Alien Storm, page 19
“Why? Is everything alright?”
“Yes. No. Honestly, I have no idea.” I grabbed my pack and then walked to the front of the shuttle. I jerked my chin towards Gahn Errok’s figure outside on the sunlit stone. “Someone needs to make sure that idiot doesn’t die on his flight back.”
“But that doesn’t have to be you,” Valeria pointed out. “We can send a Sea Sand man to accompany him. From what I understand, a braxilk can carry two adult alien riders. Probably not a Bitter Sea warrior, but a Sea Sand guy should be fine.”
I snorted mirthlessly.
“Yeah, right. How do you think that would realistically go?” Errok would probably try to drop an assigned male chaperone into some spiky death valley the first chance that he got.
Valeria watched me carefully for a long moment before speaking. “You’re not responsible for him, you know. He’s a big boy. He can sort himself out. And if something actually went wrong while you were flying with him, do you really think you’d be able to help him alone out there in the mountains?”
Even though she was absolutely right, her comment stung a little. The idea that I’d be useless to him if he ran into trouble kind of hurt.
But it didn’t change my mind.
“Yeah, well, I’m also a big girl,” I said. “This is what I’ve decided.”
An odd expression tightened Valeria’s mouth. I couldn’t tell if it was an anxious grimace...
Or she was trying to hide a smile.
“Alright, then. I won’t stop you. He’s your-”
I knew that she had been about to say, “He’s your mate,” before tactfully stopping herself.
“He’s your... Patient,” she course-corrected. “And, from what I’ve seen, he seems strong enough for the journey back. I know Priya’s ridden with Lerokan on his braxilk quite a bit and it seems safe enough. And Oxriel is in Errok’s territory, too, so that will be another familiar face for you when you get there.”
Priya. Excitement warmed me when I realized I’d be seeing her sooner rather than later, now that I’d decided to go back to Errok’s territory. She was currently living there with Errok’s brother, her mate Lerokan. It would be nice to see Oxriel, too.
“Alright. We’re going to stop at the settlement site to set a few things up,” Valeria said. “But we’ll join you in Errok’s mountains soon after that. A few days at most.”
“That’s fine,” I said. I gave her a quick goodbye hug, then hugged Taylor, Nasrin, Tilly, and Fiona. Both Nasrin and Tilly tried to talk me out of going, but Fiona started droning on, yet again, about the vibe, and she distracted everyone enough with her nonsense for me to slip back out the shuttle door unnoticed.
Well, mostly unnoticed.
One person definitely noticed me.
Errok.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Errok
The new women’s bizarre vessel finally ascended.
But my mate was not on it.
No, Zuh-Tephanie was walking towards me with purposeful strides, her clothing buffeted by the winds of the vessel’s motionless wings.
I could not tell if this was good or bad. If I should be gratefully relieved...
Or terrified.
To my great shame, I was leaning awfully close to the latter option when she arrived, smile-less and silent, beside me.
She looked even smaller from where I sat up here on Talga’s back. It made me want to scoop her up into my arms, clutch her close, keep her warm and safe and –
“That’s not your braxilk.”
Her words cut into my thoughts, surprising me.
“Correct. She is Zakkar’s mount. My braxilk, Togo, required rest after the journey back from the Sea Sands. Zakkar lent me Talga to fly here.” Frankly, I hadn’t expected her to notice. Yes, Talga was a female braxilk, so she was slightly smaller than Togo. But her colouring was quite similar to Togo’s. For someone who had only ever seen one braxilk before, and hadn’t grown up noting the differences between specific beasts, I was surprised she’d recognised it so quickly.
Zuh-Tephanie was not looking at me, but rather at Talga. She spoke in soft tones that made my chest ache.
“Hey, girl. Easy there. I’m Stephanie. Wish I had an app-uhl for you, you lovely thing. Have you ever had an app-uhl? Probably not, eh? I bet you’d love them.”
