A Soldier in Love

by A. Petrov

  “I don’t understand,” Michelle admitted.

  Terror gripped Serik as he tried to find the words. His heart raced. Finally, he released the beast from its makeshift cage of his soul, “My father is Cabaka.”

  Michelle’s stomach dropped. They both remained silent for what seemed like an eternity.

  “You’ve been keeping this from me all this time,” Michelle replied softly.

  “I thought you would hate me… you probably do. I thought you would want to kill me. I was going to leave you on Sora, to be with your people, far away from me. I am what you hate, Michelle. I am no good for you,” Serik hung his head low unable to look at her. “This is never what I wanted. I wanted badly to leave you and not have you hate me but I’m weak for you, Michelle. I’m so weak for you.”

  “Kill you? Hate you? After you saved my life?” Michelle stammered.

  Serik remained quiet. His eyes were sad.

  “Serik, no. No, it can’t be,” she said in disbelief. “I can’t let them take you away too. I won’t.”

  “Let who take me?” Serik asked.

  “The Earth Army,” she said. “They’ve taken everything. I won’t let them take you too.”

  “Michelle, I’m sorry… I’m just so sorry,” he said with a shamed look in his eyes. He reached for her hand. “I love you, Michelle. I love you more than anything and everything. I’m not sure you can accept me for who I really am and I understand that. I will take you back to Sora, there is still time before our bond is complete. I never meant for this to happen but it just did,” he replied in a serious tone.

  Michelle shook her head. She realized she had a choice to make. There were only two options. The options were two extremes; it was either love or hate with no gray area in-between. What he had told her had been shattering but in the end she realized none of that mattered.

  “Serik,” she began. She went quiet for a moment trying to steady her voice. “Things are what you interpret them to be. That’s what life is. Most of the time things are ambiguous and they are both good and evil, light and dark. You just have to choose how much light you seen and how much dark you see in the other person.”

  What difference did it make what he was? Her planet was gone. What mattered was he loved her and cared for her. The man that stood in front of her would never harm her and he would never harm anyone without just cause. He was good and she could accept him for whatever he was. This was the man who saved her life and risked his life in the process. He had nursed her back to health, this was the man who loved her and nothing could change that.

  “I have something to show you,” she said as she took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

  He sat down on the bed and waited. Confusion swept over him.

  “Wait here,” she said softly.

  “OK, but…” he began. He was incredibly confused.

  “Just wait. I’ll only be a minute,” she said firmly as she grabbed the bag that Rina given her on Sora. She quickly made her way to the bathroom. She slid the door shut and took a deep breath in. She was going to have to be brave, a different kind of brave than she had been in the past. Memories of being a woman on Earth filled her head. She remembered in college when she had drunkenly slept with a guy in his dorm room. The sex had been tolerable but it was lacking in passion. Mostly, she was drunk and wanted to experience what all the other girls had been talking about. It had felt somewhat mechanical and awkward. She shook her head and pushed the memories to the back of her mind. It would be different this time.

  She unzipped the bag and laid the makeup, lingerie, and lotion out. She stepped in front of the large mirror and opened the tube of mascara. She applied a thick coat to her eyelashes as well as a stroke of rouge to her cheeks. She stepped back and looked at herself.

  I am a woman after all, she smiled weakly.

  She disrobed from her jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt. She felt the silkiness of the thin g-string over her womanhood. She adjusted the lacy black bra to push her cleavage up.

  A little lotion, soft skin…

  She squirted the lotion onto her palm and worked it into her skin. She inhaled its fragrant vanilla scent. She felt nervous as she reached for the door handle to slide it open.

  I can do this, I can do this.

  She made her way back into the bedroom and she felt the heat rush to her cheeks when Serik looked up to her almost naked form.

  “I,.. I can’t stop myself. We will truly be one if we do this, Michelle. You will be part of what you hate,” he said as he made his way over to her.

  “There is no need to stop,” she said as she also moved in closer. His full lips hungrily pressed against her smaller ones. He kissed her greedily savoring the sweet taste of her mouth, lips, and tongue.

  “I want to be yours, claim me,” she breathed.

  He didn’t reply he only pulled her to the bed and continued to ravish her body with kisses.

  Hungry lips made their way lower.

  “Oh, Serik,” Michelle called out longingly as his hands gently caressed her

  She grabbed for his shirt pulling it up his muscular chest he stopped quickly and rid himself of it. She tugged at his pants which he removed as well.

  “Michelle, I love you so much. You make everything better. You make this life worth living,” he whispered breathlessly into her ear before placing a trail of soft kisses down her neck that made her mad with desire.

  “You’re so beautiful, gorgeous, perfect.” His voice was hoarse with lust and raw emotion.

