No Way Home excerpt

"Carnivore!"

The scream reverberated inside Kelly Hatchett's earpiece and rattled down her spine. She dropped the vegetation
samples she'd been collecting to take back to Earth and sprinted across the grassy plain toward the shuttle pod.
The faster she ran, the better her chances of survival. The four-legged behemoths that roamed this planet didn't move
swiftly, but the pair of tentacles extending from their wide heads stretched vast distances. If one grabbed her...

Please, whatever deity there might be in the universe, don't let me die. There's so much more I want to do with my life
-- find a special mate, earn a Distinguished Scientist rank, motherhood, a screaming orgasm!

Mentally, she smacked her head. When was the last time she'd had fun? She should've spent more time laughing with
friends, and sought out more lovers. When her sister had invited her on an orgy cruise around Mars, she should've
shaken off her unease and gone along. At least she would've been able to recall one audacious thing she'd done in her
life.

The muscles in her legs burned as she pushed her body to the limit.

From the other side of the shuttle pod, two grayish-brown tentacles as thick as space-sail masts wrapped around the
transport and tossed it sideways across the grassy moor. Kelly jerked to a halt, her heartbeat thundering in her chest.
The other four scientists running in a semi-circle toward what they thought was safety looked as horrified as she felt.
They all froze in place and watched their ride back to the orbiting cruiser explode in a fiery ball.

Shock immobilized her until the colossal beast trudged toward the two closest scientists. Armed with only short-range
laser pistols, the team fired haphazardly at it, but the shots seemed to irritate rather than harm. The thick feelers flicked
as if swatting a fly.

"Concentrate your shots" the team leader shouted to the group, but Kelly turned with the others and bolted from the
terrifying creature. The ground shook as the creature gained on them. One of its plodding steps equaled a twenty-yard
dash for the team. Panic pushed her forward.

In her peripheral vision, Kelly watched tentacles coil around two of her screaming associates, pick them up and draw
them backward toward massive snapping jaws. She slid her gaze away, unwilling to watch their fate. A loud crunch and
the sudden quiet made her stomach churn.

The beast bellowed behind her, its long feelers whipping through the air searching for more prey. Her lungs expanded
and contracted so fast she sucked up her auxiliary oxygen through her nose mask at an alarming rate. She stopped
looking back over her shoulder. It didn't help.

She was going to die.

A loud whoosh streamed by overhead. What the hell was that? A resounding thud shook the ground so hard she
stumbled. Holy stars! Was the cruiser firing down here? Before they'd left the ship, the captain had made it clear if they
encountered hostiles, he wouldn't break the galaxy peace agreement to save a group of expendable scientists. She'd
believed him. Besides, the trajectory had traveled horizontally.

Whatever it was, she didn't want to get hit by it. Running any faster seemed impossible but fear spurred her on, veering
her toward a patch of shoulder-high grasses where she might hide. Long thin blades sliced her arms as she lunged
through the tall brush.

A band of speckled brown flesh snaked around her ribs. Oh God. Oh God! "Heeeelp!" she screamed as her feet lifted off
the ground.

Eyes scrunched tight, Kelly wasn't prepared for the sudden body slam to the ground. Pain shot down her spine all the
way to her toes.

A heavy weight pressed down on her belly, holding her flat in a nest of crushed grass. She held her breath, waiting for
sharp teeth to rip into her. And waited...

Unable to stand the suspense, she popped an eye open and slowly lifted her head.

The world around her blurred and tilted.

A male anthropoid wearing a loincloth sat on her stomach. Sunlight glinted off his skin, smooth and brown-speckled like
polished granite, highlighting his ripped abs and muscular thighs. He looked surprisingly human, handsome in a rough
sense. Long sable hair fell over wide shoulders, drawing her gaze to the patchwork of pale scars on his brawny chest.
He was a fighter. A survivor.

Curiosity shone in his golden brown eyes as he regarded her.

She grunted and bucked against the big male holding her down. What was he doing? They had to run!

He lifted his heavy weight off her, but immediately resettled over her with his knees on either side of her hips, calm as
can be.

It suddenly hit her that the ground had stopped trembling. A horrid stench filled the air. The creature --

He must have killed it.

Pent-up breath rushed from her lungs in a loud whoosh. She was safe! Amid her tremendous relief, she let out a joyful
squeak and squeezed the stranger's impressive biceps. "Thank you!" She wanted to curl upward and give him a big
hug, but the stern expression on his face stopped her.

"Shapitwa," the male said, pushing her back to the ground. His eyes looked hard, demanding. He glanced over his
shoulder at a path tramped through the dense grassland. When he turned back, he put a finger to his lips and made
motions telling her to lie still. "Shapitwa," he breathed softly.

The warrior tilted his head, listening. Kelly strained to hear footsteps, snarls, whispers, anything that might indicate
danger, but all she heard was the wind sifting through the grass. She watched the alien relax his broad shoulders. The
gleam in his eyes made him look downright smug.

Well, killing a ferocious beast ten times your size must make one proud.

He rambled in his native language, his tone full of himself. Great. Why was she always attracted to the good-looking,
arrogant types?

She shook her head and reached for the translator module strapped to her belt.

He grabbed her wrists and slowly drew her arms over her head. Bending over her, brushing her breasts with his chest,
he whispered again, "Shapitwa."

Buy link: http://www.changelingpress.com/author.php?uid=31

NO WAY HOME
Elayne S. Venton (c)2006
Changeling Press
m/f, sci-fi, erotic romance
First in the NO WAY series (can be read as a stand alone)