Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
Ahmya closed her eyes and tipped her face up toward the morning sun. The sunshine was warm upon her skin, a welcome change from all the rain over the last couple of days. She’d awoken feeling lighter than she could remember. Freer. Sure, she was a bit embarrassed about her breakdown yesterday, but it had been sorely needed.
And Rekosh had held her through it all. He’d petted her, crooned to her, had spoken soothing words in both vrix and English, and when she’d been spent, he’d fed her bluevine fruit and dried meat. After all her worry that he wouldn’t have enough to eat, that she was a failure because she’d let the creature get away, she’d discovered that those leaf-wrapped bundles in his bag had been meat.
She’d cried again because of that.
If her father had been around to see her, he would have been disgusted and disappointed. He would’ve told her to grow up, to get a hold of herself, that the world didn’t care about her hurt feelings.
That had been Ahmya’s childhood from the age of eight onward—after her mother had died .
But now he’s dead too.
Ahmya opened her eyes and stared up at the blue sky. One hundred and sixty-eight years had passed since she’d boarded the Somnium . Everyone she’d known on Earth was gone.
Along with almost everyone who was on the ship.
Splashing called her attention to the river, where Rekosh was stepping into the water. They’d found a shallow spot downriver from the waterfall. Here, the current was calm, soft vegetation grew along the bank, and the ground was rocky rather than muddy.
Sunlight shone upon Rekosh, bringing out the red and white strands in his long, loose hair and brightening the crimson markings on his black hide. She ran her gaze over his body. Broad shoulders, lean muscles, a narrow waist. Six long legs and spiderlike hindquarters.
How was it that only months ago, she’d been absolutely terrified of him, and now all she could see was beauty? Because he was beautiful. Monstrous, alien, and beautiful.
Rekosh turned his face toward her. His mandibles lifted into a smile as he raised a hand and beckoned her. “Come, Ahmya.”
She chuckled and closed the distance between them, rocks crunching under her boots. But rather than step into the water, she sat on a large boulder near the river’s edge.
“Nuh uh. You expect me to get wet again after it finally stopped raining?” She ran her palm over her skirt, which was noticeably shorter after having cut strips of fabric from it. There was also still a hint of dampness in the cloth. “I feel like I’ve only just gotten mostly dry.”
“The sun is warm,” he replied, lifting his chin skyward. “You will dry again soon.”
Ahmya leaned back, propped herself on her hands, and stretched her legs out, crossing them at the ankle. “You enjoy the water. I’m just going to bask in the sun and hope I don’t burn. ”
“I will clean quickly. I do not want my vi’keishi to burn.” He walked out a little farther, sank down, and began splashing water on himself, scrubbing the dirt and mud from his hide.
She couldn’t help but watch as he ran his hands over his body. He gingerly cleaned around his wounds, all of which had scabbed over, his movements somehow graceful despite the hint of stiffness in them.
And Ahmya didn’t look away even when he rubbed his hind legs together and brushed them along his hindquarters in perhaps the most insect-like display she’d seen from him.
What once would have been off-putting to her was now fascinating.
But she was curious about something else.
Her gaze slowly dipped along the rigid, muscular plates of his abdomen, toward his pelvis. His vertical slit, more defined in the light, remained tightly closed, with his claspers tucked against his body.
Ahmya caught her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed on it. What…did his cock look like? Did it resemble a human’s at all, or was it wildly different? The only detail Ivy had given away was that Ketahn’s cock matched the color of his markings…
So was Rekosh’s truly a vibrant red?
Callie’s teasing words danced through Ahmya’s head.
A red rocket.
Wicked whispers of arousal stirred within her core. Unbidden, she recalled the feel of his tongue dragging through her pussy. Its wet glide had evoked such startling pleasure.
Now, she was haunted by what-ifs. What if she hadn’t pushed him away? What if she’d let him continue, what if she’d let him lick her again and again?
That single stroke of his tongue on her clit had felt sublime. How much pleasure would he have given her if she hadn’t stopped him ?
She squeezed her thighs tighter together as warmth suffused her.
Rekosh’s claspers twitched and shifted, crossing firmly over his slit. He chittered, jarring Ahmya from her thoughts. Her wide eyes shot up to his.
He was looking at her, head tilted, mandibles lifted. “You are…keeping watch?”
Quickly sitting up, Ahmya spun on the rock to give Rekosh her back.
