Epilogue Vera

One year later…

I carefully sealed the tiny plant into its container before packing it into our carriage’s storage compartment. It would be safe in there until we got back to civilization and could send it home to the gardener.

I’d also collected lots of discarded shells for Cetia, who collected rare and pretty ones for her hair. Cetion was still around, and we sent back images and videos of our travels every chance we got. He always said getting them was the highlight of his day.

He was steadfastly holding on at least long enough that he could meet his great-grandspawn. I’d just found out I was pregnant right before starting this trip and we’d announced that this would be our last foray out to the great unknown without a healer tagging along.

Cetius had reassured me that just because we were starting a family, it didn’t mean our exploring days were over. He figured that we could still make short trips out to destinations near Coral’s Deep and explore the many towns and cities around Aquaria. There were plenty of places to go and things to see and do closer to home until we were able to travel the wilderness again.

I was nervous to be a mother, but also excited for whatever the currents might bring.

Spotting Cetius slicing through the waves toward me, I hauled my scooter into the trunk. It was a nifty device that I used to move quickly through the water and keep up with Cetius when we weren’t traveling inside the carriage. I loved zooming around the coral reefs with it, but we mostly traveled inside by carriage for the longer trips in between islands.

The carriage was armored to protect us against any large predators we might encounter, but we hadn’t had a chance to test the armor yet because the carriage was fast, too; the last few times we’d gotten into a tight spot, Cetius had simply gunned it and sped us out of danger.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the curious little fish with the orange heart-shaped spots that had been following us around for the past two days while Cetius and I explored the shallows around this island.

“Goodbye, little one. We’re off to the next island.”

“Are you talking to that fish again?”

“Sure am. I think it’s starting to understand me,” I said jokingly.

Cetius was carrying a clump of Veriana. Yup, Veriana. They’d named the unknown blue, purple, and silver plant with the spear-like leaves that had fascinated me so much that first day after me.

I’d been wearing a few long leaves of it in my hair that day at the selach race, and when the videos of Cetius being pulled through the netting and me flutter kicking desperately to his side went viral, Ebb Tide Trading had been flooded with hundreds of requests for the plant. The citizens of Coral’s Deep were clear: they wanted it in their gardens and on their bodies.

After locating the floating island where Cetius had found it years earlier, we realized when we found only a few specimens hanging on by a thread at the edge of a coral ledge that it was almost extinct. We’d almost found it too late: we’d returned to our carriage for the night and went back the next day to find the clump had halved in size, the poor plants having been torn away by a strong current overnight. If we’d come just one day later, it would have been too late.

We’d salvaged what we could and brought it back to Coral’s Deep’s botanical garden, where I’d helped to propagate it to the point that the plant was no longer on the brink of extinction. Now we were back on the island, and our goal, aside from bringing home new specimens, was to reintroduce the Veriana to its native habitat, albeit a bit farther in on the shelf so it was less exposed.

We’d also found a sister island, drifting around the planet alongside this one, with nearly identical flora and fauna. There were plenty of other signs that the two islands had once been connected. We were going there next to see if we could find a couple of good locations to reintroduce the plant in a way that would be beneficial to the ecosystem there.

Go figure. In one year, I had gone from working for Agricore Inc., a multi-colony corporation that had helped destroy Earth, to doing conservation work on Aquaria with my triton husband! Sure, Veriana wasn’t saving lives or anything, but it was still fulfilling work, and I’d never been happier in my life.

“This is the last clump. Want to help me choose the best spot for it?” Cetius asked.

“How about right here?” We’d landed the carriage here because there was a gap in the coral. “It’s the right type of rock. And there’s plenty of room for it.”

“Do the honors, little love.” He handed me the last clump of Veriana.

Moments later, the Veriana was wedged carefully into a crevice, looking a little lonely on the barren rock. I wasn’t worried. The clump would root into the rock and sand and send out more shoots in no time.

The little fish went to check out the new plant, swimming through the long leaves. Then, he disappeared right before my eyes.

What the—

I peered at the foliage a little longer and finally spotted him again. He’d changed colors! Those spots were now purply blue, matching the ones on the plant’s leaves. Cool!

“Well, I guess we’re all done here.” I started toward the door of our transport.

“Not so fast, little love.”

I suddenly found myself wrapped up in his tail, just like that first day on the island.

“You’re forgetting one more thing,” Cetius nuzzled my neck, leaving a trail of kisses down my jaw.

I closed my eyes and sighed contentedly. “We did it already on this island all last night.”

We made a point to have sex on every island we visited. If the island had any special landmarks, we did it there too. Cetius said it made our travels a lot more memorable, and I had to agree.

