by Mary Auclair
Kamal hadn’t spoken to her in over five hours, not since they’d left Tailan and Marmack behind with the little they’d found in the medical pod back on the Mellark. Marmack’s condition hadn’t improved, and with the limited supply of medicine, he would not last long. They had two days at the most before their friend was beyond help.
An ionic blade rested on her hip, one of the only two weapons they were able to find in the mess left by the crash, since the weapons vault had been all but obliterated by the impact. The ionic gun, the one Marmack had ripped from the hands of one of the traitors, had been left with Tailan. It was a powerful weapon, lethal upon impact, and with enough power to shoot until Tailan’s arm tired of it. But it was only one weapon, and they all knew that if Minister Knut’s people found her, Tailan would be overwhelmed in no time.
Now Aliena was in possession of the only other weapon they had.
She hadn’t really wanted to keep it, telling Kamal he was much more able to defend them with it than she, but Kamal had retorted that he was way more lethal than the blade, and she had found nothing to answer to that. Because he certainly was. After the terrible fight with what had remained of the Mellark’s crew, she would never doubt him again.
Every step they took was a fight against the thick wall of greenery, every time they put their feet down, they had to be careful not to slip on a patch of mud. Kamal was relentless, slashing with his talons to clear a way through branches and vines growing between the thick trunks of what looked like overgrown asparagus, but which were the equivalent of trees on this small planet.
She had no idea where she was anymore. Kamal had pulled a map from the last functioning holographic portable display, and checked it periodically, but she had stopped trying to follow it. Kamal’s instincts were honed like a fine blade, precise and reliable. She trusted him to get to the building, trusted him with her life.
Plus, she was too tired to think anymore. Blindly following Kamal’s broad back was the only thing she could force her body to do.
Her feet hurt inside the too new, too heavy military style boots, and sweat trickled in a steady flow between her shoulder blades and down her chest to her navel. Her mouth was dry and her head had started hurting halfway through, but she kept silent. Kamal could still send her back—or worse, come back to the cave with her.
She couldn’t stay behind, and she couldn’t stop walking. She still had a mission.
Her feet slid on a mud patch and she yelped, then fell flat on her ass. Kamal stopped and turned around, his hand on her instantly.
“I’m fine.” She tried to chuckle but didn’t quite make it. She was too exhausted. “I just lost my footing, that’s all.”
“You’re not fine.” His voice left no room for protest. “You’re dehydrated, and you need to eat. I’ll find us a place to lay low for the night.”
“We don’t need to stop.” Aliena pushed herself to her feet and met his stare head on. She could see it in the downward curve of his mouth, that stubborn, protective streak that was not to be moved. She exhaled with frustration. “I’m not weak. I can walk through the night.”
It was a lie, and she knew it as soon as the words were out. She couldn’t go through the night. She couldn’t go another hour.
“And when you fall again? What then?” Kamal shook his head. “I hear a stream not too far away. We’ll be able to get water, and you need to eat. I can build us a shelter in no time.”
Anger rose inside her at the authoritative tone of his voice but she knew he was right. There was no point in pushing herself until she collapsed from exhaustion. Kamal would never leave her behind defenseless, and then they would all be doomed.
“Fine. But I’ll help you.”
A smile stretched his lips, and she couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was, right here, in this strange wilderness.
“I wouldn’t expect anything else, Little Bird.”
Then he bent and picked her up. She wanted to protest, wanted to tell him she was perfectly able to walk, but as her head nestled in the nook of his neck, she didn’t. She closed her eyes and molded her tired, battered body to him. She never would have believed it was possible to feel so good in the midst of all that danger, but she did.
How strong he was, how generous. He could have told her to stay behind, that she was nothing but a liability, and he would have been right to say it. But he didn’t. Instead, he held her close and carried her until she opened her eyes to see a running stream with a small pool of water in the middle of a large bed of flat rocks.
