Saving Runt

by S. E. Smith

  Anne’s eyes widened. “When did you get a tattoo? Oh, Amelia. You know we talked about this,” her mom said.

  Runt shook her hand. “It isn’t a tattoo—or at least not like the ones back home. This is called a mating mark. It’s like this weird alien sign that two people are supposed to be right for each other. It only shows up if they are compatible. Don’t ask me how it works. I just know that if you have skin to skin contact with him and it appears, some really strange shit starts to happen that you can’t stop, even if you want it to,” she whispered.

  Anne gripped her daughter’s hand, examining the mark closely, then she turned her head to glare daggers at Derik.

  “He did this to you?” Anne hissed. She met her daughter’s gaze. “You are not trapped, Amelia. I won’t let you be tortured like that again; I swear it. I swore that when I left. I can take you with me this time. You’ll be safe. I promise I’ll keep you safe this time,” Anne urgently said.

  Runt closed her eyes when she felt her mom’s hand against her cheek. Memories of the thousands of times she’d felt her mom’s comforting touch washed through her. She covered her mom’s hand with her own and opened her eyes.

  “Derik would never hurt me. He would do everything in his power to keep me safe and—and he understands who I am—who I really am. It isn’t me that I’m worried about. It’s you. I know he isn’t Lou, but we don’t know….” she whispered. A single tear slid down her cheek.

  “What did this man Lou do to you? Who tortured you?” Rav demanded.

  Runt turned in surprise to see the large Prime warrior standing behind her. The retort died on her lips when she saw how concerned he was. She turned back to her mom, and issued one last warning, feeling the inevitability of their alien mojo. She had denied it for two years, hadn’t she? And look where she was now.

  “You have to be sure…’cause if the mark appears, it’d be a forever kind of bond,” she said, glancing at Derik for a moment before she stepped back.

  Anne held Runt’s gaze, then reluctantly looked at Rav, the man standing in front of her with such an intense expression of hope and concern. Runt shivered when Derik wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close against his tall, muscular frame. She covered his hands with her own.

  “Only the Goddess knows if they are destined to be together,” he murmured.

  Runt held her breath when Rav held his hand out. Her mother didn’t move for several seconds as she searched Rav’s expression. Then she slowly extended her hand towards his. Her trembling hand was a breath away from his when she paused and suddenly clenched her fingers into a fist. She pulled away.

  “I can’t,” Anne whispered. The careful space between them was thick with tension, and Rav’s dismayed frustration was difficult to watch. “I can’t,” she said again in a stronger voice. She turned on her heel and quickly walked toward the guarded exit.

  Runt sagged against Derik. The nearby guard opened the door for Anne when Teriff waved his hand. Silent tears coursed down Runt’s cheeks. She closed her eyes, bowed her head, and told herself this was for the best. Her mom was safe.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Derik held Amelia’s hand as they left the Council room. He remained silent, knowing that she needed time to get her emotions under control. Her current thoughts were unprotected by the wall that she usually tried to keep between them.

  Even without their connection, it would have been impossible to miss that the last few days had deeply affected her. It would be traumatic for anyone to discover that her mother was actually alive and she was related to someone like Dolinski!

  “Being related to Dolinski isn’t so bad,” she murmured, answering his thoughts.

  “Not bad?! Have you read about his crimes?” he asked in a shocked voice.

  She gave him a crooked smile. “Yeah, but it could have been worse. I could have been related to Avilov or Markham. Trust me, having Lou for a dad was bad enough,” she pointed out.

  “I would have protected you,” he swore.

  She stopped in the middle of the corridor and looked up at him. Then she smiled and cupped his cheek, slowly trailing her fingers over his coarse stubble. She tilted her head to the side as she caressed his face.

  “I can remove the hair if you do not like it,” he said.

  She shook her head. “It’s your body. It doesn’t matter whether I like it or not. If you like it, that’s all that matters,” she said.

  “It matters to me if it causes you irritation,” he murmured, turning his head so that his lips brushed her palm.

  She studied him for a second, a curious smile curving her lips, then she stood on her tiptoes. She slid her other hand up his chest to balance herself.

  “I guess I’ll have to find out if it does,” she replied.

  He inhaled deeply when her glance moved from his eyes to his mouth. For a moment, she paused just a breath away from his lips, then she gently kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against the hard frame of his body.

  He’d let her explore as long as she wanted as long as she kept moving her lips sensuously against his. He enjoyed the sensation of their lips touching, the way their breaths mingled together, and when he slid his hand down her back, he loved the way she arched and pressed her breasts against him. He moaned and felt his cock swell. She softly moaned too, and parted her lips so he could deepen their kiss. Their tongues danced, touching, pulling back, and touching again in an erotic rhythm that increased in speed as their desire flared.

  He trailed his fingers up her arm, then cradled the back of her head as he continued to explore her. She moved just enough to slip her leg between his, and took his breath away. His low groan suddenly seemed unusually loud in the hallway, and finally remembering that they were out in public, he opened his eyes. They weren’t alone.

  Derik slowly ended the kiss, his glare locked on the group of warriors he could see over her shoulder. They were observing him and Amelia with intense fascination and a lot of enjoyment. He instinctively drew Amelia’s head to his shoulder to shield her.

