Premonitions

by Le aha Vaughn

  "You might sit here trying your best to order me around, but I'm not touching that animal and that is final.” He lowered his eyes to her, his nostrils flaring. She was more than ready for his challenges. “You want to settle this discussion another way, Great Prince?” She said his title sound as close to ‘bastard’ as she could get it. That jerk wanted her to actually get bloody when the closest she came to blood was the looking at the gash on Eriq's head.

  His breath blew the wild strands of her hair. His quicksilver eyes burned into hers. He just stood there as if calculating what to do with her. He pushed the animal forward towards her.

  Her head started to swivel. Anyone who knew her automatically got out of her way when she swiveled her head.

  "What part of no don't you understand the ‘naw’ or the ‘uh-uh'? I said I was not touching it and I am not! So you can just turn around and cut the damned thing up in the corner for all I care."

  "As the wife of an Altarian warrior—"

  "This little black woman doesn't do anything that requires me to get bloodied up. AT ALL. Tojenmesh lan?” She added the last part into her statement in a language that he could understand. His own.

  "That's it.” He threw the animal and stalked towards her. His eyes began glowing with an unnatural light. “I am going to do what I've wanted to do since I found you in the Dinti."

  "Don't you put your hands on me!"

  "And what are you going to do? Scream? Scream all you want, but you are getting what you deserve.” She got two steps before he charged after her as if he was a predator running after his prey.

  She actually made it to the cave entrance before he tackled her. He had her across his lap on her stomach, her round ass up in the air in two seconds. As she tried to kick her way out of he grasp, he pinned her down with the steel of his arm.

  "LoMoq, you will regret the day that you lay a hand on me."

  He gave off a hoot of laughter. “Hold still. Take your punishment, woman."

  She yelped when the first smack on her bottom filled the cavern air. Anger shot through her.

  "You stupid, arrogant, son-of-a-bitch. You'll never get away with this."

  "Oh, yes, I will. You'll get this and then some, Nahni.” He smacked her bottom again in the same spot.

  The stinging started after the third smack. No matter how much it stung, there was a churning starting deep within her. Before each hit, his large hands massaged her round rump sending shivers coursing through her.

  He smacked her bottom for the fourth time. This time against her dismay, her yelp came out as a half moan that she hoped to the Spirits that he did not hear her.

  As he raised his hand the last time, she actually arched her ass to meet his hand. No, she did not like this punishment. Nevertheless, she did like the feel of his hands on her round bottom. The freaky side of her wanted to come out and play. His hand stayed in the last spot that he smacked her. His large fingers massaging the pain away from her, oh that felt so good.

  When she tried to sit up, he let her. She rested on her knees as her emerald gaze glowered fully directed towards him. Her bottom was too sore to even think about sitting on it. His silver eyes burned into hers. He wanted her. After he had kidnapped her, got her stranded on a planet, almost eaten by some hideously large beast, even smacking her bottom, which really wasn't as bad as she thought, he wanted her.

  He did not say another word to her. The smug pull at his lips as well as the burning gleam in his eyes said volumes.

  Rising from the floor, he walked to the other side of the small cave with a small dagger in hand began to cut on the animal.

  "I'm not doing it tomorrow either. Tomorrow won't change the fact that I don't want to touch it."

  He stopped turning to look at her darkly. His eyes filled with a silent threat, Do what I say or else. Nah'Dara turned her head.

  She was not about to be threatened, silent or otherwise. No matter how much her butt stung, she was not touching anything dead. She would much rather start repairing the ship. That was something that she was used to, not gathering wood, or cleaning dead animals. She did not even know how to cook without a replicator. She stole a look back at Eriq. He had chopped off the animal's head, putting it to the side and was now beginning to cut away its brown fur.

  Nah'Dara shivered. It was the single grossest thing that she had seen in her lifetime. The animal's red blood covered his hands and the bottom of his black tee as well as his pants. It was affirmed. She was not eating at all. Touching was out of the question.