“There. Let me check the water first.” Kamal put her down and pulled a small strip from the pocked of his jacket, then dipped it in the water. When the tip turned green, he smiled. “Water’s fine.”
Elation filled her and she bent over the pure, surprisingly cold water. Her fingers instantly froze in the stream, but the agony was the best she’d ever felt. Aliena drank, bringing her cupped hands up to her mouth for a long time. At her side, Kamal did the same, although with much more dignity. Soon, he got to his feet.
“I’ll gather leaves to make bedding.” He pulled an emergency ration from his pocket and threw it her way, smiling when she caught it. “Eat it, you need the nourishment.”
“What about you?”
“To quote a particularly annoying female I know, I’ll be fine.” His smile caught the moonlight, and it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. He pulled another pack from his pocket and swallowed the gray sludge in one long motion. His face twisted in a disgusted grimace. “This is the worst thing you will ever put between those pretty lips of yours, but it’ll give you energy for the road tomorrow.”
Aliena nodded, then looked down at the small package in her hands. She ripped open the top between her teeth, then took a tentative sip. Almost gagging, she quickly forced the overly sweet, coppery tasting sludge down her throat, then washed it down with copious amounts of water.
She watched as Kamal returned, his arms full of long branches and leaves, piling them up on the flat bed of rock until it looked like a large bird’s nest under a dome of branches.
“Really?” Aliena chuckled, then got to her feet. She managed to hide a grimace of pain as her legs rebelled at the idea of walking again. “You’re building me a nest?”
“Well, you’re my Little Bird, after all.”
Kamal turned to the pool of water and in no time, his shirt and pants were on the ground. She watched his lean, muscled body, the round curve of his ass, the way his thighs bulged with strength as he walked into the freezing water. Things stirred in her belly, watching his nakedness under the fast-growing gloom, awakening everything female and wanting inside her despite their dire situation. Maybe even heightened because of it.
Kamal entered the small pool, splashing his body with it, rubbing himself clean. Then he turned to her, beckoning her closer with a finger.
Aliena laughed and came closer, then shed her dirty clothes under Kamal’s watchful eyes. She dipped a toe in the water and took it out immediately.
“You are insane. This water is freezing. I’m not going in. You’re just going to have to sleep with me smelling like a bear.”
Kamal chuckled, then, fast as a snake, wrapped an ice-cold arm around her waist and pulled her into the freezing water with him. Aliena shrieked and writhed in his embrace, but it was no use. He only tightened his arms around her, then engulfed them both in the cold up to her breasts.
“Let me go before I turn blue like you!” Aliena cried out, but wrapped her arms around him, sucking in his warmth.
“This must be fed by the mountain, that’s why it’s so cold.”
Kamal moved and a hard, hot length pressed against her stomach. Aliena’s lips stretched in a wicked smile.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s working very well to cool you down.”
Kamal’s smile was blazingly white in the half gloom, and as she watched him, the warm glow in her belly grew and spread. Everything he did, everything he’d lost and still
risked losing, he did for her.
A now familiar hunger showed on his features and she felt her body respond, those exquisite tiny sparks traveling down her exhausted limbs, awakening a need only his touch could fulfill.
He picked her up in his arms easily, despite the day’s worth of hiking. In a few long steps, they reached the nest of leaves. He put her down gently on the pebbles, their naked bodies covered in tiny pearls of icy water.
She looked at him, so perfect, so strong. A supreme being, made to triumph on a field of battle and bask in the glory or victory.
And he was all hers. She needed him to be.
Aliena put her hands on his shoulders and softly pushed him down to his knees in the thick carpet of leaves. He looked at her, his expression one of confusion, but also of curiosity, then did what she asked without speaking.
She stood over the nest of leaves in front of him. Without speaking, he put his hands on each side of her hips, then pulled her into him. He was almost at her level while kneeling down, and she only had to look down slightly to gaze at him.
