Part Four
GEORGIE
Vektal’s out checking traps and getting me some Not-Hoth breakfast. Since I’m stuck at the cave, I decide that today I’m going to leave with the blankets instead of abandoning them here at the cave like we did last time. Vektal has already indicated that he wants me to be ultra-bundled when we leave, and since we’re heading up the mountain, I want blankets for the other girls. The only way that’s going to work is if I can wear them.
So I’m busy slicing makeshift ties out of the lining of my jacket and poking holes through the edge of one of the furs with my knife to make it a cloak. I’m not much for sewing, especially with these terrible supplies, but it’s something to do while I wait on Vektal to return. I’m testing my second ‘cloak’ when Vektal rushes back to the cave, his glowy-eyes frantic.
I get up, alarmed. “What is it?”
He grabs me and pulls me against his chest, stroking my hair. He’s breathing hard, and this might be the first time I’ve heard him winded. Normally nothing fazes him.
But right now? He’s rattled. And that makes me scared. “Vektal?”
He cups my cheek and gazes into my face. Then, he peers into my eyes. Puts a hand to my forehead, then to my breast. Asks a question I can’t make out.
I frown and shake my head. “I’m fine? What’s going on?”
“Georgie,” he says and then utters something else that I’m pretty sure is “Come with me.”
I put on the heavy furs, and he nods, helping me bundle up. When every inch of me is covered in shaggy hides and I’m practically sweating, he tugs me onto his back and out into the snow we go.
It’s a lot warmer this way, and I’m rather enjoying the snowy weather as Vektal does the hard work, tromping through the deep snow. The two sickly-pale suns are out, and the world looks rather beautiful right now. Like a snowy paradise.
I’m so busy admiring my surroundings that I don’t notice Vektal has stopped until he nudges my arm and then gestures at the snow.
There’s something in the drifts.
Somehow, I don’t think this is a hunting kill. My stomach churns sickly, and I slide off his back. Holding my furs against my body, I move forward and brush a bit of the snow aside.
It’s a face. Human. Red hair. Her eyes are open and frozen.
I gasp. Dominique. Her clothing is ragged and dirty, and it’s clear from the tinge of her skin that she’s been out here for a while. She’s frozen through and through. A sob escapes me, and I look at Vektal.
He points at the girl, his eyes pale as if with shock. “Georgie?”
“No, I’m Georgie,” I say then point at her. “That’s Dominique.” Then I try to teach him the word ‘human’ by spreading my five fingers. I can’t stop sniffling. What is she doing here? Did they send her after me? Another sob catches my throat. “Vektal, we have to go up the mountain. Please.”
“Mountain. Human?” he asks, voice low.
“Yes,” I say, feeling frantic. While I’ve been fucking around with an alien and eating and wearing warm furs, the others are starving and cold. I point up the mountain. “Please. Please let’s go up the mountain. More humans.”
He nods and lets a stream of syllables fly. I don’t understand them, but when I gesture that I want on his back again, he hauls me against him and begins a quick pace up the snowy hills and past the cliff we spent the night at.
This time, we’re going up the mountain. I want to sob with relief. Instead, I keep thinking of Dominique’s frozen face. Poor Dominique. What happened? Why did they send her out with no clothing? It’s a death sentence. Were they so desperate they had no choice?
“Hurry, please,” I tell him. He doesn’t understand the word, but maybe he hears the urgency in my voice. His pace picks up.
It takes at least two hours of Vektal’s steady, measured pacing before I get a glimpse of the black hull of the ship. It’s almost entirely covered by snow at this point, and I suck in a breath at the sight of it. That can’t be warm, no matter the insulation. Up this high, there aren’t many trees and there’s no wildlife. The air feels thinner, and I wonder if the aliens deliberately stranded us at the most inhospitable site so we wouldn’t run away.
Fuck that. We are getting out of here today, and I am taking my girls with me.
I just pray they are still alive.
Vektal points at the black oblong vessel that had broken off from the ship. “Sa?”
“Yes,” I tell him. “Sa!”
It takes a bit longer for us to get up to the discarded portion of the ship. The slope is rocky and steep, and going up proves to be a bit of a challenge that I hadn’t had while going down. We get to the edge, and I see a snowy drift is high enough on one side that it can act as a ramp. It must have snowed a lot here. Ugh.
I drop off Vektal’s back and nudge ahead, taking the lead. The breeze is picking up, so I swaddle the furs closer about my face and climb up the ramp. The hole is covered by the tarp, so I tug it up.
A snowball immediately hits me in the face.
I sputter, wincing and staggering backward. It’s nailed me right on the nose, and my face throbs, my eyes stinging.
“Back the fuck off!” A voice yells. Another snowball lobs in my direction, and I duck it.
