Authors: Emma Paul
He knew who it was. "Mother..." His lips never moved, yet he heard his voice call out. Slowly her arms came around him. She embraced him tightly and laid a chaste kiss to his temple, just as she had done when he was a child.
He tried to speak, but the cries in his throat kept him from forming words. Feeling came back into his limbs and he wrapped his arms around her. The wonderful comfort he missed so much, filled him once again.
Her hand stroked his dreads and she whispered in his ear.
Go back my heart, never forget ... live ... livw...
As his mind absorbed her words, she let go and gently pushed him away. Reluctantly he let go. His body fell backwards, through the dark void. Another familiar voice, sweet and decadent, called out to him.
With a sudden jolt, his body jerked sharply back against something solid. His heartbeat echoed in his ears. Air filled his lungs. Sharp pain shot through his body and slowly receded into a dull ache.
Yani's soothing voice rang clearly in his head.
"It's a good thing you have no idea what I'm saying, because I have a secret to tell you Corbin," he felt her lips an inch from his ear, "I think you and I are life-mates."
He opened his eyes to see her beautiful face above him.
"Now that is a revelation, Yani..."
Yani gasped. She instantly straightened up and stared down at him.
He smiled weakly up at her.
Her eyes moistened with tears. However, the undeniable joy he saw on her face told him happiness had caused them.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him tightly. Emotion surge within his heart, and for the first time in many years, Corbin felt cherished.
Corbin’s ability to withstand excruciating pain amazed Yani. She knew the Trill withdrawal could be brutal, and in some cases, she had heard the addict didn't survive.
The hallucinations had long ceased, since his awakening.
However, she knew the pain and weakness in his body consumed him day and night. As much as he tried to hold back, Corbin couldn't help but give in to the agony assailing him for hours during the day and night.
During his fits, he often spoke incoherently, said things and called out names she didn't recognize. She had learned much about his abusive childhood. It broke her heart to know how he had suffered.
With each passing hour, and her constant effort to massage feeling into his limbs, Corbin started to move his arms and legs to the point he could sit. Yani sat by Corbin's side, hand feeding him and talking him through the spells when they hit. After seven days and six nights, Corbin's strength finally returned to semi normal. After a while, she was able to help him move from the small grotto to their temporary campsite.
Once she situated him comfortably on the digi-palate, Yani set out to find food. Their supplies were running low. To help find her way around the cave, she carved several grooves into the entrance and exits of the tunnels she knew led to water and small inlays that contained edible insects and roots. Well, at least she hoped they were edible.
From what Corbin told her about the time he spent in the Morey caves, most of the roots she found were the same ones he described as having eaten.
Still she was not accustomed to "living off the land", like her eldest brother had done on his various camping excursions when he was in the Zen military. So far, nothing has made her sick, so she figured giving the food to Corbin would be safe.
As soon as Corbin was well enough, he'd explain where she should go and what vegetation is edible. Yani would breathe a sigh of relief to find out she had been lucky with what she’d found thus far. However, Yani did not dare leave Corbin alone to venture outside the caves. There was no doubt in her mind Azurian and Dreg trackers, led by Prince Nal and the Dreg’s leader Kaden, were still looking for them, maybe even closer than she knew.
* * * *
He told her that Sandworms were a great source of protein and explained where to look for them. Yani found a whole nest of the gray, twelve-inch, slug-like, creatures, inside a small crevice just at the entrance of the cave. Corbin instructed her on how to catch the slimy animals by digging a shallow pool in front of the nest’s opening and flooding it with water, to flush the things out.
She retched while preparing them, following Corbin's instructions on how to skin and gut them. After she cooked it, the meat turned a glossy pink and had a flaky texture. The taste was sweet, with a bit of tartness. It wasn't that bad. Yani patted herself on the back. For a spoiled, pampered princess, she did pretty darn good living like a drifter.
He now sat and fed himself. A few times, she swore he pretended to be sicker than he truly was, so she would coddle him. After massaging his shoulders, she grabbed the empty bowl he had just eaten from and walked over to the small basin she made from the sandworm hides and stones, and placed them in to soak.
