They walked hand in hand at points, at others Heydar would gently place his hand on her waist as she stepped over an obstacle. But it wasn’t in a patronizing way, and she could see the arousal in his eyes just beneath the surface. To be fair, she was feeling pretty much the same way, wishing he would just bend her over a rock and fuck her senseless.

All the little touches were adding up, and fast, and her body was absolutely on fire from the sustained arousal. But it would be some time before they turned in for the day, and in the meantime, it meant an ongoing and subtle foreplay that they were both looking forward to bringing to fruition.

“We will need to be on our guard if we happen upon any roadways or frequented paths,” Heydar said, pausing to take in their surroundings with a more critical gaze. “It could be quite dangerous.”

“What do you mean? The Oraku are really nice people.”

“But there are many more races on this world than just the Oraku. Rohanna the elder made that much abundantly clear. There are other settlements here. Offworlders as well as indigenous people. The Oraku stay away from them as much as possible, but even they sometimes have to fend off raids. The Dohrag in particular are apparently quite a problem here.”

“Dohrag? What’s a Dohrag?”

“An offworld race, brutish and combative, but a people with advanced technology and abundant weapons. Not an adversary you would wish to get on the bad side of, if at all possible.”

“And the Oraku fight with them?”

“Not as much fight as fend off their raids.”

Darla flashed him a confused look. “Hang on. You said the Dohrag were advanced. Like, way more advanced than the Oraku.”

“They are, yes.”

“Then what would they even bother raiding them for? I mean, food? They can just catch their own and it would be far less trouble than stirring up a fight with the locals.”

Heydar stopped and turned to face her directly. “It is not crops and livestock they seek. The Dohrag come for females.”

Darla’s stomach dropped. “Females? What do you mean, females?”

“It is as you surmise,” he said, gauging the serious look in her eye. “There are several races on this world who value females as a prize. But the Dohrag? They are particularly nasty pieces of work. They travel the stars in small groups, their ships crewed entirely by males.”

“No women?”

“Not a one,” he replied, shaking his head. “The Dohrag are a foolish people who ignorantly do not believe in sending females on missions of any significant duration. In so doing, they not only deny themselves the skills women clearly possess, but it is also terrible for the morale of the all-male crews.”

“I bet. How long are these missions, exactly?”

“Years. Many years. The leadership never ventures from their creature comforts, so they are not affected by their edicts. But in their quest for non-distracted efficiency they have caused a systemic morale problem. It was not always this way, mind you, but the shift of power on their world skewed their path toward that of foolishness.”

“I’ll say,” Darla agreed. “And holy hell, those guys have got to be hella pent up. No wonder they’re restless.”

“And when they find a female, you can imagine what becomes of them.”

Darla’s jaw set firm at the thought. “We need to find the others.”

“I know.”

“There were at least a dozen women in our holding compartment.”

“I am aware of that.”

“And who knows how many on the rest of the ship?”

“Which is why I agree that we must move. If we reach them quickly we may be able to spare them the atrocities of a hostile capture. Come,” he said, then turned and continued on at a brisk pace.

Darla followed close behind, matching his increased stride step for step. She couldn’t help but appreciate his motives. He had been a bit surly at first, and they had most definitely not hit it off, but despite that, and with no ties whatsoever to these other women, he was making saving them a priority.

On top of that, he had made his decision to do so with no hidden motives. He had started this quest before they had their liaison. In fact, he had been planning on doing the whole thing on his own before she’d forced him to take her along.

He’s a good guy, she told herself. Naturally, the one good man I find is an alien, and a bazillion miles from home no less. Well, like Mama said, we make the most of what cards we’re dealt, she thought, the air quiet but for their footsteps on the uneven ground.

Several hours later they had covered a lot of distance, moving across the terrain with an ease Darla would not have been remotely capable of just the day prior. She still felt amazing, and even with the sun starting to lower in the sky she felt as though she could take on the world.

Unfortunately, the rolling hills and brief stretches of plains had transitioned to jutting rock cliffs once again. It was something they hadn’t been able to see even from their position the other day; the shift being hidden by the trees and natural curvature of the hills around them.

It was some sort of seismic plate they had stumbled upon. Long dormant as the buried piles of shattered rocks made clear. Nature had covered the fallen shards and boulders with dirt ages ago, and plant life had taken hearty root, growing well in the fecund soil.

“You think it’s stable?” Darla asked, walking up to the stone face and tugging on a jutting chunk of rock. “It doesn’t look like that other spot.”

“It is not. This is a different sort of rock. Far harder and not prone to fragmenting.”

“Well, that’s a relief. I wouldn’t want to go causing a landslide again.”

“That makes two of us,” he said, the memory of her previous mishap fresh, but the smile in his eyes showing nothing but warmth. “I am afraid, however, that we are likely going to need to climb this cliff. From what I can see of the seismic upheaval, this faultline almost certainly runs for some distance, and we cannot afford to add one or more days to our journey to circumnavigate it. Allow me to shift my pack and I will carry you up.”

Darla looked up at the rock face and rolled her shoulders. “Don’t sweat it, big guy. I’ve got this.”

Without a moment’s hesitation she jumped up to the nearest solid handhold and began hoisting herself up the cliff face with startling ease.

This is amazing. I feel so much stronger! she marveled, then began climbing even faster.

“Wait!” Heydar called up after her. “Go slower! Conserve your energy!”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine!” she replied, flying up the rocks.

Heydar reached up and grabbed hold of the rock, pulling himself up after her as fast as he could. With her newfound strength, however, he was having to put in far more of an effort than he expected. Nevertheless, he was gaining on her, albeit slowly.

Darla was hauling ass, her hands and feet finding purchase without a second thought. Whatever it was these runes did for her muscular endurance, balance was also part of the package. Like Jack scaling his beanstalk, up and up she raced, not thinking about how high she was, and certainly not looking down.

She was on cloud nine until her left hand suddenly slipped, her grip weakening. She quickly reestablished her purchase on the rock face, but her whole body was starting to feel weird.

“Heydar?” she called out, fear creeping into her voice. “What’s happening to me?”

“Hold on!” he shouted up to her, increasing his pace as much as he could.

Darla didn’t know how far it was to the top, but she was quite certain she was high enough for a fall to kill her, and panic was setting in. Her fingers began to slip, and her vision swirled, her equilibrium making the world spin inside her head.

“Heydar!” she managed to squeak out just as her hands popped free from their handholds.