21. Chapter 21
Chapter twenty-one
~Kitari~
G uilt riddled me. I could not help the feeling that I was leading Bryce Bryce Gunner into a trap. But he was my prisoner, he would be safe with me. I felt the need to tell him about my talk with Koum, but what if it frightened him? Would that mean betraying my people? I had only known this human for three days and already my head was spinning. Perhaps it was the pheromone sickness. Either way, I had to get Bryce Bryce Gunner back quickly, to minimize the damage Koum would do before we got there.
But keeping my mind on the goal was difficult with the scent of the omega swirling around me constantly. My mind kept drifting. And he asked so many questions. About the plants, the animals, me, my people. He was like an excited child, and it made me happy to answer as best as I could, sharing my knowledge. He was grateful for everything I told him, which made me feel important. Wise. Like I was worth listening to. Like my opinions mattered.
“This is a ner lila kalani, ” I said, indicating a bright red flower as we passed, giving it a wide berth.
“Oh yeah, I know this one,” he said brightly. “Rand got in a fight with one and lost.”
“Rand?”
“He’s my friend, one of the team. Although he can be a bit of an ass sometimes.” He laughed. “He got completely covered in pink dust, his suit was stained, he couldn’t get it off.”
I enjoyed the sound of his laughter, like bright bird song, but with a deep huskiness to it. It made me want to laugh along as well.
“Yes, it is a dangerous enemy. I did the same thing as a child,” I said. “I was pink for two cycles. My father was not pleased.”
He laughed again.
“I bathed several times a day. The others called me muldvermis , which is a small, pink, hairless burrowing creature.”
“Oh, that’s harsh,” he said, but he still laughed.
It had irritated me at the time, but now it seemed very amusing. I laughed too.
“So your team are also your friends?” I asked.
“Yeah, they’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to family. I’ve always made friends easily.”
I was sure. I had several acquaintances that I considered to be friends. Arcay, Tarro; Koum, of course, did not count, but I was not skilled in that department. My tongue was often too sharp, and my attitude apparently too disrespectful. I was sure everyone was eager to be friends with Bryce Bryce Gunner.
“You do not have family?”
“No, apart from the one I make for myself.”
“But surely you must have a father? A mother? Someone must have created you?”
“Yeah, I don’t know who though. I never met them. I was left at a group home as a baby.” He shrugged. “They probably had their reasons, and I turned out fine. So it’s all good.”
“You say that often.”
He smiled. “I guess I do.”
“I wonder how often you actually mean it,” I said.
He stared at me for a moment, then his cheeks bloomed a deep red color that reached the tips of his ears.
“I am sure these people that you consider your family will not think less of you if you are not ‘all good’ at some times.”
He looked down.
“I am sorry if I have offended you,” I said.
“No, no it’s fine, you didn’t.”
The rest of the journey was uneventful, and even though time was pressing, as we drew closer and closer to Amalya, I found myself slowing. I desired just a little longer with this fascinating human. When he drew close enough for his scent to wash over me, my heart started to beat faster and my head swam, but it was an entirely pleasant feeling. One I didn’t want to stop.
As we passed under a gap in the leaves overhead, Bryce Bryce Gunner pointed upward.
“Are we heading towards the mountains?”
I looked up at the craggy walls of rock that hemmed in the sky. The sun was setting now, and twilight tinged the sky with purple ink. Amalya was just on the other side of that pass, protected on three sides by the mountains in a lush valley.
“Yes, Amalya lies at the foot of the mountains in a valley. It protects us.”
“Ah, so that’s why we couldn’t spot you from space,” he said.
“You tried to spot us?” I asked, more amused than offended.
“Well, it’s good to know what you’re up against when you’re…”
“Invading someone’s territory.”
He balked at that and laughed nervously. “I wouldn’t say invading, as such.”
Movement caught my eye, and I grabbed Bryce Bryce Gunner’s hand to halt him, pulling him down into a crouch among the plants. He instantly fell silent, his eyes on me. I pointed silently ahead.
Ten strides in front of us, a delicate creature stepped out. The kalao flicked its head this way and that, tasting the air. It moved forward cautiously on long, hoofed legs, picking its way through the undergrowth. Around it floated a schrell, its glowing tendrils fanning out into the surrounding air. Pale blue light reflected off the leaves on the kalao’s soft-furred hide. Its young appeared behind it, a procession of four cubs, eyes huge and ears too big for their heads. The schrell circled them all, leaving glowing motes in the air behind it.
“Oh, wow,” Bryce Bryce Gunner whispered. “What is that?”
“The kalao and the schrell have formed an alliance. They work together for the benefit of both. The schrell has its own unique defense mechanisms, and the kalao allows it to feed from the insects that live in its fur.”
The group stopped some way ahead, and the babies began sniffing around on the ground, looking for fallen fruit at the base of the plumn tree. The fruit on the tree was too high for the kalao to reach. I let go of Bryce Bryce Gunner and slowly crept forward, motioning for him to mimic my movements. I plucked a fruit pod off a low-hanging branch and split it open. The kalao flicked its head up and froze, tense and ready to flee. I continued to approach slowly, holding the fruit out in front of me. Behind me, I could hear Bryce Bryce Gunner moving closer.
