Van, Becca - Help Me Fly Again (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (6 page)

Sandi walked into the bathing chamber, slid into the warm water, and then got out to get some bathing gel. She coated her body with suds, cleaning away the scent of her two lovers as tears coursed down her cheeks. Her heart was pulling her in two directions. She wanted to go home, back to Earth where everything she knew was familiar to her, but she also wanted to stay with the two men. The thought of leaving them had pain ripping through her chest and into her heart. She knew it wasn’t just their fault she hadn’t realized what they had meant by wanting to mate with her. She should have asked, and they had obviously believed she knew what they meant. God. What a mess.
Fuck, Sandi. You’re screwed, girl. You’ve gone and fallen in love with aliens.
Sandi let the tears continue to fall, the pain in her heart nearly more than she could bear. She knew it was as inevitable as the sun rising that she would be found eventually by IDSE. Then what was she going to do?

Once the tears had dried up, she slid back into the pool, rinsed away the soapy gel, got out, and dried off on one of the hide skins. She found her clothes and pulled them on. She walked out to the living room, sighed with relief when she didn’t encounter Dreab or Erup, and left their home.

Sandi found the dark tunnel leading up to the outside. She had no idea what time it was, whether it was night or day, but she intended to find out. She traversed the dark tunnel and noticed she could make out the edges of the dark rock walls. She wondered if her eyesight was adjusting to being in dim lighting from the glowing crystals, since she hadn’t been outside for quite a few hours. When she finally reached the opening to the cave, she saw the sun was descending in the sky, making the color a strange yellowy-pink hue. She sat down on the edge of the outcropping and stared into the distance.

She missed the modern conveniences technology on Earth had produced, and she loved flying more than anything else in the entire universe. She wanted to stay but knew she couldn’t. Once IDSE found her, she would have no other option than to follow orders.

* * * *

“You know we are going to have to show Sandi our real home down below eventually. She is going to be so angry with us. We have far better technology than her Earth has, from what she has said, and we may have the means for her to fix her flying machine to get home,” Erup said to his brother.

“I know, Erup. I told her we had spaceships and that they were totally different than hers. I just wasn’t sure if she was sent here for nefarious reasons. That is why I haven’t shown her our true home as yet. We didn’t know our little Sandi then. I had to make sure our clan was not put in danger. At first I thought she could be a risk to us and our planet. I had to be totally sure she was not here to try and steal our technology or to start a war. She’s our mate, Erup. We need her here with us. I love her already, as I’m sure you do, as well.”

“Yes, I do love her. More than anything on Eagron, but we could be making more trouble by not telling her we have advanced technology far beyond what we have shown her and what they have back on Earth. I don’t like lying to our mate. It will come back to bite us on the ass,” Erup stated.

“I didn’t lie to her. I just didn’t tell her everything,” Dreab said with a sigh. “We will just have to hope Sandi loves us and understands why I did what I did.”

“I hope for our sake you’re right, Dreab, because if you’re wrong, we could end up losing Sandi altogether. Even though you told her about our spaceships, you haven’t let her see our true world. It is time you trusted her, brother. She is our mate and deserves our love, trust, and respect. I know why you didn’t tell her, but I don’t think Sandi will understand you were only trying to protect our people. It is time to show and tell our mate the truth.”

* * * *

Sandi rose from the cliff edge, turned, and walked around the large boulder concealing the entrance. She slowly traversed the dark tunnel, heading back to Dreab and Erup’s home. When she finally got to the center of the massive cavern, she stood and turned, taking in the scenery in the glowing light of the crystals. She didn’t see anyone else about and had never felt so alone in her life. She was so far out of her comfort zone she didn’t know how to handle it. She had always been a loner, preferring to fill her time with her studies and work. She had gotten into a routine, and now that she was out of her element, she felt totally lost. She was definitely going to find the crash site and see what damage had been done to her ship. She needed to get out of here, and fast, before she got any more attached to her two angel-looking men.