When Talga decided that she liked Zuh-Tephanie (clever creature – Talga had excellent taste) she closed her six eyes and bumped her head affectionately against Zuh-Tephanie’s hood. Talga and I were rewarded with a bright bolt of laughter. Zuh-Tephanie’s smile as she patted Talga’s neck was so pretty it was like a punch to the gut. And that fist only went deeper and twisted when I remembered that her smile was not meant for me.
Stop charming my mate, Talga, I ordered silently.
Talga was certainly a clever braxilk. Unfortunately, not clever enough to read minds.
Ah, well. There’s no way to stop Talga from pleasing Zuh-Tephanie. At least my vexing little mate is happy about something.
“I can help you mount-”
My words choked to a halt, strangled by the sudden image of Zuh-Tephanie mounting something, alright. That something being my cock.
“I don’t think I’ll need help,” she said, oblivious to my aroused turmoil. “If you can get her a little lower to the ground, that is. Her legs are so long, and there are no stuhr-ups.”
I had not the faintest idea what a stuhr-up was, but I commanded Talga to bend her many legs anyway.
I was about to reach my hand for my mate when I drew back, grunting softly in surprise. In a smooth, practiced movement, Zuh-Tephanie mounted Talga. Her tiny rump settled between my thighs. She slipped off her pack, and I fastened it to Talga’s side.
“Do you have braxilk in your world?” I asked. I knew my mate was an enormously competent woman, but the way she’d pulled herself up here with such confidence had shocked me.
“No,” she said, wiggling slightly as she settled herself. “But I used to ride hore-sez. They’re kind of like braxilk without wings. Well, not really. They only have four legs and two eyes. But it’s close enough.” She wiggled again, drawing dangerously close to my neglected cock, then sighed happily. “This feels so good already. It feels like...”
“Like what?” I pressed, needing to know what she’d been about to say when she’d hesitated.
Her answer was quiet. Nearly lost on the morning air.
“Feels a little bit like home.”
My wounding little creature, this is only the beginning. You may have left your world behind, but I will be your home.
I didn’t say it out loud. I couldn’t. I was too afraid that, if I had said it, she would argue with me. Deny me. Dash my words, my hopes, upon Gahn Thaleo’s aguir stone.
My body had almost entirely recovered. But I somehow felt even weaker than before. Too afraid of hurt, of rejection.
I cannot be afraid. I refuse it.
This was no way for a Gahn to feel.
“We will fly back to my territory, now. You will stay there with me,” I said, infusing my voice with authority. I certainly sounded like my old, commanding self.
But I didn’t feel like him.
Never before would I have waited with bated breath to see if someone pushed back upon one of my orders. If a man had so much as hesitated to act on one of my orders, he would have found himself very quickly in a world of pain.
But Zuh-Tephanie wasn’t a man. She was my impossible, perfect mate. The vicious captor of my heart. Soft and weaponless and yet somehow armed to the teeth against me.
“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered at me. “Why do you think I came back out here? Obviously, I’m going back with you. You don’t need to make it sound like you’re ordering me to. I decided on my own.”
“Why did you decide to?” I asked. She’d seemed like she’d been about to crawl up the side of Gahn Thaleo’s mountain just to get away from me this morning. I wanted to tell myself she had come back for me because she must have seen sense and she suddenly loved me now. But I was not that much of a fool. At least, not anymore.
She hesitated, staring straight ahead, before answering.
“I... I saw you flinch. When you mounted Talga. You were in pain.”
My blood froze in my veins. My head pounded. My fangs ground against each other.
I’d nearly recovered all my strength, but it clearly meant nothing. One breath of pitiful pain, and she’d seen it. She’d come to me this morning for the same reason she’d let me touch her after the nightmare.
Pathetic.
“Save your pity for someone who deserves it,” I seethed.
“Pity? Wait, what?”
If she had more to say – which, no doubt, she did – she did not get the chance. A click of my tongues and we shot up into the air, leaving Gahn Thaleo’s putrid mountain behind.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Stephanie
My breath lurched out of me as the ground was sucked away beneath us. Instinctively, I reached for reins. There were none, of course. My fingers buried in Talga’s feathers, my hold tight and my eyes wide.
