Page 17 of The Warrior's Oath
What are you doing?she asked herself.What would your family think? Your friends? Getting frisky with an alien? Just go back to sleep, Nyota. Don’t go making bad choices.
Torn, she forced her body to lie still, aching to be taken but not giving in to the desire. She wondered how long she would lie like this, tormented and horny, but the day’s exhaustion soon caught up with her as the alien’s warm embrace lulled her back to sleep.
CHAPTEREIGHT
Nyota roused as the morning light shifted, her eyes, while closed, still recognizing the change of color, the increasing ambient glow of the sun’s rays turning her lids a warmer shade over her groggy orbs.
Her body was already getting used to rising with the sun and instinctively shifted to a semi-waking state, pulling her from her slumber at the warm confirmation that day was upon them. It was light out. Time to wake up.
No matter the planet, basic biology ruled the day, it seemed.
Nyota stretched and yawned, forcing blood into her muscles, and working out the kinks from the prior day’s efforts. The sunlight felt good, but the wonderful furnace of a man who had been sleeping behind her was not there. Strangely, she found herself a little saddened at the realization.
But he was a soldier, and the whole up at dawn or earlier thing must have been drilled into him ages ago. Anxious as he seemed to find his general, she was still confident he wouldn’t leave her alone. He owed her his life, and it seemed he took that debt of honorveryseriously. Being stranded on an alien planet who knew how many bazillions of miles from home, she was glad for it.
“Enough lounging, lazy bones,” she quietly chided herself. “Rise and shine. A new day is upon us.”
She opened her eyes, amazed at how beautiful this strange world was as she looked around at her surroundings in proper daylight, and with her pounding concussion headache finally gone.
“What’s this?” she wondered of the large leaf covering something in front of her.
It hadn’t been there the night before; she was sure of it. And she’d buried the dried jerky as instructed. Cautiously, she reached out, sliding the thick, waxy leaf aside.
A smile crept onto her lips.
“Breakfast in bed? Really?”
A small gourd had been cut open, cleaned, and filled with fresh water. Beside it a small assortment of fruit and even what looked like this world’s version of some kind of nut were laid out for her to choose from. She had to hand it to him, even roughing it in the wilderness, and without the benefit of a proper kitchen to plate his offering, nevertheless, his presentation skills were on point.
“He even picked flowers,” she nearly gushed as she admired the splash of color added to the offering.
Rough and tough soldier or not, it seemed Korvin had a more refined side as well. It made her wonder what other secrets he contained.
Nyota’s belly grumbled, snapping her from her pondering. She picked up what kind of looked like a slice of mango, but when she took a bite, she found the flesh was firm at first, almost like an apple, but as it warmed in her mouth, it quickly dissolved into hundreds of tiny pods, sort of reminding her of how each segment of an orange contains myriad individual juice sacs.
She chewed them, bursting them and releasing a mouthful of incredible flavor. It was unlike anything she’d ever tasted. Tropical, sweet, but one she couldn’t really compare to anything back home.
Whatever it was, it was amazing. She popped another piece in her mouth and bit down, reveling in the new flavor. She forced herself to slow her roll, careful not to bite her cheek in enthusiastic haste. After a few more bites she washed it down with a swig of water and moved on to something else.
The next thing she selected was a large berry that looked a bit like a blackberry but rather than possessing a great many small parts, this one appeared to only be formed of a dozen or so. Tentatively, she popped one in her mouth and waited.
It didn’t melt apart like the other fruit had, so she gently bit down until her tongue was coated with a tart yet sweet rush of juice. There was a hint of something else in there. Salinity, but it paired perfectly with the flavor, which, again, was unlike any she’d ever had. A happy smile creased her cheeks as she chewed.
“It is called a bolalla berry,” a deep voice said from behind her.
She turned to see Korvin walking out of the woods. Silently, even in his boots, he moved like a big cat. A predator always on guard.
“It’s amazing,” she replied with a grateful grin. “Thank you so much for all of this. You really didn’t have to.”
“You are small and weak. You will require sustenance if you are to keep pace.”
“Well, yeah, sure. But I meant the whole breakfast in bed thing. It’s really sweet of you.”
Korvin cocked his head slightly. “Are you feeling all right? Are you experiencing dizziness?”
“No. Is there—”
He crouched and put his hand to her forehead. “No fever.”
