 |
| Click Here! |
Welcome to a Science Fiction Romance Blog Hop!
Lots of authors and prizes including
**Rafflecopter**
I will be giving away ebooks throughout the month to readers who leave comments! Make sure and leave your email, also!
Fools For Love
Brielle and Karvar
Brielle and Karvar are in a difficult situation. She's trying to recover from years of black mail and drug addiction, he's trying to figure out how to get out of this mistaken arranged marriage when Brielle's health is recovered. They are stranded in a wilderness, an alien jungle, with no communication capability, a killer is looking for them and it is raining. So of course, they have a water fight!
Excerpt
A glint of metal.
“Oh,” she cried. “A drone. Above us.”
Karvar
put them into a steep dive so that the restraints tightened,
constricting her breathing. They landed with a jerk into thick vines.
He inched the ship into a stand of bushes and vines. Brielle looked
with dismay at the dark goo that reached the window. They were in a
pool of mud. “Karvar.”
“Quiet
now,” he breathed.
There
was a strange sucking sound. The rear of the ship rocked, then
upended so they were only kept from crashing down into the flight
console by their mesh restraints. Brielle twisted around in her seat
to see what was moving the flitter and stifled a scream. A huge
worm-like beast, brown like the mud they were hiding in, rose up out
of the ooze. It’s mouth opened showing a large hole surrounded by
triangular teeth and a fuzzy tongue. A deep rumbling roar sounded.
“Salp,”
Brielle said in a high pitched voice. “Didn’t know they roared.”
It
loomed over them, hitting the flitter with its huge, knobby head,
shoving them deeper into the curtain of vines they were hiding under.
The
flitter swerved sideways and they landed with a thump, resting
against a tree trunk. “Well, that wasn’t so bad,” Karvar
whispered. “Better than I would have dared hide it.” They were
deep under thick growth, barely able to see out of the flitter’s
windows due to the thick ferns and leaves surrounding them.
The
drone, lights glinting in the gloom of the forest, whipped by. The mud
beast lunged at it, opening its maw from which a long feathery tongue
emerged. The tongue snapped out at the drone, surrounding it, and
pulled it rapidly into the wide mouth. The mud beast swallowed it.
Inside
the body of the beast, the lights of the drone continued to blink,
showing through the mud-colored, translucent skin. The beast writhed,
plunged into the muck, then rose back up, the force of its movements
causing the flitter to scrape against the bark of the trees. Karvar
started the ship, elevating out of the danger and farther into the
forest from the mud pool. The beast circled around toward them, mouth
open.
“Our
ship is too big to swallow,” Brielle cried, her eye glued to the
holo. “I hope.”
The
way forward was blocked by tree trunks.
Karvar
grabbed her arm. “Brace yourself. I think it can still reach us.”
It
struck, slamming the ship with such force they were flung into a tree
nearly as wide as the ship. There was a scrape of metal, the
crunching roar of breaking view glass and metal. Brielle screamed as
pieces of debris hurtled through the small ship.
They
stopped with a thud.
Brielle
gasped for breath. Her restraints were so tight she could barely
breathe. Her ribs hurt, her neck…she felt a warm trickle slide down
her neck.
“I
have a cut, need the kit.” She undid her harness and got up to
crawl to the back.
The
flitter rocked as the mud salp flung itself toward them.
“Watch
out!” Karvar grabbed Brielle and she flopped against him, held
tight. He was still harnessed. After a little while the salp stopped
punching the ship. “Let me get a little farther away before you try
to get back there.” He dumped her back into her seat and she
harnessed.
He inched them
backwards and then backed into an opening, pointing the front toward
the salp. “I think we’re out of reach here.”
He
nimbly unharnessed and grabbed the med kit. He cleaned the scratch
with a disposable pad and spread some new skin over the wound on her
temple. Then they looked to see what was happening with the salp. It
was no longer trying to bash the ship, now it was flinging itself
into the pool and then up into the air.
“We’re lucky we
didn’t crash. That thing must be twice the weight of our ship.”
Karvar’s hand absently caressed her back. “I can see why the
journals caution against flying low.”
They watched the
animal. The salp returned with more vigor, thrashing around and
flinging mud everywhere. Karvar started the flitter but getting out
of the thick growth broke their window more. They hastily pulled on
their breathers as humid air wafted through the broken window.
“The drone’s
lights are off now,” Brielle told Karvar, as he concentrated on making a path through the thick trees and avoiding the mud pool. “And
I think it is further up the throat. Well, the salp is all throat.
But now I think it is just a meter down.”
Karvar
paused his wrestling with the controls and looked at her holo.
“You’re right. I wonder if the salp will eject it.”
They
watched the salp plunge into the muddy water, then fling itself into
the air, occasionally rushing toward their ship. The drone was
definitely moving up the throat.
Karvar
got the flitter into a small clearing and landed. “I want it. When
it spits it out. I’d like to examine it. Might be able to get some
data to Kyler when we can communicate.”
“You
mean, go out there? With that monster crashing around?”
“Yes.
You hold the laser on it while I get its attention. I don’t want
the drone to land in the mud. With any luck it will spit it out here
on solid ground.”
It
didn’t sound like a great idea. “You really think it might help
figure out who’s trying to kill us?”
“Yes,
it will have all types of data. Clues.” He opened the door and
glanced around. “I doubt there are any predators around with all
the noise that thing is making.” The salp struck toward the ship,
which was several yards out of its reach.
“But
look how fast it can move, Karvar. It just wouldn’t be safe.”
“Look!
