Shifter Planet: The Return

by Reynolds, D. B.

  “You need to stop carrying me everywhere.”

  “It’s more efficient.”

  “Bullshit. You just like to seem all macho.”

  “I’m the apex predator on this planet. I am all macho.”

  “Hmmm. Okay, put me down now.”

  He laughed and set her down next to her bedroll. “Have your eyes adjusted yet?”

  She looked around. “Yes,” she said, sounding surprised. “There’s more light tonight.”

  He nodded. “Eriu is in the sky. She’s our second moon and only rises one night a month. She’ll be gone tomorrow.”

  “And the third moon?”

  “Fodla. She only shows her face once every seven months, but we have a festival whenever she does. She’s nearly as bright as the sun.”

  “Sounds beautiful. You think I’ll see it?”

  He regarded her a moment, then said, “Depends on how long you’ll be here.” He knelt and began dragging her bedroll into place.

  “Let me,” she said, taking the lightweight bedroll, which was zippered like a sleeping bag, and unzipping it all the way along the side. “It’ll be tight, but there’s room for both of us.”

  Aidan let Rachel slide into the sleeping bag first, since he wouldn’t be staying. Once she was asleep, he’d shift, and they’d both sleep warmer. But he didn’t intend to let her sleep just yet. They’d fucked earlier, in the pool, but he wanted more. The memory of her naked in the moonlight—so beautiful, so unabashedly sexual—had him going instantly hard. And all their talk of future moonrises and the possibility of Rachel being gone before she could see them… It made him want to have her as many times as he could while she was still here, as if he could store up her scent, her taste, the slick feel of her around his cock, for when she was no longer here.

  He frowned. That idea was too pathetic for him. He wanted to fuck a beautiful, willing woman who was about to share a tiny bedroll with him. He didn’t need any more reason than that.

  Sliding into the bedroll after Rachel, he put his arm around her waist and snugged her up against his body, then bent to kiss the soft spot just below her ear. She shivered and reached back, threading her fingers through his hair, holding him in place.

  “Tired?” he murmured.

  He felt her cheeks move into a smile. “Not that tired.” She pushed her tight ass against his groin, moaning when she encountered his fully erect cock. Aidan slipped his hand into her pants, over her belly and between her thighs, dipping one finger between the smooth lips of her sex and into her pussy, finding her already slick and aroused. She hissed out a breath and thrust against his hand. She was so wet and so fucking hot. He added a second finger, plunging deep inside, pressing the heel of his hand against her clit, as he fucked her with his fingers, holding her tightly against his chest as she bucked against his hold.

  “Aidan,” she gasped, her fingers so tight in his hair that he thought she’d rip his roots out. “Let me—” Her words broke off as he ground her clit beneath his thumb. She cried out in shock and then pleasure as she was thrown into a hard, fast climax that had her straining against his hold before she collapsed against him, trembling. “Fuck,” she breathed.

  Aidan’s cock was painfully hard, aching to plunge into that soaking wet pussy. Removing his fingers from inside her, he dragged them over her still-sensitive clit, and then raised them deliberately to her mouth, sliding them between her lips until he felt her tongue wrap around his fingers and lick away every trace. He growled, imagining how it would be to have her tongue wrapped around his cock instead.

  Something inside him snapped. Kneeling on the bedroll, he grabbed Rachel’s pants and, taking her panties at the same time, stripped them down her long legs and off. He took a moment to admire her pretty pussy, so silky and smooth, then gave in to temptation and slipped one finger between her outer lips, stroking her creamy slit and smiling when she thrust against his hand with a hungry moan.

  “I want those gorgeous breasts,” he murmured and began to push up her shirt.

  But Rachel clearly wanted more. Sitting up, she tugged her stretchy shirt over her head, followed by the tight-fitting bra, leaving her gloriously naked.

