The Alien

The Alien - Chapter 4

Understanding at Last

I stopped out the front of the house. Being stuck in there again would be difficult, but it would be a whole lot more interesting now that Jarath and I could understand each other.

My vision clouded and I sucked in a breath.

Oh no.

The hood pressed against the wound on my head and I became light-headed. I'd been okay up till now, but I'd overdone it. The Viper was further away than I remembered.

I needed to get inside.

As my foot touched the bottom step, the world tilted sideways and I grabbed the railing. Jarath caught me around the waist before I face-planted the steps. "Hey, I got ya."

I opened my mouth, but couldn't form any words. I needed to lie down.

"Are you okay? Can you walk?"

I nodded. Bad idea; my head pounded in response.

Jarath helped me up the steps and toward the front door as my hood slid off. "Let's get you inside and out of sight and lying down on something."

I tried to walk into the house, but my legs didn't want to cooperate. Once we'd stumbled inside, Jarath carried me to a lounge chair and pushed some of my hair behind my ear. "Are you okay?"

No.

As he carefully put a cushion under my head, I blinked to try to focus on his face. He was genuinely concerned about me. It seemed strange that an alien would care when I knew so many people of my own race wouldn't give a damn.

I took some slow, deep breaths and felt better. "I think I've done too much walking. My head... It's too much."

His features relaxed a bit. "Yeah. You've gone overboard on your first outing." He smiled and I couldn't look away from that dimple. "But I can understand why you did it. It's so much easier now that we can communicate."

I watched his mouth form the words and it was disconcerting that the movements weren't in sync with what I was hearing, but I'd get used to it. That was always the weird thing about using translator chips, but it was either that, or not understanding him at all. I went back to watching that dimple as I smiled back. "It makes things a lot easier."

Stop checking him out!

"Can I get you anything? Do you want a drink? Something to eat?"

I shook my head and regretted it as the room spun. I closed my eyes. I needed to stop doing that. "Um, maybe I should have a drink."

"Done." He left quickly and returned from the kitchen with a cup of water.

I sipped the liquid and sighed. "It seems I'm always needing your help."

I bit my lip. This wasn't like me. I was always the strong one, always helping others.

It was frustrating, but needing help always meant being closer to Jarath and I liked that. I liked the way he felt and the way he smelled of cologne and a hint of smoke from the fireplace. Being close to him made my heart race. I just wished I could be close to him when I wasn't on the verge of passing out. That way I could enjoy the closeness.

Alwyn's tear-streaked and terrified face flashed into my mind and it was like a punch to the chest. I pushed it away as fast as I could.

Part of me knew that these thoughts about Jarath were a bad idea. He was from a different planet. Hell, a different solar system! I couldn't be having these thoughts right now. Or ever. I needed to get my head on straight.