Guard (A Sci-Fi Alien Romance) (5 page)

The door opened and I felt a sob escape my lips as I watched a paunchy middle-aged Erostrian enter the room. His face was covered in a film of greasy sweat. He paused on the threshold and looked me up and down with undisguised lust. I glanced at Simo in terror but he was staring at the ceiling.

“You must be my Zeepa,” he lisped, stepping closer and licking his lips.

I stood rooted to the spot.

“Answer me.”

I closed my lips tightly, defiant.

He laughed. I watched horrified as folds of skin under his expensive clothes shook. I turned away.

“Resist all you like, girl,” he said, reaching forward and stroking my chin with a cold, clammy finger. “You’re mine now.”

He stepped forward surprisingly quickly for a man of his size and grabbed my waist, pulling me toward him. I screwed up my eyes in disgust as his hands groped my body, landing on my ass and squeezing. I glanced at the door and saw to my surprise that Simo and Tyno were still standing there. Unlike Simo, Tyno watched us like a hawk, his face a picture of delight.

“They’re still here,” I said faintly.

Kefi smirked. “It is the custom.”

He twisted me around suddenly. Despite his weight, he was still far taller than me and had surprising strength. He grabbed my wrist and twisted it until I was sure it would give at any moment. I cried in pain as he pushed me toward the bed and threw me down on it. His breathing was jagged as his fat cold fingers tossed layer upon layer of my dress aside.

“I don’t know why they need these damn things,” Kefi muttered.

The room was silent. I gasped as I felt cool air on my ass followed by his stumpy fingers, probing between my legs. I knew what he was looking for. I tried to twist away from him but it was hopeless. I screwed my eyes closed as his rough hands moved closer to my opening.

It took a couple seconds for me to realize that the anguished shout wasn’t my own. All of a sudden, the pressure of Kefi’s body was off me. I twisted around on the bed and looked up in astonishment.

Simo was holding Kefi in a chokehold and had his huge hand clamped over his mouth preventing him from screaming anymore. Kefi’s face was red with fury, but it was nothing compared to the rage in Simo’s eyes.

“My pocket,” he whispered to me.

I rushed to his side and reached in the pocket of him military coat. Remembering Tyno, I paused and looked behind Simo. I gasped when I saw Tyno lying in a lifeless heap in the corner.  I looked up at Simo.

“Hurry, Clementine,” he said softly.

My fingers locked around a small, cold tube. I pulled it out and saw that it was a syringe. I pulled the cap off. I looked to Simo for guidance. With one swift movement, he released Kefi and pushed him down onto the bed, shoving his head into the covers so he couldn’t scream. He reached out for the syringe with the other.

“His pants down, now,” he hissed.

The second I’d pulled down Kefi’s wool pants, Simo jabbed the needle into his white round butt. He waited a couple seconds until Kefi went limp on the bed.

“Is he dead?” I whispered.

Simo shook his head. “That’d be suicide.”

I rolled my eyes, gesturing to Tyno. “Isn’t this suicide?”

He looked at me for a long moment. Then he reached out and stroked my hair away from my face. I closed my eyes and relished his gentle touch. Despite my shock, the feeling of his fingers on my skin sent tingling sparks through my body.

“It was part of the plan.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door.

“Plan?” I gasped, as he reached the door.

He nodded, distracted. Effortlessly, he pulled me to him and grabbed my other wrist. His amber eyes were serious and sober.

“I’ll tell you everything when we get out of here. When it’s safe.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

He opened the door and peered outside. When he saw it was safe, he gestured for me to follow him.

I stepped into the empty corridor and followed him, trying to keep up with his pace. For such a huge man, he moved gracefully. When we reached the front doors, I held my breath. We hadn’t encountered another soul on our way out. It seemed too good to be true.

I could tell Simo was thinking the same way. He crept to the double doors and eased back the bolt. It was so old that it creaked no matter how gently he tried to open it. He cursed under his breath. I looked around nervously, convinced that someone was going to hear and follow us out of the house. Finally it slid open and the doors creaked ajar.

“Come on.”

I took his hand and together we raced down the steps and into the alleyway across the street. When we’d turned a couple corners he stopped to let me catch my breath. I smiled at him in relief.

