Panic overtakes me when I realize that the huge warrior standing over me isn’t my warrior, but Branyx. I scream without restraint when I see the knife in his hand. I scramble back on the bed and drop to the floor as far away from him as possible. My next thought is trying to find the closest weapon.

He stalks around the bed, coming for me and all I can do at this point is scramble over the next bed and try to push it between us. His eyes are terrifying. They’re cold and dead while he hunts me like an animal. He raises the arm that is holding the knife and holds it in the air, as if he’s waiting for the perfect moment to plunge the knife down.

I push myself further back and then there’s a blur in front of me and he’s gone. I know it’s Lodyn without looking, his anger consumes him, pulsing through me. They hit the wall so hard it leaves a dent. Lodyn looks like an alien possessed. He’s relentless. He’s an impressive fighter in general but something happens inside of him when he’s fighting for me that takes him to another level.

“How could you be so dishonorable? Trying to kill the one you are sworn to protect?” Lodyn is shouting at Branyx while they fight. His anger is palpable.

“If she is dead, there is no proof of your misdeed. No question of where your loyalty lies,” Branyx says.

“Killing another’s mate is unforgivable. Just thinking it makes you unworthy of wearing the guard uniform.”

Branyx wrestles himself free from Lodyn’s grip and takes off out of the room. Lodyn is right behind him and I hear Kjallak yell once they both get into the corridor. I pull myself off the floor and take off after them, still keeping my distance. Lodyn is down on the ground when I get there, bleeding from his abdomen. I run to him but he tries to shrug me off so he can get up and continue his pursuit.

Kjallak appears from the other direction, carrying his bow and arrow in his hands as he runs toward the front hatch. I help Lodyn up and we follow Kjallak. The front hatch has been thrown wide open, Branyx’s form running away from the ship in the dark of the night.

Kjallak quickly takes aim and then waits. “Waiting on your command,” he tells Lodyn.

Lodyn is standing next to me, holding his stomach as blood drips through his fingers. His breathing is labored and I can feel the conflict warring within him. Another few seconds and he’ll be out of range completely.

Trying to help him decide I say, “We can’t be together if it means taking the life of one of your brothers. You would never be able to live with that.”

He looks at me then, nodding, just needing to hear someone else say what he was thinking.

“Let him go,” he tells Kjallak.

Kjallak lowers his bow and we all stand on the ramp to the ship and watch until Branyx disappears into the night.

“It’s a one-way trip for us now,” Kjallak says. The night is unusually quiet around us as Lodyn pulls me close to him.

“It always was for me,” he says, leaning down and kissing my lips. “Are you okay?” I nod and kiss him again.

“Okay you two, back inside,” Kjallak says, walking past us into the ship. We turn and follow him back inside.

“Lets take a look at you,” I say to Lodyn once we’re back on the bridge. “What happened anyway?”

I sit him down on the edge of the console so I can have easy access to his wound. Pulling out the first aid kit from the side of one of the stations, I start cleaning the gash in his stomach.

“He stabbed me with his knife just outside the sleeping quarters. I turned to look at Kjallak for just a second and he struck. Not smart on my part.”

“Well there’s nothing to be worries about as long as we clean it, right? You heal so quickly.”

“That’s true, it will heal. But it is deep,” he says, looking down and inspecting the gash himself.

I’m cleaning it out with an antiseptic cream that will ward off infection when another thought comes to me.

“I don’t know how to ask this question without sounding morbid, but if you heal so well, how is it possible for you to die? I mean, Branyx wouldn’t have died if Kjallak shot him with an arrow, right? It would have brought him down and given you a chance to catch him, but you can’t be killed with an arrow, can you?”

He thinks about his response for a moment before he finally answers. “No, a single arrow will not kill us, unless the arrow pierces the back of our necks, just below our skulls. Essentially it would be like severing the head and we cannot heal from that. At least not yet. So we are vulnerable to infection and beheadings.”

“Well that’s…horrible,” I say, clamping his wound together with a special kind of gauze that seals out infection and helps wounds heal faster. “Something I’d rather not think about now that I’ve asked so many questions.”

He laughs but it sounds more like a masculine growl coming deep within his chest. “I don’t want to think about it either. There are so many things on this planet that could kill you, it keeps me up at night.”

“If I knew all of the things you know about the planet, it would probably keep me up at night too.” I’m finished bandaging his wound and he pulls me between his legs while wrapping his arms around me. I go up on my tippy toes so I can reach him for a kiss. Our lips touch and my thoughts instantly switch to something much more desirable. I bring my arms up around his neck and deepen the kiss, a soft moan escaping my lips when his tongue enters my mouth.

He pulls my shirt over my head, exposing my bare breasts to him. I quickly cover myself and look over my shoulder.

