Текст книги "The Alien’s Bond"

Автор книги: Kira Quinn

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

CHAPTER TWENTY

Darla’s clothes had gone from post-stream-bath damp to dry and quickly back to damp again, but this time from the sweat of exertion. She had been moving fast, her legs churning as she kept pace with Heydar as he hurried them closer to their destination.

They were covering a lot of distance, far more than she’d have been able to do on any of her hikes back on Earth, and at a speed well beyond her normal capabilities. But it seemed her capabilities were anything but normal now, thanks to the alien plant ink permanently etched into her skin.

Heydar had been right, the tattoos were itching far less, but when she really pushed herself, she could actually feel the living pigment shifting under her skin. It quelled her aches and pains and gave her more stamina and strength, but she couldn’t help but wonder if she was doing any permanent damage to herself pushing this hard before she had fully healed.

It was a novel sensation, having what amounted to superpowers, in a way. She couldn’t fly or bend steel bars—at least not that she knew of—but nevertheless her body was suddenly capable of so much more. And her abilities seemed to be growing.

All because of some mystic runes? Tammy would never believe me, she mused. Darla’s spirits darkened even as her pace remained steady. Of course, I’ll probably never see her again. Or anyone I know, for that matter. The only humans I’ve got are maybe some survivors, and who knows where the hell they might be?

She looked at the towering alien walking ahead of her, his strides smooth and his eyes alert for danger. She was far from home, and on an alien world, no less, but somehow she felt almost safe with Heydar nearby.

Darla jumped when her ribs suddenly flared with a crawling itching sensation.

“What is it?” she blurted, dropping her pack and lifting her shirt in a panic. “Is it a bug? Get it off!”

Heydar’s warm fingers touched her skin, tracing the lines he had marked her with. The path of the odd sensation. A strange look flashed in his eyes.

“You are developing the Infala,” he said.

“The weird rune you were talking about? Okay, I guess.”

“You do not understand. This is highly unusual. Your other runes are settling in nicely, though it will take as long as it takes to finalize the process. But the Infala? That should take far longer to develop.”

“You’re saying I’m gonna have some tattoo find me a boyfriend a bazillion miles from home? How on Earth can some magic alien tattoo ink possibly find what no dating app ever could?”

“You are not on Earth,” he noted over his shoulder.

“Yeah, no shit. It’s just a figure of speech,” she snapped.

He slowed his pace ever so slightly and turned to meet her gaze. “You are upset.”

She forced herself to take a deep breath, then another. “Look, it’s not you, okay? I’m just stressed out here. And now you’re telling me that this freaky, itchy tattoo is going to play matchmaker? It’s not normal. Nothing about this is normal. This world is not normal. These tattoos are not normal. You’re not normal.”

His jaw flexed, and he gave a tiny nod, then turned from her and continued forward, his pace quickening slightly. She clenched her fists and took several deep breaths, forcing her heart to slow down and her blood pressure to lower. Fighting with the one person actually on her side here was not going to make things better.

“Hey, wait up!”

Darla hustled after him, closing the gap quickly. She’d hit a nerve, clearly, but she was just too pissed off about, well, everything to care at the moment. She kept her mouth shut, resolved not to make things worse, at least, and they walked in silence from that point on, Heydar leading the way, weaving through sparse trees and around rocky outcroppings.

About an hour later the terrain had shifted again, transitioning from dense foliage and trees to a far more barren landscape of rocks and sparse scrub brush. They seemed to be trekking around a geological uprising, though what sort of stone it might have been made of Darla hadn’t the slightest. Granite? Slate? Who knew what sort of materials had formed on this alien world.

What she did know was the footing was getting trickier and bits of stone would slough away underfoot from time to time. Even Heydar slowed his pace to tread more carefully across the rocks.

A looming stone wall rose above them, far too unsteady for them to climb over. It would be the long way around, it seemed. Interestingly, there were thick vines running up the stone face periodically. Many were dry and crumbling, but a few appeared to be alive and solidly in place.

It made Darla wonder if there was perhaps a water source somewhere within the stone. Maybe a natural spring that was running just below the surface. Water erosion could explain some of the instability of the rocks, and maybe they’d even be able to find a small rivulet from which to get a fresh drink.

She stopped at the next vine they passed and leaned in close to examine it.

