Page 3 of Alien Attachment
“Life signs present but suppressed. Stasis appears to be failing. Also, thermal imaging suggests elevated core temperature and increased blood flow to—”
“I don’t need a medical commentary on his anatomy, Lila!”
“Noted. However, you have been staring at his—”
“Moving on,” I interrupt quickly. “How long before he wakes up?”
As if answering my question, the being’s chest rises with a deep, shuddering breath that does interesting things to those abs. His eyes snap open, revealing irises so dark they’re almost black, with pupils that seem to swirl with depths I could fall into.
And somehow, impossibly, I know instantly that he sees me. More than that—he recognizes me, which should be impossible because I’ve never seen anything like him before. There’s an intensity in his gaze that makes my skin tingle and my breath catch.
His lips part, revealing teeth that are white and sharp and probably capable of doing very interesting things—
Stop it, Kaylee.
“Found you,” he whispers, his voice a low rasp that vibrates through my bones and settles somewhere low in my belly. “At last.”
And then several things happen at once.
The restraints around his wrists and ankles shatter like glass, releasing a burst of blue energy that knocks me backward onto my ass with distinctly undignified grace. The tentacles on his back unfurl like flower petals, reaching outward with sinuous grace that’s both beautiful and terrifying. One of them moves toward me with obvious intent, and I scramble backward on my hands and knees.
“Whoa there, tentacle boy,” I gasp, but the appendage brushes against my forearm anyway, and—
Lightning. Pure, electric sensation shoots through my entire nervous system, making every nerve ending light up like a festival display. For a moment, I can’t tell where I end and he begins, can’t separate my thoughts from his emotions—confusion, fear, relief, and something else, something hungry and desperate and lonely that threatens to swallow me whole.
I try to pull away, but the tentacle wraps around my wrist with surprising gentleness, warm and alive and impossibly soft. The sensation shifts from overwhelming to... not exactly pleasant, but not painful either. Like being touched by living silk that knows exactly how to make me shiver.
“What the hell—” I start, but I can’t finish because his emotions are flooding into me, alien but somehow familiar, like remembering a dream I never had.
“Mine,” he says, his voice stronger now, resonating not just in my ears but somehow inside my chest, making my ribs vibrate. His eyes lock onto mine with an intensity that makes my breath catch. “Safe now. Found you.”
He sits up in the container with fluid grace, muscles rippling under that indigo skin in ways that really shouldn’t be legal. The tentacles from his back continue to explore the cargo bay like curious fingers, but the one around my wrist remains, pulsing with gentle warmth that’s spreading up my arm and doing very distracting things to my concentration.
“Unidentified psychic resonance detected,” Lila announces, her voice seeming to come from very far away. “Biological tethering initiated. Also, Pilot Kaylee, your heart rate and core temperature have elevated significantly.”
“Not helping, Lila,” I manage to say, my voice shakier than I’d like.
The alien tilts his head, studying me with those bottomless dark eyes. His gaze travels over my face, down my neck, lingering on places that make me acutely aware of how my jumpsuit clings to my sweat-dampened skin.
“You opened the container,” he says, and his voice has a musical quality that makes something low in my belly tighten. “You freed me.”
“I didn’t free you,” I protest, trying to ignore how his proximity is affecting me. “Your container was damaged. I was following safety protocols.”
A smile curves his lips—the first expression I’ve seen from him that looks entirely human. It transforms his alien features, making him look less dangerous and more... well, devastatingly attractive.
“Safety,” he repeats, like the word amuses him. “Yes. You are safe now. I will ensure it.”
“I’m not anyone’s to protect,” I snap, trying to pull my arm free. The tentacle tightens slightly—not hurting, but making it clear I’m not going anywhere. The sensation sends an unwelcome thrill through me. “And I’m definitely not yours. Let go of me.”
A flicker of hurt crosses his features, and I feel an echo of it through whatever connection has formed between us. “Cannot,” he says, his voice softer now, almost vulnerable. “Bond formed. You opened. I emerged. We are connected now.”
“What do you mean, ‘connected’?” Even as I ask, I can feel him—not just the warm weight of his tentacle around my wrist,but something deeper. A presence in my mind that wasn’t there before, alien but not entirely unwelcome.
Instead of answering with words, he closes his eyes and suddenly I’m flooded with sensation—not pain this time, but something like standing in sunlight after being in darkness for too long. Warmth, relief, and underneath it all, a bone-deep sense of rightness that makes my toes curl in my boots.
“Like this,” he says, opening his eyes again. His gaze is intense, intimate, like he can see straight through to my soul. “I feel you. You feel me.”
And I do. Somehow, impossibly, I can sense his emotions like they’re my own—wonder, gratitude, and underneath it all, a desire so intense it makes my knees weak. Not just physical desire, though there’s plenty of that, but something deeper. Like he’s been waiting his entire existence just to touch me.
