Chapter 16
Ranek
It was impossible to ignore the disappointed look on his mate’s face at his question. But the truth was that he really had no idea where “back” was. But now that he’d had a moment to think, he realized that there was no use in stomping into an unknown alien jungle.
The only weapon they had was the one they’d taken from the pirate, and he didn’t have a transport or a comm unit. He had no clue about the dangers of this planet either. And if Maya said that this was not the way “back,” wherever back was, then he believed her.
Why couldn’t he remember a Goddess damned thing?
Ugh! The Goddess wasn’t even the right belief out here, and according to the way his body recoiled at the word, it wasn’t what he believed in anymore either. He shook his head violently like he could jog loose some memories.
“Stop!” Maya’s voice cut through the frustrated roar in his head. “Don’t do that, you’re hurting yourself.”
Soft hands touched his face and he stilled, worried that his fangs would accidentally cut her soft alien skin. Her touch calmed him, and he took several deep breaths, inhaling her scent.
It was only now that he noticed the new perfume that sat heavily in the air. It made his head race.
“Ranek?” Her voice had changed, sounding small and distant.
He looked down at his female. Her eyes were wide and glassy, and she clung to him like he was the only thing holding her up.
“You are unwell,” he said, his eyes cutting to the blue blooms. Where there had been only a few here and there when he started down this path, there were plenty of them now. They were surrounded by the fragrant blooms. “The flowers.”
“I think it’s the flowers too. I don’t feel sick, but I feel…” She made a waving motion with her hands. “I feel high.” She giggled.
“We should leave this area.”
“But it feels so nice! And look, all the plants are dancing.” She wobbled from side to side in his arms. “Wheee!”
The dragus pup, whom he’d almost forgotten about, howled along with her wheee.
“See, Commander Chaos thinks so too. And it’s okay if you don’t remember anything. I still think you’re super sexy.”
Ranek raised a brow, amused. “Even now that you know my past?”
“You had your memories and your past when I met you, and you still treated me and Commander Chaos well. You were escaping from the Dominion. I’d steal and murder to escape from them too.
And whatever you were, you must’ve been a hot commodity with the ladies.
” She licked her finger, then pressed it to his shoulder before making a hissing sound resembling a sizzle.
Whatever this flower was, it was lowering her inhibitions.
A memory returned about a flower that could be used to make a serum to force someone to tell the truth somewhere on the outer planets.
He wondered now if he’d accidentally stumbled upon it.
But he didn’t know if this substance was harmful in the long run to whatever species his mate was, so it was best to get away.
He was feeling a little giddy himself, though he wasn’t sure if it was only from the flowers, or if it was the high of finding out that he’d found his mate. He didn’t remember much, but he knew that a mate was something he’d wanted, craved, for a very long time.
“I only wish to entice one female, and that is you,” he said honestly, no truth serum needed. “But we should leave. Then we can figure out how to get back to where we came from. I will carry you.”
She laughed and threw herself at him. “Be my guest!”
He lifted her, and before he could adjust them, Maya wrapped her arms and legs around him, pressing them front to front. He groaned.
“This is nice,” she said, burying her face in the crook of his neck.
Fuck. This was going to slow them down, both because he couldn’t run nearly as well in this position and because all the blood in his body was trying to rush to his cock.
But he had to push on, not just because of the flowers and their intoxicating effect, but also because the pirates would be looking for them.
With any luck, they would’ve gone the wrong direction, toward where they should be going instead.
Perhaps his mistakes had helped them after all.
And the strong fragrance meant that even if the pirates did eventually come in this direction to look for them, it would be difficult for them to track them through the scent.
Even now, Ranek couldn’t smell anything except for Maya and the flowers.
He couldn’t even smell the leaves on the ground.
Strengthening his resolve, Ranek tracked on, and soon they left the intoxicating field behind. He was not free of the torture of Maya’s body against his, however. Every movement brought them together, and the scent of her arousal was undeniable.
It didn’t help that she nibbled at his skin wherever she could reach. Ranek wanted to drop to his knees and claim her right there on the soft leaf litter. But now was not the time. He gritted his teeth and trekked on, trying to ignore his growing need.
