Chapter 18
Ranek
Ranek lay with his mate in his arms. She was exhausted, and while she’d fallen asleep quickly after their meal, she didn’t stay asleep, especially when the strange whooping sounds started outside.
From her and Commander Chaos's reaction, they hadn’t heard this when they’d stayed at the mining station.
The mining station had been built much better. The walls to their temporary abode were thin, and the nocturnal creatures of this planet sounded like they were right in the room with them. The door wasn’t well constructed either; he’d gotten up more than once to make sure the door was secure.
Back on the bed, he gathered Maya into his arms. He wished he had the forethought to pick one of the Euphora flowers and keep it on hand to use as a distraction. He hated that his mate was so terrified that fear wafted off her in waves. He also hated the headache that made it hard for him to think.
Ranek bent to nuzzle Maya’s cheek. She nuzzled him back, then surprised him by nipping at the corner of his lips with hers, making him growl. He followed with a few nibbles of his own, glad that he was able to distract her. It distracted him too from the pressure in his head.
The memory of the human mouth-to-mouth mating returned, and he devoured her lips with his, thrusting his tongue into her mouth like he wanted to do to her pussy. His cock ached, growing impossibly hard.
He moved to cover her form with his, and her lust spiked, especially when his hands roamed her lush curves possessively. His fingers wiggled under the waistband of her pants and found her cunt already slick with arousal, but her body language remained stiff and awkward.
“Wait,” she whispered. “We can’t. I’m loud. They’ll hear us.”
So that was what worried her. He’d have to wait until they were truly safe to fuck her, but he couldn’t leave her wanting either. It was his responsibility as her mate to meet her every need, and he wanted to distract her from the dangers outside. He stripped her of her top and wadded it up.
“Muffle your sounds,” he said, offering it to her.
Then he ducked under the covers even as he shoved her pants down to her ankles. Her fingers tangled in his hair as he nudged her thighs open with his jaw.
Fuck! He wanted her.
He groaned and licked a line up her slit to her clit.
She gasped and bucked. Keeping one hand on her belly to hold her still, he reached down with the other to stroke his cock.
His tongue followed the movement, up and down, up and down.
Then he was thrusting his tongue into her welcoming heat, and drowning in everything that was her.
The predators outside were quickly forgotten.
***
Morning came none too soon. They finished more of the emergency rations and water he’d found as they started their day. With the sun up, the pirates would be looking for them soon. Once they realized they hadn’t gone back to the mining station, they would check here first. They had to get going.
But his female was tired despite the night’s rest, and Ranek was in no better shape. Even the strange furry creature had lost the pep in his step that he’d had yesterday. Traveling on foot was not ideal, especially with the long distances they had to traverse.
He remembered the small warehouse vehicles he’d seen yesterday. They weren’t as comfortable as a transport, but they made good time and were reliable. They had to be with the way they were used and treated.
He scanned the trailer, his eyes landing on the bank of key cards hanging on the wall. He marched over and picked several up.
“Come on, my love. Let’s check if these are still operational.”
Grabbing her hand, he led her out of the trailer and into the large open-air warehouse at the back.
All the ore that had once been stored here was gone, and someone had even broken down the large shelving and removed them.
Whatever was left behind was scattered throughout the large space, including dozens of small vehicles meant to carry the large crates around the warehouse.
“One of these is our ride back to the station,” he said.
“I don’t think those work anymore,” Maya said skeptically. “If they did, wouldn’t the pirates have taken them?”
“Not exactly. The equipment is old and probably needs some work to get them going.” He found a vehicle that matched one of the key cards, and of course, when he inserted the key card nothing happened. “These have been sitting in the shade for decades. They will need a quick charge.”
Sure enough, at the back of the warehouse was a charging station. Ranek unlatched a spare battery from the wall.
“What’s that?” Maya asked.
“A battery. And that’s the charging station against the wall.”
“I would never have guessed. It didn’t even look like it could be removed. And it doesn’t look like any charging station I’ve ever seen before. Human or Tallean.”
Ranek grinned as he carried the fully charged battery over to the vehicle. “The pirates didn’t recognize it either. Or else they would’ve taken it. This technology is old. No one uses it anymore.”
“Then how did you know?”
Ranek looked pensive. “I just do. I don’t know how. But it still might need some work before we can get it going.”
His eyes fell on a big storage chest pushed up against the wall. “Luckily, I think we have all the supplies we need right here to get it working.”
