Ruth's Bonded (Ruth & Gron Book 1) (8 page)

Ruth woke up in Gron’s arms. She was
a weird patchwork of warm and cold, but overall she was more comfortable than
she had been since she was taken. Her head was off the floor, for one thing,
still resting on his arm. He was asleep behind her, his arm curled around her
waist, holding her to him. His tail was still draped limply across her lap. She
glanced down at it speculatively. He was asleep... and he’d seemed to have got
over his aversion to her touch. Glancing behind her at his calmly sleeping
face, she gently moved her hand down to brush the fur of the tail, receiving no
reaction.

She wrapped her hand around it and
ran it down to the tip. It was weird. She was still kind of thinking of it as a
human-tail, because Gron was so much like her, overall. It was warm and solid,
the fur almost soft but with sharp points. She lifted the tail and brought it
to where she could see it. It had to be three or four feet long at least, and
she couldn’t quite get her hand all the way around it. The fur tufted into a
point that she flicked back and forth, jumping when the tail twitched in her
hands. She smiled, that must tickle. She did it again, and the tail jerked to
try to leave her hand, but she kept her grip and ran her finger across the end
to soothe it and straighten any hairs she had disturbed. She brought it to her
mouth to feel the fur against her lips. It was distinctly prickly. She ran it
through her hands a few more times before moving to lay it back across her hip,
but it curled around her wrist and the tip rubbed back and forth on her palm,
as if asking her to continue.

Ruth looked behind her and found
Gron’s large dark eyes watching her. The tail pressed harder into her hand, and
she had to smile. Someone apparently liked being stroked, much as he had
protested earlier. Ruth smiled again and went back to stroking the tail,
smoothing any ruffled hair where she found it and dragging her nails through
the fur. Gron groaned and lowered his face to her shoulder, tightening his hold
on her to bring her closer.

This was the point at which a human
man would be pressing an erection into her back, she recognised, but there was
nothing. Clearly, this was a platonic interaction for Gron, so Ruth resisted
the urge to drop the tail and roll over to start running her fingers over his
muscles instead. What the hell was she thinking? He was an alien, and a virtual
stranger. It must just be the post-coital position she was in, waking up naked
with him, she decided. In fact, she should probably move now they were both
awake. It was nice of him to keep her warm while she slept, but she couldn’t
rely on him anymore than that and she couldn’t get used to it. She sat up away
from Gron, and made the eye-covering gesture so she could use the hole.

There was still no food or anything
to drink, and Ruth was really beginning to feel the lack now. She was also
intensely aware of how gross she was, particularly her hair. Gron stank but she
was used to that, but her skin was clammy and rough, and she would have traded
almost anything at that point for a shower, or even a hairbrush. Their mingled
scents filled the cell. It must be pretty overpowering if anyone not used to it
came in, but that was what happened when u kept living things locked up in the
same small space. As she walked about, she noticed that Gron’s scent seemed to
be following her around more than usual, and that her hands and back felt kind
of oily. She sniffed at her palms and realised they smelt like him, and that he
must have some kind of oil in his fur, which she had rubbed all over her hands.
And her back had been resting on that chest-carpet of his. Great. Still, her
own hair was pretty gross, and the same thing would probably happen to him if
he ran his hands through it. She couldn’t hold it against him in their
situation. She rubbed her stomach trying to soothe her hunger and to distract
herself from how thirsty she was.

Suddenly the cell lurched violently, almost
making her lose her footing. Gron was by her side in an instant, his hand on
her back to steady her, his tail thrashing as he snarled and looked around
trying to find the threat. The cell was obviously canting to one side now, like
whatever was supporting them before had broken. Gron growled something and
looked at her, rubbing her back. Ruth was genuinely scared. What if they fell
out into space or something? Then the other side crashed down to level out the
cell, sending her stumbling into Gron who caught her and held her close,
clearly not wanting her out of reach.

They both stared out of the hatch,
desperate for some kind of clue as to what was happening. They saw the ceiling
of the room above them recede until they were looking at the body of the ship
they had been in fly away. Then they were looking at the stars.

