Page 7 of An Alien for Her Heart

Despite the chaos still occurring in the field around us, time stills again as Catherine steps even closer. It seems she’s forgotten the chaos. It seems she’s forgottenme, and it’s glorious because she stands close to me, peering at the umu in my arms.

I can’t look away. Her skin is a tapestry of stories I can’t begin to understand. There are tiny dots of dark pigment scattered across her chest and neck, almost like the dapples of starlight through forest leaves. Camouflage? I don’t know what they are, but they captivate me enough that my digits twitch. If I was not holding the umu, I might have been tempted to reach out and touch them.

Her scent reaches me next and I find myself leaning in for a second sampling. Mm. Her scent reminds me of peace. Before the war. Before everything changed.

It’s her voice that pulls me back to the present. Not the baying oogas. Not the rush of umus chasing each other in the tall grass-feed.

“You don’t know wool, do you?” she asks. Her tone is different, as if curiosity has softened her earlier wariness of me.

I tilt my head slightly, still cradling the umu who has settled down in my grasp and trying not to reveal that I’ve been staring. “Who is he?”

She chuckles, the sound so unexpected it makes my ears flatten and I go still again. “It’s not a person. It’s from sheep,” she explains. “Animals back on Earth, where I…where I come from.” Her humor disappears like a Zilox when the sky weeps. Her expression shutters and she grasps the neck of her tunic again before taking a step backward. Curses. “They kind of look like these umus. Just much larger and not so round. We use theirwool to make clothes, blankets, things like that.” She gestures to the umu. And then, as if speaking to herself, she murmurs, “Almost makes me want to knit again.”

I nod, trying to focus on her words rather than the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathes. “Knitting. A fine…task.”

My tone must reveal I have no idea what she’s talking about, because a small smile tugs at her lips. A brief flash of warmth brightens her eyes. But just as soon as it appears, she freezes. Her body. Her smile. Everything. She blinks and the smile is gone. Just as her humor had disappeared before, it does so again as she steps away from me.

I have offended her. I race through the interaction, repeating it in my head, but I’m lost as she wraps her arm around herself once more and doesn’t meet my gaze.

“I’ll…lead them to your outbuilding,” I say, trying to fill the sudden silence between us that, with the chaos of our surroundings, feels as oppressive as the quietness that stifles me each dark cycle.

“Yes—that sounds…good.” She doesn’t sound sure about it, but I don’t expect her to. The umus might remind her of animals from her home world, but they’re not the same thing. She must be worried they will cause more trouble.

Dipping a claw into my pocket, I take out the sweet cubes I brought just for this. The umu sniffs and I lower my claw and allow the fluffy creature to take a lick of the treat resting in my palm. It does so hesitantly, but the moment its tongue swipes across the cube, its entire body vibrates with glee. I set it down with a bit of the cube in its mouth and watch as it races off, disappearing into the tall grass-feed.

Catherine blinks, her gaze shooting to me. The oogas are still running in circles and trampling the ground and I don’t miss the moment she takes a step closer to me now that she’s focusing onthe chaos again. Just that slight thing and I almost puff out my chest like a fool.

“What now?” she whispers, eyes wide again, and I wish I could assure her it will all be fine. That her field will remain intact…though, now that I’m in it, I realize the Raki has done nothing to clear away the grass feed in preparation for crops. If it isn’t done soon, Catherine will miss the season for sowing.

“We wait,” I say, a furrow on my brow as my gaze shifts to the Raki on the roof. Crouching once more, my brows dive lower and lower as the clicks pass by.

“No crops?” I finally ask. Again, it comes out too gruff. Perhaps it’s not my yearning after all but the presence of that Raki that’s making me act out of sorts. The reason for which, I am not sure.

Catherine shifts, the slight movement like a trigger on my senses even with the chaos around us.

“Yes. Eventually. I just have to clear this field and then I’ll be sowing some of the seeds New Horizons left me.” She pauses. “That’s the company that…the one Eleanor and I signed up with. I guess you know all about that since she’s your…”

“My kahlesta,” I murmur. If she thinks I care that New Horizons works with females who have been through trauma, I don’t. I will not judge her past. It’s not even on my mind as I stare at the ground at our feet.

“Right. I guess that’s how you say ‘sister-in-law’? Anyway, once I clear this field, I’ll try my hand at the crops.”

I don’t tell her what I think. What Iknow. That if her field isn’t cleared in the next three sols, maximum four, she’ll be too late for a successful harvest this orbit. Pulling up some of the grass-feed, I look at their roots. My brow dives deeper. I stick a digit into the ground and take up a bit of the soil, turning it over, my eyes narrowing before I pull out a few more roots and bring them up to eye level.

The roots are dying. There are pests in the soil. If Catherine plants anything, her crops won’t grow to harvest.

Her almost inaudible gasp is what draws my attention back as a black blur shoots through the grass-feed directly toward us. Three umus appear, all racing toward my outstretched claw. I give them each a sweet cube before standing. More appear by the time I’m on my feet once more.

“Alright, you little troublemakers. Let’s go.” I turn, gaze finding the wide-eyed human before I force myself to look away. My brow is still furrowed and I don’t want her to think she’s the reason for my rising annoyance. Instead, I shoot my glare at the Raki on the roof and direct my scorn at him instead. Dropping sweet cubes on the ground as I go, Catherine keeps my pace, gaze darting back at the line of umus trailing us from the field. Her cheeks are a strange rosy color now that wasn’t there before. I’ve only seen such a thing happen to mykahlestawhenever my siblingkin does something to please her.

I almost stumble.

Am I…pleasingthis female? The thought is absurd and yet I can’t help but keep my eyes on her as we walk from the field. The furrow on my brow is erased with this new puzzle. Thank the gods she’s so much shorter than I, she can’t tell I’m watching her intently unless she chooses to look up at this very moment. She doesn’t. Her focus is on the umus, brows still furrowed and that suspicious look in her eyes as she watches them follow us.

I could laugh. She doesn’t trust the little things, though they really are harmless. But then I remember that my siblinkin’s mate doesn’t like them either. She’s terrified of them after one caused her to fall and hit her head. She almost died and that only reminds me of how delicate these females are. That kills the humor that was rising within me immediately and I look now at the female beside me with concern.

“They will not harm you.” Still gruff. I should just keep my mouth shut. And yet there’s the undeniable urge to say something more. The urge to speak is unusual for me, unsettling even. I’m not accustomed to wanting to comfort anyone, let alone a strange human female. “If they tried to harm you, I would not allow it.”

She looks up at me then, green gaze framed by delicate dark lashes. “I believe you.” There’s a smile that follows her words but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Not like before. Not like when it came naturally as if she’d forgotten who I was.

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