by C. M. Kane
Ever since Loki had left she had been going over and over their last encounter- and what he had said to her- in minute detail. She shivered again as she thought about the intensity in his voice and the look in his black eyes. She remembered the passion and strength that seemed to emanate from his body; until that moment it was as if every one of her senses had been only half alive, half aware. Now though, now they were awake and positively tingling in anticipation. Every time she thought back to the turbo lift- which was often- she felt a yearning that was shocking in its intensity, and they hadn’t even touched. She couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when they finally did. This latest encounter far superseded her kiss with Vesh as the most erotic moment of her life. When he returns she thought excitedly for the thousandth time, her body clenching automatically at the mere thought.
She knew Brightmoon was studying her thoughts and feelings curiously, especially her bodies inadvertent reactions to those thoughts; but thankfully she seemed to have no concerns over Tae’s new little obsession. For the umpteenth time she tamped down her pheromones and decided on another check of his whereabouts; it had after all been half an hour since the last check. She trained the senses to their last position and focused.
He wasn’t there, confused she focused again on another spot, when that came up empty she tried nearer the river. She found him, but something was terribly wrong, he was moving fast and seemed to be alone, then she lost her connection. She kept refocusing every fifteen seconds to check his progress, and to try to find the other men. She tried to ignore the migraine that started to build rapidly in the front of her head as she continued to search. As she was checking for the sixth time a message came through to the Captain from Sergeant Spence; the party had just been attacked by a flock of Harpies. They reported that most of the men had been taken by the time Loki ordered them to leave. He had apparently stayed behind to fight them off while the unwanted females escaped back to the jumper. They also passed on the message that Loki had refused a rescue party; Brightmoon was ordered to proceed directly to the front line to distribute the fitted buzz bombs. Only after they had completed that mission could they return for him and his men.
Tae absorbed the message as it came through, making sure she let none of the shock and anger she was feeling show. While everyone was digesting the news she quickly checked his progress again, as she watched she noticed that he seemed to have slowed dramatically. It was then she knew he’d been injured somehow. At her next check she found that he had now come to a stop, seemingly at some cave near the top of a small waterfall. She breathed a sigh of relief, he had shelter, but if he had been clawed by a Harpy it was only a matter of time before his entire body stiffened and he was unable to move to defend himself.
She had read that the Harpies only ever had female Harpies as children. So to breed they would scratch a male of a differing species with one of their talons and inject him with a paralyzing poison. This poison had evolved to render the male unable to move, but with every muscle in his body rigid- including his genitalia, thus allowing the Harpy to mate with him. Once finished she would either discard or kill him, depending on her mood, and if somehow the male escaped whilst scratched, he would eventually become rigid and he would remain in that position until he eventually died, unless he gained sexual release- the only known cure.
Captain Settria stared at the communications officer and nodded. Tae saw Radnor stiffen noticeably before saying, ‘Captain, I must protest, I know we have a direct order from our lord, but I think we could at least send down a small rescue party before we depart.’
‘We have a direct order, Elite Commander, and I will not disobey an order from my God; and neither will you,’ she said pompously. ‘Prepare to get underway as soon as the jumper returns,’ she said as she turned and walked over to a com-screen showing a view of the planet. Tae knew she had full control of the bridge when given a direct order from Loki, it was the only time she outranked Radnor. She also couldn’t help but notice that the Captain seemed to enjoy this small power over him.
Radnors fangs had run out and he was staring angrily at the Captains back, his frustration with her palpable. Technically he was her superior, but he also knew that he would be committing mutiny if he failed a direct order from Loki, so he stayed where he was. The thought of disobeying a direct order was almost unthinkable to the taciturn Vampire.
Tae on the other hand felt no such compunction. She felt her gut clench in worry, surely they won’t just leave him down there defenseless and alone? What if the Harpies find him, or any one of the other dangers that the gods have said still lurked down there? He would be helpless if he’s been injured, worse, he could be killed!
Memories of what happened in the turbo lift entered her mind again; they only served to firm her decision for her. Well bugger that! There’s no way some bloody Harpy is going to take him! Especially not after all he’s promised me, no way, not with-out a fight. Tae thought angrily. Whether anyone agreed or not, Tae was going to get what she now considered was hers!
She checked the sensors again, he definitely seemed to have stopped so she fixed his position in relation to his jumpers landing site. She then quickly prepared what she needed; when she was satisfied she opened her eyes and stood up, stretching as if fatigued.
‘Captain, I need a quick break if I may, the co-ordinates to Salernis are already known to Brightmoon so I shouldn’t be needed when she moves to the portal.’
Captain Settria turned and looked at her with annoyance before she nodded. ‘Permission granted, Lieutenant, but please keep your communications open at all times in case you’re needed.’
Tae nodded and walked swiftly to the Turbo lift, her ever present vid ball following closely behind. She noticed Radnor was now watching her with a strange expression on his face. As she entered the lift, just before the doors closed, he nodded at her and smiled in satisfaction.
