Chapter 6 #2
Seeing the skin over his knuckles split—he was so fragile—I reached for him, but he drew away from my touch.
“No, I’m fine. This is what I deserve.” He ran a frustrated hand over his hair.
Blood dripped down his fingers. “If you want to go home, now’s your chance.
Just… please don’t think I’m someone good. I’m not. I’m selfish and a thief.”
He saved me from the Rogastix in a completely unselfish way. And a thief? Well, he hadn’t stolen anything from me yet. I remained where I was, looking as defiant as possible. He braced his hands on his hips.
“I was sent here to get something. Steal something. And then I have to go back.” He waved a hand at the sky. “Back to Earth. To my home.”
My chest tightened. For some reason, I hadn’t thought about what would happen after we got to his destination. I’d gotten so used to him at my side in such a short time. But of course he would leave. He had a home, and this wasn’t it. I’d been so stupid to think otherwise.
I still didn’t know why we were going to this valley.
I didn’t care that he would steal something there.
I should have. Sherif was going to kill me.
Yet I stood my ground and met his gaze, telling him without words that I wasn’t leaving.
I wasn’t leaving after we reached the valley yet either.
No, Ethan was mine now, and I’d be by his side until he left this planet.
I’d see him off safely and whole. It was the only thing that I’d felt right about in a very long time.
If I thought he didn’t want me with him, maybe that could have convinced me to leave. But no, I thought Ethan wanted me with him very much. He was just concerned about me. And that made me even more determined to stick with him.
We had a staring battle for a while, until Ethan finally admitted defeat with a heavy sigh. “Fine then. Let’s go.”
I followed him.
Ethan
We made it nearly to the valley before the terrain grew rocky and difficult to manage.
When the sun set, I had to throw in the towel before I twisted an ankle or I broke a leg.
Goldie seemed to see well in the dark, but I was limited with my damn human eyes and felt blind as a bat.
A moon provided a dull glow, but not enough to traipse over an alien planet.
After we ate some of our rations, Goldie lay with her back to me by the fire, staring into the crackling flames, while I sat propped up against a tree trunk.
We hadn’t talked much as we walked today. Or rather, I hadn’t talked as much as I usually did. Because she had me off kilter. When she’d pressed her body against mine, and I felt my cock get hard… my stomach had rolled. I had no business, absolutely fucking none, touching this beautiful creature.
I might have been a criminal, but I wasn’t a monster.
I wasn’t even sure what signals she’d been sending me.
Maybe I’d been all wrong. And if I wasn’t, what if I gave into this, and her kind found out and casted her out?
Exiled her? No, I couldn’t be the reason for anything bad happening to her.
Already, this had gone too far, but at least I’d drawn a line in the sand, even if it had seemed to make both of us miserable.
All day, my blood had simmered as my mind spun. What would she look like naked? What parts did she have that I could explore? How could I make her feel good?
I had driven myself nearly insane today, and all the while, she was just… there. Smelling insanely good and looking like something out of a dream. My dream. Because I couldn’t shake the intimacy we’d had, the closeness I could only get when I closed my eyes.
I scrubbed my hands down my face and let my head fall back on the tree trunk behind me. Tomorrow, we’d reach the valley. I’d get the plant. I’d send Goldie home. And then I’d go home. Back to Earth. To a new life. Alone. Goldie-less. The thought of it made me want to launch myself into the sun.
The next day, I woke to find Goldie already up and cooking something furry.
So once again, I was fucking useless, sleeping in while Goldie hunted and fed us.
I went to take a piss behind a bush, careful not to touch the thorny bushes, and emerged to find she had plated a breakfast for me, with cut up fruit and strips of meat.
She hadn’t touched her food yet, like she’d been waiting for me.
I sank down into a crouch next to her. “You don’t have to do this for me. I can hunt and cook for us.”
She didn’t answer, because of course she didn’t. We couldn’t fucking communicate. Frustration bubbled in my gut, souring my stomach, but I shoved the food in my mouth anyway. I needed to eat, and I didn’t want to hurt Goldie’s feelings.