“Hey, I think these things are tapping into a water supply,” she said, tugging at the vine.

“Don’t!” he shouted, but it was too late.

Darla looked up as a loud crack shattered the silence. Shards of rock flew from the stone face, spraying out as the vine’s tendrils burst from their foundations. She stared in shock as the wall became boulders, all of them hurtling toward her as the cliff gave way.

An impact knocked the breath from her lungs, sending her flying, but this wasn’t a cold and jagged stone, it was warm. Warm, strong, and familiar. Darla felt several jolts as the rocks fell and deflected away, then as quickly as it started, everything stopped.

Small rivers of gravel streamed past her, flowing here and there, but their larger cousins were done with their tumultuous bombardment. Heydar’s arms released her as he slid back and slowly rose to his feet.

His hair was full of stone dust and gravel and his shirt had been torn in several places from the impacts. Darla realized that he had covered an impossible distance to protect her, tackling her and putting his own body between her and the falling rocks.

I didn’t think he was paying attention, she marveled. And how did he move so fast? She knew the basics of the pigments deep in his skin, but even with his enhancing tattoos, she was in awe of his display. And he had done it without a moment’s hesitation. Not a flicker of doubt.

He had saved her life.

“Are you okay?” she asked, gingerly reaching out and touching his bruised arm.

“I will be fine,” he said stoically, but when his eyes briefly met hers a flicker of something new was smoldering behind his gold-rimmed irises. Pain, clearly, but there seemed to be more than that.

Heydar quickly turned from her and brushed the dust from his shoulders and arms. How he wasn’t seriously hurt was beyond her. He had taken the full brunt of boulders—actual fucking boulders—and seemed hardly any worse for wear.

He took off his battered pack and dug through its contents. Several items had been crushed beyond use. Those he buried underneath a large rock, not wishing to carry them but also taking care not to leave any sign they had been there. Rock slides happened in nature, and this looked like any other.

Assessing the remaining supplies, he stood tall, rolling out his shoulders and neck before sliding the pack on once more. He glanced over at Darla, his eyes still full of something new.

“Come,” he said. “We must continue.”

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“I know,” he interjected. “There is no need to discuss it further. It is still a long way off, and given the current terrain, we need to make it to secure ground by nightfall.”

“Right. Okay, got it.”

“And please, be more careful. You are still healing, and I may not always be close enough to protect you.”

He held her gaze a moment longer, his look igniting a warm flicker in her belly, the heat settling lower, her legs feeling a tingle as her stomach did a little flip. Without another word he turned and started walking once more.

Darla was beside herself, unsure what to make of what had just happened. He had just risked his life to save her, and without provocation or her even calling for help. Sure, he had been somewhat looking out for her since they escaped the Raxxians, at least a little, but this? It was utterly unexpected.

And the look in his eyes warmed her belly and made her ache for his touch, no matter if her logical mind might try to persuade her otherwise. This was visceral, illogical, and quite possibly having something to do with the enhancing pigments now bound to her body.

What the hell was that? Darla wondered, tamping down the growing wetness between her legs as she followed his muscular form. And what does it mean?

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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Heydar moved at a slower pace the rest of that day, though Darla couldn’t be sure if it was because he was more injured than he was letting on or if it was for her benefit. In any case, they didn’t cover nearly as much ground as he had planned by the time night began to fall.

They would not make it to the downed ship today after all.

With that reality now obvious, Heydar had been scanning the terrain since well before the sun started to set, searching for a more secure and comfortable location to bed down for the night. While their prior campsite had been decent, another cold, frosty slumber in the open would not do either of them any favors.

Fortunately, just as the sun began to set, Lady Luck smiled upon them.

“There,” he said, pointing to a spot across a tiny creek just below the hillside they were on.

“Where?”

He stepped close, leaning against her back, his heat radiating against her body as he extended his arm over her shoulder, his breath hot in her ear. “Midway up the opposite bank,” he said. “Do you see it?”

Darla squinted her eyes against the last rays of the dying sun, but her vision seemed to have sharpened since they’d begun their quest. A few hundred meters up the rise from the water’s edge a spot on the rocks was darker than the surrounding area.

“Is that a cave?”

“Cave, cavern, we will find out when we reach it,” he said, pressing onward, gathering up wood as he walked. “Fill your arms,” he directed. “Branches about this size. I will carry the larger ones.”

