It was just as I remembered it, even years after I’d last stepped foot in the place. I turned to Axtin as we came to the small cave entrance, already prepared for the questioning look on his face.

My place of solitude that I had discovered when I was younger. The cave was lit by naturally bioluminescent moss, and had been my refuge when the world had seemed too overwhelming to a young girl.

And now it was being used to give me shelter from the world once more.

“It’s bigger than it looks,” I said, “trust me.”

He nodded once, fully willing to take me at my word, it seemed.

“You lead the way.”

I waited until I was facing away from him to let the small smile spread across my face. I knew it wasn’t the right emotion to feel at such a time, such a place, but I couldn’t help myself. I knew what he was up to.

If asked, he’d probably have just said that I knew the place, it made sense for me to go ahead of him. But I wasn’t born yesterday. He was keeping an eye on me, always looking out for me.

It might have been wrong to smile after what all these people had been through, but his concern was starting to grow on me. He was starting to grow on me.

I led the group through the opening, a light clutched tightly in one hand. I hadn’t been to these tunnels since I was at university. It soon became clear, though, that they hadn’t changed a bit. Same twists, same turns. Count on Mother Nature to remain constant even as the whole world goes to hell.

From somewhere in the distance, I heard the familiar patter of dripping water, the soft echo of our footsteps. It was surreal to be back after so long, not to mention after so much change.

If someone told me back at university that I would one day lead a group of alien-attack survivors into this place, I would have laughed my ass off. Well, more likely, I would have declared them insane, and gone right back to studying; but, same idea.

I forced my mind back to the present, turning as best I could to Axtin.

“There’s a larger space up a ways, big enough for everyone.”

He nodded, turning back behind him to pass on the information.

It was only another minute or two before the tunnel began to widen. Soon after, we found ourselves in a wide chamber. The ceiling was high, twenty feet, at least, and practically dripping with stalactites.

Everyone piled into the space, immediately filing to the center. After being trapped in a cage and then forced to walk through narrow tunnels, I had expected everyone to spread out, but they didn’t. Instead, they stood close, huddled together as if for warmth. Few of them spoke and those who did spoke in the barest of whispers, their tones hushed and heavy with fear. Calixta wiggled out of my arms to go to some of the other children, and my heart ached a little, thinking of what she must have lost in the past day.

I knew I should say something, offer some kind of comfort, but words seemed to fail me. What could I possibly say to people who had just been through so much? Moreover, why would they even listen?

Still, I opened my mouth, willing the right words to come. Or any words for that matter.

I was spared the effort in the next moment as a voice rose from the center of the crowd.

“Alright, everyone, it’s okay. We’re safe now.”

Vidia, of course. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Heads swiveled in her direction, all eyes immediately locking on the older woman.

“I know we’ve all been through something tonight, some worse than others. But if we keep our heads straight, we can all come through this. What we need to do now is take stock. Food, water, whatever we’ve got on us, let’s see it. We need to know how long we can stay here.”

“Excellent idea,” Axtin said, stepping forward. “We’ll all feel much better once we have a solid plan.”

Everyone sprang into action at Vidia’s command, idle hands springing to life, each grasping to produce what little they had.

Moments later, Vidia, Axtin, and I crouched near a small pile of goods. Small being the operative word. All told, there was just enough food to get us through the night, possibly enough water.

We were safe, that was the most important thing, but without food and medical supplies, we wouldn’t stay so for long. We needed a plan, and we needed one fast.

“What are we going to do?” I asked, directing the question to both of them at once.

Vidia gazed around at the shaken people, her brows knit as she thought.

“I might have an idea,” Axtin offered, standing by my side. “Vidia, can you get everyone settled while we talk?” She nodded once, immediately standing to see to her task. He reached down, taking my hand, “Come with me.”

For someone who had never stepped foot in the place before, he seemed to navigate the tunnels quite well. In no time at all, he had led me deep into the heart of the labyrinth, coming to a stop in a particularly wide passageway.

“Okay,” I said, pulling my hand from his grip. “What’s the plan?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

I scoffed, rolling my eyes pointlessly in the near dark.

“Just tell me.”

“I need to leave for a while, go back to the Vengeance.”

My heart seemed to stutter in my chest.

“Leave?” I managed, feeling suddenly panicked all over again.

“Just for a while. To get help.”

It made sense, I knew immediately that it did. But, somehow, I still felt like the air had been knocked from my lungs.

“I don’t know, Axtin…”

“Leena,” he said, his voice oddly calm. “We can’t bring them all with us right now. You know as well as I do that a lot of them wouldn’t survive the trip through the forest. They’re wounded, some of them are children. If I go alone, I can bring back food, supplies, even guards. It’s the only way we stand a chance at saving them all.”

“I could go with you.” I said, the words sounding hollow even to me.

“You could. I just assumed you’d want to stay and help here.”

I did. Or, some part of me did, anyway. The rest of me was still flooding with that sense of panic, of breathlessness. The thought of Axtin leaving made me feel ill and helpless.

I nodded anyway, “You’re right, I do.”

“I can travel faster alone, anyway,” he said, taking a step nearer in the already cramped tunnel. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

I nodded again, or maybe I had never stopped. Either way, I knew it was the right thing to do. I tried not to focus on the pit in my stomach, on the strange desire I felt to beg him to stay. It was wrong to want him there when he could help so many people by leaving. So I nodded, my hair bouncing around my head with the intensity of my agreement.

Truth be told, I was afraid. That something would happen to him, that he wouldn’t make it back. I knew better than to voice the thought. Still, my hands trembled as I faced him.

“It’s a good plan.”

He smiled down at me, his eyes sparkling sadly in the dim tunnel.