“I was worried for a while.”

His eyes widened. “Don’t relax yet, Clementine,” he said, stroking my arm. “We need to get you to my quarters before anyone sees you.”

He was staring at my chest. I looked down. I’d forgotten about the mating gown.

“Yeah,” he nodded humorlessly. “You can’t be seen like this. Come on.”

Still breathless, I ran after him, trying hard to keep up his pace. “How far?” I panted.

“Five hundred yards,” he said without turning back or slowing down. “Try and keep up. I know you’re tired but run as if your life depends on it. Because it does.”

I ignored the pain in my limbs and focused on getting out of sight. When he slowed down and stopped at a rundown doorway I could barely feel my legs. I didn’t dare to assume we were safe until he’d unlocked the door and stepped aside to let me in.

“This is it,” he said.

I collapsed on the floor before he’d even shut the door behind us.

“Clementine. Clem.”

I forced my eyes open even though that was the last thing I wanted to do. My memory was slow to come back. All I knew was I was more exhausted than I’d ever been in my life. My eighteenth birthday. A cell.

“Clementine, please. We don’t have much time.”

It all came rushing back to me. I sat bolt upright. Simo was sitting at the end of the bed, watching me. He reached out and took my hand.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, but we need to leave soon.”

“Where are we going?”

I looked around the dim room. It was as sparsely furnished as my own home – just a small bed, dresser and cupboard. I wondered if it was more comfortable downstairs. The bedroom certainly wasn’t what I expected of an Erostrian guard.

He followed my gaze. “I know. It’s not very luxurious.”

I shrugged. “I just expected more is all. After Kefi’s place.”

“We’re not all the same, you know,” he laughed sadly, stroking the delicate skin between my fingers.

I shivered.

“What’s wrong, are you cold?” he asked.

I stared into his eyes and shook my head. He smiled.

“As much as I’d like to stay here with you, we need to leave.”

I frowned. “But where? I thought we were going to hide here until they stopped looking for me.”

“No Clementine,” he said softly. “That might have worked if you’d gotten away from the medical center. Even Tyno. But attacking Kefi? They’ll be looking for us when he wakes up.”

“How long?”

“You’ve been asleep for an hour. And the sedative works for eight. So six hours.”

I shook my head, unable to understand what he was saying. “How far can we go in six hours? They’ll still find us! Why not stay here. Why didn’t you kill him?”

He grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “Listen to me. This is the first place they’ll come when Kefi raises the alarm. But there was no reason to kill him. I have a plan. If we can get to my brother in New York he’ll be able to help.”

“You can take me on the train, right?”

He nodded.

“Okay. But I don’t get how your brother can get us out of this much trouble.”

“He’s on the higher council,” Simo said, standing up and holding his hand out to help me up. “Only someone more senior that Kefi can intervene and save us.”

“And if he can’t?”

Simo looked grave. “Then we’re both worse than dead.”

I followed Simo out the door, wondering where he’d managed to find women’s clothes at such short notice. He had presented me with a pair of black skin-tight jeans and a slim-fitting grey t-shirt – not something a guy would have just lying around. I looked around as we walked through the alleys toward the train station. There was nothing but abandoned-looking buildings all around us. Then I realized: it hadn’t been a spur of the moment attack.

“How long had you been planning this?” I asked, walking as fast as I could to keep up with him. “And can you please slow down? We’re not on the run anymore.”

He took my hand and squeezed it tight for a brief, delicious second. “We’re not safe yet. We need to get to Saman.”

“But I thought…”

“You don’t have a giant target on your back anymore, no,” he hissed. “But we’re still in danger if the wrong person sees us. I’ll tell you everything when we’re safe.”

We walked the rest of the way in silence. I was relieved when we reached central station. What was once the main hub for the subway and regional trains was now a quiet oasis of calm in the city. The Erostrians has cancelled all metropolitan public transport because of the risk it could be used by protesters. Humans couldn’t own private vehicles either. The only option was to walk. They had kept the train lines open for longer journeys, but only Erostrians were allowed to travel by train.

“Will they believe I’m your Zeepa,” I whispered, taking his arm as we crossed the road in front of the station.

“Don’t use that word,” he hissed.

