Page 28 of Reluctantly Abducted (Nereidan Compatibility Program #3)
Owen
The weights hit the floor with a satisfying thud. Sweat drips down my face, my t-shirt soaked through after two hours in the gym. My muscles burn with the pleasant ache of exhaustion, exactly what I've been chasing.
Physical fatigue is the only thing that seems to help me sleep these days.
The gym is nearly empty at this hour. Just me, the night manager scrolling through his phone at the front desk, and a woman on the treadmill wearing headphones.
The anonymity suits me. Ever since I got back from.
.. wherever the hell I was for those three days, I've been avoiding conversation.
What would I even say? Sorry, I was abducted by aliens.
One in particular. Blue skin, golden eyes, obsessed with environmental sustainability. I might be in love with him.
Yeah, that would go over well.
I grab my water bottle and drain it, then head to the locker room. The mirror shows a face I recognize but somehow don't, same features, same military-short hair, but something in the eyes has changed. Something that makes me look away.
Back in my apartment, I toss my gym bag in the corner and head straight for the shower.
The hot water pounds against my shoulders, easing some of the tension I've been carrying.
Not all of it. Some tension has taken up permanent residence between my shoulder blades since the moment I found myself back in my living room, alone.
Back on Earth. Without Ry'eth.
Clean and dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, I move to the kitchen and pull open the refrigerator.
It's better stocked than it was a week ago.
One of the first things I did after getting back was go grocery shopping.
Trying to establish some kind of routine.
Trying to pretend that everything is normal.
Normal. Like I haven't seen an alien ship. Like I haven't felt the strange mineral-rich water of a Nereidan hydration pool. Like I haven't touched skin that glows with emotion.
I grab ingredients for a simple dinner, chicken breast, vegetables, rice. Cooking gives me something to focus on, a task with clear steps and a definite end. Chop, season, cook. No complicated emotions, no questions about what happens next.
While the chicken cooks, I open the drawer of my desk and pull out a small velvet pouch.
Inside are three small stones, iridescent blue-green, unlike anything found on Earth.
I'd taken them from the collection Ry'eth had given me for "scientific study.
" He'd insisted I take samples of various minerals from his world, explaining their properties with that mix of scientific precision and barely concealed enthusiasm that I found so endearing.
I had no idea they were valuable until I took just one to a jeweler.
The look on his face told me everything I needed to know.
After some careful questions about their origin (a "private collector" was my vague explanation), he'd offered me enough money for that single stone to cover my rent for three months.
I sold two more, to different jewelers. Between those sales and my military pension, I'm financially secure for at least the next six months. Enough time to figure out what I'm doing with my life now.
If only money were the only problem I needed to solve.
I finish cooking, plate my food, and sit at the small table by the window.
The Chicago skyline glitters in the distance.
Millions of people going about their lives, completely unaware that there are other worlds, other beings.
That somewhere out there, a blue-skinned scientist is probably analyzing data and writing reports about human adaptive capabilities.
Is he thinking about me? Or am I just another data point in his research?
The food tastes bland despite the seasoning. Everything tastes bland now. A side effect of experiencing alien cuisine, I suppose. Or maybe just depression. Hard to tell the difference some days.
After dinner, I try to read but can't focus. I turn on the TV but nothing holds my interest. Eventually, I lace up my running shoes again and head out for a late-night run. More physical exertion. More attempts to exhaust myself into dreamless sleep.
The night air is cool against my skin as I run through the nearly empty streets.
The rhythm of my feet hitting the pavement creates a kind of meditation.
One foot in front of the other. Breathe in, breathe out.
Don't think about golden eyes or blue-tinted skin or the way his voice softened when he said my name.
I run until my lungs burn and my legs feel like lead.
When I finally return to my apartment, I strip off my sweat-soaked clothes and, instead of my usual quick shower, I decide to run a bath.
My muscles ache from days of overexertion, and the idea of soaking them sounds better than standing under the shower.
As the tub fills, I find myself thinking about the hydration pool on Ry'eth's ship. That slightly viscous, mineral-rich water that made my skin tingle and seemed to erase fatigue within minutes. This is just regular water in a regular bathtub in a regular apartment on Earth.
"Get it together, Hayes," I mutter to myself, shaking my head.
I sink into the hot water, feeling it envelop my tired body.
Despite my attempts to stay focused on the present, memories surface with vivid clarity as I close my eyes.
Ry'eth in the hydration pool, the subtle patterns of light pulsing beneath his skin as he explained its biological benefits.
His initial shyness, the way he would avert his eyes, only to be caught looking when he thought I wouldn't notice.
The water brings back other memories too.
More intimate ones. Ry'eth in my quarters, the controlled scientist giving way to something far more primal.
The stunning cascade of light across his blue skin as he came apart beneath me.
The surprising strength in his lean body when he took control, the way his eyes seemed to glow from within when he looked down at me.
I feel my body responding to the memory, blood rushing south despite my exhaustion.
It's been happening all week—these unexpected moments of arousal triggered by the most random memories of him.
The way he tilted his head when confused by an Earth expression.
The subtle change in his voice when he was trying not to show emotion.
I slide lower in the water, giving in to the inevitable.
My hand moves down my chest, across my stomach, finally wrapping around my hardening cock.
I don't fight the images that come—Ry'eth's face, his eyes, the patterns of light beneath his skin that betrayed his emotions regardless of how much scientific detachment he tried to maintain.
I remember the moment his scientific reserve finally broke completely.
The way his bioluminescence had flared so bright it lit the entire room.
The surprising heat of his normally cool skin against mine.
The sounds he made—so controlled at first, then increasingly abandoned as he lost himself in pleasure.
My hand moves faster as I replay these moments in my mind.
The feel of him against me, around me. The way his body responded to my touch, his skin glowing brighter wherever my fingers traced.
The surprising intensity of connection that went beyond the physical—something I'd never experienced before, not even in my longest relationships.
I come with a strangled groan, my body tensing and then relaxing into the warm water. For a moment, the release dulls the ache of his absence. But as the pleasure fades, the hollow feeling returns, somehow deeper than before.
I finish bathing, drain the tub, and dry off mechanically.
The brief escape only makes reality harder to face.
I pull on clean sweatpants and a t-shirt, then move to the window, looking out at the city lights.
Somewhere out there, people are living their normal lives, falling in and out of love with other humans, dealing with ordinary human problems. Meanwhile, I'm here, pining for someone who isn't even from this planet.
Someone who might have already forgotten me, filed me away as a completed research project.
The thought makes me wince. Sleep. I just need sleep. Maybe tomorrow will be easier.
It won't be, of course. Tomorrow will be exactly like today.
Gym in the morning. Maybe a job search in the afternoon, though I have no idea what I'm qualified for in civilian life beyond combat medicine.
More exercise until exhaustion. Another night trying not to dream of golden eyes and blue-tinted skin.
I fall into bed, my body finally giving in to fatigue.
As consciousness fades, I find myself imagining the subtle hum of Ry'eth's ship—that barely perceptible vibration that had become so familiar during my time there.
I imagine him working late in the lab, that look of intense concentration on his face as he analyzes data, occasional pulses of light beneath his skin when he discovers something interesting.
Would he even recognize what we had as something worth missing? Or am I just a footnote in his research now?
I stare at the ceiling, exhausted but still awake, wondering if there's a universe where I get to see those golden eyes again.