Vektal gives a furious cry, pulling me behind him, rage lighting his eyes. As I watch, he pulls two bladed, carved short swords from his vest.
“Wait,” I yell. “Guys, it’s me! Georgie!”
Silence.
“Georgie?” A voice cries. It sounds like Liz. “You’re alive?”
“I am,” I yell back. “Fuck off with the snowballs!”
“What’s with the lion, Georgie?” someone else yells up. “Call it off!”
“It’s not a lion. It’s a native, and it’s my friend. His name is Vektal.” I pat Vektal’s arm, trying to soothe him since he still looks as if he wants to crawl inside and murder everyone. “It’s okay, big guy. Really.” I’m so relieved at finding the others alive that I could blubber big, ugly tears of joy.
I try to move forward, only to have Vektal block me again. I give him an exasperated look. “Really. It’s fine. These are my people. Humans.”
“Humans,” he repeats and points at his fingers.
“That’s right.”
Grudgingly, he moves aside, and I push the tarp away and duck, just in case another snowball comes flying my way. When nothing does, I peek in.
Five ragged girls stare up at me, faces dirty. Liz, Kira, Megan, Tiffany, and Josie are all still alive, though they look like hell. Their eyes are hollow, their hair is lank, and they shiver as they stare up at me.
I think they’re all beautiful. I’m so happy to see them that I burst into tears. “Hi,” I sob out.
“Georgie?” Vektal asks. His hands go to my back, his touch possessive.
I turn and pat him, trying not to blubber and failing miserably. “Help me down?”
My wrist is still crap, but Vektal is strong. He helps lower me into the hold just enough that I can grab onto some of the wreckage. I climb down awkwardly, falling forward when I get close to the floor. Then the five girls are grabbing me, hauling me against them in big, smelly hugs.
“You guys smell awful,” I say between sobs and hug each one. Liz is grinning wide, but Josie seems listless, her delicate figure practically skeletal. Tiffany’s blubbering as much as I am, and both Megan and Kira are quiet. “Here,” I say, stripping the furs off my body. “Please. Take these. You guys have to be freezing.”
They grab the furs with greedy hands, and I don’t even mind. I strip them off, happy to hear their moans of pleasure as they get their first warm clothing in days.
“We thought you were dead,” Tiffany says. “You never came back.”
“I got held up. Are you guys okay?” I ask as they snuggle in the blankets. Kira’s wearing Vektal’s traveling cloak, and Liz and Megan are huddling together under one fur, Josie and Tiffany under the other. They’re standing and alert, so that’s good.
Megan sniffs and then sneezes. The others grimace. Liz rubs her forehead, and she’s clearly exhausted. “We’re hanging in there,” Liz says. “Food’s almost gone. Water, too. But—”
Something big and heavy thumps behind me, shaking the entire cargo hold. Everyone’s eyes go wide as they scatter, retreating.
I turn and see Vektal shaking a bit of snow off of his leather boots. His nostrils flare with the stench of unwashed bodies and human waste, and then his gaze fixes on me. He frowns at the realization that I’ve given away all my furs.
“It’s okay,” I tell him, moving to his side. I pat his big chest, trying to soothe him with small touches. “Vektal, these are my people.”
“He understands you?” Liz asks in a small voice.
“Well, only little bits and pieces,” I say, watching him. I don’t think he’s going to greet the others with oral sex, but you never know.
He gazes at the others and then puts a hand on the back of my neck and pulls me against him, possessive.
Yeah, I guess I’m the only one special enough for that greeting. Oddly enough, I’m pleased by the thought. I like being special to him. “Ladies,” I say, gesturing at my big blue-gray friend. “This is Vektal. He’s from around these parts.”
They look at him warily.
“He looks like a demon,” Liz says, ever blunt.
“He’s nice, I promise,” I say and give him another pat on the chest. “He’s been keeping me alive for the last few days.”
“I don’t care if he looks like a demon,” Josie says, her small voice trembling. “Is that a dead animal hanging from his belt? Can we eat it?”
I look down. Sure enough, Vektal’s got his kills strapped to his waist. They look like gigantic naked rats or rabbits with no hair or ears. That’s right. He was checking traps this morning. “I’m sure he’ll share,” I say and gesture at his belt. “Can I have that, Vektal?”
When I reach to his belt, he grips my hand and gives me an incredulous look, then rattles off a string of syllables.
“He just asked if you want to mate here,” Kira says, voice full of disbelief.
“Oh shit,” Liz says. “That’s what held her up. Alien nookie.”
My face feels flaming hot. I jerk my hands back.
They’re all staring at me. Megan looks amused while Tiffany looks a little horrified.
“I can explain,” I begin.
