a/n: its heating up now stinkers next chapter is going to be THE chapter >:P
Warnings: Violence, gore, blood
There was no mistaking those amber eyes, eyes that had haunted your dreams filled with melancholy, wrath, or whatever your brain chose to torture you with, now aglow in the darkness. At this moment they were warm and familiar, coaxing you into calmness. Quaritch was actually here, watching the grimy man above you with a promise of death in the curl of his lip, poised to attack and kill as his lethal body had been trained and honed to do. He raised a finger to his mouth and you bit back a sob of relief because you knew as well as you knew the sun would rise each morning that Quaritch would save you, wouldnât let this soldier with the foul stench end your life, and despite the cold distance the two of you had shared, that seemingly unclosable rift hadnât stopped him from coming to find you.Â
A thread of tension electrified the jungle as the manâs grip tightened around your braid, wrapping the tresses around his knuckles to ensure a strong grip for when he would slash your throat and watch the life pour from your wound. Your scalp stung painfully and you saw Quaritch shift in the brush, coiling tighter, prepared to pounce.Â
The man leaned down close, his nose brushing the hollow of your cheek and that disgusting, rank breath washing across your face. You fought the urge to gag, to shudder away, and could hardly respond to his sardonic question. âAnything to say, baby? Gonna pray to that stupid little god youâve got? What was her nameâŠYewah, Eyah, Eyw-âÂ
The man was ripped from your back, hand wrenching painfully from your hair. The force of the momentum sent you rolling off to the side, away from the snarling, screeching fray that had erupted across the clearing. Your elbow banged painfully against roots and downed branches and you tried to gain your bearings through the rush of adrenaline and fear, steady your shaking limbs on the forest floor but they twinged painfully and bloomed with bruises.Â
In the second the soldier had spoken, gotten just too close to you for Quaritchâs liking, he had seized the opportunity and struck. His exit from the underbrush had been silent as a breath of wind, on top of the soldier before the soldier could comprehend there was a third presence in the forest. It was almost impossible to believe this soldier had come from Quaritchâs old clan. Their difference in skill, in combat, was staggering as Quaritch dominated him, pinning him by the throat to the forest floor and landing blow after uninterrupted blow. The two grappled, the soldier struggling against Quaritchâs weight, elbows up to block his already swollen and bloodied face. His knife had been discarded in the surprise attack and his fingers scrabbled blindly for it to no avail. It didnât make a difference; even if the soldier found the knife, Quaritch would have disarmed him in moments or, in his bloodlust, turned the knife upon him and cut him open.Â
Youâd never seen Quaritch so unleashed like this, driven by rage and fury. But no, he wasnât unleashed. He was completely in control, landing each hit in the most calculated and tender spots that exploited the holes in the soldier's figurative armor. Most of the noise came from Quaritch, curses, and snarls that filled the air with primality. He was all power, a weapon sent to kill, and he unleashed himself like an untamable fire onto your attacker. He would beat the intruder to death if he continued much longer and you were sure the slaying wouldnât weigh heavy on his conscience, but it would weigh on yours, despite the fact the man had had you in the grip of death, prepared to slice you open like an animal. With the sheer brutality Quaritch had assaulted him with, you feared this soldier's death would send shockwaves back to whichever Command he had come from, whoever had sent him, and that would only cause more trouble for the both of you.Â
âQuaritch,â You rasped, shifting your aching limbs to try and push yourself up. âQuaritch, enough. Donât kill him.âÂ
Quaritchâs fists stuttered, then slowed to a stop, landing a final blow that smacked against the man's quivering cheek. The soldier gurgled weakly, spitting pink saliva from his mouth. Quaritchâs knuckles were split and bubbling with sticky blood both from himself and the manâs face and it was pure gore to see that hot crimson against his deep blue skin. It was clear the last thing he wanted to do was leave the soldier alive or allow any chance of escape but you were propped against a tree, tired and wincing and his number one priority was you. He pushed off the motionless figure beneath him and hurried to you, crouching against your side to get a good look at your face and wounds.Â
âWhat did he do to you?â He asked quietly, smoothing the pad of his finger over a red bruise already beginning to form at your neck where the knife had nicked you.Â
âIâm fine, I promise. How did you find me?âÂ