She stood there, naked in front of him, as his eyes trailed over her body, his hands running along her legs, the curve of her hips, her waist, leaving her skin prickling with arousal. He pulled her closer, then his mouth closed on her navel, hot and sensual, sending a rush of desire straight between her legs. She wanted him, wanted him now.
“You should sleep,” Kamal said even as he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her hips, pulling her into him. “I will keep guard tonight.”
“You need to sleep, too.” She spread her fingers over the smooth skin of his skull, the tiny scars playing under her fingertips as she ran her hands down to the back of his neck.
“I can go on for a week without losing any of my faculties.” Kamal broke eye contact to kiss her stomach, and it sent a rush of feelings straight to her core. “Two if I push it. You can sleep soundly tonight.”
She brought her hands to his jaw. So strong, so male. A wave of affection overcame her and she slid her fingers under his chin, gently tilting his head up so he was looking at her.
“I don’t want to sleep just yet.” She smiled when his eyes became heavy lidded, his mouth hanging open just a tad.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Something that should tire me enough to sleep through the night in an alien jungle.”
His brows lifted in a half-amused, half-challenging gesture. His eyes stayed on her body as she lowered herself down until she sat on his lap, her legs parted on either side of his hips. She felt it pulse against her stomach, the thick length of his sex, deliciously hard and hot. He was ready for her, but she didn’t want to rush things tonight. No, not when tomorrow could be their last day.
Kamal’s hand traveled up her back and to her hair, then he pulled her face down to him. The kiss was soft and deep, her tongue sliding over his as his taste invaded her senses. Desire grew inside her, slow and strong like a tide, ready to take over her entire being.
His hands became heated as he let them slide over her body freely, closing on her breasts, her ass, pushing her against his erection.
She broke the kiss and locked eyes with Kamal as he waited to see what she would do. The wind was warm on her naked skin but her nipples perked, and she shivered with delight as Kamal closed his hands over her breasts.
“So perfect, so beautiful.” He leaned in and took a hard nipple between his lips, flicking his tongue over the hyper-sensitive flesh. “And mine.”
The statement of possession was as male as any could ever be, but it was said with a quiet ferocity, a mixture of expression that would boggle the mind if she didn’t understand it so completely. She was his, utterly and completely, from the bones in her body to her quivering skin. There was no precise point when it had happened, but it had. She was his, of her own accord and her own will. She wanted to belong to him just as much as he belonged to her. And he did.
She didn’t answer Kamal, because she didn’t need to, and the time for words was long past. His skin was blazing hot under her hands and it softly shone under the gleaming light of the dusk. His torso was a landscape of hardened muscles under the surprisingly soft skin. As she bent to kiss his chest, he threw his head back, groaning with pleasure.
She kept going, kissing and licking his chest, covering every inch of skin with attention. She was savoring his taste, the supple, yet harder texture of his skin, the tiny bumps of the markings running under her tongue.
She wanted to taste him, wanted to give him as much pleasure as he gave her.
Locking gazes with him, Aliena placed both hands firmly on his shoulders, then gently pushed him back. Kamal’s eyes widened when he understood her intention, but he complied silently. She straddled him, low on his legs, as he lay back on the nest of leaves. His eyes stayed on her, mesmerized and wide, as she lowered herself to him.
First, she kissed his chest, starting in the middle of his breastbone, then trailed kisses down his stomach to his navel, where she let her tongue slide in tiny circles. As she lowered herself, his sex brushed up her cheek, hard and thick, begging for attention.
Aliena looked up to Kamal, her eyes locking with his. She took his erection between her fingers, grabbing the whole length of his shaft, squeezing only a little, then she bent until her mouth was just over the tip of it. He watched her, mesmerized, as she flicked her tongue over the tip, licking up the drop of pre-cum that blossomed there.
Kamal inhaled sharply through clenched teeth.
