by Lily Harlem
He stroked his tongue against mine and huddled his body closer. I was trapped between him and the wall, and it felt divine.
He groaned softly, and a wedge of hard flesh dug into my belly.
A sudden need for him swelled inside me. Lust flooded my veins.
We should fuck.
He ran his hands down to my chest and filled his palms with my breasts. “I want you so badly. I have from the minute I first saw you. Uma, you’re so beautiful. The perfect woman.”
I arched into his touch. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“You feel amazing.” He kissed over my cheek to my neck and slipped his hand through the opening of my blouse.
I groaned and closed my eyes. It had been so long since I’d had sex. Before the landings.
“I want to go slow,” he said, though his movements were urgent. “Wine and dine you, do it the old-fashioned way.”
“Fuck slow.” I reached for his t-shirt and dragged it upward. “You’ve got too many clothes on.”
He paused briefly to let me pull it over his head. “So have you.” His mouth was over mine again, kissing me with a passion that had me both dizzy and breathless.
As he undid my jeans, I roamed my palms over his smooth chest. His skin was like silk, his muscles defined. When I ventured lower, I tapped my fingertips over his bricked abs.
“We were made for each other.” He slipped his hand into my panties. “We’ll be together forever.”
“Get the hell off her!” A roar filled the small doorway. “Now, you bastard.”
I gasped. Shock had me catching my breath.
Suddenly, Tom was gone, and in his place was the Trad from the bar.
And the Trad was hurtling a punch at Tom.
I screamed and dodged to the right to get out the way of their big bodies.
Another punch connected, jarring Tom’s neck with a sickening thud.
He grunted but quickly straightened and flew a returning hit at the Trad. The Trad dodged it and spun around, managing to land a kick on Tom’s butt.
“What are you doing? Leave him alone.” I fastened my jeans and dashed after them as Tom stumbled to the middle of the road, his attacker in hot pursuit.
“You thug!” I yelled.
How can this be happening?
Tom straightened and turned, his fists clenched.
“Get out of here,” the Trad shouted and indicated up the road. “Now.”
“What are you doing to my…boyfriend?” I shouted.
“He’s a Trad.” The Trad glared at me. “Can’t you tell?”
Tom snarled and lunged forward. He was furious. He managed to get a hit in and then took one. Both men tumbled to the ground.
I held in a scream, my knees weak and my heart pounding.
The two big guys rolled through a puddle. Fists were flying, and the stream of grunts and thuds was stomach-turning.
Tom managed to stand. Bare chested, it was clear he was panting hard. He looked at me with his hands on his thighs as he caught his breath.
“Are you okay?” I rushed toward him.
“No. Stay away from him.” The other man grabbed my arm and halted my progress.
“Get off me.” I peeled at his fingers and twisted and writhed.
“No, you’re in danger.”
“Yes, from you.”
“Come with me, Uma.” Tom held out his hand but didn’t step forward to come to my aid. “Let’s go, now.”
“Tom?”
Why isn’t he helping me? This other man has a hold of me.
“He’s a Trad.” The man holding me took a step back, tugging me with him. “And he nearly got you.”
“How do I know you’re not a Trad?” I was shocked that Tom was letting this other man pull me away. I was being abducted, and he was just watching it happen.
“I’m human, believe me.” Still he tugged, creating more distance from Tom.
“Why should I?” Confusion spun a web around me, my mind churning.
“Look.” He dragged at the neckline of his t-shirt, exposing the top of his chest, over his clavicle. On it sat a dark red stain about the size of a beer mat. “I have a birthmark. Do you think Trads have them?”
“I…I don’t understand.” I frowned and studied the mark.
“Trads are perfect, remember. No defects, and that includes birthmarks. I’m not perfect. I’m the human male here, not him.” He pointed at Tom. “He’s the Trad and he’s spent months duping you.”
Bile burned up my gullet. I swallowed to stop from being sick.