After we ate, we extinguished the fire and continued our way toward the valley.
The sun shone like a spotlight, and I took off my shirt to tuck it into my waistband.
Sweat dripped down my chest. My short hair was soaked with it.
Meanwhile Goldie looked straight out of an alien catwalk.
She wasn’t even dirty, while I seemingly couldn’t stay clean.
The morning passed quickly, and I kept expecting Goldie to peel off and head home.
She’d already traveled with me far past the point I expected.
I checked my watch to see that the valley was just up ahead.
I should have been happy about that, but I also knew that the sooner I found the plant, the sooner Goldie would leave me. As she should.
The sun had begun to drop by the time we crested a small hill.
I held my breath as I looked down into a deep valley.
A stream cut through the center and snaked its way around a few bends before running out of sight.
Our side was a grassy hill, and on the other side of the stream was a small bank that met a sheer cliff face which rose a hundred or so feet in the air.
Nestled in the shade of a small rocky overhang, the plant I needed grew in thin, black stalks topped with a vivid yellow flower, like some sort of alien sunflower.
I drew up the picture of the plant on my watch, just to double check. Even from nearly a half mile away, I could see that it was the one.
“That’s what I need,” I told her. “That’s what I’m here to steal.” Just in case she forgot I was a thief, I needed to remind her.
Goldie nodded. “Numba.”
“Numba?”
She pointed to the flower hologram from my watch. “Numba.”
“Oh, that’s the name of the plant?”
She nodded.
Paul had called it Lucy, because it was supposed to be some sort of hallucinogen. He wanted to replicate a synthetic version and sell it. What would Goldie do if she knew I was supplying an international drug dealer with goods that would probably ruin people’s lives? I was a piece of shit.
“Well,” I said, feeling fatigue that had nothing to do with our hike this morning. “Let’s get this numba.”
We half-ran, half slid down the hill on long grass talks that whipped at my pant-clad legs.
Goldie’s legs were bare beneath her skirt, but she didn’t seem to mind the foliage.
When we reached the bottom, I went to my knees near the stream and splashed water on my face, neck, and chest before scooping more to soak my back.
I needed a proper wash. My pants were filthy, but they were all I had.
After we gathered the plant, maybe I’d stay in this valley for a day or two.
Wash myself, my clothes, and eat before I began the way back. Goldie could stay with me…
I shook my head and stared at myself in the reflection of the water. My face looked wrecked. Bruised and cut all to hell. Muddy, blood-tinged water ran down my chest. I hung my head and sat back on my heels.
Goldie stood behind me. I could see her shadow.
Hear her breathing. Smell her. I felt deranged with how obsessed I was getting over her.
With a groan, I stood and turned. A slight breeze blew Goldie’s white skirt around her muscular legs.
Her hair fluttered around her head, and her skin shone like a bronze statue. She took my actual breath away.
I curled my fingers into fists to keep from reaching for her. So I didn’t do something stupid like press my lips to hers or slip my hand into the slit of her skirt—
A high-pitched shriek cut through the air, and I drew my gun at the sound. Careening around a bend in the distance was a small furry streak of brown. I caught a glimpse of four paws, ears, and a round body about the size of a toddler.
And right after it, thundering on eight spindly legs, was a spider-like creature the size of an SUV. My breath left my body as my blood froze in my veins.
Goldie didn’t hesitate, not like me. She let out a howl of anger before she began running straight at the furry prey and his terror of a predator. Her legs pounded the ground, skirt flying, and then, in a series of clicks, vanished. Just up and disappeared.
“Goldie!” I screamed, searching for any sight of her in a panic. “What the fuck?”
The small furry creature screamed again, and the spider flew sideways, hitting the side of the cliff face with a crunch. But one leg kicked out. A feminine cry sounded, a familiar one, and then suddenly Goldie appeared again, mid-air, as she hit the surface of the stream with a smack.