Page 1 of Surface Pressure

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“Who the fuck are you?”

Autumn stood up sharply from her spot in the little oasis she’d found by the water. She pressed her hand to the weapon at her side and pulled it out, pointing it at the creature who stood before her. She swallowed the lump in her throat. No one knew where she was.

This creature wasn’t natural.

She wasn’t human.

And she was fucking naked!

Autumn kept her eyes trained on the creature’s face. She obviously didn’t have a weapon on her, but that didn’t mean hand-to-hand wasn’t an option, and the idea of wrestling with the salaciously curvy creature wasn’t something Autumn wanted to even attempt.

She kept her hand on her weapon, finger on the trigger. Autumn wouldn’t let this creature get too close. She couldn’t.

“Who are you?” Autumn repeated, digging deep for her commanding tone even though she wasn’t a commander. She was a grunt, a soldier, the lowest of lows. She puffed up her chest to make herself look bigger and taller. She wanted to scare this creature, make her disappear back to where she came from and pretend like she didn’t exist.

She’d have to make a full report, of course.

The breeze picked up from the water’s edge, and it pulled at the creature’s long shiny silver hair. The wet strands wrapped around her. This creature was stunning, with full breasts and pale silvery skin on her shoulders that darkened in a royal blue ombré down the curves of her body to her webbed toes.

A loud crack resounded through the clearing and brought Autumn’s attention right back to the creature’s face. “Stand down!”

Sounds reverberated through the creature’s lips, but they made no sense. They sounded guttural and animalistic. Autumn continued to stare at her, waiting for the next move. She was going to be ready. If she could capture the creature and bring it to her commander, then she could maybe get a promotion.

This planet was supposed to be uninhabited.

Was this just a hallucination?

“Soulara.”

The sound was pure, almost like music falling from the creature’s lips. Autumn raised her eyes, meeting the creature’s gaze in confusion. Her eyes were a beautiful pale blue with hints of silver that rivaled the sheen of her skin. She seemed almost glittery.

“My name is Soulara,” she repeated. Suddenly her voice was higher pitched, smooth and gentle as it caressed Autumn’s soul.

“I didn’t ask what your name was!” Autumn ground out the words, staying as defensive as possible. She couldn’t give this creature an inch.

“You didn’t.” Soulara put her hands down to her sides, fingers flexed out, but she seemed so much more relaxed than five seconds ago. The light in her eyes had dimmed a bit, but she was still gorgeous. “What’s your name?”

Autumn narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She was only ever supposed to give her rank and identification number, and she wasn’t supposed to talk to aliens. Shaking her head, Autumn readjusted her hands on her weapon, stepping back again. She needed more space between them. There was clearly some kind of magic afoot here. The distance between them would have to help with that. Autumn wasn’t trained to deal with magic. She hadn’t gone through that camp yet.

Soulara took a step forward, her webbed toes making it look like she was floating across the sandy ground. Autumn cringed. She wasn’t going to give in this easily. Soulara clearly knew how to use her wiles, but Autumn had defenses for those. She straightened her shoulders, and her hands shook as she held the weapon up.

“Don’t come any closer.”

Soulara froze. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me.” Autumn was sure of that. She wouldn’t allow this creature to hurt her. She stayed on point, ready to defend herself if anything were to start.

“Look. I think we started off on the wrong tail.” Soulara pinched her face before glancing down at her feet and looking back up.

What the hell was that look?

Autumn was even more confused now than before.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think the spell worked all the way. What are these called?” Soulara lifted her foot in front of her and wiggled her toes in Autumn’s direction.

“Your feet?” Autumn said in disbelief.

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