“Oh my God...” Ruth moaned. Gron’s
hold on her tightened but he didn’t speak. Cool night air filtered into the
cell. They had been delivered to their destination, which they still had no
idea about, or their purpose there. Ruth heard the voices of the aliens who had
taken them and the cell moved again, though not as violently as before. Her
stomach sank as she interpreted the movements as the cell being levered up,
like on a forklift or a jack, and then driven or pulled forward. They were
definitely travelling.

Maybe the sight of the stars or the
fresh air revived her, but she was suddenly afraid that if they didn’t escape
now, it would be too late. She gripped Gron’s arm and said his name, pointing
at the hatch, hoping he understood her but knowing he probably didn’t. The cell
wobbled as it went over uneven ground. Maybe if they charged the wall, it would
tip over. But what would that accomplish? It would only really disrupt the
aliens plans if they flipped it so that the hatch was on the ground, but that
would cut off their only light supply. Ruth glanced towards the hole in the
floor, but she already knew it didn’t lead directly to the outside.

She began to be able to hear more
noise, more voices. They were heading for a small crowd of some sort. Oh no.
Were they about to be thrown into a ring? She couldn’t fight, she’d definitely
be killed eventually if they made her fight to the death against aliens who
probably had claws and fangs and poison and... If they tossed her and Gron in
together, he would protect her, but she would be useless and a liability to
him. She would slow him down and distract him, limit how and where he could
move. It would be just like when the aliens came into their cell. Eventually he
would get tired and be overpowered or outnumbered. She didn’t know what they
were about to face, but Gron was a good fighter. He could last if he didn’t
have her to worry about. She gripped him tighter and prayed he didn’t abandon her.

The voices grew closer as the cell
kept moving. They didn’t sound bloodthirsty, at least. The aliens moving them
shouted to each other. Ruth wondered if the hatch was still untouchable when it
was detached from the ship. She could probably work the bolt if Gron lifted her
up high enough to get her arms through the bars.

Finally, after what was probably only
ten or fifteen minutes, the cell came to a stop. Ruth thought she could see the
glow of some kind of artificial light, maybe flickering like fire. Gron pulled
her gently away from below the hatch. He pushed her behind him as he backed
away against the wall, tucking her into the corner again, shielding her from
view but also preventing her from seeing anything around him.

She thought she could hear more
voices, and the cell thumped as if several of the aliens had just jumped onto
the top. A bone-chilling growl tore out of Gron, and she guessed he could see
them, or sense them some other way. This time she put her hands on his waist
while his tail flicked angrily around her legs. Once again he hunched forward,
ready to fight, and when he did so she saw a green face looking in though the
hatch at them. It looked like a giant toad, but more luminescent, with big
black eyes. Judging from the size, it could be the same species as the crew who
had taken her.

The green thing stared right at her
for a moment, then withdrew, speaking to the others. There were a few short
shouts, like orders being given, and an argument, but then Ruth heard the bolt
on the hatch slide back.

Gron apparently heard it too because,
like lightning, he grabbed her and dashed across the cell, smashing through the
hatch. Ruth couldn’t see anything. He had basically grabbed her around the
waist and the forces of his movements almost bent her double. She heard
screaming and shouting, but Gron was bounding away. The guy was fast. Ruth
tried to straighten up enough to see what was happening. She saw what looked
like a small fair with stalls surrounded by cages of all shapes and sizes, with
several darkly robed figures moving between them. Their cell sat on the edge,
with the short aliens around and on top of it like ants, some of them standing
and some having been knocked down. Some of them were chasing after them but it
was clear they wouldn’t catch up. Their cell looked surprisingly small from the
outside. She wouldn’t have thought two people could live inside it for almost a
week.

The terrain they were running over
was flat dirt with odd tufts of grass. There was a forest bearing down on them
as Gron ran, and as soon as it was within reach, he leapt, and Ruth suddenly
found herself fifteen feet up a tree. Well. Looked like she’d been right about
Gron being from a tree-dwelling people.

