Ruth's Bonded (Ruth & Gron Book 1) Read online

  It hadn’t escaped her notice that her cellmate was totally butt naked as well, as far as she could tell. He had his fur, but otherwise, not a stitch. She was calling him a ‘he’, because the muscles, broad shoulders and absence of breasts didn’t make her think he was a ‘she’, but what did she know? He was an alien. His species might not even have male and female. They might only have one gender, or three, or four. They might have two that were completely different from humans, or they might have buff females and smaller males. They might get their babies from cabbage patches, or test tubes. They might emerge fully-formed from trees. He might be one of a finite number of immortals incapable of reproduction. Anything was possible.

  But she was going to proceed with the assumption he was male. And she was female. And that might eventually have ramifications. At least she’d just finished her period and didn’t have to worry about that for a while. If she was in here for that long though, she’d probably need it to tell her how much time was passing. She hoped she wasn’t in here long enough to get sick from lack of sun. Would she get cabin-fever? What even was cabin-fever, really? She hoped it wasn’t bad.

  She felt like she was going crazy, babbling in her own mind. She knew intellectually she would eventually get tired enough to sleep on this floor, but she wasn’t looking forward to it. She could probably fold up her jacket for a pillow.

  God, someone find me, she thought desperately. Someone rescue me. I don’t want to be here.

  Maybe her job would have noticed she wasn’t there by now. Maybe when they fail to get in touch with her, they’ll call her landlord. These were the people who would look for her, her employer and her landlord. Not her family or friends, who probably wouldn’t notice they hadn’t heard from her for weeks.

  She looked again at the alien who shared this cell with her. How long had he been here? They couldn’t have taken him from Earth, on the same trip they got her. He might have been in this cell for days, weeks, months. Ruth didn’t know how interplanetary travel worked in practice, no-one on Earth did. She hoped he hadn’t gone mad.

  They should be friends. Ruth didn’t know if she could stand being in this cell with him, not being able to talk to each other, and not interact at all. If he was going to kill her, it might be better to just get it over with, she thought grimly. She’d quickly go insane with boredom if she couldn’t do anything at all, not even meet his eyes or... play pattycake or something!

  Slowly, as if she was approaching an angry dog, not that she knew how to do that, she went onto her hands and knees again, assuming a crawling position, and watched for his reaction. He was watching her closely, not looking entirely happy, but he hadn’t looked happy since she got there. So, keeping a close eye on him for any change of expression, she crawled over to the other corner on his side. He didn’t move, but he followed her with his eyes, turning his head as she got closer. She could see more of him now, and yep, he was naked, his toned butt on the metal floor. Human men were just not that defined either, not all over. She was also right about the hair; he had a dark brown mane, longer than the rest of his pelt, blending into the fur that spread over his shoulders.

  Okay, so far so good. She began edging sideways towards him. Ruth had never been one of the popular kids in school, she’d usually just had the same two or three friends, but being a temp had taught her how to get on with people at least, how to be pleasant. In this situation, she’d settle for him thinking she was pleasant.

  She had wiggled herself to within about a foot of him when he abruptly stood and crossed to the other side of the cell, sitting down again almost exactly where she had started off. He frowned at her like a father chastising a child. Apparently he didn’t think much of her attempt to befriend him.

  Ruth’s jaw fell open. Not because he’d moved away. He hadn’t attacked her, so that was nice. No, he’d stood up less than a foot away from her face. She was pretty confident now that he was male. Very male. And apparently they were... compatible. In fact, she might go so far as to say it was nothing she hadn’t seen before. Except she’d never seen one that... big. Whatever pattern his fur followed ignored that part of him, so there had been nothing to obstruct her gaze. He didn’t seem to think anything of her seeing him like that.

  But it wasn’t just the evidence of his maleness that had her agape. As he’d stood, a long, furry tail had uncurled from his lap and fallen between his legs to twitch behind him as he walked away from her.

  Not human. Definitely not.

  Now she just had such an itch to touch that tail. Was his fur soft or coarse? She wondered if he’d like it, or if he’d kill her for it. Something to figure out later, she guessed.

  She settled into his old place to pout. At least it was warm.

  Chapter 4

  The Queen had come to sit beside him. Gron had considered letting her, but he grew more and more nervous as she edged closer. Why did she want to be close to him? Would she touch him? Would she attack him? He couldn’t trust her not be an instrument of his captors, so he couldn’t allow her close to him. He doubted she could hurt him, unless she had something venomous hidden in her coverings. Even then, he was sure he could overpower her in an instant.

  But why was she here? Was it possible his captors just didn’t know what they had done by stealing a Queen? He did not know why he had been taken either, but he assumed it must be as a worker, or a trophy, or game. He had fought viciously, and continued to do so every opportunity they gave him, but they had sticks that bit him and burned. So they had reached a practical solution: they did not come near him anymore. They tossed food in through the hatch, and that was it. It made his situation a little desperate, as he knew every day must take him further away from his tribe, but he had no more opportunities to fight or escape.

