Why are you thinking of Teeny, anyway? I asked myself as I opened the ship’s hatch and ushered the silent Leah inside. She’s gone—far beyond your reach.
Right. And Leah was even further beyond my reach. A Pure One and a La-ti-zal. She might as well be the Goddess herself, she was so far above me. Best not to let myself get attached.
We were walking down the long central corridor of my ship as I lectured myself. I keep a pretty clean ship—no mess anyplace. It’s a habit I picked up in prison where you kept your bunk neat or paid the price. And believe me, it’s not a price you’d want to pay.
“You can have this room,” I told Leah, motioning her to the sleeping chamber beside mine. “It’s not fancy but it’s neat. I, uh, hope you’ll be comfortable there.”
“Thank you.” Her voice was a whisper and her head was down, her long brown hair hanging like a curtain around her face. Even through her silky hair, I could still see the cuts and bruises her bastard of a mate had put on her lovely face.
I wished she would let me heal them.
Males of the Twelve Peoples are able to heal orally—that is, we have antiseptic and healing agents in our saliva and other bodily fluids. But that kind of healing is usually only performed by a male on his bonded or intended mate and I wasn’t sure how Leah would feel about it if I offered to heal her.
Best to just leave her alone, I told myself.
“Uh…” I cleared my throat. “I’m going to get some clothes on and set a course for Eloim. Later on I’ll be making something for last meal. If you’d like to join me?” I made the last words a question, not wanting her to feel pressured.
“Sure. That…that would be nice.” She looked up for a moment and I could tell she was trying to smile. “Thank you,” she said in a low voice. “For everything.”
I looked into her battered but lovely face and met her eyes.
“It was my privilege to serve you, my lady,” I told her softly, meaning every word.
“Oh, um…” Her cheeks got suddenly pink. “Thank you,” she whispered again.
I nodded and turned to go. I would give her some time to lick her wounds. Maybe we could talk more over last meal. Even if we were only going to be together a short time, I couldn’t help wanting to know her better…to find out more about the lovely little Earth female who was now in my care.
Chapter Five
Leah
After Grav left me alone, I spent some time exploring my new room. It was, as he said, not fancy. In fact, at first glance, I wouldn’t have known it was a room in an alien spacecraft at all. There was a small, neatly made up bunk that folded out of the wall, a metal desk which was bare, and a single metal chair. No windows—no decorations. Actually, it looked more like a prison cell than a guest room but it was, as Grav had said, extremely neat.
I didn’t care about the room’s Spartan appearance. Anyplace away from the house I shared with Gerald would be fine with me. I still couldn’t believe the way he’d gone after me. The way he’d—
No. Don’t think about it. Push it away.
I shook back my hair and took a deep breath but the motion made my face ache sharply. All right—enough avoiding the truth—time to go assess the damage. I wondered if there was a mirror in the tiny bathroom that adjoined the cell-like bedroom.
In fact, there was, but it took me a little while to figure out how to use it. It was a flat, silver panel mounted above the tiny sink (which, by the way, did that same suction-buzzing thing the sinks in airplanes do when you’re flying) and it had several buttons on one side of it.
I pressed one experimentally and the silvery panel came to life with a low hum. But when the fuzzy picture sharpened, I found I was looking at the back of my head. What? How was that even possible?
I tried another button and this time I was staring at myself upside down. Well, that didn’t work either, though even from that angle, I could tell my face was pretty messed up. The third button distorted my features into a weird clown mask, making me think of those wavy, bulging mirrors at the fun house when the carnival comes to town.
Finally, with the last button, I got it right. My face—from the front and right side up—came into view.
I bit back a gasp at what I saw.
My lower lip was cut and tender and a nasty bruise was already forming over my right cheekbone. There was a scrape over one eyebrow that was still trickling blood and my whole face looked swollen and awful.
I wanted to cry at what the alien mirror revealed but I held back the tears grimly. If I let myself break down now I might never stop weeping. I didn’t want that.
