Page 4 of Veras (Nozaroc Alien Warrior #2)

P ain. Searing agony pierced my gut and my head. A not-so-subtle reminder that I wasn’t dead yet . I must still be bleeding out. Plus, the withdrawals from the Oro felt severe. I’d lived on the brink of death so long; I should have been used to it.

But pain is pain. Hurts just as bad every time.

Too traumatized to open my eyes, I wasn’t ready to see my crumpled body being eaten by a massive beast. So, I concentrated on the most delicious smell I’d ever inhaled, even before abduction.

It lilted over and around me. As I focused on its warmth, the pain faded—inch by inch.

Eventually, I felt good enough to take in my surroundings, realizing my head rested on scaly heat.

If this were death, I’d be content. Throw in some tamales and horchata, and I’d be a happy camper.

While floating in bliss, I felt the slightest pull on my hair. Goosebumps erupted on my scalp. Aah… It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who was touching me, but I chose to block out reality for a few seconds more.

When the tugs grew bolder, I pried open an eye and came face to face with a giant swirling ball of tangerine-colored intensity almost the size of my face. I should have jumped. Internally, I freaked the fuck out, but my body didn’t have the capacity to react. It had reached its limit.

He studied me for a few seconds more, huffed, and then nudged at my legs, burying its head between my thighs.

“Oh, hey. Stop it!” As weak as I was, I still protested, though the warm gust of air coasting over my uncovered lady bits felt amazing.

The Aavvee had given me no undergarments…

no clothes of any kind. I had fashioned my tarp-dress out of a sack they used to haul the killer caterpillars they sucked up like caviar.

The alien-dragon huffed again and opened its huge mouth. It had hundreds of shark teeth, the size of baseball bats, and they came straight at me.

Dios mio. I couldn’t even raise a fist to fight it off. In one chomp, it grasped the hem of my dress and whipped it off me. In another blink, it snuffled me with its long snout, snorting and inhaling like my dog used to do when I hid her treats.

Damn, I hadn’t let myself think about Gorda in years and instantly my heart hurt worse than my body. Plus, it made me miss Nito more.

The beast lifted its head and studied me again, unrolling a long, spotted tongue.

Ugh, if I never saw another tongue, it wouldn’t be too soon.

But this one was a completely different shape and color from the Aavvee, and thankfully, held none of the stench.

The brutoo licked my stomach clean, paying special attention to the gash in my side.

Horrified, I mustered the last of my strength and swatted at its bony nose. “ Stop .”

It huffed again and dug the tip of its pointy tongue into my gash.

“Aaagh!” Pain lanced me. But I no longer fought against the monster; I strained toward it. “Just do it then. Get it over with. Eat me!” Luckily, my brain and body gave out. Depleted of all energy, I slipped into darkness.

***

I cracked my eyes open and immediately mourned the loss of the gorgeous scent, the one that made me feel like I could float on a cloud.

I also felt… no discomfort. I squinted in the dark, allowing my eyes to adjust to the velvet dusk surrounding me.

A media luz — perpetual twilight lit by a golden glow, resembling the moment the sun kissed the horizon.

I reached for the hem of my dress to inspect my wound, but realized I was butt naked and alone.

No giant beast, no clothes, and, blissfully, no agony.

It’d been exactly five years since I’d felt this normal.

The few times I’d gotten my hands on more than a few drops of Oro, I’d come close to this, but for once, I was just my normal self.

Gracias a Dios.

The jagged edges around my wound were clean.

I’d almost forgotten the warm acorn color of my skin.

Every other exposed inch was covered in flaky black dust. But my side, where I’d been stabbed by Creeper, was an angry pink.

Healed. Either I’d been asleep for weeks, or the beast’s spotted tongue held healing properties.

Gratitude overwhelmed me, and for the first time in years, I almost cried.

Almost . It’d been so long since someone besides Nito had offered me kindness. My constant companion. I felt his loss. Had those tornadoes destroyed him? Would he be trapped in their whirling vortex forever? This time, I couldn’t hold back. I slumped against the craggy wall and sobbed.

