by Lia Nox
In that moment I was saying so much to him - how I could have never hoped that he would say those words, that in some weird way he was my family too - but it was only a look. A warm smile spread across his face, his hands gliding up and down my cheeks as he held me there.
We remained that way for some time, nobody hungry for me, none of us scrambling for that next climax, it was just a serene window in time that we all shared. I knew that if they were happy to do so, I’d bask in the glory of it for the rest of the day, hell, maybe even the rest of my life. After all, this was my life now, regardless of whether I wanted it to be true or not.
But the truth was, I did want this life, even though it frightened me to admit it; my place was with them and them with me.
We were a family, and we’d stay together.
And fate, logic or anything else be damned.
Axar
I’d been known to miss things in my life. I was normally so consumed by my pride or my need to be the best, that subtle changes in mood were lost on me. Tarnan would notice such things, as would Zuvo, but not me. It was a bit of a burden, but I’d always made it work.
But I could sense the emotions that had ripened inside of Delia, and I knew she needed me to be different right now. I needed to be softer, more evolved in my approach.
The concept was so unnatural to me.
Still, as I settled down beside her, taking her in my arms and curling around her so that my body enveloped hers, something just felt so right about the whole thing. The part of me that had plowed her with such strength that I had wondered whether it was too much, even for her, now wanted to cocoon her. I wanted to shield her from pain, from sorrow and anguish, and make her mine in a way that beaus did.
Not that I knew the concept well at all; the masters hadn’t been keen for us to enjoy ourselves, the intention instead had been to pop our corks, not fall in love. Love was a distraction, and they needed us to be focused and ready.
The need to touch her so gently it would feel no heavier than a feather, was like a powerhouse ready to explode; lovingly and with the softest of caress I was capable of, my hands embraced every line of her body. I’d explored her before, but never tenderly enough to actually feel the pores of her skin, to feel that instant change from smooth flesh to small bumps as the fine hairs on her stood up. How had I missed so much? Needing to tell her just how stunning and remarkable I thought she was, I nuzzled into her neck.
“Beautiful,” I whispered. Delia let out a contented sigh, her body alive with yearning. “Beautiful Delia.” I added as my hands cupped her breasts and massaged the plump flesh there.
Her nipples were hardening for me, but I didn’t want to pinch or nibble them, I just wanted to brush them with the very tips of my fingers. It was a tickle more than a caress, a light giggle sounding from her as she rolled her body into me; it was a tender movement laced with desire. But beneath that desire lay love not lust.
I moved my hands down her stomach and around to her hips before stroking her ass, my hands never staying still for a second. My fingers traced from the curve of her buttocks to the firm muscles of her thighs below, the warmth radiating from between those luscious, silky smooth legs.
I had to breathe deeply as I steadied myself, the blood pumping so violently now and all in one direction, that it was hard not to yank her legs apart and slam into her. But I knew that wasn’t what I really wanted: I wanted to explore her as my hands had just done, to take in every detail that I’d missed.
My hand rubbed between her legs and immediately felt her juices flow. It felt so good to have that slickness on me again, so I made sure to really feel it this time around, how velvety it felt, how translucent it was in color. My tongue twitched as I raised my fingers to my mouth and licked them clean, the juices invading my taste buds.
Delicious, as always. I returned my fingers to her, my spit now mixing in with her wetness as I slowly parted her lips. She felt so warm, so inviting, ready for me to enter her, for us to come together. Still, I didn’t rush ahead. I allowed my fingers to stretch and rub, to feel the subtle folds of her mound before probing to find her… what had she called it… her clit?
Whatever that spot of rounded flesh was named, it made her convulse wildly whenever I massaged it, even more so when she was on the verge of coming.
I circled around it, pulling back the hood that covered it ever so slightly, allowing more of the nub to be exposed. Although I couldn’t see it, I could feel just had rigid it was, similar to how aroused I was right now - both of us were taut, throbbing with that need to be touched, tasted, and fucked.
As I worked my fingers, one of my tips and then two of them massaging in circular motions; Delia quivered, her moans shaky and breathy. I played with her like that for some time, enjoying whiling the minutes away by focusing on this single area; I’d done it before, but never so aware of what I was doing and just how she responded. It was like waking up and taking in a world you’d only ever looked at through glazed eyes.
When I had teased her into a bucking mess, her movements still much slower than when we’d come together before, I went back to her lips and parted them wider. Edging towards her entrance, I dipped the head of my shaft into her before easing all of its length inside.
She was fucking incredible: the tightness of her inner walls, the way they flexed and moved as I did, the wetness so intense that I wasn’t sure which sensation was the one consuming me.
Simply incredible, there were no other words for it.
I could have stayed like that until I came, but I was painfully aware of how selfish I was being by keeping her all to myself - if she’d been just a weapon or a throwaway object, I’d have gripped her tightly and fended off anyone who came close.
And the desire to be selfish, to say she was mine all mine was dangerously fevered right now.
