by Marla Monroe
“Hey! What’s your problem?” he asked, staring up at the bronzed giant glaring with bared teeth at the man.
“Don’t ever touch her again. She’s not to be hurt in any way,” Veran snarled, speaking slowly, almost as if he was speaking to an imbecile or he was trying to form his words very carefully.
Derrick put both hands up in the air with his palms facing outwards. “Hey, I wasn’t hurting her. I’d never harm a woman.”
“Veran?” Gressen seemed to be asking the other male something.
Veran only shook his head and nodded toward her to continue. Della wasn’t sure what was going on, but it worried her. They couldn’t afford to make these huge aliens angry. Not only were they much larger than them, but the giants had weapons she’d never seen before. They looked like guns of some type, but she had no idea how they worked or the type of damage they’d produce.
She and Caro began making their way down the farthest hall until they reached the first closed door. She looked around until she spotted a section of pipe and, picking it up, she wedged the end between the edge of the door and the facing. As she started trying to dislodge the door, the shiny giants stared at each other then walked up to where she strained.
“You could help me here. I think you’re strong than I am,” she gasped out as she poured ever bit of strength she had into it.
“Step back, little one. We will open the door,” Veran said.
She frowned but relaxed and handed the pipe to him. He took it from her before dropping it to the ground and returning to the door. Della moved back to where Caro and Derrick had been pulled back out of the way and turned to see what they were going to do.
Both of the aliens placed their hands on the door, their muscles strained, and the door slowly crumpled inward from their combined strength. Once the top part had cleared the rail it had been on, Gressen grabbed it and pulled it toward him. He and Veran pulled the door from the opening and propped the warped metal against the hall wall.
“Fuck!” Derrick said in awe. “They could crush us like insects.”
Caro shivered next to her, and Della knew the feeling. That didn’t really scare her after how careful they’d been of her so far, but it did get her panties all wet with her juices. She couldn’t believe that she was turned on to the point her pussy was weeping by an alien—a bronzed one at that.
The two giants walked into the room that had obviously been an office. Slumped over the desk was a uniformed man with his head bashed in by the section of ceiling that had fallen in. Della quickly turned her head, having no wish to see it any more than she already had.
“I am sorry, this one is beyond assistance, and there are no other humans in this area. We shall move to the next location,” Gressen said.
“Are you okay?” Veran asked, his deep raspy voice so close to her ear she nearly yelped.
“Y–yes. I’m fine. Thank you,” she said, all flustered.
He stepped back from her but glared at Derrick as she watched. It thrilled her to some degree that he had stood up for her, but she really shouldn’t like that, should she? Derrick looked away from the bronzed giant and huffed out a breath in exasperation, but he didn’t try to stop her when she began walking along the far hall again either.
Once they reached the first door the giants split up into groups of two and proceeded to open every door along the long corridor. When a door was breached, they searched the room, then if there was a survivor, they called out for one of them to assure them the aliens were okay so the injured would allow them to help free them.
All in all the process ran smoothly and they quickly cleared that hall, managing to locate three survivors in stable but serious condition. It was decided that part of Gressen’s team would return to the holding bay with their charges then catch up with them later. Della was astonished at how strong the giants proved to be. They were able to open and burst through most of the doors with little trouble. It reminded her why she really shouldn’t be entertaining naughty thoughts about the bronzed skin god called Veran. He could easily crush her without batting an eye.
The next hall they entered was a complete wash. There were no survivors since much of the upper level had caved in. They had to navigate the hall in single file in several spots with all of the damage. When they reached the end, instead of turning around, she suggested going up to the next level.
“We’ve covered the only two halls I didn’t think had been checked on this level. There are two more levels. I figure our people are already on one of the upper levels searching now,” she told them.
Derrick shook his head but didn’t say a word. He also stayed far away from her and Veran, who’d seemed to have appointed himself her guardian. She couldn’t really blame Derrick, since the giant had basically threatened him.
Gressen nodded and turned to one of his men. “Lurick, check the safety of the shaft.”
The large light-gold-colored giant was about the same height as Veran. His skin color much lighter than Gressen, the large alien’s hair was a dusky gold and hung in a thick braid to his waist. He quickly slipped into the shaft she’d opened and disappeared from sight. Several long seconds passed before his feet appeared again and he dropped to the ground with a heavy thump.
“It is easily passible to the next level, but there is much destruction up there. I would not recommend the females go with us,” he said.
Gressen nodded and with a hand gesture sent his men to the passage tube. Della didn’t think it was a good idea for them to search alone. She turned to Veran and looked up at the tall male.
“Can’t we just go up and stand there in case you find someone? If you do, we can at least call out to assure them everything is all right.”
Veran stared into her eyes so that she could see more of those amazing pupils and the gold band around them. They were mesmerizing and had her forgetting what she’d asked when he grunted and began talking. She had to race to catch up with what he was telling her.
“Lurick says it is not safe. A female should never be placed in harm’s way. It is against all that is sacred to do so,” he said in the raspy voice that made her bones melt.
