Lilith

I snuggle up against Daruk’s warm, naked body, pressing my backside into him. Even after we spent the entire day and night repeating our riverside indiscretion, he’s still hard.

I reach back and run my fingers up his length. My Zoran warrior stirs in his sleep, and I smile to myself. I haven’t stop smiling since he lifted me up under that waterfall, effortlessly, and lowered me right down onto him.

He’s more forward than any human male I’ve ever met. What he wants, he takes.

And he wants me.

I turn around and nuzzle his chest. He’s so warm, my own personal heater. The hammock barely fits us both, but that’s okay. I want to be as close to him as possible.

The feeling we shared… I never knew it was possible to feel that strongly about a person. I felt completely understood, loved and accepted in that moment. I know it sounds crazy — we just met, he’s a Zoran, I’m human, and to complicate matters, his tribe is actively hunting humans… but I don’t care about any of that right now.

I love him, and he loves me, and we’ll find a way.

Light filters into the cave, through the canopy of trees above, and I stir. I don’t want to wake up. I want to sleep here, right next to my mate, for as long as humanly possible.

For all eternity, if possible.

With him by my side, with our fingers entwined, I feel perfectly safe.

I slowly open my eyes, only to see a mysterious figure peeking down at us from up high. In less than a second, I’m wide awake. A scream leaves my lips as I grab the covers and pull them over my naked body.

Daruk sits up straight instantly, moving so quickly I nearly tumble out of the hammock.

“What?!” he growls, following my line of sight, all his muscles tensed up, ready for battle. He really is a warrior — he can go from lover to protector in the blink of an eye.

When he sees the stranger looking down at us, his shoulders relax.

“Yano,” he sighs, agitated. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away?”

The mystery man climbs down the liana, moving with the same grace Daruk exhibited. Now that I can get a closer look, I see the man has the same golden skin color as my mate.

“You did,” he says, “but I listen to orders about as well as you do.”

The man looks at me, a smirk on his face.

“Where did you find a human?” he asks. “And when were you going to introduce her to me?”

Daruk sighs deeply. “Lilith, meet my brother, Yano.”

Ah, it all makes sense now! The colors, the smirk, the eyes. Yes, I see the resemblance now. Yano’s a bit younger, a bit smaller, but definitely family.

Yano bows slightly. “A pleasure to meet you, alien visitor.”

I raise my eyebrows, holding the cover tightly. I’m still very naked underneath here, and even though he might be family, that doesn’t mean I want him to see me naked.

“I don’t think anyone’s called me an alien before,” I say, looking at the golden-skinned man.

“Well, you’re on New Exon now,” he says. “Though, technically, we’re colonists as well here… but don’t let my father hear that. What’s that?”

Yano cocks his head as he looks at me. At first I’m thinking he’s staring at my chest, but I soon realize he’s looking at my wrist instead.

“This? Oh, it’s my com, but it’s broken, I think.”

Daruk climbs out of the hammock and slips a piece of cloth around his waist.

“You shouldn’t let father hear a lot of things,” he growls. “Including Lilith’s existence.”

“My lips are sealed,” Yano says.

“They better be,” Daruk says. He walks right up to his younger brother, towering over him. “There’s something going on, and I wanted to keep it from you, brother… for your own protection. But now, you fucked that all up.”

“What did I tell you about protecting me?” Yano says defiantly. “I don’t need it.”

“You do, more than you know.”

Yano tries to shove his brother, but Daruk doesn’t move an inch.

“See?” he growls. “Can’t even move me.”

“That’s because you’re as strong as a fucking mountain,” Yano sneers. “You’re the strongest warrior on this damn planet. It’s not fair.”

“Ah, so you concede I’m stronger than father?” Daruk smirks.

“Of course,” Yano says. “But unlike you, father wouldn’t fight fair, so never try it. His ego couldn’t take losing to his own kin.”

“You’re right about that. Father doesn’t play fair. A human ship touched down in the jungle, two clicks to the south, two nights ago. The Special Forces, under father’s command, ambushed them, with the help of gray aliens I haven’t seen before. I barely managed to save Lilith… but the rest of the humans are being held captive somewhere.”

Yano’s eyes widen. “Are you serious?”

“Afraid so,” Daruk answers. “And I overheard the admiral talk about it with father beforehand… they knew the humans were coming as well.”

Yano sits down on a rock, gazing into the distance with a frown on his face. “This is bad,” he says.

“No shit,” Daruk answers. “It doesn’t make any sense. The Elders said we had to come here to start anew, rebuild Zoran society, live like our ancestors… but I’m fairly sure our ancestors didn’t keep human slaves.”

A coughing fit takes Yano. It’s a rough, hard sound that makes the hair on the back of my neck stands up. It sounds far from healthy.

Daruk slaps his brother on the back. “Snap out of it, brother. I have a job for you.”

“And what is that?” he asks.

“I need you to keep an eye on father, try to learn what you can… but don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

“Will do.” Yano bows slightly. “Nice to meet you, Lilith.”

With that, he’s gone. He climbs up the wall as smoothly as Daruk does and disappears into the jungle.

“For a second there, I thought we had been discovered,” I say. “I thought… I was going to lose you.”

“Never,” Daruk growls, grabbing my hand. “I will protect you with my life.”

That’s exactly what I’m afraid of…

“Your brother's cough doesn’t sound good,” I say, changing the subject. If I think too long about losing Daruk, I might just burst into tears.

“No, it does not,” my mate sighs. “It has been plaguing him for a while. I hoped that this unpolluted world, filled with fresh air, would do him well, but unfortunately that’s not been the case.

“In that case, it’s really something he ought to get looked at,” I say. “Don’t you have any doctors? Or… healers, or whatever?”

Daruk laughs, but there’s no joy in it.

“No,” he says, shaking his head. “We have to return to the old ways, remember? Modern medicine is not a part of that. No, we must live as ancient warriors. If a disease, or an infection takes us, then it was meant to be. Then that is our fate. Then we weren’t strong enough.”

“Do you really believe that?” I ask, incredulously.

“I don’t know,” Daruk answers, averting my gaze. “Perhaps I did at one point… but with everything that’s happened, everything I’ve seen, I’m just not sure anymore. Perhaps it’s all a lie.”

“So… that’s it?” I ask. “You have to do something about Yano. You can’t just wait. I’ve heard coughs like that before, and they don’t just go away. That’s the sound of something very wrong, trust me.”

“And what do you suggest I do?” Daruk growls. “Don’t you think I’ve tried my best, tried to talk to father, to the elders, to Yano? What else is there I can do?”

“Go to the human ship,” I say. “There is a state of the art medical facility on board. Did a full check-up on me when I… well, how I ended up there is not important. What is important is that there are tools on-board. Tools that can save your brother’s life.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Daruk says resolutely.

“What? Why?”

“The Special Forces might still be around. If they see you or me poking around, they’ll capture us. I can’t lose you. I won’t risk it.”

“You avoided them before. You can do it again!”

“Even if I did, they might have laid boobytraps. They might lie in waiting in another ambush for any rescue-mission. Like Yano said, they don’t play fair. It’s much too dangerous.”

“If you’re not going, I am.”

Daruk turns to me, his eyes filled with rage. “You wouldn’t dare,” he growls aggressively. “I forbid it!”

I swallow the lump in my throat. I would dare… I think. I don’t like sitting here, letting the alien men take care of everything. I want to do something, be of importance. I can’t just sit and wait.

The look Daruk is giving me is extremely clear. He does not like being disobeyed. I suppose I’m going to have to ask for forgiveness instead of permission…