A growl sounded, and icy adrenaline raced through my veins. My limbs turned to steel and my thoughts sped in a hundred different directions. I tried to drop, but my muscles refused to respond as my heart thrashed against my ribs. Another low growl came from even closer, sending another jolt of white-hot terror through me. My foot slipped on the icy snow, and I crashed to the ground, muscles locked, but thankfully, a mound of snow hid my slight form.
A massive creature strode by. They were near eight feet tall with four arms, towering horns, and short light blue fur that was striped with icy gray streaks. The fur did nothing to hide the muscles upon muscles the alien was built with. They wore a vest decorated with bones and a fur loincloth. Their wide feet broke through the snow with little trouble as they held a wicked spear in their humongous, six-fingered grasp.
The alien had a flat nose like a cat, and they sniffed constantly. They had a heavy brow that hung over their deep set yellow eyes, which never stopped roving.
I stayed perfectly motionless and tried to take small breaths so as to not alert them to my presence. This alien was an unknown entity. They might be friendly, which would be nice, though unlikely in my limited experience with the universe. Clearly, they were a hunter. Whether that meant they were a solitary species or not, I had no idea.
The alien suddenly stopped not far from me, and a low rumble sounded in their broad chest. I stopped breathing and begged the universe, God, anything out there for this creature to not notice me. I did not want to be abducted for a third time.
After what felt like a thousand years, the alien stalked toward the trees.
When they vanished from sight, a huge gust of air rushed out of me—that had been too fucking close. I shakily got to my feet and ripped the blanket off, shivering in the freezing air, but I didn’t care. A straight path of my footprints led to the shuttle. It couldn’t remain. Bent over, I walked backward to obscure my earlier steps with the blanket. My fingers turned red, burning from the extended contact with the snow, and I shivered terribly; none of that mattered, though. I had to not lead a potential threat directly to us.
Kicking the ice and snow off the hatch door, I cleared the way as quickly as physically possible. Snot leaked from my nose, freezing to my face in streaks. I struggled to breathe and my limbs shook from exertion, but I refused to stop. When I stepped inside, I tried to grasp the lever, but my numb fingers wouldn’t cooperate. I shoved them into my armpits, swearing at the sudden bite of cold.
Hopping, I said, “Warm up. Just warm up. For the love of god, warm up.”
I tried again and managed to curl my fingers around the lever. With a hard yank back, I groaned, “Close. Close. Close. Fucking close, damn you.”
Painstakingly slow, the door shut with a resounding thud.
The blanket was caked in snow, so I shook it off and draped it over a crate. Who knew if it would dry? Was that a thing? I wasn’t sure. I had zero experience with snow.
I shuffled out of my extra clothes, as they were covered in ice and I didn’t want it to melt in the warmth of the tent, then crawled inside. Serlotminden was still asleep. I snuggled against him, trying to get as close as possible, moaning low in my throat. God. He was like a heater. I shoved my hands beneath him, digging them into his shirt and placing them right against his scales, and my digits burned from the searing heat of him.
He grunted. “You’re cold.”
My teeth clattered together too much for me to answer, so I didn’t.
His arm came around me, holding me securely to his side while his tail coiled around my calf. “I have you…” His voice trailed off into a snarling noise that I didn’t understand, but I doubted it was anything negative because it sounded soft.
I buried against his neck and breathed in his clean scent until my heart slowed to a normal pace. The heat from Serlotminden eventually permeated my limbs to the point I could uncurl and lie against him. I pulled my hands from beneath him, draping an arm over his waist. My fingers automatically traveled over his chest, the silky fabric of his shirt catching on my callouses.
We were not alone on this planet. Birds of some kind might inhabit the nests on the cliff. A huge alien lived near where we crashed. The trees moved independently. It was balls-cold. I had no idea how to find food.
We were fucked. I’d been better off with Vince at the fighting arena.
Even as I thought that, my muscles tightened and my breath sped up. A tremor traveled up my spine, and I clutched Serlotminden’s shirt. No. I didn’t want to go back. I never wanted to go back.Please don’t make me go back, I thought desperately as a wail sounded in my mind and the searing fire from the incinerator scorched my arms.
Serlotminden tightened his hold on me, muttering unintelligibly under his breath. The sudden tension that had consumed me eked out, leaving me quite weightless. I wrapped my arms around him, feeling… oddly secure. I sighed. I hadn’t felt safe in a very long time. It was idiotic to feel safe next to the alien that abducted me, even though he’d been trying to rescue me.
Nonetheless, the feeling persisted.
Pressing tightly to Serlotminden, I went to sleep, exhausted. The future would keep for a few hours.
Chapter 8
Is that a smile?
“You did what?” I demanded, trying but not succeeding in keeping the growl from my voice. My tail curled around his ankle and up his calf; I needed to hold him to assure myself that Bartholomew was safe; that he was here with me. But he could not have been. Thedamnhuman might have been snatched away from me, and I would’ve never known what happened to him.
His expression remained blank as he replied, “I went outside. I spotted an alien. Big. Very big.”
My hold on him tightened. “Did they hurt you?”
“No, they didn’t even see me.”
I wanted to haul him into my arms and settle him on top of me, but I was still struggling to sit up. There was also the matter of Bartholomew and I having not discussed permissions. He might not like being touched, even in a friendly manner. Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t have my tail coiled around his leg, but I couldn’t help myself. Why? I couldn’t say. But I had gone through a considerable amount of trouble to get him, and I wasn’t going to let someone take him from me.
