Текст книги "The Alien’s Bond"

Автор книги: Kira Quinn

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CHAPTER EIGHT

The climb to higher ground went relatively smoothly, all things considered. Heydar, despite his protestations, slowed his pace somewhat so the human female could keep up, and the two of them reached the top of the target hill in good time.

“This will suffice,” he said, gazing upward at the sturdy limbed tree rising above them.

It was tall with thick branches ending in tufts of purple and burgundy leaves, matching the coloring of many of the plants on this world from what Darla had seen so far.

“Suffice for what, exactly?” she asked.

Heydar didn’t bother with a reply, leaping up and grabbing one of the lower branches far over their heads with a vertical that would have put any basketball player to shame. He was going up higher to get a better view, leaving Darla on the ground below.

“Hey!”

“Keep your voice down,” he hissed. “We do not know who may be lurking nearby.”

“Fine. Just help me up.”

“I do not require your assistance in this matter.”

“I didn’t say I wanted to help. I just want to see.”

Those gold-rimmed eyes stared at her a long moment, making her shift uneasily. In all the commotion, she’d forgotten how much he could resemble a predator, and an apex one at that.

A long, bulging arm lowered toward her.

“Grab hold,” he growled

She did as best she could, but his wrists were too girthy for her to get a proper grip. Heydar sighed and wrapped his fingers around her forearm, the additional joints allowing them to encircle her limb in a snug embrace.

Then, as quickly as he’d reached his arm down, Darla found herself hauled aloft and placed gently on a sturdy branch.

“Satisfied?” he asked, releasing his grip.

“Yes, very.”

“Hmph.”

He began scaling the tree without another word, once again affording her a great view of that magnificent ass on the way up. With that impressive thing staring her in the face, Darla couldn’t help but look.

What’s with me? Did the Raxxians put something in the food to make their livestock breed or something? ‘Cause hot damn, I’m feeling horny as hell. Then again, now that I think of it, that may also just be the whole narrowly cheating death thing doing the talking. Funny how adrenaline can do that.

She shook her head and pushed those thoughts from her head, shifting her legs to relieve the little tingle the pressure from her current perch was producing. It was nice. Really nice, truth be told, but she had other things to focus on.

Darla’s reach wasn’t nearly as long as Heydar’s but she managed to follow him up into the heights of the canopy, and what she saw when she joined him there took her breath away.

Stretching as far as the eye could see was a lush, green world, jutting bursts of burgundy, purple, and orange plant life springing up in some areas making it into a patchwork of stunning nature.

The air was clear and crisp, small, happy clouds drifting in the breeze. It was as if they had landed in some pristine corner of the world, untouched by humanity. Of course, this was an alien world, so technically that was true.

Off in the distance the lush colors of the forest gave way to what seemed to be a reddish-brown desert. Heat waves radiated from the ground, giving it an almost wavy appearance. But that wasn’t the only thing they saw.

Off toward the horizon on their left a massive mountain range could be made out, far smaller in appearance than reality due to the tricks that distance could play on the eye.

“It’s beautiful,” she gasped.

Even Heydar’s typically rough and matter-of-fact demeanor had seemed to soften a little.

“Yes, it is,” he replied, a faraway look in his eye.

Darla scanned the terrain, looking for any sign of a city or settlement. There was none.

“I don’t see any cities out there,” she said.

“No. But that does not mean there aren’t any,” he replied. “We could tell better at night, when cooking fires would be lit, but that is hours away, and we should be moving.”

He started to descend from their perch.

“Why would they use campfires to cook?” Darla asked as she followed him down.

“Because not all societies are as advanced as others. I do not recognize this world based on this limited view, but by the undeveloped look of it, this is most likely the case here. Time will tell. Now, come. We must find shelter, sustenance, and water if we are to survive.”

Heydar reversed the ascent process, descending after her then gently lowering her from the tree before leaping down to join her, landing as nimbly as a big cat. He took one look around and made a decision.

“This way.”

