She entwined her fingers with mine.
I stared at the simple touch. She wanted to stay with me. I sighed. So be it. “When-di Venturi.” I sounded so defeated I had to laugh. The mighty hunter turned to tree jelly by this tiny alien female. I nodded toward an unused trail that led higher around the trunk to water. The side trip would be slower with her, but if it made her happy, I would make the time. Though, the slightest sign of her sickening, I would carry her home, no matter what her objections.
Holding her hand, I showed her the narrow path that wound up along the trunk. This mother tree was ancient and huge. Whole ecosystems lived within her branches and leaves. The closer to the trunk, the more likely we’d find water.
Unlike ground steams, tree streams shifted direction easily depending on weather and foliage. With the rainy season upon us, it shouldn’t be difficult to find. If anything, the accumulation of water on the branches might cause some rerouting of the sky roads.
The climb was steep. I could tell from my mate’s heavy breathing that she was not accustomed to exertion. The higher we climbed, the more dazed her expression grew that she didn’t even react to the flock of razor-wings landing on the lower branches, or the whale-snake coiled in the next tree as it lifted its head to watch us pass.
I had been trained to spot these things from the time I could toddle the branches without fear of falling. I searched for a safe spot and paused by a young stem sprouting from the trunk so she could sit.
She eyed the resting spot with a critical look then glared over the edge of the trail. She pressed her back to the trunk and closed her eyes. The jungle floor wasn’t visible from this height. What was she looking for?
Sweat beaded on her forehead as she slid to sit on the trail, back still pasted to the trunk, legs crossed away from the edge instead of resting on the comfortable stem I’d found for her. At least she rested. She was too weak to survive in the jungles alone. I couldn’t leave her here to fill the skin with water. What if something attacked?
She rubbed her stomach as if hungry.
I sat on the small branch I’d chosen for her. It bent under my weight but it was sturdy and wouldn’t crack. I wrapped my tail around the adjunct branch and dangled my feet.
She frowned as I bounced and gestured for me to stop. I wasn’t sure why it seemed to bother her so much. She went back to rubbing her stomach.
I searched my shoulder bag. My fingers brushed over the last of my food and I offered her the wrapped package. I rubbed my stomach, imitating her actions. “Hungry?”
She paled, her throat working as she swallowed. She undid the leather ties and fingered the pieces of dried meat.
I pantomimed eating. “Food.”
She repeated the word, my language strange to her tongue and coming out accented. She broke off a piece and chewed.
Wendy
I could kiss him, shark teeth and all. My stomach rolled. I wasn’t sure if it was from hunger though. I’d been drinking untreated alien water and about to eat alien jerky.
Couldn’t be worse than Angie’s cooking, right?
I chewed the tough, fibrous meat.
Wrong.
It tasted like week old fish marinate in Jerry’s dirty sock water. I gagged—that was an epic mistake since it made the flavor stronger—and desperately tried to swallow the mouthful. I coughed and pounded my chest until it all went down in a wad of uncomfortable pressure.
All the while, Venturi looked on in a cross between concern and amusement. For all he knew, I’d just shown him normal human eating habits.
I handed him back the jerky from hell with a smile. “Tastes like shit.” The gut rot growing in my belly worsened with the food.
He looked confused and offered me his share. “Naruk.” He said the word I thought of as food.
I shook my head. “Venturi naruk. Wendy will die if she eats that naruk.” I pointed to his empty water skin. “Water.”
He lifted his chin to stare at the foliage above us. “Water.” The word made me smile. He was trying. Somehow we were managing to communicate.
Wait…he had looked up. “Water?” I glanced askance at him, then at the treetop. I was far from a survivalist and had no experience planet side—in my world water came from a tap—but I was pretty sure streams and ponds should be below us. You know, like on the ground.
His smile was of pure joy. No doubt about it.
“I’m thrilled you find me amusing.” I rose to my feet, feeling more tired than I should. Yes, I had walked a lot yesterday and even managed to out run a dragon or two, but I had also slept forever.
