Chapter Sixteen #2
“It will shut off by itself soon, but let’s move.
” She picked Kevin up, covering his sensitive doggy ears.
As she hurried across the lot, she spied a motor home in a faraway parking area.
People with motor homes travel with a lot of stuff.
Nobody but an out-of-towner who needed to spend the night would drive a ginormous vehicle to a medical appointment. An out-of-towner who might have a map…
“I’m heading to that motor home—the big vehicle—over there. Would you please get my bike so I can get Kevin away from the noise faster? Then get yours and meet me there.”
“Got it!” He jogged for the bike, and she walked briskly toward the far lot.
Thirty seconds later, Rok rode up. She settled Kevin in the trailer, Rok ran back for his bicycle, and she pedaled toward the motor home.
Leaving Kevin in the trailer, she tried all the doors of the RV. Locked. Dammit! There’s a map inside. I know it! She rounded the RV, tugging on doors to be sure. Then her gaze skimmed off a window on the driver’s side. It’s open!
She sized it up. I bet I can fit.
Rok joined her. “No luck?”
She pointed. “I can squeeze through if you give me a boost.”
The car alarm shut off, and she let out a sigh of relief.
Rok pulled out the screen and tossed it aside, and, without warning, picked her up, holding her snugly against his chest. “How should we do this?”
His body heat permeated through her clothes, and warm spice filled her nostrils.
He smelled incongruously like leather and evergreen and something exotic and mysterious.
Those striking eyes weren’t a solid color at all, but a kaleidoscope of shades combining to form a piercing blue.
Against her ribs, the strong beat of his heart caused her pulse to throb.
“I, uh, was thinking more of a leg up?”
He continued to hold her.
“You’ll need to put me down.”
His arms tightened before relaxing and setting her on her feet. She felt fluttery, her legs unsteady. “All righty, then. Cup your hands like this and bend over so I can put my foot in. She demonstrated. “Then lift.”
“Like this?” He laced his fingers. His palms were gray rather than silver. Instead of a pinky, he had a second thumb.
“Yes…you have interesting hands,” she said.
“So do you.” He took her hand and smoothed a thumb over her palm. “Soft.”
Probably so, since she wasn’t bathing dogs all the time.
“I suppose you get along all right with just one opposable thumb.” He still held her hand, continued to caress her palm, and she was letting him.
“I don’t miss what I never had,” she quipped. “Do you have testicles?” Where the hell did that come from?
The caressing stopped.
Her face flamed, and she yanked her hand away. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that.”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?” Oh my god. What’s wrong with me?
“Where are they?”
“Do they descend when you need them? I assume they’re inside?”
“They’re inside. They stay there. They don’t go anywhere.” His mouth quirked. “I wouldn’t want them to wander off.”
“It’s not too hot?”
“To hot for what?”
Too hot for this conversation. Her face was burning. “Human men—all Earthling males—have their testes outside their bodies because the internal temperature is too high for sperm production,” she explained primly.
He glanced at Kevin in the trailer. “He doesn’t have external testicles.”
“He’s been neutered.”
At the spark of curiosity in Rok’s eyes, she cursed herself.
She did not want to have that embarrassing discussion.
Why did I start this? Why did I mention testicles?
What’s wrong with me? It doesn’t matter if he has balls inside or out or that he has a rather impressive, humanlike cock.
Stop! Just stop! “Help me into the motor home.”
He bent and cupped his hands. Her pulse raced, and her stomach fluttered as she placed her foot in the makeshift stirrup.
“Okay…aiyeee!” she cried as he propelled her up and through the window before she was ready.
She’d expected a count of three or something.
Her head, shoulders and chest stuck inside, but her lower half dangled, fighting gravity.
She flailed, grabbing for the edge of the kitchenette counter. “I’m slipping! Push!”
Masculine hands palmed her ass and gave a firm shove…and lingered until she wiggled inside and dropped to the floor.
The RV boasted the comforts of home: a three-burner stove, a fair-sized refrigerator she didn’t dare open until the next millennium, a three-quarter bath, a love-seat-sized sofa, and, in the rear, two single beds separated by a nightstand.
If it wasn’t 2,000 degrees inside after being closed up, the motor home would have been a good place to spend the night.
She poked her head out the window. “Come around to the other side—I’ll open the door.”
“Should I bring Kevin?”
“It’s too hot. Leave him in the trailer, but bring the bike around so he can see where we are.” He was such a good little dog, obedient and affectionate. Whoever had owned him had taken excellent care of him.
She let Rok in. “This is a house!” he exclaimed.
“That’s why we call it a motor home. Some people vacationed in them. Others lived in them year-round. It has everything you need, even though it’s small.”
The compact space had gotten smaller since he’d entered.
Her skin tingled with sensitivity, and the imprint of his hands on her ass remained palpable.
“You check back here, I’m going up front.
Maybe open all the windows,” she suggested.
The temperature would drop at night. If they could get fresh air inside and cool down the RV, they might be able to stay.
“Don’t open the cabinet door there.” She pointed.
“Why not?”
“That’s the refrigerator—where they would store meat. There’s no telling when the battery or propane ran out. You think meat smells bad? Wait ’til you’ve smelled rotten meat and eggs.”
He recoiled. “I won’t open it.”
She squeezed by to the cab and immediately spied several maps and a road atlas sticking out of the passenger door pocket. She leaped into the seat and grabbed the lot. Oklahoma…Missouri…Springfield! Score!
On the city map, she found their location, scanned the area, and checked the points-of-interest index. No mention of Gillioz. I need an address!
Her foot nudged something on the floor, and she looked down to see a purse. A woman wouldn’t have left her handbag inside and gone into the hospital, so she must have been in the RV when she got vaporized. She probably hadn’t been alone. In that case…
There! On the floor of the driver’s side was a set of keys.
If the RV hadn’t been running, the battery might still have a charge. The RV would have gas. We could run the AC! The fuel wouldn’t last for more than several hours, but they could cool off the motor home. We could spend the night here! The idea appealed much more than trying to break into a house.
She climbed into the driver’s seat, retrieved the keys, and, taking a breath, inserted the key into the ignition and turned it. The RV purred like a kitten.
“What’s happening?” Rok appeared.
She turned and grinned. “The RV is operational. How do you feel about sleeping here tonight? It will be comfortable and cool.”
“Fine.”
She slipped by him and found the thermostat on the wall by the sofa. She turned it on and began closing the windows she’d had Rok open. “By the way, we have a map!” She retrieved it from the passenger seat and waved it.
He held up a 417 Magazine. “And I think I found what we’re looking for!”
A magazine? “How does this help us?”
He flipped it open and pointed to a photo. “Isn’t this where we want to go?”
“It’s an ad for the Gillioz. It’s a theater!” With an address! “How did you find it?”
“I saw the booklet. It looked interesting—the pictures of your world. I recognized the word Gillioz—the only word I recognized,” he added wryly.
“Let’s bring Kevin in and plot our route for tomorrow,” she said.