Saving Runt Read online

  “You set my blood on fire,” he suddenly muttered.

  Runt’s lips parted in a gasp when he wrapped his fingers around her wrist, lowered his head, and captured her lips. He swept his tongue possessively between her lips. She curled her fingers into his vest, pulling him closer as she returned his passionate kiss with one of her own.

  “My lord—apologies, sir. I… didn’t realize you were…,” the male voice faded into a grunt.

  Derik slowly released her lips with a heavy sigh. “One of these days I’m going to be able to kiss you without interruption,” he quietly vowed, resting his forehead against hers for a brief moment.

  “That would be nice,” she muttered.

  Derik pulled back, but kept a hold on her wrist. She tilted her head and looked at the warrior who stood next to them trying to pretend that he wasn’t there. The poor guy wasn’t doing a very good job of it because his curious gaze kept straying to her.

  “Is my ship ready?” Derik asked.

  The warrior nodded. “Yes, my lord. Everything you requested has been loaded into the cargo bay,” the man stated.

  “That will be all,” Derik replied.

  “And thank you,” Runt stated, elbowing Derik and giving him a look.

  “Thank you,” Derik grudgingly added.

  “It was a pleasure, my lord,” the warrior replied with a smile.

  Runt watched with amusement as the man walked away. He had a little more pep in his step. She blinked in surprise when Derik gently grabbed her chin and turned her head. She looked up at him.

  “You really enjoy driving us Prime males crazy, don’t you?” he teased.

  She raised an eyebrow. “It’s too easy,” she retorted.

  It took her a second to realize that they were flirting. She had never done that before. It was a strange feeling—kind of powerful in a weird way.

  She had seen others flirt, and a few guys had even tried to chat her up once or twice. None of them had interested her mentally or physically. Derik was different. She normally didn’t like to talk that much, but with him, she found herself opening up. Of course, she could listen to him talk all day. They had spent time talking about everything from computer code, to how the Gateway worked, and about daily life on each of their respective planets.

  Since she’d come through the Gateway, he had taken her to dinner at some of the small cafes around the city and even taken her to a few of Tilly’s film events. Her favorite was the day he set up a surprise picnic lunch in the palace gardens. He had invited her mom to go with them. She couldn’t remember ever having heard her mother laugh so much when Derik shared tales of his brothers and himself growing up.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  She blinked, realizing that she was staring up at him. She frowned and tilted her head to the side as she studied his face. It suddenly dawned on her what he had been doing the past week.

  “You’re courting me,” she suddenly blurted out.

  He bent down and brushed a kiss across her lips. “It took you long enough to figure that out. I thought I was doing it wrong. DAR kept telling me that I wasn’t,” he chuckled.

  She shook her head. “What does a computer know about courting?” she scoffed.

  “Obviously, a lot more than anyone realizes. Have you seen the way he interacts with RITA2? I wonder if Tilly has been playing with their programming again, or if it is part of their adaptive code. That reminds me, when we get back, Father has asked that we take a look at RITA2’s code. He is afraid she might have more replications with DAR,” Derik said.

  Runt’s eyes widened as a new thought occurred to her. “The duplication code I saw, yeah. I’ll have to see if I can replicate it so that I can narrow it down…,” she said in a distracted voice.

  He brushed another kiss across her lips. “When we return. For now, I want only us,” he said.

  She nodded and held onto his hand when he turned and walked through the crowded space dock. She looked from side to side as she took in the colorful, wondrous alien world. This was her first view of the space dock on Baade. There were so many aliens from other worlds that she couldn’t help but wonder how they had all discovered one another.

  The buildings were futuristic and took her breath away. Tall spires of glass and metal towered above them. Walkways meandered through the numerous atriums connecting the tall buildings at various levels. The atriums created the illusion of lush floating gardens. It was obvious that the architects and engineers on Prime used solar energy extensively. Vehicles of different shapes and sizes moved in coordinated patterns. A sleek monorail sinuously glided along; carrying its passengers like a serpent from one building to the next.

  Her mind swirled with the possibilities of learning more code—and challenging herself to see if she could penetrate their systems as easily as she had the ones on Earth. It was like telling Charlie that he won the chocolate factory and could do whatever he wanted in the magical, mystical world inside.

  This was her fantastical playground. This was her chocolate factory. She could gorge on the technology and never be sated. This was a world made for someone like her.

  Emotion choked her at the thought. This was a place where she actually fit in, felt at home. It was an indescribable feeling.

  “Are you alright?” Derik tenderly asked.

  She nodded, unable to speak and a bit overwhelmed. Instead, she squeezed his hand. He returned her gentle grasp before he continued on. He guided her to a set of large sand-colored doors. She was admiring the intricate artistry depicting scenes from space carved into the doors when they suddenly opened. They stepped through the entrance into a wide area that looked like a hanger with no roof. Inside, two guards straightened and stood at attention.

  Runt’s lips parted in awe when she saw the sleek shuttle waiting for them in the hangar. She pulled her hand free of his and slowly walked around the ship. The silver glittered in the bright sunlight that was streaming down through the open ceiling. The teardrop-shaped spacecraft looked like it was built for speed.