  Aidan took a moment to admire the beauty before him, then bent over and closed his mouth over her nipple, feeling it plump into hardness against his tongue. He bit down just enough to be felt, enough that she cried out and bucked beneath him, and then he released the nipple with a final swirl of his tongue and moved to give her other breast the same lavish attention.

  Rachel was breathing hard, one hand curved around his neck where he was bent to her breast, but with the other hand, she was pushing against the loose waistband of his pants, her fingers open wide as she stroked over his groin, straining to reach his cock.

  Aidan yanked his tunic off and shimmied out of his pants, his hands spreading her legs while he was still kicking the pants from around his ankles. He heard the fabric tear and didn’t care. Shoving Rachel’s knees up, pressing them wide, he slammed his cock deep into her body. She was ready for him, her pussy slick with satiny cream, her sheath like a hot, tight glove all around his thickness, but still he paused for a moment, giving her time to adjust to him. Her hands ran down his back in an almost soothing motion, before her fingers dug into his ass and she flexed her hips pushing herself against him.

  Aidan ground his groin against hers and then pulled his cock completely out of her pussy, holding it just outside her opening, feeling her wet heat against the tip of his cock as he dipped in and out, until she snarled his name.

  “Aidan.”

  He smiled at the demand in her voice and held himself apart for a moment longer, then plunged his cock into her pussy and began thrusting in and out, fucking her hard, hearing her helpless cries as his cock stretched her wide, her inner muscles grasping at his thickness, the tissues hot and slick. Aidan leaned down enough to take her mouth in a savage kiss, growling when she responded in kind, their mouths crushed against each other, teeth clashing. And all the while, his cock was slamming into her, while her nails dug into his shoulders and her hips lifted, meeting his thrusts.

  He knew the moment Rachel’s climax began to build. Felt her muscles tense, the rush of wet heat that flooded her pussy a moment before her sheath clamped down on his cock and she bit his shoulder to muffle her scream. Aidan had thought to ride her orgasm out, to fuck her arousal soaked pussy until she came a second time. But the feel of her around him as she climaxed, the clench and heat of her pussy, the erotic pain of her teeth in his muscle, sent him over the edge.

  He exploded with a roar of pleasure, his own release thundering down his cock, Rachel’s sweet body squeezing his shaft, caressing him into surrendering every drop until he was drained dry.

  Aidan collapsed onto Rachel, then immediately rolled them both so she was on top. Reaching over, he pulled the flap of the bedroll over her bare back, and then both of them simply breathed. His heart was pounding, matched only by the thump of Rachel’s heart against his chest. He licked away the sweat on her neck, then kissed her there.

  She stirred, wiggling slightly, his cock still half erect against her soaking wet sex.

  He hummed in deep pleasure, and she raised her head, eyeing him in the darkness, though even with Eriu in the sky he was sure she couldn’t see his face. “Is sexual energy some kind of shifter trait?” she asked suspiciously.

  He grinned. “No, just an Aidan trait.”

  She tsked. “I can’t believe you said that,” she said, then paused. “On second thought, I can.”

  He stroked his fingers through her hair, which she’d left unbound after their bath. “You should get dressed. You can never count on a peaceful night in the Green. I don’t want you fighting a hycat with no clothes on.”

  “Me neither. What’s a hycat?”

  “One of our uglier predators. They’re usually found north of here, but if they scent something tasty enough, they’ll extend their range.” He winked, making his meaning clear.
r />   “Is that real?”

  He laughed. “Aye, but they prefer much colder weather, so I think you’re safe.”

  “You guys have a catalog of the various life-forms in the Green? It seems endless, and they’re all mean. Don’t you have any friendly animals?”

  Aidan thought about her question. They did have such a catalog, but it wasn’t something they shared with just anyone. The Shifters Guild maintained the listing for their own purposes, mostly to educate future members, or those who hoped to be. He wasn’t aware of a single instance when they’d shared it with anyone else.

  “The rabbits are friendly. And also, delicious. But you won’t have any fuzzy little animals coming to eat out of your hand if I’m around. They recognize what I am.”

