A Soldier in Love (14 page)

He went into his
bedroom and rummaged through his closet. He felt a wave of nervousness wash
over him. He imagined her small feminine body engulfed in his clothing. He didn’t
know why but it pleased him. It made him feel like she was his even if she
wasn’t really.

I’m just loaning her some clothes, that’s all! She
is not your mate, stop. Did you forget you are meant to be alone? That she will
surely hate you?
he
harshly reminded himself.

He came back and handed
the clothes to her.

“Thank you, Serik,” she
said smiling sweetly. “How long do I have to shower?”

“What do you mean?” he
asked.

“Uh, water rations I
guess?”

He shook his head.
“Take as long as you want.”

He nodded and left her
to get cleaned up. He slid the door shut behind him.

Michelle turned on the
shower and adjusted the heat as Serik had shown her. The water began to flow
down and steam began to fill the room. It was different but it was still similar
to a shower on Earth. She quickly disrobed from her uniform and stepped into
the warm water.

The water felt amazing.
It had been ages since she had a proper shower, one where she could take as
much time as she wanted. It seemed simple enough but it was a luxury she hadn’t
been afforded in the Earth Army. The water had been strictly rationed on Redex.
She was lucky to get a quick five minute shower in. She lathered up with the
soap Serik had given her. It felt wonderful.

I think I feel human again
, she mused to herself.

She inhaled the sweet
scent of the soap as more steam rose from the shower’s heat. She was surprised
the soap didn’t smell like Serik. He always smelled incredibly good.

It must be an alien guy thing wearing really good
cologne. God, he smelled amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything like
it. I should really ask him about that...

After scrubbing every
inch of herself she turned off the shower and stepped out.

“Well, I guess let’s
try this Baat version of the
ShamWow
,” she grinned to
herself.

She took the small
cloth and tentatively ran it over her arm. She was amazed to see the droplets
of water instantly vanish. She dried the rest of her body off and set the small
blue cloth by the sink.

She looked into the
mirror as the steam began to dissipate. She stepped back and looked at her
naked form.

She was thin and scarred.
She wasn’t sure what Serik was seeing when he kept calling her beautiful. An
empty shell of a person stared back at her. She traced over her protruding hip
bones with her fingertips and then ran her hand over her rib bones. She could
still count each one as she did on Redex, when she lay awake at night and couldn’t
sleep.

She shook her head and
looked at the clothes he had lent her.

She laughed when she
realized how big they were going to be on her. The pants wouldn’t even fit
around her waist even if they could they’d be over a foot too long.

She put on the shirt he
left her which hit past the middle of her thighs.

This will do until my clothes are clean.

Michelle gathered her
uniform and the too big pants as she stepped out of the bathroom. She made her
way down the hall to find Serik.

“Hey,” she grinned
finding him at the control panel.

He took a sharp breath
in when he saw her. Just as he imagined earlier, she looked incredibly beautiful
just wearing his shirt. He took a deep breath in her nose inhaling her scent
which was stronger. It drove him almost mad with desire. He wanted to scoop her
into his arms and kiss her. He held back of course but his desires still
lingered.
 

She handed him back the
pants. “These were, uh, a little too big for me.”

He shrugged. “Sorry I
didn’t think about that. Do you have your uniform? We can wash it.”

“Oh, yeah,” she said
handing it over to him as well.

She followed him as
they made their way to a small room.

Michelle watched in
amazement as he put her clothes in a small clear box. It filled with steam and
what appeared to be solvent.

“So, this is how you
wash clothes in space?” she asked.

He nodded. Not only was
her scent driving him mad but her wet hair for some reason just made him imagine
him and her in the shower together. He mentally scolded himself. He had such self
control around other females. He wasn’t sure why this one drove him mad. He had
been alone for his whole life but for whatever reason she tempted him.

“It’ll be done fairly
soon,” he replied.

Not soon enough
,
he thought to himself noticing how supple her freshly showered skin looked.

Why does everything about her drive me wild? I have
to stop, what the fuck is wrong with me? This little female just told me she
lost pretty much everyone and everything she knew and I’m thinking about her
naked.

“Serik?” she said
softly breaking his thoughts.

“Yes, Michelle? I’m
sorry,” he replied.

“Do you think I could
have something to eat,” she said entirely unsure of how to ask.

“Of course, of course,”
he replied warmly.

She gulped. Her stomach
rumbled with hunger but she had no idea what people from Baat ate.

What if they eat raw meat or rocks or something,
she wondered.

“Uh, are you cold? Do
you want a sweet shirt?” he asked swiftly interrupting her thoughts.

“A sweet shirt?
Oh, a sweatshirt?” she nodded.

