Page 27 of My Alien Jewel

Nikolai’s eyes widen at the sound of his name and in the next moment, his lips are slammed against mine. There’s no gentle caressing, none of the teasing or playful half kisses I’d imagined. This is a full-on assault which I happily surrender to, my lips parting to let his tongue explore deeper.

A moan reverberates between us as we move the kiss deeper. It might have come from me, it might have come from Nikolai or who knows, maybe we’d both moaned. I’m not about to stop kissing to ask.. My crystals thrum louder, the new frequency filling my body with need. It feels like I’m floating.

Then my stomach churns and I realize I really am floating and so is Nikolai, along with everything else in the storage room. Before comprehension sets in, the room seems to tip sideways, sending us crashing into a wall.

My feet get tangled in the hammock and I crash into Nikolai’s stomach. He reaches for me, but in the next moment, gravity shifts again and we’re flying toward the ceiling. The dizzying experience ends abruptly as the gravity generator resets and everything crashes back down to the floor.

I shake my head, trying to figure out what just happened. The lights are blinking and there’s an alarm blaring from the hallway.

Something’s wrong. Something’s terribly wrong and we need to get out of here fast.

I shove aside a small crate that lies broken next to my feet and pick myself up off the floor. It’s a good thing allof the larger containers are magnetically secured to the ship’s floor, otherwise we both could have been crushed to death. Regardless, we need to leave the storage room before the gravity generator fails again or something worse happens.

With shame, I realize I’ve been so entranced by Nikolai that I haven’t even told him about the insects. I need to remedy that but first, we need to get somewhere safe.

I look around for Nikolai, but don’t see him anywhere. My attempt at calling his name comes out as a croak, drowned out by the noise of the alarms. Damn it, where is he?

A gasp escapes me as I round the corner and see him lying on the floor. His body is crumpled in a corner and he isn’t moving.

He isn’t moving.

Chapter 15

Z’Ree

My insides turn toice.

Rushing over to Nikolai, I gently lift his head into my arms. He doesn’t move or make a sound but I can see his chest is rising and falling, which is a good sign. Still, bright red blood streams from a nasty gash on his forehead, pooling on the floor around his head.

Fuck! What do I do?!

My thoughts begin to spiral, panic threatening to swallow me whole. I can’t fucking lose it now. Nikolai needs me.

I don’t realize I’ve stopped breathing until my vision begins to darken. Berating myself, I inhale, remembering Nikolai’s words.“In for three. Then hold it in for a second. Now, exhale on six.”His words echo through my mind. Desperate, I do my best to follow his instructions, but fail repeatedly.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why am I so useless?! I can’t even breathe properly!

Nikolai groans but doesn’t fully rouse from his state of unconsciousness. The soft groaning sounds calm me slightly and helps me to focus. I breathe. In for three, out on five. It’s not six, but it’s the best I can do at the moment. I’ll practice later.

Fine, I’m not panicking anymore but, what should I do now?

I need to get Nikolai out of here, but he’s too heavy for me to move, which means I have to summon his friends. A daunting task, but if it saves Nikolai’s life, I’ll do it without hesitation. But first, I need to do something about the blood that’s still oozing from his forehead.

I locate the first aid kit and run back to Nikolai. Fingers trembling, I try to open the latch, fumbling so badly that the contents scatter all over the floor. Cursing, I drop down on my knees, searching for something to staunch the bleeding, my eyes darting over the labels. Disinfectant. That’s a start.

I pry open the lid and spray some on the open wound. It probably won’t have much effect as the fresh blood washes it away almost immediately. I need some fucking bandages. Finally, I find a pack of adhesive pressure dressings and slap one over the wound. It immediately turns red but it stops the bleeding nonetheless..

I squeeze Nikolai’s hand, wishing he’d wake up and tell me what to do. Tell me I am safe and that everything will be alright.

He doesn’t wake up. He’s got a head injury and even someone as uneducated as me knows that those can be very, very bad. I need to get help.

I’ll be right back, I promise him silently, my stupid voice still missing.

Reluctantly, I let go of Nikolai’s hand and rush to the door. Though it feels strange to be using the ship’s corridors instead of merely watching through the ventilation grates, I don’t hesitate.

Since I don’t trust the elevators to work correctly at the moment, I rush up the emergency stairs. Halfway through, I’m ready to drop. Not enough oxygen flows into my lungs and, as much as I’d like to blame the faulty life support system, I know it’s just me being weak. For years, all of my energy was directed at being invisible and avoiding punishment. There wasn’t any left for exercise and it shows. Still, I don’t stop.

The alarms quieten as I reach the inhabited part of the ship. I pause and look around, wandering where to go. I need to find someone to help Nikolai, ideally the captain, because—