by Nora Blaze
He smooths the hair on the back of my head, comforting me. “While you were passed out, I set your bones and injected you with some healing serums I found in the Flash Bomber’s medical kit,” he explains. “Your body is going to heal rapidly, but you’ll be sore for a couple days.”
“And you?” I ask. “You’re okay?”
He winces, then cocks his mouth up in something like a grin. “I’ll be fine, beautiful. I’ll be fine.”
“Where are we?”
“One of the barbarian planets. I’m afraid I don’t know much about this one, but we’re lucky that we got pulled into its gravity. Otherwise, we might have spent eternity spiraling through space.”
I gulp, nervous again. “So that means that there are barbarians here? What even are barbarians?”
His jaw tics. “Somewhere on the planet. They are simply a species who has reached sentience but not yet developed beyond a rudimentary culture and some basic technologies. Beyond that, the barbarian species are all very different.”
“What does this mean? How do we get out of here?” I start to panic. Just that one brief moment with Marie was like heaven, but now I’m torn from her again. My heart aches and I desperately just want to be back to KrysOlak or Earth, to somewhere safe and good.
I need to confirm that Marie escaped.
“Our best chance is to recover something from the Flash Bomber that we can use. The fuel cell was destroyed in the crash and the ship is powerless, but I might be able to fashion some sort of device from what remains.”
“What about the Wehizx ship?” I ask.
He pushes a hand through his long hair, tossing it out of his face. “We recovered many of their ships during the wars. It’s not difficult to pair our technology with some of theirs but we’ve never been able to figure out how their information networks or power sources function.”
“Do we have a chance of escaping this planet?” I ask weakly, scared of the answer.
UrTak chuckles. “We’ve never had a good chance, but we’ve always come out on top. And it looks like the Comet Striker made an escape with the women. I’d say we’re still winning.”
I glance around at the wreckage and half expect a barbarian to pop out of the trees. “Winning looks really different here than it does on Earth.”
He laughs and the deep rumble of his voice comforts me.
“Okay,” I say. “So what can I do to help?”
UrTak thinks about it carefully as he studies me. “The wreckage is too heavy for you to move, but we’re going to need food. The swimmers in this ocean look edible. I fashioned a tool earlier from some fallen branches. Could you spear some swimmers for our dinner?”
I nod, eager to contribute. “Definitely, I can figure that out.”
“Just let me taste it first, in case the creatures are poisonous.”
I don’t like the idea of him poisoning himself but I nod, knowing his body could take a lot more than I could. “What about water?”
He chuckles. “As far as the eye can see and crystal clear.”
“Isn’t it salty?”
“Salty?”
“On Earth the oceans are salty.”
He stares at me, almost disbelieving. “What a strange place,” he mutters.
For a couple hours UrTak and I work together. He hauls massive pieces of the ship onto the shore, dragging them through the sand while his muscles ripple under the red suns. He finds a box with devices that look like small tools and he uses them occasionally to break apart some of the mangled metal or scan broken circuitry.
His focus and determination impress me all over again. I know his body must be aching like mine is. The crash and the healing process have exhausted me to the core. But he keeps working, laboring to get us back to safety.
My heart swells. I’m still not sure what it means to feel about him the way I’ve been feeling. He’s not totally uncommunicative like some of the men I’ve dated, but UrTak isn’t the biggest talker, either.
And I’m just not sure how to have the conversations that we should probably be having. It’s not like I could ask him to go steady or something. Even if we do survive all of this, I need to find a way back to Earth.
I can’t give up on Earth. I can’t turn my back on the life I left there. And I can’t let myself get confused by really good sex and an alien who treats me better than any man back home ever has.
Even if I make his lucex rise or whatever, the thing happening between us can only be temporary. It can only be a strange, exciting fling between two aliens from different worlds. I’m glad to have it, and in a surprising way, affections from this giant purple alien are keeping me sane and focused as everything I know of the universe collapses.
But as I stand on another alien world, my heart does want more, and the implications of that frighten me.
The cool water laps my knees as I wade out further. I spot another one of the round yellow fish that I’ve been spearing. They have eight little fins on their side and they move incredibly slowly, which makes them the easiest to catch.
Diving forward, I thrust the spear down. The satisfying thump lets me know that I’ve caught dinner and when I stand back up, water dripping down my body, UrTak cheers from the shore.
“A fine meal!” he yells.
I laugh and wade back to shore. My muscles burn and my body is turning into one big bruise but it feels good to help.
The suns begin to sink below the horizon and an eerie red glow comes over the planet. I tear the tattered parts off of my jumpsuit and chuckle that I end up with something that resembles a romper.
Definitely not a look I would have gone with on Earth, but there wasn’t exactly a mall down the beach where I could pick up a new pair of jeans.
UrTak turns away from the gathered wreckage and helps me to make a small fire. The wood he gathers burns with a spicy scent that reminds me of incense that my college roommate used to burn. I’ve gotten weirdly used to the squawking noise in the forest and the look of the green sand, dried to my skin.
I never thought I’d get used to being on alien planets.