Was this true? Had Tom been grooming me? The friendly barman who I’d just been about to…fuck?
I gasped, clasping my hand over my mouth.
Tom straightened. He didn’t look so handsome now his face was contorted into a grimace. A streak of dirt had smeared over his chest, and his jeans were wet.
“Get out of here,” the man at my side shouted. “Before I come and finish you off, you dirty Trad.”
Tom suddenly turned and ran, his shoes splashing through puddles as he disappeared into the distance.
“You’re telling the truth?” I stared at the guy who’d saved me. The man who’d earlier given me the creeps…the man I’d presumed was out to get me.
“Yes, and you just had a narrow escape from a life as a womb on Planet Tradrych.”
Chapter One
One Year Later
I strapped myself into the passenger seat aboard Equinox and studied the London skyline. It would be twelve months before I saw home again. Not that I was sorry about that. My close shave with a Trad the previous year had made my new career more agreeable than ever.
“Gravity wheel, check,” Mateo Ty, the copilot said.
“Check,” the captain, Gavyn Rivers, replied. “Impulse engine temperature?”
“Normalized.” Mateo flicked a switch to his right.
“Propellant tanks prepared?” Gavyn asked.
“Prepared.” Mateo reached over his head and turned a dial.
“Star tracker engaged.” Gavyn slid his finger over a screen in front of him, bringing it to life. “And with full radar.”
Mateo and Gavyn worked as a well-oiled team. Both were human, both were skilled pilots, and I trusted them entirely to keep me safe as we traveled at light speed for millions of miles to our destination.
Hurin, who was a native of Planet Athion, sat to my right. He didn’t appear to notice when the jet boosters started and a thud vibrated the navigation capsule. He continued to study the tablet in his hands which was a mass of figures, charts, and flashes.
“Everything okay?” I asked him.
“So far they’re all stable and sleeping deep.” He didn’t look up, and instead swiped to another screen. His skin was tinged blue—not like the sky, more like water around a Caribbean island. And his fingers were elegant—all of his limbs were long, resulting in him tall and strong.
I’d been fascinated when I’d first seen the men of Planet Athion. They all had similar color skin, though the depth of the blue varied depending on the region of their planet they were from. I had yet to come across one who was shorter than my five feet ten, and with their almond-shaped eyes and strong jawlines, I also hadn’t happened upon one who wasn’t model handsome.
“Craft prepared,” Gavyn said to the control tower at the observatory. “Engage liftoff.”
“Liftoff engaged.” The replying voice was deep and fast. “Have a good flight.”
“Thanks, James.” Gavyn held the dynamic positioning lever and tilted his chin. “Here we go, crew. May God be with us.”
“And Laird with us, too,” Anki said, gripping the armrests of his chair.
I smiled at the fourth guy I’d be traveling with. Like Hurin, he was a native of Planet Athion, though his skin was paler. Likely he was from nearer the north of the planet. I’d only met him the day before but liked him already. He was keen to learn all I had to teach him about the precious cargo I was responsible for. Plus his smil
es were quick and easy, and he had a lovely low chuckling laugh, though right now, his perfectly angled features were strung with tension and his lips a tight flat line—he wasn’t enjoying this part of the journey at all.
“God and Laird will be with us,” I said, resting my hand over his. His skin was warm and soft. “I don’t like this bit either.”
He swallowed, set his gaze on me briefly, then turned to the window.
The boosters increased, the vibrations doubling, then trebling. The seat seemed to hum around my body, and my safety belt locked so I was held tightly.
Mateo flicked several switches, moved a bunch of levers in front of him, then stretched to turn a dial above his head. “All systems go.”
The ship rumbled so loud I could barely hear my thoughts. Acceleration dragged at my innards, my heart rate sped up, and I curled my toes in my sneakers.
Anki reversed his hand over and gripped mine.
I pressed my head back in the seat as London slipped from view. “This bit only lasts a few minutes.”