But I knew that she wasn’t just mine and that Tarnan and Zuvo deserved to feel her as I was. To deny them that would do them a great disservice, and I refused to be that to the brothers that had helped shape me into the warrior I was today.
The way Tarnan and Zuvo made love to her, one after the other, was similar in softness to my own - we really took the time to worship her, not just allow our lust to take over and drive us. Not that I was saying that I’d never fuck her again, oh no, I intended to make her wail and cry for more soon enough, as it was a side of her that had a special place in my heart.
She was raw and untethered when she screwed like an animal, her eyes so lustful and eager for sex that they felt like they could burn you up on the spot. That fire she had was something I’d never tire of, but even now she was burning. It was a lower flame, rich from the embers of lust already spent, but she was still as passionate as ever.
It wasn’t long before she lay in our arms, her eyes raised to the sky, and we remained in silence save for our panting breaths. I’m not sure how long we stayed like that, but it was so calming to be able to be that physically and mentally close to someone without ever uttering a single word.
As Delia turned to nudge her head into my chest, her face still flushed at the cheeks, her lips bright red and puffed up into a pout, I held her tightly and started to doze off. I wasn’t a proponent on sleeping, never really had been.
But when it was a choice I could make rather than an enforced cryosleep that lasted torturously long periods of time, I welcomed the tranquility it brought.
What had I become, that I could be so relaxed and happy to not be fighting and fucking, to just lie in the arms of a creature so captivating and be satisfied with just our skin touching?
I wasn’t an Axar I easily recognized, but I was one that I hoped would stick around to see how this would play out.
A small murmur from Delia snapped me out of my monologue, my natural reaction being to look at her face and its delicate features; she was dreaming about something, her mouth moving to soundless words. I afforded myself the hope that she was dreaming about me, about all of us, able to get lost in t
hese moments for days at a time.
Would our own personal mission – the quest to find answers – prove successful if we kept getting distracted by her wiles?
I had no fucking clue in all honesty, all I knew was that it needed to be done with swiftly, because if the planet was suffering from a problem we couldn’t see, one that was still transforming it into the hellscape it had become, we needed to get away.
We needed answers so that we could live free of fear, our lives ours to do with as we pleased.
The sooner the better.
Tarnan
There was a strange scent to the air, one of musk and a tang of metal; blood had been spilled nearby. It didn’t seem like that of a team member, but a creature had been wounded or killed close by.
Judging by the reaction Zuvo and Axar were also having, they had smelt it as well, their backs straightening up slightly like a rod had been stuck down their backs.
Delia had noticed the change in us, but I don’t think she could smell what we could. I was grateful she couldn’t, the smell of death was everywhere.
The haunting aroma had my spine prickling, my whole body tense with anticipation. We’d been trekking for hours, the aim being to reach the coast, to the main base of the master’s operations. The stations had been their sub-bases, a means of monitoring our progress and as acting as a useful spot to drop important items, like weapons.
But the main hub, the center, was on the coast.
Given the serene landscape, there had been this notion of opulence associated with its location: only those with power and wealth could build in such a place. This was where we believed we’d find answers.
And if we didn’t find answers, we hoped that maybe Delia could help tinker about with the masters’ tech some more in order to point us in the right direction. But even though our feet had carried us such a long way already, there was still a lot of land that needed to be covered.
As we traversed the land and the shadows lengthened, Delia continued what we referred to as language classes.
“This?” She asked, holding a piece of fallen fruit in her hands. The bruised and mottled skin of its oblong shape made it a sorry sight.
I smiled at her, looking from her hands to her face.
“Geesti.” I respond, before repeating the word for her again. Excited by this, she gripped at the translator slung around her neck, the poorly made necklace giving her an easy means of access and started tapping away.
Sometimes the translator would dim her fun, changing our words into hers, but most of the time it struggled.
“I can’t wait to properly put this database of mine to use.” I heard her say, though she seemed to be muttering gleefully to herself rather than us. Which was fine, considering half her words made no sense to me still.
A strangled screeching ripped through the air, piercing our ears.
“Wh-what was that?” Delia asked, her beautiful face now troubled, broken with unease and tension.
I hated seeing her afraid. She was trying to hold her nerve, but she wasn’t able to mask concern the way that we could.
Another screech broke the stillness once more, my mind’s thoughts being torn away from me.
“Prepare!” Zuvo hastily whispered, his voice fraught as he scanned around, his head twisting and turning to try and spot the enemy before it encircled us, the long shadows filled with moving patches of darkness.
Axar darted out in front of us, his claws lengthening as he readied himself for the first attack.
We had some weapons, but I knew Axar preferred feeling what he killed; he’d choose to use what nature had given him, rather than relying on a tool that could break.
Personally, I liked my knives.
Delia came up beside me and gripped my arm, her hairs there standing to attention. Her breathing increased and her eyes wavered.
“Tarnan…!” She gasped, her grip digging into my flesh. I looked in the same direction as she was transfixed open-mouthed; a glint of silver caused me to narrow my eyes. Whatever it was it wasn’t even trying to camouflage itself as something else anymore…
“AXAR!” Zuvo shouted, his body responding to a threat that Axar hadn’t yet seen. From his left, behind his line of vision, a metallic beast had lunged at him, its eyes glowing red.
