” Serik asked warmly.

  “I don’t want to jinx it but I think I am starting to feel better,” she smiled.

  He smiled back. “Good.”

  Michelle folded her hands in her lap nervously. “So, I uh, never asked… where are we?”

  “We are in Galaxus Prime. We’re on course for Sora,” Serik replied.

  “Galaxus Prime? Sora?” Michelle repeated furrowing her brow.

  “I guess I should do some explaining now that you are feeling better,” he began as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. “I’m a trader and sometimes a bounty hunter when the price is right, but right now I have a deal for a load of Luvoxko to take to Sora.”

  Michelle started laughing softly.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  “I have no idea where we are, where we are going, or what Lukoko is.”

  “Luvoxko,” he gently corrected.

  “Whatever,” she said with an exasperated look on her face.

  “I’m a trader. I travel between the many realms and planets selling supplies and goods,” he replied.

  She looked into his golden and blue gaze, still confused.

  “Why did you save me?” she asked quietly. Part of her wished he would have let her die, yet the other part was hopeful. She wondered if it was just part of the human condition to be hopeful, even in the most hopeless of situations.

  “You needed help but honestly I don’t know, really. I only know that on my planet females are treasured. We would never expect them to fight for themselves. I would die protecting my female,” he stated.

  “Are you saying I’m your female now?” she gave him a perplexed look.

  He shook his head. “No, I mean not unless you wanted to be.”

  He grinned and his blue and golden gaze gleamed.

  “I understand. I am a soldier I would die fighting to protect others,” she said quickly brushing over his advance.

  I think you almost did, baby, he thought to himself. He wasn’t sure if he should tell her the others made it or not. It seemed like they had left her behind to die.

  Michelle tilted her head to the side as she often did when she was thinking. “But if you go to all these lucrative places getting Lu-Luko—whatever it is, why were you on Reddex?”

  So much I don’t understand… Michelle thought to herself.

  “There was rumored to be a bounty hiding out around that area. It’s a shithole no one ever goes there and those damn molcos are hard to kill. Also, I had a deal with your Earth Army commander for supplies.”

  “Yeah, we were almost out of food,” Michelle mentioned solemnly.

  “Your captain sounded pretty nervous. What was going on down there?” he questioned.

  Michelle shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t even know.”

  “Why were you there? You’re a soldier?” Serik said moving closer to her.

  Michelle shook her head. “Almost anyone healthy is an Earth Army soldier. I didn’t mind being a solider though. I wanted to, I wanted to serve so that my parents’ deaths in the war wouldn’t be in vain, to fight the Cabaka but instead I got tattooed, micro-chipped, injected with God knows what, sent to Redex, almost starved to death, given weird memory fog, and attacked by molcos hunds. Not to mention I lost almost all of my squad... I can’t even remember it all.”

  The Cabaka, Serik repeated in his head. It’s their fault again, their evilness knows no end. She would hate him. Even in this part of the universe they had wreaked havoc.

  She let out a heavy sigh. She wasn’t sure why she had just bared her soul to a complete stranger. A complete stranger whose lap she had curled up on like a lost kitten. She silently cursed herself for acting like a fool.

  “I’m sorry, Michelle,” he said softly. He knew that there weren’t any words he could say to make her feel better. The little female had been through a lot.

  “Thank you, Serik,” she replied halfheartedly. She knew from his tone he was sincere but it all felt so hopeless.

  Serik gave her a concerned look. “Females are treasured we would never expect them to fight.”

  “Maybe some of us want to fight,” she said boldly. Despite her current compromised position she was still a bit annoyed with his caveman-like remark. She was still angry and that anger wouldn’t fade anytime soon.

  “You said on your planet females are treasured. If they are treasured, why are you here alone?” she snapped.

  “Because on Baat only 10% are female now. There was a genetic mutation that started a little bit before my time. That among other things that I’m not sure you would understand,” he said with saddened eyes. He didn’t want to tell her everything, he couldn’t. He would get her somewhere safe before baring his secret to her.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Michelle replied feeling a bit hotheaded.

  Poor guy, he saves my ass, takes care of me, and I’m snapping at him when apparently his society is having some sort of genetic mutation drama. If only 10% females… does that mean his people are dying out?