“A few minutes too long,” Anki replied. “Give me hyperspace any day.”
“We’ll be there soon enough.”
As we took to the sky, Hurin didn’t look away from his tablet. His attention on the screen was unwavering. I had to admire his dedication to the people whose lives he was responsible for.
But then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. He was a highly trained medic with lots of experience of transporting coma-induced humans, and aliens alike, through space.
Gavyn and Mateo were busy, the busiest they’d be for the entire trip—all being well—until we reached our destination. Each worked independently but also together to keep a close check on the ship as it hurtled toward the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere.
The window became bright blue, indicating we were heading through the mesosphere. Anki squeezed my hand a little tighter.
“Not much longer,” I said.
“I envy the sleepers,” he replied. “They’re all dreaming away while this is going on. Not a care about faulty engines, meteor strikes, or dud injection valves.”
“You have no idea about engines,” Hurin replied. “And for your information, they don’t dream. They’re deep in NREM stage N3.”
“I still envy them,” Anki said.
“Tower, we’re just leaving the exosphere,” Gavyn said, slotting the lever he was holding into a groove in the panel to keep it stable. “All looking good.”
“Glad to hear it,” the controller in the observatory replied. “Any issues settling into hyper-speed, let us know.”
The wild vibrations eased, and my insides settled back into place as the ship established hyper-speed. It wasn’t that we were going slower; in fact, we were now going even faster, thanks to the ingenuity of the engines, but in space and with the gravity normalizer, all felt well.
Anki blew out a breath and released my hand. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I flexed and unflexed my fingers which were a little stiff from his grip.
“When should we check on the goats?” he asked.
“As soon as the captain says we can move around freely.”
“Give it five minutes, hun,” Mateo said over his shoulder, and answering for Gavyn. “Wouldn’t want to hit any junk and have you fall over.”
“Okay.”
“Junk.” Anki pulled a face. “I hadn’t even thought of that.”
Hurin’s tablet beeped. “In the Laird’s name,” he muttered then looked up. “Captain, permission to go to the sleeper’s pod.”
“Why do you need to?” Gavyn asked.
“Low oxygen saturations on human sixty-three.” He paused. “I’ll take my chances with the junk.”
“Okay, but be aware we might get the odd bump in the next minute or so.”
Hurin didn’t answer. He unclipped his belt and unfolded to his full height, then with his tablet under his arm, walked quickly from the bridge.
I watched him leave. His black t-shirt hugged his broad shoulders, and his khaki combat-style trousers fit snuggly over his pert ass. It was an unusual outfit for an Athion, probably something he’d been given at the observatory in London and decided he liked.
Anki was dressed more traditionally in a pale-brown tunic tied at his waist with a roped belt and matching trousers. He wore soft sneakers similar to mine, the ideal thing on board the ship as they were quiet and comfortable for hiking along the corridors.
The ship jolted then was followed by a couple of small bumps.
“He okay?” Gavyn asked.
Mateo flicked on a CCTV monitor, and the corridor outside the bridge appeared. Hurin was walking down the centre, his strides long and sure. “Yeah, right as rain.”
“Good.”
Five minutes later, and after seeing to an alarm, Gavyn unclipped his belt and stood. “You can move around freely now,” he directed at us. “Though as usual, if you hear the rapid alarm, or there’s any system failure you must get back here and buckle up as quickly as possible.”
“We understand that.” I stood. All of the safety procedures had been drummed into me, and I was an experienced air shepherdess.
“That might be the case, Uma, but it’s worth repeating.” Gavyn turned to a computer. “No two journeys in space are the same, as you should know.”
I glanced at Mateo who grinned and shrugged. Gavyn could sometimes be a little abrupt. Perhaps it was a result of the responsibility he carried. Having one hundred sleeping humans and twenty sleeping Athions all trusting that they would wake up safely on Planet Athion was a big weight. Not to mention the three of us, the cognitive travelers, to be aware of as we went about our tasks.
