Page 30 of Snowed in: With the Alien Tentacle Monster

"Your parents are waiting." The words came out sharper than intended, but Logan couldn't do this. Not now, not ever. He'd really thought he was starting to feel something for this alien. He'd let him in. How could he have been so stupid? "You should go make arrangements for your... diplomatic marriage."

Valen's tentacles coiled tightly. "That's not what I want."

"What you want?" Logan laughed, the sound harsh even to his own ears. "According to your parents, what you want is artificial. Caused by drugs designed for someone else."

"It's not like that."

"Isn't it?" Logan stood up, needing to move, to put space between them. His chest felt too tight. "Because from where I'm standing, it seems like you knew exactly what those chemicals would do. You knew they'd make you bond with the first person you saw, and you just... what? Decided not to mention it?"

"I couldn't…" Valen cast his gaze aside, as if admitting this pained him. "By the time I could think clearly enough to explain, we were already..."

"Already what? Mated? Bonded? Pretty words for something that was engineered in a lab." He got up and paced, needing to move to sort his thoughts. He looked out the window at the snowman. Such a stupid thing to have been doing. "You were supposed to meet someone else. Bond with them. Instead, you crashed here and... what? I was just convenient?"

"No!" Valen burst out. "When I saw you, I felt so lucky."

Logan whirled around to him. "But that feeling was never real. It was just... chemicals. Programming. Whatever you want to call it."

"Then why does it hurt so much?" Valen demanded. "If it's not real, why can I feel your pain like it's my own?"

Logan shook his head "Because that's what the drugs do, isn't it? Make us think we feel things we don't?"

Behind him, Valen made a sound of frustration. "You're not listening."

"I'm listening just fine." Logan closed his eyes. He had to make Valen stop. Had to make him see reason, before... before what? Before Logan got too attached? Before he let himself believe this could last? "Go back to your parents. Go meet your intended mate. Just... go."

If Logan was going to be left again, he didn't want to draw this out. He wanted to rip the bandaid off.

"And what of you?" Valen searched his face. "I can't let you go through withdrawal."

"I'll survive."

"The fever alone will be awful."

"I said I'll survive!" Logan's voice cracked. He turned his back to Valen, unable to look at him. "Just... please. Leave."

"No." The word hung in the air between them. "I won't let you suffer just because you think what we have isn't real."

Logan's laugh was bitter. "I don't think that. I know that."

"Stop." Frustration seeped into Valen's voice. "Stop acting like you know what I feel. You don't understand at all."

Logan made himself face the alien. "What do I not understand?"

Valen was silent for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was softer.

"Let me show you."

"What?"

"Let me show you what I really feel." Valen moved closer, a note of eager desperation in his voice. "Open your mind to mine. Completely."

Logan took a step back, his shoulder blades pressing against the cold window. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Logan swallowed hard. Because it would hurt too much. Because if he let Valen in that deeply, losing him would destroy whatever was left of Logan's heart. "Because it won't change anything. You still have to go."

"If you truly believe that after seeing my truth, I'll go." Valen's tentacles reached for him but stopped just short of touching. "But at least give me a chance. Your human words are insufficient."

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