by Lena Grey
“Then talk to her before you go, and help her understand them.”
“I will try,” I say, although I doubt it will matter. Now that Jill-ee-un is reunited with her friends, I feel the distance between us growing.
She purposely avoids me, moving away when I get too close and refusing to meet my gaze when I try to catch her eye. I do not know what has changed between us. All I know is that I do not like it.
While Jill-ee-un stays away, Char-let continues to come closer. She is a pleasing female to look at, yet she is not my mate. Still, I do not tell her to leave me alone. Char-let is one of Jill-ee-un’s tribe members, so I will not disrespect her by being cruel.
When she approaches me yet again, I greet her with purpose. “Char-let help Remmel find Jill-ee-un?”
She frowns at my request. “What do you want with her?”
I am done denying the truth. “Jill-ee-un Remmel’s mate.”
“Your mate?” she sneers. “Don’t you mean your friend with fucking benefits?”
I stare at her without responding. The way she uses Jill-ee-un’s words confuses me.
“Ohforgodssake. Rakuisaredumberthanaboxofrocks.” She points toward the trees. “She went for a walk. That way.”
“Thankyew,” I tell her before racing away.
Jill-ee-un has gone deep into the woods, and it takes me a while to find her. I want to scold her for putting herself in danger like this, yet I know that will only irritate her.
I call out her name so I do not startle her, and she turns toward me. Her eyes light up when she sees me, although that light quickly dims.
“What are you doing here, Remmel?”
“Remmel, Jill-ee-un talk.”
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Remmel leave soon. Find Reyzon and Jay-duh.”
Fear flashes across her face, though it is brief, fleeting. “I thought Zeleck and Darht were going.”
“Remmel best Rakui tracker. Go with Zeleck.”
“It could be dangerous.”
“Yes,” I say. “That is why Remmel here to see Jill-ee-un.”
“To say goodbye, maybe forever?”
I search for the common words to tell her how much she means to me and how much I care for her. Yet there is no way for the simple language to convey how I feel.
So, I take her hand and lay it over my heart. “Jill-ee-un Remmel’s mate. Forevermore.”
Chapter 20
Jillian
What in the hell just happened?
I’m alone in the woods, minding my own business while nursing a broken heart, when Remmel shows up out of nowhere and blurts out that he’s joining the search for Jade and Reyzon.
Okay, fine. Thanks for the heads-up. Don’t get dead.
But instead of telling me goodbye, did he just propose?
My eyes narrow and I yank my hand away. “What did you say?”
“Jill-ee-un Remmel’s mate. Forevermore.”
“Yeah, yeah. I heard that. What does that mean?”
He looks confused. “Jill-ee-un belongs to Remmel. Forevermore bond.”
“I’ve told you before that I belong to no man. And even if I did, it wouldn’t be you.”
“Jill-ee-un reject Remmel?” Shit. I’ve hurt his feelings.
Fuck him. He hurt mine, too. “You kissed Charlotte.”
More confusion. “Remmel no kiss-zing Char-let.” He shakes his head and a sliver of doubt creeps into my mind.
“She said you kissed her.”
“Ahh.” His confusion dissipates. “Char-let kiss-zing Remmel. Remmel no kiss-zing Char-let.”
“Wait. Charlotte kissed you, not the other way around?”
He nods. “Yes.”
“And you didn’t kiss her back?”
“No.” Another shake of his head. “Remmel only kiss-zing Jill-ee-un.”
“Thatfuckingbitch. Imgoingtoteareveryplatinumhairfromherhead.” I pace back and forth, shaking with rage. I hate how easily I was manipulated, how she turned me against him, how she made me doubt what we have, how she made me believe he chose her over me.
When Remmel and I had sex again, and I still didn’t get pregnant, I figured that was a sign that we weren’t meant to be. But after I was almost eaten by the trappol tree, and Remmel saved my life, I wanted to be his mate.
