by Ella Maven
I turned away from watching him spin the carcass on a stick to study our living situation. The hut itself was only one room, probably about eight hundred square feet. Other than the sleeping pallet, there was a large chair near the front window. A table and two smaller chairs were in another corner, and a bench sat in front of the fireplace.
A few jugs were stacked along the wall with a couple of crates. It didn’t look like Ward lived here—it didn’t look like anyone lived there. If anything, it reminded me of a hunting cabin stocked with basic supplies. I wished I could ask Ward if we planned to stay here, or if this was a temporary shelter before we moved on. Now more than ever, I wanted to see the other women again. Why, oh why had I run?
Ward grunted, and I turned to see him remove the smoking meat from the fire. He carefully picked at it, and I wasn’t lost on the fact that he chose the juiciest morsels to lay on a leaf he’d placed at my feet.
After a rather large pile of steaming protein sat in front of me, he jerked his chin toward me and then bit into the remainder of the animal like it was a turkey leg at the Renaissance Faire. I sat in wonder as he picked the entire thing clean in a matter of… well less than a minute. He would have made a champion professional eater.
I didn’t even think he took a breath. I imagined him at Coney Island next to Joey Chestnut and Matt Stoney and snorted to myself.
When he was finished, he tossed the clean bones out the window and wiped his greasy lips with the back of his hand. He gulped down a clear liquid that looked like water, cleaned his face and hands, and it was only then he turned to me to see I hadn’t touched my meal.
He frowned and shuffled closer, pointing to the food.
God, I felt like an idiot, but eating meat now would probably make me sick. “I’m a vegetarian,” I cringed, waving my hand over the food. “I appreciate this. Really. But I can’t eat it.”
I shook my head and backed away from the food to make my point clear. His frown deepened, and his nostrils flared.
“Guapo!” he insisted, which I was pretty sure meant, Eat!
I shook my head again, and with a loud exhale, he turned around to rummage in a bundled leaf I hadn’t noticed earlier. He withdrew a few fruits that looked familiar, as the crocs had given them to me. With his palm out, he offered them to me. He’d brought me side dishes!
I responded with a smile. “Thank you!” To show I wasn’t on a hunger strike, I ate as much as I could. When I tried to say I was full, he made me eat more. I saw him eye the meat in front of me, so I pushed it toward him. After a careful glance at me, he ate it.
Before long, my bladder was insisting I pay attention to it. Nowhere in this cabin did I see anything resembling a toilet. No bucket. No drain. Nothing. Last time I told Ward I had to pee, I’d run away from him, so I wasn’t sure how receptive he’d be if I tried to communicate this again.
I pointed outside, and then made an inelegant gesture toward my crotch. His eyes narrowed and flashed, surely remembering what happened last time. “I won’t run!” I said. “I promise.”
But he remained motionless, eyeing me with slight distrust. I didn’t blame him. I’d earned that. I reached for his hand, and he slowly rose, like a graceful panther. My palms tingled at the feel of his scales, like a slick velvet. I walked toward the door, and he followed.
Outside, I found a tree and after directing him to it, I dropped his hand and held my hands out. “I’ll stay.”
He glared at me.
“Please?” I went for my best innocent face, which only seemed to annoy him more.
So, I kept talking. “I’m just going to pee. Right behind this tree,” I said as I walked around it. I ducked my head out to see him watching me with his arms crossed.
I kept chattering. Saying random words because he couldn’t understand me anyway, as I ducked behind the tree and copped a squat.
Eventually I stopped talking and risked a peek around the tree to see Ward inspecting the branches of a nearby tree.
As I was about to stand, a small ruff reached my ears, so faint and high that I had to stop and listen closely. After a minute, no other sound came, and I figured I was hearing things until it came again. Ruff rrrrrrruff.
I turned toward the sound, letting my ears lead the way to a nearby tree even though I’d never tracked a thing in my life. The sound came again, higher before lowering into a pained whine that raised the hair on the back of my neck. Just when I had a thought that I should call for Ward before I encountered some strange animal, a bit of bloodied fur caught my eye. With my heart in my throat, I leaped over a small bush only to nearly step right on the motionless body of a large creature.
