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  "Are you sure there is water?" She cradled her arm against her chest and tried not to concentrate on the pain.

  "Positive. If there is one thing our shifted senses can tell us, it is where to eat and where to drink. This water smells sweet and wholesome."

  "Wonderful. I am thirsty already." She smiled and enjoyed the feel of her naked back against his arm. The pain in her arm was a dull throbbing in the back of her mind, but she worked very hard at pushing it aside with a flickering of lust.

  It didn't work, but it was fun to try.

  Chapter Three

  Phosphorescence lit the interior of the cave, a slow dawn in the darkness. Carser had a fire going behind them and it threw the sparkling water into a glittering frenzy.

  "It's very pretty." Zora was shaking with cold.

  "Shush. You need care. Hold still." Wayk lowered her to the floor and supported her arm as he dipped it in the water.

  She watched the crimson of her blood swirl away into the depths and her skin became visible, it was slowly cleansed in the lightly lapping waves. The water felt warm on her flesh and for water that clear, it was unusual. "Where is my scanner?"

  "Back with your pack. Why?" Wayk lifted her arm and nodded to himself.

  Carser brought the med kit with him and stroked her hair, the black curls springing under his palm. "How are you, Zora?"

  "Fine, a little weak. Why aren't there any animal dens in this cave?" Something was wrong, her senses were on alert and her talent was trying to fight her for control.

  "I don't know. It is completely clean though, a safe place to stay."

  Zora knew that Carser was trying to distract her and considering that she was looking directly at his semi-hard shaft, it was working. Being eye-to-cock with a man was not something she was used to, but when he reached to hold her still, it brushed against her ribs and kept her mind off the cauterization that Wayk was engaging in.

  She kept her gaze locked with Carser's while Wayk sealed her flesh and when he wrapped it lightly, she blinked and blushed. "Pardon the staring contest."

  She wanted to drop her gaze, but it really wasn't safe for her peace of mind.

  "We will dress if you would like. Or we can shift into our other forms to block the wind. Whatever you prefer."

  "I will leave you to do what you will. This will be your planet, so begin as you mean to go on." She smiled and simply closed her eyes before turning her head toward the pool. Something about the pool made her talent surge to the fore. It was bizarre. She was reacting as if it was a living being, part of the ecosystem and not a body of water.

  Zora started to shiver and Wayk packed up the kit while Carser lifted her, bringing her back toward the entrance. A cheerful fire with her survival lamp gave bright illumination. Her bedroll was out and near the fire, her pillow and stuffed teddy bear arranged for her.

  "Ah, so you saw him."

  "Your toy? Yes. He is very charming. We had a lovely conversation." Carser's voice was serious.

  "I was only allowed to bring two kilos of items from home, so my friends gave him to me on my last day on Earth. He was the lightest bear they could find for the biggest size." She was blushing. There was no way to get into her bedroll with her outer layers on and she wasn't sure that she could manage to strip them off so she would fit.

  "He reminds me of Wayk, but with different-coloured eyes." Carser grinned and set her down on the makeshift bed. He immediately started removing her boots and she tried to pull her foot back.

  "I can do that."

  "Not without reopening your wound. Humour us and let us tend you so that we can resume the assignment as quickly as possible. Modesty is fine, but expedience will see you covered in very little time."

  She agreed with his logic. "Please help me get into bed."

  "I thought you would never ask." He chuckled and Wayk re-joined them, stowing the medical kit on one side of their little shelter.

  "Don't tease the Terran. It should be a rule." She snorted as Wayk unsealed her layers and Carser pulled them off.

  Naked and blushing from head to toe, she scuttled under her covers until her breasts were hidden from view. "Thank you for your help."

  They were both looking at her in surprise, sharing looks of amazement before taking seats on the floor.

  "Why do you think the wolves were after us?"

  "They are starving. Something has changed the migratory path of their normal prey and they were after anything large and remotely edible." She cuddled her teddy and held him against her neck. She was shivering, even with her proximity to the fire.

  Wayk went to her pack and rooted around until he grabbed her ration packs. "You need to eat. Carser, go and get some water."

  He pressed the rations to a rock next to the fire and he lifted her out of her bedding. "You can be embarrassed later. You need body contact."

  She didn't fight him. "I am aware that I am hypothermic. I just didn't know how to ask for more. You two have already done so much for me today. I have been a royal pain in the ass."

  Her teeth chattered as he draped her over his lap. His cock rose under her thighs and prodded her with heat. She cuddled her cold cheek against his shoulder and tried to ignore the other sources of heat that were flaring to life in her body.

  Carser raised an eyebrow at her new position and the exposure of her body, but other than a tightening of the skin across his cheekbones and the rise of his erection, he didn't say a thing.

  He held the water container out for her and she sipped cautiously. Again, a peculiar warmth ran through her to her toes. Each sip heated her. "Is that just water?"

  "Yes. I borrowed your scanner and there is nothing peculiar in it, perfectly clear from melted mountaintops." He held the bottle until she had her fill and then placed his lips precisely where she had while he drank.

