Sahvin's Mate

by Clarissa Lake

  "Keep hope, little one." He managed a tight smile as he stared into Nalina's somber dark eyes. "My life won't come cheaply to them if that's my destiny. I won't let them hurt you!"

  Then, he turned and strode out of the bunker, unable to look back.

  FIVE

  Orin saw ten of them as he lay on his belly under some brush on the rise above where the transporter landed. From scraps of conversation that drifted up, he knew they were looking for him while they checked the outlying complexes for refugees. They'd missed their morning meal, and they planned to stop to eat before they searched this complex.

  Orin knew the procedure. They'd pair off and divide the complex into sectors. Each pair would walk their segment, keeping in contact with the others through their helmet coms. The deserter had to bide his time. He could only monitor their progress by sight and sound. He'd taken the com out of his helmet and destroyed it so they couldn't home in on its signal and find him.

  Soon, the Raiders finished eating and started to move along the south side of the complex---away from the pump house to Orin's relief. He watched and waited with his rifle poised.

  Two men came closer and closer, carrying their rifles poised in front of them. Orin decided to give them the same chance they would give him---none at all. He clenched his teeth and fired with calculated precision. The two men fell dead.

  Nausea threatened Orin's churning stomach, and he swallowed hard against the bile that rose in his throat as the smell of death reached his nostrils. They were probably his biological brothers, but that didn't matter. Killing them was the only chance Nalina and Lanimer had to survive.

  Orin passed an assessing gaze over the area around him. He held his breath for several seconds to listen. Then, he slowly raised himself to a crouch and ran for cover. A searing pain shot through the length of his right thigh, and he dove behind a tree-sheltered rock. He landed hard, grunting in pain. This time, the burning flesh had been his own.

  Darkness had settled over the desert agricomplex several hours ago. Orin still wasn't back. Nalina was desperately worried. She sat huddled in the back of the pump house on Orin's air-filled pallet with Lanimer sleeping beside her. She didn't dare turn on the light Orin had left them. It was safer in the dark.

  Lanimer stirred in his sleep, and Nalina cuddled him in her arms, clutching Orin's laser gun in one hand. In a while, her arms began to cramp, so she laid the child gently on the cushion beside her, covering him with Orin's field jacket. Then, she sat and waited some more.

  It was lonely in the dark with only the sound of hers and Lanimer's breathing for company.

  What if Orin never came back? The question raced through her mind over and over again. He had saved her life---hers and Lanimer's. She hadn't even thanked him. She never let Orin know that she appreciated the things he did for them.

  Nalina realized she'd never let herself see him as just a man. So, he was a Tregan. But he really was different from the others. She thought back over the things Orin told them about himself. She could see him in her mind's eyes being dragged from his home in chains by the Commander General's men. When brainwashing didn't work, they used pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. The word echoed through her mind.

  A lump filled Nalina's throat. How they must have hurt him! No, Orin couldn't be one of them. They had seen to that. She believed him, now. She cared. She must have stared into the darkness for hours, remembering everything that had happened since Orin rescued them. Alone in the dark, it was hard to fight the panic rising up inside her.

  He's dead. He must be dead. He would have come back by now. Mother of Life, where could he be? Finally, Nalina decided to wait until dawn, then go out and look for him---maybe bury him. She nearly sobbed aloud at the thought. She wouldn't let Orin Hart rot in the hot desert sun. The last thought comforted her little as she drifted into a restless sleep with the laser gun still clutched in her hand.

  A sound. The metal door grated against the concrete floor, and Nalina sat bolt upright. Instinctively, she raised the gun and took aim at the bulk of man filling the doorway. She didn't notice at first that he was leaning heavily to one side against the frame. Nor could she see his face against the sunlight streaming through the doorway.

  "Aw, hell!" he said in a raspy voice. He stood his ion rifle in the corner by the door. "I was fool enough to hope you might be glad to see me."

