Cautious Surrender

by C. L. Scholey

  “Are they the dirt?”

  “No.”

  “Are they the creature being eaten by dirt?”

  “No.”

  “Well, what are they? Are they big or little, or ugly. Are they furry like you? Do they have a battle mode? Will they eat us?”

  “You talk too much.”

  “I don’t talk too much. If you talked more I’d listen,” Adan said.

  “Every question I answer you have five more.”

  “Is that why you don’t like me?”

  “I never said I don’t like you.”

  I’m in love with you, my Zargonnii warrior.

  “You never said you did like me either.”

  “I saved your life.”

  Blu stopped to gaze down at her. Adan sighed. “You are a Zargonnii warrior, honor bound to keep me safe. Nothing more. Thank you for saving my life.”

  When Blu was in battle mode Adan felt a little overwhelmed by him. Blu was all muscle, tall. He was the most powerful male in the world as far as she was concerned. The fur on his chest tapered to an oval bald patch on his belly that would resemble a ten pack when not smoothed out when he gained in height. His red eyes could burn through anything, when they heated. His white eyebrow stretched across his handsome forehead down the sides of his face. He wore tight black pants that moved in harmony with him. His thick black oblong boots covered strong feet and ten wonderful toes. His impressive erection was a magnet making her blush. Every inch of him was walking heaven. Adan thought there was not a more perfect male in the universe.

  Blu lifted her chin with a hooked finger. His gaze made her melt. If only he could love her a little…

  “There is more, Adan. I can sense how you feel for me and I don’t oppose. But right now we are in danger. Let’s concentrate on staying alive. It’s more than honor that compels me.”

  Adan nodded, with the slight emotional bone he tossed to her, then screamed when a huge bird creature swooped down on them. Adan fell to her knees with the gentle push from Blu when the bird attacked. She scooted back when Blu tussled, taking the creature out of her path.

  The entire bird was covered in grey downy fur, a foot long excluding its round fuzzy face. The fur swayed in the breeze its wings made as four wings in all flapped. Blu grabbed it by its neck and held it at bay. The flat face, huge round-eyed fur ball with three neat black, perfect holes for a nose, wiggled its fine red lips in an odd fashion at Blu. It batted its eyes with two inch long grey and golden eyelashes. The two smaller wings within the two larger wings sported arms and clawed hands and struggled to tug Blu closer in an embrace. The two larger outer wings were the most impressive wing span Adan had ever seen.

  “Damn thing thinks I’m a female,” Blu complained as he battled to shake it loose. “Get off, you horny beast; I’m not your type, you idiot. I’m not even your species.”

  Adan’s eyes widened at his words. The clawed five talon feet didn’t move to scratch him, they caressed him and then tried to wrap around each thigh to spread his legs. The bird began to wrap its wings around Blu. Adan didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe when she saw its long cock flap wildly around in an odd pattern. The bird-being made loud chirping noises until Adan covered her ears. Blu did his best no-sex-dance, his feet hustled to outmaneuver the determined creature. Blu grabbed its claws at the wrist in one hand and disengaged its clawed feet from his legs. He swung the bird round and round, high and hard and sent it spinning. Caw. It screeched as it went flying head over heels, tumbling into the green gassy sky.

  “Stupid air dancers. They must be in heat. Nothing with fur is safe from those horny creatures.” Both Blu and Adan stared at the flying fur ball until it was out of sight.

  “Suddenly being bald is a comforting thought,” Adan mumbled.

  Blu came over and hauled her to her feet. “They’re harmless, normally, even in heat, but the females don’t fly, they have no wings. The males grab a female from the ground and get busy in the air. The female of course holds on for dear life, afraid of being dropped. The males then take the females back to their nest, high near the mountains where the males feed and protect the females.”

  “Sounds like the males get the better bargain.”

