Laurel
He was a total madman. Caveman. Crazy alien.
He was pressing me against his chest with such force that it hurt. Even if I'd been in possession of all my strength - and I was not, my limbs still felt heavy - I'd been unable to resist his grip. This man was a machine, an ogre, a...
We finally stopped in a dark empty room. It didn't seem to contain any furniture at all.
Even when the door slid close behind us, he didn't let go of me. Rune was breathing hard and I doubted it was just because he'd run here at breakneck speed while carrying me. He just stood there, holding me, without saying anything. His heavy breath was the only sound.
I was trying to come up with what to say. I didn't even know what exactly had set him off. Was this normal alien behaviour or was he different?
Strangely enough, I didn't feel unsafe in his presence. On the contrary. I liked being snuggled against his chest. The last time anyone had carried me had been as a child. Not that I would admit it to him or anyone else. I was a strong, independent woman who'd always put her career first, and I would again. I couldn't get too attached to Rune. He might be an interesting guy, but the story was more important.
This could change people's lives. Aliens existed and were in orbit around our planet. Would it cause panic? Or would there be celebration? Either way, I'd be on the ground to report on the fallout. And I bet that once the first pictures went live, the Hot Tatties agency would be inundated with women desperate to get their own hunky alien.
The alien holding me buried his face in my hair and sniffed me. Weirdo.
"You can let go of me now," I said quietly, a little scared to set him off again.
"No," he growled in a voice so deep that I could feel the resonance against my body.
"Okay then. Guess we better get comfortable here." I tried to make light of the fact that an alien was now effectively holding me captive. I supposed that was yet more fodder for my article. "Could you at least turn on the lights?"
He grunted something and it became a little brighter. The room was as empty as I'd assumed at first glance, with not even a speck of dust to distract from the baby blue floor and walls. Was this room painted blue to match the Vikingar or was it just a coincidence?
"Are all of your kind blue?" I blurted. I'd only got a glimpse of the aliens streaming to the unplanned buffet before Rune had whisked me away.
"Yes."
Alright, we were now talking in one-word-sentences. What was wrong with this guy?
"Do you ever dye your hair?"
"No."
"Do you ever shave your beard?"
"No."
I should start asking open questions. Although I bet he'd find ways to answer them with only one word as well.
"Why are you not letting go of me?"
He didn't respond to that at all.
"Are we just going to stand here in silence?"
"We could mate."
Finally! But not the response I was looking for.
"Mate?" I asked to double-check his meaning.
He stared at me as if he wasn't sure I was an imbecile or just hard of hearing. "Mate. Claim. Fuck. Breed. Stick my co-"
Heat rose to my cheeks. "Yes, I got it. Thanks. No need for vulgar descriptions."
"It's not vulgar when it's true."
Was that a joke? His lips curved ever so slightly, making him seem a little friendlier.
"Do you want to?" he asked.
"No. I don't know you. I'm too old to sleep with random strangers."
"I don't want to sleep," Rune clarified. "Once we start, there won't be any sleep for a long time."
Huh, he clearly thought highly of himself. The introductory video had only teased on how compatible the Vikingar were with humans, but Shona had mentioned that one woman had already fallen pregnant. Note to self, if I was ever going to sleep with an alien, I'd use contraception. What would the baby look like? Blue? Human? If male, would it be born with a beard?
A strange sound, a bit like a phone vibrating, cut through the silence. Rune growled with irritation, but didn't move. That reminded me, where was my phone? Last I remembered I'd sent a text to Nicole, but that had been in that muddy field on Earth. Then a blinding light had melted the world, or melted me, and the next time I'd opened my eyes, I'd been on this spaceship. Had my phone fallen from my hand? I patted my jeans pockets only to remember that I was wearing a skirt. Why didn't skirts come with pockets? It was such an obvious design flaw that someone should have done something about it by now.
That left my handbag, but that had also disappeared. Fuck. How was I going to take photographic evidence of everything without my phone? I'd thought about taking a digital camera, but it may have raised suspicions. In the age of smartphones, who still used cameras unless they were photographers or journalists?
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Maybe one of the other women still had their phone. I'd have to find a good explanation of why I needed them to take pictures and send them to me, but I'd figure something out. That meant I'd have to persuade Rune to bring me back to Shona or the women I'd shared a van with.
The vibrating sound returned. Rune didn't react. I grinned to myself. I sometimes did that when my boss called me, trying to harass me about a pending deadline.
The alien stayed silent, but when his gaze met mine, a smirk curved his lips. They had a slight purple tinge that set the colour apart from the deep navy of his face. His mouth was closed so I couldn't see his pink fangs. I'd have to get those on a picture. Anyone could paint themselves blue and grow a lot of body hair - although few human guys could ever achieve Rune's level of fitness - but the teeth were harder to fake.