The drone is almost to the mouth opening. I can stay right by the
flitter. I’ll jump and yell so I have its attention. You’ll hold
the laser.”
Brielle stared at
him as he made pleading eyes at her. “All right.”
She shook her head.
“But I officially state I think this is crazy.”
They
climbed out and Karvar gave her a quick refresher on the laser and
made sure it was set to stun. She stood to one side so she wouldn’t
accidentally stun him if she fired and he shouted and jumped up and
down.
The
salp whipped around toward Karvar so fast Brielle screamed and
jumped, nearly dropping the laser.
“Careful
with that laser!”
“Right.”
She pulled it back up and took a wide legged stance, aiming the
weapon toward the salp. The drone was still moving up its gullet.
“It
stinks.” Even through the breather the scent of mold, and a
sulpher-like stench reached her. Something else too, the smell she
recognized as fertilizer.
“Here
we go!” Karvar shouted.
He
was having fun, she realized. His color was high, eyes bright.
The
drone shot out a gush of foul smelling liquid and partially digested
matter, ejecting the drone with enough force it flew the few yards
toward them. The drone clanked on the ground as a stream of foul
liquid splattered over them. Brielle screamed in disgust.
Karvar
laughed and cried, “Shoot it, shoot!”
She
shot, though her hands were slimy with salp vomit. The salp reared
back and flopped into the mud pool, dousing them once again. Karvar
leaped to the drone, grabbed it and pulled it back while she shot at
the salp in the mud. It disappeared. Laughing, Karvar took the laser
from her, turning it off. “We’re good.”
She
stared at him, aghast. “Good? Good?” She lifted up a lock of
salp-vomit filled hair. “You call this good?”
Karvar
leaped up past her and grabbed the tool kit. “I’m just going to
make sure its disabled. I’ll take it apart once we set up camp.”
Brielle
noticed he barely had any salp vomit, while she was soaked with it,
and with no shower, either. Her hair was also stiff with dried blood
from the cut. She sat on the footstep of the flitter, not wanting to
get salp vomit all over the interior. Karvar took some pieces off the
drone and messed around with whatever was inside. It seemed to take
forever until she heard the thud of the drone pieces being stowed
away and Karvar came around to the door, smiling and handsome.
“Why
don’t you cover my seat with a blanket so I don’t get it too
messy,” she said. He did so, cheerfully. She climbed in and
flopped into her seat. The salp vomit was drying. Brielle managed to
clean her hands but her suit was a disgusting mess, and her hair
needed a water rinse to be clean. At least the breather had kept the
vomit off her face. Out of her mouth.
“Hey look. The
window has a self-repair function. Wasn’t expecting that.” Karvar
looked happy and relaxed.
Even
the trillers would have nothing to do with her, they were lined up
against the window.
Karvar
hopped in to his seat and started the engine. “Well, Glim Falls is
out, they were expecting us there. Where to now?”
She
gave him a narrowed eyed glance. “Head for rain clouds.”
It
rained most late afternoons in the forest so it didn’t take long to
find a bank of clouds. Karvar launched the base and landed the
flitter. They got out into warm, fat raindrops that soaked through
their coveralls in moments.
“I'm
going around to the side to scrub the vomit out,” Brielle said, and
disappeared.
Karvar
did the same, stripping in the warm rain and tossing his coverall to
the floor.
The
rain increased and he relished the pounding sensation on his
shoulders. It felt good to be free, in the open air.
He
was very conscious that right on the other side of the small flitter,
Brielle was washing off, nude in the rain. The rain increased again,
becoming a real gusher. He laughed, ducking his head to keep water
out of his nose. The mesh floor of the base was too tight a weave to
keep up with the intensity of the rain, soon water was up to his
ankles. He supposed there was nothing to be concerned about; the base
was built for this environment, after all.
A
squeal and a splash came from the other side. “Brielle?” He
rushed around the flitter to make sure she was all right. The base,
covered with water, was horribly slippery, and he skidded toward
where Brielle was on the floor and landed on his ass, bouncing a
little, crashing into her.
Brielle
struggled to sit up, pushing her soaked hair away from her face. She
gained a bit of weight, just enough to make every inch of her
perfectly smooth, even more exquisite than the glimpse he’d had of
her wearing the lacy gown on their wedding night.
He
couldn’t stop looking.
She
squeaked and grabbed her coveralls and covered up. “Karvar!”
“I
thought you might be hurt.”
“I
fell but I am not hurt.”
“Right.
It’s slippery.” Those words reminded him even more of hot sex. Good thing for all the rain obscuring their vision or she’d see
him blush.
“Well,
I’ll go back over to my side and scrub my clothes.” He slipped as
he tried to stand, took two steps and landed on his ass again.
She
giggled.
He
half turned, noticing she was not holding her coverall so that it
covered all of her nude flesh. He could see one breast completely,
and it was exquisite.
He
deliberately bounced on the mesh floor and she lost her balance,
landing with a splash. She also lost her cover up.
“Why,
you!” She threw her still disgusting coverall at him.
He
ducked it and one armed a big handful of water at her, splashing her
on the shoulder. She retaliated with a swoosh of her own and then
the battle was on. Splashing turned to kicking. Karvar tried to stand
to kick water more effectively, but the floor was still so slippery
he crashed, landing with his chest on her silky legs.
“Oh,
yes!” Karvar yelled. Brielle splashed him as fast and hard as she
could. He got closer, intending to dunk her face in the now six inch
puddle. She kicked and splashed, grabbed his shoulders as if to try
and duck him.
***
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment