Chapter 3

It had been a week since Nate had first woken up on this desert planet, and it had been the best week of his life. Existence was simple here: wake up, wrestle with Ketri, get breakfast, fix trucks or move supply crates until noon, eat lunch and nap until it was cool enough to go outside again, finish the day’s work, eat dinner, then retreat to Ketri’s nest for “dessert”. There was a calming, almost meditative effect to it: you did your work and then you relaxed. There were few rules, and those that did exist made sense, for the most part. The Captain was a fair man, and never chewed out anyone who didn’t deserve it. The Xenos here were, with the exception of Drane, surprisingly friendly and accepting. One thing Nate had learned about the rebels was that the cause mattered more to them than any social divisions; as long as you opposed the Conglomerate, you were in good company. He had even begun to make friends with some of them, not just Ketri.

The Sha’dee were the friendliest of the bunch, probably because their facial expressions and vocal inflection was similar enough to Humans to be easily understood. They were surprisingly outgoing, compared to his experiences in Conglomerate Space, where Sha’dee were quiet and meek, cowering and walking quickly with their heads down around Humans. Here, where they were free to speak their minds, they astounded him with their intelligence and helpfulness. Nate had never really thought too hard about what the Rebels were fighting for, or how Xenos were treated in his society. The more time he spent here, the more he realized he was growing as a person. Ketri had helped a lot with that. Her awkward, enthusiastic openness was so easy to just roll with. So easy to love. It was infectious. At first it had just been curiosity and physical attraction, but after a week living with her, he was in love in every sense of the word. Just the thought of holding her close was enough to make him smile. And gave him a stiffy.

Thankfully, his job today allowed him to hide the latter eventuality behind boxes of supplies, ammunition and food as he loaded them onto the bed of a truck. All three trucks were being loaded today. It would appear that something big was in the works, as there was more ammunition than usual.

“Naaaaaate ... Naaaaaaaaate...” He heard Ketri’s lilting voice in his earpiece.

“What is it, ‘Ri?” Nate asked absently, shoving the last box onto her truck and lowering the rear hatch.

“Come over to the Armory. Captain wants to talk to you!” She chirped. Nate straightened up and wiped the dust off his hands.

“On my way” He said, and started making tracks for the armory building.

It was a long, low-set building halfway buried in the sand, and clearly made of ferrocrete, not the adobe material with which the barracks and offices were constructed. Nate climbed down a set of steps and knocked on the door. His phone wasn’t authorized to unlock this one.

“Hey, it’s Nate. I’m here to see the Captain.” He said on the local open frequency. A few seconds latter he heard the whirr and clunk of electronic locks disengaging and the door opened, revealing his mate. Ketri gave him a quick hug, and a little nibble on his ear before grabbing his hand and leading him inside as the door locked behind them.

“I’m super excited!” She chirped, squeezing his hand. “The Captain has a surprise for you and it’s gonna be kick-ass!”

Nate chuckled and picked up his pace to keep up with her. They made their way down a hallway and through another set of doors into the main cage. He had never been in here before (not for lack of curiosity) and he looked around eagerly, taking it in. Two thirds of the room were caged off, with a desk dividing the caged area from the section they had entered, which was full of cleaning and maintenance equipment. Behind the cage were racks and racks of rifles, munitions launchers, machineguns and stacks of ammunition from smart rounds to solid slugs. It was a motley collection, with little apparent standardization. They had guns that were clearly captured from PMCs, mixed with civilian weapons and ancient military guns dredged up from god knew where. There was armor too, though it was all “dumb” armor, with the exception of his own suit. Which was lying on a table in front of the cage along with his rifle and sidearm, with the Captain standing next to it.

“Mr. Beardfurt!” The Captain called, waving them over. “You’ve been doing very well here. I’m surprised how quickly you’ve managed to adjust.”

“Thank you sir. I’ve enjoyed it a lot myself.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Anyway, you’re probably wondering why I brought you here. I’ve come to a decision; I don’t think you’re a threat to us. In fact, I think you’d make an excellent asset. I’m prepared to let you have your armor and weapons back, and Ketri here has convinced me to make you her co-driver when she goes on supply runs.” The Captain explained, lighting a sajhat cigarillo.

