by Ruby Dixon
“I think that is how her people are. She uses all of her fingers, even the extra ones.” I find a basket that contains two eggs and a handful of sweet nuts. My stomach hurts at the sight, but I can forage for enough to fill my belly. My mate and the kit must be fed. I take an egg out of the basket, crack the top and offer it to little Z’hren. When the kit begins to eat, I kneel next to my mate and offer her the rest of the basket. “Eat, my heart. You need your strength.”
L’ren takes the basket from me and I sit down next to her. She frowns at the egg and offers it back to me.
“For you,” I tell her, gently nudging it back toward her. I am hungry—we all are—but it can wait.
“Perhaps her kind do not eat eggs,” N’dek suggests. He is eyeing the food with avid eyes himself.
When she offers it to N’dek instead of keeping it, he looks to me as if asking permission. I nod at him. While he cannot hunt for himself, I will ensure that he is fed. Perhaps soon he will be out of this sad, lonely state over the loss of his leg and he will realize he can still do much good for our tribe, however small we might be in number. He takes it immediately and cracks it, sucking down the contents quickly. Z’hren giggles, clutching his own egg, and L’ren reaches over to tickle him, smiling.
I nudge the basket toward her again. “Eat,” I say again.
“Eat,” she agrees, taking one of the nuts and cracking it like I showed her. She eats one and then offers another to me, and a third to N’dek. I crack mine and offer it back to her, but N’dek eats his. He must be hungrier than he has let on…which means there is even less in the supplies than I thought.
Fat One leans over L’ren’s shoulder and tries to snatch the contents of one of her nuts. I hiss at him and try to make him leave, but he only snaps at my fingers. “Spoiled flyer,” I mutter.
L’ren chuckles and offers the flyer a bit of her food, and I sigh inwardly. She does not realize how much the pet is fed already. I cannot fault her kind heart, though.
She finishes eating and licks her fingers, and as I watch her, my khui begins to sing. N’dek clears his throat and plucks the empty eggshell from Z’hren’s tiny fists, doing his best not to draw attention to us. “If you wish to take her out into the jungle with you, I can watch the little one,” he tells me.
I am surprised. It is the first time he has volunteered to help out with Z’hren since his accident. “If you wish. We will not go far.”
“Go as far as you like,” he says in a strange, mild voice.
I know what he is thinking—that we need privacy to mate. “I will take her gathering, nothing more.”
“Do as you wish. I will handle the little one.” He pauses and then glances over at me. “J’shel said there was another female with her? That R’jaal took her? Did they resonate?”
“They had not when I left.”
His eyes gleam with interest. “That is very good to hear.”
LAUREN
K’thar’s tribe seems very…small. I don’t see anyone else as we leave, and that seems odd to me. The big, hollowed-out tree seems like it could hold a lot more people, as there are platforms and platforms that go all the way up the enormous tree. They might even go all the way back up the canopy and it seems like a lot of space for three guys and a baby. Something isn’t adding up. Have the others gone out? Like the other tribe did when they needed to do some long-distance hunting? Or is there something else going on?
We head deeper into the forest, and I make sure to keep a hand on K’thar’s waist at all times. He’s got a long, flicking tail, but it seems weird to grab that, so I opt for his leafy loincloth instead. Of course, then I’m afraid he’s going to surge ahead and I’ll accidentally rip it off of him.
Well, okay, so I’m not really afraid of that. I’m more curious what would happen if such a scenario did occur, and I’m ashamed of myself for all the lurid thoughts running through my mind. It seems my cootie has turned me into an absolutely rabid hornball because I’m already thinking about tonight and if he’s going to touch me again.
The pudgy little hairless bird accompanies us, riding on K’thar’s shoulder and chirping in his ear. He ignores it for the most part, occasionally plucking a large beetle-type bug off of a leaf and handing it to his buddy. I think it’s cute. I guess I’m a sucker for a guy with a soft spot for animals.
