by Kyndra Hatch
First, he was trying to kill her and now he wanted to help her? She ran her left hand through her hair, stopping to scratch at the back of her head, Molly still tucked under her right arm.
Build a fire? She’d never even seen a fire in real life, not one on the surface of a planet anyway.
Climbing the ramp, she set the chicken down on the deck and it disappeared into the cargo bay, Hedge scurrying down her arm, following its path.
She never thought she’d be thanking the stars she did not leave the fierce little creature in the lab. Watching as he wound his way towards the chickens, she paused. So far, he had left the chickens alone. Hopefully, it stayed that way.
C’hase trotted after him and she felt a little better. The mogha kept good watch over their feathered friends.
Peeking over the edge of the bulkhead, she expected to be watching the Korthan fly away, a sense of abandonment surprising her. At first, she thought the sentiment was coming from C’hase, but then she realized it was her own feeling.
Belly fluttering when she saw the ship was still there, she rested her head against the bulkhead. Thank the stars.
A crackling sound beneath the freighter made her blink. Climbing halfway down the ramp in a crouch, she peered under the ship, an orange glow on the other side lighting up the approaching evening sky.
Breath catching, the bright blaze was mesmerizing, dancing yellow flames dazzling her eyes. The field of flowers seemed ablaze as well, their orange coloration against the orange light of the fire making them pop. Shadows danced and shimmied among them, and they were alive with movement.
And, there, leaning on a tall pole, stood the Korthan. Black hair hanging free against his shoulders, he had removed his shirt, a black bandage now gracing his arm, shine of the blaze lighting up his gray skin, muscled physique tantalizing in its perfection. Her body tingled all over—
The Korthan’s head turned in her direction and she ducked. Rolling with the ramp against her back, she breathed heavily towards the sky.
Waiting two minutes, she peeped under the ship again. His arm was reaching behind his back, rubbing between his shoulder blades where she hit him.
Scooting back up the ramp into the safety of the freighter, Dani heard the screech of a hellbat far in the distance. But no attack came. Perhaps the Korthan was right about the fire.
Heading to the bridge, Dani checked the comm. Nothing. Did anyone even hear her distress call?
With no whisper of wind outside, Dani made her way to her cabin, settling into her bunk for the first peaceful sleep she’d had since rescuing the hellhound from the lab.
Did she even want the Korthan to leave?
HIS LIPS FELL AGAINST her neck, their hungry caress demanding as the weight of his rippling body fell over her.
Large hand warm against her breast, the warrior groped downwards along her body. She arched into him as his hard, grasping fingers probed between her legs.
“You’re different from Korthan women,” his husky breath swept across her earlobe. “Warmer— Wetter—”
Palm pressed firmly against her womanhood, he squeezed, his erection hard against her thigh. “I want to bury this in here.”
Tingling sensation exploded through her abdomen.
Help!
She drowned in blissful sensation, definitely didn’t want help—
Help, help!
The call was targeted, straight into her mind, the sound of a frightened little boy—
C’hase!
She shot straight up in the bunk, the Korthan disappearing along with her arousal. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, her mind was in a fog as she tried to get her thoughts together.
Suddenly, a tan squeaking Hedge ran up her leg, climbing her night clothes to perch on her shoulder, chattering away, whiskers twitching. What the hell?
Help!
The call remained. And even though he was calling through her mind, C’hase’s panicked voice sounded muffled. Pain hit her on the nose and she thought Hedge had somehow scratched her face. Then she realized it was from the mogha.
Jumping from the bunk, she ran to the cargo hold and down the ramp, Hedge’s claws digging into her bare shoulder.
She located C’hase on the port side of the ship, his bushy tail and hind legs straight up in the air, body disappearing into a hole in the ground.
Heart pounding in her chest, Dani ran to him, grabbing his legs to pull him out, unable to get a good grip as he writhed around.
“Stop struggling,” she said through gritted teeth.
