ZOTAR

JORKAN PROTOCAL MATES: BOOK THREE

AVA YORK

STARR HUNTRESS

CONTENTS

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Epilogue: Natalie

Are you a STARR HUNTRESS?

Rekker: Sneak Peek!

Rescued by her Alien Mate

Rogue Mate

NATALIE

Out of the kitchen, and into outer space.

That’s not the way I thought my life would go, but here I was.

Leaning back on the plush leather seat, I stared out the small observation viewport and felt odd that I couldn’t even feel the subdermal translation chip they’d implanted in me shortly before taking off. Outside, the darkness of space seemed to swallow my shuttle, billions of stars peppering that dark canvas as far as the eye could see. It was terrifying, but it was also beautiful. For the hundredth time that night, I pinched myself on the arm.

Yup, this is happening, no doubt about it, I thought, still struggling to accept the fact that I wasn’t hallucinating or having a particularly vivid dream. No matter how strange it all seemed, it was real.

“How are you feeling?” A tall man appeared beside me, his crisp dark suit giving him the expected generic appearance of a federal employee. “Interstellar travel can be tough on the stomach if it’s your first time.”

“I’m fine, Agent Starmer,” I said, then put on a smile on my face. “I’ll get used to it.” I wasn’t entirely sure if I’d ever get used to it, truth be told, but what else could I say? I had come willingly, after all, and it wasn’t like we could make a quick stop for me to stretch my legs. “About that call…do you think I can have it now?”

He hesitated for a moment, then fished a small electronic device from his pocket. It looked like a cellphone, but it was entirely made of some kind of transparent material. Pushing it into my hands, he gave me a quick explanation of how it worked. It didn’t sound complicated. I thanked him, then let out a heavy sigh as I watched him return to his seat.

“Just remember,” he shouted down the aisle, “don’t reveal anything that you can’t.”

“Got it,” I muttered, still looking down at the space phone. Apparently, this went against the regulations. Once you were pulled out of your normal life, you weren’t allowed to communicate with anyone back on Earth. The fact that I had come willingly had earned me some leeway, though. “Alright, let’s do this.”

Biting on the corner of my lip, I typed in Alissa’s phone number, then pressed the phone against my ear. There was static for a couple of seconds, but then her voice came through as clearly as if she were standing right next to me.

“What’s up, girl?” she asked. “You’re already running five minutes late. The chef is going apeshit crazy in here. He has some big names comin’ in tonight and he—”

“I’m not going to make it today,” I said, then cleared my throat as I carefully chose my next words. “In fact, I might not return for a while.” I hated doing this to Alissa, but it had to be done. We had been supporting each other as we tried to make it in the world of haute cuisine, and this felt like I was hanging her out to dry. Still, I was sure she was going to understand.

“What’s going on? Did something happen, Natalie?”

“I… I met someone, Alissa.”

“You met someone?” She sounded incredulous, and I didn’t blame her. I wasn’t exactly the kind of girl who had an active dating life, and she knew it. In fact, the only adjective I could use to describe my dating life would be ‘defunct’.

“It’s not like that,” I hurried to say. “I met a high roller from Monte Carlo, and he has some connections back there. He liked my cooking, and he asked me to accompany him to Europe. I think I might have found the investor I needed for the restaurant.”

All lies, but I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth. If I told her I was now part of an interstellar matchmaking program, she’d just think I had finally lost my marbles. Besides, I was forbidden from revealing the truth.

“Seriously?” she cried out, and her excitement couldn’t be more evident. “Oh, the chef is going to lose it. I can’t wait to see the look on his face once he realizes that the best cook in his lineup has just walked out the door.”

“Listen, I’m sorry it was all so sudden. I really didn’t have the time to—”

“Oh, stop it,” she cut me short. “We both know that you want to open your own restaurant. You’ve sacrificed a lot for that dream, Natalie. If you have an opportunity, you’d be dumb not to take it.”

“Thank you, Alissa, it really means a lot to…” I trailed off, the static suddenly becoming so loud that I winced. I pulled the phone away from my ear and frowned as I saw a ‘connection lost’ message appear on its transparent screen. Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose, my mind feeling like an overstuffed suitcase.

It had happened last night—I had been finishing my shift at the restaurant when two federal agents strolled into the kitchen and flashed me their badges. I had absolutely no idea why two suits from Washington were standing there in my kitchen and, for a moment, I actually thought it was all some kind of elaborate prank.

As it turned out, it wasn’t a prank.

They told me that aliens were real and that the human race wasn’t alone in the universe. Yeah, cue the X-Files theme. They also told me that Earth had entered into an agreement with the Jorkan, some kind of warrior-like aliens that were protecting Earth from the galaxy’s common enemy, the Rippers.

Apparently, these Ripper guys unleashed a biological weapon against the Jorkan a couple of years ago, and that made their women become infertile. Now, care to guess the only race in the universe that’s genetically compatible with the Jorkan? Yeah, the good ol’ humans. That’s the main pillar supporting the Jorkan/Earth Protocols: the Jorkan defend Earth, and Earth offers them women capable of producing offspring in return. Whenever a woman is genetically matched with one of these Jorkan guys, the protocol kicks in.

I had never been lucky in my life, and scratch tickets were the bane of my existence, but it seemed like I had hit the jackpot when it came to this intergalactic genetic lottery. I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing, though. Still, my name had come up on their database, and now I was on my way to some kind of exotic planet where I was supposed to meet my so-called mate.

It all sounded nasty but, as I had been told, the Jorkan weren’t exactly barbarians. See, I was half-expecting to not have a say in any of this but, as it turned out, I wasn’t stripped of my free will. Thirty days—that was all that was being asked of me.

I’d have to spend those thirty days with my mate and get to know him better, but at the end of it, I would be offered a choice: either go back to my normal life while collecting five million dollars, or stay in the relationship and split the money with him.

Simple enough, right?

That sweetened the deal enough for me to come here willingly. All I would have to do was spend thirty days with some alien guy and, at the end of the month, I’d be able to return home with a suitcase full of money, enough for me to start my own restaurant. I had told Alissa a bunch of lies, but at least that much was true: I had found a potential source of money to make my dream come true.

A dream that until now had only been hazy wishful thinking. With that money, I would finally have my shot, and nothing was going to keep me from grabbing this windfall with both hands. Certainly not the mere temptation of falling in love.

“Almost there,” I muttered under my breath, eyeing the holographic screen in front of my seat. A small icon representing the shuttle navigated through a three-dimensional map, showing that we were no more than an hour away from Tarkun IV.

According to what Starmer had told me, Tarkun IV was a small tropical moon lauded as the number one resort destination in the galaxy. There were tropical beaches, luxurious casinos, and mind-blowing restaurants…and I’d be able to explore all of that. Despite the strangeness of the entire situation, I couldn’t help but feel excited.

Lazily, I reached for the small brochure I had been given. Clearly designed by someone back on Earth, all the images boasted a certain tackiness, but what really interested me was its list of activities. From snorkeling and cooking a gourmet meal, to spear-fishing and mountain climbing, it all seemed to have been based around my and Zotar’s personalities.

The moment I thought of him, I immediately felt my heart tighten up inside my chest. That was my mate: Zotar. A high-ranking officer in the Jorkan military and evidently some kind of big deal, so much so that protocol was actually being skirted because of him. Supposedly, an initial overnight stay on Pluto—these guys had a space station there—was mandatory, but it couldn’t happen with Zotar.

Why? No idea.

All I knew was that I was going to meet him on Tarkun IV, not sooner.

I was still wondering about what kind of man Zotar would be when klaxons suddenly started blaring through the ship.

“What the…?”

I straightened my back and looked around, having no idea what was going on. The dim lights mounted overhead turned red, and the entire shuttle became immersed in an aura of pure terror. My excitement drained, quickly replaced by a sense of total dread.

“What’s going on?” I cried out, nervously fastening my seatbelt. Agents Starmer and Krasinski ran down the aisle, struggling not to be jerked off their feet as the shuttle picked up speed, their expressions white as snow.

“The Rippers,” Starmer said. “They’re here.”

ZOTAR

“You’re one lucky bastard, Zotar.”

“How do you figure that?” I asked, my feet propped up on the console as I chugged down a beer. It wasn’t protocol to allow alcohol inside a military vessel but, then again, I wasn’t exactly a fan of protocol. I was a fan of getting shit done. “The mission was almost done, and now I’m being pulled out for an entire month? Yeah, I wouldn’t call that lucky. I’d call it bullshit.”

“You need to unwind, that’s just a fact,” Commander Ranak said, his face occupying the entire viewscreen. He was donning his gray uniform, which contrasted with his blue skin, but the top buttons on his shirt were undone. He held a glass of whiskey he regularly had shipped in from Earth. Much like me, he didn’t care much for protocol. All he cared about was getting the job done, and that’s why our partnership was such a fruitful one. “Just think of it, Zotar. Thirty days of paid vacation time. What’s there not to like about it?”

“Do I need to remind you I haven’t taken a single day off in four years now?” I threw back at him, allowing some smugness onto my face. I was a high-performer, and I was proud of it. “Vacations aren’t my thing, Commander. I’d rather be shooting down Rippers than sitting on my ass all day.”

“Orders are orders,” he said, shrugging as he took a sip of his drink. “I like it just as much as you do. Still, you know how this goes. It’s important for the Jorkan to ensure the continued survival of our species and…”

I stopped listening after the first sentence.

Every Jorkan had heard that story at least a thousand times before. Now that our women had become sterile, all courtesy of the Rippers, the only way for us not to go extinct was to mate with genetically compatible human females. I understood the importance of it, as every Jorkan did, but I never really expected I’d have a match. I mean, the odds for something like that were ridiculously low.

“Just have some fun, Zotar,” Ranak insisted. “It’s only a month, not a life sentence. Unless you decide to pair up with that woman.” I noticed an anxious edge to his voice as he mentioned ‘that woman’, and it didn’t take a genius to know what that was about. I was Ranak’s most valuable asset and he was terrified of losing me.

“You don’t have to worry,” I said, finishing the rest of my beer with a single gulp. “Once those thirty days are up, I’ll be back at it.” From the corner of my eye, I saw a light turn blue on the control panel, indicating that I was now five minutes away from Tarkun IV’s spaceport. “Alright, I’m gonna have to get ready for docking.”

“Just be sure not to enjoy docking with that human too much,” Ranak said, a cockeyed smile on his face. With that, he shut the comms link off, and his image vanished from the viewscreen. As I thought of his joke, I didn’t know whether I should frown or smile.

I hadn’t met a single human female and although I knew they were beautiful creatures, I wasn’t exactly sure if the one I had been matched with would appreciate the situation. After all, I wasn’t happy about it either, and I’d known about the Protocols beforehand. Most humans were kept in the dark when it came to the galaxy at large, so this whole thing had probably been a shock to her.

Trying not to think of how awkward our first meeting would be, I directed my mind someplace else. It didn’t help. These thirty days were going to derail my mission—I had been setting up listening satellites all over Rippers’ space, and not a single one of them had been found so far—and that thought never really left my mind.

It was no life for some soft human woman used to the comforts of home. It was dangerous, solitary, and a woman would just be a liability. It wasn’t fair to ask her to wait for me while I traveled the stars either. Even worse if we had children—when would they ever see me?

No, Ranak didn’t have to worry. A mate and family weren’t for me, matched or not.

In the end, I just focused on the docking procedures.

It had been a long time since my last stop in Tarkun IV’s spaceport, and I knew the officials there were pretty strict about docking procedure, what with all the important assholes that went through the port on a daily basis.

Sitting comfortably in the pilot’s chair, I switched the controls from automatic to manual. On the viewscreen, the spaceport grew until it occupied my entire field of vision. It was a gigantic contraption of rotating rings, with hundreds of ships flying in and out from the hangars like wasps guarding their nest.

“Bluefire One requesting clearance to dock,” I said, pressing the button that connected me to the spaceport’s control room. My ship’s name wasn’t Bluefire One—no way I’d ever use such a lame name—but it still checked out. I was a black-ops operative, and that meant all information concerning my job had to be kept under wraps. I even doubted that the spaceport knew I was en route.

Slowly, I steered the ship around the concentric rings, then dipped down toward the hangar’s open mouth. I was expecting to see the transport that had left Earth’s solar system already docked there, but it was nowhere to be seen. That was odd. According to my sensors, the transport had at least thirty minutes on me, so they should have already been here.

I paused my descent into the hangar and hit the comms button.

“This is Bluefire One,” I said. “I’m about to dock in Hangar 17B and I just noticed the Pluto flight isn’t here yet. Any information on that?” For a moment, I only heard the crackle of static, then came the hesitant voice of some rookie traffic controller.

“I’m getting Alert messages from the automated defense mechanism.” From the way he was speaking, I could tell he had just pulled up the flight log. “Oh fuck. There’s a Ripper capital ship that’s been spotted! A military patrol has just been dispatched and—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I growled, and immediately shut the comms off. I pulled away from the hangar and, as soon as I had put enough distance between the spaceport and the ship, I diverted all power to the engines. Soon enough I was cutting through space like a sharp knife through a Ripper’s belly, the sudden increase in g-force keeping me pushed against the seat.

I didn’t like what I had heard, and I knew I had to move fast. No Ripper activity had been recorded in this sector for at least a decade, and it made no sense for the Pluto transport to come across one of their ships randomly. No, the Rippers had to be targeting that transport.

Ten minutes later, I was zooming past the military patrol the spaceport had dispatched. Most of their ships had brand new fuselages, but the drives and engines powering them didn’t hold a candle to what my ship could do. I piloted a stealth frigate, which I had customized into a deadly fighting scalpel, and I was pretty sure no ship this side of the galaxy stood a chance against me. The best part was that the frigate came equipped with enough space to hold quarters, a cargo bay, and other aspects of a normal capital class ship, so I didn’t have to cramp my style to fight the Rippers.

It didn’t take long before the military patrol disappeared from my sensors. I had put so much distance between us that I could no longer pick up their signals. That meant trouble—if I could no longer pick up their signals, then I was pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to follow the Pluto transport for much longer.

It was just me now.

“What the fuck is going on?” I muttered, struggling to catch up with the transport. The ship was moving fast, and it was clear as day that whoever was piloting it was pushing the damn thing to the limit. A few more minutes of that and the engine would start to sputter and die. Knowing time was of the essence, I kicked some more power into my dual engines, and I finally started closing the gap.

The Pluto transport finally came into sight, its power exhaust almost incandescent, a clear sign that they were in deep shit. Behind them flew a Ripper light fighter, taunting them with steady torpedo fire. A grin spread across my lips.

“Alright, motherfuckers,” I whispered, my hands on the weapons’ controls. “Let’s have some fun.”

NATALIE

This wasn’t good.

The seatbelt was digging into my chest hard enough to make it feel as if my ribs were going to crack, and I was being slammed into my seat. I didn’t know much about space travel, but I sure as hell could feel that the ship was being pushed past its limitations. The damn thing was rattling like a can someone had kicked down the road, and it rocked so suddenly, I half-expected us to blow up anytime now.

I had been dreaming of lounging on a tropical beach, a fruity cocktail in my hand, but I was now trapped inside Titanic’s space remake. If that was the case, though, where the hell was my DiCaprio? I only had two FBI agents—or whatever the hell they were—with me, and they didn’t look particularly capable of saving the day.

Crewmen ran back and forth over and over again, looking as disoriented as I was, but the two agents that had brought me here remained glued to their seats. They had put on their seatbelts and, even though I didn’t have a clear line of sight, I was pretty sure they were holding hands. Sweet, but not entirely comforting. At all.

“What the hell is going on?” I cried out one more time, raising my voice so that I could be heard over the growl of the engines. Agent Krasinski shifted in his seat, and he looked back at me over one shoulder. He was livid.

“There’s a Ripper ship on our tail,” he replied, making a mighty effort not to let any fear show in his voice. It worked, but only up to a certain point.

“You told me this was going to be safe,” I protested, struggling to get the words out. My lungs felt like two balloons about to pop, the pressure on my chest so much that I could barely breathe. “This doesn’t feel safe to me.”

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he continued, and his voice trembled a little. “I don’t remember the last time the Rippers showed up in this sector. This doesn’t make any sense.” He was about to continue speaking when another explosion rocked the ship, slamming him back against his seat. “Jesus Christ! We’re going to die here.”

“What?”

“I said it’s going to be fine,” he lied. Bastard. “I’m sure Tarkun has already dispatched a military patrol. They’ll be here in about…” he hesitated as he looked down at his datapad, a see-through device that looked like a regular tablet, then pursed his lips so tightly they turned white. “They’ll be here soon, I’m sure.”

It was another lie, as whatever he had seen on his datapad had drained what little color still remained in his face. The two agents were scared shitless and, by the looks of it, so was the entire crew. I didn’t know much about the Rippers, but it was pretty evident that everyone was afraid of them.

Suddenly, the cockpit door slid open, and two men marched down the aisle. They wore bland gray uniforms with some kind of ID tag right above their hearts, and below it, a small badge with golden wings. They didn’t look at either me or the agents as they walked past us.

“Where the hell are you going?” Krasinski cried out, but the pilots didn’t even slow down. They simply kept on going until they disappeared. “Holy shit, that isn’t good.”

“What’s happening?” I asked, even though I had an idea of what the situation was: the pilots were jumping ship. So much for the bravery of the human race. No wonder we depended on those Jorkan guys to keep Earth safe.

“What’s happening is that it’s time for us to bail,” Krasinski replied, jumping out of his seat so fast you’d think he had coiled springs under the soles of his shoes. He helped Starmer out from his seat and, right when he was doing it, the ship jerked once more. The two men were flung down the aisle, hitting one of the concave walls as hard as a wrecking ball.

Once they were back on their feet, Starmer leaned against Krasinski to remain standing up. They dragged themselves beside me, then Starmer unclipped my seatbelt.

“What are you doing?” I cried out, not excited about the prospect of being flung around like a pinball. “I’d rather stay in my seat, thank you very much. Where are you going?”

“In case you didn’t notice, the ship’s pilots just bailed on us. Unless you want the Rippers to turn you into mincemeat, I’d suggest you come with us. This ship is equipped with a fairly decent system of escape pods and—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the ship jerked again, and the pair tumbled down the aisle again. I gripped the armrests so tightly that my knuckles turned white and, miraculously, I stopped the same thing from happening to me. Still, Starmer was right—if the pilots were no longer behind the ship’s controls, it’d be suicide for me to remain in this seat. Whether I liked it or not, it was time for me to leave.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself off the seat as the ship started rocking. Carefully, I made my way toward the two agents, and the three of us headed to the back of the ship. We entered what seemed like a cargo hold, except there was no cargo—the room was completely empty, the walls lined with dozens of circular holes roughly the size of a manhole cover.

“Get in, Natalie,” Starmer said, pushing me toward one of those holes.

“What? I’m not getting in there.”

“Yes, you are,” he insisted, still pointing at the hole. “The Rippers are going to blow this ship up. If we want to survive, we’ll have to eject.”

“Is it…safe?”

“Stupid questions will only get stupid answers,” he replied without a moment’s hesitation, and that was all that I needed to know: there was nothing safe about ejecting from a spaceship while under attack.

Before I had time for a follow-up question, Starmer placed one hand on my lower back and shoved me into the hole. I tumbled headfirst, my knees hitting the plastic surface with a dull thud, and I found myself sliding down what felt like a never-ending tunnel. I’m not proud to admit it, but I screamed as hard as I could.

I crash landed onto a padded seat, and automatic straps immediately wrapped themselves around my shoulders and waist. A lid slid over the hole I had come through, closing it with a hissing sound as the cramped little capsule pressurized. There was a monitor in front of me, as well as a terminal crammed with all manners of switches and buttons, but I had no idea what I should do.

I was a freaking cook, for God’s sake, not an astronaut.

It didn’t help that the only light in here was red, giving a horror movie vibe to the place. Scared out of my mind, I reacted on pure instinct and started hitting all the buttons at random. Something started to beep on the terminal, but the capsule didn’t move a single inch. I was going nowhere fast. Only then did I notice the red lever with the words LAUNCH engraved on it in both Jorkan and one of the human languages. I didn’t know which one, due to the fact that they gave me a memory dump of all human languages and dialects in preparation for getting the translation chip and meeting my match.

Without thinking twice about it, I pulled on it.

Next thing I knew, the capsule was being hurled out into the vastness of space.

ZOTAR

I had no time to lose.

I had to relax, orient, and plan. It was just one ship against one ship, the odds were even. I might not have had as many weapons as the Ripper ship, but I had myself. My plan was to find the weak points from experience, and aim for those. There were the weapons mounting system, there was the front-mounted cockpit, and there was the fuel tank in the rear. I probably wouldn’t be able to destroy the ship, but I would be able to damage it. I set a course for straight ahead, to just skim the side of the Ripper ship and make my way to the rear.

I aimed for the weak point where the Ripper ship’s weapons were mounted, knowing from experience just where the ship’s armor was the weakest. There was a joint there that opened and closed to allow weapons in and out. I hit it at just the right angle, at just the right speed, and in just the right spot, and BOOM. A spray of sparks erupted from the light fighter. More importantly, the shower of fiery rounds and torpedoes was significantly lessened by my attack. However, the other side of the ship was still firing shot after shot at the shuttle.

I slid past the ship, scraping up the side with a light firing of rounds. That was mostly to annoy them; the armor on the fighter was thick and didn’t cave to all but the heaviest artillery. There was nothing light about the Rippers’ light fighters.

I cursed myself for not having heavier ammunition. The mission I had been on demanded extreme stealth, which meant I hadn’t been able to load up the ship with as much ammo and artillery as I would’ve liked. Right before I left on that mission, something inside me had told me to just say ‘fuck it’ and load up as much weaponry as I could, and now I hated being right even more than I hated the Rippers. I wheeled the ship around, behind the fighter and the transporter shuttle. The transporter was spewing emergency escape pods from every direction.

I tried to find the sweet spot behind the engine to fire at. It was the weakest part of the ship, over the fuel tank, and a good hit there was enough to really damage it. The Rippers on the ship were ignoring me and trying to destroy the flurry of escape pods. Luckily, there were too many for them to aim at the tiny targets. They must have decided it was a losing battle to try to pick off the escape pods. The pods formed a kind of dark halo, the last one straggling to safety. The space between the pods and the ship signaled that it seemed like everyone had made it off safely.

The Rippers fired their biggest gun at the badly damaged transport ship. I said a silent prayer that my hunch was right, that everyone had escaped, then gritted my teeth. The ship exploded with a mighty blast, jettisoning pieces of ship in every direction, then shrunk together in an implosion, silent in the dead of space. I braced myself for a shockwave that never came, and dodged a piece of ship flying toward me from the explosion. Up and over, loop around, and there it was: the Ripper fighter. I honed in on a spot under the engine where the fuel tank was stored. One opportune strike and the whole back side would go up in flames.

In the dodge, I’d lost the spot I was trying to aim toward.

“Fuck,” I muttered.

I was on the other side of the Ripper ship now. Suddenly, my attention was drawn to one of the escape pods. It was spraying red flares to indicate that the passenger was precious cargo, either of a delicate species or a frail body, or possibly even passed out in the passenger seat. I started to put two and two together. Transport shuttle, headed from the human solar system, delicate species. This was the human. My human. The need to save her overcame me, a primal instinct I’d never felt before.

I focused on my task, dipping down to turn around back where I was. I just needed to get in to position. The Rippers were obviously single-mindedly approaching their task of destroying every escape pod flying from the destroyed heap. They weren’t even registering my attacks. I sighted the spot where the fuel tank should be, took aim, and…contact! There was a pause, which was normal, the tank started leaking, then heating up, then…

This time, there was an implosion and a small flash of light. Enough to know there was a fire raging inside the ship, where there was oxygen to burn.

The Ripper ship was now paying attention to me, and I felt a jolt on the underside of my ship. I was hit, and the ship began tumbling away from the Ripper vessel. I struggled to regain control of the engine, and finally pulled out of the spiral. I weaved and looped to dodge any more incoming attacks. I shot wildly in the general direction of the Ripper ship, hoping to distract them from where I was a few moments ago. The plan worked and I was not hit again. The Ripper ship seemed to have finally succumbed to the fire started by my well-placed shot.

The ship began flying away, and in an instant, it was just a bright dot in the eternal night sky. I pushed the escaped ship out of my mind and focused on finding the human. She must be so fragile, for the escape pod to recognize her nature. I spied the red flares and turned over to pull up next to the pod careening away from the ruin of the transport.

I opened the underbelly of my ship with the press of a button and a long robotic arm reached out. Automatically, it easily grabbed the escape pod. We were flying at the same speed, essentially motionless to each other. I pushed another button to close the cavern and yet another to set the ship on autopilot.

We would sail back to Tarkun IV in no time.

As if to contradict me, a red light started blinking over the main panel, indicating a systems failure. Somehow, the Rippers must have hit one of the most sensitive spots my ship had, causing a domino effect on all the circuitry. Not good…not good at all.

Still, right now I needed to focus on the human.

Working on instinct alone, I ran down to the bay where I’d pulled the pod into. I heard my heart beating inside my chest. Had I made it in time? Was she unharmed? And why the hell did I care so much? I pushed the thoughts aside and focused on making my way down the ship.

In the bay, the escape pod was still shooting out flare sparks designed to emit light in the cold darkness and airlessness of space. In this air-filled chamber, they burned even more brightly, and had burned a large scorch mark on the inside of my wall. I found the release button on the side of the pod and pressed it.

Immediately, the pod knew it was safe and stopped shooting flares. The top half slid down to reveal the passenger inside.

I gasped.

Inside was a beautiful creature. Despite her hunched over posture, I could tell there was something special about her. Her brown hair tumbled in waves in front of her face. I reached over the pod to brush the stray locks away from her face. I marveled at her browned, toned skin, so different from my red scales. She had a delicate nose and full, pouty lips. At the center, their pink shaded to crimson.

I unbuckled her from the confining pod seat and picked her up, holding her steady from under her behind and the smoothness of her mid-back. She was light and easy to carry, and the muscles in her arms were toned from some sort of labor. I wondered what kind of work such a beautiful woman would have to do.

She wore loose-fitting clothes, the comfortable wear of someone definitely not prepared for an emergency flight out of a ship. I could tell that under her clothes she was slim, with pert breasts hiding in the folds of her shirt. I tried to get my mind out of the gutter. This woman was in my care now, and she was counting on me.

I started carrying her to my quarters, not knowing where else to take her. I held her as gently as possible, trying not to wake her. It would be one hell of a shock to wake up in a strange ship, in the arms of a strange man. She would need some time to adjust. Besides, I needed to hurry and check on the ship’s systems. There was no time to waste.

I reached my cabin and put her on the hard bed.

This would have to do.

NATALIE

Not my bed, and definitely not my sheets.

I opened my eyes and sat up. The hard mattress shifted under my weight, once again reminding me I was not in my room. To make it all worse, a dull ache had settled right between my eyes, and my entire body was sore. For a moment, I thought I had just come off a particularly bad shift at the restaurant. Then my memory returned, much like a wave crashing against dry sand.

I must have passed out after ejecting.

I kicked the sheets back and swung my legs off the bed. I looked around, having no idea where I was, and hesitated. Should I wait for someone to come and get me? Should I get up and explore? Maybe the best course of action would be for me to hide under the sheets and pretend none of this was happening.

In the end, I bit the bullet and got up from the bed.

The room I was in was cramped, and there wasn’t much to it. The gray walls were devoid of any décor, and the only things stopping them from being completely bland were the ventilation vents mounted near the ceiling. Right in front of the bed was some kind of holographic terminal, but there was nothing on display there.

Where the hell was I?

Had I been captured by the Rippers?

My stomach lurched as I realized that was the most likely explanation. Starmer and Krasinski hadn’t sounded that hopeful about a Jorkan rescue team, and the Rippers had been right on our tail. The moment my escape pod was hurled out of the transport shuttle, they must have scooped it up into their own ship. Well, at least they hadn’t blown me up.

Trying to ignore my own terror, I crossed the room in two steps. When I neared the door, it slid back into its partition to reveal a dimly lit corridor. Metal beams ran the length of the ceiling, the air ducts all exposed. The ship felt utilitarian, unlike the polished interior of the transport I had been in.

“Hello?” I tried, my voice echoing along the corridor. Aside from the soft hum of the air recyclers, I didn’t get a reply. Swallowing my hesitancy, I stepped out of the room and walked slowly down the corridor as quietly as I could, but my boots clanged hard against the metallic panels covering the floor.

The ship seemed smaller than the transport, but it still had some amenities. There was a small kitchen, with a few cans of what looked surprisingly like empty beer cans littering the counter, and there was also a pantry stocked with food I didn’t recognize. A single corridor connected the room I had woken up in to the other rooms, and I struggled to imagine how an entire crew of Rippers would live in such a cramped space. Unless, of course, there wasn’t an actual crew—the ship’s interior felt like a galactic studio-apartment of sorts, which probably meant there was only one occupant aboard.

Suddenly, I heard a sound coming from the other end of the corridor. I turned fast on my heels, and my body tensed up. A white light tumbled out from the room there, and I could see the faint outline of a shadow moving inside.

“Hello?” I tried again, but the only reply was silence. I gritted my teeth and marched down the corridor, my heart beating faster and faster the closer I came to the end of it. I hesitated right before the doorway, then sucked in a deep breath and entered it.

There was a red alien at the center of the room. He hung from a pull-up bar, and he didn’t seem to notice me as he went through the motions, his grunts of effort the only discernible sound in the room.

He was shirtless, powerful muscles rippling under his bright skin, and some sort of hard scales covered his shoulders. Dark tattoos snaked down from his shoulder blades to his biceps, giving him a thuggish appearance. The thing that made my jaw drop, though, were the horns.

They rose from the crown of the alien’s head, reaching high toward the ceiling before they started curving inward, and their tips seemed razor sharp. The bone wasn’t polished, and there was a certain ruggedness to the horns’ surface, but they were impressive.

Mesmerized, I froze in place as I watched him move.

Was he a Ripper?

Suddenly, I felt like an idiot.

I had agreed to spend an entire month with an alien man, and I hadn’t even bothered to ask Krasinski and Starmer what they looked like. As far as I knew, this guy could be a Ripper, a Jorkan, or a freaking R-rated space Teletubby.

“Huh, sorry to interrupt, but—”

The words died in my throat as he let go of the pull-up bar, his boots landing with a powerful bang on the deck. He turned around slowly, as if he knew he had all the time in the world, and his golden eyes came straight for me. Inside my chest, my heart tightened up so much it almost popped out of existence.