Quartichâs eyes found the cut at your neck where the soldier had nearly split you open. His jaw ticked and his tail lashed and you were sure he was considering turning around and finishing the stranger off, but your gentle touch on his bicep stopped him.Â
âHow did you find me?â You asked again.Â
âFollowed âya. Saw you get up and leave, knew you couldnât go a second without trouble so I followed ya. âM glad I did. When I saw him holdinâ you like that, about to beâŠIâve never felt like that in my life. I would have killed him without blinking an eye for touching you, touching whatâs mine. Iâll still kill him.âÂ
A shiver raced down your spine at the intensity of Quaritchâs words and gaze. It was a feeling youâd grown familiar with and were beginning to accept, that connection that had followed you since youâd first met and ignited an inexplicable warmth within you at his displays of possessiveness. You were his, had been since youâd first plastered coral weed across his raw back. He had become your whole world, your moon, and your stars. You suddenly felt overcome with tears and relief that he was really there, in front of you, and your lower lip wobbled.Â
âI was thinking of you, you know.â You whispered. âIf I really was going to die, I wanted to see you one last time and when you were there I thought I was dreaming or that Iâd already been killed. I thought it was too good to be true that you would save me and then you were there-â You choked off, crying freely now. Hot tears dripped off your cheeks and jaw, uncontrollably. To see Quaritch there and know he was real, know you were now safe, and that he would never let anything happen to you was a feeling incomparable to anything else. It transcended anything you could have ever been angry at him for, absolving him of the cruelest sins. He was your god, delivering you to the gates of heaven and away from the fear that pockmarked mortal existence. You couldnât believe you had thought he would abandon you, barely pass a thought to your absence, when he had just fought so brutally for you.Â
âDonât cry, sweetheart, ainât no need for tears.âÂ
His thumb swiped at your cheek, collecting the wet trails that dripped off of your chin. You closed your eyes and let yourself sink into the feeling of him, the smell that was so familiar and washed away the rank and filth of your violator. He smelled metallic, like blood, but more powerful was his sweat and the musk of the ocean, your home, that clung to him and evaporated all traces of the sterile chemicals that had emanated from him when he washed ashore. Quaritchâs warm forehead pressed against yours and the wet pad of his nose brushed your cheekbone. You could feel the rise and fall of his chest, heavy exhales of warm breath caressing your mouth. It was intimacy in its most basal form, the thrum of two hearts slowing to each other's rhythm and two souls connected across horizons. He was close, he was home, he was safety.Â
âI was scared,â Quaritch whispers. âIâve never been scared in my life âcept for when that knife was against your throat and I thoughtâŠâ He sucks in a breath and doesnât continue, canât continue. But you understand, know his fear intimately and exactly.
Out of the corner of your eye, you see the body stir, shifting out of its stupor. Quaritch sees it too and is immediately on alert, shifting so his broad body is guarding yours like an immovable wall of muscle. His tail, which you expect to be splitting the air like a whip, drapes calmly against the top of your thigh.Â
From over Quaritchâs shoulder, you can see the body half rise on its elbows, head lolling against its shoulder.Â
âYou one of them now, Colonel?âÂ
The manâs voice comes out garbled past broken teeth and bloody gums and carries none of the swagger youâd heard when he had you trapped beneath him.Â
Quaritchâs ears fold back and he hisses through bared canines.Â
The soldier wheezed out something that resembled a laugh, though it caused him more pain as he clutched his side lacerated with cuts and scratches.Â
âI didnât think you of all people would turn, Colonel. You hated those disgusting savages more than anyone on base and now youâre shacked up with one of them, probably some whore-âÂ
âTell me what the hell youâre doing here before I kill you slowly. And painfully. I donât recognize your face but it seems like you know me so you know what Iâm fully capable of. Tell me before I lose my patience, soldier.âÂ
The soldier says nothing, does nothing, and you wonder if the two are sizing each other up. The irritated twitch of Quaritchâs tail tip is your only indication that his passiveness is just a front and you have no doubt that heâs eager to finish off the disrespectful avatar across the clearing. He was practically itching for it. The display of such power should have been frightening but it instead sends a thrilling rush through you. Itâs embarrassing, how attuned your body had become to Quaritch, and it was frightening the sway he has over you. You should be scared of him, of his ability to kill. Heâd just nearly beaten someone to death with his fists and sported only cosmetic wounds that would heal in a day. He was ready to do it again, too, but it was all for you and thatâs what sent such a delicious sensation through your blood.Â
