by Nora Blaze
Chapter Ten
Loretta
“When the first KrysOlakns built the crystal lenses, they did not know what they would see.”
UrTak stands behind me, his arms snug in a comforting embrace around my shoulders, a gesture that feels surprisingly natural. The rocky canyon beyond us is bigger than anything on Earth and the glittering crystals strike me with wonder. The sense that I am learning something important and necessary fills me from within.
I am learning not just about his planet and his people. I am learning about UrTak.
“Triov is our closest neighbor. Even without a lens you can see the shapes of its continents and the colors of its magnificent forests. But Triov travels only slightly faster around the planet than KrysOlak does, and because of this the moon very slowly laps us as we all travel. It slips behind the planet for many years, disappearing from view, then circles back around and passes us once more. It was on the moon’s first return after we had built this lens that we first saw our Triovian brothers, a discovery that brought great joy across our lands. And soon after, too, we found to our great delight that there was life on Wehizx as well.”
I look to the crystal tower, glinting in the light. “You saw the Wehizx,” I say.
His arms fall from my shoulders. “No,” he says. “We saw the Mehermex. The Wehizx planet is covered in rock and water and for several generations we watched the Mehermex thrive, their civilization rising up along with ours and the Triovians. With great purpose we labored to advance our technologies, seeking ways to communicate across space and dreaming of the time when we might visit each other. As we could only view them with the aid of the crystals, these generations passed, seeing but unseen.”
UrTak turns and gestures to the mural, etched into the wall with stones and gems. Aliens somewhat like him battle with each other, wielding gigantic knives and riding massive beasts, but they look different, too, in ways I don’t understand.
“The KrysOlakns have always been warriors. The beasts on our planets demand it, and in those ancient times we warred with one another, too, a truth that brings me great shame. But as we saw our place in the universe, slowly, we learned to work together.”
I point at the mural. “But they have more horns than you. And they’re shooting something from their arms.” I don’t want to call the strange white beams that blast out of their forearms, but I do know I’ve never seen UrTak do something like that.
“The lucex,” he says. “It came alive after we mated. Our second horns grew then, too.”
I notice that he used the past tense but I don’t want to interrupt his story. The power of the history shadows his face, stirring me as he continues.
“It was soon after we first made contact with the Triov that things changed. Our moons crossed closely together as we broadcast our messages back and forth. Wehizx disappeared behind Irisiak, and when it returned, our twin moons cast our eyes to our distant companion to see the Mehermex civilization devastated. Their cities laid in ashes, their water ran gray, and a mysterious inky black grew across the once green rocks.”
His jaw tightens and he turns his eyes to the moons, shining bright against the pale sky. “We had many guesses as to what happened. Together with Triov, we swore we would develop the technology to explore Wehizx and rescue any survivors. The renewed purpose brought peace to both moons. The technologies on Triov and KrysOlak rapidly advanced and whenever our two moons crossed close into each other’s orbits, we were able to visit. We sent shipments of resources, established embassies and small populations, and began to build the aircraft that would allow us to explore the stars.”
His muscles tighten. “And then, it happened.”
My eyes are squarely focused on UrTak now. Even with the gorgeous cliffs and stunning sky surrounding us, his chiseled face is the only thing I see.
“First, after Triov slipped out of sight, the satellite communications network we had built to keep in contact fell silent. Once our brother moon returned around Irisiak, it was in flames. Spaceships like we had never seen hovered around its atmosphere. The Triovians were waging a brutal war, fighting desperately to defend themselves. The warriors of our planet prepared for the worst. We sent our few capable ships to aid in the defense, but they were blasted out of the sky. We watched helplessly from our moon as our brothers perished, and once we were close enough, the KrysOlakns saw the Wehizx for the first time.”
My blood chills. I realize how vulnerable Earth is to these aliens. If warriors like UrTak had fallen to them, with advanced technology and blasts of electricity shooting out of their arms and massive battle horns, what hope did humans have?
