Abby stood up and blew out the candle on the table, then picked up the one in the living room to carry with her into the bedroom. She brushed out her hair and changed into a pair of pajama pants and matching tank top that had little pictures of dogs on it. She climbed into the full-size bed and scooted over, patting next to her for Bo to jump up.
“You can help keep me warm tonight, big guy,” Abby whispered as she wrapped an arm around the soft fur snuggled up against her.
The next morning was bright, and she saw that the storm had cleared away everything in its path. Abby sipped a cup of coffee as she walked down the front steps of the cabin. There were bits of limbs everywhere. A tree had fallen behind the barn, but it hadn’t done any damage. Bo ran down the steps and raced around the yard smelling all the branches to see if the storm had brought anything fun to play with. Abby opened the door to the barn and moved to the stall holding Gloria. Gloria leaned her head over the door of the stall looking droopy-eyed at Abby.
“Did the storm keep you up last night, girl?” Abby asked as she ran her hand behind one of Gloria’s ears, then down along her jaw. “Come on, let’s get you outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.”
Abby moved into the stall and opened the sliding door at the back of the stall, which led into the corral. After making sure everything was still secure, she picked up a brush and brushed Gloria before closing the gate.
“Come on Bo. Let’s take a walk and see what else needs to be done,” Abby called as she moved down the path to her workshop.
She would check it out before heading toward the meadow farther up the mountain, where she had seen the weird light last night. She had dreamed about it. She couldn’t really remember much of her dream, just a nagging feeling that she needed to check it out.
Her workshop had survived the storm just fine. She was glad, since she had several thousand dollars’ worth of materials inside, not to mention the piece she was almost finished with. Bo pranced around, wagging his tail and marking just about everything. Abby laughed at the male need to mark. It reminded her a little of Clay when he followed her around town glaring at anyone who looked her way.
Bo ran ahead down the path. Abby was a bit slower as she stopped to move some of the bigger branches out of her way. She liked to hike up to the meadow during the summers and just enjoy the scenery. She was lifting a really large branch to the side when she heard Bo barking excitedly.
“Hold on, boy. I’m coming,” Abby yelled. She pushed the limb out of the way and jogged up the path.
Abby stopped suddenly, her mouth hanging open, as she stared at the huge golden ship in the middle of the meadow. Bo was walking around it. As he moved closer, the ship seemed to shudder and move away from him. It was almost like it was alive. Abby moved slowly toward the golden ship.
“Bo, come here, boy. I think you’re scaring it,” Abby said softly.
Bo took one more sniff of the golden ship before taking off on another adventure. Abby walked around the ship, watching as it shivered when she stepped closer to it. It wasn’t very big, maybe about the size of a large SUV, but it was absolutely beautiful. She looked at the sleek design. Different colors swirled through the outer coating, making the golden ship almost invisible as it took on the colors around it.
Abby slowly reached out to touch the ship’s surface. It shimmered a bright gold, almost as if in warning. It reminded Abby of some of the wildlife she had seen up in the mountains. She and her grandparents sometimes came across frightened or wounded animals over the years and they nursed many back to health before releasing them back to the wild.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m not going to hurt you,” Abby whispered softly. “It’s going to be all right.”
The golden ship shuddered again as she brushed her hand gently against its smooth surface. She laughed softly as she felt the smooth, soft metal. She didn’t understand what it was or where it had come from, but she didn’t get any bad vibes from it.
She let her other hand glide over the surface, as well. She rubbed it lightly while whispering nonsense words. She felt her hands slowly sink into the soft metal, and long strips of the gold reached out, winding themselves around her arms and wrists.
Abby’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the gold bands slowly slide up her arms. When she pulled back, two thin, intricately designed gold bands were attached to her wrists like gold wrist cuffs. Abby stared at them, marveling at their beauty, as she ran her fingers over first one, then the other.
