Page 7 of Protected By the Alien Commander

6

Doshax

The glintof light was a band of water with a strange biped standing by it. I studied it as it poured water on itself and made noises. This species was one that I had never seen before. It looked completely out of place with no fur, scales, or even thickened skin to protect it from the elements. Instead, it had smooth, pale skin and thick, spiraled, brown hair on top of its head. It was wearing a short white dress with white boots. A female, then.

I frowned at the lumps on her chest. They would make the species top-heavy and prone to falling. I had not seen another creature so unfit for survival.

But that had not stopped my body’s immediate reaction upon seeing her. My quills were standing straight up, and those were not the only parts of me. Desire for the biped had hit me like an urlak. Her voice was even pleasing to hear, musical and soft, after she quit screaming at the space rat that had darted out from under a plant. They were smaller than the ones I had seen on the IGS dreadnaughts, but their dark green fur, long puffed tail and fangs were distinctive.

The female did not seem scared of it, which was impressive bravery for one so unsuited for being out in the elements. I felt the strongest desire to protect her, which was highly unusual. I had never felt like this for any other Kuh Mow Dow female.

She picked up her plain bag and stared up at the thick, dense plants. I raised my estimation of her courage—or stupidity—when she climbed onto a thick leaf and tried to climb up another. She slid down the smooth leaf towards the center of the large plant.

No, it was definitely not bravery.

Loud chittering noises filled the air as a space rat ran back to her along with many others. They jumped up a meter to land on the leaf the female was standing on.

“Goawayshoo!”

If only I was near my ship, the universal translator would be able to tell me what she said. Though it was not hard to determine from her arm motions. Then the female slipped and fell on the plant. The pack of space rats quickly climbed on top of her.

“Nogoaway! Getoffgetoffgetoff!”

I burst out from under the plant and picked her up. She had a compact yet strong frame with a faint smell that reminded me of the mountains in the hot months. My quills rose again to stand straight up. I quickly placed her in the shallow stream. That was the only way to quickly kill so many space rats at once. And I needed to get my body under control. One touch of her smooth skin and I longed for her.

The space rats covered her entire backside. She rolled in the stream and swatted at the rats until they were off her. At least she was not completely without a sense of survival.

Her hair was now flat against her head as she sat up, her dress nearly transparent like the latest fashions on Ypsilon 5. Her long smooth legs were mesmerizing. I had never seen a species without hair on its body. She wore some sort of halter underneath the dress for the chest lumps, as well as underwear. Which was pink. I stared at her hairless skin, my gaze moving up her body to her face, which was very pleasing to look at. Until she screamed.

A space rat jumped off the ground towards her. I pulled out my blaster and shot it before it could land on her. She screamed again.

I frowned. She would attract predators if she kept making that screeching high pitched noise. I held my finger in front of my mouth. “You need to be quiet.”

She opened her mouth, most likely to scream again, but then sat in the water staring at me and breathing rapidly. Far faster than she had before. And her eyes looked like they had grown. What an odd species.

She definitely did not belong on this desert planet. I would have suspected her ship had crashed in the same event as mine, but there had been no ships in that area of space other than the pirates and my squadron. Another oddity to add to the list.

Tiny bites all over her were bleeding. They were punctures that I could hardly see. She had not noticed, for she was still staring at me and breathing quickly. I leaned towards her, but she scrambled backwards away from me much faster than I thought was possible. Perhaps speed was key to her species’ survival?

I pointed at my body then to hers and pantomimed rubbing my legs. Finally, she slowly looked away from me to her body and cried out. She rubbed at the bites with her small hands, but it was ineffectual. Those wounds needed to be cleaned, or they would get infected.

I pulled out my ceremonial black knife and cut a strip off the bottom of my flight shirt. The female had stopped rubbing at her skin and stared at my stomach. My quills stood up again at her appreciative gaze. I wanted to return the show of appreciation, but I kept a smile off my face. No matter how attracted I was to her, survival was more important right now.