My tears flowed over my cheeks, dripped off my chin, and plopped on the ground. A familiar clicking sound tickled my ears, and like clockwork, furry, crab-like insects skittered around me.

I didn’t flinch as they collected my tears, using tiny mandibles to gather the water in dirt bundles and carry them off.

They even swarmed my hands, but I had long made peace with these mini alien vacuum cleaners.

No matter what waste or fluid or anything dropped on the floor, they would appear, wrap up their bundles, and descend back into the walls.

The familiarity of the little buggers brought me back to the present.

But I wasn’t in my cave-cell. I was… somewhere else with an alien-dragon that smelled so good I could almost taste it.

Scrambling to my feet, I glanced around and realized I was trapped on a ledge.

I also spied my sack dress on the floor.

I winced and shoved it on, disgusted by the filth but grateful I wasn’t completely naked.

It was torn, but it covered the important parts.

Willing myself to be brave, I crawled forward and peered over the edge.

My breath caught in my throat. I gazed out at a waterfall of molten gold.

Beyond my little perch was an alien jungle that stretched as far as my eyes could see.

Miles above me, I spied twinkling lights that resembled stars but, on closer examination, resembled diamonds or crystals embedded in the rock.

The foliage surrounding the falls and lake ranged in color from the lightest pink to deepest purple. The ground was not dirt colored, but instead the deep black of the mountains. Everything, living and inanimate, was streaked in gold.

This is paraiso. Total paradise.

If I could just get my ass off the ledge, I could put some more distance between me and the chicken aliens. There was no place to jump, at least nothing my human legs could traverse. But if I knew anything about this planet, it was riddled with caves and apparently portals, too.

I stood on tiptoe and felt for an opening in the rock around me. Nothing. I leaned as far on either side of the ledge as I could. Also solid as, well… rock. Finally, when I peeked below the overhang, I saw a skinny branch protruding beside a doggy-door-sized opening.

Hell yeah.

A dark shape landed on the ledge behind me. I couldn’t see it, but I felt the danger immediately. I reached for the branch and bent my knees to jump.

Right before I lunged, I heard, “Where do you go, Earther?” His voice was pitched impossibly low, so low it felt like it vibrated my organs.

Ay Dios! The ledge seemed to shrink upon his arrival. What should I do? Jump? Spin around and kick the talking dragon in the face? Because that was who it had to be. The same amazing smell had returned the minute the deep voice materialized.

I didn’t move. It didn’t speak again. Maybe we could both pretend the other didn’t exist and what… sit on the ledge forever? Taking the biggest and deepest breath of my life, I turned around and faced… a large and very naked alien.

Not a dragon-beast, not an Aavvee, thank God, but not a man either. At least, not a human one.

I recognized the wideset tangerine eyes.

His oversized corneas shifted and swirled in the same mesmerizing pattern as the wind.

Instead of white sclera on the outside of his irises, his were violet.

A sense of connection and peace, the same that I’d felt when watching the beast in the arena flowed over and around me.

It felt… nice, which was uncomfortable. I didn’t trust it.

At all. Nothing nice ever happened in this world.

“Earther? That is the name of your planet. Is that how I should address you?” His voice crashed over me like a satin wave.

He crouched down, miles of copper flesh before me.

A glittering mist rose off him like steam, as if he were made of molten gold.

Four large spikes jutted down his spine, and two more poked out from his elbows.

“Speak. I have heard your thoughts, so I know you can think. Or perhaps they harmed your ability to communicate in some way?” He leaned forward, and I flinched away from his oddly shaped hand.

Two arms, two legs, and… four thumbs? Two on each hand.

One in the normal spot, another much lower, near his wrist. And his shoulders were the width of two men—his proportions impossibly broader and wider than humans.

As my gaze ate him up, it snagged on his right arm, which was covered in a golden tattoo—even deeper and richer than his skin.

“You. Speak?” He pointed at his mouth. The motion brought his own lips into sharp focus.

