by Stacy Jones
When she realized he wasn’t going to answer, she turned pink again and gave him a grimacing, apologetic smile. He felt bad when he saw the disappointment in her blue eyes, but disappointment was vastly better than horror if he told her she might be his mate.
He had enough experience attempting to befriend wild animals to know better than to surprise them. That almost always ended in them fleeing or him being bitten. Not that he thought she’d bite him, but she did remind him of a curious, fluffy, woodland creature, and he didn’t want her to be scared or wary of him, not now that she’d just lost some of the guardedness in her gaze.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “You’re my first alien. Curiosity killed the… uhh, never mind. Right. Well, we should probably come up with a plan—” her words cut off with a gasp. “Where’s my device?”
“Your device? I believe you mean my beacon,” he corrected.
In response, she narrowed her eyes and raised her brows, giving him an expectant look. He narrowed his eyes right back at her, but he only managed to hold out for all of three seconds before he caved. Grumbling, he bent and slid the beacon out from under the couch.
“There. See? My beacon is unharmed.”
“Thank goodness.”
There was a proprietary glint in her pretty eyes. His tongue refused to cooperate when he started to tell her she couldn’t keep it. She looked so relieved. She was even smiling at him, widely, as if he’d done her a great service by bringing it with them. Deceiving her left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he couldn't bring himself to upset her.
“Do you think the security team will try to track us down?” she asked, her smile disappearing as she gazed at him worriedly.
“Most assuredly, yes. And they will kill us if they catch us,” he stated flatly as he bent and lifted the beacon onto his lap.
He could see that his answer scared her, but, in this, he was not willing to soften the blow. He didn’t want her thinking it was safe for her to return to the military base. If they didn’t kill her outright they would interrogate her, and he didn’t trust them to do that with any degree of kindness or thought to her health and continued wellbeing. At his words her face lost all color.
“Kill us? You can’t be serious,” she whispered.
Zaek paused and considered her for a moment before responding. She’d been unconscious during the majority of their escape. Would she believe him if he told her what he’d heard? He hoped she did, not just because it was true and she needed to know, but because he wanted her to trust him.
“I heard the leader’s command over one of the soldier’s radios as we were escaping. The order was to terminate us and bring him the bodies. They believe you and I are in collusion. You have been branded a traitor. I am sorry, Mira. It was never my intention to cause harm or to put you in danger,” he paused and dipped his head to catch her eyes, “but I will protect you.”
She nodded a little woodenly but remained silent, shock and dismay painted across her face. Zaek didn’t know how he would resolve this situation he’d inadvertently put her in, but he would keep his word and protect her.
Whatever it took.
16
Zaek
Realizing she needed time to process the distressing information he’d just told her, Zaek turned his attention to the beacon. He needed to fix it so it would be able to send out a ping to his brethren’s sigils. By this time the homeworld should’ve received the beacon’s rescue signal which meant any day now they should be sending a return message telling them when and where to expect pick up, if they hadn’t already.
He started by removing the outer casing to get to the mishmash of human tech mixed with Khargal someone—Mira he assumed—had used to replace the fried circuitry, but once he had it open, he just stared at it in consternation.
Zaek was a soldier, a smart one, granted, and technically inclined but still a soldier. His expertise was in battle—tactics, strategy, and problem solving—whether that be by shedding the enemy’s blood or by diplomacy and negotiation. Most everything he’d learned about electronics, Khargal or human, had been after the crash and by necessity, using technology half-destroyed by impact or water damage or stolen from stores. He’d received the basics on how to operate the beacon in case of emergency, as had the rest of the crew, but he didn’t know how to fix it, particularly now that it was hybridized with human tech. He didn’t have time to take it apart, study the way it worked, fix it, and put it back together. Hell, it had taken him a damn week to make a simple frequency tracker to find it in the first place.
Mira cleared her throat, loudly. Glancing up, he found her sitting stiffly and staring pointedly at where his hand was hovering over the beacon.
“Yes?” he drawled.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing with that? Because I do. I’ve spent the last two years working on that device. If you need help, I happen to be sitting here, with nothing more to do than worry about when a hit squad is going to burst through the door and kill us. Also, you’re about to nick the main power wire with your claws,” she anxiously pointed out, still staring at his hand as if she was ready to spring into action to stop him if he so much as twitched.
Zaek jerked his hand back quickly and glared down at the beacon, irritated it hadn’t given him some sign that he was about to make a potentially irreparable mistake.
“Main power wire, you say? Now that you mention it, I could use some assistance.”
“Good. Great,” she sighed with relief. “You should, uh, probably not touch it anymore.”
Zaek blinked at her then threw his head back and laughed, the deep, gravelly sound filling the old cabin. He had not been spoken to with such disregard of his position by any other than Roc since he was a cadet, and never by a human.
Still grinning, he gazed at her with admiration, loving her bravery.
“I like you, Fluffy Bunny,” he said, chuckling lowly.