Tae didn’t ask questions about Radnors actions; she simply went as quickly as she could to her destination, hanger one. Once there she hurried over to a small four seat jumper. She figured the closest she could land to Loki’s last known position was approximately five and a half kilometers away, she’d have to jog from the jumper to the river, and then follow it upstream until she hit the waterfall and the cave. She started cursing herself for not continuing with her jogging as religiously as she once had, but in between leaning about Brightmoon and all her new shipmates she had become a bit lax. She knew she was still reasonably fit, but she was no-where near what she was when she had been on the Island.
Well, she thought thoroughly annoyed at herself, I’m about to pay for that little lapse of judgment!
She entered the jumper along with her vid ball, did a quick pre-flight check then headed straight out, she had programmed Brightmoon to allow her jumper to exit with-out informing the bridge, or allowing them to track her with its sensors. Basically, unless someone looked out one of the Brightmoons nonexistent windows, the bridge would be blind as to what she was up to. Once her jumper hit open space she headed directly to the planet, passing the returning troop jumper as she went. She checked her sensors, the closer she came to Tartarise the more erratic her jumpers handling became so she moved closer to the path the troop transport had taken until it smoothed out a little. Still, she kept as close as safely possible to where she knew Loki seemed to be holed up. Once she landed she quickly strapped on the two large knives she had kept in the jumper for emergencies- the way her luck ran she had found herself positioning small weapons all over the ship lately- just in case. She opened the jumper’s door and got out warily, taking a deep breath she looked around to orient herself to her surroundings.
She remained still for a moment, letting a warm breeze filled with rich pungent smells assault her nostrils; the sounds of the waiting forest drifted over her. No matter how much she genuinely loved Brightmoon, she couldn’t deny just how good it felt to feel solid earth under her feet once more. The smell of the forest was so different
from the sterile nothing smell of the Dreadnaught. She was surprised to realize just how much she had missed the feel of something as simple as a real breeze on her face. She looked up at her vid ball feeling a little guilty at her thoughts, almost as if she were cheating on her in some way. She shook her head and returned her attention to the present; she hoped Brightmoon would understand what she was about to do, because it was too late if she didn’t.
‘Brightmoon, you can’t come with me, this planet has a radiation that hurts you and makes your systems inoperable. Loki is trapped, and I’m going to try to get him okay? I’ll do my best to try to get back to you as soon as I can, but this is something I just have to do. I need you to stay here and guard the jumper. Make sure no-one tries to steal it alright, hopefully I should only be gone a few hours tops, so try not to worry. Now remember, if you have to leave before I get back that’s alright, I’ll find you as soon as I can, just do what the Captain tells you to and she’ll return and collect me a little later.’
When she’d finished her little speech she locked the doors to the jumper, quickly took her bearings, and then took off at a steady jog. The vid ball continued to follow her for about a hundred meters, only when its flight path started to become highly erratic did it stop. Once Tae had entered the tree line it returned swiftly to the jumper and took up a position above it to watch all approaches.
Within ten minutes Tae was gasping for air, not only had she seemingly lost a vast amount of fitness since her time on Earths Island, but the air on Tartarise seemed to be thinner than the earth standard she was used to, and just to add to her woes, the gravity was definitely stronger. She felt as if she was running in hip deep water. She dropped back to a walk, looking around warily; noises abounded from every direction from as yet unseen forest creatures. She quickly realized that with all the shrieks, rustlings, and hoots going on, she wouldn’t know if she were about to be attacked until it happened. Worse still, the forest was so thick she couldn’t see more than twenty meters ahead of her. Ironically, she thought that she wouldn’t mind her vid ball with her round about now.
It took her a further twenty minutes before she found the river, in that time she had barely avoided treading on two large sun baking snakes, who luckily appeared to be asleep as she passed, and what appeared to be a large brown hairy creature shaped a bit like a dog, except it had way to many legs from the quick glimpse she’d had of it. Luckily it had scuttled away just as she reached the clearing it was in.
Once she reached what she thought of as the relative safety of the open spaces around the river she stopped for a brief rest. She couldn’t shake the horrible feeling of being watched. She looked around, the jungle was so thick an army could be hiding a dozen meters away and she wouldn’t have known. She tamped down her fear at the thought of unknown things watching her and decided the quicker she reached Loki, and the relative safety of the cave, the better. Forty five minutes later, sweating profusely, and gasping for breath, she finally arrived at a small waterfall. She looked up the easily climbable gently sloping cliff, the waterfall was more a series of small descending ponds than a straight drop, and in any other circumstances she would have stopped to admire its beauty. Right near the top she spied a small cave; its opening looked barely wide enough to fit a fully grown man. She imagined Loki would have had to turn sideways to fit, which was good news, it meant a Harpy would be loath to try to enter to follow him as she wouldn’t be able to use her wings or talons in such a confined place.
Now let’s just hope he’s lucid enough to know it’s me before he takes my head off, she thought as she started up the rock face towards the narrow opening. Once she was at the entrance she stopped and peered in warily.
‘Loki? Are you still in here? It’s me, Tae, I’ve come to take you back to Brightmoon okay, so don’t attack me.’
