He pressed a gentle, lingering kiss on Yuri’s palm and pulled his face away, opening his eyes. He wrapped his arm around her, turning her onto her side as he drew her close, and tucked her against his body.
“Thargen?” she asked, looking up at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Sleep, Yuri,” he replied as he pulled the loose clothing back into place over their bodies. “Long day ahead.”
“We could just get a head start. I’m not”—she yawned—“tired. Okay, so maybe I am. Your clever hands did good.”
Thargen snickered. “Don’t think any part of me’s ever been called clever, but I’ll take it, terran.”
She chuckled. “I don’t think I could move if I wanted to.”
“Guess it’s good that I can carry you if necessary.” He willed his body to relax, a process that was not aided by having her pressed against him again, nor by her scent in his nostrils and her taste lingering on his tongue.
She released a soft, sleepy sigh. “Yeah. I like your arms around me.”
“Me too.”
Within a minute or two, her breathing had slowed, and her body had eased, snug and secure against Thargen. He couldn’t help a flare of envy; normally, he could get himself to sleep anytime, anywhere—it had been a necessary skill during his time in the Vanguard, when rest was never guaranteed. But that wouldn’t be the case tonight.
Lust and Rage pumped through his veins, and his cock—again tucked against her delectable backside—was hard enough to drive a nail.
But there was only one sort of hammering he was interested in right now.
Fuck.
Reluctant as he was to leave her alone even for a few seconds, he was tempted to slip away, take himself in his fist, and empty his seed into this red alien grass. It wasn’t at all what he wanted, but it was something—and it would provide at least minor relief.
But he couldn’t move away from her, not while she was vulnerable, scared, and cold. And he knew that any relief he could provide himself would only be temporary—and that his hunger would come back twice as strong afterward. Right here was where he belonged, with his arms around her. Easing her discomfort, soothing her suffering. Protecting her.
His own discomfort was irrelevant. This was nothing new—his time with Yuri had been spent in a near constant state of arousal, and the lack of an outlet for that arousal had made it almost painful. But she was worth it. He’d suffer like this for the rest of his life so long as it meant he could be near her and keep her safe.
Thargen could survive the ache in his balls; he’d lived through far worse.
His cocked pulsed painfully as though to challenge that idea.
Fuck. This is gonna be a long night.
Twelve
“How the hell do you walk if your feet are so soft?” Thargen asked as he wrapped Yuri’s right foot with a strip of cloth he’d torn from one of the spare pieces of clothing.
“Usually I just wear shoes, but I guess I must’ve forgotten them at home,” Yuri said with a roll of her eyes.
The sky was bleak, shrouded by dark gray clouds and forsaken by a sun that hadn’t yet risen above the mountain—which itself was completely hidden by mist thicker than Yuri had ever seen. The air was colder than it had been yesterday, its chill bolstered by strengthened winds, and possessed a hint of unsettling energy that had nothing to do with the skeks attack the night before.
Those clouds held the threat of rain.
It would’ve been easy for Yuri’s imagination to run wild with speculation about how miserable this place would be in the rain, but she didn’t allow it to. Despite her fear of both the known and unknown dangers of this world—the skeks scared the hell out of her—she was in a really good mood.
She turned her attention down to Thargen’s hands—particularly his long, thick fingers, which moved with precision and confidence belied by their appearance. She shifted on the rock she sat upon, but no matter her position, the slight tenderness at the apex of her thighs would not diminish, serving as a reminder of what those fingers had done last night. Her sex throbbed, and her core ached; even with the release he’d granted her, she was in no way satisfied. She wanted those hands on her again, those fingers inside her.
She wanted him inside her.
Thargen grunted, and one corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk, pulling his lips tight around his tusks. “Next thing you’ll tell me is that you forgot to bring the food, too.”
She threw her hands up. “And the booze. I knew I should’ve made a checklist before we left.”
