Page 3 of His Little Sapphire

I cringe. I hate when she does that. It’s my overprotective side. Instinctual. We would never let a female on Eleadia do anything that dangerous. We coddle and protect them to the point of annoying them.

Females from Earth aren’t used to our ways. Every Eleadian man I know has spoken of how difficult the transition is for them. They’re used to far more independence on Earth than they’re given on Eleadia.

It’s not because we want to stifle them, and we certainly don’t like it when they’re sad or frustrated by the new lack of independence. It’s because we value our females above everything. We don’t want anything to happen to them.

The trip to Earth takes six months in Earth time. A year-round trip. It takes a lot of planning and preparation to take that time off work. When we find our life partners, we protect them for eternity with our very lives.

So, yes. The ladder makes my hackles raise. That and the fact that this female is wobbly tonight. Unsteady. I hold my breath while I watch her.

Bialar leans over my shoulder when I gasp. “Shit. What’s she doing?”

“Cleaning the upper shelves.”

“They can’t possibly be that dirty. Does she do that every night?”

I nod. “Yes.”

“And you sit here and watch? She’s not even mine, and I have goosebumps.”

I jerk my gaze to his and narrow it. He may be one of my best friends, but he better watch his mouth.

He chuckles and holds both hands out. “Chill, dude. I said she’s not mine. I feel nothing but the protective instinct. You obviously feel something deeper. Why the fuck are you still sitting here? Go get her off that damn ladder before she falls.”

A small squeal followed by movement on the screen out of the corner of my eye makes me jerk my attention back to the monitor just in time to watch my female lose her balance and fall sideways.

The ladder leans to one side and hovers for a moment before both the ladder and the female topple to the floor behind the bar, out of sight.

I jump to my feet and run from the room, my heart pounding as I rush down the hallway and take the stairs to the first floor. I can feel Bialar behind me. Good. If she’s injured, I might need him to get help.

ChapterTwo

Christine

“Darn!” I shout the expletive the moment I realize I’m about to fall. I can’t stop the momentum though. It’s too late. I’ve leaned too far to one side. The ladder is teetering to the right, and there’s no stopping it. It’s going to hit the floor, and so am I. All I can do is pray I’m not injured and nothing gets broken behind the bar.

It feels like time slows as I fall. It’s not far. Just a few feet, but bones can get broken from any distance. It doesn’t take much. The moment both the ladder and I hit the floor, I wince.

I land on my hip. Hard. The ladder lands mostly on top of me. Luckily it’s aluminum, so it’s not heavy. I easily shove it off me and glance around to assess the damage. To the bar. Not me.

I don’t think anything is broken. It looks like the fall was clean, right between the bar itself and the shelves behind it. Also, the floor has a rubber mat, so though I did land hard, I don’t think I’m badly injured.

I should have known better than to get on a ladder tonight. I’m exhausted. I can barely keep my eyes open. I had to work late at my day job last night and only got four hours of sleep. I can do that one or two days a week, but this week it’s happened three days in a row.

I could have skipped cleaning the upper shelves in the bar area tonight. No one would have noticed. But my work ethic wouldn’t let me. What if someone did notice? The bartender. He could have complained to Zack. I hate being reprimanded.

I’m fine. No one is going to know. I won’t get back on the ladder tonight. Or hell, now that my adrenaline is pumping, I’m wide awake. I could probably scale the walls.

I lift the ladder off my body and set it to the side. As soon as I try to sit, I wince though. Shoot. My hip is going to be badly bruised. Once again, I’m grateful for the rubber flooring. I’m not pleased that I didn’t clean it first though. It’s sticky. I’m lying in beer and every sort of alcohol, juice, and soda known to mankind.

As I roll to my back to catch my breath and further assess my possible injuries, I realize I’ve lost my ballcap. It must be behind me somewhere. My head lands in liquid, and I groan.

My butt is soaked too. All the way through my jeans and underwear. My hair is soaking up the sludge. I’m shaking. I never cry. Never. Why bother? It doesn’t do any good. But tears are welling up in my eyes.

And then everything gets ten times worse when I blink my eyes to see a giant man suddenly appear around the end of the bar. He’s at my feet, breathing heavily as if he ran to get here.

Did he hear me fall or something? From where? Where was he? I’ve never noticed another person anywhere around while I’ve worked. Except for the few times I’ve met with Zack, the manager, or John, the man who works the front door, I rarely see people. I’m not supposed to. No one is awake when I work.

The only time I had an interaction with anyone other than John or Zack was the time a woman named Janie was brought in while I was working one morning. She was sick, and I think they brought her to see one of the Eleadian doctors. I saw that man for a few moments. I remember he was large and tall. I scurried out of the way quickly.

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