“Fonac Monai,” he said in a serious voice, before giving me a smile and continuing on.
We reached a stream a few minutes later, and Kex paused to clean his kill. He cleaned the dried blood from his chest, and I was relieved to see he’d stopped bleeding. I still wanted to apply the healing paste to it, but Kex urged me on. Within a half hour, I realized the forest was brighter than it had been before, and the trees were a bit farther apart. Then Kex picked up a trail, an actual trail that looked old and worn, as if people passed this way regularly.
My heart rate picked up as something like anxious excitement built in my chest. Were we close to where Kex’s family lived? Had the marked trees been a marker of their territory?
About ten minutes later, Kex came to a stop and called out. An alien stepped out from behind a tree. He was a similar shape to Kex, if not as tall, and while Kex was a pretty teal, this new man was purple. They exchanged a few words, the stranger eyeing me with obvious curiosity, but before long, he disappeared into the trees. As soon as he disappeared, I realized he had been wearing clothes not made of leaves. A light purple shirt and pale pants. Real clothes. I wanted them. Like, immediately. Kex gave me a reassuring smile, then took my hand in his, and we continued on.
We passed a hut, and then another. Kex spoke greetings to a few aliens, each a different color ranging from green to blue to purple. They all wore clothes made of cloth. It looked hand-woven and a little rough, but cloth was cloth. While the aliens we passed responded pleasantly to Kex and eyed me with interest, none of them stopped us or greeted us with what I expected from friends or family.
We made our way into what felt like the center of the village. A large fire in the middle of a clearing crackled and popped while men and women sat and worked around it, and I got my first look at a woman of the same species as Kex. She was taller than the average human man, wide and strong, but elegant with graceful lines. Her breasts were smaller than mine, and she wore a woven green tunic dress.
All eyes landed first on Kex and then on me as we approached the fire, and suddenly I was very aware that I was dressed in fewer clothes than I’d ever worn in public before. But while people stared, they didn’t gawk or make judgy faces. Still, I wrapped a hand around my tummy, wishing I could hide. Kex went to an old woman next to the fire, and I wanted to hang back, but he pulled me along.
He spoke to her for a moment, then she gestured to the ground, and Kex dropped my hand and lowered the blue scorpion tiger. He unstrapped a pile of furs and laid them next to the tiger as well. She smiled, and Kex gave her a little bow. The woman said something else, then with a quick hand, poked Kex right on one of his scratches. Kex winced but smiled and said something back before turning to me. He snatched my hand back in his and squeezed it once before gesturing me onward.
We walked down a cleared path where the huts were larger and better built than Kex’s had been. I was hot, my head and my side both throbbing, and I hoped we were close to his home. I’d be glad for somewhere cool to rest for a little while, and maybesomeone could help with the fever I knew I was developing. I was nervous to meet his family, and I tried to walk behind him, letting his big frame shield me, but he pulled me back to his side, tucking me under his arm. It seemed a little odd for the man who had worried so much over my wounds, but maybe he was just relieved to be home.
As we walked through the village, Kex didn’t seem to greet anyone more than casually, and other than curious glances, no one paid me too much attention. Eventually, we left the populated paths of the village, wandering down a trail for a time, and reached what appeared to be a tall, living fence where the trees ended in a large clearing. Trees and branches planted densely stretched left and right, blocking my sight forward, but the sun shone brightly, not blocked by the usual tall tree canopy. Kex turned and led me a short way until we reached a gate. He dropped my hand and fiddled with a latch, then pulled it open and gestured me through.
I hesitated and gripped his hand again, squeezing it tight. If his family was through here, I wanted him to go first. He gave me a soft smile and nudged me forward.
Reluctantly, I wiped a hand across my sweaty forehead, stepped into the sunlight, and gasped. The clearing was filled with large, blocky rounded objects scattered over the grass. Hope filled my chest at the very obvious fact that the objects before us were not made of stone or wood, but metal. I turned back to Kex, and he grinned at me, then leaned down and kissed my forehead before pulling me into the clearing. He navigated the space, moving around one—ship? car? pod? hovercraft?—and then another, and finally brought me to a large, shiny oval. He placed his hand on the side of the smooth metal, and a door opened in the side. He pulled me in, watching my face as if curious about my reaction.
I laughed and sat on one of the smooth, soft benches inside the vehicle. He followed me in and sat across from me before tapping on a small tablet set against the wall. I peered at it, but it was made up of symbols and shapes I didn’t have a clue how to interpret. I let him type away and leaned back, examining the smooth walls and soft pads. After a moment, the vehicle vibrated softly, then the walls became transparent, and we rose gently into the air. I gasped and scooted closer to the side to peer out the window. Kex moved away from the screen, and I felt his eyes on me as we rose high above the trees and started moving. We flew across the lavender sky, dotted with happy pink clouds, and my chest filled with hope—real, true hope—that we could find my friends.
Was this real, or had I slipped into a fever haze?
I looked over at Kex. His face was soft and content as he watched me, and I reached out and took his hand. He squeezed it, then his eyes widened. He bent down and opened a compartment under my chair and pulled out a white bag, then a gray one. The white bag was clean and perfectly square, while the gray one was old and ragged, patched in a few places. He opened the white bag and pulled out a device that looked like something used to set prices at a retail store and poked a few buttons. He took my finger and pressed it against a small square.
I felt a tiny scrape against my finger, then watched as symbols raced across the screen. Kex frowned down at it for a long moment, then set the device aside and pulled a bunch of items out of the pack. First, he grabbed a small bottle and poured the liquid over his hands. A sharp, astringent smell hit my nose, and I winced. Next, he ripped open a small pack with neat squares of cloth. He dabbed the liquid onto one, then reached for me. I grimaced as he messed with my wounds, removing the paste. He was incredibly gentle as he cleaned my skin, but it still throbbed painfully.