UrTak sits on a rock bench, his shoulders heavy with the weight of his story. “The horror continued as Triov spun back around Irisiak and out of sight. When it returned, the Wehizx had disappeared and Triov was in shambles. Some warriors survived, but the Wehizx had taken every living Triovian who was capable of carrying a child.”
I groan as I remember the women in the glass tubes. “They breed with the women they abduct.”
He frowns, anger flicking behind his eyes. “I would not call it breeding,” he spits. It feels good that he is as disgusted by these aliens as I am. “They are parasites.”
I feel sick as I think of Marie.
“It took three generations to recover from the attack. Once we helped the Triovians rebuild, we traveled to Wehizx. There, we found deep caves, caverns as large as cities and tunnels as wide as this canyon. It is from here that the Wehizx emerged, but there was nothing left alive on the planet, Wehizx or otherwise. We learned from the remaining artifacts that their species cannot reproduce on their own. Instead, they lay their young like parasites in any creature with a womb and similar enough biology to their own, and the spawn birth themselves by devouring their mothers from the inside. The Mehermex were left to die without the ability to reproduce. It seems that the Wehizx treated their entire moon the same way. They sucked it of all life to feed their psychic hunger for pain, then left in search of a new host. Like food for their psychic bodies, they hungered for anguish and new species to devour.”
I feel sick. Everything I saw in the ship makes sense. They were tormenting me not simply because they were sadistic creeps, but because they were psychically feeling my reactions to the horrors they planned to inflict on my species.
They were tasting me.
“I hate them,” I whisper through clenched teeth.
The corner of UrTak’s mouth curls up in a smile. “As do I, beautiful human.”
A flutter goes across my chest. I know he doesn’t have any other humans to compare me too, but I still appreciate the compliments. The idea that a KrysOlakn could appreciate my looks makes this world slightly more comfortable, like not everything here needs to be terrifying and unrecognizable.
And I can’t deny that he’s handsome to me, too. Even his curled horns and purple skin strike me as stately and attractive.
Then I remember what he said earlier. They used to grow more horns when they could still mate. Did that mean…
UrTak stands, his back straight and his chest puffed with pride. He walks slowly along the mural as he continues talking. “On KrysOlak, our golden age then began. Our culture had always valued our women. They were as fierce as any warrior and brilliant beyond match. But still, our warrior culture thrived through violence for many years, and some of the men who came before saw themselves as superior to their wives. After witnessing the loss on Triov, the warrior kings realized the profound value of their mates. The first High Council was established, and the women who sat on it guided our species as we developed the cloning technology that kept the Triovians alive, fortified our cities, and built these.”
He stops in front of the mural and gestures to a tall image. In it, a device that looks like a widely stretched satellite blasts a blue ray at a spaceship. Beneath it, smaller images of KrysOlakn warriors and a few Triovians battle Wehizx, slashing them and gunning them down violently.
&n
bsp; “What is this?” I ask, lying my hand on the satellite weapon. The stones and gems are cool beneath my fingers.
“We call them our stellar blades. They surround the Irisiak moons now, a symbol of our power that resonates across the stars. When the Wehizx returned after many generations to make their attempt on KrysOlak, the war was fought on many fronts and over many long years, but it is our stellar blades that proved our victory as we blasted ship after ship from the sky.”
“I would have loved to see them burning,” I say. I’m surprised to hear the words come out of my mouth, considering how violent they are, but I realize it’s true. As long as those creeps still have my sister and the other women, I’ll fight just as hard as these aliens have.
UrTak chuckles. “KrysOlakns still today talk of the victory we won as though we were there to see it ourselves.” He shakes his head and frowns again. “The day the Wehizx fled is said to have been our greatest joy, but in retreat, they struck our moon one last time. A green fog descended on KrysOlak, and while at first it seemed to cause no damage, soon after, the poison took every mate on our moon. A deadly growth devoured them from the womb and even the biological samples we held in our cloning facility withered.”
