Chapter 13 #3
After that, Nora could do nothing but sit on the cot and watch him clean up after her.
He restacked her meal boxes and realigned the water bottles he’d given her on the floor by the cot.
After everything was set in rows and ninety-degree angles, he stood in the middle of the room, quiet. “I will go. Check things.”
Struck by a sudden, overwhelming desire not to be alone, Nora pulled the apple-cinnamon bar from between her thighs. Softened by her heat, it bent in half like warm taffy in its wrapper.
“Hey!” She tore open the packaging excitedly, thankful it didn’t put up a fight. “Have you ever had Earth food?”
Airik didn’t say anything for a long time, his head still directed at her thighs. He cleared his throat. “Common to warm food with your body?”
She shifted, aware his eyes were on her. “N-No. It’s just a trick.” She tore off a piece and held it out to him. “Have some. Your first bite of Earth food.”
He took a breath, his shoulders rising and falling with the depth of it.
“It’s like apple pie. You’ll love it—I do.” She waved her arm to entice him.
He reached for it but just as abruptly dropped his arm. “No. Forbidden.”
Her mouth watered, smelling the cinnamon. “I won’t tell anyone. It’s good. Try it.”
To show him this wasn’t an attempt to poison him, she took a bite. It tasted saccharine sweet but much better than she remembered. “It won’t kill you, I promise.” She broke off the piece she’d bitten, offering him a fresh piece.
Airik made a soft noise, almost a laugh. She twisted her thighs together, an unexpected heat building between them at the sound.
He took the sticky piece from her. Their fingers didn’t brush.
“It’s delicious,” Nora assured him again, noticing that he was analyzing his portion.
Turning from her, he muttered something—his own language.
Goose bumps rose on her skin, her mouth falling open.
Was she the first human ever to hear an extraterrestrial tongue?
Her heart raced as she realized she must have been.
How long had humanity looked to the stars, shouting for someone to listen, to say something in return?
She leaned against the wall, lightheaded and ashamed that such an experience had been wasted on her.
He snapped the bottom of his helmet up to pop the small bite into his mouth.
She watched him, taking in the size of his back, the length of his legs, and how powerful he seemed beneath that suit.
“Well?” She prepared him another bite. “What do you think?”
He chewed much longer than necessary for such a small piece. Reaching up, he rubbed his throat, then snapped the helmet back into place. She heard him swallow, followed by what could only be a muffled grunt of disgust.
Her stomach dropped.
“Oh.” She forced herself to laugh so he wouldn’t think she was hurt. “That’s okay. At least you now have a taste of Earth.” She lay back, draping an arm over her eyes.
To her horror, tears flowed again, soaking her sleeve. This was absurd. So what if he didn’t like the last bits of her world she had left to share?
Her head hurt. She might’ve had a concussion, or maybe it was the drugs. Plus, her ankle was sprained. The least of her worries should’ve been whether her alien savior liked the stupid nutrition bar she gave him.
“I like it,” she heard Airik say unexpectedly. She felt the sheets over her flutter as he ruffled them to get her attention.
“I liked…” he continued as she sat up to look at him, “that it was warm.”
She smiled. Was this his attempt to cheer her up?
Before she could offer more, he hurried to the door leading to what she assumed was the rest of the ship.
He paused in the doorway. For a moment, she thought he might return to tuck her in. She hoped that he would.
She sat on his bed, hands clasped in her lap. It was ridiculous how quickly she had become attached to him. She was a grown woman who had lived alone for years.
“Nora,” he said, pulling her out of the darker thoughts that would come. “You are not a prisoner. But don’t leave the ship. Not without me.”
“Okay,” Nora said. “The planet is poison. Bad.”
He considered her. “When you wake, I will show you. With me, you will be safe. Do you want to see…another world?”
The possibility had never crossed her mind.
“Okay, yeah,” she said, the tingle of curiosity unfamiliar to her.
He turned his head to one side so that his ear faced her. “Oh…kay… It’s bad?”
“No—it’s a good word. It means I want to go out with you.” Her cheeks heated at the strange, childish phrasing. “As in, you can show me this weird place.”
Airik let out a muffled sound she could only interpret as an attempt to chuckle. “You say okay before, but…you were not so good.”
The wet puddles in his bed and on the floor were reminders of that. “Well, it means ‘fine.’”
“Oh-kay,” he said, exaggerating the words. “Rest. I will take you after dreaming.” Damn if Nora didn’t hear the hint of a teasing smile in his words.
He tossed her a clean rag and pointed to the water bottles. “For if you’re okay again.” Then, he left her.
Well, fuck, she thought, falling back into the bed, wanting to die of embarrassment. I’m stuck with an asshole.