“Little warrior,” I murmur. “I need you so vecking much. I love you, Kailani.”
She gasps and wraps her legs around my back, pulling me in tight. Her eyes shimmer with tears. “I love you, Master Khrys. My mate.”
Her mate.
Veck.
I’m lost.
I brace one hand on the moss and pound into her, leaning my forehead against hers, our panting breaths mingling. For a few moments, time suspends. We are in ecstasy together—the balance point of love and lust and need and everything wonderful. Then, need topples the scales, and I plow into her even harder, making her scream my name until she’s hoarse, and we both pitch off the precipice into satisfaction.
Her tight channel squeezes my cock, milking it for its rainbow-hued essence. I kiss her face, her eyelids, her soft, silky hair. “I love you, Kailani,” I murmur, knowing without a doubt it’s true. Even though love is more of a human expression, not an emotion I ever imagined I’d know.
“I love you.”
She lifts her small hand and strokes my face. “I love you, too.”
I drop beside her, and we spoon, looking at the waterfall and the myriad of rainbows around the crystal grotto. I search for and find another perfect crystal on the ground and hand it to her.
“Is this the crystal that fuels your bodies?”
“Yes. Zandian crystal. It’s used in laser technology and is only found on our planet, so it’s what makes us rich. Which is also why our species was nearly wiped out.”
“When your planet was invaded.”
“Yes, when I was young.”
“And your brother died taking it back.”
“Yes.”
The sound of voices cuts through the roaring of the water—a young’s laughter and a mother’s call.
“Eek.” Kailani scrambles up.
I laugh and urge her back into the water, following right behind her.
Kailani
We dive under the waterfalls. Khrys swims for our clothing while I hang back and watch the family on the bank of the crystalline pool. They are a blended family—three Zandian males and one human female with twin boys—mixed species, maybe three solar cycles old—splashing in the shallow waters. The sight is completely foreign to me.
The human, indeed, appears free. She sits on a blanket spread on the ground, eating food from silver containers with two of the Zandians while the third stands at the water’s edge supervising the children. Her repose is casual. There’s a smile on her face. And I can’t tell what she’s eating, but it looks like real, whole food—not the gel packs I’ve been eating in space or the protein bars I was fed on Kraa.
My stomach suddenly rumbles.
Khrys climbs out of the water, beautifully unabashed at his nudity, and waves to the family. They wave back. I watch his muscles ripple as he steps into his clothing then picks up mine and walks around the bank in my direction. I swim over and climb out, shaking off the water droplets and letting his large body shield me from view as I dress.
“Who are they?” I ask, peeking around him, fascinated by what I see. They appear happy. I’ve never seen happy beings before. Especially not a human.
“A Zandian family. Come, I’ll introduce you.”
“You know them?”
“Zandia is small. I don’t know them well, but I recognize them.” Khrys hands me my shoes, and I slip them on. He takes my hand in his, and we walk over to the blanket.
The three stand to greet us. In the pool, the other Zandian scoops up the children and carries them over.
“Greetings.” Khrys lifts his arm with his elbow bent at ninety degrees. The Zandians reflect the same gesture. “This is Kailani. She arrived on Zandia this planet rotation.”