Darla, stubborn as she could be, was nevertheless an alien on this world, and she thought it wise to follow the lead of someone more familiar with this sort of thing than she was. The burly alien directed them down the hill back toward lower ground, descending on the opposite side of the hill from where their section of ship had gone down.

They walked quietly for some time, the shadows growing longer as the sun gradually lowered in the sky. The thing was, she had no idea when it might actually become night on this planet. Earth days were something she was familiar with, but here? A day could be half as long or double, there was no way to guess. In any case, it seemed they had a fair walk ahead of them.

Heydar motioned for her to move closer, his use of hand signals cluing Darla to the need for silence. She moved near and hunkered down low. They had come to a small creek, the gently flowing water calling out to her parched lips with its siren song. She was so thirsty she could smell the water, her mouth craving it with an almost undeniable need.

He pointed to the damp ground closer to the water’s edge.

Footprints. Many of them, and humanoid in shape and size.

Heydar cocked his head, listening intently to the sounds of the forest. After a lengthy time motionless he finally seemed satisfied, gesturing for Darla to come with him to the creek.

She dropped to her knees and filled her hands, drinking deep, not caring one bit if there might be some alien bacteria in the water. That might kill her slowly, but if she didn’t hydrate she’d be dead long before that would be a concern.

Heydar bent forward and did the same, filling his hands with great scoops of water, drinking it down, some of the liquid flowing down his neck and chest, making his tattered clothing stick to his body, outlining every muscle as it did. He was built like an Adonis. A seven-foot-tall alien one, but impressive nonetheless.

Darla felt a warm stirring in her belly at the sight.

As if that wasn’t enough, the hunky alien shook his hands dry and licked his lips, revealing a long, split tongue, each of the halves working in unison but also separating to function independently. The heat began to press lower as she watched him, her mind unable to avoid wondering precisely what a tongue like that was capable of.

She could think of several off the top of her head.

Darla felt something else. A pair of violet eyes staring at her.

“What?” she snapped.

“Nothing. You had a strange look on your face. I thought perhaps you were feeling unwell.”

“I’m fine,” she said, the happy tingle between her legs taking its own sweet time to go away. “Hey, we’ve got water, but what are we going to do about food?”

“Where there is water there is game. I will not hunt this close to our water source, but there should be acceptable prey close enough. In the meantime, you may eat these.”

He pulled a long tubular stalk from the mud and extended it to her. The base was a gnarled root, but just above the mud line the plant shifted to a pale green length, ending at a small cluster of green berry looking things.

“Do not eat the berries,” Heydar noted. “They will make you quite ill. But the stalk between them and the root is nutritious, if not particularly flavorful.”

“You’re sure about this?” Darla asked, accepting the offering, sniffing it curiously.

“We have this on my world. On many worlds, for that matter. It is a variant of the Olama plant, propagated wherever explorers landed as a hardy emergency food source. It would do you well to learn to identify it on sight. It could serve you well one day.”

Darla wasn’t exactly sure she liked the sound of that. She had no intention of living out in the middle of some alien wilderness the rest of her life. But that said, she also had an unpleasant rumbling growing in her stomach.

She shook the plant off in the water to clear off the remaining mud, then brought the stalk to her lips and took a tentative nibble. The flavor was like a bitter cacao nib, but with a slightly astringent, yet sweet, aftertaste. Not pleasant by a long shot, but something she could get down without issue if need be. And given how hungry she was, need was definitely be.

Heydar pulled a few more Olama plants from the mud and cleaned them off, handing her a few before eating his own, washing it down with more fresh water from the creek.

Their bellies were not full by any means, but at least the hunger pangs were quelled for the time being. With that accomplished, the pair headed away from the water to hopefully find something more substantial to eat and a dry place to spend the night.

They had walked for an hour without sign of game when Heydar pointed to the distant sky. The trees had thinned out as they neared a large clearing, and with the view cleared they could see a dark wisp of smoke far off in the distance.

“Campfire?” Darla wondered.