  “Many of your Earth counterparts are mated to Baat now since the wars,” he stated.

  “How do you understand me?” she quickly changed the subject again feeling the heat rise to her face. She hated that he made her blush so easily. She hadn’t spoken to a man who looked at her like that in many years. His eyes were almost too much for her to handle.

  “What do you mean?” he questioned.

  “I mean, how do you speak English? They can’t possibly teach you that on Baat,” she questioned.

  “Translation microchip but I should mention I studied Chinese and English when Earth came into play, a few years ago.”

  “Translation microchip?” she raised an eyebrow. She had never heard of such a thing. She hoped it was what she thought it was.

  He nodded and moved in even closer to her. He offered his ear to her. Michelle studied the small silver stud inside of his ear cartilage. It was like an earring or like an IS.

  “I’m sorry for all the questions. I must sound very uneducated to you. I guess I’ve just never been off Earth before except for the space station and Redex. I’m not sure if either of those really count…” Michelle trailed off.

  He shook his head. “Redex is a place for no one which is probably why they sent you there.”

  “So the Cabaka wouldn’t come after us I bet,” she said pensively.

  He nodded in agreement.

  “Too bad those molcos hunds did first,” she sighed. Her heart felt heavy again.

  “What happ
ened to your arm?” he asked gently. He had noticed the large scarred marks for awhile now. The marks were massive. It bothered him, not knowing what caused it.

  I’ll hurt whoever did that to you, Michelle. I swear.

  “Can I have a translation microchip?” she asked ignoring the question about her scars. It was something painful from the past but it was all still fuzzy.

  “Way to dodge the question,” he replied as he moved in closer.

  Michelle inhaled his delightful masculine scent. He ran his rough fingertips over her ear. She blushed as his touch caused her skin to breakout in tiny goose bumps and the hair on her neck stand up.

  “Yes, I’ll get you one when you are feeling stable in a few more days,” he said after carefully studying the tissue.

  She was thankful he was too busy examining her ear to notice her blush or her goosebumps.

  “Thank you. You’ve been very kind to me,” she said softly. She didn’t know why but his body close hers, made her nervous. Him being closer also allowed her to get a better whiff of his cologne. He smelled amazing.

  I really should ask about this cologne, he smells great.

  She took a deep breath and exhaled.

  “You have been so kind to me… is there a payment you expect in return?” she said wanting to turn her head and break eye contact as she asked the question but she didn’t.

  “No,” he replied with a hurt in his eyes. It seemed that he was almost disappointed that she would ask.

  “I… I get very lonely here, Michelle. I will care for you until you are well. I would just enjoy your company, the company of a female. You are welcomed here until you find somewhere else you’d rather be,” he added.

  It felt strange to her. The way he looked at her it felt so foreign. He looked at her with wanting and desire. She didn’t know if anyone had ever looked at her like that before in her entire life. She almost didn’t recognize the look at first.

  Soldiers do not exist like that, she reminded herself.

  She nodded. “I will be of use here. I will help any way I can.”

  “OK but only when you are better. You need to take it easy for awhile,” he replied.

  “Can I take a shower or a bath? I mean do you have those here?” she added meekly.

  He rolled his eyes and smiled. “Yes, we have those here. It’s funny I know so much about Earth culture and humans yet you know nothing of our kind,” he said amused by her questions.

  “Well, maybe you’ll just have to teach me,” she grinned.

  He smiled back. “I’d love to.”

  Serik led Michelle to the bathroom. It wasn’t too different from what they had on Earth. He showed her how to turn the water on and off with a button instead of a dial and how to adjust the temperature by waving her hand over a sensor.

  He then handed her a small fluffy piece of fabric. It was deep blue and about the size of small note card.

  “What is this?” Michelle said looking up at Serik.

  “It is what your people call a tolly,” he replied.

  “Uhm, Serik, not to be rude or anything but on Earth the towels go around our whole bodies to dry us,” she said examining it.

  “It can absorb up to 100 gallons of water at a time. Is that not enough?” he replied with confusion written on his face.

  “Uhm, if you say so,” she replied albeit unsure of the tiny tolly he gave her.