The soldierâs gaze finally drops away and the silence is broken as he wheezes and struggles for a pocket on his left breast. Quaritch tenses like a snake prepared to strike at any sign the man was pulling a weapon, but instead, his shaking fingers pull out a bloody slip of paper. He holds it out to Quaritch, offering answers to his presence.Â
Quaritch doesnât immediately advance forward. Heâs clearly weary and though the knife is still out of reach to both of them and the soldier is in no position to make a move toward it, the sky people were unpredictable. Dangerous. But Quaritchâs analysis of the risk of leaving you seems to come up clean because he squeezes your calf bracingly, stands, and snatches the paper from the soldier's hands. As he reads, his face grows darker and darker. The material crumples beneath his fingers and youâre worried it will shred before he finishes reading it. But then heâs dropping it to the forest floor and crouching in front of the soldier, speaking quietly. You strain your ears to hear what heâs saying but itâs impossible because theyâre speaking so low, so fast, that your rudimentary English skills canât keep up.Â
It was unfair that you were always deprived of information despite how it concerned you and your clan. You remembered the conversation with your father, his concerns over the sky people and their will. Everyone had heard of the burnings in the clans to the west and north where the demons had slaughtered innocent Ilu and scorched villages to the ground so you were familiar with their brutality and you knew that is what your father thought of when he assessed the risk of housing Quaritch. But he had decided to do so anyway and despite the chivalrous gesture from your father and yourself, Quaritch kept you out of the loop anyway. Hmph.Â
The tense, hushed conversation between Quaritch and the bloody soldier came to an end. He looks distressed if his pinned ears are any indication and that gut feeling that something was wrong began to brew.Â
Quaritch rose to his feet and crossed the clearing back to you. He was grave and there was a coldness about him that hadnât been there before their conversation.Â
âWhat did you talk about?â You asked softly, reaching out to hook your pinky around one of Quaritchâs fingers.Â
Quaritch gently pulled his hand away from yours and crouched so he was looking you squarely in the eye. Some of the coldness had dissipated and was replaced with painful longing. A goodbye.Â
âThat soldier back there is part of a group thatâs looking for me. Before I came to the clan I wasâŠimportant, and this group, theyâre not the type to let important people go. Itâs better if I leave so I donât put the village in any more danger.â
âDanger? You donât want to put us in any more danger?â You let out a sardonic laugh and pushed yourself further up the tree trunk and away from Quaritch. âYouâve already put us in danger by leading this man here, doomed our clan to perish beneath the sky people, and now you are going to run away when things look a little too dangerous. You are a coward, Quaritch, for abandoning us, no, me, so easily.âÂ
âI ainât leaving 'cause I want to, Princess.â Quaritch snapped. âIâm leavinâ 'cause if I donât you, your father, your mother, and everything you love will be burned to the ground because of me. If I turn myself over and go back, that wonât happen. Iâm protecting you!âÂ
You smacked Quaritch in the chest, unable to believe him. âYou are going to leave? After everything weâve done for you? After everything Iâve done for you?â The tears were flowing now, unstoppable, impossible, and gutting. What had the soldier said to Quaritch to convince him to leave? The two of you were supposed to be in this together, or so you had thought, and now he was turning tail and running at the first sign of trouble. What was on that stupid paper? You wanted to know but knew it wouldnât matter because whatever it had said, it was pushing Quaritch to leave you. You beat Quaritch against the chest, cursing him, and he didnât stop you, let you relieve your pain out onto him.Â
âIâm not letting you leave. No, you wonât go!âÂ
âI ainât gonna hurt you anymore, dammit! Your pops will be glad Iâm gone-âÂ
âI will not be glad you are gone because I love you! I love you and I cannot, will not go on without you. I do not care if you donât feel the same but I have learned and experienced more in these past months with you than before you. There is nothing for me after you, no air to breathe, no life for me to live. Nothing!â You grasped at Quaritchâs cheeks, leveling his face so you could pour every feeling and every memory into him. âI see you, Miles.âÂ
Quaritchâs face went slack and unreadable. You felt your heart shrivel inside. Youâd laid yourself bare in front of him and revealed the secret youâd carried inside you for months and it still wouldnât be enough to make him stay-