Venturi clasped my hand in his huge one and pulled me along the cliff-like trail that spiraled around the tree. It almost seemed natural, the way the bark grew. This was the biggest dang tree I’d ever heard of.
Not long after, we came to a large branch that Venturi led me over. It was wide enough for us to walk side by side, almost like a road. A-maze-ing.
We walked deeper into the wide, blanket-sized leaves, pushing them aside one at a time. They sprung back in place behind us, covering our path. I hope I didn’t lose my guide. It would be a long way down if I mistook my step.
He cocked his head, listening.
I concentrated on the sounds around us. The wind, small clicks made possibly by an animal, the creak of the wood, and…trickling. I bounced in place. I knew this sound. It was like someone had left the tap running. My mother would have killed us if we had done that. Water was too expensive to waste down a drain.
We followed the sound into denser growth until Venturi parted the leaves to reveal an indent in the branch filled with clear water.
What the heck? I walked to the edge. The pool was shallow. No plant growth or fish that I could see. A small stream spilled forth from the leaves above, pouring in a thin trickle like a mini waterfall. From the rain? Maybe water condensation from the humidity hitting the cool air at this altitude? A tree this size must need an enormous amount to survive. Might explain why I hadn’t seen any huge bodies of water from space.
My head was pounding. I had a PhD in astrophysics, not in environmental studies. I didn’t care how water was made.
Speaking of which, I knelt and drank my fill. The cool fluid eased some of the ache in my stomach. It had a hint of citrus and left me refreshed.
The suns felt warm on my back and a breeze cooled the sweat on my skin. Thankfully, the humidity seemed less than on the ground. Down there, it had been thick enough to feel like breathing pea soup. I was reasonably safe with my very own alien protector who was easy on the eyes and nothing was trying to eat me.
The others on the ship weren’t fairing as well. Guilt weighed heavy on my shoulders. Maybe with Venturi’s help we could figure out how to live on this planet until a rescue arrived.
First, I had to find the beacon. I’d gotten so turned around after running for my life. Venturi should know how to find the way back, right?
I looked up at the alien, ready to pantomime my request, and all thoughts of rescue vanished.
He had stripped.
I tried not to stare but failed. He was, well, he was proportionate. In other words, big. I dug the tail and the cool spots. Heck, even the teeth, I could handle with care.
I should have realized a seven-foot-tall guy would be hung like a horse.
Chapter Five
Venturi
When-di’s gaze drank me in. The hunger in her eyes took me by surprise. I had resigned to my fate of loneliness and rejection. This gave me hope. If I had known removing my clothes was all I needed to stir her desire, I would have gladly done it earlier.
A flush of color spread over her cheeks and her stare darted to the water. She still looked tired and the coming heat of the afternoon would drain her more.
The water was still cool and would refresh her. I filled my skin before testing the temperature with my hand. “Water,” I told her, since it was the only word we shared in her language.
“Water,” she repeated, looking
at me with huge, white-rimmed eyes. She was so small, so vulnerable, and fragile. She shouldn’t have been traveling alone. I wish I knew her story.
Was she the last of her kind? Where was her wreck? What had her world been like?
I plunged feet first into the pool, the water lapping at mid-thigh.
She observed, her face intent.
“Watch.” I pointed to the leaves above and adjusted them until the water streamed over my head. I rubbed the last day’s grime from my face to show her what to do. “Wash.”
She looked at me curiously, then repeated my word with her strange accent.
I sank to my knees and sat with my back to the edge of the pool, soaking in the cool clear waters. I dipped my fingertips then flicked them, spraying a fine sprinkle at her.
She startled and laughed, the sound pleasantly alien.
“Come in.” I held out my hand. A cool dip was a perfect way to start the day. We’d wash off last night’s exertions and maybe, I’d coax her out of that bulky outfit again.
Pointing at the pool, she seemed concerned.
