Chapter 15
Refreshed from a session in the cleanser, a long nap, and the energy drinks Nahash had given her, Cass felt far better, though she still grappled with her situation and the feelings of homesickness that swamped her. The ship lacked even the comfort of a hot shower to soothe away her aches and pains, and Earth seemed impossibly far away, along with everything she’d ever known and loved.
After awakening, she decided to investigate the little sleeping cabin, which Nahash had told her was the captain’s cabin of the little ship. While pushing on the dingy wall panels, she pressed something on the corrugated metal surface that caused a panel beside the one she touched to slide open, revealing a small closet area. It contained several jumpsuits made of stretchy fabric, hanging from hooks inside the cramped, musty space. They all had two slits in the backs of them that would lie over the shoulder blades.
Though they looked too long in the legs and arms, they were cleaner than her dirty robe, and less tattered. They also didn’t carry the unpleasant memories of that robe. She selected a green jumpsuit made of a smooth material that appeared glossy in the cabin’s sterile lighting. After double-checking that the door to the cabin remained closed, she stripped off the robe, then pulled on the jumpsuit.
Adjusting the jumpsuit’s fit, she felt the slight draft from the slits on the back as she pulled and tugged the fabric until it hugged her frame in some spots and sagged in others. It didn’t flatter her figure, being too clingy around her hips and butt and baggy around her chest, where the original owner must have had a larger body. Still, it covered her better than the robe had, and looked clean, despite the slightly musty smell. Despite her focus on the clothing, her mind wandered into more dangerous territory.
Though she didn’t necessarily fear Nahash anymore, she remained wary of him, and very aware of their situation. During their earlier conversation, Nahash had enlightened her a bit more about imprinting, though he appeared reluctant to discuss it and tended to redirect questions about it. In fact, he deflected most personal questions back onto neutral subjects guaranteed to fascinate and distract her—subjects like the technology and the societies that existed in the civilized galaxy.
He'd reiterated that imprinting was involuntary for males and completely irreversible. He’d seemed amused at her insistence about finding a cure for him, blowing off the suggestion with a comment about how the brightest Iriduan scientists in the galaxy had not been able to do so, so he distinctly doubted a human would have better luck.
Cass didn’t want to believe he was right, because the implications staggered her. Her scent had captured him completely, putting his future and his fate directly into her hands. That felt like a huge burden for someone who hadn’t been able to keep a houseplant alive because she’d been too absorbed with her career and her causes to stop into her own home long enough to care for it.
Nahash could fetch his own water, and he didn’t need her to feed him or take him out for walksies like a dog would. Physically, he could take care of himself, yet, the burden might be even greater with him than it would be with a pet, since his life and health depended on her presence. She wouldn’t be able to leave on week-long business trips, much less month-long ones. Not that she had any need to do that in her current situation, but if she made Nahash a part of her life, she’d need to consider what happened with the other parts of her life. Her career had defined her for so long, she didn’t know who she was without it.
She also had to deal with the sexual component of imprinting. In fact, according to Nahash, mating was the true purpose of imprinting.
Cass had dated her fair share of men during her twenties, but she’d avoided commitment because she’d been focused on building her career. By the time her thirties rolled around, her biological clock had been ticking, but she couldn’t seem to retain long-term relationships with men. Eventually, boyfriends grew tired of spending their evenings alone and moved on.
She’d passed her fortieth birthday single and childless, with no sign of a mate on the horizon. The offers had also completely dried up, with most men her age having already settled down with a family. She’d put dating out of her mind, and hadn’t had sex in well over a year—not entirely comfortable with casual hook-ups.
Now, she had the focused attention of an alien that intimidated her with his far-from-ordinary appearance, and yet, she felt a stirring of excitement whenever she saw him. The frisson of fear he inspired in her mixed with a twinge of arousal when she thought about the strength he possessed and the way it made him dangerous but also highly effective as a protector. His physical appearance wasn’t the only thing that differed so greatly from her own. His violent nature made him as unlike her as two people could be, but he also made her feel safe. She knew he couldn’t harm her because he’d imprinted on her, and in his care, she didn’t think anyone else could either.
Nahash unnerved her because she could see the appeal of him now that she’d had time to process everything that had happened to her. His deep, smooth voice, his handsome face, and the strong body hinted at beneath his armor would’ve drawn her to him, if he hadn’t been covered in scales and had a serpentine body from the waist down. She didn’t know how they would even work together when it came to sex.
