Chapter 18

GUNNOX

Pressure mounted behind my sternum, an unmistakable sensation I knew was the echo of Sarah's essence. At first, confusion clouded my senses, but I closed my eyes and focused inward. There was such emotional upheaval, that I couldn't decipher what she was feeling. Fear? Anxiety? Then I realized she was alive with excitement. Something had happened to make her pulse quicken with a rush of anticipation.

Had Ruze and Tyrk returned from their mission already? Was she watching the Moktian Galaxy Cruiser land outside the dome of Huren knowing she was soon to be returned to Earth?

A heavy weight settled over me like a suffocating shroud, pressing against my chest with an oppressive burden that made each breath a laborious effort. It felt as though invisible hands clenched around my hearts knowing my ancillary heart would soon stop beating once the echo of her spirit faded away.

My gaze snapped to the clearing as the air rippled like disturbed water, and the hatch of an invisible spherical craft slid open. Zaku, stood behind the command console, no doubt delivering what the techs needed to finish the lumentric barrier around the border and keep the Nuttaki out for good.

Suddenly, Leah burst forth from the craft's embrace, her short-cropped, bright mane catching the light as she moved with purpose toward the medic who stood just outside the tree line. A knee-length dress clung to her form, the same style as all the females wore fashioned from the same cloth as a Huren kiltus. It billowed around her in a dance of blues, silvers, and whites, hues that shimmered and blended with the surroundings as if the fabric itself held the essence of my home planet.

Nullar caught Leah in a warm embrace. Yet, despite the beauty of the moment, a pang of envy pierced the center of my chest. How I wished it were Sarah emerging to greet me instead. I longed to wrap her in my arms, to peer into the depths of her liquid gaze, and feel the shared pulse of our connection, a connection that now throbbed with her unrestrained excitement to board a spacecraft and leave me far behind.

A glint of golden brown amid the visible slice of the craft's interior snagged my gaze. Blinking hard, I strained to confirm the vision that had hijacked my senses. There she was—Sarah—her silky mane blowing softly in the gentle breeze.

As our eyes locked across the clearing, the echo of Sarah's essence within me crescendoed into a symphony of excitement, vibrating through every fiber of my being.

Was her emotional response for me?

The very air around us electrified, charged with the raw intensity of our connection. My breath hitched, uncertainty waning under the weight of her palpable joy.

In that moment, propelled by an energy that seemed to defy gravity itself, Sarah launched herself out of the hatch. Her blue gaze never left mine as she sprinted across the clearing, a beacon guiding me home as my feet found purchase, and I surged forward, muscles fueled with the fresh heat of adrenalyne. The distance eroded between us until, at last, I caught her up in my arms, her body colliding with mine in a crash of relief.

"Sarah," I breathed, voice rough with emotion as I held her tightly against me. The world fell away, leaving only the warmth of her lush form molding perfectly against my scales.

"Gunnox," she whispered in return. Clinging to each other, we reveled in the reunion, and for a fleeting eternity, we simply existed in the joy of being together.

"I can't believe you're here," I murmured against her mane, the relief of holding her once again seeped into my very marrow. Her grip tightened as if she could anchor herself to this moment, to this feeling —to me.

She eased away, her eyes searching mine. "I had to see for myself that you weren't hurt in the fighting," she said, her hands moving over me with practiced concern, checking for injuries unseen.

Her tender touches sparked a primal craving deep within me, stirring a raw hunger as my cock hardened, straining against the confines of my loincloth. Before things became too obvious, I caught her hands in mine to still her movements.

"I'm unharmed." With a heart lightened by her presence, I led her away from the clearing, and into the heart of the Trisess Forest. "Let me show you the land of my birth."

"I can't wait," Sarah replied with a sparkle in her eyes as we walked the main path, hand in hand. "So, where's your house?"

"Down a little farther and just off the main path," I replied, wondering at the searing swirl her essence had suddenly taken.

"Will you show me?" she asked, her voice breathy and labored.

"Are you unwell?" I stopped to touch her fevered cheek, peering into her glassy gaze. I had seen her in this state before just before I'd dipped my head between her lush thighs.

"Fine." She moved my hand away and tugged to get me moving. "I'm just anxious to get you alone."

"Alone?" I dug in my heels. Not that I didn't crave the taste of her lush sex, but it had taken every ounce of self-control not to ravage her afterward. The surprise of seeing her had heated my blood to boiling. I wasn't sure if I could trust myself not to claim her. "Maybe we should walk a bit first."

Sarah stepped into me, her arms wrapping around my waist as her soft curves molded to my hard frame. Then she said the most beautiful words I had ever heard, "I don't want to walk, I want to claim you as mine."

Her delighted squeal echoed through the forest as I slung her over my shoulder and ran for my home. I boarded the lift and spun the wheel, the pulley system whining with the speed at which the lift ascended.

Once we reached the top, I began to grow concerned she wasn't sure what she was asking. I stepped off the lift and carefully placed at her on her feet. "If we do this, our life essence will coalesce, and we will be bound together forever. Are you certain this is what you want?"

I held my breath as she turned and wandered inside to stand at the edge of the bed. Her gaze never left mine as she pulled the ties at her shoulders and let her kiltus-dress puddle around her feet. Wearing nothing more than a naughty grin and soft-soled, knee-high boots, she beckoned me with a curl of her finger.