Savage Seed by Ivy Sparks

22

Kade

Leslie had improvedsince her fight with the sand beast, but her progress was slow. Fighting was not ingrained in her from youth like it was for my people.

“Again,” I said.

She looked up at me sharply and almost dropped the blade in her hand. “I can’t hit you if you keep blocking.”

“You won’t hit me if you keep complaining.”

That riled her up. She lunged at me and I took a step to the side, allowing her to pass by me harmlessly.

We had been sparring for an hour now, and her chest heaved with exertion. A layer of sweat coated her skin, one drop sliding down her neck and onto her breasts. I longed to tear her clothes off and follow that bead to her nipple and give her something new to moan about.

Leslie caught me staring and flushed even more, the color on her neck the same as when we made love. “Stop that,” she scolded.

I chuckled and tipped my spear toward her. “Strike me and I will.”

I didn’t tell her that I’d been looking at her because I was planning to have her. She would find that out soon enough.

“You already know the weak points,” I reminded her. One by one, I gestured to them as I spoke. “Soft spots. Eyes, throat, stomach, between the legs.”

Her eyes traveled down my body as I spoke, landing on my crotch and hovering there. She swallowed, and I willed my cock to stiffen for her viewing pleasure. It obliged, and her eyes widened.

“There’s nothing soft about that!” she choked out.

Despite her protests, I saw her shiver. “Focus,” I ground out, finding it difficult to do so myself. “Again. Try to hit me.”

Her eyes flicked up to mine, and she took slow, careful steps toward me. She needed to be smart about her approach. She needed to think ahead. That was key to being a hunter. Setting traps, anticipating movements, striking where you think the enemy will land.

If she didn’t learn this, she would only win by chance. Never by skill or, more importantly, smarts.

And that wasn’t good enough.

I stepped toward her and she stood her ground. Good. That was progress. When I watched her fight with Dina, she would always retreat, leaving Dina open to strike.

“You are the attacker,” I pressed. “Acting is faster than reacting. You are light. You are agile. Move faster.”

She jabbed toward my ribs and I dodged left. She swiped at my stomach, and I jumped back.

But each time she attempted, she got closer. Now she was watching my eyes and my feet to gauge my actions. Better.

After several attempts, I hit her wrist, and the blade fell from her hand to the sand. Picking it up, I relaunched it into the ground, blade down. “Break,” I told her. Reaching behind me, I grabbed a water container and held it before her.

She moved slowly to grab it, but as soon as the water touched her lips, she drank greedily, trickles of liquid dripping down her chin and onto her chest. She gasped for air once she had finished, then wiped her mouth with her forearm, handing me back the canteen.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward me, leaning down to lick a water droplet she’d missed. My tongue ghosted her lips, and she leaned closer, our lips almost touching. Her hands slid up my chest, and she hummed softly, the sound music to my ears.

“Kade,” she sighed breathlessly. Was her shortness of breath from our sparring, or from her desire for me? It didn’t matter either way. I could no longer contain myself.

She was mine, and I needed her. Now.

As greedily as she drank the water, I devoured her lips. She moaned immediately, spurring me on. Maybe I could finish what I had started some time ago back in our tent.

But then footsteps approached from behind, and I groaned aloud. What now?

I forced my lips from Leslie’s neck and glanced over my shoulder. Seeing who it was, I quickly sprang to my feet to face him.

My father—the king who rarely came to me, almost always demanding I come to him instead—approached us now. He had a stern look of disappointment on his face, a look that automatically raised the hackles on my neck.

Whatever this visit was about, it had better be important enough to interrupt what I was about to do to Leslie.

* * *

Leslie

Desperate for his touch,I sighed when Kade pulled away from me. He stood and looked behind him as if he’d heard something. Curious, I leaned to the side to look around him and see what was so interesting.

The man from before, the older warrior, stood proudly behind us. Upon seeing our unexpected guest, I tried to pull away from Kade. But he kept his hands on my waist, gently guiding me to turn and face forward.

“What is it?” Kade asked harshly.

