Page 17 of Vylit: Glowing for Her (Consumed by the Alien Heat #1)

MAYA

A t last, the tribunal and its crushing weight of judgment were behind us.

Vylit led me up through the spiraling coral arches to the highest observation scallop.

My legs still trembled from standing before those ancient, glowing judges, their eyes dissecting me like I was nothing more than an interesting specimen.

The moss-liner clung to my skin, prickling with anticipation as we emerged into open air.

Below us, the ocean spread endless and wild, while above, the night sky burned with a comet shower that painted Vylit's translucent skin in flashes of silver and blue.

His hand remained firm at the small of my back, steadying me as we stepped onto the curved platform.

For the first time since the violet tide had swallowed me back on Earth, there was silence…

no pirates, no tribunals, no envoys with clipboards and disapproving stares, just the two of us breathing the same air in peace.

I curled into him on the moss curve, my body fitting against his like it had been designed for that purpose.

The living material beneath us puffled with contentment, forming a perfect hollow for our bodies.

Vylit's arm encircled me, his massive hand spanning my waist, the heat of him burning through the thin moss-liner.

We watched the comets streak fire across the sky, silent meteorites that carved momentary gashes of light against the darkness.

"I was empty before you," he whispered, the words dropping into the quiet like stones into still water. His biolights dimmed to a soft, pulsing blue that matched the rhythm of my own heartbeat. "For cycles, I searched. The Registry matched many potentials, but none... none felt right."

I turned in his arms, studying the constellations of light that moved beneath his skin. "But you're a hero to your people. The last warrior of Mavtros. Hell, I'm pretty sure I saw a statue of you on the way into that big ass judgement chamber."

His laugh rumbled through his chest, bitter and soft. "A title without substance. A shell filled with duty." His fingers traced the curve of my cheek, feather-light. "They revere what I represent, not who I am."

My chest tightened, an ache blooming beneath my sternum that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with recognition.

How many research vessels had I served on, surrounded by colleagues who saw only my credentials, my publications, my usefulness?

Never me. Always the function, never the person.

"I understand," I said, the words inadequate but true.

"Back on Earth, I spent my whole life chasing validation through my work.

Being the best marine biologist, collecting the most data, surviving the most dangerous expeditions.

" I exhaled, the breath visible in the cool night air.

"But I was always alone, even when surrounded by people. "

Vylit's glow shifted to a deeper purple, a color I was learning to associate with empathy. His secondary heart chamber pulsed visible beneath the thin membrane of his chest, the rhythm quicker than usual.

"You feel it too," he said, wonder coloring his tone. "The hollow place where connection should be."

I nodded, my throat suddenly tight. My fingers found the glowing marks on my skin where his essence had changed me at a cellular level.

The bond between us thrummed steady, a living current that I couldn't imagine being without.

When had that changed? When had I stopped thinking of Earth as my only home?

Perhaps in the tide cave, with pirates hammering at the door.

Or on the ship, when he'd nearly died protecting me.

Or maybe it was simply the accumulation of moments…

his respect for my boundaries, his willingness to honor my choices even when they contradicted his desires, his fierce determination to see me as a person and not a prize.

I looked up into his star-bright eyes, the intensity of his gaze making my skin heat. "I thought I only wanted to go home," I admitted, the confession burning like salt in an open wound. "But I don't think that's true anymore."

His biolights flared briefly, hope and caution warring across his translucent skin. "What do you want, Maya?" His voice dropped lower, vibrating through me. "Not what you should want. Not what the Agency or the tribunal expects. What do you want?"

The question hung between us, trembling with possibility.

I reached up, tracing the pattern of light that spiraled from his jaw down his neck…

the warrior markings that identified him to his kind.

My palm came to rest over where I thought his heart was, feeling the thunderous beat beneath my fingers.

"I want a life that isn't empty," I said, the words falling from me with the weight of truth.

"I want to understand the cosmos, to explore worlds I never dreamed existed.

