A Deal for Zeylum: A Sci Fi Alien Romance (Tallean Mercenaries Book 1)

by Lynnea Lee

  The memory of her small delicate hands inspecting and exploring his feet and claws at the inn sprung to Zey’s mind. There was a small amount of fear there, but also a lot of curiosity. Curiosity was good. He was curious as well, not only about their differences but about their similarities.

  “Shit!” Ashe stopped and lifted her foot to check the bottom of her shoes.

  Despite her choice of words, Zeylum saw that she hadn’t step in fecal matter. Rather, the soles of her shoes had started to peel away.

  “It’s okay. It’s not too bad,” she assured him. “Let’s keep going.”

  Instead of continuing their trek, Zey knelt and examined her shoes. They were beyond repair, not with the limited resources they had in their pack. He had known her footwear wouldn’t survive their trek, but the shoes gave out earlier than he had thought. He could carry her but wanted to reserve his strength in case it was needed. They needed a quick fix. He tore a strip of fabric off the hem of his top and proceeded to wrap it around her foot, shoes and all. He tied it tightly at her ankle. The strip of fabric held the sole onto the bottom of her shoes. It would have to do.

  “Thanks!” Ashe smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. His kneeling stance made it possible. “Let’s go.”

  It was at this moment that a large flying insect came swooping down at them with a loud buzz. The repellent had worn away throughout their hike. The thing was big, as with most of the insects on Vosthea. The higher oxygen level allowed for large insects. It was almost the length of his forearm, but Zey recognized it as a harmless species. It was probably just curious and came to investigate. Ashe shrieked and dropped to the ground, covering her head. She was shaking, terrified.

  Zey shooed the curious invertebrate away and dug out the canister to give them a good spray down with repellent. Ashe remained on the ground. Her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

  “It’s harmless, Ashe. You’re safe.” He tried to pull her up, but she collapsed back into a crouched ball the moment he let go.

  “Hey, little one, look at me.”

  When she didn’t react, he realized that she was still covering her head. She hadn’t heard him. He took her hands into his own and pulled her up again. Before she could crouch into a ball, he swooped her up into his arms.

  “Little one, look at me,” he repeated. “That thing was harmless. You are completely safe.”

  She was starting to hyperventilate. Zey needed to calm her now. The atmosphere on Vosthea was rich in oxygen to begin with, giving rise to the large insects, and hyperventilating here could quickly cause disorientation and seizures.

  “Breathe slowly.” He started breathing in an exaggerated way along with her. “In. Out. In. Out.”

  Eventually, Ashe calmed enough to speak.

  “I’m terrified of insects, especially flying ones. Even the tiniest, most harmless ones,” she explained, tears still on her cheeks. “I know it’s silly, but I can’t help it. I have no problem with snakes or heights or speaking in public, but put a little ant in front of me, and I’m a screaming mess.”

  Zey didn’t know what a snake or an ant was, but he got the idea loud and clear. His little female had a phobia. She challenged armed Dominion guards head-on but was rendered useless in the presence of an insect one-thousandths her size. It was quite endearing. He kissed at the tears still staining her face, tasting the saltiness.

  “Then, it is my job to rescue you from all insects.” He gave a smile, and she sniffed once and then smiled back.

  “You don’t think it’s stupid or silly?” she asked. “I hate feeling so useless or making a mountain out of a molehill, but these past few days brought out the worst in me.”

  “I have no clue what a molehill is, and everyone’s got a weakness.”

  “Ha! As if you are ever weak! Your only weakness right now is me!”

  Ashe didn’t know how close to the truth she was, but not in the way she intended. He carried her in his arms for a while as they continued along their route, but soon she insisted he let her down, oversized bug forgotten. They moved on downstream.

  The sun shone warmly through the foliage, and the stream they followed burbled contently. Absentmindedly, Ashe grabbed his hand and wove her little fingers into his substantially larger ones. Last night, in the dark, she had held onto his arm in fear and for guidance. But it was light now, and Ashe wasn’t acting frightened. Far from it, she was relaxed. He enjoyed the feel of her hands in his.