The animal lay on its side with its head and neck drenched in blood. I covered my mouth at the stench. It was obviously dead, the round glassy eyes with a slitted horizontal pupil open and unseeing. It had four legs and thick black fur. I crouched down, wondering if I’d imagined the ruff when the sound came again directly to my right. With a startled cry I nearly fell back on my ass when a little furred ball darted out from under a bush.
A miniature version of the dead creature peered up at me, gave me a short little ruff and growl. It had a round snout like a bunny, whiskers, and twitchy ears, but it had the body of a canine. This one had mottled gray fur, some of it patchy like it was losing its baby coat and growing adult fur.
I took one look at the dead animal and assumed it was this animal’s mother or father. Tears filled my eyes because I was a sap. I refused to watch any and all movies where dogs died—except for John Wick, because he avenged that dog like a badass.
“Do you have another parent?” I said in a sing-song voice. “Where are your brothers and sisters?” But the little thing only ruffed at me. I held out my hand, giggling when its whiskers tickled my fingertips before giving me an experimental lick.
“Reba!” came a loud shout, followed by the sound of crashing feet. My little friend trembled, so I scooped him up and held him to my chest.
“Over here!” I called out.
In seconds, Ward burst through a bush and came to an abrupt stop at he caught sight of me. With a stunned expression, he took in the scene before him. His eyes nearly bulged when he saw me holding the baby to my chest.
“Nit,” he shook his head and reached for the creature. “Welf bup husta prown grewt.”
I blocked him with my shoulder from taking my new friend and glared. “You’re not taking her from me. She doesn’t have a mom or dad. She’ll die if we leave her here.”
“Nit,” Ward said again, his lips thinned. When he grabbed for the pup again, I smacked his hand away. The sound was so loud, even the pup in my arms froze.
So did Ward. And so did I. I’d … hit him. Not hard, granted, but I’d still hit him, and that was certainly not a good idea, but then I’d been full of bad ideas lately.
“I’m sorry,” I held out my hand to him, even though he hadn’t moved. “I shouldn’t have smacked you. I’m sorry. I just… she’s all alone. And so am I.” She was so very tiny, and I’d seen what kind of creatures lived on this planet. Would she survive without her mom or dad?
I cuddled the pup to my chest as I slowly rose to my feet. When I stumbled, Ward steadied me, his expression calm, and I took that as he accepted my apology. He pointed at the pup. “Welf.”
“Welf?”
“Hooman,” he pointed to me. “Drixonian,” he pointed to himself. “Welf,” he pointed to the pup.
He knew what I was? I pointed to myself. “Human?”
He nodded. “Hooman.”
I placed my hand on his broad chest. “Drix…”
“Drixonian,” he puffed out said chest. Okay, so that was his species.
Now that we got that down, I wanted to reiterate names. “Reba,” I pointed to myself. “Ward,” I pointed to him. I held up the little pup and looked at her eyes. I didn’t know if it was a boy or girl, but I was going to go with she. Her mottled-gray coloring reminded me a bit of the moon. “Luna,” I said pointin
g at the pup.
For a moment, he didn’t react, then his eyes narrowed. “Nit, Luna.”
I was pretty sure nit meant no.
“Yes, Luna,” I said. “I’m keeping her. She needs me.”
His chest heaved and he rubbed his forehead in such an annoyed human gesture that for a moment I felt like I was back home being a pain in the ass to my latest boyfriend.
Finally, he sighed. “Luna,” he muttered and then grabbed my arm to lead me back in the direction of our hut. Luna squirmed and panted happily in my arms. And because of that, I was happy too. For maybe the first time on this planet. Ward and I were rescue parents now. Without a home inspection or application fee. I hoped Luna didn’t grow up to bite my head off.
“You wouldn’t do that, would you?” I crooned to her as she licked my face. I giggled and scratched her ears. I hadn’t realized Ward stopped until I ran into him. He watched me with a purple intensity. His hand rose slowly to pass over my cheeks and his fingertip dipped into my dimples.
