by Stacy Jones
“Stubborn female!” he growled out angrily, but he didn't take off.
Stomping forward, he slid her into the driver’s seat, tore off her sleeve to wrap around the wound on her leg, then leapt over the roof with a hard flap of his wings, and folded himself in the passenger side.
“Put your seatbelt on,” she ordered.
He grumbled and gave her a exasperated look but did as she said, unwilling to argue when the sound of the helicopter was getting louder. Pulling his bag off, he set it in the floorboard, along with her backpack and the beacon, then hurriedly yanked the seatbelt across his chest and clicked it into the latch. Flicking off the automatic headlights, she took off but kept herself from flooring it like she wanted to. That would make a dust cloud and give away their position as readily as flashing the lights.
Sweat was dotting her brow, and she was breathing hard through the pain, but her hands were steady as she drove them away from danger.
“Are you okay? I heard the orders to kill you over the radio.”
“I am fine, my heart,” he assured, reaching over to smooth the hair out of her face.
He was almost convincing, but she could hear the strain in his voice and knew he was lying.
“Tell me the truth, Zaek. How badly are you hurt? Do you need to go into the duramna?”
He sighed and reluctantly responded, “I took a hit from the .50 caliber mounted on the helicopter. My armor absorbed some of the impact, and my stone even more, but my shoulder blade is fractured and my stone was cracked badly enough it pierced the skin beneath.”
“How bad is it? Really?”
“It is painful, but I can hold off the duramna for a while longer.”
“Okay, umm… ”
Mira thought quickly, forcing aside the urge to stop and examine him. That would put them in more danger, which wasn’t helpful. If he said he wasn’t going to pass out or die, she had to believe him.
“Okay. We made a plan for this situation. They’re most likely going to have people stationed at any towns to the north, especially now. So we head west. It should take us about four-and-a-half hours to drive to the Greyhound station in Colville. I’m sure they have a tracker on this car, so when they find out we stole it, they’ll know where we’re going, which means you have to be able to fly, if needed. If you go into the healing sleep, will I be able to wake you up if we run into trouble?”
“I can go just deep enough to heal but not so deep as to be unrousable, yes. I am willing to do that, so I will be better able to protect you, but first you need to pull over.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I need to heal you first, Fluffy Bunny.”
How he managed to make that sound moderately patronizing, like it should have been obvious, furious with himself that he’d allowed her to be hurt to begin with, and sexy as hell all at the same time, she had no idea. Maybe it was a skill his people possessed, or maybe she just knew him well enough to be able to pick up on what he was feeling.
She definitely knew him well enough to know there was no sense in arguing. Besides, she hurt and who said no to an orgasm that promised to make you hurt less? Not her, not unless…
“You’re sure that won’t affect your ability to heal yourself?” she asked, glancing at him quickly before looking back at the dark road ahead so she didn’t wreck.
“The dassa is for you and only you. Giving it to you will not affect my healing. Now, pull over so I can make you cum,” he quipped.
Mira let out a short laugh, then groaned when it made her ribs hurt.
“You are more hurt than you said!” he accused sharply at her groan, his attempt at lightening the mood forgotten in an instant.
“One of the soldiers kicked me in the ribs. And I think he fractured my right hand,” Mira admitted with a grimace.
He growled and bent over the console separating them as soon as she put it in park, one hand unbuttoning her jeans while the other cradled her head, tipping it back so he could reach her lips. He kissed her gently, but urgently. He didn’t work his way up to giving her the dassa. He filled her mouth with the sweet, salted caramel taste of it immediately, sending her into a back-bowing, lash-fluttering orgasm with no warning.
One release bled into two, then three, as he fed her every drop in his gland, his thick fingers pumping hard in and out of her slick pussy. When he had no more to give, and her screams were hoarse moans of ecstasy, he slowed the thrust of his fingers, and his kiss changed from urgent to soft and sweet.
“I am sorry I was not there to protect you, my heart,” he whispered against her mouth, sounding tortured.
Cracking open an eye, she gave him the fiercest glare she could muster with pleasure still sparking through her and his fingers still inside her.
“It wasn’t your fault, and I’m not about to let you think otherwise. There was no way we could have predicted they would show up in town.” She hesitated, but finished, “Besides, I knew there was a possibility they would track me down when I got on the radio.”
Zaek pulled his head back slowly, his eyes narrowed and his gritted teeth making a muscle tick in his spur-lined jaw.
“Don’t give me that face, Mister! I thought they were going to kill you. I did what I had to do, and I’d do it again. You would’ve done the same, if not something even more dangerous,” she retorted.
His answer was to growl, but he didn’t argue with her statement. He did, however, let his displeasure be known in a… different way. He brushed his thumb over her clit and pushed his fingers deeper inside her then curled them so they were pressing on that spot that made her toes curl. She sucked in a hitching gasp and spread her legs a little wider, stretching her jeans tight around her thighs.
