23
JOANNA
Leslie ended up putting my land to good use.
When Arix and I were halfway across Wyoming, teams of UFO hunters and conspiracy theorists descended on Elijah like a pack of starving jackals. The fact that the Jones brothers were in a holding cell only added powerful fuel to the flames, and when they were finally released by Leslie they were welcomed as heroes by the enormous crowd. By then, their footage of Arix shifting in front of their truck had spread across the internet and the world, and had already been verified by video forensics companies.
Of course, most people still didn't believe it. But that was just fine.
With the town now inundated with tourists, Leslie made Max and Liam Jones a deal. They used their new-found fame to secure funding from rich UFO hunters, who bought my two hundred acres for a huge sum of money. A visitor's center and hotel was being built at the site of Arix's crash, and the rest of the land was being scoured by conspiracy theorists looking for any trace of evidence that the Karak had ever been there.
The Jones brothers were charging them $50 a pop for the privilege, of course.
Leslie was gracious enough to wire us half the proceeds from the land sale. The amount was enough for two simple folks to live off for the rest of their lives.
Which, it turned out, might be another hundred years. Karak had ridiculously long life spans, and with his ability to shift-heal any ailments Arix insisted I could hit the ripe old age of 150.
I'd believe that when I saw it, but hey, that was a good problem to have. We'd have a lot of time to worry about that later.
And Idaho? It wasn't much different than Wyoming. Gorgeous foothills leading into jagged mountains, and forests thick with deer and coyotes. I could hunt and fish to my heart's desire, while Arix set to recording a detailed study of earth, its many lifeforms, and specifically the human race. I could still see the pain in his eyes at forsaking his vows and duties, but he was determined to do some good while he was here. Decades from now, when the Karak Dominion had forgotten about the single scout sent on a tour of a distant galaxy, he would release his codex of our planet. The information would exist for all of time, and Arix would have a legacy worth remembering fondly.
And that was good enough for the two of us.
"What are you doing?"
Arix came up behind me as I stared out the window of our cabin. It'd taken a solid week of work to renovate into something livable, but now it was a cozy home. I reached behind and pulled him to me, feeling the warmth of his chest against my back.
"Thinking about Leslie. And Elijah."
He put his face next to mine, and he smelled like musk and wood fire. "Do you regret your choice?"
I whirled before he could begin to feel guilty. "Of course not. I remember it fondly, but I'm ready for my new life with you."
His smile showed white teeth, and his almond eyes softened. "Me too."
He took me in his arms and lifted me with easy strength. I squealed in surprise as he threw me over his shoulder and carried me to the bed, dumping me onto the sheets unceremoniously.
"We need to work on your romance skills," I said as he loomed over me. He removed his shirt, perfectly muscled body glistening in the light of the fireplace.
"You like it just fine," he said lustily, which of course was true. He didn't probe into my mind without permission, but we had another connection. An earthly one, without supernatural force but just as power.
"I love you," I whispered as he took me.
His kiss was warm and soft, and his raven hair brushed against my face in the soft light of the fireplace. His face blocked out everything else, fear and worry and other things that didn't matter.
"I need you," he whispered, pulling down my jeans, then raking his fingers back up my legs to remove my panties. I urged him on with a moan.
"Hurry," I said, arching my back at his touch. "I need you more."
His own pants slid off and he was covering me with his body, a furnace of muscle and blood keeping out the cold. I wrapped my legs around him and felt his stiff cock brush against my dripping sex, and he pushed against me, as eager for me as I was for him.
"Now," I urged. "I need you inside of me."
He reached down to guide himself in, coating the tip and shaft with my wetness before thrusting forward. I moaned as his thickness widened my walls, filling every inch of me perfectly, two throbbing puzzle pieces that were meant for one another.
"Oh God," he groaned, kissing me harder.
There was no foreplay in our need; I grinded my hips against him roughly, demanding he make love to me with rapid lust. He obeyed with long, deep thrusts, his body crashing against my clitoris with each stroke, jolts of pleasure shooting up my spine. I grabbed his tight little ass with both hands and guided him faster, my alien lover who loved me back.
"Ohh," he moaned again. "Joanna."
He pushed his hands underneath me, between my body and the sheets, I could feel his desperate need to touch me. To feel my skin against his, joined at the legs and torso and arms and lips. I was close already, and tilted my head back to sigh into the air, arching my back in his arms.
His breathing increased, a ragged gasp that was more animal than human, eyes widening with pleasure, and I locked my own gaze onto his and drank in his beautiful face. I ran a hand through his hair as he began to moan, a sound deep from within his throat that grew with each shuddering thrust.
"Yes, yes, yes," I said, crashing over my own climax, clenching my sex onto his cock just as he roared and trembled and came. I squeezed every drop out of Arix and wrapped my legs around him to make sure he never left.
He panted afterwards, nuzzling against my neck. Finally he pushed up to look down into my face.
"I want to do that every day," he said.
"Every day?"
"Every day." He nodded. "Maybe twice a day."
"Or three."
"Three?"
I grinned up at him. "If your weak, human body can handle it."
For an instant he shimmered, like he was going to shift into Karak form, each individual atom brightening a measurable iota. And then it was gone, and he winked at me.
"I'm ready to go right now." I felt him stiffen inside of me.
"That's a handy trick. More useful than healing bullet wounds."
"We Karak are a practical species."
We laughed, and snuggled, and kissed, and made love by the fire again, content to do it for the rest of our quiet lives.