by A. G. Wilde
Her leg ached as she tried to move it. Still clinging onto the zehmip’s thorns, she chanced a glance over the side of the plant’s head.
It was at least a 15-story drop. Well, jumping was off the table, even if her leg wasn’t injured.
The only other option was to climb down.
The zehmip’s stalk was smooth. All she had to do was wrap her arms and legs around it and slide down slowly.
Gingerly moving, she held onto the zehmip’s hairs as she lowered herself.
The plant was not moving. Probably because it was preoccupied with digesting its latest meal.
As she reached over the side of its head and her legs hung off, Athena gritted her teeth as her arms gripped into the hairs, trying to support her body weight.
Those people in Mission Impossible made this type of shit look so easy.
Well, it wasn’t.
The muscles in her arms immediately began protesting, her biceps burning from the exertion.
She was already out of breath and she hadn’t even reached the stalk yet.
She heard Xul shout something but she couldn’t hear him from so high up.
She couldn’t even see him now, as the twin suns had finally retreated and there was no moon.
Heck, she couldn’t even see stars.
As her legs dangled, she lowered herself slowly, grabbing unto the hairs and holding on tightly, all the time gritting her teeth and trying to ignore the fire in her arms.
Soon, she was at the bottom of the zehmip’s head and she swung her legs to wrap them around the stalk.
That completed, she was finally able to lower herself and grab hold of the stalk with both hands.
As she slid down the stalk and reached the bottom, two big, strong arms enveloped her and pulled her off the zehmip.
Athena made to protest, but she was just too exhausted at that moment to say anything.
She was vaguely aware that he was leading her away from the zehmip.
After a few steps, Xul put her down on the sand and she leaned against him.
He fumbled with something that made a sound and then a light was being held close to her face.
His face was mostly in shadow but she could see concern knitting his brow.
“Why didn’t you cry out for help?” He studied her face.
“I was too busy being hauled away by a hell-cat, if you didn’t notice.”
Xul paused.
“You are troublesome. More so than the rest of your species,” he said.
Athena wanted to laugh at that. Apparently, he hadn’t heard of Joan of Arc or Helen of Troy.
“I should have found a way to leave you on the ship. It would have been safer for you there,” he grunted.
“No,” Athena said through gritted teeth. “It would not be safer there. I would rather deal with hell-cats and zehmips in every waking second than return to that ship.”
He seemed to consider that for a second before amusement flooded his eyes, and something else...awe?
“They are sand cats,” he said before continuing. “I have never heard of anyone riding a zehmip before,” he mused. “Your species is more intelligent than I expect coming from an undeveloped rock.”
Oh, this guy. So many compliments.
Balancing on her good leg, Athena tried to yank her arm away from him, but it only caused him to pull her towards his chest. His loincloth brushed against her and she remembered immediately that the darn cat had ripped off the little covering that she had been wearing.
Her naked thighs brushed against his but he didn’t seem to take note of that. Instead, he leaned towards her, bringing his face dangerously close to hers.
She couldn’t move. Something about his eyes kept her frozen and she remained rigid, his breath fanning over her cheeks.
“You are peculiar,” he said, his eyes narrowing as they searched her face.
“Enough with the compliments,” Athena breathed, jerking away from his chest. The action caused her to put too much pressure on the leg that had been bitten and she yelped.
Xul kneeled immediately and grabbed her leg, putting his light source close to inspect the wound.
Muttering something that sounded suspiciously like a curse word, Xul stood and pulled he zehmip coat from his shoulders.
In one smooth movement, he ripped a narrow strip from the coat and kneeled again.
Taking her leg in his hand, he bound the wound tightly then stood, his eyes focusing on hers.
“We must move,” he said. “The scent of blood carries over these sands and there are much more dangerous things than sand cats on this planet.”
Athena raised an eyebrow. “Fine,” she said, pulling off her zehmip coat and securing it around her waist. “Just let me make a new skirt.”
As soon as she finished, Xul gripped her by the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder.
“Just what do you think you’re doing!” Athena whispered harshly into his back, slamming her fists into the wall his muscles created.
“You cannot be trusted to walk behind me,” he said. “I do not need any more zehmip joyrides for tonight.”
Athena frowned. “You think I went on that thing for fun! Have you—”
But the slight vibration against her told her he was making fun of her.
Haha.
Very funny.
She’d like to see how he’d fare riding a zehmip.
14
He couldn’t tell if she was sleeping or not.
Since the attack of the sand cats, she had been pretty silent and he had been walking for over three hours now.
He was tempted to ask if she was alright, but he didn’t want to risk starting a conversation.
The more he spoke with her, the more he was beginning to like the little human, and that was a problem.
He needed to remain objective. Focused. Eyes on the mission.
He was already crossing boundaries he should not be crossing...but making her flustered gave him such pleasure.