“I wouldn’t,” Liz says. “Just let us imagine for a bit. And feed us. I don’t care if you fucked an entire stadium of aliens if you give me something hot to eat.”
“He’s not keen on the ‘hot’ part,” I say, then turn to Vektal and point at the rabbit-things hanging from his belt. “Food? Food for humans?”
“Humans,” he agrees, unhooking the meat from his belt. As I take it, he offers me his knife.
“We need fire,” I tell him and mime the hand-warming gesture. “Fire.”
“Oh shit,” Josie says. “I’ll even blow him if he can get us a fire.”
“Right?” Liz says in agreement.
I feel a flare of annoyance at the girls. They’re cold. There’s no reason I should be jealous of them. I’ve been frolicking in the snow with a big sexy alien for the last two days while they’ve been freezing their butts off and starving. But the thought of them touching him makes me . . . unhappy.
Jealous.
Crap. I cannot be falling for a big blue alien. No matter how good he is in bed.
“Fire?” Vektal asks. He looks around the cargo bay and frowns, then points at the ceiling and spits another stream of syllables.
“He says that there’s no wood this high up the mountain. He’ll have to go get some from the cave and come back.”
I nod at Kira, then at Vektal. “Please do that.”
His ridged brows draw down, and then he points at Kira and says something else.
“He wants to know if I understand him,” Kira whispers. She edges closer to the others. “What should I say?”
I reach up and brush a hand on Vektal’s hard jaw, turning his frowning face toward me. It’s impossible to tell what he’s thinking right now. “Vektal?” When his attention turns toward me, I gesture at my ear, then move to Kira and pull her forward. “You speak, and she hears it. Understands it.” I add a lot of pantomiming of words and lips moving, in the hopes that he’ll grasp it.
His face lights up, blue eyes glowing. Another string of words, and he gestures at Kira’s ear.
Kira’s face wrinkles. “He says I have a shell that is allowing me to understand him. I wonder if the translation isn’t all that clear.”
“It’s something like that,” I say, nodding at Vektal.
He turns to Kira and says something else.
“He wants to know if my parasite teaches me his language.” She shakes her head. “Just translates.” She taps her ear, then her mouth. “Hear, no speak.”
Vektal scrutinizes Kira for a long moment and then says something else. Then he turns, grabs me by the waist and tugs me against him, pressing a hard kiss to my mouth in front of everyone.
“He says he’s going hunting and to get firewood, and for us to keep an eye on his mate,” Kira relays, amusement in her voice. “Mate, huh?”
This time, it’s my turn to be shocked. “Mate? What? He thinks we’re mated?”
But Vektal’s already climbing up the side of the hull and back out into the snow.
VEKTAL
There are five other humans in addition to the dead one in the snow. All female. My mind cannot comprehend this. All female. I think of my own tribe, with over twenty unmated males. There are only four adult females in our tribe. There have never been many. Maylak was my only age-mate that was not mated, and we were lovers for a time until she resonated for Kashrem. Now they have tiny kit Esha, and there is young Farli, bringing the count of females in our tribe up to six. Most of our warriors only dream of the resonance of a mate.
And I have found one. And there are five more who could resonate for one of my tribe. Five more who could bring our small, dying people back to life. We are long-lived, thanks to our khui, but it is a long and lonely life, and I have spent much of mine envious of others with their mates.
Now there is Georgie. And Georgie brings hope with her.
I don’t know how she and her tribe have come here or why they are so poorly equipped to survive. We cannot communicate well enough. In time, I will have answers. For now, I must hunt and feed my small, fragile humans. I worry they are too weak to make it back to the tribal caves.
None of them have khui.
Before long, they will sicken and die. It’s too early to see weakness in my Georgie, but I have been feeding her and keeping her warm. The others lack the spark in her eyes. They look tired. Frail. One has a rattle in her lungs that speaks of sickness.
I think of the dead one in the snow, frozen. That will not become my Georgie.
I travel as quickly as possible through the ever-deepening snow. I clean out first the cave we slept in earlier this morning. Then I will travel further down the mountain and remove the contents of yet another. With luck, I might find something to hunt. I only have one water skin and many human mouths, though. The humans need everything. They are not equipped to survive, not in the slightest. Thinking about this makes me run through the snow even faster. Raahosh is out on his hunting treks, and his territory is near mine. I could head south, enlist his help, and together we could feed the sickly humans.
But it might take days to find him, and I will not leave my Georgie for that long. Not when she cannot fend for herself. Not when she could already be carrying our kit. Not when there are metlaks in the area and Georgie’s tribe has no weapon but snow.
I have no idea why or how they are here, but my protective instincts surge at the thought of my Georgie facing off with more of the rabid, unpredictable metlaks. I must teach her how to defend herself. One small step before the next, I remind myself. First, food and shelter for the humans.
