Star Side

Chapter 6

Back in the present

Stellar date (Earth Time): 08-26-2914

The purple-blue eggs huddled in a nest of towels.

My eyes lingered on them as I slowly came to. The splashing of water came next, along with the familiar smell of the rain-musk soap I'd specially ordered. Then I felt the hard hand holding me up by the back of my neck. I could see the dark violet arm connected to it, which faded to red once it reached his broad shoulder. The spines along his spine had flattened into a long, shiny line. He had tied his dark purple hair back into a ponytail with one of my scrunchies, a bright pink one, which amused me for the moment it took for my brain to catch up.

He was bathing me in my bath tub, using my soap and his huge hands to scoop water up my naked body.

Once I wouldn't have been too embarrassed thinking that an alien had nothing to think of another alien's naked body besides 'aw, gross, that's weird.' But I had learned better, and now that I had eggs it made it all the worse. Or was it being picked up out of my vomit while I was unconscious?

I hugged my hands to my breasts, drawing his attention.

"You're awake." His hand stopped and his yellow eyes arrested mine.

"Unfortunately," my voice was hoarse and weak. I tried to clear it, but ended up coughing instead.

He reached somewhere hidden by the wall of the tub and brought up a tall cup, which he offered to me.

I wasn't sure if my stomach would handle water, but I took it and swallowed it down anyway. The moment my tongue touched it, I found I was parched and downed it.

The whole time, I could feel his eyes. His hand never ceased to hold me up from the water, like a newborn getting its first bath.

I breathed for a moment to get my bearings, an arm still stretched across my breasts, then put the cup down.

"Are they okay?"

I couldn't completely hate how his hour-glass pupils widened with pleasure at my question.

"The...the babies okay. I can keep warm."

"Them warm," I corrected before I could stop myself.

A flash of fang appeared from his mouth in his imitation of a grin. Oh great.

"Don't misunderstand me, I'm still pissed as hell with you. Do you have any idea how—how bad you've done? You hurt me, badly."

As I expected, at the mention of harming me his pupils shrunk and his thin lips closed back over the fang. His fur tipped tail slid across my now naked bathroom floor to curl about his draconic feet. I couldn't help but feel a little grateful that he'd done away with the nasty sick which my bathroom rug had become after I'd nearly died on it.

I tried to lift my arms to sit myself up so he didn't have to hold me anymore—letting him touch me would just encourage his thinking that we were okay—but found myself hissing instead as my stomach muscles twanged like broken guitar strings and my arms started to shake like mad. That's not to mention the pain that was inbetween my legs.

"Rest," his voice nearly hissed.

"Don't you dare get hissy with me," I snapped.

"You are weak, moving will make worse."

"You're the reason I'm like this!"

His long, pointed ears flattened on either side of his head.

"I will not be sorry for babies," he said. The hiss was gone, at least.

"Be sorry for not asking!"

The pupils shrunk a bit more. Gal, I was getting tired of his stupidly expressive eyes.

"I did ask, I thought...I thought you agreed."

I stared at him, caught up in the overwhelming urge to slap either side of his face with all my strength as well as cry and throw up all at once.

Somehow, I managed to swallow back the bile. But not the tears.

His hand beneath my neck tightened. I should worry about him bruising me on accident with that stupid monster strength of his, but I couldn't bring it in me to care.

"Jo, I..." his fangs clacked together. He clicked them apprehensively and the line of his resting spines rustled.

"There's nothing you can say to make this okay," I said.

"...I—I tried to prove myself, I tried to understand that you did not remember because of..." he wrinkled his nose. "But your mind waves—thoughts—they said you wanted me, wanted love and mate—"

"How did you even put those things in me?"

He finally looked away at this question. The muscles along his jaw tightened, but I heard the clatter of his teeth. His spines had gone still once more.

Rather than answer, he went back to scooping warm water over my naked body again. For the first time I noticed that occasionally some sort of flimy mucous drifted across it, like the vaginal discharge I'd heard happening pregnancy. I had to swallow back another wave of bile as I thought that I'd been pregnant this whole time. I'd heard of those cases of women giving birth without knowing they were pregnant, but I'd never, EVER, thought I'd be one of them. I mean, I was a virgin, for one, and second...

Wait.

"Levi's moonshine," I said.

He flinched. That was answer enough.

I pinched my legs together hard despite the pain it elicited. My girl parts were very, very unhappy.

Absolutely no fair. Not only had I thought I was a virgin this whole time, but I couldn't even remember losing it. I'd always been told it would be obvious when it happened, that it would hurt, that it would...that it would something.

But it still didn't hurt as much as the betrayal.

"We humans have a word for that," I said.

He only twitched a long, elfin ear to show he was listening.

"It's called rape." I reached back and dug my nails into the hand holding my neck. "You raped me, Gilrack."

His head snapped back, spines rising, pupils slitted and teeth bared.

"No! I did not hurt! I was gentle! I love!"

"Even if you did love me and were gentle, it is still rape!"

The hand on my neck wouldn't leave, but I could feel the tips of his claws extending with his rising distress. His tail uncoiled to lash back and forth across the bathroom floor, wider and wider the longer I glared at him until—

THWACK!

Spikes hidden by the fur tip punctured the wall next to the eggs.

I didn't know I had it in me. Protective instinct like I'd never felt electrocuted me with adrenaline. I launched out of his hand and the tub towards the eggs, not giving one lick that I was butt naked and post-preggy flabby. I hunched over them protectively, hugging the towel nest beneath me.

"BE CAREFUL!"

At my bared teeth, he froze as I'd never seen. Not even his eyes dared to twitch. Gilrack, the apex predator who had kept us on edge for months, froze like prey and didn't lower his chin despite his throat being exposed to me.

I hissed my best alien hiss that I could. He wasn't the only one practicing their intergalactic languages.

He crooned back, low in his chest, apologetic. He clicked his tongue against his teeth in a slow, reassuring beat.

"Bed is warm," he managed to squeeze through the metronome of his tongue. "Will not harm. Safe. I will keep you safe."

The only thing I'd ever needed to be kept safe from on this station had been him.