Serpent of the Abyss by S.J. Sanders

Chapter 20

Lori didn’t know what to make of Slengral. The gentle way he had been treating her since they discovered the dismembered man practically on their front door showed a side of him that was working its way around her defenses. Ever since he bathed with her, not withdrawing his touch as he sang to and with her, had brought them closer—and the connection she felt still hadn’t left her days later. Not even the sound of stones being cut loose from where they were wedged in the shaft bothered her during the waking hours or brought her nightmares when they roused her from her sleep. Knowing that the work was steadily clearing the passageway helped ease her anxiety, although it always returned whenever he went out to hunt or was called out to assist with the work.

She hated being left alone in the cave more than ever. Even though he assured her that no one would be foolish enough to enter his nest and she would be perfectly safe in there as long as she didn’t emerge, Lori didn’t feel any safer. There were days when she struggled to breathe after he left. She sat on the padded bench, her fingers digging into her palms as she fought to regain her calm. After several minutes, she was able to get up and go about her day. Slengral had been teaching her to make baskets with some of the coarse plant material, and so she occupied herself with the repetitive motion. Even then, she never really relaxed completely, not until Slengral ducked into the nest.

He always had a smile for her—of a sort. The sharp corners of his mouth shifted upward, and he hummed softly in a way that let her know that he was pleased to see her. She didn’t know when she started looking forward to that rather than obsessively looking forward to the day she could escape. Despite his gruff demeanor, he actively drew her out into conversation, wanting to know her thoughts rather than just making small talk.

It often circled back around to the colony and when it would be safe to go to the surface, but more than anything she couldn’t help being afraid deep underground, no matter how beautiful the plants were. The unnatural quiet of the caves bothered her too, especially when she was alone. It didn’t help that sometimes she still dreamed of falling, or the smear of grisly human remains. Fortunately, the weight of Slengral’s tail coiling around her comforted her when she woke.

She relished this part of the day when it was still too early for him to venture above ground. Lori glanced over at him as she threaded another cord of tightly twisted grasses through the basket frame as Slengral had showed her how to do. For a change, yesterday she had dyed the grass a surprisingly shocking pink from one of the flowers that grew in the main gallery of their nest. The room boasted several plants that were always brimming with pink and purple flowers, and it didn’t take her long to note that they made excellent dyes.

Working with fabricating the dye from the rough ingredients she had on hand brought back wistful memories of her childhood. Her mother teaching her how to craft basic dyes from plant materials to get something more natural and beautiful. When she got older, she had lost patience with the process that her mother found so peaceful. Now she got it. There was a certain satisfaction and beauty in it that relaxed her. It seemed that in some ways, she was her mother’s daughter after all.

She glanced over at the male beside her, his attention absorbed with the bits of cured leather he was cutting and sewing. She wasn’t entirely sure what it was for, since the Seshanamitesh did not wear clothing, but the leather seemed to be coveted for bags and straps that were utilized for hunting and storage. At least she didn’t have to suffer the smell of whatever was used to cure it. Due to the rarity of large workable hides, neighboring males struck agreements for the sharing of a ventilated upper cave where they could cure and store the leather. Or so it was explained to her.

It hadn’t escaped her attention, however, that his trips to the upper caves to get leather, fruit, mushrooms, and tubers were getting quicker. The trip he had made for the bits of leather shortly after rising was the quickest yet.

“You returned early today,” she commented, keeping her voice casual.

A red eye turned toward her before returning to his work.

“I did,” he agreed, his deep voice lacking any sort of inflection that could give her a clue as to his present mood.

She licked her lips, determined to press on. “Does that mean that the main shaft has been mostly cleared now?”

“Mostly, yes. Clearing the remaining areas of the upper shaft is taking longer so not to attract the attention of the humans working above us,” he rasped, his held tilting in consideration as his work stilled. “They work diligently and loudly. For long hours, we hear the scrape and crash of rock above our heads. We are leaving the last of the obstructions for them to clear so not to announce our presence. At the current pace, the shaft should be ready within another rest cycle.”