But, despite the shock of our sudden ascension, I wasn’t afraid.
I was exhilarated.
I’d never had much of a fear of heights, and as Talga’s wings beat, drawing us ever upwards, I could almost imagine the motion was the rhythmic beat of hooves beneath me.
Sometimes, when I’d ridden at home, I had felt like I was flying.
Now I really was.
Even the possessive bar of Errok’s grip around my waist couldn’t dampen the explosive feeling of freedom. I gasped, then whooped, my voice shattering into a breathless laugh as the wind whipped around us. My hood flew back, and I thanked past me for putting on lots of sunscreen this morning, because there was no way I’d be able to fasten my hood so that it would stay up properly now.
I smiled so hard it made my face hurt. I was kind of glad that Errok was behind me. I didn’t want him to see that something he’d done, something he’d provided, was making me this happy. No doubt he’d find some way to lord it over me. But then again, back in the Sea Sands, he said he’d teach me to ride, to fly, no strings attached...
Fuck it. This flight had already put me in too good of a mood to stay pissed at Errok. At least for right now.
Grinning widely, I twisted my head back as I said, “This is-”
I stopped short, his expression stealing my words.
Like me, Errok was smiling. A broad, beautiful cut of joy across the lower half of his face. The wind whipped at his long hair, sending it snapping in dark tendrils behind him. His sight stars, ones I’d seen hazy with feverish pain too many times, were now brighter than the blinding sky and fierce with exultant power. He wasn’t looking at me, but rather ahead, extraordinary happiness pouring out of him and raining down on the mountains that flashed like pointed sapphires beneath us.
He felt what I felt. The freedom.
He called out light-hearted commands to Talga, and she obeyed instantly. I had to admit I liked how he spoke to Talga. He was firm, of course, but there was an undeniable kindness and respect in his voice when he spoke to her. He’s nicer to her than he is to most people.
As someone who had been frequently accused of the same thing, usually by my own boyfriends, I... I kind of liked that. I could never be with someone who didn’t respect and care for his mount.
If he’d wanted to impress me, he should have just shown me this from the beginning, I thought, in awe of him for the very first time. I was in awe because this was no calculated display of strength. This wasn’t something designed to make me swoon. This was sincere, inimitable power. True mastery. And his joy in it, the love in it, could not be faked. This is his domain. As obnoxious as he’d been, I felt a stab of sympathy for him being stuck in Thaleo’s mountain for the past few days. A creature like Errok wasn’t meant to be lying in bed. He was meant to be doing this.
And I was irritatingly grateful that I got to do it beside him.
I felt more at home in that moment than I had since I’d been on Earth.
Yes. I felt more at home, carving through an alien sky on Talga’s back with Gahn Errok, than I had at the settlement. Than I had with the other human women, even.
It scared me.
Don’t ruin this.
I pushed aside the uncertainty, the fear, and just let myself enjoy the moment. I closed my eyes, muscle memory taking over as I settled comfortably into a position I’d taken countless times on horses’ backs. It wasn’t exactly the same, of course. But it was more than close enough.
This sky, this flight, Talga... Errok.
All of them were putting something back together inside me. Something I’d thought was lost forever.
I was glad my eyes were closed when the tears came. I kept them scrunched, not wanting Errok to see that I was crying.
But I didn’t keep them closed for long. I wrenched them open, feeling moisture seep into my lashes and across my cheeks.
This was the kind of moment that could define a person’s life.
And I refused to miss even one more second of it because I’d closed my eyes.
WE FLEW FOR THE ENTIRE day, passing over the shuttle where it had landed in neutral territory before continuing on towards Errok’s territory. We stopped a couple of times to eat and pee. I couldn’t help but dawdle during those stops, wanting to draw out this day. Wanting to draw out the ease, the joy, that had tentatively grown between Errok and me during the flight. But the closer we got to Errok’s mountain, the more impatient he became. So, I hurried up my peeing and my snacks on our breaks, remembering that he had a whole tribe waiting for him. He hadn’t seen them in days, and I had to remind myself that he actually was an important leader out here and that not everything was about me. Plus, I was excited about seeing Priya. I’m sure I’ll get to fly again soon... At least, I hope so.