“No. It appears relatively close, but do not let that deceive you. The fire is very far away. What’s more, the color of the smoke and the way it rises is wrong for natural combustion. That is spaceship fuel cooking off. Raxxian fuel, to be specific. What you see is another downed segment of their ship.”

“The others might be alive?”

The look on his face said otherwise. “Not in that portion of the ship. Flames like that do not bode well for survivors.”

Darla felt her spirits drop. So far as she knew, she was the only human alive on this world, and she might never see her own kind again. She sank down onto a fallen log, deflated. Heydar was about to remind her they needed to keep moving but noticed the look in her eye and held his tongue.

“You should rest,” he said, gauging the darkening sky. “It will be nightfall soon. Rest. I will complete the hunt.”

“You won’t leave me here, right?”

“I will not abandon you here. You have my word of honor.”

There was something solemn in the way he said those words that made her believe him. She gave a little nod of agreement. That was all he needed to see. He was gone before she could utter another word.

I hope that wasn’t a bad call. Guess I’ll find out soon enough.

It was almost dark when the alien returned carrying a small parcel of cooked meat, already cut, cleaned, roasted, and packaged in a bundled pelt lined with clean, broad leaves. It seemed he had hunted successfully and fully processed the kill before returning to the camp. And he had even managed to make fire in the wilderness. Frankly, she was kind of impressed.

It reminded Darla of something her dad had mentioned once about wild animals and tempting food. Heydar had done what he could to ensure nothing would follow its nose back to their location. She couldn’t help but admire his prowess and situational awareness, even in this strange environment.

“Eat,” he said, handing her the still-warm bundle.

She didn’t have to be told twice. Darla opened the leaf and felt her mouth water with the first whiff of the cooked meat. She was mostly vegetarian back home on Earth, but here, in a survival situation? Beggars couldn’t be choosers. And this smelled amazing.

She tucked in with gusto, devouring her meal in a flash, her body feeling worlds better with the nutrition flowing into her veins.

Heydar ate his portion quietly then took the leaves and carried them far off into the trees to dispose of them before returning. He dragged several boughs and leaned them against the log she had been sitting on, spreading broad, waxy green leaves across them, followed by a layer of smaller reddish ones, fashioning protection and insulation until a crude lean-to had been erected.

“Night is upon us, and this will have to do,” he said, surveying his work. “It is time to sleep.” He crawled into the shelter and lay down on his side.

Darla wasn’t too keen on sharing a crappy woodland shelter with an alien, and she had several objections running through her mind, but her aching body was having none of that. She was tired and worn out, her adrenaline stores drained to zero. If she didn’t rest, and soon, she would be in a bad way. And given what they were facing come tomorrow, she was undoubtedly going to need her strength.

With a sigh she lowered herself down and crawled in beside him, feeling his blazing heat radiating in the small space.

Well, at least I won’t freeze to death, she mused as she closed her eyes.

She was fast asleep in under a minute.

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CHAPTER NINE

Darla had fitful, crazy dreams. Crazy, hot, erotic dreams that had come out of nowhere. Her subconscious was really playing a number on her. Of course, she had been taken captive, escaped, and been rescued, though that bit had been done by a thick-muscled alien with the most beautiful eyes, so maybe that had a little something to do with it.

In any case, it had proved to be a much more pleasant night than she’d have imagined, especially tucked away in a makeshift lean-to on a hostile world.

She roused from her slumber, stretching her limbs and letting out a contented yawn. Turning on her side, she felt for the expected heat of the alien she’d been curled up next to but found no one there. A sudden flash of fear surged through her, replacing the warm, fuzzy contentedness post-dream with an adrenaline-fueled jerk to full consciousness.

Her eyes snapped open, searching for Heydar. The alien was nowhere to be seen.

That motherfu—

Darla scrambled out of the lean-to and leapt to her feet, spinning three-sixty. It was a clear morning, the kind she remembered as a kid and longed for as an adult. Wispy clouds were drifting high in the blue sky, swirling in the thermoclines. There were no birds in sight, but she could easily imagine a flock of geese or ducks cruising on elongated wings.

