In a bold move, he scooped her into his arms then laid her on her bed. Though the cool nights of the second season had ended, Vilarra craved his warmth, his body over hers. Inside her. She shivered at the thought, her desire greater than she’d ever experienced. Reaching out to him, she clasped his hand and pulled him closer. But, instead of joining her on the bed, he kneeled beside her.
His lips joined hers again, his determined kisses traveling away from her face and down her body. With skilled hands, he rubbed her breasts and swirled his tongue around her pert nipples, had her writhing in ecstasy. Then his attention traveled farther down. He reached between her legs, tenderly plying her thighs apart. Gentle fingers slid between her folds, caressing, ramping up her pleasure until they slipped inside. He teased and tormented.
She gripped the sheets, her hips thrusting into the air. Her release came hard and fast. So intense, she expected her head to explode. Before she had the chance to recover, he kneeled over her, kissing her neck and holding her tight. His cock nestled between her thighs, hot against her skin.
But she wanted him inside. Needed to be filled by him. Gasping with desperation, she opened to him. “Please. I need you.”
Before she realized what he was doing, he’d reached to the floor for his Defender uniform and pulled out a small plastic bottle. He sprayed spermicide over his shaft then returned to making her feel like the only other person on the planet.
He gazed into her eyes. “You are so beautiful.”
Her breath hitched as he slid inside her. He proved more than she could ever imagine. His gentle sways and whispered words intensified her longing, rocketed her on the path toward another release. She grasped his arms and held on. Not only was he taking her body on a thrill ride, her heart and soul had tagged along. Higher and higher, until she could never come down again.
His movements quickened, pushing her closer to oblivion. When he released, he took her over the edge. She wanted to stay there with him forever. If only it were possible.
Six
His wrist com vibrated under his head, and Gib slowly opened his eyes. He had to report for his watch shift. As much as he’d love to stay wrapped around Vilarra, skip out on Zair as his squad mate had done to him the night before, Gib possessed a more honorable sense of duty.
He rolled off the bed, the mattress barely wide enough to hold the two of them lying on their sides. But they’d made it work. Now she’d have the bed to herself again, and he’d return to being a Defender. If all went well, he’d have a few moments after his shift and before she had to report to work, to spend more time together. Perhaps he’d get a complete glance at her thoughts. Holding her in his arms and buried deep inside her, he’d caught glimpses of her hopes and her fears. While he couldn’t promise a lifetime commitment, he could give her more time.
Slipping on his uniform, he glanced around the hut for Vilarra’s pet. He didn’t want to step on the little creature on his way out. Though intrigued by the concept of having a pet, he could never have had one on Mingot. Bringing a tabnar or rochtaf into one’s home would cause massive destruction. And those were the smallest animals on his home planet. Elynyn served as a perfect companion to Vilarra and had a giant personality for what she lacked in size.
Taking one last glance at Vilarra, Gib yearned to run a hand along her curves. But he might wake her. Or be tempted to lie back down and remain by her side. No, duty came first.
He shuffled to the door of the hut, not daring to lift a foot just in case he stepped on the little tibbar. As much as he wanted one more glimpse of Vilarra, he resisted. He’d see her again when his shift ended. After leaving the hut, he rushed along the path toward the palace then darted through the forest.
Zair sat on a log, greeting him with a wide grin. “I wasn’t sure you’d show up. Saw you head back to the village with that girl from the kitchen.”
Gib clenched his fists. “She’s hardly a girl.”
“And you would know because....”
He refused to give his squad mate an answer, instead using the app on his wrist com to scan the skies and detect any abnormal heat signatures. The Erebus often arrived in pockets of gas that appeared as bright lines from space down to the planet. By the time anyone spotted these rays, it was too late. The Erebus hurtled on their way to the surface. But if he detected the heat signatures well in advance, he could alert the rest of the Defenders on the planet and have the entire platoon ready to greet the arriving monsters with blasts of plazer fire. No Defenders meant no protection. Though many planets in the Alliance had adopted the same technology used by the app to set up a pre-warning system for the residents to rush to safety, those without it often suffered extreme casualties until the Defenders arrived to help. As had happened the last time the Erebus had descended upon Hemera. Yet their king still refused to receive Alliance aid, only asking for the Defender’s to come once a Galactic year, when he believed the Erebus were likely to arrive again.
