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Desire and unease warred within Rael, but in the end, desire won out.
He moved as hard and fast as he could, pleasure burning through him, and with a cry, Elian arched up beneath him. His eyes searched the night sky, and then he squeezed them shut, pleasure contorting his pretty little face. He bit his lip, gasping — and then he was coming, body clenching around Rael.
That was all the invitation that Rael needed. Pleasure exploded through him, white-hot and blinding, and he came, filling Elian's body with the primal mark of his possession.
Rael collapsed against him, breath coming in ragged gasps. He curled his body around Elian's, holding him close, protective instincts roaring to life within him.
Elian's eyes were half-lidded, his chest rising and falling with quick breaths. He gazed up at Rael, and a small smile spread across his lips.
He'd seen the human smile a hundred times, smirking, grinning, flashing his quick and charming expressions across his face. But this smile was something different, something deeper. Full of… peace, in some strange way.
The two of them lay together in the moonlit night, desire and unease mingling between them.
The mountain air was cold, but in each other's arms, Rael told himself, they were warm.
Chapter seventeen
Elian's heart was breaking.
He'd spent the entire day preparing for this moment. Now, in the dead of night, he was ready.
Rael had fallen asleep. He didn't sleep much, always alert — but now, blissed-out and sated, he'd slipped under.
And now Elian was leaving him.
Vasz was still new to him, but he'd absorbed enough from his journey with Rael to be ready. As silently as he could, Elian crept through the underbrush, using the cover of darkness to hide his movements. The tears welling in his eyes didn't slow him down.
Rael had been nothing but good to him. But despite Rael's open, friendly demeanor, Elian knew the truth.
Humans were the enemies of the Borraq. If — when — Rael didn't hand Elian over to the authorities, someone would eventually find out, and then…
Rael was a good man. Elian had seen it in every interaction, in the kindness that he offered without a second thought.
But in that kindness, something dangerous had bloomed. A softness. Something more.
Elian couldn't allow it.
Rael was putting himself and his entire clan in danger by harboring a fugitive like Elian.
This was for both of their sakes. With a heavy heart, Elian turned his back on the campsite and slipped away into the night.
He followed Rael's lessons, carefully navigating the alien landscape. The thick, spongy texture of the ground beneath the woods, the strange calls of unseen creatures in the night, the way that the two alien moons cast their light and affected visibility — he remembered Rael's teachings.
He ran as fast as he could through the alien woods, not daring to look back. He put as much distance between himself and the camp as he could, before Rael could wake up and stop him.
He was alone now. There was no going back.
He was on the run, hunted forever, eking out a tough existence in the wilds all by himself forever. Humanity would never be able to find him. He'd have to cover his tracks, hide from any Borraq. He'd have to learn to survive in the wilderness, far from any kind of civilization.
This wasn't what his life was supposed to be like. When he'd signed up for the space program, he'd dared to dream of something more. Of creating a new world, and finally finding somewhere he could truly call home.
He was supposed to be with people he could call family.
Not a lone fugitive.
Elian forced himself to focus on the future ahead of him, not the one he was leaving behind. He'd have to learn to survive. He'd have to learn to hide. He'd have to learn to outsmart a planet that would kill him if they found him.
And he'd have to do it all by himself—
