by Calista Skye
Peyton's mood switched gears realizing the suggestion that he might give her some. Later. And he couldn't be a complete monster if he had pie just waiting there to be consumed, could he? She immediately began to wonder what kind of captor he was exactly. And, indeed, if he was truly a captor at all.
Her eyes slipping closed again, she realized the small billows of smoke circling her head, and lifting her eyes higher, she caught sight of the most lovely mossy-jade eyes as her consciousness slow-spiraled into the sweet cradle of blackest black.
She may have slept for hours after that. She couldn't have been sure.
But the sounds of fearsome growling and snapping teeth cut her slumber short. Snapping to, she woke with a hard start, and the fine hairs on her forearm stood in high salute.
Cricking a brow, Peyton shivered. She scanned the dimly lit den. No sign of the green-eyed hunk who'd apparently saved her life. Jumping at the roar striking the air, she made to lift off of her cot, groaning at the ache humming through her body. She was more sore than she'd been after the crash, if that was even possible.
The vine's toxin was obviously a hell of a defense mechanism.
Gritting her teeth as she pushed through the ache to lift herself from the cot again, she ambled closer to the source of the warring beasts, whatever they were, with a wild, pumping heart. Stupid of her, probably, but she might as well find out what was out there.
If her host, savior, or whatever he might be was being eaten by some other alien life form out there, she was better off knowing that sooner than later. She doubted she'd be much use returning the life-saving favor in her condition, but she was a clever girl, and she could certainly try.
Of course, she was getting ahead of herself, like always.
She had no true idea what she was about to find around that bend.
Swallowing her nerves, Peyton pushed forward, the dual guttural growls echoing her ears until they sounded like something far off, probably as her psyche attempted to desensitize her to a potentially massive and impending doom.
The sound of her heart almost drowned out the growls completely when her fingers touched to the stone edging the den's exit. Her eyes slipped closed as she gulped a brave breath and opened them, inching her head out enough to get a good look.
Shit.
The warmth left her body catching sight of the alien beasts pacing their steps as they inched close to one another for dominance. They looked like... bears. Like polar bears with rich, inky fur. But it was their eyes that truly set her in awe of them. Their green, otherworldly glow thrummed with power, promising a might that even their gargantuan forms didn't deliver as potently.
Her hands reactively clutched to the rock, and she fought to even her breath before they caught sight of her.
But she was too late.
That much became clear when one of the bear-like aliens turned its massive head in her direction, and its eyes flashed with recognition.
Frig. Oh Frig. Oh Frig.
Slapping her hand to the den wall, she pushed against it for purchase, desperate to gain a firm enough footing to get out of there somehow. Why hadn't she spent the extra to get an AI? It was a no-brainer. She wasn't indomitable. Couldn't overcome everything that came her way. Especially not while she was injured.
Her conscious mind knew that. She was capable of rationalizing it.
But her gut.... It always prompted her to make the most errant and impulsive choices available. Well, she refused to let it make this decision for her. She was getting thee-fuck-out-of-dodge. Pushing off from the wall, she turned to look behind her again, meaning to assess the bears's position, but what she saw stopped her dead in her tracks.
At least for a moment.
A kind of numb paralysis kept her there a minute too long as she watched the air take on smoky waves around the bear that had taken notice of her, returning a human limb for its former beast limb with each sweep over the bear's form. Until there wasn't a bear there at all anymore. But a man. The man who'd... saved her?
Oh, no. She'd heard enough stories about shifters, especially the ones in the unallied regions to know when it's time to go.
This was too fucked up. What in the hells was he? A shifter without a tag? Well, even if he didn't come from the labs, she couldn't take any chances that a wild shifter was any different than a bio-engineered one.
Her feet answered her before she could form a truly coherent thought around what she'd just seen, and Peyton half-hobbled along the wall in the opposite direction. This was a den. There'd be an opening somewhere that led her deeper into the mountain. She could find water, and that would lead to an above ground source.
If she was smart, she could track her way back to the ship.
"Wait, girl."
Peyton bristled. He was a friggin neanderthal, too, wasn't he? Girl? She was clearly beyond the stage of girlhood. Had been for a long time. She was a woman, thank you very much. Shaking the annoyance from her thoughts, Peyton increased her pace, almost half-running now with the aid of the rock wall.
Relief emboldened her as she spied an entryway pungently announcing where it led. Another exit. Thank the stars.
"Please. It's not safe. Come back."
Five
"And you are?!"
Peyton huffed, her chest rising and falling double-time as she inhaled the ominous green scent of the forestry. It almost reminded her of the greening that her father had chosen to return to. He'd chosen it over her, and she'd never forgiven him for it. Fighting against the thought that she was trapped by the wilderness, she forced all thoughts away from the alien-shifter who'd liberated her from the sentient vines for purposes she couldn't wholly fathom, yet. She'd be better off on her own if she could just...
Catching herself as her legs collapsed from under her, her palm hit the terra with a punishing blow. Crying out despite herself, she rolled to her side, pulling her palm to her chest, cradling it to herself. Son of a bitch.
