Chapter 9

The days passed by painfully slow.

Kipexo kept his bravest face on, refusing to allow his anxiety to show. He didn’t want Ethan to worry too, so he shouldered that burden alone. Grolpre did the same. She never told Sam about the Lifreet ship, and when Kipexo asked her why, she said it was her job to shield them from distress, and this would certainly distress them.

So it was that the three of them—and Natalie, who caught Kipexo’s eye often enough he knew Reethis had told her how precarious the situation was—carried this secret as the humans around them continued to make the best of things. Morale throughout the ship was still pleasantly high, which told Kipexo they’d made the right choice. Even if it was a temporary thing, hope had driven away the despair, and he’d do his best not to take that away from them all.

On the fourth day, Reethis told Kipexo they would pass by the Lifreet ship that night while everyone slept. It was perfect timing since the entire ship would have to be as quiet as possible for the hour or so they would be within range of the Lifreet’s more powerful scans. That night, while Sam snored softly in Grolpre’s arms, Ethan lay facing Kipexo, wide awake as they both waited for word from Reethis that the danger was behind them.

“You should go to sleep,” Kipexo whispered. “I’ll wake you when I hear word.”

“No you won’t,” Ethan said with a grin. “You’d let me sleep through the end of the world rather than interrupt my rest.”

Kipexo smiled. “Guilty.”

“Are you scared?”

“I won’t lie, I’m a little nervous.” Kipexo’s armor and weapons were right under the bed within easy reach, and sleep was the last thing on his mind, but he smiled and petted Ethan’s hair so his Earthling wouldn’t be anxious. “But I trust Reethis, so I’m confident everything will be just fine.”

“Would the Lifreet recognize you if they caught you?”

“Not by sight, but they would no doubt recognize my name.”

“What do they look like?”

Kipexo opened his databand and brought up an image, projecting it above the band as a 3D hologram. It was a model of a Lifreet in the throws of battle. It had a long, bulky and black furry body with four legs that ended in long, curved feet tipped with sharp talons. At the back end, there was a long tail that curled up and tapered to a point that was tipped with a stinger. The front end had a torso not unlike Kipexo’s people, only with two arms instead of four, and the black fur ended about halfway up, shifting instead to dark blue skin. The Lifreet’s arms were much longer than a Raugon’s and had an extra elbow joint to accommodate this. Its hands had four fingers and one thumb each, all of which were tipped with retractable claws. Its face was elongated, snout-like, with rows of razor-sharp teeth and pointed ears with tufts of fur poking out of them. Its eyes looked more like a human’s than a Raugon’s with whites and irises but no pupils. Long black hair fell halfway down its back. It wore shining silver battle armor and wielded an odd style of bow with multiple strings, though there was also a small gun strapped to its hip.

Ethan pushed himself up on one arm for a better look, his eyes suddenly widening with surprise. “It looks kind of like a centaur.”

“What’s a centaur?”

“A mythical creature that has the body of a horse with the torso of a human. They’re shaped kind of like this, only this guy reminds me more of a scorpion and a wolf… A werewolf! He looks like a werewolf and scorpion hybrid.” He stared at the hologram in awe. “He’s beautiful.”

Kipexo blinked in surprise. He’d never once considered the Lifreet beautiful creatures, but at Ethan’s words, he looked at the hologram too, studying the differences between this race and his own and comparing them to the vast differences between Raugon and humans.

Kipexo’s people had long thought of the Lifreet as yet another lesser species, just like they once viewed humans, only the Lifreet chose to fight against the Raugon and refused to allow Kipexo’s people to govern their planets or restrict their space travel until war eventually broke out. Ethan’s people didn’t have the chance to fight since they hadn’t yet developed space travel enough for such things. If they had, would the Raugon and humans have ended up in the same kind of war?

Kipexo could very well have ended up staring down the scope of his rifle at humans, ending their lives with no qualms like he did the Lifreet for so many solar cycles.

‘And if we war with creatures who don’t deserve it, then that would mean you’ve possibly killed innocents. Innocents like your Ethan.’

Kipexo dismissed the hologram as he began to hyperventilate.

“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked in concern. He curled closer to his master and took his face in his hands. “Breathe, Kipexo. It’s ok. You’re ok.”

