Redemption: Sci Fi Romance (Far Hope Series Book 2)

by E. A. James

  The soldiers hesitated. Some lowered their guns to avoid hitting her. In that fraction of a second reprieve, Tanak wheeled to face his foes. He swept the mountainside with his fiery breath and vaporized a dozen soldiers closest to him.

  The others reacted instantly. They shouldered their guns and fired on him with everything they had. Tanak drove his pointed head to block Margila from their fire, but he couldn’t move fast enough. One of the shots hit her in the chest and knocked her back against his solid flank. She slid down his leg to crumple on the ground at his feet.

  Another three shots ripped across his side. He bellowed to the skies, but the soldiers advanced with their weapons at the ready. He couldn’t stand against so many enemies.

  He pivoted right and left to keep as many of them in sight at a time as possible, but the battle was hopeless. He bent down and picked up Margila’s lifeless form in his mouth. He extended his wings and flapped. The rush of air blasted the soldiers backward and gave him just enough time to take to the air. In a moment, he rose from the ground and soared into the widening sky.

  Margila dangled from his mouth. The soldiers recovered and fired on him from the ground, but he put more distance between himself and them and left the battle scene far behind.

  In the distance, one of the flying vehicles banked and headed toward the spot. Tanak went the other way and soon disappeared among trackless mountain peaks.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Margila came to herself in darkness, but warmth surrounded her on all sides. She sat up, instantly alert, but her hand touched Tanak’s scaly side. Fear and uncertainty melted away. She was safe, as long as she was with him.

  She rested her head against his side and closed her eyes when her hand touched the stone floor under her. Heat radiated up from it the way it had in the caldera. Were they back there? Why would Tanak return there when he knew the danger?

  She didn’t have to think about that. She could trust him with her life. He wanted nothing more than to protect her. He wouldn’t bring her anywhere he didn’t believe was safe.

  She let out a deep sigh. Her chest still hurt where that weapon struck her. It must have glanced off, but had Tanak been so lucky? Was he mortally wounded, even now when he kept her warm and protected?

  She traced the outline of his long, scaly body with her hands in the dark. She touched some rough patches, and he growled under his breath. “You’re hurt.”

  “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”

  She settled back down. He had flown away from those soldiers, far enough away that they couldn’t follow. “Where are we? It’s warm here. Are we back in the caldera?”

  “We’re in a cave in the side of the same mountain. The caldera was too exposed, but they can’t see us here.”

  “They’ll find us when we come out.”

  “Yes, they will.”

  “What will we do?”

  “I really don’t know.”

  “Tanak?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you. Thank you for saving my life.”

  “It is I who should be thanking you. I didn’t think you would do it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Those were your people, fighting me out there. If you had let them kill me, they would have taken you home to your village, and there is nothing our people could have done to stop it. Why did you do it? What changed your mind?”

  “Those aren’t my people. They’re Axis soldiers.”

  “But they fight for the humans on this planet. They plan to wipe out the Raveniss to make the galaxy safe for human beings.”

  “Maybe that’s why I did it. I couldn’t stand by and watch them kill you. There are already so few of you left. There must be a way we can bring Raveniss and humans to some peaceful accord.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Either way, I’ll do what I can to protect you from them. They’ll tell the village I’m still alive. Maybe they’ll get the message you aren’t as dangerous as they think.”

  “They’ll get the message you threw yourself in front of those guns to save me. They’ll get the message you’re helping the Raveniss against them. They’ll treat you as an enemy, and the Axis won’t hesitate to shoot you next time.”

  “Then I’ll die defending you. I have to do what I think is right.”

  He lapsed into silence. Had he gone to sleep? She rested, too. Her whole body ached, and dreadful hunger and thirst plagued her. She dared not tell him that, though. She couldn’t let him risk his life by going out into the open. She would numb the hunger and thirst by going to sleep.

  She dozed off and woke to gray morning light shining in through the cave mouth. She looked around. The cave extended back into the mountainside. She couldn’t see the back of it, especially not with Tanak’s bulk in the way.

  He uncurled his tail to make room for her to stand up and stretch. She was still very sore, and the hunger and thirst tortured her even more, but at least she was safe. She could move around and work the kinks out of her arms and legs without fear of the soldiers attacking.

  She stepped to the mouth of the cave. Nothing surrounded her on all sides but endless mountain ranges. She couldn’t see a tree or hear the tinkle of water. She went back inside. She had to find a way to hide her discomfort from him.

  His voice broke in on her thoughts. “You must be hungry and thirsty. I will go out hunting later.”

  “Don’t do that. It’s too dangerous. I’m okay.”

