by Shea Malloy
“I did not,” Kess spat, pushing Jonnar away with his telekinesis. “They were a part of the original crew, but they did not eject in time. We believed them dead.”
“Perhaps you should have made certain.”
Kess got out his gun and frowned at the four Muridians racing toward them.
“I can reason with them. They will trust me—”
They jumped out of the way when the Muridians produced laser guns and opened fire on the two of them. Jillian squealed as a laser shot lanced off the side of the buggy.
Angered, Jonnar fired off a few retaliatory shots at the nearest Muridian, his outrage transforming into satisfaction as one of them went down.
Though the remaining Muridians engaged in evasive manoeuvres to avoid his and Kess’ attacks, they picked off two more in short order. To some extent, he felt as though he’d returned to the battlefield. Kess was not his friend, but he was an ally as they fought alongside each other against a common enemy.
Jonnar raised his gun, ready to end the last Muridian, when Jillian screamed.
He spun, and fury coursed through his blood as two more Muridians surrounded the buggy. He raced toward them, swearing at himself he was so far away from her. Just as he moved to push them back, Jillian scrambled out, lunging for a piece of metal from the cart.
“Let me go!” she screeched when one of the Muridians grabbed hold of her forearm. She twisted and slammed a strip of metal against the side of the Muridian’s head. Never had he been more proud of her bravery. The Muridian released her after the assault, staggering away. Jonnar took that opportunity to shoot it twice in the shoulder as Kess charged at the other one.
No, he didn’t want it dead yet. Not by a laser at least. This monster had dared to touch, to attempt harm on the mother of his child, on the woman who’d increasingly become important in his life. Killing it with his bare hands ensured it felt the full error of its foolish act.
He jumped on the Muridian with a snarl and muscled it to the ground, deftly avoiding its poisonous tail by leaning all of the Muridian’s weight on it. The Muridian howled and thrashed, screaming obscenities, but Jonnar held it down with his telekinesis. Straddling it, his fists connected with the beast’s scaly face.
He didn’t care if its skin was as tough as armour. Blood-thirst and the need for vengeance arrested him. Pain remained secondary to his wrath. He grabbed the Muridian by the side of its head and slammed its skull repeatedly into the ground until there was a sickening yet deeply satisfying crack. The Muridian went still.
The scent of blood and laser-scorched flesh ripened the air as he breathed heavily, triumph swelling in his chest.
“Jonnar, behind you!” Jillian shouted, horror thick in her voice.
But it was too late. Jonnar grunted in pain as something speared him in his upper back. Hand on his gun, he jerked away and rolled onto his back beside the Muridian he’d killed to face the one he didn’t. In their haste to rescue Jillian, he and Kess had forgotten about this one.
The Muridian sneered at him, its black eyes glittering in the light with sinister victory. It raised its tail to attack him again. Jillian screamed something, but the words came out muffled and distant. The poison coursed through his blood, rapidly dulling his senses.
It dawned on him he was about to die. So Jonnar decided he’d do his very best to take the bastard down to the darkest realms of the afterlife with him.
He pumped as many laser shots into the beast’s face until darkness claimed his vision and consciousness.
—
Jonnar opened his eyes.
A ringing in his ear. His skin damp with sweat. His heart slamming against his ribcage. His breath pushing from his lungs in uncontrolled gasps. Too bright. Too bright. He tried to cover his eyes but his limbs remained heavy. Immobile.
Cool fingers caressed his forehead, cupped his face.
“Jonnar.” Urgent. Concerned. Her crystalline eyes filled with determination, yet intense fear lurked behind it. He yearned to soothe her, reach for her. But something held onto him, dragged toward the darkness.
“Jonnar, you need to fight it. You need to live. Please. Live for the baby. Live for me.”
He promised her he would. He wasn’t sure she heard him as the darkness seized him once more.
At some point he awoke again, more stable and wielding control over his body. He lay on a cot on his ship, he realized, as the memories of his last moment of consciousness returned.
