Zovak resigned himself to that with a sigh. Telling the tale of a hunt was a fine tradition, but in this case the hunt wasn't yet finished and Emily was proving more elusive than he'd hoped. But his father was right, he owed them the story, and it was time for the evening meal.

  The Clan gathered around, hunters bringing in a fresh kill to feast on. Usually it would have been Zovak who brought home the feast, but today should have been a feast in honor of his victorious return. It still was, in a way, but the fact that instead of a trophy from the Fire Wolves he had brought home a female from another world changed things. No one seemed to know how to respond to that.

  I can't complain about that, he thought with a faint smile. I don't know how to respond either.

  He settled in to tell them the story, relaxing as he did. Speaking to the Clan was easier when he had a tale of daring to tell. A fight against the Fire Wolf warriors to rescue his mate was something worth boasting of. Even Arak's bitter glare softened at the tale, though he didn't look happy with the ending. That was fair — everyone knew Arak had hoped his daughter would be Zovak's chosen bride.

  By the time Zovak finished speaking, the suns were down, the moon high in the sky. The Clan meeting had become a celebration after all, and Koth looked pleased though exhausted. While the younger members of the Clan took turns dancing around the fire, Koth sat back and shut his eyes. Zovak watched with a pang of worry for his father, then ducked away to fetch a fur to keep the old man warm.

  When he returned, the gathering was muted, the dancers still. Zovak saw why at once: Darya the Elder had joined them, bringing Emily with her. His human mate looked afraid, her eyes darting around the circle of warriors, half of them in their wolf forms. Zovak swallowed a snarl, knowing that it would only frighten her more to see him angry. His anger wasn't for her, though, it was a reflex. He wanted to attack, to hurt those that made her feel uncomfortable.

  Instead, he made himself be calm. Walking to his father as though nothing was wrong, he tucked the silver fur around the sleeping old man and made sure he was comfortable before turning back to the gathering.

  "I cannot be the only one with a tale of daring to share this night," he said, ignoring the awkwardness of the moment. "Arak, you led the hunt for this great beast we're feasting on, there must be a tale in its killing."

  It was a little flattery, but only a little. The hrath might be a plant eater, but it was no easy prey, with its mighty tusks capable of tearing a hunter apart. And the specimen they feasted on was massive, even by the standards of their kind — standing, it would have been at least twice Zovak's height.

  Arak smiled and launched into the story of how they had tracked it, and soon the silence was forgotten. The hunters who had been with him when he'd tracked the hrath added to his story, reenacting the best parts where they snuck up on the beast. They moved with such exaggerated stealth that the whole camp roared with laughter.

  "Are you well?" Zovak asked his mate under the cover of the laughs. She looked a little less frightened now that she wasn't the center of attention, but she still hadn't eaten anything.

  "I don't know," Emily answered. The simple pain of her words made him wince inwardly, though he hid that reaction. The Clan couldn't see their leader in pain.

  "You must eat," he said, tearing a hunk of meat from the hrath. The creature was massive, and what wasn't eaten tonight would be dried and kept to feed the Clan for a long time, but it was best eaten fresh. "Everything will feel better once you're fed."

  From the look of disgust she gave the meat, Emily didn't seem to agree. Her face paled and she turned away as he offered it to her.

  "What is wrong, my mate?"

  She looked up at him, a flash of annoyance in her eyes. "It's raw. I can't eat that."

  It took him a moment to understand what she meant, and then he laughed. Some foods needed to be exposed to the flame before they could be safely eaten, and it seemed that his mate thought the hrath meat was one of them.

  The glare she shot him shut up his laughter quickly, and he reminded himself how strange all this must be to her. She was far from home, in a land of strangers, and the customs were not her own. That wouldn't be easy for her to deal with, and there was no need to make things worse for her in her new home. If he could make her feel more at home by burning her food, so be it.

  Looking around he found a sturdy stick and impaled the meat on it, holding it over the fire to cook.