“Sweatshirt?
You mean to tell me the purpose of this clothing
article on your planet is to produce sweat? Perspiration, correct?” he
remarked.

Michelle let out a
small chuckle and smiled.

“It’s called a
sweatshirt but I’m not sure why. We wear it to keep warm in cold weather. Definitely,
not to make one sweat but sure, it is actually pretty cold on this ship I would
love to borrow one,” she responded.

He silently thanked God
she had said yes.
Her
pert breasts and hard nipples were driving him insane.
He could clearly see the outline of them through the
thin material of the shirt she was wearing. He went to his closet and found the
biggest, bulkiest, sweatshirt he owned.

He came back and handed
it over to her. She quickly pulled it over her head and pulled the sleeves up
so that they wouldn’t dangle down past her hands.

“So, let’s get you some
food,” he said leading her to the kitchen.

“Please,” she smiled
trying to hide her nervousness.

He motioned for her to
sit at what appeared to be a barstool. With a little struggle she climbed on.
It was definitely not made for a person of her size and stature. She watched
intently as he opened a package of what looked like noodles. Michelle watched
as he poured water and put them into an oven type contraption. He pressed a button
and a few short seconds later, it chimed.

“Wow, that thing is
fast,” she replied trying to hide the nervousness in her voice. She hoped it
had cooked all the way.

He handed her the
container with what appeared to be chopsticks.
“Just
something fast and easy to digest.
I know you probably want something to
eat now. I will cook for you a proper meal tomorrow.”

Michelle looked down to
the container and took the chopstick like utensils into her
hands,
I guess no forks in space? Thank God, I
know how to use these things.

“
Mmmm
,
this is delicious, Serik. Thank you,” she said after taking a bite.

He smiled. “I’m glad
you like it.”

“This reminds me of a
food on Earth,” she grinned as she took another bite.

Serik nodded. He could
barely speak as he watched her eat. Outside of her uniform she was somehow even
more beautiful than she already was.

A soft chime
interrupted his thoughts. “
Oi
, your clothes must be
ready.”

Thank God
,
he thought to himself. The truth was just being around her made him nervous. After
being alone for so long it was hard to have a normal interaction. It felt
strange.

He came back out with
her uniform in his arms. It looked as though it had been pressed and ironed.

He handed the clothes
to her.

“I uh, I’ve got to go
look at the map and adjust the controls,” he stammered.

“OK,” she replied
feeling as though she was somehow annoying him or becoming an unwelcomed guest.

“Maybe you should lay
back down and rest,” he offered.

She nodded and quietly
made her way back to her room. She slid the door shut and laid down on the bed.
She relaxed against the bed’s softness. It was strange to lay on something that
soft after sleeping on a thin mattress on Redex for what seemed like an
eternity.

Great, my alien host thinks I’m annoying. He
probably feels sorry for me. Poor Earth girl, she sucks at fighting molcos hunds
and her military almost starved to death on Redex. Poor Earth girl, her planet
is destroyed, she doesn’t know anything about space, and now I have to feed and
clothe her. Oh and on top of that, she has some sort of weird memory fog
amnesia. She barely remembers her name.

She tried to fight back
to tears that were forming in her eyes.

I make a lousy soldier; all I want to do is cry.

Michelle’s stomach
dropped as she was finally realizing what was happening to her. The memory fog
must have been what was keeping her such a calm state.

My planet, Earth, it’s gone,
she thought to herself as she began to weep
.

Aaron, Kate, and the others… Are they OK? Did they
make it to the shuttle?

Michelle thought back
to how horrid Redex had been but how she came to know and love everyone. The
thought of Alex’s bloody body and cries of pain suddenly filled her mind again.
She couldn’t help but sob. They were almost uncontrollable. Her body shook with
her sobbing.

Alex, I’m so sorry. I wish I could have helped. I
tried to avenge you. I tried but I failed.

Michelle could swear
for a second she could still feel his weak hand around hers, giving it a light
squeeze. She sobbed harder unable to control herself. Tears flowed freely down
her face.

They were my
family. The only family I have… or I guess had. I can’t even remember.

I’ve lost it all
…
I just can’t be strong any more
… tears
ran down her cheeks.

Michelle heard a soft
knocking on the door.

“Michelle?” Serik
called.

Her stomach dropped.
Great, he’s going to see me crying again.
I’m such a train wreck.
Michelle sniffled and got up to slide the door open.

“Are you OK?” he asked
looking at her tear soaked face. He hated to see her upset. Her being upset was
unpleasant to him; he wanted to fix it.
 

“Serik, I’m sorry I’m
crying again,” she said trying to fight back even more tears. She had wanted to
be strong; she didn’t know why but she wanted to prove Earth Army soldiers
weren’t weak.

He sat down on the bed
and motioned for her to sit next to him.