“You’re Natalie,” he said, his deep voice reverberating through me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end, and a shiver ran up my spine. He wasn’t asking me a question; it was a statement. I nodded, unable to look away from his chiseled jaw and penetrating gaze.

“And you’re a Ripper,” I muttered, my voice so faint it was almost inaudible. He arched one eyebrow up, folded his arms over his chest, and shook his head. Then he burst out laughing, doing it so suddenly that I took a step back. “Did I say something funny?”

“Do I look like a Ripper?” An amused smile hovered on his lips. He took one step toward me. My feet remained glued to the floor, my heart beating so fast that I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts. “Am I the first Jorkan that you’ve met?”

“You’re a…Jorkan?”

“Aren’t the horns and tail a giveaway?” Only then did I notice the appendage wrapped around his waist. His tail was red and slender, coiled around his waist as if it were a belt, the arrow-shaped tip tucked at the front. It looked like a whip. “The name’s Zotar.”

“Zotar?” I repeated, immediately feeling like an idiot. Couldn’t I do anything smarter than just keep on repeating his statements? Jesus, I sounded like a complete moron. “What are you doing here? We were only supposed to meet on Tarkun IV.”

“I got to the spaceport before you did,” he replied, taking one more step toward me. My mouth went dry as I noticed just how perfectly chiseled his pectorals were, the wall of abs covering his stomach was so damn perfect it seemed like he had been photoshopped into existence. Holy shit, why did no one tell me the Jorkan were this hot? “Your transport wasn’t there, so I asked around and heard you guys were in trouble.”

“Right, we were attacked,” I said, shuddering as I remembered the moments of pure terror right before I ejected. “What happened? Are we safe now? What about the others?”

“I shot the Rippers away,” he said casually, much like one would describe the swatting down of an annoying fly. “They managed to escape, but their ship is damaged. As for the others, they’re out there somewhere.” He shrugged, clearly not particularly concerned with the other survivors. Only once he noticed the uncomfortable expression on my face did he continue. “My ship took a beating, too, and I couldn’t pull in more than your pod. Don’t worry, they’ll be fine. There’s a military convoy en route.”

“Oh, thank God,” I whispered, relief washing over me.

That didn’t last long.

“Yeah, don’t get your hopes up.” Zotar scratched the back of his head. “My comms transponder was shot to shit during the fight, and my sensors have been fried.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“Well, considering that my nav systems have also decided to shut down…” he trailed off, probably weighing what words he should feed me next. “Let me put it this way, Natalie. My ship’s critical systems have suffered some heavy damage, and we’ve drifted away from your transport. Without a way to signal the military convoy, we’re pretty much on our own.”

This time, I stopped myself from repeating his words out loud. Still, that didn’t mean I wasn’t doing it inside my own head. When I agreed to this whole thing, I was expecting cocktails on a beach, not to become the main character of Cast Away in Space.

“Don’t worry,” he continued, and now he was so close to me I could freaking smell him. Considering the fact that he had been working out, I should be wrinkling my nose, but that wasn’t the case. He smelled nice, and there was something about his scent that drew me in. Or maybe I just wanted to touch those abs and check if they were real. “I’ve been in worse situations than this.”

Somehow, I believed him.

There was brash confidence in his tone, but it was genuine. He truly believed he’d be able to get us out of this mess, and there was something about him that made it impossible not to trust him.

“Alright,” I whispered, struggling to return his gaze. Why was my gaze drawn to his mouth? Why couldn’t I stop wondering how his lips would feel when pressed against mine? I was going insane. I should be fearing for my life, not thinking about making out in the back of a spaceship as if I were a horny teenager. “What was that?”

I felt the ship rock awkwardly, and the lights flickered for a moment. The smile on Zotar’s face faded, and the creases on his brow deepened. Whatever was going on with his ship, it definitely wasn’t a good thing.

“That,” he said, “was trouble.”

ZOTAR

With Natalie trailing after me, I slipped out from the small gym and made my way into the engine room. I didn’t bother putting my shirt back on. I flung the door open and stared at the coils running out from the power core, a thousand cables running across the deck. Judging by their state, I’d still be able to get some juice out of the engines, but that didn’t mean much—with most of my systems fried, I was flying blind.

“Fucking Rippers,” I growled as I kneeled beside the coils, checking each one of them. They were already showing signs of power surges, which meant there was a chance that the power core or one of the dual engines could overload. If that happened, we’d turn into a fireball faster than I could chug down a beer.

I still couldn’t believe the bastards had managed to hit me. I was to blame, of course. The moment I saw a light fighter, I thought I’d have absolutely no trouble chasing them away. As it turned out, they had added some modifications, enough for it to cause me one major headache.

“Is it bad?” Natalie asked, and I looked back at her over one shoulder. She stood by the doorway, her hair flowing down her shoulders. There was a green spark in her eyes, and it somehow complimented the bright red of her lips. I knew the women from Earth had a reputation as beautiful creatures, but nothing had prepared me for her.

She was beyond anything I could’ve imagined.

“It’s not good,” I said as I stood and stretched my back.

I was hoping we’d be able to remain adrift for a couple of days until the military patrol found us, but that was far too risky now. If there was another power surge, there was a high likelihood we’d blow up. Without a proper hangar to dock and no tools for a major inspection, there was no way I’d be able to make the necessary repairs. That left me with a single option, and it wasn’t a good one.

Frowning, I walked past Natalie, the sound of her light footsteps following me. Once in the cockpit, I sat on the pilot’s chair and pulled out the keyboard on the main terminal. I ran another analysis of the systems, and my frown deepened. Judging from the coordinates where I had fought against the Rippers, I had an idea of where I was…but that didn’t mean much.

Space was vast, and without a fully functioning navigational system, flying became almost impossible. Without it, there’s just no way for someone to fly anywhere without crashing into a random asteroid field.

It was impossible for us to return to Tarkun IV.

“We’re gonna have to land somewhere nearby,” I said, more to myself than to Natalie. I waved at the seat next to mine. “Make yourself at home. This might take a while.” She did as she was told and took her place in the copilot’s chair. She didn’t look too comfortable, but that was to be expected. I wouldn’t be comfortable if I were in her boots either.

Knowing I couldn’t rely on the ship’s systems, I used the terminal to make some quick calculations. If memory served me right, we were close to an old mining system. It had been abandoned a couple of decades ago, but I was pretty sure there was at least a planet there with a breathable atmosphere and native wildlife. If I managed to get us there, we’d be able to wait for a rescue party without blowing up, suffocating, or starving. In my book, that was a win.

I input the approximate coordinates and gently diverted a fraction of power to the engines. The entire ship seemed to creak as we picked up speed, and I reminded myself to take it easy. We weren’t under attack, so there was no need for me to risk pushing the ship past its limitations.

“You said we had to land somewhere.” Natalie sounded hesitant, almost afraid, like she thought she was sitting next to a predator, someone who’d rip her head off if she made a noise. Was I really that scary-looking? Or were my good looks intimidating her? I mean, I knew I was good-looking, but I had never really had this effect on a woman before. “Where exactly are we flying to?”

“Naresh,” I replied, bringing up the planet’s information on the database. One press of a button and a holographic display of a small planet appeared between our seats, the digital sphere slowly rotating to reveal a massive ocean peppered with chains of islands. “The planet was supposed to be turned into a mining hub a few decades ago, but Tarkun IV’s booming industry kinda pushed that to a second plan. It’s been abandoned for years now.”

“We’re going to land on an abandoned planet?” She didn’t sound too happy about it. Then again, that was expectable from someone who was supposed to be lounging on Tarkun IV. After all, Naresh didn’t have the same appeal as the glamorous casinos on Tarkun. “And what happens next? Is someone going to pick us up here? You said that your comms were—”

“Yeah, the comms are dead. Listen, this isn’t ideal, but it’s our best shot. Once the survivors on your transport are rescued, the military will start looking for us. They’ll calculate our probable route, and they’ll narrow it down to Naresh. There aren’t that many planets we can land on around here.”

Of course, I omitted the fact that I was just guessing at things. The military could merely assume we had been blown to smithereens by the Rippers. Even if they somehow guessed that we had landed on Naresh, finding us down there would be like finding a star-shaped pebble in an asteroid field.

Still, not everything was bad. With some luck, Naresh would still have some abandoned mining facilities, and there was a chance some equipment had been left behind. Even if that wasn’t the case and we remained stranded there for years, the mere fact that wildlife existed meant we wouldn’t starve to death. Not that I was crazy about spending years on an abandoned planet, mind you.

“How long till we get there?” she asked, and this time I answered by pointing out the viewport. In the corner, a small sphere started to grow as we drew closer, and I shut down the engines as I felt gravity take hold of the ship.

We drifted toward Naresh until the planet grew large enough for it to occupy the viewport, and only then did I wake up the engine again. As helpful as the planet’s gravity pull was, I didn’t want to be pulled into the surface.

“You better buckle up,” I said, turning to face Natalie. “Things are about to get bumpy.”

NATALIE

My hands trembled as I tried to fasten the seatbelt.

I was far too nervous to clip it in, and the damn buckle kept slipping out of my hands. Nervous, I bit on the corner of my lip, trying to stop the tears from coming. I wasn’t someone that cried at the drop of a hat, but this entire situation was starting to get to me. I didn’t want to die, but it seemed like the universe really wanted it to happen.

“Here, I’ll do it,” Zotar said, then he went down on one knee beside my seat. He took the buckle from my hands and clipped it in place with a single thrust. Then, with gentle movements, he put the remaining straps around my waist and shoulders, securing me to the seat. There was a certain rawness to the way he moved, the power that emanated from him having a certain brutish quality, but right now he was being unexpectedly gentle. “You’re all set now.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

As he got up, his fingers brushed against the back of my hand, and I felt a jolt of electricity run up my spine. My insides clenched as I took in his scent once more, and my eyes were drawn to his powerful shoulders. As he returned to his seat and grabbed the controls, his biceps bulged, and a pleasant warmth started spreading over me.

Get a grip, Natalie, I thought. This is getting ridiculous.

There I was, billions of miles away from Earth, on board a ship that was about to crash land on some alien planet, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how handsome Zotar was. Either I was going crazy or I had hit my head while ejecting from the transport.

Just as Zotar had promised, things started getting bumpier once we closed in on Naresh. The entire ship started rattling violently as we traveled through the atmosphere, and I held my breath as I saw the metallic nose become incandescent. I didn’t know if that was a normal thing to happen, but I sure as hell didn’t like it.

It didn’t help that Zotar seemed to be cursing under his breath, his muscles tensing up as he tried to maneuver the controls. His jaw was clenched, and a lone bead of sweat rolled down his temple.

Outside the viewport, a sea of white clouds gave way to an endless blue ocean, the sunlight bouncing off its surface. I had no idea how high we were—it was incredibly hard to gauge distances with no clear point of reference—but I could tell we were dipping toward the ocean faster than would be reasonable.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I quickly shut it once I realized it was impossible to get a single word out. There was an enormous weight on my chest and I could barely breathe, let alone speak. Resigned, I merely gripped the armrests as hard as I could, silently praying to whatever deities the Jorkan believed in.

“Just…fucking…work,” Zotar growled, then he pulled on the controls so hard that he almost ripped them out of the console. Somehow, that seemed to work. The ship’s nose straightened out and, for a moment, we were level with the ocean. I breathed out with relief, that weight vanishing from my chest.

“That was amazing,” I said. “I can’t believe that—”

“It’s not over yet.”

I followed his gaze, and that’s when I noticed the green island on the horizon. Now that I had a point of reference, I realized just how fast we were going. We were moving toward the island at lightning speed, and the ship showed no signs of slowing down. If we tried to land like this, I seriously doubted we’d survive.

“I’m gonna use the trees to slow us down,” Zotar said, and it took me a while before I realized what he meant. There were tall cliffs and mountain peaks all over the island, giving it a wild and jagged appearance, but the greenery of a lush jungle seemed to cover it in its entirety. Instead of going for a smooth landing, Zotar meant to throw us straight into the embrace of the jungle, hoping for the thick vegetation to slow us down. I thought that was a batshit crazy plan, but I wasn’t exactly an intergalactic war hero. If Zotar didn’t think there was a better option, there probably wasn’t one. “Hold tight.”

He didn’t need to tell me.

I was holding onto the armrests with all my strength, so much so that I wouldn’t be too surprised if I ripped them off the chair. My whole body was as tense as a nocked arrow, and I was even holding my breath. Adrenaline coursed through my veins like battery acid and as the jungle canopy grew large enough to fill the entire viewport, I truly thought I was going to die. A branch was going to break the viewport, and it was going to hit me so hard that my neck would snap back and break.

That didn’t happen.

At least not right away.

The ship jerked as we hit the top of the trees, branches snapping at the fuselage like whips, and I would’ve been flung all over the cockpit if it weren’t for the straps keeping me in place. For a short moment, I actually thought that we’d be okay. Then the side of the ship clipped a massive trunk. We spiraled out of control, the entire spacecraft turning like the barrel of a washing machine, and that fear from before returned with double the force.

“We’re going to—”

Before I could finish my sentence with a very obvious ‘die’, I hit my head.

A fraction of a second later, the lights went out.

“YOU GOTTA STIR it in before pouring the sauce,” I mumbled awkwardly. The words made sense, but I had no idea why I was saying them. Lazily, I opened my eyes and stared at a magnificent, cloudless blue sky. Having no idea what was happening, I brought my hand up and wiped the drool trickling down my chin.

There was white sand underneath me and, just a pebble’s throw away from where I lay, gentle waves lapped at a beach. The water was crystalline, its blue and green tones giving it a heavenly appearance, and I could almost feel its warmth. Where was this? Florida?

Dazed, I tried to stand, but the only thing I managed to do was wobble like a drunkard. I fell back on my ass, and let out a stupid giggle. Why was my body so sore? And why did my head hurt so damn much? Was I hungover?

“Take it easy,” I heard someone say behind me. “You were knocked out cold.”

When I turned, I saw a shirtless red alien standing there, his perfectly carved muscles gleaming under the sun. Beads of sweat rolled down his abs, and I followed them with my eyes until they disappeared into his waistband. Somehow, his presence here seemed perfectly normal.

“You are…” I tried to remember the alien’s name, but I couldn’t. I felt it hanging there, right on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t quite grab it. All I knew was that he was supposed to be…Jesus, what was he supposed to be? My husband? No, that wasn’t right. “Zotar! That’s it.”

Placing his hands on his hips, he looked down at me, a concerned expression on his face. He narrowed his eyes and kneeled before me. “How are you feeling, Natalie?”

“Great, I’m feeling great,” I replied, although I was still feeling out of it. Whatever had happened, it had scrambled my thoughts pretty hard. I could feel the memories swimming under my mind’s surface, but they were elusive and hard to catch. The one thing that wasn’t elusive was how devilishly handsome this Zotar guy was. “God, you look good.”

“Huh, thanks.”

“No, like, really,” I insisted. Reaching up, I placed my hand on his abs, feeling the grooves and ridges under my fingertips. Yup, he was definitely as real as I was, not a hallucination. “We are supposed to be…something,” I continued, knowing that there had to be an explanation for how attracted I was feeling.

“Mates, I suppose,” he replied, but I didn’t even process his words. I just focused on the way his lips moved, the slightest hint of his tongue showing between two rows of perfect white teeth. Before I even knew what I was doing, I placed both hands on his face and crushed my lips against his.

ZOTAR

I wasn’t expecting that.

The moment her lips touched mine, it felt as if the ground shifted under my feet. A sense of otherworldliness invaded me, and my instincts kicked in. I closed my eyes, rested my hands on her waist, and returned her kiss.

Parting her lips with my tongue, I tasted the sweet flavor of her mouth, desire welling up inside me with each passing second. Before I knew it, I was pushing her down onto the sand. My body was on top of hers, then—

“The ship,” Natalie said, her hands shooting up to my chest. She pushed me off her and I rolled to the side, surprised. What the hell? Sitting up, she raked one hand over her face and cleared her throat. Her cheeks were flushed, but she didn’t look confused anymore. Much to my disappointment, it seemed like she had finally gathered her scattered thoughts. “How’s the ship?”

“You mean the wreck?” Pointing over my shoulder with one thumb, I showed her what was left of the ship. It lay in a deep crater, which had been caused by the hard impact, and there were uprooted trees along the edge of the beach. “The ship is dead. Thankfully, we are not.”

It hurt to say it.

That ship had gotten me through countless missions, and now it was nothing more than a carcass of bent and torn metal. I still couldn’t believe the Rippers had managed to do it with a single lucky shot. My blood boiled thinking of it. To make matters worse, I hadn’t even killed the Rippers who had been responsible for this. The bastards had escaped before I could deliver the killing shot.

“Huh, I see.” Standing up, Natalie walked across the empty strip of beach and headed toward the crater. She stopped by the edge and peered down at the wreck, her lips pursed tightly. She was probably wondering about how exactly we had survived such a violent crash. That was fair—I was also surprised.

The crash had been violent enough to knock her out cold, and it was a miracle that none of the sharp edges on the bent fuselage had hit her. After I ensured the engines wouldn’t blow up, I had carried her out of the ship and checked her body for injuries. Amazingly, there had been none. She had been rendered unconscious, sure, then was confused after waking up…but that was it.

Now, even the confusion in her mind seemed to have dissipated.

“Right,” she muttered. “What are we supposed to do now?” She turned to me, a blank expression on her face, and my eyes were immediately drawn to her lips. Closing the distance between us, I laid one hand on her hip and smiled.

“Maybe we should just continue with what we were doing,” I offered, hoping to taste her lips once more. Her reply crushed those hopes like a sledgehammer would crush a porcelain teacup.

“We were just lounging on the beach,” she said, and it was obvious she was pretending nothing had happened between us. She had acted on an impulse when she kissed me, and now she was embarrassed that she had done it. “As much as I want to relax, I think we have to be practical about things.”

Well, shit.

“Alright, you have a point,” I admitted, slowly coiling my tail around my waist again. The damn thing had come loose while we kissed, and its tip had been dancing around with excitement, something that hadn’t happened to me in years. Usually, I was always in control of my urges and emotions, but this time…

Whatever.

She clearly didn’t want it to happen again.

Maybe that was for the best, anyway. It wasn’t like I was seriously contemplating any relationship with this woman. She might be attractive, and I did feel drawn to her…but that didn’t mean I wasn’t in control of myself. If she didn’t want to have anything to do with me, then so be it. That worked in my favor. The attack on her ship, crash landing here, all of that just proved my point. Being my mate was too dangerous, and I couldn’t bring a soft city woman into my life. She’d get hurt, killed, or worse. It was better to keep my distance so I didn’t change my mind.

“Let’s get to work then,” I said, not bothering to smooth the edge out of my voice. “See the edge of the jungle? Start gathering some food and see if there’s anything edible around.” Her expression changed slightly, but I just turned my back to her and started going down the crater wall, keeping my feet at an angle so that I didn’t stumble down.

I could tell she hadn’t appreciated my order, but I didn’t give a damn. She was the one that wanted to be practical about things, and so it fell upon me to plot a course of action.

Focusing on the task at hand, I went back inside the ship and started looking for any gear that could be salvaged. The ship’s systems were pretty much done for, but at least most of the weaponry I used during missions was intact. From rifles to protective gear, there was a lot of stuff we could use while we waited for someone to find us. If someone managed to find us here, that was.

I dragged a couple of crates loaded with gear up the crater, then wiped the sweat off my brow once I reached the top. Using my hand to shade my eyes from the sun, I took a moment to check on Natalie. She was gathering tiny sticks, most of which would be useless when it came to feeding a decent fire. Grabbing a tactical ax from one of the crates, I went toward her.

“You’re not gonna get far like that,” I said, then dropped the ax at her feet. “You’ll need to get us some logs, ’cause there’s no way we’ll have a decent fire with those matchsticks you’re carrying. Also, I need you to check for any sources of clean water and—”

“Look, I know you’re the expert, but you don’t need to act like a giant asshole,” she threw back at me, and this time she didn’t bother hiding her annoyance. Oh, no, it was in full display now. “I might need some guidance, sure, but stop treating me as if I were completely useless.”

“I’m just trying to ensure we won’t die during our first week here,” I said, probably more harshly than I should’ve. I noticed her shoulders tensing up right away, and her red lips tightened into a white line. She was getting mad, but so was I. “I don’t know what your job was back on Earth, but I’m more than willing to bet that it didn’t involve surviving in the wild. So, yeah, you’re useless when it comes to this.” If she couldn’t survive here, she damn sure couldn’t survive with me on covert missions in deep space. I waved one hand at our surroundings. “If you want to survive, you better listen to what I—”

“You’re an asshole.”

“And you’re spoiled,” I growled. “You know nothing about hardship and—”

“Screw you. You don’t know what I know, or what I’ve been through.” Dropping the bundle of sticks she had been carrying, she crossed her arms over her chest. “People might idolize you because you’re this big war hero or whatever, but you’re just an arrogant asshole who thinks he’s better than everyone else. You don’t think you need me to survive here? Fine. I’m gone.” Without giving me the chance to protest, she turned from me and stomped away.

Part of me wanted to go after her, but I didn’t move a muscle. I knew that she was right—I had behaved like a bit of an asshole—but that didn’t change the truth of what I had told her. If she wanted to survive this, she’d have to listen to me.

Frowning, I watched her go, the sway of her hips drawing all my attention.

For such a tiny little thing, she held a lot of fire inside her.

NATALIE

Jackass.

That’s what he was.

Frustrated, I ventured deep into the jungle, the greenery shading me from the sun. My shirt was plastered to my body, and beads of sweat rolled down my forehead nonstop. The heat on this planet was unforgiving, and I needed to take a breather. I was sore, exhausted, and now I was also angry, as well. How could I not be? I had spent the past thirty minutes gathering kindling for a fire, and that idiot had pissed all over my efforts. Was I really as useless as he had said? Or was he just mad that I’d ignored our kiss? Yeah, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on here.

I didn’t mind following his guidance, as he sure knew more about survival than I did, but did he really have to speak to me that way? He reminded me of a few asshole chefs I had worked for, the kind who had an ego far too large for their own kitchens. The look on his face had been the same half assessing, half dismissive look I’d seen from male colleagues my entire career. The ones who thought women could only be home cooks. I’d cooked circles around them, worked harder than them, never took days off, and kept my relationships with them brisk and professional.

All to prove that I was just as capable.

So that was one existential question answered—whether there was a male gene that made alpha men assholes, or whether it was just cultural indoctrination. Guess not. Must be a cock-and-balls thing.

Still, maybe I was to blame a little.

I had been the one kissing and pushing him away, after all. That was more than enough to mess with a man’s head, and I figured the Jorkan weren’t that different from what a woman would experience on Earth. It didn’t matter the setting; men were the same everywhere. Still, there was no need for him to talk down to me, and I sure as hell wouldn’t allow it.

“Idiot,” I grumbled once more, then sat down on an old tree stump. A few birds chirped overhead, looking down at me with their big eyes while they filled the jungle with singing. Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by everything on this planet. The trees were unlike anything I had ever seen, some of them with glowing purple foliage, and the wildlife was exuberant. The birds all had feathers of bright colors, their melodies almost human-like, and there was a welcoming atmosphere to it all.

Despite the fact that this was an abandoned planet, it sure felt like paradise. Not a bad place to be stranded in, all things considered. Sure, things weren’t exactly going well in the Zotar department, but I was making an effort to focus on the bright side. That was one of my most persistent traits—no matter how horrible things get, I always try to put a positive spin on whatever’s happening.

Forgetting all about the argument I’d had with Zotar, I started exploring my surroundings more attentively. There were herbs all around, which immediately drew my attention. They looked edible, and I started collecting a couple of them. Some smelled like parsley, while others had a certain bitterness to them, but none seemed to be poisonous. At least, I hoped they weren’t. I didn’t want to die by my own hand. That would definitely be an undignified death for a cook to have.

I was down on my knees, yanking herbs off the ground, when I felt something press against my butt. Reaching back, I realized I still had the brochure Krasinski had given me in my back pocket. Unfolding it, I smiled as I reread the list of activities that we were supposed to do on Tarkun IV. Snorkeling didn’t seem that likely now, but I could probably rig up some gourmet cuisine. It gave a whole new meaning to ‘eat local’.

Sighing, I pushed the brochure back into my pocket and collected the herbs I had gathered. When I returned to the beach, Zotar had already lit a fire. Beside it was a stack of neatly piled logs, which he had cut from the trees lining the beach, tall columns of wood with gigantic purple leaves.

“Do you know if these are poisonous?” I asked, showing him the herbs in my hands. I was trying to be polite. I was stranded here with him, so I’d need to forget about my anger. With a serious expression, he looked down at the herbs and grunted.

“No, these are fine.”

“Great.”

He gave me a skeptical look. “What are you planning on doing with them?”

I returned his look with one of my own. “You did want to eat while we were here, right?”

He blinked.

“I foraged,” I said very slowly. “I can use these to make a dish. We are on a beach, there must be clams or some kind of edible protein.”

“You foraged,” he repeated, then shook his head. “Of course. Yeah, there’s clams. I’ll help you gather them.”

“I’d prefer to do it alone.” That sounded harsh, so I relented. “A chef likes to choose their own ingredients.”

And that was it.

We didn’t speak again for the next two hours, but I didn’t mind. As a single daughter, I had learned how to appreciate the quiet, and I did well with only my thoughts to keep me company. Besides, the wildlife here was keeping me distracted. There were all kinds of clams on the rocks, just like I’d thought, and I’d be able to whip up a meal in no time. Zotar might be the survivalist expert here, but I was pretty sure he had nothing on me when it came to cooking.

When I returned to him, the sun had already started to set. Its orange glow bounced off the ocean’s still surface, and it spilled all over the beach, making our surroundings look like a painting. Zotar’s fire had grown, as well, and my shadow danced around it as I drew close.

“What about these?” I asked, showing Zotar my findings. He stood up, cupped my hands with his, and stared down at the clams. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then nodded.

“Those are fine as well.” He grabbed a small knife from his belt and pushed it into my hands. “You’re gonna need it to pry them open.”

His tone was still rough, but he sounded almost apologetic. I had no idea what he was thinking, but I could tell he was being more careful around me now. Any other asshole would’ve only doubled down on his jackassery after the insults I had hurled, but Zotar wasn’t doing that. No, he was actually acting like a regular human being. Except, of course, he wasn’t human.

“Here, use this,” he said after a couple more minutes, and I looked up to see a pan in his hands. It was pretty banged up, and one of the corners was bent, but it had survived the wreck. Kneeling down beside me, Zotar propped the pan up above the fire, then he started cleaning up the clams while I used the knife to chop up the herbs. We worked in silence but, against all odds, it was a comfortable kind of silence.

Looking over his shoulder, Zotar eventually cracked a smile. “You handle that knife pretty well.”

“I’m a cook,” I said, and this time it was my turn to offer him a smile. I couldn’t help it. I loved my job, and it showed every time I was asked about it. “I want to open a restaurant, eventually.”

“Just make sure not to use poisonous stuff.” His smile widened, and he seemed even more attractive as the embers from the fire cast their glow on his face. The hard lines of his jaw spoke of a tough existence, but I could also sense some kindness behind his eyes.

Maybe he wasn’t the jackass I had assumed him to be.

Maybe.

NATALIE

If all we had to eat was clams, then I had my work cut out for me. Oddly, I eagerly anticipated the challenge. It was better than some survivalist cooking show where a hoity toity chef threw contestants into the jungle with nothing but a banana leaf, a hot rock, and a cheeky grin.

“No, not that one,” I said, then tried womanfully to rein in my tone. I’d slipped back into my sous chef head, barking orders and keeping the line in order. “Totally wrong flavor profile for clams.”

Zotar put his hands on his hips and glared at me. “What’s the difference? They all look the same.”

I rolled my eyes. “They don’t taste the same. The one you picked will overpower the delicate flavor of the protein.”

He stared at me like I was the alien. “It’s a clam.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to prepare it with no regard for taste and texture.”

I turned my back to him. He was starting to remind me of my male colleagues, the ones who technically were my subordinates but questioned every decision I made. It was a cutthroat enough business, but being a woman just made it all the more competitive. I thought briefly about Alissa, wondering how she was doing.

As soon as I got off this planet and collected my money, I’d find out.

“Why is it so important to you?” Zotar asked finally.

I glanced over my shoulder. The irritated burr in his voice had smoothed out, so now he sounded curious. My shoulders relaxed a little.

“I mentioned I’m a cook. Food is what I do.”

“You enjoy it.”

“It’s my calling. A part of who I am.”

Zotar moved in front of me and crouched down. He examined the dish in progress. “I like to eat.”

I smiled at him. “So I guess we have something in common.”

He arched an eyebrow, but said, “There are lots of fancy restaurants on Tarkun IV. Too bad.”

“Oh, I don’t know. This is like one of the adventure culinary safaris I always wanted to go on. I’m bringing some of these herbs back with me for the restaurant I’ll open. I’ll be able to create literally out-of-this-world flavor profiles.”

His expression turned inscrutable. “So you plan on going home.”

My brain caught up with my runaway mouth. “Ah, well, you know. If we don’t work out.” I avoided his knowing gaze.

He settled down, stretching out in the sand. “Don’t worry, I get it. My life is dangerous. No place for someone so …” his gaze roved over me “…soft.”

I stiffened. “I’m not weak.”

“I didn’t say you were. Just soft. There are some species out there that would think you were the out-of-this-world flavor profile.”

“That’s literally so gross.”

“The best red meat in the galaxy.”

I knew he had to be teasing, and ignored that comment. “Well, I’m not about to get eaten now. Not when I’m this close to funding my restaurant.”

He stared up at the sky, his hands under his head. “What about a little eaten? If you had to trade a few tasty fingers for the money, would you? Do you want it that bad?”

“Really?”

Zotar laughed.

I thought about his question for a moment. “You know what? I do want it that bad. But it would have to be toes. I can’t cook without my fingers.”

He hauled himself up. “Which herbs do you want more of? I can make myself useful.”

I peeked up at him. The offer was unexpected, and almost sweet. I handed him a sprig with a slender stalk and clusters of yellow blossoms on the tip. “More of these. They were hard to find, but they’re a bit sweet.”

He took the stalk and headed back to the forest. What would it be like to have someone come home to me at the end of the evening, a brown bag of local produce in his arms? He’d prep the ingredients while I fired up the pans and poured us wine. There’d be conversation—some of it work related, but not all—and he’d watch me cook, then sample my dishes with an appreciative look and compliments. He’d have to have a refined palate, of course, to give feedback.

