Authors: Natalie Frost
“And what happens when we get there?”
“I am not at liberty to tell you that,” he replied in his usual dry tone.
“You said I could go home, though.”
“And you will. In fact, we’ll drop you back in the same exact moment we took you. Don’t worry, you won’t miss anything.”
“Is the ship big?” she asked, struggling to change the topic.
He seemed surprised by her question. He shifted his weight around and studied her closely. “That’s your question?”
“Yes,” she answered bluntly.
“Everyone else we took with you is on the verge of a breakdown, Ms. Nelson. For your own benefit, I shouldn’t be telling you that. But, I have to ask, why aren’t you?”
“Would it matter? Would it change anything if I yelled and screamed and got angry?”
“No.”
“Then what’s the point?”
He let out a soft laugh. Up to that point, she had never seen one of his people smile before. She liked it—especially on him. It almost seemed to soften his harsh features and filled her with a momentary sense of comfort.
“You want to see the ship?” he asked pushing himself to his feet.
“Yes,” she nodded eagerly.
“Fine,” he said, still in a dry tone.
He held out his hand to her. She reached out, hesitantly, to take it. The moment their skin touched she noticed a sort of heat coming off of him. It seemed to fill her.
When they exited the room he dropped her hand quickly. She immediately felt the eyes of everyone in the hall turn their attention to them. With a quick wave, however, Silas dismissed them and they continued with their work.
He led her down one hallway after the next. They all had the same orange-tinted lights that were in her room.
“It’s not what I expected,” she noted as they rounded a corner into a large open space.
“What do you mean?” he asked, turning to face her.
“It’s inviting,” she said, her eyes scanning the room. They were in what appeared to be a meeting area. There were large, plush white couches lining the walls, and enormous screens hanging everywhere. Plants were growing out of the ground, creating a pathway through the space.
“Compared to what?”
“You know, in the movies everything in space ships is sleek and sterile feeling. But here, it’s warm and comfortable.”
“Ah yes, movies. All I will say is that you shouldn’t believe everything you see in the movies,” he said as he turned and continued leading her forward.
As they walked, she noticed that there were less and less people around them. “Where is everyone?” she asked.
“It’s late,” he answered quickly. “They’re probably sleeping.”
“So you do that? You sleep?”
He turned to look at her, the smile once again on his lips. He let out a soft laugh and asked, “What do you think we are, Ms. Johnson?”
“Aliens,” she replied quickly.
He increased his grip on her hand. “You’re an interesting woman, you know that?”
“Me?” she laughed. “What does that make you, then?”
“You smile a lot,” he observed, not reacting to her rebuttal.
“You never smile,” she retorted quickly.
“I do,” he said, but with a slightly less dry tone than usual.
“Not nearly enough,” she answered softly, staring up at him.
The air around them suddenly seemed to become filled with a burning tension. His dark eyes were fixed on hers, making her knees weak. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as he slowly pulled her closer to him.
As he leaned in she felt her entire body tremble with excitement. When he slowly pressed his lips to hers, her head began to spin. He wrapped his strong arms around her, and she let herself become enveloped by them.
Suddenly, a sound from the far end of the room caused him to pull back quickly. He scanned the room, nervously.
“Come with me,” he said, once again taking her hand and leading away. “There’s one more place I want to show you.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Silas definitely saved the best for last. He led her into what could only be described as the window to the heavens. It was a large, open space, filled completely with plants, most of which she had never seen before.
The ceiling, however, was what really caught her eye. It was made completely of glass and provided a view that took her breath away. The dark, endless night sky spread out above them in a blanket of stars.
Once they reached the center of the room, he pulled her into him. “I’ve never met anyone like you before,” he leaned in and whispered in her ear.
The feeling of his warm breath against her skin sent a shiver running down her spine.
“I could say the same,” she replied, breathless.
“You skin is so soft,” he observed, running his hands up and down her arms.
She pressed herself into him. She could feel his heart beating in his chest—or maybe it was hers.
“Something about you makes me want to devour you,” he whispered harshly.
“Then do it,” she dared him playfully.
He pushed her back and held her at arms’ length, “take off your clothes,” he ordered her.
Her hands shaking and her heart nearly beating out of her chest, she did as he said. She liked his authoritative air. It only served to cause her attraction to him to stir even more deeply inside her.
She quickly began to undress, letting her clothes fall to a pile around her, revealing her naked body to him.
He ran his fingers over her skin, starting at her shoulders, and slowly making his way down her body. He stopped, momentarily, when he reached her breasts, taking them in his hands, and running his thumbs back and forth along her nipples. A tingling sensation filled her, and she let out a soft gasp.
“We shouldn’t be doing this, you know,” he said, leaning in to once again whisper in her ear as he let his hands slide further down her body.
“What do you mean?” she asked, breathless with anticipation.
“It’s one of the rules. We’re not supposed to engage in relations with the subject.”