I hadn’t had much cause to smile around him. The careful brush of his fingers, when I knew how deadly he could be, sent a shiver down my spine.
“Thank you,” I smiled at him. I jerked my chin toward Luna. “For letting me keep her.”
I beamed another smile at him, surprised when he sucked in a sharp breath, his gaze focused on my mouth. Suddenly he jerked, shaking his head as his brow lowered. With a grunt, he kept walking, stomping loudly this time.
What had I done? Well, maybe he was just grumpy we had another mouth to feed. Speaking of… What the hell did Luna eat? Fuck, I wished I could speak Drixonian.
Back at the hut, he pointed toward the pile of bones in the corner. I sat Luna down near them, and she immediately pounced on the bones, gnawing at them with her sharp little teeth and picking clean the small bits of gristle Ward had left.
With nothing else to do, I set about trying to make this space a little more livable. Using some of the large leaves Ward had gathered, as well as a stick, I fashioned a kind of broom with some of the vines and swept as much dirt out of the front door as I could. Ward sat crouched by the dying fire watching me while he sifted through the chest of supplies. I shook out the furs and clapped the dirt from them out the open window. I didn’t have that many skills, but I was a damn good homemaker and cleaner.
By the time I felt satisfied with the hut with my very limited cleaning supplies, Luna was passed out in the corner and Ward stood at the door, a bundle of fabric in his arms. He gestured to me to follow him as he opened the door and stepped out. Were we leaving? After I just cleaned the place? I went to gather Luna, but Ward barked a sharp, “Nit.”
“I don’t want to leave her,” I said.
He gestured toward the bed and made a sleeping motion with his hands folded beside his head.
“We’ll be back tonight?”
He pointed outside, and then back to the floor of the hut. I had to assume he meant we’d be back. When I gave him a nod, he pushed aside a tangle of vines and marched off into the great unknown. I shut the door behind me, comfortable that Luna couldn’t through the door or jump out the high windows.
As we walked, the soft sound of running water babbled amid the light breeze blowing the leaves. Was he taking us to water? We had some back at the cabin, but I’d give just about anything to wash my face. I wouldn’t use our drinking water for that, but I had fantasized about dumping one of those jugs over my head. I couldn’t imagine what I looked like. Dirty. Bruised. Cut up. Greasy hair. I didn’t want to talk about how bad I smelled, because yes, I stunk. Maybe that was why Ward hadn’t slept in the furs with me.
He, on the other hand, didn’t smell. I couldn’t understand it. I’d noticed his sweat, but the drops of perspiration beaded up and dripped off his scales. Maybe that was the reason he didn’t smell—his scales didn’t reabsorb the moisture. Was that how body odor worked? I didn’t even freaking know. And why was I analyzing this on an alien planet when I had more important things—like survival—to worry about?
The sound of water drew closer as humidity hung thick in the air. I was nearly salivating at the idea of getting wet when Ward stopped abruptly in front of me. I peered around his body and actually squealed out loud. A river. The water babbled over a rocky bottom and lapped gently at the bank.
Without warning, Ward scooped me in his arms and waded into the river. I kicked a bit, wanting to walk in myself, but I had to admit it was kind of nice, especially because the current was stronger than I had originally thought. I wasn’t keen on drowning today, so the fact he was taking care of me caused my heart to beat double-time in my chest.
He walked over to a cluster of rocks that jutted out of the center of the stream and perched on one of them. I didn’t understand what was happening as he placed me on his knee. “What—?”
He scooped water in his massive palms and trickled it over my skin. I sucked in a breath and held it as the cool water coated me and his warm hands followed after, wiping away the grime and inspecting injuries as he went. He was washing me. And I didn’t get the sense he was doing anything untoward. Maybe this was part of his culture; to take care of females like this.
His expression was calm. Peaceful. He wasn’t frowning, scowling, or flaring his nostrils at any perceived threat. Every few minutes he’d meet my eyes and hold them, the violet hues swirling and sparkling in the sunlight as it dappled the surface of the water and our bodies.
