Chapter 7

Best part of sleeping in the nest? It’s pitch-dark in that room.

I wake with a massive yawn, sitting up and raising my arms above my head. The furs I’ve been using to cover myself pool around my waist, exposing my bare breasts to the warm air. Ah, right, I’m the genius who decided to strip down in front of an alien. With a sigh, I stumble to my feet, dragging one of the furs along with me.

As weird as last night was, I slept like a baby. With as many layers of fur and hide as Big D’s got in here, it makes for a pretty comfy bed. Better than my mattress back home.

I hesitate at the doorway, peering out to see if he’s around.

He’s not.

The carcass from last night is still there though.

Lovely.

I step onto the metal floors, expecting to find them as cold and unpleasant as they were yesterday. Not today. Actually, it’s a little steamy in here. With the fur pulled around my shoulders like a cloak, I move into the living room to see if Zero has left me any messages.

“Good morning,” I tell her, pausing to look down at the dead animal on the floor. Back on earth, the corpse would probably have maggots by now. Not here. It still looks surprisingly … fresh.

“Good morning. I take it you slept well?” The cursor at the end of that sentence blinks expectantly. It’s practically an accusation.

“Nothing happened,” I say. Not sure why I say that, exactly. It just pops out. Eve, are you defending yourself against an AI chatbot? You’re losing your sanity here. Get it together. “But he let me sleep in the nest again, so that’s a win.”

“Be careful with the Aspis male.”

I quirk a brow, but the expression is lost on poor blind Zero. Aspis, huh? Is that what Big D is? Zero continues talking, filling the dark screen with hot pink text.

“His kind are not known for their generosity or patience. If he is allowing you in his home—especially in his nest—if he is feeding you, then he will want something in return.”

“You don’t think I’ve ever dated before?” I ask with a laugh. “This is why I never accept free drinks at the bar. No such thing as a free lunch.”

“I am sorry, but I do not understand what you are trying to say.”

I sigh.

I miss Jane.

Jane.

If Jane were here, she’d have laughed. Even in such a tense and strange situation, she’d have made an effort to smile and stay upbeat. “Look, you’re getting that vacation you so desperately needed, right? Maybe we could find some hot springs to chill in?”

I can’t dick around any longer. It’s already been too long. For all I know, my friend is dead. Mated or married against her will. Disappeared to the far edges of the known universe.

Although … known universe is a bit of a misnomer. None of this was known to me before I got kidnapped by Tabbi Kat’s meathead friends.

“Every time I take a catering job for that woman, something goes wrong,” I mumble, ignoring the sting of tears in my eyes as I turn and head for the bathroom. Shockingly, the AI robot computer isn’t providing the sort of companionship I so desperately need. Big D is interesting, but he’s not around enough to assuage the deep gaping maw of loneliness in my chest.

As positive as I’ve tried to be, as hopeful, I’m aware that my situation is not good. Worse than that, it’s basically impossible. The chances of me getting back to Earth are pretty much nil. I know that. I do. But the moment I give up all hope is the moment I lose it completely.

When I reach the bathroom, I drop the fur to the ground and check to see if my bubblegum pink space suit is dry. It’s not. Even the panties are still wet. The humidity in this goddamn jungle is off-the-charts. I’m not sure what time it is—as if that’s even relevant—but it’s hot as hades in here. Sweat drips down my face and pools on my upper lip. I swipe it off with my arm, acting as if every drop of liquid I’m wiping away is sweat. I’m not crying. I’m not.

I crouch on the floor, still completely naked but uncaring, and I wrap my arms around myself. With my forehead pressed to my knees, my eyes squeezed shut, I do my best to recover an upbeat mood. I can’t rescue Jane—can’t even rescue myself—if something as simple as a wet space suit can break me down.

But it’s not about the space suit.

It’s everything.

I slump back and turn, putting my back against the wall, and I stare at the toilet across the room. Vines trail up the walls around it, and a certain musky scent wafts my direction. That fucking alien dragon pissed on it again, didn’t he? He did, and yet the smell is weirdly not-so-unpleasant. I almost like it, and that grosses me all the way out.

