Chapter 16
– Theodora –
He lifts me like I weigh nothing, and my legs wrap around his waist on pure instinct. The hard, impossible heat of him presses right against my center through the thin suit, and I can’t stop the tiny, desperate sound that slips out of me.
Kenz’ox carries me the few steps to the pile of furs by the campfire and lowers me so slowly I feel every thick inch dragging over my clit. My back hits the softness and the air leaves my lungs in a rush.
His mouth is on mine before I can breathe again, kissing me like he’s starving.
I claw at the knot of his loincloth, frantic, because I need to feel him bare, need to know this is really happening.
The leather falls away and my hands close around his biggest shaft.
I stroke once and he growls into my mouth, hips jerking.
I’m shaking. I’m terrified I’ll wake Aker’iz, terrified I’ll cry from how much I want this, terrified tomorrow will rip everything away. But right now I just need him inside me so there’s no room left for fear.
He rips my suit open like it’s paper. Cool air hits my skin, then his mouth closes over my nipple and I arch so hard my spine leaves the furs.
I bite my lip until I taste blood, trying to stay quiet, but when his huge hand slides between my thighs and finds how wet I am, a broken moan tears out anyway.
“Kenz’ox, inside, please…”
He drags the suit the rest of the way off me, spreads my legs wide, and settles between them. The blunt head of his big cock nudges my entrance, stretching me even with that much, and my breath catches on a sob as the smaller one caresses my seam to soothe.
I’ve seen his shaft and its features, how impossible he is—but it worked last time. It will work again. And it will work better.
He pushes in.
The head breaches me and I whimper, high and helpless. My whole body lights up with white-hot fire. I slap a hand over my mouth, eyes flying open, but he just keeps coming, slow and unstoppable, until I’m stuffed so full I can’t tell where I end and he begins.
I’m trembling, stretched open, impaled—and it’s perfect.
He pauses, buried to the root, and I can feel him pulsing slowly inside me, two separate heartbeats throbbing in the same place. My inner walls flutter around him, trying to adjust, trying to pull him even deeper.
I shake my head frantically behind my hand and roll my hips to tell him.
He pulls back and drives in again, hard.
The sound that rips out of me is loud, raw, nothing like quiet.
I don’t care anymore. I can’t. Every thrust drags both shafts over places I didn’t know existed, sparks exploding behind my eyes.
He hooks my knee higher, opens me wider, and suddenly he’s even deeper, grinding against my clit with every roll of his hips.
I’m sobbing into my own palm, tears leaking from the corners of my eyes, pleasure coiling so tight I’m scared I’ll fly apart.
He leans down, lips brushing my ear. “Let go, Dorie.”
One more deep, grinding thrust and I do. My whole body seizes, clamping down on his shaft, and the cry that tears out of me echoes off the walls of the ship. I hear Aker’iz stir, a sleepy little chirp from inside, but I’m too far gone to stop the aftershocks ripping through me.
Kenz’ox groans like he’s dying, thrusts twice more, and then he’s coming. The feel of it drags another helpless shudder from me.
He collapses half on top of me, careful even now not to crush me, and I cling to him, legs still locked around his waist, terrified to let go.
Our breathing slows together. The dying fire crackles beside us.
Kenz’ox presses his forehead to mine. I feel him smile against my lips.
“You were very loud,” he rumbles, amused and tender.
I laugh, wet and shaky. “I really tried.”
His arms tighten around me. “Try less next time.”
There will be a next time. The certainty of it settles warm in my chest, chasing away the last of the day’s fear.
Out here, wrapped around him and impossibly full of him, I finally feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. Even if it is Xren.
“I love you,” I whisper. Because it’s the one thing I know right now.
- - -
We finally eat the stew Kenz’ox has made. It’s a nice change from the fried meat, although next time I’ll carefully suggest he go a little easier on the salt.
I sit with my back to his side so I can lean against his warm, massive torso.
We don’t say much, because there’s no way this moment could be better anyway.
Whenever he moves or breathes, I feel it in my whole body.
The night is balmy and not too hot; the ocean hisses calmly in the background, and for a change the jungle doesn’t feel that threatening.
When we go inside the saucer to sleep, it has started to rain. Big, heavy drops fall from the canopy of leaves high above us and hit the hull, creating a comforting sound inside.
