Eden (13 page)

P a r t 2

FIFTEEN

The sky was a carpet of diamonds in which Jenny made up her own constellations. They both watched its beauty in silence after eating a late meal from the newly erected barbecue Fly had built close to the ship. They sat next to its warmth and nibbled on shelled nuts.

There had been a scent hanging around them; an aroma of sexual attraction that had grown and given birth to thousands of erotic thoughts and feelings that Jenny hadn’t known existed before.

It was here, this place. It brought alive the primal feelings and released the wild freedom that her ancestors had taken for granted. In the name of progress, the human race had lost so much.

When the moons rose and the howling began Fly raised his arm and Jenny slipped beneath, as if she had being doing so all her life. The heavy pressure of his hand wasn’t possessive or dominating anymore; it felt good, right.

The howling of the native-wolves became louder and nearer, but it no longer frightened her as it used to. It was just one more thing she had become accustomed to, like the extraterrestrial sky.

He raised his hand from her shoulder and touched her hair.

“I find your hair beautiful,” he said. “Although it looked strange in the beginning.”

Jenny laughed. “I guess we did look strange to each other back
then. “

Fly said nothing; he pushed his fingers through her hair, and found the baby-soft skin of her nape beneath.

“I also find you so... fragile.” He spoke in a thickened voice. “You make me feel boorish. Why do you smile? Was that not the right word?”

“Not one that I would have chosen.”

“I can feel you trembling. You are nervous,” he said.

She closed her mouth on a flippant remark. She
was
nervous, but excited too. His eyes were glittering with a new light, a light that Jenny registered with a quivering stomach.

“We are friends now, yes? There is nothing to be frightened of, least of all me.” His voice was rich and velvet against her ear. His fingers continued to stroke her nape, creating tiny ripples of sensual delight.

She turned her head, a slight, subtle movement of agreement, and looked at him. Her breath had become shallow with the thrill of his obvious desire. His head lowered and his lips lightly touched her mouth. Their lips parted on contact and, hesitatingly at first, they began to kiss with deep deliberation.

Without any conscious effort on either part, they lay down on the scorched ground. She was shaking, and the movement caused him to break contact. She lay beneath him breathless, and perturbed, but deeply aflame. It was a strange, erotic feeling. It felt wrong yet it was so right. Everything was perfect, yet so imperfect.

“You are frightened,” he said softly, without question.

“It isn’t fear, Fly.”

He didn’t move, and then a rare smile broke over his face. He looked so relieved that her heart nearly broke. She raised a hand and stroked the red scars over his face.

“Make love to me, Fly, take me to heaven.”

“You do not want to stay here?” he asked, and when she broke into laughter, he frowned. “I do not understand.”

She sobered. “Then let me take you.”

She held out her hands to him, and he lowered himself into her embrace where she was the teacher and he the pupil. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t human, anymore. His scarred face, strange eyes, clawed hands and the knowledge that he was as venomous as a viper
no longer seemed preternatural.

They removed one each other
’s
clothes with extreme delicacy; touching and discovering each other with light, incredulous caresses.

Her body prickled against the chill of the night, but his hands wandered over her and sent warmth deep into her skin. His head lowered and his teeth graced her neck, then the hollow of her shoulder. Jenny flung back her head; her eyes tightly closed in ecstasy. His hands moved all over her body, exploring every curve, every tiny imperfection from the tips of her toes to her face.

She arched her back, at the same time drawing his head down with her arms. Her hands threaded his long black hair. Their legs became entangled, and when his thigh pressed between her legs, her body reacted almost violently.

If there was any lingering doubts in Jenny
’s
mind they vanished the moment his hot mouth closed over her breast; all disturbing thoughts were trampled and squashed by the overwhelming desire and pleasure that erupted from her inner core.

“Oh, God, but I want you,” she barely breathed along with the words she didn’t know she uttered.

His hand was touching her other breast, and it swelled beneath his fingers. He shifted lower still, leaving her breasts to explore her navel. His tongue moved in circular movements, his mouth hot and moist on her stomach.

His eyes were on her face, watching her. Their gaze touched and held, and then he lowered himself on top of her, and entered her with a surge of need.

An animal somewhere screeched, and a bird overhead cackled; their voices being a tiny part of their surroundings. Jenny cried out, and Fly
’s
low grunts filled the night, but only to mingle with planet
’s
noise of which they had become part.

*

Jenny woke slowly. Her body ached in places that were new to her, but she was bathed in an invisible glow that was warm and intense.

She stretched leisurely in the cabin bed that they had shared last night after making love once, twice, three times. She wasn’t counting. Both had been amazed at the potent, intoxicating feelings they aroused in one another. She touched her lips, remembered and felt the texture of his mouth, and shivered in delight.

The other side of the bed was empty but still warm, and she rolled over to sleep the dawn in the imprint of his warmth.

Days came and went, and Fly was a big part of her life now. He was as normal to her as her reflection in the mirror.

Her new life wasn’t one she had been prepared for; but she had grown into it and flourished. Fly took her around the island, showing her wonderful places made by nature alone. Thick leaves grew in place of blossom on the trees, creating the illusion that the trees were much bigger than they actually were. And the forest, at ground level, was an even more dark and forbidding place than before.

He still spent a lot of his time away from her but only, she now knew, because he was building them
both
a shelter. He told her the morning after they first consummated their relationship.

She implored him to show her the new home, but he flatly
refused.

“Only when is it compete,” he said. “You will have to be patient.”