I splashed cold water in my face and blotted it gently with a thin hand towel I found beside the sink. My face still felt like raw hamburger but at least it looked better once all the blood was washed away.
Beside the sink was a tall, narrow shower stall with a showerhead shaped a little like a megaphone. Thinking that a hot shower would make me feel better, I stepped inside. But I couldn’t find any way to make the shower work—there were no knobs or buttons or anything. Well, maybe it was like those motion-activated sinks that only worked when you waved your hand under them.
Experimentally, I waved with both hands.
“Hello?” I said, trying to get some reaction out of the damn thing. “Hello there—come on. I just want a shower. Please, I—”
A blast of…something suddenly came out of the strangely shaped showerhead. It was air but not just air. There seemed to be some kind of humming vibration along with it that surrounded my entire body. It pulsed around me like a huge, thrumming heartbeat and I found myself being lifted off my feet.
“Oh! Oh, no!” I gasped, scrabbling at the slick shower walls. “Stop! Stop it!”
The wind only got worse. My hair was whipping around my face like it does when you get into the hurricane booth you find at some kid’s museums and the humming buzz filled my head so completely I couldn’t hear my own voice—even though I was screaming by now, at the top of my lungs. “Help!” I shouted. “Help!”
Suddenly the shower door was ripped open and Grav’s face appeared, looking both worried and protective. He assessed the situation in a glance and then waved one big hand in front of the shower head.
At once the weird humming buzz went silent, leaving a strange ringing in my ears. The wind died abruptly, dropping me like a bored child drops a toy.
I would have fallen straight to the metal floor if Grav hadn’t reached out with inhuman grace and caught me, pulling me close to his broad chest. Once more I felt that strange tingle when we touched and then I was gasping and pressing my face to his shoulder, just trying to catch my breath.
Grav held me without comment as I shivered against him. This close I could smell the warm, spicy scent of his skin and feel the heat radiating off his big body. He was so much bigger than me I almost felt like a child being held by an adult. It made me think of when I was a little girl and my dad would carry me to bed when I fell asleep on the couch. (Sometimes I used to pretend I was asleep, just so he would scoop me up and tuck me in.)
Somehow that feeling of security, along with the heat of the big blue alien’s body and his deliciously masculine scent, was incredibly comforting.
I closed my eyes and let myself melt into it. When was the last time I’d been held in the arms of a man who wanted only to protect me, not to hurt me? Probably back when I was a kid, I thought. Back when Dad used to tuck me in.
“Hey,” Grav rumbled after a long moment, breaking my train of thought. “You okay, darlin’? I heard you shouting and you sounded scared—I wouldn’t have come burstin’ into the fresher otherwise.”
“I…I…” My voice was hoarse from screaming and I had to clear my throat and start again. “I’m surprised you could hear anything over that noise,” I said at last, shakily. “What…what kind of shower is this anyway?”
“A sonic shower,” he said promptly. “Water’s fuckin’ scarce in space. Sound used
at certain frequencies cleans pretty well.”
“I feel cleaned all right,” I said, swiping a strand of hair out of my eyes. “Like someone used me to mop the floor.”
“Sorry,” he rumbled. “It’s set for somebody my size. Not an itty-bitty female like you.”
“I’m not that itty-bitty,” I protested. “In fact, back on Earth I’m not considered nearly itty-bitty enough.” Which was true. Zoe and Charlotte and I always used to joke that we were the Plus-sized three musketeers.
“You look perfect to me,” Grav remarked and there was nothing but sincerity in his tone.
I tried to laugh but the noise that came out of my mouth sounded broken.
“How can you say that?” I asked. “My hair is a mess and my face…my face…” But I couldn’t go on.
“Your face will heal, Leah,” he rumbled. “And you being wounded, doesn’t change the fact that you’re fuckin’ gorgeous.”
