Page 8 of Seized by the Alien Space Warrior (Alien Romance #8)

Chapter Eight

A va couldn’t stifle the whimper that escaped her lips when Aekon landed on the ground. Every muscle locked tight as she rode the wave of ripping agony before her lungs released enough to be able to gasp in a gulping breath of air.

“I’m sorry, little female.”

She looked up at Aekon’s tight expression. He was so foreign—so alien—and yet his expression told her everything she needed to know. He was concerned he’d hurt her any more than she already was, although what he could have done while jumping out of a hatch to save both their lives, she didn’t know.

What she wasn’t sure about was why he’d gone to such lengths to rescue her, and why he was so concerned for her wellbeing. Men never felt those things unless they were invested or wanted something and she hadn’t known Aekon long enough for him to become invested. For all she knew, he’d ‘rescued’ her to sell her to more terrible aliens.

God, aliens . Her mind reeled and her stomach lurched at the thought, but there was no denying the arms of steel that wrapped about her back and legs and held her to the broadest chest she’d seen.

Or the fact she’d been peeled from a bullet-coffin by evil crocodiles and sold to the highest bidder—which had happened to be lion-yetis. If she never came face to face with another one of those things , she would die happy.

And die she nearly had at the enormous hand of one, if it hadn’t been for Aekon. Maybe he wasn’t rescuing her to sell her. Maybe her state of anxiety was due to the stress and shock of discovering there was nothing fictional at all about aliens. Meeting the little green ones and being probed would have been preferable to what had actually happened. Not just to her either.

The petrified faces of the red-headed women, the blonde with the matted curls, the terrified teen, and the twenty or so other women who had been peeled from their own coffins flashed through her mind.

God knew what was happening to them.

Her stomach protested but she sucked in a deep breath. “It’s alright. I’m alright.”

“We need to get some distance away from the craft and then I will set your shoulder,” Aekon said.

The crumpled shape of the craft they strode away from looked as though it had stepped straight out of Star Trek. Even in the moonlight she saw deep dents and scorch marks all over the once sleek metallic grey walls. She had no idea how she came to be on it. Or how they crashed. All she could remember was passing out in pain and fatigue and then waking in the harness. “We crashed?”

It was amazing they’d actually survived. She’d seen severe car crashes with less damage.

“I apologise for putting you through this,” he said. “If not for me, we would be aboard the Zephyr and you would be safe.”

A muscle ticked at his temple.

His nodes over his eyes glowed a solid black before fading. The display reminded Ava of the beautiful bioluminescence of the firefly squid before she realised what he’d said. He scrubbed his hand over them again, emitting a quiet growl. She had to wonder if it pained him when the nodes lit up like that.

“You rescued me. Aekon…thank you.”

His gaze dropped to hers, eyes glowing softly in the dark as his brows drew low. “I have yet to rescue you, little female. We are far from safe. Through my error, I put you in more danger than you ever should be in.”

His deep voice rumbled through his chest and into her limbs. The smooth tones were like warm chocolate. There was a hypnotising quality to it. One that made her muscles ease, despite her dislocated shoulder.

She lifted her hand and pressed her palm to the hard planes of his cheek. His skin was smooth and warm. His eyes widened. He moved his head, just a fraction into the cup of her hand. A jolt of sensation simmered into her skin, like the effervescence of a fizzy drink charged with electricity.

“Oh!” She pulled her hand away, skin tingling.

The muscles of his chest and arms hardened and his nostrils flared when his eyes snapped open again. The look he gave her had her shrinking back.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

She was stupid. She only thought to make him realise she didn’t blame him for anything and yet touching him on the face might be a sign of lust. She was aware of him, had noticed how attractive he was, but for all she knew he might have a wife and kids somewhere and she’d just insulted him with the gesture.

His brows drew lower. “It is nothing. Do not thank me for doing my duty, female.”

His voice hardened and his gaze tailed forwards.