  "I do not mean to mock you, beloved," he told Emily as the meat sizzled in the flames. "Your ways are strange to me, that is all."

  "How do you think yours look to me?" she said hotly before sighing and shaking her head. "Nothing here is normal for me, Zovak. It's all so different from what I know."

  "It is your home, and you will come to love it," he said, looking into her eyes and trying to project his confidence to her. "There is nothing to fear."

  She smiled crookedly, shaking her head. Zovak felt her doubts, her loss, and reached out with his free hand to hold hers. "I will make it your home," he promised. "You will want for nothing. In the meantime, I would like to know of the place you come from. Tell me?"

  Emily's smile strengthened a little, and she nodded. Reaching into the pocket of her clothing, she brought forth a small rectangular device, activating it and swiping a finger across the screen that appeared on one surface. Zovak leaned in, fascinated by the gadget.

  "What is that?"

  "It's my phone," she explained. "Back home I could use it to speak to people far away, or to look things up on the internet. Or to take pictures. Here: this is the coffee shop where I worked. Work, I mean."

  Half of what she said made no sense to Zovak, but when she held up the picture he understood that. It took a moment for him to grasp the image it was so alien to him, but he focused and slowly it became clear. Some kind of gathering place, he realized, where people came to drink. He nodded, and Emily swiped the picture to the side, showing him a different image. Zovak's smile broadened. There is so much I do not know about my mate, and this device can show me, he thought.

  Pulling the meat from the fire before it began to burn, he offered it to her.

  "You must tell me about the world you came from, of this 'coffee shop' and more," he told her as she took the stick and cautiously blew on the hot meat. "I wish to know all about you, Emily, and the world that used to be your home."

  8

  Emily

  It was a strange thing for Emily to talk about the life she'd left behind on Earth, but it felt good to look back at it. She talked, flicking through the pictures and telling him what he saw. There was the coffee shop, there was Mr. Hendricks trying to smile for a picture, there the snow-covered parking lot outside. Zovak seemed surprised by many of the details, almost shocked as she explained her life.

  "This man did not appreciate your labor," he told her once she'd told him about her job and her boss. "He does not deserve it, or you."

  Emily couldn't argue with that. Instead she moved on, showing him pictures of her family, of her apartment, of the park in the snow. Emily wasn't sure he'd know what snow was, but he laughed at that idea. There was snow on the mountains, he told her, and on many of the other worlds he'd visited.

  The charge on her phone drained quickly as they sat together looking through the pictures. Around them the rest of the Sun Shadow Clan ate and drank but no one disturbed them as they sat away from the fire and flicked through the pictures one by one. Zovak surprised Emily with his interest in the smallest details of her life back on Earth, and she found herself leaning into his broad chest as they talked and the moon rose overhead.

  She could hear a sadness in his voice as she spoke of home, and it made her feel sad too. She didn't know what was getting to him, but she found that she didn't want him to feel hurt.

  At last the phone's battery gave out and the screen faded to black. Emily felt it like a stab to her heart, the last link to her home on Earth vanishing. If she couldn't find a way back, how long would it be before she couldn't remember what her home was like, how long before she forgot her friends' faces?

  Zovak hugged her gently, cradling her against his bare chest and she lay back against him, trying not to worry about that. There was nothing she could do tonight, at any rate. Better to enjoy what solace she had and perhaps there would be a way out tomorrow.

  If she didn't dwell on where she was, it was a nice evening. It could almost have been a night by a campfire back home, but the details kept intruding and reminding her that something was wrong. Back on Earth, it would be the middle of winter, too cold to camp like this. And the man she sat beside, if she'd had a man, would not be a powerful warrior like Zovak. Even the moon was wrong — this one was much bigger than Earth's moon, and she could see patterns on its surface. Staring up at them she realized that she was looking at buildings, cities.

  "Who made those?" she asked Zovak. He looked up along her pointing arm and shrugged.

