Raelor Page 3

  He was in a new phase of his life and for the first time, he had a sliver of respect from his father. And even though he wasn’t happy about this so-called special assignment, Raelor had decided that while he was on Earth, no one would know he was in line to be the next High Commander of Urdiv and therefore, one of the most important beings in all the galaxies.

  Chezzarians were also running around the docking station. Those ridiculous beings were what gave everyone a bad taste in their mouth. They were rude and obnoxious. Not to mention their appearance. Gross little beings. Urdivs stayed away from all Chezzarian territories for good reason.

  Raelor sat in the docking station and kept to himself until it was time to board his next plane. This pod was nothing like the shuttle. Everyone was cramped, Raelor most of all. He was the only non-Earthling on flight and he could feel everyone’s eyes on him. The look in the females’ eyes was what made him most uncomfortable, even more than his middle seat with absolutely nowhere to put his long legs. Their eyes were looking at him in a way he had never seen before. They were filled with desire and each one was shifting in their seat as if the mere sight of him made their legs tingle.

  The plane ride made his horrible shuttle experience seem like a run through the woods. Aside from being jammed in his seat and practically eaten alive from half the Earthlings on the flight, he was kept from sleeping by a wailing Earth child and had convinced himself he was suffocating from the recycled air of the plane. The week he spent on the shuttle went by much faster than the twenty-hour flight from the customs station to his host city in the United States.

  After landing and being forced to sit on the miserable excuse of transportation for what seemed like an additional twenty hours, Raelor was released into yet another docking station. According to his AEP paperwork, he would meet his host at this docking station and be taken to her home. Every minute on Earth felt more and more like a jail sentence, and that was exactly how he was treating it. With any luck, he was hoping to reduce his sentence with good behavior. He knew this was possible but only with intel even his father couldn’t refute.

  As Raelor made his way through the docking station, he kept an eye out for his host. He had seen her picture in the paperwork he received from the AEP. The female was 5’5”, Caucasian, with brown hair that fell past her shoulders. He very briefly glanced her picture over when he received it. She looked like a million other Earthlings he had encountered already today. After all his time traveling, he was exhausted and irritated. The paperwork also said the host would be at the docking station holding a sign with his name. Reading this detail made him take no further notice of the Earth girl’s picture. Now, as he wandered around the docking station, his attitude getting fouler with each step, he wished he had spent more time studying the girl’s picture so he could identify her in the chaos of the port.

  He was scanning the crowds again as he slowly made his way down the escalator. The Earth girl should have been at the gate. Obviously she was irresponsible, nothing like the other humans he had met prior to coming to Earth. Out of the corner of his scanning eyes he noticed a commotion happening at the bottom of the escalator. It looked like someone was on the ground, but that was not his problem. His only problem was that he had been abandoned by his host and the AEP was most certainly going to hear about this. If Urdiv was hosting an AEP being, this would never happen. The being would’ve been escorted off the shuttle and directly contacted by the host. This lack of mutual respect was the first reason he would be sure to pass along as one of the reasons to abandon this silly arrangement and return to the Titan, where he was needed. This planet did not deserve the opportunity to demand respect without giving it. They needed to know what respect was and Urdiv would be happy to give a little demonstration by conquering the pathetic warriors of this planet.

  Raelor was furious and had given up on finding the simple Earth girl host. He had a new mission: find the AEP travel representative and demand his return trip immediately. Raelor lugged his bag with clenched fists and walked with a purpose. His eyes were set on the opposite side of the docking station and his fury grew more and more with each step.

  That was when he heard the faint sound of a clunky pitter patter coming up behind him. He may have been in the middle of beastly outrage, but he could not forget his warrior instincts to fend off an enemy. In this case, it was whoever was chasing him. His instinct was verified as he heard the clunking being begin to call his name. He had enough sense to know an enemy wouldn’t call him by name, but his anger was boiling over and he just didn’t care.

  Raelor turned his body in the direction of the voice calling his name. And before he could try to contain it, he let his inner beast go. He puffed out his chest, took in a deep breath, and bellowed, “WHAT?”

  Chapter 5

  Marci

  Marci found herself the victim of Urdiv warrior aggression. It was as if she had come face to face with a starving lion who was about to rip its prey to shreds, but first he had to let everyone know by letting out the loudest and most furious roar. Marci just stood there, shocked. Panic had yet to set in and even her tears were too afraid to run down her cheeks.

  Marci had woken up from her fainting spell to a bunch of daunting docking station goers. And yet none were her alien. In a sea of “Are you okay?” and “Do you need help?” Marci muttered a little too loudly, “Shit!”

  She couldn’t believe she had let him get away. With the help of those who had formed a circle around her, Marci stood up and brushed herself off. Without even so much as a thank you, she darted off in the direction she was pretty sure she saw him go. The whole time, Marci was running through the docking station.