By the time I finish gathering the supplies, both suns are disappearing into the horizon, the larger of the two moons is out, covering the sky. Snow has begun to fall again, and I return to the strange black cave that Georgie’s women are huddled in. The cave’s contents are strapped to my back, their weight heavy. In addition to the firewood and furs, I’ve also hunted a small dvisti that will feed all the hungry mouths for at least a few days if they freeze the meat properly. I’m exhausted from spending the day running, and I’m tired as I drop into the cave from above.
Frightened screams ring out as I do.
“Calmdn,” I hear Georgie tell the others. “S’Vektal.”
I drop my burdens to the hard, cold floor and stretch. My back pops, muscles aching.
“Fck owtall izzee?”
“Ithnk sevnfeet,” Georgie says, and I hear a hint of pride in her voice. She approaches me, and I see concern on her face as she looks at me. “Yewrgon lngtime.”
“I am well, sweet resonance,” I tell her. I caress her cheek. “Did you eat something? You are as small and weak as your fellow humans.” I look at the other five-fingers. They have taken all her furs and huddle against the walls together. They smell terrible, but they are also trapped inside this cave, so I don’t blame them.
“Eez askinifyewate,” the one with the shell in her ear says. “Sezurweak.”
Georgie makes a funny face, wrinkling her tiny, smooth nose. “S’frozn.” She looks at me hopefully and asks in my language, “Fire?”
I nod and pull her close to my body. I’ll make fire for her in a moment. For now, I feel the aching need to be next to her. My khui rumbles and begins to resonate in my chest at her presence. The anxiety I felt at leaving her disappears at the sweet press of her cheek to my chest.
One of the others makes smacking noises with her mouth at the sight, and Georgie’s pale cheeks turn pink. “Fckyew,” she says but laughs. “Eyelikhm.”
I breathe in my mate’s scent for a moment longer, then release my Georgie and move to the supplies I’ve brought. I create a small pyramid of wood and dung chips, and add a bit of the fluff that keeps my boots warm to use as tinder. The women all watch quietly as I begin to make a fire. When a spark lights on the tinder, though, and I blow on it to increase the flame, I sit up and see I have six weird, smooth faces peering at me with happiness.
“Fck eyelikhmtew,” says one.
They huddle near it for warmth as I put one of my kills on a spit to roast. I don’t understand their need to burn the flavor out of their meat, but Georgie has taught me she won’t eat it any other way, so burn it I must. At my other side, one with a long mane of pale yellow hair begins to cough again, deep, racking coughs that shake her small body.
Georgie grimaces and looks at me. “Medsin?”
I don’t know what she’s asking, but I shake my head. “Nothing I have can help her. It is the khui-sickness.”
GEORGIE
“What’s that word mean?” I ask Kira. “Cwee?”
“I don’t know,” she says with a shrug of her fur-covered shoulders. The others are bundled up to their necks in the furs, only their heads peeping out from the woolly coverings. I’m a little chilly now that I’m not the one bundled, but I don’t complain. How can I? This is the first time they’ve been warm in days. I’m thrilled I can at least do this much for them.
Or rather, that Vektal can. I mostly just stand around and look proud that I brought him.
The girls have been giving me shit for hours. I don’t mind, because I do deserve it. After being taken captive by aliens, I show up with a new one who’s calling me his mate? Who kisses me and drags me against his chest every chance he gets?
Who fucked the hell out of me for hours last night until I nearly passed out from orgasms?
Yeah, I totally deserve all the shit I get.
I’m just so freaking happy at the moment. Vektal’s getting us fire and food, and all the girls are alive. I’ve fussed over them for the last few hours, making sure they’re warm and retrieving snow to melt in one of the makeshift basins so they can wash a little. They’re weak with starvation, and Tiffany’s toes and fingers look like they’ve got frostbite. Josie’s listless and weak, and Megan has a deep, racking cough that shakes her entire body. But they’re alive. We can fix everything else. Food will go a long way toward making them feel better. In addition to the hairless rat things (which have a thick layer of blubber that Vektal insists we eat, and no one is brave enough to try yet) we have something that looks like a cross between a boar and a pony that he calls a dvisti. The meat’s roasting on the fire, and even my mouth is watering, so I can’t imagine how hungry they are.
“What’s khui-sickness?” Megan asks, a worried look on her face as she crouches nearer to the fire.
“I don’t know,” I say with a small shake of my head. When I ask Vektal, all he does is press a hand to his chest and then to mine.
“The khui lives here,” Kira translates with a shrug. “No clue.”
“You just need some food and a warm place to stay,” I tell Megan, trying to soothe the worry from her face. “We’ll deal with one thing at a time.”
She nods. I’m afraid she’s going to question more, but Vektal pulls one of the legs off of the hairless rat, and it looks just like a drumstick. He automatically hands it to me.
