GalacticFlame (10 page)

“That’s reassuring.”

“If you have no other option, wait until the
caltronian
is
almost upon you before firing a shot to kill.”

He took hold of the weapon and slung it over his shoulder,
the leatherlike strap looking all too sexy against his skin. His expression was
pensive as he held out his free hand to her. She placed her hand in his and
followed him outside. She examined her covered feet.
Wow.
The heat
really didn’t penetrate.

Her gaze lifted and she looked around. Funny, the relief
coursing through her knowing none of his people was there to watch her leave.

But it was a relief directed more at Genesis than herself.
His intended was going into seclusion. It had to be the worst kind of
humiliation having a wife and queen who was already distrusted by his own
people.

She pushed her shoulders back, her chin high. His people
mightn’t be in view, but she felt more than a few of their stares.

But once on the back of Genesis’
cercanne,
she closed
her eyes and let the hot wind carry away her misgivings and anxieties. Safe for
the moment wrapped around him, she allowed her thoughts to drift and a long-ago
memory to resurface.

~

Eden pushed open the front door of the old farmhouse. The
hinges creaked protest and immediately quieted her sister’s sobs she’d heard
from the moment she stepped onto the veranda.

“Are you okay?” she called into the thick silence, trying
not to notice how the dirty windows shielded much of the already waning
sunlight.

She shivered, a little frightened. She and Aline had
explored the house many times before they’d eventually claimed it as a kind of
grown-up play house. But it was a place they refused to visit at any other time
but daylight hours.

“Go away, Eden,” her sister yelled back hoarsely.

Eden ignored the request, following her sister’s voice and
heading in the direction of the lounge room. She knew Aline well enough to know
when she needed someone to confide in. And it wasn’t as if she had a lot of
people to choose from.

Aline lifted her head from her arms, looking up from where
she sat on the dusty floorboards. Her face was streaked with tears, her eyes
red. “Leave me alone!”

She shook her head. “I’m not leaving. It’s your birthday,
you’re supposed to be having a fun day with Mum and Dad…with me.”

Aline glared. “I’m sixteen. One year closer to abduction.
Don’t you understand? It’s all I can think about!”

Terror leaped through Eden’s heart, but she stayed strong.
“Don’t say that.”

“Why? It’s only the truth.” Accusation burned bright in her
eyes. “It’s all right for you—you’re not the firstborn.”

Eden stared at her sister, hurt knocking around in her
heart. “If I could take your place I would.”

Aline’s stare softened, her eyes shimmering moments before
she burst into tears. “Oh, Eden, I’m sorry, I know you would if you could.”
Aline opened her arms and she stepped into her embrace. “Thanks for being the
best sister in the world.” She hiccupped.

It made them both smile. As there was no one else to their
knowledge on the planet with siblings, it was a joke they shared too often.

Aline pulled back after long minutes, sniffling and swiping
a tear from her face with a sleeve. “Sweetie, I’ve made you serious again. It
might be my birthday but I’m sure it’s you who’s growing up too fast.”

Eden couldn’t tell her she was that way because she worried
incessantly about her sister—her one sibling and only friend—leaving. She
gnawed on her bottom lip, then whispered, “I don’t want you to be taken from us
either.”

“I know you don’t.” Her smile wobbled a little. “But hey,
we’ve got years together yet, right.” She got to her feet. “Come on, Sis, let’s
go home and celebrate.”

Chapter Nine

“Are you okay?”

She came back to the present with a start, realizing
belatedly Genesis had already pulled up at camp—if one solitary
donya
made to look miniature by the red-gold mountain towering behind, could be
called a camp—even as the fact he’d asked her the same thing she’d asked her
sister all those years ago penetrated her mind.

Almost as if things had come full circle.

He dismounted from the
cercanne
and took off his
weapon to stand it upright against the two wheeler. As he faced her she said in
a small but strong voice, “I’ll be okay.”

He lifted her face with a hand under her chin, seemingly
immune to the relentless heat pulsing down from the three suns. “I’m sorry it
had to come to this.”

Not half as sorry as me.

“It’s what I deserve.”

He frowned. “Before I leave, tell me one thing. Why did you
abandon the women and children to climb the mountain? Is it because of the
tower’s airwave transmitter?”

Her breath left her lungs. He knew? She swallowed back the
automatic lie that sprang to her lips. She should have known Genesis would join
the dots…at least some of them. She smothered alarm, yet still her voice
cracked. “Yes.”

His eyes burned. “Why, because you felt threatened by
another Earth woman’s arrival?”

She stared, unable to speak, unable to deny the half-truth.

“Princess, what do I have to do to prove my love to you—and
you alone? A hundred women could arrive and I’d have eyes only for you.”

Emotions flooded through her body then wrung her out to dry,
leaving behind stark guilt, confusion and shame. And a whole lot of need.

She didn’t have time to think further on the matter. He bent
and lifted her into his arms, then turned her around so that she sat facing
backward. “If words don’t convince you, maybe actions will,” he growled.

He pushed the waistband of his pants down, freeing his
already engorged cock.