The man grunted, and his eyes moved from Kade to me. I returned his gaze, unsure whether to look tough or crack a polite smile. Although his expression was serious, he wasn’t nearly as intimidating or scary as Trag. Instead, this man looked pensive, calculating.

He spoke finally, a deep, commanding tone to his words. “The mission was a success.”

By now I was pretty sure this was Kade’s father, the king of the Resh Xeki. The resemblance was there, for sure. Especially in the eyes. But it was more of the way Kade stood when facing him. Strong and defiant, as if he expected to be scolded once again for some wrong only a father would notice.

Kade turned back to me, and I was surprised to see a smile on his lips. “Leslie,” he said. “It’s time.”

Time for what, I didn’t know. Without further explanation, Kade took my hand and began walking back toward the village. Kade kept us a few steps behind his father, who received deferential little nods from every villager we passed.

As we walked, I wondered why we hadn’t been introduced before. I had met almost everyone else in the village, so why not him?

If the roles were reversed and Kade was living with me, my father would have been the first person Kade would have met. Maybe the Xeki customs were different.

Or maybe his father wanted nothing to do with me?

We entered the largest tent in the compound, one that I’d never been inside before. A large desk sat toward the back, and my eyes immediately locked onto the dilapidated radio sitting on top of it. Normally I would have run straight for it, but being in unfamiliar territory made me cautious. Kade’s father was still watching me, his arms now crossed, and I was having a really hard time reading him.

“Kade, is that what I think it is?” I asked.

Kade nodded and led me to the table. “Father sent a couple of our more diplomatically minded people out to various tribes and traders,” he said. “And if I’m not mistaken, this really is a communication device.”

My eyes watered as tears of joy threatened to spill. “Thank you,” I murmured, squeezing his hand. “This means so much to me.”

I glanced back at the king and smiled, ready to thank him. But the cold look on his face kinda scared me off. I’d thank him later, I decided.

I walked to the desk and, wiping sweat from my palms, picked up the receiver. The radio wasn’t perfect. But it didn’t have to be. All it had to do was its job, which I was about to find out if it could.

Kade pushed a button on the radio’s side and lights flickered to life. I let out a breath, incredibly grateful to see some real working technology again. Static filled the air, and I turned the dial until I found my father’s personal radio frequency. It was the primary way we communicated in the mines, and since my father owned them, he had this channel for his personal use too.

Gripping the receiver in my hand, I was about to press the call button when I hesitated. How long had it been? Two weeks? More? Had he already assumed I was dead by now?

Warmth spread across my lower back as Kade pressed his hand there. I avoided looking up at him. Doing so would just make me even more emotional than I already was.

Well, no point in waiting. I pressed the button to talk and cleared my throat. “Dad? Are you there? It’s me, Leslie.” The radio returned nothing but static for several seconds, so I repeated my call. A dark thought came to my mind then: What if something had happened to him? What if, in all my concern about how worried he would be about me, I had neglected to worry about him?

Before the thought could settle, I heard the radio crackle, followed by a man’s voice saying, “Leslie? Leslie!”

Relief and a new flood of emotion overcame me, and my knees actually buckled. I felt myself falling to the floor, but Kade’s strong arms caught me, pulling me gently back up to my feet. I looked up at him, never feeling more gratitude for his help than at that moment. He smiled down at me and nodded.

“Daddy!” I cried, startled by my momentary lapse into a childlike state. When was the last time I called this man “daddy”? With so much drama and complexity between us, and my mother… When was the last time I’d greeted him with any real warmth at all?

“My God,” he continued, and even though our connection was full of static, his own emotion was clear in his voice. “It really is you! I thought you were dead!”

I laughed, more out of relief than any kind of humor. “Nope. I’m not done torturing you just yet.”

“Where are you?” he asked. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay. Dad… I’m with a native tribe.”

“A… A native tribe?” he coughed back. “Leslie, that’s not safe. There are so many—”

“It’s okay, Dad,” I continued, raising my hand to reassure him as if he were standing in front of me. “One of the tribesmen… He saved my life. And his people have taken me in and taken great care of me.” Now was not the time to mention the ritual sex-rock. Or Trag.