I soaked the fabric in the stream, then motioned rubbing my leg with it. I held it out for her while staying crouched down to make myself appear less threatening. I was much taller than her, and my height might have been what scared her. The female had obviously never met any Kuh Mow Dow before, or she would have known that no female had anything to fear from us. No one that worshiped the Goddess would disrespect any female.

She slowly reached out, then snatched the wet cloth out of my hand. We stared at each other. She must have felt safe enough because she lowered her eyes and began to wash the bite marks.

I stayed still and studied her figure, which was even more pleasing up close. Full lips, big eyes that were brown, long hair that I wanted to run my fingers through. My kok had grown with my appreciation of her form and was painfully cramped in my flight pants. But I could not reach down to make myself comfortable, or she would get the wrong idea and most certainly scream again.

We were lucky predators had not been attracted by the noise, yet.

Her arms were too short to reach the bites on her back. I raised a finger and circled it in the air, pointing at her and then over my shoulders. She understood quickly as she tried to reach her back again with the wet cloth. I raised my estimation of her intelligence for understanding what I meant with my motions, although her arms had not grown long enough to rub her back. Had she expected them to?

I caught her attention again, then pointed at myself, then her. The female stared at me then nodded and slowly held out the cloth. Then she stood, turning away from me. She pulled up her wet dress to display most of her hairless back and the bites. I could not pull my gaze from her rounded ass, but I had to get control of myself. I did not know when predators or pirates would arrive drawn by her screams. I had a duty to my men; I could not be distracted. Even if the distraction tempted me more than I had ever been.

Quickly, I washed off all the tiny bites on her back, ass, and legs. I wanted to touch her skin, run my fingers all over her, but I could not. I would not touch a female without her permission. But, I might have spent more time cleaning the bites on her ass than what was warranted. My quills again stood straight up as I rubbed the soaking wet cloth.

My kok was so hard now that I was in pain. Goddess help me, I wanted this female, but I could not take the time to honor her. This open-ended stream surrounded by thick and tall vegetation was not a defensible location.

Finally, my mind back on survival, I narrowed my eyes at the forest of plants surrounding us with their sword-like leaves. They reminded me of the plant on Sunda that contained healing properties. Could these be related? I pulled the scanner out of my pocket and pointed it at one of the sword-like leaves. The scanner’s screen displayed its results. The plant was primarily water but would be ideal to heal surface abrasions.

I used the tip of my finger to cut into the leaf. Clear material oozed out. I scooped a handful and motioned at the female’s legs. She approached me and stood still as I knelt and rubbed the goop on her. I was tempted worse than before. I nearly moaned out loud. Oh Goddess, I wanted her.

But I had to keep us moving, and this was no time to give in to my raging desire for her. I stood and grabbed another handful of the clear goop out of the leaf, then rubbed it on her arms. Her sigh did not help my tenuous control. Thankfully, my men were not here to see their commander nearly explode from nothing but being near this female. She dipped her hand in the goop, then smoothed it on her face and chest. She pulled her dress down low enough for me to see the rounded, smooth tops of her chest lumps as she rubbed the healing gel on them. Dear Goddess, I could not look away or even have a coherent thought.

Which was why I had not noticed the shaking ground and puffs of dirt rising from it. Or the column of dust growing closer from the other side of the thick vegetation.

I could not see over the enormous greenery since it was twice my height, but I was positive we did not want to be here when whatever was coming towards us arrived. “We need to run!”

She stared at me not understanding my language, but the urgency in my voice did not need a translation. Her face’s skin paled, another feature I had never seen before in another species. I grabbed her arm and led us away from the dust, through the thick vegetation with the long, blade-like leaves. She pulled against me and shook her head, pointing in a different direction which was near the column of dust moving quickly towards us. There was no time for discussion. I was trying to save our lives.

We had only forged through a few plants before her hand slipped out of mine. Her dress was caught on a leaf’s sharp barbs. I ripped her dress off the plant, then lifted her onto my shoulder as my quills rose. I had no time to focus on the feeling of her soft body next to mine because we needed to be far away before whatever caused the dust cloud reached this location.