  Rubbing her bottom, she decided not to push him any further than she wanted to. A minute ago, she happened to not be tired, willing to carry the argument to another level. Now she was bone weary with a sore ass.

  "What are we going to use to sleep on?” Her voice came out a lot smaller than she wanted.

  "I am going back to the ship to see if I can find something.” He did not look up from the animal. He had all the fur off spearing it with the large stick that he had found along the way to the cave and begun to roast it over the fire.

  It took a while before it was ready to eat. By that time, her stomach growled so loud that Eriq stopped to look her with amusement dancing in his eyes. He made the piece of meat look like a seven-course dinner and the more she thought about, it the more she wanted to eat it.

  The smug son of a...

  "I think your stomach is speaking for you."

  "Oh, shut up. Just because you can go without a meal doesn't mean that I can."

  "Well stop torturing yourself and eat.” He took another bite chewing it slowly just to antagonize her. Spirit, she did not think she was going to hold out much longer. She refused to give him the satisfaction. The image of the thing bloodied and skinned danced in her head giving her stomach a frightful turn.

  "No, I'll wait.” Nah'Dara turned her back to the fire and to him as well.

  "Until when? The next ship? Which we are uncertain when that is going to be. Eat, Nah'Dara.” He commanded. Immediately she put up her walls when she felt him enter her mind. The familiar tingling filled her mind. She shook her head slightly. Hopefully he would get the point.

  "Suit yourself.” When he finished his piece, he picked his teeth with the stick for a moment then threw it on the ground. She could tell that he stood. She could feel his presence tower over her. “I'm going to check on the ship."

  Fear shot through her. He was going to leave her along again. No telling what was going to happen to her. She might be taken off by another otherworldly beast again. With him gone, who knows? She could feel him in her mind attempting to soothe her. Dropping her guard, she let him in. She felt the warm touch of a hand caress her face.

  As if reading her thoughts, his deep purr rumbled through her. “Are you going to miss me, Nahni?” That seemed to bring her out of her dazed state.

  "You're diluted...” She stammered, honestly could not think a good retort to save her life.

  "You'll miss me. Good, a woman should always miss her man. I will be back soon, love.” Before she could clear her head to pick up something to throw at him he made a dashed for the cave opening.

  Nah'Dara looked at the piece of meat on a stick Eriq left for her trying not to think of it as a furry little animal. Her stomach growled again telling her that it was empty. The meat seemed to be screaming at her.

  I'm delicious. Eat me.

  Nah'Dara could not resist any longer. He would never know. She would eat it but tell him that she had thrown it out. She grabbed the stick taking a huge bite. Though there was none of the seasoning taste that would have made it, seem like a gourmet meal, she did not care.

  It tasted like meat, and to a stomach that had not had anything in nearly twenty-four hours, it tasted like her meals made by the head chef on Habias. The meat was tough, yet tasty. However, she had to take a huge bite wearing down the tough outer skin to the inner meat, which was tender and juicy. The image of the furry animal left her mind minute by minute.

  * * * *
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br />   Eriq made it to the ship with little problem, occasionally ducking and dodging more of those Cantus lizards creeping stealthily to the ship.

  Inside was as bad as he feared. There were the scorch marks from the fire. He could not see the outside in the moonless light. The emergency lights were on but only in a soft glow. He found the emergency flashlights slipping one into his pocket and the other one on his arm. The light filled the corridor lighting his way. There was no whine from the ships systems, no soft buzzing from the environmental systems. A few tore bulkheads here, an electrical portal there. There were contents from the cargo bay tossed around everywhere. It was a total disaster area. For the first time in his life, it was not him that made the mess.

  Eriq climbed around fallen debris to his quarters finding the coverlet and a few rations as well as another phaser. He found his spare bag placing them inside zipping it closed. He was not going to take much time with his ship tonight. From the extent, the damage was irreparable.

