Soul-Bonded to the Alien(63)

Her eyes popped opened. “Stop yelling at me! Can’t you see I’m dead? Let me stay dead in peace.”

It was the sight of everyone looking down on her as Cal held her in his arms that made her rethink opening her eyes. It was the sound of laughter that made her rethink her dead theory.

“I’m not dead, am I?” They just laughed harder.

Nope, she was alive and would be hearing about this for years to come. She groaned and shut her eyes again as she felt Cal stand with her.

“We’ll meet you back at the house,” he said before gently putting her in the car.

She felt the engine start and the car begin to move gently.

“You can open those beautiful eyes now, we’re alone.”

“What happened?”

“You defeated the Sudir.”

“But how?” She opened her eyes to look at him, her brow was drawn together with worry lines. “How did I do it, Cal? I don’t think I managed to do it on my own.”

“You had a little help. Remember that large cup of hot chocolate Selma insisted we all drink?”

She nodded her head yes and waved a hand encouraging him to go on.

“There are certain groups of aliens that can enhance food. The hot chocolate was enhanced. Whoever drank it would have a better ability to use their own talents. So in the end it was all you, the drink simply took down some of the barriers standing in the way of your talents.”

“I think the ring helped me too, Cal. Although I wouldn’t mind getting more of that hot chocolate.

“What happened with the ring?”

“There’s a warmth that goes through me, I feel even more a part of you now that I am wearing it. It’s like I can feel a stream of love coming from the ring. Almost like your mother is approving of me and I can feel how much she loved you. I felt it combine with my talents making me stronger. Just one more nail in the coffin of me being not being simply human.”

“I’m thankful you’re not. If you were I would have never met you, been given a chance to soul bond with you. I would have never seen you overcome incredible odds and still manage to be seated next to my side right now. I’m glad you’re mine, Paige.”

She looked at him and smiled; she’d been given another chance. There was one thing she refused to think about when she was sure she’d died. How she felt about him glowed in her heart, but she hadn’t found the courage yet to tell him. It followed her to the grave she had been positive she was in, but now things were different. She had another chance to tell him, this time she wouldn’t blow it.

“I can’t believe we made it out of their alive. Did he have everyone else?”

“No, we pulled out first so we were ahead of them. He only had us.”

“You were right.”

He nodded keeping his eyes on the road. She took her hand and placed it on his thigh.

“Do you at times wish the woman you soul bonded with didn’t come with as much baggage as I do?”

“You know what I wish, Paige? I wish that you loved me enough to trust me. That’s asking a lot, it hasn’t even been two weeks. How can you love someone in that amount of time? Funny thing, though, I love you. I trust you. I never doubted your ability to take care of yourself. Do I want to be your hero? Hell yeah! But it’s more important to me that you can defend yourself all the times I am not or can’t be present than it is for me to appear larger than life in your eyes. If only you could be yourself instead of wanting to impress me all the time. I really love you just like you are, flaws and all.”

Paige’s throat worked as tears silently streamed down her face and her hand convulsed on his thigh.

The drive home was in silence.





*~*~*~*





Paige sat crossed legged on the bed. She could pace the floor but she’d been there done that already. Pacing hadn’t helped and if she was honest, sitting on the bed while Cal lost himself in the television set in the other room wasn’t helping either. She felt alone. She hadn’t had that feeling in a while and hadn’t realized how happy she was until she lost it. For the first time she truly felt isolated from Cal. Why? Because she was afraid to be vulnerable. To let down her guard meant risking the possibility of being hurt. It also meant risking the possibility of being deliriously happy.

Interesting, both of those possibilities scared her to death. Getting up she went to the bathroom, a shower was in order. If she was about to present herself as a sacrificial lamb she should at least be clean. She grabbed for the apple scented soap she knew Cal loved. When she entered a store selling different scented bath soaps, she was tempted to pick up some. Instead, she found herself picking up different apple scents. She grabbed a green apple that he would love in the spring time and a wicked smelling candy apple one. She allowed the different scents to go through her mind keeping her from focusing on what was coming.