Chapter 15: Nikki

 

I was sleeping on the couch, the straps of my bag entangled strategically around my wrists, when Koriv’n woke me.

He spoke, the words coming out in a series of growls, reminding me of how different he was. It had only been a day, but I’d already gotten used to him.

I stretched, yawning. “Your communicator isn’t translating.”

“I forgot about that,” he said, after turning the translator back on. “Let’s get you that in-ear device.”

He pulled me up from the couch, and I leaned in to kiss him on the chin, again, because I couldn’t reach anything else. “I’m glad you’re back, and you’re safe. You’re so brave to fight those horrible things.”

I was glad those poor souls had been put out of their misery.

I picked up my bag in one hand and placed the other in the crook of his elbow. It was strange how comfortable I was with him now. Touching him felt good. I wondered if he had some pheromone or something that affected and calmed me. “Let’s go. I can’t wait to see your shuttle.”

When we got to the bridge on the roof, I balked. This thing looked like it was cobbled together using random items. It didn’t even have railings. I didn’t trust it. It was also dark. The two shuttles were no longer lighting the roof, and I couldn’t see more than a few steps ahead of me.

“It’s safe,” Koriv’n said, urging me ahead. “We use it every day, and it’s meant to survive flyers crashing into it.”

I held onto his arm like my life depended on it and took my first step onto the death bridge. It didn’t go crashing down. “First the stairs, now this. I guess I can’t expect anything to be up to code during the apocalypse.”

“Tarv’k built this bridge. It doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing, but I trust his work. It will hold.”

I only relaxed after I made it across. “I don’t see your shuttle.”

“It’s still cloaked. It’s dark, so you might not be able to perceive it, but the air around it looks slightly different.”

I didn’t see it. But he was right; it was dark. “I’ll take your word for it.”

Koriv’n reached out, and suddenly the sleek gray hull of a shuttle was in front of us, emitting a slight glow of light.

I gasped and took a step back instinctively. “I would’ve walked right into that!”

“I would never let you.” He opened the door and stepped in, pulling me along.

The interior of his shuttle looked nothing like a ship or vehicle. It looked more like the inside of a home. There was no cockpit, no futuristic dash with lights and buttons. I already knew it had no windows by looking at the outside, but how did he pilot this thing?

There was something that looked like a tiny kitchenette with a small counter and what I assumed was a sink. Along one wall was a desk boasting a large screen with a Xarc’n-sized chair in front of it. Instead of a keyboard, something that looked an awful lot like a video game controller sat in front of it. It reminded me of a gaming station, and I smiled to myself imagining Koriv’n playing video games.

There was a large sleeping platform inset into the wall. Koriv’n went to the panel next to the bed, tapped it, and the entire wall panel opened up to show a closet. “I cleaned out a corner for your things.” He pointed to an empty shelf.

As I stuffed my bag inside, he opened another panel. This one held a gallery of weapons all neatly displayed like some museum collection. He took his curved blade, cleaned it with a soft piece of leather, and placed it back into its compartment. Then, he did the same for his blaster.

He threw the leather cloth into a small drawer, also set into the wall; he pressed a button, starting some sort of cleaning cycle. That reminded me. The ladies mentioned a decontaminator unit, like a waterless shower, on their ships. A shower would be nice right about now.

I scanned the shuttle and found an empty closet-like stall that was partially see-through in one corner. It was tall and narrow and fitted my mental description of a waterless shower quite well. It was next to an enclosed area that must be the facilities.

“Is that area for natural functions?”

“Yes. Our makers had strict social norms about bad smells, so they designed our shuttles accordingly.”

I was glad about that. However, they clearly had no social norms about nakedness because the shower-like stall was out in the open. I pointed to it. “Is that the decontaminator?”

“Yes. We should get clean together.”

The ladies had explained that the decontaminator worked through thin fabrics but not through thick layers. I’d been dirty for much too long, and I wanted to get as clean as humanly possible. I started removing my clothes.

That familiar purring started up in Koriv’n’s chest. I couldn’t help the excitement of knowing he reacted to me. I turned back and sent him a grin. “The last one naked is a rotten egg!”

Free of my clothes, I turned just in time to see Koriv’n throw his loincloth on top of my garments. I found myself face to face with his perfectly muscular chest. My eyes drifted down past washboard abs and—oh, wow. My mouth went dry.

