Page 19 of The Space Traveller's Lover
“Will we come back?”
“Ensheren” (Definitely)!
“Wait!” Erin pleads, clutching Rothwen’s hands as firmly as she can. “Where’s Sam? How long have I been here?”
“We’ve been taking good care of you for a few days. As for your friend … he’s safe. He’ll return to his family very soon.”
Erin shudders as the impressive sight of Diablo’s waterfall bursts into view right in front of her, its thundering roar reverberating through the whole chamber. She covers her mouth with her hands, holding her breath as she notices Sam’s boat wedged in the side alley. As she sees Sam lying on the deck, peacefully sleeping, she smiles with relief, but then she worries. She reaches out, trying to touch him, but her hand goes through a sheath of gleaming particles.
“Why have you done this?” she mouths in despair. All the memories of her last minutes with Sam flash through her mind, and she fears for his life.
As Rothwen turns the vivid images off with a thought-command, her anguish grows. She confronts him with a reproaching glare.
“How long since you brought me here?”
“Exactly eight Earth days,” Rothwen calmly replies. “But don’t worry. He’s been kept in hibernation. He’ll be all right until they find him.”
“Promise me he’ll be okay.”
“I promise …”
She looks at Rothwen warily as he pulls her against his broad chest and embraces her in a bear hug. His electrifying grasp makes her feel as if her blood is evaporating away.
“Shaillah … trust me!” He stresses his words while running his thick fingers over her cheeks.
“You kidnapped me. You’re holding my friend against his will. How can I ever trust you?” she protests while wrestling within his arms.
But Rothwen holds her steady while intensely gazing at her. “Look at me! Look at me!” he demands while pulling her face closer to him until their noses touch. “You must trust me!” He keeps a firm hold until she timidly looks back at him.
She fakes a complacent smile as she tries to stay collected. But deep inside, she feels frail and overpowered by his presence. Her skin is covered in goosebumps. Her trembling body betrays her fragile state, even though she tries to appear defiant.
Rothwen keeps tightening his grip, his pupils widening around a brightening glow. She repeatedly blinks, trying to withstand the burning sensation at the back of her eyes, until she has to close them tightly. Blinded and confused, she concentrates on her breathing. Every time she feels the air rushing through her lungs, every time she smells him, she is relieved to know she’s still alive.
Any moment now, my heart will stop beating, she fears. But soon, she is overcome with such ecstasy that she finds herself wishing the enthralling embrace would never end.
“You see?” Rothwen speaks in a mellow voice as he loosens his grip. “You cannot escape from my embrace. You see? But I’d never harm you. You can open your eyes now.”
Erin slowly opens her trembling eyelids as she breathes in and out, resting her hands on Rothwen’s chest while he keeps looking at her with a proud smile.
“Good!” Rothwen smugly says. “Be patient and listen to me. This is as hard for me as it is for you. We’re both out of our comfort zones. But I had to bring you here. It all started when you moved to the island. I couldn’t stop watching you—”
“How did you watch me?”
“I can see every single point of this planet from anywhere, every place, at any time. I used to watch you while you were asleep or even when you were out and about,” Rothwen says while softly caressing her forehead.
“I saw you in my dreams.” She gazes at him, delving into his unmistakably chiselled features as he continues talking to her.
“For a while, I thought Zula could be right. I might’ve been going through an ‘irrational phase’, but I felt so torn as you grew up. You would be swimming alone, and you’d be looking at me but without seeing me, and I’d be caressing your hair but without touching you. You were in that forbidden boundary I should’ve never crossed. But in all this time, there hasn’t been a moment when I’ve stopped thinking about you.”
Erin’s pupils sparkle under the copious tears flooding her eyelids and spilling over her cheeks. “I never stopped thinking about you either. I couldn’t wait to close my eyes at night to see you in my dreams. Why didn’t you just turn up?”
“I was denying it to myself every time. I thought this feeling would end as suddenly as it had started. But instead, it got stronger!”
“It got stronger for me too—”
“That much I knew. That’s why I made your friend bring you to me—the night of your sixteenth birthday and not a second later, when your body was ready to bring you into my world.”
“You could have taken me from anywhere, anytime. Why did you do it when I was with him?”
