The Ashier would have enjoyed hunting down the traitor as well for the trouble she caused him, but she had escaped with her mate and kin from the homeworld, far from the arm of justice. It was a cruel irony that despite the efforts of the traitor, it hadn’t taken him long to narrow down which vessel the human had made her escape on. The only delay had been realizing that the Budo had dropped deliveries on six planets before he caught up to them. He’d been forced to check every location, inspecting the territory around the drop areas for any sign of his prey.
Vora was his last stop. He was certain that she was there.
EYUUL SLID THROUGH the undergrowth, his spear at the ready as he crept closer to a highland orluyth. Although the large predators preferred to spend much of their time in placid bodies of water, they were quick and lethal on land as they migrated to new territories within which to hunt. They were a challenge to kill, but the meat was sweet and he suspected that Jenn would prefer it to the shoyla.
His entire body stilled, his raised arm tensing as the orluyth swung is long, tooth-filled snout his direction and back again. The creatures had poor eyesight and a terrible sense of smell, relying on ambush tactics to ensnare fleeing or swimming prey, which worked in a hunter’s favor if he was fortunate to catch the animal unaware. The thin slits of its nostrils flared but then, to his relief, it moved on at its sedate pace, all eight legs moving in tandem as its head swung in time to its rolling gait.
Slipping behind the orluyth, Eyuul sprung forward, the bulk of his body colliding into its back. His tail snaked around the thick column of its neck, holding the monstrous beast as its body thrashed, threatening to dislodge him. He thrust his spear into the orluyth’s skull, cracking loudly through the bone. The body gave a final twist before falling flat to the earth.
Pulling a knife from his belt, he made quick work of cleaning the beast before turning away to make a fire in a hole that he dug in a rocky area. Much of the orluyth was bone, the majority of the meat being in the rear haunches and the long, thick tails that propelled them lightning fast through the water. Harvesting the meat took little work, and this he spitted over the fire once it banked low enough to cook in a controlled manner. He left it to roast while he dragged the remaining carcass further away to dispose of it where its smell wouldn’t bother them.
By the time he returned, Eyuul was satisfied to see that the meat was browned, grease popping and sizzling as it dripped into the fire. Taking a thick leaf, Eyuul removed the spits from the fire, wrapping it and the meat hanging from it securely within the greenery. A violent slap of his tail was enough to kick up a spray of dirt over the fire, smothering its coals and any lingering embers beneath a blanket of soil and rock. Having made sure that the fire was well extinguished, Eyuul headed back to the tree with his offering.
He popped up among the branches parallel to the tree, surprised to see her round bottom pushed into the air as she scanned the lower canopies and jungle floor on the opposite side of her perch. She seemed utterly unaware of him as she leaned forward precariously, maintaining a white-knuckled grip on the branches nearest to her. Not wishing to startle her, he slid silently onto the branch before speaking quietly from her side. Her head tilted up, and even in semi-profile, he could see her nostrils flare as she caught scent of the meat.
“Jenn, I have brought food.”
His female squeaked in alarm pitched forward until his lower tail swung around to brace her from the front, pulling her into his coils. Pressed against his tail, he felt her single heart pound in rapid tempo from where her breasts pressed against him. Her coils of hair flared around her face as she whipped her head around to glare at him, the stench of fear perfuming the air with a subtle layer of annoyance.
“Shit! Don’t scare me like that! I swear, you took ten years off my life.”
His eyes widened in alarm.
“Significant fear removes your life essence?”
“Well, not exactly, but it sure felt that way,” she said, a wry smile on her face. “What’s for dinner?”
“Dinner?”
“The last meal of the day.”
“Ah, you speak of the evening meal.” He looked down at the green bundles doubtfully. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“Is it shoyla?”
“No, it is orluyth.”
“Good enough for me.”
Jenn settled herself more comfortably in his coil and looked at the packages with an eager expression. As he slowly unfolded the leaves, her curiosity got the better of her.
“So, what is an orluyth? Seeing how you guys think giant spiders are a delicacy, please tell me it’s not some kind of insect.”
His brow rose and he held back a smile as she shuddered delicately. He decided not to tell her of the ormi, small winged insects coated with sweet falaath that many Vori enjoyed as an indulgence.
“No, this meat is from the haunches and tail of the orluyth, a predator that lives mostly in the water. It has a long, narrow snout full of many sharp teeth and is very quick.” He made a snapping motion with his hands to demonstrate the quick power of its jaws.
“Oh, sounds a little like an alligator. I can live with that. Gator tail is pretty good.” She leaned forward with interest as she sat an open leaf between them.
“Then perhaps you will enjoy this. Hands, please.”
She arched a curious eyebrow but then nodded with understanding as he tipped the water pouch over her hands. Clean water thoroughly rinsed her hands. He then transferred the water skin to the grip of his tail tip and treated his own hands likewise.
Now clean, he pulled off a small segment of meat and brought it to her lips. She drew back, startled, but then gave him a barely-there smile before leaning forward again with her lips parted to accept his offering. Careful of his claws, he slipped the morsel between her lips and set it on her tongue. She closed her lips as he pulled his fingers free, sending a shiver running through him. Jenn didn’t seem to notice as she chewed the meat. A bright smile lit up her face and took his breath away.
