Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“I say again, are you on the move?”

Rykker had been up at sunrise, sending messages to Arkness’s comms unit repeatedly until he answered.

“Yes, we are,” the groggy man lied, unwrapping from his sleeping partner. “We’re on our way to the second crash site. I will let you know when we arrive.”

Olivia rolled over and stretched, her bare flesh making Arkness’s cock jump to attention. He forced himself to ignore it and slid into his clothes, pressing his erection flat against his belly for now. Once they were hiking, it would go down soon enough. And though he very much wanted a repeat of last night, he was a professional and was well aware they needed to get moving if they hoped to achieve their objective and make it back before sunset.

Of course, he would have greatly enjoyed another night out with the woman he had claimed as his own. But there would be plenty of time for that when they returned home. For now, there was a mission to complete.

“What was that?” Olivia asked, watching him dress with hungry eyes.

“Nothing. Come, we need to get moving. We will eat as we trek. I would not want to keep your friend waiting.”

That comment shook the last cobwebs of slumber from Olivia’s groggy brain. “Right. We should go,” she agreed, quickly dressing her thighs crackly and sticky from the prior night.

Arkness noted her discomfort. “There is a stream on the way no more than perhaps twenty minutes from our location. We can wash off there. I’m sure it will make for a more comfortable morning afterwards.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” she replied, absentmindedly rubbing her chest where her tattoo was particularly itchy.

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah. It’s just this thing itches.”

He paused, a curious look in his eyes. “May I?”

“Knock yourself out,” she replied, lifting her shirt.

It took all of his willpower not to cup her breasts and suckle her delightfully erect nipples, but, somehow, Arkness managed to remain clinical in his inspection. At least, for the most part. His cock did shift as more blood flow was directed to its length, but he remained focused on the rune on her chest. Her Infala. Was it possible? Could she have actually become his Infala mate? And so soon after receiving her runes? It was unheard of, but, then, this woman was an unknown variable in their normal way of life.

“It does not match,” he said with a little deflated sigh.

“What doesn’t?”

“Your Infala. I had wondered, given our connection, if it was the same as mine. But, you can see,” he said, lifting his own shirt, “that while some elements seem similar, it is decidedly different. I suppose our pheromones are the defining factor.”

“You can smell them too?”

“Oh, indeed. Your scent is, for lack of a better word, intoxicating .”

Olivia liked the sound of that. But she was also very, very confused. She’d had the same type of reaction with Rykker. Was this normal? Whatever the case, she wasn’t about to mention that to Arkness. Not here. Not now. She’d have to figure that all out when they got back to the city. Zoldana or Nijello would be able to explain what was going on, and they’d do it confidentially.

The lovers stepped out into the crisp morning air, Olivia in particular soaking in the beauty of this amazing alien nature while Arkness hurriedly gathered his perimeter tripwire alarms. They then hurried off to the nearby stream. It turned out to be closer to a half hour than twenty minutes away, but Olivia didn’t care. Stripping down and wading into the water, her body felt invigorated and refreshed.

She watched Arkness do the same, giving his top a good wash before resting it on a rock while he scrubbed his chiseled body. His cock hung long and thick between his legs. At least, it did for a moment until he glanced at Olivia’s naked body, her nipples erect from the chill. He hardened immediately, the speed at which he went from flaccid to fully erect quite stunning.

There’s no time , Olivia told herself, even as her body ignored the thought, moving to him, pressing up against his warmth.

She was soaking wet, and not from the water. His pupils dilated wide with want, and she was very much of the same mindset, jumping up and wrapping her legs around him as she locked her lips against his and lowered herself onto his waiting cock.

“Fuck,” she groaned as he buried his length deep inside her. “Yessssss.”

She started moving, but his hands on her ass took over, increasing the pace, supporting her entirely as he bounced her on his manhood with a frantic sort of vigor.

“Mine,” he growled in her ear, skyrocketing her arousal even more.

“Give it to me,” she groaned as their bodies slapped hard together over and over. “I want it.”

His body shuddered, his climax about to erupt. “It is yours. I am yours.”

Olivia’s pussy spasmed and clenched hard just as the most wonderful gush of heat blossomed inside her, his cock pumping a massive load deep and hot as her climax coursed through her from head to toe making her fingers and feet tingle with delight.

Arkness held her tight, impaled on his twitching cock, the pair slowly coming down from their shared orgasm as they tenderly kissed. Finally, he lifted her off his length, his cum draining out of her in a stream of tingly heat as he set her back on her feet. Olivia squatted in the water, pushing the rest out as best she could while giving her throbbing bits a good wash. Arkness did the same, rinsing off, his eyes locked on hers with a sexy look as his hands rubbed his cock clean.

“Damn, son, that was one hell of a quickie. For a virgin, you’ve got some serious skills.”

He chuckled. “Technically, I am no longer one.”

Olivia flashed him a very satisfied grin then walked back to shore and dressed.

Arkness was clothed in no time, the pack on his shoulders and ready to go. From that point the two carried on with that much-needed release taken care of, their pace faster and without distraction, at least for the time being, as they headed to the next crash site.