  There was some significance to the action, Wayk stiffened under her. He took the bottle in turn and repeated Carser's action. The two men glared at each other across her and she broke the stalemate. "Are the rations warm yet?"

  A visible shiver had Carser lunging for the ration pack and unsealing it with a practiced flick of his hand. He handed her eating prongs retrieved from her pack and she sat and shivered her way through a hot meal.

  She sipped at the water when Carser passed it to her and the men fought a glaring battle for who would take the next sip every time she finished. It was almost a relief when they finished it.

  "Dinner is done, now you need some rest. Carser, get the emergency blanket from the kit. She needs both of us right now."

  Zora did a personal assessment. She didn't need a bathroom, which was peculiar in itself. That much water should have demanded an exit. She allowed herself to be pinned between two aroused males on her bedding and they covered themselves with the emergency blanket to turn their gathering into a small oven, with Zora as the potato getting roasted.

  Sighing, she let her fatigue take over and allowed herself to drift off.

  Hours passed or it might have been days, but Zora felt her soul lift from her body. A light was calling her back to the pool. She stepped away from the silver blanket and her companions and followed the call.

  Out-of-body experiences were not unknown to her. Usually, it was her talent dragging her out to investigate something that had skipped her attention the first time. This time, it was different.

  The water glowed with a white light, so Zora held to her instincts and walked right in.

  Who would drink the water of life?

  Surrounded by white sparkling water, she had one deliberate thought as an immortal mind pressed on her own. Oh hell.

  Chapter Four

  This is not hell but the light everlasting. Who are you that you do not know this?

  She looked around her and a peculiar temple took shape. A glowing figure sat on a throne at the peak of the temple, so Zora began to climb the steps toward it while she kept up the conversation. I am Zora Berger, Biological Assessment Officer for the Alliance,
of the Protectorate of Terra. Who are you?

  Shisala the eternal, the everlasting, the light within. Why are you here on my world?

  Wonderful, it was sentient and the Alliance scans had missed it. The Oefric wish to begin a colony on your surface.

  Why did they not ask me? The tone was plaintive.

  They tried. You did not answer.

  I was sleeping. Your blood woke me, so I thought it was best that I speak to you. The men who cared for you also drank from my waters. What will they do with eternity?

  Zora couldn't make herself understand. What?

  The waters. They change you, make you one of mine and all of my chosen live as long as I wish it.

  Can't you wish for them to have normal lifespans for their kind?

  I could, but then you would be lonely when your mates departed.

  What?

  You are not a very bright thing, despite the power I feel within you. I will take you as my avatar. I have not had one in a very long time. How long has it been since I restructured my surface?

  Zora racked her brain for the information. Ten thousand years. Your world changed shape ten thousand years ago.

  I wanted all traces of those ungrateful creatures gone, so I swept them from me. The entity sounded smug.

  Are you the entire planet?

  Yes, but I only express myself in the waterways. Through them, I touch every corner of my world.

  That explained why they hadn't been able to get in touch with the planet. It was dormant and hidden in the waterways.

  I apologize for disturbing you. It was never our intention. We can leave and let you return to your rest. She was almost to the top of the temple.

  The entity on the throne stood and approached her. I do not wish for you to leave, nor will you until you allow me into your mind willingly and happily.

  I will freeze to death if I do not get to a warmer environment soon.

  I will see to it that the cavern is heated, but do not think to leave. There are creatures out there far more formidable than the ones you ran into.

  A searing flash of light and Zora was back in her body, her heart pounding in her ears. Carser and Wayk jerked awake with her and stared at her in consternation as she leapt out of their bed and ran for the pool.

  She heard voices behind her but didn't stop until she was at the edge of the pool. Taking a deep breath, she let her talent loose and almost moaned at what she saw.

  The blinding light that was now visible to her enhanced vision was running through the walls of the cavern and underfoot. Her extremities felt a marked increase in temperature and by the time the men were at her side, she knew one thing. They were totally screwed.

  "This isn't good, this isn't good." She chanted it and backed away from the water's edge. One of her toes had been in the water and she noted the glow where it touched.

  Her arm was lit up like a streetlamp to her enhanced senses. Strands of light were binding, healing, working to make her whole.

  Carser caught her as she slumped in shock. "What is it, Zora? Did you have a nightmare?"

  "Take me back to the fire and I will tell you, not here." She was shivering but not with cold.

  He carried her back, but she could feel the curiosity buzzing in them.

  Next to the fire, she knelt and stared into it for a while. When she looked at the Oefric, she realized that she had not turned off her talent. They crackled with energy. They would be right at home here on Pakrik.

  "The teams that examined this place for sentience missed something." She blinked until her vision returned to normal.

  Carser straightened. "What?"

  "The living being that is Shisala. This planet is alive." She bit her nails in agitation.

  Wayk gently drew her hand away from her mouth. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean the living being that is in everything on this world had a conversation with me while I slept."

  Carser was shocked, but Wayk kept her hand. "What did it say?"

  "Shisala wishes for the Oefric to join her here and she wishes to take me as avatar." She swallowed heavily.

