CHAPTER TWELVE

 

 

- Hannah

His statement should piss me the hell off, but right now, happy and sexually sated, it’s hard to be mad. It’s kind of flattering. I don’t really want him to let me go.

Yeah, yeah. I won’t get to go home, and I’ll miss my family and maybe a few friends. Is it really the end of the world? The end of the world would be being dead. Right?

My parents have their own lives that they are super absorbed in. My accomplishments have just given them something to brag about with their friends. Technically, with me being missing, I’ll be considered dead and go down in history as a hero. Or is that heroine?

With the space program, relationships and boyfriends have been very rare. There was one man, Brad, that showed some interest in me before I left, but I think I drew admirers that wanted to share the spotlight, not that really cared for me. I don’t expect someone to wait years for me. There really isn’t much I’m giving up from Earth.

Of course, I should be fighting a captor, especially someone who is so demanding and possessive. I don’t know why I don’t hate Bren for taking me from the SkyLab. I should. I was so excited to see aliens after my initial shock. If he had left me there, I would have died, and my life would be over anyways.

When I think of it like that, he really did save my life as he claims. I’m so drawn to him and those feelings go way beyond the sexual. Sure, he’s fabulous to look at and great in bed but it’s more than just that. He makes me feel something I’ve never felt before. Possessive for one thing.

“No other women or whatever you were talking about with those guys. If you plan to keep me, and keep me all for yourself, I expect the same.”

He looks puzzled as he pulls further away. “It angers you to think of me with other women?”

“Well sure. You don’t want to share me with other men, right?” Sitting up, I pull the blanket up to cover my torso a bit and look at him earnestly. Is it wrong that I feel supremely smug as his face darkens and his body literally starts to twitch?

“I won’t share you!” He’s yelling! He’s so angry.

“Good.” He deserves to be as angry as I’ve been. Flinging the sheet onto the bed, I stand and put my hands on my hips. His eyes zero in on my chest like a homing device. “And I won’t share you.” I effectively end the conversation by swinging around and going into the bathroom.

Fuck! He’s maddening sometimes. I’m relieved he feels so possessive, but he needs to understand that if he is going to act that territorial and dominant than I can do the same. It’s hard to say, one day into this, what a relationship with an alien is going to be like.

My annoyance with him fades when I see the comb sitting next to the sink. He really is thoughtful. “I’ll have food for us when you get out.” His muffled words through the door emphasize my thoughts.

See? Sex. Food. Maybe more sex?

Probably more sex.

I make quick work in the shower, rinsing and cleaning myself up.

When the water cuts off, I hear Bren’s voice, low and earnest.

Figuring he must be getting the food delivery, I towel off slowly and only glance briefly in the mirror as I start to work the knots out with my new comb.

“You know our itinerary doesn’t have us coming for sixty-three rotations.” Bren’s voice is cold and factual. But the feminine voice that answers is anything but.

“I’ve taken care of that.” The sweet tone is a direct contradiction to the words. “I’ve waited long enough for us to come together and formalize our relationship.”

The next pause was long enough that I wondered if there were parts of the conversation that I couldn’t hear. That’s the shitty thing about these spaceship doors. There isn’t any “cracking it” to eavesdrop. If I open it, it will be all the way open.

“I’ve been patient. I gave you the two years you formally requested for an extension on your education. I thought that we had an understanding?” Her voice has hardened up a bit after that.

Another super long pause. Enough time for me to wonder who the fuck this is? His boss? Are they formalizing a business venture? I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt but that isn’t what it sounds like.

It might be a really bad idea for me to open the door. I’m not sure of any kind of range if it’s a video conference they might have going. “Your lack of response is as insulting as your attire.” Yes, she can definitely see him. She lets out a big sigh that easily carries as loud as her words through the door.

Maybe it’s his mom and he owes her money for the additional education? I definitely don’t want to open the door if it’s his mom. Awkward!

“As the prime councilor for the territory, I’m owed your respect and responses of acknowledgment are required. But as your Ermada and promised mother to your children, the lack of respect is an indignity that I don’t intend to ignore.”

Wait! What?

Promised? Mother to his children?

That little fucker!

Fucking hell! I should have known!

I can hear them both still talking. She’s going on about proprietary rights and dignity or some other bullshit. I’m just so fucking mad that I can’t concentrate.

Bren doesn’t have much to say either. He’s listening to her just like I am, but he isn’t arguing or contradicting. She’s talking about their ceremony that she has all planned, running over some details and talking about the timeline change.