A Muridian attacked him—stabbed him in the back with its poisonous tail. This occurred some hours’ journey away. It was a miracle he’d survived. Jonnar sat up and swung his legs to the floor. He grunted at the stiffness and mild jolt of pain in his upper left shoulder.
The top portion of his flight suit hung around his hips, leaving his upper half exposed. He peered over his shoulder at the neat square bandage taped to his back. Had Jillian done this? He briefly wondered how she’d gotten onto the ship without his help. He smiled wryly to himself. He supposed he didn’t need to be conscious for his palm to work with the ship’s lock pad.
The door slid open, drawing his attention. Jillian stepped into the room, her shoulders relaxing with evident relief.
“How are you feeling?” she asked. She slowly approached him, then came to an abrupt stop an arm’s length away. She intertwined her fingers and flattened them over her stomach as though she wanted to touch him but forbade herself from doing so. Her eyebrows drew together in concern. “Does it hurt a lot?”
Jonnar rolled his shoulders and winced. “The pain is manageable in comparison to the alternative.”
A small smile tugged at her lips. “Thanks for not dying.”
“You begged me to live for you and our child.” He held her gaze. “So I did.”
“Yes… I…” Jillian licked her lips, her cheeks pink as she shifted her gaze beyond his shoulder. “Kess saved you, you know. He drove like a demon back to the ship and put you in one of those pods in the infirmary.” She met his gaze again, another gentle smile curving her lips. “See? Good thing you didn’t kill him.”
He couldn’t stand it anymore. Since she entered the room, every cell within him ached to touch her and confirm she was real. The gods had truly granted him mercy and spared his life so he could see her again. A Muridian attack often proved fatal and he’d resigned himself to death like a proper soldier as the poison ran through him. But he’d lived. Lived for her and their unborn baby.
It hurt to do it but he didn’t care. He stretched for her, pulling her between his legs. He pressed his face against her breast and listened to her heart beat. Her soft warmth grounded him, made him feel whole again.
He didn’t want to let her go. Even if he knew he had to when their wild journey on this strange, dying planet came to an end.
She slid her fingers down his arm while her other hand sifted through his hair and kept him close to her breast. They remained like this in an intimate silence. Then her fingers glided down his spine. An innocent gesture, yet he shuddered as intense arousal beset him.
“You’re injured,” she said as he slid the zip down on her flight suit, but she didn’t protest when he pushed it from her shoulders and kissed the smooth flesh between her breasts. Instead, she shivered and released a sigh of contentment.
Always so responsive, his sukaya.
“It does not matter to me,” he murmured, pressing more kisses along the underside of her round, full breasts. “But you do. You matter to me.”
He unzipped the rest of her flight suit, and it slid free from her body. He hardened painfully at the sight of her nakedness bared to him. Gods above, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He’d lain with various women over the course of his lifetime, but none of them had enveloped him with this blind, excruciating want that attacked him now.
He hummed in satisfaction and swept his hands down her waist, over her naked hips. Her creamy skin flushed pink beneath his touch. She did not have the markings customary to his people,
but he marvelled at her unblemished flesh. He palmed her soft stomach, awestruck this gorgeous creature carried his child, favoured him, wanted him—a monster whose hands were forever stained with blood.
“Jonnar…” She urged him with a gentle squeeze on his upper arms, and he answered her plea by pulling her atop his thighs. Her knees on the cot bracketing his thighs, she splayed a palm against his cheek and bent her head to kiss him. Her tongue curled with his, gentle and indulgent, as she worked her hand between them to free him from his suit.
Jonnar groaned when her cool fingers wrapped around his hot flesh and pumped him. He pressed hot kisses down her throat, kneading her breasts and rolling her nipples between thumb and forefinger.
“You’re huge as hell.” She let out a little moan as she rubbed her wet heat down his length. Jonnar gripped her waist, his cock twitching against her. If he wasn’t inside her soon, he’d go insane. “It frightens me a little.” Clinging to his arms, she raised herself up so his tip pushed a little into her entrance. “But it feels so good.” She sank down onto him, crying out as she sheathed him in her impossibly slick warmth.