Duty. Right. She definitely had overstepped, had taken kindness to mean more. Her biggest priority should be somehow finding a way out of—wherever they were—not trying to make an alien feel better.

“You can put me down. I can walk,” she said, although the fatigue coursing through her body told her something else.

She hadn’t grown into a pinnacle of fitness by ignoring her body. It wasn’t the pain of her shoulder either; this was the fatigue born of lack of food and putting her body through too much physical abuse.

“I will carry you. It will be faster,” he said.

She peered at the glow of lights in the distance. It was so dark where they were that the glow seemed to halo the city in a dome.

“Where are we?” she asked.

The muscle at his temple ticked again.

He took so long responding she thought he wasn’t going to answer her. “I do not know.”

Her heart leapt in her throat as her brain caught up to some very serious questions. They’d crash landed and all she’d been doing was eyeing him instead of concentrating on her situation. Her very shaky situation.

“Aekon, how did we crash? Why did we crash?”

He stopped walking to look over his shoulder. They’d left the craft quite a distance behind them. Licks of flame crackled over the shell of the craft, sending flickering golden light over the gravel beneath it.

He ran his gaze over her face, his expression shuttered. “It is an Ixod craft. I had to steal it from the Ixod intergalactic ship you had been taken to.”

So the feeling of lifting upwards and the vibrations she’d felt while she’d been locked it the room had been a ship, not the back of a truck or wherever she’d thought she was. Sensory deprivation had let her mind come up with all sorts of wonderful nightmares.

“Ixod?”

“The beings that took you. They are known as Ixod,” Aekon said. He just about spat the word.

“You don’t like them,” she said.

“They take what they have no right to take. They are a scourge of the ten Quadrants,” Aekon said.

So, no love lost there. Also, she was still confused. “So why were we on that little craft?”

“They found my ship, the one I used to come to rescue you, and I had to take one of theirs when the plan to rescue you changed. I wasn’t as…stealthy…as I normally am on rescue missions and caused undue attention which was returned. It is I who is at fault for your predicament,” he said.

She huffed a sound. “I don’t think you have anything to do with my predicament. Blame those crocodile creatures that took me and sold me on that stage.”

She couldn’t help the shiver of revulsion that coursed through her body.

His brow nodes drew low over his eyes. “Crocodile?”

“Yes, the prehistoric creatures with the big snout, lots of teeth, and large, lethal-looking tails,” she said.

His gaze glittered. “They are known as Reptiles. They are the beings responsible for abducting many human females from your planet. We have rescued numerous humans from them. The Mercy Division have been trying to rescue as many human females as the Reptiles have abducted.”

Ava clutched his bicep, noting there was no way her hand could close around the muscle, before she remembered he might not like her touching him. She lifted her hand, ignoring her skin that tingled.

“They sold others, Aekon. They took at least twenty of us out of those bullet-coffin things just before they sold us.”

Aekon cursed under his breath, his jaw clenching again. “My warrior brothers and I only saw three of you. We were too late. We will do all we can to rescue the others that were taken.”

Looking into his hardened expression, she believed he would move heaven and earth to do that. She had to believe there was some hope for the others. So many of them had been stuffed into those coffin things. It seemed these Reptiles ran a highly organised and calculated crime ring trafficking in women.

“What were those things they had us in?”

“Cryo-sleepers. Ava, there’s no telling how long they had you in there,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

His gaze softened as he peered at her. “We don’t know exactly where your planet is. We’d never heard of Earth before human females started to be traded. All we do know is that it is a great distance away. Unless the Reptiles traversed an unidentified wormhole to bring you here, the alternative is to suspend life while distance is travelled. Even if it was faster than light speed, you could have been placed in suspension for…a while.”

Heat clogged her throat and a fine sheen of perspiration broke out over her skin.

“What you’re saying is…” Her voice sounded weak even to her own ears. She couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. The reality was horrendous. It might have been months. A year. Decades.

What he’d also said was that he had no idea how to take her home.