Lori restlessly gave the grass in her hand another unnecessary twist. “And then you will take me to my people?”

His mouth parted and his jaw vibrated with a barely-there rattle, but the strange sound was cut off almost as soon as it began, and he grunted in what she assumed was agreement.

She had to be sure. “Tomorrow?” she pressed.

Slengral’s tail rasped as it moved on the floor, the tip twitching as the tiny protective plates at the end fanned out before snapping down and smoothing once more. She might have dismissed it if she hadn’t seen his hand tighten on the fine tool he held between his fingers.

“Tomorrow is too soon,” he muttered. “I will check the upper passage from the mouth of Aglatha and make certain it is clear after the humans leave.” He met her eyes, his narrowing. “Only when I am certain that it is safe will I take you above, as I have told you before.”

Sighing, Lori set her work on the table and ran her hands through her short hair.

“I’m sorry, I know. It’s just hard for me to sit here not knowing what’s happening in the colony. I feel entirely cut off.” She grimaced, staring down at the carved table. That was an understatement. “I guess I’m just not very good company right now, and being trapped down here isn’t helping.”

“Trapped.” He drew the word out, hissing from between his teeth thoughtfully. Lowering his work, his mass shifted on the enormous bench so that he faced her at an angle. “You feel trapped with me here. You are unhappy.”

Drawing her hands into her lap, she flushed with guilt. She gave him an apologetic smile. “It’s not that you aren’t great. Really, you are. And I appreciate everything you’ve been doing for me… I just…” She shrugged helplessly. “I’m not accustomed to being underground like this. I had only started working in the caves when you found me. Being down here, often alone for hours at a time, never seeing the sun… it makes me feel like I’m going crazy.”

A muffled rasping sound and the clatter of stones made her fingers twitch against her leg. It was sounds like that. It wasn’t too bad when he was beside her and she knew that he would let nothing happen to her. But alone… she couldn’t handle it.

Slengral’s mouth parted a tiny bit, and he drew in a slow breath. She knew he was scenting her; she could even catch the subtle movement of his dark tongues as they slowly lifted against the roof of his mouth.

“You are afraid,” he observed quietly, his flexible fanned shell of his ear dropping back in a subtle demonstration of what she presumed to be unhappiness.

“Of course I’m afraid,” she replied, an audible tremor in her voice. “Who wouldn’t be? I can’t see in the dark like you can and so am blind if I venture even a short distance away from your glowing plants…”

“Galthie,” he supplied.

“Yes, that. Anywhere they grow the thinnest I can barely see anything, if at all. In the tunnel, if there were an emergency, I’m literally blind and could get hurt. I don’t even have my helmet.”

His head cocked. “The human head covering, you would be well with it?” His gavo fanned and snapped in a decisive sound. “Very well. I will retrieve this so that you will feel safe.”

Lori bit her lip, her heart melting just a little. She reached over and lay her hand over his. His eyes brightened as they dropped down to where she was touching him, but she cleared her throat to bring his attention back to her face.

“That would go a long way to help me feel safer,” she admitted, “but it won’t solve the issue. I can’t stay down here. Humans aren’t made to live under the earth. We need the sun so we don’t get sick.”

“The suns kill,” he pointed out.

She let a tiny huff of laughter. He had her there. The sun on Seshana was merciless even with protective gear.

“Yeah, it would probably be a bad idea to go out there midday and cook.”

“You would not cook, you would die and rot, and then the night beasts would come out to eat you,” he corrected, his thumb swiping over the back of her hand. “I will not let that happen.”

“Well, that’s a little literal.” She laughed weakly, pulling her hand away. “What I mean is that it’s not safe at midday, but early or late in the day, exposure to light to get the necessary vitamin D from it is necessary.”

Slengral caught her fingers in his, not allowing her to escape that easily.

