Living on Renth, Alexis came to realize with a perception that had always been there but not quite firmly placed in her mind that to the inhabitants there and her new family, she was one emotional being. Not that they didn't have emotions of their own, they were just more carefully hidden, deeply subtle.

She found their perception of her somewhat odd. Yes, her family had been a very emotionally driven family, but she always considered herself, well not exactly cold, but withdrawn sometimes from what happened around her.

Here though, she felt impassioned and deeply sentimental. Her responses felt impulsive and downright explosive considering those restrained, contained and reserved that lived around her.

"I prefer that you didn't attend dinner tonight," Airaih informed her. The family didn't gather everyone together often, but as odd and awkward as the gatherings could be, they were riveting in their complexity.

Alexis was learning. She knew better. Not everything was as it seemed. So before the hurt could settle in, she asked him why. His response was so truthful and so unexpected that his words caused her skin to tingle.

"I desire you. They will be able to scent this. I would prefer they would not become aware of my regard for you, or the ways in which you manage to stimulate me." He stepped closer.

She knew how her own scent sometimes seemed to affect Airaih. Something she didn't really understand, but could identify with his brief, almost necessary touches and lingering glances.

Alexis lived on those looks of his. Hungered for his touch. Weeks had passed since that time in her bedroom. Now only a memory that quickened her heart whenever she thought of it. He wanted her. Alexis knew that, and for now, as she tried to acclimate herself to his culture, she decided that was enough.

But that didn't stop her from reacting to his words, from putting her hands around his neck and bringing him into a needed embrace. He didn't pull away, not even when her fingers idly caressed the sharp lines of his elegant pointed ears, his own fingers twisting in her hair.

Now here she was a week later, what he had just informed her of now forcing her emotions to tumble and collide, the blood to rush out of her face and her hands to shake.

Alexis most certainly felt emotional now. She felt fear and anger and such dreadful longing that all she wanted to do was grab his hand, lock him in her bedroom and force his disturbing words far away.

But that didn't stop her from meeting him in the foyer and watching him leave.

"I don't know how long I will be gone," Airaih told her, his hand circling her wrist, making her take in a sharp breath. His touch upon her was so rare that the feeling in her stomach that twisted and gnawed and made her knees quake was almost expected.

And the way he was dressed, formfitting dark military garb, his gun holstered, his staff clipped along his thigh. God, he was so beautiful. He left her breathless.

Yellow eyes watched her, his thumb now circling the sensitive flesh of her wrist.

"Be safe," Alexis whispered, but she was far from through. She now knew with a certainty that she couldn't deny anymore, that yes, she was an emotional being.

Her hands found his neck and brought his face down to her own. Mouths met, soft and pliant, or at least that was how things started. Alexis found herself pulled forward, found her mouth opening and his tongue invading, felt his hands digging into her thighs before his fingers spread out.

He hastily pulled back, his face impassive even as his tongue swiped sensuously along the bottom of his mouth. His bright eyes flickered along her body, taking in her frazzled state and heaving chest. He took a step back toward her.

And someone coughed behind them. Alexis felt her cheeks burn. She had forgotten about his brother who was waiting. She expected that usual sternness of Zarnaih to come into play. Instead, he looked between her and Airaih, an almost tolerable expression alighting his face.

"We need to leave, brother."

With that, Zarnaih handed Airaih his cloak, which he swung around and placed on him with such effectual flourish that she couldn't stop from blushing, lustful thoughts coming unbidden.


Alexis tried not to worry. She prayed, read her favorite scriptures, spent time with her sister-in laws and family and continued to learn the language. Things that did help, but didn't stop the surge of concern that came back to her every night, settling along with Alexis in her bed and keeping her company.

Decepticons had been spotted on Renth. Airaih had explained to her that the security field that protected the planet needed to have its power source changed out every few decades, which could leave the planet vulnerable for a short time, a reason perhaps, for the arrival of the intruders. Not that he believed that. If they knew about such a vulnerability in their defenses, they would have come in hoards and not such small numbers. He believed they had been there all along, a leftover from the last war. In hiding or in stasis, waiting for instructions.

Small numbers or not, the idea that the Decepticons were once again on a planet she called home, in a place she felt safe left Alexis frightfully affected.

Airaih's confidence that they would deal swiftly with the threat, had been enough to mollify her distress. At least, for the first couple of weeks. But now, a month later, the house vacant of most of the male family members, the females talking carefully, quietly, Alexis felt helpless.

Sharaih entered Alexis' room. Putting her book down, she lifted her eyes. Her niece appeared a little off, her eyes astoundingly expressive.

"An escort is here for you, Alexis."

"An escort?"

Sharaih shook her head, "Airaih has sent them to bring you to him. I am to pack some things for you."

