Chapter Thirteen
“Tell me about your world?” Justin asked the following morning. “You haven’t really talked about it, or is it too painful?”
Sitting at the kitchen table, Eteriion sipped his coffee and looked out of the window, watching the snow fall.
“We don’t have snow on my world. We have two suns, but the temperature doesn’t vary as much, and we don’t have things like tornadoes.
I stood outside the first time I saw it snow just to feel it on my skin. ”
Leaning back in his chair, Justin smiled. “I wish I’d seen that.”
“You would have freaked out and run away.”
“At first.” Justin sipped his coffee. “Did you hold them out to feel the snow on them?”
“I did. I look like I had been electrocuted.” He straightened in his chair and his tentacles spread out. Justin laughed at the sight. Eteriion’s description was good. He did look like he’d stuck his finger in a socket with his tentacles spread in the air and waving at him.
“What’s been your favorite thing about this planet?” Justin watched Eteriion’s tentacles settle on his back and shoulders, then smirked at the heated look his alien gave him. “Other than that.”
“That is number one, but I like the town and the different food you have. And you have a sense of community. Not everywhere, but in places like this, it’s noticeable.
Ged calls or comes over to make sure I’m okay.
Elise cooks for us all, and I’m always welcome.
Garrison teaches me new slang. He’s going to college soon, but he’s home right now. I haven’t seen him, but with the snow…”
“It should melt away soon. The snow isn’t falling like it was and I can actually see things in the distance now.
Before there was nothing but white.” The disappearing snow also meant Justin’s time was disappearing too, and that thought made his chest tighten.
He’d only met Eteriion a few days ago, but he found he wasn’t in a hurry to leave.
He considered him his sexy alien, and Justin didn’t want to leave him, but he did have a life away from here and he had to go back to it.
“You’ll be leaving soon.” Justin nodded. “Once the snow has melted, you’ll be able to drive away.”
“If my car still works and doesn’t need jump starting.
I have at least a week before then. You can show me the town and various walks around here.
Maybe another abandoned hut for us to see the inside off.
” After the last hut they’d visited and what had happened in there, Justin had no issues with a repeat.
Looking at Eteriion had him hard and aching, and when he saw Eteriion’s nostrils flare, he knew his gorgeous alien had picked up on Justin’s arousal.
“So, no snow on your world? What about other weather phenomena? We have the Northern lights here. Do you have anything similar there?”
“No. Our world isn’t as turbulent weather-wise as yours is, so we don’t see these events. I did go and see it not long after I’d recovered. Ged took me and it was something to see.”
“I’ve never been. It’s on my bucket list of places to go.
” Justin stared into his drink. “I had lots of places I wanted to visit but kept putting them off for the ex. He’d want to go to some luxury all-inclusive resort where we’d laze by the pool.
I like doing that for a couple of days, but then I want to go out and see where I’m staying. See the culture and meet the people.”
“I’m sure one day you’ll get to complete this bucket list. I’ve heard of that term, but I’m not sure what it actually means.”
“It’s a list of places you want to go or events you want to experience. Say going up in a balloon, or on a speedboat, or visiting Egypt.”
“Ah, I see.” Eteriion nodded. “I saw many of those places from my ship.”
Justin put his cup on the table and leaned on his elbows. “What’s it like? Flying in space? We have to float in the space station, but do you have gravity control? What about speed?”
“We do have control over gravity, so no floating around. As for how we traverse space, we have a system similar to your Star Trek ones.”
“Warp speed?” Justin smiled. “I loved that show growing up.”
“Your sci-fi shows are interesting.” Eteriion sipped his drink, then frowned. “We shrink space, so we jump from one spot to another, but it isn’t instantaneous. It still takes time to move from one place to another, but it is much faster than normal space travel.”
“I’d love to experience it. Maybe one day, when your ship is fixed, you can take me into space.”
“I’d like to be able to show you many things.”
“And I’d let you, but we could always do things here on Earth. Like the pyramids, or Pompeii.” Justin glanced at Eteriion’s tentacles, then grinned. “In winter, so you won’t look so strange with your hat on.”
“Maybe we could hold hands.”
“I’d like that. Me and you, seeing all the wonders of the world.
” Justin kept his smile in place for a few seconds, then let it fall from his face.
If he wanted to have those experiences with Eteriion, then he’d have to completely change his life.
He couldn’t move here and not tell his parents why.
They’d want to meet Eteriion and that meant telling them the truth about him, and wasn’t he jumping ahead?
They’d met a week or so ago and that wasn’t long enough to make such life-changing decisions, even if he’d never felt this way.
A week was far too soon to be thinking the way he was or feeling the way he did.
It scared him a little how much Eteriion meant to him.
Damn good sex didn’t have you considering changing your life.
Good sex? Hell, phenomenal sex, and with those tentacles included?
God, Eteriion got Justin so hard that he only had to look at his sexy alien, and he wanted him.
The attraction was so intense that Justin should step back, but he found he didn’t want to.
Whatever was happening between them, he wanted it.