  "What aren't you telling us?"

  She tried to bring her fingernails to her lips again, but Wayk held her hand down. "That water was filled with the essence of Shisala. She said she controls when we die now."

  Carser gave her a piercing look. "We?"

  Zora blushed. "She seems to think we are a set because you took care of me."

  Wayk nodded. "We will just have to leave and get back to the shuttle and get off the surface."

  "She said she wouldn't let us until I take her into me. She also won't let us leave the cavern."

  "I will see about that." Carser stood and walked to the entrance. The snow was still a curtain of white.

  He shifted into a bear and ran out of the cavern. Zora held onto Wayk's hand as they waited for something, anything to happen. A few seconds passed before Carser came barrelling back into the cavern. He stopped and shook his head in confusion, shifting back into his walking form.

  "What the hell happened?"

  Zora looked to her companion. "How would we know? We were here."

  "I was running in a straight line and then I ended up back here." He sat back next to them near the fire and slammed his fist against the ground.

  "I am sorry. It's my fault. If not for the wolf attack, we wouldn't be here." She sank into a dejected heap.

  Wayk stroked her face and lifted her chin. "It isn't your fault. We should have been more careful. It was just so nice for us to be able to romp as we willed in this wilderness. We were not on alert as we should have been."

  His kiss caught her by surprise. One moment he was comforting her, the next her body was exploding in a riot of need. Her talent flicked on and her skin and his were lit from within by the energy of the planet.

  She pushed him back. "Stop. The planet is making you do that."

  Carser was behind her, cupping her breasts and nibbling at her neck. "Is she making me do this?"

  "Probably." Zora snivelled. His fingers teased at her nipples while his pinkies caressed under her breast.

  "What if we don't care?" Wayk came back in for a kiss and she gave in to his lack of caring.

  Wayk slid his hands down her ribs before snaking one finger between her folds. His caress discovered the heated moisture her body had been producing since he took her hand.

  His groan preceded his gnawing the way down her neck and shoulder while he pressed her to her side before he pulled her over him.

  Unheeding of her arm, she mounted him and smiled as he slid home. It was a tight fit, but she enjoyed every moment of it. The electricity where their skins connected spurred her to ride him in a hot, wet slide of sensation and pursuit of her own release.

  The drag of his cock as she lifted almost to the point of releasing him was as pleasurable as the rush of energy when she dropped until their bodies slapped together. As her peak came within her grasp, she shifted and moved in a rapid pace that had him gripping her hips as his own orgasm rushed over him.

  She let out a sharp yelp as she came, surprised as always that her body was willing to give over such sensations.

  The moment that Wayk unclenched his hands from her hips, she was rolled to her back and she found Carser hovering over her with a determined light in his eyes. "Will you take me as well?"

  She smiled up at him and tangled her fingers through his hair, dragging him down so she could kiss him. "I will if you don't mind."

  He slid into her and a bright light flashed in his eyes as he sank home. Carser stroked into her with attention to her expression and the lift of her hips against him.

  Her body was so sensitive, it was on the edge of release again in no time, each stroke causing sparks to fly behind her eyes. She dug her nails into his back and wrapped her legs around him to pull him tightly to her on each inward thrust.

  She shivered as the flaring head of his cock pressed against her g-spot with each stroke. A low moan st
arted in her throat and when Wayk slipped his fingers between them and stroked her clit, she shrieked in shock as her talent rushed to the fore and she was lost in light.

  Chapter Five

  Sneaky bastard. Zora was a backseat driver to her own body as Shisala took it over.

  I did what had to be done. There is enough water in snow that your lover came back covered in me. I thank you for your sacrifice. It has been a long time since I had an avatar and I will endeavour not to abuse your hospitality.

  I suppose I will have to make the best of it.

  In return for your voice, I offer you an entire world of your own and the power to keep your body as young and healthy as you wish it.

  Carser was shaking his head, one hand pressed to his temple. His cock still shone with her juices. "What the hell happened?"

  "Shisala has her avatar." Zora sat up and felt the glow in her eyes. "We can leave the cavern now. She will let me lead you to your shuttle."

  Wayk and Carser looked at her in concern.

  The general said, "I thought you said she wanted you to agree."

  Zora pressed a hand to his cheek. "I did. She rode you both into me."

  They looked at her in shock. "What?"

  She unwrapped her arm and examined the perfect skin where gouges should have been. "She used your body and the moisture from the snow to get inside me and I let it come, willingly."

  Her torn suits were unappealing, so she stripped the liner from her sleeping bag and wrapped it around her like a toga. Her teddy bear was tucked under her arm and she walked to the opening of the cavern. A light pursing of her lips and the blizzard disappeared. Bright, cheerful sunlight warmed the surface and the snow gleamed brightly.

  She turned to her companions. "We can leave now. I will get my pack."

  Humming to herself, she packed everything but her clothing. She didn't need it. Nothing on this world would hurt her.

  You would let your mates go?

  They are not my mates. They were your tools. I want them to live a long and healthy life with the women of their choice.