Gron spoke and took a second to look
her over with four out of his five limbs holding them to the tree. He seemed to
judge that she was okay, and manoeuvred her to his back. She quickly got that
he wanted her to hang on piggy back style, and she did her best to get there,
praying not to fall. Once she was secured with her arms around his neck and her
legs locked around his waist, he took off again, working his way higher up into
the treetops as he jumped from one branch to the next to take them away from
the clearing. Presumably he was used to this kind of action, but it was easily
one of the most terrifying experiences of her life, probably in third place
after being abducted by aliens and then having her clothes cut off her by said
aliens. She tucked her face between her shoulder and his neck and shut her eyes,
so all she was aware of was the creak of branches, their breathing, the wind
lifting her hair, and her empty stomach rolling over.

Eventually, Ruth realised how silent
the world was around them. She couldn’t hear the cries of their pursuers, or
anything. It was remarkably peaceful. She also noticed Gron was making pauses
occasionally, and the next time he did so, she dared to raise her head and
look.

They were in a dense forest. The
trees were very similar to trees on Earth, but they had large leaves like palm
fronds. She tried to look behind her to see how far they had come, but all she
could see was forest in every direction. Gron was looking around too, touching
the trunk of the tree and bouncing their weight on the branch, apparently
comparing it to the trees around them. She thought he must be looking for a
safe place for them to stop.

“Gron,” she said, and he looked over
his shoulder at her and stroked her arm where it lay over his throat. His eyes
were not exactly confident, but not exactly scared either. Ruth guessed he
wouldn’t be satisfied until he had them squirreled away up a tree out of reach
of the bad guys. “Okay,” she sighed, tucking her head back into her shoulder.
Briefly, she felt him nuzzle the top of her head, then they were off again.

It took a lot more searching before
Gron indicated she could get down. She felt like her limbs were permanently
pretzled as she tried to get them to release their frozen grip on Gron, and she
stumbled when she got her feet down. Gron held her in steadying hands, but
luckily the tree branch was thick enough to stand comfortably on. She realised
she could hear running water and looked down to see a stream running past a few
trees away.

“Gron!” she cried slapping his arm
and pointing. He grumbled something at her, but she just repeatedly pointed at
herself and then at the water, indicating she wanted to go there and she
wouldn’t stop until he took her seriously. Apparently realising he wouldn’t get
anything done until he took her there, Gron scooped her up onto his back again
and agilely swung their way down.

This time she leapt off him and ran
to the water. She waded into it, not even caring that the water was cold. She
sat down in it until it was waist-high. She didn’t see any fish but there were
green under water plants, which she hoped meant the water wasn’t deadly. She
quickly scooped some up and drank it, letting it run down her chest. She
laughed. She was free. She held her hands up to the stars and just admired how
they looked with trees and sky in the background instead of blank metal walls.
She let herself fall backwards, pinching her nose so she could lie under the
running water. It dragged through her hair, the cold water on her scalp feeling
insanely refreshing.

She heard a splash and came up to
investigate, and found that Gron had taken one hesitant, worried step into the
water. She laughed and held out her hands to him, but he didn’t join her. She
stood up and went to stand in front of him, her wet skin quickly chilling in
the night air but it didn’t hurt her mood. She was grinning like an idiot,
holding her hands out to him, not even caring that she was naked. They were free!
Why wasn’t he celebrating?

She reached forward and took his
hands, trying to tug him into the water but she couldn’t move him. She tilted
her head and looked questioningly at him. He took one of his hands back and
pinched the fur on his chest, then he dipped the tip of his tail into the water
and pulled it out again, sodden and dripping. Ah. He was telling her his fur
soaked up too much water. If he went swimming now, he’d freeze during the
night. She stroked his hand to let him know she understood, then walked back
into the stream. She sat down and drank some more, then began trying to wash
herself clean. It wasn’t easy without soap, but there was a sandy silt at the
bottom of the stream that she could scrub herself with.