Hedge ran down her arm, jumping to the dirt with a squeak, claws digging frantically, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Strong arms came around from her left and she jumped, scooting to the right as she spun around, fists up.
The shirtless Korthan stepped forward, grasping C’hase’s hind legs, effortlessly lifting the mogha from the hole.
The pup jumped into Dani’s arms, antennae drooping low, whimpering. It bit me.
A trickle of blood dripped down his snout. “What bit you?”
The thing that tried to get Molly.
The chicken stood next to the hole, scratching at the dirt. Great. They were attracting predators.
Hedge chased it away, C’hase continued. But then it tried to get Hedge. Is he hurt?
Stars, what could possibly hurt a creature that stood its own against the hellbats, that just disappeared into the soil doing who knows what?
“He’s fine, Little One,” Dani said as she inspected C’hases’s front paws and face. There were a few scratches, but just the one bite.
“Check the bite for poison,” the Korthan said, voice rumbling.
“How do you do that?” she said.
Touching his pinky against the small puncture on C’hase’s snout, the hellhound pulled away. No, no, don’t touch it.
Raising his finger to his tongue, he held it there for a second.
“No poison,” he said, dropping his hand to the mogha’s ear, scratching behind it.
C’hase melted into the touch, his body relaxing in Dani’s arms.
“I am called, K’vyn,” the Korthan said, gaze traveling over her body.
Feeling exposed in her night clothes, Dani set the pup on the ground and stood, arms crossed.
“Dani,” she said. “I don’t know why you are still here, but thank you for pulling him out.”
He seemed to be studying her and flashes from her dream warmed her cheeks.
It was a giant lizard, C’hase sniffed at the hole, but kept a healthy distance.
A big lizard? Like the one Hedge killed before?
K’vyn’s gaze fell on the mogha and she was thankful for the distraction.
“So, you can hear him,” he said, something resigning in his tone.
Placing herself in a protective stance between him and the pup, she said, “I can.”
“What does he say?”
The sound of more sniffing filled the air, C’hase lowering himself to the ground, a watchful eye on the hole.
“That there’s some kind of lizard in there,” Dani said.
Suddenly, a scaley multi-colored, six-legged beast burst from the hole, loud hissing sounding from its throat.
Jumping back, Dani’s foot caught against something on the ground and she fell—
Her back came into contact with a broad rippling surface, muscled arms coming around, warm hands setting her back on her feet. Releasing her, K’vyn darted between her and the beast, pulling a knife from his belt.
The beast stopped short of its attack, something stopping it in its tracks. Spotting a familiar scale-covered tail with tuft of feathers on the end, Dani craned her neck around the Korthan, the lizard turning towards the new threat behind it.
Hedge had grabbed onto its long tail and was tugging backwards, rear claws anchored to the ground, the beast unable to move forward.
The Korthan swiftly took advantage, plunging his knife into the neck of the thrashing creature. Peeling off a shiny s
cale, Hedge took off with it towards the ship.
“This lizard beast will make a nutritious meal,” the savage said, tone triumphant.
Dani balked. There was no way she was eating that thing. Humans couldn’t eat what Korthans ate anyway—
“What is he doing?” K’vyn said next.
C’hase was trotting frantically between the hole, the lizard, the ramp of the ship, and around Dani’s feet, nose close to the ground.
I can’t find Molly, the pup said.
Heartrate quickening, Dani ran to the ship, up the ramp, and to the chicken pens. Molly was not there.
“Is this what he is looking for?” K’vyn’s voice sounded through the cargo bay, from the top of the ramp.
The Korthan dared come aboard her ship? Swinging around, her eyes widened.
In his hands, held out from his body, was Molly. The chicken’s head swung left and right in jerky movements.
C’hase bounded up the ramp, jumping around the Korthan with happy yaps, antennae caressing Molly as his tail twirled.
Alpha, the mogha said. He found her.
