Chapter 11: Koriv’n

 

Nikki knelt on the rug in front of the couch and held the medical unit over the cut at the back of my leg.

I’d never fought one of those centicreeps and a pile of scuttlers before. The general tactic for dealing with the long scourge mutants was to isolate them on a roof and shoot off as many of the dangerous body sections as possible from afar before going in for the final kill. The general tactic for scuttlers was to stick with the blade.

Not being able to switch to my blaster because I was too busy slashing with my sword had proven to be a challenge. Also, centicreeps were fast. Luckily for me, I was one of the fastest hunters in the area.

Unlike the basic scourge units, which had five body segments and a head, the centicreeps had many articulations, each one with a pair of legs. Each section also had a sharp blade, pointing backward, on either side of the carapace. This new scourge variant moved in a disturbing way, even to me, someone who’d faced the scourge my whole life.

It was fast and slinked along the ground, able to scale vertical walls and wind through rubble. The scourge created unique mutations for every planet, and this one was one of the most challenging I’d seen, though I’d only been on one other planet previously.

One of the blades along the side of its body had nicked me in the calf during one of the beast’s thrashing attacks. The blades along the side of its body were tipped with the same toxins as the scuttlers’ claws. While the compound had preservative qualities, its main job was to immobilize the scourges’ victims.

If the wound was large enough, the paralyzing agent rendered the limb useless. Some victims lost feeling and control in the limb completely, while others suffered from shooting pains. The scourge enjoyed their meat fresh, and the toxin also kept the prey alive and preserved, trapped in living horror as they were carried back to the nest and kept until devoured.

As a Xarc’n hunter, I was engineered to handle small amounts of the toxin. Our bodies broke down the chemicals and flushed them from our systems. We were resistant to it but not immune. Large injuries still took us out of commission.

The cut on my calf wasn’t deep, and I hadn’t gotten a large enough dose of the toxin to worry. I’d flushed it thoroughly with the remainder of the water in my flask and her bottle the moment we’d found a safe spot to hide. We’d also cleaned up the best we could with the towels in the house. With the medical unit’s help, I should be ready to travel again in a few hours.

Nikki needed to rest. She’d barely slept at her house before the vehicle had arrived, bringing the scourge with it.

“I shouldn’t have insisted we go by foot or stop at my old house.”

She was blaming herself again.

“You couldn’t have guessed the male would be stupid enough to drive in a loud vehicle while the flyers were out. Don’t blame yourself.” I reached down to squeeze her knee. “I wanted to go by foot as well so we could spend more time together before you meet everyone else.”

I debated whether to tell her the next part and decided there were no reasons not to. “When we get back to the compound, I want you to choose to stay with me instead of leaving with the volunteer human males when they return to New Franklin.”

Her body language changed, stiffening. “Did—did you just say New Franklin?”

I peered at her from my prone position on the couch, trying to read her face. “They used to call it that. They don’t anymore; not after they lost almost half their numbers this spring. I don’t know what they call it now.”

“I see.” She was quiet for a while after that. Then after a long silence, she said, “That was where I wanted to go last summer and where I was planning on running off to if I got free. The plan was to only travel during dawn and dusk when there was still enough light to see, but the bugs were not out.” She laughed bitterly. “Now I realize how dumb that was. I couldn’t survive out here.”

“You took down that scuttler on your own,” I reminded her. “You were vicious, like one of your Earth lions.”

I’d watched in horror as the scuttler had crashed into the window, breaking it, but the centicreep had just shown up on the scene, and leading it to Nikki would be worse. My only choice was to take down the centicreep first, then rescue my female. But my female hadn’t needed rescuing. By the time I got to her, the scuttler was dead.

“And what do you know about lions?”

I told her about the prides of lions hunters had saved on the African continent, and that there should enough of them for a viable gene pool.

“I’m about as dangerous as a cub.”

I frowned. “I thought baby cats are called kittens.”

“English is weird like that.”

“Cub doesn’t sound right. You are the most dangerous kitten.”

She laughed and made a snarling sound.

The medical device buzzed and turned off.

“Okay, I think that means you’re done.” She hooked the device back onto the side of my belt, then smacked my butt.

“Hey!” I slapped her ass lightly in return as she stood.

I sat and had her in my lap in an instant.

“You sure move fast for someone who just had bug toxin in you.” She put her cheek to mine as I did to her before I’d left to fight the scourge. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Nikki pushed a stray piece of hair off my face, brushing the base of my horns.

I closed my eyes and sighed. Our horns were sensitive, and it felt nice to have her fingers on them.

“Can I touch them?” she asked.

“Yes!” I exclaimed, sounding much too eager.

She giggled. “I’m guessing it feels good to have them touched?” She rubbed them tentatively, and I groaned. “I’ll take that as a yes. If they are this sensitive, then how do you use them?”

