by Presley Hall
This is new to him, I remember. I’m the only one he’s ever been with like this. The only one he will ever be with like this.
That thought just makes me burn even hotter.
This man is mine. He’s all mine, and nothing is going to take him away from me.
I don’t wrap my legs around him, wary of aggravating his wound, but I need him closer. Reaching up, I thread my fingers through his hair and urge him downward so that his large frame covers mine.
He wraps his arms around me, every inch of our bodies sliding together as he keeps moving, sliding into me with thrusts so powerful I can feel them in every atom of my body. I slide my fingers through his hair, over his nodes, and bite down on his shoulder as I feel the orgasm building up inside me.
“Axen, fuck, please,” I gasp.
He grunts softly, and I feel the vibrations of it everywhere his chest touches mine. I cling to him, a string of wordless, needy noises clawing from my lungs. I grip the back of his neck and kiss him as my inner walls start to tighten around him, friction giving my sensitive body nowhere to run. He fists his hands in the blankets by my head and kisses me back, as hungry as I am.
It’s like another feedback loop, me needing him needing me, until I can’t do anything but let go.
My orgasm hits me like a tidal wave, turning every inch of me electric as I gasp against his neck and dig my fingers into his firm ass, urging him on. The tidal wave of pleasure is so strong I can’t breathe. I can only beg and moan for him until he goes still with a low curse, kissing me deeply as he comes inside me.
I roll my hips, wanting him as deep inside me as he can get. He groans weakly, shuddering in my arms, grinding his hips between my legs to make little aftershocks tingle up my spine every time the node on his cock presses against my sensitive clit.
He nuzzles my neck, breathing hard. I close my eyes, stroking my fingers lightly up and down his back as we come down from the high.
Our heartbeats are fast, but feel like they’re racing in time with each other. Our breathing is synced. He’s solid and warm and real on top of me.
This is real. He is real, and he is mine.
Over the next week, I continue tending to Axen’s wounds. I’m still his doctor, although everything else between us has changed.
He’s definitely healing well, and I’m no longer afraid he’ll tear them through normal activities. When I tell him he still shouldn’t overexert himself by doing things like going on the hunts with his fellow Voxerans yet, I know it frustrates him, but he obeys and vows he won’t leave my side.
I’ve learned that it’s very easy to get him to do what I want. Really, all I have to do is ask. He’s never once turned me down or denied me anything I’ve asked him for. I try not to abuse that power and only use it to make sure he takes care of himself.
Besides, we both conveniently forget that “strenuous activities” definitely means sex. I can’t help myself—it seems like all he has to do is look at me, and I turn into a puddle of desire. When he’s buried deep inside me, everything else seems to fade away, and now I definitely understand why Sadie and Jaro, and Charlotte and Droth, are constantly all over each other.
The one time I bring it up, Axen loudly and passionately declares that he doesn’t care about any soreness he might have after sex. The joy of being with me, his mate, of reveling in our connection with nothing held back, is better than anything in the world. I know it is, and I love to hear him say it so openly.
I keep Axen—and myself—occupied by working on the medical facility. Thanks to Charlotte and the others making bricks, the Voxerans have been able to construct several structures that won’t be as susceptible to fire.
Axen insists that, since I’m pregnant, I shouldn’t help with the construction. Part of me wants to tell him where to shove that idea, but in the end I agree. Not only is it difficult trying to sneak away from a very clingy and affectionate alien man, but I told him he’s not allowed to exert himself while he’s healing, and I suppose I can only lead by example.
One afternoon, I’m feeling restless, and I can tell Axen is as well. Several of the other Voxeran warriors just came back from another successful hunt, and I know it grates on him not to be able to join them, to be “useful.”
I smile and take his hand, drawing his gaze.
“Hey, do you think we can find some more of that silvery plant you said makes the epoxy?” I ask him. “The ‘yaya’? If one was growing nearby, maybe there will be others, and that shit will be worth its weight in gold if we can make it ourselves instead of trading for it.”