Once he finished removing the healing paste from my skin, he picked up his scanner and held it over one of the smaller punctures. The device made a soft whirring sound, and my flesh tingled a bit, but it didn’t hurt. When he pulled the device away, a small pink mark remained, but the wound was completely gone. Shocked, I looked up at him, but he just smiled gently as he ran a finger over the scar, then moved on to another puncture. When he set the device above one of my infected wounds, it burned a little, but only for a few moments. He removed the device. Something gross remained on my skin, and Kex wiped it up with a cloth. When he finished with my last puncture, he cleaned up the gauze, sealing it all away in a bag, and tucked it into a compartment. Already, the soreness in my side was gone, and the pressure in my head was lessening.
“Your turn,” I told him and gestured to his chest. He shrugged and shook his head, so I tried to snatch the device from him. He chuckled and pulled it out of my reach, then carefully ran it over his own chest. When his wounds were little more than faint lines on his skin, I sighed with relief. Kex packed the medical tools back up, then turned to the gray bag. From within, he pulled out a pile of fabric. Selecting a pretty blue item, he shook it out. It was a tunic. He held it out to me, and I took it. It was plenty big enough. I went to slip it over my head, but Kex stopped me. He reached out and slipped a finger between my breasts, and with a quick movement, slit my leaf covering once again. I laughed as my breasts popped free, and he groaned.
I set down the tunic and moved across the small space between our seats and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. I leaned my forehead against his for a long moment and breathed in his scent. Relief coursed through me, not just for my own wounds being healed, but in the knowledge that saving my friends was truly possible now. Maybe everything really would work out.
His dick was hard and hot below me, and he met my lips with his when I leaned in. His hands threaded into my hair. We kissed until our breathing was ragged, then I reached down and pulled apart the weave of his own covering, freeing his hard length. I wrapped my hand around him and pumped him hard and slow until he growled and lifted my hips. I positioned his weeping tip at my entrance, and slowly he lowered me onto him. We both groaned as he slid inside me, and I sank until he bottomed out.
I wrapped my arms around his neck as I rose on my knees, then let myself drop back down. Kex hissed, and then his lips were back on mine, consuming each of my breaths as his hands gripped my hips and helped me set a steady rhythm. We moved against each other, each stroke slow and hard. I came first, and then he followed me over the edge, falling back against the seat with me draped across his chest. His dick, swollen and pulsing inside me, set off another orgasm, and I cried out and bit Kex’s pec lightly. He pulled me tight against his chest, and we stayed like that for a long time.
fifteen
. . .
Emily
I startledwhen a bright light played across my face. It was possible I dozed off for a moment, but I didn’t let that bother me. Blinking, I focused out the window as shining structures stretched high into the sky. I felt better. My skin was no longer clammy, and my head wasn’t as foggy. Sex and a nap were exactly what I needed. Kex helped me off him, and his length slid out of me. His cum dripped out in a rush, but he didn’t seem to care. He pulled me back onto his lap, my back against his chest, and scooted us closer to the window. A city stretched out in the distance. Surrounded by the same massive trees as the forest, metal formations rose high above, shimmering in the sunlight. We zoomed through the air toward the city, and Kex snatched the blue tunic from where I’d dropped it and pulled it over my head. It was large, big enough to fit him, and came down to my mid-thigh. At some point I’d lost my leaf skirt, and I thought for a moment about digging my crusty underwear out of my pack, but Kex didn’t seem worried about my outfit, so neither was I. For the first time in my life, I got to be the smaller woman wearing my boyfriend’s larger clothes, and it was delightful. Ilowered my nose and sniffed the collar. It carried the same wonderful scent as Kex.
Disappointingly, Kex had other clothes, and he pulled on black pants that clung to his thighs and a green tunic of his own, a little tight along his biceps. He pulled a pair of black boots out of the cupboard and laced them up before sighing. He gave me a sad smile and pulled me back onto his lap.
Was he disappointed to be clothed, or was it something else?
I tried not to worry as one of the tall buildings grew closer and our pod set down gently on a landing pad stretching out from the tip of the structure. Kex looped the gray bag over his shoulder, then tapped the tablet on the wall of the pod. The door opened, and we stepped out onto a metal breezeway. Wind tugged gently at my tunic as Kex took my hand and I tried not to look down. I focused on a door set into the building and let Kex pull me close to his side. The door opened and an emerald green alien in gray clothes appeared, placing a hand over his heart and holding the door. He was tall, thin, and didn’t make eye contact with me or Kex as he spoke what sounded like a greeting.
Kex replied, but didn’t stop as he strode into the building, pulling me along. The hallway before us was clean and decorated in soft yellows. Kex seemed to know exactly where we were going and strode confidently down one hall and then another. A second gray-clothed alien appeared at his side, this one a woman with light blue skin, and spoke to Kex rapidly. Kex waited for the woman to pause, then spoke a few sentences. The woman disappeared, and Kex continued on to another door. He opened it and pulled me through. We entered a small sitting space with orange couches and low tables. Paintings of the indigo forest lined the walls, and small potted plants were scattered about.
Kex picked up a tablet from the table, then led me to a couch and dropped, pulling me down with him. He leaned back against the soft cushion and let out a long breath that seemed to carrya lot of meaning. I turned to examine his face. He seemed tired all of a sudden. More tired than he’d been carrying me through the forest for days. I ran my hand across his cheek, then pressed my lips against his chin. He smiled and held up the tablet. He positioned me on his knees, my back to his chest, as he held the tablet out and tapped at it for a moment. Grunting, he tapped something, and the air above the table lit up. I gasped and leaned forward. What looked like a topographic map made of light hovered above the table, a small red dot sitting in the center of a pool of purple.