It was a nice dream, and for a long moment I stared at nothing, imagining how it would be, and realized the man in my daydream was Zotar.

Well.

That was uncomfortable.

WE FORAGED AGAIN the next day since I’d discovered the fresh herbs tasted better than attempting to dry them. I’d set several on a hot rock and monitored them over the course of the day, but they lost their zest once dried.

“I prefer you stay here,” Zotar said when he realized I expected to go with him. “It’s safer.”

I frowned. “What are you talking about? I foraged with you before and you didn’t say anything.”

“I saw large animal tracks when I went out yesterday. Now that I know there are creatures nearby, I prefer you stay here.”

“I saw tracks, too, and they were small.”

He stared at me, his expression impatient. “And where there are small animals, there are bigger predators.”

“I hear you, but I want to go.”

Zotar grimaced at me, muttering something under his breath about women. “You’ll do what I say, though.”

“Fine.”

He turned on his heel and I followed after him, rolling my eyes. In two days, we hadn’t seen anything remotely scary looking. That didn’t mean they weren’t out there, but I wasn’t going to confine myself to our campsite.

After an hour, I was beginning to regret my choice. He snapped instructions at me like he was a sergeant and I the cadet.

“Don’t just plunge your hands into a copse like that!” he exclaimed when I kneeled to examine a thicket of small plants. “You don’t know what could be hiding in there+.”

I froze automatically, then twisted and glared up at him. “I’m not an idiot, Zotar! I was going to smack it with a stick first.” I didn’t tell him I’d learned that lesson the hard way the first day I’d gone out and been surprised by a twig-like insect. I suppressed a shudder thinking about it.

The seventh or eighth time he barked a command at me, I snapped at him, voice raised almost in a shout, “Stop barking at me! I don’t mind following instructions, but you can speak in a more respectful tone.” I stared at him, hostility causing my shoulders to stiffen.

Zotar paused, blinking as if surprised. “You said you would—”

“I am! But you’re being unreasonable. What is wrong with you? I know this situation sucks, but it’s no reason to be rude. You can do this by yourself if you want to—forage, cook, everything.”

He opened his mouth, then shut it. After a long moment, he said, “You’re right.” He paused. “I’m used to it just being me and a mission. Having a partner is new.”

My ire began to drain away as he spoke in a more even tone. Most other men would have dug their heels in. Zotar took what I said and adjusted. I nodded, and to show him I was listening, moved with more caution.

“We have to work together to survive this,” he continued.

“I agree,” I said with a nod. “Lucky for you, I’m used to being a team player.”

His lips twitched. “Alright, I get it. I’ll do better. It could be worse. You’re not chatty. I can hear myself think around you.”

I snorted.

“That’s more important than you think. I’m used to being in deep space alone, with no one to talk to but myself.” Which meant a woman who talked his ear off would drive him crazy. I got the point.

“I like conversation,” I said, “but I’m more goal oriented. If there’s stuff to get done, I dive in. Talking all day is for teenagers.”

This time he let himself smile. “I think we’ll get along just fine.”

“What kind of missions?” I asked after a while, processing the sudden gleam in his gaze.

Several times I’d caught him open his mouth, then snap it shut as if he was struggling to hold back. Watching him try to take my feedback produced a gentle warmth in my chest, and I reassessed my initial opinion of him. Not only could we get along, but I might actually grow to like him as a person.

“I help build the infrastructure needed to monitor the Rippers,” he said finally, with the air of someone choosing his words carefully. I didn’t press, understanding that maybe his work involved things he wasn’t allowed to tell me.

“By yourself?”

“Yeah. I have to sneak into hostile territory and sneak out. It’s no place for a—”

He stopped, but I understood what he’d been about to say. “No place for a woman?”

“For someone untrained,” was the sharp reply. “It’s dangerous, and the consequences if I ever got caught—let’s just say they wouldn’t be pleasant.”

“Sounds lonely.” I stood, wiping my hands off on the seat of my pants.

Zotar’s face was granite. “I’m used to it.”

“Still, it’s a lot of responsibility.” And he was used to being alone, probably problem solving without input from others, required to make snap decisions. It explained quite a bit about his autocratic manner. He didn’t play well with others, but that wasn’t a personality defect, just a hazard of his job.

“Is there anything else you want to do in the future?” I asked, watching his face. “The kind of missions you go on can’t really be conducive to a social life.”

He met my gaze and cocked a brow. “Maybe I’ll get a pet.”

I laughed. He was trying to play it off, but I sensed in him the same ball of loneliness I sometimes felt when the relentless pace of work didn’t crowd out all my other thoughts.

“And they matched you with me, right? How do they think that’s going to work with your job the way it is?”

It was more of a rhetorical question, and he didn’t answer it, anyway. “It’s going to get dark soon,” he said finally. “We should head back.”

Glancing around, I started to speak when Zotar leaped forward in front of me, a muscled arm shoving me behind him.

That’s when I heard it, a rustle in the foliage ahead of us. Tensing, I stepped to Zotar’s left shoulder. He gave me a quick, fierce glare.

“If it gets through you, I’m next,” I said tersely. “So we might as well fight together.” I ignored the tiny thrill that went through me. He’d put himself between me and danger without a second thought, automatically protecting me.

He didn’t waste any more time. “Be ready.”

A weapon was suddenly in his hand. Barring a blaster or blade of my own, the best thing I could do was provide a distraction to whatever beastie was about to come out of hiding, to give Zotar an advantage when attacking.

Heart racing, I braced—

—and a bunny hopped out from behind a tree, froze upon seeing us, then rose on its hind legs.

Fluffy gray fur covered its body, and its large feet might account for the amount of noise it had made.

“Oh, how sweet,” I breathed. “It probably doesn’t even have teeth. Look, Zotar, it’s so adorable.”

Zotar didn’t move. When it was clear nothing else was going to leap out at us from the shadows, he slowly holstered his weapon.

“Dinner,” he said.

I gasped. The ‘bunny’ sniffed the air, cocking its head. “Absolutely not.” I kneeled, pitching my voice low. “Here, little cutie. I won’t let the big red man eat you.”

“Don’t hold your hand out—”

The bunny stepped forward, nose twitching, and examined my fingers. “Look how small its mouth and snout are. It has to be an herbivore.”

“Women,” he muttered. “You’d rather cuddle dinner than eat it.”

“He could be poisonous. Besides, you said you’d get a pet.” I gave him an arch look.

Zotar grimaced. “We need to get back.”

“Okay, but we’re not going back alone.”

Benny turned out to be a friendly kind of fellow, and after ascertaining he wouldn’t suddenly sprout fangs like a made-for-TV horror movie, I kept him close. By the next day, he was following me everywhere, though he occasionally wandered off to do his own thing.

Probably for the best.

Despite everything, I had to believe we wouldn’t be here forever, and there was no way I’d be able to keep a little alien bunny as a mascot for my restaurant.

The third time I caught Zotar giving me an odd look, I finally said, “What?”

He approached, crouching down an arm’s length away. “Did you have a pet at home?”

“No, I didn’t have time to take care of one.” I felt my expression turn wistful. “I worked long hours. Maybe when I get home that’ll change. Everyone needs somebody.” Having this time away from my career, to relax—oddly enough—was putting some things into perspective.

How long had I been missing out on simple affection and touch? Even just having Benny hopping around, and Zotar puttering throughout the campsite, made me realize how I’d been pushing aside my own loneliness.

“I didn’t realize,” I said softly, looking down at my lap. “I’m always so busy.”

“Yeah,” he said finally. “I have a lot of time and quiet to think, but I didn’t realize either.”

I looked up at him, meeting his inscrutable gaze. “You didn’t realize what?”

I knew what I was talking about, but he hadn’t come out and said he was lonely too. My heart beat in my chest as he held my gaze, an almost brooding air about him.

Zotar stood after a time, not answering, but I’d seen a contemplative kind of speculation in his eyes. I watched him walk away, the sun shining on his broad, muscular back.

ZOTAR

“Careful there,” I shouted, watching as Natalie tiptoed between the rocks, a basket she had woven from leaves hanging from the crook of her arm. I sighed as she bent over, almost slipping, and pried a few more clams from a jagged rock. She was a talented cook, there could be no doubt about it, but I was done with those fucking clams. We hadn’t eaten anything else for the past three days, and I was more than ready for a nice chunk of meat. Fuck, just thinking of it made my stomach growl.

Looking down, I watched as the furry little creature brushed against my ankle. According to Natalie, with its floppy ears, it resembled a bunny. It looked tasty, and I started salivating as I imagined it hanging over the fire, its fat dripping down onto the embers. Of course, Natalie wasn’t interested with killing these guys. For someone that made her living cooking dead animals, she was pretty enamored with the live ones.

“Don’t test your luck,” I growled at the animal, pushing it away with the tip of my boot. It looked up at me, its annoyance evident in the way it wrinkled its snout, then it hopped back into the jungle. I sighed again, knowing that a succulent dinner had just walked away from me.

“Was that Benny?” Natalie asked as she walked up the beach, her eyes locked onto the same spot the animal had hopped into. It wasn’t enough that she forbade me from killing them, she had also started naming the creatures.

“Yeah, that was him,” I replied. “You sure you don’t want Benny for dinner? He was just telling me he wouldn’t mind it.”

“You have clams.” Frowning, she showed me the contents of her basket. It was piled high with the little sea creatures, but there were a few crabs lining the edge of it, as well. They weren’t exactly meat, but they would have to do.

I sat down on a stump as I watched her prepare dinner. Her skin was more tanned now, which made her look even more beautiful, and her hair fell onto her shoulders in a wild way. Her hair, which had been smooth and straight when I had first met her, was slowly turning into an untamed beast. Somehow, that just added to Natalie’s raw beauty. She looked like a delicate thing, but the wilderness was giving her a bit of an edge.

“This isn’t so bad, is it?” she asked, peering at me as she pried the clams open. With a gentle smile on her face, she looked happy. “I mean, I bet Tarkun IV is nice, but this…” she waved one hand at the ocean, and her smile widened.

“How can you be so optimistic about everything?” I asked. It had been like this from day one. Most people would be freaking out if they found themselves on an abandoned planet, but Natalie seemed to be loving it. Hell, I was almost tempted to say that she was thriving here. Just as long as she had new herbs to experiment with every day, she was happy.

As for me, I was getting restless. It was bad enough that I had been pulled from my mission, and now I had no idea when I’d be able to return. I was aching to blow a few Rippers up, but there was absolutely nothing to do here. Three days here and I was already going nuts. I spent most of the time target practicing, which seemed like a good thing at first, but even that was starting to get old. If I were to feel alive, I needed someone to fire back at me.

After another dinner of clams, I threw a log onto the fire and lay down on the sand, hands folded behind my head. Overhead was the clearest night sky I had ever seen, millions of stars glittering on that vaulted ceiling. Somehow, the stars seemed more beautiful when seen from the ground. In space, they felt like things pulled out from a science textbook, but down here…there was a certain romantic quality to them.

I rolled to the side and snuck a glance at Natalie.

She was also lying down, but she had her back turned to me. Her chest rose and fell at a steady pace, and her breathing was deep. She was already fast asleep. I wondered what she was dreaming of. Could she be dreaming of me? Judging by the way she had kissed me three days ago, I knew that was a possibility. She might refuse to show it, but I’d noticed the way she sometimes looked at me.

She wanted me just as much as I wanted her.

It didn’t take long before I started replaying that kiss inside my head. She had tasted of ripe strawberries, and her scent had coiled itself around each and every one of my thoughts. Three days later and I could still feel it on me.

“Fuck,” I breathed out, a violent heat spreading all over my body.

I sat up and raked one hand over my face, feeling far too hot to fall asleep. I stared at the waves for a moment, then got up and started walking toward them. The sea here was gentle enough to allow for a night swim, and that was exactly what I needed. I walked until I was knee-deep in the water and dove in, the cold giving my system a much-needed jolt.

I went as far as I could, cutting across the waves until my arms felt as heavy as concrete. Only then did I turn around, albeit at a leisurely pace. When I finally hit the shore, Natalie was no longer lying down. She sat by the fire, knees pulled against her chest, looking straight at me. The lazy smile on her face told me she had been observing me for some time now.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked, and her eyes momentarily darted to my abs. I had nothing on but these human garments that had been given to me, known as boxer briefs. I figured she was having a hard time looking away from my body. I wasn’t proud to admit it, but it felt kinda good to know that she was looking at me like that. It was the first time in days she was acknowledging, even if in an unconscious way, that there was undeniable chemistry between us.

“Not really,” I admitted, and sat down beside her. To the side, a log popped with the heat, and a couple of flames danced wildly, rising up into the heights for a second. They cast our shadows against the sand, and the two seemed to embrace. “Sitting here, doing nothing all day…it’s starting to get to me.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed you fidgeting,” she said, her smile widening. “You’re like a little kid. Can’t sit still for long.”

“I’ve always been like that.” I shrugged. “Ever since I was a little kid, yeah.”

“Is that why you went into the military? To have something to keep you occupied?”

“All Jorkan males have to serve when they come of age,” I replied. “But you’re right. Serving kept me busy, and I found some peace in that.”

“Would you have enlisted if it wasn’t mandatory for you?”

“Definitely.” I turned to her, holding her gaze for a moment. “I was just a kid when I saw a Ripper for the first time. They raided my hometown, laid waste to everything, then disappeared back into the night. I lost my parents that night. Then and there, I knew what my purpose was.”

“Jesus…” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know—”

“It’s okay. Back when I was a kid, stuff like that happened every day.”

“It must’ve been hard.” Slowly, she reached for me and laid her hand on top of mine. The moment I felt her skin on mine, I went breathless. “And you guys have stopped it from happening on Earth.”

“We’ve stopped it from happening in a lot of different places.” My words were heavy, and I was struggling to think coherently. I could feel her fingers on mine, and that was disorienting. “Some things are worth protecting.” Before I could stop myself, my thoughts turned into words. “Things like you.”

Her hand turned around, her fingers nestling themselves against the palm of my hand. Then, slowly, she closed the distance between us. Never looking away from my eyes, she brushed her lips against mine, the gentleness of her kiss almost more than I could take.

“Thank you,” she breathed out against my lips.

“There’s no need to—”

“Yes,” she cut me short, “there is.”

And, with that, she pushed me down onto the sand.

NATALIE

The moment we kissed, I knew there’d be no stopping us.

I closed my eyes as his hands wandered down the sides of my body, moaning against his lips as I felt his fingers dig into my thighs. I leaned over him, clinging to his shoulders, all the desire that I had tried to ignore these past few days bubbling up to the surface at once. This time there’d be no ignoring it.

I could no longer pretend that I was indifferent to him. Every cell in my body responded whenever I looked at him, and my heart did a somersault inside my chest whenever I accidentally brushed my hand against his. I didn’t know if us being genetic matches had anything to do with it, but there was something between us, something I could no longer ignore.

“I want you,” I whispered against his lips, the words slipping out from between my lips before I could stop them. Not that I wanted to stop them. They were the truth, after all. These past three days, lust had been simmering under my skin, but I had tried to pretend that it wasn’t there. I didn’t want to offer myself up to a jackass, someone who had treated me like he had, but now…

I had been wrong about Zotar. He wasn’t the asshole I’d initially thought he was. Underneath his rough edges lived a kind man, someone who had devoted his entire life to a higher purpose. I could see it now. These past three days he had made an effort to bridge the gap between us, and now it was time for me to lend him a hand and close that gap.

“I’m right here,” he whispered back at me, his fingers running across my waistband. He hooked them on the hemline of my ragged shirt and pulled it over my head. Pulling back from me, he looked down at my half-naked breasts, then I trembled in place as his fingers wandered up my spine. He found the clasp on my bra, undid it with a quick flick of his fingers, and my breasts spilled free. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Natalie.”

Gently, he cupped both my breasts, and I moaned softly as my nipples hardened against his palms. It didn’t take long before he reached for me with his open mouth, and my moan grew louder as he wrapped his lips around my left nipple. Sucking it into his mouth, he twirled his tongue around it, and his eyelids fell as he took in the flavor of my body.

His tail, usually motionless, now whipped around beside us, the arrow-shaped tip moving erratically. It darted toward me once I laid my eyes on it, snaking down the side of my body. It stopped right on my waist, and unbuckled my belt as deftly as if it was a hand. Evidently a Jorkan’s tail was a useful accessory to have.

Fueled by maddening lust, I returned the favor by yanking Zotar’s shirt off his body, then pressed my fingertips against his rock-hard abs. I still didn’t understand how someone could have such a perfect body, but I sure as hell didn’t mind. Right now, his body was mine to enjoy, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

Pressing myself against him, I let his tail yank my pants down, and held my breath once I was down to my thong. Suddenly, I felt exposed, and my heart started beating faster as warm blood rushed to my cheeks. As if he could feel it, Zotar opened his eyes and cupped my face with his hands.

“You’re perfect,” he said, “absolutely perfect.”

Just like that, all hesitancy was gone. I no longer felt exposed or embarrassed. The only thing that remained inside me was unbridled freedom, a sense that I could do anything I wanted, no questions asked.

Surrendering fully, I brought my hands down to his waist, holding my breath as I tugged on his waistband, my eyes immediately darting to the hard shape straining against the fabric of his boxer briefs.

I gasped. It was impossible not to.

I knew that men as big as the Jorkan were had to be well-endowed, but I wasn’t prepared for Zotar’s massive size. Holding my breath, I hooked my fingers on his boxer briefs, then pulled them down with a swift tug. His cock sprang free at once, and I bit the inside of my cheeks to contain my surprise. It was as red as his skin, which I had already been expecting, but its size…

“I’ll be gentle,” Zotar said, almost as if he could read my mind. Gently pushing me off to the side, he kneeled between my legs and looked into my eyes, a lustful smile dancing on his lips. He reached down and grabbed my thong’s elastic band, his eyes never leaving mine. Doing it fast, he pulled the elastic against my outer thigh, ripping the fabric off down my legs and off me in one smooth motion.

“Oh, God,” I breathed out, arching my back as he leaned in. His mouth landed straight on the valley between my breasts, but it didn’t linger there. Using the tip of his tongue, he traced a path down to my navel, then simply kept on going further down. His mouth navigated to my inner thighs, his lips laying gentle kisses all over my naked skin, and I became mad with lust.

Grabbing him by the horns, the palm of my hands pressed tight against the bone, I directed his mouth to where I needed it to be. Zotar didn’t hesitate. He just crushed his lips against my aching wetness, sucking my folds into his mouth as if they were the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. I moaned so loud that birds took flight in the distance, flying away from the sudden cry of pleasure.

“So fucking good,” Zotar whispered, his tongue moving up and down the length of my wetness. He only stopped when he found my clit, and he got to work right away, whipping at it mercilessly with his tongue, unleashing waves of pleasure upon my body. I felt myself melt under his touch.

I only opened my eyes when I felt the tip of his tail softly brushing against my nipples, and gasped as it wrapped around my left nipple, pinching hard. Then, with a smooth movement, the tail unwrapped itself from my breasts and slid up my neck, the tip brushing against my lips.

Having no idea what I was doing, I parted my lips and let the tip of his tail into my mouth. It danced around my tongue for a moment, and I felt the flesh throb against it, Zotar’s manly flavor inundating me. More than just a useful accessory, it seemed like his tail was also pretty sensitive. Not that I had the time or the brainpower to think of Jorkan anatomy. No, my brain was already pretty busy as it was, and it didn’t take long before I tumbled past the point of no return.

The way Zotar was devouring me was simply too much, and all of my nerve endings bloomed at once and without warning. Seized by a thunderstorm of ecstasy, I arched my back and sucked hard on his tail, enjoying the frenetic way it throbbed against my tongue. When I finally came, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced.

I dug my heels into the sand and pushed my hips up, pressing my drenched pussy against his mouth, and the blood inside my veins turned into liquid fire. The moment his tail slid out of my mouth, I arched my back and let out a shrill scream, one that must’ve rung out for miles.

“That was…”

I couldn’t even finish that sentence.

What I had experienced was simply too much.

“I know,” Zotar whispered, gently pulling back from me. My heart skipped a beat as I looked up and saw his lips glistening with my own juices. Could there be a more precious sight? “And we’re just getting started, Natalie. The best is yet to come.”

With that, he placed his hands behind my knees and pulled me toward him. The moment I was close enough, he leaned in. His mouth found mine a second later, and he lowered himself until his body was resting on top of mine, my breasts pressed against his hard pectorals.

“Take me,” I muttered, kissing him wildly. “Take me now.”

Without saying a word, Zotar reached down and gripped his cock by the root. He angled it down so that the tip was pressed right against my entrance, my inner lips embracing his flesh, then he thrusted.

The moment I felt his thickness slide in, my inner walls struggling to accommodate him, it felt as if my entire body was about to burst. The orgasm I had experienced before seemed redoubled in force, and waves of electric pleasure rushed through my body. From my toes to my head, every inch of me crackled with energy, and I felt a sense of aliveness I hadn’t known was possible.

Crossing my ankles around his waist, I trapped him in place, then surrendered to it all. He responded with merciless movements, thrusting with wild abandon, putting all of his power behind his hips. At the same time, the tip of his tail wandered down my naked body, and it found its resting place right above my clit.

It was simply too much.

His hands were on my breasts, his hard member was ravaging me, and his tail was stroking my clit…how was I supposed to survive such an onslaught of pleasure? Not knowing if my body would be able to process all of it, I felt the tension rising inside me once more. My muscles became as hard as concrete, my spine became taut, and only my thoughts seemed to become lighter. They floated away from my mind, and in their place remained nothing but the emptiness of sweet oblivion.

I came, and I came hard.

I let out such a powerful scream that my throat immediately felt raw, and my inner walls tightened around Zotar’s cock like a murderous vise. He responded by thrusting even harder than before, fucking me with the raw power only a Jorkan would be capable of, and soon enough he followed me into oblivion.

He clenched his jaw, an expression of sweet agony washing over his face, and he thrusted one final time. He was perfectly still for a second, his cock somehow becoming even harder than before, then it started throbbing almost too violently inside me. He spilled his seed inside me, its warmth inundating me, and my screams turned into quivering moans.

Now it was his turn to be speechless.

“Fuck, Natalie,” he whispered, resting his forehead against mine. “That was…”

“It was. It really was.”

ZOTAR

When morning came, I rolled over and noticed someone very close to me. There, snuggled in my arm, was Natalie, sleeping like a baby bird. I had never shared such a close space with someone else. I could smell her hair and her body as the memories of last night hit me. I felt like I was still dreaming. The touch of her skin on mine, her taste. I shuddered with the memories, drawn in to the waking dream. I reveled in the happy feeling. With my other hand, the one not currently trapped by her sweet body, I patted her hair and she nestled closer onto my shoulder.

I wanted to talk to her, but I also couldn’t bear to wake her up. She looked so peaceful, sleeping on my body. But I have always been an early riser. As gorgeous as Natalie was sleeping like this, I couldn’t just spend the morning being her pillow. I was itching to get going and get productive. We’d been here a few days and I had yet to scope out the further reaches of our little scavenged plot of land.

I didn’t like not knowing what lay beyond our campsite. Today was the day to venture as far as I could trek on foot. That way, I could determine what kind of animals were out here, and the safety of this location. There could be a location twice as habitable just a little way away. You never know what is beyond the known until you venture to see it yourself.

I decided to leave Natalie to rest. She was safe here in our little campsite, as far as I knew. I shimmied out from under her and gently rolled up the other sleeping bag I’d salvaged from the ship to make a pillow. It was no Jorkan shoulder, but in her slumber, it seemed to be hitting the same sweet spot. I was grateful again that so much useful gear had survived the crash landing.

I dressed and packed up a trail bag with some lunch supplies, a coil of rope and some other gear from the wreck of the ship. You never know when a bit of rope will come in handy. I checked my hand-held weapons and felt settled knowing they were returned to their rightful places on my body. I could hardly believe I had slept soundly without them.

Just as I was surveying the landscape, deciding what direction to take, a thought nagged at me. What about when Natalie woke up with me gone? I was so unused to having someone else to look out for. What could I do? Maybe leave a note? I felt a mixture of pride and silliness at having to think of such an idea.

I rummaged through the ship’s supplies until I found the unopened administrative pack. Whenever I wanted to write something on ship, I just used the holo-terminal and typed, but that was useless now. I found a pen and a small pad of paper. I picked up the whole pad and wrote on the front page ‘Went exploring’, using what little I knew from human script. Anything else? ‘Be back later’. That was implied, but I had a feeling she would appreciate having the thought in writing. I placed the pad and the pen next to Natalie.

A jagged peak rose in the distance. It looked about a half-day’s walk, then another half day to gain some height. From there I should be able to see the entirety of the area we were camped out in. It seemed like the perfect spot to scope out. Judging by how long the last few days were, I could easily hike out there and be back before the sun set.

The going was rough through the forest. Jungle vines and foliage draped in heavy curtains all around. I had to pull out my knife and slice away as I walked, leaving a trail of destruction in my wake. It was a good thing we were alone here. I hated to leave such an obvious trail, but the forest was just too dense and thick to navigate otherwise.

I was made for flying ships and hacking up Rippers, not so much this survivalist stuff. Sure, I could do it, I was trained for it, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed it. I hacked at a particularly thick piece of vine, imagining an enemy combatant coming at me. I continued like that for some time, until finally the land started to slope gently upwards. I noticed my breathing increase ever so slightly and decided it was a good time for a rest.

I ate the small lunch I’d packed, and that got me thinking about Natalie. Would she be missing me? Had my note been enough? I wondered why I was thinking so much about her, but quickly shut that down. Best not to dwell too much. I had a goal for today and I would achieve it. That was my sole focus.

The trees thinned out as I climbed higher and higher. Rocks started becoming more prominent and the lack of a trail stood out to me. I made my way around in some places, trying to find parts of the mountain that increased slowly in elevation. I avoided scaling rocks because I just didn’t want to waste my energy that way. Eventually, I came to a ledge where I could look out on the island. I stood and looked out over the part of the forest I’d just come from, and tried to see out to where our camp was. I was pleased that I could not find the small campsite. I had covered us up well.

I did see the beach and the area where my ship had disturbed the forest. I could see felled trees and a general impression of unrest.

I turned to look out over the other part of the island. More of the same, jungle and crags of rock. There was another mountain in the distance, and another beach was visible. The island wasn’t very large and I could see the beach wrapping its edge. Then, over between the other mountain and my location, I spied a wisp of gray from the center of the forest. I stared at the spot for some time and more gray smoke drifted up, forming a small cloud.

So, we weren’t as alone as I’d thought we were.

Unease crawled under my skin. Could those be tourists? Scientists on an expedition? I felt that was the most likely scenario. Despite being abandoned for decades, I knew some adventurous tourists came to Naresh from time to time, hoping to enjoy the untouched wilderness. It was that same untouched wilderness that had scientific expeditions coming here every five years or so, but I didn’t know how likely any of those options were.

I’d have to figure out their identity.

I started climbing down as soon as I could. Plans exploded in my head as I mentally worked out a rough map of the fire’s location. I needed to find out who they were, and fast…but I would have to do it with Natalie. Now that we weren’t alone anymore, I couldn’t leave her unprotected. I cursed myself for clearing this stupid path, leaving such an obvious trail back to the campsite.

“Just focus,” I growled, admonishing myself as I rushed back the way I had come. As it was, the most important thing was to check in with Natalie. I needed to know she was all right. Then, I needed to teach her a thing or two about lying low. Or did I need to teach her how to not leave a path? Fuck, I wasn’t used to having a partner, that was for sure. It was far easier to handle uncertainty if you were a one-man army.

Still, I would have to learn how to work in a team. Danger was lurking and, if we wanted to survive, we’d have to work as one.

NATALIE

I blinked awake and, for the first time in a while, knew exactly where I was. I could hear the waves gently turning into foam as they hit the beach, as well as the gentle sway of the tree leaves behind me. Naresh remained as peaceful as ever. Smiling, I ran one hand through my hair as I remembered what had happened last night, the memories of Zotar’s naked body enough to make my heart beat just a bit faster.

At the thought of him, I noticed that I was by myself in the sleeping bag. Another was comfortably rolled up as a pillow under my head. I sat up, confused. Where was Zotar? I was alone, but there was a conspicuous dent in the sleeping bag where his body would have been last night.

I stretched and looked around. Maybe he was working on breakfast. It didn’t take long before I discarded that possibility, my eyes finding a small pad of paper lying on the sand. In hasty, blocky letters of someone unused to writing, it read, Went Exploring. Be back later. Short and to the point. I noticed the warm feeling rising up again.

Last night Zotar had been anything but short and to the point. In his arms, I’d felt safe and warm, as if time was standing still. Despite everything that was happening, the embrace of his arms let me know that things would be okay. I longed for that feeling now and wondered how long later would be.

There was no use l1ying about waiting for Zotar. At the very least I could rustle up a meal for one. He had been considerate enough to leave a note, but not enough to think that I might need breakfast when I woke up. I looked through the food I had gathered last night, and it was already looking meager. I judged my hunger to not be so bad that I needed to eat right away. So I gathered up my strength to go back into the forest and forage for more herbs and greens. I didn’t know if what I managed to find would be poisonous or not—but I figured I had to slowly try and see if I could digest some fruits and if so, make them part of my diet. There were a few tree fruits that seemed promising but it was going to be a gamble no matter how you sliced it.

I busied myself that way for a few hours, gathering, organizing, and making food. If there was something I was good at, it was food. I made breakfast, ate it, then set about preparing rations for traveling.

If Zotar wanted to go exploring again, hopefully he would wake me up and take me with him. I developed a recipe for a hard cake. I took some of the fruit and laid it as close to the fire as I could. If they could get hot enough, between the fire and the sunshine they would dry out. As I was contemplating a second voyage into the brush to get more food, Zotar arrived.

“Good, you’re awake.” His usual gruff manner rubbed me the wrong way.

“Of course I’m awake,” I said. “Half the day has passed. You left me on my own with nothing to do, so I started cooking. I made some hard tack for traveling.”

“Also good. We’re leaving soon.” He paused, maybe realizing he was being overly commanding, and softened his tone. “I mean, I found something we need to investigate, and I want to take you with me.”

“What did you find?” I was intrigued. Would this something help us get to a slightly less deserted, but equally as foreign to me, planet?