If anything could distract her from the way she felt—that
could. “Oh,” she breathed, eyeing his organ that had given her so much
pleasure, and that was almost perfectly aligned to her pussy.

“Lay back,
Sheehar
,” he said hoarsely. “Let me give
you a goodbye that will show exactly how much you mean to me.” His voice
deepened. “A goodbye that will last us both until I see you next.”

She did as he asked, her spine sinking into the fur lining
before he clasped her thighs to pull her to the end of the seat, her pussy
spread out and undoubtedly pink and inviting.

“Gods, Eden.” His stare drank her in before he dipped a
finger into his mouth then swirled his wet fingertip around her clit, causing
her to gasp and squirm.

Wanting more. So much more.

With a smile he sank a finger deep into her channel, his
stare watchful, assessing and glittering hot. As he took up a steady rhythm,
then pushed another finger deep, her vision glazed, back arching and hips
swiveling to meet the delicious tempo.

Through heavy-lidded eyes she watched his free hand encircle
his thick shaft before steering it between her open thighs.

The touch of his cock head on her sensitized flesh was
shockingly familiar, the silky-soft overlay of his shaft with its core of
hardened steel.

He paused, expression intense, savage.

She mewled, made impatient by the unexpected delay. “What
are you waiting for?”

He didn’t respond, instead he used his cock to stimulate the
outer flesh of her pussy, rubbing her labia with his dick in a circular motion
until she was all but panting with need.

“I can’t…take…much more…of this,” she said.

A muscle in his jaw tensed. “Then you won’t mind,” he
centered himself, “if I do this.”

When he thrust forward it was all she could do just to hang
on for the ride. He set up a fierce and relentless rhythm that sent the
erfos
thudding to the ground and caused her fingers to dig into the seat’s
fur and her thighs to wrap all the harder around his hips.

Her eyes went round as he abruptly pulsed her with a
half-shock, followed by another and then another. He was deliberately stoking
the fires within, charging her little by little as though a thousand light
bulbs simultaneously flicking on and off, then on again, lighting her up from
the inside out. He pushed her to the edge, dropped her a little and then fired
her right back up again until she was precariously balanced on the precipice,
desperate to take flight.

All but desperate to scream out his name and sob out the
truth.

Then he released a charge that ricocheted off her womb and
flipped her off the edge, flying, floating.

She distantly heard him call out her name, was half-aware of
his warm seed pulsing within, but mostly she was lost in her own exquisite
fulfillment, the ecstasy of their joining.

“Oh my God,” she whispered when they at last reluctantly
separated. “That was amazing.”

But the fire in Genesis’ gaze dulled to embers as he pulled
up the waistband of his pants, helped her up and adjusted her dress, before
lifting her off his
cercanne
and placing her onto her feet.

She understood. Her heart fluttered with the knowledge he’d
be leaving her, even if for a short time—though she had a feeling the two weeks
would seem interminable, especially without the nights to help mark the time.

She curled her toes into the sandy ground, her foot covering
keeping her soles blessedly cool. At least she had the ability now to walk
around in the garden, learn what she could about the plants.

Genesis retrieved the
erfos
and took hold of her hand
before he walked with her toward her
donya.
At the shield doorway, he
turned her toward him, tucking a hand under her chin and lifting her gaze to
his. “You’ll find a little something inside, which I hope will help you pass some
time.”

“Oh?”

A smile broke his serious expression. “Save it until I’m
gone, hmm.”

Her heart sank at the reminder of his being gone. But she
nodded, putting on a brave face. “Okay.”

He bent, touching his mouth to hers. “Until I see you…soon.”

It’d been near impossible leaving behind her family, her
home, her planet. But she had to wonder if this temporary separation from her
husband was almost as bad. She bit hard into her bottom lip as he handed her
the
erfos
and strode back to his
cercanne
.

Swinging a leg over the seat, he turned back as though to
drink her in one last time. Then spinning his bike around, all too soon there
was nothing to show for him being there other than a faint dust cloud in the
air and dampness between her thighs.

She absently ran a fingertip along the markings on her
throat, feeling an odd sense of loss. Genesis may have marked her but when she
saw him again in two weeks would he wish he never had? In two weeks would he
know the truth about who she was?

Her hand dropped a little lower, to where the exquisite
necklace with its pendant sat nestled in the hollow of her throat. She
swallowed. Would she soon see her wedding gift ripped from her person and
placed instead around her sister’s neck?

With a deep sigh she spun around and entered the
donya
,
the shields parting.

She carefully placed the
erfos
on the floor even as
she took everything in with a quick glance. A small room. To one side the
creamy-brown leaves that were splattered with orange identified a large
sylak
plant in an earthen-red pot. Beside the plant were two empty bowls similar to
coconut husks, some implements for cutting and grinding food, along with five
bottles of water. Opposite was a
caltronian
fur. Placed at the end of
the pelt was a large book.

She dropped to her knees on the fur and picked up the heavy
book. It wasn’t anything like the volumes found on Earth. She ran her fingers
over what appeared to be thinly stretched animal skins, which were joined
together with thinly plaited rope. The book was exquisite, with its
painstakingly inked plant drawings and its inscribed
Carèche
language
also translated into English.

