Chapter Two

“Rain said that the prison compound is huge, but as far as she knows it’s the only thing that is on the planet. While we are trying to get around it to get to the back we are going to be more vulnerable. We have to stay vigilant.”

Emerie nodded silently, not looking at Kyven for fear of taking her eyes away from her surroundings. She had seen the shadowy silhouettes of the hybrids filling the horizon when they stood in the shuttle with Ryan taunting them. She knew that they were there, a countless army of creatures that they didn’t understand. They had no way of knowing what these hybrids looked like or what they were capable of doing. The skills and capabilities of the creatures that had been used to breed these hybrids were far-spread and powerful, and it was impossible to fathom what could happen when some of them were combined into the same creature. The possibilities of what could come of these hybrids was truly terrifying, but she didn’t want to show Kyven how scared she really was.

“That’s right,” she finally said. “The wall around the prison went so far that we weren’t even able to see the end of it when we first arrived. I remember what it was like to walk along that wall, just knowing that at any moment the Valdicians could see us. There would be nothing that we could do. We would be fully at their mercy if they approached us.”

They had been walking for a few minutes when the prison loomed ahead of them. Emerie felt the breath catch in her throat. It was still difficult for her to believe that it had been more than a century since she first saw the illegal compound. The wall looked just as fearsome now as it had then. The lack of wind that created the stillness of the planet had prevented the stone from wearing, and though it was somewhat lighter from the constant exposure to the sun, it still looked just as impenetrable as when the Nyx23 group landed so many years before. To her it seemed that it had been little more than 15 years since the team had arrived to complete their planned mission. In reality, the blink of an eye that she thought she had lived on the day that the Covra had invaded the settlement had been 100 years, enough to completely separate her from everything that she had ever known.

Now that she was standing on Penthos again, a planet that had no name when the research team had first identified that it contained an illegal prison compound run by the ruthless Valdician, she felt those years even more than she ever had. She would have thought that being back in the place where it had all began, where the lives of every member of the team had taken an unimaginable turn, would have reminded her more of her past and made her feel even closer to it. Instead, standing where she had when they fought the Valdicians made her feel more distanced from that existence than she had felt since arriving on Uoria. It felt like another lifetime, another version of herself. This filled her with a greater sense of focus and purpose. Instead of fighting for the prisoners who she didn’t know but whose justice and safety she felt a sense of responsibility to protect, she was now fighting for the planet that had come to be her home, the creatures that she knew and cared for, and herself.

Emerie adjusted her grip on the weapon that Kyven had given her so that she felt like it was more under her control. It was larger than those that she had used before, but she knew that she was going to be able to use it if the need arose. They approached the compound, getting as close as they could to the wall. They were still exposed and had limited options for where to go if the hybrids came for them, but if they remained against the wall it ensured that one of their sides was protected.

They moved along the wall as quickly as they could, frequently glancing back to watch for anyone or anything that might be approaching them. It felt like every step that they took stretched the wall further, preventing them from ever reaching the end. The sun’s intensity burned in Emerie’s eyes and she couldn’t see anything more than a few feet ahead of her. Finally they reached the corner and a hint of relief eased the tension in Emerie’s muscles. Kyven held a hand back as he looked around the corner, keeping her in place as he checked to make sure that none of the hybrids were waiting just beyond the compound.

“Alright,” he said. “I don’t see anyone. The hills are right ahead.”

They stepped away from the wall and immediately Emerie heard a piercing scream coming from somewhere inside the compound. Her hand tightened further on the handle to the blade and she gasped, whipping around to look behind her and then to either side. Nothing seemed to have changed. She could still see only the wide expanse of empty sand. The silence after the scream seemed even more profound than it had before and Emerie could hear her own breath in her ears as she looked around. Where had they all gone? There had been so many of them and now they couldn’t see any of them. They had to still be there and the fact that they were out of sight made their presence even more unnerving. If they could see them, at least they would know what they were facing. Without that it felt like they were surrounded by eyes that were watching them, just waiting for the moment when they were to attack.

“What was that?” Emerie asked.

“I don’t know,” Kyven said. “I can’t tell what species it was. We can’t stay here. We need to keep moving.”

They took another glance around themselves and took off running, racing toward the hills in the sand a few yards away. Another scream echoed behind them and Emerie forced herself faster. She could only hope that it was one of the hybrids rather than one of the group from the shuttle that was suffering whatever agony was causing those screams. As they ran through the hills that rose on either side of them, Emerie kept her eyes locked on their smooth walls, looking for the holes that would lead down into the tunnels that lay within them.