“I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I saw a fire on the other side of the island. It could be a group of tourists, or maybe an expedition of scientists.”

I nearly leaped for joy and started packing up all the food I had cooked this morning. I was proud of myself for having such foresight.

However, Zotar continued, “Don’t get too excited. They could also be dangerous. That’s why I want you to come with me. I want to know that you are safe.”

“What do I need to do?” I was glad to be allowed time to ask for help. This way Zotar could give his commands, but I felt like an equal partner in our journey.

“Gathering food is good. We also need to make you a survival pack. Some rope, a knife, and a couple other things.” He made his way to our pile of supplies from the ship and started rummaging around. “If you had them, I’d say a change of clothes. But we don’t have them, so we’ll just have to do with my socks. You never know when you’ll need dry socks. I’ll carry your pair and you carry my pair.”

“Why is that?”

“If something happens to the socks on your feet, the same thing could happen to the socks in your pack. This is just how we do things. I’m trying to figure out how to be part of a team, alright?”

I felt surprised. He thought of me as his teammate, not his minion. Finally, we were getting somewhere. I mean…it wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.

After half an hour or so, we had gathered everything that seemed useful. Zotar wanted to get on the “trail” as soon as possible, use what little daylight we had left. I agreed; the faster that we found out who or what was making that smoke, the safer we would be. To remain sitting here at the campsite left us wide open.

“I’m going to lead the way. One of us should lead, and one of us should follow, and I have the survivalist training. Does that make sense to you?”

“It does,” I said with a nod. Despite his brisk tone, I knew he was trying. It was hard not to appreciate how Zotar had taken my desire to not be bossed around so much to heart. It was like he really cared for me.

We started on the path that Zotar had cleared during the morning. He led me through the cut-away vines and I realized how much work he had already put in. And yet, there we were, back on the trail. As we walked, he would call back to me for anything I should watch out for. “There’s a large rock here,” and “This bit of ground is slippery.”

After a while, we made a turn into the unmarred forest. The terrain was getting rougher and rougher. Zotar did his best to clear a path for me without disturbing the forest by cutting down vines. His quiet reminders of what to look out for increased. I marveled at how easily he saw all those things, and how he communicated to me what I needed to know. He was capable, confident, and skillful. I realized he was being “bossy” because he really did know what to do.

We started turning toward a different direction.

“Where are we going?”

“There’s a river coming up. I can hear it.”

All of a sudden, the terrain became a little bit rockier, but I listened carefully. I could hear the water too. I was very thirsty, I realized. I stopped paying attention to my feet and followed the sound of the water. Zotar was calling out directions, intensely focused on moving us forward, and I was trying to follow them without putting in too much effort. The trees cleared and revealed a fast-flowing river. The sound of white-water rapids enthralled me.

Zotar relaxed visibly. “We’ll walk alongside it. The trees are clear of the river bank. Watch your step.” There was a perfection about the river that made me feel so calm and so alive at the same time. I followed Zotar, trying to place my feet exactly where he stepped. He kept pointing out slippery rocks to watch for, until there was nothing but a constant stream of commands coming out of his mouth.

I tried to keep up.

I stepped onto a rock near the river bank and, instead of slipping, it sank. Then it fell out from under me. My foot fell too and, before I registered what was happening, I was in the river. Ice cold water enveloped me. I flapped my arms, trying to stay above water, but the current was too strong and carried me away. My head was under, then above, then under. I had no control. My heart froze.

I was going to die.

ZOTAR

Natalie screamed.

I whirled, and my heart sank as I watched her slip into the rapids. The fast-moving river engulfed her like a predator devouring its prey, and her head bobbed in and out of the water as she was carried downstream.

I didn’t need to think twice.

My instincts kicked in, and I raced after her.

Dropping all my gear, I ran toward the place where the terrain sloped down into the river, and jumped. I hit the water feet first, and groaned as my legs hit the jagged rocks hiding underneath the roaring surface of the river. Fighting against the current, I tried to stay above water and looked around to spot Natalie.

“I’m coming,” I cried out, swimming toward her once I saw her head pop up. Since I was moving down the river, the current propelled me toward her at the speed of light, and I almost crashed against her delicate body.

The moment she felt me, her arms shot up to my neck, and she held on to me desperately. Even though she was much smaller than I, her desperation made it difficult for me to swim toward the shore. It felt like I had a heavy rock tied around my neck, and if I didn’t do something about it, we were both going to drown.

“You have to calm down, Natalie,” I tried to say, but I was hit by the water and swallowed a mouthful of it. Gritting my teeth, I tried to get the words out. “You have to relax. Trust me, Natalie.”

I wasn’t sure if she had heard me, but she stopped struggling, her body no longer moving frantically, and the viselike pressure of her arms around my neck eased. Taking that as a good sign, I started swimming toward the shore, the rapids a fierce enemy.

For each yard I conquered, the current pulled me off course another two or more. I doubled my efforts, knowing that Natalie was counting on me to get us through this, and I eventually managed to grab onto a tree’s low hanging branch. I held onto it as tightly as I could, hoping the branch wouldn’t snap, and somehow managed to drag us toward the shore.

“Fuck, that was close,” I said, spitting out water as I laid Natalie down on the ground. She was completely drenched, her brown hair plastered to her face. “Natalie?”

Her eyes were closed, and her chest wasn’t moving. Immediately, my heart started pumping, adrenaline and fear coursing through me.

Kneeling beside her, I placed both hands over her chest and started pressing down for almost a minute, but she wasn’t reacting. I started pressing harder and harder, desperation taking over me, and only then did Natalie jerk awake. She coughed loudly, her lungs struggling to pull in air, then she rolled to the side and threw up all the water she had swallowed.

“Fuck,” I breathed out, only now realizing just how tense I was. How close had I been to losing her? No, I couldn’t think of it. Right now, I needed to make sure that she was okay. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” she said, the words coming out amidst another bout of coughing. She wrapped her arms around her torso, and her teeth started chattering. Her skin had gone pale and her whole body was trembling. The sun was already starting to set, and soon enough the jungle would turn cold. I needed a place for her to warm up, or else she wouldn’t last the night.

“C’mere,” I whispered softly, then picked her up from the ground. She crawled onto my back, arms draped over my shoulders, and I carried her toward the place where she had slipped into the rapids. I picked up our gear, leaving behind what little I couldn’t carry, then headed back into the jungle.

I kept a fast pace, Natalie’s uneven breathing urging me to go even faster. I didn’t even bother with cutting a path through the vegetation. I just stomped through it like a wrecking ball, ignoring the thorny vines that whipped at my arms. Soon enough, my forearms were covered in blood, the thorns drawing long lines across my skin.

It didn’t matter.

“There,” I said, my eyes darting toward an opening on the cliff-like slope of the mountain ahead. The cavern’s mouth was wide, and it sat at an angle that would prevent flooding even if it started to rain. And, judging by the heavy clouds that had started gathering overhead, rain would definitely come.

Hopping between rocks and fallen trees, I made the climb up into the cavern. Keeping one hand on Natalie, I used the other to grab my flashlight and turned it on. The moment the light flooded the cavern’s darkness, I took a quick look around. Only once I was sure this wasn’t a predator’s lair did I dare put her down.

She was still shivering, and she no longer seemed to be conscious. Knowing that I was in a race against time, I stripped her naked, throwing her drenched clothes to the side, then wrapped one of the sleeping bags around her. My heart tightened as I realized I had to leave her, but I didn’t dwell on it. I just grabbed my hunting knife and headed back into the jungle, working as fast as I could.

No more than three minutes later I was back, carrying dry wood and some vines in my arms. My pockets were stuffed with kindling, which I quickly set fire to. I blew into the fire until the flames were leaping high, then pulled Natalie closer to the flames, barely blinking as I watched her chest rise and fall.

How could I have been such a fucking idiot? She should’ve stayed at the beach. I thought it’d be far safer for her to be with me, but I hadn’t been paying enough attention to what she was doing. If only I had been more careful, if only I hadn’t rushed into things without thinking…

“No,” I said out loud, crushing that train of thought.

I couldn’t afford to give in to self-doubt right now. I needed to remain focused.

I kept watch for another hour or so, and only allowed myself to relax once I saw the paleness of her cheeks give way to a pink flush. That’s when I realized that I was still wearing my wet clothes. Shaking my head at my own stupidity, I took my clothes off and hung them along with Natalie’s to dry as much as they could.

I threw a sleeping bag over my shoulders and sat beside her. I didn’t know when or how it happened, but I quickly found myself holding her hand. I had never felt this worried in my entire life, and it was a disconcerting experience. Had it been anyone else, I would only have been annoyed that someone was slowing me down. No, more than just annoyed, I would have been angry.

Not with her.

With Natalie, there was no anger or annoyance. There was just pure concern, a kind of deep, caring anxiety that welled up from the depths and pushed out every other emotion. I couldn’t tell if that was a good or a bad thing. During my training as an intelligence officer, someone who would have to operate by himself for years on end, I had been taught never to get attached. That was a rule I had never broken before.

Now, though, I could feel myself faltering.

“You’re going to be okay, Nat,” I whispered, tightening my fingers around her limp hand. “Please, I need you to be okay.”

NATALIE

The rain woke me up.

I opened my eyes and was momentarily blinded by the fire. The flames leaped so high they almost touched the cavern’s tall ceiling, and sweat dotted my skin from the warmth. Lazily, I sat up, and only then did I realize that I was completely naked. Pulling the sleeping bag I was in over my shoulders, I looked around and tried to find Zotar.

I remembered how fast he had trekked through the jungle, and his desperation as he searched for a place where we could spend the night, but I only had figments and broken images of that in my mind. I had been so out of it that it’d be a mistake to say that I was fully conscious. One thing I knew for sure, though: if it hadn’t been for Zotar, I wouldn’t have survived.

He sat by the cavern’s entrance, legs dangling out from the lip. The other sleeping bag was drawn over his shoulders and his posture was pensive. The flames cast his shadow against the walls, making him look as if he were a protective giant, and I found myself smiling.

Carefully, I pushed myself to my feet. As the sleeping bag rustled against the rocky floor, Zotar looked over his shoulder, and his eyes widened the moment he saw me standing up. He shot to his feet right away and tried to make me lie down again.

“You’re still weak,” he said, his voice brimming with concern. “You need to rest before—”

“I’m feeling better now,” I protested, then sat down on the same spot he had been on. Begrudgingly, he sat beside me. “Seriously.” Pulling my knees against my chest, I let my gaze fly over the jungle below us, the rain pattering down on the green canopy. Despite the rain, the wildlife hadn’t quieted down, and the songs of the birds filled the night.

“You had me scared,” Zotar said after a few minutes of silence. For the first time since I had known him, I felt something truly genuine in his voice. There was no posturing or ego involved. No, it was simply a man admitting his own fears. “I really thought I would lose you.”

“But you didn’t.” Reaching for him, I placed my hand on top of his. His skin was warm and comforting, and it reminded me of how good it had felt to lie against his naked body. The first few days we had been on opposite sides, but now I felt close to him. More than just that, I felt comfortable. Somehow, we clicked together. “You saved my life, Zotar. You jumped into the river without thinking of your own safety, and you risked your life to save me.”

“I merely did what anyone would do,” he said and looked away. It was curious. Despite his large ego, he didn’t seem that willing to bask in my thanks. Instead, he was being humble, although we both knew most people would never jump into murderous rapids without a second thought. What Zotar did, few would have done.

“That reminds me of something.” Standing up, I dragged my feet toward the improvised clothesline Zotar had made with vines. I grabbed my pants, which were now drier, and patted the back pocket. “Here it is.” Laughing, I grabbed the brochure and unfolded it. Once I was beside Zotar again, I read through the list of activities we were supposed to do in Tarkun IV, then my index finger hovered over the one marked ‘snorkeling’. “Do you have a pen?”

“A pen? What for?”

“Indulge me.”

Arching one eyebrow, Zotar went to his own clothes and returned with a slim marker. Once he pushed it into my hand, I removed the cap and put a black line through ‘snorkeling’.

“Our first activity is done,” I said, and he seemed even more confused than before. “I know, I know…drowning in rapids isn’t exactly the same thing as snorkeling, but I figure it’s close enough.”

“You can’t be serious.” The disbelief in his voice made my smile widen. “You almost died, and you’re making jokes about it? Seriously, there’s a limit to how optimistic someone can be.”

“There’s no downside to optimism, is there?” Folding the brochure back up, I set it aside. “Besides, we’re safe now.”

Placing my hands beside me, I hopped to the side so that my arm was brushing against Zotar’s. In a protective gesture, he opened his sleeping bag and placed one arm over my shoulders, pulling me close against his chest.

We didn’t say anything for a long time, and merely enjoyed the closeness as the rain covered the jungle. It felt peaceful. We only moved once a slight wind picked up and the rain started angling toward the cavern’s entrance. We got up and settled closer to the fire, the wind now growing stronger and howling.

As I was sitting down, my sleeping bag slipped from my shoulders and landed at my feet. I bent over to pick it up, and immediately noticed that Zotar was looking at me, his lips slightly parted as he took in the shape of my naked body. My first instinct was to cover myself, but I hesitated before picking up the sleeping bag. Nakedness was something to be embarrassed about, or at least that’s what’s drilled into your head since childhood, but the way he was looking at me…it made me want to remain naked.

Forgetting all about my sleeping bag, I went toward Zotar and placed my hands on his shoulders. With my eyes locked on his, I pulled the fabric of his bag down off his shoulders, then we were both free from any clothing. Gently, I leaned in and brushed my lips against his. He returned my kiss in the same gentle manner, his long fingers resting on my waist, and I melted into his embrace.

I no longer knew if the warmth inside me came from the fire or from desire, but it didn’t matter. Kissing him deeply, I pushed him to the floor and lay down on top of his body, my tongue dancing around his. I felt the grooves and ridges of his abs with my fingertips, then I kept moving further down until—

“What was that?” Zotar said, then he pushed me to the side. His mellow expression was gone, and his jaw seemed that of a warrior once more. Still naked, he reached for his blaster and pulled the safety off. “Didn’t you hear it?”

“No, I didn’t hear anything,” I started to say, but then I heard it.

Somewhere out there, deep in the jungle outside the cavern, something was moving. It stepped on branches and snapped them, and it moved heavily through the vegetation. So far, we had only seen small birds and animals, and we hadn’t encountered anything larger than a small dog. Could this be some kind of predator? Could we be intruders in its lair?

My heart clenched a little, thinking of Benny. But this was his world. He’d survive far better than we would.

“I’m going to check it out,” Zotar continued, and he was already pulling his clothes from the clothesline, his shoulders tense. He dressed quickly, then hurried toward the cavern’s mouth, his figure lit by the fire. Before he stepped out into the darkness, he looked back at me over one shoulder and smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

ZOTAR

Whatever was out there had gone silent.

I moved through the rain-covered jungle as silently as possible, blaster at the ready as I tried to peer into the shadows. Nothing seemed to move, and even the birds had quieted down. Could they have been scared away by something? Maybe I was overreacting. I had no idea what kind of wild animals inhabited this jungle, and it was pretty likely this would be some kind of inoffensive herbivore.

That thought almost made me return to the cave, but instinct told me to investigate further. I wasn’t a big believer in a sixth sense, but my intuition had never failed me before. As such, I headed further into the jungle, watching my every step so as to not alert my prey.

The shuffle of something heavy moving through the foliage returned after a couple of minutes. I stood still, trying to determine the direction the sound was coming from, and realized I couldn’t be that far. Whatever creature was wandering around, it was close. I didn’t know if it had been blind luck or not, but I seemed to have approached it.

“Alright, let’s see what you are,” I whispered under my breath, crouching as I pushed leaves as large as a bedsheet to the side. There was a clearing a few steps in front of where I was with heavy-looking vines draped from tree branches all around, and at the center of it sat a creature I knew far too well.

The Ripper wore a cloak thrown over his protective vest and heavy combat boots. A large serrated knife hung from his tactical belt, and there was a rifle slung from his left shoulder. He studied something bright in his hands, probably an infopad or comms device.

I had no idea why a Ripper was here in the middle of nowhere, but I knew that the device he held was useful. If I got my hands on it, maybe I could radio the outpost on Tarkun IV and finally get us out of this damn jungle. Still, I couldn’t focus on that. At least not yet. Right now, I had to focus on the hunt.

Slowly, I crept toward the edge of the clearing, careful not to make a sound. I moved to the side until the Ripper had his back turned to me, and only then did I step toward him. Slowly, I removed my knife from my belt and held my breath.

“He’s not fucking anywhere,” the Ripper growled, the gills in his neck moving as he spoke. I was thankful that my subdermal translation chip, standard throughout the galaxy, had managed to identify whatever dialect this Ripper crew was using. It made fighting them easier if I knew what they were saying. He shouted the words into the device he was holding, and his annoyance was evident. “I’ve told you already. They’ve abandoned their campsite by the beach and gone into the jungle.”

A deep guttural voice erupted from the device, saying something I couldn’t quite make out. The Ripper in front of me shook his head and returned the device to his vest. I was about to move in for the kill when I accidentally stepped on a branch. It was wet from the rain, which muffled the sound, but my prey turned around.

His eyes narrowed as he saw me, and he immediately leveled his rifle. He got in one ringing shot, but he missed. Before he fired again, I hurled my knife and hit his shoulder. Dazed, he stumbled a few steps back, dropping the rifle from his wounded shoulder, and I charged. Moving fast, I rammed my shoulder against his chest, and the two of us fell onto the mud-covered jungle floor.

“Ya fuckin’ bastard,” the Ripper said in his hissing voice, struggling to push me off him. “I’ve found ya, haven’t I?”

Using his free hand, he unclipped the knife from his belt and slashed at me. I jumped back, narrowly avoiding being cut, and got a good look at the vest he wore. It had fastenings on the side, which the Rippers used to strap themselves to their fighters’ seats.

“You’re one of the fucking assholes who attacked the shuttle,” I growled, circling him as he waved his knife around. “I thought you’d returned to the shithole you guys call home.”

“We couldn’t, even if we wanted to,” he spat at me. “You shot our ship to shit. The engine was dead, and we had to land. Not that we would’ve left anyway. We couldn’t go back after coming across The Red Ghost, could we? Your head is worth a small fortune, you Jorkan scum.”

“A small fortune?” I grinned, feeling a swell of pride as I heard the name ‘Red Ghost’. I had heard rumors that the Rippers had given me that name, almost as if I were some sort of boogeyman, but I had never been called that to my face. It felt good to know that I terrified these guys enough for them to give me a nickname that didn’t suck. “I’m worth my weight in gold, asshole. I feel insulted.”

“Let’s see how insulted you feel when my blade is sticking out of your throat.” He lunged at me, and I parried his blow away with my own knife. My blaster was somewhere on the mud-covered ground, as was his rifle, and I couldn’t look for it without getting stabbed. This would be a duel of blades.

“Why did you attack the shuttle?” I asked, and struck. Pushing inside, I slashed at him with a quick movement. The blade tore his cloak, but it merely scratched at his vest. “What are you doing here?”

“You ask too many fucking questions.”

Moving back, he approached his rifle. I rushed toward him and tackled him to the ground once more, and this time, I was faster than him. I buried my knife right in his neck, slipping the blade past the gills.

“No more questions from me,” I said, watching as the light fled from his eyes. Groaning, I rolled to the side and sat on the ground, struggling to catch my breath. Usually, I would’ve been able to handle a single Ripper easily, but the adventure in the rapids seemed to have taken a toll on my body.

Doing my best to ignore how exhausted I felt, I rolled the Ripper to his back and grabbed the device he had tucked inside his vest. It was one of the clunky comms units the Rippers used. Not as stable as the models I had grown accustomed to, and it didn’t have a long-range capability. There was no way I’d be able to radio anyone outside Naresh with it. Still, that didn’t mean the damn thing wasn’t useful.

I turned the device on and frowned as I realized the screen was cracked. The same voice I’d heard before spoke up, a red blinking signal indicating the device was receiving a transmission, but I couldn’t understand most of what was being said, only cut-off sentences and half-words.

“Get the…not much time…they will be here tomorrow.”

And that was it.

The device went silent, but I had heard enough.

The Rippers that destroyed Natalie’s shuttle had crashed on this planet, and they wanted my head—the bastards had put a price on my head a few years back, and it seemed like these guys were looking to collect their prize. I didn’t care about that. If they came for me, I’d just kill them all. What I cared about were the last words I had heard— ‘they will be here tomorrow’.

These stranded Rippers must have asked for help, and those words probably indicated there was a rescue party on the way. If what I was assuming was right, and these guys were expecting the rescue party tomorrow, then I didn’t have much time. There was an opportunity here, but we’d have to be quick to seize it. If the Rippers had managed to ask for help, they had communication equipment I could use. I would have to get my hands on that equipment before the assholes left the place, which meant that I had to move fast.

The clock was ticking.

NATALIE

It had to be some sort of a gunshot.

I’d seen energy weapons, as well as projectile weapons, but that sound had to be some sort of projectile.

I was sure of it.

The sound had rung out across the jungle, slightly toned down by the incessant rain, but I was pretty sure that it had been from a weapon. Pursing my lips and having no idea what to do, I paced the length of the cavern like a woman who had lost her mind. I had no idea if Zotar was in trouble, or if he needed my help.

I wanted nothing more than to head out and go look for him, but that would be stupid. I would get lost in the jungle and be gone when Zotar returned. I had to be patient and wait for him. That was, of course, easier said than done.

I fed the fire, mostly for something to do. Eventually, the rain stopped and the pitch dark started giving way to the pink glow of a rising sun. By then, I was nearly going mad with anxiety. Once I heard the crunch of boots on gravel right outside the cavern, that anxiety turned into hope.

I rushed toward the cavern’s mouth, and relief washed over me as I saw Zotar climbing up. His shirt had been cut to shreds, and he was covered in mud and blood. That didn’t stop him from standing tall, a fierce look on his face.

“What happened?” I asked, hurrying to meet him. I touched his chest, eyeing the cuts there, and guided him toward the fire. “Jesus, you look terrible. What did you find out there?”

“We need to move out, Natalie,” he said, ignoring my questions. Instead of sitting by the fire as I wanted him to, he grabbed the sleeping bags and started packing up the few things we had littering the cavern floor. “The Rippers are here.”

“The Rippers?” I repeated, my stomach lurching. “Are you sure of that?”

“I just fought against one.” My eyes darted to the cuts on his chest once more. Now it became obvious they hadn’t been caused by some thorny bush, but by the sharp edge of a blade. “Remember the ship that attacked you? They crash-landed here as well, and they’re waiting for a rescue party.”

“That’s good, right? It means they’re leaving.”

“No, that’s not good. They must have more communication equipment. It’s standard on any Ripper ship. And we need to get our hands on it before they leave Naresh. That’s our best chance of making it out of here.”

“You want to go up against them and steal their gear which you’re not even sure they have?” That didn’t strike me as either sensible or easy, but I figured he was right. Without any comms equipment, it was impossible to alert anyone to our whereabouts. We needed to get it from the Rippers.

“That’s the plan, yeah.” Putting the rest of our few belongings into the bags, he was about to put out the fire when I stopped him. He looked at me, his eyebrows knitted together. “We gotta move fast, Natalie. There’s not much time.”

“I know that,” I said, “but you can’t go out like this. You’re bleeding a lot.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sure you are,” I insisted, “but you won’t be in an hour or two. You’re going to keep on losing blood, you’re going to become weak, and there’s no way you’ll be able to fight against a pack of Rippers in such a state. Let me take care of you.”

He pursed his lips, hesitant, but then nodded.

We sat by the fire and I unpacked the first-aid kit from my bag. When Zotar removed his nearly ruined shirt, I had to hide my shock. His chest was covered in cuts, the deep crimson of his blood gleaming against his red skin.

“Tell me about the Rippers,” I said as I carefully put some alcohol on his wounds. He winced but didn’t make a sound. Had it been me, I would have been shouting like a banshee. That had to hurt. “Are they as bad as everyone says they are?”

“They’re worse than that. They’re the scourge of the galaxy. Before the Jorkan stood up to them, they were spreading throughout the systems like a virus, laying waste to every planet they landed on. The men were killed, the women enslaved, the children were eaten, and—”

“Did you just say the children were eaten?”

“Yeah,” he said with an almost casual nod. “The Rippers are known to eat other races. You didn’t know that?”

“No, I didn’t,” I muttered, my stomach lurching. I knew those Rippers were bad, but this was on a whole different level. Baby-eating aliens? Yeah, had I known about it before, I don’t know if I would’ve left Earth so willingly.

“They’re savages,” Zotar continued. “Some say they even eat their own when—”

“I think I’d rather not know,” I cut him short, unable to hide my acute discomfort. My optimism didn’t extend to baby-eating aliens—that’s where I drew the line. “I’m sorry I asked about them. I guess sometimes ignorance can be bliss.”

“Hey, listen.” He took my hands in his, and a gentle smile spread across his lips. “I know these assholes can be scary, but you don’t have to worry about it. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

I said nothing.

I just looked into his eyes, stunned at the genuine determination I saw there. He meant every word of what he had just said and, even though I knew he couldn’t control fate, I trusted him. Then and there, I willingly put my life in his hands, and I did it confidently.

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” I whispered after some time. I finished applying the salve I had made from herbs onto his wounds and looked straight into his eyes. I placed one hand on his chest, right above his beating heart. The wounds that covered his torso told me how reckless he could be, and I didn’t want to lose him. Not because I dreaded being alone on this planet, but because I cared for him. “I don’t wanna have to patch you up again.”

“Why not?” He smiled, amusement on his face. “You did a pretty good job of it.”

“That’s not funny.” I punched him on the shoulder, probably harder than I should have. I had forgotten about his wounds, and my knuckles hit one of the bandages I had placed there only minutes ago. Zotar groaned. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

“Alright, alright.” Laughing, he held both his hands up in the air. “I promise I’ll be careful. Just don’t hit me again.”

“I thought you were a soldier, not a comedian.” I frowned, but soon laughter got the best of me. Zotar could be hard and demanding, but there was also another side to him. He was gentle and funny when he wanted to be.

“I’m serious, though. Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I will.”

“Good.” I locked my eyes on his, drawn by the quiet intensity of his gaze, and I was once again reminded of how much I cared for him. It was odd. My first encounter with him had left us as antagonists, but things had changed fast.

In the end, maybe that genetic match stuff wasn’t as bullshit as I thought. Or maybe there was another layer to it. I mean, whatever there was between us didn’t feel like it had anything to do with genetics. It had to do with something that went far deeper than that.

“Natalie,” he breathed out, his voice as quiet as the morning breeze. “I want you to know that—”

“No,” I cut him short, my whisper gentle but firm. “Let’s not do it with words.” With that, I reached for his face, my fingertips tracing the sharp line of his jaw. I brushed my thumb over his lips as my heart skipped a barely noticeable beat, and I leaned into him.

What I didn’t want to do with words, I did with a kiss.

NATALIE

“Make me yours.”

Only once I had said it did the true power of those words hit me.

I meant it, I really did.

This wasn’t just about skin-deep attraction, genetic compatibility, or lust. There was something deeper at play here, and I wanted to explore it as much as I could. I felt whole whenever we were together, and I ached for the sweet surrender I could only get when wrapped in his embrace.

“You already are,” he whispered back at me, his hands tugging on my shirt. He threw it to the side and unclasped my bra, then pulled it away with a quick tug. Pulling me against his naked torso, my breasts mashed against his chest and he kissed me deeply. His tongue danced around mine as his hands wandered all over my body, and our kiss went from gentle to frenzied, a kind of feverish lust taking over us both.

Driven mad with desire, I let my hand fall down and flatten between his legs. I held my breath as I felt the hard shape of his cock throbbing against my fingers, and I gripped it tightly over the fabric of his pants. Still with my lips pressed against his, I started stroking him over the fabric, but it was only a matter of time until I needed more.

With a lustful growl, I unbuckled his belt and pushed his pants down. He kicked off his boots as I took care of his boxer briefs, then he stood there, completely naked and glowing with lust. Before I even knew what I was doing, my knees buckled.

Kneeling in front of him, I ran my tongue over my bottom lip, then reached for his cock once more. As I grabbed it by the root, his tail unwrapped itself from his waist, the tip whipping around his head with excitement. That made me smile. For a man as stoic as Zotar was, it still surprised me how he was unable to hide his desire whenever we were together.

Slowly, I started flicking my wrist, my fingers running up and down the length of his cock. I did it for a couple of seconds, then I started leaning in, my lips parting of their own accord as I went for his flesh. My eyelids fluttered and, without a moment’s hesitation, I finally reached for him with the tip of my tongue. I laid it against his head, his manly flavor flooding me at once, then I simply lost it.

Pushing myself forward, I rolled my lips down his entire length, and I only stopped when I felt him pressed against the back of my throat. He groaned softly, the sound of his voice bouncing off the cavern walls. Driven by the madness of the moment, I bobbed my head as fast as I could, doing it until the muscles snaking up my neck started complaining from the effort. I ignored them.

I kept on going until I felt his hardness throb against my tongue, then doubled my efforts. He was close to the edge—I could feel it—and I wanted to go past the point of no return. I was more than ready to have him lose all control and explode in my mouth, and I put all my effort into it, eager to have it happen.

“No,” Zotar said, his voice heavy and laden with lust. “I want more.” His last words came out as a growl and, as he said them, he pushed my head back until his cock popped out of my mouth. Before I could do anything about it, he grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me up to my feet.

This time, I was the one kicking off my boots while he tugged on my pants. and my thong quickly followed suit. Closing the small distance between us, Zotar pushed me back until my naked body was pinned against the wall. With his fingers buried in the soft flesh of my thighs, he forced me to turn around.

Acting on instinct, I planted my hands on the wall at shoulder height and pushed my backside against him. The smooth curve of my ass pressed against his hard cock, and I started swaying my hips right then and there, stroking him with nothing but my naked cheeks.

As if needing to return the favor, the tip of his tail landed on my waist and quickly slithered down between my legs. It stopped right above my clit and pressed down, applying just the right amount of pressure for a moan to escape from between my lips.

“You have no idea how much I fucking want you,” he whispered in my ear, then created enough distance between us for him to grab his hard cock. Bending his knees, he nestled it right between my thighs, and I held my breath as my slick folds wrapped themselves around his tip.

He took his time easing himself in, allowing one inch at a time inside me, and it felt absolutely glorious. My inner walls gradually adjusted to his thickness and, once all of his inches were finally buried deep inside my body, it felt as if I had died and gone to heaven. When he started to thrust, I became entirely convinced the pleasure I was experiencing was otherworldly.