  “Uh, Derik,” she whispered.

  “Ignore them,” he murmured.

  She giggled. “That’s kind of hard to do when we are surrounded.” She pulled back and turned to look at the men with a raised eyebrow. “Are you guys really that hard up? Why don’t you take a photo? It will last longer,” she suggested.

  “Can we?” one of the warriors asked with a grin.

  “Are all human females this affectionate?” another one inquired.

  “Of course they are! Haven’t you been attending Tilly’s Chick Flick Friday Nights?” a third warrior asked.

  “I like her Thirsty Hallmark Thursday nights. She serves different flavored beers with her popcorn,” a fourth warrior proclaimed with a grin.

  Derik was about to order them all to leave before they upset Amelia, but her burst of laughter stopped him. Her face was flushed a pretty pink and her eyes twinkled. His breath caught at how beautiful she was.

  “You guys really need to get a life,” she said with another giggle.

  “We are trying! It is very difficult to find a mate without going to your world. We have to wait for the Council to resume missions that involve the Gateway,” the first warrior replied with a wistful sigh.

  Amelia shook her head. “What you need is an online dating site. That might help,” she suggested.

  “Online dating? Does RITA2 know what this is?” Derik asked with a frown.

  “Probably. It isn’t exactly that difficult to create. People back on Earth use them all the time to connect and find people they are interested in,” she replied with a shrug.

  “Would this online dating help us find our bond mates?” the second warrior asked.

  “Theoretically. I’ve never used one, just saw them when I was surfing the web. The ads for them say they’ll find your soul mate, but you know how that goes. Ads almost always make things seem better than they really are,” she responded.
/>
  “How does…,” the warrior began.

  “That’s enough for now,” Derik interrupted. “I will mention this to the Council, but right now, I would like some time with my mate.”

  “Maybe Lady Tilly will know. She knows everything there is to know about human women and sex,” a warrior commented as the group moved away.

  Derik wanted to groan in embarrassment. He was sure that Amelia would put two and two together and deduce that he was about as clueless as the warriors walking away from them. She looked up at him with a contemplative expression, and he fought to hide his dismay.

  “I take it you guys don’t get much dating action here,” she calmly reflected.

  “No,” he reluctantly replied.

  She tilted her head and gazed at him for a few seconds. He could tell she was trying not to smile, but he also knew she was genuinely curious.

  “So, are you, like, a virgin?” she casually inquired.

  Derik knew what she was really asking. She wanted to know if he’d know how to pleasure her. All of his insecurities returned with a vengeance. He wanted to lie and say he had more than enough experience to do this right. The problem was—he couldn’t lie to her without her knowing it.

  “I’ve watched the instructional vidcoms RITA2 uploaded, and I have seen many of the movies Tilly presented,” he stiffly replied.

  She looked at him with wide eyes. “Wow!” she murmured with a shake of her head before she turned and began walking again.

  “Wow?” he repeated with a frown. He turned and stared at her back. “What do you mean by ‘wow’? Is that a good ‘wow’ or a bad ‘wow’?” he demanded, quickly striding forward to catch up with her.

  She looked at him with a mysterious smile. “Well, if you got to be that good a kisser by watching a bunch of dorky movies and instructional material, I wonder what else you are good at,” she thoughtfully reflected.

  He stopped as the meaning of what she’d said finally sank in. A goofy grin curved his lips. She liked the way he kissed her.

  No, I loved it, she cheekily retorted.

  Several days later, Amelia sat in her mom’s new living quarters. They had spent the time since the Council meeting talking about things they had never talked about before. It was strange—and yet surprisingly comforting.

  Their relationship had changed in these past few days. Before, they had both been cautious—more focused on surviving than living, but now they were slowly moving from just mother and daughter to friends. She looked up when she heard her mom’s soft sigh.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “You are so young and yet—so grown up,” Anne commented, sinking down into the chair across from her with a cup of hot tea.

  She gave her mom a quizzical look. “Yeah, well, that tends to happen when you grow up the way I did,” she commented.

  Runt regretted her rather flippant reply when she saw remorse flash through her mother’s eyes before she looked down at her steaming cup of tea. Runt turned her gaze to the window when the shadow of a shuttle flying overhead caught her attention.

  “I was a coward for staying,” her mother whispered. “In the end, I abandoned you to save myself.”

  Runt turned and glared at her mother. “Don’t!” she said in a sharp tone. “You protected me. Remember, it wasn’t just Lou. Running wouldn’t have done anything but gotten you—and probably me—killed. We can’t change the things that happened. Things are different now. We don’t have to worry about people like Lou or DiMaggio, or even the government. They can’t touch us now,” she said, waving at the window.

  Her mom’s eyes followed the motion of her hand. “This world is so beautiful,” Anne murmured.

  “You know you could stay here,” Runt said. “You don’t have to go back. There are other human women here. They seem happy.”

  Anne looked back at her with a startled expression. Runt grimaced as she anticipated her mom pouncing on that statement. She could see the question in Anne’s eyes. What was worse was that she could feel her face heat.

