Page 51 of Stone Cold Alien

“No.”

“Then that is enough for today.”

I withdrew and disposed of the human sheath as Robyn instructed. When I returned to the bed, she lifted the covers and waited for me to join her.

I lay beside her. She turned onto her side, and I wrapped one wing over her body. My tail found her ankle beneath the blankets.

The bond remained awake between us, stronger than before but unfinished.

For once, waiting did not feel like another prison. There was hope. So much hope.

Chapter 9

Robyn

My phone vibrated across the bedside table and fell onto the floor.

Sten sat upright, one wing opening wide enough to pull most of the covers with it.

“What is that?”

“My phone.” I reached over the side of the bed, but it had bounced beneath the table. “I hate it when people actually call me. Why can’t they just text?”

“Who is contacting you?”

“I don’t know yet. I can’t reach it.”

His tail slid across the floor, curled around the phone and lifted it into my hand. Wow. I hadn’t realised he had that much control over his tail. That also made me doubt the oh-so-innocent touches or when his tail had kept curling around my leg.

“Useful,” I said. “You could make that your party trick.”

“Here, maybe. Back home everyone has a tail. It’s nothing special.”

The screen showed three messages from my neighbour, two from my sister and a reminder from the hospital rota app. My neighbour had sent pictures of Frodo and Sam eating pieces of carrot. My sister’s messages were less reassuring. And there was a missed call from her.

Was he hot?

Are you alive?

Do I need to send someone to find your body?

I sent her a quick message to reassure her that I was alive but didn’t have much phone signal, then opened the rota. My next shift started at seven the following morning.

“What does it say?” Sten asked.

“I need to be back in Glasgow tonight. I’m working tomorrow. Early. And it’s a twelve-hour shift.”

He was quiet for long enough that I looked away from the screen.

“We are leaving today?”

“I am. You can’t stay here by yourself, so I suppose you are too.”

“I will go where you go.”

The words should have been romantic. Instead, they reminded me that he didn’t have much choice.

I pushed the covers aside and stood. My clothes were scattered across most of the bedroom. One trainer had somehow ended up beneath the chair while my bra hung from the corner of the bed.