  Her bright mood reminded him of the interesting reaction she had back at the inn when he had stroked the bottom of her feet. He turned her hand in his until her palm faced upwards and stroked it with his thumb. No inadvertent pulling away or delectable giggle.

  She arched an eyebrow at him. “What are you doing?”

  “I want to make you react as you did at the inn when I touched your feet,” he explained honestly. “I enjoyed the sound of your laugh and the way you pulled away.”

  “Of all the people I could be stuck with, I end up with one who likes to tickle!” She blew out an exaggerated breath. “Next thing you’ll tell me you have a foot fetish too.”

  “Tickle?” He said the word in English, as the translator failed to find a suitable Tallean word. “Your feet are small and cute. I find them very beautiful, but no, I don’t have a foot fetish. But I love your reaction when I touch the bottom of your feet. I’ve never seen such a thing.” He paused. “Tickle.”

  “Yes, you tickled me. I laughed because I was ticklish.”

  “Is it harmful?”

  “I don’t think so. Unless you count laughing too hard as harmful or hitting something while jerking away.”

  “What does it feel like? Why do you laugh but pull away?”

  Ashe thought about his question. What did it feel like? Explaining ticklishness to someone who had never seen or felt it before was tricky.

  “It’s hard to explain. Not all humans are ticklish, either. It’s like being hypersensitive to touch. The sensation becomes too much, and I have to make it stop. I laugh even when I don’t want to.”

  “Is the bottom of your feet the only place that triggers this?”

  Ashe opened her mouth to list the common ticklish areas, but stopped herself, not wanting to add more firepower to his arsenal. “Yes,” she lied.

  Zey narrowed his eyes. “You’re not a very good liar, little one.”

  “Bah! Tell that to the guard I vamped!”

  “So it’s just to me that you can’t lie. Good. Now onto the ticklish locations. You will tell me now.”

  He thought he could just command her to do his will. Not bloody likely! He was so arrogant! Last night when he had ordered her to kiss him, she did so only because it was something she wanted to do anyway.

  “If you don’t tell me, I will find them myself. I love a challenge.”

  He reached for her then, and claiming both her hands in one of his giant palms, he held them in front of her, and he searched her torso with the other for ticklish spots. She steeled her face in a neutral expression.

  “You wouldn’t dare!”

  His questing fingers tickled the side of her ribs, and after successfully holding back the laugh for a few short seconds, she burst out into a fit of giggles and struggled ineffectively to get away.

  “But I would. Wait till we are back on my ship. In my line of work, it’s common to keep some interesting restraining devices on hand. I’ll find all the spots that tickle.” A delightfully sinful grin brightened his face.

  “You…you… argh!” she grumped when she couldn’t find an appropriate insult.

  “Admit it, you love it.”

  And she did. Maybe she even loved—she interrupted the thought before it could fully manifest. Ashe stuck her tongue out at him.

  “I’ve got somewhere you can put that tongue.”

  “I’ll bite.”

  “And if you do, I’ll turn you over and teach you a lesson right here.”r />
  “You, you asshole!” This time the insult came readily. She bared her teeth at him.

  The sound of a vessel flying overhead interrupted their playful encounter.

  “Fuck. It sounds like they’ve tracked the shuttle to the port.” He ran his hand over the top of his head, pushing back the strands of hair that had gotten free of his ponytail. His face turned serious.

  For a while there, Ashe had been so caught up with his company that she had forgotten the real reason they were traveling through the wilderness. This was no leisurely hike; they were running for their lives. A grim look settled on his features. Grabbing Ashe’s hand, he set a brisk pace downstream, their flirting cut short.