“Oh gosh,” I say, embarrassed. “Don’t feed me, Vektal. I’ll eat last.” I immediately hand it to Megan.
She scarfs it down before someone can take it from her, and Liz gives me a gleeful look and makes more kissy faces. “He’s feeding his mate, Georgie. Give the guy a break.”
My cheeks heat again. I feel like I’ve spent all afternoon blushing.
He pulls another leg off and raises a brow at me. I shake my head, and he offers it to Kira instead, who takes it gratefully. One by one, the women are fed. I only take small bites of the dvisti as it cooks, leaving the majority for the others.
This displeases Vektal, who insists on feeding me more. I give the others an unhappy look every time he shoves another cooked piece into my hands.
“Don’t piss him off,” Tiffany says, licking her dirty fingers to get the last of the grease. “If it makes him happy to feed you, eat.”
So I eat. Once everyone is full, Vektal crouches next to me and pulls me against his chest again, and he starts purring. He strokes my hair and touches my face as the others talk quietly. We discuss our kidnappers, who haven’t returned, the planet, which seems to be getting snowier every day, and our situation.
Which is grim.
That casts a pall over the conversation, and everyone gets quiet. Liz switches places with Megan, who’s helping herself to more food. She sits next to me, cross-legged, her furs draped over her thin form, and she studies me as Vektal runs his fingers through my tangled hair.
“So you and the big guy, huh? Can’t leave you alone for two seconds without you getting hitched to the nearest alien.”
I shrug uncomfortably. “Seemed like it would help the survival odds.” Even as I say it, it feels wrong to make my relationship with Vektal sound like it’s just survival. There’s attraction, too, but I feel like I’m betraying my fellow captives if I admit to it.
Liz nods and stares at Vektal’s horns for a bit. Then she looks at me again. “He’s kinda possessive of you.”
“Yeah.” He is, and I don’t hate it. Kinda like it, actually.
“How’s he going to act when he finds out we don’t want to stay on Not-Hoth?”
I don’t respond. It’s not something I’ve thought about yet. I’m still adjusting to the fact that Vektal thinks I’m his mate. I don’t want to think about how he’s going to act if I get on the first bus ride home. Or the depressing idea that there might not be a ride home.
Liz is still looking at me, waiting for a response.
I shrug and say, “Being with him makes me happier than the other guys. I’ll take my chances with him.”
“Fair enough.” She gazes at the fire. “You haven’t asked about Dominique.”
I swallow the hard knot in my throat. I’ve been deliberately avoiding the topic, not sure how the others would ask if pressed. Like Vektal said earlier, they seem fragile. “I . . . saw her dead body. Out in the snow.”
Liz nods. She moves in a bit closer. “So the first night we were here, we heard some creatures. They hooted like owls and stuff, but they looked like skinny teddy bears or something.”
“I’ve seen those,” I tell her. “They’re pretty nasty. Vektal’s not a fan.”
“Yeah, I’m not either,” she says with a grimace. “They weren’t smart enough to figure out how to get in, but they still scared the shit out of us. Kept us up all night. Dom cried the entire time.”
“I’m sorry.”
She bats my arm. “I’m not telling you to make you sorry. Just telling you what happened. Anyhow, we decided we needed a defense of some kind, so me and Tiff and Dominique went up top and made snowballs the next day. Tiff and I turned our backs for one minute, and Dom just ran off into the snow like a crazy girl. We tried to follow her, but we’re all kinda broken, and it’s too cold to be out there long.” She shrugs. “Tiffany went looking for her and had to come back. I think her feet have frostbite.”
I nod.
“So we never saw her again. We kinda hoped she found you. Guess not, huh?”
I shake my head. “She was dead when I found her. Long dead.”
“I can’t even be sad,” Liz says with a sigh. She hugs her good leg closer to her body. “She didn’t want to be alive. Not after what they did to her.” She looks at me, eyes big in her too-thin face. “We have to get out of here, Georgie. We can’t be here when they come back to pick us up.”
“I know,” I tell her quietly. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m going to get us out of here. I just need a plan.
VEKTAL
The others watch Georgie and me closely all night. Every time I touch her hair or caress her cheek, their eyes regard us uneasily. Is it because I’m showing her affection in front of them? My people are not shy about such things. Georgie doesn’t seem to mind my touches, and her nearness keeps my khui humming pleasantly.
When the human women begin to yawn, they file off to bed with Georgie’s blankets, a fact that makes me angry. They are cold, but she is my mate, as small and fragile as the rest of them. When I suggest she take one for herself, she shakes her head.
