7. Chapter 7

Kendra

M y stomach rumbles as I stand next to the microwave, waiting for it to be done with my food.

Or... Like the four-arm guy said, his food that's given to me.

I haven't checked the time. I hope we aren't stuck here for long and it won't last.

But, at the same time, from my years working as a police officer, I know better than to expect good things most of the time. If things can get worse, they probably will. At least it's safer to expect it will turn bad.

He is standing across the kitchen, over on the other side, where he has been standing since I arrived. He is watching me, probably still hating me.

I munch down on the hot sauce and meat right from the packet, not even wanting to figure out where the fork or spoon is located. The meat is a bit too salty for my liking, but with the noodles, maybe it will work better. If I'm eating his food, I don't get to glare at him.

He... Maybe he is just a regular being trying to work for a living. I made a mess of his schedule out of nothing. As the captain said, I was overblowing things and was in the wrong.

I take another mouthful of noodles to balance out the salty sauces. This is probably just meh food, but they taste amazing to me. I must be starving.

He is still watching me, seemingly trying to figure out what to do with me. I hope he isn't going to do what he threatened me with. Maybe he only said that because I've never been nice to him.

I put down the empty packets. "Um... Thank you."

He says nothing and heads out of the kitchen. I toss the packs into the bin and follow him. Do I go back to his room? But it is his room, so I probably shouldn't act as if I'd expect him to let me have the bed.

He is heading to the driving dashboard. There are windows along the corridor, which... Maybe I'd rather not see them. It is still dark outside apparently, without a hint of light.

I clear my throat. "So, the power isn't back up."

He turns around and glances at me, but he says nothing. He continues on his path while I resist the urge to hiss at him. I think I should control myself. Maybe he is one of those who are quiet.

Well, he didn't have a problem arguing with me earlier, though. So... maybe he looks down on me and thinks that I'm so not worth it that he doesn't even care to talk to me. How dare he? I can kick his ass and show him what I'm capable of.

No... I shouldn't do that.

I take a breath to slow myself, trying to make myself remember that bigger beings aren't out to get me, and even though this guy said that I was a waste of effort, it was probably because we were arguing.

We arrive at the driving dashboard. He is at the window, running his finger down the glass. I head to his side. He doesn't stop me.

There are water droplets on the glass. Maybe it is getting even colder outside by now.

Everyone else must have left the building, and... Maybe they don't even care about me. Or this guy. Maybe in the hurry of getting everyone out, they didn't remember about me. Maybe the captain thought I had already left when the power went out.

He says, "My phone doesn't work."

Instead of teasing him over that, I pull out my work phone to check. This place is supposed to have the public communication channels blocked so that whoever is withheld here wouldn't have a chance to seek help from the outside.

My work phone is fine, but I already tried calling for help when the power went out, but no one picked up. Maybe the captain was busy at that time, but... I tried more than once, yet...

I dial, lifting the phone to my ears. "It didn't work a while ago, so..."

He looks at the window again, but doesn't seem to have his hopes up.

Nothing... There's only white noise on the other end of the call, so... "I wish I knew what was happening. it... usually, I can at least reach someone from here, but apparently... Maybe the outage is worse than we expected."

My work phone only connects to the internal network within the building. If the power is down, there's a chance nothing's working.

He muses. "A police facility."

I shrug. "This is a stupid place, right?"

He looks at me as if I've said something dumb. I look at him too. He says nothing and looks away.

I sigh. "I guess we're stuck together for a bit now."

He snorts. Maybe he thinks that he is going to kick me out of the spaceship now, but...

I clear my throat. "So, I'm sorry about what I did. I didn't mean to hurt you or anything. I..."

He shrugs. "Don't care."

Oh...

He continues, "Too late."

"Sorry... Um... I'm Kendra."

He watches me for a moment, the air is so cold that I may freeze. I don't expect he'd come back with kindness when I've been mean, but... it feels right to at least try.