“Kjallak could walk in at any moment…and you’re wounded!” I tell him, scolding him for his carelessness.

“Kjallak!” Lodyn shouts.

“Yes,” he shouts back, sounding like he’s quite a distance away.

“Patrol the front and back of the ship. I’ll come and relieve you in awhile.”

“Yes, sir,” he says.

Then he looks back at me and pulls my arms away from covering myself.

“Nothing to worry about, my love,” he says as he leans down and pulls my nipple into his mouth. I can’t resist him when he uses his tongue in such a skilled way. I wrap my arms around his head and pull him even closer, making it impossible for him to stop. “Besides, I have yet to take you from behind and now that the thought is in my head, my cock has taken control over all of my sensibilities.”

“You can take me any way you’d like, my alien lover.” He chuckles at that and the sound vibrates through me, making me instantly wet between my thighs. “I just have one request.”

“Anything.” He slides my pants down my legs and I step out of them, standing completely naked before him on the bridge. I’ll never think of this room the same way again. “Kiss me first…down there.” I point to my pussy and give him a shy smile. “I love the way your tongue feels on me.”

Without a reply, he goes to his knees in front of me. He takes one of my legs and drapes it over his shoulder, effectively opening me enough so he has complete access. With one hand on his head and one hand supporting myself on the console, I let my hips rock in motion as his tongue licks me.

“Put your fingers inside of me,” I say. He slides a few fingers inside of me while his tongue continues to work me over. I can feel the orgasm building inside of me. I push his head against me while I rock my hips. He curves his fingers slightly and the change in direction brushes over my G-spot, making me come hard. My legs have gone weak from pleasure and Lodyn has to hold me up so I don’t fall onto the floor.

He stands up and leans me over the console. His hands spread my legs and then he pushes his cock into me from behind. He stretches me, filling me to the max and even though we’ve had sex before I’m still not used to his size. While he holds my hips, he starts thrusting in and out. I grab onto the console and hold on for the ride.

“You are the most amazing pleasure I have ever had,” he says. I’m pressing my hips back into him, taking as much of him as I can. He feels so damn good I’m obsessed with the pleasure he gives me. When his hand slides around my body and his fingers start working my clit, it only takes a few more thrusts before I’m lost in my second orgasm. Somehow as he pounds away inside of me it makes the sensation that much more intense. He growls behind me, his chest vibrating, sending tingles down my body as his cock begins to throb inside of me. His hot cum shoots inside of me as my pussy grips his cock and pulls every ounce of his pleasure from him. He wraps his arms tightly around me and holds himself inside of me as his orgasm subsides. His hands grip onto my breasts and he massages me as we enjoy how we make each other feel.

“Is your stomach okay?” I ask, out of breath. I’m sitting on his lap and we’re both on the floor so there’s a good chance I’m putting pressure on his wound.

“I can’t feel it,” he says. “All I feel is your amazing body.” He runs his finger along my pussy making me shiver in his arms. I lean back and let my head rest on his shoulder, nuzzled into his neck. I’m not sure how long we stay like this but neither one of us wants to break the connection.

Finally I say, “We should probably get dressed before Kjallak comes to see what’s taking you so long.” Somehow I lift myself off of his body and collect my clothes off of the floor. I’ve just pulled my shirt over my head when I look at Lodyn. He’s staring at me with an intense look in his eyes.

“What?” I ask.

“I have an idea,” he says. I’m not sure if he’s being mischievous or if he’s just nervous. I feel his conflicted emotions, though, and I want to yell at him to spit it out. “I’ll help you find your team, you’ll finish your mission and deliver it back to Earth.”

“Yes, that’s the plan so far,” I say.

“Then I was thinking you could come back…when it’s over and your mission is complete. We could travel as far away as we need to in order to find a safe place to live. You could take your place at my side as my fated mate.”

This is more than I could have hoped for when this all began and I find myself holding back tears. It’s such a relief that he’s choosing me after all of the ups and downs. “Are you asking me to marry you?” I ask.

“Marry me?” he asks and I can tell he’s not sure what that term means.

“On Earth, when you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you ask them to marry you. You exchange rings and have a big celebration. A wedding. Do you have something like that on your planet?”

“I suppose we do. You agree to be my fated mate and we stay together as long as we both live.”

I throw myself into his arms and kiss him, letting my feelings flow from me. “I’d say it sounds like the same idea,” I say, kissing him hard. “And yes, I think you have a great plan. I will return when my mission is over and we will live the rest of our lives together.”

We lose ourselves in our kiss. When we finally pull away and gaze into each other’s eyes, we’re both overflowing with happiness. Even though Lodyn is exiled and on the run and I will have to leave him to finish my mission, but for now, we’re together. And once we tie up the loose ends, we’ll be free to spend the rest of our lives together.

I’ve never been happier.