Skylar's Guardians (3 page)

But how to escape? She was literally in the middle of nowhere. A four-wheel drive was needed to get over the poorly maintained roads and up the steep hills. In her present physical condition, the coyotes would make a meal out of her before sunlight.

“You reap what you sow,” her grandmother used to preach. Skylar closed her eyes for a brief second, thinking of the old crippled woman. Years of laboring in the fields of Nebraska left her bent and arthritic. All because she was too afraid to take a risk and leave with her new husband for the East Coast.

A divorced mother of two, Granma had sown fear in her life and had gained nothing but her physical destruction and the bitterness that came in knowing that she’d had her chance for happiness and blew it. Skylar sighed. It sure seemed that the seeds that grew from doing nothing were just as tragic as the ones grown from doing something bad. And Skylar had plenty of bad things to reap from.

The only reason she was one month clean and sober was because Paul cut her off. He wanted the booze and drugs for himself. He had the same attitude about food, forcing Skylar to pick from his leftovers. She was with him simply because he had been her dealer. But once he grew bored with her and she ran out of the small inheritance Granma had left her, he abandoned her to scrounge for herself. She begged him to not leave her on the streets, and he agreed to let her stay at his trailer under the condition he had use of her body whenever and however he wanted. Desperate and afraid, she agreed.

Now here she stood, looking longingly into the night sky for an answer. But God didn’t seem to hear her pleas. The thought crossed her mind that maybe He was ignoring her because of all the horrible things she had done. Granma’s scowl appeared in her mind with the words
the Almighty loves us despite ourselves. He’s just waiting for us to love who we are before He says anything.
She supposed she would never feel that kind of love for she, like Granma, was a miserable, unlovable waste of human flesh.

Skylar shook her head again, the dizziness worsening. She collapsed to the ground as her injured ankle gave way from underneath her, and she cried out as she jarred her fractured arm on a rock. She wished she could cry, but she had no tears left inside of her. So she prayed… for God to have mercy and just take her away from this dreadful existence. The temperature dropped quickly and the cold took over her mind as she drifted into a blissful state of shock, numbing her pain as it lulled her into a deep and hopefully permanent sleep.

The sounds of crunching footsteps reached her ears, but she was too weak to either open her eyes or utter a sound in their direction. Two low male voices murmured close to her face, speaking a language she could not understand. Part of her felt relief, knowing that Paul had not returned. She felt herself being lifted carefully, her carrier obviously mindful of her broken limb. He pulled her against his broad, hard chest and pressed her face to rest against him in a protective manner. Skylar’s nose twitched with interest. His scent was decisively male, intoxicating and heady. He was pure pheromone!

Pain and the concussion prevented her from full awareness of her surroundings. Skylar felt her face being gently cleansed and heard the clipping of a device that removed the tattered material from her injured arm. Warm hands supported the limb as tiny pinches were felt to the area she knew was broken. A low buzz followed by a strong tingling sensation to the throbbing region kept her partially alert as she tried to listen in lieu of seeing. Just as the pain began to become excruciating, she was enclosed in darkness, and the scent of a warm spice reached her nose. She inhaled deeply and fell into an immediate, dreamless sleep.

Time was immeasurable as she slept in the artificial cocoon, soothed by musical sounds and the aroma of a soft spice wafting through the air. As she roused, Skylar sensed she was being watched and groggily forced her eyes open.

A man sat outside of the encasement, his purple eyes watching her intently. Skylar tried to focus, her heart skipping a beat as she took in his handsome features. When did Nordic men come into her part of the world? No matter, he was beautiful… and seemed to be larger than life. His image disappeared as her eyes closed once again.

Skylar struggled to revive herself as she felt hands running along the length of her body and the cool air on her flesh as material was removed. The hands belonged to identical twin men with kind, gentle eyes and reassuring smiles, both dressed in black clothing. The hands helped soothe away her initial anxiety as they washed her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, all the while speaking to her in a foreign language. They supported her ankle, avoided the nasty cut, and handled her with kid gloves as they cleaned and bandaged her injuries. She felt her arms being lifted over her head and the pads of a finger run along her side. She fought not to release a giggle as the man touched a tickle spot, but she offered a slight smile. He patted her hand and lowered her arms, muttering something to the other. Her body stiffened slightly as she felt her womanly lips being parted and the slow sensation of penetration.