He secured the cloth around her ankle, tying the ends off and tucking them away. “Last time I trust you to plan a trip, terran. Other foot.”
Yuri chuckled and lowered her foot from his knee, replacing it with the other. She wiggled her toes.
“Soft, small, and cute,” Thargen muttered as he stretched out the next strip of fabric.
She grinned. “You should see them when my nails are painted green.”
“Fuck, terran,” he groaned, dropping a hand to his groin—to his very visible erection—and squeezing. “You’re killing me.”
Yuri bit her lip, staring at the outline of his cock, recalling every little detail of what was hidden beneath the fabric. “I could…help you with that.”
His grip tightened, making the tendons on the back of his hand stand out. After several seconds of silence, he finally huffed through his nose, withdrew his hand from his groin, and positioned the fabric strip beneath her foot. His voice was strained when he said, “We need to get moving.”
She knew he was right, but that didn’t stop the pang of disappointment that struck her chest.
Thargen brushed a finger across the tips of her toes. “I expect them painted when we get back, zoani. No teasing me.”
Yuri chuckled, wiggling her toes again. “Oh, they will be. As green as you want them.”
He began the wrapping process, crossing the fabric over itself as he covered her foot with it, keeping it snug. “It’s nice to meet a female who understands that green is indisputably the best color in the universe. There is one shade better than the rest, though.”
Yuri ran a finger over his shoulder and down along his arm. “Yours, of course.”
“Oof. It suck to be so wrong?”
Laughter bubbled out of her. “Now what color could be better than yours? I thought for sure that was the best.”
Thargen folded the cloth over her toes and started wrapping it back toward her ankle. He lifted his gaze, locking it with hers, and leaned a little closer. “Yours is. Your eyes.”
Yuri’s cheeks warmed. “Let’s agree to disagree.”
“Nope.” He glanced down only long enough to tie off the cloth strip and tuck the ends away before his eyes were on hers again. “It’s all right to be wrong, terran. Which you are in this case.”
Yuri snorted. “Keep telling yourself that. Things are gonna be rough for you until you accept the greatest truth of them all.”
He cocked his scarred eyebrow and tilted his head. “And what’s that?”
“I’m always right, even when I’m wrong. And I’m never wrong, since I’m always right.”
Thargen shook his head and chuckled, gently guiding her foot off his knee. “Keep up with that kinda talk and you’ll make my head hurt, terran.”
“I might be willing to stop”—she waggled her eyebrows—“if you concede that I am, in fact, correct.”
Perhaps it was childish to playfully argue about which green was better, but Yuri needed this light-hearted distraction. Soon, they’d be traversing dangerous, unfamiliar land, and there was no telling when they’d have a moment like this again—if they had any more at all.
“You could tell me this grass is blue,” Thargen said as he turned away and scooped up his backpack, “or that I’m a damned volturian, and I wouldn’t argue with you. But when it comes to questions of your beauty, zoani, I’m right.”
He slung the straps over his shoulders, muscles rippling beneath h
is skin; despite the cold, he hadn’t put on a shirt, and Yuri certainly wasn’t going to complain if he was comfortable shirtless. He snatched up her pack and turned to face her again. “Now get your sexy ass over here, terran.”
Grinning, Yuri stood up and walked toward him. It felt strange having her feet wrapped up, but it’d be considerably better than rocks, sticks, and fallen pine needles constantly digging into her bare soles.
“It’s all yours,” she said, holding her hand out for her bag.
“Oh, I know.” Thargen passed her the backpack; the instant it was in her grasp, he stepped close and swept her off her feet, taking her in his arms.
She released a startled gasp, followed by a laugh. “What was the point of wrapping my feet if you’re just going to carry me?”
“I thought you liked being in my arms?” He started down the slope, his steady, casual pace eating up ground thanks to his long stride.
Yuri leaned toward him and kissed the corner of his mouth, relishing the feel of his hard tusk against her lips. “I do.”
