There was an intimate ease between them now that made her smile. Korben was a completely different species, but that hadn’t seemed to affect their ability to please each other. What had happened between them was natural. Instinctual almost. And mutually satisfying.
Feminine power still ran through her veins, coating her heart as thickly as the slickness of their passion covered her hands and mouth. She needed to wash off. They both did, but she still couldn’t move.
Was this some alien magic? And how much more incapacitated would she be after Korben gave herallof him? Would she die?
To be honest, she’d nearly died when she saw him bathing naked earlier.
Korben’s deep-chested chuckle made her turn and glance at him. He ran a lazy finger over her bare shoulder. “Sah-ah.”
Even though she was exhausted, her body revved right back up again at the graze of his hand against her flesh. Seriously. Why was she so insatiable for Korben?
He gestured to a boxed-up Enthara. “Eet tim to gu.”
“I don’t want to move.” She moaned.
Korben shook his head in that way she’d begun to interpret as him muttering ‘this woman’.Easing one giant hand under her hip, he swept the other under her knee and cradled her against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kicking her legs playfully as he carried her into the water. There, Korben sat in the shallows and tenderly cleaned her off.
Sara closed her eyes and enjoyed being taken care of for once. She was so used to people ignoring her that this felt like a special moment. One she wanted to file away for the rest of her life.
The moment got even sweeter when she realized that Korben waschoosingto prioritize her. He was impatient to get on his way, to fix Enthara, to go… wherever they were going.
But she was more important to him.
She could tell.
She couldsee.
He was unhurried as he gently wiped down her mouth, neck and chest where she was the stickiest. A cool breeze blew and goosebumps popped along her arms. Korben rubbed her flesh briskly and kept washing her down until he was sure that she was clean.
“Thank you,” she said, almost shyly.
He nodded and set her down. A beep came from the interface in his arm. Curious, Sara leaned over his shoulder and studied the message as she dressed in her damp tunic.
Korben didn’t try to hide from her. He openly tilted his arm and allowed her to see the icon. After clicking on it, a giant projection emerged. An unfamiliar alien hovered in front of her, his sharp eyes drilling into Korben’s head. He spoke in Korben’s strange, guttural language.
Sara noticed how serious they both looked. What exactly were they discussing? Was he the guy who’d help to make Enthara feel better?
Korben ended the call and gave her a reassuring nod. Whoever that was, he seemed pleased about their discussion. Seeing him smile made her smile too and she squeezed his shoulders a little tighter when he hiked her by the waist and set her on top of Enthara.
By now, the novelty of watching the dinosaur shift to her giant and imposing height had worn off so Sara had missed most of the transformation. When Korben climbed on behind her, she let her head fall against the dinosaur’s metal spikes. Exhausted from the perils of their day and the rowdiness of her evening, she soon fell asleep with her head on the handles and her legs hiked up on Enthara’s gears.
What felt like minutes later but was much longer than that given the darkness seeping through the sky, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Sara woke with a start and glanced around her. They were standing at the crest of a jagged mountain.
Her jaw dropped in amazement at the view of the alien landscape all around. It was truly breathtaking.
In the waning light, two figures approached them. Her heart sped up and she slid off Enthara’s back, her fingers sliding to the sword Korben kept hooked to Enthara’s neck. She glanced up at her alien warrior and found him mostly at ease, though there was tension in his shoulders and alertness in his eyes.
He didn’t anticipate these creatures to be a threat. Still, Sara prepared herself for anything and, as the figures neared them, her fingers tightened on the hilt of the sword.
The other blue alien was tall and bulky with long hair and black eyes. He looked just like Korben, except his tattoos were a little different and his expression was much colder. Her gaze flitted left to the smaller, delicate creature by the strange alien’s side.
Sara’s heart dropped to her stomach as the light revealed a woman with pale skin, almond-shaped eyes and a pretty, pink smile.
It wasn’t Emma.
It was…
She rubbed her eyes, but the vision didn’t change.