So, what do I do? Cut and run. At the first sign of a little competition, I’m ready to give him up. God, what kind of mate flipflops back and forth like a fish out of water? A shitty one. Yeah, that kind. Remmel deserves better.
I go to him and look him in the eye. I owe him that, at least. “I can’t be your mate.”
“Jill-ee-un already Remmel’s mate.”
Let’s try this again.
I take a deep breath and pat his chest. “I know you think I’m your mate, but I’m not. We had sex, twice, and I’m still not pregnant.” He’s not following so I place my hand on my abdomen and shake my head. “No kit. I wish there was a kit in my belly, but there’s not. That means I’m not your mate.”
“Jill-ee-un want Remmel’s kit?”
Duh. I just told him I did. “Well, yeah.”
He nods. “Remmel and Jill-ee-un make kit later.” I’m giving him an out here and the barbarian just shrugs it off.
“Remmel, why would you even want me as your mate? I’m not cute and curvy like that bitch, Charlotte. Or sweet and caring like my BFF, Kenzie. I swear like a truckdriver and--”
His fingers press against my lips to shut me up. “Jill-ee-un is smartest, most beautiful Terran female, and brave like Rakui warrior.” He takes my hand and places it back over his heart. “Jill-ee-un here, forevermore.”
My eyes tear up. Damn, that’s a pretty good answer. What girl could say no after that? Not this one, that’s for sure.
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll be your mate.”
Remmel grins and his entire face lights up. He’s sexy as hell when he’s all grumpy and brooding. But on the rare occasion when he smiles or laughs, he literally takes my breath away.
A sexy growl rumbles deep in his chest. The next thing I know, I’m in his arms, bawling like a baby, and he’s kissing me like he might devour me whole. I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist and cling to him like my life depends on it.
Remmel
My mate and I return to the hunting cave, hand-in-hand, our commitment to each other binding our lives together forever.
In the eyes of the Rakui, Jill-ee-un became my forevermore bond the moment my cock found a home inside her warm, welcoming cunt. She does not know this, and it does not change how we feel about each other, yet I hope to one day have the words to explain this tradition to her.
For now, I am content in knowing that she wants me as her mate, that she wishes to carry my kit, and that she will share my furs until we are called to the heavens.
She squeezes my hand when we are close to the cave. “Do you hear that? It’s Jade’s voice!”
“Yes, and Reyzon’s, too.”
“Hotdamn! Now you don’t have to leave me to go look for them!”
It is not a question, yet I answer as if it is. “No, my mate. Remmel and Jill-ee-un start journey home instead.”
She smiles at me, and in that moment, my heart knows true happiness.
Chapter 21
Jillian
One Week Later
Apparently, in the Rakuis’ eyes, the first time Remmel and I had, um, intercourse, I became his forevermore bond.
I know this because, while I was off finding our friends, Trauhn took Kenzie into the Cavern of Memory where she learned the history of the Rakui people, and a talking computer uploaded the Rakui dialect to her TEASE implant.
Once she could understand and speak the Rakui language, Trauhn told her about their mating customs, and she told me.
I guess it’s fine for unmated Rakuis to fool around to their hearts’ content. First base, second base, third base. Anything goes as long as pleasure is shared using mouths and fingers. But onc
e a male slides into home? That seals the deal, and they’re bonded together forevermore.
I know we had limited communication in the beginning, but old Jillian, the one who boarded the starship Educator for a Year of Interstellar Education, would have been pissed at Remmel for not giving her a heads up about the whole forevermore thing. But new Jillian, the one who survived being kidnapped by mercenaries and strung up by alien ivy, and who won a battle against dangerous alien rogues, gave him a pass on that.
In retrospect, I think it’s sweet that my big, burly barbarian was technically a virgin when we met, although I never would have guessed. Under the furs, the dude has more moves than a professional wrestler. He tells me it’s a genetic thing. That Rakui males are born knowing how to please their mates. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but I choose believe him.