He made a rumbling sound in his chest—a blend of a grunt and a groan. “Think I like it more every time.”
She smiled and looped one arm around the back of his neck while adjusting the bag in her lap with the other. “Yeah, but shouldn’t we be conserving your strength while I’m able to walk on my own?”
“I got plenty of strength, little terran. The gear I had to haul around every day in the Vanguard was heavier than you are.”
She chuckled and lightly raked her nails along the back of his shoulder. “I do like a male with muscles.”
“This male,” he growled, his hand flexing on her thigh. “You like this male with muscles.”
Yuri hummed thoughtfully and lay her head against his shoulder. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”
Thargen strode forward, leaving their little campsite behind.
The sky only darkened further as the gray clouds gathered, swept along by that cold wind. The landscape felt more alien than ever under that dreary lighting. It seemed a place caught in time, frozen. Trapped. Yuri thrust those thoughts aside as quickly as she could, knowing they would just lead her back to that cage—and from there they would undoubtedly turn to the current situation. She didn’t want to kill the good spirits Thargen had helped her maintain.
She didn’t want to face the reality of just how hopeless this was.
He moved steadily downslope, crossing red grass and passing around, over, and between large rock formations. After what felt like an hour or so—not that Yuri’s concept of time mattered much here—she asked him to set her down so she could stretch her legs. He did so without argument, stepping back once she was on her feet.
She swung her backpack on and followed close behind him when he resumed walking. The cloth bindings on her feet worked on the hard, unforgiving stone they crossed, providing just enough cushioning to prevent pain and thus allowing her to keep up with Thargen’s steady but relatively easy pace.
They hiked onward—leaving the ship a little farther behind with each step—through an increasingly rough and rocky landscape that further limited their range of view. Yuri was surprised by her own endurance. Her body was sore and definitely weaker than it had been before she was kidnapped, but sleeping with Thargen last night had left her surprisingly well rested. She didn’t expect that to last long, though. Those bland meal bars were in short supply and would only get Yuri and Thargen so far. They needed real food, fresh water, and a safe place to hide. Without those things, their lives were going to get miserable very quickly.
Her first taste of that misery came sooner than Yuri had hoped. After what felt like hours of walking—and occasionally climbing—her legs were heavy and wobbly, her muscles burned, and sweat coated her skin, enhancing the chill in the air. She labored for breath as she followed Thargen up another rocky rise, feeling as though even a mild gust of wind would be enough to knock her over and send her tumbling back down to where they’d started.
By the time Thargen halted, his lead on her had opened to several meters. He stared out over that rise for a few seconds before looking at her over his shoulder and offering a grin. “Come on, terran. I think you’ll like this.”
Yuri paused, glanced up at him, and quickened her pace. The tone in his voice, combined with his sexy grin, sent a burst of energy through her, making that last bit of distance between them a piece of cake.
Mmm, cake.
Her mouth watered at the memory of the super sweet frosting that topped birthday cakes. She’d been reprimanded a few times as a child for dipping her finger into the icing on the bottom of the cake when she thought no one was looking.
I am so holding Thargen to his promise when we get back.
He turned and extended a hand to her as she neared. Yuri took it gratefully. As he helped her up the last meter or two, she asked, “What is it? Is it a—”
The question died on her lips. She was looking down on a valley, where the cliffs and rock formations they’d been navigating were broken by rolling hills blanketed in red grass and copses of those tall trees that reminded her of pines. But it wasn’t the sudden proliferation of vegetation that was most striking.
A slow-moving river flowed along the base of the valley, flanked by steep embankments and clusters of trees save for a wide section not far off. There, the water was shallow and filled with countless smooth, rounded stones, and patches of tall, reed-like plants growing along its banks.
Yuri reached up and swept her wind-blown hair out of her face. “Is that… That’s real, right? My eyes aren’t playing tricks on me? That’s actually a river down there?”
