Page 58 of Alliance
Fás exhaled slowly, easing his civilized mind back into the pilot’s seat.
“Roz and I wanted to get away for a while,” he growled, swallowing down the intimidating huff. Wriggling his nose toease the aggressive crease that had formed along the bridge. He ended up having to rub at it with his thumb. “And we both love camping. Blizzard took us by surprise.”
Gil’s smile fell with a grimace as they crouched by the open hatch and reached back into the freezing water. “Yeah, you and me both. We don’t get weather like this up here except duringulta samudr.”
“What’s that?” Fásach asked, training his ears on the operator’s tone.
“The upside down sea,” Roz explained while Gilladh pulled up a two-foot long bolt with several long silver fish hanging skewered and already gutted from its hooks. “It’s the rainy season. At least at the colony.”
“So youarea human from Renata!” Gilladh guffawed with awe, their mane hissing with excitement. There was honest bewilderment in their voice now, not the warping of suspicion. A good sign. “Never thought I’d actually meet one of you. And at P03 of all places!” They shook their head, tendrils spiraling, ringing the water from their muscular lengths. “You guys can stay as long as you need. We’ve got plenty of supplies to hole up a crew for a month or more, so don’t be shy.”
“Thank you,” Fásach said, finally easing away from Roz. She gave him a pat and a proud smile.
“Thanks! Fás, why don’t you help with the fish? I’ll organize our stuff. I want to brush my silk.”
Gilladh’s eyes roamed across her features again as she opened Fásach’s pack and rummaged for the comb, humming a little song without words. Her voice instantly soothed the tension in the room as Fásach joined the operator at the hatch, taking their wet towel in his claws. He cleared his throat and crouched in front of their view of his—of Roz.
“Human, huh?Chudthi,nice catch,” Gilladh’s tendrils hissed with salacious respect. They nudged Fásach’s shoulderlike a conniving sibling, then tilted their head down at the half dozen long fish with silver racing stripes. “Speaking of catch, does yourpriyaeat fish?”
“She’s from an island.”
“Then we’re havingzaifor dinner. I’ll get the food bay online if you don’t mind using your fancy claws to defin these.”
“Sure, but it won’t be pretty. They’re not knives.”
“Tasty isn’t predicated on pretty, my friend. Rip away. Unless I’m wrong about you needing to blow off some of that rut growing out of your skull with your bare hands? I do haveactualknives.”
Fásach’s war chuckle bubbled up again at the satisfying thought of violence. He brushed at his tresses and ears, pressing them flat in an attempt to get himself under control. “Bare hands would be good,” he coughed.
Gil smacked his hackles with their wide palm and a sigh of understanding that reminded Fás of some of his older comradai that had already entered their first rut. The sort of sexual confidence that held a secret he’d learn someday. It was… nice. It reminded him of Vindilus and Novak and Quiopha, the people in which he’d found family again after the evacuation. A note of warmth chased Gil’s words as they stood.
“I’ll get the food bay running then. And a fire. Fuck, love me a good fire.”
Fásach glanced back at Roz, pulling the first fish from its hook as Gil stood. She’d pushed the vital pods behind their packs and draped a towel over it all as if she’d used it before Gilladh had arrived. Sitting on the bedroll, she unraveled her twists and fluffed up her tresses.
Hiding the port on the back of her neck.
When their eyes met, he smiled, and her cheeks turned red.
He couldn’t wait to watch her eat something warm and fresh.
19
Traveler never did anything by half. Just as dramatic and showboaty as the captain himself, the blizzard continued into nightfall the next day. Snow still fell from the sky in a steady veil of white, the wind whipping it into a race across the sea ice. It had lessened by half, but the trek out of the cove would still be treacherous, maybe even more so, according to Gil. The new snowfall would put weight on the cliffs, cause avalanches, and hide deep trenches that could swallow a hiker and crush them at the bottom of a twenty or thirty foot cut in the rock.
Which meant they couldn’t leave. Friendly gambling games and taking turns smoking fish on the fire could only hold their attention so long. The Buoy had been a boon when they’d first found it, but now Fásach felt like he was pacing a cage.
A very erotic cage.
Roz’s scent was stronger than ever thanks to the snow-in. Musky rather than slightly chemical. It wasdelicious.Fásach found himself licking his teeth more and more just to have an excuse to let his tongue taste the air without lolling out of his mouth.
Did she smell like thisallthe time? Yiwreni does presented their scent only during their heat, and none of the other non-mammalian species did at all. At least, not likethis.He wanted to strip off her clothes and push her legs apart so badly he couldn’t see straight.
Can you teach me to sleep in a bed?
Fásach chuffed, flexing his nostrils, twitching his ear. He was sure he’d fucked up in the cave before Roz’s seizure. She’d told him to wait, and he’d barely held on, preparing himself for rejection. He was still expecting it, one way or another, knowing that he couldn’t push her for what his rut fever demanded, no matter how it drove him mad. He hadn’t even talked to her about it yet.
Fás turned heel and walked in the other direction.