“So fucking tight,” he said between thrusts, his fingers still digging into my flesh. His thighs slapped my backside over and over again, the sound of flesh on flesh echoing throughout the cavern. My eyes rolled back as I finally started losing all control. A tide rose inside me, high enough to drag me into the depths.

“Harder,” I said in a low, husky growl. “Harder.”

As if to tell him I’d make it happen with or without him, I started thrusting back against him, forcing his cock even deeper inside me. I didn’t need to keep doing it. Just a couple more thrusts and he started ravaging me mercilessly, the intensity behind his movements far too powerful for me to comprehend. All I knew was that what we were doing had nothing to do with fucking or making love—it was something else, something transcendental.

When I finally came, it happened without warning.

All it took was a fraction of a second, and that rising tide inside me swelled into a tidal wave that swept away all of my rationality in a single stroke. I felt ecstasy crash against every nerve that I had, my mind suddenly blank, and it felt as if my body was burning from the inside out. And yet, Zotar just kept going.

He pistoned into me with all of his strength, ensuring I kept on riding my orgasm, and only after several moments did he find his own release. He thrust one final time and, with his chest pressed against my back, he sucked in a deep breath as he came. I felt his cock throb, his seed spilling into me, and I felt as if someone had wrapped me in a blanket of pure bliss.

When he finally pulled away from me, I turned around and leaned back against the wall. Still trying to catch my breath, I felt his fingers on my face, and that’s when I opened my eyes. Zotar was smiling.

“You make me happy,” he said, rendering me speechless.

There were a lot of things I expected to hear from a man like him, but not a sentiment as simple and genuine as that. To say that I loved to hear it would be putting it mildly. I stood there, watching him pick up his clothes from the floor, and only then did I remember we had a task to accomplish. With his words still echoing inside my head, I joined him.

ZOTAR

The sun was already hanging high in the sky when I picked up the trail again. I had followed the path left by the Ripper I had killed and, after getting across the river, I’d lost it in its entirety. It took me a couple of hours before I found it again.

“I don’t see anything,” Natalie said, hands on her hips as she stared at the ground. Her eyebrows were knitted, and there was an expression of intense focus on her face. “What exactly are you looking for? There are no broken twigs or anything.”

“Following a trail isn’t just about broken twigs,” I told her, slowly picking up a couple of pebbles from the ground. I held one of them up. “See this one? The moss should be covering it, but the part that’s clear is facing up. That means someone must’ve overturned it. They probably bumped against it as they were coming through.”

“That makes sense,” she whispered, crouching beside me and grabbing one of the pebbles. “I still don’t know how you can notice it, though. There’s so much around us.”

“I’ve been doing this for years,” I replied. “It takes practice but, once you get the hang of it, small details like these jump out at you.” I stood up and scanned my surroundings, the signs that someone had come through here clear to my trained eye. “Come on, we shouldn’t be far now.”

We kept on going the rest of the way in absolute silence, careful not to make a noise. If the Rippers were in the vicinity, we didn’t want to alert them to our presence. They were probably already on edge, as it was. Although I was pretty sure they hadn’t found the body of the one I had killed, the lack of radio communication would alert them that something had happened.

We continued for an hour more, our pace constant. We only stopped when we came across a steep slope, the moss-covered ground turning into a cliff of jagged rocks. Grabbing a rope from my bag, I tossed it to Natalie.

“See that sturdy tree?” I pointed and she nodded. “Tie the rope around it with one of those knots I showed you.” Her fingers worked deftly on the end of the rope, and I smiled approvingly. I tied the other end of the rope around my waist and stepped toward the edge. My instincts kicked in, and I felt the urge to check Natalie’s knot. I didn’t, trusting her. “Alright, I’m going down.”

With that, I went over the lip of the cliff, my boots crunching the rock as I made my way down. Natalie stood at the top, feeding me all the rope I needed to lower myself. Even if I had been doing this with another trained operative, I would’ve double checked the rope and the knots, but I was past that with Natalie. I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but I trusted her enough to put my life in her hands.

“Alright, now you,” I said, then watched her make the climb down. She rappelled toward the ground easily, and there was a carefree smile on her face once her boots touched the ground. As I untied the rope around her waist, she grabbed the folded brochure from her back pocket.

“Mountain climbing,” she whispered, reading off her list of activities. “I guess I can cross that one out.” Smiling, she grabbed the marker she was still carrying and put a black strip of ink through the words. “What?”

“I still can’t believe you’re crossing off the activities.” I shook my head, but I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. Her positivity was endearing. Even though we were walking toward danger, she kept her spirits up and refused to let fear rule. She didn’t look like a warrior, but she definitely was one.

Thirty minutes later and we were walking at a steady clip through the jungle. The trail had become self-evident: there were boot prints and broken branches everywhere. Eventually, the terrain started sloping upward. I was about to suggest we take a break when I heard faint voices coming from somewhere above us. Holding a finger against my lips, I reminded Natalie not to make a noise. With my other hand, I motioned for her to lie low. As she lay down on the ground, so did I.

We remained motionless for a couple of minutes, and I eventually heard the guttural voices of Rippers in the distance. They were talking loudly, but their voices arrived to me as whispers. There was still some distance to cover between us and them.

We crawled through the vegetation until it started thinning out. Through the vines draping from the trees, I spotted a large clearing. At the center of it lay a Rippers’ light fighter. Although the structure was that of a light aircraft, someone had reinforced the fuselage and mounted nonstandard cannons on the sides. Not that it mattered because the ship was a wreck. Right behind it, the clearing stopped abruptly, and I heard waves crashing against a cliff.

The scenery, though, wasn’t what grabbed my attention. No, what grabbed it were the eight Rippers standing beside the wreck. Two of them were wearing light fighter pilot’s vests, but the remaining six weren’t. In fact, they weren’t wearing the standard gear a Ripper in a rescue party would, either.

“Fuck,” I muttered, a cold shiver running down my spine.

“What?” Natalie whispered, a lone bead of sweat rolling down from her temple. Her eyes were locked on the Rippers. This was her first time seeing them, and she seemed to be taking in each and every detail. She didn’t look scared, and that worried me. Why? Because she should be.

Silently, I waved her back, and we crawled away from the edge of the clearing. Only after I was sure we had put enough distance between us and the Rippers did I speak up, but still quietly. Natalie looked at me, curiosity etched on her face.

“That was the rescue party, right?” she asked, still keeping her voice low. “They must’ve gotten here earlier, but at least they still haven’t left. We can think of something before they leave.”

“The Rippers you saw there…they’re not part of a rescue party, and that’s because that’s not what they were waiting for,” I told her, and my insides clenched as I said it. How had I missed it? It had been so fucking obvious. “Those guys out there are Hunters.”

“Hunters?” she repeated, her left brow arching up.

“That’s right.” I raked one hand over my face and sucked in a deep breath. “Elite soldiers whose job is to hunt down fugitives.”

“What are they doing here?”

“They must be after me,” I replied, gritting my teeth so hard that pain shot up my jaw. “The Rippers put a bounty on my head a couple of years ago. I blew up a couple of their stations, and wreaked havoc all over their territory. They weren’t exactly happy about that.”

“So… those guys are here because of some bounty on your head?”

“The pilots called them because of the bounty,” I said, “but the Hunters don’t care about that. They only answer to those up high in the Rippers’ hierarchy. Once word got out that I was on Naresh, they must’ve been dispatched here. Natalie…these guys don’t fuck around.”

She didn’t say anything for a while. She pursed her lips, looked down at her feet, then clicked her tongue. “Well, we still need to get our hands on that radio equipment, right?” she asked, and her words hit me hard. Despite everything that I had told her, she didn’t let fear conquer her. She just latched onto her optimism and the trust she had in me.

“That’s right.” Nodding, I pointed behind us with a thumb. “The ship that attacked your shuttle was in that clearing, but I saw no sign of the Hunters’ ship. They must’ve landed someplace else. We’ll wait until the entire group moves out, then we’ll see if there’s anything in that wreck we can use.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she whispered, then took one step forward and kissed me. To feel her lips pressed against mine was all I needed to forget about the team of trained killers on our heels. Just as long as she remained beside me, I knew things would be okay. Then there was a sound: a dry twig broke, and I turned in the sound’s direction.

From the vegetation emerged a Ripper, his massive body protected by high-grade combat armor. He held a blaster in his right hand, and a serrated knife in his left. Between his lips were two rows of jagged teeth.

“Hello there,” he growled, pulling his lips into a blood-curling grin. “Nice to finally meet you, Red Ghost.”

NATALIE

The Ripper was a creature straight out of my own nightmares.

He had gray skin and a shark-like appearance, his teeth looking so sharp they seemed to be made with the sole purpose of chewing into raw flesh and bones. He had gills on the sides of his neck, and his face was angular. His pitch black eyes shone with murderous intent.

“Stand back, Natalie,” Zotar said, placing one arm in front of my chest. He pushed me back a couple of steps, then stepped forward. His jaw was clenched and his shoulders were rolled back as if he were readying himself for violence. “The woman has nothing to do with this. I’m the one that you want.”

“Damn right you are,” the Ripper said, his words coming out with a hissing sound.

At least, that’s what my translation chip was saying he said. Despite the shark-like appearance, his voice was guttural while also reminding me of a snake. No wonder Earth had been willing to enter a protocol with the Jorkan so readily. These Ripper guys were nightmare fuel.

“I’m not here to broker deals with you, Zotar.” He paused slightly, then brought up his knife. He seemed to be staring at his own reflection on the clear blade. “You don’t mind if I call you Zotar, do you? I don’t buy that Red Ghost aggrandizing bullshit. Most Rippers might fear you, but not the Hunters. Oh, no… we’ve been waiting to meet you for a long time now.”

“Let her go,” Zotar said, pushing the words out past his gritted teeth. I noticed his left hand moving slowly toward his belt, where his weapon was holstered. “If it’s me that you want…”

“I wouldn’t touch that blaster if I were you,” the Ripper said, quickly leveling his own weapon and pointing it at me. “You try to make a move and I’ll put a shot right between your pet’s eyes. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

For a moment, I actually thought that Zotar would surrender. His shoulders relaxed, and his whole posture changed in a fraction of a second. Then, moving with lightning speed, he unclipped the knife hanging from his belt and threw it at the Ripper. The blade flew through the air until it lodged itself in the Ripper’s vest. Not a single drop of blood appeared, and the Ripper just looked down at it with disbelief. He plucked the knife out from the vest, seeming surprised.

“You just made a big fucking mistake,” he growled, but Zotar didn’t let him say a word more. He drew his weapon and opened fire, pointing straight at the Ripper’s head. Moving far too fast for a creature of his size, the Ripper dove forward and rolled over the ground. When he came back to his feet, his serrated knife was in his hand, and he slashed at Zotar. “You’re fucking dead, you Jorkan scum.”

“Right back at ya,” Zotar spat, swinging his closed fist against the Ripper’s face. There was a nauseating sound as the bones in his nose caved, but that didn’t slow him down. Tangled, the two of them fell to the ground, and they rolled around until they hit a tree. Punches were thrown violently, counterpunches were blocked, and there was blood everywhere.

The Ripper snarled, his jagged teeth covered in crimson blood, and the sight made me nauseous. He spat out a couple of broken teeth at Zotar’s face, which disoriented him, then kneed him in the groin. As Zotar stepped back, groaning with pain, I launched myself forward. I would be useless against a creature the size of a Ripper, but I couldn’t stand idly anymore. I had to do something.

Before I could reach them, I felt thick fingers digging into my forearm. I wheeled around, surprised, and found a tall Ripper standing right behind me. Beside him were six more of the monstrous creatures, all of them sharing the same murderous grin. Holding me tightly, the Ripper forced me to stay in place as we watched Zotar punch it out with his opponent.

“Let her fucking go,” Zotar cried out, his fists still flying through the air and battering the armored vest his enemy was wearing. His knuckles were bruised and covered in blood, his shirt torn. It didn’t seem like he was winning that fight, despite the number of punches he was landing. The Ripper’s armor bore the brunt of the strikes, absorbing their strength and rendering them useless.

Zotar ducked under a Ripper punch, then hit him straight in the throat. As the Ripper stumbled, he shoved him aside and started running toward me, his eyes burning with fearful desperation. Before he could reach me, the Ripper grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him back.

“Not so fast,” the monster growled, throwing Zotar into the clearing. With a threatening swagger, the Ripper followed him, the sharp blade of his knife reflecting in the sun. As Zotar tried to get up, the Ripper kicked him in the stomach, forcing him to curl around. Pushed against the wrecked ship, his back to the charred fuselage, Zotar wiped the blood off his mouth.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you,” he said, and spat at the Ripper’s feet. He stood unsteadily, his blade ready. Before he could attack, the Ripper charged at full speed, slashing Zotar across the forearm. The wound looked shallow, but Zotar dropped his blade.

“I don’t think so.” Grinning, the Ripper stabbed at Zotar repeatedly, but Zotar evaded the strikes. He circled the ship, trying to regain steady footing, but he was inevitably pushed to the edge of the clearing. Behind him rose the angry sound of waves crashing against the cliff below.

The Ripper took one step forward and lunged at Zotar, and that’s when it happened. Zotar sidestepped him, knocked the blade out of his hand, and grabbed the handle before it hit the ground. With one quick thrust, he stabbed the Ripper straight in the neck. A victorious grin spread across his lips, but it disappeared just as quickly.

He put one foot in the wrong place, and he lost his balance.

He and the Ripper disappeared out of sight, their bodies tumbling into the void below. I screamed.

Freeing myself from the Rippers, I ran toward the edge of the cliff. I threw myself onto the ground and peered over the edge. It was a massive drop, far too high for anyone to survive. Down there, I could see nothing but the swell of the waves as they hit the jagged peaks of the rocks, white foam forming around them.

“No,” I whispered, my heart tightening inside my chest. “Please, God, no.”

“Get up, bitch,” one of the Rippers growled. Threading his fingers into my hair, he pulled and forced me to stand up. “What? Are you going to cry now? That’s not going to change a thing. Your boyfriend is dead. No use in crying over spilled milk…isn’t that what you humans like to say?”

“You killed him,” I breathed out, my words brimming with loathing. “You killed him.”

“We did indeed,” he agreed.

ZOTAR

Water.

It was everywhere, the coldness stabbing at my skin. I felt it wrapping itself around my thoughts, pulling them under the curtain of consciousness, and it was hell to fight back. For a moment, I thought of giving up. It would have been so easy. It was only a matter of surrendering to the void and allowing it to embrace me as it pulled me under.

She’s in danger. It was my own voice, ringing out across all of my consciousness, as fierce as the braying of klaxons. It pushed back the ice cold water, jolting me to full consciousness. She’s in danger, and you’re the only one who can save her. Get a fucking move on, Zotar.

I opened my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. But it wasn’t air that got in my lungs. It was water. I coughed it out, flaying my arms around, but the waves just kept on pulling me under. I had to fight with all my strength to remain conscious, but I finally managed to get a hold of something solid.

I wrapped my fingers around the sharp edge of a rock, cutting my skin in the process, but I didn’t even feel the pain. I pulled myself onto the rock and sprawled. Rolling to the side, I coughed all the water out of my lungs. Once that was done, I threw up, expelling it from my stomach.

“Fuck,” I said as I sat up, my drenched clothes sticking to my skin. I closed my eyes for a moment, just trying to regain my bearings, and remembered the bloody fight against the Ripper. It was a miracle I was still alive. When I opened my eyes, I saw the Ripper floating face down on the water, the waves slamming his inert body against the face of the cliff. “Serves you right, you gray fucker.”

Groaning, I stood and looked up.

The cliff was massive, the entire wall made of edges as sharp as a blade, its base incessantly punished by the pounding tide. I looked around, trying to find an alternate path out of the place I was in, but there was none. If I wanted to escape the ocean and an inevitable death by drowning, I would have to climb up.

Let’s do it then, I thought to myself, carefully moving across the rock I was on. It jutted out from the depths like a broken bone and joined in with the rest of the cliff through a narrow bridge of smooth stone. I managed to navigate the distance without slipping, then pressed myself against the face of the cliff. With my arms to the side, I tried to feel the grooves and ridges of the rock, and gritted my teeth as I realized how smooth it all was. This wasn’t going to be easy.

Once I had something I could hook my fingers on, I heaved myself up and started the climb. My boots kept slipping on the polished rock but, somehow, I didn’t plummet to my death. I made steady progress until I finally threw my torso over the edge of the cliff, the sight of the clearing filling me with a blend of relief and dread.

There was no one there.

The Rippers had departed, leaving the wrecked ship. Natalie, though, they had taken with them. Exhausted, I rolled to my back and lay there, breathing so hard that I thought my lungs were going to pop. For a moment, I felt myself being sucked into unconsciousness once more, but I fought against that pull with all of my strength. Groaning, I rose to my feet and stumbled toward the ship.

It was nothing more than a carcass of bent metal and charred fuselage, but I hoped that I’d still be able to find some gear inside it. More than the gear, though, I was thinking of the comms system. If the pilots had radioed the Hunters, then that meant the ship’s systems were still capable of interplanetary communication.

I circled the ship for a couple of minutes, trying to find an entry point. It was as large as a house, and the main entry was through the cargo hold on the back. The door had been bent into a mess of metal, blocking the entry. I kicked the metal as hard as I could, uttering a string of curses under my breath, then realized there was another access point.

I went back to the front of the ship and looked at the viewports. They had been smashed to bits, presumably during the landing, and the pilots must have left through there. I climbed the ship’s bent nose and crawled into the cockpit, trying not to cut myself on the broken polymer glass. Once inside, I sank into the pilot’s chair and looked down at the control panels. They were pretty banged up but, once I booted up the electrical system, a couple of lights came to life. Not exactly brilliant, but it was something.

I fumbled around with the system for almost half an hour, trying to get a sense of how things worked. Eventually, I figured out how to activate the comms system. The ship’s transmitter was still in working condition and all I had to do was input the desired frequency to get a pingback. No more than ten seconds later and my superior’s voice flooded the cockpit.

“Identify yourself,” Commander Ranak said, and only then did I realize there was no video feed. The only thing he knew was that a Ripper ship was trying to reach him through his private frequency. “How did you get this frequency’s signature?”

“This is Zotar, Clearance Code Alpha Bravo Gamma Hydra” I said, putting all of my impatience behind my words. I couldn’t afford to waste time. The Rippers and Natalie were moving away from this place, and I couldn’t risk losing their track.

“Zotar? Where the fuck are you?” he said, sounding more surprised than I had expected him to be. “We thought you were dead. What the hell is going on? Why are you using a Ripper’s frequency?”

“The Rippers damaged my ship during the fight, and I had to crash-land on Naresh,” I replied. “They crash-landed here, as well. I’m using the communication system on their wrecked ship.”

“I see.” There was the crackle of static and, after a few seconds of it, he spoke again. “Is the woman with you? She’s the only one we couldn’t account for.”

“The Rippers took her. The pilots that crashed here sent for a team of Hunters, and they have Natalie. I’m gonna need you to send a rescue shuttle right away, and I will—”

“Are you serious?” He cut me short. “There’s a team of Hunters on Naresh?”

“Yes, and they—”

“Listen, Zotar,” he interrupted me again. “I’m sending a rescue shuttle and an armored patrol right now. Thing is, it’s going to take a while. There was a surge of Ripper activity in another system, and most forces were sent there, so it might take a full week before we can pick you up from Naresh.”

“A fucking week?”

“Yes,” he said, and there was something in his voice I didn’t particularly care for. “Now, I want you to stay put, Zotar. I can see you taking on a Hunter or two, but a full team of them? That’d be suicide. You’re a valuable asset, and I don’t want to lose you because of some human female. Hole up someplace safe and wait for us to get there.”

“Are you telling me to abandon her?”

“If the Hunters have her, she’s as good as dead,” he said. “You know that just as well as I do. Now, let me make it easier for you: what I’ve just told you are direct orders. Under no circumstances are you to go after the Hunters. Are we clear on that?”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Are we clear on that?”

I didn’t say anything.

I just gritted my teeth and punched the comms panel as hard as I could, my fist breaking through the metal and plastic. When I pulled it free, I yanked all the wiring out of the circuitry panel. The static disappeared, and so did Ranak’s voice.

He wanted me to abandon Natalie? Not a chance.

Not a fucking chance.

NATALIE

My mind struggled to wrap itself around the events which had just come to pass.

Zotar went over that cliff. I saw it with my own eyes. My throat still ached from screaming. Yet, somehow, my brain simply couldn’t accept what I’d seen.

As the Ripper dragged me away, I kept my eyes trained on the edge of the cliff. Any second now, I’d see Zotar’s hand grasping for purchase. His face would rise over the edge, a mask of rage. He’d charge at the Ripper and take the bastard by surprise.

Maybe I could convince him to let me perform the killing blow.

I’d never had a thought so violent in all my life, not even toward the worst of humanity. I strived to see the best in everything and everyone. I couldn’t make myself do that for this Ripper. For any of the Rippers.

I wanted to see this one suffer for what he’d just taken from me.

My gaze remained locked on the cliff.

Zotar was coming. He had to. He wouldn’t leave me alone like this. He’d never do that. He just…wouldn’t.

I stumbled over a rock and tumbled forward, skidding on my knees. The Ripper snarled in annoyance. The slithery sound made my skin crawl.

He tightened his grip on my arm and yanked me to my feet.

“What’s the point?” I screamed, thrashing away at the Ripper, though his iron grip was far too strong for me to hurt him. “What’s the fucking point?”

My question confused him, but not enough to afford me a moment to escape.

“The point?” he repeated.

“You heard me.” I leveled him with a rage-filled stare. I hoped my hard gaze hid the fear that gripped my heart. Any second now, I was going to throw up all over the Ripper’s boots. While I liked the idea of ruining something of his, puking my guts up would seriously ruin the dramatic stand I was trying to take.

“My pleasure. Your pain. A slice of that hefty bounty. What more of a point do you want, human?” He slithered and yanked me forward.

I fought hard, even though it made no difference.

The shock of it all began to wear off. Slowly, I could smell the forest again. I could hear the alien creatures chirping and chittering to one another. I thought my emotions would only grow more intense now that the shock was receding, but the opposite happened.

Numbness encased me from the inside out. The fear that sent my heart racing slipped away. The rage that boiled the blood in my veins vanished. A hollowness took up residence within me, right in the center of my chest.

Without thinking, I raised my free hand to my breastbone. Surprise sparked in my gut when my hand didn’t pass right through my body. Surely, there was a hole there. It sure as hell felt like it. My throat constricted with tears when I realized that feeling was the absence of Zotar.

He was my mate. I hadn’t known him long enough to fully understand what that meant, but I was starting to. In our short, strange time together, he’d become part of me. Now, that part was missing.

Would I carry this hollow feeling for the rest of my life? If I did, that might not be such a horrible thing. It was proof that he was real, that I cared for him more deeply than I ever thought possible. This pain was proof, a mark Zotar left on me. If it was all I was ever going to have of him, then I’ll hang on to it with pride.

The Ripper Hunter dragged me through a thick patch of jungle which eventually opened up into a clearing that led to a bay encased by tall cliffs. At the center of it was a black spacecraft that looked as menacing as the Rippers. He bound my wrists behind my back and threw me down against a tree. My head slammed against the rough ridges of tree bark as I landed painfully on my tail bone.

“Where is The Red Ghost?” another Ripper snarled as he constructed a fire pit. My translator chip had no problem taking their dialect and putting it into English for me.

“Took a tumble,” the other replied. “A long one.”

“And what good does that do us?” a different Ripper snapped. “We need proof to collect our winnings.”

Winnings. As if hunting Zotar was some kind of game.

“Why is it making that face?” I didn’t realize at first that the Ripper bastard was referring to me.

“She cared for The Red Ghost,” my captor explained. “I wish I’d had the foresight to record her anguished scream. It was invigorating.”

“And that’s why I’m making a face,” I cut in. “You’re monsters and I’m repulsed by you.”

“We don’t care,” the Hunter laughed. “You are no better than the scum beneath our boots.”

The Hunter who’d brought me here plopped down beside the fire pit with his back to me. His companions joined him. They fell into conversation in their native tongue, done with taunting me for the moment.

I shifted so that I was no longer sitting on my hands. Fortunately, my quick movement went unnoticed. The Hunters lapsed into what looked like casual, even pleasant conversation. I wondered what pleasant conversation amounted to for their kind. Probably how to season the babies they ate.

The very thought made me want to be sick all over again.

I slipped my arms under my legs, bringing them in front of me. It ached like a bitch. That damn Ripper had tied my bonds way too tight. Already, a red ring had appeared on my skin. My first line of business should have been figuring out how to get free of my bindings, but the anger and spite inside me had other plans.

Beside me was a round rock that happened to fit perfectly in the palms of my bound hands. I wasn’t ballsy enough to actually hit one of the Rippers with it, but I could do other kinds of damage.

I launched the rock. It found its mark right in the middle of their fire pit, which had only just now started creating proper flames. The flimsy pile of branches and leaves collapsed in a puff of dirt and ash.

One of the Rippers shouted what I assumed was some kind of curse word and spat at me. They muttered angrily to each other for a moment before the Hunter who’d dragged me here placated them. They set to rebuilding their fire pit.

I found another rock. This time I tossed it up into the trees. Dead leaves, bits of branches, and other pieces of the forest littered down onto the Rippers.

Again they roared in annoyance, then whatever discussion they were having earlier resumed.

“You may as well speak so that I can understand you,” I called. “I have no intention of being any less annoying.”

“We know,” the one who’d brought me here snarled.

“For all your talk, I’m amazed you’ve left me alive,” I shrugged. Some might call me stupid for goading them on like that, and they’d be right. The way I saw it, they took something precious and irreplaceable from me and I knew I wasn’t going to leave this place alive. I might as well make it hell for them to have to deal with me.

The true question was, why leave me alive at all? Why hadn’t the Hunter killed me on the cliff?

“Believe me,” one of the other Rippers snapped, “I’d love to slit your throat right now.”

“We can’t,” my captor grumbled. “That would be a waste of broth.”

“Broth?” I stammered.

“Of course,” he said to me, pulling back his lips in what must have been the Ripper equivalent of a smile. “To tenderize your meat before we cook you. Did you expect us to eat you raw? Do we look like savages to you?”

“Yes,” I spat back.

“I’ve had enough of her,” another Ripper grumbled. “Food shouldn’t talk.”

“Agreed.” The Hunter approached me with a length of dirty cloth. He grabbed me hard, preventing me from fighting back in any way. He then retied my hands behind my back and bound my legs before laying me on my side. The best I could do was flop about like a fish.

I started to berate myself for not escaping when I’d had the chance, but I stopped. What was the point? There was nowhere I could go where these Hunters could not find me. Even if I managed to evade them, where would I go?

I couldn’t leave this planet. I didn’t even know what that would entail. It wasn’t like I could fly a spaceship, even if I’d had one at my disposal.

My restaurant was never going to happen. I’d never see anyone from Earth again. I was going to die here. Now that Zotar was gone, I was going to die alone.

ZOTAR

For a moment, I just stared at the broken panel in front of me.

A mess of tangled wires jutted out from the place where I had smashed my fist in, and sparks jumped out from the hole at regular intervals. Ranak’s voice echoed inside my head and anger welled up inside me. I had become a Jorkan soldier to protect those that couldn’t protect themselves, and now I was being asked to abandon Natalie?

I dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands hard enough to draw blood. Slowly, I rose from the seat and climbed out from the ship. I shouldn’t have wasted my time trying to contact Ranak. Taking a deep breath, I pushed his voice out of my head and focused on my new mission. No matter how hard it was, I had to get Natalie back.

With that as my new purpose, I walked around the Rippers’ campsite, trying to see if they had left any gear I could use. They hadn’t. The place was completely empty, not even a single knife left behind. I had lost my weapons during my fight against one of the Hunters, and they had either been swallowed by the ocean or picked up by the remaining Rippers. It didn’t matter.

I still possessed my best weapon—my mind.

Knowing that the clock was ticking, I looked at the dense vegetation surrounding the wreck. The Rippers had to be en route to the Hunters’ ship, and they were probably going to depart Naresh the moment they got there. I had to find them before that happened.

I looked around the clearing, trying to pinpoint the path the Rippers had taken, and honed in on a place where the vegetation had been flattened out. A large group had passed through, and there were even indentations in the soil. Knowing what I had to do, I pressed on.

The jungle lived.

Wild birds croaked incessantly, leaves rustled above me, and ocean waves punished the shore somewhere in the distance. Despite that, there was only one sound I paid attention to, and it was that of my own footsteps.

Believing that I was dead, the Rippers hadn’t bothered with being careful, leaving behind a trail that was easy to pick up. Overturned leaves, half-snapped twigs, muddy boot prints, it was all laid clear right in front of me, almost like a road map.

I wasn’t going to be as careless as them.

I moved as silently as I could, blending in with the jungle, and the shadows grew long around me. The sun slid lazily down into the horizon line, its warmth giving way to a gentle chill, and only then did I stop to rest. By then, almost three hours had passed.

Wiping the sweat off my brow, I sat down on a tree stump, my elbows resting on my knees. I had no weapons, no tactical vest, and no plan. What I had was a burning anger. It burned bright inside me, and I knew it couldn’t be contained. More than just that, I didn’t want to contain it. At least not before Natalie was in my arms again. She had trusted me to keep her safe and, even if that was the last thing I ever did, I intended to prove that her trust hadn’t been misplaced.

When I rose to my feet, I didn’t start following the trail right away. First, I snapped a branch off a nearby tree. With the jagged edge of a rock, I smoothed out the wood and sharpened the tip, turning the branch into a spear. I felt its weight in my hands and, satisfied with it, returned to the path. A spear wasn’t much, but it was a start. If I wanted to go up against an entire team of Hunters, I couldn’t do it empty handed. It had been quite a while since my last low-tech operation, but I knew I could handle any situation.

The hours were passing, and I hurried. When night fell, it would become almost impossible to keep following the trail in the darkness. Thankfully, dusk provided enough light for me to close in on the Rippers. When I finally found them, the sky was dark and filled with stars, but it no longer mattered.

The incessant chatter of the birds had been replaced by the distant howling of wild creatures, and the day’s scorching heat had finally abated. Crouching in the bushes lining the beach, I peered at the bay in front of me. Tall cliffs surrounded it from all sides, but the waves were gentle here.

