Page 14 of Human Reclaimed
TALIA
Rune took another deep breath, and something in his expression shifted. The perpetual commander mask slipped, revealing a glimpse of the man beneath.
What the hell was I doing? Less than twenty-four hours ago, this man had orchestrated my kidnapping. Now I was voluntarily following him into the jungle? Every tactical instinct screamed against this decision, yet here I was, trailing behind his broad shoulders as we left the settlement’s perimeter.
“Most colonists don’t venture this far west,” Rune explained, his deep voice cutting through the alien jungle sounds. “The eastern sections have more accessible resources.”
“And you prefer isolation?” I asked, ducking under a low-hanging vine with iridescent purple flowers.
“I prefer… peace.”
The path he followed didn’t seem to exist until he moved through it—a testament to how few visitors this area received. Vibrant foliage brushed against my arms, leaving behind a sparkling residue that evaporated seconds later. The alien jungle pulsed with life around us—chirping, buzzing, and rustling—creating a symphony utterly foreign to Earth’s forests.
“How much farther?” I asked, swiping a bead of sweat from my temple.
Rune glanced back, his blue eyes glinting with something like amusement. “Impatient, Captain?”
“Just better calculating my escape route,” I quipped.
His laugh—low and rich—caught me off guard. “Fair enough.”
We hiked for nearly two miles through increasingly dense vegetation. Strange fruit-bearing trees with spiral trunks gave way to enormous ferns with translucent fronds that glowed faintly in the shadowed areas. Just when the humid heat became nearly unbearable, the sound hit me—water rushing over rocks.
Rune pushed aside a curtain of luminescent vines and gestured for me to go ahead. “After you.”
I stepped through and froze, my breath caught in my throat.
Before me stretched the most perfect hidden oasis I’d ever seen. A waterfall—not massive, but majestic in its symmetry—cascaded over amber-hued rocks into a crystal-clear pool below. The water shimmered with flecks of something like sapphire dust, creating dancing patterns across the surface. Flowering plants I couldn’t name ringed the pond, their petals unfurling toward the sunlight that streamed through a break in the canopy.
“This is…” I couldn’t find the words.
“My sanctuary,” Rune finished, moving to stand beside me. “No one else knows about it.”
The intimacy of that admission wasn’t lost on me. He’d shared something precious and private—an unexpected human-like gesture to gain my trust.
“It’s incredible,” I whispered, feeling suddenly, inexplicably alive. The weight I’d carried since Travis and Meredith died seemed to lift slightly, allowing me to breathe deeper than I had in three years.
Without overthinking it—a first for a military strategist like me—I toed off my combat boots and peeled off my socks.
“What are you doing?” Rune asked, surprise evident in his voice.
“What does it look like?” I pulled my white T-shirt over my head, leaving me in just my simple white bra and beige tactical pants. “When presented with paradise, only a fool would just look at it.”
I unzipped my pants and shimmied out of them, acutely aware of Rune’s eyes tracking my every movement. Standing in just my underwear, I felt strangely more powerful than exposed. His appreciation was evident—not leering but admiring. Like I was a work of art he wanted to memorize.
“Join me?” I asked and then immediately turned to jump into the pool before I could see his response.
The water embraced me—warm, silky, and somehow buoyant. I surfaced with a laugh that burst from somewhere deep inside me, some place I’d thought had died with my friends in those mountains.
“You coming in, Commander? Or do you cyborgs rust?” I teased.
Rune’s expression was priceless—a mixture of shock and unmistakable desire. He shook his head slowly.
“You are nothing like I expected, Talia Reed.”
“Good,” I replied, watching as he hesitantly began to remove his fitted black T-shirt.
And holy hell, the sight nearly drowned me. His torso was a masterpiece of muscle and strength, ridged with abs that looked carved from marble. Scars crisscrossed his chest and arms—not flaws but testaments to battles survived. His shoulders were broad enough to carry the weight of an entire colony’s safety, tapering down to a narrow waist.