She looked at him through a mist of unshed tears, “My parents. My sister!”

An indescribable ache encased her heart as her mind skated over internal images of everyone she loved and held dear. She would never see them again. She would never be able to tell them she was alive. They might not still be alive. They might have lived their lives thinking she’d been a statistic, an unsolved missing person, when the reality was something much more sinister.

“You will find a home at the Sanctuary with the other human females that have been rescued,” Aekon said.

“The Sanctuary?” she asked.

“We have the planet to ourselves. It is peaceful. You will like it there.” Moments strength and tension filled Aekon’s body, “Little female...I have to ask...were you taken against your will sexually by the Ixod or the Reptiles?”

Ava swallowed thickly. The terror of being raped by those being stunned her mind with blind panic. She shook her head, drawing a shuddering breath. At least she’d been spared that particular horror. She couldn’t say what the rest of the women had been subjected to. After all that’s the reason they’d been abducted and sold naked on stage. The thought made her sick.

Aekon’s thumb brushed her cheek and she realised she’d been crying. His eyes held so much pain that she thought she saw herself reflected in them, before he blinked and the pain vanished, instead replaced by weariness. It was so fast she might have imagined she’d seen it there at all.

“Let me fix your arm, female. It will not be pleasant but it will relieve your pain.”

Her physical pain, in any case. She didn’t think she would ever get over this magnitude of heartache. Not ever. Maybe it was better to think about what was happening here and now. It would stop her worrying about his Sanctuary he spoke of at least. She’d deal with that later.

He was trying to be nice. He understood her horror of what he’d just told her. Hell, if he’d rescued others, he would have seen this reaction many times. He looked at her as though he would do anything to fix this situation for her if he could. And he had! He’d boarded this Ixod ship and killed one of those horrendous aliens to save her. He’d put himself in danger. She only had to look at the crumpled, burning craft to see that.

All she could do was nod. This wasn’t going to be pleasant. Not at all, but she couldn’t expect Aekon to carry her all night long either despite how unexpectedly nice it was to be cradled in arms so strong and tender.

She’d always been independent, and even more so when her career started to take off. She didn’t have the time for, or attraction to, men that weren’t strong or likeminded. Besides, she’d been determined that nothing was going to side-track her. She’d seen friends make stupid decisions when it came to men and she had made up her mind long ago she wasn’t going to go down the same path. No man was going to change the trajectory she planned for her life and so she’d also missed out on the caring, and the comfort, like Aekon showed her now.

In the end, it hadn’t been a man after all, but Reptiles she never knew existed that had permanently changed her life.

She sucked in a deep breath and held it, willing away the tears. Now was not the time. She was made of sterner stuff than to fall apart on someone like Aekon who had done nothing but try to save her.

It was time she saved herself, and that was exactly what she was going to do. She had no right to burden Aekon, who was just doing his duty.

“Okay. Let’s do this.” She pushed her legs down so that Aekon could set her upright on her feet.

Her breasts brushed the hard planes of his body. She was aware of every bump and rock-hard ridge coasting over her front, as well as his large manhood no woman in her right mind could miss. It didn’t help that his body suit left absolutely nothing to the imagination and damn if her mind wasn’t taking her down inappropriate paths.

Duty, Ava. He’s just doing his duty .

There was no reason to wonder why she found that thought slightly hurtful, either. Of course she wanted him to do his duty. His duty was to rescue her for crying out loud. Nothing else. What else could there be?

Maybe being abducted and sold and rescued by aliens was making her insane. That was most probably it. Shock and fatigue could play havoc with the mind.

She wavered on her feet as dizziness washed over her. She reached out blindly, her fingers sinking over his biceps as she fought the fog back. Aekon cursed softly in her ear and the next thing she knew, she was on her rear with her back against the cold, scratchy surface of a rock. She clutched her arm to her front, the muscles in her shoulder throbbing.

