GUNNER: A Forsaken Riders MC Romance: Alpha Male Biker Club Bad Boy Romance (Motorcycle Club New Adult Contemporary Short Stories) (46 page)
Authors: Samantha Leal
9.
When Eli reluctantly rose from the bed and Chantel lazed back and watched him walk across the room naked, before he gathered up a robe and wrapped it around himself, she realized she had no idea how long she had been away from home.
Would people have noticed she was missing?
Would Sarah have alerted the police?
Would her family be looking for her?
Would they think she was dead?
Her mind began to race and she felt the dread creeping up inside of her again. She knew that she couldn’t stay there. She couldn’t give up her life in order to roam around space with her hot alien lover, no matter how much she may want to.
Eli turned to her with a sad smile as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.
“I’ll be reluctant to take you home,” he said. “But I know it wouldn’t be fair to keep you here.”
Chantel wiped a lone tear from the corner of her eye. The last thing she wanted to do was say goodbye.
“You must think about what I said,” Eli said with a smile. “How you respond to all of this once you return home. Remember, I said that you have been given a unique opportunity and set of information.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, growing frustrated with how cryptically he spoke.
“I mean, you have seen things no one of earth has ever seen, and you have knowledge of the universe that not many know. If you wanted to, you could help me, in the future.”
He said it hopefully and raised his eyebrows and Chantel felt a rush of excitement.
“I could help you?” she asked with glee.
“Yes,” he smiled. “Now you know what to look for in the beings of X-11 and of how they try to organize large groups of women together when they are off their guard. Maybe, you could be like a watcher for your planet. I could certainly do with the help.” Eli walked back over to her and took her hand.
“Oh my, Eli.” she gasped. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Please, just say yes,” he said as he leaned over and kissed her softly on the forehead. “I couldn’t bear the thought of taking you back to your planet and never seeing you again.”
“And if I become a watcher?” she asked.
“Then you will have one of these,” he reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a watch similar to the one he had been wearing when he rescued her. “And you’ll be able to contact me whenever you need me.”
He held her hand and looked deep into her eyes. Chantel wasn’t sure if she could handle the responsibility of having to watch over her entire planet, but she knew she didn’t want to lose Eli. Maybe they could have secret space rendezvous and travel together again. Maybe he would show her other planets and tell her much more about the universe. It was sure to blow her mind, but she knew that it was something she was willing to explore and open up to.
“Of course I will,” she smiled as she wrapped her arms around him. “I’d be honored to help you Eli.”
They kissed and she stared into his eyes again. He really was an incredible being, whether he was a man, or an advanced version, he certainly had all of the qualities she wanted and loved and she knew she had found someone special.
“I think it’s time,” he said sadly as he got to his feet and held out his hands.
Chantel stood up beside him and gathered her clothes. As she dressed Eli watched her and she knew what he was thinking because she was thinking the exact same thing. Out of an entire universe, they had been brought together and had shared an amazing, life changing experience. She would love him forever and she would never forget him.
Eli wrapped his arms around her and slipped the watch around her wrist. He fastened it in place and Chantel looked down at it. On first glance it just looked like a plain circular face, but when she looked closer she could see the intricate system of stars glinting within in.
“When you need me,” he whispered. “Just ask.”
He leaned forward and kissed her again.
“I’ll be watching over you Chantel,” he smiled. “And I’ll be back for you soon.”
Chantel kissed him and tried to cling to him as the whole expanse of space around them seemed to begin to disappear. She felt her body jolt and her mind begin to spin. She could see stars. Millions of stars. Shooting past her and swirling, gaining momentum and forming a spiral.
With a crack she was in darkness and when she opened her eyes she realized she was back in her own bed. She sat upright and in the other corner she could see the mound of Sarah’s body, breathing softly beneath her duvet and snoring ever so slightly.
“Sarah?” she croaked.
Sarah groaned and rolled over, rubbing her eyes and peeking out at Chantel through the dark.
“What?” she said sleepily.
“What happened?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” Sarah leaned up with irritation. “You bailed and left me at the party so I had to come home. You were passed out drunk here.” She rolled her eyes and flopped back down on the bed.
For a moment, Chantel really did think she had imagined it all. Could it have all been a dream? But the small watch that was still strapped tightly to her wrist told her otherwise. She had been somewhere else that night, somewhere she could never, and would never tell anyone about.
