by Ashley West
It wasn't Aedian's place, and he knew that, but he also knew that he had a burning need to know what was going on.
So he slammed his own fists down on the table in rapid time until the arguing faded away and everyone turned to stare at him. "That is enough," he said, voice quiet and disdainful. "I am sure we weren't summoned here for this." And then he made a show of turning to look at Prias, handing control of the meeting back to the head before he could be accused of being an upstart or issuing a challenge.
Prias looked surprised, but he inclined his head to Aedian in a gesture of thanks and respect. "Aedian is quite right," he said. "I did not call you here to listen to you bicker and snipe at each other. That is not our way. We do not fight our own kind for no reason. Do I need to remind you all what it means to be a Calphesian?"
Everyone knew that reminder would be harsh and most likely painful, so they shook their heads, falling silent and obedient once more.
"Good," Prias continued. "We have called you all here for a reason, and it is a grave one."
"The Platoks?" Demos asked, and Prias inclined his head once more.
"Yes. They've been sighted headed this way. There is nothing to be gained from any of the other planets in this system, so it's clear they mean to come for us."
That wasn't necessarily a surprise, but somehow the news was still startling. The Platoks had been wanting to usurp control from the Calphesians for longer than anyone in the room had been alive. It was just a fact, and now that they'd had to flee, the Platoks had an advantage. Earth was much less defensible than Calphas had been, and they didn't have the force they'd had on their home planet. Not to mention the fact that the humans were weak and couldn't defend themselves adequately, meaning there would be plenty of collateral damage.
Somehow that didn't sit right with Aedian. Before, he wouldn't have cared all that much about the humans and what happened to them, but after spending time with Roxanne and her family, he could see that humans weren't as worthless as he'd assumed. They had lives and families and the Calphesians had already interrupted those with their presence. A full on war with the Platoks on their planet would only make things worse.
"The blame lies with us," Aedian was saying before he could think better of it, and heads and eyes turned to look at him. "We've brought this here."
Prias sighed and then nodded. "You are right. If it weren't for our presence here, the Platoks wouldn't dare come this far. The humans are no threat to them, and the Platoks don't want Earth for its resources. There's no other reason for them to be making the journey."
To be honest, most other races thought that humans were like vermin and that the reward for wiping them off their planet and taking it for themselves wasn't worth what they'd have to go through to get it. It was unlikely that the Platoks knew about the treaty and how easy it had been to work with the humans, so they were probably just coming for them.
"Do you think they've destroyed everything else in their path?" Shiia wanted to know. "To be coming all the way out here, they must be quite confident."
"We don't know," one of the heads on the screens said. "We've just been monitoring the situation and the streams to Earth, and they're in one heading fast towards this planet."
"How many ships do they have?"
"Five."
That wasn't so many. The Calphesians had come to Earth with more than that. "Do they think us so weakened?" Aedian asked.
"Possibly," Prias replied. "They have always underestimated us, and they no doubt think Earth has softened us."
To some extent it had, Aedian knew. They were lying with humans now, eating their food, living among them. Life here was not as harsh as it had been on Calphas and that was one of the things that had made them strong. They hadn't had another choice. Between the harsh living on their home planet and the other races that were always trying to fight them, there hadn't been any place for softness before. But things were very different on Earth, and the Platoks clearly wanted to capitalize on that.
"Are we really going to fight for the humans?" someone asked in the ensuing silence. "Fight and die for them?"
"No one has said anything about dying, Oberon." Demos pointed out.
Oberon huffed, folding his arms over his bare chest. "It doesn't need to be said, Demos. Fighting leads to death, we all have experienced this in some way. And would the Platoks dare to challenge us if they did not think they had an advantage? They have never once beaten us, and they know that. For them to be trying now means they have new strength."
It was a good point. An unsettling point.
"And so what do you suggest, Oberon?" Prias asked.
"We abandon the humans to their fate and find a more defensible position."
More silence followed that pronouncement. Oberon was one of the former champions as well, and such a cowardly thing wasn't usually said by Calphesian champions.
"You have a human life mate," Demos pointed out. "You would abandon her?"
"No," Oberon replied like that much was obvious. "We would take women with us. They are useful for reproduction."
Disgust rose like bile in Aedian's throat, and it was a curious thing. He didn't think he had changed that much, but just weeks ago, he would have been of the same opinion as Oberon, not seeing the point of risking his neck for beings he felt were beneath him. But something about Roxanne had changed his perceptions. If she was so strong, so willing to stand up to him and for what she believed in, then perhaps all humans weren't worthless.
"That would be a weakness," he said, speaking up. "To leave them to something they neither courted nor deserve."
"They didn't court us coming to destroy them either," Oberon pointed out. "And yet."
"And yet we didn't destroy them," Prias added. "They proved they were worthy of bargaining."
Oberon scoffed at that. "Bargaining. What do I care for that? We could have captured their women and ended up in the same position but with less of them around."