“Oh! Well, thank you,” she replied. She appeared surprised, but pleased at his statement, and returned his smile with a shy one of her own. “I like you, to— wait. Fluffy what?”
“Uh. You know, now that you are awake we should leave. I need to… acquire supplies for us, as well as anything you might need to work on the beacon, and we need to put more distance between us and the men with very enthusiastic trigger fingers.”
Mira looked like she wanted to question him further about the nickname he’d bestowed upon her, but his emphasis on acquire thankfully redirected her attention.
“Acquire?” she repeated with a heavy dose of suspicion and disapproval.
He felt his lips twitch, but held back his chuckle. She looked so appalled at his less-than-subtle hint that he would be stealing anything they needed. He gave her a challenging look in reply.
“Do you think they would welcome my patronage?” he asked, gesturing to himself to point out his obvious alienness.
When she opened her mouth to argue further, he assumed, he leaned toward her and cut her off. He gazed at her very seriously, all traces of amusement gone and, unable to help himself, reached out to brush the curls draped over her shoulder with the tips of his fingers.
He swallowed hard and rasped, “I promised to protect you, Mira. That also means keeping you well fed and cared for. I cannot do that without basic supplies. Besides, I always leave money on the counter to cover anything I take.”
He thought he heard her breath hitch and could have sworn her gaze dropped to his lips. The temptation to lean a little closer and bury his face in those enticingly fluffy curls was so strong he had to lean as far back as the couch allowed and curl his claws into his palms to stop himself.
Should not have touched her hair. Lar’s wings. It should be illegal to have hair that soft.
Fuck. Now my dick is hard again.
Needing a distraction, he bent to retrieve his nearly empty supply bag from under the couch, then gritted his teeth to hold back a yelp when the movement bent his cock in his suit. Standing up quickly to re
lieve the pressure, he pivoted to face her.
“You should make use of the facilities before we leave, if you have need,” he suggested, wanting her, her fucking delicious smell, and her fluffy black cloud hair out of the room just long enough for his erection to calm down so she wasn’t bumping against it when he carried her.
17
Mira
Mira retreated into the single, empty bedroom the cabin sported and shut the door behind her.
“If you have need,” she mimicked Zaek’s deep voice, closing the master bathroom door, as well, then muttered under her breath as she made use of the facilities, “I have a damn need all right. A damned inappropriate need for a giant alien gargoyle with an unreasonably sexy laugh.”
As soon as she said that, a thud vibrated the walls and made her jump. A low, masculine groan followed.
“Everything okay?” she yelled.
“Yes! Everything is fine! Tremendous!” came his response.
Mira eyed the door apprehensively then shook her head and scoffed.
“No way. He couldn’t have heard me. He probably just… tripped over his tail or something,” she mumbled.
She thought she caught him muttering something back and forth, like he was arguing with himself, but no matter how hard she strained her ears she couldn’t make out any words.
Finished, she re-entered the living room and found Zaek staring at the couch, still mumbling to himself and using his wing claw to scratch one of the horns on his forehead.
The half-dazed, half-hungry look he cut her when she cleared her throat made her pulse speed up and her steps stumble. Unless she was seriously mistaken, there was heat in his bright orange eyes. Heat that was directed at her.
Oh shit. He definitely heard me.
Usually, seeing anything remotely resembling desire on a man’s face made her at least a little wary, and sometimes more than a little. She’d been lucky enough to escape such abuses herself, but she’d seen what men were capable of at a young age. It left her with a lasting caution around them, which made dating difficult, but served her well and enabled her to make it through life with only a few near misses. She didn’t have the deep scars a lot of foster kids had, but her experiences had reinforced her guardedness.
Zaek was different, in more ways than the obvious.
Even in their short time together, most of which was spent running from men trying to kill them, he made her feel safe.
He didn’t set off her alarms or make her feel like she needed to watch her back around him. That a six-foot-nine, winged, clawed, mouthwateringly muscular alien made her feel safer than any human male ever had probably should have made her worry about her mental health, but she trusted her feelings.
The fact that she found him attractive was due in part to the sense of trustworthiness he exuded. She’d found men pleasant to look at, of course, but desiring them was rarer.
She desired Zaek. More than that, she wanted to know him, intellectually and emotionally, though she most assuredly also wanted to go full nerd on his physiology and culture.
What the hell she was supposed to do with that realization, she didn’t know. It’s not like they had any chance of attempting a relationship. Aside from the whole different species thing, they were on the run from people who wanted to kill them, and both of their futures were precarious at best. Mira wasn’t the fling type, so giving alien sex the old college try just to say she’d done it, to no one ever, wasn’t an appealing option, regardless of how much she was dying to know what he had hidden in his pants. Reasoning it out in her mind made her feel inexplicably sad, like she’d lost something precious before having time to appreciate it.
Stop being ridiculous. You only met him today. He probably thinks you’re hideous anyway.
Breaking the stare-off they were having, she cleared her throat, again, and said, “We should get going. How are we doing this?” She motioned between them and raised her brows.
