Havek

HAVEK

I came to, slowly. At first, my thoughts were hazy and my awareness of the world was dim. I knew that I was someplace dangerous, but that the voice in my ears was that of someone who was safe and good to be with. I knew that there was no need to hurry just yet, but that it might not be too long before there was.

There are few things I liked less than hazy thoughts.

Bit by bit, my awareness returned. After everything, Braadi betrayed us.

We ran away from the ships. There was only one choice.

"I spent so long thinking you were selfish," Payton's voice continued in my ear. "I kept bracing myself for the moment when you would throw me away. But you didn't. Not even when I asked you to. Not even when it would have saved your life."

Saved my life? I thought. Wait. Does she really think I'm dead?

"You know, I think I loved you a little from that very first meeting," she kept on while I tried to force myself to move. "I mean, sure, you were scary. And I was pretending a bit, sometimes. But even back then, I could tell that there was something special about you. That you weren't just a bag of neat, technological tricks. There was a real, interesting person underneath that armor. And I wanted to get to know that person."

The spray from the ocean hitting the rocks she must have pulled me up onto landed on my face.

It was interesting to hear Payton talk to me as if I wasn't there. I felt curious about what else she might say.

"I knew we'd make it," she went on, and sniffled. She sounded as if she was crying for quite a while, and only now was just coming out of it. I wondered how long I was unconscious. An hour? Two hours? More, even?

"Even when Braadi betrayed us, I knew that you'd figure out something. I always thought you would think of something. And I heard Tessi talk about the claiming bite… At first, I thought it sounded too harsh, but now, all I've thought about is how much I want that one person who you claim to be me. How wonderful it would be to be your one person."

Yes , I thought, relaxing. I could get used to this.

"I shouldn't have let you bite me," she continued. "I should have made you go out that hatch on your own. You're one of the smartest, cleverest people I've ever met. And what am I? I'm just another human."

That was when I sat up.

"You are absolutely not just another human," I said, wrapping my arms around her. "You are my claimed mate, for one thing. And no, I would not claim just any old human."

"You're alive?" she cried. "You're alive and you were listening that whole time? You let me believe you were dead, you jerk!"

"In my defense, I felt very tired," I said.

Payton responded by pushing me with surprising force backwards. I tumbled, falling backward but catching myself with ease. For a moment, I was stunned, and then I lifted my head, roaring with laughter, and I noticed Payton was smiling, too.

"Okay, I probably deserved that one," I said. I reached my hand up, towards her. "Help me up?"

"Are you going to pull me down?" she asked, looking at me suspiciously.

"Well, I would have if you didn't ask that." I dropped my hand back down and pushed myself off the ground. "Feel better now?"

"Much." She gave me a bright smile, and I shook my head as I looked away.

I examined our environment. The black, flat rocks we sheltered behind stretched out along the coast, but fortunately, they weren't the only land nearby. About halfway towards the horizon, they gave way to dark, thick-looking soil from which small, shrubby plants sprouted.

"I don't suppose you took the time to look for any of the basic resources?" I asked.

"You were dead!" she snapped. "You wanted me to just leave you and go foraging for berries?"

"No, I'm glad you stayed with me," I replied. "But we are going to have to work out some things if we're going to survive here."

"Is that the plan now?" she asked. "Camp out on whatever obscure planet this is?"

Wrapping her in my arms, I held her close, reveling in her scent.

"Trust me, after my time in prison, I'm aching for the comforts of society as much as you are. But as long as I'm with you, we can make it, I'm certain."

We walked inland, hand in hand. In a way, it was almost romantic. After all, I said that anywhere would be okay as long as we went there together. This lonely little planet would certainly prove that.

"Is there any chance of salvaging the ship?" she asked as the stone gradually gave way to soil. The sun was very hot here. We'd need shade before long, and that was if the weather didn't get worse.

"Depends what we can find," I replied. "If we can find something I can craft rope from, and something to make tools out of, I might be able to come up with something."

"I bet you can," she said, smiling. "If there's one thing you're always good at, it's thinking on your feet."

If only I could be as confident as you are, I thought. Being creative was all well and good, but my training was working on computers, not twining cord. Why couldn't they make uninhabited moons with a view screen and some buttons?

"The real question is what we'd do with the ship once we got it up," I mused. "We don't have anything like the tools we need to make it space worthy. We could try to broadcast an SOS, but chances are the first people who'd hear us would be Deathgate, which isn't exactly helpful."

"Well it's not so bad being here together, is it?"

I looked at her. She was beautiful as always. And most of all, she was her. "It's not exactly the life I thought I'd provide for you."

She deserved more.

My resolve hardened. If I needed to figure out how to build a spacecraft from sand and rocks, I'd do it.

Whatever she needed, I'd make sure she'd get it.

I got to my knees and plucked out one of the white mushrooms that clustered near my feet. They were a little smaller than my palm, with rows of gills along the bottom, and a small point to its domed top.

"I wouldn't eat that one," Payton said. "That's Fool's Fever."

"How do you know that?" I wondered. "Is it an Earth plant?"