“This light will make you happy?” he asked slowly, his eyes focused on her, the pupils expanding as his ear ridges fanned attentively toward her.

Lori ran her tongue thoughtfully against the roof of her mouth, unsure how to answer.

“It would be a step in the right direction,” she conceded finally, unable to think of anything else that would set him at ease.

She wanted nothing more than to get into the colony and demand that the Corp settle her contract early to get her the hell off the planet. They would have to—she was sure of it. After all, her contract had said the planet was uninhabited. This was a far cry from that. They had put her down amid hostile aliens. If they tried to contest it, she had little doubt she could find a lawyer to take her case just for the pleasure of suing for a fat check that she could use to retire to a pleasure planet resort rather than work there. But to get there, Slengral couldn’t know. He would never let her leave.

“I know,” he said, and Lori startled, her eyes snapping up to him in surprise. He did? “My mate requires distraction,” he hummed.

The sound vibrated and pulsed through her, curling her toes.

“Distraction?” she repeated back, dazed.

His opposite hand brushed her knee, the claws dragging lightly over the sensitive skin there as they passed up her inner thigh. She shivered at the touch, a warmth in her belly spreading with the ember of pleasure that was struck low in her core. With the vibration of his hum rolling over, it fanned it, enflaming to a bright pulsing firestorm sweeping through her.

The claws scraped higher, his hum deepening, until they brushed the edge of her pussy before dipping down to trail through the juices weeping from her. A tiny spasm of lust clenched her core, and her breath shot out of her on a quiet moan.

Shit. She felt so good.

It had been months since she had felt even the smallest teasing lick of pleasure, much less enjoying the way it rose into a full-body burn. She certainly hadn’t felt this toward the end of her relationship with Kris. She hadn’t even realized just how much she missed it.

Instinctively, she lay back and widened her legs, her soft pants filling her ears. She needed… needed…

Big red warning lights went off in her mind. Flustered, Lori shot up and slammed her legs closed, batting his hand away at the same time, her cheeks burning hot.

“What the hell?” she shouted, turning furiously toward him. “I don’t know what that was, but don’t ever do that again!”

In response to her outrage, Slengral’s body stiffened, and he rose up, towering over her, his spines lifting, fanning out his glowing plates as he returned her glare.

“I did nothing wrong,” he hissed. “I sought to comfort my female, to relax her, and bring her some pleasure so that she forgot her distress. No male would do less for his mate.”

“We aren’t mates yet,” she reminded him. “And where I come from, that shit there is called coercion unless I agree to it. Unless I ask for it or I agree to it, never do that to me.”

His gavo dropped to half-mast as he regarded her with confusion, his head tilting in that same manner that he did whenever he was trying to work out something she said or did. She immediately felt bad for yelling at him for what had to be a huge misunderstanding between their species, but she wasn’t going to back down. He had to know how serious this was.

Finally, he dropped back down beside her, his breath puffing out in a sharp, unhappy sound.

“You did react stronger than what a female Seshanamitesh would,” he admitted. “Very well, since it is objectionable and you are uncharacteristically vulnerable under its influence, I will not sing to you like that again. You did not object before, though.”

She let out another soft laugh and shook her head. Clearly to him, the two instances bore little difference.

“Yeah, well, last time you weren’t petting me quite like that. Just ask before touching me sexy and preferably before you… uh, sing to me too. Unless it’s an emergency,” she amended.

If she lost her shit again, she definitely wanted him to sing to her.

He gave her a questioning look.

“You know, if I’m freaking out. Really distressed and irrational,” she clarified.

His plates snapped and he looked away. “Very well,” he agreed. His tail uncoiled, and he slid from their shared bench.

Lori blinked after him, alarm jolting through her.

“Where are you going?”

“To do the only thing that I can do to comfort you as I should. I am going to see to your safety and needs,” he replied tonelessly, his large body slipping quickly across the room.

In a matter of seconds, Slengral was gone, and Lori was left staring after him, wondering what exactly he meant by that.