“Kade—the man who saved me—says the desert is too dangerous to cross right now. But he’s going to get me back to the star port as soon as it is.”

“Leslie…” Dad started, his worry still more than evident.

I took a breath before continuing. “Dad? The crash. Were there… Were there any other survivors? Did Ava make it back?”

My father was never the type to sugarcoat things. But he still paused for a moment before giving me the news I guess I probably already knew. “They’re all dead, honey. We sent drones—those sand beasts were swarming like mad—and all they could find were bones. Nobody has been seen or heard from. Not even Ava, I’m afraid. You’re the first one.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, summoning up the warmest mental picture of Ava I could. I didn’t want to imagine her picked-clean bones. I wanted to imagine her as I last saw her. She was the closest thing I had to a friend in this place, save for my father. And part of me still held onto the hope that she was alive out there. Part of me felt like I would know if she was dead, and I really didn’t feel like she was.

Setting that thought aside, I tried to focus on what else I could tell Dad. There was so much more that I wanted to tell him, so much I wanted to ask. But Kade gave me a little nudge, saying, “That battery has a short life, I’m afraid. We can recharge it, but best to cut this communication short.”

I nodded, returning to the radio. “Dad, I can’t talk for much longer. The battery needs to recharge.”

“What?” he asked. “Leslie, are you sure you’re safe with those—” His voice turned into a whisper, but there was no hiding the contempt in his tone. “Those aliens?”

“I’m completely sure, Dad,” I said. It was hard to fault him for his distrust of aliens, considering how one had stolen his wife and destroyed our family. Still, I was a little surprised at the defensiveness in my own reply. That was when I noticed a battery light blinking red on the receiver.

“Dad, the battery is draining fast. I really have to go. But I love you, and I promise… I’m safe.”

“Okay,” he said, his frustration clear. “But I thought I lost you, and now that I’ve found you again… Leslie, please just get back here alive. Please.”

“I will, Dad,” I said, looking up at Kade. His smile had faded, instead replaced with a look of steely resolve. I knew if anyone could help me keep my promise to my father, it was him. “See you soon.”

And with that, I clicked the radio off.

Kade rubbed the small of my back, helping to settle my nerves. I breathed in. “Thanks,” I said. “I needed that.”

Nodding, Kade picked up the radio from the table. “If I’m not mistaken, the radio can be recharged with sunlight.” He looked from his father, who remained in the doorway, then turned back to me. I was no radio expert, but I was pretty sure he was right, and nodded my agreement. “Good. We’ll leave it outside my tent. Hopefully there will be a chance soon enough to contact your father once again.”

He led me away from the table and out the door, the king merely turning slightly to watch us go.

Once we had stepped outside the king’s tent, I turned to look back at Kade. Speaking to my father had made me realize just how short my time here was. And I found it strange that Kade hadn’t introduced me to his father yet. So I decided to introduce myself.

I left Kade’s side and returned to the king. He stiffened slightly as I approached, but otherwise remained still. I held out my hand for him to shake. “I’m Leslie,” I said. “You must be Kade’s father.”

The man’s eye twitched and his lip slid up to show his teeth. “I know who you are.”

That was all he said, and he didn’t uncross his arms to shake my hand. I lowered it to my side. “Thank you for allowing me to stay,” I started. Still no response. “The tribe has been very helpful. Taking good care of me. I really appreciate it.”

He shifted his weight and grunted. I supposed grunting was a family trait.

I waited another few seconds before awkwardly turning around to leave again. Kade’s eyes were on me as I returned to his side, his brow furrowed in a look somewhere between confusion and concern.

We were one step away from the door when Kade’s father finally spoke, his voice loud and heavy in the air. “You would not be here if it weren’t for the Omos.”

I froze, looking back at him over my shoulder. Kade grunted, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me away.

“Your kind,” his father said ominously, “are not meant to survive here.”

Kade had succeeded in pulling me away, and as we headed back to our tent, I was left to mull over those words.