  “Believe it or not, the females wait in certain areas for a prospective male. Some mate over and over again. If the couple is successful and reproduces, the male keeps the female and offspring for a year in its nest and does everything. All the hunting, the maintaining of the nest. If it’s a male offspring, the father teaches him to fly. If it’s a female, the father will attack and keep away any other male, until the young is ready to mate; they are very overprotective parents. The female molts during pregnancy and loses most of her fur on her belly and back so the male keeps her warm.

  “The little ones are bald when they’re born, and it only takes a few days before they are large, as large as you anyway. So if you find yourself naked out here, be prepared to be scooped up, ‘saved’ and fed dead chunks of aragno—regurgitated.”

  “Aragno?”

  “Don’t ask.”

  “Is it day time or night time?”

  The air seemed thick and Adan’s lungs began to ache with some discomfort. The green gas was hovering lower than when they first arrived. Adan wondered how low it would get. Her tongue was beginning to feel thick, her skin crawled. Her hair felt as though it was running away from her scalp.

  “It’s late day right now. The nights are longer in this place, many of the creatures hunt at night. We need to find a place to stay until Titus finds us, or some Zargonnii. That will take time. My people need to get permission to search for us. In the meantime you have to stay close.” Blu looked around anxiously.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” Adan asked.

  “This planet is dangerous.”

  “Yeah, I believe you mentioned that.”

  “The beings on this planet are different, cruel, evil. They are a colony of outlaws turned assassins left here centuries ago. They’ve bred with other beings of other outlaw species dumped here. The result is…”

  “What?”

  “Walking death.”

  Great, I’m on a damn zombie planet.

  Chapter 2

  Blu knew they needed shelter fast. Adan was in more danger than he would admit. The beings on this ungodly planet had morphed overtime into fighting machines. Thousands of years of breeding the worst with the worst turned the inhabitants of this planet into unstoppable assassins. The Braxians were overseers to this race of assassins. The assassins were hired out for brutal hits by the overseers.

  The overseers considered themselves to be an advanced race, eradicating the unwanted in the universe. In layman’s terms, humans would consider the Braxians to be playing God. When needed for critical extermination, a handful of the planet’s assassins were selected and set free after careful and thorough removal of a planet’s true occupants, or whoever the Braxians considered the true occupants of a planet. Anything left on a planet needing extermination would be destroyed. Basically, the entire planet Blu and Adan landed on was full of mass murderers.

  Blu was a mercenary warrior. His people were called in to eradicate annoying species, the Zargonnii were exterminators by trade. Blu’s leader didn’t choose targets, the mercenaries were contracted. Blu could be brutal but he was also merciful, all Zargonnii warriors were. Titus chose his missions with tremendous thoughtfulness. The assassins on this ungodly planet were far worse. They couldn’t or wouldn’t differentiate bad from good. Neither a rodent nor a bug was left alive once set loose on a planet they were contracted to hit. Blu had compassion for innocents, these assassins had none once contracted, some when not contracted.

  Adan held Blu’s hand. He would need to keep her as close as possible. There was only one problem with his plan—she drove his body into a sexual nightmare when she was nearby. The attraction she emitted in her pheromones was almost too much for him to resist. Having a female so close and willing was an oddity for a Zargon
nii warrior. Zargonnii females were larger and stronger than males. When they came into heat and Holidayed, their coupling was hard, fast, furious. There was battling the likes Blu had never known until his first sexual experience with a female.

  At a small sound, Blu tugged Adan to his chest up off her feet. He was able to cradle her in one arm. She remained silent, her arms wrapped around his neck. She didn’t cry or whine like many Earth females he had come across. Although, he realized human females had never been exposed to so many horrors. Earth dying was bad enough, but space was so much more complex with new creatures to aid in frightening them. If Blu were alone he would be less worried. Adan was so small a gust of wind could blow her away. For a tiny thing, she was tough. Over the course of two weeks, Blu had come to know her. He adored her laugh, the little way she had of curling next to him when she thought he was asleep. Her sweet way of taking a single finger to move strands of her beautiful hair back behind an ear and out of her expressive sensual eyes.