I feel the sadness in his eyes. Somehow, I understand that he is not only mourning the loss that took place that day, but the pain that loss still inflicts on his species.
“A generation after that final battle, the Gildenz arrived to our planet. Their star is near to us, and they, too, had fought off the Wehizx, and had even managed to save their mates. With them as our new allies, we began to explore the universe. We found many worlds that the Wehizx had sucked dry, but also new allies and species with biology different enough from ours that the Wehizx left them undisturbed. Fresh wars were waged against hostile invaders, and with our young alliance, we defended ourselves against the Pohilkan Empire, brutal warlords who have sworn their allegiance to the Wehizx.”
UrTak comes closer to me. I crane my head up, my breath held as I’m caught in his story. “They call us rebels now, Loretta. As though we could be rebels on our own moon. But the Resistance Stellar Alliance has defended our freedom for many generations, and we will for many more. We had begun to believe that we would never see the Wehizx again. Rumors said that they had travelled far beyond what we know of the stars, sucking planets dry of life and joy along the way. But then, my squad and I found a Wehizx ship, and we found you.”
The way he says it sounds so fateful, my heart jumps. “You saved me,” I say. “Just like you’ve saved so many others.” I think back to all the ways UrTak has protected me. We haven’t known each other a week, but it’s like he saves my life with every breath that crosses his lips. And with the cliffs glittering around us, I believe he can save Marie, too.
“You’re strong enough to get my sister back,” I say with confidence. “You’re brave, I know you can do it.”
He frowns. “It’s not so simple, Loretta. We don’t know where the Wehizx base themselves, and even if we did, our stellar blades are too large to move across great distances. Our best defense against the Wehizx is here at home, but in the open battlefield of space, even the RSA falters to their advanced technology.”
I shake my head, not accepting it. I see the history etched into the rock behind us. I see the KrysOlakn warriors and their allies triumphing over the Wehizx, just like I saw those horrid creatures fall to UrTak when he rescued me. My soul cries out, demanding that more is possible.
“You have to try,” I say, my voice strained. I press my palms to his chest and his heart pounds behind his thick, firm pecs, like a drum against my hand. UrTak sucks in a sharp breath but does not turn away. “Please, you have to try. You have to look for them. Promise me you’ll go back out into the galaxy and you’ll find the Wehizx and stop them.”
His jaw set, UrTak holds my gaze. “You know not what you ask,” he says with a raspy voice. My heart tears open as I think he’s refusing my request, but then he continues. “And yet I cannot deny you, Loretta.”
A choked gasp escapes my lungs. “You’ll find her?”
“I will do everything in my power,” he answers, then turns to the sky. “Look, the eclipse approaches.”
I turn, following his gaze. Triov nears the center of the gaseous planet Irisiak, like a colorful Jupiter, and from the opposite direction a large gray moon floats closer. I didn’t notice it at first in the sky but I’m startled when I do.
“That moon,” I say. “It looks exactly like Earth’s moon.”
A pleased growl rumbles from UrTak’s chest. “That is the KrysOlak’s moon, LunKak.”
I blink, my eyes still on the gorgeous arrangement in the sky. “A moon can have a moon?”
“We are the only moon in our system to have our own companion. It brings us great pride. Here, you will see. Soon KrysOlak, LunKak, and Triov will all align before Irisiak. Such an arrangement will only come once during a KrysOlakn life. It is a thing to be treasured.” He turns his eyes back to me. “There are many things to treasure here.”
Pleasure tingles across my skin. The sense that I am supposed to be here overwhelms me. I’m comforted by the familiarity of the gray moon, even in this alien sky, but more than that, I’m comforted by UrTak.
I need him. Not just because he can keep me safe, but I need him in ways I’m only beginning to understand.
My body insists on that need. It pulls at my core as I hold his eye, trembling as the weight of his history moves me.
UrTak places his hand on the back of my head and his strong fingers curl in my hair. I gasp and my breasts heave as he pulls me close.