"Do you bite?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"Bite?"
"You have fangs. Do you use them to bite? Do you drink blood?"
He scoffed. "Of course not. Vikingar only use bite once in their life, during the consummation of their brullaup. Wedding, Holly calls it. She had the first brullaup, with Errik. It was a lovely feast. Lots of ale."
"So during the wedding, you'll bite your bride?"
"No. I will bite you."
Ah yes. He still thought I'd stay and be his soulmate. Sorry, sweetheart. My career came first. But maybe I could return, after the story had run its course. If Rune would still have me then. Unlikely. I doubted they wanted their existence exposed.
"How many humans on Earth know about you?" I asked him innocently. "Governments? Scientists?"
"Only the females at the Hot Tatties agency. And a few Peritans who've been abducted by other species in the past. But-"
"Wait, there are other aliens? How many? Have they taken a lot of humans? Does that mean some of those conspiracy theorists might be right?"
"There is no exact number that I know of. At the moment, just under a hundred species of sentient beings are part of the Intergalactic Authority. There are many more listed in the database of the Intergalactic University, but it's not always clear if they fulfil all criteria to be classed as sentient. Only spacefaring species are part of the IGA."
"Does that mean humans are members as well?"
He chuckled. "You've made it to your own moon. That doesn't count."
I felt like defending humanity, but he was right. When compared to the glimpse of alien technology I'd got here on the spaceship, my species was going to need a long time to catch up.
The vibrating returned. Rune sighed deeply before rummaging in his pocket, still keeping me in his grip with his other arm. A second later, a screen appeared on one of the walls, showing a human woman next to a huge Vikingr. I recognised her from my research. That was Steff, co-owner of the dating agency.
"Rune, what are you doing?" the Vikingr chided. "We talked about this. You have to be supervised. Where are you?"
"Not telling you." Rune sounded like a defiant child, but I silently cheered him on.
"I can easily track you. I just wanted to give you a chance. It's dangerous to be alone with your mate. Are your symptoms getting worse?"
Symptoms?
"I'm fine," he grumbled testily. "Just leave us alone."
"We can't do that, not as long as you pose a risk to this ship."
"Wait a minute," I interrupted. "What is going on here? Nobody's explained anything to me."
Steff sighed. She sounded like an exasperated mother. "Rune, why didn't you tell her?"
Rune had the decency to look guilty. "It's not important."
The other Viking's expression was icy. "The fýst may be a natural part of every male Vikingr's life, but it cannot be underestimated, especially for berserkir. Laurel, hello, I'm Njal, the Captain of these ships. Rune is suffering from the fýst, a strong desire for his mate. It will only get stronger and since it's different for each Vikingr, we don't know how long he has until he starts acting out. Some males go crazy permanently. The fýst is serious, no matter what Rune may make you believe."
"Is there a cure?" I asked, suddenly filled with concern for this alien stranger.
"You have to complete the mating."
As in... have sex? With Rune?
Steff shot me a sympathetic smile. "My mate makes it sound like an order, but it's not. It still is your choice, Laurel. Nobody is forcing you. If you want, you can be taken to the Valkyr and stay with the other women until you're ready."
"And what if I'm never ready?"
Njal opened his mouth to say something, but Steff was faster. "Then that is your choice. We were very clear with the Vikingar about that from the start. Our women only agree to stay here for a month, nothing more, nothing less. They choose whether they want to engage in a relationship with their chosen match. So far, every woman has decided to do so, but we'd never force you if you didn't want to. Do you feel attracted to Rune?"
Did I? Physically, yes, fuck yes. I'd been ignoring the throbbing in my core while he'd carried me here, but my wet panties were clear evidence that he was affecting me. How could anyone not be attracted to this hulking god of sexiness?
But I wasn't here for love, not even for sex. I was here for a story. Of course, I couldn't tell them that.
"I don't want to answer that," I said in a small voice.
Rune sucked in a breath, his grip tightening around me. Yes, he was still carrying me. I should ask him to set me down.
"You don't have to," Steff said gently, once again silencing her mate with a sharp look. She really had him wrapped around her fingers. She was tiny compared to him, but it was clear who was in charge in their relationship. "Would it help if the two of us had a chat without the guys?"
"Yes." Not because I wanted to be talked into sleeping with an alien, but because she might give me more information for my article. I felt a little bad for using her like that, but it was business. This story was going to be my break through. Journalists had to be a little cut-throat, I'd learned that from the start. There was no space for emotion and compassion if you wanted to rise to the top. So I pushed away that spark of desire I felt for Rune and nodded at Steff. "Yes, I'd like to meet you in person. Without the men."
Rune's grip was so tight I was struggling to breathe. "You're crushing me," I gasped.
He let go of me immediately. Unfortunately, he didn't consider that there was nothing else holding me in the air.
I fell.