Bo’s sudden barking turned to a scared yelp as he charged back toward Abby. Abby moved away from the ship looking up startled as Bo raced past her toward the path leading back to her cabin. Turning toward where Bo had come from, Abby wondered what other wonders the storm had brought.
“Well, what got your tennis balls stirred up?” Abby asked bemused. She was still in a daze at finding something so beautiful on her mountain. A groan from the direction Bo had just run from caused Abby to take a step back.
Zoran groaned as he tried to lift his head. He didn’t remember much about the landing. He knew he needed to get out; his body was on fire, but he didn’t remember much but the fierce weather from the planet. He collapsed, unable to move, as the pain in his body overwhelmed him. He knew he needed to get back to his symbiot but didn’t have the energy. He could only hope the message he sent out to his brothers would be received as darkness once again took him.
Abby bit her lip as she moved slowly toward the sound of the groan she had just heard. She really hoped this unexpected visit didn’t turn out to be one of those horror-film/alien-possession things. She knew the golden ship was not from Earth. It didn’t take a NASA scientist to figure that out. She just hoped curiosity didn’t end up getting her killed.
Abby saw the figure lying face down on the damp grass. Well, if it was an alien, he sure had the figure of a human—a very big human. Abby wasn’t a shrimp at five-foot-eight, but this guy had to be well over six and a half feet if he was an inch.
Moving hesitantly until she stood next to him, she saw he had long black hair and was wearing some type of uniform with black epaulets on the shoulders. She couldn’t see what his face looked like because his hair was covering it. She stooped down and gently brushed back his hair, letting her fingers rest for a moment on his neck. She found a weak pulse. What worried her the most, however, was how hot his skin felt.
The gold on one of her wrists moved when she touched the man, turning to a liquid and pouring down her fingers until it wrapped around the man’s throat. Abby was afraid at first that it meant to harm him, but then warmth flowed through her and she knew it wouldn’t.
“I don’t know what you are, but I don’t get the feeling you want to hurt him either,” Abby murmured under her breath. “Let’s see what our man looks like and what we can do to help him out.”
Abby ran her hands down the figure looking for any obvious signs of trauma before gently rolling him over onto his back. She drew in a deep breath. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. He was also the most beat-up man she had ever seen. How someone could hurt another being like this broke Abby’s heart.
Blood spotted his uniform on both the front and the back, making it obvious that the uniform had been put on over the injuries since it was not cut up. His facial features were definitely human-like. Abby ran her fingers over his face, gently touching the cuts above his left eye and cheek before moving down to his lips. He had strong, proud features. His nose was a little broader than normal, and he had prominent cheekbones, much like the Native American Indians. His color was similar too with the darker tanned skin. She wondered what color his eyes would be—brown, blue, or almost black—but they were closed, and she did not want to force them open.
Abby checked him over to see if he had any broken bones. She worried about his ribs, since even in his unconscious state, he jerked when she probed them. She realized the only way she was going to be able to get him to the cabin was on a skid. She whistled for Bo
to come to her. He had taken off toward the cabin earlier, but she had seen him sniffing around the meadow again a few minutes ago.
Bo wagged his tail as he came toward Abby, keeping his head down and his eyes nervously on the still figure next to her. “Come on, boy. I need you to be a guard dog and protect our visitor until I get back with Gloria,” Abby said petting the golden retriever behind the ear.
“Stay,” Abby commanded Bo and watched as he lay down next to the man, resting his head on the man’s chest. “Good boy. Stay.”
Abby took off at a run for her cabin. She would use the old skid she used to haul wood to bring the injured man back to the cabin. She quickly pulled out the harness gear and called Gloria over to her. She hooked up the skid behind Gloria and pulled some thick pads from the storage room of the barn and laid it on top of the skid.
With a click of her tongue, Abby and Gloria moved up the path again to the meadow. Gloria was a pro at this, since Edna would bring her several times a year for Abby to use. It was too cold most of the winter to keep a horse or a mule up this high in the mountains; plus, there was not enough pasture land, so it was a win-win situation for Abby to just borrow Gloria when she needed the extra help.