“UrTak,” I say, his name coming out slow as a whisper.
“Loretta,” he growls and leans forward. His wide mouth is only a few inches from mine and my desire ignites.
I almost can’t believe it, but I want him. I want the familiarity of a body and the release that physical touch can provide. I want to ground myself, even with the whole universe spinning out of control around me.
“Loretta,” he growls. “May I take you?”
I melt into his embrace. “Yes,” I whisper. “UrTak, yes.” His hands roam my willing body, groping and pawing as I writhe against him. His long, firm tongue invades my mouth as he grabs my ass with both hands and hitches me up.
I wrap my legs around his hips. He spins me in the air and thrusts his hips up, riding his hard, thick cock along my crotch. Warmth pools inside me and I know I’m dripping with arousal.
It’s so insane. I’m making out with an alien, throwing myself against him and whimpering for more. There’s a fire burning in me, and when I grab his horns, it burns hotter and brighter than it’s ever burned for a human. The rhythm of his body, the hard grip of his fingers in my flesh, the bucking of his hips, it’s all familiar and different at the same time.
I surrender myself to his growl. I give myself over to whatever might be happening between us. Everything I know dissolves in front of me but he is still here.
We are here, and I am his.
Chapter Eleven
UrTak
Loretta’s flesh gives beneath my fingers. I grip her waist as I spin her and the soft, full warmth sends a shock of desire straight from my horns down to my cock.
My lucex surges. I know this is impossible but still, I burn with need for this beautiful woman and the moons demand that I take her right there in the ancient forests.
Loretta moans and her breasts bounce as I deposit her on the ground, spreading her on the green, welcoming moss.
“UrTak!” She gasps my name as her long hair fans across the rock. It sounds filthy on her mouth and my cock lurches in response, then thrums. “Can we even do this?” Her eyes are wide and her lip trembles with want. She looks vulnerable, but also eager, and it takes all my control not to throw myself on top of her right then.
“We can do this,” I say as I fall to my knees and slip my hand between her legs. “Many of my brothers have enjoyed time with women of other speci
es. None have been able to successfully mate, but other pleasures are still available.” I follow the warm, giving flesh up her thighs and run my fingers through her sweat.
Amazing. I have never been so alive.
I look Loretta in the eye. “You will be my first. I thought no living woman could compare to the strength and fierce brilliance of the KrysOlakn females. But you, Loretta, you are irresistible.”
Loretta moans and falls back as I grab her thighs and throw her dress up. I wrestle it off her and toss it aside. I’m so hungry for her body, I feel like a beast.
“Give it to me. I want you. I need to feel something good.” She gasps and I smell her juices, like nectar in the air. “I need you.”
The way she insists pleases me.
I throw my clothes off and chuckle when I notice her studying my cock. “Is this how your humans look?” I ask as I grip my base.
Loretta licks her bottom lip. “You’re bigger,” she whispers and reaches out a hand. When she gently presses the tips of her fingers to the underside of my stiff shaft, I vibrate with pleasure. “And we don’t do that.”
Her fingers glide down my sensitive, thrumming length and I groan. My whole body ignites with desire and the silver lucex on my arms shine with a healthy spark.
I push her back and take a deep huff of her scent, then drag my nose to her curly brown hairs. “I will show you how I feel about your body,” I growl, then run my tongue in a thick, slow lick up her lips. She tastes like something from a dream, like the flowers that grow on the Far Islands and the sweet dirt of my home cliffs.
My cock throbs as I lick her and grab her breasts. All of my instincts rise up and wrestle power from my brain as my body takes control and tells me what to do.
“Oh, oh,” Loretta gasps. She tightens her legs around my neck as her body spasms. “That feels amazing.”
I bend my tongue along its three ridges and massage her folds. I find her hard nub, right where I thought it would be, and suck it between my lips. When I am good and satisfied, I push my tongue in, stretching her cunt. I lick up and kiss her nub again, then lap my tongue back to her quivering folds as I drink her in.