  Nalina's mouth dropped open. She tried to speak, but no sound came out. Still, she held the laser aimed at his massive chest.

  "Hey, if you don't want me here, just say so. I'll go. You don't have to shoot me."

  The gun fell from her hands. "Orin!" she whispered. Nalina jumped up and launched herself at him. She nearly knocked him down as she threw her arms around his neck. "Orin---I thought they killed you." She pressed her cheek against his throat and started to cry. "You should have let me help you. I could have done more than just wait." She pressed her lips against his Adam's apple.

  Slowly, wondrously, he put his arms around her. His thigh burned and ached, but he didn't care. It felt so good to hold her; he wanted to savor the moment. So many times, he'd longed to hold her. He wasn't sure she was real.

  Nalina stopped crying and pulled back to look up at him. "Are they gone? Are you all right?"

  "Yes---not exactly," he said quietly in Zevian.

  They were gone, all right. Orin had killed them one by one and then loaded their bodies into their own transporter. He sent them back to Elran by way of Lake Lessat, 250 kilometers north of their agricomplex. Elran was 60 klicks south. When he finished, exhaustion overcame him, and he took refuge in some rocks for the night. It took him until dawn to find the strength to hobble back to the pump house.

  "I mean, they're gone but, I'm not exactly all right." In truth, he could barely stand, yet he didn't want to let her go. He needed her warmth to shield him from the terrible things he'd done to keep them all alive.

  "You're not?" Nalina finally assimilated what he'd said. "Where are you hurt?" She pulled back to get a better look at him, her eyes anxious with concern. Her gaze fell on his thigh where the heavy fabric of his trousers was burned away. His flesh was charred and oozing. Nalina gasped.

  Orin grinned weakly. "Don't worry. It looks a lot worse than it is." He started limping toward his pallet where Lanimer was slowly rousing from sleep.

  The boy greeted Orin with a gleeful smile. "I knew you'd make it," he cried and hugged Orin fervently.

  "I'm glad somebody did." Orin hugged him back then flopped over on his uninjured side. He'd never been so tired in his life. He wanted to say so much to Nalina, to feel her soft warmth in his arms again. He just didn't have the strength. Orin started to close his eyes, then opened them again as Nalina knelt on the pallet beside him. She'd found some burn salve in his pack, and she seemed determined to apply it to his ugly wound. Though he gritted his teeth at the searing pain, he had to smile, listening to Nalina heartily curse the Tregans for nearly killing him. She used the same curses on him barely half a month before.

  If only he weren't so damn tired. The salve soothed his pain nearly as soon as it was applied. Orin sighed, and his eyelids drooped shut. Orin felt her lips softly touch his cheek, and then her breath tickled his ear as sleep drugged his mind. "Sleep well, Orin. Sleep well." She paused and let out an uneven sigh. "I love you."

  Before he could answer, she jumped up. He heard the pump house door scrape shut, and Orin groaned. She hadn't given him the chance to tell her---he loved her, too.

  Orin didn't realize until hours later when he finally came back to the world of the living that Nalina already knew.

  SEVEN

  Not until two days later did Orin have a chance to be alone with Nalina. It was just past sunset and Lanimer had fallen asleep.

  Orin got up slowly from his seat on the floor against the wall. There was a twinge of pain in his injured leg though it was mostly healed. As he started walking toward the doorway, Nalina jumped up from the pallet and hurried to his side.

  �
��Where are you going?” she asked uncertainly, her hand resting on his upper arm.

  “Just outside,” he told her. “the cement floor was getting hard. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving.”

  “I-I,” she stammered looking up at him longingly. “I just…” Then she looked away unable to go on.

  The words came hard for him as well. “Nalina, I won’t ever leave you,” he blurted and took her into his arms. He lifted her off the floor, holding her against his chest and kissed her soft parted lips, letting his tongue slip inside to caress the sweet inner recesses of her mouth.