I’m not crazy about C-U-NEXT-TUESDAY being the common Rakui word for lady bits; none of us Earth girls are. Labia, vagina, and pussy aren’t in their language database, and those words don’t translate. But now that I’m mated to Remmel and have been to the Cavern of Memory, too, I find it kind of sexy when he growls about wanting to feast on my cunt. What woman in her right mind wouldn’t find that hot?
In the interest of enhancing communication between the Rakuis and the Terrans, the tribe’s elders, Morkon and Cyana, allowed the unmated Terran females to also visit the Cavern of Memory to learn the tribe’s history and get the language download. I guess we’re all honorary Rakuis now.
We got back to the village about a week ago, and it seems like I haven’t had a moment to myself since we returned. Between marathon sex sessions with Remmel in his hut—correction: our hut—and adjusting to life on UD237, I’m exhausted. That’s why I’m still in bed when Kenzie pounds on the door.
“Jillian, are you in there?”
“Yeah. Come on it.”
The door to the hut flies open and she comes inside. “Get up you lazy butt, you missed breakfast.”
“I’m tired,” I whine.
“Too bad,” she says as she pulls my fur cover off. Thankfully, I’m not naked. “Layla found something on that broken communicator she swiped off the dead mercenary. She’s called a meeting in the North Caves to show us.”
That gets my attention. “I’ll be right there.”
She scurries off, and I pull the stretchy band from my bed hair, smooth the strands as best as I can, and gather it back into a messy bun. If I had a mirror, I know I’d look like a wreck, at least by Earth standards. But Remmel thinks I’m beautiful, so I try not to think about my appearance beyond that.
I’m the last one to arrive at the North Caves. This is where the elders and my unmated friends sleep. It’s the safest place in the village and, like the Cavern of Memory, is guarded 24-hours a day.
Xvar, the guard on duty, tells me that the Terran females are gathered in what he calls the weapons cave. We call it a storage room. After the mercenaries who kidnapped us were dead, we salvaged their weapons and store them here for safety.
When I enter the cave, Layla and Jade are standing in the back and all the girls are sitting on the floor facing them. “Sorry, I’m late,” I say. I give Charlotte the stink eye when I step over her to sit by Kenzie.
Layla speaks first. “Now that everyone is here, I have bad news and disturbing news.”
“More disturbing than the news you gave us when we got to the Rakui village?” Miranda asks. She’s referring to how we ended up on UD237 and what Earth Gov is doing to us via our TEASE implants.
“Not more disturbing than that,” Layla clarifies. “But related to it. The bad news is, the mercenary’s communicator is toast. There’s no way we’re using it to reach someone off-plant or send a distress call.”
Disappointed murmurs rumble through the small cave. I look at Kenzie and shrug. If Alliance Interstellar Security landed a rescue ship here tomorrow, she and I have already decided to stay with our mates.
“What’s the disturbing news?” Gia asks.
“With Jade’s help, I recovered a text message to the mercenary with a holographic attachment. The message says: Your mission has been finalized. To receive the negotiated bounty, your team must retrieve the 12 Terran females and return them, untouched and unharmed, to the Command Center. Details regarding infil and exfil transport will follow.”
“That’s not exactly news,” I say. “We figured out most of this already from the mercenaries’ conversations with each other.”
“Wait until you see the holograph,” Jade says. “Play it, Layla.”
Layla points the communicator toward the wall of the cave, presses a button, and a shimmery, holographic image of a woman fills the space.
“That’s Professor Jacoby!” Kenzie exclaims.
“Weird, right?” Jade says.
The woman in the holograph, Professor Jennifer Jacoby from the starship Educator, begins to speak.
Per the terms of our agreement, we have transferred the deposit into the numbered account you provided. The remaining credits will be paid when the cargo is safe and secure. I should remind you that, if the cargo is harmed in any way, this agreement will be null and void. Contact me when the cargo is secure.