Wrapping his left arm around her waist, he let his right hand fall to the place between her legs. She was thankful that he was holding her because the feeling of pleasure that consumed her almost made her knees buckle.
“But I don’t care about the rules right now,” he said, his voice low. “I want you, Chelsea.”
Her breathing heavy she tried to focus on his words. But, she couldn’t. The feeling of his touch was causing her to shake and her body filled with an insatiable lust.
“Why me?” she finally asked, almost breathlessly.
“I told you,” he said, pulling away from her and once again observing her, naked and shaking in the soft light, “you’re different.”
“Oh,” she said as he began to pull his shirt off over his head. His strong, defined chest and perfectly formed abdomen only caused her longing to be with him to increase.
He reached out and pulled her to him, lying back onto the soft, grass ground. The sky above them was filled with stars, but she didn’t notice.
All she could think of was the feeling of his warm skin pressed against hers. She reached her hand down, slowly undoing the snaps of his pants. As she did, he kissed her neck and nibbled on her ear. The feeling of his breath against her skin again made it hard to focus on anything else.
“Let me,” he said, reaching down and finishing her work for her. Once he had slipped out of his own pants, their bodies came together again. When he pushed himself inside her, she felt warmth explode through her.
As he brushed against every possible part of her, she felt her toes begin to curl and the air around them become filled with a charged heat. She dug her nails into his back, pulling him down closer to her. Sinking her teeth into his shoulder, she felt her body shudder with release.
The experience of being with him was unlike any she had before. He left her weak and numb, unable to move and not wanting to. She just wanted to lay there, his arms wrapped around her, her face buried in his chest. She barely knew him, but in that moment all she wanted was to stay with him forever.
CHAPTER FIVE
Silas began to come to her room every day. He could never stay for long. He explained that that would cause too much suspicion.
“I can’t stay away from you,” he confessed to her. “My kind we’re always serious, focused and dedicated. When I’m with you, it’s like I’m relaxed—for the first time ever.”
She laughed a lot with him, and he even started to smile more frequently. They talked about her, mainly. She shared her life story with him, talking about her family, and where she grew up. She ended with the depressing reality that was her current situation.
She found herself missing him when he wasn’t there. She thought about him at night, and she had wanted to ask him more about himself, and his kind. The only things he ever said about them were almost haunting.
She couldn’t be certain that they had always been such a hard people. Silas did know that since the crisis on their planet started, over a hundred Earth years prior, survival became the only thing that mattered.
She had been on the ship for, what she guessed to be, two weeks. Their arrival to their planet was abrupt. She got no warning or indication that they were getting close. She became suspicious when Silas stopped his visits. Her thoughts were confirmed when the women who were seeing after her came to her room one day, and, without a word, ushered her away.
As they walked slowly down the long hall, others fell in line with them. They were all whimpering, crying, and asking what was going to happen next. She exchanged glances with a few of them, their eyes filled with terror. Why wasn’t she scared like they were? Should she be?
She didn’t have time to consider these questions further because she was pushed outside a large door, and down a long, wide ramp. The air outside of the ship was fresh and light. It had the same, if not more intense, sweet taste that she experienced upon waking up.
Looking around, Chelsea was awe-shocked by what she saw. It was beautiful—simply breathtaking. Everywhere she looked she saw color—green, orange, red, purple. It seemed like there were plants everywhere, some of the most beautiful plants she had ever seen.
Directly in front of them was a large cliff that seemed to reach up into the sky and disappear. There were no buildings, no cars or houses.
“Where is everyone?” she asked the woman who was leading her towards the massive stone structure ahead.
The woman didn’t say anything but gestured ahead. She wasn’t telling her to continue moving, though. She was giving her an answer.
Looking in the direction she pointed, Chelsea saw that up high, tucked into the side of the cliff were caves. Inside the branches of the trees that were growing out the sides of the stone, she could see movement.
She turned around to face the woman again, a million questions forming in her mind. As she did, her eyes landed on Silas. He was walking not far behind them, and she shot him a sly smile. His eyes lit up, slightly, although his face remained stern.
She watched as he quickened his pace and moved to the front of the group. Once he was there, he stopped, and everyone following him did the same. He didn’t speak, but with a quick nod, all the workers on the ship stepped forward.
The air around them suddenly became filled with a burning heat. Chelsea felt like she couldn’t breathe from the combination of the heavy, intense temperature and the smoke that seemed to appear from nowhere.
When the air once again returned to normal, and the smoke cleared, she couldn’t believe what she saw around her. She blinked hard, trying to process it.
Silas, the woman who was guiding them and all the others from their planet had transformed. They had transformed into dragons. They were all varying colors, sizes, and even shapes. But, there was no doubt that they were dragons.
One of the scale-covered beasts moved over to her. The steps were heavy and shook the ground under her feet. The animal leaned forward and waited for her to climb up onto its back. She did, as did the other still human around her. And then, almost in perfect unison, they took off.