  They traveled through the afternoon, eating their rations on the go. By late afternoon, Ashe started to slow, and she developed a noticeable limp from the mismatched footwear though she tried her best not to make an issue of it. For the hundredth time since her abduction from Earth, she wished she had worn something more substantial that fated morning. At least she wasn’t wearing stilettos. She glanced down at Zey’s feet and envied his thick-soled boots. But as it seemed to happen every time, glancing at him always ended up with her checking out the rest of his perfect body.

  Zey cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows. Busted! It looked like she was caught checking out the goods. Ashe felt her chest flutter when he flashed her some seriously sexy and badass fangs. She had her very own fanged pirate, at least for now. She knew he didn’t think of himself as a pirate, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “So, you said you do some, um, commandeering of goods from Dominion ships. What happens to the crew of the ships you raid? Do you make them walk the plank?”

  “I’m not sure how I would make them walk a gangplank, or to what purpose, but I’m assuming that you are asking if I leave survivors. We usually stun those we can, then lock the crew in their own brig, leaving one person tied up on the deck. The ties are easily cut with a blade once we leave so he could release his crew. Of course, there are sometimes casualties. Those who fight back with lethal force will be met with the same. But most recruits in the Dominion value their lives over the goods they are transporting, so put up very little fight.

  “There are pirates who make a living stealing and pillaging. They are truly merciless and will target government and merchant ships alike, leaving no survivors. That’s not us. In fact, the members of our mercenary alliance are often hired to protect against those marauders. I have no problem killing to keep my crew or those I protect safe. It perpetuates my reputation for being ruthless. I am ruthless when it comes to protecting my own. I will do anything to protect those I care about.”

  Ashe slowly digested the information. He spoke of his violent life as if it was the most natural and normal thing in the universe. And if her experience so far was any indication, perhaps it was. But his next words stopped her from continuing with that thought. Or any thought for that matter.

  “This includes you, Ashe. I will protect you.”

  He will protect me? Does that mean he cares about me?

  “Of course, I do.”

  She had blurted her questions out loud! Belatedly, she pressed her palm to her mouth.

  Zey beamed at her, flashing another glimpse of his canines. Despite the strange vegetation and their less than ideal circumstances, Ashe felt content. If she tried, she could almost pretend they were just an ordinary couple back on Earth, taking a hike through a national park.

  They paused when the ground in front of them dropped down into a steep cliff. Beside them, the river became a waterfall, tumbling down in turbulent sheets.

  “We could follow the ledge and find an easier way down,” Ashe suggested.

  “No time for that. We are still too close to the port. We should be much further by now.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m slowing you down.”

  Ashe’s concern was genuine. She was beginning to suspect that her presence was bogging him down, slowing his escape. Now she knew for sure.

  “You’re not slowing me down. But if we go around the ledge, it will take too long. We will have to rappel down.”

  “You mean, you will rappel down. I’m pretty fit, but I doubt I could hold my weight on a rope for that long. That’s not a molehill.”

  “Again, no clue what a molehill is, but I’ll make a harness for you and lower you down slowly. Then rappel down myself.”

  “But you’ll be exhausted!”

  ”Exhaustion is the last of my worries. I’m more worried about leaving you on the ground undefended. But there’s no way around it. If the drop was smaller,” he thought aloud, “I can rappel both of us down with as we did this morning from the tree. But if your hold on me slips, I can’t save you. Lowering you down first is the safest way.”

  “Alright, Zey. I trust you.” And she did.

  Zey dug out the length of climbing rope from their pack and set to work tying a harness around Ashe’s hips and midsection, making a seat. He also strapped the pack securely onto her back. Then, he helped her over the edge and slowly lowered her hand over hand, instructing her to use her feet to prevent herself from hitting the rocks.

  Hanging off the side of the cliff, it felt as though she was the main character in an adventure movie. A surreal feeling overcame her as if she was watching herself rather than experiencing everything firsthand. Surely, this couldn’t actually be the person who just last week was sitting at her desk watching cat videos and updating her social media. This was another life altogether. Any moment now, she was going to wake up and realize that it was all a dream.