" I swallowed hard, forcing myself to maintain eye contact despite the vulnerability scraping me raw.

"And I want you beside me while I do it. "

The glow beneath his skin intensified, rippling outward from where my hand pressed against his chest. "Maya," he breathed, my name a reverence on his tongue.

I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his. The kiss was slow, deliberate, every point of contact between us electric. This wasn't the desperate claiming of the tide cave or the frantic connection after battle. This was a choice… pure, uncoerced, freely given.

His hands came up to frame my face, massive yet achingly gentle. His tongue traced the seam of my lips, asking not demanding, and when I opened to him, the taste was alien yet familiar. The bond between us pulsed, strengthening with each shared breath.

Vylit's touch shifted, his palms skimming down my sides, leaving trails of heat through the moss-liner. He worshipped me with careful reverence, his fingers mapping my body as if committing every curve and hollow to memory. There was no urgency in his exploration, only wonder.

"I need to feel you," I murmured against his mouth. "All of you."

The moss-liner responded to my desire before I could even reach for it, slithering away from my skin like a living tide retreating. Vylit's eyes darkened as he watched it go, his glow intensifying to a deep violet that painted my newly exposed skin in alien light.

His mouth found my throat, trailing kisses down to the hollow between my breasts.

My back arched into the contact, a soft moan escaping me as his tongue traced the pattern of bond-marks that decorated my skin.

Each touch sent sparks of pleasure racing along my nerves, building a fire low in my belly.

"Beautiful," he growled, the word vibrating against my skin. "My mate. My complement."

His hands cradled me as he laid me back on the moss, which immediately puffled into a perfect nest beneath me. I expected him to cover my body with his, to take control as he had in the cave, but instead he drew back, his cocks slowly emerging as his bioluminescence flared.

"Wait a minute… You're always naked, aren't you?" I wasn't sure why I hadn't put that together sooner. "I'd just assumed you wore some kind of clothing like the moss-liner, but you're not."

Vylit nodded but didn't say anything as he just watched me.

He lay back in the moss beside me, his massive form haloed in blue-gold light, every curve and angle of his alien body on display.

The heart beneath his chest pulsed in visible tandem, his glow shifting patterns with each beat.

His cocks slowly emerged, both shafts engorged and gleaming with luminous fluid.

"I am yours," he said simply, his voice rough with emotion. "As you are mine."

He reached for me, hands careful as he tried to guide me atop him. I resisted the gentle pressure, not to refuse him, but to make my own choice clear. His brow furrowed in confusion, then cleared as understanding dawned.

I climbed into his lap under my own power, straddling his hips, my knees sinking into the moss on either side of him. His hands hovered at my waist, not gripping, just steadying. The heat of him pressed against me, both shafts hot and insistent against my inner thigh.

"I choose you," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "Not because I have to. Not because of pirates or the Agency or genetic compatibility." I rose up on my knees, positioning myself above him. "Because I want to."

His eyes locked with mine, burning with an emotion too complex for words. His biolights pulsed erratically, betraying the effort it took for him to remain still beneath me.

I sank down slowly, deliberately, taking his primary shaft into my body inch by careful inch. The stretch was exquisite, burning pleasure-pain that made my thighs tremble. When I was fully seated, both of us gasping, I paused, adjusting to the fullness.

"Maya," he groaned, his hands finally gripping my hips, not to control but to anchor himself. "You unmake me."

I rolled my hips experimentally, drawing a hiss from between his teeth.

His secondary shaft pressed against my other entrance, slick with fluid that eased the way.

I leaned forward, changing the angle, and felt him push into me there as well…

a dual penetration that made my vision blur with sensation.

"Both," I gasped, the word barely recognizable. "I want all of you."

His roar shook the moss beneath us, his control fracturing as I took both shafts completely. I set the pace, rising and falling over him, my hands braced on his chest for leverage. Above us, comets continued to streak across the sky, their light casting shadows that danced over our joined bodies.