Just as I’d felt before, he was different from our men. His cock had three sections, each one widening and forming a ridge before dipping back in to start the next. Each flare got wider as it neared the base.

I imagined it sliding into me, each broad head forcing me open and rubbing against my insides. A blossoming heat shot down between my legs, wetting my need.

When I touched him that first time, I’d been turned on and curious about him, but part of me had done it because I thought I needed to give him something in return. This time, things felt different. It felt real.

I thought of the ladies telling me about the mating bond. That wouldn’t happen after having sex just once, right? Sex wasn’t the thing that triggered it. Connie had just met Jorg’k when their bond started. They hadn’t even kissed. And Evie was living with Tarv’k for a while before it happened.

The purring from Koriv’n’s chest increased as he took a step toward me, looking almost feral. If I ever forgot these hunters were predators, this was a poignant reminder. I felt like prey. A primal fear as old as life itself took over, telling me to run. I took a step back, confused at the feelings of fear and lust mingling in my body. How could I be simultaneously terrified and turned on?

Koriv’n prowled toward me, grinning, his sharp fangs on display. The entire shuttle rumbled with his purring. Every step he took saw me backing up involuntarily until I found myself trapped in the decontaminator. My heart pounded so furiously it echoed in my ears. I swallowed hard.

Then he was pressed up against me, his cock hard against my belly. I looked up into his yellow eyes as the cleaning cycle started.

“Close your eyes, little kitten. You’ll feel a slight tingle as it cleans.” His communicator translated from our pile of clothes.

A slight tingling? My body was on fire! Every inch of skin prickled with excitement. I knew we had to stay slightly apart for the decontaminator to do its job, and I was glad for the reprieve. One touch from him now, and I might just die from how intense everything felt.

Instead of calming, every second in the decontaminator only made things worse. His masculine scent surrounded me, driving my need higher. Koriv’n must have felt the same because the purring in his chest was so strong it rattled the entire unit.

When the stall finally beeped, signaling the end of the cleansing cycle, the scent of ozone faded, and Koriv’n lifted me up in his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist and gripped onto his horns, eager to get as close as I could.

I nipped at his lips with my teeth, and he captured my mouth with his. I moaned, and he swallowed the sound as I ground my pelvis against him. I’d never needed someone so much before.

I shuddered with anticipation as Koriv’n pressed me back against the wall and reached down between my legs, running a finger along the seam of my pussy. I held onto him as he explored my folds, his fingertips becoming slick with my juices. Two thick digits found my opening and pressed in. I hissed and rocked against his hand.

He growled something I couldn’t understand, but no translation came. I didn’t care. That growl was hot as fuck, and I needed more of him now.

“Yes! More. Please!”

Pulling his fingers from me, he licked them clean deliberately, groaning in the sexiest way possible. His other hand still supported my ass. Then he lifted me again and guided the head of his shaft to my pussy and pushed in. A cry escaped my lips as the first thick head breached my body.

Koriv’n froze, growling. The communicator was no longer working, but I understood.

“No! Don’t stop,” I begged. I rocked my hips, trying to slide farther down his cock.

He snarled and thrust in, and I cried out again as I slid past the first large flare and tightened around the dip. Before I could get used to the fullness, he moved again, each time thrusting deeper.

I felt so full I struggled to think; I struggled to breathe. I was stretched until it almost hurt. I wasn’t sure I could handle it, but it was also the most amazing thing I’d ever felt. Every movement made me whimper and cry, but I never wanted him to stop.

Koriv’n snarled something in my ear, but I only recognized my name. I didn’t care. We didn’t need words right now. We had everything we needed in each other. Reaching up, I scratched my nails along his horns, and he rewarded me with a groan.

He fucked me, pressed up against the wall. Firm fingers dug into my ass cheeks and moved me up and down his cock. Each hard ridge rubbed against something inside me that sent shocks of electricity through my body. Every nerve was lit up like a million fireworks had gone off at once.

I screamed, the sound so shrill and primal I didn’t recognize it as my own. My world exploded, and I was bathed in ecstasy, unable to do anything but feel. My body shook, and I sobbed into his shoulder.

Still connected, he moved us out of the tiny stall, and I found myself on the bed, his body caging mine.

That was when I realized he wasn’t done. I didn’t know if I could handle any more, but lost in rapture, I couldn’t move or even protest, not that I would. I could do nothing but cling onto him as he turned every bone in my body to jelly.