WHEN THE MOGHA’S ANTENNAE caressed the avian, the feathers on the ends brushed lightly across his fingers. K’vyn held himself very still, cherishing the touch, even though it wasn’t directed at him.
C’hase barked and danced, K’vyn awestruck by the mogha’s behavior.
The woman plucked the chicken from his grasp. “Yes, he sure did.”
So focused on the mogha, K’vyn didn’t see her coming, his fingers now tingling where the human inadvertently touched when grabbing the chicken. He blinked at his hands as much as her words. What was she saying?
The mogha barked, ending with a singsong yap.
“You did a great job protecting Molly, but please be more careful,” Dani said, handing the chicken to the pup.
Right. She was talking to the mogha, not him.
His eyes widened when the mogha grabbed the avian with extended fingers, tucking it under his front leg, walking on three as he headed towards an area full off primitive board constructs, yapping as he went.
“Hedge protected Molly?” the woman said. “Okay, well, you still need to be more careful.”
Dani turned her attention to K’vyn and he froze, sure he would get lost in the depths of her mesmerizing gaze.
“Thank you again,” she said, brushing a strand of hair from the smooth skin of her face. “But you can go now.”
Her tone was flat, but the emotion behind it suggested anything but wanting him to leave, fear of abandonment constricting his heart. The conflict between their peoples complicated matters, but he would not leave her alone on this planet, bond or no bond.
And, judging by the shape of her ship, she wouldn’t be leaving on it.
K’vyn looked at the ceiling, several cracks crisscrossing through, pockets of rust spreading on support beams that appeared to have been repaired numerous times.
“Where did you get this clunker?” he said.
The human frowned, eyes narrowing.
“My parents,” she said. “I’m carrying on the family business.”
She held her head high, proud.
“Your parents passed this down to you?” K’vyn curled his lip. “And expected you to live? They must have had a death wish for you.”
Dani’s jaw dropped and she raised a threatening finger. “Hey, now. This ship has been flying since humans left Earth.”
Eyebrows raising, he couldn’t imagine keeping this rust bucket together for that long.
“It shows,” he said.
A molk would have a field day on this ship. The freighter wasn’t even fit for the feathered beasts clucking among the wooden constructs.
“Get off my ship,” Dani took a threatening step towards him, boots clanging against the flooring. “You don’t deserve to be standing in my ship.”
He didn’t move and she raised her voice, flinging her arm out. “Go. Now!”
Her nostrils flared as anger bombarded his senses. Maybe insulting her ship wasn’t a good idea—
But there was no hatred behind the emotion.
“DO YOU KNOW HOW ANNOYING it is when you forget your ear comm? What is taking you so long?” L’iza said as K’vyn plopped in his chair in the cockpit of his ship. “Just grab the mogha and let’s go.”
Resting his head in his palm, he took a deep breath. “I can’t.”
“Why not? He’s just a pup. Pick him up and bring him onboard. Stars, he’ll just follow you.”
Dropping his hand, he threw the hologram an incredulous look.
“He’s not my mogha companion,” he said.
The hologram blinked, a second chair materializing as she sat, mimicking bipedal behavior.
“So,” she drew the word out, a whispery awe as she stared at nothing in front of her. “The human is your bond mate.”
K’vyn leveled a steady gaze, studying the personification of his sentient ship.
“I need confirmation,” he said.
Head whipping towards him, L’iza said, “You are not a cyborg. I can’t provide what you ask.”
“You did not want a cyborg pilot,” he reminded her.
“Because I do not want to be controlled.”
“And I don’t control you.” Elbow resting on the arm of his chair, K’vyn leaned his head against his fist.
“But without full capability of connecting to my systems, I cannot get a full sense of what you’re feeling.” L’iza stood, a blue triangular hologram appearing before her.
As she swiped through the holographic projection, K’vyn could not read what she was looking at, but one thing he did know for sure, she was just pretending to be busy.
