Her Alien Rogue: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Voxeran Fated Mates Book 5)

by Presley Hall

  The weight of that responsibility settles on my shoulders, and I straighten my spine as I nod at him. “I understand. I’ll do everything I can to help.”

  “Thank you.”

  With that settled, Droth and Kaide move on to discussing a few details of the upcoming trip, and I pay close attention to everything they’re saying. It sounds straightforward enough. The plan is to reach Pascia in a few days of hard travel and handle the trading that needs to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible. The trickiest part will be getting the diamantum in the hands of someone capable of building a communicator with it.

  I don’t know exactly what kind of mineral diamantum is, but it’s clearly quite valuable and rare. We definitely won’t want to broadcast that we have it, especially not in a city full of criminals. I get the sense it’s sort of like carrying a pocketful of diamonds through the rough neighborhood back in LA.

  “Thank you, my prince.” As Kaide accepts the small pouch that contains the minerals from Droth, I can tell by the expression on his face that he feels the weight of this responsibility just like I do. Probably even more so, honestly. “We will do our best to return triumphant.”

  Droth claps him on the shoulder, and Charlotte shoots me a smile, although I can see worry in her eyes too. She’s had her own up-close-and-personal experiences with how dangerous Nuthora can be, so I understand her concern. But I’m grateful she vouched for me and took my side. I know Droth defers to her often on stuff that has to do with the human women, and without her putting a good word in, I’m not sure he would’ve agreed to let me join the mission so easily.

  As Kaide and I step out of the hut, a bubble of excitement rises up in my chest. Despite the dangers, I’m truly looking forward to going to Pascia. I’ve never been one to shy away from things just because they’re scary or difficult, and the chance to visit an actual alien city—albeit one on a prison planet—is too incredible to pass up.

  It’s almost dinner time by now, and Kaide starts walking in the direction of the large fire pit where we gather for the evening meal. I fall into step beside him, and we walk together for a few moments in silence before I glance over at him with a grin.

  “I have to admit, I wasn’t even sure you’d actually ask Droth,” I say with a chuckle. “But—thank you, Kaide. It really does mean a lot to me.”

  He stops walking suddenly, pivoting toward me and grabbing my arms so suddenly that I let out a surprised yelp. Just like he did the night he declared we were mates, he presses my back up against the wall of a nearby hut.

  But this time, there’s nothing teasing or seductive in his expression. His eyes don’t spark with the cocky fire I’ve gotten used to seeing in them. His grip isn’t tight, but I can feel the tension in every line of his body as he leans into me, his gaze boring into mine.

  “Promise me,” he murmurs roughly. “Promise me that you will be careful. That you’ll listen to me and follow my lead. I know you’re strong, but Pascia is chaotic and dangerous—even for trained warriors like me. If anything happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  It takes me a few seconds to work up a response. The sudden change in his demeanor has caught me so off guard that my mind is still playing catch up, trying to match this intense, vehement man with the flirtatious hotshot I’ve gotten to know.

  My usual impulse would be to fire back a sassy or sarcastic remark, or to insist that I don’t need anyone to look out for me. But I can’t seem to make any of those words come. Because for all of Kaide’s fierceness and hardness in this moment, there’s something else lurking in his eyes too.

  Fear.

  For me.

  And I can’t make light of that or brush it off, so I just nod, my gaze still locked on his face. “I will. I promise. I’ll follow your lead.”

  Kaide’s stiff shoulders relax, and his resolute expression slowly melts into an easy smile. He’s still holding my arms, I realize, as he rubs his thumbs over my biceps in a sweeping gesture. Goosebumps fan out across my skin from that point of contact like ripples on a pool, and I can feel my nipples harden into points.

  He must notice it too, because his cat-like gray eyes dilate. He drops his head a little, teasing me with how close his lips are to mine, and the sexy grin on his face grows even wider.

