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"No one, except for you," I say.
"Exactly. Because if I didn't, you'd be licking dirt off someone’s boots," he says.
"But the military—"
"Earth Federation doesn't give a shit about you. You have seen too much for them to accept you back," he says.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
He growls and turns his head. "I am not like the other alphas, and I hope you are nothing like the Earth Federation generals that lead this war effort."
"Okay," I whisper. Clearly, it's a touchy subject.
He stands and lends me his hand. "Come upstairs with me. I promised to take you on that walk."
We climb out of the reservoir. The light on my skin is a true blessing, and the wind is nice, a cool temperature. It's been a while since I have seen sunlight, and it's been even longer since I've watched the sun rise across an empty landscape.
It sounds romantic.
After attaching the leash to my collar, he leads me toward a long and clear path that loops around some jagged rocks. In silence, we climb a set of stones that lead to a vast network of caves. I step inside and realize it's a grotto, just like the kind I used to read about when I was a kid, but there was no water.
"There used to be great pools of water here that carved out the rocks. When the droughts hit, this place remained," he says.
Something is shifting inside of me. Something unknown to me. It’s about him. He’s nice to me. At the very least, he treats me better than some of the male colleagues back at the base.
However, there's still so much I don't know about his life. His upbringing is a mystery to me. "You came here when you were a boy?" I ask.
His frown deepens. "Much later,” he says. “I don’t like to stay in one place. I've moved around a lot.”
We step down where the water used to be. There's a small set of rocks that lead to a fairly large platform that sits on a cliff facing the morning sun. A swath of purple, orange, and pink rays flood into the cavern. It's the most stunning thing I have ever seen.
He lifts me onto the platform before stepping up. We take a seat, and I relax into him.
"I know nothing about this planet," I whisper.
He looks at me quietly. "You were raised in the barracks, sheltered. Life on the outside is different. It's cruel. But this place," he pauses and spreads his arms out. "This place is real, and it's all ours."
"I've lived here for most of my life, and I didn't even know this land existed," I say. "What else am I missing out on?"
"Not much. Your military controls most of the planet, but there are some free cities left. They fight for their survival. It is not the same as it was twenty years ago," he says.
"Someday, I hope we can be free," I say.
He nods, but he is distant and not as happy as I thought he'd be. I lay against his chest and close my eyes, trying to pinpoint what could be wrong. We have everything we could have ever wanted here. Most of all, we have each other. All of this is hard, but we can make it work.
We have to make it work.
All of my worries disappear as we watch the sun rise in front of us. It might not seem much, but to me, it’s everything. We lay for hours together, mostly in silence. Moments like these are rare, so I cherish every second.
When he takes me back, I wonder if he will throw me back into the water reservoir. Somehow, he doesn't.
Instead, he lets me sit by him in his shack while he works on customizing a new set of armor. Next to his tools sits my old radio. It’s one of the last remnants of my old home.
I can't get much out of him. I try just about every trick in the book, finally deciding to get his attention the best way I know how. I pull my top down.
He looks over and sees my breasts hanging from the front of my shirt. He sets down his tools and waves me over. "I'm sorry I've been so quiet today," he says.
I crawl over his lap and place my head above his rippling abdomen. I listen as his heart pounds against his sternum. "I want to help you like you've helped me, Ax, but I can't do that if I don't know what's wrong," I say.