“We wouldn’t go anywhere that would be unsafe, I promise, but we need to be close by in case you do find someone up there. They will panic and possibly attack, not knowing you are trying to help. We’ve just ended up crash landing on a strange planet and none of us knew what happened or why.” She bit her lower lip, his strangely beautiful eyes following the movement. “Please, Veran.”
He looked over at his leader with a confused expression on his face. The other male chuckled at him and nodded.
“Only to the top where it is free of debris and safe. You will mind Veran at all times, as he has your health and safety in mind,” Gressen said, his mouth turned down in a serious frown now. “It is against my better judgment, but I feel you are right about any survivors we may encounter. The others were quite disturbed at our appearance.”
She turned to Caro, noticing Derrick turning away with a snarl on his face. She ignored the man and focused on Caro.
“If you don’t want to go, you can stay here with the others. They really only need one person up there,” she told her friend.
Caro smiled. “No way are you going up there without me. If Derrick had volunteered neither one of us would be heading up that shaft.”
“Are you sure?” Della asked.
Caro smiled. “I’m sure. Let’s go before they change their mind. I’d hate for one of our guys to shoot at them.”
They walked over to the shaft where Lurick had already returned to the next level and Caro ascended first with Della right behind her. She could feel Veran right on her heels and was glad she was wearing jeans instead of something more revealing. Once she reached the next floor, Lurick reached out and helped her from the tube but stepped quickly away once she had safely made it to the landing. Veran crowded her closer to Caro where the floor area was clear.
“Remain right here,” he sa
id. “We will search for your fellow humans.”
Less than five minutes later, an obvious human shout was heard immediately after the sound of a door being pulled out and dropped to the side. She heard Veran try and calm the man cursing and threatening him with no results. Just as she called out to let him know they were good guys trying to help, the sound of a gun’s retort made both she and Caro jump.
Chapter Four
“Oh, God! He shot one of them,” Caro cried out, coving her mouth with her hand.
Della didn’t wait to find out what had happened. She ran toward the sounds of scuffling, having to duck and twist several times to make it past the wreckage. Something tore at her shoulder as she ducked beneath broken and twisted metal to get to where she could hear the survivor yelling and the sounds of grunts.
The sight greeting her when she emerged out into the open again sent her heart into turbo thrust. Veran leaned against a fallen section of ceiling holding, his hand over his upper arm where he was actively bleeding. One of the crew of the shuttle was being held against what was left of a door, his lower left leg obviously broken and various open cuts and wounds littering his body, including a large cut on his forehead that had long since stopped bleeding. He was still trying to get away but lacked the strength to make any headway.
“It’s okay. Calm down. They are friendly and are here to help us get everyone out,” Della told him as she hurried to where Veran remained leaning against the wall.
She stood on her toes to try and get a good look at his injury, but the giant of a male glared at her and wouldn’t move his hand.
“You disobeyed our orders to remain where you were,” he said with a scowl.
“I heard the gunshot and had to be sure you were okay.” Realizing what she’d said, Della backpedaled to alter her statement. “I mean one of you might have been shot and I wanted to stop anyone else from getting injured.”
One arched brow told her he wasn’t buying her revised statement. She wasn’t either. With a sigh, she turned to shout at the man who’d shot Veran again.
“Hey. Calm down. I told you they are trying to help us. Relax and let them help you. Your leg is in bad shape,” she pointed out.
As if he hadn’t realized it before she brought his attention to it, the man began to moan and stopped struggling. The two men holding him relaxed their holds and carefully eased him to the floor.
Gressen brought the gun over to where she was still trying to check Veran’s wound.
“What is this? What did it do to Veran?” he asked, turning the pistol back and forth to look at it.
Della gasped and quickly jerked it from his grip, pulling out the nearly full magazine and removing a bullet from the chamber as well. She handed the now empty weapon back to him with a shaky smile.
“It was loaded and you could have shot yourself or someone else with it. Now it is empty and can’t hurt anyone. It’s an automatic weapon that shoots projectiles that pierce the skin and cause massive damage if it hits a vital area. Some bullets even explode on impact and widen the damage. If you find more of these, don’t pick them up until someone shows you how to handle them.”
Gressen nodded and handed the empty gun to one of his men. “Thank you. Veran. Are you greatly harmed?”
“No, it is nothing. We need to continue and quit this place before much longer. The suns will soon begin descending,” he said.
“Suns? As in more than one?” Della asked with a gasp.
Gressen smiled. “Yes, we have two life-giving suns in our solar system.”
“No wonder it’s so hot in here,” she muttered as she finally managed to get Veran to remove his hand from the wound so she could get a good look at it.
“Stay here and we’ll continue searching,” Gressen said without commenting.
“The bullet only grazed you, but you’re going to have a scar by the looks of the wide swash of skin it took off. Hold on and let me bandage it,” she said.