She smiled with her mouth against the hot, pulsing tip of his sex. She’d never given oral sex to a man before, but somehow she knew it would drive Kamal crazy, and giving him pleasure made her even more aroused.
She took his sex between her lips, sucking as she took him deeper, rubbing her tongue along the length of him. Kamal groaned, a male sound filled with abandon and ecstasy, giving her the confidence to go on. Her hand traveled to the slick skin of his seed sack, cradling it gently.
“Midnight God, spare me.” His voice was hoarse and low, more a growl than words. “This is too good to be true.”
Aliena moved, taking him in her mouth almost to the hilt, then sliding her lips up to the tip before pushing back down. He was growing even thicker, the veins on his sex large and pulsing. She knew he would not last long this way, and as more pre-cum tickled her tongue, its taste spicy and strong, Kamal moved his hips up and his hands grabbed her head, moving her along as his pleasure reached boiling heights.
He pushed hard into her mouth, stopping only at the press of her tongue, then he came. Kamal roared, a fierce animal sound in the forest, as his semen filled her mouth. Like his pre-cum, his semen was spicy and strong, tasting of cinnamon and cardamom, but not unpleasant. She swallowed every drop of it.
It tasted like him; wild and male, untamed.
Finally, Kamal stilled and his hands on her head moved, patting her hair gently. Aliena looked up, allowing his sex to spring free from her mouth. He reached for her arms and he pulled her up gently until she was at his side. He stroked her hair, took a handful between his strong fingers, rubbing it with his thumb. The gesture was so tender, so full of emotion, Aliena felt her heart thudding, her throat close up.
“You never told me.” Aliena spoke softly, her hand flat on his hot chest. “What made the bloodmating so special, why Marmack and Tailan were so shocked. It was almost like they were scared.”
Kamal’s face lost its easy happiness and he looked at her with a new seriousness.
“You deserve to know.” His hand trailed along her forehead, her temple, down to her jaw.
Silence stretched for long seconds as he looked at her, and Aliena began to feel a flutter of fear deep in her belly. Somehow, she had always sensed it was more than a simple mating. The link between them was deep, primal, like it changed something inside her at the most basic level.
“The link between us is unbreakable,” Kamal began. “That is the case for all Eok mating. There is no going back, n
o changing our minds. I can’t be separated from you. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t let you leave, either.”
“But this is not the same,” Aliena said when Kamal fell silent.
“No, it is not.” Kamal smiled, but it was a sad smile. “I couldn’t leave you, I couldn’t stay away from you, because my life is linked to yours. If you were ever to leave this life and go to the Midnight God, I would follow you even there.”
Aliena’s face became numb as the implications of Kamal’s revelation unfolded inside her mind.
“You can’t be serious.” She shook her head, denying the obvious truth in Kamal’s words. Because somewhere she knew. Deep inside, she knew. “Why did you do it?”
“There was no choice. Me finding you, me taking you for mate, there was no choice.”
Aliena’s throat closed up and her eyes burned with unshed tears. Because she knew it also. She knew he had not chosen her, he was stuck with her. She looked away, unable to bear the weight of the pain in her heart.
“It was written in the stars.” Kamal lifted her chin so she had to look at him, at the glow of his pale eyes, full of an emotion she was so afraid to understand. “Such a perfect match was written in the making of the universe. I did not choose you, my Little Bird, because you were made for me, as I was made for you.”
Emotions swelled inside her as she gazed into Kamal’s eyes. She wanted so much to tell him how she felt.
“I wouldn’t change a thing,” Aliena finally said. “Even if I could, I would not want anyone else.”
Kamal’s smile morphed into one of pleasure and his arm around her squeezed.
“Me neither, Little Bird.”
She nodded, then rested her head on his chest, taking the time to savor the warmth of his skin, the clean male scent of his body. His presence was strong and honest, full of the promise of a future she did not dare contemplate. A future she could not think about as long as her uncle was a prisoner, as long as her family was ripped apart at the seams.