I start to sob, putting my face in my hands.

I’m crying so hard that I don’t notice Big D until he’s right there, sniffing my hair and ruffling the mussy, tangled strands with his warm breath. I lift my face up to find him inches away from me, nostrils flared, pupils blown out, mouth closed so that it appears he doesn’t have one at all.

I’m not sure when I got so familiar with him that I thought he was a friend. Now that the translator is completely destroyed, he seems a hundred times more alien than he did before. We have absolutely no way of communicating. At least when another human being speaks a different language, there are commonalities. Laughter. Smiles. Hand gestures.

“I want to go home,” I tell him, not caring if he finally decides he’s had enough and eats me. It’d be over quick, I imagine. I wouldn’t have to feel this impossible helplessness, this sense of being so unbelievably small in a vast and unforgiving solar system. It never occurred to me before, you know? Like, you’re born on Earth; you die on Earth. What happens to me if I die here? What if I can’t be reincarnated or go to heaven or whatever? What if being out in space totally throws off my bond with Mother Earth … or something? “I don’t want to stay here. I need to go back to the market to find my friend.”

Big D stares me down and then he sits back on his haunches, tail lashing behind him. He reaches up and rubs at one of his massive horns with his forearm. It’s only then that I notice the translator on his head. I mean, I think it’s a translator. It looks similar to the one that broke, only this one is an offensive lime green instead of a vibrant Barbie pink.

He uses his tail to lift it from his own head, placing it on mine.

His mouth ripples when he talks, as if he’s growling more than he’s speaking.

“Cannot … go … market.” He leans in toward me as if to emphasize his point, getting right up in my face. This guy has absolutely zero sense of personal space. “Death … forced mating … prison.”

“So you’ve said before,” I start, taking off the headset and gesturing at him with it. If he would just take it, we could continue our conversation.

For once, he actually does, using his tail to slip the translator back on. This is the best chance I’ve had thus far, and I’m not about to squander it.

“Look, if I wear this suit”—I point at the garment for emphasis—“and I take items of value with me, items that are worth more than I am, then I can barter for information on my friend, Jane.” I pause. Big D doesn’t appear convinced. Actually, he looks tense, lifting his head up in the direction of the doorway, chin raised, nostrils flaring to take in a scent.

Something must be out there. Spikes rise up on his neck, the curve of his back, and down his tail, and a growl rips out of him that gives me goose bumps. I do my best to redirect his attention.

“No, not just a friend,” I blurt out, trying desperately to get him to understand. “More like a sister. Yeah, a sister. Does that make sense to you? Do your people have sisters?”

The way Big D turns to look back at me, I get the idea that maybe they—the Aspis or whatever—do have sisters. He tilts his head, the spikes on his body lying flat once again.

I lick my lips and taste sweat. Gross.

“If you can help me get to the market, I’ll take it from there. You don’t have to go in. You won’t ever have to see me again after that. Won’t that be nice? You’ll have the house all to yourself.” I stand up, but all that does is put me at eye level with the crouched alien. He places the headset on me once again.

“No barter … take.” He stands up on his hind legs, once again giving off that humanoid vibe that’s oh so deceptive. Seems like this translator is a little less shitty than the last one. We’re almost having a rational conversation here. We trade again.

“Well, aren’t there, like, cops maybe?” I’m thinking of the moth guy in his uniform, won’t lie. Then again, he bought Avril; he didn’t rescue me. Although it weirdly felt like he could. Or should? I have no fucking clue. I accept the translator back.

“Sucker Tails … laws … police?” He seems confused, but I’m not. Because I never dared to hope that there’d be a police force of any sort on this planet—or that Big D would even know what that means. I was just babbling to be honest.

“Are you telling me there are cops here?” I’m so excited that I’m breathless. I try not to get too excited because there’s a good chance that the translator is misfiring. Also a good chance that even if there’s a police force, they either can’t or won’t help me. They might hate humans. They might be corrupt. They just simply might not give a shit about my predicament. “Would they be able to help me?”