For some reason, his honest admiration made me self-conscious. Maybe because it seemed like he was talking about more than just my face. Of course, part of my unease was because I was naked and pressed right up against him. My hair was covering my breasts and I had my thighs squeezed together, hiding my sex. But still, now that I had gotten over my fright at the sonic shower, it was awkward.
Um…” I shifted against him again. “I, uh, should probably get dressed.”
“Oh—right. You okay to stand?” He looked at me anxiously, one eyebrow raised.
“I think so,” I said carefully. “Maybe…maybe you could just stay outside the bathroom door while I get my clothes on?” I grimaced when I thought of the naughty schoolgirl outfit which was all I had to wear. “Just in case.”
“Sure thing.” He set me gently on my feet and stepped out of the small bathroom courteously.
I gripped the sink and took a deep breath. How was it that a seven foot tall horned alien was more of a gentleman than the man I’d allowed myself to marry?
Okay, enough of that. Taking a deep breath, I started pulling on the naughty school-girl outfit. Somebody needed to teach those damn worm aliens about not objectifying women! Still, I had nothing else to wear so I gritted my teeth and put it on.
The black panties were tiny but stretchy so I was able to make them fit over my behind, which was good. The skirt, though, was much shorter than I’d thought—it barely came down to the tops of my thighs. And the shirt was almost see-through—the pink tips of my nipples were clearly visible. I wished fiercely for a bra but of course I didn’t have one. I refused to tie it up above my midriff though—I just tucked it in instead, hoping it might cover my ass if I had to bend over.
The socks and shoes that completed the outfit made me feel even more ridiculous, if that was possible. But the metal floor of the spaceship was really cold. I decided it was better to look silly than have ice cubes for feet.
At last I was ready to emerge. Taking a deep breath, I stepped towards the bathroom door which slid open obligingly.
Grav was standing just outside the door, his massive arms crossed over his muscular chest, looking for all the world like an alien bouncer. There was an impassive look on his granite-like features but when he saw me, he gave a long, low whistle.
“Fuckin’ gorgeous,” he remarked.
“No, it’s silly.” I tugged at the skirt, wishing I could make it about two feet longer.
He raised an eyebrow. “So females on your planet don’t usually dress like, uh…” He made a motion at me with one hand. “Like that?”
“Only in porn,” I said, still tugging at the skirt.
“Porn?” He frowned.
“You know—pornography? Things you look at or watch just for, you know, sexual gratification?”
I could feel myself blushing as I said it. I looked up and saw that he was studying me, those strange, alien eyes considering and intense.
“So the Commercians gave you clothes only a pleasure girl would wear?”
I wasn’t exactly sure what a “pleasure girl” was but I could guess.
“Yes, I suppose so,” I said, tugging again, this time at the blouse so my nipples wouldn’t be so visible through the thin, white fabric.
“I’ll kill them,” Grav growled, his face gong hard. “Fuckin’ worms, disrespecting you that way. I’ll—”
“Please, don’t!” I put a hand on his bicep and felt the tension thrumming through his muscular form.
“They insulted you,” he rumbled, frowning. “As a Protector, I don’t just watch out for my ward’s physical safety—I protect her reputation too.”
Wow—he really took his job seriously! Still, I couldn’t let him go back and pound the talking blue worms into paste just because they’d given me a slutty Halloween costume to wear instead of proper clothes.
“I’m sure they didn’t know what they were doing,” I told him. “Please, I…” I lowered my eyes. “I’ve had enough violence for one day.”
The thrumming tension in his big body seemed to ease considerably.
“All right, darlin’,” he murmured. “I understand—the Commercians get a pass. This time.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, looking up at him.
“Look…” He shifted. “Before I heard you screamin’ in the shower, I was coming to tell you that we already made the first hop and we’ll be making the next one soon.”
I frowned. “The first…hop? What does that mean?”