  The only thing keeping him from mating her was his desire for a son. Zane, his older brother was gifted with a son, Draven, and Draven was perfect. Draven was strong, smart, with the happy-go-lucky temperament. Blu wanted his own perfect son. If Blu mated with Adan he would only ever have female offspring. It didn’t sound bad the more he thought of it. It was the idea itself that boggled his mind. A female child staying in the care of her Zargonnii father was impossible, or had been until human females were introduced to his kind. Surprisingly, the first human female found had been by Blu. He had thought it a pet; a tiny female pet was a novelty and his brother had recently lost his pet toff. Draven had been heartbroken.

  The tiny bald human creature Blu had stumbled across was interesting but too expensive for his taste; he didn’t even know what it was. He had never heard of a human pet; he was ultimately looking for a powerful, loyal toff. The creatures were hard to come by. As Blu walked away from the cage the human female was sprawled half in/half out of, her owner grew enraged and turned to strike the frightened creature. Her terrified, pathetic squeal stopped Blu in his tracks and he relented. A blow from a shielded Tonan would kill the vulnerable little pet. Some creatures weren’t meant to be pet owners. It was how Blu had found his sister-in-law, at a market being sold by a Tonan, a filthy race of cruel beings. Originally, Blu thought Bay was a unique pet of sorts. She was injured to the point she couldn’t speak at first. Only Draven knew of her intelligence. Zane fell in love with Bay, another oddity in the Zargonnii world. Now it seemed every Zargonnii warrior was after their own human female. Blu being the only exception.

  “What is it?” Adan asked. “What do you hear?”

  Blu forgot he was holding her. “There are different creatures on this planet allowed to live because they entertain the other inhabitants or are so inconsequential they are ignored. Air dancers being one species.”

  “If these beings are so cruel will they let your people come for us?”

  “Yes. Braxians don’t want war with Zargonnii. We are in an alliance with the Castians. I’ve told you about Castians, the ebony-shielded warriors. They won’t hurt females but the Tonans will. As you saw firsthand when the ship exploded. Rogue Tonans work with the Gorgano. They want females dead. Human females can mind-battle, like Bethany did. Tonans hate the fact a few of their brothers have fallen in love with human females and joined Cobra’s ranks.”

  “He’s the Castian leader?”

  “Yes. Don’t worry. Titus will fly in and fly out.”

  “Do you really think your leader is alive?”

  Adan’s pensive expression gave him pause. He could tell his answer meant everything to her, it meant hope.

  “Yes. But it may take some time. The Braxians want to locate us, then will determine the severity of the situation.” Blu hoped; he had no clue who was left alive. Last he saw, Titus his leader was still on the bridge of the ship battling the enemy.

  “Severity?”

  “There are certain places where beings of this planet cohabitate. Females will stay together. Males are loners by choice.”

  “Sounds kinda sad and empty for the males.”

  “That is why I’m keeping you close.”

  “What will they do to me?”

  “A helpless female on this planet is as rare as on mine. Our Zargonnii females aren’t cruel; I doubt they would injure you. I’m guessing they would ignore you or keep you as a pet. Females on this planet have adapted to stay alive. They don’t come into heat; in fact, they would rather not reproduce. Blood lust runs high here.”

  “Great.” He heard her mutter.

  Flapping and a gust of wind caught their attention. Adan gasped. An air dancer was mating overhead with a female of its own kind. The female was moaning and clinging to the beast. The male air dancer had her thighs apart. The creatures tumbled and rolled on the air currents. Blu’s stiff erection pressed to his clothing. If air dancers were in season, it would mean many other creatures would be as well. The situation might or might not work to Blu’s advantage. If they came across a male assassin the assassin wouldn’t be quick to kill Adan. Adan might wished the assassin had if he decided to keep her, but if she were alive there was always hope.

  “She doesn’t sound too unhappy,” Adan said, still gazing at the pair in the sky.

