Page 3 of Gentle Giant

Standing well over seven feet tall, his face was mostly hairless, as were his hands and feet, though the rest of him was covered in fur, and he wore no clothing. His shoulders were broad, his chest sculpted with well-defined muscles. As I studied him, I was shocked by the massive size of his hands. My gaze went back to his eyes. So light blue they were almost white.

When he reached for me, I found myself leaning into his touch. He cupped my face in one hand and stepped closer, so near the heat of his body encircled me like a tender, protective embrace. I wanted to sink into his arms, but I stood frozen as I stared into his searching eyes. He regarded me with a look of utter adoration.

“Human female,” he said, in a deep, otherworldly voice, “I have been waiting for you.”

But when I opened my mouth to speak, he vanished into the mist, leaving me alone in the dark forest.

Then I was falling, falling, falling… until I jolted awake with a gasp.

I immediately sat up and leaned against the wall as I took in my surroundings, the dream still fresh in my mind—the pale eyes that had brimmed with affection, the sexy growls, the feelings of safety and longing.

I placed a hand on the cool, hard floor. The bathroom. Memories came rushing back. I’d fallen asleep in the hallway bathroom, having locked myself inside after a particularly nasty fight with Nick. My fiancé.

No. Wait.Ex-fiancé.

It was over.

I’d caught him cheating, witnessed him banging another woman in the downstairs laundry room of the apartment building. And now we weren’t getting married. I’d dumped him, and he hadn’t taken it well. Since our fight had occurred after the nine p.m. city-wide curfew, making it too dangerous to leave the apartment building for a hotel, I’d spent the night on the bathroom floor.

I rubbed my eyes and glanced at the time on my phone. Eight in the morning. Good. Nick should be at work. His boss was a prick who fired anyone who was a mere minute late. I would know—I’d worked for the same tech company until last month when my department hadn’t survived the most recent round of layoffs. Still, I pressed my ear to the door and listened.

Silence. I breathed a sigh of relief and departed the bathroom.

Broken glass crunched under my boots, and the pungent scent of wine filled the apartment. I winced at the memory of each bottle impacting against the wall, the violent crashes punctuating Nick’s nonsensical screams.

My throat tightened when my gaze fell to the wedding invitations scattered on the living room floor. Unsent. Thank goodness they were unsent.

Need to pack. Need to get the hell out of here.

I swallowed hard and headed for the master bedroom. Nick usually didn’t get home from work until after five, but I didn’t want to take any chances, so I started packing quickly. As I sorted through my closet, my thoughts strayed to the dream about the beast. It had felt so real. Not only that, but I’d had the very same dream nightly during the past month.

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my pocket with a trembling hand, praying it wasn’t my jerk of an ex. Surprise gripped me when I read the text.

Hey girl, it’s me. Knock knock.

I jumped to my feet and hurried to the door, where I nearly broke into tears at the sight of Candy, my best friend in the whole world. She grinned at me as she balanced two coffees, a box of donuts, and several folded boxes in her arms. In my time of need, she’d hopped on a hovercraft and traveled four hundred miles to see me. When I’d texted her last night, letting her know the wedding was off, I hadn’t expected her to come all this way. But oh how I was overjoyed to see her.

“Candy,” I breathed, blinking away tears.

“Wow, bestie boo. You look like you could use some coffee and delicious carbs.” Her smile faded and she gave me a sympathetic look. Worry flashed in her eyes as she peered at the mess behind me. “Oh my God. That cheating asshole better not have touched you. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, really. He didn’t put his hands on me. Just screamed and raved and hurled bottles of wine at the wall. He got very defensive and said it was all my fault. He said I drove him into the arms of another woman because I’m too distant,blah blah blah.” I forced a smile as I relieved her of the coffee and donuts, even as Nick’s words rang in my head.

What if Iweredistant? I had felt myself pulling away from him lately, though I couldn’t understand why. Cold feet? Shit, I didn’t know. Maybe once I got out of here and cleared my head, I would manage to figure things out.

“It’s not your fault, girl. Don’t you even think it. Cheaters usually get defensive when they get caught. I would know. I’ve dated my fair share of small-dicked ass rags.”

My smile became more genuine. Candy always knew the right thing to say, and I hoped she was right. I hoped it wasn’t my fault. But it suddenly struck me that I’d started withdrawing from Nick after I’d first dreamed of my forest beast. What could it mean?

“It’s so good to see you, and I appreciate you coming all this way,” I said, deciding not to mention the strange dreams to Candy, “but don’t you have important things to be doing right now? You know, seeing as how you’re scheduled to leave Earth in just two days.”

She breezed into the apartment and immediately set about assembling the boxes and lining them up on the floor. “No need to thank me. I’m aware of how awesome I am.” She shot me a playful smirk. “Besides, I wanted to see you one last time before…” Her voice trailed off and she blinked rapidly. “Well, one last timebefore. I hope to visit Earth once it’s safer, and I do hope you’ll come visit me on planet New Vaxx. Maybe you’ll even decide to stay. I know we had this discussion last night, but I’m not giving up on you yet. Youcouldcome with me. In two days, we could both be on our way to New Vaxx.”

I set the coffee and donuts on the entry table, then turned to shut the door, making sure to secure the deadbolt. Not for the first time, I tried to imagine what it would be like to join Candy on New Vaxx, a beautiful planet filled with Vaxxlian warriorswho needed human mates. Logically, it seemed like a great idea. A safe option, even if it meant marrying a stranger. But I was fresh out of a relationship and didn’t think I would be ready to date for a long, long time, let alone enter a lifelong union with an alien warrior. I needed some time to think. Time to heal.

There was also the fact that I felt compelled to stay on Earth. As though my very life depended upon it, and my heart ached when I thought about leaving. Not only that but breathing became difficult and panic rushed in when I pictured myself boarding a spaceship bound for planet New Vaxx. I couldn’t do it.

“I know you think I’m crazy for staying,” I said, wincing as shouts and gunfire rang out in the street below, “but I need to figure out why I feelpulledto stay on Earth.” I placed a hand over my heart. “Maybe I have some sort of unfinished business here. I don’t know. But I’m not ready to leave. Not yet.”

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