  “Is this how males on your planet woo their females? By allowing them to show their strength?”

  I think back to the few guys I dated back on Earth, and how all of them seemed threatened or annoyed by my stubbornness and independence.

  “No. Unfortunately.” I snort, although the sound comes out a bit choked as the slow movement of Kaide’s thumbs on my skin wreaks havoc on my heart rate.

  He chuckles. “Well, maybe they’ve been doing it wrong.” He releases me and steps back, and I have to work to keep myself from sliding down the wall. “I’ll see you at dinner, my kira.”

  With that, he turns and strides away, his tall, muscular form moving like an apex predator.

  I watch him go, still leaning against the wall. I’m not even going to try to push away from it until I’m sure my legs are steady enough, because I refuse to let anyone see that he made my knees weak.

  My pulse is still racing way too fast, and as I think about the journey we’ll start out on tomorrow, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve gotten myself in way over my head.

  In more ways than one.

  8

  Raina

  After dinner, I return to the large building where the women are housed and do what I can to get ready for the trip tomorrow.

  There’s not much of anything for me to pack, since all of my worldly possessions are still back on Earth—and even that wasn’t a lot. All I really have are some clothes I managed to scrounge up from the Foreigner II after it crashed, and they’re getting a little threadbare from frequent use and rough washings.

  “You could reinforce them with leather or something,” Ivy suggests when she notices me poking my finger through a hole in the knee of a pair of pants. “If you’re not ready to give them up entirely, I mean. Charlotte and Elizabeth gave us a bunch of leather pieces so that we could fashion some kind of clothing like they have if we want.”

  I look to where she’s pointing and see a stack of leathers sitting on a low table by the wall.

  “Thanks. I’ll try that.”

  The last thing I want is for my clothes to literally fall off my body while we’re trekking through the woods or in the city. It could draw unwanted attention in Pascia, and the idea of Kaide getting a look at much more of me than he’s seen so far makes my skin burn with an emotion I don’t want to name.

  As I wrestle with the leather, finding ways to use it to reinforce my worn clothing, Demi cocks her head at me. “I can’t believe you actually want to go exploring more of this planet. I feel like I’ve already seen too much.”

  I shrug. “When else will I get a chance like this?”

  “I don’t know,” Ivy puts in glumly. “If we’re really stuck here for the rest of our lives, then it seems like there’ll be plenty of opportunities.”

  “Yeah, but if that communicator thing that Droth wants to build actually works, maybe we’ll find a way off Nuthora,” Felicity points out, twisting her dark blonde hair into a knot at the back of her head as she glances over at us. I don’t know her well, but she’s got a practical, no-nonsense attitude that I like.

  “Maybe we’ll get to go home.” Demi sighs longingly.

  Ivy wrinkles her nose. “Do you really want to, though? Even if it were possible? Hell, if anyone from the government found out you made it back, they’d probably kill you just to cover up the shit they did. Do you know what a massive human rights violation that is? Shipping your own citizens into space against their will? Especially since it’s extremely clear they knew exactly what they were selling us for.”

  Sex slavery, most likely.

  The idea makes my stomach churn, and I must not be the only one, because the rest of the women fall silent for a while.<
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  “That’s why I want to go on this trip,” I say finally, a little surprised at the conviction in my words. “Because like Ivy said, I don’t want to go back to Earth. I don’t want to go back at all. I want to go forward. If we never end up getting off Nuthora, then I want to get to know this place, to learn the lay of the land so it doesn’t scare me anymore. And if there’s a chance that this communicator could really help Droth and the others find a way to get us out of here, then I want that too.”

  A few murmurs of agreement rise up from the other women. I’m sure some of them still think I’m crazy, but it doesn’t really matter. I’ve never marched to the beat of anyone’s drum but mine, and I know why I’m doing this. That’s all that matters.

