Page 58 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Stars
Daisy followed Zil through the village, excitement bringing a spring to her step that she hadn’t experienced since childhood. When had she last looked forward to life like this? She was running forward eagerly and had no second thoughts about it. She looked over at Zil, a smile playing on her lips. They hurried along the road with a single-minded focus.
She was pleased that she was not the only one who was feeling eager. Zil barely glanced at their surroundings as they made their way, his attention focused on locking onto the location of the beacon now that he had access to the mining village’s systems. She wasn’t foolish enough to think he wasn’t aware of everything around, however. Little seemed to escape the legionnaire’s notice. It was probably what had helped him rise into the elite ranks before deserting the military altogether.
“It is not much farther,” he rumbled quietly. “The beacon is in the docking bay. Apparently there is a large access point into the mountain that was used by cargo ships delivering supplies to the camp and hauling away the mine’s product. The entrance is well disguised and locked down internally, so we do not have to worry about any threat coming from that direction.”
“Good,” she replied, her breathing labored by their brisk pace. “I’m more than ready to kiss this place goodbye.”
Zil gave her a confused look, and she smiled sweetly at him.
“Just a human expression,” she teased. “Technically, kissing someone goodbye would be a fond farewell, but in this context it means the opposite. It just means I’m going to be very, very happy to get far from this hellhole of a planet.”
His expression cleared with comprehension, and he chuckled. “Indeed, but I will still be wishing to kiss you quite leisurely—everywhere—once we accomplish that.”
Heat seeped into her belly as she recalled the words that he had whispered earlier about exactly what he wished to do between her legs, and she cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t object.”
The look he gave her was scorching and the smile curling his lips absolutely loaded with devilish intentions that made her all hot and bothered.
“Maybe we should walk a little faster,” she said as she fanned her face, and he grinned in response.
“Would you like for me to carry you, little flower?”
She would surely combust if he did, but if it meant getting there quicker… Her rambling thoughts quieted when he suddenly straightened, his eyes narrowing as he looked away from her and scanned the village as he turned in the direction from which they had come.
“Zil? What?—”
He lifted a hand, silencing her. “We are not alone.”
Daisy swallowed and inched closer to her mate, wrapping her fingers around the blaster at his hip. Of the two of them she was the only one without natural defenses and he had insisted that she learn how to use it so that she could protect herself. It seemed that she was getting to utilize those nightly lessons after all because his eyes dropped to her and he nodded approvingly, his fingers unlatching it from its holster so that she could pull it free. She barely had time to back away a few paces when the attack came.
The Valthaan leaped from the top of the building just behind them, shrieking with an unholy piercing sound that nearly made her drop her blaster with the instinctive need to cover her ears. The male almost looked human but in an uncanny way that made his appearance possess an almost aethereal beauty attributed to ancient gods and angels, its violet complexion resplendent and the long, slender whiplike tail uncoiling behind it midair. Zil spun toward him, his naturally armored arms swinging like clubs as he knocked it out of the air. The creature shrieked with pain as it fell to the ground but quickly regrouped and drew back with an audible hiss.
“Daranthiki, give me the human and we will allow you to leave this mountain in one peace. We only want the female,” the male snarled as he eyed Zil warily.
Daisy nervously lifted the blaster, aiming at the male whose glowing venom green gaze slid over to her. Why did so many aliens have glowing eyes? It made her feel grossly inadequate in the darkness of the mine. She sighted on it but startled when a second suddenly dropped to her right. She whirled toward him and pointed her blaster in his direction instead. His lips curled back revealing rows of jagged, very nonhuman teeth while Zil came close to eviscerating the first male with the claws that extended nightmarishly longer.
“Pretty little female. Come, we will take very good care of you,” the second male purred, and she shook her head, priming her weapon as she backed away from him.
Zil roared in protest as he tossed the male that had leaped onto his back from him and charged the male stalking her. The Valthaan jumped like a cat in an attempt to spring away—but he was not fast enough. Zil’s long claws sank into him and the Daranthiki did not hesitate to utilize that to his advantage as he tore into the male. The Valthaan’s shrieks of pain were nearly deafening, so loud that she almost missed the shrill sound of rage that came from the first male as he recovered and rounded toward Zil’s exposed back. His claws flexed and he ran for her mate. Daisy’s eyes widened and she felt a sense of panic momentarily well within her, but as she raised her blaster, an icy calm stamped it down, steadying her as she locked onto the alien as he leaped.