Nate turned to Ketri, who was grinning from ear to ear. He couldn’t help smiling too, then took the Captain’s hand and shook it enthusiastically.

“Thank you SIR! I-i don’t know what to say...”

“If you defend her and her cargo as enthusiastically as you fuck her, that’s good enough for me.” The Captain chirped. Before, someone being this forward would have shocked Nate, but he had learned that this was just the way Sha’dee were. It wasn’t just Ketri, her entire species didn’t seem to treat sex and intimacy with the same ... touchiness that Humans did. According to Ketri, the only reason every Sha’dee on the base didn’t sleep in the same nest was because of differences in rank.

“You can count on that from me, Sir.” Nate said, saluting. The Captain chittered, then turned to Ketri.

“Alright, little one, you got what you want, now don’t let us down. I’m sending all six crews from both hangers out to resupply one of our forward operating bases. Co-ordinates should be in your system already. It’s a bit of a trek, should be about two days if the sandstorms don’t get too bad. Keep to the canyons once you get closer to the front, I don’t want you getting spotted by drones.” The older Sha’dee explained the situation. “Mr. Beardfurt, you’re going to be her lookout and gunner. Your armor has better optics and data aggregation than any system we have. It’s one of the reasons I’m trusting you with this. Now, both of you get moving. I want you suited up, packed up and ready to leave with the others in 3 hours.”

Nate and Ketri both saluted, then began loading Nate’s armor, weapons and magazines of 8mm railslugs for them into a cart as the Captain turned and left, exiting the room. Trundling the car back to Ketri’s quarters, they laid the equipment out on the bed and started to strip down.

“Isn’t this gonna be great!” Ketri chirped happily, tossing aside her cap and unbuckling her gunbelt. “I’m not going to have to leave you alone in the daytime anymore!”

“Hell yeah!” Nate grinned at her as he pulled off his cap and shirt and started to drop his pants. “How did you convince him to agree to this?”

“It was surprisingly easy, actually!” She chittered, pulling off her shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra today, and her plump, perky tits seemed bigger than usual. “I think he respects you. And he’s a male Sha’dee. Protect and defend is his basic mental wiring. He knows you’ll be extra protective of me, because you’re my mate.”

Nate nodded, still unable to take his eyes off her bare chest as he fumbled with his shorts and underwear. He was already hard, and Ketri was well aware of it, licking her lips and quickly divesting herself of her own shorts. She walked over to the dresser on the north side of the room, broad, full hips swaying hypnotically. She was wearing her favorite purple panties today, with the special hole for her tail. Nate swallowed and subconsciously grabbed himself as his Sha’dee bent over and began rooting around in one of the drawers. She was holding her tail high, presenting her rear end towards him in a manner that could not be accidental. He walked closer, drinking her in with his eyes. The perfect curve of her hips, her round, shapely butt with the tail flowing organically from the center of it, and nestled carefully in the gap between her thighs, the perfect, enticing little bulge of her sex. Everything about her pose screamed “mount me”, and Nate could hardly resist doing so.

“Nate, honey, could you help me with my panties? I’m trying to find my driving pants.” She crooned, wiggling her backside suggestively. He approached, knelt and ran his hands across her hips and butt, finding the sides of her panties and pulling them down. He grasped the base of her tail, and started to thread it out of the garment.

Ketri purred as he squeezed and manipulated her tail, getting the entire length extracted before pulling down her panties. She stepped daintily out of them, as Nate went back to fondling and admiring her rear. She was already wet, he noticed as he squeezed her rump, producing a soft whimper. Really wet. Her skin seemed sensitive too, she was even more vocal than usual, purring and releasing little moans with each touch. He started to play with her lines, tickling and rubbing them, causing her to stop digging in the drawer and grab the top of the dresser to keep herself upright.

“You know...” Nate whispered seductively. “We’ve got a couple hours before muster time...”