Big D steals the translator again, looking down at me with his lip curved up in a small snarl. I see teeth. It’s never good to see a dragon alien’s teeth. I repeat my questions, acting as if I don’t notice the way his eyes sweep my naked form. I do. Oh, hell yeah I do. His gaze is a tangible force, a heat that digs into my core and makes me ache in ways I’ve never experienced before.

It becomes hard to concentrate.

He gives me the translator again, but this time, he uses one of his winged hands to place it on my head. His fingers—or whatever they are—linger a moment, toying with my hair. He gives it a surprising yank, and I let out a sharp gasp as I’m drawn toward him. I’m so shocked that I stumble, my naked body slamming into his.

It’s even worse than it was last night, my reaction to him. I feel drugged, like maybe he spiked my drinking water or something. All I can think about now is sex when in reality, that’s the last thing I want or need to be thinking about.

The purple markings on his body glow with an eerie bioluminescence, and I find that my palms are slightly sticky where I’ve brushed against them. When I draw them away, I can smell that hot muskiness that seems to cling to Big D’s muscular form. My first instinct is to lick it off.

Lick it.

That’s where my mammal brain goes—to licking.

With a gasp, I throw myself away from him and hit the wall hard, staring up and into his eyes as he narrows them at me. I don’t have to look down to see that he’s, um, proving yet again that he has a dick. There is no doubt. No doubt at all. The fucker’s got two of the damn things.

“Sucker Tails … help … or no help.” Big D licks his lips. It’s nothing like when I do it. His tongue is long and sinuous, and his mouth, when it gapes open, is a violent gash across his dark face. His teeth are blindingly white. His teeth are disturbingly sharp. He drops down to all fours and gets right up in my face, sniffing me again. I swipe my sticky palms on my bare belly by accident, forgetting for a second that I’m not wearing any clothes. When I wipe the musk or whatever it is on my skin, it destroys me.

Big D grins, as if he knows exactly what I’m going through.

Liquid pools between my legs and my knees tremble. My nipples are two fine, pert points of agony. My brain … what brain? I have no brain. I’m nothing but need and base instinct. I’m suddenly aware of how female I am, how male this alien is. That seems to be the only defining characteristic that matters, our sex.

Sex.

I swallow hard and shake my head, looking for a way out. He’s lifted his wings, and it’s like there are shadows all around him, like he’s expanded to take up the entire room. Also, he’s still smiling. It’s the most wicked expression I’ve ever seen on another being—human or otherwise. It’s carnal. It’s erotic. That look, it captures my soul.

His tail explodes toward me, wrapping my waist and lifting me up so that we’re face-to-face. Big D contemplates me as he sniffs my skin. When he licks my bare belly to taste the musky stickiness on it, I orgasm.

I do.

I’m fucking serious.

My entire body seizes up, muscles locking tight, and a spasm takes over me. Held up in the air by an alien’s tail, I come so hard that it almost hurts. There are tears in my eyes as I dig my fingernails into his skin, clawing at him as I writhe against my will, sobbing and laughing in brief fits until it’s over. My body sags as I gasp and tremble, struggling to remember what it means to breathe. The humidity—and that stupid smell of his—make it even more difficult.

“You … so little … might break you.” He seems to find that statement hilarious, a rumbling growl of a laugh breaking from those strange lips. Big D turns and heads in the direction of the nest, still holding me up in the air by his tail. “We shall … try.”

“Put me down,” I choke out, but the words are weak, and I have absolutely no way to back them up.

I’m placed carefully in the nest. The sensation of that muscular tail sliding out from underneath me is so pleasurable that it’s almost painful. I cry out and curl into a ball, shivering and burning and sweating. I’m on fire, and I have no idea how to quench it, no idea what’s happening to me.

Some of this shit—like noticing Big D’s taut ass—that’s on me. But all this? I have no control over what’s happening. There’s some wild chemical reaction between his body and mine. Is he doing it on purpose? Would it be like this for any female, of any species? Am I just going crazy here?

