by Lia Nox
“You’re right, Zuvo. Come, let’s leave her to rest. We must prepare for the challenges to come. Surely there’s something that can be scavenged from the ruins.”
My brothers and I took one last look at the sticky female and inhaled her unique fragrance to be sure we remembered.
Not that we could forget.
Tarnan
While the prize slept under the rising moons guarded by Axar, Zuvo and I had searched the remains of the barracks.
“How can there be nothing here?” he exclaimed after turning over the last pile of debris.
It wasn’t entirely nothing.
We’d pried open one of the cabinets to find a stack of the shiny packets that often appeared when we were first roused from the stasis pods.
But when we’d torn them open, ravenous, the contents had stunk, pulling my lips back into an unconscious snarl.
The rations, never tasty, had been long spoiled.
Carefully breathing through my mouth, I opened each one. We’d have to eat soon, maintain our strength to protect our prize.
She’d need to eat as well.
But none of these packets held any nourishment.
“Brother, what do you think has happened? Is this a new kind of challenge?” I mused.
Face grim, he shook his head. “I know not. I’ve never heard of such a thing.” His golden gaze passed over the room. “It seems like nothing has been here but the wind and the wild animals, but why would we not have been awakened for so long?”
I stood, brushing my fingers on the ground to clean them from the oily feel of the packets. “Maybe solving that is part of the challenge itself.”
“And her?” Zuvo nodded to the back wall of the barracks, behind which the prize slept, exhausted. “What is she for?”
“We’ve done nothing yet to deserve such a gift,” I said slowly. “And the masters have never been known to provide a reward for a victory yet to come. Maybe she’s another clue, as well as a reward.”
“Humph.” Zuvo grunted, then headed back outside. “Patrol. I will return soon.”
“Where are you going?”
He held up a scrap of fabric. “She wanted this. But it is soaked in the fluids of the arachniforms. If she is to wear it tomorrow, it must be cleaned.”
Before I could register my shock, he turned, trotting away into the trees towards the small stream that ran to the side of the barracks.
That was unexpected.
I pondered what the prize’s appearance could mean, what could have caused the ruin of the barracks while pacing my wide circuit, but no answers came.
By the time Zuvo returned, scowling, to carefully lay the torn garment across a broad stone, it was late, and I still had no answers.
Together, we returned to Axar and the prize. He sat apart from her, but eyes fixed to the curve of her back as she sprawled in exhausted slumber.
“There is nothing we can use,” was my blunt report.
Lips pressed to a thin line, he considered only for a moment. “We’ll go to the nearest station in the morning. There will be something there.”
Likely.
Hopefully.
But it had been a long day.
Carefully I lay behind the prize, running the tips of my fingers down her arm. “So soft,” I murmured.
“Let her rest,” Axar snapped. “She must keep up with us tomorrow.”
“Why?” Zuvo answered. “She is lovely, but are we sure she is more than just a distraction? What if resisting her is the first challenge itself?”
Axar sprang to his feet, fists clenched, but I laughed, lifting her into my lap where she curled into my chest.
“Stand down,” I told Axar as I petted the tangles of her long hair away from her face, breathing in the scent of her. “He doesn’t mean it. He’s just being him.”
“Don’t you decide what I mean or not,” Zuvo growled.
“Of course you don’t mean it.” I lay back with the prize stretched down the length of my body, keeping her from the ground. “If you did, you wouldn’t have rinsed out that covering for her.”
Axar chuffed a soft, answering laugh, and lay down on her far side. “I see.” He threw an arm over her waist.
“She didn’t want to leave it,” Zuvo muttered as he lay down on the other side of us, hand reaching to toy with her shoulder as if by its own accord. “It would have burned her if she’d put it back on. That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Of course it doesn’t, brother.” I answered, hiding my smile in the cloud of her hair.
We rose with the next day’s dawning.
She pushed off my chest, sleep hazing her eyes as she looked around in confusion.
“Ohmigoditsallrealitrealihapnd.”
The noises were charming. Her lips caught my attention with every movement.
But as she scrambled off my chest, looking around with wide eyes, I wished more than anything I had the slightest idea what she was saying.
“Zella, we must leave now,” Axar told her. He’d risen earlier, eager to stretch. While my muscles were stiff and cold, it was nothing compared to the pain in my chest at the sudden realization. She was afraid.
Of us?
I wiggled my eyebrows, and she laughed, just as she had before. Strange, lovely prize.
“There is nothing is for us here,” Axar insisted.
“Give her a few moments to wake,” Zuvo argued, lifting her to her feet. Her face lit has she saw her torn garment, but he held it from her.
“What are you doing?”
“It is still wet,” he explained. “What if she sickens?”
Stars. What if any of us sickened? Or were injured? The barracks had always held supplies before.
Even if we had to choose between food, weapons or bandages, the option had always been there.
But now...
The station would be fine.
It would have to be.
“Icanwalkyouknow.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d made those sounds, and from the kicking of her legs as Axar handed her to me, she wanted to be put down.