“I don’t feel much with hard, blunt force, just a vibration.” I struggled to find a way to explain it. “Some humans are ticklish when touched lightly but do not react to a normal touch.” Ticklishness was an idea that hunters had a hard time wrapping our minds around. It didn’t seem a useful trait to have evolved when more nuanced pressure sensors would have done a better job.

“I see.” She explored my horns as if fascinated by them.

I loved having her hands on me as much as I loved having her on my lap. I wanted to have her close to me always. She smelled good, the scent heady and addictive. As she explored, my body reacted. My cock hardened in my loincloth and pressed against her thigh.

I leaned into her hands, my chest rumbling louder than ever. The scent of her arousal hit my nose, and I dug my fingers into the floral fabric of the couch to stop myself from grabbing her and—

Rip! The couch ripped from my claws as they extended from their retracted position. I released the couch and retracted my claws. I wrapped my arms around her instead, pulling her close.

I nuzzled at her nose with mine, and she tilted her head, her lips aiming for mine—and hissed. She pulled away, cradling her neck gingerly.

“You are hurt.” I’d noticed her moving stiffly since our encounter with the bugs outside, but I hadn’t scented any blood on her, so I hadn’t mentioned it.

“I think I pulled a muscle in my neck.” She rubbed at the back of her neck on the right side. “I kind of lost my shit on the bug and just kept smashing it. It’s just starting to stiffen up now.”

I stood, picking her up in my arms, and headed up the stairs. “We will get the medical device on it, and after a rest, you should be good again.”

The armrest of the couch was high and would make a bad support for her neck. A mattress and pillows were best.

“Shouldn’t we stay on the ground floor in case we have to run?”

I frowned. “No. This home is more secure. All the windows are intact. And if we are on the second floor, the scourge are less likely to sense our movements. I doubt the human male who once acted as your mate knows we are here. You are safe.”

I sat her down on the cleanest bed, one with pictures of human-made vehicles on the cover.

“My mate? Oh, you mean my ex.” She scowled, and even that expression was adorable on her. “He’s nothing to me now and hasn’t been for a long time.”

“Good. You have me now.” I took the healing device from my belt and set it for muscular injuries on humans. “I will convince you I am a better choice.”

Nikki laughed. “You just took down a whole pack of bugs and a giant man-eating centipede, and you’ve been nothing but nice to me. Of course you are a better choice. I’m not sure I’m ready for anything serious, but I’m sticking with you for now.”

“Do you regret choosing to travel with me on foot?” I tilted her head and held the device in place.

“No way! Sure, that encounter was scary, but we’re still alive, aren’t we? And you know, it felt good to know I could kill one of those things. And besides, they brought those bugs on us. We would’ve been fine otherwise.”

“So you don’t mind traveling on foot the rest of the way?”

She might say I was a better choice, but she’d spent the last year with males who made me look like the planet’s best prize. What if she changed her mind when she met the human males at the compound? She’d mentioned that New Franklin had been her initial choice. She might be tempted to leave with the volunteer human warriors.

“Is that your way of asking for a date? I think I can handle that.”

“I do not have flowers or chocolate.”

She pulled her bag up onto the bed and rummaged around in it, pulling out the candy bar I’d given her last night. “I’m happy with this.” She opened it and took a bite. “This is exactly what I need after bashing a bug with an axe.”

She held the sweet treat out to me, but I declined. “Too sweet for hunters.”

“The flowers can wait. Let’s go the rest of the way by foot. We made it this far already. And we can spend more time together before I meet everyone else.”

She used my own reason back on me. I grinned. She might not be ready for anything serious, but I’d take what I could get.

“We might want to find me another bike so we can travel faster.” She yawned. “Oh man, I’m exhausted.” She lay down, adjusting the pillows to keep her neck supported.

I held the device on her and gave her a head rub with my other hand.

“That’s nice,” she hummed, closing her eyes.

The medical device healed wounds fast but tired the user out. After using it, hunters rested or slept if we could.

I was disappointed we didn’t get to explore each other more, but she’d stopped smelling of arousal, and she was tired. We’d have more opportunities, especially since she’d decided to travel the rest of the way with me on foot.

I doubted we’d run into more trouble. The van had sped off in the opposite direction, and even if it did return, I’d protect her. That male would never hold my Nikki in his arms again. She was mine now.

The medical device buzzed, and Nikki woke in a panic, gasping.

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “Rest. I’m right here.”

She took my hand and held it in hers before closing her eyes again.

I unclipped my communicator from my belt and dialed Tarv’k to update him of our situation. He’d planned on looking for us if I did not contact him today. He and his mate, Evie, would be interested in knowing I got Nikki out successfully. The females at the compound would be excited to meet her.

Nikki didn’t know it yet, but she’d be happy there.