When the fish is cooked, UrTak and I lay out on a blanket he fetches from the ship. The fish tastes like sweet, candied salmon and I smile as UrTak tears it apart with his large hands and offers me nice, cleaned pieces of flesh.
The planet stays warm even when the suns disappear and the suit I’m wearing feels tight against my skin after the long day.
I look to UrTak and when he catches my eye I realize we really are all alone. There’s nothing to stop me from doing exactly what I want to do.
I tug down the front of the suit until my breasts spill out. His hands tighten into fists and I bite down on my lip.
He’s so fun to flirt with. He has so much willpower, and when he points it toward me it feels like his gaze is red hot.
“Loretta,” he growls.
I lean back on the blanket. The warm breeze teases my arousal and my nipples harden in the air. He doesn’t have to do anything but lick his thick tongue across his lips and I’m wet and desperate for him.
“I think I’m ready to take you inside me again,” I say.
UrTak moves like a flash of lightning. I’m on my back, laughing and kicking my legs against the blanket while the ocean crashes against the shore. He kisses me as he undresses me, dragging his lips across my skin as his massive muscles pin me down.
“UrTak,” I gasp. The heat of his body engulfs me. His muscles feel like steel beneath his scarred skin as I give myself to him and writhe beneath his strength. I reach up and grab his horns, and when I do, a shock of pleasure rocks me.
“Loretta,” he groans as his electric silver aura glows. His lucex is like an erotic spark. It touches parts of me that I’ve never felt before, from my fingertips to my toes, and I feel my mind opening to the universe as the sensations expand inside of me.
UrTak kicks his pants off. The first time, I had been so surprised by his cock, I didn’t know what to think.
L
uckily, he’d shown me exactly what he could do.
I lean up on my elbows. His cock is dark purple with a fat crown, already leaking milky precum. It twitches against his abs and thrums with a steady, high energy. It gives me a forbidden thrill just to look at them.
As though his huge size weren’t already enough. “Can I?” I ask as I look at his stiff erection.
UrTak tilts his head to the side, not certain what I mean. He seems to love it when I take initiative so I just go for it. I stretch my jaw wide and take him beneath my lips.
UrTak’s groan is loud and deep. “You’re amazing,” he grunts. His cock hits the back of my throat but he rocks his hips just right, filling my mouth without choking me. His hand finds my clit and my folds and he gently rubs me as I swirl my tongue. His taste coats my mouth as I grow wetter for him.
Like his muscles, his cock is stiff as metal, but cushioned by his soft purple skin. I lick his length and hold his vibrating shaft in my hand, then tease his balls, heavy and full in his sack. Unlike most men I know from Earth, he doesn’t try to take charge or thrust into me. He just lets me explore as his lucex tingles pleasure against my lips.
I pull back for a breath, gasping for air.
He takes me by the side and lifts me, swirling me in the air as he stands. I laugh with surprise and land on his hips. The light of the fire casts playful shadows across the beach and the forests behind us and I’m caught up again in the beauty of the night.
UrTak hitches me on his hip, positions me carefully, then lifts me and holds me over the head of his cock.
“My powerful beauty,” he growls. “My brave woman.”
Before I can reply he slides me onto the crown of his cock, pushing his tip in first and holding me there. I don’t know how I was able to take him the first time and I bite my lip, worrying I won’t be able to now, but my body opens as I wrap my arms around his thick neck.
His lucex sparks inside of me, like an erotic, electric shock that flickers against my nerves and teases me open.
I whimper and struggle to make my words. I gush on his cock as he pushes his way in so slowly I lose track of my heartbeat and my senses, time inching by. He strokes my back gently, easing me as I sink onto him until I’m stretched full and already trembling with the start of an orgasm.
He holds me like that as I breathe and catch myself. His cock thrums, vibrating in a way that warms my tender spot, and my walls clench down hard in response.
“My strong woman,” he says again. He pumps up once and I squeeze my arms around his shoulders. After I steady myself, I reach up and grab a horn with one hand, squeezing it as I ride the spark of his lucex.
“My destined mate,” he growls.
“Oh! Oh!” I moan and yell as he bounces me on his cock. My walls clench and tug on him as his hand finds my clit and rubs it with a hot, firm friction. His thrusts shake my entire body and I ride the sensations, so good they hurt.
He pulls me close and my breasts press against his bare chest. UrTak lands one hand on my hips, guiding me as his talons press into my flesh, and when I am steady he drags his hand upward and squeezes my nipple. We kiss desperately as I steady myself on his powerful thighs. I grab at his shoulders, wrap my arms around his thick neck, and scream his name on the edge of climax.
My hand lands on something hard on his back, a nub that feels like his horn. I grab at it to steady myself and hit my orgasm. He glows with his lucex and the sizzling release washes through my body, too. I feel his cock thicken and pump into me as he thrums so hard and fast, the pulse hits my twitching clit.
“My woman!” UrTak screams to the alien world, and I throw my head back, screaming his name in return, desperate for the whole galaxy to hear.
Chapter Seventeen
UrTak
The suns rise over the forest as I hunch above a pile of salvaged parts. The only components that I have found lack the power necessary to contact someone off planet, but I can’t let that stop me. The RSA has certainly risen their defensive armies in preparation for a possible counterattack and I will not be able to rest until Loretta is safely behind those borders again.