She looked down, blushing.

"I had a lot of time waiting in the dorms. I might have watched all twenty-seven seasons of Survival Planet ."

"What?" I blinked.

"I know, I know. It's a trashy show. But there weren't a lot of options. And unless they were lying about everything, there was stuff that came up over and over again."

I considered it. Weighed our options.

Reality vids were the information we had. No, what she had. Because my brilliant Payton spent her time learning new things, even from an unorthodox source.

She was perfect.

"Tell me more about the mushroom, my clever mate."

Payton rolled her eyes. "This one is found on several planets, an invasive species that is carried by different travelers," she explained. "They're super good at sprouting pretty much anywhere there's air and some kind of soil. But they'll make you really sick if you try to eat them."

"That's useful" I said excitedly. "It sounds like you picked up something about foraging."

"Just the basics." She shrugged. "I mean, if you trust reality shows."

"I'm not sure what else we're going to work with," I said. "If we were on the show, where should we go now?"

She scanned the scenery for a moment, then pointed to the largest clump of trees further inland. "Best bet's probably over there. A lot of the best stuff loves trees. And where there aren't any, it usually means there's either something wrong with the soil or a lot of fire. Both of which we could do without."

"To the trees, then."

By night, between Payton's foraging and my improvising, we found a spring that gave fresh water, some mushrooms and berries that were safe to eat and I got a fire going.

For the first day, we didn't do too bad.

But as we were going to bed, Payton's face grew tight.

"Can we really live like this?" she said, hugging herself tightly as she lay on the thick bed of leaves we gathered.

"No matter what happens, the two of us will be together," I said, wrapping my arms around her. "And we only have to deal with things that actually happen."

"That's true…" she said, staring off into the darkness.

"And besides, do you really think that some lonely planet no one's ever heard of is going to beat Havek? Alkard's own personal tech expert?"

She giggled, despite the tears. "No. I don't think that's very likely."

"Exactly," I whispered into her ear. "And do you really think it's going to beat Payton Kent? The woman who escaped Deathgate prison and was claimed by none other than Havek?"

"No," she said. "It's not going to beat me, either."

She spun around suddenly and kissed me directly on the lips. I caught her head and held her there for a long, deep embrace.

"Of course it won't."

My clever, strong, fragile mate.

I should have comforted her, reassured her.

But as she wriggled against me, I realized she had a different kind of comfort in mind.

"Are you sure you want to do this here, in the open?"

She tilted her head up, nipping in my throat lightly.

"I think if we're going to be here for a while, I better get used to it." Her hand snaked around the waistband of my pants. "Unless you think we shouldn't?"

"I will hunger for you no matter where we are."

I kissed the fingers of her left hand, one by one, then traced over the intricate swirls of her markings with my tongue until her breaths came in shallow gasps.

"I didn't think you could become any more beautiful." I nuzzled her cheek. "How can it be that every time I see you, you pull at me even more."

Shuddering, she arced in my embrace, then wrapped her arms around my neck, her nails lightly scratching my scalp.

"Is this part of the change, part of the claiming?" she whispered, pulling against me, slowly drawing me back. "I should be exhausted," she said, her breath hot against my neck. "You almost died. My entire body is different. I nearly gave up, drowned." The lightest kiss pressed against my throat. "We've crashed. We're lost and alone on this moon." Another kiss. "And all I want is for you to be inside me." Her teeth grazed my skin. "Please, Havek. I need you."

That was all it took.

I tried to hold myself back, aware of the stress Payton was under, both to her body and mind.

But if my mate needed me, there was no denying it.

Her bedraggled clothing out of the way, I slipped my fingers into her wet, silky folds, watching her tremble with my every movement.

I loved this. Loved watching her face as she came, her body so responsive to every touch.

"No," she gasped, reaching for my shoulders. "I want you in me. Please."

I would never deny my mate. Never.

As I slid into her, she bucked, her moans of pleasure only spurring me on. Wrapped up in her arms, lost in her pleasure, I found my own, again and again, until finally exhausted, she fell asleep.

"Good night, my love," I said, and held her as close as I could against the cold.

The soft rhythm of her breathing, and the warmth of her body against mine made our crude camp as precious as the most luxurious hotel on Thodos.

Before I knew it, light broke over the forest again.

Payton was still sleeping, so I sat up quietly and fed the remaining sparks of the fire to get it going, trying to remember what the rotation period of this moon was. It felt like a good night's sleep, but too many things happened. My thoughts felt muddy, jumbled.

That was when I saw something in the sky.

I shook Payton awake as gently as I could.

"Payton, get up. I think there's about to be trouble."

"What's the matter?" she asked, but before I could answer, she looked up and saw it herself. Immediately, she was on her feet, watching anxiously.

The shining underbelly of a ship passed directly over us. I saw the blue glow of its engines as it descended slowly towards the ground.

Dragonfly class, my brain unhelpfully offered. Eight VTOL engines. Magnetic anti-radiation shield.

But none of that was the important part.

From this distance, there was no way they'd missed us.

We were found.