Page 13 of Possessed By the Alien Guard
“Ugh.”I dropped therock onto the pile with a clack, then swiped my forearm over my face, probably doing nothing more than mixing sweat and dust into mud.
If everything had hurt after the fall, all of my muscles now ached from labor.Didn’t ancient humans use hauling rocks as a punishment of some sort?I understood why now, though I wished I didn’t.
Fin moved like a machine, his muscles bunching and flexing in the light from his jacket.He’d taken it off and laid it over a boulder on the other side of the cave to keep our only light source from being damaged.
The view was distracting—very, very distracting.
His muscles had muscles, and they rippled as he picked up a boulder that should have been way too heavy.His shoulders flared wide as his arms wrapped around the stone, making his back taper in a perfect V to his waist.Sweat slicked his skin, but on him it was sexy, making it gleam where it caught the light.The faint dusting of rock dust did little to hide the dark orange-brown stripes covering his tan skin.They should have looked odd, being so different from human, but on him, they were perfect, outlining his muscles and making them stand out even more.
He heaved the boulder to the side with the deafening crack of rock on rock.
Billy bleated.I’d used some of the largest stones I could move to block him in the passage leading to the other cave, too worried he’d get under our feet and get hurt.He’d hopped up on the first I’d tried, able to get over them easily.Fin had needed to roll one of the larger boulders into place.
Fin went back for another of the larger rocks, refusing to slow, even though we’d been working for hours.All of this can’t be doing his shoulder any good.
“Why don’t we take a break?”I said.“Drink some water—maybe eat something.”
“No.”It sounded more like a grunt than a word.
“There’s no way we’re going to get out today, so why—”
He spun around and stomped over to his jacket, or at least stomped as much as his hunched posture would allow.
In a split second, the cave plunged into pure darkness.My eyes strained, trying to adapt to something that wasn’t there.
After a few moments, he said, “Look toward where the entrance should be and tell me what you see.”
I did as he asked, but it didn’t do any good.After a few moments, I gave up.“Nothing.It’s too dark.I can’t see anything.”
“Exactly.”He turned the light back on and walked back over to the pile of rock.“The obstruction is so perfect that it blocks even the faintest hint of light, which means we should assume we also do not have a source of fresh air.”
No.
Shock jolted through me in a sickening wave, and my knees wobbled as my legs gave out.I hugged my knees to my chest, rocking and shaking my head.
Not that!Anything but that!
Strong hands gripped my shoulders, and Fin’s voice sounded from far away, muffled by the rushing in my ears.
Arms encircled me, crushing me to a firm chest.I pressed my face to hot skin.His heart beat so strongly it vibrated my cheek.He was so alive, so vital that the sound pulled me from the depths of memory and back into the present.
When I could finally release the clench I had on his biceps, his deep voice rumbled through me.“Tell me what has upset you so.”
“Th-the thought of suffocating,” I whispered from numb lips.“It’s how my parents died.”I couldn’t force any of the rest of it out—how the air-recycling system on our deck had given out in the middle of the night; how the low-oxygen sensor in our cabin had also failed without anyone noticing; how I’d been found unconscious but still alive, only because my body was so much smaller than theirs.
His arms tightened, and it was so nice to be held.I’d been a lot lonelier than I’d wanted to admit.Having the base to myself had been nice for the first few days, but I’d grown up constantly surrounded by others.Even with my parents gone, there had always been someone around to talk to, to buddy-watch an entertainment vid.These past few months had been hard.
Slowly, my breathing evened out as his touch filled an emptiness within I’d been unwilling to acknowledge until now.
“Are you all right?”he asked.
I nodded, loving the feel of his warm skin sliding against my cheek.
He let go and jumped to his feet, and I leaned into the space where he’d been for a moment before I caught myself.
Hurt pinched my chest.Guess he couldn’t wait to get away from the human.Here I’d loved touching him, and he’d been disgusted.
But when I looked up at him, I didn’t see derision.Instead, his jaw hardened into a firm line as he met my eyes.“I will break through to fresh air before I rest again.You have my word.”Fin thumped his fist to his chest in some kind of salute and returned to attacking the fall of rocks, completely ignoring any pain his shoulder might have given him.
