Akur (Restitution #3)

Akur

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Akur

The heat was becoming unbearable.

Akur stared at the map the Tasqal had left, but the holo image blurred before his eyes. His skin felt too tight, every breath drawing in air that seemed to scorch his lungs. The metcer cells had helped, but their effect was already fading. Quickly. Far too quickly.

And now this. This new truth that made him want to tear his own skin off.

His gaze shifted to where Constance moved around the room, gathering supplies left by the Tasqal, her movements precise and measured as she sorted through what might be useful. She hadn’t looked at him since their “friend” left. Maybe she couldn’t. Maybe now that she knew that he—proud as he was, was linked by blood to one of those things—she saw him differently.

Shum’ai and Tasqal. The very thought made bile rise in his throat.

“These could be useful.” Her voice cut through his dark thoughts. She held up what looked like compact ration packs. “If we’re heading into the barren lands— ”

“We’re not.” The words came out harsher than intended, and he saw her stiffen slightly.

“We have to.” She turned to face him fully, and there was steel in her spine. “You heard what he said. One of the others is out there. Meredith is out there.”

“And the other human is in the citadel,” he growled. “The place we actually know how to reach.” He gestured at the map with one hand while the other curled into a fist, claws digging into his palm. The pain helped. A little.

“So we just abandon Meredith?” Constance’s eyes flashed. “Leave her to die in the wasteland?”

“She won’t. E’lot is out there. He will find her.” He pushed off from the wall he’d been leaning against, trying to ignore how the room spun slightly.

“Funny you didn’t mention this E’lot before. I thought you came alone.”

He exhaled, forcing himself to focus on one breath at a time. “It was just the two of us… He and I. I went after you. He…he went after one of the other shuttles.”

“And you think he’ll find her?”

“He will.”

She huffed out a breath. It was clear she wasn’t as confident in E’lot as he was. “He will fight for that female, as hard as I have fought for you,” he said. He didn’t even know why he was trying to soothe her fears. There were greater things at stake here. “The citadel is our priority. That orb—”

“The orb doesn’t matter if they get what they want, anyway!” She took a step toward him, either not noticing or not caring how his muscles locked up at her approach. “They only need one human, remember? If they can’t use the silent woman, they’ll use whoever they find first. Including Meredith.” She was glaring at him, all fire and spice. Shouldn’t that turn him off? It didn’t. Qrakking heat. The temptation to lean in and take her lips again almost made him lick his own. “I thought we both knew we weren’t taking everything that Tasqal said as truth. He could be leading us into a trap. ”

Of course, not. But the trouble was— “How do we decide which part is the lie? The citadel…or the barren lands?”

The obvious effect of his words was clear. Constance blinked, her brows furrowing slightly. There it was, that glitch in her spark. The moment she realized just how cunning their foe was.

“You mean he could have baited us with the wastelands, knowing we’d head there in defiance?”

He could praise her, but that would make him look at the other good parts of this female. Her tenacity. Her bravery. Her .

Ignoring her was best, especially when he was in this state.

“We are rebels. That is what we do. We rebel.”

She turned from him then, pacing as she bit her thumb. The act looked painful, but she didn’t wince. “We still have to try. I think he was telling the truth. There was no need for him to save us. No need for him to come here to warn us. It’s a lot of trouble to be part of some elaborate ruse. Some game. As you said, that’s not really the Tasqals’ style.”

The sound of his laugh was low in his throat. “You underestimate these brutes, bright eyes.”

She swallowed hard, pacing even harder. “They only need one human, Akur.”

But qrak, she was right. He’d been so focused on getting to the citadel, on leaving this place and finding V’Alen to warn him about that orb, that he wasn’t thinking about that crucial detail. They didn’t need all the humans. Just one.

Just her.

The thought sent another wave of heat through him, this one having nothing to do with his condition. The idea of them using her, taking her flesh or breaking into her mind to find the path back to her world…

A growl built in his chest, and he had to turn away, had to put distance between him and her before he did something stupid. His nefre burned in protest, sending pulses of awareness down his spine and straight to that organ nestled in his pouch, pulses that were so intense it made his vision blur at the edges .

“Akur?” Her voice was softer now, concerned. “Are you alright?”

“Fine.” The word was more snarl than speech. “We need to move soon. The Hedgeruds won’t suspend their search of these tunnels forever.”