When Sandi arrived back at Dreab and Erup’s home, they were just exiting the door to the rock dwelling.

“Where have you been, Sandi? We’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Dreab yelled.

“I told you, I needed some time alone. I went to the surface and was sitting on the large outcropping. I just needed some time to think.”

“That was a stupid thing to do alone. We have already told you about the Redloh Clan leader. If he or any of his clan members had seen you, they may have tried to take you. It’s not safe for any female to be wandering about alone, let alone one who has no wings and cannot escape through flight. Do you really think you could outrun one of our males? You need to be more cautious. I don’t want you going off alone again. It is our right as your mates to protect you. I don’t want you getting hurt,” Dreab explained, frustration evident in his voice.

“Listen, you arrogant Neanderthal, I have been looking after myself since I was sixteen years old. I am not your wife. I don’t care what you say. I can look after myself and don’t need anyone to look out for me. I will do what I want, when I want to. Is that clear?” Sandi yelled back. No one was going to tell her what to do. She knew she was being unreasonable by taking out her frustration on Dreab, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She was so torn up inside. She wanted to be able to wrap herself around her two mates and never let go, but she needed to keep her distance in case she was rescued and had to leave.

“Hey, stop it, you two. Arguing will get us nowhere. Dreab is only trying to look after you, Sandi. You are on a strange planet and have no idea what could happen if you were found alone by one of the Redloh Clan. It’s not that we don’t want you to go anywhere, we just want you to be safe,” Erup explained.

“Okay. I’m sorry I became angry, but you have to understand I’m going crazy. I have feelings for you two, and I don’t know what to do about it. I want to hold onto you both and never let go. But then there is the fear I have deep down inside. I know the people I work for will come to find me. I don’t want to get anymore attached to you than I already am and then have to leave. Can’t you see it would rip me apart? I don’t know what to feel or how to deal with any of this. I am so frustrated and tired, I could sleep for a week. I think it would be better if I slept elsewhere tonight. I just need time alone to try and get my head together. Do you have a spare bedroom or bed?”

“You can sleep on the sofa. We need to go to bed anyway. We have an early morning meeting and need to be up before the sun. We should be back in time for mid eating,” Erup said.

Sandi watched as Dreab and Erup moved to the bedchamber. Erup returned moments later with a few hide skins so Sandi wouldn’t get cold during the night.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Please try and understand Dreab was angry because he was scared you had disappeared or been hurt. Sleep well.”

Sandi lay down on the hard wooden sofa covered with animal hides. She was in for a long night. She knew her mind wasn’t going to let her rest. She had been trained to be the one of the best pilots on Earth. She had signed a contract and still had another two years to serve. She had never taken her responsibilities lightly. She knew she would feel guilt for the rest of her life if she didn’t try and fix the spaceship and head back to Earth. She had a responsibility to herself, her government, the citizens of her planet, and to her employers. Yet she knew she would feel as if her heart had been ripped from her chest to have to leave her two mates behind. Her thoughts whirled in vicious circles until eventually she cried silent tears and then finally drifted into a restless doze.

Chapter Four

Sandi heard Erup and Dreab moving about in their bedchamber and knew they would be leaving for their meeting soon. She lay quietly, unmoving, keeping her breathing deep and even as she listened to them. They both entered the bathing chamber, and after what must have been a quick dip in the rock pool, they were in the kitchen chamber, eating their morning meal while talking quietly. She knew she would miss them, but she wished they would hurry up and leave. She didn’t want to have to face them and say good-bye. Pain pierced her heart, and she drew in a deep breath.

She had decided she was going to try and fulfill her responsibilities to her planet. They deserved her loyalty first and foremost. She knew she was never going to be the same person, but hopefully she would eventually get over the pain of leaving her mates behind. She was going to have to dedicate herself to her career, as she knew it was the only way she would survive without Dreab and Erup by her side. If she worked twelve hour days, seven days a week, she might, just might be able to get through a day and then be able to fall asleep at night.