I turn to look up, lying on my side, naked and shivering and clenching. My body is betraying me, doing her best to convince me that I could easily mate this alien if I wanted to.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I whisper, but he can’t understand me. He’s crouched in the doorway, the designs bisecting his chest, horns, and wings pulsing with an alien glow. His eyes are fixed on me, his tail twitching in agitation or desire. I can see not one but both of his cocks this time. One of them is threaded with glowing purple veins, a matching liquid pooling at the tip. The other is solid black, smoother and slightly smaller than the one above it.

DD hooks his long fingers on either side of the doorway, leaning in toward me. The claws on his knuckles are extended, gleaming in the light given off by his markings. I’m convinced that he’s going to fuck me.

I want him to.

This isn’t you, Eve! It’s that serum or whatever it is that’s on your skin. He’s bewitched you. He’s a fucking monster.

That’s what I tell myself. Something about it feels like a lie. No, all of that feels like I’m lying to myself.

I’m attracted to him, pure and simple.

I shift onto my back, and the urge is there to spread my legs. Big D looks down at my knees, like he expects the same thing, like he’s waiting for the invitation. He looks back up at me, and I feel like I’m cracking in half. I’m going to regret this. I’m so going to fucking regret this. My body seems to move of its own accord and then—

Big D’s head snaps up, and he turns to look toward the entrance of the ship. His spines raise along his back and tail, and then he’s flowing away like ink. It’s incredible, the way he moves, like he only exists in this world in bits and pieces.

The loss of his presence is like a bucket of ice to the face.

Yes, the sticky substance on my hands and belly burns (in a good way). Yeah, it smells good. I’m still horny. But that overwhelming—let’s call it violent—urge is diminished. Not gone though. Just … abbreviated.

I shove up to my feet, stumbling out of the nest and into the living room.

Big D is still there, crouched in his gargoyle pose by the doorway. He’s gone completely still, one hand on the wall, wings spread, tail thrashing wildly.

He’s staring at something.

I creep up behind him, but I needn’t get so close to the edge. I can see what he’s looking at before ever approaching the doorway.

Another dragon thing—an Aspis, I guess—is outside.

This one has horns, too, its scales a deep crimson instead of an endless black. It, too, has glowing bioluminescent designs on its body, but they’re bright red rather than purple. Somehow, I get the idea that this one is female. Can’t say why, exactly. It isn’t like she has obvious secondary sex characteristics the way a human does. It just … she smells female the way that Big D smells male.

“I’m losing my goddamn, motherfucking mind,” I whisper, drawing the female’s attention past Big D and over to me. She looks right at me and then licks her lips, massive mouth spreading open to reveal bloodstained teeth.

Yikes.

Even worse than that? She turns away from us, presents her ass and her, um, lady bits, and swishes her tail in a blatantly obvious invitation. My jaw comes unhinged as I gape at her. This bitch. Doesn’t she see there’s already a woman in this den? I cant a look at Abraxas, waiting to see how he’ll react.

“Stay,” Big D growls, and then he launches himself off the edge of the ship. The female takes off into the woods with him in hot pursuit, and I can’t decide if he’s chasing her down to kill her … or mate her. My stomach cramps strangely—let’s be honest, it’s jealousy—and panic flares in my chest.

Jealousy? Over a dragon alien that I met two seconds ago? A dragon alien that you nearly let fuck you two minutes ago. Oh my God. What am I doing here? Jane needs me. My family’s probably in a mad panic wondering where I am. And I’m sitting here thinking about having a fling with an alien?

No.

No, that’s not okay.

I am better than this.

I turn to Zero, hands balled into fists at my sides.

“What’s a Sucker Tail?” I ask her, praying that it’s not a euphemism for the slug monster. “Big D—err, the Aspis male—he said the police here are Sucker Tails.”