She chuckled, realizing her father's Royal Council would institutionalize her if they saw a Zen princess parading around half naked and performing menial tasks.
Sweet Ver, she was proud of herself. For the first time in her life, Yani actually knew how good it felt to have someone depend on her, and believe enough in her abilities, to care for them.
She turned to ask Corbin if he wanted to walk down to the stream to bathe. Her face met a solid, muscled, chest. She lifted her head to look up at Corbin's mischievous grin.
Yani poked him in the abdomen, "I knew you were feeling better than you acted!" She scrunched her brows together, trying to look angry, and feigning indignation.
He obviously saw through her façade, because the next moment his arms wrapped around her and hugged her close. "Thank you."
Her heart sang. The emotion and sincerity behind those two words lifted her up so high, she could sprout wings and soar up to the heavens. No royal status or title could ever compare to Corbin's appreciation of her. "It was my pleasure."
Corbin pulled back. He brushed a lock of her hair away from her face. "Was it?"
Despite the fact he appeared stronger than he had the last several days, she still noticed the waning in his face. His cheeks were pale in comparison to when she first met him. His eyes locked directly onto hers. Shame and regret burned in their depths. Her poor Dreg warrior, so physically powerful, yet so vulnerable. She wrapped her arms around him and held as tightly as she could. Yani wanted him to know she wouldn’t let go for anything.
She laid her head on his left pectoral muscle. "I know why you were so sick. I think we can work through this, Corbin." She pushed away and laid her hands flat on his chest. His skin was warm. The beating of his heart beneath her palms brought back memories of his near death.
She looked up to see him frowning down at her, his face full of anguish and uncertainty. "There are methods that can cure you of the addiction to Trill. We should go back and – "
He placed a finger to her lips shushing her. "I can't go back, Yani. I have done things, broke treaties and laws to feed my habit." He turned and walked back to the digi-pallet they used for sleeping.
She followed him and sat down beside him. "Corbin, we can't run forever. Eventually the Dreg trackers and Azuri hunters will find us. I will speak for you, tell them that it was my choice to go with you."
He put an arm around her shoulders and lay back, bringing her to lie down beside him. "It's not that simple. Despite what you tell them, kidnapping you is only a small part of the reasons Prince Nal is after me."
She placed her head on his shoulder and stroked his muscled chest. The fact Prince Nal pursued them had slipped her mind.
"Why is he after you?" She whispered the question, knowing the answer would not be what she needed to hear.
Corbin brushed his lips over her temple. He brought his other arm around her, and lifted her body so that it lay partly on him.
"In order to obtain the Trill, I made a deal with the D'vlin. We trade with Elvin. Yor is abundant with precious resources. Our most coveted mineral is Velix Coral. I stole cargo from the Elvin accounts, and sold them to the D'vlin. I don't know why they wanted the Coral. Its uses are mainly medicinal."
Yani's heart sank. The D'vlin were Elvins that had succumbed to their baser instincts. They were extremely dangerous because of their unnatural abilities to command the elements. The Elvins often hunted down and killed the D'vlin, to keep them from spreading across the galaxies.
No one knew for certain what caused the Elvins to deviate and become D'vlin. Yani figured the Elvins knew, but kept it secret. No one dare question the powerful Elvins.
Corbin had committed treason against them. Yani knew about political games and the repercussions that came with them.
"The D'vlin in the Sh'kra club, he was your dealer then?"
Corbin nodded; she noticed a tear slip from the corner of his eye.
"One of them, yes." He sighed. "I am so sorry you are in the middle of all this, Yani. My mind was... was – "
Yani repositioned herself to lie on top of him. She put her hand over his mouth, stopping him from finishing his thought. "I have no regrets." She removed her hand and replaced it with her lips, giving him a soft kiss.
"I have no idea, what we are going to do about Nal or the others. All I know is that we will do it together. You must think I am insane for wanting to stay with you, but now more than ever, I feel resolved that with you is where I need to be."