The Hunter’s ship had landed right there on the bay, its heavy landing pad resting on the sand. It was a state-of-the-art craft, as large as my own ship had been. There were artillery cannons mounted on top of the fuselage, as well as on both sides of it, and the exhaust ports were large enough to support the intense burn of a large engine. The fuselage was a dark color, so much that it almost sucked the light around it, and I knew it was a stealth polymer used to confuse a ship’s sensors. There was no doubt about it—these Hunters were elite amongst the elite.

Just a few yards beside the ship, someone had started a fire, with a circle of heavy boulders keeping it confined. Three Rippers sat around the fire, their raucous laughter piercing the night’s silence. Their rifles were mere feet away from them, propped up against what seemed like a large cauldron.

I tightened my fingers around the spear, my heart drumming loudly. Right then, I wanted nothing more than to jump out of the bushes and unleash chaos. The Rippers were monsters, but these Hunters were the worst among them. Anger flared inside me as I realized what they were planning to do with Natalie, and it took all that I had not to blow my cover.

I spotted her next to the Rippers.

She was lying down on the sand, her hands and feet bound. Her back was turned to me, but I could still see her chest rising and falling. After seeing the cauldron, I had almost thought they had already killed her, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Natalie was still alive, and I wasn’t too late.

For five minutes, I didn’t move. I remained crouching there, locked in an inner struggle with myself. Eventually, the clear head of a warrior prevailed, and I retreated back into the jungle. If I wanted to rescue Natalie, I had to have a plan.

Thankfully, I had one now.

NATALIE

“What the…?”

Someone was prodding me with a boot.

I opened my eyes, groaning as I realized that my entire body was sore. There was a rope around my wrists, as well as around my ankles, and the sand underneath me had slipped into my clothes. Slowly, I rolled to my back, to find a Ripper grinning down at me, his sharp teeth a reminder of what they wanted to do with me.

“Don’t you guys brush your teeth?” I said, not even bothering to think of the consequences. If they wanted to eat me, then they would have to ready themselves for a massive dose of bitterness. “I mean, I can smell your breath from down here.”

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?” he asked, and the foul stench coming from his mouth made me wrinkle my nose. These guys really needed a course in oral hygiene. “Let’s see if the jokes keep on coming while you’re boiling.”

Grabbing me by the ropes on my wrists, he pulled me up to my feet and cut the ropes on my ankles so I could walk. Behind him, two of the Rippers were busy scrubbing the inside of the cauldron, while the rest of them seemed to be cutting an assortment of herbs and vegetables into a bucket. More than a gathering of murderous creatures, the bay we were in seemed to have turned into a camping site for amateur cooks.

“You’re peeling that wrong,” I cried out, eyeing one of the Rippers hunched over a basket of vegetables. “You’re cutting chunks off that thing, you asshole. You should only be removing the skin.”

They all turned to look at me, surprise etched on their faces. Even after I had tormented them during our trek here, they still didn’t expect me to antagonize them any further. Well, that was their mistake. If they thought I was going to cry and beg, then they were in for a surprise. I had no intention of playing the victim. I knew there was no way I’d be able to escape them, and so I had settled on the next best thing: if they wanted to make a meal out of me, then they would have to suffer for it.

“Shut up,” the Ripper I had targeted growled. “What the hell do you know about cooking? You’re meat, and meat doesn’t know how it should be cooked.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m one of the best chefs in New York, you uncultured swine,” I threw back at him. Before I could be stopped, I stumbled toward the Rippers peeling vegetables and peered down at their basket. “What’s this? The garbage can? I’ve never seen anyone do such a piss-poor job at chopping and peeling. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

“I’m this ship’s cook,” one of them cried out, jumping to his feet. He had taken my words as a personal affront, it seemed. Good. “If you really think you can talk to me like that, then I will…” He trailed off, gritted his teeth, then brought his knife up in what he intended to be a threatening gesture.

I looked down at the blade and shook my head. “Jesus, that blade isn’t even sharp. You guys really suck at this.”

In a moment of hesitation, the Ripper narrowed his eyes and looked down at his knife. His reflection stared right back at him, and he returned his attention to me. The lines on his face deepened with anger, and he raised his hand to hit me. I moved out of the way as fast as I could, then craned my neck and reached for his outstretched fingers with my mouth. I sunk my teeth into his skin as hard as I could, and he jumped back with a yelp.

“What the fuck?” he cried out. “She fucking bit me.”

“And you taste like rotten eggs,” I said, meaning every word. “Jesus, I hope you guys never eat each other. It’ll just make you sick to your stomach.”

That time I didn’t move fast enough to avoid being slapped.

He hit me hard, the coppery taste of blood filling my mouth, and I fell back on my ass. One of the Rippers hauled me up and, carrying me over one shoulder, took me toward the cauldron. It was already half-filled with water, and he dropped me inside it unceremoniously.

For a moment, I actually felt the sting of fear. These guys weren’t fucking around, and they were really going to cook me alive. It wasn’t going to be a pretty way to die, but I refused to show my fear. If there was one thing that I had learned with Zotar, it was the importance of being brave.

Zotar.

As I thought of him, my heart tightened inside my chest. I closed my eyes and replayed the moment he fell down the cliff one more time, a wave of sadness washing over me. We had only spent a few days together, but it had been enough. I already missed him, and the black hole I had where my heart should be was a stern reminder of that.

Suddenly, an entire bucket of half-chopped vegetables was emptied into the cauldron, the chunks splashing into the water. I pursed my lips, trying not to get any water in my mouth, and looked up to see three Rippers standing around the cauldron. One of them was grinning like a maniac, a blowtorch in his hands. When he caught me staring at him, he put the blowtorch to the wood piled underneath the cauldron, and soon enough I smelled the smoky scent of burning wood.

“You should have waited for the water to start boiling before dropping me in,” I told them, arching one eyebrow up. “Seriously, guys, this is basic cooking. Do you need me to walk you through this or something?”

“Don’t you ever shut up?” the one that had lit the fire asked me, his annoyance evident. For a bunch of aliens that were supposed to be super intergalactic badasses, they sure had fragile egos.

“What? Can’t handle your food talking back? Then maybe you shouldn’t be eating people, you assholes,” I threw back, putting as much snarkiness as I could into my words. It didn’t take long before all of the Rippers gathered around the cauldron, every single one of them looking at me with a pissed-off expression. I just grinned at them.

“What an annoying little bitch,” their leader said. He was a massive creature that had to be almost eight feet tall, each of his teeth as long as a small dagger. “Do you know why you’re still alive? It makes for juicier meat. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can listen to you anymore.” As he spoke, he reached down to his belt and grabbed the serrated knife hanging there. “I think I might have to slit your throat even before the water starts boiling.”

This time I didn’t have a quick witticism to offer. I stared at the knife, its sharp edge moving toward my neck. This was it, the end of the road. I sucked in a deep breath and readied myself to feel the cold bite of the blade on my neck. Grinning like a maniac, the Ripper pressed it against my neck, and he was about to put some strength into his hand when a whooshing sound rang throughout the bay.

Next thing I knew, a wooden arrow was sticking out of the Ripper’s forearm. His fingers let go of the knife, which sank to the bottom of the cauldron, and he whirled. Another arrow cut through the air, that whooshing sound returning, but this time he was ready. He grabbed it midair, right before the arrow could sink itself between his eyes.

“That Jorkan fucker is still alive,” he growled, crushing the arrow in his hands.

My eyes grew wide as I realized what was happening.

Zotar was still alive.

ZOTAR

“Come and get me, assholes,” I muttered under my breath, nocking another arrow. My bow was rudimental, the wood crude and unpolished, but it got the job done. I pulled the string as far as it would go, my bicep bulging under my shirt, then released it. The arrow snapped away fast, cut through the leaves in front of it, and flew through the air like a bullet. It only stopped when it lodged itself in a Ripper’s exposed neck.

Grinning, I went through the motions one more time, downing another one of the Rippers. This time, I hit him in the left eye, and he went down so fast you’d think someone had chopped off his legs. It had been a while since I had used a bow, but it seemed that I still had the hang of it.

Fully aware that I had started picking them apart, the remaining Rippers, all of them elite-trained Hunters, started spreading across the bay, looking at the vegetation as they tried to pinpoint my exact location. When I released another arrow, they finally figured out my hiding spot.

They rushed toward the edge of the forest, their heavy boots kicking up the sand, and I finally gave up on hiding. I jumped out from behind the tree I had been using as cover and stood on the white sand, my presence taunting them.

“Let’s see what you’re made of, Hunters,” I cried out, and they offered a response in the shape of blaster fire.

They whistled past my head, blowing up the bark on the trees lining the bay, and I took the hint. Without a moment’s hesitation, I turned on my heels and went back into the lush vegetation, running as fast as I could. I hadn’t slept a single minute the entire night, preparing for this encounter, and I was pretty exhausted. Still, I remained confident in my plan. It would work.

As I heard one of the Rippers closing in on me, the sound of his passage through the vegetation growing increasingly louder, I slowed down and let him catch up. He fired his rifle in my direction, but I stepped to the side and continued running toward a small valley between two slopes. Furious, he charged after me. Two seconds later he screamed, his voice ringing out like a siren.

Breathing hard, I looked back over my shoulder to see him sinking into the ground. The vegetation and moss he had stepped on disappeared, and he fell into a hole filled with stakes pointing up. One of them pierced him right through the stomach, and that was the end for him.

“Stupid fucking traps, huh?” I heard a deep voice say beside me, and I turned to see one of the Hunters pointing his rifle right at my head. “Is that how you think you’re going to beat us?” He had a cocky expression on his face, and his arrogance had stopped him from pulling the trigger right away. That proved to be a fatal mistake.

“Yeah,” I said, allowing a smile to spread across my lips. “I’m going to beat you with stupid fucking traps.”

With that, I yanked on the piece of string I had stealthily grabbed, and a log with a sharpened tip fell down from the tree we were standing under. It hung from a long piece of wire which I had scavenged from their wrecked ship, and it traced an arc until it hit the Ripper right in the face. It was a stupid fucking trap, no doubt about it, but it worked.

“Fuck,” the Ripper cried out, his teeth completely smashed as he stumbled back. Before he regained his footing, I charged him and slapped his rifle from his hands. I grabbed his own knife and stabbed him through the heart, burying the blade with as much strength as I could. Straddling the Ripper’s inert body, I grabbed his rifle and blended with the vegetation one more time.

Now armed with something better than my bow, which I had already discarded, I crept silently through the jungle. I heard the Rippers shouting in complete chaos, frustrated and disoriented as they searched for me, and that only made me smile. These assholes had underestimated me, and that would cost them.

Flattening myself against the grassy jungle floor, I waited until two Rippers walked past me, and I immediately squeezed the trigger on my rifle. I felt its kickback as the butt pushed against my shoulder, but that took none of the joy out of seeing the Rippers go down. A few blasts hit them on their armored vests, but I still managed to land enough of the projectiles in their exposed necks.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp bite on my shoulder.

Only then did I hear the whistle of a blast as it hit the ground beside me, and I quickly realized that it had clipped me on the shoulder. Knowing that they were onto me, I sprang to my feet and ran as fast as I could. I heard the Rippers chasing after me stumble onto a few of my traps, but it seemed like they had already wisened up. None of them died as they ran after me, and so I started circling back, cutting through the dense vegetation in a straight line as I headed toward the bay.

I was close to it when I felt a powerful hand land on my shoulder. Its gloved fingers dug into my shoulder blade as the Ripper pulled me back, and I went down like a sack of potatoes. Reacting fast, I looked up to see the barrel of a rifle pointing straight at my head, and I swatted it away with a quick movement. Kicking up, I hit the Ripper in the groin, smashing his balls in. He doubled over and I pulled him down to the ground.

Desperately, the Ripper tried crawling away from me, but I pointed my rifle at him and squeezed the trigger. The blast hit him right in the temple. I took a couple of deep breaths, my lungs working overtime to get air in, and only then did I stand. My surroundings were now eerily silent, and that wasn’t a good sign.

I had planned to lure all of the Hunters into the jungle, where I knew I’d have the upper hand, but the bastards were no longer willing to play that game. They had probably returned to the bay and were now expecting me to face them there. I didn’t like playing into their hands, but I didn’t really have a choice. Natalie remained their captive, which limited my options dramatically.

Slowly, I moved toward the edge of the jungle, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I stopped a few feet away from the place where vegetation gave way to white sand. Just like I anticipated, three Rippers surrounded the cauldron Natalie was in, and my body tensed up. The bastards were luring me in, and I had no other option but to let them do it.

“Alright,” I muttered, “time to end this.”

With that, I stepped forward.

NATALIE

“C’mon,” I whispered, rubbing my wrists together as I tried to loosen the knots binding my wrists. Pressing my feet against the sides of the cauldron, I stood and watched as most of the Rippers rushed toward the jungle, following Zotar. Only one of them remained behind, presumably to keep watch over me, but he was paying zero attention to my actions. He stared at the edge of the jungle, rifle at the ready, as if he expected Zotar to charge at him anytime now.

Knowing that I didn’t have much time, I kept working on the knots until I managed to slip one hand free. I tried to contain my excitement and, keeping my eyes on the Ripper that remained near me, then tried to make a plan.

I was finally free, but what was I going to do about it?

From the jungle came cries of the Rippers, which I took as a good omen. Somehow, Zotar was beating them. I didn’t know how he was doing it—he certainly didn’t have the gear to fight against an entire team of elite Rippers, especially one whose sole purpose was to hunt down people—but he was pulling it off.

That continued for another five minutes or so, the cries of pain blending with blaster fire, but the Rippers eventually figured out that fighting in the jungle wasn’t helping them. Two of them stumbled out from the vegetation, joining my guard. It seemed like, out of all of them, only these three remained. The leader was one of the survivors, his eight feet of densely packed muscles as tense as they could be.

“How is that Jorkan fucker beating us?” he growled at his subordinates.

The other two didn’t offer a reply. He clenched his jaw so hard that I heard his teeth grinding against each other. Standing in front of the other Rippers, he pointed his rifle at the jungle, waiting for Zotar to make an appearance.

Meanwhile, I kept shifting my weight inside the cauldron. The water was getting warmer and warmer with each passing second, and it wouldn’t take long before it started to boil. If that happened, then I was as good as dead. Still, I couldn’t climb out from inside the cauldron without being stopped by the Rippers, and so I had to wait for the perfect opportunity.

That opportunity came when Zotar strolled out of the jungle. He sprayed the bay with blaster fire and, as the Rippers looked for cover, I finally jumped out of the cauldron. Crouching behind it, I used it as cover as the Rippers and Zotar filled the entire bay with the sound of weapons, blasts flying everywhere. One of them even hit the cauldron’s lip, the sound of the bolt hitting the metal causing my ears to ring alarmingly.

“I got the fucker,” I heard one of the Rippers shout. Right then and there, my heart sank into my stomach. Had they shot Zotar? Mustering what courage I could, I peered over the cauldron to see two of the Rippers dragging Zotar toward the leader.

He was bruised, and there was blood trickling from his mouth, but he hadn’t been shot. The rifle he had been using remained slung over his right shoulder. Since the Rippers hadn’t bothered with removing it, that probably meant he had run out of ammunition.

I was forced to look away when the water in the cauldron started boiling, the sharp bite of the heat causing me to jump back. I fell back onto the sand with a muffled groan, but the Rippers weren’t paying any attention to me. They hadn’t even noticed I wasn’t in the cauldron.

“Not so strong now, huh?” The leader barked a laugh, his guttural voice sending a shiver down my spine. On all fours, I moved around the cauldron and tried to see what was happening. Zotar was now on his knees, right in front of the Hunters’ leader, and he was staring up at him with a defiant expression. Even though his situation wasn’t a good one, he didn’t seem afraid. “Don’t worry, Zotar, I’m not going to shoot you in the head. I want proof of your death, not to mention that your severed head will look good on my—”

Before he could finish his sentence, I let out a mighty scream and sprang to my feet. The three Rippers turned toward me, eyes widening with surprise as I pushed the cauldron as hard as I could, ignoring the sear of pain on my palms. It tipped over onto the sand, all of the boiling water spilling onto the Rippers’ feet, and that was all Zotar needed. Before any of the Rippers could react, he freed himself.

“You talk too much,” he growled and, using his knees to push himself up, drove his horns into the Ripper’s chest. They pierced the protective vest and sank into the flesh, and that was it. Pulling back, Zotar grabbed the Ripper’s blaster, then whipped around and fired two shots into the two remaining survivors. Both blasts hit their marks, and they fell back with dull thuds.

“Holy shit,” I breathed out, my knees buckling under my weight. I took a look around, then sank onto the sand, my whole body trembling as it tried to process the sudden rush of adrenaline. “Are they dead?”

“Yeah,” Zotar replied, hands on his hips as he stared down at the Rippers. His horns were covered in blood, and his tail was no longer looped around his waist. Instead, the tip hung in the air beside his shoulder, much like a whip ready to crack. “I think we got ’em all.”

“We?” I repeated, and I felt a sudden urge to laugh. Zotar used to act as a lone wolf, and now he was talking about us as if we were some super-elite duo. I kinda liked it, I had to admit. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Not true.” He wiped sweat off his brow, then looked at me and smiled. “If it hadn’t been for you, these three assholes would have finished me. I was all out of options, but you turned the tables.”

“I guess we make a good team, huh?” This time, I didn’t try to suppress the urge to laugh. After hours of pure terror and anxiety, we no longer had anything to fear. Looking straight into Zotar’s eyes, I started walking toward him, but I felt something wrap itself around my ankle.

When I looked down, I saw gray fingers clutching me. Surprised, I didn’t even have time to react as I was pulled to the ground, and I landed straight onto the sand. Before I knew what the hell was happening, the leader of the Hunters sprang to his feet. Blood flowed out of his chest, the wounds Zotar had inflicted with his horns looking truly nasty, but he was obviously alive, and fully conscious.

“This isn’t over,” he growled, then grabbed me by the hair and pulled me up. Standing right behind me, he placed one huge arm around my neck, the pressure making it hard to breathe. Using his free hand, he pressed the barrel of a small blaster against my temple. “Let’s talk, shall we?”

Oh, shit.

ZOTAR

“Let her go,” I growled, immediately raising my rifle. I thought I had killed the bastard, but I had been careless—he was still alive, and now Natalie’s life was on the line. If push came to shove, I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. Whatever I did now, I had to be careful. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“That tired old bullshit again?” He laughed, tightening his arm around her neck. I could see her digging her fingernails into the Ripper’s forearm as she tried to breathe, but he wasn’t even registering the pain. “I’m not going to fall for that. Let’s try something different, shall we? You lower your weapon.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then we’re at an impasse,” the Ripper growled. His grin widened, and he tapped the blaster’s barrel against Natalie’s temple. “I think I might have to blow her brains out if we don’t reach an agreement here. What a shame. I was looking forward to sinking my teeth into her soft flesh. She looks delicious.”

“What are you even doing here?” I asked him, although I didn’t particularly care for an answer. I was just trying to buy some time. I needed to figure out a way to free Natalie and kill the bastard.

“You still don’t know why an entire team of Hunters was dispatched to Naresh?” His right eyebrow arched up. “We already told you, haven’t we? You’re the great and fearsome Red Ghost, the one that’s been fucking up our plans for years, and this was an opportunity we couldn’t miss.”

“I know why you Hunters came here,” I threw back at him. “What I don’t understand is why they were here.” As I spoke, I looked at the two dead Rippers wearing pilots’ uniforms. “Why was a light fighter in this sector? Why attack a civilian transport on its way to Tarkun IV?”

“I thought you were an intelligence officer.” Still grinning, the Ripper barked his raucous laughter. His voice was annoying, and I instinctively placed my finger over the trigger. I wanted nothing more than to put a blast in his forehead and end that stupid laughter of his. “It seems like you’re not that intelligent, after all. You still haven’t pieced it together? What a disappointment.”

“Why don’t you just tell us why these guys attacked the shuttle?” Natalie finally spoke up, her voice coming out as a croak. Surprised, the Ripper ignored how hard she was trying to breathe in and kept her in a tight arm lock. He clearly hadn’t been expecting Natalie to talk back at him. I figure he expected her to cry or beg for her life, not continue showing defiance. “Unless you don’t know, either. I wouldn’t be surprised. You’re just an asshole with a gun and—”

“Shut the fuck up,” he growled, his vicious grin giving way to a scowl. Still using Natalie as a living shield, he turned all his attention toward me, his eyes peering over her shoulder. “You Jorkan think you’re so smart, cozying up with the humans, but you have no idea how frail your relationship truly is.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Do you think Earth would be so eager about that fucking mating protocol of yours if one of their women blew up?” His grating laughter returned. “Just think about it. One of Earth’s transports is blown up, and suddenly the humans start wondering about the Jorkan. If you can’t even protect a single woman, can you really protect their planet? Oh, I doubt that they’d be so willing to keep on sending you their women if that kept on happening over and over again.”

I should’ve known.

The Rippers had made infertility a reality for all Jorkan females, but I figure that wasn’t enough for them. No, they wouldn’t stop until the Jorkan disappeared completely, and that meant they had to stop us from mating altogether. Since human females were the only beings in the galaxy that could carry a Jorkan child, it was only a matter of time until they became targeted by the Rippers.

“You’re fucking sick,” I said, the urge to shoot him almost overwhelming. If he showed a bit more of his head, I’d put an end to his miserable life. “You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you?”

“This is a war,” he continued. “Unlike you, we don’t give two fucks about ethics or morality. That’s for weak idiots like you, Zotar. We only care about winning, and that protocol you have with the Earthlings isn’t helping.”

“Even if the protocol goes away, that doesn’t mean that—”

“Oh, we know,” he cut me short. “You’ll still have all your ships and all your soldiers. But what about ten years from now? What about three decades from now? If the Jorkan become a dying breed, there’ll be no one capable of standing in our way. The galaxy will be ours. It might take a while before we get to that point, sure, but we’re a patient race. It doesn’t matter what you do, Zotar, the future will inevitably be ours.”

“But you failed,” Natalie said, her voice even frailer now.

“What?”

“You failed,” she insisted. “You blew the shuttle up, but I’m still here. You didn’t kill me.”

“I can still fix that,” he growled, once more tapping the barrel against her temple. “Unless your red friend decides to cooperate, that is.” For a tense moment, no one spoke, the seconds slipping past me as time ran out. “Lower your weapon, Zotar, and surrender yourself. You do that and I’ll set the woman free.”

“How do I know you’ll keep your word?” I asked.

“You don’t.” He shrugged. “But you don’t have a choice, do you?”

I didn’t move.

Perfectly still, my rifle leveled, I tried to think.

I couldn’t trust him to keep his word, but he was right when he said that I didn’t have a choice. I either lowered my weapon, or Natalie was as good as dead. But what if he shot her the moment I lowered the rifle? What if—?

My train of thought derailed as I realized that Natalie was staring hard at me. She winked once she noticed me looking, giving a barely perceptible nod. For a moment, I was confused, but then I realized what she was asking of me—she was going to try something, and she wanted me to trust her.

My first reaction was denial. Even if she was asking me to trust her, I simply couldn’t do it. Whatever she was planning would risk her life, which I couldn’t allow. Then again, what were my options? It was either that or…shit, I didn’t even want to think of the alternative.

Slowly, I gave Natalie a slight nod, then looked straight at the Ripper.

“Alright, I’m going to lower my rifle now,” I said, my heart beating at a thousand miles an hour. I still couldn’t believe I had deposited all of my trust in Natalie. Whatever was going to happen next depended on her.

“Seems like you’ve finally accepted what’s best for you,” the Ripper said, his shoulders relaxing. As I bent down, slowly lowering my rifle, I watched Natalie sucking in a deep breath, then…

Gritting her teeth, she threw her head back as hard as she could, smashing it against the Ripper’s chest. Disoriented, he tried to shoot her, but the barrel was no longer pressed against her temple. Knowing I couldn’t waste the opportunity, I sank down onto one knee and leveled my rifle.

I closed one eye, took aim, and squeezed the trigger.

The blast flew up past Natalie’s right ear and it found its target. Where the Ripper’s left eye had been, there was now a fine mist of crimson blood. His arms dropped, the blaster fell from his hand, and he flew back like a ship without a pilot.

“He’s gone,” Natalie said, her voice trembling slightly. “You did it.”

“No,” I whispered, “we did it.”

NATALIE

“You’re hurt.” Finally, I ran toward him, relishing the closeness. I placed both hands on his ripped shirt, carefully examining each bruise and cut on his torso. None of them were deep, and most of the blood on his shirt wasn’t even his, but that didn’t stop me from worrying.

“I’m fine,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around me. He pulled me in, and I closed my eyes and laid my head on his chest. I felt his steady heartbeat and, then and there, I knew we were finally okay. None of the Rippers would come back from the dead and we no longer needed to fight. At last, we were safe. “How are you feeling? Did they hurt you?”

“No,” I said. My clothes had already dried out and, although I was still a little shaken after everything we had gone through, I was fine. “You know, I really thought I was a goner. Those assholes were actually going to eat me.”

“That didn’t work out for them, did it?” With a small grin, Zotar waved his hand at the dead bodies littering the beach. “In the end, they got eaten, by laser fire. Serves ’em right.”

I ran one hand through my hair, then remembered the brochure tucked in my back pocket. Grabbing it, I unfolded it and laughed out loud. Zotar looked at me with a confused expression, and I showed him one of the activities listed on the page.

“I think I can cross it off, right?” I asked, tapping the page right below the words ‘cook a gourmet meal’. “I mean, I never thought I’d be the main ingredient in a recipe, but—”

“You definitely put the gourmet aspect into it, no doubt about it,” Zotar said, cupping my face with both hands. Leaning in, he gently brushed his lips against mine, and my heart fluttered happily. “Let’s get out of here, Natalie.”

With that, he placed one hand on my lower back and led me across the bay. We made our way toward the ship that had brought the Hunters here, and Zotar opened the side ramp to let me in. Although the ship was stern-looking, it was spacious and filled with all kinds of high-tech gear. Zotar didn’t spend any time exploring it, though. He just headed straight into the cockpit and sat behind the controls.

“Do you know how to fly it?” I asked, and he just offered me a cocky grin.

Seconds later, I felt the rumble of the engines as they awoke. Sitting beside Zotar, I looked out the viewscreen as the ship pushed itself off the sand, then we were leaving it all behind. We rose up until the island became a green blotch on the endless ocean, and I started thinking Zotar would fly us out of Naresh right away. Instead, he quickly tipped the ship’s nose down and flew toward the beach where we had crash landed.

Zotar didn’t kill the engines after we touched down.

Leaning back in his seat, his hands still on the controls, he took a deep breath. He looked at me, his lips pursed, and I could tell he was struggling with something. Reaching for him, I laid my hand on top of his. Only then did he speak up.

“This ship is fit for interplanetary travel,” he said, his eyes focusing on the holographic dashboard in front of him, all kinds of data on display. “We’ve got an operational comms system, and we also have enough fuel to get us to Tarkun IV or even Pluto Station. If you want me to take you back to—”

“I agreed to thirty days, didn’t I?” I cut him short, suddenly realizing that I didn’t want to leave this planet. Not yet. If we showed up on Tarkun IV now, it was likely that the Jorkan officials would simply pull the plug on this whole thing and ship me back to Earth, and I wasn’t quite ready to let go of Zotar. “We can stay here a little longer.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been this sure of anything in my life,” I told him, tightening my fingers around his hand. His lips finally opened into a smile, and the tension in his body vanished at once.

“There’s a rescue party on the way,” he explained, “but they’re still a week away from Naresh. I figure we can wait for them to get here.” With that, he leaned forward and input a string of numbers into the console. A few seconds later, a comms link was established.

“Zotar?” a deep voice said, filling the entirety of the screen. The holographic dashboard was replaced by the image of a blue Jorkan with polished horns and a stately chin. He wore a crisp military uniform, his expression that of a man who knew little about life outside the military. “What the hell happened?”

“The Rippers are all dead, Commander,” Zotar replied, a barely noticeable grin on his lips, “and Natalie is safe.” The Jorkan on the screen tightened his lips, but he said nothing. “I’ve secured the ship used by the Hunters, but it seems like their engines are faulty. We’ll have to wait for the rescue party to get here.”

“Are you sure?” the Jorkan official asked. “I’m getting the readouts from that ship you’re in, and it seems like the engines are functional.”

“Is that so?” With a quick movement, Zotar kicked open a panel underneath the console then thrust his boot inside and wiggled it vigorously, dislodging a few wires. “Maybe you should check again.”

“Huh, interesting,” the blue Jorkan said. “It seems like you’re right.”

“Yeah, it’s really unfortunate,” Zotar continued, “but we can wait.”

“Very well, Zotar.”

Once the comms link was disconnected, Zotar rose from his seat and took my hand. He led me out of the ship, and I kicked my boots off once we hit the beach. It felt good to feel the sand on my feet. The rain from two nights ago had given way to a clear sky, and sunlight bounced off the gentle surface of the ocean. Now that the Rippers were no longer a threat, Naresh was back to being its idyllic self.

“I’m glad that things happened the way they did,” I found myself saying, and the back of my hand brushed against his. Slowly, I turned to him. “I mean, the Rippers were awful, but…” I trailed off, not sure how to put what I was feeling into words. “I’m just glad that we’re here. Together.”

My heart tightened inside my chest as I spoke. I cared for Zotar, but soon enough we’d be pulled out of the bubble we were in. The real world would come knocking just a week from now, and with it, the choice I didn’t want to make. After everything that had happened, could I really accept the five million and go back to Earth? Or was I brave enough to turn my back on Earth and start a new life with him?

And what did Zotar think of all this?

“I’m glad, too,” he whispered, his words calming my anxiety. That choice would still have to be made, no doubt about it, but now wasn’t the time. “I don’t know how or when it happened, but…” Slowly, he leaned in and kissed me, and his next words were whispered against my lips. “I care for you, Natalie. I really do.”

Resting my forehead against his, I let a teasing smile dance on my lips.

“Then prove it.”

NATALIE

It was easy to forget about the future.

As our kiss deepened, all my fears vanished, and the love I felt for Zotar took their place. Yes, that’s not a mistake—I really did use the word love, and that’s because I had truly fallen for Zotar. And I had fallen hard.

I still didn’t know what the future held for us but, at that moment, none of that mattered. What mattered was that we were together, and that we were both safe and sound.

Rising to the challenge I had issued, and definitely eager to prove just how much he cared for me, Zotar placed both hands on my hips and pulled my body against his. I melted into him, my heart beating like a war drum as lust took over me. In moments, we were lying down on the white sands of Naresh.