Veran didn’t say anything as she dug through the small pack she’d carried and pulled out a small package of gauze. Once she had the wound wrapped and the end tapped to keep it in place, she looked up to find the bronzed male watching her intently.
“What?” she asked, narrowing her eyebrows.
“I think he likes looking at you, Della. He hasn’t stopped since you grabbed his arm,” Caro said.
Della had forgotten all about the other woman. Evidently she’d followed her when she’d hurried toward the sounds of struggle. She didn’t look as if she’d hurt herself in the process, thank goodness.
“She is right. I could gaze on your beauty for hours without blinking,” Veran said.
The deep, raspy chords of his voice strummed along her spine like a pick on a guitar string. It vibrated against her clit and sent warm heat to her cunt until she was positive her panties were soaked. What was this alien doing to her?
“I’m going to check on the crew member,” Caro said with a small smile.
Della wanted to beg her to stay right where she was, but couldn’t form a single syllable to stop her. She’d never felt this way before, never gotten so turned on without a single touch to her body. Surely it was impossible to climax just from hearing someone talk to her that way. Yet right then, Della was almost certain she was on the edge of an amazing orgasm.
The sound of more shouts could be heard farther down the corridor. She wrenched herself from the trance-like state she’d fallen in to call out to whoever was panicking down the hall.
“It’s okay. They’re good guys trying to help us. Don’t fight them. Just let them help you get free!”
“Don’t go any farther,” Veran said in an almost pleading tone.
“I’m not. I just want to be sure they can hear me.”
“W–what are they?” A shaky voice called back.
“Levassians. We crashed on their planet after being sucked into a black hole. They are helping us find our survivors and are going to get the injured help.”
For the next hour, she and Caro tended to the crew member who’d finally passed out after the aliens had set his leg and stabilized it with some smaller pipes they’d found. She checked Veran’s arm several times to be sure it hadn’t started bleeding through the bandage she’d made for it and called out once more when an hysterical woman was found an hour into their search. The woman was now sitting next to the unconscious crew member holding her shoulder and arm while staring at Veran with wild, wide eyes.
Just as the aliens returned to where they were waiting, several of the search party that had gone out that morning scrambled through the rubble, skidding to a stop when they saw the giant men standing in front of them with Caro, Della, and two other injured survivors right in front of them. Caro was actually standing next to Gressen while Della was now almost partially hidden behind Veran, who’d reacted by placing himself between her and the new arrivals.
“What the fuck?” The Major said, going for his weapon.
“Don’t!” Della yelled, trying without much luck to push her way around the giant blocking her way. “They’re good guys. They’ve been helping us find our survivors and are going to help the injured.”
“Who are they?” he asked without taking his hand off of the butt of his gun.
“They are Levassians who inhabit this planet. This is Veran and that is their leader, Gressen,” she told him.
“You speak English?” John asked, his eyes shifting from one to the other of the two huge men.
“No. Not really,” Gressen said with a smile at the corner of his mouth. “We have translator chips that help us understand you. We have altered, um, speech mechanisms implanted so that what we say is translated into your language. All of our people have the translator chips, but only those of us in the guard are fitted with the speech implants.”
“Um, okay. Why are you helping us?” John asked.
“Because you need our help,” Gressen answered. His expression seemed to be one of confusion.
“Were we com
e from,” Della began. “If someone helps you, it’s usually because they want something from you.”
Both Veran and Gressen winced, giving Della the impression that perhaps that might still be the case with them. Her heart skipped a beat. Had it all been a lie to lure them into a false sense of safety?
“We mean you no harm and don’t want anything from you in return, but we are very happy to see that you seem to have an abundance of females with you. Our race has lost all but a very few of our females to a scourge that wiped them out as well as many of our young. None of the other life forms on the surrounding planets have been compatible with our species,” Gressen told them.
“You’re not taking our women!” one of the men with John yelled stepping forward.
John shoved him back. “Shut up, no one is taking anyone.”
“Were you able to complete the search of the rest of the vessel?” Gressen asked, changing the subject.
“Yes. We’ve just come from the upper levels. We’d planned to search here on the way back and sent the other two groups to search the last two corridors on the bottom level,” the Major said.
“We’ve already gone over the next level and those two halls. I hope Derrick warned your men not to attack the other Levassians we left below,” Caro said. “He wasn’t too happy that we’d come up here.”
“I guess we better head back down then and get the wounded we all have to the holding bay so they can be treated,” John suggested.
“That is a very wise decision,” Gressen said.
Several of the aliens along with four of the humans gathered up the injured and the unusual group began the slow task of moving their charges down the shaft to the next level, where Derrick and the rest of the search and rescue teams waited.
Veran went down the shaft first, which surprised her since he’d been insistent that he go first all the time. When she made it to the last wrung of the ladder, she understood why. Large, strong hands eased her down from the last step and held her behind him. The tension in the air had the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She could see around the big alien that there was a standoff of sorts going on between the last search party and the group left below with the injured. She had to hand it to Derrick, he was standing with the aliens and explaining to the others that they were helping locate the injured.