Sex, Love, and Aliens, Volume 1 (4 page)

“What does that mean?
Dee–an–dara
?”

Cedun didn’t answer, just ducked his head as bright red crested his cheeks.

“Cedun?” Fascination threaded through her.

“Come, we must hurry and leave here.”

This time Gia let it be, realizing he wasn’t ready to talk about whatever this word meant. She hurried to the dresser, took out some clothes, and tugged them over her nude body.

“Grab more.” He opened her wardrobe and pulled out an old, ratty duffle bag.

“Why?” She looked at the bag and back at him, noting the harsh planes of his face.

“He will be back. Garret will not find you here.” Sparks of anger glinted in his gaze, and she gulped.

“But I can’t just ignore—”

Cedun shoved the bag at her chest.

“Cedun, I’m not a helpless female.”

“No, you are the one I will care for.” His words stilled her, the bag dropping between them with a thud. “I will protect you, Gia. The
Ba’Tua
will protect you.”

“What do you mean?” Her breath came in tiny little puffs as her heartbeat became a rapid tattoo in her chest.

“I have told you already, Gia. I will protect you. You are mine.”

Gia’s mind blanked at that.
He cares that much?

* * * *

Cedun tugged Gia close to him as they entered his home. “I’ve never traveled that way.” Gia’s voice still wobbled a little, and he grinned.

“You will become used to matter transmission in time,” he told her. Without speaking a word, she shuddered. “It’s a far more efficient use of time.”

“Time I have, unlike extra bits of me.” Her voice was a little stronger, and he steered her toward the kitchen at the center of his home. She’d never been there before, but now that he’d declared himself it was right that she should see it.

The small but efficient house seemed different and brighter now that she was there.

“It’s beautiful, Cedun. Did you design it yourself?” Her neck craned as she looked around.

“Yes, I did. With the agreements between our governments I was able to recreate my apartment in
Gai-Tak
. It is appropriate for my needs.” He shrugged, unable to find the words to tell her it was little more than functional, unlike his sprawling home in the provinces of
Dirustandi
.

“Tell me more about
Gai-Tak
. What’s it like?” Her bag settled on the floor with a thud, and she leaned forward on the wooden table, her face alight with interest.

He turned visions over in his mind. Where could he even start? His grasp of her language was so…lacking. He needed to show her how beautiful it was. Make her want to see it. But his self-confidence leached away. He just didn’t have the words.

“I will make drinks first. Then I will find images and show you.” He pulled away from her but Gia reached out, capturing his sleeve. Holding him close by.

“Tell me, Cedun. Tell me of your world.”

He blinked rapidly, noting the color had finally returned to her face.

“It is loud, large. Busy. Many people work hard, but it is a good city. Clean and friendly. No one is without and everyone smiles at those there. The air is sweet, with no pollution.”

Her gaze scanned his face. “It sounds like Shangri-La.”

He frowned at the unfamiliar location. “Shangri-La? I do not know of this place.”

Gia gave a tiny laugh, and her eyes shone in the lamp glow. “Shangri-La is somewhere that doesn’t exist. People are beautiful and friendly. They never go without, and stay young, never aging. It’s like… It’s like a paradise on Earth. It was a place someone made up in a story or movie…” Her words tapered away, and he found himself moving closer. Her smile faded, leaving her once more sad, the corners of her mouth drooping. Her gaze darted from his face to settle on something over his shoulder, but her eyes seemed distant.

“If that is so, why does it make you sad,
Deandara
?” Humans confused him sometimes. If they wanted paradise, then why not just create it?

“Because it doesn’t exist. There is no place that beautiful in the entire world, or probably the universe.” Now she looked at him, and he pushed the bag away before squatting down beside her.

“It is true, there is nowhere that stops aging, but beauty is everywhere. On every planet. All you have to do is create it.”

She laughed, and he rocked back on his heels.

“You find this idea amusing?” he asked.

“Oh boy, it’s so simple for you. Just make it, you say. The world doesn’t work like that. At least, not here.” She shuddered and yawned. “Look, maybe you could just show me to a bedroom. I should sleep. I’m feeling a bit punchy with everything that’s happened.”

