Riv's Sanctuary: A Sci-fi Alien Romance, A.G. Wilde [phonics reading books TXT] 📗

and the corridor that led to the rooms disappeared. Only a smooth wall stood there.

Lauren could feel her eyes grow in her head.

Moving forward, she touched the space and her hand went through.

It was just a hologram.

“How did they not realize this was there?” she whispered, still eyeing the space in awe.

“Easy.” Riv shrugged. “I stood in front of it.”

Fuck.

She turned her gaze back to him.

If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking, where would she be right now?

But before she could thank him, he was moving again.

“I saw them at the perimeter. Knew why they were here. Set up the holo box.” He grabbed his blaster from somewhere underneath the table and checked it. “Couldn’t deny them entry. It would look too suspicious.” He glanced at her. “Grab your cloak. We have to go.”

Lauren nodded, moving back to the bedroom for the garment without question.

When she returned with the cloak over her shoulders, she asked, “Where are we headed?”

“To the exchange.”

“Why?”

Riv’s eyes met hers. “To get you your freedom.”

As the hovercar sped across the plain, Lauren couldn’t help but keep glancing over her shoulder.

She half expected to see the alligator guards in pursuit and it was making her anxious.

When she glanced at Riv, he had a look on his face she’d never seen before.

She knew his anger. His rage. His annoyance.

But this look was pure, raw, fury.

“Riv? I—” She didn’t know what to say and when he turned to glare at her, flashing fangs, she grew silent.

Glancing behind them again, her brows furrowed.

It was getting late but she couldn’t see the lights of another hover vehicle at least.

“They won’t catch us. We’ll get to the exchange and have you registered before they even realize your location.”

Lauren swallowed hard.

He was doing so much for her; she didn’t think he understood just what it meant to her.

“I’m sorry for inconveniencing you with all this…trouble.”

“It’s no trouble.”

She paused, watching him.

His voice was deceptively soft for the furious look on his face.

“Why are you angry with me, then?”

His gaze moved to her and she swore his eyes softened a little before he sighed.

“I’m not used to people…females…being the way you are,” he said after a while and her brows furrowed.

“What do you mean?”

Riv let out a breath.

Those few words were more than he’d ever said to her about himself and he paused as if he wasn’t sure if he could continue.

“You haven’t tried to use me,” he finally said.

Shocked, Lauren leaned back a little.

“Why on earth—why do you think I would want to use you?”

Riv swallowed, his gaze flicking away from her.

“I thought you were like them…the others.” He sighed.

“Like who?”

He zoned out. She could see him do it, as if he was remembering something a long time ago.

Reaching forward, she touched his cheek gently and his gaze flicked to her again.

“What happened to you, Riv?”

It was almost as if she could feel the panic rising within him. Never since she’d met him had Riv ever been as vulnerable as he was right now.

“When I was a chid,” he began, “my mor sold me and Sohut to the Tasqal mines.”

His knuckle turned a light-blue as he held on to the hovercar’s controls. “I can still remember crying, reaching for our mor, but she’d turned and walked away, leaving us there in the hands of strangers.”

Riv gulped and inhaled deeply. “Tasqals. She sold us to a Tasqal for woogli smoke.”

She didn’t know what woogli smoke was but she sure could guess. It sounded like some kind of drug.

“The female Tasqal my mor sold us to had a harem of many males,” Riv continued. “She’d use them for phekking, one after the other till they expired. I still remember her clearly. She had a circular headdress with gold trimming that she alone wore. She’s the one who removed my tail.”

“Oh my God…” Lauren covered her mouth, staring at him as his eyes grew distant again.

Riv didn’t meet her gaze, but his jaw clenched down hard.

“How old were you when she took you?” she breathed.

“About two hands.”

“Ten?! You were ten?” A bowl of anger overflowed within her suddenly. “You were ten?”

“Eight.” He held up his hands and Lauren blinked. “Two of my hands, not yours.”

Lauren blinked again, her face contorting. “That doesn’t make it better, Riv.” Her voice went soft. “How could a mother do that to her own child?”

For a few moments, Riv didn’t reply. Then he released a breath. “I stopped asking myself that a long time ago.”

A sigh left him as he continued. This was obviously hard for him and she couldn’t believe he was telling her about it.

She valued the fact he trusted her enough to share such deep details with her. It was difficult speaking about something so harrowing.

“Sohut was two orbits younger. The Tasqal put us in the mines to work. We were too young for the harem.”

Lauren’s nostrils flared.

“But the mines weren’t any better. They reeked with sweat, death, and sex.” Riv let out a labored breath. “I can still smell it as if it was yesterday.”

“That sounds… I can’t imagine what that must have been like.” She reached out and touched his shoulder. Her heart was bleeding for him. “I mean, I was taken from home and thrown into a glass cage, but…it’s nothing like what happened to you.”

He managed to smile a little, a sad one. “I guess we’re not so different. Your life was ripped apart and there was nothing you could have done about it.” He focused in front once more. “There was nothing I could have done about it.” He paused. “For many years I blamed myself. If I’d been a better chid, maybe my mor would have wanted me.”

Lauren gripped his chin and turned his face toward her.

“It was never your fault. What your mother did was inexcusable.”

Riv nodded.

“I know you’re right. But that doesn’t erase the fact that I had to go through hell to reach this point.” He paused. “I learned a long time ago, in the mines and