The Minister's Manipulation: (An Alpha Alien Romance Novel)

by Liza Probz

  He didn’t respond. She came to stand beside him, catching sight of the circling fins in the distance. “What are those?” she asked, shading her eyes with her hand.

  “Gnarsharks,” he said at last.

  “Sharks? You came out here to look at sharks?”

  He watched her in silence and saw realization hit her.

  Then he felt her fist hit him. Hard. In the arm.

  “You asshole! You lied to me. You said you were going to rest. Instead, you come out here, ready to feed yourself to sharks rather than mate with me!”

  Drake wanted to laugh. As if he would choose a painful death over the bliss of her embrace. “You know it’s not like that. But I refuse to force myself on you, and I knew you were too kind to refuse me once you knew the consequence was my death.”

  “But you didn’t even bother to ask me how I felt about you.”

  He stared into the distance, feeling that life was absurd. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “The hell it doesn’t!” She grabbed his arms, pulling him low enough for her to grab his face. “I love you!”

  His eyes grew big, his heart thumping in his chest. He wanted to grab her, to crush her to him. But doubt clouded the issue.

  “You’re just saying that.” His voice was little more than a whisper. “You are sacrificing yourself to save me. I won’t allow it.”

  The crack of her hand on his cheek rang out. “You bastard. How dare you say that!”

  Drake pulled away, his eyes stormy, but before he could speak, she gripped his shoulders and pulled herself up until he was forced to hold her.

  “I love you, Drake, regardless of whether or not you’ll die without me. I love your bravery, your wit. I love the way you protect me, but you still respect my opinions and accept my wishes even if they run contrary to yours. I love your spirit, your strength. And I love being in your arms.”

  He looked deep into her beautiful green eyes, seeing the truth in their depths. Still, he had to be certain.

  “You don’t know what you’re saying. If we do this, you’ll be with me until you die. I won’t leave your side willingly. And there is a good chance that we’ll have a child.”

  She smiled. “A beautiful child with your skin and my eyes. A cousin for Sylvie’s precious bundle of joy. I know.” She pressed her lips against his. “I want that.”

  The words unlocked something inside him, allowing joy to pour in. “I love you,” he said simply, seizing her lips in a blazing kiss. “I love you, Jamilla Cohen, since the moment I first saw you.”

  She smiled, then pulled his head down to reunite their mouths in holy union. His emotions crashed over him like the waves against the rocks.

  Looking around him, he could find no safe place upon which to claim her, so he carried her to his ship, not setting her down until he reached the bunk. He laid her down gently and she wasted no time divesting herself of her clothing.

  He stared down at her at a loss for words. She was sheer perfection, made for only him, and he wanted to remember this moment forever.

  Jamie held out her arms to him and he smiled. Ripping off his sarong, he joined her on the small bunk.

  Drake put his mouth on Jamie’s. Taking her tongue into his mouth, reclaiming it again. He kissed her until she began writhing underneath him. He knew she was ready to take him.

  Drake moved himself and began sucking on her neck, moving down to her breasts and taking each nipple into his mouth. Jamie let out a small gasp as he did so.

  “That feels so fucking good.” She said.

  Drake smiled and slid his hand down to her pussy and rubbed her clit. “You’re so wet.” He said.

  “Only for you.” She said and moved her hips in the same motion as his hand. They were always in sync when it came to love-making and it made the experience so much more intense.

  “I want you inside of me.” She whispered.

  His cock was throbbing. He took it in his hand and moved it slowly along the shaft while staring at Jamie. She moaned at the sight of him.

  He moved so he was in between her legs once again and began to slowly enter her. He slowly pulled himself out and moved himself back in. He could tell it was driving her wild and continued to repeat the motion.

  Drake put his thumb on her clit and massaged it gently as he thrust deep inside of her, picking up his pace. His body was getting tense, he was on the edge of losing it.

  “Are you sure?” He asked, pausing. He wanted to be certain before he changed their lives forever.

  “I’ve never wanted anything more,” she said, her eyes meeting his. “I love you, Drake.”

  That was all he needed to hear. He thrust deep inside of her and watched her eyes glaze over with pleasure. He thrust himself inside of her harder and deeper another time, and then another. Her back was arched and she threw her head to the side as she began to come around his cock.

  He knew he was not going to last much longer. He could feel how tight she was. Her walls clinging to his cock from her orgasm.

  “I love you,” he moaned as he pushed deeper. “I will never love anyone the way I love you. You were made for me, created for me. You are my mate and I am yours. And I never want this to end.”

  “Claim me.” She shouted as she arched her back up and moved her hips in the same motion as him. “Make me yours.”

  Everything she was saying drove him to thrust harder.

  “Fill me with your seed,” she whispered, and those were the words he needed to hear. The words that sent him over the edge and into the most intense orgasm of his life.

  The pleasure exploded inside of him and for the first time, he released inside of her. Her eyes widened as she felt him, then she clutched him close, succumbing to another powerful climax.

  When he’d come down from the peak of pleasure he covered her face in tiny kisses. “I love you! I love you so much! I’ll never leave you!”

  Jamie giggled. “I love you too, you big idiot. It’s a good thing I came after you, or you’d be sleeping with the sharks right now.”

  He laughed. “Thank you for coming after me. And thank you for making me the happiest man in the universe.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said with a smile. “And now, you owe me.”

  “Owe me? How could I ever repay such a gift?”

  “Only by loving me until the end of time.”

  Drake stroked her hair back from her forehead, kissing it gently. “Deal.”

  Epilogue

  Jamie was playing with her little nephew when the membrane to her quarters opened. Dr. Lakewood stepped inside, his hands full.

  “Herman!” she squealed, rushing to his side and patting the little ball on the head. “You’re okay!”

