Page 70 of Sheltered in the Storm

“I didn’t say that.” She wiggled on my lap, and my cock very predictably stirred in response. “We’ve been so busy getting the garden ready. It’s been almost a week, hasn’t it? I have been missing…you.”

“What have you been missing, my mate?” I slipped one of my tentacles under her dress to play with the edge of her underwear and she shivered. The scent of her arousal grew. “Have you missed my knot?”

“You know I have.” She bit my shoulder just hard enough to make my cock twitch. “When can we go?”

“As soon as you have changed.” As much as I loved the sight of them, bare legs were inadvisable in the swamp. “There is more to my invitation than you give me credit for, though, my Calla. The season has changed, and the area in and around our inlet has become home to something I am very much looking forward to showing you.”

She sat up, her eyes sparkling with interest. “Really? What is it?”

Making sure at least one of my tentacles was not touching her, I kissed her. “Get dressed, put on your boots, and I will show you.”

“You know, you’re already on thin ice with me.” Calla slid her dress up to show me the dagger she kept in a thigh sheath in case something got over the wall. And of course my cock began to harden at the peek of inner thigh and the blade. “Don’t make me turn you into kaory bait.”

“With that little knife?” I made atsking sound. “That would only tickle me, my Calla. You must improve your threats.”

“Improve my threats,” she muttered, rising from my lap. “I promise you wouldn’t want me toreallythreaten you.”

“Truly, no, my warrior Calla.” I caught her hand and kissed it. “I would not.”

She smiled and went inside to change.

While I waited, I rose to admire the garden bed. Save for the far end, which had not yet been planted, within a week, I expected to see stems and leaves emerge. In two lunar cycles, we would begin harvesting. Iosa’s rich soil supported fast, healthy growth.

Poe joined me. “Poe,” she said, her claws waving at the neat rows of planted seeds.

“She is a natural gardener,” I said, beaming with pride. “Impressive, for someone who has never gardened before.”

“Poe,” my Anomuran companion said agreeably. She touched my hand with her claw, then swiveled her eyestalks toward the swamp. “Poe?”

“Just for a few hours,” I assured her. “I want to show Calla the shells.”

“Poe.” She waved her claws over her abdomen. “Poe?”

“I will bring some back,” I promised. “The best and most delicious I can find.”

Trilling happily, Poe trundled back to her garden, stopping to snack on a few enni along the way.

Not long after, Calla emerged from the house in her flight suit and boots with her small pack of provisions on her back. The suit was, we had agreed, the best clothing for her to wear during walks to the sea. The material was tougher than any for sale in the village, and her boots could withstand the bites of serpents and even small kaory. The soles were nearly impenetrable, in case she stepped on something sharp.

With my help, she had painstakingly removed the patches, insignias, name badge, and all other distinguishing characteristics. Its color and design might still be recognized as having been issued by the Alliance Defense, but we had done our best to eliminate anything that identified her. I looked forward to the day we could replace it with some other clothing and she could put away or destroy this last vestige of her service.

“Ready,” she announced, patting her Fortusian daggers in their sheaths on her thighs.

Her body, including her lovely thighs, had thickened with both muscle and pleasant softness. She appeared healthy, happy, and content, and my hearts swelled with love and satisfaction.

We latched the gate behind us, left Poe on watch, and began our walk to the sea, hand in hand until the narrowness of the trail forced us to walk single file. And for the first time, my Calla took the lead for half the walk. She had memorized the path after only a few trips, and had tried to bet me she couldwalk it with her eyes closed. I had refused to accept the bet only because of the danger, and ruefully submitted to her teasing that I feared I would lose.

Also unlike our first trips to the sea, my Calla did not require stops to rest along the way or complain of soreness in her legs. She walked as quickly and silently as I, her eyes bright with anticipation of reaching our inlet. I found myself smiling when her attention was elsewhere, enjoying her excitement and confidence as she fearlessly crossed a swamp so many others would not step foot in for any amount of money.

When we reached the bank and she began to take off her boots, I put my hand on her arm. “Wait here.”

“What?” She frowned. “Why?”

“Please,” I said, kissing her forehead before I pulled my tunic off over my head. “I wish to surprise you.”

She sighed. “This had better be worth it, whatever you’re up to. I’m hot and that water looks very good right now.” She eyed me and unfastened the collar of her suit. “As do you. Hurry up, Vos.”

I left my clothing on the bank near the base of a tree and descended the steep bank into the water. I heard Calla make a quiet sound and turned back to see her biting her lip.

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