Skylar’s half-asleep state only allowed her to think of what to do, but she was unable to act upon it. The long digit in her pussy felt both invasive and comforting, like it belonged there, yet it was still uninvited and she incapable of stopping it. Her horror came when she was turned over to her stomach, her bottom spread wide to reveal her dusky hole as she felt it being touched.

Even in her sedated state, the massage around that sensitive area aroused her body in a way that she had not experienced. She heard a low moan trickle from her lips as a warm finger pressed into her. Excited garbles from her observers were exchanged as the movement increased, drawing both audible groans and copious juices from her body. Skylar held her breath as the touching momentarily stopped, wondering what would happen next. Oddly enough, she was not afraid. In fact, she truly felt nothing. It was a dream… All this gentle, nurturing attention by two beautiful foreign strangers was simply a dream. A lovely dream with… what’s that?

Skylar clenched her teeth as she felt her bottom being probed again and the sensation of an object, wider than a finger, being slid within her. She was no virgin, not after the disgusting things Paul would do to her when he was hyped on drugs, but this invasion was different. The object began to swell and fill her cavity to the point of unusual, but comfortable, fullness. A small vibration tingled against the tight internal walls, and her skin shivered in a delightful response. The item remained in place as it began to slowly turn.

An ache trembled through her. It had been years since she had last orgasmed not under her own power, and she felt her body awakening to the need for satisfaction. She was touched again and felt the warm, gentle fingers explore her moisture.
More
, she urged mentally, trying to will herself to reaching a place of pleasure. But her body, too exhausted and broken, would not cooperate. With a sigh, Skylar ceased her resistance and allowed herself to drift again into blissful sleep.

* * *

Skylar abruptly opened her eyes, staring at a ceiling made of tiny diamond-shaped, pale blue platelets. Her body felt heavy and she was unable to move her limbs. Did Paul finally paralyze her? She tried to hold back the surge of panic as she recalled the beating she had faced. He had left her to die, so how in the world did she end up in this… hospital? Skylar slowly turned her head, wincing as the nauseating headache from the concussion came to life. The entire room was stark and undecorated, in pale blue and off-white. The bed she was tucked away in resembled a ‘tanning clam,’ with a long, rectangular mattress that made her feel as though she were floating on air. Her fingers reached to touch the material, finding nothing.
Holy shit!
She was suspended above the base like a human hovercraft. No wonder she was so comfortable. She tried to reach up and touch the clear dome that housed her body in the case, but was unable to lift her arms.

She heard a man’s voice from the far side of the room and strained her head to see him.

“She is awake. Speak her language so she is not so afraid,” came words that she clearly understood, undistorted by the pleasant and very seductive accent.
Whatever country these guys came from sure beat the Brits with the sexy accent card! Yum!
she mused.

“How do you feel?” the beautiful, blond, purple-eyed god of a man asked after lifting the lid from her ‘container.’

“I can’t move anything except my head,” Skylar answered, watching as an identical man joined him. This had to be a dream! There was no way two pieces of eye candy could exist in the same dimension. “Where is this place? How did you find me? Who are you?”

“I am Tralec and this is my… brother, Troy,” the first man said with a soft smile. “Do you have a name?”

“Skylar. Skylar Dunlop.”

“That is a very unusual name. Very pretty. Like you,” the other man said. His English was more stilted, as though he struggled for words.

“Thanks. Why can’t I move? Did Paul paralyze me?” Skylar asked nervously.

He reached over to look into her eyes and study her pupils. “No, you are not paralyzed. The medication I gave you put your body into temporary suspension so that it could heal quicker. You had many serious injuries, including internal ones. What is this Paul?”

“He was my boyfriend. Well, not really a boyfriend, more of a… anyway, he left after he beat the hell out of me. How did you find me? Where are you from? Is this a hospital?”