She’d felt his tail wrapped around her body when he’d carried her, aware of its immense strength and the fact that it could crush her. Wondering what it would feel like sliding over her naked skin made her shiver, picturing an image of a naked Eve in the Garden of Eden with the silver-tongued devil wrapped sinuously around her body. She wondered what it had been about the serpent that had been so tempting to Eve that she’d cast aside everything for just a taste of forbidden fruit.
Nahash offered a temptation too. One that could change her life as drastically as Eve’s had changed. Cass had never lived in Paradise, but a part of her suspected that maybe Nahash could take her there—if she had the courage to accept his offer.
Taking a deep breath, she prepared to face him again, determined to adopt a friendly demeanor, while still keeping him safely at arm’s length. They would be trapped on the shuttle for a couple of weeks, if Nahash’s version of time was anything like Earth’s, which meant she couldn’t afford to hint at—or encourage—any thoughts of sexual desire.
Whether she could ever be with him like that or not, she knew she wasn’t ready to do so at that moment, or even any time in the near future. In fact, she really wanted to know what her future held before she engaged in any kind of intimate relationship with him. She still hoped—despite his words to the contrary—that they could find a cure for the imprinting to free him from his desire for her. Such a cure would be a panacea for her problems. She’d be free from the burden of his imprinting. Then she could escape the temptation he posed without guilt.
He wasn’t going to be the husband she’d wanted, and he certainly couldn’t give her the children she’d hoped for. She doubted he could even give her children at all, unless the same genetic scientists who’d made him intervened, which was something she wouldn’t want. From the sound of it, they were like mad scientists creating Frankenstein monsters in their secret laboratory. She wanted nothing to do with that, and didn’t want to inflict such a fate on her children.
They could never make a home in the suburbs behind a white picket fence. In fact, she couldn’t even take him out in the open on Earth. Accepting him as a mate meant giving up on all her plans for her future.
With that sobering thought in mind, Cass sought out Nahash on the bridge. He’d curled up around the pilot’s chair, his upper body resting on his coils. His torso lay upon his topmost coil, both of his arms wrapped around his tail as he slept. His head rested on the large scales of his thick tail.
She froze in the doorway when she realized that he’d removed his upper body armor and appeared to be completely naked from what she could see. The pattern of brown and tan spots that made up his tail continued upwards along his back and over his arms. The scales on his back decreased in size as they rose from his waist to his neck, where they turned into the tiny scales that covered his face.
As she’d suspected from the size of his armored upper body, he was as muscular as a powerful body-builder. Bulging muscle curved beneath his scaled skin, forming a perfect V-shape from broad shoulders that tapered to a narrower waist. His massive biceps flexed as he held onto his tail while he slept, making her mouth water.
She exhaled a long sigh, the butterflies in her stomach dancing as she studied him in repose. Somehow, despite his resting position with his eyes closed, he didn’t look any less dangerous.
She took a step backwards, uncomfortable with the feelings the sight of his naked body inspired in her. She’d seen plenty of him below the waist, yet seeing his more humanoid upper body brought home how attractive he was, despite the serpentine tail.
Her bare foot bumped into the metal paneling of the wall as she retreated, causing a hollow thud. Nahash jerked awake, his upper body lifting off his coils with terrifying speed. He rose up on his tail, towering to the sloped ceiling of the bridge. His new position revealed the pattern of rectangular belly scales that covered his abdomen and chest, which matched those that covered the underside of his tail.
The tension in his body relaxed when he noticed her. Sinking back down to a height nearer to her own, he slid his upper body off his pile of coils to move sinuously closer to her.
Cass took another step backwards as he approached, swallowing thickly as she noted the hypnotic swaying motion of his upper body and the way his tongue flicked out while he narrowed the distance that separated them. His pupils widened from elongated slits to round ones, opening wide enough to completely darken his eyes.
“Casss,” he hissed, surging forward to cut off her escape from the room before she could take another retreating step.
He slid around her to block the exit with his body. As he gripped the sides of the doorframe with both hands, his heated gaze never left hers.
His new position forced her to back towards the pilot’s chair where the end of his tail had uncoiled and now slid around her feet. The very tip lifted to caress her calf as his tail slithered past her feet.