Yolanda Sfetsos - Alex Wales - Promise

She shook her head, disgusted at her absentminded behavior.

Luckily, she confirmed the oxygen content by taking a quick gulp of air.

Alex stepped outside but couldn’t find firm ground. She tumbled forward, flying through the air as her hands clawed to grab at the branches striking her face and body on the way down.

When she finally landed, it was on top of something firm that made a sound and collapsed beneath her.

Alex felt the undeniable beating of another’s heart against her chest.

As she scrambled to press her hands against the leafy ground to lift her body, she met the blazing green eyes of a dark-haired man lying underneath her. The color stood out in his dark face so much, her breath caught for a second. He had to be the most stunning man she’d ever laid eyes on. With his black, dreadlocked hair framing his face, she couldn’t help but stare.

She was straddling him, their noses only centimeters from touching. The stranger widened his eyes as he returned her stare.

“Uh, sorry…and thanks,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to squash you, but I appreciate you breaking my fall.” Even if her ribs throbbed, rubbing against his.

“You…you fell out of the sky.” The guy seemed amazed, as if a miracle had just occurred-not just a woman falling out of a tree, because she hadn’t been looking while she was vacating her ship.

“I fell out of the tree. My ship’s up there. I crash-landed on this planet.” Alex lifted her chest off his and sat back on his hips to take a proper look at the man. His arms were pinned down at his sides, kept in place by her thighs. Even so, she could see how muscular he was, in the same athletic way as Ulric. His arms were sculpted with muscle, and judging by the looks of the jungle around them, Alex wondered if this was some sort of rural civilization.

His eyes were shiny. “I watched the fireball descend, but I wasn’t sure if it was a ship or a meteor. We rarely have any visitors here.”

“I’m not exactly a visitor.” She watched his reaction. “Can you tell me what planet I’m on?”

“This is the planet Eden.”

“Eden? I’ve travelled through space all of my life and have never heard of Eden.” No wonder it hadn’t been listed on her navigation maps.

“No, you wouldn’t have. We’re a small planet, hidden behind the moon of Paradise. No one ever notices our planet long enough to think about landing here.” The man’s facial structure was amazing. His chiseled jaw, high cheekbones, and nose were very impressive.

Alex couldn’t stop looking at him. He was exquisite, gorgeous in a very manly way. The color of his skin was the same shade she’d always wished had graced hers. It’s the same color as Daddy’s.

No, she couldn’t let memories crowd her, now. She had to work out a way to get help and get Promise up and running. “Listen. I need someone to take a look at my ship,” she said, still trying to shake the crazy thoughts. The last thing she needed right now was to find herself in a new attraction, after running from another. Then again, she had decided she’d get involved with another man the first time someone interesting popped up. She shook her head. Not now, later. “My ship’s damaged pretty badly.”

The man’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t answer.

“Did you hear what I said? I need to get someone to take a look at my ship, sooner rather than later.”

“We have mechanics, but not the sort who can fix a…spaceship.” His voice was low, eyes scanning the canopy of tall trees above as if he were trying to locate her ship.

“How can that be true? Who repairs your ships, then?”

“We don’t have any spaceships.”

“Surely you’ve got a shipping dock? Where’s that?” It wasn’t as if she came in the proper way. Surely someone on this planet would have seen her breach their atmosphere without permission.

He shook his head.

For the first time, she wondered if he was comfortable. Alex still had him pinned, and she hadn’t yet made a move to get off him. She had to admit, there was something really exciting about being so close to this strange man-almost calming. That sounds totally stupid. Her brain was still muddled from the accident, memories, and all the other weird shit she’d put up with today.

“How do your people get in and out of here, then?”

“We don’t,” he answered. “As I’ve already mentioned, we don’t have ships. So, we don’t travel outside of Eden.”

Her eyes narrowed as she glared down at him suspiciously. “That’s impossible.”

“The people of Eden don’t get visitors, and we don’t visit anyone. We’re more than happy in our village.”

“Then how am I supposed to get out of here? Like pretty much everything else on the ship, my communicator’s fried. Do you at least have that? Some sort of communication device I can use to call someone off this planet?” Alex felt as if she were falling into a very dark tunnel. A tunnel leading her into a very strange and out-of-the-way planet that she couldn’t escape.

She had a life in the stars. A job, a lover…

I can’t be stranded, here. Not now and not when she’d left Ulric because of her need to be free.

“We have electronic ways of contacting others on the planet, but not outside. I’m really sorry.”

“Then, how am I supposed to get off this rock?”

“You can’t get off,” the guy whispered. “Though, I can take care of you. Take you back to my village and provide shelter, food, and drink-”

“I don’t need a babysitter. I need to get a job done!” She checked her watch. Sackor was going to be pissed.

“A babysitter?” He looked confused. “That’s not what I’m offering.”

“Then, what are you trying to say?” I have to get off this planet, and soon. If I don’t deliver Sackor’s stash, there’s going to be hell to pay.

Maybe, she should have stayed with the scoundrel who had offered her a better life-a simple way out of the dangerous situations she usually stumbled into. If she’d accepted Ulric’s proposal, she wouldn’t be sitting on some stranger, on a weird planet, with no way of contacting anyone else in the galaxy. Still, it was too late to regret her decision. She’d denied Ulric and was now stuck on Eden.

Alex winced when she made a move to stand up.

The man caught her arm to stop her. “Are you hurt?”

“It’s my ribs. Don’t worry about it. Nothing’s broken.”

“I can take a look for you. I’m a healer,” he said.

“Are you some sort of doctor?” She couldn’t see a bag anywhere. How was he going to heal her exactly?

“No, I’m a healer. ”

“Do we need to go to a medical center or something?” In a medical facility, they’d have some form of comm-unit. They had to.

He shook his head. “No, I can heal you with my hands.”

“Okay,” she replied skeptically. They must do things very differently on this planet.

“What’s your name? I’m Damon.”

“I’m Alex.”

“Alex is an unusual name for a girl, but I like it,” Damon said with a lopsided grin. “Will you accompany me to my village before nightfall?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” she teased. Maybe that’s why he’d offered to use his hands to ‘heal’ her.

His brow furrowed. “Would you say ‘yes’ if I was?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. It was a joke.” She looked around. He was right. The light shining down so brightly only minutes before had almost receded into the horizon.

“Night comes quickly on this side of the planet.” He answered her unasked question.

“Right.” Alex felt a sprinkle on her arm. She lifted it and noticed several droplets of green liquid had burned through her jacket and onto her skin. The thick substance seeped in through her pores and became tiny squirmy things beneath the surface. “What the hell?”