I nodded to whatever nonsense she was saying and gestured for her to join me.
Her gaze wandered to the thick cover of leaves and she hugged herself.
I recalled she’d encountered the balaur in a similar setting by the falls at the root of the mountains. But we weren’t on the ground where they hunted. The sky was where civilized beings lived. The mother trees provided all for us up here.
“When-di.” I drew her fear-filled gaze toward me. “Venturi protect. Come.”
Her smile appeared, tired but relieved, and she unzipped her oversized outfit, letting it puddle at her feet. The lighter fitting clothing underneath, which covered her breasts and cunt, were more appropriate attire for the heat of the raining season. She slipped those off and set them aside on the branch, all the while refusing to meet my ravenous stare.
She had too many fingers and her feet were oddly shaped, but I didn’t point this out. I adored every part of her strange body, even if she was tailless and a soft pink.
She took a deep breath as if gathering courage, yet remained standing on the bank. She slowly sat on the edge, dipping her toes first, then slipped into the water. It came to her waist, just below her rounded tits. The tips contracted and hardened under my scrutiny. She covered them with her hands as if ashamed by her beauty.
My cock grew hard, my body surging once more with the need to take what was mine. “Come to me, my mate. Let me look at you.” I pried her hands away and drank my fill of her lovely form. The others in my village would be jealous that she was so different. “You’re perfect.”
Her cheeks flushed an amazing shade of pink, bordering on red. She ducked into the water, letting it cover her body.
I swallowed a sound of disappointment. She was beautiful and she was mine. Somehow, I would figure out a way to make her understand so she would want me just as badly. I would prove to her that I was worthy.
She turned her attention to the trickle of water falling from the leaves and moved under, standing once more, but with her back to me. The water licked over her skin in a seductive sheet, streaming along the curve of her spine and cascading over the rise of her perfect ass.
The ache in my cock was unbearable, yet the mating spur still hadn’t bloomed from my tip. I could wait. I had to if I wanted a child from this union. Some of my people chose not to have pups right away, letting the first mating urges carry them into a frenzy. But I had been waiting a long time for When-di. I’d lost hope of ever having a family of my own. Patience had been my constant companion over the years.
What was a few more days?
I floated across the shallow pool to my shoulder pack on the edge and pulled out a small wrapped bag. I undid the leather ties to reveal a cake of soap made from the canis plant combined with the fine sand found at the bottom of a lagoon close to my village. “We use this to wash.”
She appeared excited and spoke another stream of syllables.
Breaking off a piece, I lathered my hands to show her how it worked. The bandage on her thigh caught my eye. I bent to untie the pieces of cloth under the water. They should be changed and the wound properly scrubbed.
Wendy
I twisted around, covering my chest. “Hey there, big guy. What’s up?”
I understood we’d made out last night, but I was feeling ultra-exposed naked in a pool under the open sky. I wouldn’t float away into the air like a balloon. I knew natural gravity kept me anchored to the planet, but deep down, I still waited for my feet to lift off, because how could something so big effect something as insignificant as me? While under the thicker parts of the tree’s canopy, it felt like a cover, like a ceiling of a ship. Over the pool, the breeze kept shifting some of the higher foliage, letting the suns’ ray sparkle on the waterfall and allowing me to glimpse the violet sky.
Not to mention, I’d never actually stood in water before. It was the most precious commodity in space next to air. We washed in sonic showers. Water was only for drinking or cooking. We never learned how to swim in space. I was pretty sure if I slipped in this pool, I’d drown. Silly, I knew this. Venturi wouldn’t let that happen, but lots of firsts were happening at the same time. Bath, sky, alien boyfriend. I just needed a minute to pull my shit together and not freak out.
The pool was neat though. I’d seen videos with people taking baths and swimming. I just wished everything wasn’t so…so unprotected. So far, every animal I’d met wanted to eat me. Present company excluded. Venturi was allowed to touch me, just not when my fear factor felt off the charts.