That made little sense. Alexis had asked to go with him in the beginning. He had denied her request, using her safety as a basis for his reasoning.

"Why?"

At that simple question, Sharaih, for the first time since she met her, blushed brilliantly, her pale red flesh turning nearly mauve.

"Have you not been keeping track of how long it has been since you and Airaih came to agreement?" her niece managed, suddenly not able to make eye contact. She busied herself with packing a small bag with some of Alexis' things.

"A little over five months."

"Exactly," Sharaih responded cryptically.

Alexis frowned. But she wasn't given much time to ask any more questions. Practically shooed out of the house, she was handed over to small squad. Alexis watched the world pass by her quickly through the delicate cloth that covered her eyes. And when she turned, she found that two men from her escort that had accompanied her inside the large military hover craft, were trying hard not to look at her. Now accustomed to such curiosity, she easily ignored them.

She fell asleep at some point, waking to a firm voice addressing her.

"Mistress Alexandraaih."

It was no longer day. They had been traveling for some time.

"If you would please follow me," the same voice spoke, one that belonged to an elderly soldier who had opened the door for her.

She did as requested and exited the vehicle. Her eyes drifted over the camp, finding that it was made up of elaborate burrows that had been constructed underground.

"You will need to continue on your own from here," the soldier said, suddenly stopping. He told her where she needed to go and then left.

Alexis followed the instructions and made her way through the camp. She ignored the eyes that followed her from a distance and the conversations that stopped. Ignored the blatant manner in which some of them sniffed the air as she passed, even if it left her thoroughly flustered. Everyone kept their distance though.

She reached her destination. A panel on the ground automatically slid open, revealing a small, dark winding path of steps that she descended upon. Reaching the bottom, she was grabbed. Her breath was knocked out of her when she was pushed firmly against a wall, a strong knee pushing between her legs.

Alexis gasped but didn't struggle. She knew Airaih's scent, and it was enhanced in the under dwelling, thick and musky and marking Alexis' flesh.

"Do not be afraid, Alexis," Airaih whispered to her as two fingers connected with her throat and roamed back and forth, hovering down and drawing back up only to wander up one more time as he lifted and took away the fine material that concealed her face. "My heat is upon me," he informed her.

Finally able to make him out in the dimness of the room, she saw he was only wearing pants. A slick sheen of sweat covered his lean torso and exposed flesh, his muscles flexing visibly from the light strain of holding her. He drew closer and breathed deeply. Alexis' body shuddered in response.

At that, he began to tug on her clothes. Pulling her jacket off, he led her to a large bed that had two smaller ones placed on either side. She didn't understand the significance of those, but at the moment, the only thing she could focus on was how freely he touched her, how his mouth found her throat, doing things to it that made her knees wobble.

He settled her on the bed. His energy was coming off him in thunderous flashes, the intensity of his presence so palatable that it was electric, causing small tremors to drift down her spine. Airaih abruptly backed off. But she could tell by the stiff way in which he held himself, his eyes flickering down her body as he breathed raggedly that doing so didn't come easily for him.

"Do you want this? If you don't, I could..." he began. His tone was beautifully distorted, covered in a hint of unease, a glimmer of undefinable anger. The muscles in his shoulders pinched; he inhaled another tight breath.

"I want you," Alexis told him, cutting off whatever he was about to say. "What do you need?" she asked, trying hard not to blush at her boldness and failing.

For the first time since she met Airaih, he smiled, a true uplifting of the mouth that shocked her mind and goaded her body.

His pupils enlarged and the tensity in his body visibly increased.

"You. Undressed."

His energy returned in full force, his confidence back as if it had never been challenged. He made his way to a long table. Fruits and other foods lined the table, some liquids as well. He grabbed a goblet, filled it with an unknown liquid and returned to her.

"Drink. This will help."

"Help?"

He didn't look away. "It will relax your body, ease your flesh for our multiple couplings." He frowned, his voice shifting lower. "I don't want to hurt you. I will be unable to control myself as my heat intensifies."

She had read enough about Vildan mating practices to understand what he was saying. But she didn't need some liquid to respond to Airaih, to allow him to have her.

"You won't hurt me. I trust you." She reached toward him. He hovered above her, his fingers twitching in her own. Alexis felt the intense heat of his body, hotter than she had ever felt it before. It was like standing under direct sunlight and knowing that she could get burned if she didn't cover herself. But it was far too late for that.

"Help me undress?" she asked him, the strained sound of her own voice unfamiliar, filled with an entreaty.

Throwing the goblet of liquid at the nearest wall, he did just that.


Wrapped in Airaih's arms and flushed by the acute heat of his body, she leaned her head against his chest. Trying to remain still because he was so responsive to her movements, Alexis tried to gather her breath.

