Page 4 of Healer Hunted

The Rummicaron gave him zero reaction, he just stared at him with those slate gray eyes. The Aderian stared back, his shoulders slowly lowering little by little. I was almost starting to feel a little sorry for him, had he arrived so ill-prepared that he had no clothes with him?

He let out an annoyed growl that actually seemed kind of out of character compared to his so far upbeat way of talking. Then he slammed his palm on the door reader with such force that I feared the panel cracked, and the suite door slid closed on a soft swoosh. I stepped back a few steps, bumping into the wall next to the bathroom door when he turned around and faced me.

The monkey was on his shoulder, half hidden beneath his long hair. While the male crossed his arms over his chest, his robe thankfully tied more snugly around his body again. It was a little like we were facing off, only this time I felt even more unsteady, with my body at least mostly hidden behind the pile of dirty towels I was holding.

“I’m Lukalyn Nerizana, Master Surgeon,” he said. “You can call me Luka, I’m told humans like to shorten names. This is how you greet each other, correct?” Then he did the oddest thing, he held out his right hand to me, palm out. I stared at that odd offer for a handshake, long enough for him to fidget until he slowly lowered it. “Did I do it wrong?”

I shook my head, trying to settle the strange feeling in my stomach. So this rich guy, this doctor, he knew enough about humans to know of handshakes and naming conventions. How? Did he own human slaves? Had he seen more humans before? Why did it make me feel like a real human being for a moment? As if he cared about what I thought.

Stepping forward, I dumped the pile of towels into the right bin in my cart before I wiped my clammy palms on my hips. Then I reached out with my right hand and offered it to him. This time he stared at it for a moment, his eyes trailing up my arm which was as tattooed as my legs were. I knew that was a pretty unusual sight, but most aliens on the resort barely glanced at me twice, being a maid here made me practically invisible.

When his palm closed around mine, I felt the smoothness of those fingers, no callouses. But his grip was firm and warm, his long fingers closing around mine in a snug clasp. He shook our hands up and down a little more enthusiastically than I expected, his handsome face breaking out into a wide grin. “Nice to meet you, what should I call you human?”

His wild handshake made me stumble, bringing me in far closer than I meant to. He grinned wider, amused while he used his free hand on my shoulder to steady me. “Noa, that’s my name,” I said, searching for that anger that I’d felt earlier, trying to get back to familiar ground.

This was a rich guest, a nearly naked guest. I needed to steer clear of him lest he thought I was on offer too like nearly everything else was in this resort. He let me back away and he didn’t say more, just moved to drape himself in a chair again, though he seemed to take better care to keep his robe fully closed this time. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or sad about that.

I rushed to get through the rest of my jobs, disappearing into the bathroom far longer than it normally took me to clean the space. His eyes followed me across the room when I vacuumed, and when I dusted, then lingered on my backside when I set the windows to clean. When I was finally done, with the tray with dirty dishes stacked onto my cart, I hurried for the exit without another word.

When the panel slid shut behind me, I could have sworn I heard him say, “Bye Noa, nice to meet you.” I pretended not to listen, I was just a momentary distraction for this guy, he had no clue what I was going through. I didn’t want to play games like that.

Chapter 3

Noa

I’d managed to avoid the upper floor of the resort for nearly two whole weeks. First by trading my assigned floors with some of the other housekeepers, then by getting myself swapped to kitchen duty for a while. It was much harder work to have to scrub pots and pans and help rush out food to serve in the restaurant, but it felt worth it.

I couldn’t get him out of my head, Luka, as if he’d burned himself into my brain. When I closed my eyes at night, it was his face I saw, his eerie black eyes. Except I wasn’t thinking they were all that evil-looking now, not when I’d dream about him and wake up all hot and bothered. It was starting to drive me crazy, and it was exhausting, I wasn’t getting enough rest, and I wasn’t eating right. Not that the meals we slaves were given were all that appetizing, but I couldn’t manage to gobble down the required nutrients to save my life.

On the bright side, at least the Dumb duo hadn’t made another appearance so it seemed likely that the Dragon had sent them on another errand far away from here. I really hoped so, because I knew I’d pissed off Dumber enough that he’d want payback next he saw me. He was not a bright man, or rather alien, but he sure knew how to hold a grudge.

This morning as I struggled out of my cot and into one of the two maid uniforms I had, I felt like death warmed over. I was so tired that I could hardly keep my eyes open, and my limbs felt like they were made of lead. It was noticeable even to my coworkers, because the green-skinned Xurtal, Aradne, told me she was doing kitchen duty and I had nothing to say about it. She was always gruff, a little standoffish so I didn’t dare object and simply took her proffered room list from her. I was too tired to object at this point.

