Protected by the HERO (71 page)

His strong arms lift her until she is nearly touching the ceiling. She extends her legs when she sees what he has in mind and he settles her down on his shoulders with his face buried in her crotch. She lets out a moan as he starts to lick and probe with his tongue. Her legs tighten on the sides of his face as he brings her to the edge. For a second she thinks he has stopped, but then he reaches around with his hand and begins to use his fingers and his tongue. She throws back her head and moans with pleasure as an orgasm explodes in her.

“Oh yes!” She exclaims as Bol takes her off his shoulders.

Laying her down on the kitchen table, Bol moves between her knees. She gasps as he enters her. Using the table for leverage, Jamie matches Bol’s movements for her own as they make love. His thrusts start out slow, but soon speed up as she begins to moan once more with pleasure. Leaning over her body, he kisses her one the neck. His kisses trail down her neck to her breasts. She runs her hands through his long hair and over his well-muscled back. Arching her back she presses her lips to his ear and whispers.

“Harder.”

Bol redoubles his efforts as Jamie rocks her hips against him. As another orgasm takes her she arches her back. Bol lets out a cry of half pain and half pleasure as her nails dig into his back. His moaning increases and Jamie cries out again with pleasure as they both climax together. She kisses him and he runs his hands through the long part of her hair.

Sitting up on the edge of the table, she slides off and sits in one of the chairs. As Bol makes his way to the refrigerator she notices that he has scratch marks on his back that are bleeding.

“Oh my!” She brings a hand up to her mouth.

“What is it?” He asks, turning back around with two sodas in his hands.

“You back is bleeding.”

“I had a feeling it might be.” He sits a soda down on the table in front of her and smiles down at her before taking a seat himself.

“Do you want me to dress them?”

“Not right now. They don’t feel too bad, so I think I’ll live.”

“I’m sorry that happened.”

“I’m not. I rather enjoyed it.”

“Not that. I meant the scratches.”

“Oh. Well that wasn’t so bad in the moment either.”

Jamie lets out a small laugh as she opens her soda and takes a long drink. The cool liquid feels good as it goes down. A small burp escapes her throat when she pulls away the can. She covers her mouth in embarrassment, her face turning red. Bol stares at her for a moment with a serious look on his face. Laughter erupts from him all at once like an explosion. Despite being embarrassed Jamie finds herself caught up in the moment and laughing right along with him. In that moment she feels closer to Bol than she ever has with anyone in her life. A feeling that excites and scares her at the same time. Wiping his eyes as his laughter begins to subside, Bol stands.

“How about something to eat?”

“That sounds amazing right now.”

*****

For the next week Jamie spends the days studying the Astara and the nights getting to know Bol better. At first she tries to tell herself that sleeping with him is just a passing fling, but as the week progresses she finds more and more that she can’t deny her feelings for him are growing to something more than mere physical attraction.

On her last night in the camp they make love as they have every night for the last week. As he drifts off to sleep she stares up at the ceiling of his small home and tries to think out her next move. She knows that she has more than enough information to write an article in the paper about the Astara, but she can no longer fool herself into thinking that one article in the Gazette will be enough to change the hearts and minds of humanity. Lying in Bol’s bed with his strong arms around her, she knows what she has to do.
I’ll take my findings and all of my notes to an old college professor. Together we can write a paper on Astaran culture. Maybe more than one. When the scientific community reads the paper or papers and realizes how beneficial the Astara could be it just might change things for the better.

“But what about Bol?” She whispers to the ceiling.

She can’t lie to herself anymore and say that she doesn’t have feelings of the man.
Alien,
she corrects herself.
He’s great. He’s kind, gentle, funny, and he cares for his people more than anyone I have ever known, but there is no way that society would ever approve of us. Not mine and certainly not his. Don’t be silly,
she scolds herself,
you can’t really be in love with him. You’ve only known him a couple of weeks. You’re just lonely being the only human behind the walls and he happened to save your life a couple of times. Nothing more.

“Yeah. That’s it. Just infatuation. Not love,” she tells the ceiling as she drifts off into an uneasy sleep.

She awakes the next morning much clearer headed and decides that she must go through with what she intended to go through with in the first place and write her story, but instead of going to the paper with her findings she is going to her old college professor.

“Did you sleep well?” Bol’s question startles her out of her thoughts and she gives a small jump. He lays a hand on her shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“You haven’t been yourself lately. Last night it was almost like you weren’t even here half the time.”

“I guess I’m preoccupied with what I will do once I leave here.” She regrets saying it like that when she sees a light die in Bol’s gold eyes.

“I suppose you’ll be glad to be back among your own kind.”

She puts a hand on his bare shoulder and pulls him back down beside her in the bed. Kissing him gently on the lips, she brushes his hair away from his face.

“You know better than that. I’ve had fun here, but I’ve got a life outside of these walls.”

“I know you do Jamie.” He pauses for a moment with his brow furrowed. “I just fooled myself into thinking that this would last forever.”

“Nothing last forever.” She pokes him on the nose. “Now let’s get dressed and we’ll eat before I have to go.”

“I have a better idea.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He grasps one of her breasts in his hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. Jamie arches an eyebrow as he moves in and kisses her just below her ear. A shudder runs through her as he kisses her. Reaching a hand under the covers, she grasps his penis and begins to stroke up and down. He closes his eyes and groans with pleasure.

Jamie lets out a moan of her own as he nibbles at her ear and kisses her again on the neck. Bol rolls atop her in one smooth motion. She can feel her heart beat faster with each kiss. His mouth finds one of her nipples and he nibbles at it with his teeth. A gasp escapes her and she bucks her hips against him. She can feel that he is already rock hard. She pushes him back with her hands on his shoulders and sits up on the edge of the bed.