“You’re not fine.” He heard her step closer and had to fight the urge to spin around, to grab her, to— No. Focus. “That medicine’s wearing off, isn’t it? There’s more—”

“Leave it.” He forced himself to breathe slowly, to maintain control. Those metcer cells were useless, and he knew why. He was too far gone already. Never thought he’d fight a war in heat, but he was never one to shy away from a challenge. “We need to plan. The citadel first. Then we can discuss the wastelands.”

“The citadel first?” Her voice held a dangerous edge. “And what exactly is your plan once we get there? Walk in through the front door?”

He turned back to her slowly, fighting to keep his expression neutral despite the fire in his blood. “If we have to.”

“That’s not a plan, Akur. That’s suicide.” She crossed her arms, and he caught the slight tremor in her hands before she hid them. “We barely survived the tunnels. How are we supposed to fight our way through an entire citadel full of guards?”

“We don’t.” He forced himself to focus on the map again, on the intricate pathways marked in a script that made his eyes hurt. Anything to keep from staring at the pale length of her throat, exposed when she tilted her head in challenge. “We find another way in.”

“There is no other way in. That’s why it’s called a citadel.”

His lips twitched despite everything. “You humans have such limited imagination.”

“Oh?” She stepped closer, and he had to lock his muscles to keep from moving. “Please enlighten me about your citadel-infiltrating experience.”

The heat was making it hard to think, but he forced his mind to work. To strategize. To remember all his years fighting. “The Tasqals build everything to impress. To dominate. But they’re dying.” His voice roughened on the last word, memories of their “friend’s” revelations burning fresh in his mind. “They can’t maintain their grand structures like they used to. So, they let the Hedgeruds do it and those qeffers are mindless drones, numerous but stupid. Expendable.” He spat the last word. “There will be weak points. Abandoned sections. Service tunnels they’ve forgotten about.”

“And you know this how?”

“Because—” He cut himself off, bile rising in his throat. Her hand touched his arm and he jerked away, stumbling slightly as another wave of heat crashed through him. “Because of my citadel-infiltrating experience.”

“Akur—”

“Don’t.” The word was torn from his throat. “Don’t touch me. Not now.”

She withdrew her hand but didn’t step back. “How bad is it? And don’t tell me you’re fine, because we both know that’s a lie.”

He wanted to laugh, but the sound would have been too close to a sob. How could he explain? How could he tell her that his body was betraying him in the worst possible way? That every breath she took, every movement she made, called to something primal in him that he couldn’t control?

“It doesn’t matter,” he ground out. “We need to—”

“No.” She cut him off, voice hard. “Whatever’s happening to you is getting worse. That medicine helped for what, an hour? Less? You can barely stand straight, and we haven’t even started moving yet. So tell me how to help, or I swear by whatever gods you believe in, I will walk out that door and find my own way to the barren lands.”

The threat of her leaving made him freeze. Would she really? His head swam, instincts roaring to protect, to possess, to— No! She was not his. She was not anyone’s. He’d jumped into the void of space to save her and make sure of that fact.

“You wouldn’t make it ten steps,” he snarled, but it was hard to mask this illogical panic with his usual weapon. Anger.

“Try me.”

He’d laugh if her voice didn’t sound so hard. So serious. Looking at her over his shoulder, they stared at each other in the dim light, neither willing to back down. She was so small compared to him, so seemingly fragile, yet she faced him with a courage that made her seem fierce. Or maybe that was just the heat spreading through him like a curse.

“You want to know what’s wrong?” His voice dropped lower. “You want to understand why I can barely think straight? Why every time you come near me, I have to fight not to—” He cut himself off again, digits curling into fists so tight he felt his claws pierce his flesh again.

“Yes.” She didn’t flinch, didn’t retreat. “I want to understand.”

“I’m in heat.” It was such a disgrace. “But you know that already. My body is…preparing. For mating.” To think he’d thought his brother, Ajos, had been careless to let the same thing happen to him. Now he was in the exact situation.

Constance’s eyes widened slightly, but she held her ground. “Like…like animals on Earth?”