  “Is that what you are planning on doing? Staying here—with Derik?” Anne asked.

  “Maybe…. Probably…. I don’t know yet. I’m still working things out in my head,” she mumbled.

  “He seems like a nice young man,” her mom continued.

  “He’s alright,” she replied, wishing she hadn’t brought this up.

  “Have you and he…?” her mom started to ask.

  “Not yet,” she said.

  “Oh. Well, if you have any questions,” her mom awkwardly replied.

  Runt shook her head. “I’m eighteen, almost nineteen. I think I have a pretty good concept of what goes on between a man and a woman—probably more than Derik does,” she commented with an amused grin.

  Her mom’s eyes widened with surprise. “Are you telling me that he…?” her mom choked.

  Runt nodded. “Yeah. They don’t have a lot of women here, I guess, so the guys spend most of their time training to beat the crap out of each other and their enemies. Apparently there’s this weird alien species called the Juangans that everyone hates ‘cause they like to attack and eat people.” She scrunched her nose.

  “Oh, dear. I wonder if…,” her mom started to say before she blushed.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Runt chuckled, knowing her mom was thinking of Rav.

  Her mom’s lips trembled for a moment before she giggled. The soft, bubbly sound was contagious, and soon they were both laughing. Life was definitely different on this planet! Even the sound of their laughter sounded strange and unusual. Her mom wiped away a tear near the corner of her eye and shook her head.

  “Derik wants to take me away on a trip—just the two of us,” she finally confessed.

  “Where? For how long?” Anne asked.

  Runt shrugged. “I don’t know. A couple of weeks maybe. He was talking about this place called Quadrule Five. I think it would be pretty awesome to fly through space,” she said, biting her lip and looking out the window again.

  Silence followed her comment. She curled her fingers as she waited to see how her mom responded. It wasn’t like she was asking permission. It was more like asking for acceptance.

  “I think that would be a wonderful adventure, Amelia,” her mom said.

  She turned to look at her mom. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. But, what about you? Will you be alright?” she asked.

  “Sweetheart, I’m a lot tougher than I used to be. I’ll be fine. Besides, what could possibly happen to me here? Like you said, Lou and DiMaggio can’t touch us anymore.” Anne smiled.

  “It’s not them that I was thinking about,” Runt said with a wry grin.

  Her mom’s eyes widened and she blushed again. “Trust me, I wouldn’t get near one of these warriors with a ten-foot pole. Besides, I think the guy from the other day has finally given up. I haven’t seen him lurking around anymore. I must have finally scared him off,” Anne laughed.

  “Yeah, I thought the same thing, and look where that got me!” Runt muttered under her breath.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Baade Spaceport:

  Two days later:

  * * *

  Runt waited in the shade of the covered walkway while Derik quietly spoke with a merchant who had delivered some last minute items that Brock had sent for their trip. She glanced over her shoulder at Derik and noticed that he was listening intently to what the man was saying. Given the way the guy was waving his hands around and excitedly pointing at the tablet he was holding, it looked like it was going to take a while.

  She turned when she heard a strange buzzing noise. She grinned when she saw a boy go by on a really cool looking hoverboard. The city was filled with amazing things everywhere she looked and she had fallen in love with all the futuristic vehicles. Deciding to see if she could catch another glimpse of the boy, she walked over to the edge of the sidewalk in the hopes of seeing the boy again.

  The boy had disappeared into the cr
owds, but a dozen other vehicles soon caught her attention. Her eyes lit up when she caught sight of a floating motorcycle that was coming down the street. For a moment, it didn’t look like anyone was operating it. It wasn’t until the motorcycle stopped in front of her that she could see the driver straddling the bike. The bizarre creature with multiple eyes and tan leathery skin stepped off the cycle onto the sidewalk in front of her, turned, and leered at her.

  Runt shuddered when he opened his mouth and ran a long tongue over his lips. From the way he was acting and the expression on his face, it wasn’t hard to translate what he wanted—her! She shook her head and quickly stepped away from him. The creature might have been shorter than she was, but that didn’t make him any less terrifying when his expression changed to one of anger. He reminded her of some of the lowlifes back on Earth.

  “Hi’mov,” Get moving, Derik shouted with a growl.

  Runt jumped and turned around when she heard the shout behind her. Derik was striding toward her, his glare locked on the alien who had been eyeing her. She saw the alien make a rude gesture before he climbed back onto the motorcycle and pulled away.

  “What was that?” she curiously asked, watching the alien disappear around the corner.

  “A Merflick. They are a pain in the ass to be around, but they are hard workers. You just can’t trust them. They’ll try to barter with a rock if they think they could turn a credit for it,” he said.

  “He sure looked weird. I think he was trying to pick me up,” she mused.

  He held her hand and grinned at her. “He might have looked at you with an appreciative eye, but he wouldn’t have bothered you. The Merflick aren’t known for their bravery, and he knows I would have slit his throat if he came near you,” he added.

  “I’m cool. I can handle myself,” she quipped.

  “I know. I’ve seen what you can do,” he teasingly reminded her.

  She gave him a mischievous grin. “You haven’t seen anything yet,” she retorted, patting him on his chest.