Then, with a sureness like he’d done it a million times before, he got to work.
Ranek didn’t understand why everything felt so familiar, like he had worked on these machines before. Had this been his job? But these warehouse helpers were old, very old, and it had been decades since they’d been in use.
The belt connecting the motor to the tracks had been brittle and broken, and every vehicle here likely had that problem. It was a simple fix, but enough to have kept the pirates from making use of them.
That was, if they even recognized the battery packs. The Dominion hadn’t used removable batteries for a long time, not since they started moving away from solar power. And even before then, they had moved over to two different types of batteries.
As he worked, Maya and Commander Chaos stepped back into the trailer to search for anything that might be useful on the trip. By the time he got the drive belt off, she had returned with a bag full of the foodstuffs they hadn’t eaten.
She held up a pouch of water that looked older than the rest of them.
“How safe do you think this is?”
“Probably safer than whatever we find on the planet.”
“Right, microplastics are better than parasites. Gotcha.”
He didn't know what these microplastics were, but he did agree about the parasites. She opened the water pouch and then took a tentative sip. Then she took a long drink. “Tastes like water. Want some?”
“Good enough for me. And yes.”
Instead of handing him his own pouch, she held the pouch up to his lips, urging him to drink.
“Did you want one of the MREs?”
He looked up from his work, not understanding her words, and saw the packaged meal rations they hadn’t eaten yesterday.
“Yes. I am hungry.”
“I hope they’re better than the food bars.
” She got to work, setting up the auto heating element like she’d done it before, which was strange.
He thought that colonists at Reka 5 would have access to food replicators and not need meal rations unless it was an emergency.
Food bars and meal rations were the mainstay of travelers and miners.
To keep a certain curious four-legged dragus away from the heating food, she placed it high on a shelf and then took him for a walk around the empty warehouse. But her eyes kept straying back to Ranek, and he could feel them on his skin as he worked.
They were full of curiosity. She hadn’t seen him work before.
The more time they spent together, the more he realized just how new the relationship was.
She hadn't been kidding when she said they didn’t know each other well.
But that would change, because he planned on spending as much time with her as possible.
As the portable meals heated up, his stomach let out a loud rumble.
She opened one of the packages and stirred the food with the horribly designed disposable tongs provided. “I think it’s ready.”
He wanted to put down his project and eat, but he wasn't sure how close the pirates were. It was safer to keep working.
Maya chuckled. “I see the indecision in your eyes. Keep working. Your hands are covered in grease anyway. I’ll feed you.” She went into the package with the tongs, brought out a warmed and reconstituted morsel of food, and brought it to his lips.
Something that wasn’t hunger made his chest tighten. Did she know feeding each other was not only extremely intimate but also a part of their courtship? She must, because she seemed so familiar with his customs. And she’d mentioned living at Reka 5, which meant she lived with Talleans.
Reka 5 culture was different from the inner planets where he came from. They were a colony made up mostly of escaped Dominion slaves and rebels, heathens who did not believe in the Goddess and instead prayed to the Stars. He recalled Maya’s reaction at his mention of the Goddess.
Of course she had been disgusted. The Dominion conquered and enslaved entire planets, including her own, in the name of the Goddess.
“When I met you, did I pray to the Goddess?” he asked, hoping it wouldn’t upset her. But he needed to know.
“If you’re asking if you did your daily prayers, no. You didn’t even mention the Goddess once until you hit your head. You did call to the Stars a few times.”
“When?”
Maya cleared her throat, looking amused, then said, “When you were balls deep in me.”
Oh! Well, of course he had.
“I hate that I have no recollection of such wondrous pleasure. When we are safe again, my love, I would like to make new memories. Many of them.”
Redness tinged the warm earth tones of her skin for a fraction of a second.
He focused back on his work even as he searched his brain for the past. If she hadn’t changed his beliefs, then something else had. When he looked inside, he saw no love for the deity he’d once devoted his life to. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember it.
Maybe when they found his brother, he would tell him.
They continued this way, finishing their food as he put the final touches on the vehicle.
Maya and Commander Chaos stood back as he tested the vehicle.
It surged to life, and he did a quick drive around to test it before proclaiming it done.
The tracks on them were already the kind that could traverse rough terrain.
If they brought the tools along and an extra change of batteries, it would get them to their station in no time. Especially since in the process of changing the belt, he had also removed the regulator that had kept these from going too fast.
“Come on, my love. Let’s get back to our ship.”