Suspecting where he was going with this, Mira narrowed her eyes right back at him and reached over the console, sliding her palm up the thick length of his rigid cock through his form fitting suit, being sure to add a little twist when she reached the sensitive head.
He groaned low in his throat and admitted defeat, withdrawing his fingers from her pussy and leaning back in his seat so he wasn’t hovered over her anymore.
“Tricksy female,” he grumbled, adjusting himself with his left hand and licking her wetness from the fingers of his right.
Neither of those things did anything to calm the needy pulsing between her legs, but she smirked victoriously anyway.
“I am… displeased you were hurt,” he said, clearly understating how upset he was that she’d been injured. “But, you saved my life. I thank you, my heart.”
“You’re welcome,” she whispered, her arousal disappearing as she thought about what might have happened if she hadn’t acted when she did.
“I saw how many you took down at the cabin. You did very well,” he purred, gazing at her proudly.
She snorted, but a smile curled her lips at the praise.
“Go to sleep, Batman. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”
He echoed her snort and murmured, “I am much fiercer than he.”
When she glanced over his skin was already turning to stone, his eyes closed as he relaxed back into the reclined seat. Within seconds, he was as still and silent as a statue.
38
Mira
They arrived in Colville just before the sun rose. After abandoning the car on the opposite side of town from the Greyhound bus station, they hid in an alley and dressed in concealing clothes to hide their appearances from any cameras.
Zaek checked her leg, humming in approval when he saw the skin was closed over, then examined her hand and ribs next. Those were still painful, but he wrapped them carefully and said they should be healed in three or so days, faster when his gland refilled and he gave her more dassa.
Once he was satisfied with her stabilizing wraps, Zaek pulled his wings into his back, which let her conduct her own examination. Pulling down the neck of his suit, she saw that his shoulder was mostly healed. The skin was a raw looking, lighter grey than the rest of him, but it wasn
’t a hole, which was an improvement.
He peered down at her over his shoulder, a soft smile on his lips, as he waited for her consenting nod, before he dressed in a hoodie, loose pants that would hide his tail, and a long coat over the top. Being the beginning of winter meant his layers wouldn’t look completely out of place, and the beanie and sunglasses he pulled on concealed his horns and eyes. There wasn’t anything they could do about his grey skin, not with the camouflage function on his suit broken, but the hood was oversized and threw his face into shadow. Mira would be the one interacting with any people, anyway.
She dressed in a turtleneck sweater, a winter jacket he’d acquired for her, and her own beanie to conceal her distinctive hair, then added sunglasses and gloves just in case.
They made it to the station while the light was still faint, helping conceal Zaek’s otherness, but the inside of the nearly empty station was brightly lit. He held back, lingering in the restroom. Mira got to the counter just in time to buy tickets for the bus headed for Maple Falls. She didn’t try for a bus crossing the border into Canada since neither of them had a passport, but Maple Falls was farther away from the men with guns and closer to a mountain range they planned to use to cross into Canada.
Zaek got more than a few stares because of his size as they boarded and headed for the seats at the very back, but once they were seated they were mostly ignored.
They used the almost seven-hour ride to rest, plan, and heal her. Healing her entailed both of them squeezing into the tiny bathroom and having super sneaky sex.
Well, they attempted to have sneaky sex.
The occasional thump and bang of her feet against the door as Zaek held her up and fucked her hard and fast was probably noticeable, but he kept his mouth sealed to hers to muffle her moans and his growls. Thankfully, the bus was nearly empty of passengers, so there was no one seated close to them to overhear their low-voiced conversations or notice them creeping into the bathroom. Any of the four times they did so.
When he tried to tempt her into a fifth round the minute she woke from her nap, she clamped her thighs together and politely refused. He may have super-alien stamina, but she didn’t. Mira was positive if she had one more orgasm her brain would melt out of her ears.
She distracted him by asking him to tell her the plan again, counting on his military training to make him want to strategize. He gave her a look like he knew she was trying to distract him, but he did what she wanted. Unfolding the map she’d bought at the bus station, he pointed out the mountain ridge they’d hike to cross into Canada.
“They will have radar and satellite scanning the border, but we have no way of knowing if they will also have men stationed. We will have to hope they do not have the numbers to patrol the entirety of it.”
The driver spoke over the speaker, interrupting Zaek, and announced they would be arriving in roughly thirty minutes. He suggested they pack up, get ready to go, and use the restroom one last time, if needed.
Mira felt Zaek’s pointed gaze on her before he spoke.
“Your hand still bothers you,” he hinted, not very subtly.
She bit back a smile and nodded in agreement.
“It did twinge just a moment ago… ”
“We should remedy that,” he purred, bending to press a hot, open-mouthed kiss to her neck.
She made a sound that was part snicker, part moan, and part groan. She held out until he brushed his fingers over her nipples, already hard and visible through her shirt, before giving in.
Zaek was almost purring as he ushered her inside the small bathroom.
“I changed my mind,” she gasped as he stripped her faster than their extremely close quarters should have allowed, then dropped to his knees to lick her wetness. “You’re incorrigible and insatiable!”