Our tongues danced as his hands explored my curves, and I pressed my body tightly against his. Pushing him to the side and onto his back, I rose and straddled him. With my hands on his chest, my fingernails digging into his pectorals, I started grinding hard against him, a scorching heat between my legs. I was as wet as I had ever been, my rational mind no longer in control. Instinct reigned, and I loved every second of it.

My brush with death had awoken something inside me.

I was hungry for life and love, and I no longer cared about any self-imposed fears or limitations. I knew that I wanted Zotar, and I wouldn’t let anything stop me from having him. Forget all about sexual hang-ups or embarrassment—at that moment, I was wild and free in a way I had never experienced.

The same seemed true of him.

His tail unfurled with a rapid motion, and its arrow-shaped tip darted straight to my waist. It lifted up my shirt, pulling it over my head, then unclasped my bra just as quickly. My breasts spilled out from their cups, and Zotar craned his neck and wrapped his lips around my left nipple, sucking it into his mouth as his tongue lashed it mercilessly.

I let out a violent moan, the sound of my voice carried away by the ocean breeze, and I tore into him with a vengeance. I ripped his shirt off, pausing to caress his hard wall of abs, then I unbuckled his belt and pulled it out. He didn’t hesitate before returning the favor.

Pushing me to the side, he tore the clothes off my Once I was completely naked, he was on me like a wild predator.

Kneeling between my legs, he pushed my thighs apart and dove in, his mouth going straight to my wetness. I arched my back as I felt him against my drenched folds, grabbing his horns to ensure he wouldn’t go anywhere. Now that I had him where I needed him the most, there was no way I’d let him go.

To his credit, he didn’t seem like he wanted to go anywhere. Instead, he just pressed his mouth against my aching pussy with all of his brutish strength. While his tongue ran up and down the length of my inner lips, his tail honed in on my clit, its tip pressing down right above it. It was almost more than I could take.

My eyes rolled back, and my eyelids fluttered as I tried to process the onslaught of pleasure. Ecstasy coursed through my veins, incinerating all my nerve endings, and it didn’t take long before I felt ready to blow up. And that’s exactly what I did—still holding onto his horns, I pulled him against me as hard as I could and screamed, my voice exploding into the air as I came.

The moment I voiced my pleasure, Zotar changed gears. He stood and took his pants off, his cock springing free right away. Sitting down on the sand, he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me over onto him, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Our eyes locked and I eased myself down, my mouth dropping open as I felt his thickness parting my core.

Locked in his embrace, I threw my arms over his shoulders and started rocking my hips against his. Kissing as we moved, our bodies lulled into hypnotic motion, we no longer were Zotar and Natalie—in that moment, we became one.

“Don’t hold back,” I whispered against his lips, the fire inside me demanding more. Pushing me back onto the sand, he took charge, pistoning into me with unbridled fury. His thrusts unleashed unimaginable pleasure, waves of it crashing against my body. For a moment, I didn’t even know where or who I was.

Not that I cared.

He kept on fucking me until my screams became loud enough to scare away the birds perched in the trees lining the beach, and only then did he decide to switch things up. Pulling back from me, he positioned me on all fours, then closed the distance between us. There was no hesitation as he eased himself back in, and he went back to thrusting right away.

His thighs slapped my backside over and over again, the sound of it almost louder than my own screams, and every second of it was absolutely perfect. His tail coiled around my waist, holding me in place, the tip pressing down on my clit, driving me into lustful madness.

“I’m going to come,” I said, then repeated that sentence over and over again. The words stopped making sense after some time, and I quickly decided to replace them with a quivering moan. As my body tensed up, so did his cock, and I closed my eyes as I readied myself for the inevitable.

We came at the same time, his cock throbbing against my inner walls as he spilled his seed inside me. Thunder and lightning exploded inside me, a massive wave of simmering pleasure obliterating every rational thought I had, and I became nothing but a vessel for the most powerful orgasm I had ever experienced.

I collapsed on the sand, and Zotar followed after me.

We didn’t say a word.

We just stared at the blue sky overhead, the gentle sound of the waves lapping at the shore taking over the beach once more. In the distance, the birds were now chirping happily, their songs replacing my moans and screams. I took a gentle breath in, then laid my hand on top of Zotar’s.

Finally, I knew true happiness.

ZOTAR

“Almost done.” I tied up the branches that made up the ceiling of our improvised hut, the sun peeking through the green leaves covering it, and realized that I was going to need more wire. “Damn it.”

I left the hut and squinted as the sunlight hit me straight in the face. Natalie was gathering wood by the edge of the jungle, and I stood there and watched her for a while. The last five days had gone by in an instant, but they had been enough for me to feel something different—peace.

I had been a man of war for so long that at first, I hadn’t even recognized what it was. Serenity and tranquility were foreign concepts to me, but Natalie had waltzed into my life and changed things. Now, I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to cope without her around. Would she take all of this peace with her? And what would take its place? Somehow, the idea of returning to my role as an elite intelligence officer seemed completely ridiculous. After all, I no longer lusted for blood.

I lusted for her.

The last five days were proof of that. We were having sex all the time, we shared everything there was to share about our pasts, and the connection between us became so strong I was pretty sure that it was now unbreakable. And yet, I knew there was a rescue party on the way, and that its purpose was to yank us away from the peace we had built here.

I shook my head and chuckled softly. What had happened to the old Zotar? Was a boring existence on some desert island what I really wanted for my life? The thought seemed ridiculous, but the answer surfaced right away—as long as I got to stay with Natalie, my existence would never be boring.

“Where are you going?” Natalie cried out, noticing me as I strolled toward the ship we had flown here. We could have stayed inside it these past five days but, somehow, it felt better to sleep inside something I had built for the two of us. It was just a small hut, but it had a certain charm to it.

Natalie’s little pet hadn’t come back yet, but I was sure it would in time.

“No, it’s fine,” I replied, giving her a casual wave. “I just need to grab some extra wire to fasten a couple of branches.” She blew me a kiss and my heart skipped a beat. Fuck, I had promised myself I would never fall for her, and now…

Trying to focus on the task at hand, I strolled up the ship’s entrance ramp and made my way into the cargo hold. I needed to keep busy or else I would drive myself mad. Then, right as I started rummaging through a few crates, I noticed a red light blinking in the cockpit. It wasn’t the first time I had seen it—that red light signaled an incoming transmission, and I was pretty sure that it was Commander Ranak who had been trying to reach me every single time. I had been successfully ignoring him, but I figured it was finally time to face the music.

Sighing, I went into the cockpit and sank into the pilot’s chair. A quick flick of a button and I accepted the incoming transmission. A second later, a holographic Ranak appeared in front of me. He sat in his office behind his massive desk, and he didn’t look happy.

“What the hell is going on, Zotar?” he asked. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”

“I know, sir.” Leaning back, I tried to remain calm. “I’ve been busy.”

“Busy?” he repeated, his right brow arching up. He offered me a slight grin, then shook his head. “I hope you’ve had your fun, Zotar, but now it’s time to wake up and smell the roses. The real world is about to come knocking.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“Remember the rescue party I sent?” I nodded, knowing what was coming. “Well, they’re going to arrive on Naresh tomorrow. I’ve already made the necessary arrangements, and one of the ships will take the human back to Pluto Station. Given how fucked up the entire experience was, it won’t be necessary to follow the protocol anymore. She’ll be free to return to Earth, and you can get back to work. You won’t have to go through any red tape and the trial period has been waived.” He made a slight pause, then his face lit up with a cocky grin. “Unless you’ve lost your mind and decide to go through that Signing Day bullshit with the woman, you’re 24 hours away from becoming a free man. You can thank me later.”

I said nothing.

My whole body tensed up, and my mouth turned dry.

“Is there something wrong?” Ranak asked, and I found myself shaking my head. He was right—I had to wake up from this dream. As sweet as these past few days had been, Natalie and I had separate lives that we had to get back to.

I knew I could apply the necessary changes to make a relationship possible, but I wouldn’t be that selfish. She had shared her dreams with me, and I knew that she was counting on the five million to finally open her own restaurant. If I asked her to stay, she would have to give up on that, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be the kind of guy that would crush her dreams.

“No, sir, there’s nothing wrong,” I finally said. “I’ll be ready.”

“Good.”

A few minutes later, I ambled out of the ship, the wire I needed for the hut’s ceiling in my hands. I went down the ramp but, instead of heading toward the hut, I sat down on the sand and stared at the horizon. Right where I should’ve had a heartbeat, there was only a deep hollowness.

In a way, there was a deep irony to all of this: I thought that I would never fall in love with a human, but Natalie had proved me wrong.

Now, I was about to lose it all.

NATALIE

Aside from night and day, time had lost all meaning to me. It felt like I’d been living like this forever, on the beach with Zotar at my side. As often as I thought of my old life, I found with each passing day, I missed it less and less.

I once believed not opening my restaurant would be the worst thing in the world. Now that I’ve nearly lost Zotar, almost been cooked alive, and assisted in killing Rippers, I’d gained some perspective.

I was happy. For now, that was enough.

“I found an herb that tastes kind of like paprika,” I said to Zotar when I came back from scavenging for ingredients. “I should have checked to make sure it wasn’t toxic before taste testing. Good news. It’s not toxic.”

“How do you know?” he asked.

“I’m not dead.”

Zotar laughed once, not moving from where he sat on the beach. He didn’t turn to look at me as I approached, just kept staring at the water.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said, still not looking at me. “I’m just thinking.”

“Okay.” Understandable. We’d been living on top of each other for…I wasn’t sure how long. Taking time to oneself was instrumental in stopping us from getting on each other’s nerves.

I laid out all the plants I’d gathered from the jungle. Zotar had caught a few fish earlier. By caught, I meant shot. Thankfully, there was still enough meat on the poor bastards to feed us both.

A few of the plants I’d been using lately needed to be dried before I could crumble them into a seasoning. It would take a few hours but it would be worth it.

I missed cooking in a proper kitchen with everything I’d ever want at my disposal. I’d probably miss that for a long time.

By the time the plants were dried out and ready to be crushed up, Zotar still hadn’t moved from his spot on the beach. It was worrying.

I approached him quietly. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he replied.

I sat down next to him. “What’s with the radio silence? Did I do something to upset you?”

“What?” He furrowed his brow. “No. You could never.”

“Believe me, I could,” I chuckled. “But seriously. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I spoke with my superiors while you were out walking. They’re sending a ship here.”

“Oh!” I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s great, isn’t it?”

“The ship is for you.” He didn’t look at me when he spoke. From what I could see of his face, he was totally expressionless.

“Oh,” I said, much softer this time. “Is it time already?”

“It’s the safest option.”

I couldn’t disagree with him on that front, even though he didn’t exactly answer my question.

Somehow, I’d forgotten that this was a temporary arrangement, even if we’d ended up wildly off course. I never thought to bring it up once the shit hit the fan.

“When will the ship arrive?” I asked.

“Tomorrow.”

The word twisted in my gut like a knife.

“Oh.”

I wanted him to say something. Anything. Instead, he just stared at the water. The sun had begun to set. Within an hour, it would be dark.

“I better get dinner going.” I got to my feet and hurried up the beach.

My body shifted to auto-pilot as I prepared the fish and herbs. What I wouldn’t give for some butter.

I’d have access to that sooner than I’d like. Within a week, I’d be back at home living my normal life. Could I do that? Could my life ever be normal again?

“Do you need any help?” I hadn’t heard Zotar come up behind me. I jumped at the sound of his voice.

“Sorry.” He started to laugh, as if he was going to tease me or something, but stopped himself. We fell into a strained silence. I realized he was waiting for me to speak.

“No,” I said, more curtly than I meant to. “I’ve got it covered. Go relax.”

“Right.” He nodded and walked away.

Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them away. I shouldn’t be upset. I was going to go home. I loved home. On top of that, I was going to get millions! I was going to get my restaurant after all.

I distracted myself with menu ideas until I finished dinner.

We ate quietly.

“It’s good,” Zotar said.

“Thank you. I tried a new herb. It gives it a kick.”

“A kick?” He tilted his head.

“Spice,” I explained. “It makes the food a little spicy.”

“Ah,” he nodded. “I must have a high spice tolerance compared to your spices. This doesn’t have a kick to it for me.”

As we continued eating, I wanted to ask him what he thought about going separate ways tomorrow. I supposed the fact that he hadn’t said anything at all was my answer. I shouldn’t be surprised. Neither of us had wanted this in the first place. It was more beneficial for both of us to part ways now.

Besides, he had a dangerous job. If the Rippers wanted his head, no doubt other hostiles had a price on him as well. What would our life be like if we remained together? That was something I hadn’t considered at all.

Would I be kept on an alien planet alone, for months at a time, while Zotar flew across space to put his life on the line? I could lose him in the blink of an eye and not realize it until months later. Should he die doing his intergalactic duty, what would happen to me?

“I’ll clean up.” He got up from the table and began tidying.

Now, it was my turn to sit on the beach and stare at the water. The moon hung low in the sky, creating blinding white shimmers on the water’s surface.

“Do you know when the ship is coming?” I asked over my shoulder.

“I told you,” he replied, sounding exhausted. “Tomorrow.”

“I know but what time? Morning, noon, night?”

Please, tell me how much time I have left with you.

“Oh, I’m not sure. I expect they’ll call me when they’ve penetrated the atmosphere.”

Again, silence settled between us. It was absolutely maddening.

“I’m going to turn in,” Zotar said at last. “Tomorrow is going to be a big day.” He stopped at the entrance to our little shelter. I thought he was going to say something else. He took a breath, shook his head, then entered the shelter without saying anything else.

Disappointment weighed heavily on my chest.

“This is good,” I murmured. “This is for the best. This is how it’s supposed to be.”

No matter how many times I tried to put a positive spin on it, I couldn’t shake the sadness blooming inside me.

I thought Zotar and I had bonded in a way that was truly meaningful. Perhaps there were logical reasons why we shouldn’t remain together, but I thought he’d care a little more. I wanted him to tell me he’d be with me if he thought it was the right thing to do, even if that wasn’t true.

Exhaustion settled over me like a cloak.

I made my way into the shelter, half expecting to see Zotar asleep on the floor, but he was on our cot. I wiggled in beside him. I could tell by his breathing he wasn’t asleep yet.

As soon as I lay down, he rolled over and pulled me close to him, fitting my back against his chest. I snuggled into him, softly kissing wherever my lips could reach.

We didn’t speak. This time, it was okay.

ZOTAR

We stood on the beach as the two small shuttles cut across the blue sky, the rumble of their engines loud enough to drown the sounds of Naresh. As they landed next to the Rippers’ ship, the wind blew against the hut I had built, and I felt a certain queasiness as I watched it collapse. Just like they had destroyed the hut, these two shuttles were about to destroy what I had built with Natalie.

“This is it,” I muttered under my breath, and I noticed Natalie shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She looked uncomfortable.

“Yeah, this is it,” she repeated after me, her shoulders tense. I had no idea what she was thinking, but I imagined it was a blend of anxiety and excitement. After everything she had gone through, she was probably eager to get back to Earth and leave all this madness behind her. I couldn’t blame her. After the Rippers showed up on the island, life had become a constant struggle for survival.

When the engines finally quieted down, a blue Jorkan with a long flowing robe jumped from one of the shuttles. His tail, which most Jorkan kept wrapped around their waists, waved freely beside him. He rushed toward Natalie right away and grabbed her hands.

“I’m so glad that you are safe,” he said, his voice unusually high-pitched. “This is an embarrassment for all Jorkan. I don’t even know how to apologize to you, but I’ll make sure that the government issues an official—”

“It’s fine,” Natalie said, an awkward smile on her lips. “I’m alive.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” the Jorkan continued, and only then did he notice me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even introduce myself. My name is Yilap, and I was the one that should’ve guided and advised you during your stay on Tarkun IV.” He cleared his throat and returned his attention to Natalie. “I hate the way things happened, but it seems like you two have been relieved of your official duties. Due to these unexpected events, the protocol won’t be enforced when it comes to you. Unless…”

“Unless?” Natalie said.

“Unless you’ve both decided to enter a relationship, of course,” he replied, and there was a hopeful glimmer in his eyes. He leaned forward as he spoke, almost as if he was silently praying for us to confess our undying love right there in front of him. That, of course, didn’t happen.

“I think Natalie just wants to go home,” I said after a moment of silence. She probably didn’t want to say it in order not to hurt my feelings, and so I decided to bite the bullet. It was going to happen, one way or the other.

“I see,” Yilap muttered, and he sounded disappointed. “In that case, your ships are ready.” He took a step forward and waved at the shuttles, which idled just a few yards away from where we stood.

I turned to Natalie, not knowing what to say. We just stared at each other for a long moment, then she stepped forward and fell into my arms. We embraced for almost a minute, and I closed my eyes as I felt the warmth of her body.

“I’ll never forget you, Natalie,” I whispered, and her arms tightened around my torso. “Never.”

“Neither will I,” she whispered back at me, and that was it.

The end—our end—had finally come.

Fuck, I was going to miss her.

“ARE you sure you’re all right?”

Looking down at my empty glass, Yilap hesitated before refilling it.

“I’m all right, man,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose as I tried to suppress how fucking desolate I truly felt. I waved the glass in front of him once more, and he finally poured two more fingers of whiskey into it. “I’ve been without alcohol for more than a week. I’m just doing some catching up.”

“Pardon me saying it,” Yilap continued as he took the seat in front of me. “You don’t look all right to me.” He placed the bottle of whiskey on the table and put the cork back in. I tried to avoid his gaze and looked out the viewport, watching as the shuttle cut across the pitch-dark vastness of space. “Is there something wrong?”

“I just never thought it’d be this fucking hard,” I found myself saying, the words slipping out of my mouth before I had time to stop them. Clearly, I had already had one drink too many. I’ve never been the kind of guy to babble about my feelings and now there I was, doing it with a guy I barely knew. “It was hell to leave her, man. It fucking wrecked me.”

“I don’t understand.” Using his tail, he scratched the side of his head. “Why did you leave her then?”

“Didn’t you see her face?” I knocked back the whiskey with one single gulp, then sighed heavily. “She was dying to get back to Earth. Besides, she would have never said no to that five million. There’s no way things could’ve ended differently.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Yilap cried out so loudly that my eardrums popped. He jumped out from his seat and grabbed me by the shoulders. He wasn’t half as strong as I was, but that didn’t stop him from trying to shake me. “You’re wrong!”

“Wrong?” I asked, having no idea what was going on. “What about?”

“Oh, I’m such an idiot.” Finally letting go of me, he sunk back into his seat. “I thought you were the one that didn’t want to go forward with Signing Day.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Natalie was dying for you to say something,” he said. “How could you have missed it? She doesn’t want to go back to Earth…she wants to stay with you. By the stars, how come soldiers are always so dense?”

“No, that’s not true,” I muttered, my heart tightening inside my chest. “She wants to open a restaurant and—”

“Oh, stop,” Yilap cut me off with a quick flutter of his hands. “I saw her on that beach, and I can guarantee you she wasn’t thinking of a restaurant. She was thinking of you. I just didn’t realize that you were also in love with her.”

To hear him say it out loud…

It changed things.

“It’s too late now,” Yilap continued, sounding even more depressed than I was. “She must be close to Pluto Station now and, once she gets there, we’ll be barred from communicating with her and—”

I didn’t listen to the rest of it.

Before I knew what I was doing, I’d jumped out of my seat and rushed toward the cockpit. Natalie’s ship had to be pretty far from our location already, but it was an older model. There was a chance I could still catch up to her.

“What are you doing?” the pilot asked me, clearly not expecting anyone to storm into the cockpit. I didn’t bother answering him. I grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him out of his seat. “Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Shut the fuck up,” I growled. “There’s somewhere I need to be.”

Natalie, I thought, I’m on my way.

NATALIE

“This is for you, miss.” A human man held out a thin black card.

“What?” My brain was still back on the beach with Zotar. It took a few moments for me to realize I was staring at some kind of credit card, though it didn’t have any numbers or a chip.

“Your five million dollars,” the man said as if he were handing me a five-dollar gift card rather than a fortune. His nameplate read Banks. How ironic.

“Thank you,” I said stiffly, and took the card, unsure what to do with it. I didn’t expect to get a physical object. I thought this was a wire transfer kind of deal.

I thought about putting it in my pocket, but that felt wrong. Who puts five million dollars in their pocket? Crazy people. Though, after all I’d been through, it was safe to say I qualified as a crazy person.

“There is an extra half-million to make up for the…inconveniences. That’s why you get a physical card. Arranging another transfer wouldn’t have been immediate. Agents Starmer and Krasinski agreed to it, and they asked the higher-ups for clearance. We didn’t want to inconvenience you further,” Banks explained, handing me a second card.

“Inconveniences. You mean nearly being cooked and eaten?” I asked dryly. “Or are you referring to being hunted like an animal by Rippers? Or, perhaps you mean the time I was shot into space in an escape pod?”

Banks’ eyes went wide. “Um. I. Well. You…,” he stammered.

“I’m just messing with you,” I chuckled. “The extra half-million isn’t necessary.”

“The transfer has already been completed, miss. This card can be used at any Earth financial institution to access your funds. We’ve built a backdoor into each Earth financial institution that it will recognize and dispense as much cash for you as needed. The money has been tracked so no Earth government will tax you or think you’re laundering funds. You’re untouchable.” He looked relieved to speak about somewhat normal things once more. “I’m glad those things didn’t really happen to you,” he added.

“Oh, they did,” I replied. “I just don’t want to be compensated for it.”

I’d rather have Zotar back.

Banks went pale before walking away.

I reluctantly slipped the card into my pocket. I’d lose it otherwise. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?

I distracted myself by thinking about how I’d decorate my restaurant. What would I call it? What would my menu be like? Should I go for a modern or classic design?

I tried to come up with more questions to busy my mind with, but no amount of questions could eject Zotar from my mind. I should be with him, wherever he was. I knew that now.

Tears welled up in my eyes but I willed them away. I just needed a better distraction.

“Banks?” I called. He appeared moments later.

“Miss?”

“Do you have a working phone or communicator? I want to make a call to Earth.”

“Certainly.” He returned with a device identical to the one I’d used when I made this trip the first time. “We should be in range now. If not, we will be shortly.”

“Great. Thanks.” I waited for Banks to walk away before dialing Alissa.

“Hello?” she asked, sounding confused. I wondered what had come up on caller ID.

“Alissa, it’s me,” I said. “Natalie.”

“Holy shit!” she exclaimed. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you insane? You jet off to fucking Europe out of nowhere with a fucking stranger? I thought you were dead! How could you have been so stupid? Did you get the money?”

I burst out laughing as Alissa continued to tear me a new one. I let her have her moment.

“Yes, I got the money,” I said.

“That’s completely insane. Who have you been with? Where did you even go?” she demanded.

“All over.” It wasn’t a lie. “I learned a lot about rustic cooking.”

“Good for you,” she sighed. “I’m so glad you’re not dead in a fancy European ditch somewhere.”

“Me, too.” Alissa had no clue how on the nose her statement was.

“I should tell you something before I lose my nerve.”

“What?” At this point, nothing could shock me. Being prepped for dinner as the main course did that to a person.

“I sort of took a job,” she said. “A really great one. I’m working under Antoine Castille now.”

“Wow!” I gasped. “That’s amazing.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Why would I be?”

“Because I don’t want to leave my job now,” she said. “When you vanished without a trace, I thought something terrible had happened to you. Even in the best-case scenario, I didn’t think you were coming back. I had to make sure I wouldn’t lose everything.”

“I understand,” I assured her. “There were times I didn’t think I was going to make it back either. I would have done the same thing in your shoes.”

“Wait, what? You didn’t think you were going to come back?”

“Because I loved Europe so much,” I said quickly. Alissa tried to say something, but a blaring alarm drowned her out.

“What the hell is that?” she cried. “Are you okay?”

“Not again,” I muttered, all too familiar with that sound. “Alissa, I have to go. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Don’t you dare—”

I hung up before she could finish and hauled myself out of my seat. Like I said, nothing could shock me now.

“Banks, what the hell is going on?” I demanded.

He stared at a monitor, frowning.

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “A spacecraft flew up behind us out of nowhere.”

“If we are being attacked again—”

“Again?”

I pointed to myself. “Launched into space in an escape pod, remember?”

“Right,” he nodded, looking guilty.

“I’ve been through some shit, Banks. A space fire-fight is not one of the shit things I want to go through again.”

“Don’t blame you, miss.”

“So please tell me if we are under attack or not.”

“I’m not sure,” he repeated. “All I can see is that a craft is present, but not its origin.”

“The last ship was able to do that.”

“This is a generation one ship,” he explained. “The tech is outdated.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Of all the ships in all of the galaxy, they had to give me the vintage one? Did it run on gasoline, as well?

As Banks talked to the pilot via radio, I looked at the monitor. The craft was zooming right for us.

I couldn’t imagine what was going on.

If it was going to attack, it would’ve fired at us by now. This was something else.

Just as hope began to flutter in my chest, Banks addressed me.

“It’s a Jorkan ship,” he said. “They want permission to board.”

“For goodness’s sake, grant it!” I cried.

There was a fair amount of bumping as the two ships lined up. I paced in front of the airlock, growing more impatient by the minute.

The moment it opened, Zotar burst through and came to me. Before I could say or do anything, he grabbed me by the shoulders.

“I didn’t want you to get on this ship,” he said. “In fact, I didn’t want to leave the beach at all. I could have stayed there forever so long as you were with me.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but Zotar kept going.

“I know I have no right to ask this after everything I’ve put you through. You have big dreams you want to fulfill on Earth. I don’t want to take that away from you. I don’t want to take anything from you ever, but you need to know how I feel.”

My heart sped up to the point where I wasn’t sure if it was beating at all anymore.

“You’re my mate,” he said. “I would go to the ends of the universe for you without a second thought. I love you. I don’t want to do anything unless you’re by my side. I know you’ve been through hell, but would you consider giving us a shot? We have something special. Not just because we’re mates, either.”

I was speechless. Blazing white happiness, intense as lightning, flooded me from head to toe. My mouth spread into a smile so big it ached. I began bouncing on the balls of my feet, unable to contain my energy.

Zotar smiled back at me. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes!” I leaped into his arms, locking my legs around his waist. “I belong with you. I know I do. I love you more than anything in the universe.” I kissed him all over his face as he laughed.

It was only when Banks cleared his throat that I remembered others were present.

“Sorry, Banks,” I giggled. “I couldn’t help it.”

“It’s not that, miss. Congratulations on your successful match.”

I took the black card from my pocket. “I won’t be needing this. Though, could I keep that additional half million? I was still quite inconvenienced.”

“Technically, the five million isn’t going anywhere. You’ll just have to split it between you.” Clearing his throat, he then straightened his back. “I assume our destination has changed?”

I looked up at Zotar. “Technically, we never got our dream vacation.”

“You’re right,” he smiled, before speaking into his communication device. “Yilap, we’re going to tow this ship to Tarkun IV. I believe I have some unused vacation time.”

“It would be my pleasure.” I heard Yilap’s whoop through Zotar’s device.

“You know, I happen to have a bottle of champagne on my ship,” Zotar said with a sly smile.

“In that case, I’m jumping ship immediately.”

OUR SHIPS DROPPED us on a perfect sandy strip of land between a sparkling ocean and an evergreen jungle bursting with flowers of every color imaginable. The only difference between this place and the planet we’d crash landed on was the row of well-spaced cabins.

“Still have your list?” Zotar asked.

“My list?” I frowned, not understanding. Then it hit me. “My list! I think I lost it somewhere. Maybe before we embarked?”

“It’s okay,” Zotar laughed as he pulled out a stack of brochures. “I made sure to grab extras.”

I took the brochures and clutched them to my chest, giggling happily. “I wish I had the original one. It’s a good souvenir of the world’s worst and yet somehow best vacation ever.”

“Now we can have a real vacation.” He pointed to a luxurious cabin at the end of the row. “That one is ours. I made sure we don’t have any neighbors.”

“Is anyone else doing their trial at the moment?” I asked, looking at the other cabins for signs of movement. They all appeared to be empty.

“Nope,” he grinned. “We have the entire resort area to ourselves for the moment. That will likely change.”

“Then we better take advantage of it,” I winked.

Without another word, Zotar scooped me up in his arms and started jogging. The fact that he could jog easily through loose sand was a marvel on its own, let alone that he could carry me as if I weighed nothing. Would I ever stop being awed and amazed by him?

Probably not.

Our cabin was equipped with a spacious porch that not only had two chairs perfectly positioned for watching the sunset, but beside the chairs, the deck sunk down into a pitted bed.

“I think we should tackle that first, while we still can,” I teased, pointing at the sunken bed with a foot.

“As you wish.” Zotar tossed me onto the bed. I shrieked and laughed as I fell, bouncing slightly when I landed. Bed might not have been the right word for this surface. It was more like a large, flat pillow covered in smaller, fluffier pillows. It was still comfortable as hell. I imagined we’d be sleeping out here more than once.

Zotar sank down beside me, pulling me into his arms, and kissed me. I sank into his kiss, knowing it was the first of many for years to come. His kisses were permanent. He was permanent.

And all mine.

I made quick work lifting his shirt over his head. Every time I saw his bare chest, I couldn’t stop myself from staring. I reached out and ran my fingers over the smooth planes of his muscles.

“You look like you’ve been confronted with one of the world’s unsolved mysteries,” he chuckled.

“How are you so damn hot?” I cried. “It should be illegal.”

“Technically, I’m a wanted man. Depending on where we are, I am illegal.”

“Good point.”

Zotar pulled my shirt off as I undid his belt and zipper. He pushed himself out of his pants while I wiggled out of mine. Soon, he knelt before me in only his boxer briefs, with me only in my thong. I reached forward, but he stopped me.

“I want to admire you for a moment,” he said. “It’s not fair to let you have all the fun.”

I spread my arms out my sides and smiled. “Have all the fun you want.”

Zotar didn’t waste any time. He grabbed me by my waist and dragged me forward. Once I was close enough, he dipped his head to flick his tongue against one of my nipples. I tipped my head back and sighed.

The thrill of being essentially naked in public, even if there was no one else on the resort, made everything ten times better. The gentle breeze caressed my already sensitive skin, causing goosebumps to rise.

Zotar moved to my other nipple. As his teeth gently grazed the sensitive nub, a shudder tore through me. I wasn’t going to be able to stand this teasing for much longer. I wanted him so bad my brain could hardly process it.