  “How fast will this thing go? Can it go into light speed? Do you have light speed travel? Will we float when we go up into space, or does it have some way of creating an artificial gravity?” she asked in rapid-fire succession.

  He laughed. “It goes fast. Yes, light speed fast, because yes, we do have light speed travel. No, we won’t float, because yes, it has artificial gravity. Do you have any other questions?” Derik asked with a chuckle as he followed her around the shuttle.

  She turned and looked at him with wide eyes and a hopeful expression. “Can I drive it?” she replied.

  He threw his head back and laughed. “Yes, I will show you how to pilot the shuttle—after we get to Quadrule Five,” he promised.

  “Yes!” she crowed, giving a fist pump and dancing around in excitement before she turned and threw her arms around his neck.

  Her lips connected with his in a kiss that surprised them both. She pulled back and stared at him in wonder. He was holding her up off the ground. Her body was pressed tightly against his.

  “I...,” she whispered, mesmerized by his eyes.

  “You what?” he asked in a rough voice.

  “Can you make love in space?” she wondered out loud.

  He tightened his arms around her until she could barely breathe. His eyes flared with the silver flames that she recognized whenever he was intensely angry or aroused. She looked at his mouth. His teeth were lengthening.

  “I’m willing to find out,” he choked in a thick tone.

  “Good,” she said before leaning forward and capturing his lips again.

  She hadn’t planned on asking him that. Deep down, she knew going away with him meant they would have sex. Her mind may not have been completely ready to register that fact, but her body was. Now, there was no doubt in her mind that she wanted it as well. She wanted him—mentally and physically.

  She sighed when she realized that, once again, they were not alone. The two guards were
getting a pretty good show at the moment. She had lifted her legs and wound them around Derik’s waist. If that wasn’t bad enough, she was rubbing against him like a cat in heat.

  Breaking their kiss, she buried her face against his shoulder. Her body was on fire, and she didn’t know if her legs would hold her. She kept her face hidden when Derik slid his arm under her buttocks and turned around. He growled out a command, but she didn’t hear it because her heart was beating like crazy.

  “You are dangerous,” he murmured.

  She finally lifted her head when he slowly released her. A glance over her shoulder showed that the guards had left, and they were now alone. He held her until he was sure her legs could support her.

  “Me?! You’ve got this like—super nova thing going on between my legs,” she muttered.

  His low groan told her that he caught what she meant. He shook his head and gripped her hand. Together they walked up the platform and into the shuttle.

  I hope this thing has a bedroom with a nice big bed, she thought as the door behind them closed.

  This doesn’t, but my ship does, he promised with a sexy grin.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The journey into space was different from what she had seen on television back on Earth. They didn’t need rockets that boosted them straight up with tremendous force. There was no shaking and rattling.

  The sleek shuttle lifted off the ground like a Harrier jet before it took off like a speeding bullet. Derik guided the shuttle through the atmosphere with the same ease of someone driving a car along a highway.

  Her breath got stuck in her throat when she looked down and saw the planet beneath them. Seeing the world below from space was like placing the final piece into a puzzle and seeing the complete picture. Baade was magnificent with its swirls of white, blue, purple, and green.

  The approach to the Spaceport was just as electrifying. Derik pointed out the spaceship they would be transferring to in order to travel deeper into space. His spaceship was several times larger than the shuttle.

  He maneuvered the shuttle to the side of the large ship. A bay opened as they approached and he guided the shuttle into the ship’s landing bay. He skillfully rotated the shuttle until it was facing the open door and landed. She attentively followed the sequence as he powered down the shuttle and the door in front of them closed. A moment later, the flashing red lights around them turned to green.

  Runt wordlessly followed Derik to the bridge of the huge spaceship, her wide eyes trying to take in everything at once, and she sat next to Derik as he settled into the pilot’s station. She could see even larger ships through the window. Spaceships of all shapes and sizes glided past them.

  “This is Prime 521, disengaging locks,” Derik said into the comlink.

  “Prime 521, you have clearance. Safe journey, my lord,” the Spaceport controller replied.

  And just like that, they were leaving the Spaceport. Her heart pounded when she saw the vast openness of space. Living in the city had never prepared her for what the world without artificial lights would look like.

  “The stars look like twinkle lights.” She smiled at the thought. “When I was a kid, there was a little café not far from our apartment. I loved walking by it at night and seeing the twinkle lights they had put in the trees. When I was little, I thought they were fairies,” she murmured.

  He reached over and cupped her hand. “You will love where I am taking you, then. I promise. Now, watch this,” he said with a grin and released her hand.

  She watched as he pressed a series of buttons, then pushed a lever forward. In seconds, she was pressed back against her seat watching the stars around them become a series of star trails. It felt like the universe was theirs and she wanted to hug the feeling close. For the first time in her life, she felt like a bird soaring free. There was nothing that could touch her here.

  Except me.

  Except you, she agreed with a cheeky grin.