“That is fabulous!”
No longer content to allow him to feed her, much to his disappointment as he enjoyed that one experience more than he thought he would, she reached eagerly for a chunk of meat. Her low groan of pleasure as she bit into it shot straight to his salet, swelling his cocks hidden within it.
She glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow.
“Are you planning on eating, or just watching me?”
As much as he was tempted to say the latter, he merely smiled and took a portion of his own, popping a chunk of it into his mouth. Jenn grinned around a mouthful of food. Though they ate silently, exchanging only a few words, Eyuul found that he never enjoyed a meal more than at that moment, with the game killed and cooked by his hand nourishing his female and its grease dripping down her chin.
Chapter 10
Jenn jerked away, sweat dripping from her skin. Shivering from her fading nightmare, she clutched his tail. Even waking with the early morning light cresting the treetops, she couldn’t banish the image of the shoyla from her mind as it crawled over her. Her body helpless to respond as the venom pumped through her veins, she watched the fangs and its cavernous mouth drawing closer to her.
The tail in her arm twitched.
“Jenn, are you well?”
Eyuul’s voice was groggy from sleep, yet she knew he would instantly become alert at her behest if necessary. That he roused himself to see to her welfare warmed her heart. Resting her head against his coil, she looked up at him.
“Just a nightmare. I’m okay.”
Jenn wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ward off the lingering effects of the nightmare as Eyuul watched her. She licked her lips nervously.
“Would you mind if I scoot up there?”
His brows raised but he quickly opened his arms in invitation. Jenn scrambled out of his coils onto the flat plane of his belly and chest, pressing her torso against his. She was aware of his tail shifting along the branch
, readjusting its grip as a length of coil swept up around her buttocks, holding her firmly against him as his warm arms wrapped around her shoulders. She felt cocooned and safe, the double beat of his hearts against her ear a comforting sound.
She shifted slightly against him.
“Are you going to be comfortable enough if I lie with you like this?”
His response was delayed, curt, and carried a strained note.
“Yes, this is pleasant. Now let us return to our rest.”
A slender coil from his head drifted down and twined around one of her braids. With gentle fingers, she slipped it off and watched with amusement as it wrapped around her finger, tugging gently.
“Your hair is alive,” she said.
Eyuul yawned and grunted his agreement.
“They are my crown coils. They are a part of me as much as my tail, but generally more casually tactile. More often than not, they are harmless.”
The last word was uttered with a soft chuckle and Jenn tucked her head against his chest, grinning against the lightly scaled skin there. Crown coils... that was something new in her book. As she inspected it curling around her finger in a constant motion, she decided that she liked them. Jenn released the coil and it promptly went back to her hair, joining several others that slithered through her braids, stroking until she was lulled back to sleep.
IT WAS MIDDAY AS JENN licked the last of the grease from the meat off her fingers, her belly leaning forward against his tail as Eyuul prodded her wound. After her nightmare early that morning, Eyuul had practically pampered her all day, leaving only to hunt more meat as they still had a few strange fruits tucked into the narrow crooks of the smaller branches just above them.
Eyuul had become much freer with his touches, lightly stroking her back and sides as she lay draped over him. His crown coils had quickly gotten into things, running over her face and shoulders, knotting around her hair as they plucked at her braids. At first Jenn had felt a bit silly, being a grown-ass woman and all. She had never been one of those petite women who got picked up and carried everywhere. She was too tall and too thick. She couldn’t help but to think that she was squishing the life out of him—until she realized that he liked their position as much as she did. Nor did he seem to feel the least bit uncomfortable with her weight. He didn’t seem to notice it.
He busied himself with her care more than ever it seemed, though there was nothing new with their current position; it was the same way they’d ended every day. He changed her bandage every day after their evening meal before they settled in for the night, but she was hoping this would be the time he would have good news for her. She felt ashamed when she noticed just how much she’d begun to enjoy herself. It just wasn’t right to be sitting idle while the safety of other women on Agraadax hung in the balance. She knew he was inspecting to not only make sure infection didn’t set in, but also to determine when she would be recuperated enough to make their way back to his clan’s nesting grounds.
“What’s the prognosis, doc?”
She glanced over her shoulder and met Eyuul’s gem-like eyes. The corners crinkled briefly.
“This looks much better, although I am worried that there is still a chance it may get infected. Keeping it sanitary in the jungle, even stationary in the tree, is difficult at best. But the inflammation has gone down and the wound is no longer seeping.”
Jenn grunted as he tied a clean frond over it, one he’d assured her was known for its antiseptic properties. It still hurt, especially when he pulled the bandage tight, but it did seem to bother her less.
She leaned back in his coils and sighed gratefully. “Thank goodness. I’ve been delayed too long.”
“Have you considered that maybe the Agraak anticipated your course? They have shut down the facility.”
