Arrival, page 20
part #1 of Captured Earth Series
“Rescued.” He pauses. “The ones that were alive that is.”
My gaze falls.
Of course.
I couldn’t have expected them all to survive that fall.
“What about the female…the woman that was in the water…”
Fer’ro simply looks at me, his gaze doesn’t wane.
“Right.” I gulp hard.
He doesn’t need to say it.
She is probably dead.
I gulp as I look away from him.
Death.
So much death around me.
I won’t ever escape it, will I?
Not until we rid our planet of the scourge that fell upon us.
But I am alive.
I am alive because of only one reason and he is before me right now.
A breath shudders from me and Fer’ro’s gaze moves down my arms.
At this moment, I want to feel that life flowing through me.
Before I can reconsider, I tilt my chin upward.
“Fer’ro…” I whisper. “Don’t be alarmed but…”
FER’RO
Adee’ra licks my face and shock tears through me so much that I stiffen against her.
For a moment, she pauses, hesitant, before her lids flutter closed and I watch that little pink tongue of hers stretch towards my mouth.
She licks me again and my sazi surges, fighting to extrude.
Just what is she doing?
Is this a hyu’man ritual?
She is cleansing me with her mouth?
I am not sure what she is doing, but I do not dare to move.
I could not move if I wanted to.
All my senses are focused on the warm wetness of the little organ flicking against my lips and with a groan, I dare to open my mouth.
She pauses for a second before her tongue darts in and…I THRUM.
It is so deep, the air within the little cocoon feels charged, and when Adee’ra mouth closes over mine every line of thought leaves my brain.
She is eating me.
Such a thing shouldn’t make me excited, but I find myself gripping her tighter, wanting her to continue.
I will gladly be her meal.
My fangs drip with need and when her tongue tentatively flicks over one of them, my sazi surges so hard it does extrude a little. Enough for me to arch away from her for if it touches her core, the little control I have left will not be enough to stop me from claiming her right here, by the corpse of a fallen Scrit.
That thought dims the urges somehow…but Adee’ra’s tongue is insistent.
Her mouth rubs against mine and a whimper leaves her lips.
I am already in love with this hyu’man ritual.
Whatever gods we are worshipping right now, I pledge to adopt them as my own.
As her tongue flicks into my mouth some more, I slowly move mine forward.
It is bigger than hers. Longer. Thicker. Coarser.
I do not want to scare her with it, but I want to…taste her everywhere.
She trembles against me when our tongues make contact and another whimper leaves her throat.
This scent…
This sweet, spicy flavor…
Adee’ra’s need.
As our tongues flick against each other I bask in her scent.
She might not know it yet and I don’t know if she will accept it…
I have left Edooria…but I think I have found my new home.
With her.
The symbiotes sensed it long before I did or even could.
That is why I was drawn to her from the very start.
Adee’ra is my perfect mate—a phenomenon that hasn’t happened among Vullan-kind for eons.
And as she opens up to me…as I taste her…I know He’rox was right.
He might be insane…a maniac…but he was right…
This is the start of a new era.
Chapter Thirty-Three
ADIRA
As I break the kiss and open my eyes, there’s a fire in Fer’ro’s gaze that I’ve never seen before.
It feels like it is engulfing me but the flames do not burn.
Instead, they surround me with warmth and protection.
But I’ve done it again.
Something sexual when I have no idea what is happening between us.
The way this alien affects me…
Does he know I’m burning for him?
That between my thighs is hot and soaking wet just at the feel of his tongue in my mouth…just at remembering what happened between us in his quarters…
My cheeks grow warm and I pull my gaze away from the fire.
“They are waiting for us,” he says.
At the same time, the ba’clan slowly return to our skin and the sky reappears above us.
We are surrounded.
Several Vullan have formed a circle around us and I scramble to rise, my cheeks burning even hotter.
Fuck.
Had they been there all along?
Could they see what we just did?
Their eyes are on me, as usual, and as we stand, they do the most curious thing.
Each and every one of them kneels at our feet, their foreheads on the ground.
My eyes dart around.
Off in the corner of my gaze, huddled together, are the three women I’d seen within the Scrit’s belly, and very near to us lays the huge machine itself.
But I do not understand why the Vullan are kneeling.
It is the first time I have seen them so submissive.
We have won. Is that why?
“Why are they kneeling?” I whisper to Fer’ro. “Are they showing their respect to you?”
“No.” He turns to look at me and his gaze blazes through me so much that I hold my breath. “They are showing respect to you.”
My eyes bug out then and I grip my chest with one hand. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You have gained their respect. It is an honor to be under your command.”
I have to blink several times because this just went from zero to one hundred.
“My what?”
“You made a decision while in that Scrit. One that put you in danger. You went ahead with a plan even though it could have cost you your life. You faced the Gryken head on. You put your life on the line for all of us.”
