Outside the ship the sun seemed even more intense than it had when they first went toward the vehicle. It was sliding lazily across the sky like thick liquid, growing brighter and harsher as it went as if it knew that the day would soon die and it wanted to give off as much intensity as it could before it was over. Rilex narrowed his eyes and looked down at the sand, squinting against the pain of the light refracting from the grains as he looked for her footsteps. He could see the paths that they had made as they headed toward the vehicle, but then another, narrower path that led in the other direction. He followed it, running alongside it as not to kick up any dirt that might disturb the prints ahead, and looked up as frequently as he could bear to try to see her.
If the hybrid army was watching, he knew that he was totally vulnerable to them now. There was no one else with him to help him detect an attack or to fight with him should they come, but he didn’t care. All that mattered to him was finding her and making sure that they didn’t bring her back into captivity. There was nothing about his feelings for her that he could deny now. She was everything and he wasn’t going to stop trying to protect her.
Suddenly ahead of him Rilex heard a scream. He pushed his steps harder and faster, forcing his feet deep into the sand to make himself move toward her as quickly as he could. His hand moved to the long blade on his hip and he drew it out even as he continued across the desert, wanting to be ready for whatever he would encounter. Several yards away he saw a small cluster of hooded creatures, each clutching at Severine as they tried to get a grip on her. She was holding the baby tightly to her with one arm and slashing at them with her own weapon with the other. One of the creatures lunged for her and Severine took a step back, falling to the sand with another scream.
Rilex let out the loudest shout that he could and surged toward the group with his blade thrust ahead of him. The sound seemed to startle the cloaked creatures enough that they turned toward him, giving Severine the chance to release herself from their grip and begin to scramble away. Rilex clashed with the hybrids as they rushed toward him. He grabbed for another weapon so that he could attack with both hands, thrashing indiscriminately at them. One ducked his head and rammed it into Rilex’s chest, sending him crashing to the sand. Rilex tried to stand, but the hybrid came down on top of him. It held a small but vicious-looking weapon above him, aimed at his throat.
Just before the creature could bring the spiked weapon down, there was a cry and Rilex saw Severine bring a blade down in between the hybrid’s shoulders. The creature arched briefly and then collapsed down. Rilex kicked his body out of the way and climbed to his feet, slashing at the nearest hybrid while Severine fought another. Finally, they were both on the ground and he heard Severine calling out to him.
“Come on!”
He turned and saw her gathering the baby off of the sand where she had placed him. She started running and Rilex followed, glancing back over his shoulder to see the surviving hybrids starting to stand. When he turned back, he could no longer see Severine. Rilex skidded to a stop in the sand and looked around frantically. The footsteps she had made stopped a few feet ahead of him, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. He looked back and saw that the hybrids were standing now and had started toward him. He had drawn his blade, preparing to fight them again, when he felt something grab at his ankle.
Rilex jumped to the side and looked down, nearly slashing with his blade before he realized that it was Severine. She was beneath him, her head and one arm sticking out from beneath what looked like a concealed trap door in the sand. He crouched down and she moved out of the way to give him space to slip beneath the door and into the small room beneath. When his feet hit the ground, Severine reached up and slid three heavy bars into place over the door, securing it. She grabbed a torch from the wall and led Rilex through another door. Once closed, she locked that door with several bars as well. Rilex immediately thought of what Jem had told him about how he went through the portal and appeared on the planet where Galadriel and Vyker found him. He had described a mirrored realm beneath the Denynso compound and the hidden hatches in the orchard that led down to it. They sounded very much like the trap door that they had just entered, making Rilex wonder if there was any connection between them, and if there was, which set of hidden doors was created first.
Severine settled the baby onto a pile of blankets and rested her hand on his belly, using it to rock him gently as she made soothing sounds until he quieted and fell asleep. When she climbed to her feet, she gestured for him to follow her and they moved into another room.
“What is this place?” he asked when they stepped inside.
“It’s a bunker,” Severine said, settling the torch into place in a metal holder on the wall. “Ryan had several of them built throughout the planet.”
“Are we safe here?”
“Why did you come?” Severine asked, ignoring his question.
“What do you mean?” Rilex asked, slightly startled.
“I left the ship because I didn’t want to be there anymore. I knew that I would have a better chance on my own. If I had wanted you to know that I was leaving or where I was going, I would have told you. I just wanted to be alone.”
“Did you?” Rilex asked. “Did you really want to be alone, or did you just not want me near you?”
Severine looked away.
“They’re the same,” she said softly.
“No, they aren’t,” Rilex said.
Severine stalked across the room and dropped her bag to the top of a table that was positioned against one wall. She reached in and drew out a book.
“I don’t know what you expect of me,” she said. “I don’t have anything to offer you. I have nothing within me that you would want, that would do you any good.”
Rilex felt like she had hit him, and he curled around the pain in his belly. Severine placed the book on the table and took a pencil from where it was tucked in the spine. She drew a single line on the page, put the pencil back in place, and then put the book bag in her bag.
“What is that?” Rilex asked, needing to separate himself from what she had said to give himself time to process it and know how to respond.
