She reaches across to me and puts her frail hand on my knee. “My child,” she says. “There is much responsibility resting on your shoulders. The fate of billions of souls.”
I take another sip of water, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. “What am I supposed to do?” I ask. “Tell me what I can do to stop that war!”
The Blind Witch shakes her head sadly. “What you have seen is but one of many possibilities. I can tell you how to navigate the fates as well as I can tell a grain of sand how to choose where a storm will carry it.”
“Please!” I plead with her. “I can’t see such destruction and be helpless to stop it!”
“You are not helpless, my child,” she says. “You will play a key role in what is to come. You are stronger than you know. Believe in yourself. Have faith in your sense of right and wrong. Lean on your fated mate when your own strength is not enough to carry the weight of your responsibilities.”
I nod and wipe the tears from my face.
“I would not have guided you to this vision if I doubted you,” she says. “Now, go. Do not speak of what you saw here again.”
I open my mouth to ask more questions, but I close it with a click of my teeth. I somehow know I will receive no more guidance. I should be thankful for what I have been given. I shouldn’t look a gift ship in its reactor.
I stand up and begin to walk away when the Blind Witch stops me with a hand on my knee. “Don’t forget your gift,” she says, pointing at the embroidered pillow.
I smile and pick it up. “Thank you,” I say, and I take my leave.
I exit the cave entrance and find Orion eagerly waiting for me. He cocks a brow at the pillow in my hand and I shrug, trying to mask the sudden joy that leaps to my breast. I’m going to have a baby!
But I’m not supposed to tell anyone about my vision. It’s going to be a hard secret to keep from him. But I can’t imagine the repercussions of disobeying the Blind Witch.
He opens his arms and gives me a long hug and a kiss on the top of my head. I hug him back and struggle against the urge to blurt out everything I saw.
He leans back and looks me in the eyes, regarding my silence understandingly. “You don’t have to tell me anything,” he says. “I know that we are fated together, as I always knew in my heart. And that is all that matters. I will never leave your side again.”
I nod and smother my face in his chest. We stand there together, taking comfort in our embrace in silence. When I feel like I finally have my emotions under control, I pull away from him.
“She gave me a skin of water,” I say, and hand the heavy skin to him, deciding that it would be safe to share.
He takes the skin and looks at the pillow under my arm, but doesn’t ask me about it. “The water is a great gift. There is not much I could forage for food up this far in the mountain, but I did capture some insects. So you will not go hungry tonight.”
I resist the urge to grimace at the thought. I need to be strong. Turning my nose up at strange food wouldn’t be a good start to that.
“Good. I can’t wait to try it,” I lie.
He chuckles and squeezes my shoulders. “Are you ready for the climb down?” he asks.
I step near the ledge of the shelf and look down the steep mountain. I look back at the cave entrance, and it’s gone.
Orion sees my baffled expression and turns around. He whispers to himself and shakes his head.
“I’ve had enough magic for one day,” he says.
I nod and begin to prepare for the decent.
Thankfully, the climb down didn’t take as long as the climb up. The sun has risen by the time we neared our cave and I can begin to feel its kiss on the back of my neck. The algae provides some protection, but not enough. What I would give for some sunscreen right now. Or just some mud to rub on my neck. Not that you can find any mud on this mountain, or on Kartak.
Orion drops down into the cave entrance and lowers me from his back. I stretch my back and listen to my stomach growling in hunger.
He smiles at me and digs out one of the meaty insects he caught for me and hands it over to me. I’ve already had a taste, so I know I’m not in for a culinary classic. But it’ll do. I’ve had worse on the Recluse.
I bite down on the insect and feel its shell crack under my teeth. I think, given enough time, I could get used to the taste, but not the feeling of its legs on my tongue. But Orion has already reminded me that I’d waste a lot of nutrition if I spit out the legs, and I’m trying to be strong. So I power through it.
I see Orion smiling at me proudly and it makes the terrible taste worth it.