He turned me so my back was pressed to his chest. Because of his massive size, he could easily pull up my foot and brace it on his knee. He cleaned my feet—my feet! —which were so ticklish I refused to ever get pedicures. I had never let a man touch my feet ever. In fact, a guy I dated casually had a foot fetish and we broke up because I wouldn’t even take my socks off around him. True story.
But yet as Ward washed my feet, running his fingers between my toes and rubbing the arch of my sore, cut soles, I had to bite back a moan. He switched feet, letting the clean one dip back into the water where the rushing current soothed the remaining soreness.
When he was satisfied my feet were clean, he ran his hands up my legs, kneading my calves, my thighs, and just as he reached the hem of my shorts, he stopped. Completely. We sat still. In silence. It was then I became aware of the hardness poking at my back. The hot puffs of his breath on my damp neck. My mind screamed at me to get up, to move, to run from this threat in his pants attached to a massive stranger with claws and muscles.
But my body went rogue. It reacted at his size and his protectiveness. Oddly enough, maybe that was part of why I ran from him in the first place. His presence was overwhelming and confused me with conflicting signals of lust and fear.
My body remembered how he’d kept me warm at the crocs camp. My aching core wanted to know what that meaty rod in his pants could do. My inner walls clenched just as his hand curled into a fist on my thigh.
He still didn’t move. He didn’t take. He merely vibrated beneath me like a live wire while his chest rumbled with a cross between a purr and a growl. Was that a warning? Because my body didn’t seem to care as my nipples beaded to hard points, an obscene sight in my light-colored soaking wet shirt.
We were on a cliff, and I was ready to jump. I had a foot on the ledge and the other about to leap—
Ward jerked to his feet, nearly dumping me in the water before he grabbed me around the waist and hauled me to my feet. I turned in his hold to see his peaceful expression was replaced by a lip curled into a snarl. He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and took a massive stomp toward shore, but I dug my heels in. He could have easily pulled me, but instead he stopped and whirled, his nostrils flaring.
I wasn’t done. I wanted longer in the water. I wanted to know his intentions. This was crazy, and my brain screamed at me to have a little self-preservation, but I didn’t trust it anymore. I grasped the bottom of my shirt and pulled it over my head.
Seven
Ward
This flecking female seemed
destined to test me. She ran from me, and I followed. I rescued her and maintained my distance, keeping to myself. Through sheer, clenched-teeth willpower, I’d managed not to crawl under the furs with her despite my near-constant state of arousal. Which was really flecking annoying and distracting.
Now she stood in front of me. Topless. Her full breasts round and plush, topped with rosy pink nipples I would have cut off my arm to draw into my mouth. She was beautiful, from her slender neck to her full breasts to her little cinched waist and juicy thighs.
And it pissed me the fleck off. I’d been good. I’d washed her and somehow managed not to throw her on the bank and ravage her like I wanted to do. Why was she tempting me? Was this some sort of sick joke? If I didn’t know Sax was locked up in an Uldani prison, I would have expected him to appear out of the trees, laughing at me for falling for his prank.
No way could this human female want me to touch her naked body. This had to be a test. If I maintained my duty and kept my hands to myself, she’d trust me. It struck me as much as I wanted to sink my cock into her soft body, I wanted her to trust me more. She wouldn’t trust me if I shredded the rest of her clothes.
Still, I couldn’t look away. I was only so strong. It was then I looked past how perfect she was to the evidence on her skin of the last few rotation’s adventures. A large bruise marred her ribs on the right, and a cut bisected the perfect line of her collarbone. Her neck was still streaked with dirt and something else that looked like dried blood.
Instead of using her body for my own pleasure, I proceeded to finish washing her. I cupped the qua and poured it over her neck. It trickled down her throat and between her breasts to soak into her already wet shorts. I took her shirt from her—I had dry clothes on the bank from the meager supply in the hut—and used it to scrub at a particularly stubborn patch of dirt caked on her shoulder. She didn’t move, but her skin pebbled under my touch, and she trembled slightly. With her lips slightly parted, she watched my every move.