Riv's Sanctuary: A Sci-fi Alien Romance by A.G. Wilde (best books to read TXT) 📕

her keep her sanity. “I guess I do need a bath, don’t I?”

“Why do you ask questions you don’t wish for me to answer?”

Lauren huffed out a short laugh. This was the Riv she was used to. The grumpy, slightly irritable, blue alien.

“They’re rhetorical questions, Riv. It’s in the definition. I already knew the answer before I asked.” She pushed the chair so it moved back under the table and took a step toward the corridor, sucking in air as she did.

Shit. Her muscles were really effed up.

“Then why ask?”

She paused.

“Conversation? I thought we were having a conversation.”

He grunted, his eyes softening a little.

Lauren turned away from him and took one step and another, wincing as she did. It seemed the walk to the bathroom was going to take much longer than usual at the rate she was going.

These last few days had really taken a toll on her, more than she’d realized even, for her body to be reacting like this.

Before she knew what was happening, she was lifted off her feet by strong arms.

A yelp left her lips and the next thing she knew, her view was of Riv’s taut trouser-clad ass.

An ass she’d had the pleasure of viewing in its most natural form.

“What are you—”

“Don’t resist,” he said as he began walking down the corridor. “When you resist, you writhe, and when you writhe…”

Lauren stopped moving, his words rendering her silent and a heat beginning to grow between her thighs.

Falling limp against him, she took a deep breath to calm herself.

This close, his musk filled her nose.

It was the type of smell that made a girl want to kiss a guy and then tie herself up, legs splayed, mouth gagged, so he could delve deep into the center of her universe and make her scream.

Yea, she was thirsty all right. Considering he wasn’t the nicest or friendliest of persons, she was really thirsty.

Her senses came back to her when he set her down in the bathroom.

Moving over to the wall, he pressed a series of small squares embedded into the wall itself and a sort of whirring noise began.

In front of her eyes, one section of the wall began curving forward, forming a tub.

“Whoa.” She could only stare. “The heck?”

Riv glanced her way. “Do you not have cleansing tubs,” he cleared his throat and she realized he was trying out this conversation thing, “on your planet?”

Lauren smiled. “Yes, but they’re fixtures in the actual room. They don’t appear out of bendable walls.”

Riv nodded.

Pressing a few more buttons, he started the jets and the tub began to fill with water.

He brushed past her then and exited the room without another word.

Well, there went the conversation.

She thought he’d gone and was about to start undressing when he reentered with a little packet in his hand.

The packet had some sort of powder that he sprinkled over the water.

The powder created a thin shimmer and the water itself looked warm and inviting, little wisps of steam escaping from the surface to float into the air.

She could just imagine sinking her aching body beneath the surface and she had to bite back a moan.

“What’s the powder for?” she asked, instead, turning to look up at him.

“Healing salts.”

She raised her eyebrows then, opening her mouth to ask him why he was suddenly going out of his way to be so nice.

Instead, she said, “Thank you.”

He didn’t reply. He only seemed to stiffen some more.

She didn’t know what had gotten into him but she wasn’t going to question it.

This was the second time in a year she’d felt like a human being and not just property or something unwanted. The first being when he’d taken her shopping at the market.

Stepping forward, she made to begin undressing when she glanced behind her to see he was still standing there.

“I need to… I need privacy to undress.”

She wasn’t sure, the steam was beginning to make it hard to see, but she was almost sure the skin on his face flushed to a darker shade.

“You will need help washing.”

It was her turn to blush. “What?”

“I am here to assist you.”

That took her off guard and it must have shown because his shoulders stiffened some more.

“I can do it myself.” She looked down at her palms. Maybe not. Maybe she couldn’t do it herself.

She did need his help.

Fine.

“Ok. I may need your help but you have to turn around while I undress and I only need help with my hair, if you don’t mind.”

Riv swallowed hard. She could see his throat move.

“I don’t mind.”

The air felt thick again as she watched him turn around.

Stripping as fast as she could through the aches and pains, she settled into the tub.

The water felt as good as it looked. Absolutely divine.

“You can turn around now.”

He did so slowly, his eyes taking in the fact that she was completely covered by the warm bath.

She’d dipped as low as she could, and thanks to the dimness of the room, she couldn’t see her body underneath the water.

Riv walked forward, pulling up the sleeves of his tunic.

He came to stand behind the tub and Lauren’s breath caught in her throat as she waited.

The first touch of his hand against her scalp was utterly heavenly and she moaned low in her throat without meaning to.

His hand stiffened at the sound and she wished she could sink underneath the water and hide for a bit.

This was why she never washed her hair at the salon. Scalp massages always had a way of making her express her delight verbally, much to the chagrin of her hairdressers.

Riv’s fingers started moving again as he reached for the soap and lathered her hair, wetting it with one hand and lathering with the other.

For a few seconds, Lauren rested her head back against the tub, allowing him to work the dirt out of her strands.

He was doing it so well, almost as if he had practice.

“You’re awesome at this.”

“I had much practice washing Sohut’s fur as a chid.”

“Oh. You were a