He kept his eyes open for a safe place to shelter, and soon found an overgrown road cutting through the jungle. The jungle had already reclaimed part of the road, but it was there. Walking along the edge of it, he soon came across a fork in the road and an old sign, sun-faded but still legible.
They were on Fortuna II, a decades-abandoned mining planet. There were no real settlements or villages on the planet; the Dominion had never thought it useful to build anything. But there were plenty of buildings housing the industry that had kept the planet inhabited.
They were nearing one of the many refineries dotted around the planet.
The other fork in the road led to a food production and supply hub.
Knowing the Dominion, he was willing to bet that the “hub” consisted of the bare minimum, some farmland, a processing facility, and maybe a building or two.
But it was closer and enough to provide them shelter.
He relaxed his hold on Maya and she slid down his body, making the most decadent-sounding moan as his half-hard cock bumped up between her legs on the way down.
“You are making this trip very difficult, my love.”
“Do you mean very hard, sweetie pie honey bunch?” She reached for him, squeezing lightly, then giggled.
The intoxicant must be taking longer to filter out of her system than his.
But something about the way she was acting gave him a hint of what the flowers were. Those hadn’t been the truth serum flowers at all; they were the plants used to make Euphora! He remembered now that they had blue flowers and smelled very pleasant.
The natural compound alone affected Tallean brains, but didn’t have a lasting effect.
It also caused too much confusion and other negative responses, like paranoia.
But once isolated, refined, and mixed with other supporting compounds, it really shone.
Euphora was used as a recreational drug by Talleans throughout the galaxy, though the Dominion strictly controlled its manufacture.
They claimed it was for safety reasons, but everyone knew it was for the profits.
This little bit of information jogged a tiny piece of Ranek’s memory loose. Wasn’t it rumored that an old friend of his, whom he hadn’t seen in years, Kean, was setting up a production facility in the outer planets? Was that why Ranek was out here? To join him?
But that still didn’t explain the pirate’s claim that Ranek had been in prison and had escaped. And Ranek had gotten a good look at that screen. That was his face; there was no denying it. The pirate had not mistaken him for anyone else.
Maya swayed up to the sign, and as she did, the dragus pup stepped forward, squatted, and peed on the post.
“Which way? Left or right?”
“Left.”
“Food and Waystation?” she read.
Close enough. The written Tallean language was difficult to master, and unlike his brother who excelled at everything he did, Ranek had struggled as a youngster.
He remembered at least that much. Unless there were decades missing from his life, Maya couldn’t have been learning the language for long.
“I’m hungry. Do you think we’ll find a Mickey D’s?” she asked jovially.
He wasn’t sure if she was still under the influence of the flowers’ intoxicant—did it work longer on her kind? Or if this Mickey D thing was something he had forgotten about. Even though he couldn’t recognize what species Maya was, his translator clearly did. And so had the pirates.
“I do not know of this Mick-ee-dee. But we should be able to get our bearings, depending on what state the buildings are in.”
“Good idea, maybe there will be a map that can get us back to the mining station.”
Ah, so that was where they’d been before the pirates showed up. What the hell were they doing there?
“You were looting the place so you can sell the goodies and make credits.”
Ranek hadn’t realized he’d asked that out loud.
Or maybe she was so attuned to him and his moods that he didn’t need to.
But looting an abandoned mining station to make some quick credits sounded too close to desperation.
Was that why she’d denied being his mate at first?
Because he was not a good provider, and she was embarrassed at what they had to do to survive?
He reached for her and pulled her close before cupping her face in his hands. “I don’t know what we’ve been through before, but I promise that from this moment on, I will do everything in my power to give you a good life. Please give me a chance to prove it to you.”
She bit her lower lip, and for a second it looked like she was going to deny him their bond again. Emotions rushed across her face, and her eyes welled up with unshed tears. It worried Ranek until her lips lifted in a smile.
“Okay. Prove it to me.”
Ranek hauled her in and nuzzled the side of her face, and he wanted to rejoice when she nuzzled him back. Then she was threading her arms through his as they continued toward their destination.