The female she’d sold them to had been a Tasqal, one of the members of an elite race that was known for its exploitation of civilizations and beings young and old alike. That’s who his own mother had sold him to—as a chid!
A phekking Tasqal.
Everyone knew Tasqals were vile creatures and his own mor had sold him to one.
He’d been hardly old enough to fend for himself, much less Sohut.
The memory of those first few nights in the pits mining precious metals came back to him hard and he tried to focus on spreading the tilgran waste over the roots of his plants.
The pits had been bad. A network of dark, damp, caverns filled with the stink of excrement and sex. No adult, much less chid, should have been sent to work in such conditions.
But even then it was better than working for the Tasqal female above ground. She’d have wanted him and Sohut in her bed. He’d known the only reason they’d been thrown in the pits to dig was because they’d been too young to fill her gaping cunt.
It was a horrible realization for a chid and an even more horrible one for a chid to live with.
He’d kept it from his brother—kept most of the bad things away.
At least, he’d tried.
Just as he did then, he had to work and focus. He couldn’t let the past consume him.
Work. Focus.
He put the last of the tilgran waste along the roots of the plants and lifted his gaze to the pink sky.
He needed to get back to his animals.
It was the only thing that would push the memories away.
The animals always needed tending to, and that helped. It helped to keep his mind off things.
It gave him peace and quiet in his own head.
He loved the serenity…the solitude.
It was his and he owned it in his own space.
Nothing could take that away from him.
“Doo yoo need en-nee help?”
Riv closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Nothing except that.
She could hear him inhale deeply, even as his shoulders stiffened.
Damn.
It was very clear he disliked her presence.
After he’d left her in the barn with the huge death-dog, she’d decided to wait it out there but then she was pretty sure he was probably going to leave her there if she let him.
She’d finally found him a long way off from the buildings in a field with large trees that looked laden with red and orange fruit. As she neared the trees, she realized the “fruit” had thick fur. They were the shape of peaches, some with fur redder than others, some with fur more orange than others, and some with fur that had a balance of both colors.
He’d been shoveling some soft purple mush onto the roots of the trees, moving along the line as he did, unaware of her approach.
She hadn’t meant to creep up on him but having no shoes, her steps had practically been silent on the soft ground.
When it was clear he hadn’t seen her approach, she’d finally decided to say something to him.
“Do you need any help?”
Now she stood watching him as he exhaled slowly.
He’d snapped his head in her direction then, a growl rumbling through him.
Lauren tried to smile.
“I could help with whatever you’re doing, you know. I don’t have much experience but…I could help out anyway. I’m a fast learner. You won’t know I’m here. I won’t even get in your hair.”
Her gaze moved to his hair then, to the golden coils decorating some strands, before her eyes settled on his face.
Even with the cloth around his face, she could see his jaw working as he clenched his teeth.
Instead of replying to her, he made a low growl before he moved off to another section of the trees, squeezing random fruits as he moved past.
Lauren gulped and followed him. Behind her the huge dark dog walked in her footsteps, almost as if it thought she was its new friend…or plaything?
She wasn’t about to forget the way she’d been knocked backward by the animal. If it had wanted to shake her in its mouth like a chew toy, it could have.
With that thought, she hastened her pace to catch up with the blue alien.
He still hadn’t said anything to her. He seemed to be ignoring her, actually. Or, at least, trying his best to do so. The rigid set of his shoulders told her he was all too aware of her presence.
She wasn’t usually one to fill awkward silences, but she felt the need to say something.
Maybe that need stemmed from not having anyone to talk to for a whole year.
“You know, these look like peaches back where I’m from, though smaller,” she said, her eyes on his back as she trailed behind him. “And without the fur.”
No response.
“I can’t think of any fruit that had fur. Sure, we had fruit with weird outer skin.” She paused. “Like dragon fruit…that was kinda strange.”
No response.
“Did you plant these?”
With a grunt, he glanced back at her, his brows dipped behind his dark glasses.
Okay, maybe she was talking too much.
Moving over to the other row of trees, but careful she wouldn’t lose sight of the alien, Lauren reached up and touched one of the fruits.
The fur was unbelievably smooth. She could imagine this would make great bedding or mats of some sort.
The fruit was hard when she squeezed it so she moved to another tree down the line and did the same thing, following the actions of the alien in the row next to her.
As they worked in silence, she could almost feel his eyes on her, but she kept her gaze on her task…whatever this task was.
She assumed he was checking if any of the fruit was ripe and by ripe, she assumed the fruit would be soft when squeezed.
It