"You are a coward, Oberon," Demos said. "You want to flee. When have we ever fled from the Platoks? Your ancestors would be ashamed."
"You know nothing about my ancestors," Oberon spat. "Or about common sense, it seems. How can we defend ourselves if we're defending them?"
Aedian couldn't deny that it was a good question, and his head was buzzing with questions of his own and worries and, loath as he was to admit it, fears. The Platoks had never been a match for them before, but things were so different now.
Prias banged his hands again. "We are not abandoning Earth," he said firmly. "And that is the Word of the Head. If you try to leave here, you will be executed and the stain will be never be removed. Oberon, you shame yourself and those before and after you with your words."
Oberon fell silent, but his eyes shone with anger.
"I think he has something of a point, though," Aedian said. "About defensible positions."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning it would be pointless to allow for a slaughter. I'm not saying that we should leave Earth, but we should build our defenses. Find the best place to fight them. Surely we still outnumber them well."
Strategy wasn't their usual thing, especially when it came to the Platoks. Usually they just rushed in, weapons at the ready and destroyed anything in their path. But Prias seemed to be considering it.
"It will take them several more days to get here," he said. "Even with the stream. We will confer and figure out the best course of action."
It was as good as an admission that the head didn't know what to do just yet, and Aedian felt worry churn within him. It was an unpleasant feeling, all things considered.
"For now," Prias continued. "We will leave the humans ignorant. Tell no one but your fellows of this. We will spread the word through the compound and continue our preparations. When the time is right, we will alert the humans. There is no need to cause a panic among them."
Everyone nodded their assent at that, and the meeting broke up. They all looked much more tense than th
ey had when they'd filed in, and Aedian kept his head down as he left. No doubt Oberon would want to make an issue of being called out in the meeting, but Aedian had other things on his mind just then.
A part of him wanted to tell Roxanne anyway. He didn't think she'd like having the news sprung on her, but in the end, he decided against it. Things were going well between them, and he didn't want to ruin that with the kind of strain that worry brought.
Decision made, he headed for the practice area of the arena. At the moment, he really needed to hit something.
Chapter 9: In the Interim
Roxanne came awake with a startled blink and a yawn, frowning into the pillow. It was always so hard to tell what time it was in the compound, since it took forever for the sunlight to reach the windows with the way the compound was shaped.
The room was still dimly lit, shadowed and quiet, and she considered just trying to go back to sleep. She had a tentative plan of talking to Aedian about how she wanted to work and keep living her life, but from the snuffling breaths she could hear and feel on her neck, he was still mostly asleep.
There was no big rush for her to get up, and she was warm and comfortable, and not twitching with the need to get away from her husband to be, so she settled back down, snuggling under the covers more and pressing back until she could feel Aedian’s warmth all along her back.
Of course, that wasn’t all she could feel, and her eyes went wide as the sensation of Aedian’s half hard cock pressing against her bottom registered.
It made sense that Calphesians got morning wood just like humans did, but she’d never experienced it before, and she had to press a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. She pressed back a bit more, gasping softly at how hot and hard he already was.
Roxanne knew that Aedian had gone to bed naked, as he usually did, and she could feel that rigid skin and the warmth of him through her shorts, and she got wet in an almost Pavlovian response to it.
She didn’t think she could be blamed for that. Considering the pleasure she’d received from that particular appendage in the weeks that they’d been sleeping together, and an idea entered her mind. Roxy thought it over carefully. She’d seen things on television where women woke their men up with their mouths around their cocks under the covers, moving slowly and carefully until the men came to and tangled their fingers in their ladies’ hair and moaned and swore about how good it felt.
It would be an interesting experiment to see how Aedian would react to it, but she was a bit worried that in a race of creatures so prone to violence, his reaction would be to assume he was under attack and act accordingly.
Roxy didn’t see how anyone could think a morning blowjob was the same as an attack, but it only took one time for it to happen before he knocked her head off or something.
Probably best to wake him up, first.
She turned over in the bed and pressed a hand to his chest carefully, sliding it up and into his thick hair. From there, she slid light fingers over the curves of his horns, wondering if he could even feel the touch there, thick as they were.
His breathing stuttered for a moment, and Roxanne made to take her hand back, but before she could, those silvery eyes were opening, pinning her to the spot.
“Um. Good morning?” she offered with a sheepish smile, pulling her hand away from him.
“You don’t have to stop,” he rumbled, voice a sleepy rasp.
“Oh.” Well, that was surprising. “Can you feel that?” she asked, stroking along the curl of one horn.
He shook his head slowly, closing one eye and watching her with the other. “Just feels like warmth,” Aedian explained. “It’s nice, though.”
Roxanne smiled and kept the stroking up. With a smirk, she slid her other hand down his chest to his stomach, fingering the hard muscle there for a moment before letting it go lower to touch his cock.
Aedian jumped a bit and then let out a breathy sigh, his hips canting forward a bit.
“Is that okay?” Roxanne asked.