But as the day worn on as we crossed through the valley, we’d carried her as we alternated between fast walks and loping jogs, attempting to balance the need to reach the station as quickly as we could with conserving our energy.
Our triad worked well, had always world well. One to scout, one to watch our back, the third to hunt along the way.
But now the valley was bare of game.
And the station did not respond when we approached.
The doors did not slide open, neither chiming with the victory clarion nor the long buzz of defeat.
One hung off balance in the doorway, the other shattered.
“Here, too?” Axar asked the wind as we slipped inside.
The ruin that had taken the barracks was not as compete here, but the look our prize had worn upon seeing the station would stay with me for some time.
She’d been curious but also concerned, the sadness rolling off of her like smoke.
She pulled us back when we’d ignored much of the discarded trinkets of the masters and had opted to look for more important supplies, like food and water.
“Gisthiscouldbiusefulgiswait!”
Our prize, so determined however, had ransacked whatever she could, and in doing so had discovered a small hole filled with food packets.
Unlike the packets at the barracks, these had not spoiled; it wasn’t much, but it would sustain us.
But she ignored the food, instead fidgeting with a twisted bit of metal and plastic. Trash, discarded by the masters or another team or-
“Is this a translator?” she asked.
“What’s a translator?” Axar had retorted back, without so much as a thought of who he was responding to.
When her eyes had grown to a size almost as wide as a moon, it hit all of us that we were hearing her true words for the first time. “Did you just-?” Axar asked, dumbfounded by the development.
More than likely it was both.
“This, this changes a lot.”
A sharp crackled shot through the air and she dropped the device, rubbing her hands.
“What is wrong, lovely one?”
But she shook her head, tears filling her eyes. Whatever had changed, had let us understand each other had left now.
She bent over the trash, jaw set in determined lines as she worked on the trash.
Zuvo narrowed his eyes, studying it, studying her. “Do not let it hurt her again. I will see if there’s anything else of use around.”
“Where is he-” crackled out from the device. “Damnit.”
While Axar and I searched the station for anything we could use, the prize seemed to be on her own quest, picking up and discarding pieces of scrap.
“We should bring her more, like those,” I decided, pointing to the small pile she’d kept.
Small pile of what exactly, I didn’t know. But we were skilled hunters. Surely, we’d be able to find whatever she wanted.
Shortly she had a large pile instead of a small one, and her delighted laugh rang through the empty station.
But when I pried open one of the shells to get to the wiry insides, trying to spare her weak, clawless hands, she shrieked, pushing me away with tiny pats and pulled the twisted lump closer to her.
“Fine, our Zella,” I promised. “We will not harm your….whatever-they-are.”
“It must be something delicate, like her,” Axar wondered. “But it will be worth it to hear her words, have her hear ours.”
Before long, her fingers slowed, eyes drooping. She’d strung the device on thin cord and hung it around her neck, tapping and adjusting it, without stopping.
I pulled her from where she worked to sit on my lap. “Rest, Zella. It will wait.”
“...almost…”
The teasing half-understanding of her words was maddening. So close to communication with her, but not.
Whatever had thrown her into the arena with us had been unkind. She clearly was not used to hard travel.
“I will keep watch, brother,” Axar announced, taking position outside the opening. “Make her rest while she can. We travel on when Zuvo returns.”
My hands roamed her sweet curves.
I knew how to make her rest, make her put the bits of trash away.
As I allowed my eyes to roam over her body, following every curve, I couldn’t help but be amazed that this was the prize we’d be given. She was a find! Years of winning battles and challenges had trained us to expect some rewards, like tools and food, new clothing and weapons, but nothing like this.
If I’d have been able to, I’d have teased her with how I found her, how drawn to her I was, but I had little to rely on other than basic actions and words.
I continued to watch as the prize altered her position in my lap, her supple skin changing texture as the temperature dropped: the smoothness of her flesh would give way to these tiny, raised bumps, fine hairs standing on end. It was a reaction I’d never seen or experienced, but then so much about her and her behavior felt that way to me.
She was so different to the world I had known before.
The wind picked up again, and as I observed for yet another moment her skin prickling to attention, I couldn’t stop myself from going over to her. My presence caused her to stir, slightly glazed over eyes staring back at me, her face screwed up into the most curious expression.
Wanting to reassure her, I tried to let her know that she should feel safe to rest for a while, that I’d watch over here while Zuvo had gone off to find some more appropriate clothing for the terrain we’d be traveling… But all I could muster was a questioning phrase.
“Protect…?”
In response to that single word, she raised her head to look at me, her eyebrows coming together in a frown as she attempted to overcome the communication barrier that was between us. Her delicate hands were balled together as she looked into my eyes, her frustration causing her to nervously fiddle.
“What?” Her voice was soft, its tones melting in my ears. I struggled to take in her what she’d said. I nodded to her, one of my hands raised, pointing directly at her now – would this help her to understand? It felt worth a shot, however misplaced.
