Tamed By The Alien Barbarian by Celeste King
Candi
Fire.The whole world is on fire. All of Mars is burning.
No, I thought, coughing and trying to clear my head. That can’t be… it’s just all of my office.
I was still trapped under some of the roof. I tried to do an internal assessment of my body, to see if anything was broken. The only take-away my self-inventory resulted in, however, was that I was in a fuckload of pain.
What wasn’t bruised was sore. What wasn’t sore was singed. What wasn’t singed was covered in dirt and soot. The stuff was in my lungs, too. I tried to cough and found that it burned. Not only that, I could also barely summon any air back into my body. The fire was consuming the oxygen.
Fuck you, fire, I thought. I was somewhat cognizant of the fact that the lack of oxygen to my brain was making me a little loopy.
You need to get out of here, a much more urgent and serious voice in my head told me.
Fucking-A right, I told that voice.
Summoning what strength I had, I shoved against the debris that had fallen atop me. It was no use, however. I could barely get any leverage. And for what leverage I did get, my body was either too weak or too hurt to get any lift behind my actions.
I stopped trying to push and let myself go limp. That felt good. Not fighting felt good. I deserved a break anyway, didn’t I? Too much of my life had been full of fighting. Fighting my family. Fighting to get out of my hometown. Fighting the clients at the stripclub. Fighting my way out of the strip club. Fighting my way to owning a business. Fighting to keep that business. Fighting my way to Mars.
Fighting with Jaxil.
Jaxil…? Why am I thinking of Jaxil…?
It was probably sabotage from his company that’s killed me.
No. He wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t stoop that low.
That’s probably true.
So then why am I thinking of him…?
Whatever. It was better, I supposed, than thinking of the fire that was raging closer and closer to me. It was better than thinking about what was behind the darkness that was creeping into my vision.
At least I would die having had a taste of something like what I was feeling for Jaxil. That was nice, right? Better to go out having felt a connection, having had some amazing final sex, then to go to the afterlife having missed out on that.
Everything has a bright side when you’re injured and oxygen-deprived. In fact, I was feeling so strangely as certain doom got closer and closer, that I almost imagined I could feel Jaxil getting nearer to me.
Which, obviously, would be impossible. Just a trick of my slowly-dying brain.
Nice trick, though, I thought serenely.
I wondered, if Jaxil had seen paperwork that said we were genetic mates, would he be here beside me, now? Would he be dying inches away, reaching for me?
More likely, with his alien strength, he’d be yanking the debris away and clutching me in his arms and flying me out of here.
Kind of like what was happening to me. Like this Sanax who was now smashing through the dusty, smokey air above me and landing beside me. And now pulling debris away. And, I think, shouting my name, though it seemed like it was coming from far away, despite his being very close.
Then, something was on my face. Oh, he’s kissing me, I thought. What an interesting fantasy I’m having as I die. I’ve even imagined it’s Jaxil himself…
Wait a second. I was suddenly finding that I could breathe. Something was on my face. A mask, covering my nose and mouth. Feeding me oxygen. And my chest could move because there was now nothing laying atop me, burying me.
I blinked.
This was no fantasy I’d been having. It really was Jaxil! And he really was saving me.
I tried to talk. I wanted to say something to him. But the oxygen mask was making it impossible for me to speak.
Instead, I let him do what he was doing. In a moment, he’d lifted me in his arms. His knees bent and I could feel him about to leap.
Which is when a bank of computer terminals to our left exploded. The force of the explosion knocked him back. I fell on top of him. I could hear him grunt. I wanted to roll off of him, but my body was so weak. All I could do was turn my head to look and see if he was OK.
He was looking at me to do the same. Our eyes met. For a moment, what passed between us felt hotter than anything the fire could throw at us. It couldn’t, if I may, hold a candle to the heat generating from our stare into each other’s eyes.
Then the moment was gone. The danger returned.
The ground was shifting. Probably another rockslide. I had no idea how extensive the damage to the structural base of the building might be, but I figured it was substantial. If the ground gave way beneath us, we were fucked.
I saw Jaxil register what was going on, too. He scrambled to his feet. He lifted me into his arms once again. As he held me close, I could smell the burnt hair and flesh of his body. He’d sustained injuries because of me. I clutched him as close as I was able in my weakened condition.
He bent his knees and quickly leapt from the floor just as it began to crumble around us. As the building gave way, below, the parts of the ceiling that hadn’t yet collapsed began to drop.
I buried my face in Jaxil’s chest. He threw an arm over my head to protect me. I heard him shouting as he kept flying up, debris smashing against his shoulders. At one point, something heavy hit his shoulder and upset the motion of his wings. We nearly started to crash back down, but Jaxil quickly righted himself.
A moment later, we were through the remains of the ceiling as it and the rest of my hard infrastructure collapsed down the mountainside. Jaxil continued to flap his large, powerful wings. In another moment, we were clear of the dust and soot.
His flying became less desperate. His slowed his pace. I heard him start to cough, hacking up whatever he’d breathed in.
From my place curled in his arms, I looked up at him. The handsome jaw, the gleaming eyes. I looked below, where my dreams for my company were now a smoldering, smoking mess.
And, for some reason, I felt calm. Safe. Protected more than I ever had in my whole life.
“Jaxil… Jaxil…” I said. The oxygen mask still prevented him from hearing me. I pulled the mask from my face. Jaxil heard the hiss of the air from the mask and looked down sharply at me.
“What are you doing? You need that.”
“Need to… talk to you…”
“Save your words. Save your strength.”
He placed the mask back on my face. I yanked it off again.
“Damn you…” he muttered.
“If you… wanted to… damn me… you wouldn’t have… saved me.”
“Shows what you know. If anyone’s going to bury your company, it’ll be me. Not some damn explosion.”
He was trying out his tough guy, roguish act on me still. It was hard to believe. Anyway, it didn’t matter. His voice betrayed him. It was full of emotion.
I reached up and touched the side of his face as we continued to glide through the air.
“You… saved me…” I said.
Jaxil was silent a moment. Then, he replaced my oxygen mask. I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness. But as the blackness of sleep overtook me, I thought I heard Jaxil say something. Just one word.
“Always.”
