Page 22 of Beauty and the Alien Beast
I wished I could stop and enjoy the light show, but we were too busy running for our lives. I didn’t know where Teken was having Brax take us, but I prayed it was someplace safer than the creek had turned out to be. At least we had managed to stop long enough for me to drink some water and fill my belly with whatever that spicy jerky stuff was.
After leaving the creek, we ran. Brax seemed tireless and moved even faster than before, but he never smacked into or fell over anything.
Does he see in the dark? How well?
I could barely see the faint glow from the sky trickling between the branches, and that was it. But he was as steady in his course, as if it were broad daylight.
We were on our way toward a small clearing in the middle of the thickest brush when something lunged out toward us from behind a tree. I screamed, getting a faint impression of four massive, outstretched claws, a flat head, and skin covered in cockroach-colored scales before we passed it up and it missed its grab.
“What the fuck was that?” I squeaked incredulously as Teken kept a firm grip on me. He rumbled something I couldn’t comprehend, and I sighed.
We sure have a long way to go before we can learn a thing about each other beyond the very basic.
But it was clear now why we neverwalkedanywhere in this damn forest. Slow movement gave predators a chance to move in on us. And apparently, this forest was full of them.
If I had managed to make it out of the complex alone, this homicidal salad would have eaten me alive by now.The realization alarmed me more than just a little. If the jungle was this dangerous, leading the entire group of stolen women would require a lot more heavily armed help.
Maybe Teken had lots of Gladiators. But until he found some way of reaching them, it was as good as if they didn’t exist.
I struggled to catch my breath and fight down panic. The thing that had come after us so quickly would cause as much trouble for the slavers as for us, if not more so. Especially since they made a huge amount of noise when they went anywhere and didn’t seem to be very accustomed to forests at all.
Maybe they’ll all be eaten by monsters and we can go visit a damn spa somewhere.I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face in Brax’s fur again.
Given the crazy situation, I hated to admit it, but even though we were desperate fugitives right now, I was starting to feel distracted by Teken’s closeness again. Not just his muscled chest against my back or his four arms bracing me on either side or his scent in my nostrils.
Every time the dog bounded over a fallen tree limb or picked up a burst of speed, I felt his enormous hairy body jolt me back against Teken. My ass, which took up a nice, thick bit of room on any seat, kept bouncing against his crotch and the insides of his thighs. It felt nice, but it wasn’t my body’s reaction to the sensation that was distracting me. It was Teken’s. I didn’t realize it until the sound of the hoverbikes had faded away entirely and we kept bounding along to try to get well ahead of them. Only then, as Brax jumped a silvery stream that bubbled with sudden violence as he leaped over it, did I hear my protector let out a soft, agonized grunt.
For a moment, I worried he had hurt himself somehow or, worse, that I had, knocking into him like that—even though his crotch was armored and my ass nicely padded. But then I felt the shudder run all the way through his body and remembered how he’d agonized before spraying the aphrodisiac’s antidote into my face.
A faint grin spread my lips as I hung on, paying attention to his responses. The poor alien was acting like either he had a big crush on me or he hadn’t gotten laid in way too long. Possibly both.
That made me grin even wider. I just couldn’t help it. I started letting myself buck against him a little more, not enough to hurt my back or jostle either of us seriously, but enough that my round rump bounced a little harder against his thighs.
He groaned through gritted teeth, and I laughed silently to myself.Damn. Somebody really does have it bad for little old me. Now that’s just adorable.
He had controlled himself when I was sex crazy from the drug. And I was glad he knew that fucking someone who is effectively helpless is wrong. But my lightly teasing Teken, an alien I’d be happy to hop into bed with—if we weren’t fleeing for our lives—was carefree fun.
Hell, truth be told, if there’s a remote possibility of me dying soon by the hands of the slavers or creepy things in this forest, I might as well enjoy life while I can.
My thoughts snapped back to our journey when I caught sight of a bluish glow up ahead that looked too damn bright to be natural. Teken slowed Brax and touched my shoulder, his palm engulfing it as he pointed with another hand. The rolling syllables that spilled out of his mouth made no sense, but his tone was full of warning.
He stopped Brax soon after and pointed first at me and then at the dog. “Ella.Sola iemnon.”
“Yeah, stay with the dog. I get it.” Though, mostly from his body language. Still, it was nice that I was picking up some of his language, even under stress.
I made no move to dismount, only sitting back and stretching. Teken nodded and then, to my surprise, disappeared into the brush.
How someone so huge could vanish so completely and make so little noise, I had no idea. It made me a little nervous.But if he can practically disappear in front of me, he can probably scout whatever is ahead without getting caught.I hoped.
Brax sat, panting serenely, and I slid down his side onto the forest floor to stretch my legs properly. Then I leaned against his furry side, trying to calm down. This alien jungle suddenly seemed even huger, darker, and more intimidating now that Teken had gone scouting.
Brax nuzzled my shoulder and then chuffed into my hair, leaving a wet nose print on my cheek.
“Yuck. You’re really just a giant drool factory, aren’t you?” I whispered, stroking him gently. Right now, aside from the soft sound of my own voice, the dogasaurus rex here was the only roughly familiar thing around.
Especially when a glowing beetle the size of my head went buzzing past, chased by something with four leathery wings and a lashing whip tail. I cringed back against the dog, who sneezed and snuffled after the creatures as they bumbled off through the tree branches above.
“Shit, nothing bothers you, does it?” I muttered as the gigantic lightning bug and small flappy dragon thing disappeared into the dark.