  He went hard almost instantly. Nalina moaned as his tongue slid into her mouth wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Orin broke the kiss momentarily and moved outside, carrying her with his arms wrapped around her. There was a soft, grassy, sheltered spot where they could be alone and not wake Lanimer.

  “Do you want to make love with me?” he whispered. He wanted no misunderstandings. But by the way, she clung to him, he was pretty sure she did.

  “I do,” she nodded, looking into his eyes. “But I never have.”

  Orin sighed. His experience was limited as well, but he knew how it was done. They would have to go slow; he didn’t want to hurt her, though he was pretty sure it would hurt however careful he was.

  He took her to the soft grassy knoll behind some ornamental bushes and sat down in the grass with her on his lap. He wanted her badly, but he knew this wasn’t something he could rush. He wouldn’t do that for her first time.

  His first time had been with an older girl who knew what she wanted and showed him the way. Orin had thought she really liked him and maybe their lust would turn into something more. He never got the chance to find out because the Tregans came for him.

  But now he had Nalina, and Orin had fallen in love with her. For weeks he had longed to have her in his arms like this with her soft, full breasts pressed against his chest. His hard cock pressed against the core of her sex through their clothes and her lips were soft and pliant against his.

  She had a beautiful body with full curves in all the right places. Her hips were just a bit wide for her liking, but to him they were perfectly rounded and pliable in his hands.

  He brought his hands up to cup her full breasts and teased her erect nipples through the fabric of her tunic. Nalina moaned and sighed her enjoyment as she rocked her hips to press her core more firmly against his cock.

  Very carefully, Orin lifted the hem of her tunic up over her head so as not to rip out the pins. Understanding his intent, Nalina raised her arms to make it easier for him. Then she tugged at his t-shirt tucked into his cargo pants. He laid her tunic beside them and helped her take off his shirt.

  He groaned as he looked at her pert nipples in the fading light. He leaned her back against his hands and bent to take a rosy tip into his mouth, sucking it and nibbling it as Nalina cooed in delight, holding his head and running her fingers through his short hair.

  She rocked her hips over his cock pressed against her core as exquisite sensations from her nipples shot straight to her clit. Orin switched breasts, balancing her against one muscular forearm as he attended to the other with his fingers.

  It didn’t take much of that to bring Nalina her first orgasm I his arms, and they didn’t even have all their clothes off yet. She cried out throwing her head back shuddering rhythmically with the contractions of her inner walls as wave after wave of pleasure shook her.

  It was all Orin could do to hold back as she writhed against his swollen cock. She was still shuddering intermittently as he pushed her back off his cock and started unfastening her pants.

  Nalina gently pushed his hands away and said, “I’ll do it.” She stood up and carefully unfastened one of the pins. Orin pressed the button on one boot and then the other to unfasten them and toed them off so he could take his pants off too.

  Then they stood facing each other, both naked together for the first time in the moonlight. She was every bit as beautiful as Orin expected as he looked at her in the moons’ light.

  “Oh, my!” she said, looking at his erection pointing straight at her. “You are so big.”

  His cock was big, though not disproportionate to his size. It was going to be a tight fit in any case because she was a virgin. He hated that he would hurt her in the process, but he would give her pleasure when the pain subsided.

  “We’ll take it slow,” he said and held out his arms to her. “Come here.” His tone was tender and encouraging.

  Nalina walked into his arms and hugged him as he held her pressed against him. After a few moments, he held her face in his big hands and gently tilted her head, so she was looking up at him.

  “I love you, Nalina,” he murmured and kissed her tenderly at first and then more passionately. He was so hard for her it hurt, and he relished the feeling.

  “I love you, too,” she replied when their lips finally parted. “And I am glad you will be my first. I never wanted anyone like this before.”

  “Not even Mikal?” he asked, unable to stop himself.

  “Not even Mikal. I wanted a family, and he was a kind man,” she admitted. “It wasn’t love, I know that now. I love you.”