He raised a shaking hand to her face and stroked her cheek. Tears ran down his face. "I don't know if I can promise to never break your heart, but Yani, I swear I will try with every ounce of strength I possess."
A knot formed in her throat. Her heart ached for her gentle Dreg warrior. The Corbin she saw now was the real one. The one she always sensed, beneath all the hard, jaded, layers of semblance.
"I won't ask for anything more."
Corbin embraced her tightly. Before she knew what was happening, he rolled over so that she now lay on her back. He hovered over her. Lowering his head, he touched his lips to hers.
Her body heated as his mouth molded gently against hers. She parted her lips, slipping the tip of her tongue out. Her groan resonated deep in her chest, when he took it and sucked it into his mouth.
Their passion ignited. Yani could barely catch her breath. Tingles of arousal raced down her body. Her legs parted, seemingly on instinct.
Corbin reached down and found her slick cunt. He slid two fingers through her drenched pussy lips.
Her loud moan echoed through the cave.
Corbin inched his way down her body, raining tiny kisses all over her neck and shoulders, until he reached her breasts. His mouth closed around one taut nipple. She arched into his face, asking him, wanting him, to suck on her dark pink nub. He tugged gently on the sensitive tip with his teeth, before sucking it into his mouth and wiggling his tongue back and forth across it.
Yani hissed and grabbed fists full of dreads.
Corbin grunted and sucked harder. At the same time, his fingers drove deep into her sex.
Her hips immediately responded with synchronized strokes. Throaty yeses poured from her lips.
Four dreads wound themselves around each of her tits. Two tightened around the firm mounds, while two more dilated at the ends and sucked on the hard points. Her breasts swelled to bright red globes, becoming over sensitive to the slightest touch. She arched her back, pressing them against Corbin's face, greedily wanting more.
Soon the dreads sucking on her nipples began to vibrate. Tiny jolts of sensation traveled the length of her body and up her cunt, making her inner walls contract around Corbin's fingers.
Bliss consumed her, Yani could only cry out in agonizing pleasure, as Corbin's tongue reached her clit and flicked repeatedly with fast little strokes, before taking it into his mouth.
He repeated the motion several times, until Yani screamed as her pussy gushed cum all over his mouth, chin and hand. As her convulsions ebbed, he lifted himself up until he knelt between her wide-open thighs.
Grabbing his engorged dick by the base, he stroked himself, until Yani opened her heavy lidded eyes.
She moaned softly, watching him jerk off.
Her pussy still pulsed from the intense release she just had. With the tips of her fingers, she pulled her pussy lips apart exposing the throbbing hole where she wanted him to sink his ample inches.
Corbin smiled before placing the tip of his cock at her spread cunt. He grabbed her hips and slid her ass up her his thighs, encasing the first three inches of his massive erection.
Yani shuddered.
"Yes that's it, that's it. Fuck me with that big cock ... do it!"
"As you wish, Princess."
He rode her slowly at first, plunging his thick rod to the hilt with deep strokes. When her breathing turned into small sobbing cries, he leaned forward and prompted her to wrap her legs around his waist.
She locked her ankles.
He began to pound into her with harder strokes.
She dug her nails into his thighs, holding on tightly.
He let loose and fucked her like a wild beast, ramming his cock consistently with titillating speed. Yani screamed as her orgasm ripped through her center.
Corbin's labored breathing turned to growling, as he bucked several more times, before he threw his head back and roared, while his hot deluge of semen filled her womb.
They both fell to the pallet, breathing heavily. Several moments passed with them laying there holding each other, utterly content.
Something caught Yani's attention, from the corner of her eye.
"Corbin? I think there's someone in here." Corbin reluctantly lifted himself off Yani.
"Wait here, I'll go see who it is." He looked at her wryly and rolled his eyes, "If it's anyone at all."
She huffed and whacked him on the shin. Her affronted expression looked adorable. He chuckled, and then winked at her. A blur to his right captured his attention.
Yani noticed it to. Her worried eyes pleaded with him.