Page 22 of Wild Life (STEAM-y #2)

Bat Kisses; No Rabies

Maris

Three nights had passed since Cryp—Aleki—had poured his story out to me and I hadn’t said more than a handful of words when his apology tour was over. I was grateful he had finally shared the full truth, but I was still upset that he’d lied. And more upset with myself that I had been intimate with a man who had been lying to me.

I had slept outside on the hammock each night, even though he’d argued with me to take the bed. Poaka had also tried to get back into my good graces by slumbering outside with me. I had, of course, forgiven him because he was a pig, and had promised to never to threaten to turn him into bacon again.

Life was lonelier than before, despite this new knowledge that Aleki could speak. It wasn’t so much that I was mad at him anymore. Instead, I was annoyed with myself for entertaining the cock of a guy I barely knew, like I had back home. Only time and space would allow me to forgive myself before ever forgiving Aleki. Yet again, my personal baggage was meddling in my relationship with men.

The trees rustled before Aleki and Poaka emerged from the thicket. The pig jetted for me and nuzzled his nose into my lap. I patted his spotted fur, greeting only him. “Where were you all day?” I asked.

Aleki’s jaw relaxed with the conversation, even if I was just speaking to Poaka.

“We brought you m-mangoes.” He rested a woven basket full of red fruit in front of me. He knew I loved them, and he was doing everything he could to get back into my good graces, too.

He had also been freer to speak around me, which improved the flow of his words. The stutter didn’t bother me. I understood that decades without human conversation must have weakened his communication skills. As he practiced more, he progressed, independent of whether or not I replied back.

“Thanks,” I said with no desire to eat them.

He let out a sigh and knelt in front of me, before peeling one of the mangoes with his teeth as an offering, just like he had the first time he had ever brought me to the mango tree. I didn’t accept. He dropped the fruit onto the ground and Poaka, of course, jumped at the opportunity, chomping loudly on the rejected fruit.

“How long are you going to keep ignoring me?” Aleki asked, crestfallen. Emotions must have been hard for him, since he had lived most of his life without human interaction. I could only imagine how numb his mind had become after doing the same thing day in and day out for over two decades, but I was the epitome of mood swings. One minute, I could be anxious, the next excited by fun stationery supplies with cute animals on them, and then swerve a harsh left to Hangry-ville . And it was all normal for someone like me, who had lived most of her life in a modern, fast-paced world.

So I replied as any self-respecting woman would, in modern-world text talk. “IDK. K. Byeee.”

Aleki let out a hiss. “Stop using your weird m-modern slang so I can’t understand you. I want to learn, but you’re not m-making this easier.”

I had found it entertaining to use chat language with him, putting in little effort while still retaining my amusement.

He rose to his full height, his arms crossing over his chest and his shadow cloaking me from the late afternoon sun. “You’re acting like a mean girl,” he scolded.

My mouth fell open. “How do you know what a mean girl is? Your vocabulary is basically the regurgitation of your dad’s eighties-era dictionary.”

“That’s right.” He grinned. He had been doing that a lot more lately, especially with every snide remark that left my lips. Must’ve been because he could finally share the load of his trauma with someone else and didn’t feel as weighed down. “I’m not a c-complete idiot, Maris. I know some things, too.”

God, I loved it when he said my name. I was also glad Screech Owl hadn’t stuck.

“Are you hiding a computer here, too?” I hit back.

“No, but I did find a magazine called C-Cosmopolitan in a plastic bin that washed up yesterday.” His New Zealand accent was very strong and very sexy . A lot about this man was sexy. However, I was a hard-ass who couldn’t get out of my head, which made it difficult for me to move on from fights. He had underdeveloped speech, while I had underdeveloped resolution skills.

“Did it have any good makeup tips? Because I could really use some concealer to cover up these mosquito bites on my chin.”

He let out a breath that made his strong shoulders sag. “Maris, I miss you.”

I stared back at him, steeling my heart. “I’m right here.”

“I know, but I miss how you were—how we were.”

“Like when I would be talking for hours, and you’d ignore me?”

“I never ignored you. My brain wouldn’t let me. I hear everything you say.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. It was hard to stay mad at the oaf when he was being so sweet.

“I just have a lot going on in my head right now,” I said, suddenly tired of launching daggers at him.

“Come with me.” He held his hand out.

I didn’t take it. “Why?”

He pulled me to my feet, tugging me along behind him. “I’m going to get your head to chill .”

“ Cosmo , again?”

“Yeah, I read some article called ‘Getting your Cort-isol to Chill Out’.”

I rolled my eyes as I stumbled behind him. His hand engulfed mine, a protective glove, as we traveled through the trees, passing the waterfall. It was still bright out, but darkness would arrive soon, and we were still walking.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked.

“You’ll see.”

We stopped when we made it to the pond, and I let go of his hand. Insects swarmed the area, sticking to my skin. I slapped them off and stared at their guts on my hand. Gross. I’d have killed for some hand sanitizer.

“Did you bring me here to feed me to your pet mosquitoes? How romantic.”

His thick hand clasped around my neck savagely, and he jerked my chin roughly to the side with his thumb. The maneuver was very him : dominating.

“Oh my God! The net!” I jumped out of his grasp and ran under it. There, between two trees beyond the edge of the pond, was my net. I had forgotten about it when voice-gate had happened and dropped everything, including my supplies.

He’d hung my net for me. The height was perfect, high enough to only catch bats and not the other walking wildlife passing by, but still low enough for me to reach it. He had even pulled the netting taut enough to create a wide catch surface.

