Ka'Cit's Haven: A Sci-fi Alien Romance (Riv's Sanctuary Book 3), A.G. Wilde [surface ebook reader TXT] 📗

Just how could they communicate when her words probably sounded like gibberish to him?

“This was food storage long ago,” he said after a few moments, and Nia felt a jolt of triumph. He had understood her, somehow. “I doubt Herza will look for you, for us, here.”

Herza. That damn female captain.

If she hadn’t been so greedy…

Nia’s gaze flicked over the gray walls.

And if her rescuer hadn’t known about this place…

She’d heard when Herza ordered that the henchmen should kill her on sight.

A bit drastic, but she’d long come to realize that this new world was an unforgiving place.

Nia breathed out a hard, steady breath.

Just how had she found herself in this mess?

As the silence surrounded them, her senses alerted her to something else.

The little room was warm, but that warmth was slowly becoming almost unbearable.

She fanned a hand in front of her face to try and get some of the air moving, but it had little effect.

“You are…uncomfortable in the warmth? The main engines are close. That’s what’s causing the heat.”

Nia glanced at the alien beside her. He was still watching her. She hadn’t realized that.

“If we move this panel,” he pointed at the wall to their left, “and crawl through the channel for a few minutes, we would end up at the engine room.”

Nia’s eyebrows rose a little.

First the panel in the floor and now this.

How did he even know about these things?

She thought he was a farmer.

He must have seen the question in her eyes because she was sure she picked up a soft chuckle underneath his mask.

She glanced around them some more.

It was getting really warm, almost as if they were in a closed room.

But they weren’t.

There was a tunnel in front and the light apparatus he’d set on the floor only thinned the darkness in the tunnel for a few meters. Farther down, it looked like she was staring at a wall of darkness.

Another shudder went through her and she pulled her gaze away from the tunnel.

Once again, she fanned her hand in front of her face to try and get the air moving.

It was so hot, beads of sweat were forming on her forehead and underneath her cloak was starting to feel clammy.

It wasn’t the best of feelings, but it was better than being dead.

She’d take sweaty over dead any day.

It was concerning, though, how hot it was becoming.

Maybe it was because she was thinking about it, but the heat was increasing with each second.

And she seemed to be the only one affected by it, too. Beside her, the alien appeared as if he was completely fine, even with his mask on.

“Why the mask?” she motioned to her face.

She couldn’t read what he was thinking behind those green eyes, but every time she looked up, they were focused on her. It wasn’t a hostile look either, but one of interest.

“The mask,” she repeated, putting her hands to the side of her head like she was framing it. “What’s it for? Do you always wear it? Why?”

She almost shook her head at herself.

That was quite a lot of questions to shoot at someone who couldn’t understand even one of the words she spoke.

“You want me to take it off? I don’t usually… Not in front of…” He paused.

“Oh, I wasn’t asking you to remove it.” She shook her head, but she couldn’t deny that she was more than curious to see the face of the man underneath.

He studied her for a few moments before he lifted his hands to the side of his mask and paused again.

Nia held her breath.

There was a soft click and then he lifted the mask from his head.

She couldn’t help it. Her brows shot up on her forehead and her eyes widened.

The first time she’d seen him, his mask had been open, but she had been standing at an angle where she hadn’t been able to see his face.

…and she’d expected a lot of things, but not this.

His green eyes seemed even greener when framed by his blue skin, and they blinked back at her from a ruggedly handsome face.

A strong jaw, a firm chin, full lips…

There was a single frown line between his brows, and the muscles in his jaw twitched as her gaze moved over them.

He watched her, unblinking, and though it wasn’t polite to stare, Nia found that she couldn’t look away.

He was Merssi like Riv and Sohut, that much she knew…but there was something different about his appearance—something she was sure should stand out, but for the life of her, she couldn’t put a finger on what it was.

“Nia.” She outstretched her hand for a handshake, but he only looked at it.

“My name’s Nia,” she repeated. This time, she brought her hand against her chest.

“Nia.”

The corners of his lips moved a little before, “Nee-ya.”

Nia blinked.

The way he said her name…

He stretched it out like Riv and Sohut did, but whenever they said her name, she didn’t feel a flutter in the pit of her stomach.

His deep tones caressed the syllables as if he was undressing her with his lips.

Clearing her throat, Nia nodded.

“That’s right. And you are?” She gestured to him and his gaze followed her hand.

“Ka’Cit.”

“Kah…Cit.” She took care to say it right. “Ka’Cit?”

The corners of his lips moved again, but he didn’t correct her so she assumed she said it correctly.

“Ka’Cit,” she said it again and this time, she smiled at him. “Thanks for coming to help me out, even though I have no idea how you knew I was in trouble. I’m grateful nonetheless.”

His gaze was on her lips as she spoke, but if he could even pick up the words, she doubted he’d understand them.

Language uploads had to be bought or the translators updated through the interplanetary system.

Otherwise, she had to rely on nonverbal cues.

Not that such cues had helped her at all so far.

Something beeped on Ka’Cit’s arm, the same thing that had given an alarm when they’d been above deck. It looked like a large dark band that curved around his