CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

- Hannah

I’m starting to shake. Excitement…fear…shock…who fucking knows. As amazing as it was to see aliens for the first time, once would have been simply fine. Now, I’m surrounded by them. There must be forty in this room alone.

Big, big men…or aliens. Whatever.

There are chairs everywhere and they’re all filled. Some are just lounging against the wall. If they aren’t looking at me, they’re staring at the wall that looks out into space. I feel like I could just step out of the room. It’s that clear.

Most of them are looking at me. When they stare, I just stare back. All of them have long hair done in elaborate styles. They are also all huge, muscular, and intimidating. It feels like being in a football team’s locker room.

I’m guessing they’re over seven feet tall. I’m only five foot three, so they seem mammoth. When the big guy I’m sitting on notices more and more are starting to stare, he barks at them and they all look away as one.

It’s eerie.

The Mars Hope Skylab grabs my attention. It looks so tiny already and it’s shrinking fast. It doesn’t feel like we’re moving at all.

When the lab explodes, I flinch. The flash from the explosion seems to swell and come right at us, lighting up the room with bright light. Even expecting it, I’m stunned. Less than a second later, the arms around me tighten even more as the ship shakes. The effect seems slight and I briefly wonder just how big this ship is. It must be fucking huge and now I’m stuck here.

Why did NASA have to do that? I mean, I get having protocols, but why couldn’t I stop it? I knew once they opened the hatch the count down would begin because of the breach but it started even before that. The aliens must have tripped some sensor on the exterior.

Silent tears fall down my cheeks as the gravity of the situation settle on me. Sniffing discreetly, I wipe the tears on my sleeves as they continue to fall. How long will it take NASA to realize that the Skylab is gone? With the communications down, will they ever know for sure?

Conversations between the aliens are starting to quietly pick up around me. I’m pulled from my shocked musings as they start to register. It slowly dawns on me that the blast was an expected event that they knew was coming. Now that it is over, their earlier conversations are resuming. And I can’t understand a word.

Fuck, this is bad! What in the world am I doing here? My tears start all over again.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. What was I thinking letting them take me off the Skylab? This is very bad.

It’s not like they’re treating me like an ambassador from another planet. I’m sitting on a lap, like a dog. He’s even started petting my hair like one while he speaks to the other alien guy we walked in with.

I freeze as these thoughts continue to tumble through my brain. Something that looks suspiciously like an old-fashioned handkerchief is waving in front of my face. I look slowly at the big alien I’m sitting on.

“Th-thank you.” I whisper.

Slowly, I clean up my cheeks as best I can. Sniffing and dabbing my nose, I try not to get too much snot on it. At least I’m not wearing mascara. I haven’t worn makeup since I left Earth. And see, those are just the sort of dumb, random thoughts that keep popping up in my head right now. Who cares?

“You’re welcome.” The words are barely discernible behind me and I quickly whip my upper body around, bracing my hand on his chest to look at him. Our faces are inches apart and I’m looking into his green and red gaze.

I didn’t imagine that. “You speak English?” My tone is almost accusatory, as if he has betrayed me by hiding this.

“Almost.” He taps his head to the side of his eye two times before slowly saying, “Learning now.”

Okay. Really? I don’t even know what he means. Learning right now?

His words are slow and stilted with a deep, guttural accent, but still clear. I understand him at least!

Sitting up straighter, I wiggle forward on his thighs to slide from his lap. I’m fine and a little distance and formality would be good. But as I brace myself on his leg, he anticipates what I’m doing, and his arms tighten, effectively stopping me.

Okay. So, I’m not going to stand right now. When I look back at him again, he’s gazing at me with a questioning look. I’m not even going to try and explain that I feel like a child sitting on his lap. Instead, I slide my butt back until it’s at the edge of his thigh with my back against the arm of the chair. Now I can slide my feet up and put them on the chair seat between his legs.

It angles me towards him, so I can feel involved in the conversation.

His attention is still riveted to my movements. Slowly, I reach up and put an open hand on my chest. “I’m Hannah. What’s your name?” That seems like a wonderful place to start.

Of course, I also want to know what he plans to do with me! As quickly as possible would be ideal. But starting with names is a good idea. Instead of telling me his name, like a civilized person would, he completely ignores me and starts talking to his friend again. I give him a minute.

Maybe it’s important?

His friend’s hair is a bit darker and so is his skin tone. Their outfits are identical though. They look like one-piece dark gray jumpsuits. Most guys would look ridiculous in that. Even the male astronauts at NASA were not in anywhere near the physical shape that all these guys are.

My gaze travels the room slowly.

Nope.

And their nice jumpsuits mold to their butts perfectly. That’s a nice perk a girl could get used to. I don’t know why I am even noticing that though. I’ve been fine with not thinking about men sexually for almost a year now. I’m not sure what changed but seeing these guys with their big bodies and muscular physique, it’s definitely getting to me.

Even though they look a lot like human men physically, I wonder what their differences are? I squeeze my legs together and notice the muscles flex in the legs under me. I need to stop thinking like this!