She lay back down in bed and turned towards the window. The stars above her twinkled brightly in the night sky and she smiled. For the first time ever, she had a very special secret and it felt good. Now every time she looked up at the heavens she would only think of one person. Because now she knew what was out there, and she couldn’t wait to experience it again.
THE END
Leela Ash
Copyright ©2016 by Leela Ash. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Kylie Parker woke up with a start. The batteries to her alarm clock had died some time during the night, and she had worked a double shift the night before and slept very deeply. That meant that she was late to work. She groaned in frustration and dressed as quickly as she possibly could, imagining the unfriendly face of her boss, who seemed to be looking for any excuse to chew her out. The woman was awful, and Kylie groaned as she grabbed her car keys. It would take a miracle to avoid being reprimanded and she was worried that she was all out of luck.
She finally made it to work and ran to her cubicle. She had a well-paying job, and didn't know what she would do if she were to lose it. Unfortunately, as soon as she arrived, she was summoned into her boss's office. When she sat down in front of Nancy's desk, Nancy scowled at her. She had a feeling that she knew what was coming, but she held her breath and waited to hear for sure.
“This is a crucial time for the company, we are experiencing an opportunity for growth. And as I'm sure you know, you are only as strong as your weakest link. I can't have anybody screwing that up for us right now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you go. Your performance has been lackluster, and punctuality is extremely critical. I'm sure you understand. Have your desk cleared out by noon today.”
Kylie opened her mouth to protest, but the words seemed stuck behind a barrier. There was nothing more she could say to this woman, and anything else out of her mouth would just seem vile. It was better to leave with dignity than to throw a fit, so Kylie stood and walked away. Nancy would have a hard time finding anybody else to work double shifts when she needed it, and that wasn't something that Kylie needed to deal with anymore.
Losing her job had many consequences. She thought them all over as she packed her desk up. Her mortgage was coming up, and due quickly, and if she wasn't careful her payments would quickly pile up. She could lose everything. She figured with her savings she should be set for the first couple of months, but after that there was nothing that she could do except sell the summer home that she had inherited to make ends meet. If nothing else, she could live there and give up the mortgage on her house. It would give her a small safety net until she was able to find something better for herself. She closed her eyes and sighed, wishing that she worked for anybody else, and angry that Nancy would overlook all of her hard work over some obscure personal grudge against her.
On the way home from work, she decided that she would go visit her boyfriend Carl. They had been seeing each other for a few months, and she thought that maybe one of his quirky jokes and a hug would help her to feel better about the possibility of losing everything that she cared about materially in the world. She impulsively took the exit to his house instead of continuing down the highway and taking her own exit. She had a spare set of house keys for his apartment and let herself in, hoping that he would be happy to see her. She set the keys down on the counter and looked around. He was nowhere to be seen. She heard a small noise coming from the bedroom and she walked toward it.
“Carl?" She called, pushing open his bedroom door.
The sight that met her eyes made her immediately feel sick. She closed the door quickly, her face contorting in fury. Carl was in bed with another woman. She couldn't believe the nerve of that man. He shuffled to the door wrapped in a sheet.
“Who is that woman?” the blonde in his bed was calling out. “How did she get in here? I thought you said you stopped fooling around on me!”
Anger filled Kylie's heart.
“How long have you been with her?” she cried.
Carl opened his mouth to reply but she gritted her teeth in defiance.
“That actually doesn't matter – I'm not dealing with this from you.”
Kylie rushed through the apartment and grabbed the few belongings that she had left there, before hopping into her vehicle and speeding away. She had never felt more humiliated in her entire life, and she could hot tears brimmed against her eyes as she drove. She thought she was going back to her own apartment, but she sped past the exit and found herself on the way toward her summer home. She had some thinking to do, and she did not want to do that in her stuffy home, where she knew she would just end up drowning in her own sorrows. She would come collect some clothes later, as she needed them, but until then she was just going to do her best to keep her head above water.
The day had taken many unexpected twists and turns, and she was feeling worse than she could ever remember feeling before. It would do her some good to get away from the rest of the world, and not have to face any of the mundane problems that she was used to dealing with in her everyday life.
Over the next few weeks, she began to slowly move her belongings over to the summerhouse. She called her brother and asked if he would be able to help her to lease out her home to somebody else so that she wouldn't lose it entirely. Instead of helping her, he gave her a lecture on being self-sustainable and independent, and hung up leaving her feeling worse than ever. When she called her best friend to ask if she knew of anybody who would want to rent her house or had heard of any new job opportunities, all she could do was say that she would call back and let her know if anything came up. Kylie didn't hear anything else from her after that. She had never felt more alone in her entire life.