Cedun helped her up, then scooped her bag into his arms. “Come this way.”

He led her down the short hall and showed her to his chamber. The one he wanted desperately to share with her. But she wasn’t ready, so he would give it up for her. Thoughts of her entwined under his covers, with him, left his heart thudding. His veins hummed with arousal, but he damned himself. She’d very nearly been abused and this was how he cared for her.

Awareness flared in her eyes, and they opened wide as she searched his face. He gave a small push before commanding the doors to shut.

For an instant he needed the support of the wall, gratefully accepting the coolness of the surface, letting it cool his super-heated body. Then he jerked away with a sigh. It wouldn’t be right to stay there and listen.

Instead, he planned how to capture the man who would have forced his gentle Gia. His hand curved around the communicator in his pocket. If it hadn’t been for that… His mind blanked. “Never again.” He depressed the button. “Joruzan, we must talk.”

* * * *

Gia woke, the sound of singing birds and the warmth of the sun’s rays impinging on her.

Careful stretches reminded her of aches, not the pleasant I’ve-been-satisfied variety though, and for a moment her brain stopped functioning. Her eyes settled on the unfamiliar room and the covers reminded her of… Cedun!

“Oh God!” Sitting bolt upright, she ran her fingers down her chest, feeling the rasp of the t-shirt she’d hastily drawn from her dresser the night before.

Horror rose, oily black waves that threatened to consume her before her memories resurfaced. Cedun had saved her. He’d arrived before Garret could—her mind shied away from the ugly word.

She rose, her feet sinking into the pile of the carpet, thick and rich, and she padded to the doorway which opened automatically. The door retracted silently, and she glanced down the hallway.

A computer-generated voice surprised her. “Cedun sends his greetings and requests your company in the kitchen.”

“He sends his greetings, huh?” She giggled, feeling like she was in some kind of bad b-grade movie.

“Affirmative.”

She laughed, a deep belly-rolling sound, and she jumped as Cedun stepped into the hall.

“You are awake. Come, breakfast will be ready momentarily.” He beckoned, one hand outstretched, and she sobered. Was she really ready for this level of connection?
The sharing of a meal and kitchen and the morning after?

Reality intruded, after all, hadn’t they shared their bodies—what deeper intimacy could there be? If they’d followed through, she wouldn’t have been alone last night and today she would have woken in his arms. All would have been well.

She shrugged the thoughts away as not just negative, but also destructive. “Sure.” She took his hand and let him lead her to the cozy room in the center of his house. “You have a computer in the hallway to greet you?”

“It is standard in all houses in
Gai-Tak
. I found not having it confusing.”

She laughed at his words and shook her head. So much was different between them, yet so much was the same.

“Sit. I will cook you something filling.” He turned away, and for a moment she was sure there was something there, some knowledge that would concern her. But she shrugged it off as a figment of her overactive imagination.

“You don’t have to cook for me. Coffee would be perfect.”

This time he did look at her, a grin on his handsome face. “You need to nourish your mind and your body. I am sure De’ Valerie has told you that many times.”

“No! Don’t remind me. She always stressed over breakfast.” Gia raked her hands through her unruly mop, and the band of her watch snagged in her hair. “Ow!”

“Let me.” Cedun carefully disentangled the knot and Gia got a look at the time. “Oh no! I was supposed to be at work…” Then the memory of
why
she hadn’t been there yesterday filtered through her brain.

“Gia? Is everything fine?” Cedun sat down opposite her, and Gia rubbed at her itchy eyes.

“Not really. You see, my job is gone—ah, it was dissolved. Jeffrey announced the day before yesterday that they were closing the business immediately. That was before I decided heading to Garret’s was the best option. But when I got there and found him in bed with Floss... Well, I kind of lost it. So I went home, found a bottle of wine…”

“Your mother did inform me and so did you. I take it you were planning on drinking your way to the bottom?” His dry tone made her smile.

“Where did you learn a phrase like that?” She gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Well, something along those lines. Then there you were... Hey, what
were
you doing there anyway?” Gia sat upright and pinned him with a sharp stare.

