Allies (Warriors of Karal Book 5) (8 page)

Too incredible, he could feel his release hovering in front of him, and he had to stop moving, stop the sensations flooding his body for a moment, or it would all be over too fast. And one thing he had learned from the sim was that a human female liked a slow build-up, time to allow all her senses and emotions to rush through her body, until she could hold it in no longer and she reached her release.

In everything he had ever done, he had been so well trained, he knew that he could master any task. But this, it was so different, so unique and so intimate. He would never have believed when he set out for Earth all of those hours ago, that he would be lying here in his cruiser, after walking on the beach he knew so well, with a human female he had only just met.

And not just lying here, but making love to her, feeling her move beneath him as her pleasure rose, and hear her whimper as her body craved release.

He kissed her, and her lips were warm, her breath sweet, and he was lost, caught just as he and his father had caught the grilt.

Taken by a desire to make her come around him, he thrust forward, only to be rewarded with a cry of pain in his ear. A sound that made him withdraw from her, he had hurt her, they were far away from the doctor. If she were hurt too badly, would she die in his arms?

A sense of guilt swept over him. He now knew why they were told to consummate their relationship with their human females before they left for deep space. Why hadn’t Darl warned him they might not be compatible?

He pulled back from her, feeling her sharp intake of breath, and asked, “Are you all right?”

Her fingers dug into his back, and she tensed and then relaxed. He thought he had lost her, but then she said, “Don’t stop, Niko. Make love to me.”

And he drowned in confusion.

The pain had been sudden, and unexpected, as he had thrust inside her. She cried out more in shock than anything else. Niko had reacted, by withdrawing, pulling away from her as if he had hurt her. Petra put her arms around him urging him to carry on, as the pain subsided. Deep inside her there was an ache that desperately needed the filling.

“Are you sure?” he asked, still hesitant, as he looked into her eyes, his hand stroking her hair away from her cheek.

“Yes, it’s passed now.” She placed her hand on his neck, her fingers trailing through his hair, and then she pulled his head down towards her and kissed him. His lips moved, slowly at first as if he was still uncertain, and then, as her tongue teased his, his mouth grew more desperate. At the same time he moved, pushing back inside her, filling her with his large cock.

She tensed again. The sudden invasion was too much, but she told her brain to send signals to the rest of her body to relax, because she wanted this: it was not something she was trying to fight; it was something she wanted to enjoy. She had travelled to a distant planet, leaving everything she knew behind. He was her new reality, the person she had to learn to depend on in this strange world, especially since they were going into space together, alone.

Niko pulled back out, before easing himself forward, taking it gently, afraid to hurt her again. Petra didn’t want him to make love to her like this, she wanted to strip away his fear, and tell him that it was okay, that he wouldn’t hurt her. She was tough, and strong, and an equal match to him.

She moved, lifting her knees, and then encircling his thighs with her legs, changing her position to gain maximum friction as he moved in and out of her. They rose together, touching, kissing, exploring the other’s body as they moved as one, Niko plunging into her, while she met him with every stroke.

Kissing his neck, nipping his ear lobe, while his skin exploded in a myriad of colours, of every hue she could think of, she revelled in the feel of him, the nearness of him. This joining of two species. Then she came, her mind exploding in colours so bright they would match his any day.

Niko groaned, and his rhythm changed. He jerked into her, short thrusts as she came around him, and then the head of his cock seemed to swell inside her, and he stopped moving, as if their bodies were fused together as one. Then she felt his seed spurt deep within her, filling her, as she clung to him, so many sensations flooding her brain she was overwhelmed. A strangled sob escaped her throat, and he held her close, and kissed her, whispering words she did not understand, as if she were a child he was trying to comfort.

She had forgotten that the Karal spoke their own language, that they only spoke English because they needed to communicate with humans, or so her mother had told her. So what he said was unknown to her, but the sentiment the words conveyed crossed any language barrier, and she felt loved and cared for. More than she had for the last six years of her life.

They lay together for a long time. Niko pulled the blankets over them, which she was grateful for, because after their lovemaking, she became cold, despite the feel of his warm body next to hers. It was as if they were cocooned in this new, special world that they had created between them. All thoughts of her past seemed far away, and thoughts of their future together were tantalisingly near. But she tried not to read too much into what had just passed between them; after all, this was what she was here for.

Petra knew that she could not let herself fall into the trap of thinking that he was in love with her, when all this, all that had passed between them, was simply his need to procreate. His prime was driving him forward: he needed to make a child within a short period of time. The Karal were only fertile for a handful of years throughout their long lives, and his time was now.

At last he moved, sitting up and saying to her, “Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” she said.

“Then let us eat. It won’t be much, but it will be enough to keep us satisfied.” He stood up and she smiled secretly to herself, thinking of how he was more than capable of keeping her satisfied any time. But this was not the time for lovemaking, and her stomach rumbled in agreement.

He fetched the pack into which he had packed food earlier in the day, naked, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Petra, however, had lost her nerve, and although she blamed it on the cold night air, she swaddled herself in the blankets to hide her body. Then she waddled after him, down the ramp, to sit on the beach, watching while he collected firewood and made it into a pile. Then he lit it, using what looked like a flint and steel, and she saw the first glowing embers, which slowly grew into a blazing fire.

She moved closer to it, and he came and sat beside her, after retrieving his clothes and dressing. It was a shame for him to cover his body, because she liked looking at it. On the other hand, she was glad he felt the cold too. It made her feel less of a wimp.

He opened the pack and passed her various fruits, and some bread. It was all delicious, although in the dancing flames she had no idea what the fruit looked like and probably would never recognise it again. But that didn’t matter, she just closed her eyes and savoured every mouthful, and when she opened them, she tilted her head back and looked up at the sky and saw the magnificent stars of Karal for the first time.

“Wow, I had no idea there were so many stars up there.” She took another bite of the bread and chewed it slowly; it was too good to rush.

“If the skies of Earth were clear, you would see this many stars. But they would not be the same stars.”

“Have we come that far, then? The journey through the wormhole didn’t seem too long, but I guess in light-years it is.” She chewed thoughtfully. “Do we have many wormholes to go through to get where we are going?”

“We have four to travel through. Two are almost immediately after each other. They take us into very deep space a long way away from Karal.”

“Does it ever bother you, being out there on your own?” she asked.

“No, not really. You get used to it. It’s all I’ve known all my life. It’s my job, just as the farmers till the earth and grow their crops, and the miners work in the dark mines. My job is to go into space and find whatever it is we need. Or find things that we didn’t know we needed.” He sat and ate, looking at the stars with her, and she didn’t ask any more questions. It was just nice to sit here, listening to the waves as they swept along the beach and the sound of birds in the distance and strange noises that she had no idea where they emanated from.

It was a magical evening, and one that she didn’t want to end. And when it did end, she had no idea, because she had fallen asleep leaning on him. At some time in the night he picked her up and took her inside the cruiser. And then he had taken them back to the breeding house. She was so tired that she did not even wake up when he carried her inside and put her into his soft, comfortable bed.

She dreamed, vivid dreams, full of colour, and it wasn’t until she woke up in the morning and she remembered them, that she realised it had been a long time since she had dreamed in colour. All of her life had become grey, since her father had died. And as she reached out to him and touched his skin she watched the colours skim underneath the tips of her fingers.

Remembering the conversation, she had had with her mother, she felt foolish now. And she wished that they had parted on better terms, because everything that she had been afraid of had been imaginary. Instead, she had met a man that she could learn to love. He was good and kind and brave. And he would make a wonderful father to their child.

She silently hoped that somewhere, her father really was looking down on her. She wished that there was a heaven, and that he was happy there, watching his daughter in her new life.

“Are you ready?” he asked. They had just been given clearance from the radio tower, and they were ready to launch. He powered up the engines. Around them, the cruiser shuddered waiting to be released, like some caged animal wanting to leap into the air in a joyous freedom.

“Yes.” Her answer was short and sharp, and as he looked at her, he could see how nervous she was. In the two days that they had been on Karal she had grown to love his home, and he knew she didn’t really want to leave. He could sympathise with her; these last two days had been perfect for him too. And he wanted nothing more than to take her home, to his house, and for them to live there happy and safe, making love until he put a child in her belly. Then watch her womb swell as his child grew inside her.

Once the child was born they would spend happy days in the warm sun and fresh air. Instead, they were about to go into space together, and live in this glorified tin can for weeks. Maybe months. Their mission was going to take them deeper than any of the other missions; the wormholes they were to travel through would take them in huge leaps across the universe.

There was a reason this mission had been left until last. The council hoped that one of the other missions would have returned by now, with news that they had found a suitable planet. Because the planet he and Petra were aiming for was in such a distant part of the universe that it would be enormously difficult to transport everything they needed to create a new colony.

But none of the missions had returned, so they were to set off, but keeping in contact with Karal by the use of probes that were dotted across the route. Although no one knew for sure if these probes were still functioning properly; the universe was not exactly a stable place. Still, they had to risk it, although he had not told Petra of the danger they might possibly be in.

She didn’t need to know, and he felt no guilt at keeping this information from her.

“Prepare to launch. In three, two, one.” He flicked a switch forward, releasing the cruiser up into the atmosphere where they rocketed towards the immense freedom of space.

Petra looked pale beside him, and he hoped she wasn’t going to be sick. But she took deep breaths, and he was proud of the way she handled her nervousness. Below them Karal became a distant blur of colour while in front of them the dark of space loomed. They passed through the outer atmosphere, the cruiser juddering as it fought for freedom from the planet’s gravity. Then they were out into the nothingness of space. The ship felt as if it slowed, but really the flight had just smoothed out.

“That wasn’t so bad,” she said, giving him a nervous smile.

“That was the hardest part. The rest of it will be smooth sailing.” He adjusted the course manually and then flicked the cruiser onto autopilot. He let go the control stick and flexed his hands; he always seemed to grip it too tightly.

“So what we do now?” Petra asked, looking out the window in front of her. “It’s not as if there’s a lot of anything to look at out here, is there?”

“No, it’s going to be a pretty boring ride. Apart from the wormholes, the ship could pretty much fly itself.” He undid his seatbelt and stood up. “We could always get something to eat.”

A weak smile crossed her lips. “I’m not sure if I’m ready for food yet.”

He laughed at her, and then said, “Come on. It will make you feel better, and if nothing else, it will give you something to do. I’ll give you a short tour of the ship.”

She undid her seatbelt and he could see her hand was slightly trembling. She took one more nervous look out of the window, and got up.

“This autopilot definitely knows where it’s going, doesn’t it? We’re not going to go flying into a sun or anything, are we?”

He shook his head. “This ship can probably fly itself better than any Karalian can. Although we still like to think we are in control. But apart from emergencies, the ship can be trusted.”

“Emergencies?” she asked and glanced back at the window.

“They very rarely happen. And an alarm will sound if we are ever in trouble.” He held out his hand and she took it; the familiar sensation of static electricity passed between them. He rubbed his thumb over the back of the hand and squeezed her flesh gently, trying to reassure her.

“So what are we expected to eat on this tin can?” She followed him into the kitchen area.