I make sure my complaints are heard by the solemn-faced one with the shell in her ear who can understand my words. A moment later, she hands her furs to Georgie, and when my sweet mate protests, the girl insists and goes to curl up with another girl. They will be warm enough. The strange cave is closed off from the bitter winds, and despite the smell, it’s warm enough inside that they will not freeze. Between the fire and body heat, the temperature inside is pleasant.
There is no watch, though. Either the women are too trusting they will be safe or so sick and exhausted that they cannot stay awake. I suspect it is the latter. I will be their watch, then.
But first, I will spend time with my mate. My khui demands it.
Georgie yawns and wraps the blanket around her, moving to curl up next to the other women. I bank the fire with a large log so it will provide warmth for many hours, and then I move to her side and pick her up, carrying her to the far end of the cave with me, where we will have some privacy.
One of the girls laughs and calls something out. “Gitsum grlfrend,” says one.
Another calls, “Kppdown ovrthr. Weer tryntew sleep!”
Georgie just buries her face against my chest.
I take her as far from the others as we can get. Here, they will not be able to see much beyond the firelight. I put Georgie on the side closest to the wall, and my body blocks her in. I cover us both with the fur and pull my mate against me.
My khui sings and hums. It wants more of our bodies joining, and I am eager to do so.
She tucks her smaller body against me, her cold hands moving under my clothing to press against my bare skin. “Sohwarm,” she murmurs. “Sohnice.”
My khui rumbles in my chest as she rubs against me. Her eyes are closed, and I’m not sure if she realizes just how much she’s tempting me. My cock rises in response to her sleepy touches, but she’s not giving me more. I need to make her aware of what I require, then.
So I caress her neck and tilt her head back, and then I press my mouth to hers and claim her tongue with mine.
Georgie gives a soft, moaned sigh and licks me back. I enjoy the human custom of mouth-joining and caressing my mate with my tongue. It’s not something I’ve considered before, but now that I’ve done it with Georgie, it seems so obvious. I love tasting all of her. Why not her mouth? My hand pushes between her legs, but she is wearing her strange leathers. I find the waistband of her leggings and push my hand into them, seeking her sweet warmth.
She moans against me, and her hand presses to my arm. “Vektal.”
I love it when she says my name. I growl my pleasure, and my khui hums a response. I push my fingers into her soft folds, seeking that strange third nipple. I find it, and she immediately gasps and presses her face against my arm.
“Eyethnkthyr dewinnit,” whispers a voice on the other side of the room.
“Dunlook,” says another. “Gohbcktewsleep.”
“Eyebeteez gotta monstrdick!”
This time, Georgie buries her face against my chest, and I feel her push my hand away. “No,” she murmurs against my chest.
No? When my khui is throbbing almost painfully in my breast with its need to have us mate? I’m shocked. Is it because the others are awake and possibly listening? Why does that matter? I have seen and heard other sa-khui mate many times. We are not shy people. It seems the humans are not the same, though. Georgie doesn’t want me to touch her while the others are paying attention.
I growl again, but I remove my hand.
She makes a downcast little sound and presses her body closer to mine.
And that little disappointed sigh is the only reason I don’t get up and toss the other humans out of the cave.
???
The next morning, I stoke the fire for the humans and we begin to make plans. The humans don’t want to stay here. It’s clear they’re nervous and want to leave. I can’t have them stay here, either, but I’m not equipped to take them to safety. The walk to my home caves is at least a day of hard travel, and these fragile humans won’t be able to handle that.
After they eat, they look at me with hopeful eyes, as if I will somehow produce clothing and boots for all of the women. I know what they are asking with their sad faces. It grieves me to disappoint my Georgie, but a hunter alone must be practical. “I cannot take you with me,” I tell the one with the magic shell in her ear.
“Sezzee kantakus.”
One begins to sniffle loudly. The loud one—Lihz—glares at me as if I am the problem.
I point at my shoes. “You have no foot coverings. No clothing. With six of you, I cannot possibly hunt enough game and keep you moving. My home caverns are many hours walk away. With Georgie, it will take me two days to go there. I will get my people, and we will come and bring you warm clothes and travel rations. Then we will take you home with us. You will be safe there.”
Her brows draw down, and then she translates.
“Eez got ppl?” Georgie asks then smacks her forehead. “Uf kors eeduz.” She looks at me. “Yew haf ppl?” She points at the others, then at herself. “Human ppl. Vektal ppl?”
Ah. “Do I have a tribe? Yes. There are four eights of us, plus two kits. I am the chief.”
The one translates, and Georgie nods again. “Shlda known. Eez bosseh.”
Lihz snickers.
“Weeve gotwelv,” Georgie says and counts on her fingers before pointing at the wall behind her. “Siks indeyr.” She does counting words at each woman, then points at the wall and does more counting words.
I shake my head. “I do not understand.”
