Page 35 of The Space Traveller's Lover
As she enters the space-tunnel’s shadowy confines, she wishes to be at the central platform’s guard rails, and then she waits.
The refreshing ocean smell welcomes her as she walks through the arching columns. She opens her arms as she hurls herself towards the top rails and lets her body dangle, balancing on her belly. She imagines flying over the rustling ocean as she takes the whole view of the starry night sky all to herself.
As she looks to her left, the sight of four moons stretching over the horizon takes her breath away. In decreasing diameters, the golden-red moons weave an arched path across a tenuous dusty band. Shaillah follows the moons’ multiple reflections on the water, intertwining through the waves and sudden whirlpools, stirring her restless thoughts.
She jumps back onto the floor and starts walking towards another archway while staring back at the braided moons for as long as she can. As she arrives at her aisle, she stops in her tracks when she sees Rothwen,looking at her as if he had been waiting for a long time. He is leaning on his back with his arms folded on his chest, pressing one of his heels against her front door. She runs towards him.
She gasps. “How did you get here before me?”
“I know all the shortcuts within this maze.”
She tilts her head to one side, her contrived expression trying to hide her delight. As her door opens, she pushes through, bumping purposely against his shoulder. He starts walking by her side, but she barely acknowledges his presence.
“I thought to come and see you, since you are thinking about me,” he tells her smugly, trying to shift her icy demeanour.
“No, I wasn’t,” she protests.
“Yes, you were,” he insists.
She suddenly stops to face him with a scolding gaze, pursing her lips. “I’m so tired, Rothwen, of you reading my thoughts.”
He tries to caress her hair, but she bluntly avoids his touch with a swift jerk of her head.
“You will get to control your thoughts precisely. I will show you,” he calmly says, ignoring her rebuff.
She softens her stance and half-smiles, then starts walking away as he closely follows her.
She confronts him. “I’ve seen what you’re capable of. What are your plans for this humble planet?”
“We’ve come peacefully. We do not use our past tactics—anymore. Of course, it all depends on the humans. If they don’t provoke us … Have they changed their ways? We’ll see.”
“You say you are coming peacefully, but I’ve seen the zest for revenge in Kuzhma-Or’s and Zula-Or’s eyes—”
“They cannot forget what happened. But things have changed. We’ve grown merciful and wiser.”
She runs towards her overhanging balcony, rushing through the opening glass doors and onto the golden railings. As she leans forwards and looks up at the sky, her eyes fill up with the gleaming beams of the rising arched four moons.
“Oh, glorious universe, let the mighty Rom-Ghenshars’ leniency prevail. Let them, in their infinite wisdom, be generous,” she pleads, her voice breaking in a deep emotional sigh.
Rothwen stands behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders while pressing her back tightly against his chest. He breathes in deeply through her hair, filling his powerful lungs with her delicate aroma. “Shaillah, you need to stop thinking so much about the humans. You are one of us now,” he murmurs in his drawn-out husky voice.
“But I still have human feelings.”
“And that’s what makes you unique. But you have to learn to control your emotions. I will show you.”
She turns around to resist him, but when her hands fall on his bare muscular chest, under his open jacket, she struggles to control her runaway desire. “So … you are my personal trainer now,” she says in an ironic tone while trying to keep her composure.
“Something like that.” His eyes mischievously sparkle as he notices her flustered reaction.
She stares warily at him, making up a hardened face as she manages to say in a defiant tone, “Don’t think you can control me like one of your robots. I’m a free spirit. I’m like this diamond”—she briefly dangles her pink diamond in front of his eyes—“but not because of its perfect cut and dazzling glow. I’ll be unbreakable, impossible to bend, and hard to ignore.”
He caresses her neck with both hands while looking intensely at her and subtly smiling. “Challenge accepted, Shaillah.” He simmers, holding her chin and drawing her face close to his.
His wild passionate kisses burn through her tongue like melting treacle. Stopping for breath, she looks deep into his eyes, trying to decipher his thoughts. “What do you want from me? Are you using me for your dark desires?” She questions him as her heart keeps pounding uncontrollably.
He exhales impatiently, a seething glare flashing from his pupils. “Maybe you should ask yourself why I’ve changed all my plans so I could bring you into my world—when, in the end, you’ll decide whether to run away from me.”
“Will I?”
