by Rena Marks
“Oh. Em. Gee. This is flippin’ delicious,” Lucie says, and holds out her fork-branch for me to taste.
“My new favorite vegetable,” I agree. “Good job, Loshi.” He looks pleased, and tries to act casual by passing a bit of meat to the shallga. The smart little creature plops itself down at his feet, knowing a sucker when he sees one.
We continue to eat, and when we’re done, more talking resumes.
“I would like to ask the females’ opinion on Jillian,” Kalki says.
Here it comes.
“I understand Tessa felt the mating call with both Jeroc and Tijar. But Jillian has only interest for me. It was not so in the beginning, but she has slowly pushed away all others. I do not know where this leaves us.”
“Ask her,” Lucie responds.
“Ask?”
“Yes. Do you love her?”
“With every breath I take.”
“Then all you do is ask her if she would like to move into your cave. If she would like to mate. If she would like to have a baby. Explain to her how you feel about her.”
“What if she decides she does not?”
Lucie shrugs. “Then at least you know. But Kalki, the rest of us know differently. Probably Jillian is just not sure of what you want. She knows she held you at arm’s length while she decided it was truly you that she wanted. But now she feels bad for putting you through it, and is going to wait until you ask to admit how much she wants you.”
“She spends all her time in your cave anyway,” Loshi reminds him. “It is why I spend so much time in the cave with Monica. And it is lucky that Tijar has moved in with Jeroc and Tessa.”
“I simply thought she preferred the quietness of my cave.”
Lucie shakes her head. “It always astounds me how differently men and women think.”
“Hurry up,” Kalki tells Loshi, suddenly impatient now that he has a plan. “I wish to head back before dark.”
Loshi rolls his eyes. “Good thing for you I am agreeable to seeing my Monica tonight.” He wraps the remainder of his meat in his bandana, and the shallga stares calculatingly.
I snicker. “I think Jacques is going to head back to the village tonight.”
“Why do you think that?” The naïve Lucie asks.
Rayhaan gives a bark of laughter. Kalki gets up.
“Leave everything,” Rayhaan tells Loshi, who’s trying to pick up the dinner remains. “We’ll get to it.”
Loshi nods, and picks up the bag of glow rocks to sling over his shoulder. Kalki picks up the ancient log books to set on top of the backpack of rocks, then swings it over his back. “All right. We are heading off. We will see you tomorrow when you return to the village.”
“Well, I’ll be,” Lucie says, as we wave them away. Her shallga is traipsing along with Loshi. She looks away, missing when Loshi reaches into his bag for another piece of meat to give to the tiny animal.
Rayhaan rolls his eyes and mutters what sounds like, “Mercenary.”
The four of us sit and visit for a while after the hunters leave. It doesn’t take us long to clean up the camp. Ash gets a kettle of water from inside and we wash the few dishes. The scraps are thrown into the flames and when it’s all done, we smother the fire.
It’s getting darker now and we move inside, blocking the door to the cave with the boulder on the inside.
Lucie and Rayhaan are giggling and whispering, and Ash pulls me onto our nest. He wraps his muscular arms around me.
“Rayhaan is going to take her to the hot springs for some private time,” he whispers into my ear.
“How do you know?”
“You shall see.”
I doubt it. Lucie isn’t as open about sex as Niki is, who had sex with Drakar one night in the cave with us all present. Of course, Tessa was raised as a strict religious girl, and look at her now, living with two men. But I still don’t see it happening with Lucie.
“We are going to bathe,” Rayhaan announces.
I almost point out that we spent the day swimming, but Ash is nodding like it’s the best idea he’s ever heard.
Lucie giggles again as Rayhaan sweeps her up in his arms and carries her to the back of the cave.
“Now, my Miranda, we are alone,” Ash says. He begins undressing me. My eyes flit to the back of the cave, to the small tunnel where Lucie and Rayhaan have disappeared. They could reappear at any moment, and see me completely naked.
“They are busy,” Ash says, and pushes my skirt down my hips. I step out of it, and he presses his nose to the apex of my thighs, inhaling deeply.