“Professor Jacoby is Earth Gov military,” Reese says. “That makes her partly responsible for dumping us on UD237. Why hire mercenaries to come pick us up?”
“And who is the ‘we’ she mentions?” I ask.
“We don’t have answers to those questions, but we’ll keep looking,” Layla says. “For now, we wanted all of you to see what we found.”
“I’m taking the communicator over to the Cavern of Memory now,” Jade says. “Maybe Zavra can analyze the file and tell us more. If she does, I’ll let you know.”
Chapter 22
Jade
I sigh with frustration, type in another line of text, and press ‘search.’ So far, Zavra hasn’t found anything useful. In her defense, she’s a 300-year-old Artificial Intelligence that’s using a broken communicator to connect to the Net.
It looks like the metadata on the mercenary’s text message and Professor Jacoby’s holographic message are useless without stronger Net access.
The Cavern of Memory is where the Rakuis keep the computer from the original starship that brought them to UD237. Near as I can tell, the computer’s memory is intact, but its communications ability is severely damaged.
Search failed. Signal weak. Would you like to try again?
A thought occurs to me. I’ve been trying to retrieve information. What if I tried to send data instead? To push instead of pull? Would that improve the connection?
I type out a broadcast message, my fingers flying over the holographic keyboard.
SOS UD237. Crashed pods detached from carrier ship. Terrans stranded. Rescue needed. Reply if in range.
I hit enter, and Zavra replies almost instantly.
Message sent. Signal weak. Ping four trillion MS.
Whoa. Did that actually work?
“Zavra, with a weak signal, what are the odds that the message will be received by a passing ship?”
Searching. One moment, please. There is a 1 in 6,000,487,335 chance that a ship is in range to receive the message.
So, impossible odds.
Would you like me to scan for data related to your message?
“You can do that with a weak signal?”
Yes.
I don’t know how that works, but okay. “Yes. Please scan for data related to my message, particularly UD237, Terrans, and rescue.”
Scanning. Please stand by.
Hours pass and nothing happens. I’m beginning to think this is another wasted effort when Zavra speaks again.
Data captured. Would you like to read it?
“Yes, please.” The computer’s holographic screen pops up and a message is displayed.
Phase III of Operation Species Survival Mode complete. Terrans secure on UD237. SOS intercepted. Commencing Phase IV.
That can’t be good.
&nbs
p; “Zavra, can you tell me where this data originated?”
Searching. One moment, please. Your request is denied.
Of course it is. I haven’t even processed what this might mean when a breathless Jillian races into the cavern. “Jade, the hunters are back.”
There was another solar storm a couple of days ago, and someone saw a starship fall from the sky not too far from the village. A group of hunters went to investigate. I hope they’re okay. They refused to take our stun guns or laser weapons because they prefer to protect themselves with swords and knives.
Greeting the returning hunters isn’t as important as figuring out what Phase IV is, let alone what Phase I, II, or III, were, but I follow her out of the cave anyway. Stretching my legs and getting some fresh air might help me think more clearly.
Outside the cavern, a group of Rakuis and Terrans have gathered around. “What’s going on?” I ask.
“They found the ship that crashed,” Kenzie says.
“And?” I crane my neck, trying to see what all the fuss is about.
“The hunters found more Terrans,” Vauss says.
“They did?” I wiggle around the big Rakuis to get a better look, and Jillian follows behind me. Reyzon and Zeleck are standing there, cradling two unconscious women.
They look like…
But no, it can’t be.
Can it?
“It’s Professor Jacoby and Professor Grant,” Jillian says.
Okay. Now things are really weird.
Epilogue
Jillian
“Come, my mate, I have something to show you.” Remmel takes my hand and drags me toward our hut.
“I hope it’s your giant cock,” I tease. He shows it to me every night and most mornings, too. I never get tired of looking at it. Or tasting it. Or feeling it thrust into me.