She was sore. Her limbs were mush, and her heart was having a hard time calming from what they had just done several times.

It was as if he was trying to make up for all the times he didn't touch her and all at once. Alexis should have been disturbed by his sudden obsession with her flesh, with his desire to learn every little patch of her skin. But disturbed was certainly not the word she would use for what his attentiveness did to her.

He liked to taste her constantly and as her fingers made their way to his mouth, as his tongue circled along the skin there, she felt oddly soothed and absurdly aroused.

Sensing her reaction, Airaih's mouth lifted at the corner. Instead of rolling her over and covering her body with his own, he got up and went to the nearby table and brought back some fruit and a pitcher of water. Pouring a cup, he handed it to her after taking a long swallow himself.

"Eat, drink."

She secured the thin sheet around her body and sat up slowly. Alexis saw the bunch of tolirgs and eagerly placed the purple fruits in her mouth. They were sweeter than they usually were, too sweet. Swallowing awkwardly when she noticed his eyes on her, Alexis picked up a slice of bread, chewed slowly and swallowed thickly when he grabbed her heel and started to lick her there.

Unlike her, he felt no need to cover himself. She was almost jealous of his lack of self-consciousness, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate his sleek muscled and very nude form. She just wondered how long it would take before she could look at him like that and not blush so.

The more they made love, the more she was surprised by him. He touched her in ways he didn't need to, did highly pleasing and shocking things to her that weren't necessary in order to impregnate. But she was on the herb he had given her and what they were doing had nothing to do with getting pregnant. But what happened when his heat was over? Would he go back to barely touching her? Would she have to go back to trying not to mind? Could she do that?

"Alexis?" he said her name huskily, the sensual inflection having the form of a question. He stopped what he was doing and crawled alongside her.

"I..." Alexis tried to speak, but her words failed her. Instead, she scooted closer and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't mean to, but with the soothing pressure of his fingers making a pattern on her back, she drifted off.


Awakened by the feel of his mouth on her thigh, the pressure of his body settling over her own, Alexis couldn't help but feel both pleased and flustered by his stamina. Four days of being with him in the small hollowed out enclave of a room, and his energy and want of her had yet to fade.

He was possessive, frenzied, desperate and astoundingly clingy. Even when she finally managed to leave the bed, he insisted on taking the bath with her, on cleaning her and washing her hair.

When she asked why they never saw anyone, why no one checked up on them, or sought him out, she believed him readily when Airaih said that he would have seen the intrusion of another near her as a direct challenge, and that he would have killed anyone that dared anything so foolish. Alexis was disturbed by the tremors of desire that came from his vehement utterance, which he took quick advantage of.

She liked the attention, but she wasn't accustomed to being with someone, or sharing such a space for such a time.

That wasn't quite true though. But as her thoughts tried to shift to a man with startling gray eyes and maybe not entirely deceptive kindness, Airaih scattered her thoughts when he guided her down on him.


As Airaih accompanied Alexis back home, she tried hard to keep her mocking thoughts at bay. Her husband shifted closer to her, always so mindful of her mood changes.

She kept her gaze on the window of the vehicle they were in, a tank that rumbled across the flat terrain. Besides the uncertainty of her thoughts, Alexis felt exceptional, felt happy...

"You make me content, Alexis," Airaih suddenly spoke up, his words filled with a hint of awe, covered with such strength and conviction that they took on an entirely new meaning.

Her eyes welled with liquid. She was having a hard time swallowing. "I don't know if I can go back to you not wanting me," Alexis spoke up, despite the discomfort. "I... I like you touching me. I like us... together." She met his eyes, almost afraid of his reaction with what she was about to say next. "I love you."

"Then don't stop," he said with a fierceness of a command that she never expected.

"Airaih?"

"If you permit," he paused, swallowed hard, his mouth pressed together firmly. "If you allow, things do not have to go back to..." He stopped again, took a deep breath, his scarlet flesh budding with color from his earnestness. "You must know by now how I constantly want you, Alexis. Before my heat, and now after it has been sated, I still desire you."

"Is that allowed? I mean I know we were together once before all this, but, I mean, that can be a regular occurrence?"

Alexis was immediately flummoxed when her husband laughed, a purely addicting sound that cut through her clothes and ran along her flesh so indecently that she couldn't help but shift awkwardly.

He noticed. Airaih moved closer, his hand taking her throat. She lifted her chin up.

He spoke softly, his silky tone a natural stimulant, "Since meditation stopped working months ago, I find that it's illogical to go against how I want to be with you, near you, inside you. Denial, is nowhere near as gratifying as rocking you, Alexandraaih," he told her with a playful glimmer in his vibrant eyes. "My brother says it will be the doom of us all, if others take humans as mates."

"And you?"

"I say it will be their salvation."