I remove the pillow tucked into the rope wrap around my waist and place it down by the cave wall. I see his eyes following it, but he knows better than to ask about it. I can tell he knows how important it is to me.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my vision and what I want to say to Orion. There’s no easy way to go about it, so I just have to be honest with him. Just like he was honest with me about his past. It must have been so hard for him to tell me the truth. I have to be strong and do the same for him.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I say. I feel the weight of my impending confession in my stomach. He could leave me because of this. Having a child in a mated pairing is the cornerstone of the Tulani’s traditions.
He looks at me expectantly. “I know,” he says. “I’ve felt the tension in your body.”
I nod and look down at my feet. “I’ve tried all my life to ignore the atrocity that the Mercantile Empire commits against its commoners. Because there’s nothing I could do about it. At birth, all but a lucky few are sterilized. To control the exponential growth of the human population. I… wasn’t one of the lucky ones.”
I see his eyes widen with shock, but he doesn’t say anything. The idea of forced sterilization must be so strange to a people that have suffered from the inability to bear healthy children for so long.
“Neither was Astrid. She was cured by the Apotheosis Chamber and she offered me its use,” I say. “But I’m afraid to risk it. Only two outside of the Tulani have ever survived the chamber, you know that. Queen Naruni, the first queen of the Tulani, and Astrid, their current queen. I know Astrid and she is strong. She’s taken whippings from Kole in my place.”
His shocked eyes fill with an angry fire. He flexes his massive fists. I go on. “She’s protected me from violence on more occasions than I can count. And she survived Kartak and rescued me when I was helpless to save myself. I’m no hero like her.”
Orion walks over to me and wraps his strong arms around me. I melt into him, letting him hold my weight. I feel drained after telling him. I look up at his face trying to judge how he is taking this. I want to tell him what I saw in my vision, but I can’t. Will he leave me because I can’t carry his child? I can’t bear the thought.
But that’s not what I see in his eyes. I only see tender kindness. He kisses me gently, and I let the kiss linger on my lips. He squeezes me tightly and says, “You are my hero. You saved me from a life of restlessness. A directionless existence, serving the will of any able to pay my price.”
I feel hot tears welling up in my eyes. A drop rolls down my cheeks, and he kisses it away.
“I love you as you are,” he says. “Nothing can change that. If we can’t have a child together, we will find another way to pass on the legacy of our love.”
I gasp in relief. I feel such a weight lifted off my shoulders. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself up to kiss his sweet mouth. I kiss him again and again, on his lips, his cheeks, and his ears. I feel a deep purr rising in his chest, and he puts his hand against the back of my neck and kisses me deeply. Our tongues tangle against each other and our kiss lasts until we have to pull back, gasping for breath.
I throw his torn shirt off and pull off the cloth wrapped around my hair, shaking it loose. He smiles and lifts my dress over my head, grabs me by the hips and pulls me into another deep kiss. His hand cups my as
s and he lifts me onto his hips. I wrap my legs around him, feeling his hardness against my heat.
I grind against him through his pants, and he squeezes my cheeks while kissing me down my neck. I kiss his torn ear and whisper, “Take off your pants.”
I unwrap my legs from around him, and he lowers me to the ground and quickly takes off his boots and pants. He stands before me, his cock proudly erect, wearing a matching grin on his face.
I grab his cock in my fist and stroke him, counting his ridges as I kiss him down his chest. He purrs loudly as I drag my tongue down his abs, committing the contours of his muscles to my memory.
I drop to my knees before him and plant a wet kiss on the tip of his cock. It twitches from my attention, and I flick it with my tongue as I stroke his shaft. There’s just so much of him and so little room in my mouth, but I’m determined to try.
I wrap my mouth around the tip of his cock and roll my tongue around him. I hear him groan in appreciation and feel him resisting the natural urge to thrust. Sucking on his dick is making me so horny.