Severine glanced up at him and then back at her hands as she closed her bag.
“It’s the baby’s first day,” she said. “I want to keep track so I know how old he is.”
A sobering realization hit Rilex and he took another step toward Severine.
“Do you know how old you are?” he asked.
Severine shook her head.
“No,” she told him. “All I know is that I am one of the first that Ryan made when he was much younger. Before he even built the facilities that are there now. I grew up in the lab that his family had used.”
“I can find out for you,” Rilex said. “We can talk to Eden and find out how old Ryan is. We might not be able to find out exactly, but we can at least get close to…”
“It wouldn’t change anything,” Severine said. “Those years are gone. It doesn’t matter how old I am now. I want it to matter to him one day.”
Rilex could hear the tears beginning in Severine’s voice and his heart called out to her. He didn’t want to stay away from her for another moment. He couldn’t watch her suffer anymore without telling her how precious she was to him.
“Every year that you’ve lived matters to me,” he said. “And every one that you live from now on will matter to me, too. That’s why I came for you. I have been without you up until now and I’m not willing to do it for even another day. Please. Don’t push me away.”
Severine’s back was still to him and Rilex stepped up close behind her. He reached forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her back gently so that he could hold her. His lips tingled as he dipped his head to touch them tenderly to her skin.
Chapter Six
Rilex's mouth touched her neck and Severine sighed into the feeling that had been so strange and unexpected, but was n
ow filling her and breaking down the barrier that she had forced between them. She hadn’t wanted to admit those feelings, but now she wanted nothing more than to indulge in them, to give herself over completely and willingly to the unknown that waited just beyond his kiss. Rilex’s arms loosened from around her waist and his hands slipped beneath her shirt to run along her back and then across her stomach. Not entirely sure of her actions, but following the urge that was building within her, Severine reached back to wrap her hands around the back of his thighs, holding him closer as he touched her. The adrenaline, fear, and anger of everything that she had been through, and anticipation of what waited for them when the morning came and they had to leave the bunker for the danger of the planet above, translated into a deep, primal need that went beyond the training and torment that she had endured. She offered herself to it and pressed back against him.
Rilex seemed to notice the willingness that she finally had and continued ahead. His lips traveled gradually and patiently along her neck, and the tip of his tongue slipped out to follow the same path, licking slowly as he mirrored the pace of his mouth with his hands along her waist. They traveled up to her breasts and paused briefly over her ribs. Severine took a deep breath and she felt his hands brush along the bottom swell of her breasts. He cupped his palms over her kneading into the lush flesh and coaxing her nipples to tighten beneath his touch. She felt Rilex’s mouth slide along her skin up to her ear and she shivered at the feeling of his warm, damp breath rippling along her neck.
"Let me make love to you," he whispered. “Let me show you that you were made for so much more.”
Severine’s body trembled at the words and she felt her heart softening, opening to him and releasing all of the pain that she had felt so that she could replace it with the love that Rilex was offering her. She nodded and felt him ease her shirt off over her head. The air touched her skin as the shirt dropped to the ground and sent a shiver of anticipation over her skin. He undressed her slowly, his hands moving across her with incredible tenderness as he gradually exposed her body to the air and to himself. She felt revered and admired in a way that she had never experienced, that she never would have thought that she would feel. She wanted to give him the same feeling, to show Rilex how deeply she loved him and how much she wanted to give everything to him. She turned in his hands and carefully removed his shirt, sliding her palms back up over his shoulders so she could fill her hands with the luscious firmness of his muscles. Rilex dipped his head to catch her mouth in a deep kiss. She let her lips part as she released the ties at the front of his pants and opened the fabric. She could feel him stepping out of his shoes as she pushed the pants down over his hips and let them fall away. The hardness of his erection brushed against her palm and she reached forward to wrap her grip around it tenderly. Her hand ran down the length of his shaft and he made a soft, appreciative sound.
They stood still for a few moments as Severine experimented with her touch on his deliciously thick, engorged cock. Finally, he pulled her closer to him and deepened their kiss further, beginning to ease her down toward the ground. She surrendered herself completely to him, allowing him to guide her down to her back on the cool ground. Rilex came down over her, the strength and protectiveness of his presence enveloping her, making her feel loved, beautiful, and above all, safe. Rilex let his mouth play over hers for a few seconds before pushing back so that he could kiss down her body, taking his time as he worshipped every inch of her. His tongue dipped into her navel and she gasped at the unexpected feeling, arching against him as her desire began to spiral out of control. She didn’t know what was waiting for her on the other side of that desire, but she didn’t want to hesitate, even for another moment, and risk missing anything.
His mouth came to the valley between her hip bones and his tongue traced along each bone and then from one to the other. He lifted his mouth up and blew a stream of cool breath along her dampened skin. The muscles in her belly twitched and Severine felt her hips lift involuntarily toward his mouth. Rilex took the invitation that she seemed to be offering and gently eased her thighs apart. Her body was hot and wet, the sensation feeling strange and unexplainable, but at the same time welcome and empowering. Rilex touched a kiss to the apex of her thighs and then she felt his tongue slide down into her folds. The sensation that struck her was nearly overwhelming and she cried out, reaching down and grasping the sides of his head. He gave another soft, slow lick that introduced her to feelings that she never knew existed. Severine felt like her body was waking up. Sensations and reactions that she had never known and that she would never have expected were blooming within her and she felt herself responding to each of Rilex’s touches in intense, enlightening ways that made her feel at once vulnerable and powerful.