  After a restless night of sleep, my eyes pop open as the first gray light of dawn is beginning to creep through the small windows of the women’s barracks. I’m instantly awake, my mind alert and my body already buzzing with adrenaline. It’s a pretty handy substitute for caffeine, although I still miss coffee like an old friend.

  I rise from bed quietly and dress, then sling the small bag I packed last night over my shoulder. After wrestling with the pieces of leather for a while last night, I realized that patching up my old clothes wasn’t going to work as well as I’d hoped. So I ended up going for a compromise. Instead of the full leather top and skirt combo some of the women have gone for, I fashioned a few simple leather wrap-around tops and sacrificed my old shirts to patch up my pants.

  The effect is sort of “dystopian punk-chic,” but I’ll take it. I have no idea what kinds of things we might encounter on this journey, and I’ll feel more prepared to face whatever may come our way if I’m wearing pants I know I can move and fight and not flash someone in.

  A few Voxerans are already up and about as I make my way down the narrow packed-earth streets of the village. It takes a lot of work to sustain a fully functional settlement in the middle of nowhere, and I respect the way everyone pitches in to do their share. It’s part of why I’ve always been so adamant about making sure to carry my own weight.

  Kaide and a couple other warriors are standing by the village gates, and from the way his gaze sweeps up and down my body, I think I must’ve made my outfit sexier than I meant to by accident. Then again, it’s entirely possible that he would look at me this way even if I’d shown up in a burlap sack.

  Maybe it’s not so much the clothes as what’s under them.

  Me.

  Dragging my mind away from that thought, I nod in greeting as I reach the gathered men. “Morning. Are we ready to go?”

  “Almost. We’re just waiting on Bohrir.”

  Kaide grins at me, and I can practically see the exhilaration glimmering behind his eyes. Despite the danger and seriousness of our mission, I can tell he’s looking forward to this, and I’m not surprised. He strikes me as the kind of man who gets bored without a little bit of action to spice things up from time to time.

  There are a few packs of supplies on the ground, and Kaide picks up one of the smaller ones and holds it open for me, allowing me to put my small bag of personal items and clothes into it. We’re not bringing much, by the look of it. The men all have weapons, and it appears there are enough packs for us to each carry one, but they’re not as large or overstuffed as the ones we carried to the village when we left the crash site with as much as we could possibly salvage from the ruined ship.

  Somewhere in one of the packs, I’m sure the diamantum is carefully hidden away, along with the bag of gems that Kzuri and Gemma brought back from the mine they were imprisoned in after raiders captured them. I’m not sure what else we’re bringing to trade with, but I’d guess it’s a variety of plants and animal parts foraged from the wilderness around the village—things that for some reason or other will have value to the city dwellers.

  As I finish storing my clothes in my pack, Bohrir arrives. He’s one of the largest of all the Voxerans, which is saying something. He’s a bit taller than the others, but more than that, he’s just… big. His shoulders are broad and muscled, and although there doesn’t seem to be an ounce of fat on him, he’s built like a tank. It’s ironic that the most terrifying looking of all of these warriors is also the most sweet-natured, but that definitely seems to be the case. There’s a gentleness about him that I would never have expected at first glance.

  “Finally.” Kaide shakes his head good naturedly. “Were you dreaming of Vox?”

  “No point in dreaming when we’re closer than we’ve ever been to finding a way back home,” Bohrir says in his deep, rumbling voice, nodding his head toward the pack that must contain the diamantum. “Let’s go.”

  Kaide lets out a satisfied whoop at that, hefting a pack onto his shoulders as the other men do the same. I follow suit, pursing my lips to keep from grinning. Kaide can be almost boyish sometimes, and as much as I hate to admit it, it’s a welcome change from how serious these Voxerans often are.

  We head out through the gate as the sun starts to fully crest the horizon, making the arc of the ring that surrounds Nuthora stand out even more than usual. I squint into the distance, a surge of excitement rising in my own chest as I stare out at the forest beyond.