They were bowed and full, but sharp canines protruded over the bottom one.

Above the spiky teeth, he had no nostrils, only fine slits, two on each side.

They fluttered with each indrawn breath.

The bridge of his nose resembled a finely curved blade.

His thick black hair had no resemblance to a human mane.

The sides of his head were bare, like a mohawk.

The thick quills, similar to a porcupine, streamed over his shoulder blades.

Even with the oversized eyes, strong nose, and sharp teeth, he might be the most gorgeous being I’d ever witnessed.

His proportions were different yet came together in perfect symmetry.

“What are you called?”

Truena. My name is Truena. How many times had I repeated that to myself when I’d first been kidnapped? Now, I had no real attachment to the name. I had grown used to Pet.

“Truena? Or Pet if you prefer.”

Is this golden pendejo reading my—

“Thoughts? Of course. You know we communicated in the arena. Were you not speaking to me?”

No, well… maybe? I don’t know.

“How else would I communicate with you? You shout quite loudly in your mind; I couldn’t avoid your thoughts if I tried.

You have a direct way about you. Yet you refuse to use your voice.

” He leaned in and came into clearer focus.

“In the arena, such a lovely sound flowed from your full lips. Speak to me.”

Focus, boba. You’re letting precious minutes of planning go by.

No alien was a good alien. I’d learned that the hard way.

Many times over. So, no matter how divine he smelled, or how soothing his voice, or how super-hot he looked—I wouldn’t allow myself to trust him.

After so many years of hiding, never speaking, and always keeping guard, it felt impossible to communicate.

I scootched back to the very edge of the ledge, and waves of feelings battered me, sharp and almost desperate.

“Please do not jump, Earther. You will die .” He reached out, but I leaned farther back. “I will die along with you to keep you safe.”

I cocked my head to the side. As if.

“It’s true. A life for a life. You saved mine. I am… yours.”

What? The intensity of his resolve battered me, but I still couldn’t quite wrap my mind around it.

If only I could believe him.

“You do not trust me?” He sounded tortured.

He rested his hand against his chest, his two thumbs tapping a silent beat.

In that moment, he took my breath away because his beauty, and sincerity, shone bright.

“I don’t blame you. You have survived much.

” He canted his head to the side. “I find I am particularly fascinated with you.”

I froze, stunned by his words. No one had offered understanding or a conversation without a command since I got here.

He stood, pointing toward the falls way down in front of us. “We must head there. There is an outpost where we can gather supplies. Do you hunger? You would like to bathe, would you not?” He glanced back at me, pointedly running his eyes over my filthy skin.

I should have been deeply insulted. Yes, I stunk. I opened my mouth to blast him and quickly shut it in disbelief. I couldn’t formulate words coherently because when he stood, he’d given me my first unencumbered view of his dick.

Or lack thereof.

The poor, beautiful bastard only had a lump where his pito should have been. No pork and beans. Nothing. What a waste. All that delicious smell flowing off miles and miles of golden muscle, and he had no goods to back them up.

How devastating.

But safe. I relaxed the tiniest bit. Maybe I could go with him. I followed his pointer finger with my eyes and sighed. This place truly was paradise. Oro sparkled everywhere. Tiny particles danced and floated around luscious flora and fauna in every imaginable color.

The idea of food and a shower made the smallest kernel of hope take root inside of me. Life held no guarantees, but for the first time in a lifetime, I was out from under the Aavvee rule. I would embrace every second of this reprieve and look at it as one step closer to Plan A or B.

“Let’s go,” I whispered and watched as he spun around and shivered.

His golden gaze locked onto my mouth. And for the first time, I felt the heat of desire bloom between my legs—the intensity swift and unusual.

Nothing on this planet had enticed me even a tiny bit, so the feeling was something I almost didn’t remember.

“Come. The dirt coating you is truly offensive. Let’s make our way to the outpost quickly.” He shook his head. “There is only so much time before we are discovered here.”

Poof . Just that fast, my desire shriveled and died, a stark reminder that nothing good ever came from this fakakta planet.