  Just when she was about to give up, she spotted him and picked up her pace. She was pretty sure the outfit that she had spent so much time picking out was no longer perfect and probably ruined. Her sweater was riding up and she was sweating a little more than what was acceptable for any place other than the gym. There was no way she could let him go. Not when she was this close. Not to mention the gigantic amount of trouble she would be in with the federal government for abandoning an alien put into her ward and letting him run rampant around the city, causing certain destruction.

  Marci shook her head to get her wandering mind back on track. The federal government wasn’t going to come after her because she was catching up. She was going to get Raelor and make this little misunderstanding right.

  Raelor was still a good bit ahead of her and she could see he wasn’t happy. The way he was walking made him appear to be trudging through the depths of hell, doing everything in his power to get away from her. That was when she started yelling and calling his name. After several yells, she finally got his attention but before she could catch her breath and thank Jesus for not letting him get away, it happened. He screamed right in her face.

  Marci was shocked and visibly shaken. In that moment, every fantasy she had of the two of them together, and the school girl crush she had developed, broke apart into a million pieces.

  Raelor was still infuriated. He had just screamed at the top of his massive lungs. Screamed at her. And by the look on his face, that wasn’t enough. He was still angry. What kind of a monster was this creature? In all her research, she was never warned of this. She didn’t know what to think. But she could no longer just stand there. Judging by his stature and the animalistic look in his eyes, expecting him to break the silence, let alone apologize, was not about to happen. That meant it was on her. Or they would stand there in the docking station for possibly forever.

  “I’m sorry,” Marci said in a whisper.

  But her words did nothing to shake his rage, and he stood silently, still staring at her as if he was going to tear her apart, and not in any of the ways she had dreamed up.

  “Sorry, please let me explain,” she tried again. Still no response.

  “Okay, so, this isn’t how I saw this going.” She went on to explain, “My name is Marci, or Marcella, but everyone calls me Marci.
I mean, I prefer Marci.”

  Oh God, Marci thought. This was not getting any better and she was blubbering like an idiot.

  “Umm, again, I’m really sorry.” She begged for his forgiveness, getting nothing in return. “I’ll be your AEP host. I had a little mix up earlier and that’s why I wasn’t waiting to pick you up… Well, actually, I was waiting, but well… never mind.”

  Again, she knew she was stuttering. Flustered was not a good look on her. But at least he was still standing there. And a bonus, he wasn’t trying to kill her.

  She went on, “So I guess from here, I take you back to my place and help you get acquainted to life here on Earth.” Raelor looked slightly less volatile than he had when they first met. However, he still hadn’t made any attempt to let her off the hook or break his silence. Hell, would he even come along with her?

  “I mean, I guess we can stay at the docking station a little longer if you wanted?” she asked, hoping he would finally give in. Then it occurred to her. “Wait, you do understand me, right? I mean, can you speak English?” she asked very slowly.

  “Yes,” Raelor answered in a long drawn out voice, tinged with a mocking tone.

  “Oh, sorry,” Marci mumbled in her embarrassment. Just in case he didn’t already think she was the biggest airhead fuck up that ever lived, he definitely did now.

  “Every being on Urdiv is standardly equipped with access to the internal translation server which allows the being to both understand and speak any and all languages, both known and unknown,” he explained in a matter of fact, yet sinister tone.

  He was still annoyed with her. Super.

  “Right,” she responded, then added, “Well then, what do you say we get out of here and go back to my place?” Immediately, she regretted her word choice. Did she really just try to use a pick up line on this alien?

  While Marci was mortified by every word that came out of her mouth and grew increasingly self-conscious with every step she took, Raelor seem unfazed by her. He was probably just ignoring her or making a list of all the reasons she was the worst host ever. Raelor walked along with Marci through the docking station and out to her car. Marci admired everything about him. She was practically drooling, staring at his amazing sculpted body. She couldn’t help herself; she wanted to rip his clothes off to get a better look at what was hiding under his tight fitting yet plain clothing. Oh, the things she wanted to do to him, wanted him to do to her. She was having a serious problem keeping herself under control in the parking lot. What in the world was she going to do when they were in the close space of her car, oh God, or her tiny apartment?

  Marci was in desperate need of a cold shower.

  Knowing that was not going to happen, she began thinking of ways to get her body back under her control. She started thinking of anything with she could with zero sex appeal. The list ran through her head, and she starting with the obvious: cute puppies, kittens, the pandas from the National Zoo. It was starting to work, so she kept going. Gardening, cleaning, grocery shopping, and organizing her closet. Suddenly her train of thought was interrupted by Raelor, not so subtly clearing his throat. Fuck… she was at the end of the parking lot. Marci was so focused on not thinking about Raelor’s naked body on top of hers that she walked right past the car a while ago. Here we go again. Just another reason Raelor was never going to fulfil her dreams… She was an absolute idiot.

  “Oh, sorry!” Marci apologized to Raelor again, for what seemed like the hundredth time since they met.

  Raelor just gave a slight nod, and she thought she heard him give a little grunt. Marci wanted to throw herself in front of a car, but they were so far back there weren’t even any in sight to put her out of her misery. Of course. So she adjusted her path and finally led Raelor to her car.