“But you all use it.”

“We’re not all the same.”

“Why don’t you—”

I was interrupted by a sallow-skinned Erostrian guard who wove his way unsteadily to us.

“Brother Simo! What’s this?”

“Yenta,” Simo said from pursed lips.

“Going back to your roots, friend?”

Simo’s features contorted so suddenly that for a split second I was sure I was looking at a stranger. I didn’t have time to react. Before I even realized what was happening, he had grabbed Yenta by the neck and heaved him back against the station wall. I rushed forward and tried to pull him away but I was no match for his strength.

“What did you say?”

Yenta sniggered. Up close I could see his eyes were bloodshot. His smell reminded of the alleyway brothels: sweat and stale booze.

“Simo,” I whispered, tugging at his sleeve. I had no idea what had set him off but he wasn’t giving up. He stared down at Yenta with such distain that I wouldn’t have been surprised if he snapped his neck.

“Simo,” I said more urgently. People around us were starting to stop and watch. “Come on, whatever it is it’s not worth getting arrested for.”

Simo turned to look at me. “Isn’t it?”

“Please.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. With a frustrated sigh, he released Yenta, who scurried away as soon as his filthy boots touched the ground.

“Who was that?” I whispered as we entered the station.

His mouth was set in a firm line. “No one.”

“Didn’t seem like no one,” I muttered, pulling his arm out of his.

“It doesn’t matter. Now’s not the time to talk about it.” He grabbed my arm back and pulled me through the station.

It was the first time I’d been here since the takeover. There were no longer any ticket booths or stores. And the snaking lines for the platforms weren’t there any more either. We walked straight to platform five.

“Aren’t you gonna pay?” I asked, more to break the silence than out of civic-mindedness. I didn’t give a damn about the Erostrian economy.

He shook his head. “We don’t pay.”

“Who does?”

“No one.”

“But how can they afford to run the trains.”

“I don’t know.” He stopped at a carriage half way down the train and pushed me ahead of him.

We were the only ones in the carriage. I kept walking until we came to the center of the carriage. He put his hand on my shoulder to stop me before I sat down.

“Keep going.”

“Why?”

“Stay by the door in case there’s trouble.”

I jumped to my feet again. The normality of it all had lulled me into a false sense of security. This wasn’t some sweet family outing with my foster family of the month. I walked to the end of the carriage and took the seat closest to the door. I huddled against the window.

Simo put his huge hand on my shoulder. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

I shook my head. “You didn’t. I just forgot why we were here for a while.”

He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “How’d you do that?”

“No idea. I wish I knew. Feels like pretty soon I’m going to need to be able to escape in my head.”

His grip on my shoulder tightened. I looked up to see a fierce look in his eyes, like the one he had just before he grabbed Yenta. I shrunk back against the window.

He let go of my shoulder. “Are you afraid of me?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I said finally. “You had the same look in your eyes as you did just before you lifted that guy clean off his feet.”

“Clem,” he said softly.

He reached his hand over to stroke my face but hesitated. His hand hovered in the air between us. I stared into his amber eyes, terrified and mesmerized in equal measure. I wasn’t in the habit of trusting other people, even before the takeover. And now here I was, totally dependent on an alien for my survival. A hot, angry, strong alien at that.

“What?”

“I would never hurt you. Believe me. I’m sorry if I scared you. But you can trust me. I swear.”

“Why did you react like that? What did he do?”

He looked away. I stared out of the window. I’d made this trip a couple times in my life. I searched for memories of the previous trips but I couldn’t conjure them up. In the dark, everything outside the train window was deceptively normal-looking: we passed through towns and industrial areas. I knew we were getting closer to the city because the intervals of total darkness were growing fewer and fewer.

“You won’t see them here.”

I turned to look at him. I had assumed he’d fallen asleep. “What?”

“The prisons. They keep them in the heart of the country. Away from the cities.”

I shook my head. “I wasn’t looking for the prisons. Although I guess I should.”

He took my hands in his. “You’re not going to prison. My brother will find a way.”

“And if he can’t?”

He leaned closer to me until our noses were almost touching. I gasped for breath, suddenly feeling like I’d run for miles and miles.

“You’re not going to prison, Clementine. Not while there’s a pulse in my body.”