What the hell was this thing?
I stayed close to Delia, though I desperately wanted to join Zuvo and Axar, as I knew that one of our traditional formations would be better suited to this level of attack rather than me standing still.
But Delia couldn’t be left unguarded.
These beasts were clever, too clever to be natural beasts of the land. They’d been made, crafted, to have cunning that mere animals didn’t possess.
If anything tried to move this far in, we’d be ready.
Even though I’d stood firm and had hoped nothing would push to attack us, Axar and Zuvo were having to deal with more than they could handle. As I glared onwards at the ravenous beasts that bellowed and pawed at us, I knew I had to join the fight.
“Is that… blood?” Delia asked all of sudden, her nose wrinkled as her eyes frantically trying to see where the stench was coming from.
I could smell it too.
By the cosmos, it looked like Zuvo was wounded, not badly, but enough to cause Axar to race to his side.
I clutched the blades that I had attached to my hip, unsheathing them as silently as I could, and twisted it to hide one behind my back; Axar was brute force, Zuvo was intelligence, I was speed and stealth.
And we had no choice.
“Stay here.” I pushed one of my knives into her hands, tucking her into the shelter of a large tree. At least nothing could attack her from behind, and the branches were low enough she could climb, if she needed to escape.
But she wouldn’t need to.
It was unthinkable.
I hacked and slashed, the beasts unable to put up a fight as unexpected as mine; they oozed disgusting, putrid liquid, but it wasn’t any type of blood I’d seen before. These creatures looked so grotesque, their sharp claws awkwardly protruding to the point that they looked painful to use.
To me, they looked like abominations, a mixture of two creatures thrown together to create them. But due to the very real smell and texture of their blood, I surmised that they must be biologically made rather than the artificial not-animals we’d run into earlier.
As I continued my onslaught, Zuvo came up beside me, as did Axar, all three of us nodding, our tactics clear. Lunging quickly, we broke off in three different directions.
It was time to flush the remaining monsters out.
I lost myself in the joy of battle, relishing the opportunity to let every war-like impulse loose.
My blades cut deeply into the hides of our enemies, and behind me I could hear my brothers release their war cries.
All was a blur, slash and spin, duck and roll. Again and again.
Until the last of the strange, unnatural bodied clanged to the ground and the battle was done.
We all heaved and leaned over, our bodies having been pushed to their limits - had the masters made these to challenge us?
Was this an experiment gone wrong?
I wasn’t sure I wanted the answers to these questions, but they still needed asking.
Turning around to check on Delia, my heart nearly skipped a beat when I couldn’t find her. I was about to alert the others, my body screaming that we needed to find her, when she appeared from behind a broad tree dragging a large sack alongside her.
“Weapons!” She called out, slightly more gleefully than I had expected her to; Delia was becoming a regular warrior the longer she spent with us. Beasts attacking were part of her normal, everyday life now.
Had other teams fallen prey to this kind of attack and so they’d stashed what weapons they had in a bid to help others?
It seemed plausible given how often the teams had worked together, if not always closely, over the years.
Whatever the r
eason someone had dumped the sack, I was thankful that they had – it would make vanquishing these monsters much easier.
Zuvo clutched his side as he walked over to her first, his eyes looking her over to check for injury before proceeding to the sack by her feet.
He may be hurt, but he wasn’t going to let it slow him down. The bag was brimming with weapons, some similar to ours and others that were unique and new.
They were all quite primitive in design, just how we preferred them, but there was one that resembled a spear but had a type of trigger to it… I hadn’t seen anything like it before. Delia however, looked more at ease with it.
“It’s a gun.” Was all she said, showing us each in turn. A… what? Gun? That word didn’t sound right, but wherever she’d come from, that world had had them. “Fight.”
She continued, pointing to the gun and then to herself. But as she pointed it past us and pulled at the trigger, it clicked but stayed cold; it was obviously broken.
Zuvo smiled at her, passing to her a crossbow style weapon, capable of shooting three arrows at a time; he was attempting to soothe her dismay. Applying pressure to his side with one hand, Zuvo tried to move swiftly, as if he wasn’t injured at all.
Once we could catch a moment, I was determined to tend to his wound, assuming he didn’t first.
“Here,” He motioned, suggesting that she try and get to grips with it. At first her movements were awkward, just as they’d been with the spears, but as she handled it for longer, Delia soon got the hang of it.
She pointed at a tree and lined it with arrows, shot after shot. “Good,” Zuvo commented, patting her shoulder and then turning her face towards his before planting a kiss on her cheek.
“Zuvo-”
“Delia, family.” He replied before she could continue what she was saying. It was a pure split second of time between them, but one we all shared in as we watched, myself especially.
I’d felt that Delia was part of our family from quite early on, I just hadn’t had a word to put to what I was experiencing. After Delia had explained, briefly, the concept of family, I had found it suited everything I was feeling - but was she in the same place emotionally as well?