A harsh laugh escaped him. “Animal…” He laughed again. “Yes, that is exactly what I am. A beast. This shouldn’t be happening. Not now. Not here.” He began pacing, trying to burn off some of the energy coursing through him. “Shum’ai only experience heat during specific cycles. Every few orbits. It can be triggered by extreme temperature changes, but—”

“The fall,” she breathed. “When you followed my shuttle. It was the entry into the atmosphere…wasn’t it.”

He didn’t answer. Shame held his mouth shut.

“I don’t remember much. At least, it’s not all clear. Whatever that bastard injected me with really did a number on me. But I…your suit couldn’t handle it, could it? It was glowing red-hot during the descent.”

“Yes…well…” He wanted to hit something. To tear something apart. To channel this burning need into violence instead of…instead of… “The shock rod didn’t help either. Neither did whatever that Tasqal did to transport us here. Too much heat, too fast.”

“But the medicine helped,” she said, taking a step toward him. “There’s more— ”

“No!” He backed away, hitting the wall hard enough to send tremors through the stone. “The medicine is temporary. A bandage on a wound that needs cauterizing.”

“Then what do you need ?” Her voice had gone soft, gentle in a way that made his blood surge. “There has to be something—”

“What I need,” he snarled, “is to rut. To claim. To mark and mate and—” He slammed his fist into the wall, focusing on the pain that shot up his arm. “But I can’t. I won’t. Not with you. Not like this.”

The silence that followed his outburst was deafening. He could hear her heart racing, smell the spike of…something in her scent that made his nefre pulse with want.

“Why not with me?”

The question hit him like soft wind, yet it left him reeling. He looked up slowly, seeing the flush on her cheeks, the way her chest rose and fell with quick breaths. “What?”

“You heard me.” She lifted her chin. “Why not with me? If it would help—”

“No!” The word came out as a roar that made her jump. “You don’t understand what you’re offering. What it would mean.”

“Then explain it to me.” She took another step closer, and this time he couldn’t retreat. The wall was solid at his back, and she was there, so close he could feel her body heat mixing with his own. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re suffering. We need to get out of here, need to stop them from reaching Earth, and you can barely function. So if there’s something I can do to help…is the thought of you touching a human so bad?”

This must be in jest.

Touching her? Ha. Ha ha ha. He wanted to devour her. To taste her skin, to scent the delicate curve of her neck, to lose himself in the depths of those eyes. He wanted to map the constellations of her body with his lips, to learn the rhythm of her life organ against his own. He wanted…everything.

He’d already caught her scent. Qrak, he’d already tasted her. And now, every breath, every movement, every flash of defiance in those blue eyes had carved itself deeper into his mind until he could think of nothing else. Her presence was like a brand against his senses.

“You don’t know what you’re offering, human.” His voice had gone rough. Speaking was almost painful. “Shum’ai mating…it’s not like your human coupling. It’s not gentle. Not kind.”

She moved closer still, close enough that he could see the flecks of gold in her bright eyes, smell the subtle changes in her scent that made his head spin. “I’m not asking for gentle.”

A growl built in his chest, rumbling through the small space between them. “You should be. You should be running from this. From me.” Had she no sense of self-preservation? Wait. What was he thinking? Of course, she didn’t. She turned back to save him when he’d told her to run. Crawled through the dangerous dark tunnel blind, just to save him. This female was reckless. Just like him.

And that’s probably why he was starting to like her so much.

His digits scraped against the stone wall, drawing lifeblood. “I am a rebel. A being that has killed more than he’s saved. I’m worthy of no female. Especially not you.”

That was clear, wasn’t it? She was a pretty soft thing. Untainted by the curse that was his existence. Surely she’d abandon her hopes of saving him now.

The blasted female didn’t.

“Stop.” She pressed a hand to his chest, and he sucked in a harsh breath at the contact. “You’re worth more than that. You came to save me. You alone.” Her throat moved as she swallowed hard. “ You , Akur. No one, not here or on Earth, has ever tried so hard for me before. I owe you my life.”

He grunted a mirthless laugh, closing his eyes tight as he tried to fight the urges pulsing through him. She was close. She was too close. “I’m a monster. And you, bright eyes—”

“Would willingly fuck a monster.”

His eyes flew open as he caught her wrist, meaning to push her away. Instead, he held her there, feeling her pulse race beneath his digits. “This is no joke, Kon-stahns.”

“I’m not laughing. ”

“You don’t care?”

She shook her head slightly. “I don’t see what you see, Akur.”