  "The Ancients, I suppose," he told her. "Perhaps the Elders know more, but there are no tales about those places that I have heard."

  She shivered. There is so much to know out here, she realized. Cities on the moon, a gate for walking between worlds... Earth suddenly seemed very small in comparison. Small and safe.

  "You are cold, my Emily," Zovak said, standing and lifting her as though she weighed nothing. Emily wanted to object but he was right. With the suns gone from the sky, the camp was getting cold and they'd been sitting away from the fire to look at the pictures on her phone.

  Zovak's body was warm though, and she snuggled into him as he carried her back to his tent. She remembered the shock she'd had running out of it — that felt like days ago, but it couldn't have been more than a few hours.

  Or could it? Emily realized that she didn't know how long the day was here. Could it be different than a day back home? She wished that she'd paid more attention to the clock on her phone while it had been switched on.

  He lowered her to the furs at the back of the tent and stood back, looking down at her in the moonlight that spilled into the tent. The hot intensity of his gaze made her feel self-conscious again and Emily found herself blushing and biting her lip as he looked her up and down.

  She couldn't help returning the favor. Zovak's body was simply too hot not to look at. Her gaze rose up his body in the dim light, tracing the contours of the muscles on his legs. She paused for a moment as her gaze settled on his cock, feeling her cheeks heat as she couldn't stop herself staring.

  With an effort of will she tore herself away, looking up at the strong muscles of his abs and his broad chest. Emily felt her body respond to the sight of him, the powerful masculinity of this man, this alien. Her body wanted him, wanted him badly.

  And it was clear that he wanted her just as much.

  Their eyes met and he growled, a deep and powerful sound that made her shiver and her heart race. It was the sound of a predator sighting prey, and in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be caught.

  "Take off your clothes," he said, his tone making it a command, not a request. Emily was moving before she thought about it, her fingers fumbling with the buttons of her top as she stood. Her heart fluttered as she let it fall open, and Zovak's hungry gaze fell upon her breasts. He reached down to pull the blouse off her and she gasped when his fingers brushed her skin. The slightest touch was electric.

  She fumbled with the catch of her bra, her shyness washed away by the tide of desire that he raised in her. Zovak's impatient growl made her breath quicken, her heart race, her body melt with a fierce need. The bra finally came open and he pulled it from her, casting it aside and pulling her to him.

  Their kiss was a firestorm of need and desire. Zovak lifted Emily off her feet and she wrapped around him, wanting to be as close to him as she could. Needing his touch, his heat. She felt the hardness of his cock press against her, and that only made her ache for him more.

  His tongue parted her lips, pressing into her mouth, and she moaned into his kiss. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, pulling herself to him, her hesitation burned away by the desperate need his body awoke in her.

  At last, Zovak put her down again and they parted reluctantly. Both of them were breathing quickly now, and Zovak's grin bared his sharp teeth in a way that made Emily feel small, vulnerable, and aroused. She kicked off her shoes, fingers pulling at her jeans, wanting to be naked for him.

  As she undressed, he reached out to grab her breasts, strong rough hands exploring her, caressing and squeezing and driving her wild.

  "Oh, oh god," Emily groaned as his fingers pinched her nipples, making her back arch. She managed to step out of her jeans as he swept her back to him, and now there was nothing between the two of them.

  But her wild hunter wasn't in a hurry. He kissed her lips, then her neck, his fangs grazing the skin and making her shiver in desire. Her hand stroked down his body, reaching between them to hold the iron hardness of his cock, and she gasped again at the size of him. Stroking his shaft as he nibbled on her neck, she breathed a wordless plea.

  He understood, lifting her and carrying her down to the furs, pinning her beneath his body. Lifting his head from her neck, he grinned, his eyes alight with desire.

  "Don't be impatient," he told her as she moaned and pulled him, trying to guide him to her. It was like trying to move a statue. Emily could do nothing to hurry him as he began to kiss and lick and bite his way down her body.