“Better be real, or I’m gonna be pissed,” he said in a tone that was somehow threatening and good-natured at once. “I’m not above fighting a hallucination.”
Arching a brow, Yuri looked up at him. “You say that like you’ve done it before.”
Thargen nodded, running his gaze over the landscape below. “I have. Long story. Remind me to tell you another time.”
Yuri returned her attention to that dark water, and a fully-formed scene crept into her mind—Thargen in the shallows, growling, punching, and kicking the river.
And of course he was bare-assed in that mental image. It sent a little thrill through her, sparking that now familiar heat at her core. At least part of that imagining could come true—her big, powerful orc naked in the river with water running down his toned green skin in rivulets.
She grinned. “So, what are we waiting for? There’s water!”
Without giving him a chance to respond, she started back down the way they’d come, which was so much easier than hiking up.
“Slow down, terran,” he called from behind. “Don’t need you spraining an ankle for some maybe-real water.”
Yuri laughed and slowed down, falling into place beside Thargen once he caught up. They had to double back quite a bit before they found a way down from the higher ground they were on. An hour ago, that would’ve driven Yuri mad and emptied her already diminished stores of energy and morale, but the promise of cool, clear water had reinvigorated her.
Thargen bypassed the wide section of the river they’d seen from atop the rise—he said it was too exposed to stop there—and pushed farther along to a place where the trees grew densely almost right up to the water. The world around them seemed to shrink the instant they crossed the tree line. Everything was close and oddly muted, as though the fallen needles carpeting the ground were absorbing most of the ambient sounds.
It wasn’t silent by any means—the trees creaked and sighed as they swayed in the wind, and the river’s burbling grew more distinct as they neared it—but it felt that way. If she’d been alone, Yuri probably would’ve been unsettled by it. With Thargen, it seemed a slice of paradise, a welcome reprieve from the biting wind and uncompromising stone that had dominated their travels today.
They stopped on a stretch of riverbank that was relatively level and free of the rocks and fallen branches common in man
y other spots. A swath of dark clouds was visible over the river, flanked by tall trees on either side.
Thargen moved to the edge of the water, knelt, and leaned forward, inhaling through his nose. “It’s real, zoani, and it’s safe.”
Yuri’s brows furrowed. “You can tell it’s safe just by smelling it?”
He twisted slightly to look back at her. “You can’t?”
“No. I mean, we can tell if water smells sour and such, but not if it’s teeming with bacteria and all that.”
“How the hell did you terrans survive long enough to make it into space?”
Yuri crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight onto one leg, jutting a hip out. “Asks the guy who was ready to beat up the river?”
“Oof. That hurts, terran, but good point.”
“Not everyone is born with the same…advantages,” she said as she walked toward him. “Our peoples adapted to different circumstances on different planets, and at totally different times. Vorgals were probably in space hundreds of years before us.”
Smirking, Thargen sat back on his heels and braced his hands on his thighs. “So, your planet has soft carpeting everywhere?”
Yuri dropped to her knees beside Thargen and poked his arm. “Don’t make fun of my soft feet.”
“I like your feet, terran. There’s not a part of you I’ve seen that I haven’t liked.”
Yuri’s cheeks flushed as she turned her face toward the river. She would have thought any self-consciousness about her body would’ve been obliterated after sitting naked in a cell for days, especially considering that Thargen looked at her like she was the most beautiful and desirable woman in the universe.
At the corner of her vision, Thargen leaned down, dipped a hand into the water, and lifted it to his mouth to drink. Trusting his judgment, Yuri bent forward and did the same.
The water was cold—almost freezing—and it was the most delicious thing she’d tasted in days. She drank handful after handful, filling her belly with the precious liquid.
“Slow down, Yuri,” Thargen said, catching Yuri’s wrist before she could scoop up another handful. “It won’t taste nearly as good coming back up as it did going down.”
Savage Desire (The Infinite City Book 4) Page 19
