“Don’t touch me!”
She went back to Quist’s side and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I’ll be right back. Don’t wake up without me.”
Without looking back at the other alien, she made her way down the stream until she was back beneath the forest shadows and got to work.
***
SUNDAMAR
He watched the female walk away from him and continued to do so until she was beyond his sight and amongst the foliage. The pounding noise that filled his ears as her steps receded was from his heart and he clenched his hand around his sword to re-exert control over his body.
She healed Quist.To remind himself, he moved to his brother and checked his wound. A pang of remorse, painful guilt, stiffened his back as he eyed the zig-zagged sewed-together edges. It looked painful and he placed a hand on his own side in response.
“I’m sorry,” he grunted out, not used to the words on his tongue. Sundamar grabbed additional foliage from the ground and reinforced the pillow Yahiro had made.So thoughtful.He sprinkled fresh cool water over Quist’s chest, his brother’s even breaths easing his heart.
He had lost his head. The emotions streaming through him weren’t helping, and his battle with the strange, obsessive need to touch the female was constantly warring inside him. Sundamar had never in his long, dead life lifted a weapon against another light valos. He had also never wanted a female companion to hold under his arm. So many things were happening, suddenly and all at once, that it made him want to stab his sword into the dirt and kill the world.
He glanced around him and looked at the destruction his frustration had caused; the dozens of trees, bushes, and various plants he had sliced to pieces. He was only thankful no alluvian valos were nearby to see.I’m more thankful I had an outlet that wasn’t her.
Even now, staring at his brother, he wanted to go after the female and envelope her within his arms, press her into his chest, and bury his nose in her hair. The thought that Quist had done all of that possibly, and more, filled him with jealousy.
He was the first, their commander, the one to lead them when Lusheenn was absent. It was his right to the first female light valos.
Sundamar gritted his teeth and let the sick thoughts leave him. Once his temperament had calmed, he shuffled Quist’s wings so they were straight and uncrimped. When he was done, he sat back, not knowing what else to do.
He looked up at the sky and cursed.Where are you, Galan? I need you.His thoughts shot out from him in hopes to connect to his second, but they didn’t and ended up in the void where all past thoughts were.
Somewhere off in the distance he heard a splash of water. Yahiro was still close enough that he could get to her in case of an attack but as he looked away from his brother and toward the outcropping of undisturbed forest, his curiosity got the best of him.
There’s nothing I can do but stare at Quist’s resting form.He knew nothing about healing, never having been hurt before. Sundamar trailed a finger along the stitched seams and wondered how the female thought to do that.
An exasperated grunt sounded amongst the splashes and he found himself following the noise. For the first time in his life, he quieted his footsteps, not wanting the female to know he moved closer to her.
What am I doing?It irked him how lowly she made him feel.I’m the image of Lusheenn.And yet he remained quiet, which was made all the more difficult with his armor.
The female had her legs in the water, her feet submerged, and her trousers off. His eyes trailed over her lithe legs until they reached a strap of cloth around her groin. In her hands was the knife he’d given her and the orange material; she yanked the sharpened edge through it, cutting them in half.
Sundamar canted his head and moved into a crouch. Her teeth dug into her lower lip as she struggled with the cloth but she eventually stopped and placed the cut-off material aside.
After, she ran her hands over her legs and feet, scrubbing them until they were pink. He glanced down at his own skin, knowing the light bronze hue of it never changed colors regardless of weather or exposure. When he looked up the female had lifted her feet out of the water and had picked up a long stick, the top part of it pointed until it resembled a spear.
He already knew he’d have to re-sharpen his dagger after finding the shaved chips of wood near the shore.
Yahiro moved away from him and his gaze followed her shapely legs, his member protruding from between his legs and pressing painfully into the armored leather that protected it. The scrap of cloth between her legs was nearly see-through, dampened with water, and he could almost see what was between her legs as she moved back and forth along the shore.
If he had been more patient, he may have had the sense to ask Quist what he knew of the female's anatomy.
Instead, he’d lost control and now had to deal with observing her from the shadows. Sundamar tamped back the regret, knowing he may have been allowed to touch her if his jealousy hadn’t been so overwhelming. A new need arose in him as he observed her, and it took what little control he had left to remain where he was and not pull her into his arms and bind them together.
His eyes narrowed when she stopped and slowly leaned over the water.What are you doing?He was fascinated and tried to crook his head so he could see what her eyes tracked so carefully.
Yahiro raised the primitive spear before her and clasped it with both hands. A moment’s breath passed before she struck it into the water and struck it again immediately after, uttering a strange word.
Hunting.He smiled and settled in for the show.
Time passed and she tried again and again, every now and then storming back to Quist’s side to check on him, to tentatively scout around and look for him, before eventually going back to the water and spearing it. After a while he realized she was becoming more desperate, and yet he didn’t leave his hiding spot. He didn’t want to remind her he was there.
If she would only call my name. Ask for help aloud...Sundamar would have made himself known.