Abby jumped off the skid once they entered the meadow. The gold ship glimmered as Abby walked by with Gloria. Abby couldn’t help but run her hand along the ship’s surface again to caress it.
“It’s going to be okay. I’m going to help him. Then you can have him back. He just needs some TLC. I won’t hurt him,” Abby said as her fingers glided from the tip of the ship to the very back. She could almost feel the ship’s sigh of relief at her words.
Bo looked up from his place next to the man. After fifteen minutes of grunting and pushing, Abby finally had the man on the padded skid. She was breathing heavily and sweating from the exertion.
“Wow. He’s a lot bigger and heavier than I thought,” Abby said to no one in particular. She didn’t know if the ship, Bo, or Gloria really gave a damn about how big and heavy the man was.
Abby made the short trip back to the cabin at a much slower pace, aware of how the man groaned with every rut she hit. She would have to use the ramp her grandfather had built for her grandmother to get him into the cabin. The skid was narrow enough to fit through the front door of the cabin thanks to the extra wide door her grandfather had installed after her grandmother needed to use a wheelchair to get around. It would be tricky getting him in the room and in the bed, but she felt sure she could do it with a little manipulation.
An hour later, totally exhausted, Abby lay on the bed next to the man. She had pushed, pulled, and tugged until she could barely move, but she had him in the bed. She gave herself a few minutes to regroup before sitting up. First things first, she needed to get his clothes off so she could see the damage. Then she would bathe him and doctor his cuts.
Abby didn’t want to cut the man’s clothes up, but she found it was going to be the only way to get them off. The cloth was stuck to his skin with dried blood in many places and was stretched across him like a second skin in others. She would go to town later and get him some clothes, once she knew it was safe to leave him. As she cut the shirt off him, Abby noticed the gold on the man’s throat had moved down to his chest now. It just lay there curled up as if it was asleep.
Abby couldn’t contain the tears that filled her eyes at the number of cuts and bruises on the poor man. She tried not to blush when she got to his pants. He wasn’t wearing anything under them and was just as impressive there as he was everywhere else. Abby did her best to keep her touch impersonal and hoped the man wouldn’t be offended when he woke up and realized she had taken such liberties.
His legs were covered with bruises as well as small cuts. It was as if he had been tortured. She gasped as she saw the deep cuts around his ankles. Her gaze flew to his wrists and, sure enough, he had deep cuts there as well. Whoever hurt the man had obviously had him shackled so he couldn’t defend himself.
Abby threw the clothes into a pile. She would burn them later in the burn barrel behind the cabin. In the bathroom, she filled a bucket with lukewarm water. She needed to get his temperature down. She was afraid to give him any medication for a human, not knowing if it would hurt him. She hoped cleaning the wounds and bringing his temperature down would help.
She rolled him onto his side and laid a vinyl tablecloth down with the plastic face down so she wouldn’t soak the mattress. She then laid several towels under him. She bathed his back first, just dampening his hair as best she could. She wouldn’t be able to really wash it, but at least it would feel better than it had.
As she bathed him she was careful to make sure she paid close attention to his cuts. It was strange watching the small gold band moving over his body as she moved the man. It seemed to go to the worse cuts and bruises and stay there for a few moments before moving on. Once, it even came to her and wrapped around her wrist while the other gold wrist cuff dissolved and moved to replace it. Abby just shivered when she felt them move over her. It wasn’t a bad feeling. In fact, it felt warm and fuzzy.
Abby turned even redder as she washed the man’s private area. He was thickly built and long even in his relaxed state. She had never seen or touched a man before, and her hands shook as she gently cleaned him. She was thankful he was unconscious and would never know what she had done.