I sigh, but again look toward the tunnel. I can’t help it.
“Do you need proof?” he whispers.
I nod.
He stands and strips from his clothing. Then, when we’re both naked and barefoot, he takes my hand and presses a finger to my lips. “Be very quiet.”
Stealthily, he pulls me along the tiny, dark tunnel. There’s a light on the other side, where Rayhaan has lit a torch in the small room that houses the pool. This one is tiny enough to be a hot tub.
Rayhaan is standing in the pool, as Lucie sits. He’s groaning, his dick in Lucie’s mouth.
Holy shit. Lucie’s giving Rayhaan a blowjob.
We can see the side of his body, the muscular line of his form. His cock is huge, but I can’t see the whole thing as Lucie is sucking it greedily into her naughty little mouth.
Instant lust slams though my body at the voyeurism.
“That’s it,” Rayhaan mutters, and his voice is deep. “Lick the drops from the tip.”
Oh my goodness. My pussy grows instantly wet. Ash moves behind me and spreads my legs. Then his warm fingers come between my lips, and he scissors my swollen clit. His other hand comes up to cover my mouth, a reminder for silence.
I’m breathing hard, because I feel like such a perv, but it’s uncontrollably erotic at the same time.
“Enough,” Rayhaan says, and pulls Lucie from the water. I’ve seen them both naked, of course, but this looks different. It feels different. Maybe it’s Ash fingering my clit, but my heart is pounding so hard against my ribs, it’s a wonder they can’t hear it.
Rayhaan lays Lucie along the edge of the pool and she widens her legs. It spreads her labia, and we have a clear shot from where we hide in the dark tunnel.
Ash’s hand moves faster as he masturbates me, and I know he’s turned on, too. I’m so wet his finger is sliding over my swollen folds, and I can feel his cock poking me in the back. He’s jerking against me, and his dick is so hard it feels like concrete.
Then Rayhaan leans down to lick her pussy, and she’s squirming against his mouth. She’s biting her lip to keep from moaning, obviously aware that we’re just down further in the cave.
“It’s okay, my love,” Rayhaan assures her. “They’re probably doing the same.”
Then he dips down to attack her pussy, spearing her clit with his tongue.
Wetness gushes from her opening and mine follows suit, lubricating the way for Ash’s thick finger as it parts me to delve inside.
Rayhaan lowers to lap at the juice that shines from her pussy, and he spreads her lips open with his large fingers. She’s slick and shiny, and I’m so turned on I’m going to explode. Ash’s hand disappears and I want to protest, but he replaces it with his mouth. He’s come down between my spread legs and his mouth is right there, hooked to my pussy the way Rayhaan sucks Lucie’s.
Now she can’t help but moan, but I don’t dare make a sound as Ash’s tongue works magic snaking up inside me. He can rub it inside my pussy, and I’ve never felt anything like it. It’s incredible. It’s sexy. It’s too much. I explode, but any noise I may have made is covered up by Lucie’s orgasm. Her legs straighten and jerk straight into the air, and her breasts quiver lustily as she groans noisily.
Rayhaan snarls and grabs her thighs, jerking her down so her ass is lined up at the edge of the pool. His giant erection slides between her wet lips, and he plunges inside in one smooth strok
e, and then begins fucking her mercilessly.
Ash has pulled away from my still-quivering pussy, and he’s watching Rayhaan fuck Lucie, too. It’s a strange camaraderie we share, watching the live porn together. It’s a turn on to know the sight of Lucie excites him.
Suddenly I’m picked up and impaled on Ash’s dick, and he’s so hard, larger than ever in this position. The rings squirm around as they slide along inside me, and he carries me off to the nest. Each step he takes is a bounce, and a jiggle of the rings inside. His mouth is on my breast, sucking a nipple into his mouth so deeply I feel like it’s going down his throat. I’m grinding myself onto his cock, squirming, because he’s reaching areas that feel so magnificent I want to scream.
I whisper into his ear. “Fuck me hard. Like Rayhaan was fucking Lucie.”