When we were three paces away, I stopped and held the fruit out. The kalao flicked its ears and took a single step towards us. The schrell extended its light tendrils, emitting small pulses that swept over our bodies. The tendrils looped around us, light and ethereal. I glanced to the side where Bryce Bryce Gunner was holding his breath, his eyes wide, reflecting the blue light.
The kalao moved closer, sniffing at the fruit, then took a nibble. Its ears continued to flick in all directions, its eyes trained on me. The babies trotted around its feet, and I broke a segment off and threw it down on the ground for them. Then, slowly, I handed the fruit to Bryce Bryce Gunner. He met my eyes and took it, then held it out himself. The kalao ate from his hand. One of the babies sniffed at his leg, and the schrell effused a flotilla of light motes that stuck to the fine hairs on his arm. When the fruit was all gone, the kalao licked at the red residue on his palm with a rough tongue.
He laughed delightedly. The kalao startled. In a flash, the schrell emitted a sudden burst of dazzling white light that stained my eyes with the afterimage. I blinked, and when it faded, the animals were gone, retreating back into the jungle. In its wake, the schrell had left behind a cloud of glowing lights that danced and floated in the air, a distraction to cover their escape.
“Aw, damn it,” Bryce Bryce Gunner said, rubbing his eyes and realizing that the creatures had departed.
I laughed and ruffled his hair. “Are all humans so chaotic?”
“Hey.” He shoved my hand away, laughing too.
I noticed that he smelled even nicer when he was happy, and made a note to make him so more often.
“That was cool, thank you.”
Let the consequences happen when they did, I wanted this last moment alone with Bryce Bryce Gunner to last just a little longer. I turned away from Amalya.
“Come, I want to show you something else.”
“Where are we going?”
“You will see.”
I led him through the trees, away from the mountains. He followed without question. I found the slight rise of earth that turned into a steep hill, and we climbed until we reached the top where a single, huge tree stood in a clearing. Its branches were thick and heavy with age, trailing across the ground as if they weighed too much.
He looked around. The hill stood above the line of trees, offering a view of the land falling away to one side. Behind us, the mountains stood tall and proud. Twinkling points of light danced in the air, and above, the stars were just starting to emerge, graced by the twin moons.
“This is a favorite place of mine to come, when I can.”
“It’s amazing,” Bryce Bryce Gunner breathed by my side.
I had been too engulfed in looking at the view to notice how close he had come to me. The smell of him filled my head and set my heart racing. I indulged myself and took a deep breath. My blood pulsed in every part of my body. It was intoxicating.
He drew closer to me while his attention remained on the view, as if he was not aware he was doing it. Or perhaps he was drawn by an invisible force that was not in his control.
I dragged my eyes and thoughts away from him as best as I could, but when I looked back at him, he was staring at me with the stars reflecting in his deep eyes. Without taking his eyes from mine, he moved closer still, until my body was vibrating, then he pressed his lips to my shoulder.
I froze.
Clay had told me about ‘kissing,’ the meeting of one person’s lips against another’s. How the lips moved and the pressure caused a pleasurable feeling. It had seemed like a strange concept to me, and to be honest, quite unsanitary. Maybe sharing bacteria was considered romantic to humans? Arcay had confirmed that it was indeed enjoyable, and the fad was starting to catch on among some of the betas, although I had never wished to try it.
Until that moment.
A warm, tingling sensation rushed over my skin from the place he touched. But Bryce Bryce Gunner’s lips did not move, just pressed gently to my skin as if he was feeling my warmth with them. Was this a kiss, or something else that humans did?
I was not sure, but my head swam with heady bliss. And suddenly I ached to try the kissing.
There was no denying that I was impossibly attracted to him, more so than anyone else I had ever met. Perhaps humans were all this familiar with each other, but for me, an Aldarian alpha, no one had ever touched me like this before. It was sensual, intimate, and disarming.
I threw caution to the wind.
I took his jaw and tilted his head up. He did not resist. Then, following what I had heard from Clay, I pressed my lips against his and let my instincts take over.
Bryce Bryce Gunner’s lips were, in turn, hard and soft, yielding and forceful. My head spun and my insides knotted as I let him lead. I stared at his face as he kissed me, his eyes closed lightly. Our bodies pushed close, while the points of light pivoted around us, the center of our own universe.
I felt like I was floating. Heat flooded to my navel, and I felt myself awaken.
Then I felt his tongue brush against mine, and I had to concentrate on relaxing my grip on him. He did not seem to care, working his tongue deeper. I dove my own tongue into his mouth, unsure how far you were supposed to go, and he made a gasping noise before his whole body shuddered against me.
“Kitari,” he said against my lips.
I shivered and moved, pressing harder into him. The heat between my legs pressed against him, his body hard and strong—
“Kitari?!”
The shout came from behind us. The universe shattered, and suddenly I was slammed back into my body.
We broke apart, my lips raw and tingling, and turned.
Koum was standing a short distance away, his eyes wide, flanked by three more Aldar, all with spears pointed at us.