Classified Planet: Turongal (The Darvel Exploratory Systems Book 1) by S.J. Sanders

Author:S.J. Sanders [Sanders, S.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Rhyst hadn’t been kidding about leaving early. He woke her just as the faintest sunlight spilled into the cave, and fed her some of the cold meat from their meal the night before. He had been right about it being tasty. Even cold, it was satisfying. She ate happily despite her groggy state as he dropped her carefully to the large flat stone beneath the cave entrance.

She had thought that now that they were far away from the colony, she would be trailing after him, struggling to keep up. She hadn’t expected him to carry her. She definitely hadn’t expected him to silently scoop her up and set her on his back with the terse command to hang on to him. The lethal spines on his back flattened harmlessly just before he set her down on them. Her arms wrapped around him, and her thighs closed against his sides. It was strange to feel the billow of his breath there as well as feeling his chest expand beneath her arms.

The moment he ascertained that her grip was solid, his body coiled and leaped free of the rock. Her heart jumped in her chest as the landscape swayed around her. Rhyst let out a soft growl, his skin tightening under her arm in reaction. Gritting her teeth, she leaned into him and made a conscious effort to relax so that she moved with him rather than clinging to him like a plank. That was sure to throw off anyone’s balance.

It was unsettling at first, swaying side to side as he prowled up the side of the mountain. She was pretty certain he was also moving stiffer and slower, since she seemed to recall the almost boneless way he had moved as he flew up the mountain before. Every so often, she could hear the low growl vibrating through him. That did little to comfort her. She was sure she was stressing him out with her anxiety, but he was intimidating as hell with very little effort.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m trying to relax. Just a little scared.”

He paused, his paws planted as he turned to look at her over his shoulder, the mechanical eye spinning as it seemed to examine her. That was so fucking creepy.

“I know. I can smell your fear.” His lower hands dropped to grip her forearms, locking her arms around his waist, and she felt a significant amount of her tension drain out of her. As scary as he could be, he also made her feel safe with the smallest of gestures. “Does this help? I would never allow you to fall, but if you fear falling, I can hold you here if you do not object.”

“Yes,” she breathed out in relief. “That helps a lot. If you had offered earlier, it would have made this whole experience easier for both of us, I think.”

He fell silent and bounded up the mountainside for a while before he spoke again. “It is not done among my species.”

“What

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