unmated
She cursed and paced but how do you get through to a little boy when he couldn't understand a thing you said? Pointing angrily didn't help. Shouting didn't help.
"That's it, I give up. My fucking luck has gone to the dogs. This is what I get for being nice. Damn stupid aliens."
Growling, she turned to see if he was even paying attention to her.
He was still playing with his toys.
Growling again, she crossed the room to see if she'd be able to recognize any of the things he was doing.
One screen looked like a beacon of some kind. The rest of it was all lights that made no sense. "Is anyone there? Dezrick?"
The fact that Kellum wasn't standing here was a good indicator that if she couldn't get off then no one could get on either.
At that point she started to feel around the walls for a sign of a door. A waste of time, but she didn't know what else to do.
After circling the whole damn room, when she looked back at Jai, he was watching her.
"I have to go back. Try to understand me. I have to go back." She spoke slowly and as clearly as she could. She threw in some arm gestures to help. "Take. Me. Back."
"I would rather you stay."
Her eyes narrowed. "Have you been able to understand me this whole time?"
"No, little one. The binder around my neck would not allow me to speak or correspond in anyway. Since being back on my ship I've been learning your language."
"Little one? You're the kid. Take me back."
"Why would you wish to return there? It was a most unpleasant place."
"That's true but I still have to go back. Julian is there. I just found him and I'm not losing him all over again."
He studied her for a moment then his image changed right before her eyes. Holy shit and pink twinkies.
"Is this pleasing to you?"
He looked like Julian. He sounded like Julian. Holy hell.
"Now you wish to stay with me?"
"Hell no. You can't wear his face just because you want to. Change right now."
Suddenly Kellum was standing in front of her. She would have thought it was really him, but her belly remained tingly free. "Hell no. Why don't you wear your own face?"
"Remaining a child would not suit my purpose."
"Wait a minute. How old are you?"
Kellum's eyes stared at her intently before he answered. "We do not age as you do, and we do not keep track of our age as you do. I can tell you I was trapped in that body for nearly five years and I'm very appreciative that you freed me."
"Then do the same and free me. And get rid of that damn face."
"I am unable to grant you your first request." He changed into William. "Ever since you first offered me food and you touched me, you imprinted on me."
She really didn't want to know what the hell that meant. "Is there a chair around here and maybe something to drink?"
A chair popped up directly behind her. After watching her intently he pressed a light on the screen around him and a lite blue ball appeared. After taking it onto the palm of his hand he walked it to her. "Will this be significant, Karza?"
"Get rid of the face, don't call me that, and I don't even know what in the hell that is."
Now her drummer ex-boyfriend stood in front of her. "Place it on your tongue and it will quench your thirst.
She eyed it wearily.
"I would never hurt you and I would never offer you something that would cause you harm."
She's heard that line before. Grimacing, she took it from him and popped it into her mouth. Instantly, her mouth was full of the sweetest liquid that she'd ever tasted. And the small amount was enough to quench her thirst.
Seeing her please expression, his eyes roamed over her face. He lightly placed a finger to her temple. "Since you have touched me again within the ten days, I am allowed to touch you now as well."
He might look like Todd, but Todd never did anything lightly or gently in his life. He'd been like her and didn't bother sugar coating anything. Freak if she didn't miss him. He would have never complicated her life as much as all these guys since him.
"Think about who you want me to be. I wish to please you."
"Go back to the boy. I liked him."
That might have been what she said but she guessed a few images did come to mind. A rock star, a couple movie stars. A kid she'd had a small crush on back in middle school.
Poor kid had been nerdy cute in a way that had appeal to her back then.
Travis Trahan. First, he stood before her fourteen or maybe fifteen. His eyes a muddy brown, his hair dirty blond with a natural cowlick that no gel could help. All that was missing was his wire rimmed glasses and the corny t shirts he'd always worn. Then he stood before her and he was around the same age as her. His eyes still muddy brown, his dirty blond hair longer. Yea, he was kind of cute. Total lie, he was hot.
"Is this what Travis would look like today?
"You can read my mind?"
"I can catch some images here and there, some thoughts and words. You have a beautiful mind. Would you like to merge your mind with mine now? I would love to know all there is to know about you."
"I told you what I would like."
"And I told you I can't do that for the length of another cycle. We are kindred souls. Once you touched me, we imprinted on each other."
"I'm not going to like it, but why don't you go ahead and tell me what that means?"
"When kinder souls touch, they imprint on each other. We have twice, the first time you touched me to offer me food and again when you touched me to free me. It happens every time two people with matching souls touch. An imprint can last anywhere from twenty to thirty days. Three imprints forge an unbreakable bond. If we imprint a third time between the twenty and thirty day of our cycle, then we are soul mates who will spend eternity together. Two beings, one soul."
He caressed her cheek. "Our bond is already stronger than anything I've ever felt before. I am certain you are my soulmate."
Jess slouched in her chair and laid her head back. Was someone kidding her with this shit?
"You've imprinted before?"
"Twice. The first time we made it to the second trimester but there was to be no third. The second time we only were blessed with one touch."
"Any chance you're wrong and none of this stuff will work because I'm human and you're not?"
"A kinder soul is a kinder soul. Species, race, gender, nor age matter."
She sighed and looked at him. "So, what you're saying is that we're stuck with each other for the next twenty or thirty days and as long as I don't touch you after that then I'm free?"
He caressed her again. "I do not want you to be free of me. I wish to spend eternity with you."
"That is a really, really long time. I could never like someone for that long. Anyway, I'm human. I won't live that long."
"Once we are bonded you will. We can never be apart."
"Look, that's sweet and all but it's not going to happen. And I wasn't kidding about Julian. I just found him, no way I'm losing him again. Not to mention some bitch just dug her claws into him. I'm going back to him and if you and I can't be parted right now then that means you are coming too."
"Little one, I wish to grant you your request, but I am unable to at this time. I was sent here on a mission. Since I am no longer a prisoner, I must see to it at once. My planet is in danger of disintegrating. My people are connected to my planet. If that happens all will be lost. I was sent here to collect data and samples that could be monumental in saving my world."
"You said you have been here for five years? How do you know it's not already too late?"
"Because now that the binder is gone, I can feel my people once again. We are all connected, and we are all connected to our planet."
"Why have they been waiting around for five years? Why didn't they come get the samples when you went missing?"
He wondered back to his lights; his expression saddened. "Because they are unable to. As I said they are connected to our planet. If it is unwell then they are unwell. They are unable to leave. They are counting on me."
"How were you able to leave?"
He stopped playing with the lights. "Once we realized our planet was sick, we instantly went to work trying to figure out how to heal it. When things we need were located to your planet, we went to work on finding a way to retrieve the items we needed. It took one of your lifetimes to be able to genetically engineer someone who could be stripped away from the very thing that gives us life so that that person could travel to your planet."
Jess walked towards him. His pain seemed real to her. As if she reached out, she could touch it. "You?"
"Yes. It was important. Someone had to do it and I was the most qualified and I was unmated. It was a painful process and I still grieve all that I have lost. I can still feel my people but it's not the same as it was before. On my planet I could feel the sunset upon the land, I could feel the waterfall against the rocks. It's like half of me is missing now."
She laid her hand on top of his. "You gave up all of that and then those ass wipes caught you before you could finish out your quest?"
"Yes, but it's not too late." Looking at her, he laced his fingers through hers. "Because of you I can still save all that I hold dear. I must carry out my mission."
"Fine. We can do that. As soon as you go and fetch Julian. If I'm embarking on a quest to save a world then I can't do it without my trusty sidekick."