I approached him. “When did you do this?”

“Earlier today. I f-figured you could use some help getting that up.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you,” I said, clasping my hands to my chest. “The sun will set soon. You should go back to the hut. I’ll wait here to see if any bats show up.” I took a seat on the ground, unable to look away from the net.

Instead of leaving, Aleki sat next to me and folded his long legs into a pretzel shape, like mine. “No. I’m staying here.”

“I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“That’s not why I’m staying. I want to s-see them, too.”

“You do?” I asked in surprise.

He bumped my shoulder with his. “Only if you want me to.”

I wanted him to stay. I loved that he was into this as much as I was. I nodded.

We waited for some time, engaging in random conversation about his old life in New Zealand and mine in Washington, as the sky darkened.

Suddenly, a mass of black covered the sky, tiny bodies gliding choppily through the air over the pond.

I leaned over to him. “They’re awake!” I whispered excitedly, my lips brushing his skin.

We watched in awe as nearly fifty fluttered chaotically before half of the brood swooped lower.

Aleki covered his head.

I grabbed his arm. “They won’t come for us. They want the water before they go hunting.” We were sitting under cover of a canopy of trees and out of their way.

I clutched his arm to my body as we watched them take sips of refreshment without stopping before swooping back into the sky. They flew over the net.

“Oh, no,” I said, pouting. The net was probably too low to catch them. “Damn, tonight was a bust. I was hoping we’d at least catch one.”

“It’s okay, I can raise the net.” He moved to get up.

I could still make out his handsome face in the early evening darkness. “No, really, it’s okay. We can adjust it next time.”

Soft clicking disrupted the dreamlike haze that I was experiencing watching him.

“What’s that sound?” Aleki asked.

“A bat!” I whispered. “Stay here.” The incidence of rabies in bats was low, but we weren’t in an ideal setting for a person to be infected. My rabies vaccinations were up-to-date, so I was in the clear. However, Aleki risked exposure if he wasn’t careful.

I ran over and saw a furry little dark-brown mass wiggling against the strings of the net. It didn’t hurt them, but he was anxious to be on his way to find food.

I worked quickly, slipping on my rubber gloves and grabbing a twist tie. I gingerly removed him, his little heart beating furiously under my fingers. Most people were scared of bats, but I knew the importance of this little guy, and that made him precious to me.

Wrapping the tie around his foot, I carefully tucked in the sharp edges so he couldn’t hurt himself. I had trimmed the ties considerably, but some of the wire still protruded.

Keeping any prodding to a minimum, I quickly checked him over to make sure he appeared healthy and strong. Then I walked to the other side of the net, where his friends had flown off to, and released him.

“Happy hunting, little one,” I whispered, watching him disappear into the distance.

I slipped off my gloves and dropped them onto the ground, careful not to touch the exterior of the rubber.

“What does the tie do?” Aleki asked.

He had vacated his spot on the ground and stood tall against a tree.

“It lets me know that I’ve already seen this guy. If I cross paths with him again, I can make note of the locations he frequents. Usually, the tag would be linked to a radar and carry a chip so I could follow him using research software. Out here, I’ll have to use my memory to record his sightings.”

“How will you d-differ-entiate bats if you’re using the same c-color tie for each one?”

“I couldn’t find anything with various colors.” I was working at a disadvantage here without all of my tools from the university.

“I think I may have some c-colored rubber b-bands back at the hut. Remind me to find them for you,” he said.

I clapped excitedly. “Oh, that’d be perfect! I can assign each bat a different color.”

“And before I forget…” Aleki disappeared behind the tree and came back with something in his grasp. “You probably could use this to record your in-for-ma-tion.”

He handed me a spiral notebook with a pen. I opened it and could barely make out the cursive handwriting on the yellowing paper.

“It’s only on the first few p-pages. The rest of them are blank.”

I marveled at the journal. “Where did you get this?”

“Dad’s trunk. I figured you could use it for your r-research.”

“Don’t you want to keep it? I mean, it has your dad’s writing. You should save it.”

Aleki chuckled. “I saved it for over t-two decades. It’s t-time to put it to use.”

“This will certainly be helpful. Thank you. For all of this.” I waved my hand at the net, my throat tight with emotion. “This was amazing.” I launched myself at him, squeezing his torso. His arms wrapped tightly around my body, returning my affection. With my ear to his chest, I heard the steady drumming inside that my own heartbeats fell in sync to.

He shifted and I lifted my attention to his warm gaze. He towered over me, but the distance between us was closed easily enough by attraction. Our lips met. He was warm, and his beard tickled my skin. I turned my head to the side and slowly opened my mouth, inviting him in as I slid my fingers up to grip his hair.

Then his tongue slipped into my mouth, and I eagerly met it with mine. His kiss robbed me of my breath.

Fuck, he’s a good kisser.

I broke our bond, gasping for air.

“ Cosmo ?” I asked.

He grinned, only one corner of his mouth rising. “‘Ten Tips for Kissing Like a God-dess.’”

I giggled. “You’re a regular Aphrodite, then.”

He studied my face like he was gazing into my soul. “You’re very pretty.”

Heat flushed my cheeks, and nerves fired through me. “Was that one of the tips in the article? Compliment your partner?”

“Yes, but that’s not why I said it.” He tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, hungrily eyeing my lips for more.

We kissed again, with the stars bearing witness to two lonely souls joining together as one.