Page 74 of Across The Stars
The three gek marched toward me, their metal trinkets jingling on their hips. They each drew a weapon ranging from heavy swords to fist blades. One wielded a giant axe with a serrated head. They also all wore masks over half their face. Not that they couldn’t breathe our air, but it would have required adjustment and in battle, there was no time.
I took a deep breath, already drenched as the rain from outside picked up, pounding against the walls in the heavy winds. The one with the axe charged ahead of the others and with a flick of my wrists, I ejected two blue energy blades from the metal hilts and crossed them above me as the axe came swinging down. The heat of the blades would have cut right through his axe if gek metals were not resistant to it. I roared, tossing the axe away from me and swinging my weapons at his torso. He evaded them, letting the others attack as he recovered.
More ships were soaring overhead and the flashes of our artillery firing lit up the sky like lightning. The attack was sudden and unannounced and it was not some empty threat. It was deliberate and planned and had a clear purpose. I wanted to know what it was. But first, there was a fight to win.
35: Innifer
Three of those green aliens came falling from an aircraft right into our peaceful garden, perfecting the hero landing and immediately pulling out giant blades straight out of a video game. I barely got a good look at the one that took Quinn, but now I was getting an eyeful. They were big, muscular, and moved like deadly tanks. It was then that I noticed their legs. They were not like human or valerian legs. No, they were subtly digitigrade and powerful, bare of anything more than leather wrappings. They were beastly. Vahko was holding his own, though.
I held my finger on the blaster’s trigger, trying to follow the movements of the fight, but it was so fast and the high winds and rain made it hard to focus. It was loud and disorienting and yet Vahko was somehow navigating it without issue. At least, helooked like he was. with two glowing blades in hand like a pair of lightsabers, he swung again and again at the three gek.
Bastards didn’t even play fair. Three against one was bullying.
I watched Vahko flip and kick and spin until one of his blades finally connected with the ax-bearer’s abdomen. As soon as he sliced him, he raised his foot and Sparta-kicked him backward, turning to deal with the other two. My heart was pounding watching them try to cut his throat time and time again. Each time they got close, I almost screamed. But Vahko was a soldier and it would never be clearer than it was at that moment. His movements were practiced and perfect and… fuck, it made my pulse sing. He may have been an asshole post-sex, but watching him wrestle three giant aliens for me sort of negated that.
I could see Vahko was growing a little tired after a while. But so were his opponents. I stood from my corner, using the wall to support my shaky legs, and held the blaster at my side.
Those assholes took Quinn. They’d blown up the freighter. They tried to kill us all. Hell, theyhadkilled a lot of us. Anger boiled up inside of me, making my skin hot. My hand shook as I squeezed the handle of the blaster. I wanted to shoot one…
Good thing it felt like an Earth gun. The two shooting lessons I took when I was living in the slums of New Portland would come in handy if I had to shoot something.
Then one of them broke off from the fight and headed toward me. I didn’t think they knew I was there until that instant. I tensed, raising the blaster. The gek had punched my wrist and the impact made my hand go limp for a moment long enough to dislodge the blaster. Then he grabbed my arm and started to haul me away. I began to scream and flail, clawing at his hand, but it didn’t deter him. His skin was thick and he probably didn’t even feel me.
“Vahko!” I shouted over the noise.
Quickly, Vahko turned, sacrificing one of his blades when he threw it at my attacker. Distracted by my struggles, the gek didn’t notice the weapon flying at him and before he knew it, it speared through his skull, the tip of it protruding from his eye. I fell to the ground, scurrying back to avoid him as he toppled to the ground in a solid heap.
The last gek managed to knock Vahko’s other blade from his hand. It went flipping to the side far out of his reach, but he quickly clutched the gek’s sword and thrust it up through his chest. The gek hunched and I could see the other end ejected from his back. With an exhausted nudge of his foot, Vahko kicked the body off the blade. He turned to me, breathing hard, but there was no break. Behind him, the one with the ax stood up clutching his open stomach. My eyes shot wide and without thinking, I reached for the blaster and raised it up. Vahko paused like he thought I was pointing it at him for a split second.