  Three hours later, Runt stood in the galley of the ship. She had taken a shower and decided afterwards that she would like something warm to drink. She sighed in delight as she ran a finger through the whipped cream floating on top of her hot chocolate and lifted it to her lips. Sucking the creamy mixture off her finger, she turned when she heard a low groan.

  “You have no idea what that does to me,” Derik muttered.

  She laughed and ran her finger through the whipped cream again—this time licking off the white cream with slow, measured swipes of her tongue. His muttered curse and the glint of playful revenge in his eyes made her laugh even harder.

  She noticed that his hair was damp. “It looks like you had a shower, too. Who is flying this tank if you aren’t?” she asked.

  “What? Tank?” he asked in a distracted tone, he was mesmerized by her tongue as she licked a stray spot of whipped cream from her finger.

  She snapped her fingers in front of him. His hand shot up and he gently snagged her wrist. He slowly pulled her closer. She took in a hissing breath when he lifted her hand to his mouth and touched his tongue to her finger.

  “The spaceship. Who… who is flying it?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly with emotion.

  “The computer. It will alert me if I’m needed,” he softly replied.

  “Self-driving spaceships… cool. We… back on Earth, the car… the car companies are experimenting with them—self-driving cars, that is. I want you, Derik,” she added in a distracted voice, her eyes locked on his lips.

  “Thank the Goddess,” he breathed out with relief.

  Their lips connected as they met halfway—all teasing forgotten. His hands ran up and down her sides before moving down to cup her ass. She wound her arms around his neck and pressed hard, frantic kisses to his lips, cheeks, and down his neck.

  “Goddess, Amelia!” he groaned.

  A rumbling deep within his chest shook him when she nipped his neck. He sounded almost like he was purring. One second she was standing in front of him and the next she was in his arms. He held her tight as he strode down the corridor to a cabin she hadn’t seen yet. She had used the shower in a smaller cabin that she had found further down the corridor.

  The door opened when he paused in front of it. The bedroom was larger than she’d thought it would be on a spaceship. A large bed was set up in front of them with built in drawers on each side. Whatever else might be in the room, it wasn’t nearly as important to her as the bed was right now.

  He walked across the room, stopping next to the bed. She held on to his shoulders when he gently lowered her feet to the floor. Looking up at him, she could see the silver flames that she had come to love. They were burning for her.

  He paused long enough to unsnap the straps on his boots. She watched him pull off each of them, along with his socks, before he tossed them to the side. She only had her socks on, so she was one step ahead of him. She tossed her purple socks on top of his boots with a wry grin.

  She bit her lip when she noticed that his teeth had lengthened in the few short seconds that it had taken for him to remove his boots. Lifting her hand to his face, she slid her fingers lightly along his jaw until she touched the tip of his canine with the pad of her thumb. She hissed when she felt a sharp prick. She was shocked to see a small bead of blood was beginning to pool on the soft tissue.

  She started to pull her hand away, but he grasped her wrist and guided her injured digit to his lips. He opened his mouth and ran his tongue over her thumb. She felt a strange, tingling warmth sweep through her thumb, spread through her hand, and up her arm.

  “What…?” she started to ask.

  “A Prime male’s body changes when we are fighting—or in this case, when aroused. During arousal, my teeth will lengthen and I produce a chemical that causes a heightened sense of arousal. When I bite you, the chemical will mix with your blood and better prepare you for our joining. Afterward, I will seal the area using my saliva. It contains a healing coagulant,” he explained.

  She tilted
her head. “You seriously have, like, Viagra for Women running through your veins, and you’re gonna inject it into me by biting me?” she asked.

  “I do not know what this Viagra for Women is, but yes, the chemical will mix with your blood and make you very sexually aroused. My bite should not be painful,” he confessed.

  “I guess if they ever came out with one on earth, it would be the Little Pink Pill—or is that birth control? Whatever…. So—it’s just…ummmm, you’re telling me that with one bite, I’ll turn into some kind of horny hussy ready to jump you?” She laughed nervously, touching his tooth again.

  “Yes, that sounds… very interesting,” he croaked.

  “It does, doesn’t it?” She giggled. “I’ve never thought of being a horny hussy before, but then, I never thought I’d end up in an alien world with a sexy alien either,” she observed.

  “Is this foreplay?” he asked.

  She tilted her head and grinned. “I don’t know. I guess,” she shrugged, her fingers sliding down to his shirt.

  “I think it is time to move on to the after foreplay part,” he suggested, soothingly running his hand up to her neck.

  “About time,” she muttered, pulling his shirt free from his trousers, up over his head, and throwing it behind her.

  “Good,” he groaned.

  Runt moaned when she felt Derik brush his lips along the curve of her neck. There were some serious chemical reactions going on between them. When his teeth scraped against her skin, she arched closer.

  “I like that,” she moaned.

  “I… can wait… if you…,” he struggled to speak.

  She turned her head and captured his mouth. His teeth had grown and she could feel them pressing against her lips. Her body felt hot and restless. They had waited for years. Now was not the time for him suddenly to be having second thoughts.

  “You wait if you want. I’ll help you get out of your clothes while you make up your mind,” she mumbled against his skin.