When the app finally loaded, he held his wrist in the air. Glaring spots of red appeared on the screen. And they grew bigger with every beat of his heart.
Zair punched him in the shoulder. “You going to tell me how she was?”
“No.” Gib spun away from the other Defender and tried to interpret the readings on his wrist com.
“Oh, come on.”
The whine in Zair’s voice cut through his concentration. “Did you do a scan when you arrived? Did Flaine or Hazer report any abnormalities?”
“I didn’t. They said everything was fine. Now, quit trying to change the subject. You know I’d tell you.”
The Defender circled him until Gib elbowed him in the chest. “Are you even listening to me? We have a situation here, and you’re more concerned about whether I slept with one Hemera woman than the safety of the entire planet.”
“What do you mean?”
When Gib showed him the screen of his wrist com, Zair rested a hand on his plazer. They both looked up to the sky. Where the screen showed three red forms growing larger, Gib saw round lights rushing toward them. Not the beams that would indicate an Erebus attack, but shuttle-shaped masses.
Zair squinted. “Do those look like Alliance shuttles to you?”
“Yes.” Gib stepped forward for a closer glimpse. “But why are they here? Did you get a message?”
Both their wrist coms beeped at the same time, and Zair shoved Gib. “I’m not a trainee. And such short notice means there must be an emergency.”
His squad mate was right. Shuttles wouldn’t be arriving in the atmosphere on an Alliance planet without notice otherwise. They’d have had to create their own folds and wormholes through space to travel so fast.
Attack on Yarwa, his wrist com read. Board shuttles immediately.
Zair slapped him on the back. “All right. Time for a real mission.”
As much as Gib had longed to be face-to-face with an Erebus again, his feet refused to move. He yearned to see Vilarra once more, at least to say goodbye. They’d both known the relationship wouldn’t last long, but this wasn’t the way he’d planned to leave.
“C’mon Gib,” his squad mate yelled, halfway between him and the shuttles landing at the Defender barracks. “It’s time to go.”
After a heavy sigh, he took off to board the shuttle his squad shared with Victor squad. He’d barely had a chance to buckle himself in when the shuttle lifted from the ground, ready to take him far away from the woman he thought he could possibly love. If only he’d had more time with her to find out.
“What in Gaspra is that thing?” Gib’s roommate, Serit, hunched on his bunk and stared at the floor with wide eyes.
Gib shrugged and shook his head. “Were you smokin’ some nehbred on Hemera before we left? I don’t see anything.”
“I know what I saw.” The Kalaren Defender raised his pillow into the air. “It was white and furry, and it half-hopped, half-ran under my desk. If I see it again, I’m going to kill it.”
Sure his roommate had hallucin
ated the encounter, Gib yanked the chair away from the desk then took a peek underneath. He heard a quick squeak before a tiny white creature raced toward him then climbed up his fresh uniform. “A stow—”
Whoomph.
Gib paused when something smacked him in the head. He reached out and yanked a pillow away from his roommate before Serit could hit him again. “What the Gaspra! Calm down, would ya?”
He searched for where Elynyn had gotten to and found her clinging to the front of his uniform, her tiny claws embedded in the material. Carefully grasping her, he picked her off then held her in his hand. “Are you okay, little one? Did that big, mean Kalaren scare you?”
Serit harrumphed before he wrinkled his nose and glared at the tibbar sitting in Gib’s palm. “Do you know that thing?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. This is Elynyn.” He scratched her back until she rolled over for a belly rub, her loud chirrs filling the room. “She’s a tibbar and belongs to a woman I met on Hemera. She must have sneaked into my uniform pocket in the middle of the night.”