He pointed to my injury, then unknotted the cloth.
“Oh.” His touch was very matter of fact and I felt like a jerk. He was just trying to take care of me. Again.
The laceration looked red and swollen. I made a face and looked away. Infected. I was sure of it. Why did I care? We didn’t carry antibiotics in the ship so if the radiation didn’t destroy me, then this would. Great. And I still hadn’t reached my destination.
Venturi set me on the edge of the pool and rubbed the lather of soap on my wound. It was more abrasive than what I was used to.
I hissed at the sudden burn. His fingertips were quite gentle and thorough. He wasn’t touching me to be a creep. It was kind of sweet and I obviously didn’t appreciate him enough.
God, I sucked on so many levels.
He lathered more soap on his hands and washed the rest of my leg, propping it on his bent knee. The heated looks he tossed me with those feline eyes held secret promises of adventure and wild nights.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious. He’d done most of the touching and exploring last night. It didn’t seem fair. He made me feel safe. Something no one has ever done. Even now facing some of my wildest fears, his presence kept me from running crazy off a branch.
All right. I was done being a wimp. Pity party for one was officially over. I jumped back in the water, plucked the soap from his hand, and rubbed it on his massive, hard pectorals.
He remained knelt in front of me, yet the water barely reached his waist. He was so big and the erection he sported could give a girl pause.
My girl parts weren’t ready to play hide the sausage yet. Heck, sausage? More like huge salami. I shook my head. I must be hungry on some level, comparing him to processed meat at a time like this, even though my gut had been unsettled ever since waking.
Venturi closed his eyes and made a gravelly noise in his throat. He looked like a man in ecstasy as I washed his muscle bound chest, moving lower, over his chiseled eight pack? One, two, three, four…yep, eight pack.
I sighed. So yummy. So unreal. I moved around him, working the soap into this shoulders and back. Using my thumbs, I massaged those knots. Not caring what parts of me slid over his skin so I could reach all the right places.
The gravelly noise grew louder. “When-di.”
I loved the way he said my name, like it was made of sex and candy. He pulled my soapy
palm off his shoulders and kissed it, soap and all. Desire burned so hot in his eyes, I was amazed I didn’t spontaneously combust on the spot.
I coaxed him to move under the waterfall.
With a playful smirk on his lips, he indulged me. He rose to his feet though and let the water spill along his body, rinsing his skin clean of suds. He lifted his chin and it cascaded over his face
I wasn’t prepared for my response. Basic yearning clenched at my pussy. I wanted him to fill me as I watched rivulets stream along the carved paths of his body. I almost envied them. Venturi was obviously not made like a human. He was kind of better.
I pressed my thighs together, trying to ease my longing.
He had startled the hell out of me when I first ran head long into him, but since then, he’d done nothing but keep me safe. He was awesome.
I digested that thought. Where had it come from? I wasn’t the type to fall fast and hard. Hard to get, sure. Not all big eyes and fluttering heart. Yet here I was, all arrhythmic and swooning.
I didn’t mind his attention or his frequent caresses. Actually, I craved them and wanted him to crave me in the same way so I wrapped my fingers around his hard cock.
His head jerked to stare at where we touched, water spraying everywhere as his long braids whipped around. He apparently didn’t mind my touch either.
Stroking his shaft, I met his intense glare and swallowed a nervous giggle. All his playfulness had vanished and in its place was this warrior full of carnal need. I wanted so much to fulfill his every fantasy. I—I just didn’t know what they were.
His cock was similar to a human’s in shape minus the pubic hair and balls. At the edge of his tip, I fingered something hard under his skin. A bump? I circled it with my thumb.
He gasped and clasped my hand that stroked his cock, saying something in his language, his voice breathless.
He sank to his knees, showing me how to stoke him. “When-di vah esho Venturi.”
Venturi, Complete Serial Parts 1-4: Alien SciFi Romance (Crashlander) Page 7