“I cannot accurately confirm that your connection with the human is the mate bond,” L’iza said after a moment, gaze set on whatever task she was pretending to do. Head raised and she looked directly in his eyes. “But anything is possible.”
“You could say that,” he said. “The mogha is her companion.”
There was an expelling of air, L’iza performing a perfect imitation of a bipedal reaction of surprise.
“That doesn’t sound right,” she said. “Do you know what that means?”
“Does it mean she could also be my life mate? Could you tell if I were sitting next to her at the fire?”
K’vyn regretted interrupting her, something shifting in what he could sense in their limited link, a bit of knowledge he needed to hear that was swiftly replaced with incredulity.
“Oh, I’m not going out there,” L’iza said. “Not as long as that molk is down there.”
Right. The molk. He was so focused on the mogha and the human, he forgot about the molk. Didn’t he see it briefly while pulling C’hase from the lizard hole? He hadn’t seen it since—
“I can tell well enough standing next to you right here that she’s your mate,” L’iza said next.
Shaking his head, lips pursed, K’vyn said, “I don’t think it’s possible.”
L’iza’s hologram disappeared, clear dismissal, as her voice filled the air. “You asked for confirmation. That’s confirmation enough that I can give you.”
Chapter 6
The smell of something savory wafted through the air, and Dani’s stomach growled. Peeking out from the side of the bulkhead, a mound of shimmering coals had been raked from the fire, the lizard beast roasting over them on a spick, the Korthan slowly turning a handle.
Hedge is hungry, C’hase announced, also watching the scene outside the ship.
Said space rat lay chewing a fishbone near the hole to his den. No need to repair the opening, Dani let the little creature keep his growing hoard.
“He can eat from the rations,” she said, ducking back inside before K’vyn spotted her.
But he already ate all the rations.
What?
A small kitchenette set aft of the cargo hold, rations sorted in containers stacked against the bulkhead.
She opened one, then another, and another
, all with holes burrowed from the back, food nearly gone.
“How can a creature so small eat so much?” Dani said to the air, throwing up her hands in exasperation.
With no more rations, could they get enough food to last until a rescue party arrived?
Eating the chickens was out of the question—
Their eggs are pretty tasty, C’hase supplied.
“Yes, they are, but Hedge keeps sneaking off with those too.”
She’d caught the little guy twice today already.
That beast looks tasty, C’hase said next, now sitting at the top of the ramp in full view of the outside world, watching the fire.
THE MOGHA SAT ATOP the ramp as K’vyn turned the spick. The tasty aroma would be irresistible to the pup. C’hase took a step down the ramp and stopped, looking back into the dark hold of the freighter, no doubt told to stay by his Alpha.
K’vyn smiled. Watching out of the corner of his eye, the woman peeked around the bulkhead again, doing her best not to look as if she were spying on him.
He was mesmerized. Everything about her was intriguing. The way she moved. The way she walked. The way she smiled. Even the way her clothing hung from her curvy body. Clothing he wanted to rip off, lay her down in the flowers—
Movement at his feet snapped him out of his fantasy and he looked down. The young mogha was sitting on his haunches, the molk perched upon his head, the feathered creature standing beside him.
Grin widening, he knew the mogha couldn’t resist.
The avian clucked, its head jerking sideways, almost mirroring the tilt of the mogha’s head.
“You are a peculiar mogha,” K’vyn said.
The pup jumped to his feet, yapping, tail wagging, antennae twirling.
K’vyn wished he knew what the mogha was saying. C’hase clearly needed a guide, a tutor to let him know the only biped he could communicate with was his alpha. In the absence of parents, the alpha could take on that role, but an ignorant Invader would be no help at all.
Maybe he could find a guide for the pup on Mogha.
Ear comm emitting a loud squelch, he winced. That was why he always conveniently forgot the damn thing. L’iza would not have chosen him as a pilot if he were a cyborg, but cyborg components would have had their advantages, like a direct comm link with his ship instead of an earpiece.