“I’m coming back.”

“I know.” My voice was unconvincing, even to me.

I felt his hands on mine then, the gentle pressure drawing me more presently to the moment.

He stared down at me, his gaze penetrating.

“I am going to come back, Leena.” His words were slower, more definite.

I met his gaze, biting my lip in concentration.

“I know you will.”

“Leena—”

I couldn’t hear anymore, couldn’t think anymore. It was too much: the Xathi, the wounded, him leaving. My heart felt like it might burst from the strain.

Whatever he was going to say, it didn’t matter. There was nothing to say. He had to leave, and I had to stay behind. There wasn’t any other option, and we both knew it.

For the time being though, he was still there, still with me. And I could no longer bear the thought of not touching him.

I rose quickly to my toes, sipping at his lips.

He responded immediately, his hands finding my waist to pull me tighter against him. His tongue pressed against my own, the taste of him sending waves of electricity through me.

I moaned into his mouth, my own hands scrambling over him. I wanted to feel him, every solid inch of his body. My fingers slid into his shirt, over his abs, around his back. He felt better than I ever imagined, greater than any fantasy.

His cock throbbed between us, the press of it feeling enormous, even through our clothes. It was rigid, in a way that my brain exploded just thinking about.

He took my lip between his teeth, biting down so that I groaned in pleasure. I had never known, before Axtin, just how good pain could be. I gripped him in response, my nails biting into his back until a growl escaped him. Even that, the mere sound of him, made me wild.

I reached for his shirt, needing more of him, wanting to see him. It pulled easily over his head and he answered in kind, tearing at my clothes like a madman. In no time at all, we were free of them, and they lay littered across the tunnel, some having ripped in our mad rush.

When we were finally bare, we paused, taking a moment to see one another; really see, for the first time.

Axtin may have been the single most amazing thing I had ever seen. He hulked over me, looking even larger than normal in the narrow tunnel. His green skin stretched tightly over perfectly sculpted muscle, his chest heaving in excitement. I lowered my eyes slowly, taking in his full glory while my heart pounded in my chest.

His cock was enormous, bigger than I had thought possible. The mere sight of him, hard and throbbing, made my breath catch in my throat. I had never wanted anyone as badly as I wanted him in that moment. All of him. Every solid inch.

He was soon to accommodate.

He reached for me in the next moment, pulling me against him as his hands continued their exploration of my body.

Sparks ran through me as one finger grazed my swollen lips, taunting me with his nearness.

“Almost, just a little higher,” I whispered, then shuddered as he teased over my clit.

“What was that, sweetheart?” he breathed into my ear. “Should I do that again?”

I nodded, not trusting my voice. Hell, I wasn’t sure I could make complete sentences anymore.

Pressed against his shoulder, I moaned into his chest as he strummed across my clit with his thumb, alternating with faster strokes of his fingers against my slick folds.

My knees buckled, but he held me, refused to release me against the storm of sensation.

“So tight, Leena,” he muttered as one thick finger pushed inside me. He pumped, added another finger, stretching me further. “So perfect.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, just to focus on that delicious feeling.

“Eyes open,” he commanded. “I need to see you, see all of you.”

My head lolled back as he pierced me with the heat of his gaze.

Yet another finger teased my opening, spiking the intensity until I panted. “What are you…” Nope, no coherent sentences from me.

He dropped kisses down my neck, pressed into me again. “You’re too tiny,” his ragged breathing matching my own. “But I have to have you.” A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Can’t hurt you.”

A final pump and twist of the fingers deep inside me and I came apart on his hand.

Before the waves stopped, he spun me, turning me so that I faced the tunnel wall. His teeth danced on my shoulders, my back. Pain flared through me, sparks of pure ecstasy the likes of which I’d never known.

And he was just getting started.

His fingers reclaimed my clit as he positioned himself behind me. I braced myself, leaning my weight against the cool stone of the tunnel, fingers spread as he began to push his way inside me.

Inch after throbbing inch he slid into me, filling me completely.

He paused, kissed my back. “Alright?” I nodded, flexing my knees to rock back against him when I realized.

He wasn’t done.

By the time he was halfway in, he’d had to muffle my moans of pleasure with his other hand, both of us anxious not to have unwanted company investigating my cries.

And still, he pressed forward. I thrust back in answer, desperately needing to feel all of him. After another moment, I finally did. He was like nothing I had ever experienced before, my vision blurred in pleasure.

“Leena,” he groaned, “srell!”

I shoved against him, driving him ever deeper into my pussy until his hard thighs pressed against the back of my legs.

We both panted while I adjusted to the feel of him. In me, over me, his hands caressing even while he nipped my skin. Axtin’s touch became everything.

And then he started moving. Slowly, gently, relentlessly pistoning with iron control.

My fingers scrambled against the cave wall, nails sliding over the rough stone as he drove into me. His hands at my back, his teeth resuming their work on my shoulders, my neck.

It was too much, all of it so profoundly overwhelming, I felt I might burst. And, still, I wanted more. Needed more.

“Axtin, please,” I whimpered, not even sure what I begged him for.

His iron control snapped, strong fingers digging into one hip as he hammered into me like a wild man, faster and harder until I started to fly, inundated by sensation.

Electricity shot through me, pooling in my center, building as I ground myself against him.

I felt his fingers in my hair, twining and pulling until my head wrenched backward, more of that amazing pain working its way through my scalp. It was all I could take, the last on a list of indescribable pleasures.

Deep inside me, his cock grew, swelled until, with a shuddering pulse, he came, his shout more a roar.

Too much, too intense. Too everything.

“Axtin!” I screamed, the word a prayer as my orgasm tore through me, leaving me shivering in his arms.