It was strange. She was so helpless, yet she’d managed to defend herself enough to escape the attack of not one, but six sand cats.
That was impressive in his book. And she hadn’t used any weapons, just her plain ingenuity.
It was a story he would tell for many years.
Keeping his focus ahead, he trudged through the sand, his ears perked for any sounds. They still had a long way to go, but at least, when she wasn’t walking behind him, he could go at his own pace.
Now, lying over his shoulder, her weight didn’t bother him. Years training in the barracks under intense conditions had prepared him for anything Muk had to throw his way.
The only thing he hadn’t been prepared for was her.
Athena.
Xul frowned as her name echoed in his mind. It was a strange name but a strong one.
But she was unpredictable and he did not like unpredictable.
Keeping his head straight, he was very aware that her rump was right by his cheek. Even without turning his head he could catch a whiff of her unique female human scent.
It was an intriguing smell.
One that made him forget the mission for a second...one that brought his mind to other things and made him want to turn his head so he could smell her better.
Her soft body seemed to melt against his as he carried her—a constant reminder that he was carrying a woman.
Xul took a deep breath and pushed on, clenching his teeth as another wayward thought crossed his mind.
For many years, he had stayed away from women for this very reason.
They were distracting and he had no time for distractions.
He was so close now.
So close to ending this mission. Something he had dedicated a decade of his life to.
Athena coughed over his shoulder and Xul clenched his teeth harder.
Maybe her presence was a test. He had been so focused on bringing the High Tasqals down that maybe this little human was a reminder of the reason he h
ad set out on this mission in the first place. Maybe she was a reminder that he was doing this to avenge her, Xan, his sister.
A wave of emotion hit him as he thought of his little sister.
She’d been taken when she was only nine orbits old. A day from her tenth orbit day. Taken by an Isclit slave ship and sold to a High Tasqal who had kept her as his pet.
Xul gulped.
Eventually, the High Tasqal had wanted more than entertainment and had used her for his other pleasures, infecting her with its disease.
She had died while trying to bear its young but even then, the disease would have taken her life anyway.
He’d joined the Restitution just for that reason. To avenge Xan. He was going to find every last one of the Tasqals, the scourge of the universe, and rid them of their existence.
Xul let out a blast of hot air from his nose as he remembered finding Xan’s body on his first mission into a High Tasqal stronghold.
She had been so little, her enlarged belly had been almost three times her size.
Even thinking about it now, rage filled his entire body.
She was the reason he was doing this.
He would see it to the end.
“Ouch! You’re holding me a bit too tight there big guy,” Athena murmured, her voice floating up to his ear.
Xul loosened his grip and readjusted her on his shoulder.
“I can walk you know,” she muttered.
“You cannot. Your feet are stripped bare by the sand and your leg has been gnawed.”
He felt her body rise and fall on him as she sighed.
“Yea, well, it’s not very dignified being carried like this, is it?”
Xul snorted. This was why she was distracting.
“I don’t care about your dignity,” he said.
Athena huffed. “Of all the aliens, I just had to be stuck with the one who’s Mr. Cynical.” She paused, then murmured almost inaudibly. “I guess it could be worse.”
Xul snorted again and felt as she pressed against his back with her small hand to raise her head.
“It’s pitch black out here,” she whispered. “How do you even know where you’re going?”
“I have a navigator.”
She let out another huff, a sound that was so incredibly human. He hadn’t heard anyone do it before but since being around her it was something he’d heard so many times now.
“I know you have that thing but how do you know where you are going. I can’t see a thing,” she said, raising her body a little higher.
“I can see through the darkness. Not as well as when the suns are traversing the sky but well enough.”
“You mean you have night vision?” He could sense she was looking back at him now. “Well, I’ll be damned. I can’t see shit. Why are you aliens so gifted yet we humans have...what do we have anyway?”
Xul let out a chuckle. “So you admit your species is frail and unsuited to the universe,” he said.
“I do not! I only mean that you all just...you’ve evolved like wild animals. Maybe we humans spent more time developing our brains.”
Xul snorted again. If she was saying her species was intelligent, he’d let her have that. Either intelligent or incredibly stupid. Her stunt with the zehmip is yet to be categorized under one of those things.
“Can’t you walk with a torch or something? What if one of those cats is around?”
“A torch will only bring attention to us. If any ships are patrolling overhead. They will see us easily,” he replied.
“I thought you said no one will come looking for us.” He could feel her small frame tense against him.
She was right to be concerned. It was something he did not want to deal with either.
“Your species is precious cargo. Small. Easily transportable. And far away from your home planet.”
A grunt escaped her.
“Nice to know I am precious cargo,” she muttered. “A guy had told me that once. Needless to say, we didn’t work out.”
Xul’s body shook as he chuckled before sobering and pressing onward.