Just my luck that out of all the rooms Aradne was assigned to clean, the top floor was on it, and that included Luka’s room. I was almost ready to convince myself that he’d left, that I wouldn’t have to face him. That all this hiding had been for no good reason, he was gone. I’d been so convincing that when I stepped into the hallway and spotted the Rummicaron guard, my knees buckled in surprise.

Get it together Noa! I couldn’t be seen acting all weak like this. A weak slave was a dead one, I’d heard the Dragon say it, I’d seen the others comment on it. My bunk mate had warned me only three nights ago that I needed to get my act together or I was a goner. It was a little frightening because I had no clue about what was wrong, why was I struggling to eat and sleep? Just that it had started since I’d met Luka, and that my dreams were of him.

Squaring my shoulders I eyed the guard, who had his flat gray eyes pinned on my form. I had no clue if it was the same one from before or a different one, but his interest in me this time was more than last time. I debated on whether I would do all the other rooms first or get this over with. I was flagging already and I’d only loaded my cart and maneuvered it into the lift, I was afraid I wouldn’t make it through the entire list. Certainly not with enough energy to spare to face off against a rich guest. Maybe he was out, visiting the spa, but the presence of that guard told me otherwise.

Taking a deep breath I pushed my hover cart in the direction of Luka’s room, my flat-soled, simple black shoes sinking into the plush carpet. As I came abreast with the guard, I didn’t look up to meet those flat eyes, certainly didn’t look at the mouth full of teeth. My eyes snagged on the row of gold buttons that held his black uniform shut over a massive barrel chest. He didn’t say anything, just turned aside and allowed the suite room to open.

I stared into the room, searching for Luka’s form but the chair and couch that I could see were empty. Pushing the cart through the portal I felt a sense of relief when the door slid shut, glad that the guard was shut out. I was almost convinced this was a different guard because this one was giving me the creeps, the other one had just seemed indifferent.

Searching the room I noted that the curtains were closed over the big picture window, it was gloomy and dark. There was an old tray on the table with leftover bits of food, his pet monkey sitting next to it, casually munching on some fruit.

The bathroom door was open, the light off, so I didn’t expect him to be in there. Which left the bed, my eyes searching it almost desperately for a glimpse of him, where was he? I saw that the blankets were in disarray, a tangled mess of silky sheets at the bottom of the bed, the pillows scattered, some on the floor and some still on the bed. Only one dented to the shape of his head.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” a voice drawled from right next to my ear. I leaped a foot into the air in shock, my hand coming up with the glue gun from my cart. I swiveled and aimed it at his face, my thumb already on the depressor. He was laughing, his black eyes glimmering like a starry night, his hands up in the air in surrender while he backed up.

“Fuck, you scared me,” I said, my arm trembling as I held the glue gun aimed his way, I didn’t lower it. His eyes never left my face, locked onto me as if he was drinking me in. When he dropped his arms and casually draped himself against the wall I noted the snug fit of the pale silver shirt, the black pants, and the glimmer of silver on his pointed ears.

My heart was pounding in my throat, both from the shock a moment ago, and from his potent presence. This man… This alien was doing things to my system I had no explanation for, I hated how much he was affecting me, I was almost starting to wonder if he’d drugged me that first day.

“I didn’t mean to, I just didn’t like that you kept me waiting. None of the other maids were as interesting as you,” he said. His eyes darted from my face to glide over my exposed arms and legs, over my colorful tattoos. There was something electric to the air, something intense. It made my skin prickle and break out in goosebumps. I wasn’t sure if that was because of his words, or because of his presence. I didn’t want him to have taken a special interest in me.

From the looks of him, he was just another stuck-up rich guy, I wasn’t about to become a plaything to someone like that. I hadn’t fallen for that kind of facade, that kind of act, back when I was a poor girl on Earth Colony Four. I wasn’t going to fall for it now when I had even less choice about it.

His playful, intrigued smirk transformed slowly, his brow lowering into a deep frown, his gaze turning inward. “Something is wrong, Noa. You are ill. What happened?” He approached me in a few quick steps, my trembling arm too slow to keep the glue gun aimed at his face. He had taken it from me and discarded it beside him on the cart so fast I had barely registered that he’d moved. I wasn’t certain if he was just that fast or if I was starting to lose my mind.