Silence, she thought she heard a rough sigh from somewhere with-in. She started forward slowly, to allow her eyes time to adjust to the semi darkness. Two large cracks in the ceiling allowed in just enough light to give the cave an almost twilight feel.
‘Loki, it’s me, Tae, are you in here? If you are I’m coming in, so don’t kill me. If you’re not in here and something else is, well, I mean you no harm, so once again, don’t kill me okay.’
After walking another dozen or so meters the cave widened into a largish cavern. She looked around slowly and saw him sitting against the far wall, a decidedly angry look upon his face. He looked to be frozen in place, as if he’d been given a large dose of Freya’s breath. His swords sat uselessly beside his hands which rested flat upon the ground, where he’d obviously lowered himself before he froze completely.
‘Hi,’ she said lightly. ‘I must say, I’ve seen you looking better.’
‘Tell me, do you even bother to listen to any orders I issue?’ Loki gritted out angrily.
Tae’s smile slipped from her face, why was he so angry when she was only here to help? ‘Don’t worry, I left Brightmoon with instructions to follow the Captains orders, and I told her that I’d try to get back in a few hours if I could. I also told her if she had to leave in the meantime that I would find her.’
Loki frowned. ‘So you’re telling me she will do exactly as you say then?’
Tae looked around, feigning interest in her surroundings before saying. ‘I think so, but the more immediate question is, how are we going to move you?’
Loki gave the impression he’d given a slight shrug. ‘I am not like the other men, my body will eventually expel the Harpies poison on its own, it will take a while though. I won’t be able to move for several more hours yet.’
Tae looked at him thoughtfully; ‘You know there’s another, far quicker solution.’ Her pulse quickened immediately, her breathing shallowing at the thought, she moved towards him looking at him and his position intently.
He watched the changing look upon her face as she approached, until finally he realized what she intended to do. ‘No, Tae!’
‘We have to, or else you can’t move, I can’t get you back to the jumper before Brightmoon has to leave unless we have sex, Loki, I’m simply not strong enough to carry you. And I’m gathering you didn’t come in here because you felt in need of a little alone time or a nap. There are dangers everywhere here, and the sooner we get moving the better.’
Loki couldn’t help it; he was now both excited and livid with her. One thing he did know though; there was no way known he would allow his first sexual encounter with her to be in some cave, let alone a cave with no creature comforts, and where he couldn’t touch her as he wanted. This would not, could not happen, no matter how much his treacherous body might protest. Tae… well, any woman, deserved so much better than this, and he had every intention of making sure he followed through with his original carefully thought out seduction plans.
Tae dropped to her knees in front of him then slowly inched forward, one leg on either side of him until she was positioned above his lap. She figured he wanted her as much as she wanted him, all he needed was a little persuasion; persuasion she was about to give him. She continued to stare into his eyes as she rested her hands lightly upon his shoulders.
‘Tae, I said no!’ he growled low in his throat, not sure if it was a warning or an entreaty.
Tae looked back at him; she could see the need in his eyes. This was going to happen, her mind filled with renewed purpose and her fangs lengthened. She knew she could change his mind; all he needed was a little encouragement she told herself as she lowered herself onto his lap. Both of them gasped as their bodies finally touched intimately for the first time.
Tae drew in a ragged breath and looked directly into Loki’s eyes, ‘please, Loki, let me do this for you, for us,’ she implored.
As Loki struggled to hang onto the last remaining shreds of his rapidly vanishing control he shook his head; he no longer trusted his voice to say the words he needed to say. She ignored his unsaid command and instead rocked her hips against him experimentally. As she moved against him he vag
uely felt his own long dormant fangs lengthening, as a new set of needs began to demand his attention. He felt himself leaning forward, making her arch her back and move head backwards, thereby exposing her neck and chest to him. He instinctively nuzzled the base of her neck where it met her shoulders, then before he knew what he was doing, his mouth opened of its own accord and he bit down. As soon as her rich blood entered his mouth he felt all control leave him in a rush. He groaned into his bite as wave after wave of pleasure engulfed him. He vaguely registered her cry out as she, too, found her release, he wasn’t sure, because for a while he was simply lost. Time, the cave, the universe itself, everything had receded from his mind the moment he had tasted her blood.
Slowly, bit by bit, the world returned to him and he withdrew his fangs; albeit reluctantly, he was in total shock at what he’d just done. He’d bitten her! Not only that, but he’d also found his own much needed release in that one bite! He was both disgusted and humiliated at his actions. This had never happened before; he looked at Tae with a mixture of shock, confusion, and anger at himself. He felt like a novice who’d been effectively bought to his knees by this woman. He needed space, time to think, this was too intense for him to comprehend.
Damn it, I actually bit her!
***
Tae slowly felt herself coming back to reality; her body was positively thrumming with pleasure. She opened her eyes and looked up at Loki, about to playfully ask him if he would bite her again, that’s when she saw the look of shock and anger pass over his face. It was the look of anger more than anything else made her snap out of her lust filled fog. At once she realized where she was, and exactly what had just happened. Confusion filled her mind; she quickly dropped her head to hide her inner turmoil from him as a thousand thoughts assailed her at once.