It was his time to swallow hard. “What about that Tasqal? You saw what he revealed. The fin, the genetic connection. Everything my people fought against, everything we despised…it’s part of our lifeblood now. What we are.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re nothing like them .” Her other hand came up to touch his face, and he had to close his eyes against the tenderness of the gesture. “You know what’s right and wrong. They have survived by taking…but you…you’re willing to die to protect others. That makes you nothing like them.”

“You don’t understand.” His digit tightened on her wrist, not enough to hurt, but enough to make her feel his strength. There was still no fear in those blue eyes. “If we did this…if I lost control…I could hurt you. Break you.”

“I trust you.”

His eyes snapped open again. Words failed him. “You shouldn’t .”

She had the audacity to smile. “But I do.” She stepped closer, eliminating what little space remained between them. “I’ve seen you fight. Seen you kill. But I’ve also seen you protect.” Her hand slid from his face to his nape, fingers brushing the burning fin there. He inhaled so hard it sounded as if he was taking his last breath. “You’re burning up, Akur. Let me help.”

A shudder ran through his massive frame at her touch.

“Kon-stahns…” Her name was a warning, a plea.

“Tell me what happens.” Her voice remained steady despite the way her heart raced. “Tell me exactly what I’m offering and let me decide. Is this like a bonding thing? Will doing this make us married or something? Is that why you’re so afraid?”

He grunted another laugh. Married. Wasn’t that the human mating ritual that signaled lifelong mates? “No,” he whispered. “Not married.”

“Then what? Will I be marked? Claimed?”

He wanted to push her away. Needed to. But the heat was making it hard to think, hard to remember why this was such a terrible idea. And sh e was soft. So very soft. And she smelled good, too. So qrakking good. Gods… “No. There are no consequences except…”

“Except what?”

“Pain. For you.” His grip on her wrist tightened fractionally. “I would try to make it good for you. If I hurt you, I…” He couldn’t finish the thought.

She nodded slowly, processing. “So, you’re considering it. Good.”

“No,” he growled.

She drew in a sharp breath but didn’t pull away. “What if we don’t do this? What happens to you?”

He shook his head, trying to clear it. It wasn’t just her proximity now. It was her touch. The sensation of her softness against him. The scent of her—sweet, tantalizing. Even the sound of her voice. It was slowly driving him crazy. Maybe she was right about him being insane—only, he hadn’t expected her to be the catalyst of this unfortunate demise.

“The heat will get worse. I’ll lose control, eventually. Become dangerous.” His jaw clenched. “I’ve seen it happen to others. They either find release or…” He let the implications hang in the air.

“Take it?”

He froze, easing back as some clarity reached his mind. “ Never . No Shum’ai would ever do that to you. We are not like those Tasqals.”

She leaned in, cradling his head as those blasted digits of hers brushed his nefre again. “I know.” His cock jumped, growing so hard beneath his slit that it was torture. “I know,” she whispered.

“I would not force you, but I would be in pain. A lot of pain. Until it eventually faded.”

“How long?”

He breathed out a hot breath. The questions felt like a hammer against his mind, but he knew he needed to answer them. She needed to know. “Many turns.”

Her free hand shifted, thankfully, from his nefre to touch his face again, and this time he couldn’t stop himself from leaning into it. “Then we don’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice.” But even as he said it, his body was respon ding to her touch. The heat under his skin seemed to thrum in time with her pulse. “I can bear it.”

“We don’t have time.” She pressed closer, and he had to bite back a groan at the feel of her soft body against his. “Those gator-guards are out there and you’re my weapon. We need to move, and you need to be able to fight.” Her fingers stroked along his fin again, sending sparks of pleasure-pain down his spine. “Let me help you.”

Another harsh laugh grunted through him. “Your weapon? So you’ll surrender to me just so I can fight for you.”

She breathed out a laugh of her own, her cool breath fanning against his skin. “Funny, isn’t it? I never thought I’d be fucking an alien to save the universe.” Another breath shuddered through her. “Just like you never thought you’d need to fuck a human to fight the war you’ve been dying to end.”

His muscles flexed as he still resisted. Did she truly understand what she was asking of him? But even as he asked himself the question, Kon-stahns looked up at him. She stared into his eyes, unwavering.

“I trust you,” she whispered.