  Please don’t let this be a dream, she prayed. Ashe didn’t care that some Dominion asshole kidnapped her from her home. This experience was worth it. She decided that if she didn’t make it out of this grand adventure alive, it would still be worth it. Besides, if this was a dream, that would make Zey just a figment of her imagination, the hero in her adventure movie—a work of fiction. How depressing!

  Lost in that distressing train of thought, Ashe felt her feet brush the ground. She was safely down. She untied her harness and took off the pack, leaning it against a nearby tree. After tying the rope to a nearby trunk, Zey started down the sheer rock face.

  About time! Being separated from Zey even for a moment made her gut roil despite having visual and verbal contact throughout. She felt very alone and chastised herself for feeling so dependent on him. The idea that he could possibly be literally just a dream man didn’t help. She forced the thought to a halt and looked up to reaffirm that he was real.

  She watched in awe as he maneuvered himself down. He put the best mountaineers to shame with his cat-like grace. So much better than cat videos! The muscles on his body flexed with his movements. Ashe felt like one lucky bitch knowing that she could have that body whenever she wanted. Well, at least until he dropped her off at the colony. Being abducted from Earth was a good thing, after all.

  A clicking noise sounded in the bush behind her, and she whipped around, a feeling of dread invading her chest. Scanning the surroundings, she tried desperately to calm herself but failed.

  Breathe in, breathe out. Calm. Everything is going to be just fine. It’s all in your head. She didn’t believe it. The feeling of being watched made her skin crawl, and tingles of frisson shot up her spine. This was how it felt to be hunted. The clicking sounded again slightly to her right, and she let out an involuntary yelped, backing away towards the rock face.

  A blur of light brown flashed, and Ashe found a pair of large fangs coming at her. Screaming shrilly, she ducked and rolled just in time to get away. The beast looked like a cross between an overgrown lizard and a big cat. It was built like a lion with brown and beige mottled fur. But instead of paws, it had reptilian shaped feet with long talons on each clawed digit. Its saurian eyes glared at her with predatory intent as it swayed its head from side to side to judge the striking distance.

  She thought fast. The blaster! But she immediat
ely realized that the creature was between her and the pack. Remembering that they had camped in the trees to avoid the stalkers, she started to climb the rock face hoping that she could get high enough to avoid getting eaten. She only made it about six feet up the wall before the creature pounced. Pain lanced through her calf, and she screamed as she tumbled to the ground.

  Chapter 8

  Zey watched in horror as the stalker leaped, fangs and talons bared, at the defenseless female. His female. His beautiful, brave, but defenseless female. From where he clung onto the side of the sheer rock, he had heard the tell-tale clicks sounding insidiously from the forest below and had immediately increased his speed. He recognized that sound, a stalker about to strike.

  He shouldn’t have left Ashe on her own. Regret and guilt coursed through him. He was too high up; to jump from this height was suicide, even for him. He wouldn’t reach her on time. When Ashe ducked quick as lightning and rolled away from the onslaught, his lungs started working again.

  Her timely maneuver put the attacking stalker in between her and their pack, and Zey saw her eye it for a moment. Don’t go for it! She would be ripped to shreds before she got to it.

  To his relief, she turned to the wall, grabbed the rope, and started to scurry her way up, bracing her legs against the rock wall. Zey scrambled down towards the action unfolding below. Seeing that its prey was escaping, the stalker leaped, claws extended. A shrill scream and a flash of red blood saw Ashe being dragged off the rock face, the stalker attached to her calf.

  Zey bellowed a roar. Eyes blinded by rage, he jumped from the rocky heights. As he sailed through the air, he felt his fangs descend from the half retracted position in which it normally rested. The crease of skin at his cheeks unfolded, allowing his jaws to unhinge impossibly wide, an evolutionary trait that gave his species an advantage against larger foes.