"Grihul."

I put up a smile. "Nice name."

He doesn't even look at me, probably thinking that it is a waste of his time...

Or just not someone who talks a lot. I have coworkers who are that way too.

I ask, "I think you drive cargo ships for a living, right?"

He nods. "Flying planets, yes."

Maybe this explains why he doesn't talk much.

Now we aren't doing anything and we're just standing there and staring at nothing outside the window. Do I sneak away? But how?

He says, "When'll this end?"

The outage?

I sigh. "I wish I knew. I don't think you want to be here with me for long."

He glances at me. "Do you bite?"

I snort a laugh and shake my head. That comes out of nowhere, but at the same time, I can use some humor. "No, I don't bite, so you'll be pretty safe."

"I doubt you'll want to bite me anyway. It won't give you enjoyment compared to… other things."

I stare at him. It feels like the conversation is heading in a weird direction... "No way."

He smirks. "In terms of what? The presence of enjoyment?"

I fold my arms. I'm not going to fuck him anytime soon. He can stop thinking about that. "Stupid males..."

He blinks. "What do you mean? I don't think kot'oll meat is tasty."

Ah... is that all he was thinking about? Was I the one who thinks about... something else?

"I don't care. I just want a break from all this."

"So do I."

"Where can I stay for the night? Or day, something like that."

"You can be on my bed."

I tilt my head to the side. "Are you that keen on putting me there?"

He lifts his brows at me. "If I was that kind of being, I'd have already done something." He flexes his four arms, which are packed with muscles and clearly not something I'd want to mess with. Especially when I don't have a gun to protect myself and the spaceship is confined.

I still take half a step back. Maybe I should keep some distance from him to make sure I'm safe, though I'm not sure whether that can work.

Now that I'm staring at his arms... He carried me to the spaceship with those arms and... Maybe it will feel good to let him hold me in those arms. Things one can do with four hands...

I swallow when a spark lingers in my stomach. I don't need that. We are probably going to leave this place in a few hours, then we're never seeing each other again.

But... Maybe that means I should take my chance and...

No!

Why am I even thinking about that? That may be even dumber than withholding his spaceship for examination. Not to mention...

The big beings I've met have always...

I shake my head as if that'll help with clearing my thoughts. "So, if I take the bed, where'll you be?"

"Just here, sleep at the dashboard."

I stare at the driving seat. It is padded with more soft material than the usual spaceship or my own spaceship, but that can't be comfortable enough. At least, I bet the bed will be better. "But... it's not good to sleep here."

He shrugs. "The seat can be adjusted. I sleep at the dashboard a lot."

Maybe that's when he is driving from planet to planet. Sleeping at the dashboard will make sure he can react as quickly as possible if something happens.

But... he has landed and maybe he would enjoy the bed for a bit until it is time to fly home.

Yet, he is offering that to me.

I clear my throat. "Seeing we can't go anywhere, if you aren't worried that I'd steal your spaceship, I should be the one sleeping at the dashboard."

"No."

I stare at him, but that seems to be the end of his sentence, and he isn't going to say something more. "I mean it. You already let me stay here, I can't also take the bed from you."

"No."

I scowl at him. "What do you mean by no?"

"No means no."

"Can you even talk like a normal being?"

"What's wrong with no? Are you an idiot?"

I suck in a breath, reminding myself that I should have some self-control and stop shouting at beings even though they annoy me. "I'm asking, why?"

"I'm a male, that's the right thing to do."

Oh... "I thought you think that I'd break things or something."

He smirks, which stirs a fire in my stomach. He isn't handsome with that smirk even though he may think that way, he is definitely not good-looking, not at all. "That too."

"I won't do everything. You deserve to enjoy your own bed. I— hey!"

I yell at him, but he picks me up with two arms and holds down my wrists and ankles with the other two. "What are you doing? let go of me?" I kick and squirm, but he has large hands and I'm not making progress.