Grabbing a hold of him with both hands, she takes him into her mouth. He hisses through his clenched teeth as he works her tongue around and around. She works him with her hands and mouth as he moans with pleasure and thrusts his hips forward. She brings him right to the edge and stops. She lies back on the bed as he moves between her legs. Hooking his arms around her legs, he pulls her close and goes to work on her with his tongue. She is already wet as he slips on of his fingers inside of her. Her hips arch upwards and she lets out a moan as he brings her right up to the brink. Just as she does, he stops and raises his head, smiling at her.

“Now. I need you inside of me,” she moans.

Reaching down, she takes him by the arms and pulls him to her. He enters her all at once. Arching her back, she moans and writhes as he thrusts into her again and again. She can feel an orgasm coming so she matches his thrusts with her own. They climax together and she lets out a scream of pure pleasure, her voice echoing throughout the home again and again.

Bol rolls over to his side of the bed and grins at her. She kisses him once more before getting out of the bed. She jumps at the small pat on the butt he gives her as she bends over to pick up her panties off the floor.

“I think that was better than breakfast,” he says. “What about you?”

“Much better.” She looks down at her watch. “I’m gonna go freshen up and then we’ll head for the gate. Larry should be here soon and I don’t want to keep him waiting.”

“Sure.”

She once again feels bad about leaving when she hears the dejection in Bol’s voice. Slipping into the bathroom, she begin to dress.
What am I supposed to do? Stay here forever? Do I really want to do that?
The problem is that she isn’t so sure about the answers to those questions anymore. A week ago she would have said no, but now...

They walk toward the gate in relative silence. Time and again she starts to speak, but a single glance at Bol’s gloomy face is enough for her to keep quiet. She has never been good at goodbyes and she can tell already that this one is going to be the hardest she has ever had. She looks up in surprise as they reach the small square before the gate.

Astara are standing around everywhere. Both the young and the old. When she walks into view with Bol a cheer runs through the crowd. Four old Astara, two male, two female, step out of the crowd and bow to her. The eldest is Elder Rin, whom she remembers from her visit to Bol’s house. The old Astara holds up her hands for silence and the crowd quiets.

“You have done us a great service, young Jamie. By the power vested in my by my people and the council of Elders I name you Friend of the Astara and bid you welcome at our home anytime.”

“Thank you.” Jamie can feel tears in her eyes. She works hard to fight them back, but when she looks up at Bol she can’t help it. The tears stream down her face as he smiles down at her.

“Don’t forget about me.” His voice is husky with emotion, but he sheds not a single tear.

“I won’t. Oh, Bol.” She wraps her arms around him. “Thank you of everything you have done for me. I hate that I have to leave.”

“Don’t be sad.” He bends down and kisses a tear off her cheek. “You have things that you must do as do we all. Goodbye.”

A voice in the back of her head is screaming at her to tell him that she loves him and she wants to stay, but she doesn’t listen. “Goodbye.”

Each footstep toward the gate feels like it takes an hour and her feet feel like they weigh a thousand pounds. Reaching out a hand, she knocks on the gate. A metal slide opens and the eyes of the guard look through the gap at her.

“Jamie Gettner,” she tells him.

“Alright. Hang on a minute. Let me unlock the gate.”

The gate clunks loudly as the guard works the lock. Jamie resists the urge to turn back and look at Bol because she knows that if she does, she will rush into his arms and never leave the camp. The gate swings open and she steps outside. A small breeze toys with her hair as she looks out over the surrounding hills and tries to keep from crying. The sound of the gate swinging shut behind her with a thump makes her jump.

Larry is already waiting for her a few yards away. Gathering her things she puts them in the back of the vehicle and gets in. Larry is up for a grand talk about her adventure inside the walls of the camp and she does her best to sate his curiosity, but deep down all she can think about is the sadness she saw in Bol’s golden eyes as she told him goodbye.

*****

When they arrive back in town Larry insists on taking her to a local bar for a few drinks to celebrate her article to come. Not wanting to be rude she agrees, but there is nothing more she would rather be doing than sitting in her hotel room and waiting for sleep to take her. After a few drinks she begins to loosen up a little.

“I’m not sure if I’m going to write the article Larry.” She blurts the words out in a rush.

“What?” He sits his drink down on the table so hard that some of it spills over the edge. “Why in the hell not?”

“I’ve thought about giving my findings to an old college professor and maybe writing a few papers on the daily lives of the Astara and the good that they could bring to the world.”

Larry lets out a sigh. “Jamie that’s a...great idea. You could reach a lot more scientists that way and if the scientists find something beneficial among the Astara. Well...you know this already. You’ve obviously thought about it.”

“I have, but there is something else.”

“What’s that Jamie?”

“I think…” She pauses and shakes her head. “It’s nothing. I just hate to disappoint you like this Larry. You’re the best boss that I’ve ever had.”

“Hey.” He puts a hand on her shoulder. “You set out on this mission to help the Astara people by writing an article, but you and me both know that one measly article in the Gazette isn’t going to change many minds if it changes any at all. A scientific paper though. That has the potential of changing a lot of minds where it really counts. I’m all for it.”

“Thank you Larry.”

She drinks for a while longer with her boss before excusing herself for the night. In her room she strips down and takes a shower. The hot water feels good and so does the fact that she can stay in as long as she likes without having to worry about the water getting cold. Wrapping herself in a robe, she climbs into bed. She tries turning on the television, but none of the shows seem to be anything that she wants to watch. Digging a book out of her bag, she attempts to read, but after reading the same paragraph five times in a row and still not getting the gist of it she decides that reading isn’t going to cut it either.