  The car ride to her apartment was more painful than if she’d found a car to throw herself in front of. Raelor was dead silent. She tried to make conversation with the alien, yet nothing seemed to work, as if he was perfectly content to sit in silence. Marci finally gave up and continued to think about her list of things to keep her mind off wanting to pull the car over and drag Raelor into the backseat.

  She saved herself from looking like an idiot, yet again, by actually making it back to her apartment without any issues. Raelor continued his silent treatment as he grabbed his bag and followed her to the apartment. Marci’s nerves had never really calmed, but they were definitely pushing her into a panic attack as she opened the door to her apartment. She was so worried he would hate it, and be so disgusted he would call the AEP and demand to be taken away from this insane Earth woman immediately.

  She led him through the front door and tried be cute. “Well, here it is. Home sweet home!” Marci couldn’t believe the shit that was coming out of her mouth. Who was she? Clearly she had been possessed by some demon suburban housewife. Never in a million years did she think this day was going to go like it was. Feeling mortified and defeated, she was done looking like an idiot and trying to impress Raelor. Clearly this alien was making her lose her mind. So Marci did what anyone would to avoid a mental breakdown in front of their exchange alien: she started babbling through her tour, doing everything she could to get away from him as fast as she could.

  “So, this is the kitchen and the living room,” she blurted out extremely quickly. “The bathroom is over there and my room is through that door. Well, I’ll leave you alone. I’m sure you want to get settled. Okay, bye,” Marci said as she made her escape into her room and closed the door.

  Marci turned her back to the door, put her hands over her head, and started taking some deep breaths. If she was going to avoid a complete meltdown, she just needed to get away from him. Away from the pressure and the one-way sexual tension.

  Boom, boom, boom!

  Marci practically jumped to the ceiling with a loud gasp. What the fuck was going on? Then she realized it was just a knock on her bedroom door. She turned around and opened the door a tiny crack, and looked out to see Raelor standing on the other side. Marci continued to hide behind the door and couldn’t find the words to ask what the hell he wanted or why he was bothering her.

  Then it was Raelor who broke the silence. “Sorry to interrupt, but where do I put my things, ma’am?”

  Ma’am?

  “It’s Marci. Not ma’am,” she corrected him.

  “Okay, Marci? Where can I set up my equipment?”

  Equipment? What the hell was he talking about? Marci was confused; she already gave him all the direction she could handle at the moment. Heaven forbid the big sexy alien couldn’t follow simple instructions. Marci rolled her eyes and opened the door to stare out into the living room past Raelor. And then she realized it was she who was being the idiot. She was in such a rush to get away that she had just left Raelor standing in the doorway. Great, she thought, here we go, another apology, coming right up!

  “Oh God, I’m sorry,” Marci said as she shook her head. “I just… I just didn’t know what to expect. I don’t know…”

  She was certain when she looked up at Raelor he would be seething with anger, ready to storm out of her apartment and her life. Then she would be arrested for breaking AEP rules and spend the rest of her life rotting in prison. But her morbid train of thought was interrupted by the look on Raelor’s face.

  The look was not one of anger or even disappointment. It also wasn’t the blank militaristic, unaffected by anything and everything, stare that he gave her earlier. Instead, what she saw was a look of understanding.

  “I didn’t know what to expect either,” he said in a tone that was nice, understanding, and different than any of their previous encounters.

  “All right, so let’s try this again. This is my house. I know it’s not much, but this can be your space,” Marci said, showing him over to the living room. She continued, “The couch is comfy and I got these blankets out for you. Feel free to move whatever or use whatever to set up your equipment. Is there anything else you need from me?”

 
“No, this will work well. I will set up over there if that’s all right,” he said, pointing to her dining room table.

  “Sure, of course,” she quickly responded.

  “Thank you,” he said, dipping his head at her.

  Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe he could be her mate after all.

  Chapter 6

  Raelor

  Marci had disappeared back into her bedroom. As sweet and innocent as she was, if not a little irresponsible, there was no way this woman could be his mate. Raelor had to admit to himself she was beautiful though. But his father was wrong to give him this duty. She was just a human, and one from Earth. They didn’t understand customs like the colonists did. She didn’t even offer him a place to put his things. But he wasn’t angry. How could he be? She was ignorant, but not by choice.

  Raelor pulled open his bag and took out a set of tools. Within minutes, he had dismantled the dining room table. Marci appeared moments later.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Setting up my equipment.” He pulled out his sleeping hammock and began assembling it.

  “But my table,” she stammered, pointing to the wood pile in the corner.

  “I can put it back together, if you need me to.” He didn’t really want to, but he was her guest. He wouldn’t be rude. Not anymore. His anger had subsided and it was time to get on with the mission. Whatever that truly was.

  She smiled for a moment. “No, you know what? It’s fine. I don’t even ever eat at it. Mostly it holds my mail. It’s stupid, really. But hey, wasn’t there mail there?”

  Raelor reached for a stack of papers, “These? I can’t believe you still use paper mail on Earth.” He passed them to her and their hands touched for a moment.