  If they knew she was a Queen, did they hope to use her to control him? He was forced to admit that it would work. If she gave him a command, he would try to obey. He would still try to escape, and he would not leave her behind, but if she was collaborating with his captors, what would he do? If they threatened to hurt her if he did not obey them, what would he do? He could not allow harm to come to her, not one such as her, so delicate and fragile, perhaps not yet mature. But if he let them know that, then would it be worse for both of them? He had to remember she was not his tribe, not his race, perhaps not even his species. The ones who had taken him were not from his world, neither was this craft. He had no allegiance to her. It gave him an uneasy, guilty, sick feeling in his stomach to think it, but her presence in his cell could well be a trap, some kind of ruse to tame him for their purposes, whatever they were. If that were true, then it would not go well for him if he fell for it.

  Of course, the species who had taken him were so different from his own, that they might not have realised her significance, might not even have realised she was female. He hadn’t been able to discern yet whether their species had males and females. In that case, what did they expect him to do with her? Was she simply in his cell to be held for transportation? They knew he was dangerous.

  Perhaps they wanted them to fight. For sport.

  Perhaps they expected him to eat her.

  His blood ran cold and then hot as another idea came to him and took hold of his mind. Perhaps they wanted him to mate with her. If he had value, maybe they wanted more of him. Little ones. He swallowed. That was forbidden. She was not his Queen. His captors might not understand his people’s ways, but he would not break them, no matter how far away from his tribe they took him.

  But if they kept them together in this space for long enough, wouldn’t the Bond form? Wouldn’t his allegiance be changed if he stayed this close to her, alone? Nature would take over. He would become hers. His body would not give him the choice.

  He could not let that happen.

  So he had moved away when she had approached him. But if she wanted to touch him... Well, that would be inappropriate, first of all. No Queen other than his mother had ever touched him without another present.
It would make him distinctly uncomfortable. It would also speed the forming of the Bond. He might become primed for her, for her breeding needs. He couldn’t believe that she wanted that. Not under these circumstances. A Queen like her should already have her males, but even if she didn’t, this was not the place for carrying or raising young. She must only have intended to Bind him to her, for security. She was away from her tribe. He guessed he could protect her better than she could protect herself, at least in battle, and she must have realised that.

  That thought was... He couldn’t think it. It was not his place to stud for a Queen. He served, that was all. And he already had a tribe, and a Queen, and he would be killed for betraying her. That was the end of it. He would be loyal to his own kind, he had to be. He would not allow harm to come to this Queen, but he would not allow himself to be Bound either.

  There was still the possibility that she was acting for his captors, and wished to Bind him so that he would no longer fight them. To mate with him would be the quickest way to accomplish that.

  As he sat down again on the other side of the cell, her expression told him she had not expected him to reject her. A fair assumption, as no male displeases their Queen, but she was not his Queen and she must know that. It is the duty of the male not to be poached by a rival Queen, and he was not a weak-willed or ambitious male.

  As Gron watched her settle back against the wall, her arms wrapping around herself, a mournful expression on her face, his tail twitched guiltily. She was alone here, just like he was. She had been taken from her people and her home. She was probably scared. He couldn’t blame her for reaching out, trying to make a connection. If she was a prisoner like him, it was the clever and practical thing for a Queen to do. He was impressed she had been prepared to do it so soon, she must be strong indeed to do what will protect her, regardless of sentimentality for her old tribe. He wondered whether or not she intended to abandon him if she returned to her tribe, or integrate him, or have him killed? He would not fit in with her kind, but perhaps he could offer them something they lack, like strength, size.

  He shook himself out of that fantasy. What was he doing, thinking of that? That was not his future. He must remain steadfast. This situation would not improve if the Bond formed between them. If the Queen was sad, she was clearly strong enough to endure it. He would help her to survive this, and then they would part.

  Chapter 5

  Okay, so the alien didn’t want to make friends. He hadn’t attacked her though. It could have been worse. As long as whoever had abducted them fed them, it didn’t look like he would eat her. Oh, Ruth had no doubts he was a meat-eater, with teeth like those, but she was hoping he was squeamish about eating other sapient races. He wasn’t leering at her either, which was good. She was probably the guiltier party as far as that was concerned, having been caught off-guard by his full-frontal display.

  Maybe she had it wrong, maybe he was just an animal. A really calm, alien gorilla. That thought didn’t make her feel any better about her situation, and she had to dismiss it anyway. He hadn’t reacted to her like an animal would. He had facial expressions. He had replied to her talking to him, even if she hadn’t understood. He met her eyes and scowled in obvious reproach when she had attempted to sit next to him. He was intelligent. He was an alien. They couldn’t communicate. This situation sucked.

  She looked at her watch. At least she still had that to keep her in touch with life on Earth. She hadn’t looked at it before, so she couldn’t say how long had passed since she had been taken, but it wasn’t even twelve o’clock yet. She knew she had been in that alley around ten to nine, because she was almost at her building, which was the point of the shortcut, and she wanted her coffee to still be hot when she got there. So, she hadn’t even been in the cell for three hours. Her co-workers might only just be thinking that she was anything other than late or sick. It would probably be hours before her boss called any number other than hers. Of course, it might also be days. They might only bother really looking for her so they could fire her.