Once the men left, Sandi waited another ten to fifteen minutes before she made her move. She went into the kitchen and grabbed all the food she could to last her a couple of days, as well as a hide flagon filled with water. She quietly left their house, keeping to the shadows, hoping no one would see her. She had a few close calls as she headed toward the dark tunnel leading outside. She had to duck down behind large rocks as people moved about, obviously heading for the morning meeting. She gave a sigh of relief when she finally got to the tunnel and began the trek uphill. She hoped she didn’t encounter anyone coming back from an early morning flight.

Sandi looked about her as she stood on the large rock outcropping on the mountain side. She was about to give up hope of finding a way down when her eyes suddenly alighted on a small, narrow path on the far side of the large, flat rock. She carefully began her descent down the mountainside. When she finally arrived at the bottom of the mountain, she was thankful she had made it in one piece. A couple of times she had begun to slide and was lucky enough to be able to grab a bush close by. She looked up at the sun and knew more time had passed than she realized on her treacherous trek downhill. She finally made it down, and she picked up her pace and began to jog along the flat ground. The hide sling she had fashioned to carry her food and drink was annoying as it hit her in the side. There wasn’t much she could do about it. She didn’t stop, she just kept going. It was a lot farther than she thought it would be, but when she finally found her downed spacecraft. She was elated. She took her sling off over her shoulder, pulled out the flagon of water, and took a drink. She didn’t drink too much. She didn’t know how long she would be here and wanted to pace herself with drinking her precious water.

Sandi walked around her craft and nearly cried with disbelief and frustration. The wings of her cruiser were broken. One of them had been sheared right off the side. There was nothing she could do to make it fly again. She sank down onto the ground and finally let her frustration out. She cried for the third time in ten years—the first time when her parents had died and now twice since she had been on Eagron. She berated herself for not taking the time to examine the ship after her crash. But she had been too astounded at seeing the two handsome men standing feet away watching her. Then she had forgotten all about her ship when they had produced wings out of nowhere. She had been afraid and excited. She was drawn to them and felt a yearning in her heart. Maybe she had known that those two men would be the loves of her life. She had let everything she had learned be pushed aside. Her body and heart had taken over, and her mind had taken a back seat.

Sandi finally pulled herself together, wiped away her tears, and set about examining the ship. She moved to the side without a wing and ducked down through the hole. She squeezed her way through until she was in the cockpit, sat down in the pilot seat, and began flipping switches. Nothing on the systems control panel worked. It was totally dead. She even tried rebooting everything, and then in her frustration, she slammed her fist down on the panel. She had wasted so much time getting back to her ship, and all for nothing.

Sandi was about to climb out of the cockpit and start the long trek back to Dreab and Erup’s home when she saw a large bird in the distance, flying in her direction. She decided to stay where she was until the bird or Eagronian flew away. She wasn’t going to chance running into anyone from the notorious Redloh Clan. As the bird flew closer, Sandi was thankful she hadn’t taken a chance. It was definitely one of the angel-look-alike men. He could be from Dreab’s clan, but she was not willing to chance it. She ducked down in the cockpit seat and hoped the male didn’t stop to take a look at the ship. Luck didn’t seem to be on her side.

Sandi watched as the male landed not far off to the side of her craft, and she took the opportunity to quietly move from the cockpit to the back of her ship. She was hoping to make it to one of the large storage compartments and hide in it until the threat was over, but she didn’t make it. She didn’t even hear the male land on top of the glass cockpit. The next thing she knew, the canopy was slid back, and a large hand reached into the ship and grabbed hold of the back of her T-shirt. She tried to shrug out of the T-shirt so she could get away from the big man, but he reached in with his other arm, wrapped it around her waist, and hauled her up and out through the canopy hole. She screamed as she tried to fight him off, but it was like fighting a brick wall. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, effectively trapping her arms to her sides. She kicked back, trying to hurt her assailant any way and anywhere she could, but she just wasn’t strong or big enough. He had her up in the air before she could blink.