Vylit's glow intensified with each thrust, his biolights spreading from his body to mine in patterns that looked like war-stripes but felt like a coronation. The moss beneath us vibrated in sympathy, enhancing every sensation.

"Mine," I breathed, claiming him as surely as he had claimed me. "My warrior. My mate."

His hands guided my movements now, helping me find a rhythm that drove us both higher.

The dual penetration was overwhelming, filling me so completely I could barely think beyond the pleasure spiraling through my core.

His expression was naked awe, his eyes never leaving mine even as his glow brightened to near-blinding intensity.

My release built with devastating speed, tension coiling tighter with each rock of my hips.

When it finally broke, it tore through me with a force that pulled a cry from my throat…

a sound of triumph more than surrender. My inner muscles clenched around both his shafts, milking them as waves of pleasure crashed over me.

Vylit followed immediately, his biolights exploding in a supernova of color as he roared my name. Hot pulses of his release filled me. The sensation triggered another peak, smaller but no less intense, that left me trembling and gasping above him.

I collapsed onto his chest, our bodies still joined, his arms wrapping around me like living steel. The moss curled up around us, creating a cocoon of warmth as our breathing gradually slowed. Vylit's glow dimmed to a soft, pulsing contentment that matched the rhythm of my heartbeat.

"My tide," he whispered against my hair, the words strange yet perfect. "My first drum. The rhythm I will follow until the end of my days."

My heart stuttered in terrified, perfect joy. The translator struggled with the sentiment, but the bond between us carried the meaning where words failed.

"I never thought—" I started, my voice breaking with emotion.

"Nor I," he finished, understanding without explanation. His hand stroked down my spine, tracing patterns that seemed to write our story into my skin.

We lay entwined, watching the comet shower gradually fade, the silence between us full rather than empty. For the first time since being pulled through the Gate, I felt something close to peace… not the absence of danger, but the presence of certainty. Whatever came next, we would face it together.

The moment shattered as a silver light flickered into existence above us.

Silvyr's projection crackled overhead, his usual smirk replaced by grim determination.

His silver skin scrolled with lines of code that moved too fast to read, his form occasionally glitching as if struggling to maintain cohesion.

"Forgive the interruption," he said, voice tight with urgency. "But Asset P is accelerating its work."

Vylit tensed beneath me, his arms tightening reflexively around my body. The contentment in his glow shifted instantly to alert crimson.

"How?" he demanded, already moving to sit up, bringing me with him.

Silvyr's projection flickered, the code across his skin reorganizing into a star map that hovered between us.

"Multiple extraction teams deployed. New targets already in motion.

" His silver eyes met mine, solemn and direct.

"They're adapting to the tribunal's ruling.

Preparing to catch the mates before the chosen one arrives. "

Ice flooded my veins, washing away the warmth of our connection. "How many targets?"

"Seventeen confirmed," Silvyr replied, his projection expanding to show blinking points across the star map. "Possibly more."

Vylit stood, bringing me with him even as his cocks slipped from me.. The moss-liner slithered back over my skin, forming a protective layer that felt suddenly inadequate against the threats we faced.

"Prepare the ship," Vylit ordered, his voice hardened to the warrior's cadence I'd first heard when he rescued me. "Alert Kazmyr. We move immediately."

Silvyr nodded, his projection already fading. "Coordinates uploaded. The nearest target is a human female matched to a Centaurian male. Their extraction window is less than six cycles away."

The projection vanished, leaving us alone in the suddenly cold night air. The comet shower had ended, the sky now a vast, empty canvas of stars. Vylit looked down at me, his eyes burning with determined fury.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "Our peace was brief."

I straightened my shoulders, feeling the weight of our responsibility settle like armor. "It was enough," I replied, reaching for his hand. "Now we fight for others to have the same choice we did."

His glow shifted, pride and love illuminating his features. He bent to kiss me once more, fierce and quick, before turning toward the path that would lead us back to the ship.

"Together," he said, not a question but a certainty.

I squeezed his hand, the bond between us thrumming with shared purpose. "Together."