He kissed her again, hungrily, with no finesse whatsoever. His hands flew to her hips, groaning into her mouth at the dizzying sensation of her tight, wet warmth gripping him. She rocked on him, gradually growing bolder by bouncing herself up and down his shaft. Every sweet slide made him crazier with need. He needed to retake control so he could give her as much as she desired, take from her as much as he could.
“Not enough,” he growled, cupping the soft curves of her backside and pushing to his feet. “I want more.” She squealed, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. He stepped free of his clothing and sank onto the cot with her beneath him. He’d slipped out of her a little so he held onto her wide hips and shoved into her fully with a grunt.
“Fuck,” she swore, sinking her fingernails into his biceps and arching her back. “Do that again, Jonnar.” She stared up at him through half-lidded eyes filled with lust. The sight of her, the sound of her sweet voice wrapped around such vulgar words and demands, heightened his desire for her. He could do no less but to follow her commands.
He retreated and pushed into her again, hard and deep. Her groan complemented his. His injury panged as he propped himself on an elbow beside her head. Nuzzling her neck, Jonnar inhaled her unique scent, a light antiseptic odour from the chemical soap under it.
He mapped her delicate flesh with his free hand as he moved inside her. She whimpered his name and squirmed beneath him when he cupped her breast. Circling the firm, dusky-pink nipple with his thumb, he grazed her lips with his, swallowing her breathy moans.
Jonnar took her slowly, revelling in each thrust into her tight heat. Her warmth was sweet torture against his restraint. He wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to last even though he never wanted this moment between them to end.
“Jonnar…” she pleaded. Avoiding his injury, she swept her hands down his back, urging him to quicken his pace. He complied, groaning against her heated skin as he pumped into her harder and faster.
She fit around him perfectly. Like she was made for him. This human female. His sukaya. A powerful wave of possessiveness swept over him, drowned him in the need to have her completely.
Mine.
Always.
He was on the verge of losing control and so was she. Her walls convulsed around him and she whimpered against his lips as he kissed her, shook in his arms as he held her. He gasped out her name, dizzy and breathless as his release shot from him.
Not wanting to crush her, he rolled off of her, disappointed at the loss of her heat around him. He grunted as the pain in his shoulder rose to the forefront.
“Do you need anything?” she asked, rising up on her elbows to eye him with concern. His hungry gaze swept down her naked body. Her skin had that lovely pink flush again. His cock stirred with renewed arousal.
“Everything I need is right here,” he said, pulling her close.
They lay on their sides facing each other. He planted a possessive grip on her hip as she glided her fingers down his arm. He moved his thumb back and forth against her smooth flesh as his thoughts meandered along dangerous pathways. Thoughts of the future, and of her and their baby being a part of that future permanently.
Her lips curved up into a gentle, sleepy smile as if she knew his thoughts and agreed with them.
Something tightened in his chest.
Gods. The fight had been in vain, his words of caution pointless.
Jonnar exhaled deeply in defeat.
He’d fallen in love with her.
12
Jonnar
—
The earthquakes became stronger and increased in frequency.
The heat climbed to sweltering, drenching Jonnar in sweat as he hurried to fix the remaining damage to the ship. He didn’t know how long they had before Pheor became bits of exploded rock drifting along the galaxy, but he wanted to make sure they were long gone before that time arrived.
At Jonnar’s insistence, Jillian stayed aboard the ship to avoid the harsh temperatures. Her health had nose-dived abruptly. Nausea and lethargy kept her bedridden for most of the day and the next, since his awakening from the Muridian attack. At nights, her temperature plummeted, leaving her shivering in his arms until she fell asleep.
The health report from the infirmary’s scanner said she’d caught a mild respiratory infection. Though he assured her the baby would be fine and the medication he gave her would restore her health, solemn doubt clouded her eyes. He knew what she was thinking. He knew she believed that their baby would perish just like the ones before.
