Page 8 of You're Not My King!

“Up there. Slower with you.”

“Oh. Sorry.” I didn’t know why I was apologizing. He could go fuck himself, especially when he tugged the rope for me to pick up the pace a bit. I was already going as fast as I could.

Even my long legs had nothing on these guys.

“I can’t,” I grumbled, staggering to the side. “My feet hurt. I’m human, remember?”

Knee-tar called out to Zaay-el, seizing the slack in the rope to stop his advance. A mini bitchfest ensued, both aliens arguing back and forth while gesturing to me before the older dude growled, untied the rope from his harness with all the sass of a spoiled child, and threw it to the floor. Huffy bastard. Knee-tar rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath as he snatched up the rope and very loosely knotted it to his own belt.

The others had stalked ahead, but my knight in shining armor appeared not to care. He just smiled kindly and sank to his knees in front of me. I stood there, staring at his back, brows pinched, until he wriggled his shoulders. “On,” he offered. “Ride.”

Was… was he offering a piggyback? I thought I heard my feet sigh with relief. “Oh, no, it’s… I’m fine,” I protested weakly, and he gave me a look that I really had no willpower to disobey. “If you insist.”

I clambered onto the dude’s back, offering my apologies between winces at my clumsiness. Staying balanced while looping my bound hands over his head required a level of skill I didn’t possess, and that was made painfully obvious when my elbow nearly ended up in his ear. Knee-tar didn’t seem fazed, he just hummed a reassuring sound, hooked his arms under my knees, hoisted me up properly, and kept walking.

To summarize, my balls were squished, my arms were growing numb, and I was pretty sure my ass crack was out for the world to see, but my soles were thanking me. Every cloud. We were also moving much faster, catching up to the group within a few strides, so carrying me made sense.Dude was surprisingly light footed despite his speed. I didn’t jostle too much, and it kinda got comfy after a while. In fact, it took barely a mile before my eyelids started to droop, each calculated step through the trees rocking me just enough to encourage the gradual drift into sleep. I hadn’t slept properly in months—not since I got sober. The drugs had helped clear my head, knocking me out cold, but without them I’d wake from shitty dreams, covered in sweat and my eyes stinging with old tears.

Or I wouldn’t even get to that point at all.

But the warmth of Knee-tar’s back against my chest, the gentle sway accompanying his strides, and the unfamiliar feeling of safety had me dozing off. I had no way of knowing how long for, but when my eyes blinked open again, I felt semi-refreshed and the sky was still light, so it couldn’t have been more than an hour or two—unless the days worked differently here.

We were still trudging through the forest, the trees thicker, with less space between each. I’d probably woken up because the ride had gotten a little bumpy, and I desperately needed to pee. The jostling didn’t help. I yawned, arching my back as if to stretch, but I froze, my eyes widening when I met resistance. I couldn’t move. I was fully restrained; my arms and legs folded up and tucked inside a tight, furry blanket, like swaddling.

“Um…” I squirmed, a hint of panic rising in my belly. “Why am I trapped?”

Knee-tar made a purring rumble in his throat and reached back to ruffle my hair. “Hoo-man safe. No fall.”

My eyebrows creased, and just as I was about to ask another question, Zaay-el stepped in beside us—no longer sulking, it seemed. “You squirm in sleep,” he explained, gesturing to the swaddling. “Pelt keep you secure. And warm.”

Okay, that was pretty sweet. Felt a bit weird having no range of movement in my arms and legs, and I was literally being transported like a baby on their mama’s back, but it was cozy. My legs were belting Knee-tar’s waist, my arms still encircling his neck, now with an added animal hide woven around both.

Zaay-el wasn’t bullshitting. It was secure, and I guessed it was easier than having to shift me whenever I’d started to slide around in my sleep. I must’ve slept hard. Typically, I would wake up if hands were on me, but either these guys were super featherlight in their touches, or I was just exhausted.

Probably a bit of both.

“We stop.” Zaay-el cut through my musings. “Collect water for clan.”

Knee-tar paused, slowly unwrapping me from his back.

“Okay.” I nodded in understanding, grateful for the chance to stretch my legs, even though my feet still throbbed.

As soon as I was lowered to the ground, with Knee-tar’s hand on my back to steady me, and the rope was untied from his harness, I twisted the tension out of my body and surveyed my surroundings.

We’d stopped at a river, but not like any I’d seen before. The water, more turquoise than blue in color, flowed in the opposite direction to what was normal, trickling up the waterfall instead of down. I was no physicist, but was that even possible? The soft ripples also gave off a smell—not earthy, like the rocks and tufts of red grass along the bank, but sweet… like nectar from a flower. It was calming, and I wondered if its taste mirrored the scent. My mouth was suddenly dry, my throat clicking on a swallow as I swayed, intent on hop, skip, and diving straight into that river to quench my thirst.

I shook my head, breaking the trance. I’d be sure to drink my fill once my bladder was empty, but not a moment before.

I lingered behind, thighs clenched as I listened to the delicate trickle of that sweet-scented water, waiting for my escorts to finish up. It crossed my mind to run away since they weren’t paying me any attention, but it was a fleeting thought—one I’d file away for later. I doubted I’d get very far with blisters on my feet and no use of my hands. I wasn’t exactly quiet either, so they’d probably have a giggle at my shit attempt and drag me right back. I did really need to pee, though—like, I was about to burst—but they were all gathered at the edge of the river, chattering and filling their water skins, totally oblivious.

Fuck them.

Without a word, I slipped into the trees, ambling a short distance for some privacy. They could chase me down if they cared to, but they’d have to wait until I was done. Honestly, I half expected to turn around to a pissed-off Zaay-el looming over me the moment I fished my dick out, but they must’ve forgotten my existence, or the conversation was so riveting that they couldn’t help carrying on as if nothing was amiss.

Maybe escaping this place wouldn’t be as difficult as the space station?

I finished my business and shimmied my pants back up my hips before taking another gander at the creepy, desolate rainforest. In hindsight, sauntering off on my own on an alien planet with no way to defend myself was probably not my smartest idea. Not that I’d had many of those in my lifetime, but this took the biscuit. I couldn’t sense any imminent danger, though the hair on the back of my neck stood on end regardless, the place seeming way too quiet now that I could concentrate. There was, of course, the breezy swish of tenta-branches above my head, and the bickering aliens in the distance, but besides those—both of which I could drown out—there was absolutely nothing. No animal chirps, no other voices.

I’d been in plenty of hairy situations in my life, but dead silence never failed to weird me out.

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