“We wlll—” he paused and swallowed hard then continued, without the hint she’d gotten of his speech impediment making a reappearance, “We will fly. I will carry you.”
She wanted to ask about that gland issue he’d mentioned but didn’t. He’d looked uncomfortable when she asked last time and hadn’t answered. Instead, she focused on the prospect of flying. She didn’t even entertain the notion that she’d be pressed against him, this time without being senseless with terror and running for their lives.
Liar liar pants on fire.
Were her thighs clenched? Maybe. Was her pulse pounding between said clenched thighs? Okay, yes. But that could be easily explained away as excitement about getting to fly.
Ignoring the heat in her cheeks, Mira did her best to look completely unaffected, and focused on the logistics.
“You’ll hold me against your chest? Or perhaps lower on your… mid-section? You’ll need the use of your wings so, obviously, carrying me on your back isn’t feasible.”
For some reason he seemed to find her little spiel amusing, but he contained it to a smirk and nodded, replying, “Yes, I will hold you against my chest.”
He put her device in the bag he was holding, then slung it across his chest and tightened the strap, so it was secure against his side and wouldn’t hang down as they flew. Once finished, he approached her, not stopping until he was close enough for her to smell the enticing earthy spiciness of his scent.
Feeling like a child demanding to be picked up, Mira tilted her head back to look at him and raised her arms. Zaek held her gaze with his as he gently gripped her waist. She wasn’t what anyone would call skinny, but his hands were so big they almost encircled her.
Her jaw went slack, and she no longer felt anything like a child, when he lifted her, slowly, like he had all the time in the world, with a complete lack of any appreciable effort. He’d carried her before so she knew he was strong, but the way he stared down at her and the ease with which he picked her up was… well, it was sexy as hell.
He brought her to his chest and used what had to be his tail, since his hands were still around her middle, to press on the back of her thighs, guiding her to wrap her legs around his waist. She followed his urging and hooked her ankles together at the small of his back then felt him coil his tail around them to secure her.
Sliding his hands up her waist, he caught her arms and brought them over his shoulders until she was loosely hugging him then returned the embrace, holding her securely.
“Is this good for you?” he asked in a low, gravelly voice before his eyes widened. “Ahh, rather, do you feel satisfi-secure! Settled? Rub-eeing held like this? Is good? For you.”
Without letting her respond, not that she could since she was holding back a laugh at his hilariously cute verbal fumble, he bounced as if to test it and make sure she was firmly attached to him. Being that she was held with her legs spread wide, his unexpected jouncing made certain parts rub up and down against the slick hardness of his suit.
“Yes,” she squeaked, trying to keep her lashes from fluttering at the stimulation. “It’s good! Super good. Feeling great!”
“Oh good! Most excellent. We should be on our way then.”
With that he spun on his heel and quickly walked to the door. Once outside in the growing gloom of evening, he gave her a questioning look and, at her nervous nod, spread his massive wings.
With a hard flap that sent up a dust cloud, he took to the air, quickly rising above the treetops. Mira tightened her arms and legs around him, but her fear disappeared as soon as she looked around. She gasped in awe at seeing and feeling the earth fall away beneath them, struck by the beauty of the forest spread out below and the desert visible beyond.
Unable to help herself, she let out an excited whoop when he took off. She felt the vibration of his answering chuckle in her chest and turned her head to share a wide smile with him.
“This is incredible!” she shouted over the rushing wind.
He grinned back, baring sharp teeth that only added to the hars
h, alien beauty of his face.
18
Mira
The flight was short but exhilarating. That was, without doubt, the most awe-inspiring thing she’d ever done.
They flew north to the closest town, using the cover of darkness to hide their approach. Zaek landed on the outskirts, behind a lone building, off by itself just outside of what passed for downtown.
Releasing her, he let her slide down his body and steadied her when she stumbled. Her legs felt like numb, shaky noodles, she was shivering, and her hair was an absolute rat’s nest.
“That was amazing! But, next time I’m putting my hair up. I’ll never get all these tangles out,” she lamented with a quiet chuckle, still riding high on the adrenaline rush of flying.
Zaek rumbled a laugh and helped her push the knotted locks off her face so she could see. She thought he might be stroking her hair because it took a second for him to withdraw his hand, but realized his claws must’ve just gotten tangled.
They stayed behind the line of buildings and used the shadows to conceal their movement as they made their way to the center of town. It was late enough that all the stores were closed, and it was mostly deserted, the only activity happening on the far end at what she thought was a bar.
Their first stop was a general store. The back door was locked but Zaek handled that by breaking the knob completely off. He dropped it to the ground and popped the door open with a gentle shoulder bump.
Inside it was dark, the only light being that which occasionally shone in from the windows at the front. As they crept around gathering supplies, Mira had the odd realization that she’d just become a criminal. That was a strange feeling, particularly since she’d never been so much as pulled over for a traffic violation. It was scary but exciting at the same time.