by T. J. Quinn
At some point, in the middle of the night, she finally fell asleep. She guessed she was exhausted after spending the whole day tensed and stressing over every damn noise. By the time she woke up, the sun was high in the sky, and she was starving.
There was no sign of Korben or his friends, and she sighed, hoping to see him coming back soon enough.
She slowly came out of the tent, looking around, scrutinizing the surroundings, looking for any possible threat, before she dared to come down from the tree.
It would be a very long day, that was for sure.
***
Korben left the clearing running, determined to get back to the lair as fast as possible. He hated leaving Arantxa behind, all alone, but he knew he had no other choice. He needed to find a way to reach out to his friends and find out what had happened after he had left the lair, carrying Arantxa.
And though he would only admit that to himself, he needed some time away from her. The spell the human female had cast over him was more powerful than he thought at first.
He had tried hard, but he hadn't been able to stay away from her. His desire for her seemed to become stronger with every second he spent next to her, and that would only lead to disaster.
He wouldn’t have left her all alone in the woods, just because he seemed unable to control his lust, but this time alone would allow him to escape her spell and focus on what was important: finding his friends and getting off of Pakly.
He didn’t even stop for the night. He only made a small pause to swallow one of the few energy bars he had brought with him and some water, before he continued, always down the stream, looking for the exact point where he had started following it, a few days ago.
He found it the following day, around midday, and from that point on, he proceeded slowly and a lot more careful and attentive to his surroundings. He knew he was far from the lair, and the last thing he wanted was to be caught by the Paklyors.
He searched the trail he had followed, trying to find his lost communication device, but he had no luck. It was nowhere around, and he lost hope of ever finding it.
When Korben reached the area near the lair, he dropped to the ground and crawled the rest of the way, trying to stay out of sight as much as possible.
The place was unusually silent. The Paklyors weren’t exactly the most silent creatures he had met, so the silence around him felt strange, somber. A few moments later, he got sight of the lair’s entrance, and the reason for all the silence became a bit more evident. There were no guards at the entrance.
In fact, the whole place looked abandoned. As if there was no one around.
Getting up slowly, he scrutinized the area once more, before he approached the entrance, not sure what he was going to find, considering whether or not he should go inside and take a look.
Deciding he needed to know, he walked into the entrance, but he wasn’t able to go much further. Someone had detonated a bomb inside the lair. The rocky walls had collapsed, and the way was impassable.
Korben wondered what had happened there. Was that the work of Tulyn? If it was, then where were he and the rest of the guys?
Or perhaps, the Paklyors had destroyed it on their way out, discarding this compromised location?
Coming here had given him more questions than answers. Knowing he was alone, he took the time to examine the remains of the lair thoroughly before he headed towards where they had their vessel.
It should still be there since Rhyos had incapacitated the vessel, but he couldn’t be sure.
Being extra cautious, he took the trail to the ship, looking for evidence of a battle or even of a fight, but there was nothing. More puzzled than ever, he walked as fast as he considered prudent, only stopping when he got a few yards away from the clearing.
The vessel was still there, and for all he could see, it was unguarded.
He wondered if he could enter the vessel. He knew he wouldn’t be able to fly it, but he might be able to use their communication system to send out a message to his friends.
Not having found their bodies made his hope of finding them rise a little. He still had no idea what had happened there after he left with Arantxa, but the absence of corpses from either side was a good thing.
He checked the vessel, trying to determine if there was people inside and only when he was convinced the vehicle was abandoned, did he dare to try and enter it.
Hacking into the vessel’s safety system wasn’t that hard, and a few minutes later, he was entering the vessel. The ship was completely turned off, and there was no sign of any living creature anywhere in it. He went straight to the main control room, basically guessing his way through the dark hallways and when he got there, he realized Rhyos had cut all the power to the vessel.
He wouldn’t be able to turn on the communication system, at least, not until he found some batteries with enough power to connect the device.
Cursing his luck, he searched the whole room but didn’t find anything useful, so consulting the vessel’s map he had found, he went straight to the engines’ room, and there he finally found a couple of auxiliary batteries he could use.
Back in the main control room, he worked hard adapting the system to use the batteries. After a couple of hours, he was able to turn on the communications system and send out a message to his ship.
He paced the room for what felt like endless minutes, waiting for his message to reach its receiver.
“Korben? Is that really you?” Kyor’s answer finally came through the small screen.
A wave of relief flooded him as he took a seat in front of the screen. “Of course, it’s me. Were you expecting anyone else?” he mocked his friend. “What happened? Where are you and the rest of the guys?” he asked, in a stern tone, bracing himself for any possible bad news.
The rest of his crew showed up on the screen, and he sighed.
“We should be asking you that same question,” Kyor said, scowling.
“Answer mine first.”
Suriak came forward. “We went after the Paklyors that heard us and quickly took care of them, but we couldn’t prevent being noticed by a small group coming our way when we headed back to the exit,” he started explaining. “We couldn’t fight them all and assuming you had had enough time to get the female and leave the lair, Tulyn detonated a small silent bomb inside the place, barely giving us enough time to leave.”