By the time they had reached the creek their arms were laden with wood for their fire. Heydar quickly lashed much of it together and slung it over his shoulder, leaving their hands free to collect even more as they made their ascent to their makeshift shelter for the night.

The sun had fully set before they reached their destination, and they were forced to trek in the dark the last half hour. Heydar moved slowly and deliberately, clearly marking his steps so Darla could follow in them, the footing secure. Finally, they reached the spot they had seen from afar. Heydar signaled for her to wait, then drew his blades and stepped inside.

He came back out, knives lowered, a moment later. There was no sign of animals living in the space. It didn’t surprise him much when he realized this wasn’t a proper cave, but rather a cavern in the rocks that ended at a stone wall barely a dozen long paces in. It curved slightly, though, and that meant their fire would go unnoted unless someone was to venture extremely close to the opening.

He dumped the wood and gathered several rocks to create a fire ring to contain the embers as the flames burned down. The curvature of the rock would reflect the heat onto them while allowing the smoke to gently waft out far above them, leaving the air clean and breathable.

“I can do that,” Darla offered, piling the smaller kindling in a little teepee within the fire ring.

Heydar thought about objecting but held his tongue. “Very well,” he said, then began digging through his pack, removing meat he had already skewered as he walked when she hadn’t been watching. It was efficient of him, and they would eat sooner for his forethought.

“Hey, you want me to set those up?” she asked as he laid out the skewers and bits of fresh vegetables scavenged during their trek.

“You are my responsibility. I will feed you. You must save your energy,” he replied, holding his hand over the kindling until his magic ignited a small flame. “You did a good job with this. We will have a proper fire tonight.”

Heydar took the pelts and laid them out for them to use as bedding. Fortunately, he had given them a thorough wash in the stream that morning and they had dried nice and clean as the pair hiked. It wasn’t high thread count cotton, but it would do for their needs.

“Rest. I will prepare our meal,” he said, motioning for her to take a seat.

Darla obliged, sitting down and shedding her boots. The fresh air on her feet felt divine after the day’s trek, and the warmth of the fire was soothing on her bare skin. The smell of cooking meat and veggies soon filled the air as Heydar rotated the skewers over the flames. One by one he removed them and lay them on the broad, clean leaves they were using as plates.

He cooks, but does he clean? she wondered with an amused grin.

Heydar didn’t notice her mirth, tending the fire and preparing their food. A few minutes later he presented her with a substantial portion of food. No sense saving it if it might rot on their hike. And Darla was damn hungry.

The two of them made quick work of their meals, downing every last morsel then washing it down with fresh water from their supply.

The two sat quietly a while, digesting their food and letting the day’s aches and pains fade.

Darla lay back and looked up at the orange tinted stone illuminated by the flickering light. It was a cavern, the kind of place a caveman may have taken shelter in millions of years ago. But here she was, very much not a cavewoman, but rather a human stuck on a world far from home. But despite all the trials and tribulations, she was actually feeling at ease. Safe even. And she had this strange, stoic alien to thank for it.

They remained silent a while longer, listening to the fire crackle, watching shadows dance across the rocks. After a bit, Heydar leaned forward and gathered the leaves and scraps and threw them all onto the fire. It flared bright, engulfing them in an instant then settling back down to a comfortable blaze.

He moved to sit on one of the pelts and removed his boots, followed by his shirt. The alien moved gingerly as he pulled the garment over his head. The blood caked on his back was minimal considering what had hit him, but Darla gasped all the same.

“Oh my God! You’re hurt!”

“It is nothing.”

“You said you were okay.”

“I am okay.”

“No, you’re not,” she replied, grabbing her water skin and a piece of cloth from her pack. “This is my fault,” she said, moving close behind him. “Let me clean this up.”

“I said I am fine.”

“You won’t be fine if this gets infected. And if that happens, you know full well you’re way too big for me to carry.”

“I will not fall ill.”

“Can you be sure? Do you know that for a fact?”

“Well—”

“Look, I’m just trying to make up for what happened. Can you please just let me help you? It’s not a sign of weakness or anything to say yes.”

He opened his mouth, ready to retort, but stopped himself short. Heydar’s violet eyes almost glowed with the flickering firelight as he studied this unusual human woman. The most unlikely of companions on this journey.

“Very well,” he finally said, shifting so he was seated on the fur with his back to her.