I hear her stirring by the smoldering fire. She stands slowly, stretching her muscles and making the sweetest, softest noises I have ever heard.
My yearning for her flares. My lucex is strong. It hummed through battle and through the night with her, and chased away any last doubt. Loretta is my destined. Once I return her to KrysOlak, I promise myself that I will ask her to be my mate and stay with me.
I will take her under the dark moon and we will learn if the stars have destined us a child.
Loretta squats at the shore and splashes water on her face. I study her thighs and the shape of her backside, which fascinates me. She is still naked from sleep and there is a soft pink glow on the pale, golden brown of her delicate skin.
My cock twitches. I know that my destined will say yes and stay with me. There is no other way it can be.
And I am truly a lucky KrysOlakn that it is her. The stars could not have destined me a more perfect woman.
She steps into her torn suit, pulling it up and over her shoulders but leaving the front unfastened and the mounds of her breasts visible, and she wanders over to me.
“Good morning,” I say.
“Good morning.” She rises up to kiss me and wraps her arms around my neck, then rubs her hand down my back. “What are these?”
I reach back to her hand and am surprised to feel a hard knob there. I think at first that I have healed without setting my bones properly but quickly realize I would not be walking if my spine were in such a position.
My heart jumps. Could it be?
Loretta scrunches her mouth tight. “Is something wrong?”
“The horns…” I begin, then remind her. “KrysOlakns used to grow horns after our second growth, but it hasn’t happened in years.”
She seems to think about it, the morning light shining in her brown eyes. “Do you mean that you’re growing horns because we had sex?”
I rub my hand over the other knob. Each are behind my shoulders and about the size of my fist, still under my taut skin. “I think yes, that might be what’s happening.”
Her eyes shoot wide open. “Badass! What kind of horns?”
I chuckle. “No KrysOlakn knew what horns he would bear until his second growth, but patterns were common to genetic lines. I believe I should expect two thick horns that rise nearly to the top of my head, quite useful for combat.”
Loretta’s grin gets wider. “I gave you horns.”
I laugh then lift her and spin her for a kiss. “I am very lucky. And with a little more luck, I will be able to give you a ride off this planet.”
Loretta laughs. She kisses my neck and then down along my bare chest. The caress of her lips tugs at my desire but I battle down my significant urges, knowing I have to figure out a solution to our problem.
“What does that phrase you’re using mean?” she asks. “Destined?”
I draw my hand through her hair, smoothing it back. “My species has always turned to the stars to guide us. They are full of mysteries, more than we could ever solve, but we know that within those stars, our destiny lies.” I tilt my head up and look to the rising red suns. “We believe that when two KrysOlakns mate under the dark moon, it is because the stars have destined this to occur.”
“And all KrysOlakns had destined mates?” she asks. “They all found someone and met under the moon?”
A rumble sounds within my chest. I spin Loretta in my arms, then pull her close so we can watch the rising suns together. “The stars are far too mysterious for this. Some find their destined, but choose to never mate under the dark moon. Some are called to forego their second growth and others form deep and lasting bonds of other sorts, honored with their own ceremonies. The stars have destined many futures for our people, but I, like many others, yearn most of all for this ancient mating.”
Loretta watches the sunrises in silence for a whil
e, her sweet scent rich as I breathe her in. “On Earth, pregnancy can happen anytime, whether you want it to or not.”
I nod. “Many worlds are like this. We believe that our mating ritual has strengthened the devotion that we carry. Our children were lifted up, raised by their destined parents and the families and communities around them. This honor, too, allowed us to stay strong and defeat the Wehizx when they invaded.” I grunt and stroke her side. “Those times might be gone, but I will treat you with the same honor, Loretta.”
Her hand lands on my wrist and she pulls my arm across her chest. “Yes, UrTak,” she says. “I know you will.”
I swallow. I have not yet told her the rest, but to withhold it any longer would be dishonorable. “When I first saw you, I saw a flash of light.”
“A flash of light?”
“It is said that when two destined mates first meet, light flashes. It is the light of the stars, summoned by the energy that thrums in our lucex. I believe that the stars recognized our meeting, Loretta.” I spin her to face me, then brush my thumb across her soft cheek. “I believe that in all of the galaxy, the stars have chosen me for you, as they have chosen you for me.”
Loretta takes her bottom lip between her teeth and bites down softly. She holds my eye as she considers what I say, then nods. “That’s beautiful, UrTak,” she says. “But you know, it’s not because of the stars that I want you. It’s because of who you are. It’s because of the way you treat me.”
My heart swells with pride. “The stars have destined us to each other,” I agree, “but it is of our own free will that we choose to be together.”
She smiles. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
When the suns have risen, I return to my work, bursting with pride the whole time. My destined has said that she trusts me, and I know that Loretta would not give her trust to anyone who had not earned it.
And if I am to experience my second growth that means it is possible I will develop charges as my ancestors did. The silver lucex on my arms practically sparks with anticipation of blasting pure energy, an ability so long denied us KrysOlakns.