A book on
Carèche
flora.

She closed her eyes with a shuddering breath. Genesis was
everything she could ever possibly want in a mate. He’d gifted her with
something beyond measure. The plant book might just save her sanity, her life,
not to mention her foot coverings that allowed her to fend for herself.

One of her hands again lifted almost of its own volition to
touch the beautiful gem at her throat. The other reverently flipped through
page after page of the book, memorizing the plants that she could eat, some in
their raw state but most needing to be cooked under the
sylak,
to remove
any traces of bacteria.

Her brain filled to bursting, she climbed to her feet. No
time like the present to gather what she needed to eat. Choosing the bigger
bowl of the two and retrieving the
erfos
on the way out, she walked the
twenty or thirty yards to the first row of self-sufficient plants of the huge
garden. Little red and gold speckled antlike insects she’d never seen before
scurried along the rows upon rows of plants, their little bodies forming an
endless marching line toward the mountain backdrop and out of her vision.

Clearly the
Carèchians
didn’t mind sharing their food
with those who needed it.

It took no time at all to pick some berries and tear the
leaves from the stems of those plants that were edible. One plant, its leaves a
vivid green with red streaks, caused a sudden pang of nostalgia for the green
of her Earth. For her family and everything familiar.

Genesis wasn’t around to distract her and take her mind off
any homesickness, and right then it hit hard. She stood still for some time,
fighting back a wave of misery and self-doubt. Had she done the right thing
coming here in place of her sister? Had she done what was best for Aline?
Especially now her lies would probably unravel sooner rather than later.

She pushed a hand across her eyes, blinking back tears. It
was past time she fixed up the mess she’d created. Past time she told Genesis
the truth. Perhaps there was still a chance to fix things, before her lies came
crashing down around her, destroying everything.

Drawing in a steadying breath, she peered up at the three
suns blazing down. They were much hotter than anything on Earth. Hotter than
anything she’d felt since landing on the
Carèche
planet however many
days ago—if only she could mark her time here in days. She swiped her brow,
surprised to find it was damp with sweat.

She’d only ever noticed a dry heat on this planet. She
frowned as a more urgent worry formed. Would her meager supply of water last
her time here? She didn’t want to be reduced to sucking on the sap of the aloe
vera type plants and hoping she wouldn’t again lose her vision.

Back in her
donya
she put her weapon onto the floor
before she separated her three varieties of leaves and the small red berries
into piles. The berries could be eaten raw and apparently expanded in the gut,
making a person much fuller than they really were.

She piled the fresh green leaves into a pile and placed it
under the foliage of the
sylak
. It immediately began to tremble before
its leaves shimmered into gold.

She didn’t expect the tantalizing aroma of meat to fill the
air, reminding her of the barbecue her dad had occasionally fired up back on
Earth to cook whichever animal he’d hunted, usually kangaroo. The leaves popped
and splattered in the bowl, cooking in what was apparently their own oily
composition.

The
sylak’s
shimmering died down, but once the plant
ceased trembling she carefully withdrew the bowl, sitting cross-legged on the
thick pelt before sampling the delicious- smelling food.

Wow.
It tasted just like it smelled. Meaty. Tender.
Flavorsome.

She stuffed a handful of the dripping soft mass into her mouth,
chewing noisily. She guessed that’s why she didn’t at first hear the snuffling
sound just outside her
donya
. But when it finally infiltrated her
senses, she almost dropped the bowl onto her lap.

What the hell?

For one long moment she froze, listening to the sound. It
wasn’t a
caltronian
, such a big predator would be making a hell of a lot
more ruckus and the
bolishta
herd would undoubtedly have stampeded in
the opposite direction, warning her of its approach.

Her heart rate steadied and her breathing slowed. Putting
aside her half-f bowl of cooked salad leaves, she reclaimed her
erfos
and tiptoed to the hanging shield that was her only door. As it parted, she
lifted the weapon to her eye. The barrel glowed green just as she caught sight
of an odd, catlike creature with coarse, dappled red and brown fur.

The creature’s ribby and undernourished body made it look
much smaller than what it should, but she guessed it’d be about half the size
of Bonnie. The cat lifted its head and peered back at her, opening its mouth
and hissing fear. As it hobbled backward on three legs, she lowered her
erfos
and crouched low, placing the weapon beside her.

“Don’t be scared,” she said soothingly, thinking on what her
animal-savvy sister would do in this situation. She assessed the pitiful,
hungry creature with each of its massive paws easily the size of an Earth
sunflower. “You’ve been hurt,” she said aloud, taking in its front paw that was
bloodied and mangled. She cast another shrewd look over its scrawny body.
Undoubtedly its injury made it unable to hunt and forage for food.

“You’re looking for something to eat,” she murmured,
realizing the cat had smelled the aroma of cooked food. “I don’t have any
meat.” She moved onto her knees then reached back, taking hold of her bowl with
its mostly uneaten leaves, “But I have something that at least tastes like it.”
She placed it just outside the hanging shields, before shuffling back on her
knees and waiting for the creature’s next move.