Finally, Rilex brought his body back up to stretch across hers and stared down at her. He aligned his body with hers and Severine felt the tip of his erection touch her opening. She instinctively drew her knees up to open to him further, and the movement caused him to slide into her slightly. They both drew in breaths at the sudden, beautiful feeling of their bodies beginning to meld together.
"I love you," Rilex said, meeting her eyes as if wanting her to see the sincerity in them as he spoke those words.
She traced her fingertips over his lips. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, parting his lips so that her fingers dipped briefly into his mouth.
"I love you," she said, meaning it more than anything that she had ever said.
Rilex brought his hips forward slowly so that he gradually and gently filled her. He moved without urgency as if he were letting himself savor the feeling of sinking deeply into her for the first time. Severine could feel her body hugging him closely, shaping to him as if she had been crafted specifically to accommodate him. For the first time, she liked the idea of being made for a purpose. Rilex kissed her languidly as his hips started to move. Severine let her body relax and accept the sensation of him stroking within her slowly. Each glide of his thick, long cock massaged her deeply and intensely, and she moaned softly beneath him. The similar sounds that came from Rilex’s lips made her feel powerful as she felt his body tremble. There was no rush, no frantic hurry to his movements as he made love to her. She closed her eyes, allowing the delicious feeling of her hot, wet body cradling him and his strong erection massaging deep within her wash away all of the pain, the fear, the anger, and the loneliness that had defined her.
Wanting to surround him more and continue the connection between them, Severine pulled her thighs closer to his body. The new position intensified the pressure of her body on his and she heard him groan deep in his throat. It was incredible to see the delicate, feminine power that she had over him, the ability that she had to leave his strong body shaking and sweating. Rilex quickened his pace in response to her holding him more tightly and her own sounds grew higher and more rhythmic as he drove into her faster but with the same control. Something amazing was happening within her. She could feel the muscles throughout her hips, thighs, and belly tightening and her heart pounding so quickly it seemed that she was teetering on the brink, but she didn’t know of what. A few moments later all of the pressure reached a dizzying peak and then crashed. She cried out beneath him as her body contracted hard around him and dissolved in a series of intense, shaking spasms that took over her entire being. Rilex thrust into her a few hard times before she felt his body tightened and his cock swelled within her, then hot streams poured into her.
Sleep had taken over, but Severine didn’t know how long she had been resting when the sound of the baby crying woke her up. She groaned slightly as she rolled away from the warmth of Rilex’s arms, not wanting to relinquish the bliss that she had found there. As she dropped his shirt down over her head, she looked down and saw Rilex looking up at her with slumbering eyes. His lips curved up in a smile and he reached out a hand to run his fingertips along the top of her foot.
“I’ll get him,” he said.
H
e climbed to his feet and pulled on his pants before walking out of the room toward where they had tucked the baby in to sleep when they first got below ground. A few seconds later she heard the cries start to quiet and then Rilex appeared back at the door to the room, cradling the baby against his chest.
“He’s probably hungry,” Severine said. “There’s formula for him in my bag.”
Rilex crossed to her bag and pulled out the canister of formula that she had prepared. She crouched down beside the bag and handed him the dropper that she had brought. He filled it with the thick concoction and placed the tube of the dropper in the baby’s mouth. The baby’s tiny lips closed over it and he started to drink eagerly, calming as he filled his belly.
“He’s going to need a name,” Rilex said.
Severine smiled and ran her hand tenderly over the baby’s little head. The boy’s eyes were starting to droop again and soon he was sleeping, his mouth still sucking at the dropper.
“He’s going to need a lot of things,” she said. “He has a whole life ahead of him and he already doesn’t have anything that he needs.”
“What does he need?” Rilex asked.
“His mother,” Severine answered, feeling emotion tightening painfully in her throat as she thought of Astrid giving her final moments and last breath ensuring that her child at least made it into the world.
“He has a mother,” Rilex said, taking one hand from under the baby and running it along the side of her face. He tucked a finger under her chin and guided it up so that she turned to look at him. “And a father.”
“He does?” Severine asked.
Her heart was pounding in her chest and she could feel her hands shaking, but she didn’t want to let herself believe what he was saying. It was too good. It was beyond anything that she could ever have hoped or dreamed she would experience, and she didn’t want to build herself up only to be hurt again. Rilex was gazing at her with pure, genuine tenderness in his eyes, though, and he wasn’t withdrawing from her. As she looked at them she realized that what she had thought were paler streaks across the darker depth of his eyes were actually the tails of shooting stars. She remembered what he had said about Ryan not knowing his species and knew that there was so much more for her to learn about him, and all the time in existence to learn.
Rilex & Severine's Story (Uoria Mates IV Book 6) Page 5