I curl up right next to Kenz’ox and feel how he carefully embraces me from behind. He’s being a perfect gentleman and making me feel safe. That bubble of safety I felt around Sprisk is definitely present here too—just stronger.
He still hasn’t shown any sign of wanting to kick me out. If anything, he’s making me feel wanted.
I yawn and relax, pushing my butt into his hips.
He puts one massive hand on me. “My woman.”
Maybe this can work. Somehow.
- - -
The other two take a trip to the beach in the morning, both to do laundry and to make salt from the seawater.
I breakfast on fruits and decide to go and gather more of it.
There’s a lot of fruit in the jungle, and I can’t let Kenz’ox be responsible for all our food supplies.
We’re getting clean water from the saucer, but there’s no way I’d want to go back to eating the thin slop it produces by some mysterious means that we could never explain.
It would be nice to surprise Kenz’ox with a small heap of fresh fruits that he can use for Aker’iz’s food. And there are fruit trees not far away.
I notice that there’s a new spear among the old ones. Kenz’ox must have fastened the sharp iron head on a new shaft, so that I don’t have to use one that only has a sharpened point hardened with fire. I grab a leather pouch and set off.
The jungle swallows me fast. It’s roaring and restless, constantly brushing my ankles. I spot a tree heavy with red fruits, then Morgan’s favorite berries, then a ring of saplings holding my favorite nuts. They’re further in than I’ve ever gone alone, but worth it.
Shifting my grip on the pouch, I stand still to listen. Apparently it’s not a good sign if the jungle is too quiet, but it also shouldn’t be too noisy. If I were to judge right now, it sounds quieter than before. “But maybe that’s better than loud?” I mutter.
I scratch my chin. I would love some of those nuts.
They go soft when roasted, and then their big kernels can be scooped out of their shells.
They have a coconut-like texture to them, but they’re not as sweet.
They taste like hazelnuts with a hint of vanilla, and I’d really love to bring some back.
Maybe Kenz’ox doesn’t know how good they taste with salt, and soaked in the juice of the alien pears.
I tiptoe on, making sure not to step on sticks or dry leaves. It means going slowly, but there’s no rush with this.
When I reach the saplings, I quickly pick a dozen nuts, noting that these are bigger than any I’ve had before. And from experience, the bigger they are, the better the flavor when roasted.
The pouch full, I sling it around my back and keep the spear ready as I make my way back.
But I can’t really remember which way I came.
The bush with the berries is nowhere to be seen, and when I turn around, I can’t see the bush with the nuts either.
The greenery all around me is so dense that one direction looks much like another.
I turn around and walk straight back the way I came. But the nut bush isn’t where I thought it had to be. I can’t hear the sound of the ocean either.
“Seriously?” I hiss. “My first time in the jungle alone, and I get lost twenty feet in?!”
Everything goes quiet. And I suddenly realize what too quiet means in the jungle. This is it.
I immediately spot the reason why. Two almost invisible capital Ts are looking at me with their hammerhead eyes, coming towards me slowly.
Shit.
I slowly put down the pouch with the fruits and grasp the spear in a sweaty hand. The two krolts keep coming, probably as slowly as they can go without tipping over. They’re spreading out, probably so they can attack from two sides.
I can’t allow that, so I walk backwards away from them.
I look quickly behind me and see the thick trunk of a tree that reaches a couple of hundred feet up. If I can get that between me and those krolts, I can run.
The krolts are gaining on me, still spreading out.
Their teeth are incredibly long and sharp in their inverted buzzsaw mouths.
Their eyes are cold and dead, like those of a snake.
These are killing machines, fearsome predators, perfect for their jungle, where they can zigzag between trees and bushes as they run.
Those two we killed before got too eager—they attacked in a clearing where they lost their advantages.
No, this isn’t going to work.
I turn and run, sprinting as fast as I can through the undergrowth.
Twigs and roots whip around my legs and cheeks as I crash through the bushes.
I can’t look behind me, I can’t stop. I have to assume that the two krolts are following me and gaining.
They don’t make any noise as they run. This is their turf.
The fear is like a sour taste in my mouth, and I hear my own breath wheeze as I sprint as hard as I can. My only hope would be to find a tree that I can climb into. But medium-sized trees like that are rare—they’re either two hundred feet tall or too small to make a difference.