Page 39 of Crash Landing
“That’s an oddly pretty description. I’m surprised you know there are green specks in my eyes. Most people don’t notice.”
“I noticed. Our eyes pick up pigments I don’t even think humans are capable of. So? What do you think of my eyes?”
“That’s easy. Your eyes are pretty. They’re like a galaxy squished into little marbles and stuck in your head.”
His brows furrowed. I somehow made his gorgeous eyes sound like something a toddler scribbled on a wall. When I replayed what I’d just said in my mind, I laughed at myself.
“I don’t have the same way with words that you do.”
“No, you don’t.”
“So? How much longer are you going to be working on your little projects?”
“Not too much longer. The light will be fading soon. There was a patch of redra root further down the river. I’ll harvest it tomorrow.”
“Redra root?”
“Something like your potatoes.”
“Oh. I can help. I want to help, I mean.”
“Sure. We’ll walk down there in the morning. It isn’t safe to head out now with only an hour or so of light.”
“Ok. Well, I’m going to go up to my little room, then,” I said, walking back to my pack to put my chocolate away and grab a protein bar and my data pad. “I can study a little before my battery dies.”
“Study what?”
“I don’t know. Anything. That’s howI’mgoing to keep busy.”
In truth, studying was probably the last thing my mind would be able to focus on after the feel of Saleuk’s cock still seemed to linger between my legs. What was wrong with me? Mr. Hamburger said there were aphrodisiac plants on Phesah. He didn’t tell me what they looked like, but if their pollen was in the air, maybe that could explain why I wanted to turn right back around and lick my way up Saleuk’s torso to his chin.
Just when I was out of sight, I pressed my eyes into the heels of my palms and whimpered with frustration. I needed to focus on surviving over anything else. Not on what Saleuk would feel like…
No!
I wanted to touch myself…
I wanted relief and I didn’t know how to get it. I was trapped between my inexperience and my need. When I got to my room, I sprawled out on the hard surface of my bed and crossed my arms over my face, hiding from my shame.
It was going to be a long night.
16: Sam
I was sifting through my data pad for all of thirty minutes before I couldn’t focus on it anymore. My body still needed something I didn’t know how to give it. That need was marginally more manageable after I left Saleuk downstairs. I found myself staring at the reflective wall and the woman lying on the bed. I didn’t recognize her anymore. She was a completely different person, for better or for worse. I was still deciding if I liked her or not.
In the complete silence, there was a faint ringing in my ears. The ringing was something I’d always hated. Silence was so loud and it was the perfect breeding ground for annoying thoughts to bloom and crowd my mind. I found myself tossing and turning trying to make myself close my eyes.
Finally, I heard Saleuk’s soft steps getting closer to my room. I turned to see him move through my doorway with a bundle of what looked like blankets in his arms. He was also wearing a pair of pants made of some natural fiber that hugged his legs, but not quite like the skin-tight material of his suit. And he had some kind of wrap shirt on that was a similar material. It tied at the sides but left his chest fully exposed.
“Found more supplies,” he said softly, barely breaking the silence.
He gave half the bundle to me, already folded in a way that made a good pillow.
“Thank you,” I said, placing it beneath my head.
Without another word, he headed across the hall to his room, disappearing into the near darkness. Our only light was from whatever vines had found their way inside with glowing dew drops or patches of bioluminescent fungus.
I heard him toss the rest of the blankets onto his bedframe and rolled onto my back, staring up at the star-like specs of glowing plants above me.