  “You haven’t eaten or drunk any water in two days. I can take the chance if it means tending to your needs.”

  “What will happen to me if you get killed out there? Wait a little longer. It’s not worth risking your life.”

  He sniffed her. “You’re hungry and thirsty. I can hear your heart racing even now.”

  “Maybe there’s water deeper in the cave.”

  “I would be able to hear it if there was. Sit down. I’ll go out later when the sun gets higher.”

  “Where will you go?”

  “Down into the valleys. The sky vessels won’t be able to see me down there, and the hunting is good. I’ll bring you back food and water.”

  “Why don’t you go at night? The soldiers wouldn’t be able to see you at all then.”

  “The animals I hunt hide at night. It’s easier to find them and catch them during the day.”

  Her head swam from thirst. She sat down on a rock near him, but chills swept through her. She had no choice but to lie down among his coils again. He purred under his breath when she laid her head on his shoulder. “Talk to me. Make the time pass.”

  “What would you like me to tell you?”

  “Tell me about your people. What’s your society like?”

  “We live in family citadels in our city in the north. Each family lives together, and everyone helps raise the children. We have vast libraries with information on dozens of planets. We have observatories to monitor the movement of the stars and planets around us. We even have contact with other Raveniss in other parts of the galaxy.”

  “Tell me about your family.”

  “I live with my father and mother and three brothers their families. My two sisters went to live with their husbands’ families. We also have my two uncles, my father’s brothers, and their children and grandchildren. In all, I’d say there were more than a hundred people in our citadel alone.”

  “So many? How do so many dragons live in one place? The citadels must be enormous.”

  “Don’t you even want to know how we communicate with other Raveniss on other planets?”

  “Of course. How do you do it?”

  “We have technology that sends signals through space.”

  “What does ‘technology’ mean?”

  “It means certain types of machines that do certain types of work.”

  “Do you mean like a water wheel?”

  “Something like that, only these machines use the power of the sun and the volcanic heat from the planet to make them work. Th
ey can do much more difficult work and much more complicated work than a water wheel. You’ll understand when you see it all.”

  “I guess I have a lot to learn before I become one of your people.”

  “Everybody has to learn. The other women had to learn, too, and now some of them are the best we have at working them.”

  “I wish I could talk to just one of them.”

  “Everything will be all right. You’ll fit in there, and you’ll have family and friends of your own.”

  “Hearing that from you doesn’t mean as much as if I heard it from another woman who had been where I am now. I’m sorry if that offends you.”

  “It doesn’t offend me. It’s a simple truth.”

  “You make your world sound so beautiful and appealing.”

  “It is. I honestly wonder how people live in those villages, scratching just to put food in their children’s mouths when they could be living like us. If the humans made a lasting peace with us, they could share our technology. They could enjoy our prosperity and our peaceful way of life. Instead, they would rather fight and starve.”

  “Do those other women wonder the same thing? Do they wonder how they ever lived like that?”

  “Yes, they do. My older brother has a human wife, and sometimes she breaks down in tears when she remembers the way she used to live. She wishes her sisters would get sacrificed so they could come and live with her.”

  “Are you sure she’s crying for that, and not for the life she left behind? Are you sure she’s not crying because she wants to go home?”

  “No, she told me she would never go home. She cries because her parents and sisters suffer when they don’t have to. They suffer over a misunderstanding between our peoples.”

  Margila closed her eyes. “Let’s not argue about it anymore.”

  “Are we arguing? You asked me to tell you about our people, and that’s what I’m doing.”

  She must have drifted off again. When she woke up, neither she nor Tanak had moved, but a bright sparkle took the place of the fog in her head. She didn’t feel her hunger or thirst. She stared up at the interplay of light and shadow on the cave ceiling.

  Sublime comfort and peace filled her, body and soul. The despair and confusion of the last days faded. For the first time, perfect clarity brightened her future. She knew what she wanted and how to get it.

  She shifted in her place on the ground and rolled over on her back. Tanak stirred under her, and he lifted his head to look at her. “You’re awake.”

  “How long have you been awake?”

  “A few hours. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up so I could go hunting. The sun will be down soon. If I don’t go now, I won’t be able to go until morning.”

  She put out her hand to touch his shoulder. She couldn’t speak above a whisper. “Don’t go.”

  His eyes widened. “What do you mean? You need to eat and drink. Now is my only chance.”

  Her hand glided across his skin. A prickly thrill ran through her fingers, up her arm, and out to the rest of her body. “Don’t leave, Tanak. Stay here with me.”

  The sparkly sensations tingled between her fingers and his skin. It jumped back and forth from him to her and back again. His muscles tensed under her touch, and his breath caught in his nostrils. He grumbled deep in his throat.