As we walk deeper into the jungle, K’thar points at objects and speaks. It takes me a moment to realize he’s trying to teach me their language. I do my best to repeat after him, but I’ll be the first to admit I’m a terrible student. I keep getting distracted. Not just by our surroundings, or the fat bird-thing that perches on his shoulder, but the movements of his body as he strides ever so slightly ahead of me.
Is it weird that I’m getting turned on by a guy with four arms and skin that camouflages? I feel like I should blame my cootie, but it’s not going to affect my thoughts, is it? Because I keep thinking about him with the baby and how he grinned when it would laugh at him. At how he absently tends to the bird on his shoulder and carefully picks me up when the terrain gets rocky and would hurt my bare feet. He’s thoughtful and he’s kind. I don’t know if Lo-cootie cares about that, but Lo-human finds it pretty sexy.
He cocks his head, and for a moment, I worry he can hear my thoughts. The bird-thing on his shoulder—Kki, whose name I really can’t pronounce—chirps, and he reaches up and puts a finger against the thing’s muzzle and it goes silent.
I go quiet as well, waiting.
K’thar pulls Kki off his shoulder and transfers him onto mine. The little claws dig into my skin and I wince, but give him a curious look. He puts the finger to his lips again, and then pulls me nearer to the closest tree. When he’s satisfied with where I’m standing, he drops his basket, pulls out a knife that looks as if it’s made from a wedge of flint and grins at me. That’s the only warning I get before he camouflages to the same color as the shadowy leaf patterns on the ground and in the next moment, his leaf loincloth drops. He stalks away, naked, and my eyes cross from trying to follow him. All I can make out are shadow-mottled buns and the flex of his arms before he disappears into the greenery.
I…guess he’s hunting? I pick up his discarded loincloth and the basket he left behind. Kki nudges at my cheek, as if begging for treats, and I wish I had something to give him. I scratch his head instead, and he closes his eyes, clearly enjoying the touch.
Distracted, I jump when the bushes a short distance away rustle wildly. Kki gives an alarmed squawk of surprise, flapping his wings and hissing in my ear. I yelp again as the thing’s claws tear into my skin and he climbs atop my head, digging into my hair as he tries to find purchase. Even though he has wings, he doesn’t seem to be big on flying, preferring to walk all over me. Greaaat. I’m a bird owner, though. I know that if I calm down he’ll calm as well, so I do my best to go still and hope that the thing crashing through the bushes a short distance away wasn’t a predator.
“L’ren,” a voice says to my side, and I jump again. This time, Kki coos and flutters back to K’thar’s shoulder, which is just now turning back to its normal blue shade. He’s standing to the left of me, slowly blending back into his regular color and as he does, I can make out every rippling muscle.
“You startled me,” I tell him, all breathless. I can’t help but look down, since he’s without a loincloth and I feel a little bolder after what happened between us last night. Or maybe I’ve just decided to give in to my inner ho. Whatever it is, I stare. A lot.
He’s definitely hairless. And he’s definitely equipped similarly to human men in that he’s got a penis and balls. But that’s about where the similarities end, because he’s got way bigger equipment than I’m pretty sure any human male does. It’s long and thick and rests against his thigh. His sac is full and a darker shade of blue than the rest of his skin, and he’s got a strange protrusion just above his cock that makes me wonder if I’m not seeing things. It looks just like…well, just like a particular knob on my favorite vibra
tor.
It does explain why all the other girls are so damn happy and smiley to be stranded here, though. No one’s complaining about resonance because they’re getting boned by the gold standard in dicks.
Annnnd I’m staring. Shit.
I jerk my gaze up to his and give him a bright smile, noticing for the first time that he’s panting, sheened in a light coating of sweat that makes his muscles gleam, and he’s holding a rather large lizard…thing in one hand. The thing drips blood onto the leaves from a cut in its belly and I realize K’thar’s spattered in blood as well.
“Um…did you kill it?” I ask, feeling all breathless. “That was a stupid question, wasn’t it? Of course it’s dead.” I’m all distracted, my cootie throbbing so hard it feels like the thing’s going to tap-dance its way out of my chest.