“Oh sorry, forgot your people don’t know much about interstellar travel. My ship’s a space-hopper—a design that lets you leap-frog through the space-time continuum and get to your destination a hell of a lot faster than if you just flew in a straight line.” Grav explained. “It’s based on wormhole technology—creating new holes and destroying them the moment you hop through and start creating the next one.”
“Wow…your ship makes worm holes?”
He nodded. “Uh-uh. Right now we’re out by the star system I think your people call Alpha Centauri but the next hop’ll take us further in, to the interior of the galaxy.” He frowned. “Of course, I wouldn’t want to go too far toward the interior.”
“Why?” I said. And then, remembering something I’d seen on a science program once I said, “Is that because you don’t want to get sucked into the super-massive black hole in the center of the galaxy?”
He laughed, sounding surprised. “Hey! So you humans do know a little about where you live. But no, that’s not the reason. It’s just that the closer you get to the center—to Femme 1, and the inner ring planets—the more, ah, bureaucracy you find.”
“Bureaucracy?” I shook my head. “Why is that a problem?”
“Well, maybe that’s not the right word. I should say, the closer you get to the center, the more government you find. You know—authority?” He cleared his throat. “Let’s just say that Imperial Peace Keepers have a long memory and leave it at that. Okay?”
“Sure, I guess.” I didn’t really understand what he was saying—maybe that he had a problem with authority? Looking at his huge, muscular form and the swirling black tattoos that decorated his blue hide, I could certainly believe that.
“So it’s just fifteen hops to Eloim,” Grav said. “The ship has to take a little rest between hops—especially the longer ones because of the size of the wormhole it has to create. But we’ll be there before you know it. It’s only a couple of thousand light years from Earth.”
“A couple of thousand?” My mouth felt suddenly dry when I remembered that a light year wasn’t three-hundred and sixty-five days, the way we measure a year. A light year is the distance it takes a beam of light to travel in one year. And light is pretty much the fastest thing in the universe. I was going to be so far from home it was mind-boggling. At least, it boggled my mind.
I’ll be gone—so far away from Earth I might never get home, I thought. And I never even told Mom I was going!
Suddenly what I was doing hit me—hit me hard like a sledgehamm
er between the eyes. I wasn’t just leaving the house I shared with Gerald, or even the town we lived in. I was leaving the whole planet and the people I loved, who still cared for me, would be worried sick. Just like Charlotte and I had been worried sick about Zoe!
How can I do that to my mom? To Charlotte? I thought. To Taggard? He depends on me! I can’t do this—I can’t!
“You can’t what?” Grav asked and I realized I’d spoken the last words aloud.
“I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “I just…just realized what I’m doing. I’m trying to run away from my problems in the most extreme way possible—by leaving the whole freaking planet! But I can’t.” I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. “I can’t just disappear without telling my mom and my friends and family. I can’t do that.”
Grav regarded me gravely for a moment, then nodded.
“Yeah, I understand. It was kind of a split second thing, the idea of taking you to Zoe.”
“It’s a crazy thing,” I said. “I just…can’t do it. I think I must have been in some kind of shock to even consider it.”
“It’s possible.” He nodded again. “You just went through a fuckin’ traumatic experience. But, Leah…” His strange eyes grew serious. “What are you gonna do about that asshole mate of yours? I’ll turn the ship around and take you back to Earth but I won’t put you in harm’s way. He has to be dealt with.”
My mouth was suddenly dry.
“Dealt with…how?”
He shrugged. “Put out of commission. I need to make sure he can’t hurt you again. Not won’t—can’t,” he emphasized.
“You…you mean…” I had to lick my lips before I could continue and I winced as my tongue ran over my wounded bottom lip. “You mean you want to kill him?” I asked at last.
Grav shrugged again as if it was no big deal.
“If you want me to, I got no problem with that.”
“No, no!” I put up a hand as if to stop him, though he was still just standing there. “No, you can’t do that! He’s horrible and controlling and abusive but you can’t just kill him.”