Another reason why she was a distraction.
He quite enjoyed her little human quips.
“How much longer till daylight?” She asked.
Xul stopped walking and lifted his head. He had picked up a scent before but now it was getting stronger.
“Alien?” She whispered harshly, probably realizing that he’d stopped walking.
“It will rain in a few moments,” Xul said.
“So you can smell the rain too?” She asked.
“You cannot?” Xul glanced over his shoulder. In the darkness, her blue eyes looked like silver and she narrowed them at him.
He couldn’t help it; a small smile curved his lips.
Resting her on the sand beneath him, Xul stripped off his zehmip coat.
“You will need this to protect against the rain,” he said, handing the coat to her.
He was surprised she didn’t argue and just took the coat from him.
Just as she managed to fix it over her upper body, a slew of water began to rain down on them.
“Goddamn! I thought you meant it was going to rain soon!” She shouted through the downpour. “Not right at this moment!”
Without answering her immediately, Xul hoisted her over his shoulder again.
“Muk is unpredictable,” he said, as he trudged through the troughs that were already forming beneath his feet.
With the added wetness, the sand became even more dangerous, forming quicksand in some places. It was even more reason for him to carry her. He could spot the areas of danger. She could not. She couldn’t even see far in the darkness.
The rain was beating down on them hard, making it impossible for them to talk.
It was probably for the best, Xul thought.
Talking to her made him come to that dangerous tipping point of enjoying her company...and that would only lead to disaster in the future.
15
For the next two hours, the rain beat down on them. Athena shivered.
Even though she had the zehmip coat covering her head and torso, the temperature surrounding them had suddenly dropped as soon as the rain started to fall.
Never-ending sand. Man-eating plants. Hell-cats. And now torrential rain.
She wasn’t sure Planet Muk had any redeeming qualities.
Beneath her, Xul was steady and sure. He was pushing through the rain as if it wasn’t coming down like a monsoon.
The water seemed to slide off his suede-like skin easily and she reckoned that was because of the soft fuzz that covered his body. He could stand in the rain and he wouldn’t get soaked.
She, on the other hand, was shivering from the cold even under the zehmip coat.
Xul’s warm skin against hers was the only thing keeping her temperature stable and without intending to, she snuggled further into him.
He didn’t seem to mind, or he didn’t notice.
As the suns slowly started to rise, a dim orange glow covered the landscape.
The rain was still pelting down but it seemed to not be falling as hard as it was before.
Xul stopped again and she assumed he was checking his little gadget with the dials.
He’d been stopping every few minutes to do just that, she assumed, to ensure that he wasn’t straying from his course.
Athena sighed against him, another shiver going through her body.
He felt good. Warm. Masculine.
Those weren’t thoughts she’d been expecting to feel, especially not after waking up in a cell with him as one of her captors.
She heard him grunt as he trudged on through the wet sand.
It was as if he had no lapse in his stamina.
He just kept on going, and going, and going like Excedrin. He just kept pushing forward. Either he had unending energy or he was pushed forward with a greater purpose in mind.
She assumed it was the latter, and after what he’d told her about the High Tas
qals, she understood why.
To think that she would have ended up as a sex slave to one of those beasts made her forget about the rain and the fact that it was so cold. If it hadn’t been for Xul, even though he hadn’t intended it, she would have been stuck on that ship.
For the second time, her mind ran on the human women who were still stranded there and her heart clenched.
They were her only link back to Earth but it wasn’t only about that.
She needed to help them escape.
She’d have wanted them to do the same for her.
* * *
The rain had now slowed to a trickle and the suns were a little higher in the sky.
Xul stopped walking suddenly and eased her off his shoulder.
She was still shivering as he rested her onto the sand, a frown on his face as he looked down at her.
Through a shiver, Athena met his gaze and knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Look, no more compliments from you right now, ok? I know I am ill-suited to this environment.”
“I was not going to compliment you,” he said.
Despite the fact that it felt like she was freezing, Athena managed to roll her eyes at him. “I was being sarcastic.”
She noticed a small smile curve the corner of his lips and she looked away.
She shouldn’t be thinking about the way he looked right now.
The fact that when he smiled he looked handsome shouldn’t be on her mind.
Especially not now. And not ever.
He was a bull-man.
Athena gulped and pulled the zehmip cloak closer around her.
“We rest here today,” Xul said, turning away.
Not far from them was a sleeping zehmip underneath a dune.
Athena watched as Xul trudged through the wet sand towards the plant.
All around them, the water from the rain created shallow pools and she wondered if it was safe to drink.
Probably not.
She’d already lucked out with the atmosphere being breathable. She wasn’t going to push her luck with the water being drinkable. So far, Muk had taught her that nothing was what it seemed.
Her body still trembling, her attention was drawn to the sound of bark stretching as Xul woke up the zehmip.