his head and offered her some water.
“You cannot fight it.”
“Fight it?” she asked after taking a sip of water. Already the coolness of the liquid helped clear her head and she sat up.
“We’re destined. You have no choice in the matter. Nor do I. I came all this way to be with you. There is no threat that can ever reach you while I draw breath. I will protect you.”
“That’s very sweet, but—“
“In studying your planet, I’ve learned of this emotion you call love. It is a strong feeling of attraction and connection. This is what I feel. I have this love.”
Gloria studied his face, once more drawn in by his intense features.
“You love me?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know me.”
“It does not matter. You are my soulmate.”
Gloria was absolutely taken by how insanely gorgeous he was, and as much as she wanted to be into this, she just couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that he was an alien. Hot, for sure, but still an alien.
Now he was going off about being in love with her. No matter how much she wanted to feel the same, it just wasn’t there.
“I don’t even know your name,” she said.
“Is that important?”
“If two people are destined to be together? Yeah. I’d say it’s kind of important.”
“You may call me Rock.”
“Rock? You want me to call you Rock?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“Your stone here is solid, trustworthy. At times beautiful and precious. The grains of sand on the beach make it soft and inviting, while your great mountains and volcanos spew rage into the sky inspiring songs and religions all throughout your history.”
“All fair points,” she said.
“All right, Rock it is. Rock, my name is Gloria. It is nice to meet you.”
“Yes,” he said and moved closer to her.
“What’re you doing?” she asked pulling away as he advanced.
“Now we will become one.”
“What?” she asked, shocked.
“Look, I appreciate you rescuing me, but I just met you. You talk about soulmates, but you can’t expect me to decide this in a day.”
“Decide? There is no decision. There is no choice. Now we will become one.”
“You can’t,” she shouted, pushing at his chest. Even as she pressed, however, he moved in closer, grabbing at her waist and pulling her close to him.
“We have met. I have brought you here. We will be together. I’ve no time for your human emotions to realize what must be. The urge to mate is too strong. It cannot wait. It will not.”
“No,” she screamed, the slight amount of excitement she’d felt when meeting this man fleeing in that instant. Was she really rescued from her tyrannical stepfather just to be brought here and forced?
His hands moved like lightning as he undid the fastener on her pants and began sliding them down her hips.
“No, you can’t!”
She tried to twist her body to get his hands off of her pants and pushed at him to get him off of her. In just that short time he’d worked her pants to her mid-thigh.
And then, he stopped.
“Where I come from,” he said slowly, “this is not a question. Yet, here, it feels as though if I were to continue this, it would cause you to not trust me.”
“You’re damn right I wouldn’t. Get off of me!”
“This is not what I want,” he said and pushed her pants back up to her waist.
“I love you. I am here to protect you. I wish for you to trust and love me as well.”
Gloria redid the button on her pants and pushed herself away from him on the bed.
“You can start by not forcing me to have sex with you. That’s a big no-no here, you ass.”
“Yes, I realize this now. I will swear to you that I will not touch you until you are willing too and desire it.”
Gloria panted through her nose as she tried to regain her breath. The confusion in his eyes was what struck her the most about all of this.
She wanted to be upset with him, offended, violated, but something in the way he held himself told her it wasn’t intentional.
He had been acting
Fuyumi Ono
Tailley (MC 6)
Robert Graysmith
Rich Restucci
Chris Fox
James Sallis
John Harris
Robin Jones Gunn
Linda Lael Miller
Nancy Springer