Kipexo’s skin felt overheated, and he started to sweat. His heart felt like it was fighting to escape his chest as it beat painfully hard against his ribs. He was suffocating even though he knew his lungs were working to bring him oxygen all the same. He closed his eyes and breathed evenly in and out, in and out, until the invisible bands squeezing his chest finally loosened and his heart began to calm down.

Ethan was still holding his face and speaking calming words, much the same way Kipexo did for him whenever a flashback ripped him into the past or when he woke sobbing in the night. Kipexo put his arms around Ethan, squeezing him tight.

“What happened?” Ethan asked.

“You’re not the only one haunted by ghosts.”

“Was it something I said?”

“Not really. I’m just…” He snuffled Ethan’s hair, grounding himself in the Earthling’s scent. “I took so many lives before you came along and showed me there’s more to life than battles and bloodshed. I thought I knew what I was fighting for, but you’ve made me question everything I thought I knew about my people and the ones we deem our enemies. Were they truly our enemies from the start, or did we give them no other choice?”

Ethan listened and snuggled up under Kipexo’s chin. “I don’t know. But you’ve left that life behind now. You don’t have to fight those battles anymore.”

“I may have left that life, but something tells me that life may not yet be done with me.”

Just then, Kipexo’s databand beeped, and a message from Reethis came through.

We’re clear.

Kipexo sighed with relief. “We’ve passed the Lifreet ship. We’ll be putting nothing but distance between us from here on out.”

“You were really worried about this, weren’t you? More than you let on?”

“I don’t think I realized how much this was weighing on me until just now.”

Ethan yawned.

“Go to sleep now. You’re safe. Rest.”

Ethan closed his eyes. “You too. We’re safe. And I’ll keep your ghosts away if you do the same for me.”

Kipexo kissed his Earthling on the top of his head. “Always.”

*****

The next morning, Kipexo woke feeling as if a great weight was lifted from his heart. Even if it didn’t make up for his sins, telling Ethan his deepest fears in the dark had lessened his guilt. Ethan knew every dark corner of Kipexo’s soul and loved him anyway. That had to count for something, and Kipexo let it wash away his shame and regret. He laid awake in bed with Ethan sleeping soundly in his arms long after Grolpre and Sam rose and quietly started their day. When they left, and he and Ethan were alone, he woke his Earthling with soft kisses on his face and lips.

Ethan grunted awake and smiled sleepily. “Good morning.”

Kipexo didn’t respond. He locked his lips to Ethan’s in a long and soft kiss until the Earthling hummed in appreciation, and even then, he only broke away to move across Ethan’s face, continuing to dust soft kisses on his chin, cheek, and neck.

Ethan sighed. “Kipexo…”

Kipexo slowly stripped Ethan’s shirt up and over his head, tossing it aside before stripping off his own, then he captured Ethan’s mouth again as he rolled and hovered over him. With one hand, he buried his fingers in Ethan’s hair to scratch lightly across his scalp just the way he liked. With another, he inched Ethan’s pants down and off, leaving the Earthling naked beneath him. His own pants quickly joined the growing pile of clothing on the floor, and when they were both naked, Kipexo broke their kiss again.

“You are everything to me,” Kipexo said. “I would kill for you, die for you, give you babies, as many as you want… You may call me ‘master’, but you own me, body, heart, and soul.”

Ethan smiled with tears in his eyes. “I love you too.”

Kipexo folded Ethan’s legs up and held them there behind the knees. He retrieved their bottle of lubricant that he stashed under his pillow each night, just in case, and fingered a generous dollop. When he slipped two fingers inside him, Ethan closed his eyes with a soft moan but quickly opened them again and looped an arm around Kipexo’s neck, yanking him down into another kiss. Kipexo kept his tongue firmly tucked behind his teeth as he softly opened his Earthling with his fingers. This was not to be a hard and demanding fuck like they so often have. This would be soft and sensual, loving.

When Ethan was stretched enough to take him without pain, Kipexo stroked his nose down Ethan’s as he entered him slowly, reveling in each little inch as he sank into his body. He held Ethan’s head between two of his massive hands and settled Ethan’s legs over his own once he was fully sheathed inside him. With gentle thrusts, he moved in and out, making each push and draw last as long as he possibly could. Ethan sighed softly each time Kipexo’s cock sank into him, and Kipexo swallowed the sound with his lips pressed firmly to Ethan’s until they were both panting and clinging to each other.