“I have to say, I have no idea how you are that good in bed,” she marveled as they walked. “I mean, you can only practice with your hand so much.”

Arkness let out the sexiest little laugh. “Oh, we have far more advanced methods of learning among my people.”

“Oh? Like, what? You use sex bots or something?”

“No, nothing like that. But we possess a rather unique technology that allows us to gather knowledge as we sleep.”

“What, like a self-affirmation recording?”

“More of a dream-state training tool that slowly feeds information into the wearer. It is incredibly slow, mind you, and it takes many, many years to assimilate the knowledge. That is why the top companions tend to be of a certain age. Any younger and the skills would not yet be fully integrated.”

Olivia had to check that her mouth wasn’t hanging open. “Hang on. You’re telling me you can train a guy to be a rockstar lover just by sleeping with this thing on?”

“Essentially, yes, if I understand what you mean by rockstar .”

“Hooooly shit. You guys need to send that tech back to my world, ASAP. There are a lot of men who would benefit from that, believe me.”

He turned to her, a confused look on his face. “Men of your world do not devote their focus on pleasing their woman?”

“You’d be surprised.”

“That is—I find it unfathomable.”

“Yeah, so do all my girlfriends. But that’s the sad state of?—”

A loud crack rang out as a branch fell from above.

“Look out!” Arkness shouted, trying to put himself between Olivia and the falling limb, but he was too far.

She looked up and pivoted faster than she realized she could move, her hand shooting out and slapping the plummeting branch just before it hit, sending it off course. Olivia stood there in shock, staring at her hand.

“Did I just do that?”

Arkness was on her in a flash, looking her over for any sign of injury but finding none.

“You did.”

“But how?”

He acted calm, but he was clearly alarmed. He was genuinely worried for her. This massive alien hunk was almost trembling with concern. It made the butterflies in her stomach flutter even harder.

“Your runes,” he said, composing himself. “They are clearly taking root. I do know that Nijello used some of his more powerful pigments on you, but even then, it is incredibly unusual for them to manifest abilities so strongly and so soon.”

“Lucky me, I guess,” she replied, her adrenaline slowly returning to normal. “Gimme a minute, okay?”

“Of course. Take your time,” he said, stepping back and giving her space to just stand and process what had just happened.

You’re changing, Liv. Whatever you were, that’s not you anymore. Looks like you’ve leveled up. And that means putting on your big girl panties and getting on with it. Harper needs you.

“Let’s go,” she said with a confidence she didn’t quite feel yet but hoped she would grow into.

“As you wish,” he replied, once more leading the way.

They walked for hours, but unlike the prior day, no unexpected terrain cropped up in their path and they reached the second downed compartment well before noon. Unfortunately, it was a bust.

“This isn’t it,” Olivia said as they approached. “This is definitely not the one I landed in.”

Arkness didn’t question her recollection. “I will check for survivors. Wait here.”

Once again he made a quick survey of the perimeter before boarding the craft. And once more he came out empty-handed. “No one aboard. I am beginning to wonder how full the Raxxian ship was.”

“How many of these compartments do they usually have?”

“It can be dozens, depending on the model. Regardless, there is no one here. We should get back, regroup, and decide our next steps.”

He plotted a course that would be more direct for their return to their ship, then they turned and headed out. Arkness informed Rykker that both ships had been a bust. So far, Rykker’s had been the same.

“I’m heading to the next landing site now,” the man commed. “I will be there shortly.”

“We should be back at our ship in short order,” Arkness replied.

“Very well. Is Olivia well?”

Arkness kept his mirth to himself as best he could. “She is quite well. Do not worry, she is in good hands.”

“Keep her safe. See you both soon,” Rykker replied, then cut his comms link.

“Oh, I will,” his rival quietly said to himself. “And more.”

It was a short while later that Rykker commed once more, but there was something urgent in his tone that set Arkness on edge. “Say again,” he asked.

“I said, the container was empty, but I found tracks. Raxxians, by the look of them, and fresh.”

Arkness saw the concern on Olivia’s face. “Could you tell how many?”

“Unsure, but several. And by the depth of the imprints, it looks as though one was carrying something heavy.”

“A survivor?”

“I can’t say. Sending an image of the ship now.”

A floating display popped up in the air showing an image of the craft.”

“Holy shit. That’s it! That’s the one I landed in,” Olivia gasped, smacking Arkness’s arm. “And why didn’t you tell me you could video stream?”

“I thought you knew.”

She rolled her eyes with annoyance. “Ugh. How far away is he?”

Arkness looked at his map, quickly adding Rykker’s coordinates to his own location and determining a new course. “At his pace and direction, we are perhaps two hours away from intersecting his path if we hurry and his course does not change.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

“We are not. What we are doing, however, is taking a moment to properly study the readings before we move in a new direction. There are Raxxians out there, we have now confirmed. But there are other things besides them in the wild.”

Olivia wanted to ask what he meant by that but didn’t want to interrupt as he did his work. The sooner he was done, the sooner they could get on their way and meet up with Rykker. From there it would be a whole different kind of operation. This was no longer a simple recovery mission. This had just become a rescue.