He just gazes at me, heat in his eyes, and I can feel my skin prickling with awareness. I can’t help but glance down and—
Yep. He’s hard. And bigger. And Jesus, I can’t help but pay attention to that. There’s no getting around the fact that he’s enormous. Of course he is. The guy’s twice the size of me, but did he have to be twice the size everywhere? I swallow hard, feeling flushed.
Kki squawks and taps his beak on K’thar’s cheek.
The spell is broken. Well, sort of. I squeeze my thighs tightly together and hug his basket to my chest, very aware that he’s naked and I’m wearing what equates to a fern thong. “Are you okay?” When he just continues to stare at me, I grab a leaf from a nearby plant and then approach him, dabbing at the blood spattering his skin. “Tell me this isn’t your blood.”
K’thar glances down at his chest, where my leaf is swiping at his skin. Oh gosh, we’re standing awfully close together. Any closer and I’d be introducing his Mr. Happy to my belly. He realizes what I’m doing and says something, then gestures at the dead lizard in his hand. I assume it means “All good” because he looks relaxed.
He gestures that I should follow him, and I do, keeping a careful step or two behind him. It’s getting harder and harder not to stare at his butt, especially now that it’s naked and he seems to not care. Either that or maybe he wants me to admire it? Surely he knows it’s some prime ass, though.
Surely. Mine feels positively doughy in comparison.
A horrible thought occurs to me. Next to him I’m short, pasty, and distinctly un-muscular. I only have two arms. Does he think I’m…unattractive? Gross?
I shouldn’t care, but the thought is a rather distressing one. I’m getting more and more accustomed to the thought of a permanent mate with every hour, but I’d like for him to be attracted to me because I’m me, and not just because his cootie demands it.
He kneels down at the base of one of the large trees and drops his kill, then gestures. “Chkat.”
I peer over his shoulder and see what looks like a gigantic hollowed-out nest filled with broken bits of leaves and twigs. Large oblong eggs are clustered together and I realize this must be where they get the eggs from. “Oh. Are we gathering these?” I point at them. “Eggs? Food?”
He takes one and offers it to me, gesturing that I should eat.
“Oh no, not me.” I put up a hand, shaking my head. There’s something about sucking down a warm, raw egg that makes my stomach turn. I know it’s a good source of food, but I also know I’m not quite that hungry just yet. He pushes it toward me and I nudge it back toward him. “That one’s all you.”
He sits down and cracks the top of the egg, then throws his head back and sucks it down with big, hungry gulps. It takes him no time at all to finish it and he closes his eyes, sighing heavily. Jeez, he must have been starving—
I pause, studying him. Every time I turn around he’s offering me food, but this is the first time I’ve seen him eat since I met him. I think back to the meal earlier today with the nuts. He refused the eggs, and when I offered one to his friend, I thought he seemed a little over-eager. And when I gave K’thar one of the nuts, he cracked it open for me and handed it back.
Are they…are they starving?
Is that why he was so excited to get this kill? “Are you hungry?” I ask him, picking up another one of the eggs and offering it up to him.
He studies it for a long moment and then shakes his head, taking the basket from my hands and filling it with the eggs. I’m pretty sure I hear his stomach growl.
I knew it. Son of a bitch is rationing. I poke his side. “I heard that.”
K’thar gives me a sheepish look. He pauses and holds up an egg. “Z’hren.” He touches the next one. “Z’hren nakt.” Then the next. “Z’hren nakt nakt.”
Ah. He’s saving these for the baby. I bet “nakt” is alien for tomorrow. He’s definitely storing food because he worries there won’t be enough. I put my hand on his wrist and before he can place another egg into the basket, I steer it toward him. “K’thar,” I say gently. “Not Z’hren, K’thar. You’re no good to anyone if you starve to death. And I can’t have you dying on me. Not when we’re supposed to be mated, remember?” Now that I look at him, I see the signs of hunger. Did I think his muscles were extremely well-defined? It’s because he’s got no fat left for his body to use. I can see his ribs, and his belly is so flat that it makes me worry.