  The desire, the wanting, the longing it had been tiptoed around by both of them. It was finally released. The passion between them erupted as it had been contained by them for far too long.

  There was nothing awkward, there was nothing mechanical. It was simply an act of love. It was the best and the strongest feeling either of them had ever known.

  Chapter Forty-four

  Serik held his female close to him. Her soft body felt amazing next to his.

  “I love you, Michelle,” he said softly stroking arm as he held her naked form even closer to his.

  “I love you, too, Serik,” she pulled him in for a soft kiss.

  He studied the delicate features of her face. She seemed worried.

  “What’s wrong?” he furrowed his brow.

  “I am still remembering… I am still learning what it is like what it is like to be this. This I haven’t been in quite some time,” she said as she looked down and broke his steady eye contact.

  “Do you like this?”

  She nodded. “Very much so.”

  His fingertips gently trailed along the side of her body.

  “I’m sorry about earlier,” she replied bashfully.

  “It’s OK. I think you made it up to me.” He grinned.

  “Is something else wrong?” he said gently tracing his fingertips over his mate’s soft skin.

  “I keep thinking of my sister. I wish I could contact her… That’s kind of why I disobeyed you,” she said with a guilty look in her eyes.

  “Why didn’t you just tell me?” Serik said with a concerned look on his face.

  “I… I don’t know. I’m afraid,” she replied.

  “Why are you afraid?” he asked gently.

  “Because she might be dead… I keep putting off trying to contact her, in my mind, I think if I don’t ever try, if I don’t ever know I can just pretend she’s OK,” she offered weakly.

  Serik pulled her closer to his muscular chest. “Michelle, I’m sorry. I promise, I’ll see what I can do.”

  “I’m afraid,” Michelle admitted.

  “It’s OK, baby. I’m here no matter what happens,” he said sweetly.

  “Thank you, Serik,” she said closing her eyes and relaxing in his embrace.

  “I think I should call,” he added.

  “Why?” she replied as she furrowed her brow in confusion.

  “Just in case your Earth Army has regrouped and wants you back. I heard they might try to reorganize,”
he explained.

  She nodded and yawned. “OK. I don’t want them listing me as AWOL.”

  “I love you so much,” he whispered into her ear.

  “I love you too,” she replied.

  ***

  Serik watched over his mate as she slept soundly in his arms. He had often watched her sleep. At first it was because she needed someone to watch over her since she had been close to death. She slept a lot when she overcame the memory fog. Slowly, she had regained a normal sleeping cycle but he didn’t mind missing out on a few minutes of sleep to watch over her.

  How I got a female as beautiful as her, I will never know. She makes this life so much better, she makes it worth living.

  He brushed a strand of her auburn hair out of her face and quietly got out of bed. He made his way to the cockpit and turned on his radio.

  Hm, we are really out here. I wonder if I can get in range.

  Serik fiddled with the settings and frequencies.

  Michelle, why didn’t you ask, baby? You wouldn’t have had to worry for so long.

  He searched the Earth refugee directory for Amy’s name.

  She’s alive, he realized.

  He looked at the clock it will still be early enough for a call on her planet, New World II. He programmed her coordinates for radio contact. It all seemed so simple. He felt hurt that Michelle didn’t ask him sooner. He would do anything for her. He didn’t want her to hide things from him when they were causing her such pain. He sighed and shook it off quickly. He knew she had her way of dealing with things and she was dealing with a lot. She had told him now because it had been when she was ready.

  “Hello?” a feminine voice called out.

  “Are you known as Amy?” Serik said staring back into the viewscreen. He could see the female’s resemblance to Michelle but how she was different as well. Looking into her face, he knew what Michelle meant about feeling dark compared to her. She had a lightness about her both physically and spiritually.

  “Yes, but I think you have the wrong person. Who are you anyway? What do you want from me?” she snapped.

  “I’m Serik and I’m with your sister,” he replied.

  “You’re lying my sister is dead. No one got off Redex alive and that’s where the Earth Army documented her based at,” the small blonde female spat venomously.

  “No, she’s not,” he replied calmly.

  “You’re a sick and evil bastard. You must get off on toying with us Earth people,” the small blonde woman sneered and pointed a long bony finger at him.

  Geez, I can’t believe this is Michelle’s sister. Michelle is so sweet but this lady here is a real piece of work.

  “I…” Serik began before Amy ended the call.

  Chapter Forty-five

  “Your sister is alive,” Serik explained calmly.

  “What?” Michelle replied wide eyed.

  “I saw how much it bothered you and I tried to make contact with her last night,” Serik replied.

  “What happened?” Michelle questioned. “You talked to her?”

