Chapter 25 #2
A supply patrol had come across us on their way back to camp.
Apparently all three of us had been passed out on the ground, Gigi had been on death’s door and I hadn’t been much better.
No one seemed to care about Carn’s health and I’d spent the whole trip worried about him.
Seeing him upright and moving had burst the bubble of dread growing in my chest and I had to force myself to let go of him.
Gigi was sitting with his arms propped up on his bent knees, stripped down to just his romper.
He looked about as good as I felt, which is to stay, tired and burned to hell, but he shot me half a smile when Carn squeezed a squeak out of me.
It was weird that in a few days, these two aliens had become my tribe.
We’ve been through a lot in the short time since we met, and I already feel better having set eyes on both of them.
“They treating you alright?” I asked when Carn finally put me down.
His eyes didn’t leave mine as he gently stroked my hair behind my ear and hummed.
“Better than we deserve.”
I frowned at that but didn’t correct him and Gigi jumped in with a wave at the haphazard sun shade that’d been pitched overhead.
“They made us shelter and gave us water. I always wondered what sunlight would feel like on the skin.” He grimaced and flicked a peeling blister on his arm. “I did not realize how painful it would be.”
I cringed in sympathy. At least my skin had built a bit of a tolerance for the sun, poor Gigi looked like someone had taken a blow torch to his head and arms.
The males guarding Carn watched us closely as I told the guys about the camp. Kalhu took off after a couple of minutes, I figured he’d been making sure I was actually happy to back with the turoch boogeyman.
Once everyone was caught up on what had happened while we were apart, I dragged Carn into the small tent set up beside the sun shade.
The roughly made tent did little more than block out the sun and muffle the sound of our voices but I didn’t care. We’d made it to Earth, we’d found the turoch camp, and while we weren’t receiving the welcome I’d hoped, for now, both of us were safe.
I threw my arms around Carn’s neck, pressing my face against his and sighed as weeks of fear and tension finally left my body.
“I love you,” I murmured, the words welling up from my too full chest and out of my mouth before I could question them. He stiffened against me, and I swallowed hard when he didn’t respond.
“You don’t have to say it back,” I whispered. “Actually, if you don’t mean it, please don’t say it.”
I could handle loving him a little faster than he loved me, I couldn’t handle finding out he said the words just to skip an awkward silence.
“Naomi,” his voice wasn’t as rough as it had been when he first started talking days ago. “I do not have words for how I feel about you.”
“That’s good?” I asked, still clinging to him to avoid his eyes.
Warm, calloused hands smoothed down my shoulders, over my back and settled heavy on my hips.
“You are precious to me,” he said simply. “If that is love, then I love you.”
I smiled, feeling that strange tightness behind my ribs expanding.
“Sounds an awful lot like how I feel about you.”
His massive arms wrapped around my waist, crushing me to him until I was forced to straddle his lap or bend in half and I laughed against his skin as he squeezed me.
“I’m not going anywhere, big guy,” I teased with what little air he was allowing me. “You don’t have to squish me.”
“Naomi-” he cut himself off and warning bells went off in my head at his tone. He didn’t sound like a guy in the first flush of love, he sounded devastated.
“What?” I pushed off his chest to get a little space and glared up at him. “What’s wrong?”
He looked over my shoulder, jaw working like he was unsure if he should speak or not.
“The band will not welcome me into camp,” he finally said.
“Okay...” I wasn’t going to disagree with him. I knew he’d made a deal with the mated male he’d fought. The best case scenario was us joining this group and benefitting from the safety in numbers strategy, but if that wasn’t an option, then it just wasn’t.
“I think you should stay with them.”
I swore my brain turned off and restarted as I tried to process his words.
“Excuse me?” Why was my heart pounding so fast? Carn had just said I was precious to him, I’d just confessed my love for him, a step I’d never even gotten close to with another person. “You’re ditching me with strangers?”
He flinched.