I hope they don’t have some weird laws about women working because I haven’t seen another woman—or would that be a female alien—yet. I turn my head and do a room scan again. Definitely don’t see anyone with boobs.

I’m brought back to the present by the jostling under me. As if I’m a child, he picks me up, spreading my legs around his waist and I automatically link them behind his back. As he strides quickly for the door, I throw my arms around his neck, clinging to him like a monkey. I stare back over his shoulder as every set of eyes in the room watch us leave.

My arms tighten a bit reflexively. There are so many! And I don’t think it’s my imagination, but some of them look pretty angry.

I try to see where we’re going, but he has my crotch pinned to him by his arms around my low waist. It’s way easier to see what we’ve already passed.

A few of the alien guys even come out of their doors to stare at us walking away after we pass.

Great! Just great.

Stopping briefly, I think we made it to wherever it is we are going. But then the wall opens, and we step into a cylindrical room that seals us inside.

Immediately, I can tell we are moving. Quickly! So, this is some kind of personal elevator?

“I’m Bren.” I shift my upper body away from him at his rumbling of words in my ear. The elevator is so small, my shoulders start brushing the wall behind me even though our faces are only inches apart. It feels so intimate and I can feel myself blush.

Damn, Hannah. Get a fucking grip. Stop making this into something uncomfortable! God damn it, focus!

Taking a deep breath, I clear my throat as I exhale. “Bren?” I repeat, pointing at his chest almost touching mine.

“Yes.” Now we’re getting somewhere. I wiggle a bit in my excitement and then freeze appalled. I have to keep in mind where and what I’m rubbing on. I feel excited though. In an inappropriate way and it’s embarrassing.

I still smile though. At least he’s speaking to me. “Hannah.” I turn my finger to myself, still grinning.

“Hannah.” He repeats it pretty well. His voice is deep, and he cuts the syllables really short, but it’s definitely my name. “Hannah.” He repeats it as he leans into me, bringing our noses within an inch. It’s a bit startling and I pull back, but the elevator wall is right there!

“Yes. Yes, that’s me.” My voice is low as he continues to lean into me and at the same time uses one of his arms behind me to pull my upper body into him.

I tilt my head up, settling it against the wall and he immediately buries his face in my neck. Is this an alien thing? His lips tickle my neck as he runs them up and down from my hairline to my collar bone. His warm breath near my ear drives me crazy.

I freeze. Startled and aroused, I try to not let it bother me. It’s humiliating how he’s hijacked my libido with a hug. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way so it’s not totally surprising. I need to cut myself some slack and try to relax. Giggling and squirming a bit, I fall into him, arms around his neck, giving up in hopes he’ll stop once it no longer interests him.

After a few seconds though, I can’t stand it anymore. It tickles. “Bren, Bren!” I squeak out his name and arch back again, scolding when he doesn’t stop. Thankfully, the elevator door opens, distracting him from me.

The lights are dimmer on this floor as he quickly turns to the right and heads down the hall. We only go about five doors down before we reach the end. The door slides open automatically, and he strides inside what appears to be a basic apartment. It’s small and compact, but it’s clear that there’s a food prep area, a bed and another door that goes to what I’m guessing is a bathroom. Which reminds me…I could go.

Slowly, he lowers me to the floor. Stepping a foot or so away, he looks at me speculatively.

Oh, right. Turning in a slow circle, I take in the twenty foot square room and shake my head admiringly. “This is great.” I smile up at him appreciatively. “Thank you so much.”

His eyes narrow a bit as he looks me up and down. Maybe there’s more I should be doing in his culture?

Clasping my hands palm to palm over my chest in front of me, I bend forward and lower my eyes. “Thank you for the room.”

When I look up, he’s reaching out for my arm. He pinches the fabric of my light space suit. His massive hand looks human enough even if his nails look darker than ours. They have a pearlescent tint to the deep brown nails.

“Take off.” His words are clear but what? Yeah, eventually I’ll want a clean set of clothes, but I’ve got a few other things to worry about right now. A little alone time to think this all through would be a clever plan.

“I’m okay. Thanks.” I back up a little towards the bathroom door and peek in briefly. Looks safe enough.

“Remove clothes.” He moves beside me as I access the kitchen prep space. Nothing looks familiar yet.

“Maybe eventually. But these are fine for now.” His intent stare is starting to weird me out. Does he want to see me naked? That seems abrupt and I’m not going to start reading into things.

“Remove this clothes now.” His voice is deeper and more demanding this time. That was pretty fucking clear but I’m not giving up yet.

“Why?” Does he know that word yet? Today is getting weirder and weirder but I’m not getting naked in front of my new alien friend. I’m sure he’s just curious, and don’t get me wrong, I am too! But there has to be some kind of formality here. He can’t treat me like a pet. A novelty or toy or something. And with how turned on I am from just sitting on his lap, it will be a crushing blow to my ego.

It’s pretty damn clear that he isn’t as into me. His outfit doesn’t hide the curvature of his cock. It’s big, but not hard.

This is just some kind of alien formality that I don’t know or understand.

Right?