She blinked Aekon into focus, willing the two of him to become one. “I don’t mean to be a burden.”

“Is that what you think you are to me? A burden?” His voice was harsh and made her flinch before she steeled herself.

There was obviously something he didn’t like about her, if the muscle at his jaw and the rigid set of his shoulders were anything to go by. Also the fact he’d called her his duty. She might not know much about aliens, but she was a pro at reading vibes. And his said that she was a burden one hundred percent.

“If you can help me put this shoulder back in, I’ll be better. I promise.” She gritted her teeth and firmed her expression beneath his scrutiny. Her shoulder would still ache like a bitch but at least she would be able to walk under her own steam.

Aekon closed his eyes and his shoulders seemed to drop before he knelt in front of her. In that moment, he seemed to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders, and it was too much for him. She almost reached for him once more, but his eyes snapped open and she was held in stasis with the intensity of his expression.

“Ava. You are not a burden.” He hung his head and cursed under his breath before his gaze found hers again. “Far from it, female. But it is my direct fault that you are here instead of being cared for by someone more adept than I will ever be.”

“Aekon, I don’t blame you at all. If you hadn’t come to me, there’s no telling what might have happened to me. Let me tell you, a bunged up shoulder and crash landing somewhere is highly preferable to the situation you took me from.”

It wasn’t as though there was a fleet of people backing him up either. It was him, and him alone that came for her.

He stared at her. “You might say that now, but there is always room to change your mind. And you will change it. Now, relax your muscles and I will reset the socket. Brace yourself.”

He gave her no time to think about what he’d said. His large palm settled over her shoulder joint as he guided her arm along his much longer limb. She tensed, trying to absorb the pain with the movement yet still her vision blanked. Aekon wrapped his other hand around her bicep.

“Are you ready little female?” His deep, raspy voice cut through her discomfort.

She didn’t think she would ever be ready for this, but she nodded. It wasn’t as though she had any choice in the matter. It was either get her shoulder in or continue to be in pain. Aekon twisted her arm and pushed the socket back into place with a firm shove and all she saw was stars before her eyes as white hot agony ripped through her.

When she next became aware, she was against Aekon’s large, warm chest, his fingers stroking soothing caresses through her hair. She sat in his lap, curled into him, his arms banded about her, offering the strength and comfort of his body. The warmth of his body seeped all around her from his powerful thighs beneath her rear, his endless torso against her side, and his protective arms. His heart pounded beneath her ear and she let the sound and comfort he offered carry her away. She needed to be held like this right about now. Needed some sort of comfort. Some sort of gentleness, even if he did only offer it out of duty.

Something tickled her cheeks and she wiped it away with her fingertips. Tears. She’d been crying and she hadn’t even known. She sucked in a quick breath. She never cried. She usually got down and did things with the minimum of fuss, but his arms tightened around her and she felt the press of his lips against her forehead.

Heat welled up inside her, like a storm cloud pushed along by a gale force wind. That gentle gesture was the best and the worst thing he could have done. Oh, God. She was going to lose it! She tightened her chest, tried to shove the tears back down, but it burst out of her with a choking sound. Her lungs locked as heat ripped through her chest, and then she was just able to draw in a deep breath before it all came out.

Beneath the horror that she was crying in a near stranger’s arms, a swirling mass of jagged emotions erupted. The horror, confusion, deep-seated fear, and heart-ache all came out in the form of tears and snot and whole body tremors. She couldn’t stop it, no matter how hard she tried. She just had to let it run its course. She cried all the water from her system. She wiped snot from her nose until she soaked the back of her hands.

Finally, after who knew how long, her crying jag subsided and she was left a crumpled, exhausted mess in Aekon’s lap. The wrenching breaths became longer and slower. Her tears stopped and she sniffled enough to clear her nose. The steadiness of his heartbeat was hypnotic. She pressed her ear to his warm chest, letting the sound wash over her. All he’d done was to stroke her hair, her back and offer soothing noises while she’d ugly cried in his lap.