I don’t remember the other tribe starving. Ironic that we’re surrounded by so much greenery and yet there’s not enough to eat. Seems like there’s something wrong with that. Maybe the volcano or the earthquakes are scaring away all the game. I wonder how long it’s been since the thing erupted.
And how long it’ll be before it blows again. I remember the wall of thick steam bubbling from one end of the island and shudder. “This place is warm, but it’s kind of a death trap, if you ask me,” I tell him.
He offers me the egg again. I shake my head and when he insists on pressing it into my hand, I crack the top with my knuckle and then hold it back out to him.
K’thar gives me an exasperated look, as if saying look what you did, but he drains the contents and rubs his mouth with the back of one hand. He studies me for a long moment and then pulls me close, burying his face against my neck.
It’s a hug. Kinda.
It’s sweet.
It’s also really, really making me aware that we’re both pretty naked. And my woven bib of a top isn’t doing much to hide the fact that my nipples are hard at that small touch.
I look down and I see I’m not the only one affected. I hold out his loincloth. “I think you forgot this.”
K’thar looks down at it, then throws back his head and laughs.
10
K’THAR
She’s clever, my L’ren.
I teach her words as we bring our kill and the eggs back to camp. She remembers more of them than I thought, and this makes me proud. I want so badly to have a conversation with her, to find out more about her and her people. To learn what she likes. To hear more of her laughter, see her smiles.
I want to know everything about her.
We take our haul back to the camp, even though we haven’t gone very far. The sviket was a lucky find, and the nest luckier still. The meat will feed us well this night and the eggs will ensure that Z’hren will not starve. And my clever L’ren realized I was not eating and insisted that I have a second egg. Even now, I feel stronger after my meal, and it is no chore to dig a pit a short distance away from the tree and start a small fire. Only a small one, of course, and then I let it burn down until it is mere coals, and layer it with leaves. I skin and gut the carcass, cover it with more leaves, and then leave the pit to smoke for many hours. By the time it will be ready, the suns will be below the horizon and the day over. Until then, there is more to do.
So I take L’ren back into the jungle with me. This time, we go after our true goal, the thick, meaty ground nuts. It is easy to get sick of their taste during times of plenty, but lately they have been the only food that is easily findable. I show her what to look for, and we spend the afternoon gathering nuts and teaching her my words. E
ven though speaking to each other is proving to be a challenge, I enjoy her company and I love nothing more than making her laugh with delight.
We pause for a small meal of nuts and fresh water when we make it to the stream. I wash quickly, getting rid of dirt and blood off of my skin, and I notice that my mate tries to wash with her clothing on. She is strangely shy, my L’ren. I do not understand it, but then again, I do not understand many things about her. I enjoy the thought of learning all that I can, though.
L’ren sits on the edge of the water and lies back on the bank, closing her eyes and sighing heavily.
“Tired?” I ask, though I know she will not understand me.
She opens her eyes and gives me a pensive smile. “Jsthnkn.” She studies the basket of nuts next to her and picks one up, holding it up for my gaze. “L’ren,” she says after a moment, and then sets it down on the ground. She puts another one next to it. “L’ren, K’thar,” she says, pointing at first the original nut, and then the new one. She adds a third, smaller nut. “Z’hren.” And another. “J…” She looks at me, waiting.
“J’shel,” I tell her, pointing at the new nut. I see where she is going with this. It is a naming game of some kind. I add another nut and place it next to J’shel. “N’dek.”
She nods, excitement in her eyes, and picks up another nut. “Mrsl.”
“No, that is all of us,” I say. “Unless you want to count Fat One.” I pat the nightflyer, who has his claws dug into my shoulder.
She shakes her head and holds the nut up again, going down the list of names and pointing at each one. Then she gestures at the one in her hand. “Mrsl.” She takes it and puts it next to “her” nut. “L’ren. Mrsl.” She moves the L’ren nut away and places a new one by it. “L’ren. K’thar.” Then she gestures at the leftover nut. “Mrsl?” There is a question in her voice.
Realization dawns. I point at the leftover. “Is this the human female that was with you?”