“That didn’t count.” His hands roamed all over my body, claiming every inch of my skin and lighting a fire of need inside me. “That was on land.”

“Oh, is that a new rule?” I asked, barely holding back a moan as his mouth traveled down my body to nibble at a pebbled nipple. “If it is, I’m not complaining. But if that’s the case, the last island didn’t count either.”

He laid me out on the roof of our carriage and eyed me like a feast. “Then I guess we’ll just have to stop by on the way back and do it again.”

“I guess we will.” I wrapped my legs around him and rolled my hips against the magnificent trident shaft that had emerged from his vent.

And there, surrounded by the wonders of the island reef, my triton husband and I started a tsunami.

THE END

Look for more from Lynnea? Check out this excerpt from Claimed by the Hunter.

A sound at the door alerted me of the presence of an intruder. I peeked over the counter and froze. At the door stood a Xarc’n hunter. The alien warrior was huge, with giant shoulders and a broad, muscular chest. He had to duck to get through the door. Even when he stood up fully in the convenience store, he looked almost hunched over from the masses of muscles on his neck and back. And he was staring straight at me as if he’d come in looking for me.

Yellow-green eyes met mine. They glowed slightly in the darkened store, standing out against the purplish mauve of his leathery skin. I noticed his horns next. The black horns curved from his temples, reminding me of a ram. They looked heavy, and I was sure they were used often as a weapon from the wear marks on them. No wonder he had such a thick neck; only a tree trunk could hold up those horns.

He took a step toward me, and I gawked at the inhuman-looking legs. Each muscular limb ended in giant feet with three toes in the front and one opposable digit at the back, and each toe was capped in sharp claws. Those were the feet of a monster. He took another step toward me, and the claws gleamed as they passed through a beam of sunlight shining in from the broken window.

Panicked, I backed away and grabbed the metal bar strapped to my thigh. Though how the metal crowbar would help me, I did not know. It looked like a toothpick next to his monstrous form. His dark skin looked tough and leathery. I’d bet he was very well armored naturally. Even if I put all my weight behind the swing, it would bounce off him like nothing.

He didn’t wear anything except what looked like a loincloth, a belt, and a harness. Pieces of armor were strapped strategically to the harness to protect him. He wore a long axe on his back and a blaster on his belt as if his claws, fangs, and horns weren’t weapons enough. He also had a few pouches and devices strapped to his harness.

He growled unintelligibly before a device strapped to one of his belts translated it to English. “Calm, female. No fear. Not harm you.”

Sure, and I was a monkey’s uncle. I wasn’t stupid. Not trusting the alien, I gripped my crowbar tighter and brandished it in front of me. The alien frowned, and the effect was downright terrifying, drawing attention to his elongated canines.

More growling ensued, and I waited for the translator to do its job. “No fear me. I care for female.” He reached into a pouch strapped to his belt and brought out a handful of what looked like alien nutrition bars. He held one out for me, the strange yellow-green eyes still holding my gaze.

I shook my head, and then, realizing that Mr. Big, Tall, and Scary might not understand the gesture, I said, “No, I don’t need any.” There was no way I was going to take gifts from a Xarc’n warrior. It was rumored that they would offer gifts of food to starving women, and if the women took the food, they took the women. No one has ever seen a female Xarc’n alien, and it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know what they wanted with us.

The translator didn’t growl anything back at him, but he looked as if he understood my words all the same. He smiled, and the look was so terrifying, I nearly shat myself. Sharp teeth lined his mouth, and there was no doubt I faced a predator. I preferred him frowning.

“Take. Hungry.”

“No, I’m not hungry. I don’t want your food.” My stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, calling me out as a big, fat liar.

A low rumble sounded from him, his chest shook, and mirth sparkled recognizably in his strange eyes.

The oversized asshole was laughing at me! I narrowed my eyes at him, suddenly pissed. The nerve! Fuck him and his food. I wasn’t going to take the food anyway, but now I was doubly sure he could keep it and shove it where the light didn’t shine.

Shoring up my courage, I stood a little straighter and announced, “I’m leaving this store now. Please let me leave.”

The alien didn’t move but continued to block the door. He thumped himself on the chest and said a single word. The device did not translate.

“Move so I can leave,” I repeated. Then a little louder, since he hadn’t hurt me yet, “Get out of my way!”

“Female no go.” Instead of moving, he repeated his motion and word.

Was he trying to tell me his name? He repeated the word one more time, and I took my best shot at the strange alien name. “Kajeck.”

“Kaj’k,” he swallowed the last syllable.

“Kaj’k.”

He grinned, showing a row of shiny, super sharp teeth. I shuddered and backed away.