I slip my free hand into my panties to test my wetness and use the other one to grab his ass and pull his hips in, swallowing his cock up to the first ridge. He groans loudly, pulls back out, and I pull him back in while I slide a finger between my lips and rub my honey on my clit. I love how badly he wants to fuck my mouth, but he’s trying so hard to be gentle with me! I’m not in the mood for ‘gentle’ right now.
He grabs my hair and carefully pulls me off his cock. I let my tongue drag under his shaft and suck on his tip as my mouth releases its hold. He stands me up and locks eyes with me, and I can see the lust roiling inside him.
“You led the first time,” he says.
He kisses me again and shoves my panties off my hips. I wiggle my legs and let them drop to my feet. He turns me around and gives me a gentle smack on my ass. I coo at him and wiggle my butt, tempting him to give me another smack.
He smacks me a little harder and pulls me by my hips against his crotch. I feel his massive cock between my cheeks and I grind on him, urging him on. He pulls back and presses the tip of his cock against my lips. I spread my legs and back up on him, letting his tip dip into my nether. I moan as I feel him slowly pushing in and I press back against him, but he holds me in place. He’s determined to be in charge this time.
I let him take charge, and he slowly guides his cock deeper inside me. I feel him stretching me open, making me feel so full of my lover. He starts to speed up his rhythm, and I feel his cock sliding deeper and deeper into me. I moan wildly as the soft fur under his shaft rubs against my clit with every thrust, driving me wild. It’s so freeing to be alone in the desert where I don’t feel like I have to hide my pleasure in the least. His ridges bump against my g-spot, sending waves of pleasure through my body.
I feel my climax quickly approaching. With what little thought I’m capable of as I’m overwhelmed with pleasure – I wonder if I’ve taken him entirely inside me – I feel his body smacking against my ass, as a powerful climax tears through me.
I come all over his powerful cock as he continues to buck his hips into me. I feel another orgasm approaching and I scream with pleasure as I come again and again, until he grunts loudly, and I feel his cock pulsing inside me, filling me with his thick, warm seed.
He pulls my body up against him, his cock still releasing its load inside me. He squeezes my breasts, kisses my neck and my ears. I lean against him, gasping for breath, as I feel him breathing heavily against my back.
His cock grows soft and slips out of me. I turn around and kiss him on his lips.
I want to tell him I love him, but right at that moment my thought is interrupted by the familiar sound of atmospheric thrusters burning in the sky.
We both jump up and rush to the cave entrance to look out at the brightening sky. I shade my eyes against the sunlight, but it’s so hard to see. Orion points and I follow his finger to see a ship in the distance. It looks like one of my scout ships.
“I think that’s one of my ships!” I shout. “It has to be! I knew they’d come looking for me.”
Orion nods. “Your people are loyal to you. But they do not know where to look. We will have to find a way to signal to them.”
I bounce on the balls of my feet as I watch the ship get closer.
Orion’s hopeful expression turns grim as he points in another direction. My smile fades as I see a twin pair of missiles streaking towards the scout ship. The ship dives low and its point defense lasers take out one of the missiles cleanly, but the second missile explodes near the ship’s rear thrusters and it tumbles in the sky as it loses control.
The pilot doesn’t give up and manages to straighten the ship, but it crashes into the ground, cutting a long gouge on the desert floor.
I stand there, watching my sudden hope for rescue go up in black smoke.
12
Orion
The smoke has stopped billowing out of the wreckage by the time we make it to the base of the mountain. We undo the rope binding us together and climb onto my jetbike.
Rhea leans up on my back and says, “Let’s go! I've got to save my people! They risked their lives for me.”
I want to wait for a moment to savor the feeling of my fated mate, her arms wrapped around me on my jetbike. I could live the rest of my life wandering the Wastes like this, but I know she has greater plans. And it is my place to stand beside her and support her on her chosen path.
I rev the jetbike and we take off towards the crashed scout ship.
I slow to a stop behind a rocky outcropping. I stand up and survey the scene ahead of us. During our approach, I’ve been watching a trail of dust heading towards the wreck from the direction of Kole’s stronghold.