Cedun blushed and glanced away for a moment, but when he looked back there was a glint in his eyes. “De’ Valerie was concerned that your pool attendant was vacating...is that the correct word?”

With a little smile, Gia shook her head.

“As De’ Valerie is unable to undertake the maintenance on your pool, she asked Joruzan and myself to clean it. It was my turn yesterday, but I usually swim after it is completed, which is how you found me.” His blush deepened.

“Ahh! Well, I’m more than thankful that you were. I mean…” Now it was Gia’s turn to burn.

“It was my pleasure.” His gaze turned wolfish, and she gasped silently as the instantaneous burn of heat assailed her from the inside.

“Oh dear…” The words tapered away as Cedun leaned close, the warmth of his breath caressing her skin.

Below the t-shirt her nipples puckered, and the dull throb between her legs surged to life.

Inches from her lips, Cedun stopped. Gia whimpered. “I promised you time. I will give you that.” But his words were shaky, as if he too were overcome with the hunger that gnawed deep in her belly.

“I was wrong.” The words were a whisper, but he pulled back with a tiny smile.

“Never. You are perfect in every way. But, Gia…” His hand cupped her cheek, and she nuzzled against the warmth of his palm, her nerve endings zinging in reaction to his proximity. The feeling left her momentarily breathless. She was unable to help her body’s response to him. “I will give you time.”

Cedun pulled away and she sighed. “I’ve changed my mind, Cedun.”

His smile was cool, but his eyes blazed. “No, you just feel the hunger. We will wait. Soon the time will be right.” On that note, he pulled away and headed for the cooking block. “Food, we need food.”

Chapter 3

Cedun used the day to contact the
Tura Guard
. While he couldn’t give Gia and her house an official protection, he could and did call in favors. Ones she wouldn’t know of if he had his way.

Joruzan also called on connections, including those within the local Earth police. Cedun was pleased he had made such strides with the local forces, but it wasn’t enough.

“Joruzan, it is not enough.” He looked through the window overlooking the private beach where Gia was walking with her mother.

“It will be enough, the locals have assured me they will be investigating his entry and the attack on Gia.” His friend looked out the window. “She seems to be coping well, given the circumstances.”

But in his heart Cedun knew she’d pushed the memories away. It was clear that she hoped ignoring the scars of her experience would make them somehow disappear. He’d learned life didn’t work that way.

“Have you told—”

“No, Cedun, I have not. She has enough on her hands right now, coping with the gestation. There are also enough who think that any kind of relationship between our two species is…wrong. I try to shield her, but...” Joruzan’s words tapered off.

“It is difficult loving human women. I want to offer Gia everything, but she told me that after Garret she does not think she is ready. They lead such open lives, always searching for what is beyond their reach—unlike us. We are taught to wait for our destined ones and to repress our desires.” He dragged his hand through his hair and shook away the thought. “As for Garret, I really need to know how he got in her house and how he managed to get away so quickly. Something about the whole situation bothers me. There is something that is not quite right.”

“It is like he has a transmitter, yes?”

Cedun stopped, arrested by the thought that Garret might have, somehow, laid his hands on
Ba’Tua
technology. “Could he? Joruzan?” Cedun spun toward his friend, his stomach cramping as he realized that this could be the answer. It chilled him to the core.

“I do not see how. That could only happen if he’d been given a transmission controller or—”

“If he is from another planet. Somewhere like
Galecia
.” An icy finger of dread coursed through Cedun.

“I doubt it, Cedun. How could they have even gotten here? Our original thought seems more probable. That Garret has somehow got hold of a matter transmitter.”

But that Garret could be a
Galecian
, from the planet that spawned slaves and acquired other planets… If he was… It was too dangerous to entertain without more details. Instead Cedun considered Joruzan’s words. “Find out, Joruzan. Check through the records of who has lost one and where. I know we have lost a few
Ba’Tuas
here so we need to find out who they were and the circumstances of their deaths. If he is using a stolen unit, not even our transport vessels are safe.”