Page 47 of My Big Scaly Alien Naga
“This is your cabin,” she said with a smile.“Privacy settings are on.Use the panel if you need anything – food, light, temperature.There’s even a playlist option, though fair warning, Qong’s taste is...eclectic.”
Clare smirked.“Trying to get rid of us?”
Fay winked.“Just giving you the space I wish I’d had when I got rescued.”
She disappeared down the hall, leaving us in the sudden quiet.
The cabin lights adjusted as we entered – warm and dim, like sunset filtered through soft crystal.It reminded me of the chii’s cave.The bed dominated the centre of the space, circular and low to the ground, its plush nest-like structure inviting.A round window offered a peaceful view of the stars.I was glad we couldn’t see Kalumbu from here.I wanted to forget that blasted place.
Clare slowly turned to me.Her voice was playful but shaded with something deeper.“Still nothing to do but wait.”
I let out a slow breath.This moment – unlike the chaos we’d escaped, the games we’d survived, the battles still ahead – was ours.
And I planned to savour it.
I moved forward, letting my coils unspool in a slow, smooth motion that kept me grounded while closing the distance between us.The floor was soft under my scales – some kind of alien foam or moss-textile.Warm.Comforting.My body welcomed it.But it wasn’t the bed, or the lighting, or the silence that made my chest tighten.
It was her.
“You are safe now,” I whispered.“Weare safe now.We escaped.You could go anywhere.Explore the stars.Enjoy your freedom.”
Her brow rose.“Are you trying to convince me to leave?”
“No.”I swallowed.“Just reminding you that you have choices now.”
“Could I go home?Would you take me?”
I stilled.A cold shiver ran over me.
She didn’t know.I had to tell her.But it would ruin the moment.
Yet…it was selfish to keep the truth from her.She would find out soon.One of the other Peritans would make a comment in passing and she would discover the truth.It was better if I was the one to tell her.
“Clare…There is something you have to know.”
She stepped closer.“What is it?Why do you sound so sad all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know how to say this…Where to begin…You were abducted from your home planet a long time ago.Have you ever thought about that, space travel taking time, time passing differently, time-“
“Of course, I have,” she interrupted me gently.“It was something Sa’quii said.Lost in time.I don’t know much about space travel, but I have watched science fiction films.Unless they had a wormhole – do they exist?”
“They do.”I couldn’t help but smile.
“So, unless they had one of those, or some other means of travelling faster than light, it would take a long time to get here.I once read this article about the closest planet with possible life to Earth and that was something like four light years away.It would take a human spaceship tens of thousands of years to travel there.I doubt I was sleeping for that long, but…” She sighed deeply.“Just tell me.I know time has passed on Earth.I know my family, my friends, they probably all think I’m dead.Or are they…?”
I wrapped her into my arms and pulled her against my chest.“If my calculations are correct, you were abducted about seventy of your Peritan years ago.”
She sucked in a sharp breath.“That is longer than I thought.But it also doesn’t shock me.Not as much as I would have expected.I think I already said goodbye to the life I had when I lost my memories.Retrieving them was amazing, but they still feel sort of alien.”She laughed softly.“Not that kind of alien, of course.But sometimes I remember something and I’m not sure if it’s really me in that memory or someone else.Like they don’t entirely match the person I am now.”
I curled one of her midnight locks around my fingers.“You are so strong.I am so very proud of you.”
Clare snuggled against my chest.“I could go all hysteric and start to cry, but what’s the point?I’m glad to have my memories back.I can look at them and remember my old life.But now, I want to forge a new life.”She traced the scales on my chest with her delicate fingers.My fangs hurt with need and my cocks were pushing against their protective sheath.
Wrong moment to get aroused.She needed me to process what she’d just been told.This was not the time to claim her as my mate, as much as I craved that.
“And what if I choose to stay?”Her voice was quiet but steady.“With you?”
I had no answer for that – not one that wouldn’t come out raw.