“But I can help,” she had pleaded pointlessly.

He had grinned at her insistence. “You will only distract me.

Was this hell?

Bodie
’s
mouth formed a single word -
water.
He lay in a tangled heap of metal, melted plastic and bone. His head was scorched; hair gone, yellow pus and congealed blood formed ugly crusts on his head. His lips were dry, his tongue swollen.

Matt watched as he made another effort to try and drag his broken body from the metal pole that anchored him to the shattered floor of Taurus, but he collapsed, exhausted and in pain.

Matt shuffled towards the broken hatch door clutching a plastic mug. Outside there was nothing but freezing water, and it lashed violently at his skin like a thousand knives. He touched his face expecting his hand to come away bloody, but it didn’t. The water was fierce with churning rapids, but Matt knew it must be shallow because the speed of it would have carried Taurus away long ago.

He held onto the edge of the hatch and peered around as far as his strength allowed. Pain from his injured knee shot up his leg and he almost lost his grip to fall headlong into the rushing water. He dipped the mug into the icy water, feeling the current pull on his hand.

He shuffled back, dragging his right leg. He sat, with effort, next to Bodie and dripped the collected water into his mouth.

Bodie didn’t register the fallen drops and lay with his eyes closed. The water rolled passed his mouth and dripped down his neck.

Matt leaned against the torn wall.

Yes, this was definitely hell.

SIXTEEN

Waves crashed against each other, throwing up sheet after sheet of white water with a thunderous roar. In the distance, a huge glacier captured the rays of the twin suns and reflected back a brilliance of
color
.

She had seen the ocean before and all its
splendor
, and as always its sheer power and scale took her breath.

Apart from the endless water and themselves, there wasn’t anything moving along the miles of empty beach; only birds. Thousands of tiny birds in various
colors
were diving for fish, bobbing about in the waves, or perched in flocks on the rock face.

Fly held out his hand to her as they climbed down the loose rocks towards the vast expanse of water.

The drop to the beach was too sheer for the buggy and so side by side, they strolled along the sand as the sea cast frozen waves onto the pebbly, ice-encrusted beach. They walked a long way in silence, content with each other and the sound of the screeching minuscule birds.

“So,” said Jenny at last. “Ar
e you going to tell me where we’
re
going?”

“Somewhere where you have been asking to go for a long
time.”

She looked baffled for a moment, and then understanding illuminated her face. “The shelter? You
’re
going to show me your shelter?”

“Our
shelter,” he corrected. “Further up there is a narrow path that leads away from the ocean. It opens into a large expanse of ground alongside a river. It has good potential for grazing animals.”

She could hardly contain herself. But soon they were walking up a sandy path, which was nothing more than a space between rock that overhung the beach. It was littered with spiny bush and dense red- brown shrubbery that Jenny hadn’t seen before. The path steadily sloped upward and became narrower until they were forced to walk single file.

Finally, she could see the silver sparkle of a river in the distance as the pathway ended, and before her eyes the dusty plains stretched in a mixture of many
colors
. She sniffed and the fragrant scent of her
favorite
flower teased her nostrils. Looking around she located the smell to the brightly
colored
blooms nestling between tall trees.

“It
’s
idyllic,” she said softly.

“Come,” he said, and continued forward.

The walk was steadily downward now, sloping into a valley. As they walked, the stony ground gave way to the familiar soft spongy grass, which covered their path in a dark green carpet. Yellow flowers, eager to reach the sunlight, had pushed up through the tightly curled grass and gently swayed in the breeze.

There she stopped, her mouth falling open.

An impressive single-
story
house stood beside the river. It was made of wood and stone, with a green thatched roof. It had a large door, and several windows that looked like real glass.

Not far away were grazing animals, enclosed simply by a wide trench. Many had young that frolicked playfully. She approached the house as if in a daze. It wasn’t a
shelter,
but a dream cottage. Beside it was a barn, but it was built just as strongly as the house.

“My God!” Her hands had flown to her mouth. “Am I seeing things? It even has a
garden
on the roof!” She stared at the roof. Indeed, the once thought thatched roof was turf. “That’d be insulation, right?” she asked, turning to look up at him.

Fly urged her forward without answering. She stopped at the door, her hand outstretched to touch the frame, as if afraid it would fragment at her feet.

“Do you not like it?”

Jenny felt her throat constrict. “Oh, Fly,” she said. Her eyes swam with tears. “I - it
’s
wonderful!”

Fly pushed open the door and stood aside to allow her to enter. The entrance led into a corridor with naked wooden doors shuttered against other rooms. She opened the first door, which revealed a bedroom - a mattress lay on the floor. Behind another door was a similar bed, this time mounted on a wooden base, and a large handmade wooden cupboard. The third opened into a wide room with double glass doors at the opposite end. She crossed to these and peered out over the river. The glass, when she touched it, was warm. Plastic.

“Where... how...?”

“You often commented on the “junk” I was taking from the spaceship. Well, this is where it went.”

She didn’t answer, unable to hear anything but her own buzz of amazement.

She
recognized
the lost rear seat from the buggy pushed against a wall and began to approach it, but stopped before a large round table neatly made, with two equally well constructed wooden chairs. On the other wall was a hearth.

She turned to look at him, her face still registering only shock. He was leaning against the doorframe, grinning broadly and looking thoroughly pleased with himself. She turned a full circle, trying to take everything in. She felt completely lost for words.

“You did all this in a couple of months?” she asked finally.

“The smaller building was the original shelter - long before you arrived.”