I let my back sink into the door and then slide down to the floor in shock.

I didn’t see that coming.

I’m immediately thrown back to the last time I’d had a boyfriend hide his long-term relationship from me. It was the first time I’d fallen for a guy hard. And I mean hard.

Just starting cadet school, I’d been flattered when another very good-looking boy, two years older than me, showed an interest in taking me out. A month-long relationship bloomed into the most exciting period of my life. It wasn’t until a week after we’d started our sexual relationship, that one of his friends casually mentioned his girlfriend “at home”.

You know, the one waiting for him to come back and marry her. It sounds like the same thing here.

The hardest part is always feeling like the second fiddle. The side fling. The hidden one. The back-up plan.

Fuck!

And it sounds like he has kids. This time I’m a home wrecker as well.

I give myself thirty seconds to let the nearest tears brimming in my eyes leak out. Yeah, I’m a baby too. My feelings are hurt.

Which is so fucking stupid! It’s only been a day.

The tightness in my chest seems immense as I rub it and struggle to my feet, letting my rage drive my emotions. Anger is much better than pain and this one is not on me!

Sure, I didn’t ask. I should have though.

Damn.

Live and learn. Lesson five hundred twenty-eight, be sure to ask any male, human or otherwise, if they have a significant other or children before fucking them.

Yanking the comb through my hair, I look around and realize there still aren’t any clothes around that I can wear. I’ve pretty much been naked since I showed up in this room. That is changing right now.

Dropping the comb in the sink, I think “fuck it” as I open the door. I get a brief glance at the communication screen. She’s a dark-haired and tanned beauty with even more hair than Bren, intricately styled on top of her head.

The picture flickers off.

Bren turns to look at me with an angry set to his face. He’s going to be mad at me?

“I want clothes.” My demand makes his fierce expression fade into confusion.

“Clothes motherfucker. Clothes.” He seems frozen to his spot on the floor. I think it’s just dawning on him that I heard some of his conversation.

Well, I don’t have the patience for his brain to catch up.

Grabbing the sheet off the bed, I start carefully winding it up and around me. Fuck him. He’s wearing his robe I see. I wonder if he has any more of those? It covers him from just under his jaw to the floor.

“Hannah. I was going to tell you about this.” He sinks into the chair and tries to smooth down his hair that’s floating up in agitation.

“Really? So when?” Tying off the knot on my waist, I throw my hands on my hips again. “In a couple months when we land on your planet?”

He just looks at me blankly. So that was his plan. That sounds like a guy. “Don’t you think that maybe you should have mentioned you are promised to another woman before we started having sex?”

I don’t think he’s listening to me at all. I’m still getting a really blank stare. “Are you going to answer me?”

Nothing. Oh wait, his mouth opened a bit.

Whatever. I’m just going to lay it all out there then. I haven’t done anything wrong. “Maybe this is all casual to you, but I don’t hop into bed with just anyone. I’ve only been sexually active with a few people and it’s always meant something to me.”

I pause and sink down onto the end of the bed. Now his face is turning red. He straightens up, gripping the arms of the chair he’s sitting in across from me. “I know it was quick between us, but everything about the way we met was intense. You came on the Skylab and then you saved me before it blew up. Everything just happened so fast!” I never realized his nails were so sharp but they’re piercing the fabric on the chair arm as he listens to me. “I can’t let myself get any more attached to you if you’re involved with someone else.” There.

He can’t be surprised. But he definitely looks surprised. And mad. I don’t get how he can figure he’s entitled in any way to be mad! “Let’s just plan on ending this here and be friends. I really appreciate everything you have done for me.” See how grown up and diplomatic I sound?

Fuck! Who am I kidding? I want to go home and he is my best bet. He’s still the captain of this ship. “Why don’t we talk about taking me home again? I don’t really think your fiancée is going to appreciate you bringing someone you’re involved with back to your planet. There has to be something we can work out, right?”

Now his mouth is hanging open again. How can he not have thought of this? What if I go back to his planet and they have some weird laws about infidelity and they want to kill me? What if I have no rights in his country and I’m classified as a pet?

There are just way too many unknowns and I’m not going to just get passed around and be dependent on some other person on his ship. I’ll end up with someone like Travek eventually. Someone who doesn’t care about me at all and doesn’t treat me as an equal. Someone who decides to pimp me out!

The odds are never in my favor. Look at where I am now!