The blast that left her weapon nearly threw her off her feet, but she kept her arms locked as she absorbed the shock. But nothing saved her from seeing the plasma fire blast a gaping, sizzling hole through the alien’s chest as he dropped. He lay there twitching, his mouth gaping with his final gurgling breaths.
Zil approached him silently, blood dripping from his hands, and he stared down at the male and smirked, his expression filled with cold ruthlessness that gave her a glimpse of the legionnaire he must have once been but fueled with the need to protect his mate.
“You missed his heart, little flower. You hit a few vital organs, however,” he rumbled proudly as he glanced over at her, his eyes warming with adoration. “His death will not be pleasant.”
She nodded and stumbled over to her side, her gaze fleetingly shifting over to the ruined, bloody remains of the other male torn up like a grisly crime scene not too far away before flitting back to him.
“I see that you handled the other one,” she whispered, and he grimaced, his expression growing strained.
“I lost control,” he admitted. “He threatened you, and I was so blind with rage that I did not hold back as I vented my fury even though there was another danger still present with us.” He drew in a deep breath. “I forced you into the position to take another’s life and nearly failed to protect you when protecting my mate is everything that is most important to me.”
Daisy shook her head and bumped him with her shoulder. “I don’t know how it works with Daranthiki females, but you taught me how to use this for a reason. I’m not going to sit on the sidelines. I am with you in every way. We will protect each other.”
He peered at her for a long moment and reluctantly his lips hitched, and he nodded. “Most females among the Daranthiki are peaceful by disposition, submissive nurturers to their males that protect them. It is considered ideal in Daranthiki society for a female to be as such and for mated males to be gentle protectors who avoid situations of conflict wherever possible. It is impossible for me to be the ideal Daranthiki mated male,” he warned, and Daisy smiled.
“I don’t want you to be anything other than exactly who you are, gore included. It’s actually a good look for you,” she mused playfully.
His lips twitched with amusement as he closed the distance between them, his bloodied fingers tipping her head back now that his claws were retracted once more to a reasonable length. “It is a blessing for this warrior to have a bloodthirsty human female at his side,” he teased, and Daisy’s smile widened only for her lips to part with a pleased sigh as his mouth descended upon hers, claiming her anew with his kiss.
Fuck, he could kiss.
She moaned softly against his mouth and whimpered when he finally pulled away with one final butterfly-soft brush against her lips. Zil smiled down at her, love brightening his glowing ruby eyes. His hands dropped to her hands, and he held them briefly, his fingers curling around her fingers and squeezing them lovingly before releasing her left hand. Her right remained firmly clasped in hand as he gently pulled her back toward the tunnel.
They walked silently through the long tunnel that departed from the village and eventually opened up into a large docking bay. Several empty mining carts were lined up on one side and the beacon was clearly visible at the center of the bay, its column rising up and disappearing into the mountains above them.
Zil started toward it and as their hands were still tightly clasped Daisy hurried with him, but it didn’t stop her from looking around as he began to fire off the beacon’s sequence. The light brightened in pulsing waves, and Daisy froze as the faint outline of a large ship became visible in every pulse only to disappear into the shadows between them. After several pulses, her heart sang with excitement, certain now that she wasn’t seeing things. She tugged Zil’s hand urgently until her big mate glanced down at her.
Grinning up at him, she tipped her head toward the corner. “Look. Just over there. Tell me you don’t see a fucking ship.”
He looked up and froze, his expression blanking for a moment with surprise. The smile that curled his lips was slow but one that reached his eyes, filling them with delight as he looked back down at her.
“I would say that is a ship,” he agreed.
“Do you think we could?—”
“Why not?” Zil chuckled as he quickly drew her to it. “The beacon has not been fully initiated yet and anything within the mines has been long abandoned. A cargo ship is not ideal, but it will get us out of here without any questions asked.”
“To begin our life of adventure unhampered by red tape?” she replied in breathless excitement as they closed the distance to it.
“To begin to truly live,” he rasped.
And that was exactly what they did. The engines, despite lying so long in silent wait, roared to life, and when the dock’s latch slowly opened to reveal the starry heavens above, Daisy leaned into her mate as he wrapped his arms around her and they rose to meet a new life among the stars—together.
Thank you for reading Crash Landed: The Daranthiki .