Finally she saw one of them and grabbed onto Kyven’s arm. She pulled him toward the hole and they ducked down into it. There was a steep decline that caused her to tumble and slide down through the darkness that seemed even greater now that their eyes were out of the sunlight. She didn’t remember the planet being so bright when they were there before, and she wondered what type of change could have happened that could have flooded it with such piercing light. They landed on the ground and Emerie lay still for a few seconds, waiting for any pain that might hit her. When nothing did, she rolled over and looked at Kyven. He was on his hands and knees beside her, his head hanging as he drew in a few long breaths.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

Her eyes were getting accustomed to the darkness around her and she ran them over Kyven to try to detect any serious injuries. He sat back on his knees and shook his head as if to clear it.

“I’m fine,” he said. “I just didn’t expect that.”

Emerie gave a short laugh and looked around, trying to discern the size of the area where they had just fallen. She had expected that the honeycomb of tunnels was going to be relatively narrow, but they seem to have fallen into more of an underground chamber than a tunnel. The light filtering from above them was gradually becoming enough for her to see more around her and she was able to follow the curves of the walls until she found the darker void that she assumed was the rest of the tunnel. She had taken a step toward it when the light coming into the chamber faded briefly and she heard what sounded like voices above them.

Kyven took her hand and ran toward the tunnel. They stepped just inside the mouth to the tunnel and watched the outer chamber. The light gradually returned, telling them that whoever or whatever had walked in front of the entrance to the chamber had walked away. Emerie let out a long breath and let her head fall back against the wall to the tunnel. Her heart was drumming against her ribs so hard it seemed to tremble through her body and pound in her ears.

“I used to be so much braver,” she muttered, mostly to herself.

She chose her career with the research group. She knew that there was going to be more to it than just research in the lab, and was one of the first to look into the rumors of illegal prisoners being held on what then was considered an unknown and unexplored planet. When they decided to go to the planet to free the prisoners and remove those who held them, she hadn’t hesitated. In her heart she knew that it was what was right and what she needed to do. The Valdicians were going against the agreements made throughout the universe to protect the different species, and were threatening not just the safety but the rights, culture, and way of life of the people they had captured and all who they had left behind.

Her mind traveled back to the Maccabees and all that they celebrated during the Hanukkah festival when she was on Earth. She thought of the single family rising up against their enemy, steadfast in their goals even when they were told that they would never succeed. The odds were always against them. Even when they had built up their largest army and had trained extensively for the fight ahead, the enemies always had more men, more advanced training, and the protection of the law behind them. Emerie knew that years ago when she stepped onto the StarCity shuttle that brought them to Penthos the first time, she wouldn’t have felt this level of fear. She was like one of the Maccabees, ready to stand up against whatever they were going to face and prepared for the danger that they were going to encounter when they landed. She stood strong with the others when they were directed to Uoria and worked steadfastly to create their new settlement.

Sometime in the years that they spent on the planet, though, she seemed to have lost the intensity that she had once had. She now felt fear where she would have once felt determination.

Suddenly she felt Kyven’s hand touch her cheek tenderly. She looked up and saw him gazing at her softly.

“You are still brave,” he said.

Emerie shook her head.

“I’m afraid,” she said. “I’m scared of everything that’s happening around us. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do this. What if Ryan’s right? He designed those hybrids to destroy us.”

“Being afraid doesn’t mean that you aren’t brave,” he said. “Being brave is knowing that you are in danger and still doing what you need to do. It is having the courage to not just put your body in danger, but your heart in danger as well. If you weren’t brave, you wouldn’t be here with me.”

Emerie looked into Kyven’s eyes and felt her heart swell in her chest. His words carried meaning that touched her in a way that she hadn’t expected. Suddenly nothing else mattered to her. The past fell away. All she cared about in that moment was Kyven.

She dove forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and crushing her mouth down on his. Kyven gasped beneath the kiss, but soon gave into it. He pressed into her, allowing his lips to part and his tongue to push her mouth open so that he could taste her. Emerie had been thinking about this for so long. She had tried so hard to deny it and to keep the thoughts and the needs out of her mind and her body, but now she couldn’t ignore it any longer. She felt like she didn’t have control of herself anymore. It was the worst moment. The worst location. The worst opportunity. But there was nothing that she could do to stop herself. She had to have Kyven.

Her body felt like it was burning from within and she couldn’t slow the rush, the compulsions that were running almost aggressively through her mind. In the late night hours when she had allowed herself to think of Kyven and what it would be like to finally have him in her arms and in her body, Emerie had imagined a far more measured, slow and gentle approach. There was nothing slow or careful about the passion behind their kisses and the desperation in their hands as they began to tear away each other’s clothing.

