Return to Eden (11 page)

He’d been preoccupied enough with his
goal that it hadn’t registered completely or immediately that there
were more and more signs of the civilization that should have been
disappearing. Once the ‘wrongness’ finally resolved itself in his
mind, however, it added to the sense of urgency he felt to find the
ship and leave the planet as soon as possible. The terra-forming at
least followed a logical progression of events and was, therefore,
predictable even if the events themselves could be
life-threatening. If the things had gone off programming there was
no telling what the damned nanites were liable to do!

Just as worrisome, he thought Ah-na was
right about the danger increasing the closer to dark they got and
the sun had dropped from sight long before his wrist computer
indicated they were nearing the ship. He still thought they’d be
better off to seek shelter in the ship if they could find it and
assuming it was whole enough to offer shelter. As far as he knew it
was comprised of materials the nanites weren’t programmed to break
down and that made it the best insurance they had that it would
still be sheltering them if they let down their guard and
slept.

They both needed sleep. Neither of them
had managed more than snatches of sleep here and there since they’d
found one another.

He also needed something a little more
substantial than the rations in his suit and he didn’t think he was
assuming too much to think Ah-na did, too.

He stopped and looked around when his
wrist computer indicated that they were within fifty meters of the
ship. Seeing no sign of it, wondering if it, too, was
malfunctioning, he glared down at the wrist computer and finally
tested it. The test indicated that it was functioning properly and
he lifted his head and scanned the area again.

“
What’s wrong?” Anya asked
uneasily.

Aidan glanced at her a little absently
and then at the display of his wrist computer. A little surprised
to discover the computer had translated—or seemed to have—he
responded. The computer displayed a translation for him. “Not see
sheep.”

Anya gaped at him and then frowned. “We
don’t raise sheep around here! What are you looking for sheep
for?”

Aidan studied his wrist computer and
felt his face heating with discomfort. “Sheep. Sh-ee-ip.” He made a
motion with his hand of something flying through the
air.

Anya uttered a snorting laugh. “Oh!
Ship!” She frowned after she’d looked around. “Is it supposed to
be?”

Aidan nodded, pointing toward the
remains of what must have been a very large building if the jagged
remnants that formed a perimeter were any indication.

Anya studied the ruin. It
didn’t look to her as if there was anything but a pile of rubble
but maybe his ship had somehow ended up
under
the rubble?

It made sense if the ship had come down
after the bug-thingies had started taking everything apart. And she
thought he had.

“
Maybe it’s under that
stuff? How big is it?”

Aidan frowned, studying the rubble
doubtfully and his computer’s translation of Ah-na’s comments.
Finally, he shrugged. The computer said it was there. The rubble
pile certainly looked big enough to possibly be concealing it. If
it was under the pile they might not be able to dig it out, but it
was certainly worth checking.

Of course, it might be too damaged at
this point to do them any good as far as shelter, but there would
be some helpful survival gear and supplies inside at the very
least.

Moving forward, he began circling the
mound in search of a spot that looked like the easiest place to
tackle excavating the ship.

Anya had started to follow when she
stubbed her toe on something and damned near sprawled out in the
debris. Her heart was already hammering uncomfortably fast from her
near accident. When she looked down to see what had tripped her,
however, it leapt up another notch and her anger instantly
vanished. It was a can. Bending, she snatched it up and examined
the label.

“
Ugh! Beets. It just had
to be beets!” She would have jumped at the chance to eat almost
anything else if she’d had to chew through the damned
can!

Fortunately, it almost immediately
popped into her head that there was only one logical explanation
for the presence of the can.

The alien ship had come down right in
the middle of a grocery store!

The thrill that went through her at
that thought was indescribable. Food! She was sooo
hungry!

Dropping to a squat, Anya
began sifting through the debris a little frantically. The can of
beets had been virtually intact—a little banged up, but still whole
and with a recognizable label. There had to be others—not
beets—a
lot
of
other cans if she was right!

Either she was wrong, though, or there
was just too much debris from the building itself to make finding
the contents of the building possible. The light was failing fast
and even without a roof it was getting harder and harder to see.
Hopeful excitement had dimmed to frustration and the beginnings of
anger when she finally shoved a chunk of twisted metal aside and
found three dented, slightly mangled cans beneath it. She let out a
whoop of triumph and grabbed them up, examining what was left of
the labels with frowning intensity. Pleasurable anticipation wafted
through her when she discovered that one of the cans seemed to be
peaches.

Someone—or something—huffed a breath at
her that almost seemed a derisive comment on her thoughts. Anya was
too focused on her food-finding expedition to register the
proximity as she should have. Her fight or flight instincts should
have exploded and shot her into action. Instead, anger poured
through her in the wake of the blast of hot, to her, critical,
breath.

For a split second after she lifted her
head, or maybe a handful of seconds, she merely stared at the huge,
shadowy figure looming over her. Then, very belatedly, her fight or
flight instincts kicked in and she screamed
ear-splittingly.

Either the sound startled the monstrous
beast and he jumped back or she leapt back flat footed—maybe both.
All Anya knew was that one second she was practically nose to nose
with the beast and the next she’d gained almost enough distance for
flight.