She frowned as a shadow falling over her alerted her to the beefcake with a beast permanently embedded in his heart. Groaning, she beat his chest when he lowered to lift her, wincing at the jolt of pain pulsing her injured fist with warning.
“Let me go!”
His knowing eyes gleamed with the unnatural green that sent an unwanted heat trailing through her nervous system. Dammit. She didn't have time for a broken hand or any kind of distraction that might delay her plans any further than they already had.
“You'll die out here if I do.”
Her anger and panic deflated as she considered the truth of it. Yep, she probably would. And if this guy was as bad as the bio-shifters she'd heard about, she'd already be barefoot and dragged into a cave – even chained up and bred like a piece of property with a reproductive system.
It might kill her to take the chance that he was... at least somewhat safe, but it probably wouldn't. As much as Peyton loathed not being able to fend for herself... she was already there.
She was big enough to admit it.
Averting her gaze from him, Peyton stopped struggling long enough to let him hoist her to the cave. To that dreadful fucking cot. To the heart of boredom on a remote planet that seemed intent to keep her trapped there for as long as it could.
The futility of it burned in her chest for as long as it could, but she was smart enough to keep silent. She didn't relish the thought of being drugged again, or stars forbid, rousing his bear to a foul mood. Her frustration didn't last her long. As the day burned into night, she felt her eyes slip closed with a fitful reluctance. She was too tired to fight it as the sleep soaked into her skin and made her eyelids heavier than she had the strength to avoid.
Frowning as they slipped closed, she sighed in the futility, feeling more weak than she liked to realize she was already beginning to submit to slumber with the betraying welcome of her body. She didn't have time for this! The thought screamed in her cells with barely the might to last against the final wave of dream snatching her life force and calling her body to the depth
s of her unconscious mind.
She felt herself mumble something as she slipped under, but it was too unintelligible to catch, and before she could figure out what it had been, she was out for the count. Dead to the alien world she direly needed to get off of, and as vulnerable as she could possibly be. Utterly dependent upon the kindness of a strange shifter with alarmingly, gorgeous (and deeply, unsettling) eyes.
"What book?"
Snapping awake, Peyton's eyes widened with alarm, and her hand flew to her mouth, stinging with enough pain that it forced her to lower it. Stars, tell her she hadn't been talking in her sleep. That she hadn't talked of the book.
A pit in her belly told her she had.
Groaning, she cradled her injured hand, a brow quirking discovering that it was bandaged. Her eyes found him then, in all his angelic, tightly-cut splendor, and she fought against a very female reaction to him.
No time for this.
"What book were you speaking of?"
"Oh, was I sleep-talking? I dream quite vividly."
Unsettled, she broke gaze with him.
Bit overbearing, no? It was magnanimous of him to bandage her up and self-appoint himself her protector, but... the invasiveness kind of irked her.
Enough to distract her from how drop-dead gorgeous he actually was right then. The book... was not his business. It couldn't be anyone's business. No matter how out of character he was compared to the stories she'd heard about his kind. His... engineered kind anyways.
She watched him peripherally as he leaned back, seeming to lose interest in being answered, either way.
"If you have something of value, you won't want it left alone for long."
Peyton's brow cricked.
"Why is that?"
"Acquisitioners scavenge Darkana regularly. This planet is very rich in resources."
Peyton went cold hearing the words, though she couldn't help but feel a bit of gratitude for the warning. Even if it made dawdling around in this guy's cave an even less convenient prospect. Acquisitioners. Shit. She could not let them get hold of her cargo.
Even if she never earned a single credit from it.
She'd sooner burn it than leave it to them.
Panic curled her gut.
"I have to go."
"You're in no condition."
"I'll... figure something out. I can't take the chance... Look, I have to go."
"It's perilous so close to the raining season. And you're too... valuable to the wrong eyes."
Red eyes. Burning red eyes. The eyes of the worst fiends in the galaxy. She caught his meaning instantly.
"I've got to leave. One way or another."
The shifter paused, his eyes averting as his mind turned her assertion over.
"If we're lucky? We can go at sunrise. But we'll need to be quick."
We? Wow. This guy was... like the mountainside superhero, no?
A feral caw and an unsettling rattle just outside of the den sent a shiver through her.
"You, uh, mentioned pie before, right?"
A cryptically, proud gleam that would only flash a chef's eyes to such a statement glowed in his gaze, and the shifter pushed off from his lean against the stone wall by her cot. Peyton felt his distance increase, somehow, and she attempted and failed to wave it away from her consciousness.
Indeed, the feeling continued to haunt her for some time after that.
Weird.
"I'll warn you. Darkana's sweets are rich but tart," he called out with a quick glance back.
"That sounds great actually."
He grinned. It was a sweet, accommodating grin, like he was amused by her rather than annoyed as he'd been before. As they'd both been. To her surprise, Peyton felt her own annoyance drift off from her. She was rarely ever not annoyed, but those eyes, that smile, and... the promise of pie were putting her a little off her usual balance.
"Are you familiar with Darkanian fruit?"
"I... no. I don't know much about Darkana."