The sun had long since set by the time we reached Errok’s mountain. I knew it had to be his – it was the biggest, baddest, pointiest-looking mountain in this area. The stars and asteroids painted its shining crags with luminescence. The sky was like a clear dark pool we dove into as we soared.
It was fucking cold, but flying at night was just as good, if not better, than the day. The darkness, the stars, the shadows – all of it turned the flight into something deeply poetic. I used to get up early and ride before dawn back on the ranch, and this reminded me of those times. The calm, poignant beauty of moving swiftly through a world breathless with quiet dark.
I wondered where we’d land, eyeing the ink-black of the valley below with unease. But instead of descending, we just kept going higher. I soon saw why. Firelight above indicated an entrance into the mountain.
We flew up to what I now saw was a huge cave, completely open to the air. There was no natural stone window, there wasn’t even a guardrail or anything. We flew right into the space and landed.
“Oh my God, Stephanie?!”
I twisted on Talga’s back, searching for the source of that London accent. I grinned, dismounting as Priya sprinted towards me.
“Cor, you did well with that,” she said, looking surprised at how easily I’d gotten down off of Talga. “I pretty much fall flat on my arse every time I try to get off Breena’s back.”
Damn, it was good to see her, alive and in person. Without saying anything, I wrapped my arms around her in a crushing hug. I remembered how worried I’d been when we didn’t know what had happened to her out here.
“You scared the shit out of us, you know,” I said, laughing so that I wouldn’t start crying for the second time today.
She laughed, too, and I could hear the tight teariness in the sound. She pulled out of the hug, swiping at her eyes.
“Well, you can thank this guy for freaking you all out. He’s the one who snatched me.”
I looked at the man who had stepped up to her side and was now draping a lanky arm around her shoulders. My mouth fell open as I did a double take.
He looked so much like Errok that it disoriented me for a moment. There were differences, of course, but the resemblance was jarring. He looked like a younger, leaner, slightly shorter Errok.
I smiled at him, recovering from my surprise. “You must be-”
“Lerokan.” Errok’s voice seethed from above and behind me. At some point during this encounter, he’d dismounted and had decided to loom directly behind me like some kind of glaring gargoyle. I raised a brow at him, then turned forward once more, crossing my arms.
“Welcome back, brother. And Zuh-Tephanie! It is very good to meet you.” Lerokan said, returning my earlier smile. Ah, there was another difference between them. Lerokan had a dimple on one side when he smiled. If he sensed Errok’s near-malevolent mood darkening the atmosphere, he ignored it. As if he’d had lots of practice.
I glanced behind Lerokan and Priya, taking note of the cave we were standing in. This had to be Errok’s version of Thaleo’s Sky Hall. The main social area of the mountain where people cooked and ate together. I noticed a large group of male Deep Sky warriors raising their tails at our arrival, as well as a fire that crackled, sending light skittering up the gleaming blue walls.
Errok spoke loudly, addressing the group of warriors.
“I have returned, and I have brought with me my mate, Zuh-Tephanie. Every respect you show me is to be multiplied tenfold where your new Gahnala is concerned.”
“Your new... Hold on. What?” I said, staring fiercely at Errok. I had not accepted him as a mate, let alone agreed to be the new queen around here! I turned to the warriors, who were all once again raising their tails... To me.
“No, please don’t do that. I am not the Gahnala!” I cried, waving my hands frantically in front of me.
Silence thundered, broken only by the slow swish of confused tails falling through the air and Priya’s breathy whisper of, “Oh, shit.”
The next sound came from Lerokan. And it was laughter.
“Oh, this is too good. So, she has not accepted you, then, brother?” Lerokan’s sight stars – the same bright white colour as Errok’s – slid from his brother to me. “Zuh-Tephanie, you have brought me much joy this day. The Vrika has done very well to join you to my brother. Please, I beg that you continue to deny him. Someone must drive through his thick skull the fact that he is not-”