“Only for you, Fluffy Bunny. Always for you,” he growled against her.
39
Mira
Mira woke with a groan and stretched her aching muscles. After five days of flying and hiking through the mountains, she was so sore she wasn’t sure even Zaek’s magical dassa could fix it.
They’d made it across the border and into Canada without issue and had been making steady progress to their destination. There hadn’t been any sign of the security teams, not since that night at Zaek’s cabin, and she was beyond grateful, but that meant her focus had shifted from running for their lives, to the reality that she would be leaving Earth very, very soon.
Excitement was uppermost, but fear had become a close second. She trusted Zaek completely and knew he would tell her if there were any trials or issues she might face living on his planet. He hadn’t, nothing beyond the obvious, which was mostly just the time she would need to acclimate, so it wasn’t any one thing in particular that had her worried. It was fear of the unknown, nervousness about doing something so final. The chances that she would ever return to Earth were miniscule.
The closer they got to Mount Nirvana, the more she found herself staring at their surroundings, trying to commit as much of her world to memory as possible. She watched the people, on the rare occasions they were around them, how they moved, talked, and interacted. The idea that she would never see another human again was a hard one to wrap her mind around.
Zaek thought they were only a two or three hour flight away from their destination. They would reach it that night.
It’s my last day on Earth.
Climbing out of bed, she looked at Zaek where he was sitting at the small table in the kitchen, bent over a map. She brushed her fingers over the leathery surface of his wing as she passed him on her way to the coffee pot. They’d rented a cabin the night before to allow them both to get some real sleep and clean up so they didn’t beam aboard the ship looking like they’d been living in the wilds for almost a week.
Pouring a cup, she leaned back against the counter and eyed him over the rim.
“I’d like to go into town one last time before we leave,” she said softly.
Zaek looked up from the map and gazed at her silently for a long minute. She could see in his eyes that he knew why she wanted to go. They didn’t really need supplies, not when they were leaving so soon. They were low on food, but they still had enough left for a day, if needed, and they’d washed their clothes the night before, so there was no reason to buy more.
Mira wanted to go as a way to say goodbye, to be around humans, to do something as simple as making a run to the convenience store for snacks, before she wouldn’t be able to do any of those things ever again. It was silly, she knew that, but she still wanted to go.
She could see him thinking and weighing the risks before he answered. They hadn’t come across any hint that they were still being chased. If they had she wouldn’t take the chance.
Finally he nodded, but added, “It appears we are safe, but be cautious and do not linger, my heart. I will be nearby to watch over you.”
Mira could see he wasn’t completely comfortable with it, but she needed this.
“Thank you,” she whispered around the tightness in her throat.
His fiery eyes went soft, and he held his arms open for her. Setting her coffee down, she took the invitation happily, climbing into his lap and curling into him. He wrapped his arms and wings around her, enclosing her in a cocoon of safety and love.
The thought of leaving Earth behind was hard, so damn hard, but he would be with her, and that made it a little easier to let go of everything she knew.
Mira smiled stiffly at the store clerk as he rung up her purchases. He was acting strangely, eyeing her like she was a threat even though he had a hundred pounds on her, easily. She’d noticed him on the phone shortly after she entered, speaking low but fast to the person on the other end. She hadn't thought much of it then, just assumed he was arguing with his boss, or a co-worker, or maybe even his significant other.
That was beginning to seem less likely as she watched sweat bead on his brow.
He was bagging her snacks with unnecessary slownes
s and his gaze kept darting to the little television set up behind the counter. She couldn’t see the screen and the volume was muted, so she didn’t know what was playing, but there was an itchy feeling between her shoulder blades.
Zaek had reinforced her own inclination to listen to her feelings during their training, telling her over and over that if something felt wrong, it probably was. Those feelings were telling her to leave. Now.
“You know, I just realized I left my wallet in the car,” she lied, giving him a fake, apologetic smile. “Could you hold this stuff? I’ll go grab it.”
Without giving him a chance to answer, she spun on her heel and strode quickly to the door, wanting out of there. Zaek was hiding next to a building across the street. She wanted to get to him and leave town.
Something was off. They shouldn’t have come.
Mira didn’t make it more than four steps outside the door before a helicopter appeared above her, the near-silent gusts of wind from the blades whipping her hair around her, blinding her.
She heard what sounded like a zipper, then a thud, and suddenly arms were around her. They weren’t Zaek’s arms. These were hard, bruising.
Zaek’s roar reached her ears just before she was yanked upward so hard her head snapped down, her chin hitting her chest with such force she bit her tongue and tasted blood.
She didn’t even have time to scream before she was thrown inside the helicopter. She hit the unforgiving metal of the floor hard enough to knock the breath from her. Scrambling, she tried to get up, to get out, but a boot came out of nowhere and kicked her in the face.
Her nose shattered and her lips split, blood spraying in an arc to paint the window. Agony overpowered everything.