Emerie kicked out of her shoes as quickly as she could while tugging Kyven’s shirt out of the waistband of his pants. Their mouths parted just long enough for both of them to tear away their shirts and toss them to the sandy dirt at their feet. Kyven groaned and ducked down, catching one of her nipples in his mouth. Emerie gasped as the warmth of his tongue swirled over the breast and then moved to the other. His teeth nipped into her skin and she arched her back to press it further into his touch. Kyven’s hands pushed her pants down over her hips and she climbed out of them as he mimicked her movements. Within seconds they were both bare and Emerie could feel the intoxicating warmth of his body radiating toward her in the small space.

Kyven’s hands roved over her body and caught her by the backs of her thighs. In one swift movement he had lifted Emerie up off of the ground and settled her onto his hips. She could feel his thick, delicious erection pressing against her belly and her mouth watered, the craving for him reaching an almost unbearable peak. Her hips rolled against him, teasing at his engorged cock until she could feel the slick drops forming at the tip dampen the skin of her belly. Kyven’s hand dug into Emerie’s hair and he pulled her head back to expose her throat so that his mouth could roam across it, his tongue gliding up and along the bottom of her jaw. He tipped her hips so that his erection settled against her core and she could feel it nudging her intensely sensitive pearl.

Emerie cried out and parted her thighs further to grant Kyven better access to her hot, wet body. His erection continued to glide through her delicate folds and she felt like she couldn’t handle the anticipation any longer. She lifted her hips and reached in front of her to wrap her hand firmly around his thick shaft. She positioned the tip at her opening and paused to look into his face. Their eyes met and Kyven whipped around, pressing her back to the wall of the tunnel so that he sank deeply into her in one hard thrust.

Emerie bit down into Kyven’s shoulder to muffle the scream that bubbled up in her throat. Despite the arousal that coursed through her body and the undeniable need that fueled her body forward, she was still aware of the danger that might lurk just above them and didn’t want to call any more attention to them. Kyven filled her so completely, stretching her walls until they couldn’t accommodate any more. He rocked his hips against her so that he stroked even deeper, pushing her to a place that balanced between pure ecstasy and the hint of pain. The blend already had her rushing headlong toward climax and she couldn’t decide if she wanted to give herself into the release that she had been aching for, or to force her body to hold off so that she could enjoy the sensation of Kyven inside her for longer.

Kyven didn’t give her the chance to decide. Taking a step back, he pushed Emerie to an angle that made each thrust of his hips even more intense. He ran his hand down the center of her chest and then pressed the pad of his thumb to her clit, stroking it in tight, concentrated circles as he held her in place with his hand flattened against her belly. It took only moments for the sensations that the touch created to send her spiraling out of control. The pressure built throughout her body in one massive rush, then crashed into a mind-blowing orgasm that reminded her body of everything that it had been missing for more than a century.

The feeling of her tight walls closing in around him and drawing him deeper into her body forced Kyven over the edge into his own climax. He tossed his head back and let out a roar that echoed through the chamber and disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel. Emerie felt his cock swell and pulse inside her, spilling out as his frantic throbbing made the spasms of her center even tighter.

Kyven’s legs seemed to weaken beneath him and he lowered both of them to the ground so that Emerie nestled into his lap. She leaned forward and rested her head into the crook of his neck and shoulder. She was breathing so heavily she couldn’t speak, but she squeezed close to his body to try to express what she was feeling without words. Kyven cradled her close and touched a kiss to her temple.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

The words startled Emerie and broke her out of the blissful calm. She sat up sharply and looked at him.

“What?”

“I don’t know what got into me,” he said. “I shouldn’t have let myself get out of control like that. I told you that I would respect how you were feeling, and I didn’t. I’m sorry.”

Emerie shook her head, a smile on her lips as she realized what he was saying.

“No,” she said. “You didn’t get out of control. I did.”

“You did?” Kyven asked.

Emerie leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Kyven’s lips. She rested her forehead against his and let out a long breath.

“I know that I’ve been holding myself back from you. You’ve been nothing but understanding and respectful, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me. This has all been harder on me than I thought it would be, and there aren’t many men who would be as patient as you’ve been. There’s no reason for you to say that you’re sorry. I’ve wanted this for so long. I just haven’t been courageous enough to tell you, or to even admit it to myself.”

“I’m glad that you did,” Kyven said.

“So am I,” Emerie said.

They kissed softly. The frantic energy that had fueled them forward moments before was gone and now they moved slowly, tenderly. She breathed in the smell of him and took a few seconds to enjoy the feeling of their breath synchronizing.

“Does this mean that you’re ready to be with me?” Kyven asked. “Truly and really with me?”

Emerie nodded.

“Yes,” she said. “I love you, Kyven.”

She could see his lips curve up into a smile.

“I love you, too.”