And what did he tell his family? I met someone who I really like and could see myself with long term.
One problem. He’s an alien! Yeah, that would go down well.
He could see their reactions now and then they would have to meet his gorgeous alien.
And his brother, being the cerebral person he was, would sit Eteriion down and pester him with questions.
“What are you thinking? You seem lost in thought, as you say.”
“Not much, really. Just thinking about my parents and brother and how I would introduce you to them. My brother is a bit of a nerd so would ask lots of questions. My parents…I’m not so sure.” Justin looked at Eteriion and shrugged, then asked, “What about you? Do you have any family?”
“I have parents and siblings, but our relationships aren’t like yours. We don’t have brothers and sisters like you do.”
“Because you can be both. Have you ever, you know, had a baby?” Justin's jaw hardened when he thought about Eteriion being a father... mother…parent? He found he didn’t like the jealousy that spiked inside.
They both had a past. They’d both had a relationship and Eteriion crashing here had ended one.
“The person you were seeing. Were they important to you?”
“We had discussed family.” Eteriion finished his drink and stood, walking away from the table to lean on the counter, his back to Justin. “It didn’t happen, for obvious reasons.”
“I’m sorry.” And now Justin felt like shit for bringing up painful memories. “I didn’t mean to—”
“I know they have moved on. I would if I were in their position. It’s been five years, and I’ve come to accept my life here.”
“That you’ll be alone,” Justin murmured. Eteriion turned and stared at him before nodding. “And I’m the first person to learn about you since you’ve been here?” Another nod. “Other humans will accept you as well.”
“But should I take the risk? What if I reveal myself to the wrong human?”
Justin lowered his gaze to the table. “That is a risk,” he admitted.
“Would you have been so accepting if our circumstances had been different?”
“What do you mean?” Justin lifted his eyes and watched Eteriion. “I’m here right now, so I’ve obviously accepted you for who and what you are.”
“Because we’re stuck together due to the snow.”
“You think I’ve accepted you because of some close proximity thing?
” Justin felt anger, hot and turbulent, race through him.
He stood abruptly and left the kitchen, ignoring Eteriion when he called his name.
In the bedroom, he stood by the window and stared outside, ignoring Eteriion when he stood behind him. “I can’t believe you think that.”
“How do you expect me to think? You had a meltdown—your words—and tried to crawl away from me when you discovered what I am.”
Justin spun around and looked up into Eteriion’s eyes.
“Yes, I did, but then I calmed down and since then I’ve spent most of my time naked, with you either on me or in me or about to do one of those things to me.
I wouldn’t have sex with you if I wasn’t attracted to you, and don’t forget we fucked before I even knew you had wriggly things growing from your head.
” Eteriion glanced away, his eyes downcast, then sat on the edge on of the bed.
“Are you trying to push me away before I have to leave?” he asked quietly.
“You are going to leave.”
“I am, but that doesn’t mean I can’t come back here.
” Justin ran his finger along the window as he sucked on his bottom lip.
“Things have happened quickly between us,” he said.
“Why don’t we enjoy Christmas together and talk about us after?
I don’t want to ruin the holiday season.
I want to spend it with you, and I don’t want my leaving sitting in the middle of us. ”
“You’re right.” Eteriion stood and pushed away from the bed to come and stand in front of him, his tentacles wrapping around Justin’s body.
“Let’s enjoy this time before they come and rescue us.
I suspect we have a day or two at most before they make it up here.
I saw signs of movement in the town when I went out. ”
“And how did you manage that?” Justin laughed when Eteriion waved his tentacles in the air. “That must have been fun. I would have liked to see that.”
“You were sleeping, and I couldn’t spend all my time watching you, so I climbed up onto the roof. The lights are on, and the roads are almost clear.”
“So, another day or so.” Justin ignored the butterflies in his stomach at the thought of Eteriion watching him sleep.
He liked Eteriion watching him. He’d done some of that when Eteriion had relaxed next to him.
Just lay and watched him and soon he wouldn’t be able to do that.
Pushing that thought from his mind, he smiled at Eteriion. “What should we do to pass the time?”
Eteriion inhaled, his eyes hooding. “I should take you to my bed and make you come as many times as I can.”
“Not sure if my balls can take that.”
Eteriion burst out laughing, his tentacles sliding around Justin. “I’ll take it easy on them.”
“Not too easy, I hope. They quite like your mouth and tentacles, and I never in a million years thought I’d be thinking about balls and tentacles.”
Eteriion carried on laughing, which made Justin smile and hug him.
Said tentacles pulled him close, and Justin went willingly into Eteriion’s arms. Eteriion carried Justin to the bed.
There was something about having an alien carry him that made him feel almost cherished.
So strong, so big, and Justin knew they wouldn’t be leaving the bedroom soon by the hot look Eteriion gave him as he placed him on the bed.
Smiling, Justin held out his arms, and when Eteriion went to him, he lifted his head and took the kiss Eteriion gave him. It would be hard to walk away from this. Very hard.