Darla slid close to him, dampening the rag in her hand and gently drawing it across his shoulders. The heat he gave off was noticeable even this close to the fire, and the cool water soon warmed in the cloth as she wiped away the dried blood.

“Is that okay?”

“Mmm,” he nodded.

Darla scooted closer still, his heat radiating from his bare skin, penetrating her thin top and warming her hardening nipples. Tiny jolts shot through her body, her every nerve on fire. She poured more water on the cloth and wiped lower, her fingers tracing the defined muscles bulging underneath his radiant skin.

She felt an almost electric charge flowing off him as the fingers of her free hand drifted aimlessly while her other hand did its healing work. His heat seemed to be increasing, if that was possible, and she felt her own body temperature rising with him. Most notably, deep inside her, the more primal heat was now spreading between her legs as her nipples brushed against his back as she leaned closer.

Want surged through her. Need. A desire that was rapidly shutting down her rational brain as instinct took over. Her hands were moving of their own accord now, well past the injuries she had been tending, touching him, reveling in the sensation. Her breath blew ragged on his neck as she drew her fingers down his sides, savoring the ripples of the muscles covering his ribs.

Heydar’s body rumbled like a big cat as a low vibrating groan escaped his chest. His skin tensed and rippled with goosebumps even as his heat increased further. Darla leaned forward, pressing her breasts into his back, her body almost bucking from the warm surge of the increased contact. Her pussy was dripping wet in anticipation, and her lower belly tightened in that most fantastic way.

What the hell are you doing, Dar? she asked herself, shocked at her roaming hands, fully aware of what she was doing yet unable to stop herself.

Was it the new tattoos influencing her? Was the alien pigment living in her skin pushing her to do things she’d never have thought of in her previous life?

The answer didn’t matter.

Heydar turned, locking eyes with her in the flickering firelight, the slight smolder they had contained earlier now burning much, much brighter. His pupils were dilated with desire, his pulse clearly throbbing in the thick veins in his neck. A fine sheen of sweat was beading his brow, but it was not the fire that had caused it.

His massive hand reached out, slowly, gently, sliding up under her shirt, lifting it ever so slowly, the fabric pulling across her nipples sending electric jolts to her pussy. Darla twitched, unable to control her body, her arousal growing exponentially with every passing second.

Heydar pulled her shirt over her head, leaving her exposed to his ravenous gaze. His long, thick fingers touched her skin with a lightness that one would not expect from so massive a man, slowly tracing the lines of her curves and tattoos, the two merged as one on her body.

Darla sucked in a sharp breath as he drew his fingertips along the sides of her breasts, exploring the tender flesh, her skin drawing tight with sensation, her nipples now rock hard and straining for his touch. She glanced down at the markings on her body, watching him explore, savoring every bit of her.

The dark ink appeared even darker in this light, and the powerful white highlights seemed to almost glow under his passing touch.

Did those move? she wondered, but her thoughts on the changing shapes of the designs on her body were purged from her mind when his huge hand cupped her breast, the heat of his palm penetrating deep into her chest. Her breath grew faster, and he moved with skill and intuition, reading her movements and responding in kind.

He shifted his hand, her erect nipple sliding between his thumb and palm as though it had always been meant to be there. He squeezed, somehow knowing just the right pressure to elicit the greatest response. Darla bucked a little, her body no longer hers to control, an electric heat shooting through her down between her legs.

Darla shifted and felt her juices dripping from her swelling folds, her clit straining with need, growing with every little twist of his fingers. Her body felt aflame, the heat warming her limbs, her forehead and neck damp with a surge of aroused sweat.

Heydar paused, putting his rising passion in check, studying this human woman’s responses, silently gauging her. He could take her if he so desired. He was so much larger he could do whatever he wanted with ease, but he held back, his other hand moving to cup her other breast, teasing her nipples until she felt she might burst with want.

Darla’s mouth was watering and her pussy dripping wet, her pupils wide with desire. How he was holding back she had no idea, but she couldn’t control herself any longer. She reached out and grabbed the firm bulge in his pants. His cock was straining against the material, and she could feel the ridges had grown erect from tip to root.

The heat of it radiated through her palm when she squeezed. She was gentle, her eyes locked on his, watching his lips twitch with pleasure. A little smile tugged the corners of her mouth, and she squeezed harder.