“Protect.” It wasn’t a question anymore; I would protect her, even if she didn’t fully understand my intent.
To my surprise, she offered me a smile, the frown she had worn now gone from her beautiful face; all that remained now was a look of genuine thankfulness. Our prize looked grateful, and it was because of my actions.
The temperature dropped further with my body reacting little if none of the cold. Yet as I watched her with narrowed eyes, I could see those tiny hairs standing on end once more. To try and combat the chill, she’d even started to curl into a tight ball in my lap, her arms wrapped around herself to hold the cold at bay.
I wrapped my arms around her, hand rubbing her limbs vigorously, the rents in her tattered garment allowing teasing glimpses of yet more of her skin.
She was pressed so close and tight, my heat warming her through, that those hairs that had plagued me now lay flat. Her skin was now as smooth as if it was basked under the heat of the sun.
My nostrils flared as I breathed her in - she smelt so good. Her scent had taken control of my senses, causing my muscles to flex as she stirred a desire inside of me that she so often did.
Ever since our first meeting she’d had a hold over me. This delicate woman was the most wonderful prize we’d been given, that I’d been given, and while I was happy to share my prize with Zuvo and Axar like we’d always done before, at this moment I wanted her for myself.
Now that she was warm, and pressed against me, I slowly unfastened the garment, sliding the opening over her shoulders, exposing her to me.
I moved my hand up from her stomach to her breasts, my fingers exploring the firm roundness of the skin beneath them; responsively, she moaned. It was a little, breathy murmur, but it drove me into an almost frenzy. When she pushed back further into me, her ass rubbing against my hips, I felt myself harden.
I longed to kiss her how I had before, but this time I wanted so much more as well. The kisses we had shared, that intensity that had built, had coursed through me and seized control, but I wanted to go beyond that. I needed to taste her.
My fingers softly pinched at her nipples, causing our prize to arch her back further into me once more. Her hand came up to meet mine and started to move it further down her body.
At first, I’d been confused, but as I followed her lead, I realized that something even more enjoyable waited for us both. Tentatively, I pushed my hand under the band of her underwear, the fabric nearly all but tearing at the force of my touch. I stretched my long, nimble fingers down and parted her folds, feeling this glorious wetness coat my fingers. That was when our prize let out a quivering moan, her enjoyment of me touching her encouraging me to apply more pressure.
As my fingers continued to explore, rubbing further down to her wet opening, I dipped two of my fingers inside of her. This was when she really moaned for me. My prize turned her head towards me, her mouth parted in search of mine.
I pressed my lips against hers and twisted my tongue around hers, all the while working my fingers in and out of her in deep, long thrusts. When we finally parted our mouths, she looked me deep in my eyes, hers now hazed over with lust, and moaned. I curled my fingers inside her as a stroked, enjoying the way she tightened with every touch.
“Oh, Eyebrows.” That made no sense, and I couldn’t tell if the language device had malfunctioned or not, but with her quivers, I no longer cared.
She gasped, her body rhythmically grinding against my hips now, my one hand working her body while the other held her firmly in place. Despite not knowing what the word
meant, I understood that Eyebrows was what she’d assigned to me. I liked my prize calling me by it, especially when it meant I could savor the slick wetness on my fingers spreading down the palm of my hand. She felt like nothing I’d ever experienced.
I wanted, needed, to have more of her. The erection between my thighs unable to remain sated by merely touching her with my fingers any longer - I had to be inside of her, feeling her tighten around my cock.
That would have to wait, her tightness wouldn’t allow me to enter. But our play earlier with her breasts gave me an idea. My touch fell away from her, that knitted brow back looking at me once more as she tried to figure out why I’d stopped. I gave her a playful smile and her demeanor softened once more.
I rolled forward, pushing her onto her hands and knees before me, gently pushing the fabric past her hips until the lush curves of her ass were bare to me.
She bit her lip as she twisted her head back to watch me position myself behind her, the pressure causing her pink lips to flush a wickedly red hue.
Unable to stop myself any longer, I spread open her thighs, revealing that wonderful smell and wetness that now clung to my fingers. Lifting her legs to my side, I grabbed and pulled her towards me, causing her to gasp and giggle as our skin met once more.
I leaned in close to her, my eyes locked on hers, as I thrust the tip of my cock into her, gently rubbing the tip of my cock on her slit. Just being able to feel that same wetness that had been around my fingers now around my cock made me give out a deep, carnal growl.
Moans of pleasure came from her as she moved her body with mine, one hand reaching behind her to touch me
She couldn’t.
I couldn’t let her.
I’d lose control, rut her like a beast.
I took both of her hands in mine and pinned her down, her hands placed above her head, shoulders pressed to the floor, hips high, waiting for me.
Unable to resist, I thrust hard against her, careful not to penetrate her slick folds, each ridge bumping against the bundle of nerves at the top of her opening.
She moaned, arching her back, squirming against me.
I grit my teeth, imagining how it would feel as I pushed to her, deep into her wet heat.
