Page 25 of An Alien for the Future

I want to say more. I open my mouth to, but then, I see it. The light in her eyes, that spark of warmth and laughter, it flickers, dims, as if a shadow has passed over her soul. Her smile falters, and for a fleeting moment, a look of such profound sadness crosses her face that it steals away my breath.

I have made a grave error.

“Donna—” I move toward her but the fates are playing a game with me. Disaster strikes.

The ooga’s foot slips in the mud, and it lets out a bellow of fear. In its panic, it lurches to the side—right towards me. I try to dodge, but it happens too fast and the mud is too thick. The ooga’s massive body slams into me and my world tilts on its axis. Time slows down as my core-beat stutters. I go down like a rock, hard and heavy.

For a terrifying moment, I’m completely submerged, my brain taking some time to catch up to what just happened. But then soft claws grab my arms, tugging, urging me up. I break the surface, mud streaming from my face and filling my mouth.

“Tovan! Are you okay?” Donna’s voice is filled with concern, but there’s an undercurrent of something else. Is she…laughing?

I wipe the mud from my eyes to see her face, streaked with mud and creased with worry, but her lips are twitching as if she’s fighting back a smile. The absurdity of the situation hits me all at once, and before I know it, a chuckle rumbles in my chest.

Donna snorts, and that does it. I’m laughing. Great, gulping laughs that shake my whole body.

Her resolve crumbles, too, and she joins in, her laughter ringing out across the muddy field. We’re both covered head totoe in mud, standing next to a bewildered ooga, and laughing like we’ve lost our senses.

The last time I laughed like this was…I…I don’t remember.

That makes me aware of everything as I watch Donna’s whole body move with the strength of her mirth. So warm. So pure. This stranger…she is…she’s perfect.

I don’t know why I do it. Why I suddenly tug when her arms are still grasping mine. Perhaps it’s the infectious laughter, the joy of the moment, or simply a desire to share this ridiculous situation more fully with her. Whatever the reason, I tug her towards me, into the mud.

It takes only a moment for her to realize what’s happening and her eyes widen in surprise. “Tovan, what are you—No!” Her words cut off as she loses her balance, tumbling down into the mud beside me. “Oh, no you didn’t!”

I grin at her, feeling sudden mischief. “I believe I did.” I chuckle as she tries to sit up, only to slip back down into the muck.

“Let me go, you big oaf!” She laughs, attempting to free her wrist from my grasp. But I hold on, enjoying this playful moment too much to let it end.

Because I will have to go soon. Have to leave her presence after tarrying far longer than I should. And I want these memories. Like a male starved of affection, if this is all I’ll take away after these few sols, I want to solidify it all to memory.

“And let you miss out on all the fun?” I tease, using my free claw to scoop up a glob of mud. “I think not.”

As if sensing the danger, Donna turns, those wide eyes getting even wider in her head. “Don’t you dare—”

But it isn’t like when she’s warned me those other times. When she made it clear she wasn’t to be toyed with. There is laughter underneath her words, a gentle dare that makes me realize that she’s enjoying this, too.

With a squeal, she attempts to spin away from me, but it’s too late. I’ve already smeared fresh mud across her jaw, leaving a comical streak across her brown skin. She gasps, mouth opening into a wide circle before I see something glint in her eyes. Before I can dodge it, a clawful of mud comes right at me. It splatters across my chest, and I stare down at it, surprised.

“What? Can’t take the heat? Get out of the kitchen.”

We’re not preparing a meal, but I would very much like to prepare onewith her.

My gaze lifts, locking on hers, and that confident smile on her face freezes. The air crackles as I stare at this female, knowing I should look away but can’t. And I can tell she feels it too, whatever this is. Something in her feels it too because her gaze falls down my face, landing on my lips before going to my throat.

When I suddenly move she squeals again. No longer in my grasp, she tries to right herself, even hanging on to the distressed ooga to pull herself up so she can run away from me. Perhaps I need to leave the town more often. Go into the wilds to run. To hunt. Because right now, I see something I want and the fact she’s trying to run away from me is only making the lifeblood in my veins heat so much my skin itches underneath my scales.

I hit her with a small glob of mud and she turns those fiery eyes on me. Maybe I should stop now. I’ve soiled her quite badly and—

Mud sails through the air, splattering my face. I spit it out just as Donna throws back her head and releases laughter straight from the bottom of her gut. I forget about my doubts. Another glob of mud in my claw and it becomes a full-on mud fight as we try to outdo each other.

In the midst of our playful battle, I lose my balance again, toppling over. On instinct, I reach out to steady myself, my claws finding something warm and soft. I know what it is, should have stopped myself from hanging on. Instinct takes over instead. Myarms circle the female’s waist as I pull her down with me, and suddenly, I find myself on my back in the mud, with Donna sprawled on top of me.

She shrieks, rich potent laughter making her entire body react as she grabs more mud and plasters me with it. I growl, the sound rumbling through me as I reach for her arms to stop her attack. When I finally have them pinned, I’m three times as covered in mud as she is and she grins down at me, laughing in my face, obvious pleasure in her victory making her unaware of something critical.

The fact that she’s pressed up against me.

But I…I’m very aware. Too aware. Despite myself, despite my desperate grasp for control, my shaft hardens in my trouse, the soft weight of her against me conjuring images in my mind that have no place here right now.

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