Page 4 of My Christmas Alien Mate

Suddenly, strong hands encircled my waist and a hard body pressed itself against me from behind, propelling us both up to the surface.

My body jerked and spasmed under his firm grip, but he didn't let go of me and it felt as if he was mentally telling me to hold on.Hold on.

Which was what I told my lungs,hold on, just a moment longer, hold on.

The second we broke through the surface, I took in a deep, tortured breath. It hurt worse than anything before, but also felt incredibly good as life slowly returned to my limbs. With it, the awareness of the water’s freezing temperature and thousands of pricking needles on my skin returned. I didn't mind though because the pain reminded me that I was alive.

With sure strokes, my unknown rescuer took us back to the pier where he pushed me up onto the rough wooden boards before he swung himself up next to me.

Large hands moved up and down my arms, my body, as he massaged life and warmth into me.

"Thank you," I managed in a hoarse voice. "Thank you so much."

My ears must not have worked very well yet, because whatever he answered in his deep voice, I didn't understand, as if he were speaking a different language.

"My house…" I managed to lift my arm and point in the direction of my darkened home. I had turned all the lights off earlier so they wouldn't interfere with my stargazing, but now it was hard to see against the darkness.

He uttered some words I failed to understand, and I pointed again, "My house… warm clothes…" My teeth chattered so hard, they made it hard to get the words out, and I feared they would break.

I tried to stand up, but my legs wouldn't allow me to rise from the wood where I lay panting.

Incredible tiredness overcame me, and I thought that lying here on the wood, staring at the night sky wasn't really all that bad. It could have been warmer, but I was so, so tired that I really didn't care that much.

Strong hands moved around me, picked me up, and I was snuggled against the widest chest in the history of the world, which emanated a strange heat. It was weird because he had just been in the water like me, so he should be just as cold, not this oven.

He repeated the same strange word, and I decided he was asking me for directions, so I lifted my tired arm again and pointed in the general direction of my cabin. "The-here." I chattered.

I looked up to see my rescuer, but he was shrouded in darkness, except… no that had to be an illusion. No man's eyes burned red. Right?

Amber, I told myself reasonably, you just had a near-death experience, you’re seeing things.

Still, I blinked a few times and swallowed. No, there was definitely a red glow where his eyes should be.

Alright,think logically, I advised myself.He crashed in a helicopter, he's probably wearing some kind of pilot helmet or goggles or whatever.

Yes, that made perfect sense. I turned my gaze to make out where we were and warned, "Care-reful, ste-eps," just as my hero stumbled over the first.

With a low grumbled curse, he adjusted me, and we made it up the few stone steps and on to the path that led to my cabin, which was slowly taking on shape.

He didn't seem to know how to open the glass door leading into the enclosed patio, so I turned in his embrace to grab the doorhandle, assuming he had to be freezing as badly as me if he couldn't figure out how to operate a door, and my heart went out to the man holding me who had been so strong up until now.

"Almo-host the-here." I chattered as he found the door leading into the house and this time managed to turn the handle and open the door. Welcome warmth and a soft glow from the fireplace greeted us and revived me slightly.

He muttered some more strange words, and I wondered if he was from a different country because I still didn't understand a word he said, which, even in my frozen mind, I realized could be bad. Was he a spy?

I twisted in his arms to reach the light switch and, as if grasping what I was trying to do, he accommodated my movements until I found the switch. Warm light flooded the room, and I looked up to thank my rescuer again, but my throat tightened up at the sight of him.

He was blue!

From head to toe, or at least from the skin I could see underneath some kind of tight, black clothing that didn't even look wet. Neither did his long black hair or beard.

Red glowing eyes took me in just as curiously as I was taking him in. Well, that wasn't quite right. He was staring at me curiously, while fear crept up through my cells, actually warming me, and I scrambled. Moving my arms and legs, I forced him to let go of me.

Blue?

I blinked a few times, wondering if I had lost a few of my brain cells in the lake, or maybe he was frozen blue from the water? Didn't people turn blue when they froze?

I wasn't sure, but I was positive that nobody turnedthatblue.

---