  He frowned. “I did,” he replied. “She looked well, real healthy but she didn’t believe me… she thought I was lying.”

  Michelle bit her bottom lip as worry swept over her. “Lying?”

  “She thought I was lying about you being alive,” he sighed.

  “Can I talk to her?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I made the call since you are still Earth Army property. The rumors are true; they are banding any survivors together for a compound. They might trace you and come back to collect you if you get on the radio.”

  Michelle sighed. She desperately wanted to speak to Amy but there was no way she was going back to the Earth Army after being sent to Redex. There was no way she could go back to the Earth Army and be without Serik. She nervously ran her thumb over her wrist where her ID chip was implanted. She could feel it when she pressed against it. She wondered if they could track her this far out. She had been planet hopping on the other side of the universe on newly discovered planets. Going back to the Earth Army was no longer an option for her.

  “I hate to see you like this, baby. Let me think… Maybe I can get an unsecured line and have you talk to her,” he offered.

  “Do you think that would work?” she shifted her weight anxiously.

  “I don’t know but I will try my best. I hate to see you upset,” he frowned.

  Serik went back to the control panel and fumbled with the radio. Michelle knew it only took him a few minutes but the time spent waiting felt more like hours. She nervously paced back and forth.

  “Michelle, come on. I think I got it,” he shouted from the cockpit.

  Michelle rushed in, her nervousness tenfold. Her mouth felt dry. She wasn’t even sure what she would say. She desperately wanted to talk to her sister, but part of her still felt the same anger towards her. Amy had been harsh on her for her decision to fight. She wondered if she would still be the same now.

  “The unsecured line won’t last long maybe ten minutes at most just to warn you,” Serik said.

  Michelle nodded and looked up at the viewscreen. Her heart felt like it was going to pound itself out of her chest.

  “Amy?” Michelle called out as her image appeared on the screen. She looked almost the same as she did before Michelle left for the Earth Army. She was neatly put together but she looked tired. Michelle studied her face it was strange, she looked almost vacant. The war hadn’t been easy on anyone, she reminded herself.

  “M… Michelle?” Amy stammered. “Is it really you?”

  “Yes,” Michelle smiled.

  “I thought you were dead,” Amy said with a dropped jaw. “Your platoon mates said you weren’t able to get on the shuttle with them only three of them made it they had left you back on the planet. The Earth Army classified you as a mortality.”

  “Serik saved me. It… well, it’s a long story,” Michelle replied cautiously. “Amy, I can’t fight any more. I’m not going back to the Earth Army.”

  “Maybe Eric can…” Amy began.

  “I… he… doesn’t have to do anything,” Michelle managed.

  “What do you mean?” Amy shot back.

  “I am mated to Serik now,” Michelle blurted out. She silently cursed herself for being unable to eloquently express what needed to be said. It felt like a statement of a fact instead of a sincere heartfelt expression of love.

  “What?” Amy said with widened eyes. “The Baat who called me?”

  “Yes, I love him. He saved my life,” Michelle replied in a more calmed manner. She decided it was probably best to leave out the half-Cabaka part.

  “You’re… no, you—you can’t!” Amy stuttered.

  “I can and I did. I love him,” Michelle protested. Her body language instantly shifted to a defensive tone as she crossed her hands in front of her chest.

  “An alien?” Amy’s delicate features crinkled revealing a look of disgust on her face. “You’re supposed to be helping preserve the human race and instead you are going to bear his ugly children.”

  Michelle froze. Alien seemed like such an antiquated term. They were the aliens now, didn’t Amy know?

  “Well, I uh, haven’t thought of children, but yes, Serik will make a great dad,” she defended.

  “Unbelievable, you are unbelievable, Michelle,” Amy huffed.

  “First you go and fight the war and then now you’re running off with an alien instead of helping us build a colony. You know our kind is dwindling,” she said venomously.

  “Amy, why can’t you just be happy for me? Did you not just hear everything I went through?” Michelle snapped. She couldn’t understand what was wrong with her sister. She never would have thought Amy would act this way.

  Amy stared back with a shocked expression.

  “I found someone who truly loves and cares about me, it doesn’t matter if he’s human or not. Did you not hear me when I say he saved my life? In fact, he has saved my life twice, did you
know that?” Michelle continued.

  Michelle stared into the viewscreen at her sister but Amy remained silent. Her delicate features were curled into a disgusted look. Michelle waited but there was still silence, a heavy silence. It was what Amy always did when she was upset, she shut down. She would refuse to talk about things unless they were the way she wanted them to be.

  “No one will love me as much as he loves me,” Michelle added quietly before ending the call with her sister on the viewscreen.