  “They have probably mated before. The first time for a female can be frightening. Normally her father watches over her until it’s her time to mate. When she’s of age, a male will circle slowly. If the father flies off and leaves her unprotected, the male understands it’s her first time. Some will take the time to bring a young female back to the nest and care for her until she’s ready to mate. An air dancer can be very persuasive I’ve read.

  “Air dancers are normally gentle creatures. The males make excellent fathers. Their mate is returned to the ground with their female offspring and guarded. If they have a male child, he is ready to leave much earlier and needs no protection once gone from the nest.

  “If the need to mate again is upon the male, he will simply keep the female. But not if she has a girl. There is too much concern a female child will accidently fall from the nest, or be coaxed out by an inexperienced male. I don’t know if it’s true, but I also read a young male isn’t strong enough to hold a female in the air for too long and it can lead to tragedy. So a nest is made and concealed on the ground, by the father.”

  “So the male does all the work?”

  “Everything.”

  “I suddenly wish I was a female air dancer.”

  Blu chuckled. Adan had no idea if they were to mate, he would be keeping her safe and watching her closer than any air dancer. Blu’s world was dangerous. There were massive beings on his planet he would need to keep her from. Blu would also protect her and their child for life. It brought him back to why he couldn’t mate her—yet. If Blu mated Adan, he would never Holiday with a Zargonnii female again. He would give up any chance for a son and he didn’t know if he could do that. He knew it might sound selfish but even mercenary warriors had dreams of something other than the next battle or eradication.

  “Blu?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What’s that smell? Good God, I didn’t think a smell that bad could be created.”

  “Shit. We need shelter now.”

  Adan started coughing, for a second her eyes gazed at him with alarm until she masked her fear. Blu pressed her face into his chest, his hand cradling her head as he curled his shoulders protectively around her and began running. The green gasses from the air became thicker and crept closer to the ground with the descent of night. The gas would be toxic to a human. Blu’s heavy double lungs could filter the toxins for a while. Adan struggled, but he held her firmly. Little air filtered by his fur was better than the poison that would kill her if she breathed in the gas too deeply. She began to struggle harder.

  “Be still, Adan. I’m not trying to smother you. The gas is toxic. Take smaller breaths.”

  He felt her shudder and still. The po
unding of her frantic heart indicated her fear was rising, her smaller breaths showed him her trust. He didn’t deserve this little female, he didn’t know whether to damn Finn or thank him for trusting him with her safety. She was worthy of so much more. Blu swore Adan would not die on this planet under his care. For a second, he battled the reason and tried his best to think it was only honor compelling him.

  The dark pond that came into view made him falter for only a second. Blu had never been to Brax, but he had studied the planet in detail when war broke out. All warriors needed to familiarize themselves with any planet deemed a danger. There was no deadly water scum to eat Adan’s tender flesh on this planet. Pond scum would be a threat to her in his world. Enough scum could consume her within moments if Blu wasn’t diligent. The idea was horrifying, but Blu knew he could keep her safe. Blu knew the demons on his planet. The demons on this planet were new. Right now the general animal or creature threat was minimal at dusk. The real problem was during darkness.

  Gazing into the pond Blu’s biggest concern was how long Adan could hold her breath. Blu lifted her higher in his arms and locked his mouth over her lips and nose. She struggled again and he was unable to calm her with words. Blu plunged into the pond. Blackness engulfed them. Blu twisted Adan, manipulating her face to the side as his eyes lit up, brightening their surroundings. At long last Adan gave in and took a breath. Blu’s extra lungs expanded.

  The water was calm; there was no danger of Adan being pulled from his arms. If the water were wild he wouldn’t be able to maintain the slick mouth to mouth contact. If he had to release her mouth in order to maintain his grip on her, she would drown. Blu felt his protectiveness go into overdrive. This small female shouldn’t distress him the way she did. The first time he set eyes on her she messed with his mind, his thoughts and wants. She put his priorities in turmoil. He again damned Finn for surrendering her into his care, as well as damned himself for welcoming her. One small human female had no right to drive him to distraction, yet she did.