Georgie throws her hands up. “Nvvrmnd. Fun surprz forlaytr.”
“Ha,” says Lihz.
They all start to chatter, and one gestures at the wall. I frown at them. I don’t understand their fascination with the back wall with its flashing lights, and our one-sided conversation is not getting us anywhere. “I will return to my people with Georgie, and we will get her a khui. Then I will bring back my hunters, and we will return for all of you. This I promise.”
“Dohn fergetdeez,” Lihz says and taps a bump on her arm.
“Eyewohnt,” Georgie tells her. A determined look comes across my mate’s face, and I wonder what they refer to that brings such a grim look to her delicate features.
???
At Georgie’s insistence, we leave all the winter furs and two of my blades with the women. We also leave all the food. This makes me unhappy because my mate will be the one that suffers, but she promises with soft pats and smiling eyes that she is fine. I think it pleases her to be able to provide for her humans, so I don’t complain. There are other hunter caves along the paths, and I will raid all of them to clothe my Georgie if I must. They can be replenished when the thickest snows melt and the hunters have easier days.
We wave goodbye to the women, and Georgie wipes her eyes frequently. I know she worries about them. Despite the food, they all seem a little more tired this morning, a little more pale.
It is the lack of the khui, which is why it’s so important that I bring Georgie back to my own people, and soon. I cannot bring down a sa-kohtsk by myself. It is a task that requires many hunters with strong spears.
I carry Georgie’s smaller form on my back, and I take different route down the mountain. This time, I do not go to the winding game trails but head straight across the land, as the winged birds fly. This way, instead of many hunter caves along the path home, there is only one: the elders’ cave, with its strange smooth walls not unlike Georgie’s cave.
My mate seems to understand my sense of urgency. We stop only for brief rests to refill a water skin or so we can relieve ourselves. When the two suns are high in the sky, I find a quilled beast, and Georgie does not protest when I offer her raw tidbits. It will take too much time to collect wood for a fire. We eat, and then we are on our way once more.
The day is an endless cycle of running and hiking, and even Georgie’s slight weight grows heavier over the hours. I do not put her down, though. My strength is far more suited for travel than hers. She’s exhausted, too. Her grip on my clothing becomes less strong over the hours, and I worry we’re not making good time when a familiar snow-covered oval hill appears in the distance. I give a sigh of relief and point it out to Georgie.
“Looksweerd,” she says with a yawn. “Wegoinder?”
“That is our one stop today,” I tell her. “We will rest and sleep, and tomorrow we will return to my people.” Mentally, I make note of the hunters who can help me shepherd the sick humans back. Maylak will want to come, as tribal healer, but she has a small child. Her mate Kashrem, then. Raahosh, if he has returned from his own hunts. Rokan. Salukh. Zennek. Haeden. Dagesh.
All of them are unmated hunters, except for Kashrem. It might be smarter to take the mated ones, so there are no fights over the small females, but I do not want to build resentment amongst my tribe. I know the men will be eager to see the female humans, especially after I return with my lovely Georgie.
I rub her arm thoughtfully. I would not deny my men the chance to see if their khui resonate with the humans. Not when I felt the pleasure of my own spring to life.
We make it inside the cave, and Georgie exclaims at the oddness of the walls. I don’t blame her for being surprised. They’re covered with a thin sheet of ice, but there’s no denying there’s a uniformity to the walls that is unnerving. It looks as if a gigantic hand has scooped the side of the hill out and smoothed the sides down. But there are furs and wood and a stretched hide to block the door. I set Georgie down and prepare the cave.
To my surprise, she immediately begins to make a firewood pyramid with supplies while I hang the door covering. She gives me a shy smile. “Wantto lern.”
My heart swells with pride. I move to her side and ignore the fire, cupping her small face instead. She’s lovely, flat-nose and all, and I am obsessed with touching her.
She smiles up at me, and my khui begins a steady thrumming in my chest. The fire can wait. My khui and my body have been aching with need for her since this morning. Any longer and I feel as if I will be in physical pain. I tug at the collar of her leathers.
Georgie chuckles, the sound sweet. She presses a small, cold hand against my chest, right where my khui vibrates under my skin. “Luvit wenyew purh,” she says softly. Then she looks up at me with those strange, white eyes and tilts her head back for my kiss.
I grab her and pull her against me, mindful of her wounded wrist. I want to touch her everywhere. Taste her everywhere. The khui inside me demands a mating, and it’s a call I want to answer. I kiss her just like she’s asking, my lips moving over hers before I slide my tongue into her mouth for a taste. It feels like nothing I have ever experienced, this kiss, and I want it over and over again with Georgie. I love her smooth tongue brushing against mine.