  He made for the exit making sure that he closed the portal entrance to the cargo bay. He walked through the dark of the forest to the mountain cave as quietly as he could with the aid of the medical scanner.

  He made a sensor scan of the cave before he was near it, making sure that she was fine. Nah'Dara had not been foolish enough to leave. After the beast attack, he doubted she had the nerve to venture through the woods without him.

  What had come over him earlier? Never in all of his life had he raised a hand to any woman. But she was different. After what she had done, he felt a need to use the old methods of his race to punish their women. He should not feel remorseful about having to spank her, but he did. Truth be told, he rather enjoyed it. It gave him an excuse to feel her lush ass in his hands. When she moaned the last time, it nearly sent him over the edge. If he did not know any better, he would say that she enjoyed it as much as he did.

  The fire and defiance in her eyes told him different. He saw fire there mingling with the ice. He wanted to make the fire burn brighter, wanting nothing but to see her moan his name in pleasure. To feel her breast brush up against him ... to feel his hard cock slide in her hot slick entrance.

  His enormous hard-on threatened to burst from his pants. It was as if it had a mind of its own. Throbbing like he was still a fourteen-year-old boy looking at a pornographic halo-video.

  Eriq adjusted the bag of rations so that it covered his bulge. It would just give her another reason to not like him. He could not afford that. Not now. Making Nah'Dara happy so she would not bitch at him with her outraging temper was more important, than some treaty anyway.

  As he entered the cave, his eye immediately adjusted to the soft glow of the fire. Nah'Dara lay on the ground near it curled into a tight ball with her head propped up by her elbow covered by her jacket. She left two sticks beside the fire as evidence she actually ate. Several small scratches trailed the outline of her eye. Her hair was in an array of loose brown waves flowing down across her shoulders.

  As always, the sight of her stilled his heart. She was breathtaking even in the most unusual circumstances. Innocent looking, but he was not fooled for a moment. Under the innocence was a warrior princess with a wrath to defy the spirits.

  Placing the bag on the ground, he grabbed the blanket laying down next to her pulling her into his arms. Eriq shifted so that her head was pillowed by his large bicep. When he moved her, she only moaned, mumbling something under her breath, then sighed and scooted more comfortably against him.

  It felt right. The feel of her backside nestled against his stomach. Her long brown hair flowing across her shoulders, gently brushed his face. The way his arm carelessly wrapped around her as if to protect her. As if his body knew her. From the nape of her tantalizingly long neck to the sway of her generous hips, his body seemed to identify hers as his.

  He splayed one large hand against the flat of her stomach feeling her arch her hips more securely into him. Pulling the blanket over them, Eriq laid there enjoying the feel of her in his arms. He felt the sweet curve of her ass as she snuggled arching herself against him. I could get used to this every night, his thought as sleep claimed him at last.

  Chapter 16

  Morning came too quickly for her. The rays of the sun peeked over the edges of the horizon. Nah'Dara sat up to an empty cave. Eriq was nowhere to be found. Her heart twisted in its familiar way. She never liked to be alone.

  However, she was wrapped in a coverlet that came from the ship. The night was a bitter cold one. The cold air blew through the cave sending her deeper into Eriq's arms. He had welcomed her, warming her with his body. How could she pull away from something as warm and hard as his body? Not willingly, that is for sure.

  She wrapped the coverlet around her as she stood. Spirit, she was sore. Her muscles screamed at her with every movement as she timidly walked out of the cave searching for any sign of him. In the distance, she heard the hammering followed with the sizzle of phaser hitting metal.

  Following the sounds, Nah'Dara found Eriq hunched over a platform using his phaser to weld a couple of bulkheads together. A small distance behind him was more bulkheads waiting to be welded. It looked as if the man had been up all night, but that could not have been. He was there to keep her warm, she was sure of it.

  What was he building?

  "Good Morning. What are you doing awake?” She jumped at the sound of his voice. Eriq never lifted his head from the platform, yet he acknowledged her as if he were looking right at her.

