Page 15 of Risking Her Heart

I recognize what he’s doing so I let him clean me up. He takes his time, making sure not to leave any mess. When he’s done, the rag is filthy but I’m clean and we’re back to awkwardly looking at one another. He smiles and it looks so shy and uncertain that I giggle, shaking my head.

“Uh,” I say, gesturing awkwardly which is when I see the motion at the edge of my peripheral vision.

His cock rises, but it’s a weird jerky motion, then it’s hard, stiff, and ready. I stare in disbelief. I know he’s an alien but the sticky mess he just cleaned is proof I brought him to satisfaction. What the hell?

But as I stare at his cock it becomes clear this isn’t the same cock. It has a different bend to it, the color is a little different, and the head is slightly larger. I look from his cock to his eyes with a questioning look. He looks down, shrugs, and flashes his crooked smile.

“More?” he asks.

The fact that it’s a question, not an expectation, hits me in unexpected ways. Tears well in my eyes but I’m smiling and pulling him in, ready for all of him.

9

KATARINA

Iwake slowly. Comfortably. So, so, satisfied. Satisfied in a way that makes me want to snuggle up in the blanket closer to Zas and sleep a few more hours. I shift around and try to snuggle against him but then I wake up enough to realize he’s not there.

That rips me from the siren call of sleep. Sitting straight up, the blanket tangles as I look around trying to not let fear rule my brain. Even so my breath is rapid and a cold sweat forms on my chest and trickles down my spine.

“Zas?” I ask, keeping my voice soft, afraid to make too much noise for a multitude of reasons, none of them good.

It’s dark beyond the tent walls. Or mostly dark. I’m guessing it must be right at or before dawn. Trying not to make any noise, I look for my clothes. My heart skips when I see them neatly folded and lying next to the sleeping blanket.

Oh… Zas…

No man, no one even, in all my life has ever done something so simple yet so profoundly sweet for me. Pressure builds behindmy eyes and if I weren’t so afraid that something was wrong and that I might be in immediate danger, I would take the time to enjoy it. But I am and now is not the moment.

Later. Once I know we’re both safe, then I will take time to appreciate him. He’s not only a fantastic lover, fantastic being such a weak word to encompass the lovemaking, but he’s kind and thoughtful? Sign me up, please.

What am I thinking? I don’t know him. Okay he’s nice. Sweet even. And he definitely knows how to please me but neither of those are enough to throw my heart and soul into a relationship.

No, they’re not. I know it, but there is also no denying that it feels right. Somewhere deep in my heart or maybe my soul he resonates. We resonate. As if there is and always has been an us that we’re not creating, now, but only rediscovering.

I wrap the cloth around my chest, binding my breasts, then get my shirt on before untangling the blanket and getting into my pants. My shoes are there but before I can put them on a shadow move across the tent wall. Terror is a chilling grip that freezes me in place. I don’t even dare to breathe.

The formless shadow drifts across the fabric, looming large. My heart is in my throat. Part of me wants to run but a more rational instinct tells me to keep still. Don’t do anything to draw attention.

Be still. Be small.

The memory comes unbidden, doing nothing to ease my fear. If anything, it makes it worse. Those were the last words that Erica said before a monstrous creature chomped her in half. She didn’t even have time to scream.

I did. I screamed myself raw as I ran for the wreckage of the ship. She and I had been gathering supplies that had been scattered after the wreck. Several people closer to the ship had showed up with pulse rifles and driven the creature off.

Driven it off. Not killed it. The pulse rifles didn’t seem to really phase it much. Hurt it, sure, but they didn’t kill it. That’s when we all came to realize how incredibly screwed we were. As if it wasn’t already real after crashing to the planet.

The shadow moves towards the flaps of the door. A slight whimper slips out. I try to hold it in but there is no containing it. The shadow must hear it because it stops then it rises.

Oh. Shit.

It’s big. Huge. Fuck. It’s bigger than the tent which is tall enough that Zas can mostly stand upright inside of it.

My eyes burn but I don’t blink. Time is frozen as the shadow seems to be waiting too. I look side-to-side without daring to move my head. Nothing. Not a damn thing to defend myself with.

This is it. Where is Zas? Why did he leave me?

The split of the tent flaps begins to part.

10

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