“They want us all to die,” she said gravely. He didn’t ask who ‘they’ referred to, but it reminded him of that moment after the sinkhole when she’d laughed and said something similar.
“Fuck them,” he said. It pleased him when her eyes widened, the sadness replaced by childish amusement as she hid her giggle behind her hand. “I refuse to die on this gods-forsaken rock. I decide where and when I leave this universe. Not some faceless, nameless ‘they’ or ‘them.’”
She continued laughing. “Were you born with this much arrogance or did they give you injections of it when you joined the military?”
He smiled, yearning for her in ways he could never admit to her.
“Perhaps both.”
During Jonnar’s two-day period of unconsciousness after the attack, Kess had patched up the stabilizer, leaving the more complicated thruster repair to Jonnar.
“I suppose it will work,” Jonnar had grudgingly conceded as he assessed the stabilizer’s repairs. It was the best Kess was going to get for now as a show of gratitude for saving his life. Jonnar’s trust in the secretive Dava male had risen to an extent, especially since he’d not harmed Jillian. But not enough to call him friend. Not when Kess continued to associate with Muridian pirates.
He had every intention of turning them all over to the Union Police once he got back to Omaron, but perhaps he’d put in a good word for Kess so he’d receive a lesser sentencing.
Or perhaps he would leave them all here to die. It was the wisest and safest option. He wasn’t naive. They were going to attempt to kill him and steal his ship once they were on board.
He was still recovering from the Muridian poisoning. Jillian believed him possessed of endless confidence, but he could be realistic too. He knew he didn’t have the strength to take on three Muridians and a strong Dava male by himself.
Jonnar grew anxious as he worked, his gaze shifting between the rapidly darkening sky and the trio of Muridians nearby. Since his first day here on Pheor, they lounged around without purpose, occasionally throwing him a sneer whenever he caught their gaze. They never strayed far, no doubt to ensure Jonnar and his ship didn’t abandon them.
He forced himself to focus on the repairs and not his dislike of the three Muridians. Four earthquakes had shaken the ground in the span of an hour, and now the
unpleasant odour that usually followed permeated the air.
The gases weren’t harmful when breathed in mild quantities, but now he felt like he suffocated. The heat certainly didn’t help either. And a murky brown fog clouded the rough mountains in the distance, advancing toward them with sinister purpose.
“You should hurry,” said Kess as he approached. He jerked his head in the direction of the oncoming fog. “This rock is about to blow soon.”
Jonnar got to his feet and wiped his dirty hands on an even dirtier rag from his toolbox. He eyed the repaired thruster critically. The fixes he’d applied weren’t ideal, but they were serviceable.
He slid a sideways glance at the Muridians. Two of them approached. One had disappeared. Warning bells sounded in Jonnar’s head.
He stepped close to Kess and pitched his voice low. “Leave them behind. Let their miserable lives end here.”
Something flashed in Kess’ eyes. Sad reluctance. As if he wanted to do exactly what Jonnar suggested but couldn’t.
“No. We all board.”
“I see.” Jonnar’s features hardened. He scanned the area for the missing Muridian as he turned toward the ramp. “I need to run a systems check and a test to see if the connectors will hold.” It was true, but he intended to do more than that. Once that ramp was up, nobody else was boarding his ship. Those sneaky beasts were up to something just as he’d predicted. Maybe Kess was a part of it too.
“I will accompany you.” Kess grabbed his arm, his eyes narrowed. Jonnar glared at him as he shook him off.
“No need. You will serve us all best if you assess the thruster’s performance as I run the tests.”
“Quarrel between lovers?” said Zoraf, his thin lips twisted in an unpleasant smile. It was as if he couldn’t decide whether he was amused or disgusted. But the hatred in his beady black eyes never abated. “Is the ship fixed?”
Jonnar kept his features impassive. “Not quite.”
Zoraf shifted a mistrustful gaze between Jonnar and Kess.