  Ruth let her head drop against the wall. How could it be so quiet and still in here if they were on a spaceship? She thought under other circumstances she might be excited to be flying through space, if that was what they were doing. Maybe they weren’t. Maybe she’d been kidnapped by NASA and she was in Area 51 right now, thrown in with an alien as a socialisation experiment. Maybe she was taken because she was a non-threatening first attempt to test whether or not the beast was hostile to humans, and she wouldn’t be missed if he was. If she had been taken by humans, she’d really appreciate it if they’d let her know. Maybe they couldn’t risk letting her see their faces, but just a voice over an intercom, or a commando in body armour and a ski mask would really help her mood right then.

  She sat up straighter. It was too early to be getting depressed, she hadn’t even been here for a day. Maybe she was being held for ransom, and would be going home once the government negotiated her release. She got to her feet. Maybe she could get herself out of here. She should at least look. She didn’t miss the way her cellmate’s eyes followed her, but she ignored him for now. She didn’t blame him for watching her, she was the only other thing in here, after all. He couldn’t even watch paint dry or grass grow in here. He didn’t even have tiles to count.

  Ruth turned her back on him and faced the wall behind her, running her hands over it. She couldn’t feel any vibrations at all, nor had she when she was sitting on the floor. She pressed her ear to it but heard nothing other than a faint dull rushing sound which she suspected was the blood in her head. She knocked a knuckle against the metal and it clanged, the same way it had when she had hit the floor after being thrown in. There must have been a hollow on the other side. It looked like the space was formed by individual sheets of metal that were bolted together, so logically any weaknesses would be at the seams. Ruth moved to the closest one and ran her fingers along it.

  The alien’s growling voice came to her from the other side of the cell. While she still couldn’t make out any individual words, she was believing more and more that he was actually speaking when he did that, and not just vocalising his displeasure like an animal. She couldn’t understand it, but it was encouraging to think that he wasn’t going to give her the cold shoulder for however long they were stuck here together. He didn’t want them sitting next to each other, and she would respect that, but she was glad there was hope for some kind of solidarity between them. He didn’t get up to help her though, so she turned back to what she was doing.

  “Yeah, whatever,” she replied, just to be polite, knowing he couldn’t understand. “I’m still going to look.”

  She could look for a loose or damaged bolt, and she made a note to do that later, but the bolts were spaced close enough together that if she wanted to create a gap wide enough for her shoulders, she’d have to remove two or three at least, and the odds of there being three damaged ones all lined up next to each were almost non-existent. Maybe she could fatigue them by working the metal somehow, but the walls didn’t give at all when she leaned her weight against them.

  The alien spoke again, making her think he was probably telling her not to bother, but she only stopped when she heard him get to his feet. She hopped away from the wall when he came over pulling her arms to her chest protectively, but he simply stood in front of her with one hand against the seam where the metal was joined, and pushed as hard as he could.

  Ruth wondered if she had gone pale or was blushing. Apart from being naked and furry, this guy had to be over six and a half feet tall, and his arms were as big as her head. He was seriously buff. He had the kind of size and definition that could only be found in comic books. She could see now that the shield-like fur on his chest tapered down from his pecs into a treasure trail that framed his genitals rather than covered them. And yes, she was looking. The fur itself looked almost two inches deep wherever it was, pouring down the outside of his arms and legs. She looked down, hoping for another peek at that
tail, and she was obliged when she found it hanging between his calves, before it curled up and out of sight.

  His muscles strained obligingly as he pushed against the metal, but nothing happened. He looked at her again and growled briefly. She now thought she would recognise “I told you so” in his language if she heard it again, but she frowned at him.

  “You can’t blame me for trying,” she said. “Besides, maybe I’m smarter than you, even if I’m not stronger.” She was banking a lot on him not being able to understand her, but she didn’t hide her petulant look as she folded her arms in defiance. He just looked at her blankly as if waiting for her to explain in a way he understood. Eventually she rolled her eyes and made little shooing motions with her hands to chase him away. He clearly didn’t understand the gesture, but he retreated anyway, probably misinterpreting it as an attempt to touch him.

  She ran her fingers over the seam again and it was obvious nothing had changed. At least her eyes had grown accustomed to the dark. Ruth moved around the room, stopping at every seam, examining the bolts. She was aware that the alien was still stood where she had left him, watching her, but he didn’t offer any more helpful suggestions. She tried not to be unnerved by his stare, or intimidated by his size.

  Finally, she had done every wall, and not found one scratch or speck of rust. Great. The floor was the same. She stamped her foot to listen to the clang. They must be suspended in a big empty space for that noise, but there was no echo. She went around, trying to listen for a change in the sound, a point that suggested their cell was resting against something, but she didn’t find one. She looked up to find the alien standing inches away, looking down at the floor as if expecting to see something to explain her stamping. She leapt about a foot in the air when she saw him, and he looked at her as if he was starting to get concerned that she might be dangerously unhinged.