“The middle of the night?” Serit sat and leaned back in the desk chair. “Do tell me more about this woman.”
“Can’t.” He would never share the details the Defender wanted to hear. Memories for him only. “I’ve got to find some food for the tibbar. She’s probably starving. Wouldn’t want her to start nibbling on you while you’re resting up for the mission.”
Gib left their quarters as the color drained from Serit’s face. It wouldn’t be long before the carrier reached Yarwa’s orbit. He had to find a place to keep Elynyn safe so she could be returned to Vilarra the next time someone from the Alliance visited Hemera. He’d love it to be him, but he wouldn’t have the chance for another Galactic year. Too long for Vilarra to be completely on her own.
Victor squad raced off the shuttle followed by Hotel squad, their plazers at the ready. Dropped off in a live situation, the Defenders sprinted toward the Erebus surrounding the Alliance House of Representatives, the creatures’ tentacles ramming holes into the building. Hundreds of the large, mature Erebus, had already started destroying the planet. Many on the outside of the colony turned toward the Defenders racing off the shuttle.
“Let’s destroy every single one of them,” Aarkan, the Kalaren leader of Gib’s squad commanded. He fired his plazer first, his aim dead on. At a hundred meters away, the Erebus flew back into the dirt, knocking a few others to the ground. It didn’t get back up, but the rest did, advancing faster, their red eyes glowing with intent.
Gaining ground at a steady pace, Gib aimed and fired his plazer in one long blast. The Erebus fell. One. Two. Three. Several tentacles flew into the air. Black tar spread along the ground in a steamy flow. Yet more Erebus kept coming. They possessed no other urge than to kill and destroy.
Shuttles landed behind the advancing squads, bringing more Defenders. They needed the numbers, but would they be enough to take out all the Erebus when they fought face-to-face. Gib didn’t have time to worry. The enemy moved too close now. He fired. And again. Never letting up. Perfect hits, every one. But the crowd of live Erebus never ended.
He saw nothing but Erebus now, unable to spot any other Defenders nearby. Not even his own squad. He fired then spun around, not wanting to leave his back exposed. Yet, for all those that fell, even more encircled him, trampling over the fallen limbs and bodies of their own kind.
Gib turned again to find an Erebus right in his face. The smell of its tarry, poisonous breath made his eyes water. But, at this distance, he didn’t need to see to take it down. He stuck the plazer right into its trunk and fired. The creature fell back, grabbing at him with its tentacles. He jumped away only to slam into a hard figure behind him. A tentacle reached around and yanked his plazer out of his grip and then launched it out of sight. Thick tentacles wrapped around his body, trapping his hands at his sides. They undulated around him, squeezing him tighter. Tar plopped onto the back of his neck, sizzling through his skin. Gib struggled for release, kicking back, but his foot met nothing but air.
The other Erebus had backed off. Not a good sign. They must assume him dead. Or about to be.
The Erebus squeezed him tighter. Bile rose from his stomach. Before he could release it, pain exploded in his chest. He screamed in agony. Crack. Crack. He struggled to breathe. So much torture. Lights flickered behind his closed eyelids. All sound disappeared except a high-pitched ringing.
Then, all at once, he fell face-first onto the ground. He would have believed himself dead, his soul escaped to the universe beyond, if not for the excruciating ache crushing his chest.
The Erebus bellowed, likely getting ready to end his life, fill him with poison before he disintegrated into a puddle of goo.
Gib rolled to the side. Or tried to. His breaths came out as ragged gasps. He didn’t know if he had broken ribs or even a punctured lung, but he was going to die regardless. He drifted in and out of consciousness, waiting for the Erebus to finish him off. His only regret? That he hadn’t said goodbye to Vilarra before leaving her home. And now he wouldn’t even have the chance to send her a message when another Defender, a stranger to her, returned her tibbar.