He starts walking, probably heading to the bedroom. "Apparently, you can't listen to a thing."

"I mean what I said. You should take the bed."

"I told you no."

This is why I hate big beings, they think that they can do whatever they want and make me do things as they want. I hate them and they keep inviting themselves around me. It doesn't help when most beings are bigger than me. At least most of them don't have a bigger brain than me. Jokes on them.

But that doesn't change that Grihul is moving me to the room without asking whether I want to or not. Well, I suppose he did, and I told him no, and he didn't care.

He puts me on the bed. "Here, stay on the bed and sleep."

I sit up as soon as his hands leave me. "No. I'd rather sleep on the floor."

He sneers. "What's wrong with the bed?"

"It's yours."

"I'm giving it to you."

"I refuse."

He points at the floor. "This is my spaceship and my rules."

I roll my eyes. "Except I don't care about that. When I said no, I mean that."

He flexes his arms. "Stay on the bed."

"Why are we even arguing about this? It's not that important."

"You're the one who keeps arguing with me."

"I hate it when males like you think that I can be told what to do."

He grunts. "It has nothing to do with that."

"You said I should get the bed because that's what a male should do, but I've told you—"

Before I can finish my sentence, he slaps his hand on my mouth to cut me off. He hisses. "Stop being a bitch and just sleep."

Ha! Now that he said that, I'm sure not staying here. I slap his hand off me. "You don't get to tell me what to do!"

I get off the bed and run to the door. He grunts. "You're such a crazy one."

Before I even get to the door, he wraps his arms around me from behind and lifts me. My feet can't even touch the ground. I grab his arm and kick him, but he is at an annoying height that I can't kick his balls.

He hisses. "I don't understand why you hate staying on the bed this much."

"Let me go!" I hiss at him, but he doesn't seem to care.

"Feel free to scream, no one will hear you."

My heart skips a beat as he puts me on the bed again. What does that mean? I can scream however I want and... No one will be there for me, and I'll have to stay alive on my own.

He takes a step back, letting go of me as if he is going to make sure I stay on the bed. I stare at the ceiling, my mind drawing blank all of a sudden. It feels like he shot a bullet at me with his words, knocking me unconscious.

He says, "Looks like you can finally behave."

Behave? Just because he said so?

I jump up on the bed, but he hops onto the bed, almost as if he knows my next move. I spin around to kick him, but he grabs my ankles and pins my legs to the side.

Fuck... now he has me spread wide and...

He still has two hands to do whatever he wants.

He says, "Why can't you just accept the gift of the bed? Then we don't have to be fighting over this stupidity."

I almost can't listen. All I know is... He is between my legs and my arms aren't long enough to help myself and I surely can't get out of his grip.

He tilts his head to the side. "Now, where are you staring?"

Probably at his crotch, not wanting to know what'll happen next.

Part of me wonders how it will feel if he gets things his way. With that body...

No!

What the fuck is wrong with me? I have to get out of this situation! I—

He looks around and his gaze lands on my pussy. I look away, not wanting to see his face. If he didn't realize that, he would by now.

And... He must have planned this. He just wants to...

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

My ankles are free, and they fall together again. He moves away from me with a light blush on his face. He clears his throat. "Look, I've never meant to do that. I wasn't going to sit around for you to kick me."

I take a breath, trying to figure out whether he is waiting for another chance. My head is buzzing and that won't make me a good fighter.

He continues. "I'm not here to violate you or hurt you. Trust me, given what you did to me, if I were to do something, I would have. There have been too many opportunities."

"To..."

"Ensure you're dead and die ugly, I suppose."

"You sound like a criminal."

"Or someone who watches too many crime movies during his inter-planet flights." He shrugs, sounding innocent enough. "I mean it. I'm just a regular being earning an honest living. I just want to be out of here, finish my delivery, then fly home."

I slowly let out a breath, hoping the tension in me would be gone. He will be the death of me.