Page 37 of Her Alien Savior
“I have none.”
“Neither do I,” he said with a smile, releasing my hand and leading me through the observatory. “Now, let me give you a tour before your mate returns from her own.”
“You believe they are giving her a similar tour?”
“If she’s your mate they will wish to observe your mating rituals, so they won’t keep you apart for long. When I first arrived, I was roomed up with another human for a while, but since she was the reason I ended up here to begin with we didn’t really hit it off that way.” He smiled while gazing off deep in thought before he said, “I guess I should be thanking her. I’d be dead if she hadn’t.” The male scratched the back of his neck, and sighed.
His mane of hair was growing out in chestnut waves, and it was slick from the water he had drenched himself in, but it was that smile that endeared me to him. I had never felt so fond of a being I had never met before except my mate. It was me who was smiling now thinking of how ridiculous it had been to think he was a threat just because he was human, and without a mate.
My epul naturally relaxed back into my thick skin, and I repeated the gesture he had used earlier to smack his arm. He rubbed at it, but his mouth was still lifted in humor, so I believed I had done it rightly.
“Fate of the goddess is wild but sure in knowing where we must be. I would not be here if it weren’t for my mate as well. I’d have died, I am sure.”
“I will be honest with you, Vox,” his voice was tight, his silver-like eyes darted away in shame.
“There is honor in that choice no matter if it took you longer to come to it. Speak freely.”
“There is no need for them to use cameras to hear us in here,” he said, but I had already said as much, “They can listen on our implants just fine.” He pointed behind his ear, and I nodded, this was not news to me. I waited for him to finish his confession. He stared at me for a time, as any honorable warrior would and said, “You were right, the information is used to see who will try to cause trouble. They will probably monitor you closely, and your mate. Whatever they have on your mate to keep her here, I’d find out quickly.”
“Speak plainly,” I encouraged him to finish what he was eluding to.
“They will show you and your mate the shuttle, prove that you are not a prisoner, but only when they are certain you are not a risk. That’s your best bet.”
“Why are you speaking this now when you know they are listening?”
“I’m trusting the one that is listening knows that I would not leave them, even if they didn’t threaten to involve my family.”
“Is that their leverage over you?”
He nodded.
“I made the mistake of being caught before I could ever leave Earth on my own terms. I probably wasn’t the only one drugged and shoved in a stasis pod. When I arrived, they explained that I wasn’t welcome back on Earth, and would be tried and incarcerated if I returned, but here I would be free and earn citizenship on Trillume for my service. I don’t really have a choice, sure, but they treat me well, and I believe them that I will be released in time. I already fulfilled my first few contracts, and I don’t think I will stop renewing... What kind of job would I have out there that provides like this one? My job was a practical engineer, I put the stuff together after reading blueprints that an actual engineer put together. I build, and Trillume has robots for that stuff.”
They had many things tying this human to invisible walls which keep him where they wished. And I would break one of them this moment.
“This is not the only planet in the universe. One cycle your family on Earth will have taken their last breath, as you will live a much longer life than they could ever dream of while cared for by the technology here. The only thing keeping you here would be your mate, and if they are worthy of your affections, they will know every warrior deserves the right to do what the goddess has called them to do. Those hands must build, and on Necias Prime they would be welcomed. They may rough you up a bit to see if you are honorable, but I will be there and you may start a new life where you will want for nothing as the tribe utilizes every skill the goddess gives. We trade in honor, and every skill is honored.”
“Vox Direl of Necias Prime,” he said with a smile. “Guess you have a title after all.”
“Goddess given, I will reclaim my honor and stand beside a great warrior once more.”
“Perhaps we will meet again under different circumstances.”
He paused and glanced up at the sky while touching his ear. Then he looked to me and frowned.
“They have news of my family, I must go. My final word of advice is if you want to keep your mate with you, do not shy from mating with her. They will separate you if they don’t get the benefits of observing your intimacy. They will experiment with different stimulants to see a reaction. It should help ease the discomfort of sharing something private with whoever is watching.”
“Go, word of your family is waiting.” He will fit in with my tribe when the time comes, and his concern warmed my heart reminding me of the comfort I felt around Riley. I barely knew this human and yet I could not think of him not being part of my tribe. It was an odd sensation.
That warmth quickly turned to anxiety at knowing I had very few risings to convince Riley to accept me as her mate before she would be ripped from my life. I shook the thought off, if my elder was here she would chide me for not believing in the goddess, in the bond of my mate, and in the belief that I could provide for her. She would say that a mate’s affections start on the surface. My title, my honor, my strength were only tools to impress her and give me time to show her what will bond us forever, my dedication to her happiness.
Everything else falls away, Vox, when all you see are your hearts, their beat will guide you as the goddess wishes, she would say.
Yes, Elder Tekkue, my hearts are true. Riley will see this.
I headed back to the room, waiting for her to return, and I found the discarded metal box so I could place it in the door behind the bathroom mirror that led to the conservatory. It was unlikely the box would hold against the pressure of the door locking back into place, but on the off-chance there were safety protocols that prevented it from locking once more, it was better to know.
Instinct made my shoulder epul stand tall to impress Riley upon her return, but I knew this would not work the same on my mate as it would with females of Necias Prime. I instead went to the panel display and worked on making the accommodations we were stuck with similar to what I would find in my tribe so I may show her what awaits her should she wish to go with me when we left here.