She is just as hungry for my touch. Her fingers tear at her clothing until she exposes her breasts to me. I groan at the sight and drop to my knees to tug one soft nipple into my mouth. I love her breasts, how similar and yet different they are to those of the women of my people. Her pink nipple hardens when I touch it, but it’s still like brushing my fingers over soft leather instead of the armored, hard tips of my own women. I wonder how human children are, if their mothers have such soft, tender swells. I picture my child there and crush her against me.
Our child. Part sa-khui, part human.
“Mmm,” she says softly, and I don’t know if she’s humming or saying another one of her strange human words. I lick her breast to distract her, and she moans. Then she reaches down and grips my cock in her hand and strokes me through the leather of my leggings.
I nearly come undone at that touch. With a hiss, I pull apart the knots that keep my clothing at my waist and free my cock. This mating will be quick and not elegant. I don’t care. From the sounds Georgie is making and the way she squeezes my cock in her hand, I doubt she cares, either.
“You are my heart,” I tell her as I caress her breasts. I tease one, then the other, loving the soft noises she makes. Her skin puckers at my touch, and the scent of her arousal perfumes the air. My mouth waters at the thought of tasting her, and I kiss her flat belly that will be rounded with our child next season.
But children will come later, and I want Georgie now. I tug at her leather leggings until the dark curls between her legs are revealed. She pulls her pants down the rest of the way and kicks them aside, and then she drags her fingers against my pants, doing the same for me. In this way, we undress.
Georgie gives a small shiver and moves to stand closer to me, to share in my warmth. I pull my mate against me, pick her up, and then seek out the furs in the cave. As I do, she presses kisses to my face and runs her fingers along my horns, murmuring soft words.
Then I lay her down in the furs, and she looks utterly beautiful and tempting, my strange human. I cover her small body with my larger one, and her legs go to my waist, her feet brushing against my flicking tail.
Her hands caress my horns as if they are my cock, stroking the length of each one, and I groan at the sensation. I seek the folds between her legs, and she’s wet and slick, her body hungry for me as I am for her. I want the taste of her on my mouth, and I push my head between her thighs.
She makes a soft sound and spreads her legs wide for me, welcoming me. I drag my tongue over her sweetness, enjoying her cries. Her flavor is heady, her aroma intoxicating, and I lose myself to her body. I lick and suck each fold, my tongue coaxing more of her nectar from her body. Telltale shivers move through her, and her thighs grip my head and horns tighter with each stroke of my tongue. She is close, my Georgie. And I want to be inside her when she comes.
I shift my body, fitting the head of my cock to her. She feels incredible against me. Wet and willing and oh-so-soft. I push into her, and she gasps, clinging to me. Her body is tight around mine, clasping me like a glove. The sensation is incredible, and I close my eyes, savoring it. My khui responds, thrumming inside me. Soon, I will feel her khui answer mine.
It must be soon, or else Georgie will not survive.
The thought sends a stab of fear through me, and I press my form to hers, holding her close. No. She is mine. I must keep her. With a groan, I stroke into her and feel her body give to mine.
Georgie gasps. “Vektal. Ohhyes!”
I pull back and slide into her again, and her legs twitch then grip me tighter. I stroke into her over and over again, need making my motions quicken. Her cries increase as my movements speed up, and when her hot warmth clamps around my cock, I feel her orgasm race through her even before she cries out.
My own khui responds, and I thrust into her again, spilling my seed inside her. I hold her close and stroke her hair as I come, my own body locked in the process of pleasure. Her hands touch me, fluttering over my skin, and she pants small, sweet, unintelligible words.
When the last of my seed is wrung from my body, I press my mouth to hers and then roll to my side, pulling her against me, our bodies still joined. I want to stay like this for hours. All night, even. My exhaustion is gone with my mate in my arms. Already I’m thinking of how to make her cry out with pleasure again.
I stroke a hand over her skin and feel her sex quiver around my cock again. Just a few touches and she would be crying out once more. I’m intrigued by the thought and tug her closer to me, until her small back is pressed against my chest.
As I do, she props up on one elbow. “Wutwuzzat?”
I touch her arm. “Hm?” I wish again that I could speak the language of humans.
Georgie pats my hand to get my attention and then points. “Sawa lyteblink. Wutwuzzat?”
She indicates the far wall, and sure enough, a star blinks under the ice and then fades. Ah. “This is the cave of elders. The cave of stars. It is full of magic. That is what you are seeing.”
But she pulls free of my grip and crawls out of the blankets. I feel a sense of loss as my cock slides from her warm body, but she is preoccupied. So I sit up and watch as she climbs to her feet and runs to the far wall. She presses her face against the thick ice, watching the light as it slowly blinks again. Then she looks back at me again.
“Vektal,” she breathes, and there’s excitement in her voice. New excitement. “Izzit a spays ship?”