“Shall we go together?” Anki asked.
“Yes, come on.” I straightened my V-neck pink t-shirt and checked my watch. “We’ll go there via my sleeping quarters?”
“You need something?”
“No.” I smiled. “But I’ll show you why I need to go there.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Now I’m intrigued.” Briefly his gaze dipped, as though he was studying my breasts, but he quickly lifted it again.
A small shiver went through me. It wasn’t unpleasant; in fact, it was very nice. Anki was a handsome guy, and I’d guess he had a damn fine body beneath his clothes, too.
Guy? He’s an alien.
I wound my fingers together. The last alien I’d found myself attracted to had been dangerous and his intentions evil. The trouble was, he hadn’t seemed that way. His seductive smile and words had tricked me into thinking he was the man of my dreams—an Earth man of my dreams.
“Oh, you’re in for a treat,” Mateo said to Anki with a chuckle. “Uma has magic in her quarters, you just wait and see.”
Anki blew out a breath. “Wow, magic. Now I’m wishing we were there already.”
“Okay, okay.” I held up my hands and laughed. “Let’s go, and thanks for that, Mateo. Expectations may be running a bit high now.”
“Wouldn’t be the only thing running high if I was coming to see magic.”
“Behave.” I wagged my fingers at him but couldn’t hold in a giggle. Mateo always had the ability to make me laugh.
“Copilot, Ty,” Gavyn said. “If you have a minute, please check the combustion temperature.”
“Aye, aye, sir.” Mateo’s grin dropped, and he did a mock salute. “I’m on the case.”
Gavyn’s brow creased a little, and he continued to tweak dials.
“Come on,” Anki said, gently placing his hand in the small of my back. “Let’s get out of here. All these instruments scare me. I have no idea what most of them are for.”
We headed through the now open seal and into a long corridor with white curved walls. Several windows showed the blackness surrounding us.
Anki dropped his hand to his side.
“You’re more of an animal person than a tech guy, then?” I said.
“Yes, definitely. At my learning center when I was a child, I alwa
ys did poorly when it came to universe physics. I was much better at biology and acquiring knowledge about creatures from our planet and others.”
“Not that you have many on your planet.”
“Sadly, no. Our evolution didn’t work that way, though what there is I find diverse and interesting. I had a pet kroll growing up.”
“A kroll?” I’d heard of them but couldn’t recall what they looked like. I’d certainly never seen one for real, though I would like to.
“Yes, I guess they’re a bit like an Earth ferret. A bit bigger, and very smart. They learn tricks quickly in return for rewards, food mainly, that’s their greatest pleasure.”
“I’d love to see one someday.”
“Perhaps you will visit our planet for real.”
“What does that mean?”
“I read your profile, Uma. You’ve been to Planet Athion.”
“Exactly, so how is that not real?”
“But you’ve never had your space pass stamped. You’ve never left the aircraft.”
We took a left turn.
“It’s a busy time, handing over livestock.”
“And a little sad, too?”
I stopped and reached for the handle on the door to my cabin. “I can’t deny I develop a fondness for my charges, so it’s hard to say goodbye. But the last trainee Planet Athion shepherd I trained up was a quick learner and very trustworthy.”
“I hope I will be the same.”
“I’m sure you will.” I opened the door. “Now come in and meet Magic.”
Chapter Two
I stepped into my home for the journey to Planet Athion. It was box-shaped, with a large soft bed, a single round window presently filled with distant stars, and a wardrobe and desk. Beside the desk stood a cage.
“Hello, Magic,” I said. “Say hello to our guest.”
“Hello. Hello. Hello. Who’s a pretty boy, then? Squawk.”
“Magic.” Anki stepped in and pushed the door closed. “Is a…parrot.”
“Yes, he’s a scarlet macaw from Costa Rica.”
“Ah, I read about that place. Forest, right?”