And then Fer’ro does something that makes my heart lurch.
I watch, spellbound, as he falls to his knees before me too, his forehead touching the earth at my feet.
“For the Vullan,” he says, “you have made the ultimate sacrifice. We are forever indebted to you.”
I stare at them.
I really don’t know what to say.
I don’t deserve this—any of this—for doing something stupid.
Yes, it might have worked, but I’m no hero.
I open my mouth to say this when I pause.
My ba’clan pulse against me and I remember what I was thinking just moments before while cocooned with Fer’ro.
This is no longer just my fight. It’s no longer Earth’s fight.
It’s their fight too.
They’re not only thanking me for what I did, they’re thanking me for trusting them.
I swallow my pride, my preconceived notions, my doubt…
These big aliens need to know that they are accepted here.
“It is an honor to be seen in such a light by such brave warriors. I couldn’t have done anything without your help.” My gaze moves over each and every one of them. “Thank you.”
I don’t know if what I said is enough.
It certainly doesn’t encompass the weight of the feelings in my chest.
But as the Vullan rise, I do not feel so on edge by their stares anymore.
They see me as one of them.
And as I look from them to myself, to the ba’clan coating me…I realize that, maybe, I’ve become more like them than I first realized.
Maybe, I’m not entirely human anymore.
ADIRA
The three women we rescued huddle on the floor of the lift as it rises through the sky toward the still-cloaked ship.
Their gaze is on the tall aliens around them.
All of the Vullan have their chins tilted to the air, as if something reeks in here.
The females smell. They haven’t washed in a long time. But the scent isn’t that bad.
As their frightened gazes lock on to the aliens around us though, even I can sense their fear, and when they look at me, there is a definite distrust in their gazes.
I’m smaller, skinnier, obviously not alien, but with my symbiotes, I look like the Vullan.
And to them, the Vullan are the enemy.
They do not yet know they are rescued.
It was a good idea that they’d transported the Gryken to the ship directly after capturing it. Even I didn’t see the monster.
And that’s a good thing.
I can’t imagine how much more traumatized seeing the alien would have been to these women.
“You are safe now,” I turn and say to the one that had spoken to me first after I’d been dropped into the Scrit. “These men…these Vullan…they are on our side.” My gaze moves over the three of them before landing back on the one I focused on first. “You don’t have to worry anymore.”
Her eyes darts to Ga’Var then to Fer’ro at my side before she hastily lowers gaze. “How are you so sure?”
I find myself straightening my back a little. “Because I trust these males with my life.”
My ba’clan pulse against me and for the first time, I can make out the others’ symbiotes pulsing against them too—as if my words moved them.
It’s a comforting pulse as usual, a strange sort of communication among us that I never noticed the Vullan did before.
“We near the ship,” Fer’ro whispers in my ear and his hot breath sends a tingle down my spine.
I nod as I glance at him over my shoulder.
“We’re going to board their ship now. Do not be afraid. They will not harm you.”
The women jerk their chins at me as they nod but fear still shines in their eyes.
They are dirty.
Skinny.
Tired.
Frail.
I wonder if I still look like that?
I certainly don’t feel like that anymore.
As the lift docks and we enter the dim interior of the ship, Fer’ro clicks orders as the other Vullan file out.
“Ga’Var will take them to He’rox for healing and then show them to private quarters.”
“Oh.” I turn as Ga’var towers over the women.
He does nothing to make himself look smaller. Standing at his full height, he looks like the sentinel of death.
The women’s fear is palpable and I can see Ga’Var’s symbiotes ripple.
“Maybe I should stay with them. This has been a…nerve-wracking experience. I’m sure they’d be happier with another human there.”
“No.”
Fer’ro speaks so firmly I have to turn in his direction again.
“What? Why not?”
“You have done enough for today. You’re coming with me.”
When I turn to glance behind me, Ga’Var is already directing the women toward a door in the wall. It opens to another corridor and as they step in, the wall reforms behind them.
A lump grows in my throat and my heart picks up its pace.
It’s not that I don’t want to rest…it’s just that…I’m not sure what will happen if I’m around Fer’ro again…alone.
“Come, Adee’ra.”
This tall, dark alien is walking in front of me down the corridor, and as we walk, every other Vullan we pass makes eye contact with me before placing one palm on top of the other and bending their forehead to it. I quickly realize it’s a shortened, more informal version of what they did outside.
We’re at the entrance to Fer’ro’s quarters far too quickly and as he steps through the door, I pause on the outside for a little.
If I go in there…
My ba’clan pulse against me as if telling me to enter.
But if I go in there… If we’re alone together again…
My ba’clan pulse once more and my legs move almost of their own volition, pulling me inside the room.
Fer’ro is standing at the cleansing station and when I step in, his symbiotes retract, showing him bare.