  "What are you doing up so early? Aren't you tired?” He placed the phaser down on the unfinished bulkhead and looked up. His silver eyes always stole her breath making her heart catch in her chest. She was amazed she felt so light-headed almost flirty with every glance from him. A giddy kind of laugh nearly bubbled out of her mouth.

  He dusted his hands on his pants and stood. “I couldn't sleep."

  Nah'Dara accepted his answer. She had been restless as well. “Okay. Now what are you building?"

  His eyes shined proudly. “It's going to be a small shelter when I get finished. This planet is too cold at night to spend another night in the cave."

  "What about the ship?"

  He shook his head. “It's shot. The antimatter nacelles are fired. The engines are busted. The life support systems in it are dead. There were only a few systems working. The sonic shower, the portable replicator that I kept in a bolted down storage container and the water purification system are the only functional systems. Other than that, the ship is scrap parts. What I can pull from the hull, I'm going to use as the outer part of the shelter."

  Nah'Dara mouthed a silent ‘oh'. The man was resourceful. She would have never though about doing that. “What about the sensors. Are they able to be used?"

  "Short range only. And a few lights. The remaining generator I am going to take apart later to power the shelter.” She nodded. Smart and resourceful.

  "Need any help?” A questioning look passed over his face, but it quickly returned to its usual unreadable state.

  "What can you do?” What? Did he doubt her? Shows him what she knows.

  "I know computer systems, Alpha male. I can hookup and wire the systems that are pulled from the ship.” He nodded approvingly. She took it as cocky.

  "I can do anything you can."

  He chuckled. “We shall see.” He doubted her. Fine. She could show him better than she could tell him anyway.

  "We shall,” she said mocking him. Unwrapping the blanket from her shoulders, Nah'Dara rolled it placing it beside several pieces of finished bulkhead slabs. She rolled up her sleeves grabbed the phaser from him, plunging right into doing some work.

  It took more than half the morning to get the outer walls of the shelter up, but they worked well nonstop. They were in the middle of welding the roof together when they finally stopped for a break. The temperature had warmed up enough to discard the jacket tossing it down beside the blanket.

  Eriq was a fast worker. She did not have a doubt that
he had the strength of ten men. She could see it in all those muscles that encased his strong arms. Several times, he caught her watching him, but there was not a hint of recognition on his face. Only his eyes dancing darkly gave him away.

  Heat flared inside her. Had she been any lighter, she would be two shades of pink. She could not help herself. Ever since she seen him walk out of the shower butt naked, she had been tempted to get a good look every chance she got. Oh, she still found him totally male chauvinistic, but try telling that to her sex hormones.

  She watched him now as he took a canteen full of the fresh water from the lagoon drinking deeply. His raven hair spilled down his bare back. It was like a teenager's dream. Handsome hunk standing in the middle of the forest with nothing on his chest but hard chiseled muscles and the sweat of a hard day's work.

  On the inside, she jumped for joy when he took the canteen pouring the rest of the water down his bare chest.

  Spirit, doesn't he know how tasty he looks?

  Eriq ran a hand across his stomach smearing away the water that tickled his skin. If only Kiana could see this. She would have a heart attack. The woman loved men dripping in anything, especially her. He made the water look like sweet nectar begging her to lick it off.

  Moving her gaze from his chiseled torso, she connected with deep darkly sexy grey eyes. She swallowed. He looked wild and untamed. As if, he was meant to be in the wilderness not at the reigns of an entire colony.

  By the way, the light danced in his eyes and the smile that touched his lips, she felt her mouth hanging open in full man gawking.

  "Is something wrong?"

  Wide eyed at being caught, Nah'Dara raised her own canteen taking a large gulp.

  "Uh-uh,” she mumbled between gulps. His stare unnerved her with his clear silver clear eyes staring into her soul. She could have sworn she saw humor in his eyes before she turned away. He probably had a cocky head after catching her.

  "You ready to finish?” She sounded so breathless.