“Someday soon, I will take your cock inside me,” Kipexo said breathlessly. “I never imagined I’d let someone fuck me, but with you… I want it. I want to give you everything, including my body.”

Ethan’s eyes searched Kipexo’s. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” Kipexo sped his thrusts a little, and Ethan groaned. “But right now, more than anything, I want to hear you come while I watch your face. Don’t look away.”

Ethan stared up into Kipexo’s eyes as his master moved a little faster, not a lot, just enough he knew Ethan would come eventually. It took time, which is exactly what Kipexo wanted, because the longer Ethan stared up at him, the more his eyes filled with tears. The emotions between them swelled so hard even Kipexo struggled not to lose himself by the time Ethan stiffened and arched his back. When he came, Ethan’s tears broke free and trailed down the sides of his face at the same time one dripped off the end of Kipexo’s nose and landed on the Earthling’s cheek.

Kipexo came immediately after with grunting cries that sounded closer to sobs than anything. Afterward, Ethan clung to him and kissed him over and over between murmured ‘I love you’s.

Fuck the stars. This small, soft being was worth more than the entire universe combined.

*****

After such a passionate morning wake-up, Kipexo would’ve loved to lie in bed awhile and make love to his Earthling a few more times, but Ethan’s stomach was growling for breakfast, so he begrudgingly got up and dressed. They were almost to the common area when Reethis came stomping down the hall toward them.

“There you are!” he said in a rush. “Come quickly.”

Kipexo had his arm thrown over Ethan’s shoulder, and he nodded down at the Earthling. “Him too?”

“I don’t give a fuck! Just come!”

Reethis behavior immediately put Kipexo on edge. The old captain wasn’t one to panic, so whatever was happening had to be bad. Really bad.

Kipexo and Ethan followed as Reethis hobbled toward the cockpit, where they found Natalie standing at one of the consoles swiping through screens and adjusting settings with ease as if she’d been flying the ship as long as Reethis. When the door closed behind them, she didn’t even look up as Reethis led them to his own console and called up the same screen he showed Kipexo days before.

“Us,” Reethis said again as he pointed to the little blue dot between two solar systems. This time, when he pressed a button and the white light shot through the hologram, more than a dozen red dots showed up, all of them clustered around the blue one.

“Holy fuck…” Kipexo muttered in horror.

“You can say that again,” Reethis said with a growl. “And a third time for good measure. We’re fuckin’ screwed.”

“Are those all Lifreet ships?” Ethan asked.

“Yes,” Reethis replied. “I was able to get better scans when we passed by the first one in the night. It’s a Lifreet vessel, no doubt about it.”

“Did they see us?” Kipexo asked.

“I don’t think so, but they know we’re here. For the lifa me, I can’t understand why they’re goin’ to such measures to find us, though. This seems like overkill for one enemy vessel.”

“Is there any chance of us moving through them undetected?”

“What do you think I’ve been tryin’ to do? I’ve been stuck here dartin’ around them all mornin’, but they’re movin’ around in a pattern that makes it hard to avoid ‘em. They’re searchin’, and I’ve only got so much power I can pump inta our thrusters. If the cloak falls now, we’re goners.”

Kipexo stared at the screen with a sinking sense of dread.

Ethan touched Kipexo’s arm. “We have to tell the others.”

“He’s right,” Reethis said. “The ship’s gotta go silent until we’re passed this. There’s too many of them scannin’ for us to make more noise than we gotta, and I need all the power I can get to keep the thrusters movin’ us through this mine field. We’ll have to cut the power everywhere but the common area and direct it all up here.”

“Shit,” Kipexo mumbled. It seems they were out of options. They had no choice now but to break the fragile bubble of hope the humans had only just started to enjoy.

“We can get Sara to help,” Ethan said. “They all look up to her, so maybe she can help keep everyone calm.”

“Grolpre too,” Natalie added with a glance over her shoulder. “They look to her for moral support. Get her to help as well.”

Kipexo nodded. “Alright. Let’s go give them the news.”