The bearman gave her a sober nod as he descended the small set of stairs that led him just beyond her sight. The look in his eyes was clear enough to leave her with a strong sense of him even as he shuffled beyond the reach of her vision. It had said: you've obviously fallen off course.
It meant he knew she'd been incompetent. Maybe he'd even lost some respect for her because of it. Hugging her arms to her chest, taking care to avoid brushing her bandaged hand too roughly, she sat with the thought. Then catching herself frowning, she drew up her resolve to cast the thought away.
She'd done the best she could with what she had. This was her conscience eating at her. Not him. This was... Maya still on that damn ship eating at her. She could have done this differently, yeah. But an AI would have meant maxing her credit, and if the book didn't fetch the price she wanted... she'd have been stuck with very large, very hard-to-manage payments.
Sure, she should have rented one, any way, but she hadn't, and there was that. Maybe, she'd been meant to land here. Silly thought to some, maybe, but she wasn't so sure there wasn't an underlying reason to things. It was the sort of notion that made the largely negative events she'd endured in her young life a little easier to swallow.
Even if she wasn't staking her entire sense of faith on it, it did help her sleep at night.
Lifting her eyes to the sound of clinking shells, she met the shifter's gaze and felt herself flush.
The scent of heady berries and a deeply, sweet reduction sauce pirouetted smoke circles around her, drawing her into him as he extended a shell to her and set a deeper mug-like nut that looked to have been hollowed out on the smooth rocky surface beside her cot.
Peyton smiled and averted her eyes more shyly than she liked.
"Thanks."
"Your pleasure is mine."
"Huh? I don't-"
"It's something we say on Darkana. To give a gift to another is to give to oneself – whatever the nature of the gift."
"Ah."
Okay.
She lifted the strange two-prong utensil resting against the shell beside the small pie tartlet.
Stars, it was a work of art, headily seducing her senses.
"Will you wait forever to take a bite?"
Spoken like a true cook. She'd save him the uncomfortable suspense.
"Of course, not. It's amazing. I was just... admiring it first."
Six
Peyton's eyes flew open to the sound of rain fall and an uneasy sizzle that suggested the rain wasn't quite as benevolent as its earthly counterpart. Groaning softly, she pushed up on her elbows, squeezing her eyes shut and blinking them awake. Forcing herself to rouse. She searched the den for the bear man when she gained her bearings.
He was already awake and watching her. She felt a bit self-conscious about that until he averted his gaze like his eyes had only passed over her momentarily.
"Is that... the rain you were talking about?"
Peyton nipped her lip. She didn't like the sound of it. Not one bit.
"It is."
His mouth pursed into a thin line, and he clenched his jaw some. He didn't look at all like he wanted to talk about the matter any.
"So... how long will it go on? I'm sorry, but I really need to get back to my pod. If there are acquisitioners... I just. I can't wait weeks or anything. I can go alone if you don't want to risk the rain."
He looked at her like she'd said the most absurd thing he'd ever heard.
"You're not fit for the trip."
Peyton frowned, eyes widening.
"I didn't get this far in life by fainting before every danger or threat I encounter. You don't have to escort me if you’re scared, but I am going. I'll make myself fit."
Throwing the blankets off of her, Peyton grit her teeth to keep from wincing audibly as her hand struck the side of the cot and vibrated with pain. She could feel the bear's eyes on her, sizing her. It struck her oddly. He didn't seem like he was trying to hide that he actually cared what she did, though he barel
y new her.
Even the people who knew her tended to show less concern for her welfare, barring her baby sister. But then, Maya hadn't had anyone else but her. Not really.
"So you're going to get the book, fix your ship, and just... leave?"
Peyton's brow quirked with disbelief.
"At least I won't be a burden, anymore, aye?"
His frown drew down the smug grin she nearly flashed.
"Just saying. The sooner I get back on track with my life, the sooner you can have some peace, Mister."
"Remy. And, my life with be derailed for some time. If not, indefinitely. Surely for the worst once you leave."
Peyton averted her eyes from him, not relishing the uncomfortable silence the space between his last sentence and her next was pregnant with. It was a strange statement to be sure. How was her leaving the planet going to make his life worse?
She stole a glance at him, catching the flare of his nostrils. He was taking in her scent, and she had no idea what that meant to him. What did he actually read in her scent? Could he inhale her sorrows and the bottomless pit that replaced the secure foundation she'd wished for for too many years to count.
Silly thought, but there were stories about shifters. The alien ones had all sorts of varied talents, skills, and quirks. The unallied sorts made the galactic powers that be very nervous for that exact reason. Unpredictable sorts were risks no one seemed want to take. Hence, the lack of galactic protections the residents of this planet could surely use if Acquisitioners were having their way with it, like he'd said.
But they'd chosen freedom over regulation.
It wasn't like she couldn't understand why.
Drawing up to a stand, Peyton clenched life into her hands.
"What do I need to deal with... that?"
She stole a glance toward the exit opening to the rains.
"A tough hide."
"Besides that."
Remy grunted his disapproval.
"It'll slow before dark. There are tunnels we can take to avoid the worst of it if you absolutely must go soon."
"What if-?"
"You have no other choice, girl."