“Ah. I believe he means the Falopex. They are a water-dwelling species with tentacles; due to their unique functions they serve as police officers in the Noctuida. There may be one or more on patrol in the market. Do you wish to head there now? I’ve calculated the chances of our resident male mating with the rogue female and then eating you afterward with her at seventy-one percent. Your odds are not good.”

I just stare at her. At the screen. Whatever.

That jealous feeling in my gut? It’s a kick, a punch, a twist. I can’t breathe, and I don’t understand why I can’t breathe when I don’t even care. I don’t know this goddamn dragon from Adam.

“Thanks for the confidence boost!” I yell at Zero as I sprint into the bathroom, yanking the pink nightmare off the rusted metal pole where I hung it to dry. I take the bra but skip the still-damp underwear (even though I imagine that going commando in this suit is going to, erm, chafe a bit). I yank the uncomfortably wet suit on as quickly as I can, stuffing my feet into the white boots that go with it. I add the gloves as an afterthought. “You said you could get me transport?” I ask when I reemerge, gaze nervously searching the trees outside.

No sign of Big D.

“I will unlock the outer door. You will find my bike outside. It allows for programmable coordinates, removing any possibility of getting lost on the way to the market.” There’s a pause here, and I know what’s coming.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll take you along for the ride. What do I need to do?”

There’s a hissing sound from outside, like a hydraulics system or something. A similar sound comes from inside the ship, and I see that there’s a panel beneath the screen that’s come loose. When I squat down to open it up, I notice that there’s a wee bit of a problem here.

A large root has grown right through the panel and into one of the walls. It’s about as big around as my thigh and about as immovable as a sack of cement. I bite onto my lip. Shit.

“I’m not sure how to break this to you, Zero, but if I’m supposed to grab something from inside this door, it’s not happening.” I stand up and scoot back so that I can read her response. It comes in a frantic wave of text that starts in another language before switching back to English.

“Clarify.” The word stares back at me in disbelief, like she believes I’m lying to her.

“There’s a large tree root cutting across the space. I couldn’t open the door if I tried.” A roar explodes from the trees, sending animals scurrying across the floor and bursting from the canopy. Shit. I want to get out of here before Big D comes back. Even assuming that Zero is wrong—I’m damn near positive that her calculations are bullshit—I can’t stay here. And I can’t keep getting ensorcelled with those fuck-me-right-now pheromones that he’s putting out.

I want to go home.

“If you can’t open the door, you can’t take the transport.”

“Did you hear what I said?” I snap, getting frustrated. He left me here and took off after a female of his own species. What was I thinking? I almost let him … I felt like we had a moment … gah! I’m losing my damn mind. “You’d condemn me because you can’t save yourself?”

“I have been stuck here for three-thousand turns of this planet around its central sun. You are the first person that I have been able to communicate with. Am I to wait here until my solar power is fully obscured by the forest canopy? You condemn me to death.”

“I’ll do my best to send someone back for you,” I plead, because I just don’t want to be here anymore. I can’t get out of here fast enough. He chased a female, a female who most definitely looked at me like meat and not mate. Stupid sign. “How can I help you if I’m dead? How can I help you if he won’t let me leave?”

I wait, crossing my arms and hating the stupid spacesuit and the way my lace-covered breasts sit prettily in the half-open zipper. Not exactly keen on making myself look more appealing to whatever beasties are in the market, especially since I’m not going to have anything to sell like we planned.

“I don’t care. If I don’t go, you don’t go.”

With a growl of my own, I spin and take off for the horde room. It doesn’t take long to find a piece of metal that I might use as a knife. I tuck it under the white belt that’s attached to the suit, and then heft up a large box covered in defunct circuits. Dead computer harddrive maybe? Doesn’t matter. It’s basically a brick now, and a brick is exactly what I need.

I walk right up to Zero with the heavy item held in my hand.

“Listen up, Zero-One-Zero-One-Whatever-the-Fuck. I will do my absolute best to find somebody that can help you when I’m at the market, but if you don’t give me access to that transport, I will smash your screen and then you won’t be able to talk to anybody. Ever.” God, I sound like a bitch. I’m acting like one, too, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

If it comes down to saving myself at the expense of an angry AI chatbot, then that’s what I’ll do.

