Page 35 of The Alien's Major Dilemma

"Oh?" the lizard woman's eye brows didn't raise because she didn't have any, but her face shifted in a way that suggested it. "You consented to the mental bond, then? Will full knowledge of the possible consequences? You agreed to let him take over your mind?"

"No," she allowed. "But he didn't, either. I got the feeling he didn't know it was possible. And he hasn't taken over my mind."

Ae-cha snorted again. "Please, if he told you that, he was lying. The Chelions have been hunting human women for centuries to force that bond. It's one of their most basic primal urges, to the point where they'll kill each other and anybody between them and their intended victim."

"He's not," Marissa started again, then stopped when she heard Cooper's voice in her head.

Don't, the voice said.Not yet.

"Not like that?" Ae-cha scoffed. "I expected a warrior woman like you to know better but it's obvious he's clouded your judgment."

Marissa rolled her eyes. "You don't know anything about me or what I've been through in the last days, weeks or months. So I'm going to go with fuck off and die. Where's Cooper?"

Ae-cha's mouth opened in a toothy grin. It was the most alien she'd looked yet and Marissa shivered. "Cooper is somewhere he can't hurt you. Hopefully soon, he'll be convinced to let go of the hold he has on your mind. Until then, this process is going to be unpleasant."

Energy radiated up Marissa's arms and spine until she was completely immobilized where she was sitting on the stretcher. Ae-cha crossed the room towards her with obvious intent, sending a chill of fear through her.

When Ae-cha's hand landed on the top of Marissa's skull, she realized that she could move something after all. Her mouth fell open in a scream.

Chapter 16

Cooper thrashed against the restraints in his cell while his mind fought to regain its focus. He could feel the guards watching him and the rough cave wall the cell had been carved out of. Everything else was focused on creating the sphere of ice around Marissa's mind to ease the pain of the torture she was going through.

He could feel her relief as the pain eased and her body relaxed. Every muscle had been clenched against the invasion that it couldn't fight. It wasn't going to last long because he could feel her tormentor boring through his barrier.

If they were closer, he could make it stronger. If they'd had more time, he could have taught her how to make her own.

Marissa must have felt some of his panic and regret because he could tell she was trying her best to soothe him. A weakbarrier joined his and he did his best to reinforce it before it was breached.

That she was able to see what he was doing and mimic it at all showed him what kind of brain she had. Doing so after the pain and torment she'd been through was a testament to just how strong her will was.

His body was still and his breathing shallow while he put everything he had into protecting her as long as he could. Their captors had told him lie after lie about how they weren't going to hurt her, how they were going to save her from the evils they knew he was going to subject her to.

Cooper never would have put her through this. Whatever they claimed they were saving her from, it could never have been worse than this violation.

The ice sphere he'd created around Marissa's mind changed as she studied what he'd done. Still cool and mostly solid, everywhere Marissa's will touched it, it became more solid and metallic.

He could feel her smile of triumph covering the exhaustion that ate at both of them. The intrusion stopped and he could feel a sense of relief as she listened to her tormentors.

Are you okay?she asked

Alive and unharmed, he answered.Grateful they seem to have stopped.

He hadn't dared speak to her earlier. With her mind under attack, he wasn't sure if she'd be able to understand him, anyway. There was still a risk that they'd be overheard but he needed to hear her voice however he could.

Thank you, she said.I didn't know how to stop them.

Do you know why they're doing this?

I think they're trying to save me from you, she said.She's trying to remove your influence from my mind. She thinks you're controlling me.

She doesn't know you if she thinks I can control you,he said with a mental snort.

Marissa's smile filled him with a warmth and joy he'd never thought possible.

Her attention wavered from the protections around her mind and they started to recede. Cooper caught snatches of conversation before his own attention was pulled away to his surroundings.

His cell was carved into the wall of a larger cave, with a wall of bars across the front, and a door that was more bars with hinges and a lock. They were close enough together that most people couldn't fit through them, even if they weren't chained to the wall by their ankles. His bed was mostly a stiff pallet bolted into the wall of the cave and seemed to be the newest thing in there.

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