Chapter 6
Alex was ridiculously comfortable. She couldn’t remember a single time in her entire life where she had been so comfortable and had the luxury of languidly chasing dreams. Yawning, she turned and stretched.
Her hand landed on something incredibly soft, with the warm scent of mellow musk and a hint of something like cedar and a touch of an identifiable floral.
She moaned and buried her face deeper into the mercifully cool, plush fabric, breathing it in.
As a non-gratas, she had only dreamed of the possibility of such pleasures existing.
Clutching the pillow to her, she rolled onto her back and released it so that draped over her face and upper torso.
Lifting her hands over her head, she arched her back and pointed her toes as she languidly stretched.
She immediately froze, however, as the surrounding bedding rippled.
The soft pillows and cushions she was lying upon suddenly shifted and moved—several of them mounding up and toppling in response—as if something large was gliding through them.
Alex’s hand went to the pillow covering her face and slowly pulled it back so that she could peer around its edge.
A serpentine tail of a deep indigo blue glided among exquisitely made pillows in a long sinuous path that she tracked upward, her eyes following the length of the tail until finally resting on a powerful indigo back with a dark line of a flattened fin running down the center.
The edge of its large wings was visible, stretched over the shoulders and sides, leaving its back exposed.
Seshanamitesh. But this was not the same as the one who had rescued her.
For one, the color was wrong. For another, though it was smaller in size, its muscular build was broader with hard edges rather than the elegant, toned power of the female.
The muscles bunched and then moved as suddenly one wing unfurled from where it was wrapped around the sleeping alien.
Alex shrank into her pillows, her back bowing and her knees drawing up as she attempted to make herself small. Please don’t look this way. Just ignore me and go about your business like I’m not even here.
The wings stretched, and the muscles of the male’s back rippled as he suddenly rose from the cushions, his wings fanning out and stretching widely around him.
The strange illumination coming from the walls cast a muted light through the membranes of his wings as they continued to stretch, demonstrating their massive size.
Alex trembled, her lips moving in a silent prayer. What the fuck happened that landed her in bed with an alien? And a strange male at that! She had never so much as stood close to one of the intimidating hunters that dwelled alongside them in the colony. And now suddenly she was in bed with one!
Biting her bottom lip to stifle a sound of dismay, Alex began to wiggle in small, understated movements, backing away from the monstrous frame of the male.
Suddenly, he shifted and turned, his gavo rising into twin fanned horns as he faced her.
Dark red eyes fell upon her, and Alex’s breath locked up in chest as his gaze pierced her.
“Human,” he hissed with a deep, rumbling intonation that sent an unexpected quiver racing beneath her skin.
She was, quite literally, shaking with fear. She was going with fear because that was the only rational explanation for the feeling sweeping through her as if every nerve ending was exposed and raw.
Alex scooted back further but quickly ran into a hard surface that, upon a quick glance back to verify the matter, was a smooth stone wall.
Her eyes darted back to the male only to find him regarding her quizzically as he rose slowly on his long tail.
Something shifted next to her leg. Her eyes widened in horror and lowered as her mouth opened in a scream.
The sound choked off, dying before it could even rise fully into her throat, when the male lunged with a loud hiss, his body curling around her and his large hand slapping over her mouth as he knocked her sideways into the dense pile of cushions and pillows.
Somehow, he managed to not crush her with the weight of his much larger body as they landed together, but he was so close that she could see the dark and bright striations with his red eyes and the perfect sliver of his pupil expanding very slightly in response to their sudden proximity.
They remained there for several heartbeats, just inches separating their faces as they silently stared into each other’s eyes.
He slowly blinked, and an unreadable expression crossed his face before he shifted away, his body lifting from hers. His hand, however, remained firmly over her mouth as he regarded her.
“Be calm. If you scream, your presence here will be discovered.”
Alex’s brow knitted in response as she puzzled over his words.
Wouldn’t that be a good thing? She was alone with a strange male.
She should want others there to protect her—a whole damn audience that could bear witness—except, why did she have the feeling that his words indicated that this would be very bad?
She licked her lips nervously as she peered at him.
“And that’s... bad?” she whispered, her left eyebrow rising in inquiry.
Surprise flitted across his face, only to be replaced with a faint look of amusement before it disappeared completely as his cool mask of scrutiny descended once again.
“It is bad. Unless you would enjoy being hauled up in front of an angry female who likely try to kill you as she attempted to do to the last human who was here?”
Alex gaped at him. She knew that relations were strained between Raza and the Aglatha shinara, but with all the mutual cooperation between their peoples, she hadn’t realized that it was that bad. It was no wonder Vi was so worried. Lori was somewhere out there among unknown aliens.
“N... no. I think I will pass on that,” she replied.
He inclined his head. “A wise decision,” he rumbled, and he slowly turned, presenting his back to her, as his tail wound among the cushions and pillows once more.
“To answer the question that I am certain you have locked within you, you are here because you were ill and Kitanara and her sisters do not have suitable space to hide you. They came to me for help.”
“And you do? Have suitable space, that is?”
His head turned toward her, his eyes flicking dismissively in her direction before he gave a long sigh as he gestured to the piles of pillows filling the space.
“What do you think? My bed is as spacious and comfortable as only the son of the queen can expect to enjoy... or an unfortunate male mated into one of the noble families,” he added with the faintest grimace twisting his lips.
His gavo flicked, and he sighed again, this time quieter as he jostled himself out of his moment of reflection.