It wasn’t just desire pulsing within me. It was something else, too. Obviously, there was love. So much love I thought my heart was going to burst from it. Yet, there was still something else. Something deeper than desire and even deeper than love. It was as if our very atoms were connected.

The universe felt balanced. A sense of peace and calm I didn’t think possible settled over me. I’d found my perfect place in the universe. I was where I was meant to be my whole life.

“Are you all right?” Zotar lifted his head. “You went quiet.”

“I’m all right,” I smiled. “I’m way more than all right. I’m perfect. You’re perfect. I love you so much it’s making me dizzy.”

“I love you, too.” Zotar kissed me sweetly before laying me down on the outdoor bed. He hovered over me, supporting himself with one hand while he removed my thong and his boxer briefs with the other.

His cock sprang free, rock hard and throbbing.

Desire quickly became the dominant sense within my body.

I reached up and ran my hands over his shoulders and down his back. His skin felt amazing under my fingers. I pulled him closer, wanting more contact. I wanted to feel him all over me.

He rubbed the head of his cock against my slit, deliberately teasing me, and the tip of his tail traced circles around my right nipple. It was driving me crazy with lust, and he was loving every second of it. I could tell by the glint in his eye and the tiniest smirk in the corner of his mouth.

“Tease,” I hissed before gently biting his bottom lip.

“Definitely,” he moaned against my mouth. “Lucky for you, I can’t resist you for long.”

Before I could come up with a witty reply, Zotar plunged his cock inside me. All I could do was gasp and cling to him as he began to thrust.

My mind exploded with pleasurable sensations. I wanted everything at once. I wanted him to go real slow so that we would carry on for hours. I wanted him to pound into me like we’d never see each other again. I wanted him in my mouth. I wanted his mouth on me.

I pulled him closer, unsure if I wanted him to go faster or slow down. He slid his arm beneath the small of my back and lifted me so that my upper half was pressed against his chest. I let my legs fall to the sides, opening them as wide as possible.

He sank deeper into me, his brilliant gaze locked on mine. Was I blinking? Was I even breathing?

My bare breasts brushed against his chest, sending shivers throughout my entire body. I gasped. Well, I was definitely breathing.

Zotar straightened up, bringing me with him, and sat back on his heels. He stayed deep inside me the entire time, my legs locked around him. He lifted me like I was nothing more than one of the pillows scattered around us, moving my entire body up and down on his cock, his pace torturously slow.

Too soon, deep tremors took over my body. I clenched my legs around him, holding him deep inside me as he continued in quick short thrusts. His movements sent me over the moon…assuming there was a moon nearby to be sent over.

I tightened around his hard length and felt him throb inside me. As I took his seed inside me, I envisioned my belly swelling with his child. I imagined him holding our baby. With tears in my eyes, I realized I wanted those visions to become a reality.

We said nothing once we came down from our highs. We didn’t need to. He lay his head on the big pillow, pulling me down with him. A pleasant sort of exhaustion settled over my limbs. Every inch of me felt at ease as I curled up against Zotar’s side.

He stroked my hair and planted kisses on my forehead until I fell asleep.

EPILOGUE: NATALIE

The last six months have somehow managed to feel like both a blink of an eye and a slow crawl spanning decades. Sometimes, I think this planet moves faster some days than others. That was the only thing that made sense.

Zotar has told me multiple times that that’s impossible, but I don’t fully believe him. If there is anything I’ve learned since I met him, it’s that anything is possible.

After spending the thirty days we’d more than earned on Tarkun IV, we took some time to explore the galaxy. We needed to find a home that worked for both of us. Earth wasn’t an option. Bringing an alien down as a permanent resident would ruffle way too many feathers.

Neither of us wanted to live in the spotlight, constantly being picked apart and overanalyzed.

All of the planets and moons that would have been perfect for Zotar’s work weren’t suitable for regular life. We were rapidly running out of ideas and hope when it occurred to us to simply move to Tarkun IV.

Zotar found he didn’t like being out on the front lines now that he had something to live for besides victory. He didn’t want to risk leaving me widowed on an alien planet. He gave up his position to permanently work from the base on Tarkun IV.

He trained all the new recruits, whipping them into shape so they could be even better than he was.

Often, I worried he didn’t feel fulfilled now that he couldn’t do the work he’d loved. but it turned out he loved teaching even more. He was a natural leader and mentor. This was the perfect place for him.

As for me, I found my perfect place as well.

I opened my restaurant after all. As it happened, the five million we split between us went a long way in getting set up, even if I was doing it on an expensive corner of the galaxy. The restaurant is actually part of Yilap’s resort. Some call it the crown jewel, in fact.

At first, I was terrified. I wasn’t just making Earth meals. I had to make alien-friendly meals, as well. It was one thing scavenging for plants while we were stranded. It couldn’t be helped if the food was bad. That was a risk Zotar and I had taken. It wasn’t a reflection of my skills.

In the restaurant, it was all on me, but every inch of it was mine.

I had a waitlist long enough to ensure every table would be full for the rest of the year.

As I closed down at the end of another successful, but hectic, day, I reminded myself not to go too fast.

My employees thought it weird, but I liked to spend an hour or so alone in the restaurant every night after the last employee left. I checked everything over. I made little adjustments here and there. It was calming to me.

All of the appliances were self-cleaning, but I still wiped them down anyway. Occasionally, I rearranged some tables. I counted stock at the bar. We never ran low on anything.

A knock at the locked door drew me out of my thoughts. Zotar stood in front of the glass pane, grinning.

I rushed across the dining room floor to let him in.

“What are you doing here?” I gushed, and wrapped my arms around his neck. This week, he’d started night training with his students. He normally didn’t finish until the wee hours of the morning.

“I left them on their own tonight,” he said. “I want to see how much they absorbed in the lectures and how well they transfer that information to the field.”

“But they aren’t in any danger,” I pointed out. “They’re camping between a state-of-the-art training facility and a luxury resort. I don’t see any terrible creatures coming out of the dark to test their mettle.”

“That’s why I have this.” He held up a small silver device with a single red button.

“You’re going to blow them up?” I smirked. “Great training.”

“That comes later when they’ve had a chance to build up their grit,” he chuckled. I was joking but something in his eyes told me he wasn’t.

“You Jorkan are hardcore.” I shook my head. “If it doesn’t blow them up, what does it do?”

“I rigged speakers around their camp.” Zotar looked as if he was about to burst with glee. “Whenever I press it, it makes noises.”

“What kind of noises?”

“Most of the time, it’ll make a rustling sound or the sound of a twig snapping,” he said. “Every tenth click, it makes a sound like a Ripper’s snarl.”

“That’s so mean!” I cried, but I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “You’re going to scare the life out of them!”

“Not if they’ve done their homework. They should be able to get through the night without losing their cool. In fact, if they don’t find the speakers within an hour, I’ll be incredibly disappointed.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a camera rigged up, too? I’d watch that with popcorn.”

He pulled out another remote, this one all black with a few unmarked buttons. “Of course I have a camera rigged up, and of course we’re going to watch it tonight.”

“You really are the man of my dreams.” I pulled him in for a quick kiss. “I’m nearly done with my rounds. I won’t be a minute.”

“Let me help you,” he offered. “I never get to see you work.”

“You see more when the place is open,” I teased.

“Watching the organized chaos of a bustling restaurant sounds interesting, however I’d rather watch you.”

“If you get a jolly from watching me sweep, then that’s your prerogative.”

“Oh, I do.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Isn’t there something I can wipe down?”

“Everything is done,” I assured him. “I just like checking things over before I leave.”

“If you’re this good at being a mother to your restaurant, just imagine how great of a mother you’ll be in the future,” he beamed.

I smiled to myself as I finished sweeping. The future was coming sooner than Zotar realized.

“Should we take a bottle of wine home?” he asked. “I think it’ll add class to the fact we’ll be watching my trainees through a hidden camera.”

“And scare the crap out of them while doing so?” I added.

“Exactly. Wine will make it a classy affair rather than cheap entertainment.”

“You are more than welcome to all of the wine you want,” I said. “But I’m going to have to pass.”

Zotar arched a brow. “Since when do you say no to wine? There is a literal vineyard in our backyard.”

“Since I realized I’m not just feeding myself anymore.”

Zotar stared at me for a moment that felt like an eternity. Did he get my meaning? Was he confused? Did he get it but felt unhappy?

Anxiety started twisting inside me right when he broke into the biggest smile I’d ever seen on his face.

“Are you…?” He didn’t say the word out loud, as if he might jinx it or something.

“I’m pregnant,” I said it for him.

He set down the bottle of wine before running to me. I prepared to be picked up, but he stopped short.

“Is it safe to spin you around?”

“It’s perfectly safe,” I said, jumping up into his arms and locking my legs around his waist. He spun me in happy circles until I had to beg him to stop. My stomach hurt from laughing so hard. Somehow, in a way I’d never be able to explain, I felt the tiny life growing inside me—a life Zotar and I created—laughing and smiling with us.

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REKKER: SNEAK PEEK!

“Lila, it’s time!”

My sister Nora’s voice echoed through the old wooden barn. The little lamb I was trying to bottle feed squirmed in my arms and I muttered under my breath.

“Of course it’s time.”

Every Friday, just about now, it was always time.

“Lila!” Nora called again and I heard the squeak of the barn door opening.

“You’d better shut that tight behind you,” I yelled, even though I wouldn’t mind the distraction of having to round up the rest of the flock.

Especially today.

I scratched behind the little guy’s ears before withdrawing the empty bottle.

“I’ll be back in just a few minutes,” I promised and stood, brushing straw from the knees of my jeans.

Nora leaned over the stall door, rolling her eyes.

“You’re going to be late,” she chided.

“There’s not any way to be late,” I grumbled. “The lottery is going to happen if we’re there to listen to it with bated breath or not.”

The late spring evening wrapped the farmhouse in gentle shadows, still just a touch chilly from the last frost. Alfalfa had already started to come up, and the farm would be in full swing soon.

“What if you don’t know? Are you packed? What would you bring?” She bounced beside me as we left the barn and crossed the yard towards the house. “I’m packed. Just in case.”

Nora was the only person I knew who was excited about the lottery.

She was excited at the idea of going to strange new worlds, meeting aliens, having adventures.

All of that.

I was excited that we weren’t all dead or slaves at the hands of the Suhlik, but a treaty that involved my body, made without my input, that could turn me into a broodmare for some alien Mahdfel warrior I’ve never met?

No thanks.

I had other plans. The farm had other plans for me, even if I didn’t. I did my best not to even think about the lottery, the treaty, the testing.

Any of it.

Nora tugged me into the house, ignoring my grumbling. As usual.

“Come on, girls.” Mom’s voice drifted in from the family room, tight with worry as it always was on Friday.

Six daughters.

If it weren’t for the superstitious taboo that kept anyone from talking about the lottery, her friends probably would have teased her that she was tempting fate.

With six daughters, the likelihood that one of us would be selected, have our birthdate pop up on some random Friday, was higher than normal.

But the odds of being matched were the same for everyone, I reminded myself as I kicked off my filthy workboots in the mudroom and followed Nora in.

Our sister Jane was already on the sofa, arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

As the third oldest, she’d just become eligible. just realized how quickly her life could change.

Posey, Farah, and Kate were too young. At fourteen, eleven, and nine, respectively, they could ignore it. Hell, I wanted them to ignore the whole thing.

Until they didn’t have a choice.

The government comms unit crackled to life and my mother froze, eyes fixed on it.

My father stopped mid-rock in the old rocking chair across the room, watching us all with the same hazel eyes I’d inherited from him.

Normally, we counted on the government communication unit for information about tornadoes, nasty hailstorms, the sort of things that you needed to know about on a rural farm.

But every Friday was lottery day.

“Good Friday, citizens,” the announcer said.

His voice was far too cheerful. Every single week, it grated on my frayed nerves.

Who on Earth had told him that this was even vaguely appropriate for the thousand, probably millions listening, waiting, hoping?

“Those lucky females born on February twenty-first should report to the testing facility nearest you.” My heart froze in my chest, as Nora’s wide eyes swung towards me.

“I repeat, February twenty-first is the date selected for this week’s lottery. Thank you for your attention and adherence to the treaty. Good luck, everyone!”

My luck had run out.

February twenty-first was my birthday.

Nora bounced up and down.

“You’re going!” she squealed. “You’re really going! Are you packed? I’ll bet you’re not even packed.”

I tuned her chatter out, my eyes focused on the bleak expression on my father’s face.

“Maybe you won’t be a match,” Jane whispered, reaching down to take my hand.

“Probably not,” I agreed, squeezing her fingers.

It was true. You had to be at least a 98.5% perfect match to be sent away. It was a crazy high level.

Still, it would mean being sent away to somewhere I’d never been, probably somewhere I’d never even heard of, to be the mate of some alien.

I’d spent my life training to be a veterinarian. It was all I’d ever wanted to be, the most wonderful future I could imagine.

Between that and growing up on my family’s farm, there was very little doubt in my mind what being someone’s mate would entail.

Would I even have a choice in the matter?

I swallowed hard, feeling faint.

“I know this wasn’t in your plans, Lila, but what have I always told you?” my father asked.

There was so much kindness and love in his eyes that I forced myself to look away.

“Never give up on your dreams, no matter what,” I recited.

The words he’d told each of us girls all our lives, that no matter what happened and no matter where we ended up, our dreams should never die. And despite my anger at being selected, I knew he was right.

Earth couldn’t be the only planet in the universe with animals that I could care for. I was sure I could be a vet anywhere, on any world out there in the black, even if it wasn’t on the farm that I’d poured my blood, sweat, tears, and love into my entire life.

I couldn’t imagine a life without this place or my family. I couldn’t imagine going even a single day without my sisters.

But I quickly pushed those thoughts from my mind. If I dwelt on them, I’d never leave, and it was that thought alone that broke my heart.

At that moment, a thought hit me. It was imperative that I report to the facility, but did I have to stay there?

What if I went and just … didn’t sign in? I was sure I could find somewhere to hide out for a week and then make my way back home. I’d just tell everyone I wasn’t successfully matched.

Hell, most women weren’t a match.

It seemed plausible enough, right?

“Lila, honey.” My mom’s voice broke, just a bit. “They’re here.”

Wait.

What?

REKKER

Damn, I was tired.

It had been a long mission.

Actually, it’d been long mission after long mission, so many of them that they blurred together.

I stretched, wincing a bit, as I headed down the halls of the Calliope to the med bay.

“What are you doing back here, Rekker?” Javik snapped.

He was a good medic, and a better science officer.

But not really one for the niceties of social interaction.

“Checking to see if you were done tormenting my pilot yet,” I snarled.

Alright, maybe I wasn’t at my social best, either. The day had nearly gone very, very badly.

Javik adhered a patch over Cedroc’s eye, the sterile white disturbing against Cedroc’s hunter green skin.

“Don’t tell me you lost one,” I joked, keeping my voice light in case Cedroc actually had.

The last battle against the Suhlik raiding party had been nasty.

Luckily, Sector Command had sent the Walkandro, a mobile command hub, as well as a dozen ships all our size or larger, to take care of the bastards.

Sure, the Suhlik hadn’t attacked Earth proper since the Mahdfel had driven them away, but that didn’t seem to stop them from sniping at the edges of every system they could find, looking for easy prey for their trafficking cells and breeding centers.

We’d taken superficial injuries, but no casualties, better off than some of the other ships that had been part of the operation.

The Calliope had taken damage, but nothing more than Kyre, my engineer, would be able to handle now that we were docked with the Walkandro, like a sleek spoke radiating out from a giant wheel.

A few other ships were still docked, as well, but the rest had already departed for new missions, or if they were lucky, some downtime.

“His eye will be fine if he quits squirming,” Javik spat.

Cedroc gave a tiny shrug. “Just a laceration around the socket from where that panel came loose. Doc wants me to keep it covered to avoid infection,” he answered, finally giving me the information I needed. “I’ll be ready to go when you give the order, Captain.”

“You’ll be ready to go when I say,” Javik corrected.

I watched as the tattoos on the science officer’s shoulder heated from gold to vermilion, indicating his annoyance.

All Vaznik Mahdfel had the same tattoos, broadcasting our emotions to the rest of our crewmates and families.

Not that one usually needed to guess.

“How long do you estimate it will take to heal?” I asked, not really caring that the vermillion now was a full-blown crimson against Javik’s natural deep blue. “You do realize I’ll need my pilot to get us out of this damn system, right?”

He snorted. “A week would be ideal. If you want your pilot not to lose that eye after all.”

A week, I thought grimly.

“Maybe I can make a deal,” Cedroc said, grinning. “I’ll take it easy for the next two rotations, and then he rigs up something that just covers the wound, and not half my vision?”

I left them arguing the details.

They’d figure it out.

They always did.

In the corridor outside, I came across Kyre, who was holding a thick wad of bandages over a pretty deep gash on his left arm, and Derrix, my weapons specialist, who had quite a nasty lump rising over his right eyebrow just below where his horn began.

“Shouldn’t you be in med bay, not waiting outside?” I asked them both.

“Doc’s in a cranky mood,” Kyre answered.

“He needs to find something new to poke and prod that isn’t us,” Derrix elaborated. “Maybe some nice rock would keep him busy.”

Kyre shook his head. “We’re taking on supplies from the hub, should be able to have most of the damage repaired in a day, maybe two.”

“Biggest hassle is, the teleport is down.” Derrix leaned back against the bulkhead. “We keep having to run and ferry the stuff into the cargo hold the old way.”

“We’ll take as long as we need to,” I decided. “We don’t have anything pressing, and I think Cedroc might be on restricted duty for a bit.”

Sure, we could all pull a shift at the helm, if need be.

But Cedroc was a damn master at it.

“Do you think you’ll be able to complete a systems test sometime before tomorrow morning?” I asked Kyre.

“Absolutely. Once the Doc gets me stitched up, I’m on it,” he reassured me.

“How’re the guns looking?” I asked, turning my attention to Derrix.

His eyes were a little glazed over, but he responded quickly enough that I wasn’t worried.

“One sustained heavy damage, but the other five are still operational. I’ve already put in the request for parts to get the damaged one running,” he said. “Would be faster if the teleport was working, though.”

“Thanks, Derrix. I’ll keep that in mind,” I answered.

Once I’d spoken to every crew member, I returned to the bridge and took a seat in the captain’s chair. A beam had come down near my cabin in the firefight, and while I had temporary quarters assigned on the Walkandro, it wouldn’t be the first night I’d slept sitting up.

I stretched my long legs out in front of me and folded my hands behind my head, creating a cradle against the headrest for my curved horns.

I couldn’t help but curse whoever designed this ship.

It wasn’t a Vaznik, that much I knew. If it had been, more accommodations would have been made for our anatomy, that’s for sure.

Whenever I get enough money to build my own ship, I’m going to make damn sure the chairs conformed to the horns of every one of my crew.

My eyes lingered for a moment on the massive viewport before me.

Outside, the Milky Way was burning and alive.

Meteors raced through the dark sky, sprinkling the frozen vacuum with even more shards of ice. I couldn’t help but pause for a moment to take it all in.

In all the time I’d spent out here, I’d never tired of the infinite wonder of space.

Pluto was the only dwarf planet in Earth’s solar system and was also the farthest away from its only sun.

It was the perfect location for stationing the mobile hub, convenient, but not close enough to set off Earth’s alarm bells.

The small amount of light that did reach this far orbit was muted and barely visible, but enough to set the tiny planet sparkling far below our orbit. It was eerily beautiful and even though I wanted to get my ship away from this hunk of ice as fast as possible, I couldn’t help but appreciate the frigid beauty of it all.

The blaring of the comms system interrupted the peaceful moment.

As usual.

“Captain Rekker?” a gravelly voice demanded. “If he’s not there, get him on.”

Thank the void the comms was audio only.

“I’m here, Commander Strygan.” I tore my eyes from the glittering mountains. Strygan might not be able to see me, but I was certain he’d sense any lapse in attention. “Was there a problem with my report?”

“No, not at all. From all signs, looks like the Suhlik are running scared. Maybe we’ll have a break from them for a while.”

“That would be nice, sir.” But not likely.

“You mentioned the damaged cannon and teleport. Anything else structural? Anything major?”

And … that was strange. Commander Strygan wasn’t exactly known for checking up on his officers. He assumed we’d get in, get the job done, and get out.

Repairs weren’t really his focus.

“No, sir,” I answered without asking about anything else. I might be curious, but I wasn’t stupid. “My engineer reports that we’ll be able to leave in a day, possibly two, tops.”

“Good, good.”

The old man was working his way around to something. I just didn’t know what.

“I’m planning on sticking around the Walkandro for a day to fix the gun and give the crew some rest before we take off for the homeworld,” I reported.

“Actually, I have another mission in mind for you and your team,” Strygan said.

My face fell. I had been looking forward to returning home—we hadn’t been back in months.

“Is this an offer or an order, sir?” I asked, choosing my words carefully.

“A little bit of both,” he said.

“You’ve got my attention.”

There wasn’t really any choice, but I was starting to get curious.

“It’ll be an order if you refuse, Rekker, but after hearing the details, I think you’ll agree to take it,” he said.

“I’m listening.”

“It’s a retrieval mission. If you and your team complete it successfully, you’ll earn a two week furlough, as well as striking a blow the Suhlik aren’t expecting,” Strygan told me.

My team had just gone through hell and I wanted to decline, but I knew every single one of us could use a break.

“Just yesterday, the main comms team deciphered chatter on the Suhlik channels about an ancient and powerful device. We’re not yet sure what it’s for, just that it’s important. If they want it, we can’t let the Suhlik retrieve it before we do. We have the location, and the comms crew is trying to decipher the rest of the message now.”

“What’s the catch?” I wondered.

“I haven’t finished.”

“Sorry, sir.”

I was pretty good at taking orders, but I was also no stranger to getting ahead of myself.

“The catch is that the device seems to be located in a cluster of planets in a relatively uncharted area. We don’t know what’s out there, other than what appears to be three large gaseous planets with four moons orbiting each, as well as two dwarf, moonless planets. You’d be going in pretty much blind,” he explained.

The crew of the Calliope was one of the best teams the Vaznik people have ever assembled.

Our victory today only proved how capable we were and, even though I would’ve liked to have provided them with more rest, I knew they’d follow me anywhere.

“Permission to make a request, sir?” I asked.

“What is it, Rekker?”

“After this recon, my crew gets a two-week furlough back on Vaznik. They need time to recoup and spend time with their families. It’s been a long six months.”

“Granted, Rekker. So, you accept?”

“Yes, sir. Send through the coordinates—we’ll set course as soon as the cannon is back online.”

“Excellent. I knew I could count on you, Rekker. I look forward to seeing you back at base soon. Over and out,” Strygan said before the comms line went dead.

I sat back in the chair, looking out the viewport to the frozen wasteland below, but not really seeing it.

Here we go again.

LILA

“We’re here, Miss Kanes,” the older soldier said gruffly.

I noticed that he hadn’t met my eyes throughout the entire trip, even though he’d sat in the back of the transport with me rather than up front with the driver.

What did soldiers think about this particular assignment? Escorting women to be tested, possibly sent away from their families, maybe forever?

The allied Terran forces had fought bravely, desperately, in the war against the Suhlik, but they’d been horribly overmatched.

Peace had been hard won.

It must have annoyed some soldiers to realize that women bought that peace with our bodies, not the military’s strategies.

“Thank you,” was all I said though.

It had been a two hour journey from our farm to the testing facility.

The entire ride, my mind had whirled, trying to come up with plans, anything that would get me out of this.

I’d visited the testing facility once, every girl did in high school. I think it was supposed to make it less scary, but that wasn’t exactly the result.

Every girl I knew had nightmares for weeks.

I looked through the thick, reinforced window at the facility as we approached the low building.

It was larger than I remembered, but that made sense if this was the central point for all of the population of this area.

Dozens of other vehicles were lined up in front of it.

“Seems like May was a busy month,” commented the driver.

An unreasonable thrill of hope ran through me.

If there were lots of us, maybe that would make it less likely that I would be the one chosen.

I knew that’s not how it worked, I really did.

But peering out the window at the facility, all I wanted to do was to cling to irrational hope.

“I’m sorry, Miss Kanes, we’ve got to go.”

I met the soldier’s eyes for a moment, and just for a moment, I wondered if he’d let me go, if I could twist away from his hand under my elbow.

I was in good shape from working on the farm.

I could do this.

Not.

Irrational hope was one thing.

Downright delusional was something else.

I grabbed the small bag that I’d hastily packed, to Jane’s disbelief, and followed him down the stairs.

98.5.

Step.

98.5.

I repeated the number to myself over and over with each step.

It was a ludicrously high percentage. I’d never known anyone who was matched.

I wasn’t sure my parents knew of anyone who had.

I had nothing to worry about.

Until the soldiers stationed outside the facility opened the door and I saw the bedlam within.

I was obviously the last to arrive, and the driver had been right.

May must have been very busy. There must have been thirty or forty of us in the small waiting room, and for some reason, there seemed to be a delay.

Nerves already tuned to a breaking point had shattered and hysteria ruled the hour.

“I don’t want to go!” a buxom blonde sobbed. “You can’t make me!”

I agreed with the sentiment, even if not her method of achieving her goal.

I glanced around the room. All eyes were on the blonde as she sagged to the floor.

Next to her, a brunette wailed, “I’ll never see my home again!”

“Oh, brother,” my escort muttered. “It only takes one. Stay here, Miss Kane.” And then he waded into the sea of young women.

Quickly I glanced at the door we had just come through. No salvation there, though, the steely faced guards maintained their post.

“Quiet down, ladies,” my escort shouted, rounding up the other soldiers to try to gently tug their wards back into line.

“No one is sending anyone anywhere until you get through the test.” He tried to dislodge a third woman from his leg, but she refused to let go.

“What are you going to do if you are matched and you don’t have any tears left?” he asked. “Or if you aren’t matched, and you got all worked up for nothing?”

The line in the wall was faint, but surely that was a slightly recessed door to the side of the room.

I slid over to it, and with my hand behind my back, wedged my nails into the crack.

It slid just a bit.

Then a bit more.

Finally, it was wide enough for me to dart inside and I dashed through the narrow hallway.

Obviously, this was an employee-only area of the testing facility, but I didn’t really care. All I wanted to do was find a way out.

Maybe find a storage room, some corner where nobody would find me.

Sure, someone had picked me up, they’d have a record of that, but surely they wouldn’t find me yet.

It could be someone else’s day.

Three more turns, and I found myself in a narrow stairway. It looked like an access staircase, with dim lighting and military olive-green walls.

My heart beat nervously, but I didn’t have time to be scared. I took a deep breath and made it down two flights of stairs before a blaring alarm sounded, nearly deafening me.

Damn it.

I quickened my pace, but heard doors burst open from both above and below me and I knew I’d been caught.

There must have been cameras somewhere for me to have been seen.

Of course there were.

I froze on a landing as footsteps closed in on me from both directions.

I knew I had no choice but to go with them, but my brain had set too hard into fight or flight mode.

And if I couldn’t run, I’d fight.

Four of the younger guards took hold of my arms and legs, while my original guide shook his head.

“I really had hoped you wouldn’t, Miss Kanes,” he said sadly. “But I figure it’s always the quiet ones that make a dash for it.”

I kicked out as hard as I could, but with two of them holding my legs, it was no use—there was nothing I could do to throw them off me.

They brought me to a room I recognized as a testing room. I kept struggling so hard it took all four of them to secure me in one of the chairs. Thankfully, it was a comfortable one, cushioned and made of leather.

“This will be so much easier on all of us if you stop fighting, dear. You really have nothing to fear,” one of the approaching nurses said.

“Swap places with me then,” I snapped.

“All we’re going to do at this stage is take a little blood. It’s the easiest, most non-invasive way to tell if you’re a match,” she said, completely unruffled. “You do have your paperwork on file, correct?”

I wanted to fight her more, but I knew I’d only injure myself when she tried to stick me, so I allowed it.

Of course I did. Every woman eligible for the lottery kept their forms updated. It wasn’t exactly a choice. And it was the one decent thing out of this whole deal.

The dowry. Every matched woman was given a million credits, in exchange for the “disruption” to her entire life.

Or it went to her family, in case she didn’t survive the birth of the child.

98.5%. It was close. But not perfect. Things could happen.

I shuddered. I’d filled out my paperwork the day I turned eighteen. My family would get the money no matter what. It would help make up for missing a set of hands at the farm.

Maybe hire more workers.

But I couldn’t hope for it. That would mean the impossible had happened.

“This will only take a moment,” the nurse said cheerily, as if struggling women were brought to her every day. Maybe they were.

She was right—the blood draw was over quickly, and she swept across the floor to load the vial into a machine attached to a computer.

“This should only take five minutes to come up with a result. If it’s inconclusive, we’ll try something else,” she told me.

She was wrong this time.

It took less than a minute for the machine to emit a high-pitched, positive-sounding chime.

“Well, I’ll be … that’s the fastest we’ve ever gotten a match in this facility. And it’s perfect,” the nurse said, beaming.

Perfect wasn’t exactly the word I would have chosen.

It was my worst nightmare.

CLICK HERE to keep reading Rekker, book one of the Vaznik Warrior Mates!

RESCUED BY HER ALIEN MATE

I thought being kidnapped by four-armed blue apes was as weird as life was going to get.

Boy, was I wrong…

We’ve crashed, our captors have fled, and now we’ve been rounded up by a group of tall, horned men. With scales. Who don’t understand a word we say.

So why does my heart flutter when their leader touches me?  When his eyes flash silver, something deep inside me answers.

But if I lose my heart, how can I keep myself and the other women safe?

Rescued by her Alien Mate is the first book of the Warriors of the D’Tali science fiction romance series. Each book contains a complete HEA for our couple, and lots of steamy SFR fun!

Click to get it now!

ROGUE MATE

Science fiction romance is the destination of the Rogue Star…. Hop on board!

OUR RESCUERS ARE a group of pirates. Or smugglers. They’re not exactly answering questions, either.

More importantly, they’re giant, golden skinned aliens…

And their rogue of a captain seems very interested in the little human commander.

Me.

ROGUE MATE IS the first in the Rogue Star science fiction alien romance series. Click now to start the adventure!

Copyright © 2020 by Ava York

All rights reserved. These books or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Contents

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Zotar

Natalie

Epilogue: Natalie

Are you a STARR HUNTRESS?

Rekker: Sneak Peek!

Rescued by her Alien Mate

Rogue Mate

Copyright