by Lily Thomas
Then it happened.
Jessica paused not sure what she thought she’d just heard.
“What are you doing?” Bruyx turned around sounding irritated by her delaying them.
“Shoosh.” She waved a hand at him as she listened to the sounds of the forest around them.
Then she heard it again under the cries of alien birds. The crying whimper of a child. It pulled at every maternal instinct inside her.
She sprinted after the noise.
“What are you doing?” Bruyx called after her.
Jessica couldn’t believe what she heard, but at the same time, she had to explore the sound. Maybe it would just turn out to be a Hennian trick but if it wasn’t, then there was a child out here on this hunting planet, and she couldn’t ignore it.
She continued to plow through the forest as she followed the soft noises coming from a child.
Bruyx caught up to her. “Where are you going?”
“Can’t you hear that?”
“It’s probably a trick the Hennians are using to attract prey.” He reached out a hand trying to grab her, but she saw it coming and dodged.
He wasn’t going to stop her from finding the source of that noise. If there was a kid on this planet, she wasn’t about to just leave them to fend for themselves.
“Ignore it, Jessica.”
“I can’t.” She had to discover the truth.
Then Jessica’s frantic eyes found the little girl huddled under a bush. She rushed over to the child as Bruyx held back still mistrustful of the whole situation.
“Hey, sweetie. How are you? Are you hurt?”
The little girl looked up, her blonde curls framing her rounded child’s face. Striking blue eyes watched her through watery tears. “No.” She whimpered.
Jessica held out a hand hoping the little girl would take it. “What’s your name?”
“Bethany.”
“Bethany? That’s a cute name.” Jessica continued to hold out her hand as she did her best to gain the child’s trust.
“Let’s leave,” Bruyx said again, and she eyed him out of her peripheral vision. His brown eyes were skimming over the immediate area. Clearly, he was worried it was a trap too.
“Not yet.” She wasn’t about to haul off with the already traumatized child. “Where are your parents? Are they here?”
The child shook her head, sending her curls bouncing around her face and shoulders.
“Where are they?”
“They were taken away.” The girl swiped a small fist across one of her eyes.
Jessica didn’t like the direction this conversation was headed. “Where were they taken?”
“The aliens did something while I was hiding. I did what my parents said.”
“Did your parents fall to the ground?” She hoped the answer would be no.
The child nodded her head.
Jessica’s heart plummeted to the ground. The girl had witnessed her parent’s death by the Hennians. She cringed. How cruel did the Hennians have to be? She was so young. Although the girl might not understand what she’d seen. She was young.
“How old are you?”
The little girl held one of her hands up in the air, spreading her fingers wide.
“Five?”
She nodded.
Jessica turned to Bruyx. “We have to take her in.”
She watched his mouth drop before his eyes narrowed to slits.
“You’re hard enough to keep quiet. I can only imagine how much she’ll talk.” Bruyx pointed vaguely in the direction of the young girl.
“You can’t be that cold-hearted.” She refused to believe anyone could just abandon a young girl.
“She’s a liability. We can’t take her.”
“Who else is going to take care of her?” Jessica waved her arms around. “This planet is swarming with criminals.” She reached over and covered the girl’s ears. “She could be killed… or worse.” She glared at him daring him to contradict her but at the same time hoping he’d stay and protect them both.
Bruyx wanted nothing more than to walk away and leave them both to fend for their own, but his feet weren’t moving. His only motivation was staying alive and escaping this planet, and they might very well impede him.
He had enough trouble keeping Jessica and her gorgeous mouth shut. He wasn’t too sure he’d be able to keep a young child quiet, especially if she got scared.
Which was another reason he couldn’t leave, because he couldn’t trust Jessica to keep the girl alive. It would be cruel of him to leave the child with an adult who could barely manage to keep herself alive. At least… that was what he told himself.
“I will stay.”
Bruyx watched relief flash through her grey eyes. She’d wanted him to stay. His chest swelled at the unspoken compliment.
“Thanks. You won’t regret it.” Jessica promised.
“I’m sure I will.” He muttered under his breath so she wouldn’t hear him.
Bruyx watched her as she coaxed the child out from under the shrubbery until she had the child’s hand grasped firmly in hers.
“Are we ready?”
“Ready.” She nodded as she tossed him a smile.
A hum of engines filled the air, and his head shot up towards the sky that he could barely see through all the branches and leaves above them.
“A ship?” Jessica asked and then walked out of the forest’s edge before he could stop her.
Rushing up to her side, he looked over the valley below where a Hennian ship was dropping off a massive metal box.
“It’s not like any weapon or food drop that I’ve ever seen them make.” She said as they stood there staring at the giant metal box that was laying in the field below.
He agreed. The Hennians would drop food and weapons for their prey to make the hunt more interesting, but they never dropped it off in a box quite like this one.
The small hairs on his arms rose. “We should leave.” Bruyx reached out and tugged on her arm. The small hairs on his neck were starting to rise as well. This didn’t feel right.
“It could be more food.”
“It’s not.” He insisted.