“Unfortunately, the bomb didn’t kill them all, and they had another exit, not far from the main one. Those that survived the attack came after us,” Tulyn continued. “We made it to the clearing and Kyor took us out of there, as fast as he could but you weren’t anywhere to be found.”
“We couldn’t stick around for much longer, so I decided to leave, knowing you would call us from wherever you were,” Kyor added. “What we didn’t expect was the small fleet of fighters that came after us.”
“The surviving Paklyors?” Korben asked, with a frown.
“Yes. When we incapacitated the main vessel, we didn’t think about the possibility they had fighters,” Rhyos admitted.
“It took us a while to get rid of them. Either our combat skills were too rusty, or those bastards really knew their game,” Tulyn said, with a scowl. “We fought them for days, and though we did our best to protect your baby, I’m afraid it got some damage.”
“Are you sure you defeated them all?” Korben asked, not paying much attention to his friend’s mention of his vessel.
“Yes, we blew the last bastard out of the skies a few hours ago. We’re heading back to Pakly as we speak,” Kyor replied, with a smile. “Now, will you tell us what happened?”
“I took the wrong turn on my way to the clearing. The female was unconscious and shuddering, so I had to carry her wrapped in the furry blanket she had. It compromised my visibility, and when I realized I was lost, it was too late to go back and try to find my way back,” he explained, with a self-deprecating tone.
“Why didn’t you call us?” Rhyos asked.
“Because I also lost my communication device,” he admitted, with a scowl. “My only option was to get as far as possible from the Paklyors’ lair and wait for you guys to come looking for me. But you never came.”
“Well, yeah… we were kind of busy…” Kyor pointed out, smirking.
“Where are you now?” Tulyn asked him.
“On the Paklyors’ vessel. I managed to turn on the communication system to call you guys.”
“Where’s the female?” Suriak asked, intrigued.
“I left her in a shelter I built for us, deep in the woods. I would have brought her with me, but her feet are still pretty bruised after running across the woods, so I left her behind and came back here as fast as I could to try and get in touch with you.”
“It will take us a day to get back to Pakly. Will you be back at the shelter?” Kyor asked, with a slight frown.
“Yes, I will.”
“How can we find you?” Rhyos asked.
“You’ll find a stream not far from the Paklyors’ lair. Just follow it up, and you’ll find the clearing I built for you to take us off this forsaken planet,” Korben instructed them.
“Will we be able to get in touch with you?” Suriak asked.
“No. I couldn’t find my communication device, so I’m guessing it’s buried under the lair’s ruins,” Korben explained. “Stay out of sight and send out a probe to find us, before you enter the planet’s atmosphere. Though you’ve killed one tribe, there are a lot more where that one came from,” he warned them.
“Very well. We’ll be there as soon as possible,” Kyor assured him.
“Thank you. I better get going now. Arantxa is probably freaked out by now.”
“Arantxa, ahn? You call her by her name now?” Rhyos mocked him.
Korben jumped out of his seat, with a hint of a smile on his face. “Don’t be long,” he said before he ended the call.
Before he left the ship, he went to the galley and grabbed all the food he could find that they could eat. The Paklyors definitely had a very distinct diet, one very gross, for the looks of it. He also found a couple of small tunics Arantxa would be able to wear until they got to Valkyr.
Strangely, the idea of taking her to Valkyr hit him like a punch to his very core. It felt wrong, though he knew he was being paid to do exactly that.
He knew what waited for her as Biurk’s mate, and he truly doubted that was what she had signed up for, but was it really his place to interfere? He had nothing to offer her. Mating had never been part of his plans, and he was sure it never would, no matter how desirable he found her at the moment.
Even so, it really felt wrong taking her to Valkyr without warning her about Biurk and the kind of male she would be dealing with.
He headed back to the shelter, running as fast as he could, eager to see her again and make sure she was alright. The time on the vessel had allowed his body to recover from the journey towards the lair, even though he hadn't slept, so he got to the shelter the following night.
When he finally got there, he scanned the area to make sure all was as he had left, before he climbed the tree and entered the small tent as quietly as possible.
Chapter Fifteen
Arantxa was sound asleep, as expected, since it was the middle of the night and he was sure she had fallen asleep out of sheer exhaustion, from her nervous tension. He knew she had dreaded the idea of being out there all by herself.
Lying next to her, he inhaled her sweet scent a few times before he leaned over and kissed her smooth cheek, covering it with tiny kisses before she moaned and turned to face him.
“Korben…” she murmured, throwing her arms around him, clearly still half asleep.
“Hi…”he murmured back, covering her lips with his and claiming the kiss he had been dreaming of ever since he had left her behind a few days ago.
He knew he should stay away from her. Giving in to this passion, the lust that engulfed him was a mistake, but he couldn’t resist her. He needed her as much as he needed the air that he breathed.