As always, Axen’s eyes light up at the prospect of going somewhere and completing a task with me. “Of course, my kira. We can go now.”
I gather up the satchel I’ve used for collecting plants before, and we make our way out of the settlement, heading through the gate and into the woods. It strikes me all over again how different things are now. It feels incredible to walk side by side with Axen, knowing that he knows everything and that I don’t have to fight my feelings for him.
He laces his fingers with mine, smiling widely. I grin back, feeling like a giddy teenager. His joy is so simple—the fact that my mere existence makes him happy is both completely foreign to me and something I eagerly crave. I love being wanted, and more than that, I love being wanted by him, knowing how deeply and passionately he cares for me.
We go back to the place where we found the first peach-like plant. Axen and I both hunt around the clearing, searching for more of them. But we don’t find any, so after a while, we expand our search.
He leads me deeper into the woods, where the trees grow much closer together. The air feels cooler and more damp with less sunlight penetrating the canopy.
It feels like it takes hours before we break into another clearing, though I know from the position of the sun that it can’t have been that long. Absently, I wonder just how large Nuthora is. I didn’t get a good look at it before the Foreigner II crashed, and my mind has been absently registering it as Earth-size, but I have no idea if that’s actually the case. It actually seems likely that it’s smaller, although I may never know for sure.
Axen lets out a soft, pleased sound and tugs me over to a large tree. He kneels down and pushes another big dock leaf to the side, revealing more of those telltale silver roots. I grin widely and cup his face, kissing him before I kneel down and start to carefully extract the peach.
I can feel him watching me as I work. When I look up, he’s staring at me, his eyelids at half-mast and his pupils large. A low sound is rumbling in his chest, that happy sort of purr he often makes when we’re together.
“You did a good job, finding these for me,” I say, grinning at him.
He leans in close to me, nuzzling my hair and tucking it back behind my ear.
“I miss hunting with my brothers, but I’ve realized this is like another kind of hunt,” he murmurs. “You taught me to appreciate foraging in a whole new way.”
His warm breath ghosts across my neck as he speaks, sending a shiver down my spine. I bite my lower lip and pull my trembling hands away from the root, not wanting to damage the plant. I rest a palm on his chest as he nudges my head up, our eyes meeting.
“You’re a terrible distraction,” I tease, already breathless.
“As are you, my kira.”
Catching my chin between his fingers, he kisses me deeply, with that same animal hunger that hasn’t waned since the moment it awoke. I moan softly, my body clenching in readiness, wondering if I’m going to get another repeat of the first time we went into the woods together, when he made me come on his hand as he laid me out on the grass.
This time, though, we can go further than that. We’re a good way out from the village, so no one can hear us, and there’s nothing to stop us from claiming each other any way we like.
God, I love that.
I never would’ve thought of myself as the type to have sex outdoors in the middle of the woods, but as it turns out, there are
a lot of things I didn’t know about myself before I left Earth.
Sliding my hand up to cup his face, I deepen the kiss, a rough noise stuck in the base of my throat. But before things can get any more hot and heavy, Axen stops suddenly and pulls back.
His eyes narrow as he lifts his chin, sniffing the air, head tilted as though listening.
I go still immediately, holding my breath to be as quiet as possible. This planet is still very dangerous, full of monsters and plants that would happily kill us both.
Axen’s upper lip twitches back, and he rises, pulling me with him. “Something is coming.”
With one arm, he thrusts me behind him, positioning his own body between me and the source of the sound he heard. I can’t hear a single thing, but I realize suddenly that the silence itself is a bad sign. There’s a predator’s silence in the woods, the same way the birds go silent on Earth as a jaguar prowls past.
“Do you know what it is?” I whisper, my heart in my throat.