“How do you know?”
It frustrated him how stubborn she had to be. “I know. Now, let’s go.” He finally was able to start pulling her back into the forest as the ship left the area, zooming right above them and then out of eyesight.
Then a creaking noise filled the valley, and his gut screamed at him to run.
Jessica wiggled her arm free of his grasp and turned to gawk at the box that now had one of its sides opening.
Bruyx reached for his sword. The hairs on his neck wouldn’t stop screaming at him that something bad was going to happen. The side of the box hit the ground, shaking the forest floor and knocking a few leaves off nearby trees. He watched them lazily zigzag their way through the air.
Silence reigned over the valley as they waited.
“Let’s go.” Bruyx reached out and tugged on her arm. He should leave her and save himself, but he found himself unable to just abandon her.
“It could be a food drop.”
“We aren’t desperate enough to check it out.” He kept a firm hold on her arm and an eye on the child who was staring at everything with wide blue eyes.
They watched from the forest edge as a few aliens approached the box in the field. Those aliens might be desperate enough to approach the strange box, but Bruyx wasn’t going to get near it until he knew it was safe. Cautiousness was what kept him alive this long.
The aliens crept closer. Then a ginormous reptile leaped out of the metal box snatching a man in its jaws thrashing its head until the man’s body ripped in half. It quickly swallowed the half in its mouth before coming after all the aliens that were now fleeing the area.
“Time to go!” Bruyx hollered as he bent down, yanked the child into his arms and darted into the forest. Jessica was right on his heels. They trampled through the forest, trying to get as much d
istance between them and the large reptile that could be heard still tearing people apart.
“Why did they release a lizard-like creature?” Jessica panted next to him as she kept up with him.
“The Hennians don’t need a reason.” Although he had a guess. They were blood crazed and could care less how their prey died, as long as their prey died in a bloody puddle.
As they put distance between them and the reptile, the disturbing cries of dying aliens disappeared.
“When do we know we’ve gone far enough?” She panted beside him.
“When you can’t go any further.” He told her.
Chapter 8
Bruyx pushed Jessica until her lungs felt like they’d burst. When she finally had to stop running, he’d insisted they at least keep walking. He hadn’t wanted to take any chances that the reptile would find and kill them.
Jessica sighed in relief when he finally let them stop as the day came to an end and the sun began to set behind the trees. She rested her back on a tree trunk as he set the little girl down.
As she sank to her butt on the ground, the little girl rushed up to her.
“Are you okay?” Bethany asked her wide blue eyes shimmering with worry.
“I’m fine.” She sent the girl a smile. “I’m just tired from all this walking and running. How are you?”
“I’m fine.” Bethany turned and pointed to Bruyx. “Why isn’t he tired?”
Because he wasn’t a donut eating woman, who sat in an office all day. She wasn’t out of shape, but she was sure sitting all day didn’t help. “He works out more than I do.”
The little girl nodded dropping the subject which Jessica was thankful for. Kids could be so brutal with their accurate statements about others and life, and she wasn’t ready to be targeted.
She closed her eyes as her feet radiated with pain, complaining about all the walking she’d done.
“I’m hungry.”
Jessica’s eyes popped open to find Bethany now sitting on the ground as her little fingers played in the grass, ripping blades out of the ground.
“I should have some bars on me.” She dug through the pack that was still slung over her shoulder. She found a bar, unwrapped it and handed it over to the girl. Then she turned her attention to Bruyx who was looking at the trees. “Trying to find another perfect tree?”
He nodded as he continued to walk around examining the trees.
She glanced over at Bethany to find the little girl spitting out her bite of the bar.
“This is gross.” The little girl handed the bar back.
“This is all we have.” Jessica offered the bar back, but the girl shook her head refusing to take it back. “Do we have anything else for her to eat?” She turned her attention over to Bruyx.
“She’ll eat it when she gets hungry enough.”
“You could always hunt us some fresh meat.” Jessica tossed out.
“You could go hunt for yourself. You’re the one who wanted to save the girl. She’s your responsibility.” He tossed back as he continued to survey the trees around them.
Jessica glared at him as he climbed a tree disappearing into the branches above.
“He’s mean,” Bethany announced.
Jessica couldn’t help the laugh that crept up her throat. The kid was right, but he was still protecting them. “He’s just rough around the edges, but he’s got a heart of gold somewhere in there.” He had to because he had yet to walk away and abandon her or the child.
“I’m hungry,” Bethany complained again.
“I’m not much of a hunting and providing type, so you’ll have to eat this.” Jessica offered her the bar again.
“It tastes like old socks.” Bethany’s nose scrunched up as she eyed the bar.
“But it will fill your stomach and give you energy, and it’s all we have.”
The little girl’s face scrunched up some more, but she took the offered bar and munched on it.
Jessica was relieved the girl was eating the bar. Bethany was correct, the bars tasted like old gym socks, not that she had any experience eating old gym socks, but she could imagine how they’d taste.