But then he was surging forward and his lips were on yours, sucking you into him and consuming you like an unquenchable fire. You squeaked in surprise against his mouth, grasping at his wide, endless shoulders for balance. His wet tongue slipped against the bottom of your lip, tracing its curve and you shuddered into him, parting your legs so he could fall into you. Your hands moved from the divots of muscle in his shoulders to his wide, angular jaw, feeling its movement and fluidity as he kissed you breathless against the tree. The chatter of the jungle fell away and it was just the two of you there, the warmth of two bodies, two desires. His scent was all around you, heady and thick and him, intoxicating you into a drunken state in which you craved Quaritch more than you craved air in your lungs.Â
âI see you, Darlinâ.â He breathed, breaking away to kiss along the corner of your mouth and the flat of your nose bridge. âIf you donât want me to go, Iâll stay. But Iâm not sayinâ itâll be easy or safe and Iâm not saying Iâll be easy because if you know me, you know Iâm not,âÂ
You let out a watery laugh through tears that still beaded your eyes, pressing a lingering kiss to his mouth. âI donât care. Just stay with me.â
Quaritchâs lips twitched into a half-smile and he pressed another kiss to your mouth before leaning back on his heels and rocking forward to his feet. He crossed the clearing, approaching the soldier who was laid flat and motionless on the floor. You thought he was dead but Quaritch kicked his side with his foot and the soldier jerked back to life.
âYour leaving by your damned self, pipsqueak. You better hope I donât see you sniffing around here again or I wonât be so nice next time.âÂ
The soldier spat at Quaritchâs feet, rolling on his side to get up. âYouâre a damned t-traitor. You know theyâre not gonna let you and your slutty girlfriend-âÂ
Quaritch swung back and kicked the soldier in the cheek, forcing him back to the ground.
âListen closely,â Quaritch said quietly, bending down with a snarl. âYouâre gonna get the fuck off this island and youâre gonna tell the General that Iâm dead. They ainât gonna come looking for me because if they do, there ainât no place on this planet you can hide from me. Iâll gut you like a fish and youâll beg me to kill you,âÂ
The soldier stared up at Quaritch before nodding slowly. It seemed he had no more cheek left in him, could barely talk through the swelling in his mouth, and Quaritch left the soldier to stand on his own feet and returned back to your side.Â
âHow you feeling? Wanna get that looked at?â Quaritch asked, brushing the back of his index finger lightly against the cut on your neck. You winced and shook your head.Â
âIâm alright, it will heal quickly. Are you ok? Your handsâŠâÂ
You took his large, warm palm and smoothed your index finger over his split and swollen knuckles. The blood had dried but you worried infection would set in or that the pain would be too much. Quaritch barely shifted when you touched the bone, didnât flinch at your picking and prodding. He just looked down at you, the corners of his lips barely curled upwards, and those yellow eyes were glowing with something overwhelming and rich, hypnotizing. Your hands fell away from his, slid up his forearms and biceps, feeling the curve of his muscle. They slid over his wide back that rippled with strength and power, and around his neck. You pulled his head down, catching his mouth in yours and pressing him close against you, trapping you against the tree. The soldier had picked himself up and stumbled through the brush, leaving a flattened patch of grass speckled in dark blood as any sign heâd been there at all.Â
Quaritchâs large palms gripped the back of your thighs, pulling you into his lap and your legs wound around his narrow waist. He kneaded at the soft flesh of your ass, slipping his thumb just beneath the twine that formed the string of your loincloth. His tail, whether he knew it or not, had slipped across the soft earth and curled around your calf in the way it liked to do. The warmth from before was back, this time an inferno that fed your desire, electrifying your blood and body and sending a thrill down your spine. Between your thighs, you throbbed, and your entire being sang for Quaritch.Â
âMiles,â You whimpered, licking at the seam of his lips. He kissed the tip of your tongue, sucking softly, kissing his way to the base of your ear. âMiles,â You breathed again, pulling away to look down at him. He was flushed pink and heaving and his eyes were heavily lidded, unable to pull away from your swollen lips.Â
âI want to mate with you, I want to be with you until we return to the earth, to connect with you andâŠfeel you.â
Quaritch squeezed the side of your thighs, nuzzling the underside of your neck.
âWhat do we gotta do? To mate?âÂ
You smiled coyly, pressing up and off of him and holding out your hand.Â
âI will show you. We must go to Eywa.â
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