“They have human females,” he muttered defensively. “The males guarding us said a few of them have found mates on this planet. You’d be protected and with your own people.”
“What about my mate?” I demanded. “What about all that stuff you said when we were escaping? Isn’t this-” I gestured furiously between us. “For life? Aren’t we supposed to stick together forever?”
I’d figured out why my pulse was racing. I was mad. I knew exactly what this giant, red idiot was doing and I wasn’t a fan.
“I picked you, Carn, I love you.” My finger jabbed him in the pec hard enough it hurt me, which only ratcheted up my fury. “Don’t you try and dump me for my own good!”
He looked miserable, flinching at every other word I spat, his ears drooping, his tail twitching spasmodically like it was in its death throes.
“But the syto said you need medical care!” He blurted out. “If you stay with me and leave this safety behind, I do not know how to care for you or a child when you birth.”
“I’m not pregnant!” I howled, wishing his massive thighs weren’t keeping pinned in a straddle over his lap. This wasn’t a fight I wanted to have when I could feel his every breath against my boobs.
“If I get pregnant, we’ll figure something out.
Just because there are humans in this band doesn’t mean they know shit about birthing babies, either, Carn!
We’d need a professional. Hell, these women probably need to find a doctor or a midwife, anyway.
They’re in the same boat as us. I’d rather find a solution to that problem when it comes up, and not wreck my whole life because you’re scared! ”
Carn’s eyes were so wide I wondered if I’d gone too far, belatedly realizing that our little cocoon of privacy absolutely wasn’t stopping anyone from hearing this fight.
Twisting in his lap, I aimed my next shout toward the fluttering tent flap.
“You guys better not be eavesdropping!”
There was a mad scramble from outside the tent and muffled male laughter. Alien gladiators or not, it seemed guys were guys. If we did stay with the band, it would probably be like living with a frat.
Oh. My. Lord.
I let my head fall back and stared up at the ceiling as I got my breathing under control. A sharp laugh burst out of me as I replayed the last minute. I’d lived through a lot since I’d gotten caught by the syto scout ship.
I’d crawled through vents, fallen into a cell with a violent alien gladiator, mated said alien and then escaped from space back to Earth.
In all that chaos, I’d stayed relatively calm.
I thought I was just in survival mode, that once I was safe I’d have a good cry and really feel everything I’d been repressing.
But sitting on Carn’s lap, in the middle of our first fight, I realized that wasn’t quite right.
I hadn’t been numb since I met him. I’d been stressed, scared, and happy.
Even when we couldn’t communicate, Carn had made me feel safe.
Safe enough for me to actually enjoy being locked in a cell with him.
I sighed and gently thumped my head into his chest.
“Carn?” I asked, working my hands around his ribs and clinging to him.
“Yes?” Poor guy sounded nervous as hell.
“Please don’t leave me alone with a huge group of strangers.” I tilted my head to the side and peered up at his conflicted face.
“I’m a bit of a hermit and I just realized how much I didn’t miss having neighbors.” Even in a fantasy world where everybody forgot that Carn was the turoch boogeyman, we’d still be living in cramped quarters with a massive group of people.
Privacy and quiet time would be a thing of the past.
Carn propped his chin on top of my head and cradled me closer.
“I do not want to leave you.”
“Then don’t. I can’t force you to stay. But I’d rather have you than ever see another human again.” I meant it. There was a comfort and a peace in Carn’s arms I’d never felt anywhere else.
He caught my chin and tipped my face until he was staring into my eyes.
“If you are sure...”
“So sure.” I leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I love you Carn, and that’s not changing.”
Some of the bleakness left his eyes and he returned my kiss.
“I will have to find spikes for your crutches if we plan on living without a band.”
I giggled, he’d shown me my crutches as soon as I returned, assuring me he’d guarded them with his life.
“Whatever makes you happy, just don’t break my most precious possessions.”
He caught my chin and stared down at me, his yellow eyes soft with affection.
“I swear I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and happy, Naomi.”
Reaching up to cradle his oversized jaw between my hands, I smiled up at him and tried to push all the love I felt for him into my voice.
“I know you’ll keep me safe. And just being with you makes me happy.”
His ears swiveled forward, the soft fur covering them looking almost out of place against his harsh features.
“You are a gift from the ancestors.”
I smirked.
“I think I’m a gift from me. If I hadn’t climbed into your cell, you never would have met me.”
He chuffed out a laugh.
“Well, thank you for giving me you.” He shook my face gently. “Fearless female.”
And that right there was all the proof I needed that we belonged together. The world might look at us and see a defenseless human and an alien infamous for his violent rage, but Carn saw me as fearless, and I saw the sweet male behind the misshapen horns and scary muscles.
I combed my fingers through his hair and pulled his face down until I could reach his lips. He returned my kiss with a groan, his tongue flicking against mine as I strained to press our bodies together.
Everything fell away as we breathed together, the desperate way he kneaded my hips lit up a fire in my core and I wiggled out of my borrowed uniform. As soon as I was naked, he pulled me back into his lap, arranging my legs so they wrapped around his waist, leaving me completely at his mercy.
Carn’s hand cradled my head, baring my throat as he kissed down my neck, his burning lips tracing my pulse until I was panting. His cock throbbed between us and I ground against him, already so wet and eager I was ready to climb out of my skin.
I braced my hands on his wide shoulders, struggling to lift myself with my legs wrapped around him.
“Let me get you ready,” he murmured, kissing back up to my mouth. His hand worked between us, trying to reach my clit.
“I’m ready,” I assured him between frantic kisses. I couldn’t wait long enough for him to make me come, I needed him inside me now. We’d survived impossible odds and come out together, I needed to celebrate our success in the most primitive way.
“Naomi,” he moaned, still fighting to keep me from sinking down on his cock.
“You won’t hurt me,” I promised, nipping at his bottom lip. I felt him shiver as I bit him again and I took advantage of his distraction to hoist myself the final few inches until the broad head of his cock notched at my entrance.
Despite my assurances, I felt a moment of nervousness as I let myself sink down on him.
Aside from our first time, Carn had insisted on making me come multiple times before penetrating me.
But it didn’t hurt. I felt every thick inch of him piercing me and it was the most delicious stretch.
A shameless moan escaped me and I circled my hips, taking everything he had to give me.
Carn’s head fell back, his throat jumping as he swallowed.
“I love you,” he panted, his eyes closed as he fought the urge to thrust. Still holding back even as I wiggled on top of him, chasing the wonderful friction I craved.
I clenched my thighs around his waist and pressed our naked skin together, my arms twining around his neck as I soaked in the perfect sensation of being as close as two people could get.
“I love you, too,” I whispered, kissing his throat. “Please move.”
His hands clamped around my hips, lifting me easily, in a long slow stroke that made me gasp in pleasure. He did it again, finding a rhythm that had me shaking and moaning into the crook of his neck.
I could feel his heart pounding against my chest, his muscles tensing and releasing as he worked my body over his cock. I clenched around him, my world shrinking down to the way he felt inside of me and the way his breathing picked up as we chased our climax together.
He groaned, his hands spasming on my hips as he slammed me down in a brutal rhythm that sent me flying. I sank my teeth into his shoulder, holding back a scream as I came. Carn’s arms wrapped around me as he finished, crushing me to him with a guttural sound that made my skin pucker.
I would never get tired of the way he reacted to me.
“This is all I need,” I murmured into his sweaty skin. “Just you and me, and nobody trying to kill us.”
He nuzzled my hair and slumped backward until I was draped over his lax body. Carn readjusted me so I was laying beside him and petted my hair.
“You have me for as long as I breathe,” he rumbled. His voice was low and rough with lingering pleasure and I was still lost in the floaty, buzzing afterglow. No matter what the future held, nothing could take this moment from me.