Page 23 of Stranded with the Alien

If the alien recovered, there’d have to be some ground rules. An arrangement. No prisoners, no threats. A truce, if that was possible. Maybe they could find separate bits of the planet to live on.

She realized she was starting to think about her predicament as long term and fought down panic.

Cap would find her. He wouldn’t believe she was dead. And her mother was the most obstinate, single-minded person she knew. The President wouldn’t rest until every last stone was turned in the hunt for her daughter.

She sank deeper into the pool, letting the hot water soothe her. Dragging her fingers through her hair, she massaged her scalp and then her shoulders, forcing herself to relax.

Her peace was shattered when she heard the Vraxian roar. He sounded as if he was in pain. Acting without thought, she ran from the pool and into the cave, pulling up short when she saw him.

He’d managed to stand upright but he seemed dazed and disorientated. His yellow eyes were open but unfocused. She approached him slowly, holding out her palms.

“Hey, take it easy,” she said. “Everything’s okay. Why don’t you lie down and rest?”

The alien’s gaze fell on her and belatedly she remembered she was naked. But then she saw he wasn’t really awake.

He’s out of it,she thought, studying his expression.He’s still delirious.

Without warning his tentacles snaked towards her. Startled, she turned to run but only got a few steps before she was lifted off her feet.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Terrified he was trying to kill her, she beat at the appendage curled round her waist. It had zero impact. He crushed her to his chest and held her there, hands firmly on her hips. With a deep groan, he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

She pushed vainly at his shoulders. It was like trying to move a mountain.

“Wake up! Wake the fuck up!”

He didn’t respond. She kicked and struggled, trying to rouse him. If she could just shake him from his delirium, she could…

“Kalehsha.”

He rumbled the word against her throat and the sound of it throbbed in her bones.

And then he kissed her and all sensible thought scattered.

Fourteen

He was oblivious to her muffled curses and didn’t notice, or didn’t care, that she was pounding on his chest.

He wasn’t trying to hurt her, she knew that much. Her initial fear that he was going to inject her with toxin evaporated. But it didn’t change the fact that he was kissing her and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.

This can’t be happening.

And yet it was. His mouth roamed hers with slow deliberation, forcing her lips apart gently but firmly until his tongue was able to invade.

It should have filled her with horror. An alien tongue rubbing against hers. And yet as he continued to kiss her, she found she didn’t want it to end

Her heart started racing and somehow, at some point, her hands stopped trying to push him away. The alien nuzzled her cheek.

“Kalehsha.”

That word again. She didn’t know what it meant but it made her pulse kick up a notch.

He’s hallucinating. He thinks I’m someone else.

A tentacle circled her waist and snaked upwards, slithering like raw silk across her breasts. The sensation was indescribable. The soft rasp over her nipples made them harden instantly, sending tendrils of heat straight to her core.

She tried to fight it. But it was hard to think straight when she was getting aroused.

---