He would handle whatever possible outcome when it presented itself. Right now, all he could think of was Arantxa’s sweet body, begging for the pleasure he could give her.
Sliding his coarse tongue through her hot, luscious lips, his whole body unleashed the passion he had been holding back for the past few days. His cock strained against his pants, struggling to come out and he deepened his kiss, showing her just how much he had missed her. His raw hunger awakened hers, and she pushed herself against him, rubbing her sensuous body against his. Her hands came down from his neck to his shoulders and then to his chest, to open up his suit.
He grunted his need, as his hands slid down to the hem of her shirt and pulled it up, exposing her body to his touch and his kisses. With that out of the way, he helped her get rid of his own clothes. Soon, they were glued together, skin against skin, her hard nipples pressed against his chest, his throbbing cock pressed against her soft belly.
Leaning forward, he took her lips in another passionate, mind-blowing kiss, too eager to go just one more moment without her inebriant kisses.
His hands relished the silky feeling of her skin, as he caressed her all over, while still kissing her again and again. He cupped her breasts, kneading them gently at first, then allowing his hunger to take over, making his caresses a perfect mirror of his urgency, of his raw hunger.
She moaned and squirmed underneath his touch, her back arching to meet him, begging for more, her hunger a perfect match for his. Her warm hands slid down to his hard cock, shyly caressing it, going up and down his shaft, ripping a loud growl from his lips, still pressed against hers.
He could feel the pleasure rushing through him, like wild waves as she kept touching him, going faster now, confident with his response to her caresses.
Feeling he was about to reach the edge, he took her hands in his and begged her to stop. “You’ll make me lose control… and I want to be deep inside you before I come,” he whispered in her ear, his hands scrolling down to her pussy and sliding a couple of fingers inside her.
She whimpered as a powerful wave of pleasure rushed through her. His thumb grazed her clit, and the pleasure was so overwhelming she sobbed, wavering at the edge. He noticed her reaction to his caress, and he did it a few more times, rubbing the engorged appendage and quickly sending her over the edge to her first orgasm.
Arantxa was still panting, her heart thundering in her chest in a frantic rhythm when he removed his fingers. He replaced them by his hard cock, dragging her back to a new turmoil of pleasure and bliss even more powerful than the one she had just seconds ago.
His thrusts gave her so much pleasure the whole world disappeared, and all that existed was inside that small tent. All she could think of was him and the pleasure he conjured for her. His rugged cock felt like nothing she had ever experienced before thrusting into her again and again, taking her so high she wasn’t sure she would ever come back down.
After a few moments, he finally poured himself inside her, with a loud growl that echoed through the dark woods that surrounded them, before he collapsed at her side.
She chuckled, her breath still labored and ragged.
“There had better not be anyone around… they would find us in a second.”
He laughed, his laugh low and husky. “You’re right…” he said, pulling her closer to his chest.
“When did you get back?” she asked, not mentioning what had just happened between them.
“The moment I woke you up,” he said.
***
Arantxa had spent the whole day wandering up and down the stream, never going too far, afraid of what she might find if she did. She had tried to stay inside the shelter, hidden and safe, but after the first hours, she was ready to tear the whole place down.
Too restless to stay still, she jumped from the tree and spent her time near the stream, at least while the sun was up in the sky. She didn’t want any other rendezvous with the creature that b
it them the other night.
When it was time to go back up to the tent, she looked around, wishing he was back. She didn’t want to spend yet another night tossing and turning in the confines of the tent. Every sound coming from the woods frightened her, along with all the monsters her prolific imagination conjured every time she closed her eyes.
Even more fearsome was worry that crawled into her mind every now and then, that he wouldn’t come back for her, that she was destined to die in those woods, all alone.
She struggled with such depressing ideas, but when her restlessness added to her tiredness, it wasn’t so easy to dismiss such fears.
“Were you alright in my absence?” he asked, with a smile, his face dimly lit by the moonlight that filtered through the roof of the tent.
“Yes, I was fine. I had no unexpected visitors, so all went well,” she assured him, determined to keep her fears to herself. “What about you? Were you able to talk to your friends?” she asked, mentally bracing herself to the possibility he hadn't contacted his friends and they were stuck on that damn planet.
“Yes, I was, after finding the Paklyor lair completely destroyed.”
He explained it all to her, and with each word that came out of his lips, she felt more and more relieved. They were going to be rescued.
“When are your friends coming?” she asked, barely holding back her enthusiasm.
“They should be here in a couple of hours, before dawn.”
“We should get ready,” she said, trying to get up, but he pulled her back.
“There’s no rush.”
She insisted. “I believe there is. I want to leave this hellish place as soon as possible,” she said, sliding out of his arms.
This time he let her escape, as he leaned his face on his hand while looking at her. “Have you thought about what will happen after we leave?” he asked, with a somber tone.
That had haunted his mind in all these days.
She shook her head. “I guess you’ll take me to Biurk, in Valkyr, right?” she said, though she already knew she wouldn’t be able to accept the other man’s offer. Nor any other man’s either.