  EIGHT

  He smiled at her and slowly sat down drawing her down with him to sit on his lap facing him with her legs open. Before he pulled her against him, he slid his hand between her legs and into her folds to her slit to check her wetness. She was practically dripping. He gently probed to locate her sensitive bud and rubbed it with his finger then probed her opening until he met her barrier.

  Nalina caught her breath and moaned a sigh. She moved against his hand wanting to fill the empty feeling in her center. After a moment he took his hand away and brought it to his mouth to lick her essence off his fingers.

  After he did that, Nalina moved against him and maneuvered her pussy against his cock, so the head pressed into her entrance. She looked up into his eyes and inched forward until it was pressing against her hymen. She tried to take him deeper, but the pain stopped her.

  Orin sensed her hesitation and started kissing her again. He kissed her a long, deep tongue dueling kiss while tweaking her nipples with his fingers. Then he kissed her face and trailed kisses across her cheek, pushing back her hair to nibble her earlobe.

  He slowly moved down her neck, nibbling and kissing, lingering where he neck met her shoulder and moving on to her breasts. As he sucked and gently bit her nipple, he slid his hand between them and found her sensitive bud and pressing it and squeezing it gently between his fingers.

  Soon she was writhing and pressing against him until the barrier gave away and his shaft was fully sheathed inside her. She cried out as it burst through but she didn’t stop pushing until he was all the way inside and the flesh over his pubis pressed against her clit.

  Nalina clung to his shoulders as he pleasured her breasts until the pain receded and she had to start moving back and forth on his shaft.

  “That’s it, baby,” he crooned, “you feel so good.”

  Orin let her set the pace, wanting her to have as much pleasure as possible now that he had her where he’d wanted her for so long. She threw her head back, cooing and moaning each time she took him deep. The pain was forgotten as she seemed to ride the surges of pleasure building to what she now knew would unleash waves of delightful sensations through her body.

  Orin could feel her muscles tensing in his arms, and her breathing grew faster with each thrust. He could feel his own release building low in his back, and he closed his eyes and concentrated on holding back. When he knew he couldn’t hold out much longer, he reached down between them again to stimulate her closer to his level.

  Finally, she let out a cry of triumph and quaked as her orgasm exploded inside her. As her inner walls contracted around his cock, he groaned as his release spilled his heat inside her and they rode the waves of ecstasy together.

  But they didn’t part right away when it waned. She held him tightly insid
e her as he wrapped his arms around her torso and held her tightly against his chest, kissing her tenderly.

  “I love you, Nalina, I love you!” he whispered and kissed her again.

  Orin Hart had no idea what the future would bring, but he would cherish his first joining with Nalina for the rest of his life.

  NINE

  Months passed, and their life on the isolated complex fell into a regular routine for Orin, Nalina, and Lanimer. They generally rose at dawn to carry water to the fruits and vegetables that sustained them and gather those that were ready for harvest.

  Orin had found a small watering trough in one of the collapsed outbuildings. It wasn’t quite big enough for him to sit and bathe in it, but it was for Nalina and Lanimer.

  The water from the artesian well was very cold, so they filled the trough by the bucketful and left it to warm in the sun when they planned to bathe. By afternoon the water was comfortably warm. They had no soap, but Nalina found a plant that would work up a lather that worked almost as good as soap.

  Sometimes, they would bathe Lanimer and put him to bed, then slip off to their special spot to make love and later wash each other in the still tepid water afterward. Orin knew without a doubt he wanted this woman with him for the rest of his life, but on the war-torn world of Zevus Mar, he never dared to speculate how long that might be.

  If the Tregans found him, they would kill him. If the Federation forces caught him, he could spend the rest of his life in a prison colony. Neither thought was encouraging. So he chose not to think about it, but to live in the present. Every minute spent in her arms was more than he ever dared to dream when Tregans came for him.

  Orin never considered himself one of them, or he never could have killed the others. How could he be the same as them? They were the evilest people he had ever known. No one with any honor could do the things he’d seen done to innocent people for pleasure.