She noted that the air was carrying a light scent, an almost sweet, earthy smell, the dark, nutrient-rich soil feeding the explosive growth of impressive greenery all around her. The overall feel would have been relaxing as fuck. That is, if she wasn’t stuck a bazillion miles from home, stranded with a surly alien and hunted by the pack of the lizard-like bastards who’d kidnapped her in the first place.

Hell, minus that, she might have even enjoyed the scenery.

She looked up at the trees around her. Not as tall as the one she’d climbed with Heydar, but tall enough. She made her way to one with a good spread of branches. More importantly, it was one growing in such a way that she could reach the lower ones without assistance.

Darla jumped up and wrapped her hands around the closest, pulling herself up and swinging her legs to a foothold with agility that almost surprised her. It seemed those kickboxing classes were paying off after all.

She made her way upward, taking her time and carefully placing her hands and feet. A fall from this height with no hospital anywhere remotely close? A small injury here could prove more than a little dangerous. Fatal, even.

Up and up she went, weaving through the branches until she made it to the top of the canopy where she could get a better look at where the hell she actually was in relation to, well, everything.

She reached what looked like a good spot and set herself in position, making damn sure she had selected a sturdy limb before wrapping her legs around it. The view was, yet again, amazing.

In the morning light this world was even more beautiful than she’d initially noticed. She saw the distant mountains, now with their peaks shrouded in a morning mist reflecting the sun, as well as the desert and plains that she hadn’t seen clearly the other day.

In the distance, the burning remains of the segment from the Raxxian ship were still aflame, pumping smoke up into the sky in a steady stream. Apparently, whatever they used for fuel, there had been plenty of it.

Darla turned, scanning the rest of the area, looking for anything that might be of use. A town, a farm, anything. She slowly turned, taking it all in. She had glanced past an adjacent tree when she paused. Something was off. Something had caught her eye. A glint of gold.

She squinted, looking closer. Shrouded in the treetop, a large, violet and gold eyed man crouched, leaves tucked into his torn clothing, a hand-woven crown of foliage draped over his head, hanging down over his broad shoulders.

It was incredibly simple, yet with just the vegetation at hand, Heydar had somehow camouflaged himself perfectly.

And Darla didn’t give a shit.

“What the fuck?” she growled. “You just up and abandon me like that?”

“I did not abandon you.”

“What the hell do you call bailing on me without a word? Leaving me all alone in some primitive caveman shelter?”

“I was gathering information while you rested. You were tired.”

“Not so tired that I’m not going to be pissed that you left me there. What if an animal came? Or a Raxxian?”

“There are no Raxxians in our vicinity. And as for animals, the only tracks I have seen so far belong to smaller varieties. Nothing that would be a threat to you,” he said with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

“That doesn’t matter. And what the hell are you grinning at?”

He nodded toward the ground far below. “You climbed the tree without assistance.”

“Yeah? Big deal.”

“You required my help yesterday.”

“Well, you weren’t fucking there to help me today.”

“Indeed,” he said with a chuckle. “A good night’s rest has clearly invigorated you, and your focused anger has served you well.”

Darla felt a little flash of pride creeping in and mixing with her ire. Now that she stopped to think about it, she had managed to climb the tree with surprising ease, partly fueled by sheer irritation.

Heydar had been right about that, and the accuracy of his observation, along with her not noticing until it was pointed out, irked her even more. Honestly, she didn’t know whether she should be pleased or even more infuriated by the whole situation. Before she could make up her mind he raised an arm and pointed.

“What?” she snapped.

“There. Do you see it?”

“See what?”

“There.”

“You’ve got special alien eyes or something. I don’t see shit.”

“Yes, I have enhancing pigment, but it is not required for this. Look harder. You can do this.”

Darla was going to mouth off but held back. Instead she squinted her eyes, searching for whatever it was he was talking about. It took her a minute but then she actually saw something. Smoke in the distance. A different kind of smoke, to be exact.

