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Maria pressed her face to his chest, his pounding heart vibrating strong and steady against her cheek. His scent was that of fresh sweat, the enticing smell of a man who ate clean and exercised, and it filled her nostrils, making some animal part in the back of her mind react of its own accord.

She felt his body moving against hers more acutely all of a sudden, her overloaded sensory inputs seeming to focus on one thing and one thing alone. Namely, how he was rubbing against her clit in the most incredible way as he moved.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Maria chided herself, but her body paid no heed.

Whatever the elixir had done to elevate her athletic abilities, it had also supercharged other things as well.

She just hadn’t noticed earlier because she wasn’t pressed up against a hot and sexy man.

That, and the huge surge of adrenaline running through her veins at the moment probably only served to amp it up even further.

Zepharos lunged upward to a better handhold, jostling his passenger.

Maria’s nipples hardened, the pressure against his chest sending little jolts of panty-soaking joy to her clit, the nerve endings absolutely singing with arousal.

It was ridiculous, she realized. Here he was climbing with all his might to save her life, and all she could think about was her raging libido, courtesy of some strange alien brew.

I just hope he doesn’t notice. I wouldn’t want to distract him and get us both killed, she thought with grim amusement as another jolt of pleasure forced her to bite her cheek so as not to audibly moan.

Fortunately for them both, survival was his only thought at the moment, and he powered ahead, grunting from the exertion in a deliciously distracting way that Maria had to mentally slap herself for enjoying. He was saving her life, not putting on a show, after all.

Finally, he came to a stop, sliding sideways onto a relatively large outcropping. He stepped back from the edge and carefully untied the cord.

“You can get off now.”

Oh, if you only knew.

“Thank you. That was amazing.”

“I’m sorry you had to be strapped on like that, but the angle was past vertical at some points, and I needed my center of gravity as close to the wall as possible. If you were dangling off my back, it might have peeled me off easier than having you on my front.”

“Um, yeah. Well, it worked, so thank you for saving my life. Again .”

“I’m glad for the opportunity.”

He leaned out and surveyed the route ahead, scanning both sideways as well as up. Zepharos nodded, satisfied. “This is good. Just ahead there is a large crack running diagonally upward. I know this feature. It will allow us to wedge in and make a relatively easy climb to the summit.”

“But how do we get to it?”

He patted his shoulder and crouched down. “Climb aboard. It’s a much easier ascent from here and you will be fine on my back.”

Maria almost felt a pang of sadness that she wouldn’t get another more fun ride up. Almost.

“Sounds good,” she said, climbing on and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Zepharos tied her in again. Her arms were strong, but he wasn’t about to risk it.

Once she was fastened against him, he began the climb, and, as promised, in short order they reached the crack.

It was as described. An easy climb up, and one that Maria could make without the need of assistance.

And it was precisely what she did, following him up until they reached just below the summit where they climbed out onto an open stretch with a few unlikely trees somehow taken root and tenaciously clinging to the rocks.

“Almost there,” he said, urging her onward. “We will rest at the top.”

“Less talking. More walking,” she said with a gasp. The air was thinner up here and she was feeling it in her lungs and legs. A rest would be very welcome. But, as he said, first the top.

It took another twenty minutes to reach it, but when she stopped heaving for breath and stood up straight to take it all in, Maria felt her breath taken away for another reason entirely.

“It’s incredible,” she marveled, staring out over the vast valleys and mountains, taking in the expansive plains of alien grasses and colorful forests of wondrous trees and vines.

Off in the distance the sky was black with bright blue lightning arcing through the sky.

The opposite direction was clear, the red, orange, and yellow glow of the sun’s illumination making for a dazzling spectacle of raw natural power.

“Not bad, eh?” he said, taking in a deep breath with clear relish.

“Understatement of the year.”

“I’m glad you like it. You’ve had a rough go of it on my world, but it is not all stress and trauma. There is beauty if you but look for it.”

“In abundance.”

“Indeed. I—” His eyes darted to the distance. “Quick! Follow me! Hurry!”

He raced under a small outcropping, dropping to his belly and sliding in, pulling his pack and Maria in with him.

“What is it?”

He pointed from their hiding place. “There, in the distance. A little higher than we are. Do you see them? Six, no, seven ships speeding off in different directions.”

She squinted hard, trying to pick them out in the sheer empty magnitude of the alien sky. “Wait, I think—yes, I see them! What are they?”

“Definitely not transport ships. And by the way they’re flying, I would all but guarantee it is a search pattern. We’re safe here, though. The geology of this region is particularly robust, and the rocks contain the same elements we noted before.”

“The ones that mess with their scanner tech?”

“The very same. They can still search visually, of course, but from that altitude they clearly are not.”

Maria let out a sigh. “So, I guess they know I’m gone.”

“Undoubtedly. But more importantly, they’ve taken the bait. Look at the ships. Moving fast, relying on technology as they trace flight logs and track ships. They’re not even bothering with a surface search, just as I’d hoped.”

“So we’re safe? For now, I mean.”

“Relatively. The gambit bought us some time, but it will not stop them forever. Once they have run out of leads and realize we are on foot, it will become a whole new game, and I would have us in a town where we can acquire a proper ride before that happens.”

“But you said they’re following ships.”

“Yes. But only ships that departed from the city and those that connected with them. It is a vast world, and they cannot possibly track all the ships. And normally it would be a sound plan.”

“But you capitalized on their reliance on technology.”

“Precisely.”

“Because you were raised to live without it.”

“Exactly.”

She looked at him, smiling with pride that his plan had worked, and it really sank in just how much he’d put on the line for a total stranger.

“Thank you, Zeph. ”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, I mean it. You’re kind of amazing at this.”

He turned away, hiding his blush, crawling out of their hiding space. “It’s safe now, and we’ve still got plenty of daylight. Are you okay to push on?”

“It’s downhill from here, right?”

“That it is.”

“Then lead the way.”

“Okay, follow me.”

He slid the pack back onto his shoulders and started the descent down the other side.

Maria watched his sculpted ass flex with every step, her body coming back down to normal but something new blossoming inside her.

More than just appreciation. She felt seen.

Safe. Cared for. And in just a few days he had proven himself more reliable than any man she’d ever known.

“Right behind you,” she said, falling in behind him, ready for the long hike further into the unknown.