His amber eyes burned with such fierce protectiveness that I felt tears prick in mine. “Why are you helping me like this? We only met days ago. And I’m a human.”

He smiled. He opened his mouth to reply but then changed his mind. I squeaked with surprise when he leaned closer and kissed me.

“You don’t want me to?” he whispered.

I shook my head vigorously. “No, no, I do. I really do. You caught me off guard is all.”

He smiled and leaned in to kiss me again, resting his forehead against mine. I kissed him back like I’d never kissed anyone before. I hadn’t - at least not for a long, long time. He surprised me again when he held my shoulders to stop me.

“What is it?” I pulled him back to me, impatient. My body was experiencing feelings I’d never felt before. Good feelings. Sparks of desire burst through my body, so intense that I wanted to cry out.

“Not here.” He pulled my hands gently from his neck and pulled away.

“But we’ve still got ages before we get to New York.”

He snorted. “We’ve got around thirty minutes.”

I leaned over and stroked his leg gently with my fingertips. “That’s plenty of time.”

I watched his face, relishing the reaction I was causing in him. He swallowed. I could see the doubt and hesitation in his features. He wanted this just as much as I did, and that knowledge made me want him even more urgently.

He took my hand off his leg and placed it back in my lap. “That’s nowhere near enough time for what I want to do with you.”

I turned and stared out the window so he wouldn’t see my burning cheeks.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” he said softly, putting his hand on my knee and sending my body wild with desire again.

I wondered why I was reacting like this to him. Here we were, lives in danger, and all I wanted to do was pause time and have this tall, strong alien do what he wanted to do to me. I’d hooked up with guys before, but it had always been boring. I’d never been able to go all the way with them. They’d put their hands in my pants, and I’d find my mind drifting. All Simo had to do was brush his hands off my legs or my arms and I melted. I shivered as I imagined how my body would react when – if – we got to go further.

“You didn’t.”

“You’re blushing like crazy.”

“Am not.”

“You are too,” he teased.

I turned to look at him. “You talk differently. To the rest of them.”

He shrugged. “Erostrians learn your languages at different ages. We don’t all sound the same.”

“That’s not it. You sound like you grew up here.”

“Maybe I did.”

“Maybe?”

He sighed. “I grew up here. I was one of the first.”

“How old were you when they brought you here?”

“Does it matter?”

I shook my head. “I just wondered.”

He hesitated. “I wasn’t brought here. I was born here.”

“So you were one of the first? Is that why your brother’s on the higher council?”

He shrugged. “He wasn’t born here. He inherited my father’s place on the council.”

“Why aren’t you on the council?”

He looked sad. “Why so many questions?”

“I know another way were could pass the time,” I smiled.

His eyes flickered with desire. “No. Not here.”

I leaned against the backrest with a sigh. “It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing, was it?”

“Was what?”

“Helping me escape.”

He shook his head. “No.”

“When did you decide?”

He thought about it for a moment. “I’m not sure. When the others called you Zeepa and you looked like you were gonna pounce on them.”

I smiled. “I probably would have if you hadn’t stepped in.”

“Oh, I know.”

“But why did you want to help me? You must’ve guarded thousands of takings.”

He looked sad. “I don’t know.”

“You said I reminded you of someone.”

“I don’t—”

“Please,” I interrupted. “I’d like to know.”

He stared down at his huge, strong hands. “You reminded me of my mother. You have the same strength. The same stubbornness.”

I watched several different emotions flash across his face – I couldn’t identify a single one of them.

“Was it the radiation?” I asked softly.

He looked at me like I’d broken him out of a trance. “What?”

“Your mother. Was it the radiation? Like the others?”

His face was still blank with confusion. I wished I hadn’t mentioned it.

“No. Why would it be?”

I frowned, still as confused as ever. “What do you mean? I heard no one was saved.”

A loud buzzing noise came through the speakers before he had a chance to answer. I looked around. I hadn’t noticed that daylight had turned to dark as we entered the tunnels in the city.

“We’re almost there,” I whispered.

“I know.”

“How long will it take us to get to Saman?”

“Ten minutes. I hope he can see us. I didn’t want to risk letting him know we were coming.”