Not quite and she didn’t turn fast
enough. The beast roared at her abruptly. When it did, Anya pitched
the cans she was holding at it. One hit its snout. One can pinged
off of a two foot long tooth and the other hit the back of the
beast’s tongue and lodged in its throat. Anya didn’t register that
miracle shot and the beast’s immediate reaction—choking
convulsions—until much later, however. The moment she’d unloaded
her ammo, she screamed again, whirled, and took off, bounding over
the debris that littered the ground like a startled
deer.

Aidan raced from behind a mound of
debris. Anya altered course and headed straight for him. At least,
she thought she did, which made it difficult, later, to decide
whether he was rushing to her rescue or if he merely defended both
of them because she led the beast right to him.

Regardless, he caught her protectively
with one arm and lifted the other, temporarily suspending her
flight as he fired … something … in the direction of the beast.
Anya registered a flash of light and a thunderous clap of sound and
caught a glimpse of the beast writhing on the ground as Aidan
shifted his grip on her and began to run, dragging her with
him.

There wouldn’t have
been
a drag if she’d had
a clue of where he was going. She would have led the way. The drag
came from Aidan’s determination to hold on to her and her
determination to run in a different direction than he was
running.

Finally, he snatched her off her feet.
She had the brief impression that he was running directly toward a
huge mound of debris and then a mouth yawned open and Aidan dashed
inside of it. A faint bluish light engulfed them.

Impressions of all sorts of things
pelted Anya but until she’d assured herself that the beast wasn’t
right behind them she didn’t really have any interest in anything
else. Aidan set her on her feet and examined her with shaking
hands.

“
Ah-na hurt?”

Anya promptly burst into noisy sobs. “I
was so-o-o scared! And the bastard got my peaches!” She shuddered,
remembering the thing had been right on top of her when she’d
discovered it. He could have chomped her whole and she wouldn’t
even have known what was happening until …!

Aidan’s hands tightened on her. When
she felt them slacken, she gripped him frantically, unable to think
beyond staying as close to him for protection as she could get.
They wrestled, briefly, with their conflicting goals and then Aidan
scooped her up.

Anya clung to him desperately, crying
and shaking as she struggled with the horrifying images flashing
through her mind. She was aware of Aidan moving with her along a
corridor, though. The sound of his boots on a hard surface echoed
back too quickly for them to be moving through a room. And then she
heard a shish of sound and registered darkness then flickering
bluish lights. A few moments later she felt Aidan settle her on a
surface that yielded to her weight. She tightened her grip on him
when she thought he would let go. He seemed to debate briefly and
then he settled with her, molding her against his
length.

Relieved, comforted by his nearness and
his warmth, Anya felt the fear and tension slowly flow away and
calmness and gratitude take its place.

It felt completely right when his large
hand settled on her back and slowly stroked downward to her
buttocks and then up again beneath the jacket.

Well, not completely.

She instantly recognized the prelude to
sex and there was no internal debate of whether she should or
shouldn’t, wanted to or didn’t want to. The warmth of his body and
his scent already enveloped her and both of those had produced a
sense of safety and comfort and pleasure. Her body instantly
responded to his touch in a very positive way, her senses leaping
to high alert and almost crackling with the tension as it waited
for the expected input. Warmth flowed over and through her, her
heart rate picking up just enough to flush her skin with blood and
heighten her receptors.

Her mind wasn’t totally in
sync.

The tiny doubt that flickered along her
nerve endings and then along the pathways of her mind wasn’t much
more significant than the annoyance of a gnat and yet it couldn’t
be completely ignored. Her determination to ignore it kept it at
stalemate, however, still teasing but not growing any more
pronounced—and that was the way she wanted it.

Responding to the stroke of his hand,
she lifted her head and nuzzled a path to his throat.

His response was charmingly swift. His
cock leapt to attention and stiffened so hard it bruised her hip
when he surged against her.

She remedied that situation by shifting
so that the next time he hunched her the bruising log was against
her pubic bone and that felt just lovely.

The annoying gnat wouldn’t go away
completely, though, and it unfurled in her mind just as Aidan
shifted to cover her mouth with his why the damned thing was so
determined to blow her bliss.

It wasn’t right—nothing
was, no matter how right it felt. He might feel as wonderfully
human as any other man that had ever touched
her—
better
than
any that had ever touched her before. He might be making all the
right moves and reacting and behaving just as she was used
to.

But he wasn’t human.

She managed to sort through that much
before Aidan settled his mouth on hers. The first sweep of his
tongue along her lips and then her tongue completely blew her mind,
though, knocked the last thought right out of her head. She caught
fire, went up in a conflagration. It was like downing a shot of 180
proof alcohol—straight up.

From there she sank deeper and deeper
under his spell, beguiled by the promise of more and more pleasure
with a final, explosive kick at the end to boost her
heavenward.

She didn’t doubt that would happen. His
touch was like magic—electric, creating sizzling trails along her
nerve endings. And all roads led to the love canal. That area
heated up so fast she was ready to cum long before he decided she
was ready to be penetrated. He continued to explore her with his
hands and lips until she was tugging at him in silent
demand.

Finally, he seemed to get the message.
She heard the tearing sound of the closure of his suit as he parted
it. He pulled away slightly and she felt his movements as he
shucked the trousers and boots. He separated the sides of the
jacket she’d been wearing and dove for her breasts while she was
still trying to struggle out of it. She discarded the idea of
undressing and curled her arms around his head and shoulders as he
finessed first one breast and then the other.

Shockwaves of pleasure rolled through
her as he plucked and suckled at her nipples. She’d gasped and
panted until her mouth and throat felt like cotton.