“Yes,” he said when he saw her register the tendril wafting into the air. “Judging by the changed color of the treetops, something large came down in that area. Likely another section of the Raxxian ship. And this time it does not appear to be ablaze.”

“But the smoke?”

“Normal for so rough a landing, especially with emergency deceleration.”

Darla felt the anger ebbing from her body, slowly replaced by a modicum of hope.

“This means there might be other survivors, right?”

“There might be, yes.”

“So when do we leave?

Heydar smiled wide. “As soon as you join me on the ground.”

With that he scampered down the branches, landing on the soil below with catlike grace.

“Sonofa—fine. Gimme a minute.”

Darla descended much slower than he did, taking her time to make sure she didn’t fall. It seemed her alien companion was testing her.

Or pushing her.

Or maybe both.

It was annoying, no doubt, but unlikely as it was, she also found herself kind of enjoying it in a strange way. He had pushed her outside of her comfort zone and she had excelled.

She hated to admit it, but it felt good.

As soon as her feet hit the ground Heydar turned his back and started walking.

“Okay, then. I guess we’re heading out,” she grumbled, brushing off her hands and hurrying after him.

They made much better time now that it was full daylight. A decent night’s sleep hadn’t hurt either. Both added up to the pair covering a fair amount of ground at a quick pace. Heydar forged ahead, but it seemed he had been holding back a little more so Darla wouldn’t have to push so hard to keep up.

Was he taking it easy on her? Not by a long shot. But she had earned a bit of respect, and he was treating her less like an annoying human anchor slowing his roll and more like a fellow survivor, even if she was lacking the requisite tattoos. And she was keeping pace, holding her own, no matter how much her legs and lungs were objecting.

Twenty minutes into their walk, Heydar held up his hand, signaling to stop.

“What is it?” Darla whispered.

Heydar slowly raised his hands high, nodding for her to do the same. “We mean no threat,” he said to the foliage.

So much for being a badass fighter, she thought with a chuckle.

Nevertheless, Darla copied him, hands up in the air though they were clearly alone in the woods.

A rustling nearby startled her, but not nearly as much as the appearance of a dozen wiry, primitive hunters with spears in their hands and knives on their belts. That quickly made her reassess that position.

Where the hell did they come from? Darla wondered.

They were a pale green color and shorter than Heydar, though still taller than most humans. They were lean and strong from a life of activity outdoors. They had tunics but most were pulled loose and tucked into their waistbands. As a result, Darla got a good look at their exposed torsos, covered in a latticework of delicate tattoos of a variety of colors.

Where Heydar’s were bolder in design and heavy in pigment, these people opted for a more subtle approach. But one thing seemed the same. Namely, the runes inked into their skin. It appeared this means of tapping into the pigment’s power was universal across species. And that meant the translation runes tattooed behind each of their ears should still work here.

“We mean you no harm,” Heydar repeated. “I am Heydar, of the Nimenni.”

“We recognize as much,” the hunting party leader said, lowering his spear. “I am Adzus. Your people are welcome among the Oraku.” His attention shifted to the design peeping out from Heydar’s torn shirt, but he said nothing of it, instead turning to Darla. “And you? I am not familiar with your race.”

“Human,” she said. “We’re not exactly what you’d call space travelers.”

“The Raxxians took her and several others from her world,” Heydar clarified.

“Raxxians,” Adzus said, spitting with disgust. “We are no friends of the Raxxians.”

Heydar nodded. “Very few are.”

“And you? How did you come to be among them?” the hunter asked.

“Captured in battle and held for longer than I care to admit.”

Adzus nodded solemnly. “Then you would do well with a proper meal and a hot bath, both of which the Oraku will gladly provide you. Come, our village is no more than a few hours trek from here.”

“Thank you, Adzus, your hospitality is much appreciated,” Heydar replied.

“Yeah, thanks,” Darla added, wondering what new sort of strange alien situation she’d just landed in.

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