  The queer sensation set Margila’s nerves on edge. It squirreled down into her deepest core and spread that old wicked warmth between her legs. He lowered his head to peer closer at her, and his nostrils flared to catch her scent.

  Her body undulated against the rock in a ferment of excitement and desire. What magic was this? She was ready for him. She wanted him, and she wanted to give herself to him. She wanted him to touch her and bring her to her completion. She wanted her skin to touch his, to feel the excitement of his slippery scales caressing her secret places. She wanted his tongue and his body to stimulate her to full arousal and fulfill her every wish.

  He dropped his head farther still and nuzzled his bony forehead against her stomach. She closed his head in her arms, but he kept moving it back and forth, a little farther every time. He rubbed it around her sides and stroked his long neck over her hip and down her leg. Its coils slithered up her chest, around her breasts and across her neck.

  She twisted and rubbed her body against his powerful curves. Every inch of him brought her to the peak of desire. Her thighs parted to surround its length. She couldn’t hold back much longer. She ached for some part of him inside her to bring her juices flowing to the surface.

  She flexed her hips to grind her mons against his pelvis. He growled under his breath, and his whole body seethed in massive roiling power. She opened her eyes and found his head weaving above her. His eyes pierced her soul and flashed fire.

  She gazed up into his eyes without fear. Nothing remained for her but him. The rest of the world ceased to exist. She belonged to him. “Take me. Take me now.”

  “Are you certain this is what you want?”

  “I’m certain. Take me now. I want you to.”

  He needed no second invitation. He heaved up off the ground and loomed over her in all his great bulk. She kept her eyes locked on his face. As long as she looked at him, she knew what she wanted. Nothing would stop her from giving herself to him without reservation.

  He twisted up onto his feet and stood over her. She remained on her back on the floor. Insatiable desire for him filled her being. The same undeniable attraction that first excited her when he sniffed her on the mountaintop when she hung bound and helpless from the post, boiled in every corpuscle of her body.

  She spread her legs to him. She would take him into herself and sacrifice her virginity to the dragon, the way she should have done in the first place. She was always his and never any other’s. The childish desire she felt for Marcus only prepared her for this moment.

  To her surprise, though, Tanak didn’t overpower her or throw himself between her legs. He moved back toward the cave mouth. She watched him with bated breath. What was he doing? Would he leave her here alone, now that he finally secured her permission to take her?

  Before her eyes, he started to change. His enormous body shrank. His tail retracted into his body, as did his neck. He folded his wings against his back, and they disappeared. His face flattened out, and his nose pulled into the bones of his head.

  His hind legs straightened and shrank. The knees bent back the other way, and his claws softened into fingers. His front legs hung down at his sides. His neck vanished between his shoulders, and his spine straightened to allow him to stand upright.

  Margila sat up to stare at him. His glowing greenish purple skin lightened until barely any color remained. Only the faintest hint of soft pink glowed beneath the surface. His eyes changed from fiery red to the deepest blue she ever saw.

  In a few seconds, the fearsome dragon with its great leathery wings and fire-breathing snout vanished before her eyes. A tall, handsome man with auburn hair touching his shoulders stood before her. He wore trousers of beaten leather down to his bare feet, and a soft woven linen shirt. Her eyes popped out of her head, but she couldn’t speak. It was the knight from her dream.

  He knelt down before her. His bright eyes glimmered in the light. “Margila, it’s me.”

  She put out her hand to touch his fine skin. His hair swayed when he leaned forward. His breath brushed her lips when he bent down to kiss her. “How did you....?”

  “Now you know why I couldn’t take you to our stronghold before you were ready. This is our most closely guarded secret. We can shift back and forth between our dragon form and our human form. Only those people who agree to join us and make the Raveniss their own people can know our secret. If the villagers knew the truth, they would attack and wipe us out in our vulnerable human form. Only fear of the dragons stops them from mounting an all-out assault against us.”

  She still couldn’t bring herself to speak. She could barely believe the evidence of our own eyes.

  “
Now you understand how so many of us can live together in our citadels. We live there as people, not as dragons. We only take our dragon form to fly over the land and to hunt our food in the mountains. We take our dragon form to fight our enemies, but to our friends and families, we are as human as you.”

  Her eyes drank their fill of his handsome face, but overwhelming emotion welled up within her and threatened to burst out. She dangled on the brink of laughter and tears at the same moment.

  He put his arms around her, and his face hovered not an inch from her eyes. His warm lips touched hers. In a flash, she threw her arms around his neck and clutched him against her. Her eyes overflowed with tears of joy. She devoured his mouth and hurled herself against him.