She tried to think what a nurse would do in such a situation. Hell, she knew even some cosmetologists worked with peoples’ private areas. She tried to focus on the gold band moving up and over the man’s body from one place to another. She watched in fascination as cuts began to heal right before her eyes wherever the gold band touched. Right now, it was working on his right wrist.
Once Abby was done, she removed the damp tablecloth and towels and covered the man with the thick quilt. She put him in her grandparents’ old bedroom. The bed was a king size and seemed to fit him better than her full-size bed. She felt his forehead again, and it felt a little cooler. His complexion looked better as well.
She had enough time to put Gloria in the pen and make some dinner before dark. The electricity was still off, and she didn’t want to run the generator any more than she had to. She could measure the man and order him some clothes from the Internet. Luckily, her laptop was fully charged, and she used satellite for her connection since no service ran this far up into the mountains.
An hour later, Abby closed the laptop, satisfied with her order. She had ordered several shirts and pairs of pants, boxers, socks, and after measuring his feet, which she found were ticklish, a pair of boots and a pair of tennis shoes. It wasn’t easy finding both in a size eighteen wide. She stood up and stretched.
The gold bands had switched again, and she noticed the one on her left wrist seemed to be stroking her. Abby smiled as she gently rubbed the little gold band. She could tell it seemed to enjoy it when she did that.
She figured she would sleep in the big bed next to the man tonight. There was plenty of room for her skinny butt, and this way, if the gold bands needed to change they could. Plus, she just felt better staying close to him. At least until he woke up.
Chapter 4
Zoran stretched, waiting for the pain to slice through his body. He kept his eyes closed as he sent out his senses to determine what dangers might be close at hand. When he didn’t feel the normal wrenching of pain, he froze. He could feel his symbiot moving around his body repairing the damage. Had he found shelter? He frowned; he couldn’t remember. Had his brothers found him? He did not detect their presence.
He did a quick internal review. His ribs were healed, though still tender, and the numerous cuts and bruises were also healed. He felt clean, but he did not remember bathing. He also realized he was completely nude beneath a soft thick covering. He didn’t recognize any of the scents around him as being from his home.
He let his senses expand to cover the room. He was alone in the room, but not in the structure. There were two other species in it with him. While he did
not recognize the scents, they were vaguely familiar. He heard a soft, pleasant sound, a type of soft singing coming from the other room before he heard the sound of footsteps as they approached him.
Abby sang softly under her breath as she prepared a vegetable broth for her guest. She had been forcing the broth down his throat for the past two days, fearful of him becoming dehydrated or malnourished. The electricity had come back on late last night. She was thankful, since she needed to finish the piece she was working on, and it was just safer not using candles.
Pouring the broth into a deep bowl, she set it on the tray. She hoped her guest woke up soon. If he didn’t wake up by tomorrow, she was going to have to call for the doctor to come look in on him. She went up to the meadow twice a day as well to pet and talk to the gold ship. She didn’t know why, but she had a feeling it was worried about the man. She was rewarded with another gold bracelet, necklace, and earrings. At the rate she was going, she would be so loaded down, she wouldn’t be able to walk.
Abby walked quietly into the bedroom. The mid-morning sun shone brightly through the large windows.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty. I’ve made you some more of that delicious broth you love so much. How about opening those gorgeous eyes and giving me a peek at who’s sleeping his life away? Bo would love to have someone to play catch with, and your golden ship seems to be missing you as well.” Abby kept up the running monologue she had started yesterday morning, thinking that if he heard someone’s voice he might respond faster. The Internet said people in a coma could hear what people said, so maybe this hunk of a man could hear her.
Zoran frowned as the translator imbedded in his brain took a moment to learn and translate the words the creature spoke. He breathed in deeply to catch the creature’s scent and was immediately hit by the fragrance of sunlight, woods, and wildflowers. His body jerked in response, his cock filling with need as the beast inside him responded to the female. His fingers clenched under the covers as he fought the overpowering reaction to the female’s voice and scent.