The sounds of a firefight in the distance reach us. The enemy combatants must have come upon the crashed ship a few minutes ago.
I turn to Rhea and say, “I’m going to go in and see who’s fighting. I want you to wait here.”
She frowns and shakes her head. “No way. I’m going with you. I’m not letting you get away from me,” she says. “Besides, they are my people and I need to be there for them.” She lifts the hem of her skirt above her thigh and takes her pistol from its holster.
I can see the determination on her face. It would be foolish to think that I can convince her otherwise. I need to get to the wreckage while her people are still alive if I want any chance of retaking her ship and seeing if we can get more of her people to arrive.
“Very well,” I concede. “But stay behind me and don’t draw attention to yourself.”
She nods, her knuckles white from gripping the pistol so tightly. I rev the engine and take off again towards the firefight.
As we pull closer, I can get a clear look at the battle before us. There are two tracked vehicles, assembled from scrap, pulled to a stop before the downed ship. I see skinners taking cover behind the vehicles, taking shots at what look to be humans cowering behind the crashed ship. There’s a human female with the skinners. By her height and build, I suspect it must be Gemini. What is she doing here? I thought her job was done, same as mine. If she’s still working for Kole, she will get no mercy from me.
The ship’s rear engines are still smoking and there’s a small wisp of black smoke flowing up from the ship’s cargo bay ramp. It looks like her crew was smoked out of the ship and are being overwhelmed by a dozen skinners.
I turn back and yell over the sound of the rushing air, “Hold on tightly and make yourself small. We are going in!”
I turn up the throttle and the jetbike takes off into the air. I feel Rhea’s arm tightening around my abs. Her presence comforts me and reminds me to be ever-vigilant for her safety. I keep one hand steady on the handle bar and pull out my axe with my other one. Some of the skinners hear us approaching over the sound of the gunfire and turn to face me, but it is too late. They don’t have enough time to train their guns on us because we are coming in too fast.
I bank the
bike to the side and make a sharp turn to take a quick pass by them. I slash at the first skinner’s neck. The blow severs his head and sends it flying into the air. I kick another, caving in his chest, and I bring the axe down on another one of their heads. It sticks in his skull so I leave the axe behind. As we pull away, Rhea fires a shot of plasma from her pistol and one of the skinners explodes into charred parts. That thing has some impressive fire power. I turn and bank to the rear of the wreckage, where I pull to a sudden stop.
There are three humans taking cover behind the ship: one female and two males. One of them is laying on the ground bleeding from a bloody chest wound, and the other two are trying to render aid. They are startled by our arrival and reach for their weapons.
Rhea jumps off the back of her bike and holds up her hands, motioning for them to stop. “Wait! It’s me!” she cries out. They hesitate, but don’t look like they’ve made up their minds. I prepare to pounce on them should they threaten my mate.
Rhea squares her shoulders and speaks in a commanding tone, “By the name of Peter, stop! I know you can hardly recognize me, but I am your Merchant Princess.” She pulls the makeshift scrap from her head, shakes loose her hair, and looks them straight in the eyes.
A look of recognition crosses their faces and they lower their weapons.
“Good,” she says, and falls to her knees before the wounded human. “Sergeant, join the fight,” she says to the woman. “Medic, tell me what you need me to do. I’ll help you with the wounded.” She looks up at me. “Orion, help my men drive off the enemy.”
I nod and draw my daggers. I am amazed by the change in Rhea. She has instantly taken command of the situation to save her soldiers. I’ve never been a spiritual man, but I feel I must make a sacrifice to Krio for gifting me with a fated mate as strong as her.
I stalk around to the other side of the ship to flank her enemies. The distance between the ship and their vehicles is no more than ten strides. They are engaged in a firefight with her soldiers and have only one man watching their flank. This will be easy.
Renegade Orion: A Scifi Alien Shifter Romance (Shifter Kings of Kartak Book 2) Page 8