“Oh just shut up and mount me!” Ketri interrupted him, lifting her tail even higher and licking her lips. “I don’t need convincing!”

“Damn you’re eager today!” He laughed, standing up and grasping his member to guide it in.

“Mmmmm-hmmmmmm!” She whimpered, grasping one of her breasts tightly as his tip tickled her opening. “I’m really, really, really horny! I wanna be full of Human right now!”

“I think that can be arranged.” Nate joked, grasping her hips firmly and preparing to dive into her well-lubicated hole.

“N-no! Wait!” His lover gasped. “Don’t use my h-hips! p-PULL MY TAIL! GRAB IT TIGHTLY AND USE IT TO PULL YOURSELF INTO ME!”

The end of her appendage wrapped tightly around his chest, and she wiggled the bit of it between them insistently.

“Really?” He asked as he turned his left hand and grabbed the root of her tail with his thumb pointing upwards. It was soooo soft and warm. “You want me to pull your tail? Won’t that hurt you?”

“A-a little bit! But it feels so good to have someone pulling you onto them by your tail! Especially a big thick Human like you!” Ketri groaned as he tightened his grip. “YES! Just like that!”

Nate wrapped his right hand around her right hip, and slowly started to pull himself into her, his already dripping head straining against her tight lips.

Ketri squealed as her walls parted around him. He barely had to pull on her tail, she was eagerly thrusting herself onto him. A brief tension, then suddenly he was deep, deep inside of her. She was hotter inside than he had ever felt, and her tunnel seemed to suck him in, churning and flexing around him. He began to thrust faster, burying himself into her again and again as she moaned with each stroke. Every time he entered her, she clenched hard, then seemed to expel him as she released, driving his pace faster and faster. He leaned farther over her, angling his head into her ridge and reaching around her leg to rub her mound, pushing it against himself through her skin. Ketri’s breathing was ragged, her chest heaving against the dresser as she gasped and shrieked.

“MORE! MORE! HARDER! OH YEEEEEESSSSS! MMMMMMMM ... THAT’S IT! THAT’S IT! POUND ME! STIR UP MY INSIDES!” She squealed, clenching her teeth and digging her fingers into the dresser until they turned pale pink. Her tail constricted even tighter around his chest, he could feel her pulse pounding through it. Nate started to gasp and groan as well, feeling the heat boiling between his legs and trying to slow down, but Ketri was having none of it. She pulled him deeper, as her moans became cries, and cries became song. He pushed as far into her hot, squirming tunnel as he could and finally tasted sweet release, emptying himself deep inside her. She clamped down on him like a vise and he felt her juices gush out around his shaft as her song reached its peak and her entire body spasmed, stomach muscles flexing wildly and kneading his rod.

Ketri slumped against the dresser and let him go. Nate staggered back, feeling the blood rush to his head as he slid out of her. He leaned against the wall to her left and gasped for breath, the waves of his orgasm slowly fading. Beads of sweat ran down his face, but he couldn’t be bothered to wipe them away.

He pushed himself off the wall, and looked over at Ketri, who had straightened up and was approaching him with her round face flushed and beaming. Before Nate could speak, she pounced on him, tightening her thighs around his waist and pressing her breasts into his chest as she clutched his shoulders in her dainty, four-fingered hands. He could feel her heart fluttering against him as she kissed him voraciously, devouring his face and thrusting her long tongue into every corner of his mouth. He responded in kind, probing the inside of her soft mouth. Their lips parted and she kissed him again and again on his neck and cheeks.

“Damn Ketri...” Nate gasped, wrapping his big mitts around her flanks under her arms and squeezing her lines. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this eager before! Even the first time!”

She pouted coyly, and stroked the side of his jaw with one hand.

“Awwwww ... I can’t help it Natey ... I’m in heat.” Ketri purred, and nuzzled her face into his shoulder. “It happens for a few days every month. When I’m fertile, my body goes crazy. My skin gets sooooooo sensitive, I get wet at the slightest thought, and I neeeeeeeed to be full of something...”