The reminder of the image we last saw does it for him. He snarls as he lowers me to the nest, and our bodies never separate. Instead he pulls away a few inches just to slam into me hard, his balls slapping against the puckered rim of my ass. It tingles through my entire bottom, and I mutter, “Faster. Harder, baby.”
He fucks me the way I want it, and a second orgasm spirals through me. I hear a slight shout from the pool area as Rayhaan comes, and that’s all it takes for Ash. He groans, emptying his cock deep inside me. It shoots hot warmth, and feels different than ever before. He collapses on top of me, and I swing the fur over his back, in case they come back. I needn’t have worried, because they stay in the pool area longer, and Ash and I go at it again as we listen to the sounds of flesh slapping in round two.
Sometime during the night, Rayhaan and Lucie make their way back. I’m barely aware of it, I’m so worn out from Ash’s lovemaking.
The next morning we prepare to leave. Lucie and I can barely walk, and we giggle as we notice each other. The guys are cleaning out the cave, and she and I are doing a quick bath in the pool. The remembrance of watching her come so hard last night tightens my nipples.
“Last night was fucking amazing,” she tells me.
“You’re telling me,” I agree, and I don’t care how she takes it, whether it refers to my time or if I’m agreeing that her sex was awesome.
“I say we make another trip out here. Probably once every season.”
“Agreed.” If I’m too quick to agree, so be it. Then it strikes me. I wonder if Rayhaan knew we watched? I wonder if, next time, it’ll be mine and Ash’s turn to be spied on? I’ll never ask though. Just imagining is erotic.
The guys call out and, still giggling like fools, she and I quickly dress.
We walk all morning and by early afternoon we reach the first level cave. It’s the closest to the village, less than an hour away. It makes no sense to stop when there is so much daylight left.
We continue on, but the closer we get to the village, the quieter it becomes.
There is no wildlife, no rustling of trees. Nothing.
“What’s going on?” Lucie whispers.
The tension in the air is thick. “I’m not sure,” Rayhaan says, just as quietly. “But you two, get on our backs. Just in case.”
As both men drop down to one knee. Lucie and I climb on. Her eyes are huge, and I’m sure mine are similar.
Chapter Twelve
“The air is too still.” Ash looks up at the sky, an unusual sense of worry strewn across his face.
Rayhaan looks grim. “Something is not natural. We should have stayed in the first level cave for tonight.”
“It’s the middle of the afternoon. There’s no way we could have known something was off today,” Lucie says.
“The sky is darkening,” Ash says. “Fast.”
We can literally see the dark approach. It blasts, rolling across the sky like an ooze of ink. With each second that passes, it grows darker. The stillness stops however, as the underbrush comes alive. From behind the trees, howling and moaning begins. Night creatures are being released above ground, in the darkness that has begun and has yet to reach us.
“Run!” Rayhaan yells.
Down the next hill, we can see the giant gate of the village. It’s being frantically lowered, then it’s dropped, slamming with a thunderous boom. Dust kicks up like a sandstorm, momentarily blocking the view of the entrance.
Ash and Rayhaan automatically turn to the left, heading for the side door that is usually manned by one person for emergencies. Please stay open, I chant. Please stay open.
A long tentacle bursts from the ground as if it feels the vibrations of our pounding feet. It reaches for Rayhaan, wanting to trip him. Ash stops and takes his sword, hacking off the creature’s appendage. It flops, bloody and quivering in death. Rayhaan is staring at the side door, his face grim.
The door is closed.
With a look that passes between them, Ash and Rayhaan let us slide from their backs. They put us between them and turn away from us, facing the darkness all around.
“Oh, my God,” Lucie says. “We’re not going to make it. There’s no way two of you can face all the night predators.”
“We just have to hold them at bay long enough for this strange hiccup of darkness to be over. It could be twenty minutes.”
It could be twenty hours, but I’m not saying that aloud. Then another thought hits me. Dammit, we should have all the glow rocks we collected. Instead, we gave them to Kalki and Loshi to return to the village yesterday.
