Chapter 12 Burr’k
It was hard to concentrate with Holly in my lap and the acrid scent of her fear in my nose.
Usually, the advice was not to fly during the noon hours when the flyers were most active. Over the centuries, the creatures had learned to recognize our shuttles despite the use of our advanced cloaking technology. They often tried to bring down our vessels by piling onto them until we crashed.
In this particular instance, they were already on my shuttle, and more were coming in.
Several more flyers had already joined the trio that had first shown up.
But it was the spitters that worried me.
Spitter acid was strong stuff, and while it would take hours for the acid to actually burn through the hull, it would cause irreparable damage before then.
The shuttle rumbled to life, and it lifted off the ground just as the first volley of spitter acid flew our way. It splashed onto the ground where my shuttle had been just seconds before. But we had not moved in time, and a splatter of the acid landed on the side of the hull.
“Krux!”
The ice acted as armor, and as it sizzled away, I focused on getting my shuttle free of the flyers.
The first two flyers were easy enough to shake off. They’d latched onto the icy exterior of my shuttle with their talons, and as the ice fell away under the strain of our velocity, so did they. I watched with grim satisfaction as they screeched in frustration.
The third one was more difficult.
It had anchored itself to the armored plating near the rear thrusters, its claws digging in deep.
I gritted my teeth and jerked the controls hard to the left, then right, trying to throw it off.
The shuttle bucked and swerved through the air, groaning under the strain, but the creature held fast. I could hear its claws scraping against the metal.
Holly flinched from the sickening sound, her hands coming up to cover her ears.
I banked sharply, skimming the tops of the trees below. Branches whipped past in a blur, and finally I felt the impact as the creature was torn away, leaving nothing but a set of gouge marks.
Relief was short-lived.
A fresh wave of flyers descended from above, diving like bombs. I twisted and dipped between them, narrowly avoiding their grasping claws. Suddenly, one of them swooped directly in front of us, its grotesque form filling the windshield.
Holly screamed from my lap. For a split second, it seemed we were going to crash, but my fingers flew across the console, activating the blasters.
A deafening burst of energy erupted from the front of the shuttle. The creature exploded in a shower of blood and viscera, painting the shuttle in crimson streaks.
I scanned the skies, eyes locked onto the winged horrors darting through the air. The thrill of the hunt coursed through me, and I pursued the creatures, hunted them like I should’ve been doing all these years.
In my lap, Holly had gone quiet, but the sour fear from earlier was gone, replaced by excitement.
I pushed the throttle, chasing the creatures through the sky. They shrieked and scattered, no longer the predators but the prey. They twisted and dove, trying to outmaneuver me, but my shuttle was quick, and so were my reflexes. I anticipated their movements, cutting through the air like a blade.
“There!” Holly shouted, gesturing to the right. “Get him!”
I locked on and fired.
A blast lit up the sky with a flash of energy, followed by a burst of blood and bone. The creatures ruptured mid-flight, their carapaces torn apart.
One by one, I hunted them down.
One more left. The varmint dove for the buildings below. I followed, descending fast. Time seemed to slow as I lined up the shot. The creature burst into a shower of gore over the abandoned town below.
Holly erupted in applause. “That was amazing! You must be the best pilot ever. They didn’t stand a chance.”
Her words filled me with a sense of accomplishment. It wasn’t just that I had my first successful solo hunt in decades, but that I had an audience. She was my witness.
But this wasn’t considered a big hunt, not by a long shot. This was nothing compared to the number of scourge I used to put down every single day. Many would even consider this to be a failure since the scourge on the ground had gotten away while I focused only on the flyers.
But Holly didn’t see the faults. Her excitement and pride were genuine. It made my heart swell. When was the last time I’d felt such achievement? It had been a while since I’d felt useful in any capacity. But here in the presence of her awe and applause, I felt like the best hunter in the galaxy.
I released the harness, expecting her to climb off my lap now that the danger had passed. But instead, she shifted slightly, turning her body just enough to throw her arms around me. She plastered my face with a bunch of tiny kisses, each one landing like a spark on tinder.
Then she paused, her hot breath brushing my cheek, her eyes locked onto mine with a glint of mischief. I grabbed her hips, shifting her until she straddled me properly. Her eyes widened, and she bit her lower lip.
I leaned in, brushing my lips along her jaw, then down to her throat, tasting the sweat and adrenaline on her skin.
She gasped, her head tilting to make room for my horns.
Her fingers dug into my shoulders as I pressed her tighter against me, the vibrations in my chest so strong that it moved us both.
“My beautiful Holly,” I growled, voice low and rough.
She shivered, and little bumps formed on her arms even though it was warm in my shuttle.
I chased the bumps away, then covered her mouth with mine.
I kissed her hard, claiming her mouth, devouring every sound she made.
She moaned into the kiss, her body rocking against mine, and I matched her rhythm, letting the heat build between us until it felt like we might combust.
My hands explored her body, one sliding down to grip her rounded bottom, and the other tracing the line of her spine through the thin fabric of her top.
She arched slightly, responding to my touch, her fingers threading into my hair.
The shuttle around us faded into a blur.
All I could focus on was her and the lust that filled the void between us.
I knew what she wanted, and I could do nothing else but give it to her. It felt like my duty, and it was one I’d gladly perform. I burned for her. I wanted to touch her, feeling her against my skin, absorb into her until we were one. I didn’t understand it, but I didn’t need to; I only needed her.
I stood, bringing her with me, my hands stripping her of her clothes even as I devoured her lips. Her legs latched around my waist and her hands slid up to my horns, drawing forth my tortured groan.
She nipped at my lips with her flat little teeth, and when she moaned, I swallowed the sound and ground my pelvis against hers, unable to control myself.
Pressing her back against the wall, I reached down between her legs to run a fingertip along the seam of her cunt.
I explored her folds, and her body shook as she clung to me, my digits slick with her honey.
I found her opening and pressed in with two thick fingers, reveling as she cried out, then rocked against my hand.
“Krux! The things you do to me.”
And the things I wanted to do to her! I’d be happy to spend forever here with her, hidden away in my shuttle, just the two of us.
And if she wanted to go on a mission to retrieve whatever baubles made her happy, then I would be ready to be at her side.
She could be my purpose. She was already my hope.
Holly was no passive passenger; she reached down behind her to tear at the fastening of my loincloth, freeing my cock. It bumped against her ass, and she wrapped her hands around my rigid length.
The sensation of her soft hands on my cock felt so good, I had to lock my knees so I didn’t collapse on the shuttle floor. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth as she explored me. My hand was soaked with her arousal, and I breathed in our lust, another snarl ripping from my throat.
Not wanting to come in her hands and strip myself of the pleasure of fucking her, I shifted our positions so that she could no longer reach me and I drew my fingers from her, slowly, deliberately bringing them to my lips so she could watch as I licked them clean.
The spike of lust emanating from her was palpable.
I lifted her, supporting her rounded bottom with my hands, and guided her body over the tip of my shaft. Then I was thrusting into her hot, silky depths. A loud cry escaped her throat as the first thick head of my cock breached her opening.
I froze, worried I was going too fast. It was so hard to control myself. She took every last bit of my restraint from me.
“No, Burr’k! Don’t stop,” she begged, rocking her hips.
Fuck! The sound of my name on her lips was too much.
“Mine!” I snarled and thrust into her, starting a steady but punishing rhythm as my shuttle was filled with the sounds of her pleasure.