4. Jody

Chapter 4

Jody

H is hand was warm. Why was I focusing on that?

We fell back into the aisle and I was terrified that Evil Santa would hear. We lay there for several seconds, breathing heavily. The alien behind me was like a furnace. At some other time I might’ve wanted to burrow into him. To feel his skin against mine. But not today.

Not now.

“Keep it down,” he said, his lips close enough to brush against my ear and make me shiver. “We don’t want him to catch us.”

No, no we did not. I was happy to know that this alien was on my side. Or at least he wasn’t on the side of Evil Santa. I was willing to call that a win. For now.

He let go of me, removing his hand from my mouth and putting just a bit of space between us. I turned around and got a good look at him.

The glimpse I’d gotten earlier when I walked into the store didn’t do him justice. His skin glowed golden, and though he was wearing a winter coat, I caught sight of dark markings peeking out around his neck. His eyes were dark, his lips full.

God, what would they taste like?

Not now, brain . It wasn’t the time. It would never be the time. We were in the middle of a crisis and I didn’t know this guy. And I didn’t sleep with guys I didn’t know.

Not anymore.

I didn’t like to think about that time in my life. It had been a few years since I’d ended most of my nights in strangers’ beds. I was doing better now. Starting to respect myself more. I was determined to actually feel something for a person that I invited that close to me.

Or to at least know their last name.

And sometimes their first name.

But I didn’t want to think about former self-destructive tendencies or an extra-long dry spell. Though to be honest, it was better to think of that than what would happen if Evil Alien Santa caught us.

It wasn’t like I was going to jump into bed with this guy. Well, we didn’t need a bed. And in a store this big, we could probably find one anyway. I was pretty sure those displays were near the back.

No. I had to behave. I needed discipline. We were in a crisis. Why was I so distracted?

Probably because it was better to think about a hot guy than the alien trying to hold us hostage and turn us into tribute .

“Who are you ?” I asked. “What’s your story?” Christmas music played loud enough to cover the sound of our talking, but I still whispered. Who knew if Evil Santa had super hearing? I wasn’t looking forward to finding out.

He whispered right back. He was still close, but no longer holding onto me. I missed it. “I’m Aldyn. Detyen, since I can see you’re wondering. Can’t say I’m too happy to be held hostage by that guy.” He grimaced and glanced down the aisle as if he was checking to see that Evil Santa was keeping his distance.

Detyen. Yeah that’s what I thought. I remembered researching them when they showed up on Earth a while back. There was something about them. Something weird . It had made me sad. But I couldn’t remember right now. And unless he had a hidden power, it probably didn’t matter. “I’m Jody. Human. Do you have laser eyes?”

Aldyn looked at me like I’d grown a second head. No. There were aliens with two heads. He was looking at me like I was even weirder. “No. No laser eyes,” he said slowly, sounding out the words as if to make sure he was clear about what I was asking.

Great. Hot alien Aldyn was going to think I was crazy. Not exactly how I wanted to start this relationship. Not that we were in a relationship. I had to keep my mind out of the gutter.

“I heard Evil Santa say that he wanted us as tribute for his brother.” I didn’t know if Aldyn had heard that, and it seemed like a good piece of information to share. “Not quite sure what that means. But it doesn’t sound good.”

I could have sworn that Aldyn’s eyes turned red for a second, but it must have been a trick of the light. In no time they were back to black. “No,” he agreed. “It does not sound good. Evil Santa?” He grinned.

And despite the situation, his grin was infectious. My heart was light as I smiled back, even if only for a moment. “Do you know about Santa?” There was no telling how long he had been on the planet and if he knew our traditions or not. But he nodded. “Well. He looks like Evil Santa. I don’t think real Santa would actually kidnap people or hold us hostage.”

Aldyn clamped a hand over his mouth as if it was the only thing keeping him from laughing.

Something warm bubbled up within me. Now was not the time for flirting. But I liked that I could make him laugh. Maybe when this thing was over… Yeah, we had to focus on getting out first. There was no telling how long that could take. If we could even do it. “Something’s blocking the door,” I added. “I tried to get out, but I couldn’t.”

“I saw.” Any of the earlier mirth had evaporated and he looked serious. “I think he’s trying to open a portal to a ship so he can deliver us. It looks like the transponder is broken, which is the only thing that’s keeping us on this planet for now.”

“Why do you think that?” Sure, I had thought something about teleportation, but I didn’t really know anything about it. It’s not like it was something I encountered every day.

“That tool that he’s banging against the counter.” He nodded back towards the center of the store but didn’t try and move. “It kind of looks like a portal transponder. Our best chance out here is to get that thing away from him. Then we can figure out what he’s doing to keep us inside the building.”

I had another idea. “Or we could figure out the building thing first,” I suggested. “He can’t exactly teleport us if he can’t get his hands on us.” I felt a little bad even suggesting it. Good Santa and Wendy the elf didn’t exactly have a chance to escape if me and Aldyn got out. But we could go for help. We wouldn’t just abandon them.

“That would also work,” Aldyn agreed, but he didn’t seem as enthusiastic. Maybe he secretly had heroic instincts.

He was looking at me intently. And not just in a way that acknowledged that we were the only two people who could get ourselves out of the situation. He was looking at me like he wanted to eat me. But in the good way. In the way I tried not to think about too much anymore. In the way that lit my body up and made me want to pull him close and see exactly what we could do before we got caught.

Such a bad idea. I wasn’t going to risk our only chance of escape by getting hot for an alien and making out in a Christmas toy aisle. I had to have some standards.

But damn, did he live up to them.

If I survived this, I was going to kiss him.

Unless he had like a wife or a husband or like a dozen partners or something. But I didn’t know anything about Aldyn’s life other than the fact that he was hot and I needed him. That was far more than I knew about anything else going on at the moment. And I was getting tired of sitting and waiting. “So,” I said. “What do we do?”