Minute by Minute Ch. 03

I was relaxed with him.

Well, as relaxed as I could get with a nearly eight foot tall Caochian warrior sleeping next to me every night. I was starting to think that that part of me was permanently stuck 'guns at the ready'.

I knew he noticed, but he never said anything. Other than a few surreptitious glances, Adrai was perfectly behaved.

Which, again, I'm glad for.

Our rides on the cross-trams were usually fairly silent. We'd watch the ocean, sitting comfortably in our silence until I saw a creature I hadn't seen before and would point it out to him. Sometimes his friend Isir would join us, asking me questions about the vegetation on Earth or talking with Adrai about some machine that the Oalans were building.

We would be staying on Oalas for another week, then departing for Adennan. Part of me was scared shitless.

Okay, so I was going abso-fucking-out of my brain with terror, but whatever.

It was nice here. We had our room that they'd switched us to after I woke up, complete with windows and all the amenities we might need, to Adrai's immense pleasure. He'd been irrationally happy when he saw the window. I mean seriously, it was a window. He didn't need to kiss the freaking nurses hand a thousand times.

Again, whatever.

As I was saying, I knew where I stood here. The Oalans liked me; most of them called me Bone Boy. They joked with me and were just generally nice. It was safe.

Going to Adennan meant that would all change. The Caochians weren't a peaceful people. They were also extremely isolated. I'd be an invader, a target. Adrai promised that he'd keep me out of harm, but that wasn't really what I was worrying about. What would happen when we were back on his home planet? With his family, his friends, people he knew? If they didn't like me, he probably wouldn't want to keep me around.

Also, his planet sounded dangerous. They erected a ginormous fucking wall just to keep worms out. Scary!

I shifted on the bench so that I could look at him. His profile was relaxed, his long arms draped across the back of the seat. He looked so majestic, sitting there all golden and primal looking.

If Prince Charming mated with a lion; that's what he looked like.

He tilted his head slightly to look down at me, piercing me with those golden eyes. For some reason though, they weren't being piercing so much as... soft. He wasn't smiling, wasn't saying anything, just looking at me with this weird stare.

Finally, after a while of playing the blinking game, he spoke. "What's on your mind?" His hand came off the couch and drifted through my hair, sending chills down my spine.

I blushed and stuttered a bit before I could respond properly. "Uhm, I was just thinking that you... you look kinda sorta like a prince. You know?"

The corners of his mouth twitched, and he pulled me to him. This was the most contact he'd initiated since the day in the bathroom, and I couldn't help nuzzling into his chest a bit.

We sat like that for a bit longer, me listening to his drumming heartbeat, his breath ruffling my hair. Eventually he drew in a deep sigh and collected me into his lap completely. "It's been hard for me to keep my hands to myself. Let me know if it gets too much, okay?"

All I could do was blush and nod emphatically. He smiled softly and continued, "Would you like to contact your family? I think your sisters would like to speak with you, as well as your brother Sam."

"Can I? Can we do it soon? How? Do you have a Com?" I gasped out, twisting to face him completely. I need to make sure Chloe and Beckett were all right.

"We'll do it as soon as we get back to our room. You have their call number, yes?" He grinned down at me, obviously happy that he'd made me happy.

A feeling of intense gratitude washed over me, and I huddled into his chest. His strong arms wrapped comfortingly around me, and I'd never felt so safe.

"Thank you, Adrai."