Page 26 of Craving Stardust

I must’ve dozed, because I woke what felt like hours later, still wrapped in his embrace. His cocks had slipped from me, and I missed them already. I’d never had sex like this, and I never would again.

He kissed the top of my head. “I’m glad you slept. Dawn will arrive soon.”

“Did you sleep?”

“Who needs to sleep when I get to hold you?”

I snuggled into his chest, tracing idle patterns on his skin. “Will you tell me more about your planet?”

He ran his fingers gently through my hair, stroking my neck and my scalp. “Of course, my stardust.”

I loved that he called me that, because he was my stardust too, a person wonderful and precious, sent to me by the stars.

If only we could stay in this perfect moment forever.

He started to speak, but stilled, his arms tightening around me.

That’s when the roar of helicopters passed overhead.

TEN

Lordek

Iris let out a yelp. I stared at her grimly.

Our interlude was over much too soon.

We slipped from the bed and rushed into the living area, me still limping, though my leg was nearly healed. Lights flashed overhead before the flying crafts continued across the forest behind her home.

“They’re looking for you,” Iris cried, clinging to me. “We’re not going to let them find you.”

Not if I could prevent it.

“We’ll hide you somewhere. The attic or the basement. There has to be someplace. My grandfather had boxes out in the barn. We can dump out the tools. You can hide there. There has to be a place where they won’t look for you.”

I had to leave. If they were anything like my government or those I’d encountered on other planets, there was no place they wouldn’t look. They would seek and seek until they found me. And if they had to stomp over Iris to get me, they would do so without a qualm.

Our time together was over. It wouldn’t be long before the flying crafts returned. This time, they wouldn’t pass over the farmhouse.

They’d surround it.

Iris turned on the vision box, scrolling through to a program discussing events.

“In national news, military officials report that an unidentified aircraft crashed in a remote area of forest near Bridgetown recently. Witnesses reported seeing a bright fireball streaking across the sky, followed by a loud explosion. Was it a meteor or something more sinister?”

“Aliens could be among us, Steve,” the woman on the vision box said. She looked right at us as if she could see me and Iris standing in her tiny home. “Lock your doors, folks, and keep your children close. Whoever was flying the craft is considered armed and dangerous.”

“Shoot, then ask questions, right?” Steve said grimly.

How could he smile while stating something so horrifying?

As if Katie understood what was being said, she hissed at the screen. She hopped onto the floor and raced over to rub against my legs. I picked her up and laid her across my shoulder, stroking her silky fur.

I’d only known her a short time, but I already couldn’t imagine not having a pet like her. I’d have to leave her just like I would Iris, and the thought was like torture.

“It’s a big mystery, Barbara, and I’m tellin’ you, it’s also darn exciting,” Steve said. “The military has cordoned off the little town and they’re searching for debris to determine the craft's origin. Imagine. It could be aliens or something equally amazing. Will they update us? Or will take whatever they find to Area 51? Stay tuned for the latest details here on this network."

The screen flashed to a comical character singing about golden blocks of meat called chee-con.

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