Suddenly, the ground shifts right next to us, a mound of dirt dislodging to reveal the head of a giant serpent-like animal. It’s huge and built like a cobra, its head flaring out as it parts its jaws to bare massive fangs. More of its body rises from the ground, thicker than Axen’s torso. My eyes widen, and I let out an involuntary yelp of fear.
“Slanch. An arwuar,” Axen hisses.
He grabs my arm in a tight grip, trying to pull me away from the giant snake’s den.
But the creature is fast.
Before we can get away from the entrance to the animal’s den, it lunges for us both. I stumble sideways, avoiding its savage bite. But one of its dripping fangs grazes my bare calf.
I gasp at the sting of pain, and Axen roars at the creature, making it recoil and hiss threateningly at both of us. Axen grabs me and hauls me into his arms, taking off running back toward the settlement. I grit my teeth, looking down at my leg, which is coated in a thick layer of blood and clear, viscous venom from the snake.
“Axen,” I whisper when he slows. He looks at me, and I wince again when he sets me down.
My gaze darts in the direction we just came from, fear clutching my chest like a vise.
“We’re far enough away,” he tells me, his voice tight. “Arwuars are territorial creatures. It won’t give chase.”
I nod, my heart thundering hard and fast. “It got me.”
His eyes widen as he takes in the wound on my leg. He hisses in concern and falls to his knees, examining my calf with careful touches and worried eyes. Then he exhales heavily as he looks up at me.
“It’s not deep,” he tells me, and I let out a shaky breath. “There isn’t enough venom to kill you. But if it stays in your system, with no anti-venom…” He swallows harshly and puts a hand on my stomach. “It could kill the baby.”
22
Elizabeth
Cold fear fills me, and my stomach clenches beneath Axen’s touch. I choke out a gasp, putting my hand over his.
“No,” I whisper, tears filling my eyes. “No, that can’t happen. I can’t—”
I break off on a choked sob, pain piercing my heart. I’ve just gotten used to the idea, happy with the idea, of having this child. I can’t lose it now.
My mate’s jaw clenches, and he looks down at my wound again, pinching each side of the small cut to coax the venom and tainted blood out.
“There is a gland in the arwuar’s head,” he murmurs roughly. “It has an anti-venom that will counteract the effect of its bite. If I kill the beast, I can harvest the gland. It will save you. Both of you.”
“Axen…”
I breathe his name, shock filling me as my dazed brain connects the dots between his words. My hands clench into fists. I know exactly what he’s planning, even before he looks over his shoulder, even before his hand goes to the knife at his waist.
“Axen,” I blurt again, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at me. “No. You’re not going to go back and fight that thing!”
He frowns, his face set in hard lines. “I must. I have to.”
“No, you don’t.”
Tears spill from my eyes as a new fear rises up in me. I can’t lose this baby, but I can’t lose him either. If the arwuar has enough venom that a small nick from its fang could endanger me and risk my baby’s life, then the snake-like thing could definitely kill Axen. He’s not healed up enough. He’s been out of practice in fighting and hunting for too long.
He could die.
And I can’t live without him.
“There has to be another way,” I blurt desperately. “Please. We can—we can go back and get someone to help. You’re still injured, and—”
“Elizabeth.” He whispers my name as he rises to his feet. Strong fingers hold my chin in a gentle grip, smearing blood along my jaw. “There isn’t time. I can do this. I swore to protect you and our child, and I’m going to do that. You couldn’t stop me even if there was another way.”
“Axen, please,” I beg, grabbing his shoulders. “Please, no.”
Never, in all the time I’ve known him, has Axen denied me anything I’ve asked for. But as I look into his burning amber eyes, I know that’s exactly what he’s going to do now. He meant what he said.
Nothing could keep him from protecting me and my unborn child. Not even my own pleas.
Without giving me a chance to form more desperate words, he kisses me, hard and fast.
“Stay here,” he commands.
Then he grabs his knife from his side, turns, and runs back into the forest. I stare after him wide-eyed for a moment before my body springs into motion. My feet are moving before I even give them the command, rushing after him.
