Shadowed(62)

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “All I know is that a minute ago I felt like someone was shouting as loudly as they could right in my face—it was fucking deafening. And now when I’m touching you—nothing. Silence.”

“That’s amazing. I wonder what causes it? Because it’s nothing I’m doing on purpose. I mean I wish I could, but I have no idea how or why I’m able to act as your, uh, personal damper.”

Reddix’s silver gaze seemed to turn inward. “The witch said a girl with a pure heart and healing hands,” he murmured to himself. “That must be it. But I never thought—”

“What witch?” Nina asked, frowning. “Is she the one who sent you to take me? Does she have anything to do with what you want me for?”

A closed look came over his face, and he pulled his hand away from hers, wincing as he did so.

“Never mind. I told you I can’t talk about that.”

Nina glared at him. “Well, you’re going to have to talk about it sooner or later, buddy. Especially if you want my help to get by here.” Reaching over, she grabbed his big hand in hers again and entwined their fingers. “Now,” she said, turning to Healing One. “You can examine him. But only while he’s touching me.”





Chapter Seventeen



The alien healer examined Reddix, running soft, furry tentacles over his face and body in a way that would have been completely intolerable if Nina hadn’t been holding his hand. But with her to act as his “personal damper” as she had put it, he couldn’t feel a thing and the worst thing that happened was that the healer’s tentacles tickled a little. Nina seemed to be communicating with the alien but mostly in the emotion/thought language, and while she was touching him, Reddix couldn’t hear any of it.

He was well aware of what an unexpected blessing this was—here he was, a sufferer of RTS trapped on a planet of beings who communicated by throwing their emotions. It would likely have been the death of him if Nina wasn’t there. But more than that, the feel of her soft, smooth hand in his occupied his thoughts.

I can touch her. I am touching her. It was amazing, exhilarating…arousing. He had found her beautiful before but in a hopeless kind of way. Now, suddenly all his fantasies about the lovely Earth girl were possible—they could become realities. Reddix couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to kiss her, to touch her—running his hands all over her soft, curvy body. To feel her pressed against him. To—

To deliver her to the swamp witch and hope when Xandra takes her blood it doesn’t kill her, whispered a mean little voice in his brain. Reddix came back to reality with a thump. It didn’t matter that he had finally found a woman he could touch—he wouldn’t be acting out any of his fantasies with Nina—now or ever. In fact, she was only holding his hand as a gesture of kindness—kindness he didn’t in any way deserve. There was no way she would want to do anything else with him, and Reddix didn’t blame her. So forget about it—stop fantasizing, he told himself savagely. She’s not for you. You don’t deserve her.

Still, he couldn’t help enjoying the feel of her hand in his. He wished it could last forever.

But finally, the alien healer finished his examination and withdrew from the room. When he did, Nina withdrew her hand at once, leaving Reddix feeling strangely bereft.

“You probably want to have a bath and use the restroom after being out for so long,” she said, not looking at him.

“Uh, sure.” He nodded. “That would be good. Where—”

“They have a bathing facility, but it’s communal—everyone uses it.”

“Hmm, not so good.” Reddix didn’t like the idea of taking a bath with a bunch of emotion-throwing aliens.

“No, it’ll be all right. It’s the middle of the day so most of the kids are in school and the adults are at work, um, harvesting or farming or gathering I think. So we should be okay.”

“We?” Reddix frowned at her. “You’re coming with me?”

Nina got a stubborn look on her face. “I have to. What if too many of the Feeling People come in while you’re in the water? You could black out and drown.”

“The Feeling People?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“That’s just what I call them. Don’t change the subject—if you want a bath, I have to come too.”

“Fine,” Reddix growled. Although he didn’t like being treated like an invalid, he had to acknowledge that what she said was true. The emotions of the “Feeling People” as she called them, were so strong and intense he might not survive a close encounter with several of them together. Not when his brain already felt scrambled from their adventure with the thing Nina had assured him was a little girl.