As she watched the child, she wondered what she’d do if and when they got off this planet. She wasn’t sure how hard it would be to find other members of Bethany’s family, and how she was going to tell them about the girl’s presumed parents’ death.
At least Bethany wasn’t crying, which made Jessica think the girl hadn’t witnessed too much. She’d seen her parents on the ground, but she may not have witnessed their brutal murder.
Jessica wasn’t about to bring it up again. She figured the little girl would talk about it more if she wanted otherwise she didn’t want to remind the kid of her parents’ tragic death. She should leave such discussions to professionals, like therapists.
Bruyx dropped down from the tree as silent as ever and walked over to them. “I’ll take each of you up one at a time.”
“Take her first.” Jessica stood reaching out a hand for Bethany to grab. “You go with Bruyx, okay?”
The girl nodded.
“Do everything he says.” Jessica passed her off to Bruyx.
Bruyx bent down, placed his hands under Bethany’s armpits and brought her up. “Wrap your arms around my neck.” He instructed Bethany. Once she did, he was up and off, climbing the tree quickly and with an expert skill that still impressed Jessica.
Within minutes, he came back down for her. Jessica wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to carry her up there. She watched as the branches flew past her. His climbing skills were something she was in awe of since she couldn’t remember ever climbing a tree.
Bruyx stopped on a large branch where he’d set up the rope bed.
“Hi!” Bethany called out as she waved from where she was sitting on the ropes.
“Hi.” Jessica waved back.
Bethany bounced a bit on the ropes. “This is fun.”
Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught Bruyx smiling over at Bethany. She got the feeling she was right about him. He was rough on the outside, but in the inside, he was all ooey and gooey, just waiting for someone to see it and nurture it.
Hefting her pack, she walked across the branch and heaved a sigh of relief once she made it to the rope bed. She wasn’t terribly keen on heights, but she did understand how safe living up among the branches was.
Bruyx joined them sitting down next to her.
Jessica tore through her bag, found a couple of nutritional bars and offered him one.
“Thanks.” He took it from her, and in the process, their hands brushed, and a spark soared through her.
Her eyes flew to his, and she saw his brown eyes go a tad darker, and she knew he was thinking the same as her.
Slowly, she took her hand back as she munched on her nutritional bar, her thoughts filled with images of him naked. Unfortunately, tonight would be a celibate night for them now that they had Bethany, not that she regretted saving the child.
After a few minutes, Bethany began to yawn, and after a few more minutes she was laying on the ropes fast asleep, small snores coming from her open mouth. It was good to see the girl was able to get so relaxed. At least one of them could get a good night’s sleep.
Bruyx leaned over until his lips were nearly touching the arch of Jessica’s ear. “Would you care to join me down on the forest floor?”
“What about Bethany?” Jessica glanced over at him. “Can we leave her all the way up here alone?”
“We’ll have to trust the child is smart enough not to jump off the rope bed.”
“No coddling where you’re from, is there?”
Bruyx shook his head, drawing her attention back to those double tipped ears of his.
With one last glance at Bethany, Jessica rose and beckoned him forth. “Then let’s get going before she wakes and finds us gone.”
Bruyx hadn’t been sure Jessica would agree to join him now that they had to care for the child, but he was pleas
ed to find her receptive to the idea.
The moment his feet hit the ground, and she slid off his back, he reached out, grabbed a hold of her hand and yanked her away from the trunk of the tree. It was time to find them a secluded spot where they wouldn’t wake up Bethany, but still be close enough to know if Bethany needed them.
The moment they were far enough away Bruyx pushed her up against the trunk of a tree.
“We should stop this,” Jessica uttered breathlessly as he began to kiss his way up her neck.
“I know.” He growled. There was no future for them, and they needed to face that, but she kept pulling him in, tempting him. He was a broken man who couldn’t offer her what she wanted, and she had no idea. It was cruel of him to lead her on…
Her hands rushed to the buttons of his pants and brushed his hard cock through the thick material, and all thought fled him. He growled against her skin as he nibbled on her ear slightly.
His cock was about to rip through the material of his pants, but then she got the buttons loose, and his hot flesh sprang out into the cool night air. One of her hands wrapped around his length, and she pumped him with long strokes as her fingers tightened down around his cock.
Bruyx groaned as she continued to pump him. His hands found the neckline of her shirt, and he pushed it down until her breasts popped over the top. Then he pushed the bra cups away, her plump breasts bouncing out over the top.
She was such an image. Then his head dipped down, and he captured one of her pink nipples between his lips. He sucked the tit into his mouth swirling his tongue around it.
Jessica’s breathing picked up, and she mewed as her hips bucked.
Bruyx ground his hips against her, pumping his cock into that hot little hand of hers. Her thumb rubbed the crown of his cock, and he almost came undone.
“We’re crazy.” She breathed on a sigh. “We’re on a Hennian hunting planet, and your people are flying around space trying to wipe mine out.”
He growled against her nipple before letting go of the tit with a pop. Raising his head, he captured her lips to stop her insistent talking. All these worries she brought up were of no concern to him. Right now, all he sought was their pleasurable release.