  “Do you have some clean clothes I can borrow?” she asked as a faint blush rose to her cheeks.

  Why am I blushing like a little school girl? Why does he make me nervous? What’s wrong with me?

  “I only have my own. I can loan you those, I hope you don’t mind,” he offered.

  Michelle nodded.

  “OK, wait here. I’ll go get some,” he said as he made his way down the hall.

  He went into his bedroom and rummaged through his closet. He felt a wave of nervousness wash over him. He imagined her small feminine body engulfed in his clothing. He didn’t know why but it pleased him. It made him feel like she was his even if she wasn’t really.

  I’m just loaning her some clothes, that’s all! She is not your mate, stop. Did you forget you are meant to be alone? That she will surely hate you? he harshly reminded himself.

  He came back and handed the clothes to her.

  “Thank you, Serik,” she said smiling sweetly. “How long do I have to shower?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “Uh, water rations I guess?”

  He shook his head. “Take as long as you want.”

  He nodded and left her to get cleaned up. He slid the door shut behind him.

  Michelle turned on the shower and adjusted the heat as Serik had shown her. The water began to flow down and steam began to fill the room. It was different but it was still similar to a shower on Earth. She quickly disrobed from her uniform and stepped into the warm water.

  The water felt amazing. It had been ages since she had a proper shower, one where she could take as much time as she wanted. It seemed simple enough but it was a luxury she hadn’t been afforded in the Earth Army. The water had been strictly rationed on Redex. She was lucky to get a quick five minute shower in. She lathered up with the soap Serik had given her. It felt wonderful.

  I think I feel human again, she mused to herself.

  She inhaled the sweet scent of the soap as more steam rose from the shower’s heat. She was surprised the soap didn’t smell like Serik. He always smelled incredibly good.

  It must be an alien guy thing wearing really good cologne. God, he smelled amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything like it. I should really ask him about that...

  After scrubbing every inch of herself she turned off the shower and stepped out.

  “Well, I guess let’s try this Baat version of the ShamWow,” she grinned to herself.

  She took the small cloth and tentatively ran it over her arm. She was amazed to see the droplets of water instantly vanish. She dried the rest of her body off and set the small blue cloth by the sink.

  She looked into the mirror as the steam began to dissipate. She stepped back and looked at her naked form.

  She was thin and scarred. She wasn’t sure what Serik was seeing when he kept calling her beautiful. An empty shell of a person stared back at her. She traced over her protruding hip bones with her fingertips and then ran her hand over her rib bones. She could still count each one as she did on Redex, when she lay awake at night and couldn’t sleep.

  She shook her head and looked at the clothes he had lent her.

  She laughed when she realized how big they were going to be on her. The pants wouldn’t even fit around her waist even if they could they’d be over a foot too long.

  She put on the shirt he left her which hit past the middle of her thighs.

  This will do until my clothes are clean.

  Michelle gathered her uniform and the too big pants as she stepped out of the bathroom. She made her way down the hall to find Serik.

  “Hey,” she grinned finding him at the control panel.

  He took a sharp breath in when he saw her. Just as he imagined earlier, she looked incredibly beautiful just wearing his shirt. He took a deep breath in her nose inhaling her scent which was stronger. It drove him almost mad with desire. He wanted to scoop her into his arms and kiss her. He held back of course but his desires still lingered.

  She handed him back the pants. “These were, uh, a little too big for me.”

  He shrugged. “Sorry I didn’t think about that. Do you have your uniform? We can wash it.”

  “Oh, yeah,” she said handing it over to him as well.

  She followed him as they made their way to a small room.

  Michelle watched in amazement as he put her clothes in a small clear box. It filled with steam and what appeared to be solvent.

  “So, this is how you wash clothes in space?” she asked.

  He nodded. Not only was her scent driving him mad but her wet hair for some
reason just made him imagine him and her in the shower together. He mentally scolded himself. He had such self control around other females. He wasn’t sure why this one drove him mad. He had been alone for his whole life but for whatever reason she tempted him.

  “It’ll be done fairly soon,” he replied.

  Not soon enough, he thought to himself noticing how supple her freshly showered skin looked.