  "I will show you," he said between kisses, "how much I love and need you. Every part of you, every inch of you."

  Emily shuddered and he laughed, his teeth grazing her nipple as he sucked it into his mouth. She couldn't focus on anything but him, and she felt as though her desire for him was driving her crazy. Like every second she didn't have him inside her was a second wasted that she would never have back.

  She pulled at his shoulders, nails digging into his skin, but he would not be hurried. He kissed his way lower, across her belly, down between her legs, and Emily cried out in pleasure as his mouth found her sex. His tongue was rough, strong as the rest of him, and he parted her folds to lick and kiss her. Shuddering, she arched her back, one hand on him still the other pressed to her mouth and stifling her cry of pleasure.

  He chuckled, and she felt it echo through her. "Now you are ready for me."

  His words made her shudder again, and though she tried to speak, no words came. They weren't needed, though. Zovak knew what she wanted, what she needed. Pulling himself up, he looked down at her and she felt the pressure of his cock against her entrance. She groaned, pulling at him again, and he didn't need any more urging than that. Driving forward, he buried himself in her with a slow, powerful thrust.

  Her mouth opened wide as he slid into her, stretching her. It felt like she could barely hold him but he didn't stop until he was in her to the hilt, and her pussy squeezed tight around him. The two of them shivered, their bodies moving in unison as he slid back and then drove home again faster and harder.

  "Oh my God," Emily whimpered, the sensation more powerful than anything she'd ever felt. Zovak felt perfect inside her, as though he belonged there, as though their two bodies had been made for this.

  He growled something, she couldn't tell what, but the light in his eyes showed that he was enjoying this as much as she was. His thrusts moved faster and faster, rocking her on the furs, and Emily gripped his shoulders hard as he pushed her to the edge of orgasm.

  "My perfect mate," he gasped, finding words at last as her world started to dissolve under the waves of pleasure he sent washing through her. "My beloved."

  With that he leaned down to bury his face in the hollow of her neck, biting down. His teeth on her skin made her cry out, pleasure and pain mixing as he took her over the edge into a blinding sea of pleasure.

  Together they rode out her orgasm, clinging to each other as Emily writhed under him. Her howls of joy filled the tent and his hungry growl drove her on, one orgasm following another until she could barely breathe for the sensations that flooded her body.

  At last she felt him swell inside her, his iron shaft twitching and his breathing growing ragged. He raised his head so that they looked into each other’s eyes as he relaxed his self-control and came, filling her as her final orgasm overtook her. Together they cried out, their bodies spasming together as all control fled them.

  Once the moment passed they sank into the furs together, panting and clinging to each other. Zovak's sweat-slick body felt perfect to Emily's touch, and she snuggled into him as they tried to catch their breath.

  "My perfect one," he said, voice raw from shouting. His hand stroked through her hair and Emily smiled sleepily. Her hands grazed across his chest, feeling the strength of his heartbeat and for the first time since she'd arrived in this strange land she felt at peace.

  "My wonderful warrior," she whispered, letting sleep drag her down into darkness. In that moment, she had no doubts, no fears, and no regrets. She belonged with him.

  9

  Emily

  The next day she awoke with the dawn, and Emily couldn't help smiling at the satisfied feeling that still lingered in her body. Last night had been extraordinary, like nothing that she had ever experienced. In fact, she'd have thought it was a dream if she hadn't woken with her head still resting on the deep blue expanse of Zovak's chest, the strange silvery patterns of his tattoos shining in the light leaking in around the tent flap.

  He was still breathing slowly and evenly, and she didn't want to disturb him. He'd earned the right to sleep in, she thought. Carefully, slowly, she sat up and moved away from his sleeping form, gathering her clothes as she went.

  She paused a moment, looking at them. Wearing the same clothes as she had yesterday was hardly ideal, but what choice did she have? She'd have to wash them later — at least on this hot planet they wouldn't need long to dry — but until then, she wasn't ready to wander around naked.

 

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