Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
“Just my freaking luck,” Rebecca muttered as she stared at the leopard seal she’d startled as she rounded the glacier she was studying. The massive bull quivered as it watched her. She backed away slowly, hands out in front of her as if that would keep it calm.
It barked and lifted itself, bristling with aggression.
“Nice seal. I’m not a hunter. You just keep sunning yourself. I’ll come back for samples later.”
Much like her singing, her voice failed to have a soothing effect.
The seal uttered a sound and slid a flipper forward.
To think she’d scoffed at the need for a tranquilizer gun. Antarctica wasn’t known for its predators. Curious penguins, yes. Seals, also, most of which ignored humans. But the leopard seals… they liked meat, and yes, that included humans. While attacks were rare, they did happen. Just ask that poor scientist killed by one in the early 2000s.
Rebecca fumbled at her utility belt and pulled forth a whistle. Sharp sounds startled most wild animals. She put it to her lips and blew.
Skree!
A piercing shriek filled the air, but rather than scare the seal, the beast began humping in her direction.
Oh, hell no. She turned and started to run. In her thick and heavy boots on uneven snow and ice, it went as well as expected.
Thump . She hit the ground and only narrowly missed smashing her face. Huffing hotly, she flipped to her back, scuttling from the seal charging in her direction, death in its gaze.
Would this be how her life ended? A blurb on the internet—Female Scientist Dies After Being Mauled by Seal in Antarctica. She could just imagine the comments.
Should have sent a man.
Why didn’t she shoot it?
Wouldn’t have happened if she stayed in the kitchen where she belonged.
At least she’d die doing what she loved.
Accepting this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study in Antarctica had been the culmination of a dream. From a young age, as a child raised in the arid and hot state of Arizona, she’d always been fascinated by snow and ice. It led to her acquiring a few degrees, including one as a glaciologist, something that had people always saying ‘Hunh?’ after asking her what she’d studied.
They didn’t understand her fascination with glaciers. How slicing into one could uncover all kinds of secrets. The way the ice layers showed past climate events. The warming and cooling of the planet over the ages. How they could help predict patterns for the future. Sometimes, a lucky glaciologist would even come across something perfectly preserved in the ice. A flash-freezing of an extinct species.
The seal hadn’t slowed its approach, and she couldn’t help but stare when…
A streak of light plummeted from the sky, bright enough she closed her eyes. When no boom accompanied the bolt, she peeked to see if she got lucky and the lightning hit the seal.
It hadn’t, but the light had stopped the seal dead in its flippers, mostly because a naked man stood between her and the startled bull.
The seal barked.
The man, who possessed a very muscly back covered in a massive tattoo, barked right back.
Rebecca blinked. Had she already been killed? A glance at her intact clothing and the still-white snow around her seemed to indicate nothing had touched her.
Not dead—not yet—but the man might not fare so well.
The seal lunged at the stranger, and to her shock, rather than dodge, the stranger grabbed it in a headlock and laughed. “You’ll have to do better than that, fat ass.” The man then lifted and flung the huge seal.
It landed with a grunting noise and uttered a short-pitched whine.
“Don’t you bitch at me. You started this.” The man shook a finger, chiding.
The seal yipped some more.
“Yeah, yeah, I ruined your fun. Too fucking bad. Maybe you should pick on someone your own size.”
The seal raised itself to its full height and embarked on a frenzied barkfest.
Once more, the fearless man mimicked it.
To her shock, the seal chuffed and then turned around, humping its way back to the water. She’d lived. Maybe. She most certainly hit her head, though.
Rebecca muttered, “What the heck just happened?”
“I saved your butt,” the stranger stated as he turned with a smile. His front proved as impressive as the back, muscle upon muscle and a cock that didn’t appear to mind the cold.
“Who are you? How did you get here? And where are your clothes?”
The stranger glanced at himself and sighed. “Fuck me. Not again. Next time I gotta remember not to wear my favorite jeans when starbeaming.”
Nothing he said made sense. “Hello, still looking for an answer.”
“Guess there’s no point in giving you a bullshit story, seeing as how you saw my starlit arrival. I am Scorpio.” He struck a pose. “Zodiac Warrior, protector of the world, here on an important mission.”
“Is there a hidden camera somewhere? Is this a joke?” Rebecca glanced around, waiting for the punchline.
“I know you’re overwhelmed by my presence. It happens. After all, we don’t appear to just anyone, and I didn’t actually plan to be seen by you. However, I might have made a slight mathematical miscalculation, which turned out to be good for you. I do believe that seal was going to eat your face, which is surprising. I thought they only scarfed down fish.”
“Are you an alien?” Because strangely enough, it made the most sense.
“Nope, although I have a close affinity to the stars. Those ones to be exact.” He pointed to the blue sky, where not a single astral body could be seen.
“Are you human?”
“Yes, but one that has been enhanced.”
She had to be dreaming, and yet everything felt so real. The cold. The bright sun making her squint. The details of his body that she would have never imagined. After all, the usual men featuring in her fantasies weren’t body-building, platinum-haired man-beasts. “Why are you here?”
“I’m looking for Doctor Guthrie.”
At hearing her name, she cocked her head. “Why?”
“He’s supposed to help me find something. Do you know where he is? I’m assuming he’s camped nearby, unless I really fucked up my landing zone.”
“ She ,” Rebecca emphasized, “Is right in front of you, and the only thing I’m helping you find is a pair of pants.”
“You’re Doctor Guthrie?” He ogled her.
“Yes.”
“You’re not a dude.”
“You don’t say,” her dry reply.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Scorpio.” He offered a dazzling smile.
“You already introduced yourself.”
“That’s right, I did. So now that we’ve been introduced, care to tell me where it is?”
“Where what is?”
“I don’t know. Some kind of special object. The details aren’t clear. I assumed you’d know what I meant. The bossman said Sage was very specific about you helping me.”
“Listen, crazy naked dude from the stars, I don’t know what you are, why you’re really here, or what you want from me, but I think I’ve had enough weirdness for one day. So I’m going back to my shelter and having a cup of coffee, which will be fifty percent or more whiskey, then to bed, where I will later wake up and decide I hallucinated on account I smacked my head.”
“Not a hallucination, that is assuming you’ve not imbibed any shrooms. Even then, this is happening, Doc. Now lead me to your camp, because a whiskey coffee sounds great. Although you can skip the coffee in mine.”
“Who says you’re invited?” she retorted.
“You’re a scientist. Don’t tell me you’re not curious about the naked man who appeared from the sky.”
“I would be if this were real.”
“I’ll show you real.” He stalked for her, and she got to notice just how tall he was. Fluid, too, his body moving limber and confident. His smile just enough to stutter her heart.
When he stopped in front of her, she had to crane to see him. Heat radiated from his nude flesh. “How are you so hot?” she muttered.
“Baby, I was born this way,” he murmured before dragging her upward and planting a kiss on her lips!