  “Huh.” She covered a yawn with the back of her hand. “I need to clean up before I put my clothes on.” She said it accusingly, as if the stickiness coating her thighs was his fault.

  He grinned. “I’ll help.”

  “That won’t help at all,” she grumbled, but she was smiling when she said it. “Come on, you can get dressed, too.”

  “No need. I’ll sleep shifted. It’ll keep the beasties away.”

  …

  The cleanup went quickly, and before long Rachel was fully dressed and sitting on her bedroll, excited and alert as she waited for Aidan to shift. “Can you slow it down?” she asked.

  Aidan chuckled. “Ah, no. I make the decision to shift, but after that nature takes over.”

  “I wonder if… No,” she muttered, “digital cameras wouldn’t work here, too dependent on electronics. Maybe I could find an old video camera, with film, and slow it down. I wonder if that—”

  “Rachel.”

  She looked up.

  “No one’s going to be filming shit.”

  “Oh.” She tipped her head from side to side. “Of course not. I understand. It was just a thought, kind of automatic.”

  “Uh huh.” A heartbeat later, he was shifting. There was no buildup, no magical incantation, not even a grunt. Just one moment he was a man and the next, in a whirlwind of golden sparks, he was a gorgeous cat.

  Rachel didn’t say anything, but her mind was whirling with theories and possibilities. The golden sparks didn’t make scientific sense. She’d bet anything that, if she did ever manage to get the transformation on video, a frame by frame playback would show a lot more happening than just a pretty light show. Aidan interrupted her thoughts, shoving his big head against her belly to get her moving toward the bedroll.

  She hugged him—half because he was a big, beautiful cat and she simply loved the idea that she could, and half to irritate him—then scooted into the bedroll and held up the top flap in invitation.

  Aidan studied her, his unblinking eyes gleaming a brilliant gold in the dark, and then he padded over and sank onto the bedroll with the giant kitty cat version of a long-suffering sigh. Rachel draped her arm over his back, snuggling close to his warmth, and despite the hard ground, the deadly forest, and the looming threat of Wolfrum and his killers, she fell instantly, deeply asleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  They traveled quickly the next morning, taking advantage of the clean sunlight filtering through the trees, after so many days spent in the permanent twilight of the swamp. After a brief shift back to human to discuss their route for the day, Aidan had returned to his cat form and stayed that way. Rachel knew he was there only because he was so convinced she’d never survive without him, but most of the time, she couldn’t see or hear him. He would suddenly appear on a branch ahead of her or pad into sight on the ground, his movements completely silent. She was intensely curious about where he went when he disappeared, how far he ranged ahead of her, and how he got there. Did he remain always in the treetops? Did he double back to check their back trail? Was he hunting? She toyed with the idea of putting a spotter on him somewhere. She had several of the small tracker-dots in her pack. She used them when guiding groups of researchers who frequently had more enthusiasm than common sense, sticking dots on the ones who tended to wander so she could round up any lost sheep more easily.

  She wasn’t sure they’d work on Harp. Besides which, she doubted Aidan would agree to being spotted. He sure as hell wouldn’t appreciate being lumped in with lost sheep. The very idea made her laugh, which she quickly swallowed just in case the big bad shifter happened to be lurking nearby and wanted to know what she was laughing about.

  They walked steadily through the day, driven by the knowledge that the second ship was out there plotting who knew what kind of disaster. Aidan seemed convinced that they hadn’t attacked yet, though he didn’t share his reasons why. Rachel assumed it had something to do with the behavior of the other animals, small signs that, having spent his life in the Green, he could read. She only knew that Wolfrum would be desperate for the second ship to succeed. If the wholesale slaughter her crewmates had committed was considered a rational first attempt, she could only imagine what a desperate Wolfrum would try now.