I let my anger over the past few days tighten my grip and I pulled the trigger, watching a burst of blue energy project from the gun. Oddly, there was no kick like a pistol would have had on Earth. The blast flew right by Vahko’s head and into the gek’s green face just as he was lifting the ax to swing.
Vahko pivoted to look at the gek’s mutilated face where blue, glowing embers sizzled across his open skull. He toppled over like a tree and once he was on the ground, Vahko whipped his head back toward me. I was shaking and panting with adrenaline. So much so that the ships passing overhead sounded muffled behind a weird, high-pitched ringing in my head. Vahko peered up at the battle overtaking the sky and then began to move in my direction.
“Air fleets are chasing them off,” he shouted over the loud weather.
I was drenched in cold water, my clothes sticking to me like a second skin. Vahko was soaked, too. There was a long slashacross his chest that opened his suit and revealed his bare skin. No blood, though, thank God. He wasn’t hurt aside from the little nicks on his back from the glass. Three gek were lying around him and my body responded to that violence like it was freaking porn. He’d just fought three giant alien warriors and he’d won. He was unscathed and somehow it made him look taller. Stronger. Ten times more beautiful.
I was screwed.
“There is a passage leading into the training grounds on the other side of the gardens,” he said, taking my hand and leading me deeper into the habitat.
As we walked, he lifted his wrist to his mouth and spoke in his alien tongue. I heard Salukh and Sam’s names and deduced that he was trying to find out what was going on. When I heard Salukh’s voice respond, I sighed with relief. I could only hope that he’d fought as hard for Sam if the gek were attacking the outpost above us with as much ferocity.
Vahko glanced over his shoulder at me like he knew what I was thinking and said, “Sam’s fine.”
I nodded, the relief settling once I knew for sure she was unharmed. And once that worry had washed away, my mind was right back on Vahko. The way he fought flashed through my head and I felt my heart skip a beat. What the hell? The power he had over me was the most puzzling thing I’d ever experienced and yet I enjoyed it. I more than enjoyed it. I craved it. I wanted to surrender to it. I squeezed his hand tighter and he squeezed me back in an unconscious gesture of reassurance and protectiveness.
Confusion wrapped its cold fingers around me. For some reason, I saw my mother leaving when I was a teenager with a slap to the face and her harsh words as her only parting gift. Then I saw every boyfriend I’d ever had disappearing without a word or telling me I wasn’t enough. I saw Jason’s message in myhead saying we were through. I even saw the news article that told me my father had died after all the hope I’d built up that I’d finally meet him.
My eyes slipped down Vahko’s arm to our conjoined hands as we briskly walked across the gardens. Everything seemed to slow down in that instance. My mind. My steps. The only thing speeding a million miles per second was my heart and it was beating forhim.
Once we got past the large trees, glass was no longer crunching under my feet and the wind was not so severe. I looked up to see that the dome was somewhat intact above us and suddenly I couldn’t take it anymore. I was dying inside and I needed him. I dropped the blaster to the ground and jerked against Vahko’s grip, making him whip around to face me. His eyes looked concerned like he expected me to admit to some kind of injury, but I was intact. Physically, anyways. Emotionally, I was going mad. I hooked my hands around the back of his neck and pulled him down into a hungry kiss. My nipples were hard enough to cut my shirt right off of me as I crushed my breasts against him.
Vahko was a little caught off guard judging by his hesitation, but it didn’t take long for him to give in. His arms went around my waist, pulling me harder against his body. His fingers bit into my sides and that kind of animal desire made my core throb. I slid my hands down his chest, forcing them under his tight shirt. I peeled the wet material off of him and tossed it aside, my fingers exploring the hard planes of his body. He was firm and warm and irresistible, every muscle taught and perfect. Everything in me screamed to have him.
Before I knew it, Vahko had pulled my shirt off as well. He bent, his mouth covering one nipple as his fingers toyed with my other one and God, did it feel good. His tongue swirled aroundthe tight bud, his teeth nipping and pulling until I was squirming desperately against him.
“Vahko,” I gasped, pulling his hair back so he looked at me. “I need you. Please. I need you inside me.”