He nodded, closing both eyes now. Apparently he was quieter in the early hours of the morning, and that suited her just fine. She liked knowing these things about him, and figured it was really about time she started learning.
Carefully, she wrapped her hand around his length, stroking upwards and feeling it twitch and fill under her fingers.
This part of him, at least, was familiar to her, and she worked him slowly, not seeing any reason to rush. For the first time, she was able to watch as he grew more aroused, to see the darkening of that one open eye, and feel the way his muscles clenched and relaxed. His breathing got quicker, lips parted slightly, and Roxy gave into temptation and leaned up to kiss him softly.
He exhaled against her lips, his hands coming up to drag her closer, claws scraping against her back as he fit his hands into the dip before the swell of her ass.
“You know,” Roxanne murmured against his lips. “If you cut those claws then you could put your fingers in me.”
Aedian huffed and shook his head. “It isn’t happening.”
“Just a thought,” she murmured back. “But it’s fine. I like this, too.” She kept stroking him, pleased to feel that he was beginning to leak precome, the head of his thick cock sticky with the fluid.
And then she remembered her idea from before, and figured that doing it while he was awake was the next best thing.
Sliding down in the bed, she held his gaze as she pushed the covers down, not wanting to run the risk of suffocating under the blankets.
His cock was flushed and hard, and the sight of that drop of fluid beading in the slit made her mouth water. Without even really thinking about it, she lowered her head and swiped it away with her tongue, feeling him shudder above her.
“Will you get on your back for me?” Roxanne asked, voice already edged with anticipation.
Aedian nodded and obeyed her request, rolling onto his back. His legs were spread, letting her settle between them. She ran her hands up his thighs, enjoying the way the muscles flexed under her palms. There was such strength in him, such amazing musculature and just physical prowess, and it was kind of amazing how obvious it was that he was built for battle. Humans were all different, varied in their builds and the things they seemed to be made to do, but all Calphesians were like this, and Roxanne wondered if it was like that on other planets. Where entire species were oriented towards one thing and nothing else.
Well, that was probably a question for another time. For now, she had her eyes on a different prize. Namely the hard, leaking cock that was right in front of her face now.
Aedian's breathing was still shaky, and it was kind of amazing that she had this kind of effect on him. That she could have him flat on his back and panting from just her kisses, just her fingers on his body, just her hand wrapped around his cock.
She supposed he was still a man, from another species or not, and she grinned and dragged her tongue slowly over the head of his cock again.
Aedian groaned, head pressed back into the pillows. "Creators," he moaned. "You are too cursed good at that."
"Are you actually complaining?" Roxanne asked without looking up, her hands still exploring, sliding over the planes and dips in his lower body and then back up to cup his balls and touch the soft skin that covered them.
All she got in response was a strangled moan that she was pretty sure meant that he wasn't complaining. All the better, then.
She laughed softly and then pressed a gentle kiss to the head of his cock before she swirled her tongue around it and engulfed it in her mouth.
His hips pressed up from the bed, and she let them, letting the motion practically shove more of his length into her mouth. She'd learned how to pace herself with him in the weeks that they'd been together. Learned how to regulate her breathing and how to relax her throat so that he could press the tip of his cock into it without her choking.
She swallowed around him, delighting in the almost whimper she got in response.
&nbs
p; And then she got to work for real, bobbing her head and sucking him down, letting her tongue rub over the ridged underside of his cock on each upward bob. It was a bit messy, saliva spilling past her lips to run down his shaft, but that was good.
Aedian's fingers found her hair, holding on and offering a little direction, pulling her up and then pushing her back down slowly as his breathing got faster and the growls got deeper.
To be honest, she liked him like this, and it was kind of a sign that she trusted him not to hurt her, though she didn't know when that had happened. Either way, it was true. Roxy liked the aggression she could feel coiling in him, the way he grabbed at her when he was turned on.
The way he pulled her off of his cock by the hair and looked at her, at the line of saliva that connected her mouth to his dick and then pulled her in, kissing her hard on the mouth.
"You're much too tempting," he mumbled against her lips, and when he tossed her on the bed and grabbed her shorts, yanking them down, Roxanne was turned on immediately.
He paused just before he entered her, though, looking at her with eyes that were clearly waiting for her to stop him if she wanted. He learned quickly, and Roxy just smiled and rolled over onto her front so she could push herself up onto her hands and knees, offering herself like a present for his eyes.
Strong hands gripped her butt and pulled her closer and then he was pressing into her, filling her up with all that cock and making her drop her head and moan.
No matter how many times they did this, it was never any less good. The feeling of all that length pressing into her always felt amazing, and she shuddered as the slow drag in and out set off little fires under her skin.
She was soaking wet by the time he was fully seated inside of her, feeling small and practically impaled on him, and she knew that she wasn't even going to have to touch herself before she was coming once he got started. It was just that good.
And since they didn't have anywhere to be just yet, and there was no real need to rush, Aedian took his time, giving it to her in long, slow strokes that made her toes curl and her fingers clench into fists.