9. Vanessa

Chapter 9

Somehow, I slept. I woke at the crack of dawn, when sunlight pierced the top of the crystal structure, making about fifty thousand different variations of blue slash across the bed furs and poke at my eyes.

Groaning, I rubbed my face. I'd hoped this was a nightmare, but instead, I was still stuck on a distant plant.

I was snuggling against a big, muscular alien who'd remained in his own bed while I'd migrated from mine. I'd draped my arm across his beastly chest. I'd hitched my left leg up across the tops of his thighs. And he had a hard-on.

In the sci-fi romance novels I adored, every heroine in a situation like this would yelp and scramble from the bed. She'd flutter her hands at her throat and snarl at the alien, pissed off at him for being turned on just by lying beside her. Well, by her essentially lying on top of him with her leg rubbing his hard-on, that is.

Stop it,I barked at my leg.

The stupid thing reluctantly obeyed, though it remained on top of his big old stiffy.

I eased away from him, planning to sneak outside and see if I could find a bathroom. After that, I'd look for my space pod. If there were controls inside, I'd figure them out. I could hop in, close the hatch, and make it take me back to Earth. In my new fantasy, it would zip up into the sky. In no time, it would land on Earth. The military would descend after spying my pod soaring across the sky, and I'd explain that I was abducted but had found a way home. They'd run scans on my brain and body, declare me mostly sane and healthy, and release me. Then I could return to my job at the diner.

Adios, Aizor the alien. Sayonara, blue crystal world.

Since my nightie barely came to my mid-thigh, I tugged one of the furs off my bed and draped it around me. A quick glance at Aizor showed he was still sleeping.

With a sly grin, I nudged aside the leather door flap and trotted outside.

"Ah," I cried when I slammed into a blue-skinned alien with four boobs walking past the front of Aizor's crystal home.

The woman looked me up and down, her thick unibrow lifting. She was clutching a baby to her chest and dressed in a brown tunic decorated with gold trim that came to her knees and was tucked in at her waist with a sparkly gold belt.

Nearby, other aliens stopped what they were doing and gaped at me. A few whispered, though even if they shouted, I knew I wouldn't understand what they said.

I only spied a few women—all with four breasts stacked in a square on their chests. Each wore something similar to the woman standing beside me.

Where could I get an outfit like that? At least it would cover my ass and wouldn't be almost see-through like the crystal-bestowed nightie I now wore. And the belt was gorgeous.

The woman released a string of guttural words I couldn't understand.

I winced and did the same, telling her about the last time I'd volunteered at the animal shelter and the cats we still hoped would find forever homes for. I could've been discussing the weather, my dying need for a hot cup of coffee, or my upcoming period. Shit. Period. I doubted this group even knew what a tampon was.

Or double shit, it might be made of crystal. Not shoving anything like that inside my body.

Seeing my look of horror, the woman's frown deepened.

Way to make a good first impression. I drummed up a smile and reeled away from her, slamming into yet another alien.

Aizor wrapped his arms around me and grumbled a string of words by my ear. I could guess what he was saying.

Where did you go, my pretty mate?

Are you sure you don't want to play with my second peen?

Play? Maybe.

Take it for a test run?

Like a flash flood roaring through a culvert, heat pooled between my legs. Why was my mind taking me in a steamy direction?

He spoke to the woman, and she gave me a tentative, tusk-filled smile, still talking away while shifting her arm to show me her baby.

Such a cutie! I cooed and stroked the child's gorgeous blue face. The baby slept, ignoring the human blathering on about her gorgeous, tufted white hair and her tiny little tusks jutting up from her lower jawline.

Baby lust consumed me.

Until I caught Aizor's proprietary eye and remembered his vow to plant younglings inside my belly. Uterus. Whatever.

"Vanessa," I said, tapping my chest.

"Van-eesa."

"Not bad." I grinned at the woman.

She tapped her chest. "Tapesta." And then stroked the baby's head. "Wellire."

"Tapesta," I repeated. "Pretty little Wellire."

Aizor looked around at those gathering nearby, peering our way, and shouted out a long string of words ending in Van-eesa. Everyone nodded and a few gave me bows before returning to whatever they were doing.

With a nod and her own bow, Tapesta strode across the open area and ducked inside a crystal structure on the opposite side of the one I'd slept in.

I pinched the corner of Aizor's loincloth and tugged him back into his home, trying to ignore his glorious blue-skinned, muscular physique. When had I gotten a lady hard-on for this alien beast? Sure, he had a build that suggested he lifted weights 24/7, and there was that second, clit-sucking peen to consider, but I couldn't let my mind head in that direction. I was leaving this place as soon as I could buy a one-way ticket back to Earth.

I'd be foolish to let myself become emotionally involved with him or anyone else in his clan.

"You should've woken me up, my pretty mate," he said, his fingertips teasing across my arm.

Since the gesture made my insides tingle and more fluid gush between my legs, I backed out of his reach. "I have to use the facilities."

He frowned. "What are facilities?"

"I need to pee."

"Pee." His frown wasn't easing. "What is this pee, Van-eesa?"