“Yeah, they might have,” she agreed. “Even if they have, I can give them a place to begin searching and irrefutable proof that things on Agraak aren’t what they seem. The protection they’re enjoying under the mating laws is bullshit. Once I reveal everything, the entire Intergalactic Union will know the truth and can retrieve all human women from the planet without legal barriers.”
“And you are eager to return to Earth.”
She glanced back at him. His tone had an unmistakable bite, but his expression remained blank. Jenn almost wondered if she’d imagined it.
“I need to go back. I can’t leave my family wondering if I’m alive or dead.”
“You may comm them and ease their concern.”
Jenn shook her head, rotating her arm to break in the bandage.
“I doubt they have access to an intergalactic comm. Most families on Earth don’t even have access to standard comm systems like you do. That doesn’t change the fact that I haven’t seen my family in years... ah, revolutions... I need to go home. But that will only be after I finish what needs to be done with the Intergalactic Council. Those women have to be my priority, but my family is a very close second.”
His lips pulled down into a frown and he sighed. “You won’t do them any good if you push yourself too hard before you are ready. We will leave for my clan’s nesting ground in the morning. However, any sign of overexertion and illness and we are stopping at the hunter’s den until I am confident that you are well enough to descend into the valley.”
Jenn fought a triumphant smile. She wanted to argue that they shouldn’t stop for any reason, but he did make sense. Besides, she didn’t think she was going to get him to budge. Her only other option was to try to make it down the mountain on her own. Considering that she was unconscious when he brought her to his dwelling, she wasn’t confident she would even be able to find his clan. With her luck, she would get terribly off course and end up a meal for another wild animal.
Jenn stretched out her hand. “You have a deal.”
He looked at her outstretched hand.
“Humans shake hands to seal an agreement.”
“What does this accomplish?” He scrutinized her palm.
“Just shake my hand,” she said with an impatient growl.
He stretched his hand forward and wrapped it around her own. The touch of his hand was warm yet firm against her own. Jenn pumped his hand twice and smiled up at him.
“There, then. That’s done.”
He nodded his head solemnly. “Get plenty of rest then. The next few days will be long stretches of traveling.”
“Just one thing... we travel on the ground.”
“Sliding among the branches is safer for traveling through the mountains unless one is hunting and wishes to draw the shoyla.”
She bit her lip, weighing the options. “Can we at least try to stay close to the ground for as long as we’re able to? The ground is really the best place for humans when it comes to traveling. We don’t cling quite like Vori do.”
“Yes, that does seem to be a drawback to your anatomy.”
“There is nothing at all wrong with my anatomy.”
“I have no complaints to make.”
Jenn stared at Eyuul, trying to determine whether the flirtatious male was being serious or just teasing her.
“Well, I’m glad we agree.”
The tip of his tail flicked against the tree as he considered it with an unfamiliar light to his eyes. “We will stay on the ground as much as we can, but if it becomes necessary to avoid a nest of shoyla we will return to the heights of the Teriaf. A lone shoyla will not pose any significant trouble. My concern is more for the situation we ran into before.”
“By all means, if we’re being overrun by giant spiders, take me into the trees immediately. I’ll squeeze my eyes shut and pray and curse the entire time, but I’ll live.”
A dangerously sexy smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Transporting you alive is indeed the goal.”
Jenn chuckled as she settled back into his coils. Even after she ceased laughing, she was still smiling with satisfaction and the warmth of something new. She could almost feel the pump of his hearts thr
ough his tail as she stared up at the stars slowly making themselves known as the sky darkened. Soon, her purpose would be complete.
Chapter 11
Eyuul edged closer to Jenn as they made their way through the jungle. He would have preferred to be in the trees, but they’d agreed to a reasonable compromise. He understood that as different species they each had their own strengths and weaknesses. The situation wasn’t so dire that there was a rational reason to object. Any unease he felt ebbed as they descended the mountain, the shoyla nests thinning out and the jungle gradually thickening. He didn’t understand how the es’Agor clan could live isolated in the heart of shoyla territory.
No one among his clan, even the best among their hunters, wished to risk hunting further among the heights of the Shagorith Mountains. He could see how food would always be plentiful living there, but it would be a life of constant danger. It certainly was not a place he would care to have a mate or hatchlings. Eyuul did not doubt that the es’Agor clan suffered losses of their young to the shoyla. Shaagra had alluded to the hard life growing up in the Shagorith more than once but seeing the conditions for himself made Eyuul appreciate the comforts of the Norveth Valley all the more.
When Eyuul and Jenn crossed the boundaries of es’Agor territory, Eyuul had finally began to relax. Although he’d signs of shoyla scurrying along the branches of the trees, the arachnids had been high enough up in the canopy that he’d hadn’t been too concerned. By some small mercy, the shoyla didn’t seem interested in them as he passed with Jenn beneath the numerous webs stretching through the trees above.
By midday, the shoyla had slowed into a resting phase under the heat. This made it possible for Eyuul to relax his vigil enough to increase their rate of travel and put distance between themselves and the shoyla. He’d known that when the day cooled, the Mother’s children would stir, ravenous for the hunt. The evening was always the most treacherous time for traveling in the mountains. He’d make sure that they were into the higher reaches of the Teriaf zone long before sunset.
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