“Then there is my nest which is not only these things but also considerably private. Few would dare to enter uninvited.”
“Must be nice to be the son of the queen,” Alex mumbled to herself and then froze, her eyes widening as something sank through her fear.
A prince. He was not just an alien. He was an alien prince who could probably have her killed, make it look like an accident, and no one would be the wiser.
“You... you said you took me in while I was ill. You took care of me?”
He inclined his head, his gave lifting and snapping with the loud, unnerving sound in his species’ affirmative gesture.
“You were ill for many days and suffered burns. It is fortunate that I have assisted in caring for many ill young hunters previously, though I have never tended to anyone so small and fragile. Sun sickness alone can be quite deadly even for Seshanamitesh.” His head tipped, his eyes narrowing on her speculatively.
“I am relieved to see you awake. I was most concerned.”
She swallowed. He did? He was? She studied him, noting that his eyes were pinned on her in a way that could be interpreted as predatory...
or the regard of someone who had tended to her for days on end and was understandably watching for any sign of relapse.
If she had truly been unconscious for days under his care, then he had many opportunities to harm her if he was inclined to do so.
It was then that she noticed the swaths of pale pink material wrapped snugly around her.
Although her flight suit was drawn back up over it, they spilled out from beneath the torn sleeves and the legs of the suit like thick, flowing scarves.
She picked up the edge of the material and inspected it.
The material had a surprising density, and its weave was nothing like she’d ever seen before.
The fabric alone would be worth a fortune to anyone living in the colony.
Its value aside, she was more shocked that she was carefully wrapped to ensure that she stayed warm.
The overall look was a bit ridiculous, but the flight suit kept the material fastened tightly around her to keep her far warmer than a simple garment would have.
“Sahguin woven cloth,” the male supplied, unasked. “It is primarily used for the bedding of nestlings, but it occurred to me that your thin human flesh was just as vulnerable. I acquired it from a servant.”
He acquired it. That also implied that he had dressed her and taken care of her other bodily needs.
She was mortified, but it didn’t stop her from drawing back the cloth to inspect her arm.
A quick glance at her arm affirmed that not only had the sunburns faded but that the burns from the crash were healing.
Overall, she felt weak and exhausted, but nothing else felt...
wrong. She was willing to take a chance that he was as benevolent as all the evidence pointed to, and that he was hiding her to keep her safe.
Alex drew a slow, deep breath and released it.
One thing was for certain: if things were this strained, she wasn’t going to be able to just put in a comm to Raza.
She was going to have to get back to the colony personally to send out a search and rescue team for Vi and Ehsash. She couldn’t waste time in the Aglatha.
“Is there a plan for getting me home?” she asked as she very slowly eased off the wall that she’d practically flattened herself onto.
The male dipped his chin with a frustrated sigh.
“I do not know how Kitanara managed to bring you so far without alerting someone, but it is unlikely that this can be repeated. The activity within the palace is watched very closely not only by those who serve the palace but by the families of the noble matriarchs.”
“But the other human who was with me—”
His gavo snapped wearily, and perhaps a little impatiently.
“I am aware that there is another human missing on the desert. Kitanara is going to arrange for a few of the remaining hunters in the upper caverns to search for some sign of her. She will report to me as soon as she hears anything.” His gaze flicked to her.
“She understands your concern and shares it. The desert is not a merciful place.”
She stared down at her hands contemplatively, frustration boiling up within her. “So, what am I supposed to do now?”
His large body moved, making the cushions and pillows around him shift audibly. “Now? Now you do what you need to do to survive. Be wary of everything. Nothing within the palace can be trusted.”
“Including you?” she demanded, glaring at him defiantly.
The Seshanamitesh laughed in a humming, rolling sound as he settled more deeply into the cushions and closed his eyes. “Especially not me, little human. The only thing you can trust for certain is that I will not harm you.”
Alex made a face in response. That was hardly reassuring. He may not actively harm her, but she was certain that the moment her protection interfered with his own interests, her safety would depend on her alone. That was mildly terrifying when she was likely miles beneath the surface of the planet.
She took several steadying breaths as she fought for composure.
This was no big deal. She had survived quite a few tests of nerves over the years while assigned under the Corp.
She could do this. The male was a necessary but potentially temporary and situational ally.
It was better than nothing. She peered over at him from beneath her lashes, noting the way that his face was relaxed into oddly peaceful lines despite their strange contours as he wrapped his upper body around the long, rounded pillow tucked under his head.
“Okay. Since we are going to be cohabiting here in your... ah... nest... what should I call you?”
One of his red eyes opened and slowly turned toward her.
“Therxian,” he replied in a soft hiss before drawing his wing over his face, blocking her out completely.
Therxian. She mentally repeated it several times, her mouth moving with the silent sounds.
It was a strange name, but it had a nice, smooth cadence to it.
Therxian. She repeated the name again as she rolled her lips thoughtfully.
Carefully, so as not to make too much sound or shift the cushions too much so that she wouldn’t disturb him, Alex crept closer to his side.
“I’m Alex. Alex Taylor,” she murmured.
He didn’t reply, but his wing twitched as if responding to the sound of her voice.
Good enough. She was going to call that an acknowledgment.
Yawning, she settled back among the pillows and pulled the soft blanket she’d kicked aside back over her.
If she had to be hidden away in a manner that was barely a step up from prisoner, it was at least not a bad place to be kept.
She just hoped that His Royal Highness ate something half palatable in the morning.