The summerhouse was on a lake, and it made her feel at peace to be there. She had gone many times as a child, and after her father had passed away he had left the home to her. She had been very popular there throughout her youth and every vacation she seemed to have a new boyfriend. There was something about her that had men throwing themselves at her, and yet she had settled with a guy like Carl. What was wrong with her?
Kylie studied herself in the mirror, searching for answers to her many questions. There was nothing there but her reflection. She had jet black hair that cascaded down to the middle of her back, and almond shaped and piercing blue eyes. Her figure was voluptuous and toned, and she realized suddenly that maybe Nancy's problem with her was some kind of jealousy over her appearance. Nancy was a rumpled middle-aged woman who didn't seem to have a lot of close connections in the world. Maybe she had her eye on one of the men in the office, but he had his eye on Kylie.
It wasn't particularly fair, but at least it helped Kylie to cope with the fact that she had been unfairly fired. Nancy was a miserable old woman, and if she needed to abuse her power and authority to feel better about her lack of love, Kylie supposed she could deal with that. She tore herself away from the mirror and sat outside at the patio table, suddenly smelling the distinct aroma of impending rain. There was an obnoxious amount of splashing coming from the middle of the lake, where a teenage couple were boisterously playing. Kylie could tell that they had had one too many between the two of them, and soon the wind started blowing ominously and the clouds began to darken.
She was torn between staying put and allowing the rain to begin falling on her bare skin, and being a responsible adult and getting those kids out of the water before they were killed in a storm. She made her way toward them, reluctant but resigned in her duty toward humanity. If those were her kids, she would hope that someone responsible would be looking out for them. She wasn't old enough to have teenagers yet, but still.
“Hey you two, you should get out of there. It's about to storm!" Kylie cried, waving up to the darkened sky.They didn't seem to hear her, and continued laughing loudly and splashing in the water.
“Hey!" Kylie called again, but her words were muted out by the sound of a loud whirring engine. She looked around in confusion. There weren't any roads in the area, just pathways and long, winding driveways. There was one road far out to the east of her summerhouse. She didn't see any cars or vehicles approaching, especially none that would be able to mute out her words quite so thoroughly. A bright light flashed in front of her eyes, and she looked up into the sky expecting to see lightning. Instead, there was a large craft hovering above her, and a blinding beam of light shone down and illuminated the lake.
Another bright light flashed in front of her, and Kylie felt herself being lifted. The weightlessness of her body was alarming, but she didn't have enough time to process it. Suddenly the entire world went dark and the whirring noise stopped. She blinked rapidly, but she still could not see anything. All she could hear were alarmed and panicked murmurs around her. Somebody stuck a device into her ear and soon all of the sounds around her began to make sense.
“We got the wrong person, we need to try again!" Somebody was shouting.
“We can't try again, you know that would be too risky."
“What are we supposed to do with her?! She isn't even part of a couple. How are we supposed to -”
“We should just put her back then.”
“We can't just put her back, what if she tells somebody what happened!?”
Suddenly, a loud, clear voice spoke and silenced the panic around her. Her eyes began to adjust, and she squinted toward the voice, just making out a figure of a man, or at least a humanoid being resembling a man, making his way toward her. He was handsome and authoritative. His voice was rich and masculine, and somehow made her feel safe.
“We will keep her, forget about the other two. What worth would their genes be to us anyway? They were both intoxicated and putting their own lives at risk for the sake of brief entertainment. They would be useless to us in the long run, we might as well choose someone with a little more sense.”
Kylie looked around at the people who had been chattering in a panic. They all looked vaguely similar to the handsome humanoid man, but their eyes were wide with concern. Their heads are slightly bigger in proportion than she was used to seeing, and the effect startled her deeply. Otherwise, they looked somewhat similar to normal people. Her first thought was that she had been kidnapped by a group of deformed people, but soon the leader of the group walked toward her with firm steps echoed off the metal in the room that she was in.
“Why don't you come with me," he said gently, offering his broad arm to her. “I'm sure that you have some questions."
When she didn't budge, he took her by the arm and led her away from the large group. Kylie thought to herself how impossible the situation that she was in really was, and tried to make herself believe that it was all a dream. When they stopped in front of a large metallic door and the humanoid figure opened it with a button, her heart sank. It wasn't a dream. She was in a lot of trouble.