Yeah, I definitely needed to figure out what I'd use during my period if I remained here much longer. No way would I try to explain that to Aizor.

Squatting, I swept my arm from my back end and outward in a dramatic gesture while making a sound I hoped sounded like flowing water.

His chuckle rang out. "I believe I know what you need."

"I'm sure you do," I said dryly. In more ways than one. At least he couldn't tell how much his simple gestures turned me on.

Thankfully, he didn't tumble me onto the furs to go exploring between my legs for confirmation. He took my hand and led me out of his home.

Pausing at each alien we passed to introduce me, followed by them bowing—even to me, now—Aizor led me away from the circle of crystal structures, past a huge pen holding glassy-ish purple dinos like the one he'd ridden last night, and over to a row of crystal buildings fused to the side of the hill. NoLadiesorGents noted on the leather flaps outside two of them, but I understood when he swept one aside and gestured for me to enter.

"Braline," he said.

"Bathroom."

"Braline. Braff-roon."

This was the beginning of us understanding each other outside his home. At this rate, I should be able to tell him what I needed in about twenty years. Still, it was a start, and I appreciated his eagerness to help me even if I wasn't going to be here long enough to learn more words than I had fingers.

Since it was dark inside thebraline, I paused to let my eyes adjust before moving toward tall wooden structures mounted across the back wall. For a bathroom, it smelled amazing, like fresh air and flowers.

The tall stone structures didn't have steps, and if these were toilets, they'd been crafted for people who were two feet taller than me. I peered into the opening at the top of one of them and gulped to see the hole drop away what looked like forever. Stone covered the sides, and when a gust of wind swept up, hitting my face, it smelled like flowers. Squares of cloth rested on the back. Nothing beat soft toilet paper. The toilet people back on Earth could learn some new tricks from the Zuldruxians.

I really had to pee, so I peered around, hoping to find a stool or rock I could use to help me climb to the top. Nada. What did little kids do?

With a shrug, I gripped the edge of the structure and launched myself upward, smacking onto my belly across the top. Some scrambling put me in the right position, and after hitching my underwear down, I did my business, using one of the cloths to wipe. Should I toss it into the hole? I couldn't tell if it was biodegradable, but since I didn't see any bucket to throw it away or a place to leave it, I gingerly dropped it down the hole, watching as it was swept away by the flower-scented wind.

Since there were no sinks for washing, I left the building, finding Aizor waiting outside. He nodded as if he could tell my bladder was no longer screaming at me and started back toward the ring of crystal buildings.

I tapped his arm, and when he stopped, I made a rubbing my hands together gesture. "I need to wash."

"Ah. Wevire abreck."

Sure. Maybe.

He led me past the toilet buildings and around a bend on a well-trodden trail. Approaching a regular old cave entrance about two stories high at the top of the opening, he took me inside.

As if there was a sophisticated motion detector system near the entrance, lights bloomed overhead, pale blue crystal blobs that wiggled and generated enough light for me to see smooth, dark purple stone walls and a brownish-yellow dirt floor.

"Lectum," he said, pointing to the blobs.

"Light," I said.

He nodded. Maybe this could be fun. I'd always wanted to learn a new language. Now was my chance.

However, when he and I returned to his home, I'd ask him what was up with the crystal aesthetic all over the place. I enjoyed testing new styles as much as the next woman, but glass was highly breakable. Why use it as your primary construction material?

We walked through a stone channel slowly sloping downhill with the lights turning off behind us and others igniting when we got close. Rounding a bend, we came to a big open cavern that had to be at least a football field across. The ceiling arched high overhead and spikes of clear blue much like the buildings these people lived in jutted down from the glassy light purple surface. Vines draped among the spires, covered with pale purple flowers. They also glistened in the light. More glass?

I was beginning to get worried about all this crystal.

Wind swept through the cavern, buffeting me with floral-scented humidity as I took in the numerous pools scattered across the base of the vast open room. Even the pool surrounds appeared carved from crystal. Did glass permeate the entire planet?

Blue-skinned aliens like Aizor sat in the water that, for now, looked normal enough to me, though it had a subtle purple tinge. Some bathed alone, others in groups, their animated chatter lifting through the air. A few were partly hidden by spikes of blue glass projecting up from the golden-brown soil underfoot, the soil flecked with purple flakes that reminded me of amethyst.

He led me to one of the empty pools, gesturing. "Wevire abreck."

"Water."

The grin he gave me made my heart skip a few beats.

Dangerous beast. I must back away.

This wasn't a sink to wash my hands, but it would do. I dipped my hand in, moaning at how perfect the temperature was. The water had an odd silkiness to it, but it didn't burn my skin or make me itch so far.

Perhaps it would be okay to use it for bathing. Hopefully, the water I drank last night came from a different—and colorless—source. If only there was a way to find out. Too many questions bubbled across my tongue. I wanted to shout them out, but Aizor wouldn't understand.

Without further ado, Aizor untied his loincloth, tossed it aside, and climbed over the side, settling in the pool. He sent me a grin that made my insides heat up and tapped the water with his palm, muttering a string of words I couldn't follow.

I understood his seductive tone very well.

Take off your clothing, pretty mate, and join me.