Those words again. They broke something in him, some last barrier of resistance. With a growl that shook the walls, he spun them, pressing her against the stone with his body. His hands came up to cage her in, digits scraping against the rock.

“Last chance,” he ground out, fighting for control even as his body screamed for release. “Last chance to run.”

Instead of answering, she lifted her face to his and pressed her lips to his mouth.

The sensation of her lips was like touching a flame to gunpowder. Heat exploded through him, turning his blood to fire. A sound somewhere between a growl and a roar tore from his throat as he deepened the contact. Tasting her. Claiming her. He couldn’t…resist.

The last of his control. It was broken.

His hands moved from the wall to her body, sliding under the thin remnants of her tunic to touch bare skin. Even with his heat cloudi ng his senses, he could feel the lack of hers. Despite the natural warmth of her body, her skin was cold. She was freezing.

As she shuddered against him, he was about to pull back, to check if she was really alright when she gasped into his mouth, arching against him. The movement pressed her more firmly against his hardness, and rational thought fled entirely. With a single tug, he shredded what was left of her tunic, desire coursing through him at the sight and feel of her bareness.

“Akur,” she breathed his name against his lips, and the sound drove him wild. He lifted her, pressing her higher against the wall as his mouth moved to her throat. The taste of her skin was intoxicating, making his head spin.

Qef. This was more than need. This was madness.

Opening his mouth, he ran his teeth against her pulse point, not quite breaking skin. Oh, she was so soft. He could bite her here. The urge to do so now was intense. Maybe later? If she allowed him to? When he was buried deep inside her. When she was crying out his name and begging for release.

It wasn’t even a mating need. Just an urge. One he’d never had before as bad as he did now.

“Tell me you want this,” he growled against her throat. “Tell me you understand what you’re offering.”

Her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer. “I want this.”

Qrak. With another growl that sounded like the beast he was turning into, he carried her to the small table. It creaked under their combined weight as he laid her down, scattering debris across the floor. He couldn’t care less about the noise—not with her underneath him, not with her scent flooding his senses.

With another deft movement, he tugged off her lower garments, desperation overriding finesse. Then he froze, caught in the sight of her. Pale skin, soft curves, so different from the sleek, toned forms of Shum’ai females. Nothing like he’d ever seen before. A wave of possessiveness surged through him, hot like molten lava.

She was so small. Fragile. A tuft of brown fur covered her sex, but even t hat seemed delicate. His gaze fixed there, worry warring with desire. Ajos had taken a human mate, yes, but…

“What is it?” Kon-stahns whispered. Her blue eyes were steady on him, watching his every reaction.

“You’re small.”

She grunted a laugh, sending vibrations through where their bodies touched. “Come on, big guy. Worried you won’t fit?” Her hand slid down his chest, fearless where others would cower. She didn’t seem to mind their size difference. But he was forgetting she was partially insane. “Trust me, warrior. Humans are more adaptable than you think.”

His answering growl vibrated through her body where they were pressed against the table. “If I break you…” His brow furrowed as he looked between them again.

Gods, she was beautiful. Beautiful in a way he didn’t expect she would be. Her nakedness was making it damn near impossible to grab hold of the last few working brain cells he had to think logically in this moment.

“I told you, you won’t.” She arched up, pressing the mounds on her chest against him. Qrak. Him. “You’ve been acting like I’m fragile since the moment we met.”

His digits pressed into the table’s surface beside her head. “Because you are fragile.”

“Am I?” As if in challenge, she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer. And that’s when he felt it. She wasn’t completely cold. The temperature of her cold skin couldn’t distract from a sudden heat. Intense sweet heat. Right at the center of her thighs. And it called him like a beacon. “I survived being trapped on a spaceship in stasis. Survived those gator-guards. Survived the tunnels.” Her hand reached for him, tracing the line of his jaw. “I’m not as breakable as you think.”

Every shift of her body beneath his sent sparks of need through his system. “Kon-stahns…”

“Qrak,” he growled, lowering his head to taste one perfect mound, tongue lapping at the teat. Her back arched off the table as he sucked the se nsitive peak into his mouth. Gods of the Shum’ai, she tasted like the sweetest nectar. His hands slid over her body and she responded to him. He could feel the moment she relaxed. The moment she opened to him. “Can’t resist.”

“Then don’t,” she panted.