Page 18 of Jaider’s Desire

I blinked in surprise, and held him by the arm to stop him from taking another step.

“That’s it? Is there no way for us to sneak in there? I mean, we can do it, right? I know we can!” I begged, but he shook his head again.

“No, we cannot. You don’t know what we are up against,” he said, his eyes wide and willing me to understand. “The Compiers are fierce warriors. They’re not like us. They’re more animal-like in their ways, and if they catch us, they’ll kill us on sight, and then we’ll never be able to save Emma. Please, Molly. We have to leave,” he said.

“But how can we just leave her like that? It’s not right! I mean, look at her!” I cried. He placed his hands on top of my shoulders and squeezed gently.

“I understand where you’re coming from, Molly, and I admire your courage,” he said softly. “You have more warrior in you than you know, and more than most. Believe me, I would want to do the same if it was someone I cared for, but it would be suicide for us to go down there unprepared. You would be killed or captured, and possibly inside that cage with her, do you understand?” he said, trying to reason with me.

“Well, maybe that’s not so bad. She won’t be alone, at least. You’re going back to the Council to tell them the base is here, right? Since you’ll be coming back anyway to release her, and to capture the base, what are a few days in a cage with her? At least she won’t be alone,” I said defiantly.

He was silent as he looked at me with one eyebrow raised.

“You would do that for your friend?” he asked softly, and I nodded.

“Yes, I would,” I said.

“You are a very brave human, Molly,” he said, “But I cannot allow it. The Council has given you to me as my wife, and even though I don’t plan on going through with the agreement, I cannot let you wander off to your own death.” He patted my shoulders again before walking past me.

He was right. And I was still mad at him. The sooner we returned to the village, the sooner they could plan this raid and get Emma back, I thought to myself. And then the agreement would be broken, and I wouldn’t have to be stuck with him.

It pained me that even on a planet starving for human female companionship, I was still overlooked. Here I am the ridiculed receptionist all over again.

After a long walk back, we finally made it down the mountain. We passed the campsite, and as we did, a heat rushed through my body as I thought about what happened last night.

“I’m going to cover up the tracks we left here. Follow that path a few steps that way, but no more than that,” he ordered.

“Yes, Commander,” I quipped in annoyance. I took a few steps, and then turned to watch as he poured fresh dirt on the old fire pile. He also erased the body prints on the ground where we sat and ate while he told me about the Compiers. Then he erased the prints where we made love.

Any trace of us being together was completely deleted. It was as if it never happened, just like he wanted.

We didn’t speak a word the entire hike back to the ship, and that was fine with me. I didn’t have anything to say to him. I just wanted to be back with Betty and Amy at this point.

***

We arrived at the village, and he walked to the living quarters, pulling me aside before whispering in my ear.

“Remember what I said. It is our secret. It never happened,” I pulled my head away, and fixed him with an infuriated glare.

“You don’t have to remind me,” I hissed at him with my teeth bared. I didn’t want to speak to him anymore. I wanted him out of my sight.

I stomped away and nodded towards the guard, rushing inside the quarters as soon as he opened the door. I took a deep breath, as a feeling of relief flooded over me. I was glad to finally be rid of him.

“Molly!” Betty cried as she ran to my side.

“Oh, my God! We thought they killed you!” Amy cried out, tackling me into a hug. She immediately pulled back and looked at me worriedly. “What happened?”

“It’s fine. I’m okay. They only needed me to go and identify Emma,” I explained. “I was taken to a place on the other side of the planet to find her.”

“Identify?! You mean, like checking a body?!” Amy said in alarm. “Oh, my God, is she dead?” I shook my head vigorously, raising my hand to calm her down.

“No, she’s alive. They just wanted me to go so that she wouldn’t be mixed up with any other missing female,” I told her. I was suddenly feeling exhausted from all of their questions.

“Well, did you find her? Where is she?” Betty asked.

“We did. The Compiers have her in a secret location a few hours from here. They’re holding her captive, but now that they know where she is, a rescue mission is being planned to bring her back. Don’t worry, guys. Everything will be fine,” I assured them as I sat down on the bed, utterly spent.

“Are you alright?” Amy asked with a frown. She filled up a glass with water and handed it to me. “You look very tired and drained.”

“I’m exhausted. It was a very long hike there and back, and a long night as well. I just need to eat and rest, and then I’ll be fine,” I said, smiling at her gratefully before drinking the water all in one chug.

Betty brought over a tray of fruit, and I ate it while they asked more questions about my travel. I told them all about the ugly lizard aliens, and the amazing environment and creatures, and they seemed to be hanging onto my every word.

I purposely left out that I was alone with Commander Katon, and just made it sound like I was with a group. If they found out it was just the two of us together, they would no doubt realize something more happened, and I couldn’t allow even a hint of it to escape my mouth.

When they were finally satisfied with my story, I settled into my bed, and willed myself to fall asleep. Images of Jaider naked and on top of me kept popping into my head. I never want to think about it again, but my mind was not letting me forget it.

The fact that Jaider’s love was not with me bothered me so much. I couldn’t understand why it was hurting me that he wanted to keep it a secret. I mean, it’s not like I was planning on telling anyone anyway. Also, his father wanted us to marry, so what was he going to tell him then?

These aliens only want human females to create offspring; I thought sadly, they didn’t want any love or romance.

It didn’t matter anymore, though. We completed the mission, and that meant Jaider could do whatever he wanted, and he wanted to be with a Revian female, not me. I’ll probably be assigned to another one eventually, so all I had left to do was wait.