  She bit into one of Aidan’s sticky sweet trail bars that probably had more sugar in a single bar than she’d eaten in the last six months. Maybe longer. But they’d barely stopped all day, and she needed the short-term energy fix that sugar provided. Aidan, on the other hand, could probably go days without rest, maybe snatching some bloody dinner on the fly. That was an advantage she’d bet shifters simply took for granted, that they could gulp down a tasty rabbit and keep going. No need to make a fire to cook or stay warm.

  She eyed his broad back where he was walking ahead of her in his human form for a change. And what a fine form it was. Her thighs clenched, remembering what it was like to have him between her legs, buried deep in her body.

  “When did you say your third moon rises next? Fodla,” she clarified, recalling the name of Harp’s biggest satellite. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said with deliberate casualness.

  He shot a brief glance over his shoulder. “Not for four months. You planning on being here that long?”

  She planned on being on Harp a lot longer than that, especially now that she’d learned about shifters. Where had they come from? Aidan was every bit as human as she was. She had very personal proof of that, but there was also the fact that shifters had offspring with non-shifter females. The basic rule of biology was that if you could breed, you were the same species. But there had to be other genes in there, too. Where had they come from? And how the hell had the colonists’ geneticists made the blend work? She couldn’t ask Aidan. He was very touchy on the subject of shifter origins and existence, and she couldn’t blame him, especially given recent events. She herself had little love for the fleet science labs and would never trust them with anything she learned about Harp or its shifters. But Aidan wouldn’t believe her, so she said only, “I’m a xenobiologist. There’s a lot to study here.”

  He grunted wordlessly and kept walking, while she grinned in sudden realization. Aidan had a healthy ego. Hell, he had a healthy everything, but it was his ego that amused her the most. He didn’t want her to stay for science, he wanted her to stay for him. Even if it was only for a brief romance. Although something told her it would take a lot more than that to get Aidan out of her system. There was a strong attraction between them. She couldn’t deny it. She didn’t want to deny it. She’d have to be dead not to desire him based purely on his physical beauty. But it was more than that. He was confident and possessive, irritatingly protective, and all the other things you’d expect in an alpha male. But he was also charming, funny, and irreverent, qualities she personally found very attractive in a man. She’d grown up in a household steeped in the stuffy politics of academia. Her parents were brilliant and loving, but laughter was not something that was often a part of their household. By the time Rachel had gone off to university, she’d been starved for meaningless chatter, for a lighthearted story about something funny that happened during their day’s work. Hell, she would have been happy to hear some gossip about who was fucking whom just f
or the sake of sex, rather than to get ahead.

  She’d bet Aidan had never fucked anyone solely for their political connections.

  “Are you watching my ass?” he called back, proving her point. Such utter masculine confidence.

  “Maybe,” she admitted.

  He laughed, and she felt the warmth of it all the way to her soul. That’s what she wanted in her life. She tried to imagine what it would be like to live in a house filled with that kind of joy and couldn’t do it. But she knew she wanted to.

  “Do you know—?” she began to ask, but he shut her down.

  “Shh,” he hissed. “I’m listening.”

  She scowled at his back, not sure if he really was listening, or if he simply didn’t want to answer any more of her questions. “I was just thinking—”

  “Try to think more quietly,” he muttered, and she almost threw something at him.

  She picked up a short piece of log that would do nicely. Good heft, well balanced.

  “You’d never land the blow.”

  She wanted to try, just to prove him wrong, but he was right, and she knew it. So what the hell? She’d only look like an idiot. She set the log down quietly, making a scuffing noise with her foot to cover the movement.

  “Good choice.”

  God, he was irritating. But the scientist in her couldn’t help marveling at the incredible senses he must possess to be so exquisitely aware of his surroundings. She didn’t want to dissect him—that was barbaric—but she wouldn’t mind running a few cooperative tests. She wondered if he’d agree—

  Her thoughts stuttered to a halt as they emerged into an open space with such a clear view of the late afternoon sun that the temperature seemed ten degrees warmer from one step to the next. There was a small hut on the opposite side of the clearing, and… She smelled the water before she heard it. Fresh water. A lot more than the small stream of the previous night, and moving fast.