The cursor blinks furiously, as if in thought before several foreign curses—I’m just assuming—appear in an alien language. It’s a lovely, flowery script that goes well with the hot pink theme of the old cushions, the chunky headset, the space suit. Very Jetsons.

“You are a cunt.” That’s what Zero says to me, in the midst of all this.

“Aww, but I thought we were becoming friends? You are the one that threatened me first, don’t forget.”

“I will give you the transport, but I do not hold onto any hope that you will survive the market without me.”

“I’m pluckier than I look.” I toss the dead computer onto the floor where it shatters into an untold number of pieces. There’s a hissing sound from outside, the noise of hydraulics. I peek around the edge of the ship and see that an exterior door has come open, revealing … something. I narrow my eyes. “Is that … is that a motorcycle?”

Whatever it is, it doesn’t have wheels. The chrome beast waiting for me on the forest floor has four clawed metal feet, a hot pink seat, and an iPad-sized screen between two horizontal handlebars.

“If you close that door after I get down there, I’ll wait for the dragon to come back and I’ll tell him that you’re plotting his demise. Even if he and his new mate decide to eat me, you’re toast.”

I don’t wait around to see Zero’s answer, moving over to the tree where I spent my first night. I swallow hard as I peer down the fifteen or so feet to the ground. I’m starting to feel a little less than confident. But hot damn, the look on the female’s face. The way Big D took off after her. I just … I can’t take a risk like that. I can’t leave Jane. I am not living the rest of my life in a spaceship graveyard/creepy forest with a finicky dude that I can barely talk to.

I jog back to the nest and snag one of the more supple hides.

When I hit the edge of the doorway again, I seriously question my life choices. I’m not a badass superhero. I’m not even an athlete. I don’t even hike. Hell, I hate taking walks! How am I supposed to scale a spaceship on an alien planet?

“Screw it.” I wiggle the strip of hide around the trunk of the tree, close my eyes, and then swing myself out. I’d intended on shimmying down the length of the tree with the two ends of the hide for handholds. That’s … not what happens.

I slide down much faster than intended and end up pussy first on the seat-like curve at the base of the tree’s trunk. The air is knocked out of me, leaving me dizzy and hurting between the thighs. I just punched myself in the vagina. Wow. Nice work, Eve.

With a groan, I force myself to stand up, abandoning the hide and heading for the … motorcycle thing. It has no wheels, so I’m not entirely sure how it moves, but it’s of a similar size and shape to Jane’s motorcycle. Did I mention that? My best friend rides a Harley, and I … drive a Subaru.

I exhale and crack my knuckles, swinging one leg over the bike and settling myself on the hot pink cushion with its matching backrest.

“Alright. Let’s do this.” I tap an experimental finger on the screen and it lights up. The interface includes both symbols and more of that strange flowery alien language that Zero favors. At random, I tap one of the symbols. Two lines of text pop up, so I tap one of those next.

The vehicle hums to life beneath me, four glowing pink balls forming in the clutches of the metal feet. It shivers and vibrates for a few seconds, lifting up off the ground so that it’s floating six or so inches above the dirt.

I’d be impressed in a different situation.

The motorcycle thing stays where it is. Guess we’re not going anywhere without a little further encouragement. I tap the second line of text, and it shuts off. The pink glowing balls dim and the entire thing lowers softly to the ground.

Okay. On and off. Got it.

I start it back up again, navigating to the main screen by tapping a simple arrow in the corner. I choose another icon and find myself with two different lines of text to choose from. When I hit the first one, the vehicle revs as if it might actually move somewhere. It doesn’t.

I sigh and close my eyes, rubbing at my temples in frustration.

When I open them, I tap the second line of text and nearly end up on my ass on the forest floor. The motorcycle-transport-whatever lunges forward and begins to zip through the trees as I snatch the pink-tipped handlebars in my white-gloved hands and cling on for dear life.