Finally, she drew in a deep, cleansing breath, ashamed that a crying jag had overcome her like that. She never did that. Although her shoulder was tender, it no longer shot bolts of agony through her. He’d fixed her arm and she’d offered tears and snot instead of a polite thank you. The front of his suit was probably streaked with her mess.

“I’m sorry.” Was that her voice? It sounded thick and raspy and not at all like herself. Then again, she wondered if she would ever be herself again after all this, so maybe it didn’t matter.

“There is no need to apologise, Ava. It’s best it happened. Trauma is best expelled from the body so the mind can function. It is a natural reaction to recent events.”

She took a shuddering breath in. “What the hell is going to happen to me, Aekon?”

“You will carve another life for yourself at the Sanctuary,” Aekon said.

“What if I don’t want another life? What if I want my life back the way it was? What if I don’t like it at the Sanctuary?” She felt like an arsehole saying these things, but the words blurted out nonetheless.

“I understand how you feel. Many of the human females felt the same way. You will meet kindred souls there, Ava.” There was no recrimination in his voice, no judgement, and he’d yet to stop stroking her hair and back. Most men would have left by now, but he wasn’t most men. Hell, he wasn’t even a man! Maybe that’s why he felt so certain she would like it at this place. Anyway, it wasn’t as though she was spoilt for choice.

The rhythmic, gentle sliding of his claws against her scalp was mesmerising. Being held like this was peaceful. Her jagged thoughts were soothed away with each stroke.

Somehow, it was…right.

The slide of his claws was almost intimate. Sensual, even. She leaned into his touch, soaking it up like water to parched soil. She could stay like this forever. What was the worst that could happen, held so carefully, wrapped by strong, capable arms and a gentle touch?

She did know one thing: there was more to Aekon than rescuing people through duty. This went deeper. Much, much deeper.

“You know, for a kick-ass rescuer, you sure know how to touch a woman,” she said.

He stiffened right through his body and his arms pulled away from her. Cold air splashed over her body where he’d been touching her. She wanted his arms back. Wanted his claws stroking back through her hair.

“What did I…?”

The sound of engines boomed overhead. Ava gasped as several craft burst over them, seemingly from nowhere. Bright lights flashed on their hulls. The engine sound changed to a whine as three vehicles landed close to the craft they’d crashed in, now engulfed in flames.

They were rescued!

Ava made to stand, but Aekon pressed her back down. She glimpse up at his hard expression. His eyes were trained right on the craft.

“What..?”

He nudged her out of his lap and helped to settle her on her feet. “We have to leave.”

His voice held a hard edge that made sleet run through her veins. Why wouldn’t they go to the people who had come to find them?

“I don’t understand…”

“Those are Ixod craft,” Aekon said.

The sleet in her veins turned to ice when the hatch opened and several of the lion-yetis jumped out. Their shaggy manes blew in the crisp breeze and at their hips rested blasters the length of their thighs. As they approached the burning wreck, several Ixod drew their blasters into their hands.

Aekon cursed, the expression on his face filling her with dread.

“We have to be quick.” His words were whip-sharp, tinged with urgency.

Ava tried to ignore her fluttering heart as Aekon scooped an arm about her waist and together they walked backwards and into the shadow of a boulder until they were completely hidden from the Ixod.

“I think I know now where we are, and it couldn’t be anywhere worse. We’re on the Ixod home planet, Venturi. If they discover there were survivors, our lives will at best be forfeit. If they catch us, pray that they end our lives quickly, because the alternative is best not to be dwelled upon.”

One of the Ixod shouted, a wordless sound that punctuated the air. Her world flipped and tilted as Aekon scooped her up and slung her over his shoulder. Then the wind was in her ears and the pounding of his feet over the gravel was as loud as her heart racing in her chest.

She might be rescued, but the way Aekon had picked her up without a word and bolted across the desert meant they weren’t just still in danger.

They were running for their lives.