I can’t let him die. I have to stop him.
“Axen!” I scream, following his large frame as he gets farther and farther away from me.
The knee of my injured leg buckles as I try to run, poison seeping through my veins. I know he said it wouldn’t be enough to kill me, but it’s definitely doing something. My heart is racing, and I can’t seem to catch my breath as I chase him back to the clearing.
He’s standing to one side, staring at the disturbed hole in the ground, his knife out and ready. He roars at the hole, and I can hear the arwuar hissing, see the ground shifting beneath the snake’s massive size as it slithers around in its den.
I have to kneel down, both to remain out of sight and because my leg will no longer hold me. I can’t remember being this scared. Not even when the Foreigner II was taking off. Not when we crashed, not when we were literally fighting for our lives against the raiders who attacked us, not when I found out I was pregnant, and not in the moment when I told Axen about the baby.
I’m more terrified than I’ve ever been in my life, but it’s not for my sake.
It’s for him.
I can barely see through the tears as I clamp a hand over my mouth, not wanting to draw the snake-like beast’s attention. I might be about to watch my mate die right in front of me because I was too slow and too distracted to get out of the way in time.
Please. Please let him live through this.
Axen steps forward as the arwuar nudges its head out of its den, jaws parted and deadly teeth on display as it hisses in warning. It rises from the hole in the ground, massively large and almost completely black, the sides of its head flaring out to make it look even bigger. In the sunlight, Axen’s own markings start to glow, his eyes narrowed and teeth bared as he prepares to fight the monster.
He grips his knife, and even though I know the blade is deadly sharp, it suddenly seems so small. It’s barely even as large as one of the monster’s gigantic fangs. I sob into my hands as I watch, the terrible odds overwhelming me as I watch them prepare to fight.
Oh God, what if he dies?
I couldn’t survive that, and not just because if the arwuar kills him, I’m sure to be next.
The snake flares its head, two long tongues slipping out and tasting the air as the giant beast rises from the ground. It’s huge, t
hicker around than Axen’s powerful body, and a shining glossy black. Axen bares his teeth at the monster, sinking down into a predatory crouch. I’ve seen him fight enough times to recognize the brilliant shine of anticipation in his eyes. Despite myself, I can’t help admiring him, how he moves around the beast, circling it and testing for weakness.
The arwuar lunges with another savage hiss. I cover my mouth and watch as Axen dodges, swiping his knife down to graze the beast’s lip. Red blood spills from the snake’s open mouth, spraying over Axen’s arm. He grunts and presses the advantage, but the snake pulls back quickly with another hiss. It arches and lunges, striking again.
“Axen!”
I try to warn him, but barely any sound comes out. He jumps and slashes at the beast’s eye, trying to blind it and win the advantage. It’s terrible to watch, but I can’t tear my gaze away.
A scream tears from my throat as the arwuar snaps suddenly to the side, its long, venom-tipped fangs slicing up Axen’s forearm. Blue blood mixes with the red that’s already spilled onto him.
Axen grunts, baring his teeth, and grabs the snake’s soft throat, jabbing his knife into its underbelly. The snake screams, thrashing around. I want to rush forward, to run into the fray, to try to help, but my leg won’t support my weight. I don’t have any weapons, and there’s nothing I can do.
My mate leaps back as the snake arches again, hissing threateningly at him. More of its body slides from the ground, easily rising seven or eight feet even above Axen’s tall frame. Its jaws part, and it lunges, as though hoping to devour him whole. Axen rolls to one side, his eyes bright with fury. A loud roar erupts from him as he leaps onto the snake’s back and sinks his knife into its right eye, bursting the organ and spilling more thick red blood onto the ground.
I watch in horror as the monster shrieks and writhes, throwing him off since its body is smooth and he has nothing to grab to anchor himself. Axen lands hard against a tree, cracking the bark as he slides to the ground. The snake slithers forward, hissing viciously.