The shrieking grows in volume and the hairs at the back of my neck rise. I brace myself for the inevitable, knowing there’s no way four of us can take on countless monsters of the night. At least we know we’ll go down fighting.
Ash hands me a knife that had been strapped to his thigh. Rayhaan rummages through his pack for the night vision glasses the humans received from the Stargazer ship. He hands them to us. I take mine with shaking hands and slide them on. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, because the world comes alive with evil. The dangerous creatures in the distance are outlined clearly, but without the invisible wall—the protection from the Stargazer vessel we once used to view them.
My heart pounds. There are too many of them. They snarl and gnash their teeth, some are dripping saliva. They’re enormous and hideously ugly. Some look deformed, some are missing body parts, as if mutilated by other creatures. Even with as strong as the Blaedonians are, I know the monsters are even stronger.
Suddenly, off behind us, there’s bright light in the distance that comes from the village. It grows brighter, as if it’s moving toward us. It takes me a minute, but I realize what it is. Five hunters, with glow rocks strapped to their chests. Cio is in the lead.
Ash twists his sword to send a reflection toward them. They move quicker as they find us, and begin to run to where we are. The hunters surround us, and two of them drape one of their extra glow rock bands around each of us. From close up, I can see the netting that encloses the rocks is some type of crocheted sling.
The monsters are howling now, mostly in frustration. The light is bright and hurts their eyes. They’re afraid to approach any closer, but they can smell us. From time to time, something will try to snake under the ground and burst free beneath us, but the hunters calmly hack at it, removing body parts piece by piece.
“Are we glad to see you,” Rayhaan mutters, his sword slicing through a monster that burrows underneath the ground. It bellows, sending vibrations up around our feet.
“Good thing Cio was watching out for you. He had Adretta gather the women to make these slings of glow rocks for us to come out,” Tijar says.
“Thank you,” Ash says to him.
Cio nods, and they look away from each other. It’s easier not to focus on one another, because the brightness blinds your vision. Instead we concentrate for any creatures that try to approach. A pack of something that looks like naked wolves runs up, jaws snapping. There’s four or five of them and that side of the hunters, including Ash, find it easy to take them out.
We take a breather, panting harshly, and with swords and knives out, prepare for the nex
t invasion.
“Over there,” Ash says, and we see something inches toward us.
“Here too,” Tijar calls, and a black blob comes barreling forward.
Then just as quickly as the dark hits, it’s over.
With a crack of lightning, the sky lights up and the clouds disperse. The sun flings us all into instant daylight with a dizzying spell. In the distance, I can see the ugly night creatures as they shriek, scrambling to return to whatever holes they came from. Instead, most scream as they combust in the brightness of the sun, their skin erupting like frying sausage. Blood sizzles as they screech in pain. They drop in masses, like spontaneous electrocution.
The screams stop. There’s bloody carnage all around us. We’re silent—in shock—as we take it all in.
“Damn,” Tijar mutters.
We’re the only ones left alive. Now the ground is swallowing the deaths, erupting like tiny earthquakes all around us. Dust is kicked up as it opens and closes in planetary burps.
“Let’s calmly walk toward the door,” Rayhaan suggests.
Step by step, we move in unison, still staring at the massacre all around us like they may jump up and attack again. Somehow we reach the door and someone pounds on it. Because it’s daylight now, it’s opened.
Drakar is on the other side. “Get in,” he says.
We scramble through the doorway as fast as we can. The villagers surround us, some taking the netted strands of glow rocks from our necks. Others are rubbing our arms and hugging us. Lucie’s small shallga throws itself into her arms and clings to her like a monkey, gibbering in her ear.
“What was that?” Rayhaan says to Drakar.
“I do not know. The council is convening right now, going over ancient logs from the origins you found yesterday. Let’s get inside and wait while they search the pages.”
No one seems to mind that it’s broad daylight and the gates haven’t been re-opened. I think we’re all okay with them staying closed for a little bit.
A few people are outside in the sunlight, as if they can soak up the safety of the light. We head into the main cave. The chatter stops as we approach.