I swallow hard, my tongue flicking out of my mouth to wet my lips as I stare.
He’s truly magnificent looking.
Those corded muscles under that dark skin look like they’re sculpted from metal and my hands itch to touch him.
I can feel my lungs starting to work harder as I stand there, unable to move, only able to stare like some creep.
Get a grip, Adira!
But the only thing I want to grip is standing right there in front of me, no shame in his nakedness…
Fuck.
It feels wrong to be having these thoughts. So carnal.
Outside of this room, this ship, the world is ending.
But…inside…inside me, something is being birthed. A seed I never knew was sown.
For I want this man…this alien. This Vullan.
In the Scrit, when I thought I was drowning, when his arms wrapped around me, I suddenly knew everything was going to be all right.
My gaze falls down his form, moving down his chest to the juncture of his thighs and my throat goes dry.
There’s a thick line there…like a fold…an opening… and beneath it, something moves…pulses.
My tongue feels heavy in my throat.
“Adee’ra…”
My name on his tongue makes me jump and I pull my gaze away from his…area, my heart beating harder than ever.
Fer’ro’s ears twitch but he doesn’t move, even though the light has already cleansed him.
Instead, he stands there looking at me, as if he is waiting on me to do or say something.
And the stupidest thing comes from my mouth. “You’re clean.”
His ears twitch again. “Yes, I am.”
There is a moment of silence where the air grows thick and I slowly want to begin sinking into the floor beneath me.
“It is your turn.”
His gaze flicks down my body so slowly, I become aware of every inch of me.
It lingers at my lips, my breasts, my stomach, the center of my thighs…
It’s hot in here.
“Right. My turn.” I take a step toward him. “And then…dinner?”
“Dinner…” He says it so low it sounds like a hum and the way he looks at me as he says the word…
As if I am the thing he wants to devour…
My thighs clench as I open my mouth to breathe.
I move closer, my ba’clan retracting to rest over my spinal column as I come to stand by Fer’ro’s side within the cleansing station.
I have to tilt my head as I look up at him.
Still, he does not move.
He is frozen as he looks down at me, his head turned to the side, and through the corner of my eyes, I see that same pulse in his crotch.
He has a cock hidden there.
I’m sure of it.
I’d thought…at first I’d thought he didn’t have one, but I should have known better.
I know enough about animals to know that various species have various dongs and though Fer’ro may look similar enough to us…he is not human.
Not all animals have their cocks on display like humans do.
Most reptiles don’t…
Reptile…
My gaze meets his and I utter a nervous laugh.
I should have guessed. His slitted eyes are a dead giveaway.
“You are baring your fangless teeth at me,” he says and I shut my mouth.
He sniffs the air then. “It is not aggression that I smell…”
That makes my cheeks grow warm. “No. No it isn’t. I was laughing. It means I am happy. Aggression is the last thing on my mind.”
He turns to face me fully then and his presence feels like it engulfs me.
“What is on your mind?”
My cheeks blaze harder.
What are the rules surrounding this sort of thing?
Are we even allowed to fuck?
Because I want to…
I just don’t know if it’s possible.
Fer’ro is a big guy…
“I’m sure you can tell what’s on my mind,” I whisper. “You keep sniffing the air.”
That elicits a growl that makes me clench my thighs again.
“I can,” he rumbles.
The light from the cleansing station moves over us, distracting me for a moment, and I get the chance to breathe.
I don’t think I can turn back from this now.
It is as real as the breath that flows through my lungs.
I want Fer’ro.
The thought makes me ache and Fer’ro suddenly inhales deeply.
He’s so close, I feel the pull of air against my skin, and then I’m being lifted off my feet.
I yelp a little as my arms automatically go around his neck.
Fer’ro’s large hands cup my naked buttocks as he pulls me toward him.
“You are intoxicating,” he rasps and the words vibrate against my skin.
Intoxicating.
I’ve never been called that before.
I yelp again as Fer’ro walks toward the wall. I am being lifted higher and it is only when my back hits the wall and my legs settle over his shoulders that I realize what he intends to do.
I only manage to squeal a little before his mouth closes over my center.
“Fuck.” How is he so good at this?
My eyes roll back in my head as his tongue invades me and I whimper.
It’s a soft sound. Almost like I’m begging him to stop but also begging for more.
Fer’ro growls against me, causing his tongue to vibrate between my lips and my hips buck.
His mouth is hot, wet, his tongue insistent as he laps at me and I start shivering as I grip his head, moving over the ridges that run all the way to the top where his locks are secured.
I grip them so hard, I feel when they become undone in between my fingers.
A sharp inhale has my back arching.
It feels like a flower garden is blooming between my thighs.
His mouth. His tongue.
Shamelessly, I buck against him and Fer’ro grabs my hips holding me there.