“It is very curious, isn’t it?” Troy asked.

“
She
is,” Tralec corrected. “Most of her kind is very inquisitive, from what I’ve read.”

“You don’t have girls where you live?” Skylar asked.

“We do, but our females are much different. As is our culture. Are you experiencing head pain? You keep wrinkling the skin in between your eyes,” Tralec asked with concern.

“Only when I move my head around. I discovered quite accidentally that my skull is not harder than a rock.”

“The pain? It is bad?” Troy asked.

“It is making me want to puke. I get migraines, but this is far worse. Fuck! What the hell is that! What are you doing?!” she yelped as Tralec produced a long-needled syringe and filled it with a bright green fluid.

“Tending to your pain. This is Cyphlon. It will accelerate healing of your internal injuries and provide some sedation to help with your head pain. Hold still,” he advised, easily shifting her to the side on the invisible shelf of air. Skylar squealed loudly as he injected the needle into the back of her hip, squeezing firmly to stabilize it as he slowly forced the thick fluid into her flesh.

“That hurts! Oh, my God, stop!” she screamed, unable to so much as flail to escape the burning pain.

“You are hurting it! Her, I mean,” Troy said sharply as the corners of his face and the outside of his neck began to flush blue.

“At ease, brother. Put your gills down. I have no desire to cause her pain unless necessary. Her flesh is much softer than ours and requires that I z-tract the injection to keep the medication in place. That method requires turning the direction of the needle after it is inserted and can be potentially uncomfortable.”

“She’s leaking,” Troy said softly as Tralec turned the girl to her back. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she sobbed softly. He touched one and brought it to his mouth. “Is she comprised of a sodium compound?”

“No. The geologists said this planet had salt-based water sources, so I assume that the life-forms here correspond with it.”

“Life-forms? What are you,” Skylar yawned, the medication quickly activating, “talking about?”

“Shhh, nothing for you to worry about right now. Sleep, little Skylar. We will not allow anything to hurt you again. We are here to take care of you. I promise,” Tralec said gently, stroking her bruised face.

“I’ll be back,” Troy said abruptly, grabbing a torso cover from the wall.

“Where are you going? Your gills are flushing again,” Tralec asked.

“To find and dispose of this Paul. It never can be permitted to harm another female again.”

“Practice care. It would be difficult for it to harm you, but not impossible. Go to the shelter again as well and see if you can find anything else to help us learn about her. The cultures on this planet are so extensive that I do not know where to begin to focus.”

“You are going to kill… don’t let him hurt you…” Skylar muttered, fighting off sleep.

“I will be fine, little one. I am a Calipi warrior. No Terra-ling can harm me.”

“Calipi? Is that in Norway?” Skylar felt herself drifting further from reality as she began to lose the ability to keep her eyes open.

“Stop fighting the medication, child,” Tralec said softly. “Go to sleep now.”

“Yes, Daddy,” Skylar murmured in a tiny voice, snuggling her face into the cup of his hand as she regressed in her sedated condition.

“That’s a good girl. Close your eyes.”

“I’m hungry. Can I have something to eat?” Skylar asked, her vocalization becoming even more childlike.

“After you wake from your nap, darling,” Tralec responded, seeming surprisingly comfortable using the term of endearment. “Sleep now.”

“She really is very sweet, and she brings out a soft side of you. I don’t care what the council says; we are definitely keeping her,” Troy announced as though the decision had ever been up as a topic for discussion.

Tralec cleared his throat. “Go take care of what needs to be done. We need to research what they eat and provide her proper nourishment. I am not certain our canisters would be palatable for this race. I can barely swallow the contents.”

“I’ll take the shifter and see if I can slide into some of the communities and perhaps gather supplies. Should I find clothing as well?”

“Find samples if you can and we can duplicate and manufacture items for her. Do not be long. You need to rest.”

“Very well. May I… kiss her?”

Tralec nodded and stood aside while Troy leaned over to kiss Skylar’s forehead. She smiled through drooping lids and sighed. Truly, this was a wonderful dream. Except for the stabbing ache to her right buttock.