The crushing blow came as he pictured the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. The pain ended. Everything went black. Not even poisoned but crushed to death.
Seven
“Hey, Vee, wait up.”
Vilarra paused on the path to the village. She’d just spent another long day in the kitchen and yearned to crash on her bed. But she couldn’t ignore Samish. Without his help every day, she wouldn’t keep the royal family fed or have the motivation to even show up at the palace in the mornings. Not lately, anyway. He joked around, made a fool of himself until she smiled. And he made her forget, for a moment, that everyone she’d ever cared about had left her. She couldn’t count her father, as he’d never been around, but her mother had gotten ill and passed away a couple Galactic years ago. Though it seemed like yesterday. Saukus had left her shortly after. Then Gib, without even a simple goodbye. Though she’d accepted the relationship wouldn’t last beyond his mission, her heart had hoped for more. The disappointment crushed her.
Worst of all, she’d lost the one friend she’d always been able to count on. Her pet tibbar had disappeared thirty day cycles ago. She hadn’t seen Elynyn since she’d fed her on the counter the night she’d given her heart and body to Gib. The loneliness overwhelmed her most nights since, preventing restful sleep and draining away all her hopes and dreams. What did she have to look forward to?
“So, how are you?” Samish huffed and puffed as he reached her side.
“Same as I was when you left the kitchen.” She started walking again. “Did you wait around this whole time?”
“No,” he shouted. “I mean, no. I was out looking for something. I was just coming back when I saw you.”
“Okay.” She picked up her pace, not in the mood to talk.
“Aren’t you gonna ask what I was looking for?” He hurried to keep up with her.
“Not really. It’s none of my business.”
He dashed in front of her, causing her to halt or she would have smashed into him. “Stop. No, it is your business.”
Fighting off the urge to dart around him, Vilarra stopped, blinked sleepily, and released a heavy sigh. “Fine. What were you looking for?”
“This.” He fished in his sack and pulled out a scruffy, dirty-white tibbar before handing it to her. “It’s for you.”
She stepped back. “That’s not Elynyn.”
“I know.” He clasped her wrist and set the tiny creature in her palm. “I thought I’d get you a new one, hoping maybe this tibbar, and myself, can keep you company, now.”
The tibbar chomped down on the tip of Vilarra’s finger then leaped from her palm. It hit the ground then scampered off.
Blood gushing from her wound, Vilarra lifted the edge of her skirt and wrapped it around her throbbing finger.
“Or maybe just me?” Samish hel
d his hands behind his back and dug his toe into the ground.
“What happened to Beckalie? Last I heard, you two were ready to have a bonding ceremony and have kids.” And she’d happened to witness their naked rear ends on her way home from work as they’d run into his house rather than fornicate out front for everyone to see.
His toe dug deeper. “She said she didn’t want to see me again, said I should call on you if I was going to say your name when we....” He gulped. “You know.”
“Not going to happen.” Her cheeks warmed out of embarrassment and anger at the same time. “She’s my best friend.” And Vilarra didn’t want another relationship with anyone. Ever. Not when they always left her. She backed away from him, dropped her skirt, and was prepared to run when a bright light from above left her staring up at the sky. An Alliance shuttle. The Defenders had returned. She took off in a sprint, not home, but toward the Defender barracks. No longer tired, she had to find out if he’d returned.
By the time she reached the barracks, the shuttle had already landed and Defenders rushed back and forth between the shuttles and buildings. Instead of moving their belongings into the barracks, they loaded their equipment onto the ship. Probably cleaning up after their quick departure. The fact they’d all left earlier than planned made her feel better about Gib sneaking out without a goodbye. But only slightly.
Vilarra glanced around at all the Defenders, searching for a familiar face. For Gib, or someone who could tell her where to find him. In the dark, no one looked familiar. And not one of them paid her any attention.
Moving closer to their path, she waited for the next Defender to exit the barracks. A female Nevad came out, her yellow skin a stark contrast to her dark uniform and the night sky.