The fire in his eyes flared bright, his passion surging to a full blaze. He shifted his attention from his teasing and pushed her firmly onto her back. Darla marveled at his hands, so large and so strong, she couldn’t have stopped him even if she tried. But she didn’t want him to stop. She wanted this and so much more.

Heydar propped himself up on one arm and leaned in close, wrapping his lips around her left nipple, sucking while his hand teased her right one, sending jolts of ecstasy shooting through her, making her body writhe in spite of herself.

Darla almost didn’t realize what was happening when his hands slid to her trousers and unfastened them, but then with the greatest ease he lifted her ass in the air and deftly pulled them off her with one fluid motion.

How did he do that so—

The thought fell from her mind as his fingers traced the folds of her swollen labia, exploring her, teasing her, his fingers slick with her juices from the first touch. His fingertips grazed her engorged clit and she bucked hard, her hips rocketing up with so much force he hesitated, looking at her a little bit alarmed.

“No, it’s good,” she managed to say, her voice husky with desire.

He smiled at her. A sexy, wicked smile, and lowered his head, lapping at her skin, tasting her sweat and her excitement as he trailed lower until she could feel his hot breath on her sensitive sex. Darla could hardly contain herself, every nerve blazing with arousal.

The sexy alien held off a moment, feeling her react to his breath, then could wait no longer. He fastened his mouth over her clit and suckled her with gusto, a groan of pleasure escaping his lips as he tasted her juices coating his tongue. Darla’s hips jolted again, totally out of control, but he held on tight, working her sex in his mouth, his rumbling grunts of joy vibrating inside of her.

Darla climaxed in an instant, coming so hard she felt her limbs go numb and her vision go dark as her bones melted into the ground and her mind exploded into a million stars, their sparkling trails flowing through every inch of her body as she floated in blissful oblivion.

She didn’t know how long she was like that, but eventually she drifted back to reality. Her vision slowly returned, the sparkles fading and her body once more coming under her control. She looked down at him, chest heaving from her orgasm.

“Holy fuck. I’ve never come that hard. What the hell did you do?”

He simply smiled at her, a wicked, pleased gleam in his eyes. He licked his lips, his forked tongue tasting her juices on him, then gently lay into her again, his tongue swirling and sucking, working its magic in a way no human possibly could.

Oh my God. That tongue! I never knew I needed this until right now.

Heydar licked gently, reveling in the taste of her sensitive clit and labia. Darla felt something new pressing through the folds. Something hot and hard. She gasped as two of his long fingers slid inside of her, their heat warming her from the inside like she’d never felt before.

He began sucking her clit, his tongue swirling and pulling, wrapping around it in ways no human could ever hope to achieve. The sensation was amazing, and the pressure of his fingers inside her was enough to make her positively drenched, coating his hand and face as he brought her ecstasy back from a smolder to a full blaze.

Just when she thought it couldn’t get any better, she felt as if a ball of flame was ignited inside her. She had no idea what he was doing, but it was unlike any fingering she’d ever experienced. Not just rubbing in all the right ways, her pussy clenching against his fingers with mounting lust, but also rippling, pulsing against her G-Spot as he sucked her clit, sending her over the top again and again.

Darla’s entire body tensed and quivered as she came again and again. The world stopped around her and time ceased to have meaning as her orgasms engulfed her. She was blind, and deaf, and out of her senses, and she loved every second of it, not wanting to ever come down.

She had come more times than she could count as he maintained a steady rhythm within her, pushing her over the edge again and again, her orgasms building even stronger until she thought she might actually die from the pleasure.

Finally, Heydar lifted his head from between her legs and pulled his fingers out of her quivering pussy. Darla’s eyes struggled to open, just long enough to see him licking them clean with a satisfied grin plastered to his face.

Still rubber limbed, Darla groped for his cock, fumbling with her sex-addled touch.

“Not now, Malaika,” he said, gently moving her hand and sliding up beside her, pulling her close in his arms.

“What does that mean,” she mumbled, already drifting off.

“Later. Now, rest. Gather your strength.”

She tried to object but his arms were so warm, so strong, holding her safe and close. The tiny spoon to his massive one. She felt his cock hot and hard against her ass, but he made no attempt to mount her. The pressure of his manhood was the last thing wandering through her mind as she drifted off into a deep sleep in his welcoming embrace.

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