I’m certainly keeping watch of something.
Her cheeks blazed. What was wrong with her?
Simple. You’re a horny virgin who wants to get fucked.
By Rekosh.
“Uh, yes!” Ahmya called. “Keeping watch. Yep.”
Liar.
She heard water sloshing around his legs as he moved toward her. Folding her hands in her lap, she peeked up at him as he moved to her front. His black hide glistened. Though he still favored his left foreleg, he seemed to be able to place more weight upon it than he had yesterday.
“So, um, what’s the plan?” she asked in a desperate attempt to focus on anything besides her arousal.
He stopped at his bag, which was propped beside a rock a few feet away, and opened it to retrieve his waterskin. “We must go back to Kaldarak.”
Ahmya knew that. She did. It was the obvious answer. But strangely, hearing it dampened her good humor. She didn’t understand why. She’d been welcomed there, her friends were there, her new home was there. She was safe there.
But despite all that, she still felt alone in Kaldarak. Alone and lost, with no true direction. She felt as though there were expectations always pressing down on her, but she didn’t even know what they were. She was floundering .
And those feelings had been at their worst during those long weeks while Rekosh was gone.
Some part of her recognized that the problem wasn’t with Kaldarak or any of the people there. It was a restlessness in her, a sense of…of constant inadequacy.
“I guess I was more curious about how we’re going to do that,” she said.
“Me too.” Rekosh returned to the water’s edge, opened the waterskin, and dipped it in.
Ahmya’s brow pinched as she turned to face him. “You too?”
He nodded, lifted the waterskin, and closed it before returning it to his bag. She watched water dripping from his hide as he settled down on a carpet of green grass in front of her rock with his injured foreleg stretched out next to her.
“I do not know this ground,” Rekosh said as he scanned their surroundings with those intense crimson eyes.
“Couldn’t we just follow the river back?”
“The river will lead us back, but we are…down. Must climb.” His gaze shifted upriver, in the direction of the waterfall. “But rain has made the ground weak, and the cliff is too dangerous. We must go around.”
“And we don’t know how far out of the way that will take us, soooo…we’re kind of lost.”
He chittered as he looked at her. “Yes.”
“I think I’d much rather go around the long way than try and climb a steep cliff anyway.” Ahmya settled her elbows on her knees, propped her chin in her hands, and grinned. “It can be an adventure. Just the two of us.”
Rekosh cocked his head. “I do not know your word. Adventure.”
“It means to explore. To find new, exciting things. To have fun.”
A thoughtful hum rumbled in his chest, and his gaze raked over her. “What if new things want to eat us? ”
The heat between her thighs rekindled, and she dug her toes into her boots. Ahmya couldn’t quite tell if he was talking about wild beasts eating her…or himself.
Stop thinking about his tongue!
“Well, that part isn’t fun,” she said. “But the exploration is. And…the company is good.”
He smiled, and the fangs at the ends of his mandibles gleamed.
They should’ve unsettled her. She’d seen their strength, knew what they were capable of. But all she could think of was the way they’d teased her skin as he’d rubbed his face on her belly, their tips grazing her with the perfect blend of pleasure and pain.
“Yes. The company is best.” Rekosh leaned toward her, propping his lower hands on the ground in front of him. “I like to see you, Ahmya. To speak with you.”
Ahmya’s belly fluttered. “I like seeing and speaking to you too.” She had the urge to cover her face and hide so her next words would be easier to say, but she resisted, keeping her eyes locked with his. “I…missed you, Rekosh.”
“Ah, kir’ani vi’keishi . For many eightdays, I have felt my threads coming undone.” He tapped his chest, over his hearts. “I will not be away from you again.”
Her skin was flushed, and the fluttering in her belly had increased tenfold. Ahmya smiled and traced her fingers along the ridge of his headcrest and down the side of his face. “I hope not. It was very lonely without you.”
He captured her hands with his upper ones, pressed them palm to palm, and laced their fingers together. Hers were so small compared to his, but seeing them like this was so, so right.
“ Kir rayathi kir’ani ikarex elush ul sythal , Ahmya.”
I weave my words into a bond, Ahmya.
Rekosh eased closer. “I will stay with you. ”
The smoldering intensity in his eyes and the conviction in his voice made Ahmya’s breath catch. She curled her fingers, squeezing his hands.
I want to stay with you too.