  Here we go.

  Back in LA, I used to walk a lot. The public transportation system sucked, and I didn’t have a car, so it was usually the easiest way to get from point A to point B.

  As the day wears on, I find myself feeling grateful for that. I’ve got good endurance, and it helps me keep up with the four Voxeran warriors and their long legs. Almost as soon as we left the village, Kaide found his way to my side, and he hasn’t really left it since. The intensity and seriousness that I saw in him yesterday after we left Droth’s cabin has faded, replaced by his usual flirtatious, cocky confidence. He keeps up a steady stream of banter as we walk, often making me laugh in spite of myself, and the other warriors seem amused by him too. Honestly, it helps the time pass more quickly than walking in silence would, and by the time we stop for a break at midday, I’m surprised at how much distance we’ve already put between us and the village.

  The men packed some food—dried meats and fruits and things—but we forage for our lunch so we won’t have to dip into our supplies yet. We settle by a stream to rest a little as we eat the tari fruit we picked, and I glance around at the gathered warriors as I chew.

  “So, tell me a little more about Pascia. I want to know what I should expect.”

  Orin grunts. “It’s a slanching cesspool.”

  I lift an eyebrow at his blunt assessment, and Kaide chuckles.

  “He’s not wrong,” Kaide tells me, coming to lean against the fallen log where I’m resting.

  He leaves about a foot of space between us, but my body reacts to his proximity anyway, much to my annoyance. Sometimes it feels like we’re two magnets or something, and the closer we get, the stronger the pull between us becomes. As though if he moved just an inch or two closer to me, some invisible force would push us together the rest of the way. It’s an unnerving feeling, and I struggle against it every time I feel it, the stubborn, independent streak I’ve cultivated in myself rising up full force.

  I roll my eyes at him, careful not to move any closer to the handsome warrior. “I’ve seen cesspools before. Hell, I lived in one. Got any more specifics for me?”

  Kaide laughs. He tilts his head back as he thinks, and dappled sunlight falls across his hair, picking up dark red highlights in the brown strands.

  “Well, it was built entirely by prisoners,” he says. “As far as I know, there were no structures at all on Nuthora when it first became a prison planet—although they didn’t exactly give us a history lesson when they dropped us on this godsforsaken rock. The place is run by prisoners too, dominated by criminal overlords who’ve gained control of various pockets of the city. Some parts of it have been developed into elaborate, impressive buildings, and other parts are slums, with shacks crammed together too tightly and the smell of death in the air.”

 
“There’s a reason we built our village so far away from Pascia,” Ochar adds. “The surrounding area can be dangerous, as gangs from the city rove the woods looking for isolated prisoners to prey on.”

  “And to live in the city itself, you either have to exist under the thumb of whatever crime lord rules your district or fight for control of your own small section of the city—and then maintain it against those who want to take it from you.” Bohrir runs a hand through his shaggy black hair. “Neither of those options appealed to us.”

  “There are battles worth fighting,” Kaide tells me sagely, although his eyes still gleam with amusement as usual. “Our rebellion against the usurper, Drokar, was one of them. But fighting with a bunch of criminals for control of a meager piece of a city on a prison planet is not.”

  Ochar chuckles, throwing the pit of his fruit at Kaide, who nimbly ducks out of the way. “You say that as if you didn’t get into a fight the very first time we went to Pascia. I’m surprised Droth has ever let you go back.”

  I raise my eyebrows, fixing Kaide with a look. “A fight, huh?”

  He grins, completely unabashed. “One of those slanching criminals insulted my people. I had to defend the honor of all Voxerans.”

  “Ah, yes.” Bohrir chuckles. “For our honor. It couldn’t have been because you were still angry and looking for a fight after Drokar’s guards overpowered us and he banished us here.”

  “Well, that too.” Kaide chuckles, but the quick flash of anger in his expression lets me know that his friend’s assessment is definitely accurate.