  The robot let out a series of delighted beeps. “Dr. Lakewood has repaired me. I am now fully operational.”

  Drake rushed into the room from the bedroom, his fists raised. “What’s going on? I heard you shouting.”

  “Herman’s here!” Jamie giggled. “He’s fully operational.”

  Her mate laughed. “Herman, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”

  “Drake, I am pleased to see that your vital signs have returned to normal. Does this mean Jamie has accepted you as her mate?”

  Jamie blushed. Drake shook his head. “Herman, you old dog, don’t you know that’s an impolite question?”

  The robot gave a whistle. “I apologize if I was rude.”

  “You’re fine,” Jamie said, giving him a smile. “And to answer your question, yes. I’ve accepted him as my mate, even though he’s a bit of a goon.”

  Dr. Lakewood laughed, a rare sound from the man. Jamie remembered her manners, asking the scientist to sit.

  He demurred. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m only stopping by to let Herman visit for a moment. I’ve got things cooking in the lab that I can’t abandon.”

  Drake drew closer. “I’ve heard that you’ve figured out a way for our Zantharian bioenergy to work on the Hareema again.”

 
; “That’s right,” Lakewood replied. “It’s still in the testing phase, but the results are promising.”

  “That’s good to hear. I think we’ll have a chance to push the Hareema off the worlds they’ve inhabited with your technology.”

  Lakewood nodded. “I heard that the rebel alliance has also agreed to meet with you.”

  “Yes. I’m excited to report that we’re close to signing a treaty of cooperation. With their forces on our side, we have the opportunity to make inroads on the Hareema home world.”

  The men made small talk while Jamie bounced the baby on her hip. Finally, Lakewood made to leave. “I promise to bring Herman back for a visit when we have more time.”

  “You better,” Jamie said. “Farewell, Dr. Lakewood. And goodbye, Herman.”

  The little robot beeped in a friendly manner. “Goodbye, Drake. Goodbye, Jamie. And farewell to the baby as well.”

  “You mean my little nephew?” Drake said with a smile. “Isn’t he handsome?”

  “Actually I was referring to the child growing inside Jamie,” Herman corrected.

  Jamie’s and Drake’s jaws dropped in unison. “Are you saying…?” Jamie couldn’t finish the words.

  “Oh, I have committed another faux pas it seems. Were you not aware that you are pregnant?”

  Jamie’s head shook back and forth slowly. Drake stared at her with wide eyes, watching for her reaction. When she gave him a small smile, he let out a whoop, took the child from her arms and set it down gently, and then picked her up to spin her around the room.

  “Careful,” she warned, laughing the entire time. When he finally put her down, he rained kisses down on her.

  “I love you! And I’m going to cherish the child inside you,” he said, putting a shaking hand on her belly.

  “I love you too! And I know your child will be well provided for and protected.”

  “Damn right,” he replied. “We’re going to build a better world for our child, one where he can be safe, without the threat of the enemy hanging over his head.”

  She nodded. “I know you can do it.”

  “No,” he argued. “We can do it. Together.”

  THE END

  AUTHOR NOTE: I hope you enjoyed the final standalone book in my Lords of Zanthar world. It was a blast to write! I’m creating another world in the background, and my first book in that series will be coming in October 2017. It’s an 8 book standalone series, so hopefully lots of fun for all of us!

  For a limited time, I’ve included the other books in my Zanthar Series just as a “thank you” for picking up my book. It means the world to me, and without readers like you, I wouldn’t get to tell my stories like I do. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  Check out The Supreme Regent of Zanthar and Dr. Slyvia Cohen’s story below in The Regent’s Rapture. Enjoy!!

  The Regent’s Rapture

  It was supposed to be an exploratory mission, and it was... Just not the kind she expected.

  Dr. Sylvia Cohen, MIT's premiere astrobiologist has been chosen for a follow-up mission to Zanthar, a planet showing the promise of Life. Leaving little behind on earth, she sustains a crash landing on the large seaweed planet and encounters far more than the micro-organisms discovered years earlier.

  The Supreme Regent of Zanthar has a natural affinity for human females and finds himself quite taken with the lovely doctor, but war stands at their door. His determination of her innocence or guilt will change the future for both of them. He will test her in many ways, finding himself wanting her to succeed more and more each time.

  Sylvia determines that science can explain most anything, but matters of the heart are forever a mystery.

  Chapter 1

  Dr. Sylvia Cohen hoped the cameras couldn't see her hand shake as she held the "thumbs up" pose for the crowd of photographers and journalists. She was to be the first woman ever to set foot on an inhabited planet. The thought filled her with such excitement and anxiety that she had been averaging three hours of sleep a night for the past week. Now the big day was here, the shuttle was about to blast off, and she wondered for the thousandth time if she was making a huge mistake.

  Her sister, Jamie, hadn't been shy in listing the myriad reasons why Sylvie shouldn't be heading off to explore a new world all alone. Most of them seemed to boil down to, "you could be eaten by some alien monster with acid blood and three rows of razor-sharp teeth."

  Jamie watched too much Holo-TV.

  She scouted the crowd again for a glimpse of her sister, but didn’t see her. It seemed Jamie had better things to do than see Sylvie off on the greatest adventure of her life. Jamie usually had better things to do. Better things named Steven. Or Douglas. Or Jimmy.

  One more reason to risk a horrible death by an alien monster.

  No one would miss her much back on Earth.

  Soon she was inside the small craft, going through her pre-launch checklist, breathing deep and reminding herself that she'd been training for a mission like this for years. As soon as faster-than-light travel had been achieved, it was only a matter of time before they found a planet capable of sustaining life, but that time had finally arrived.

  JL-398 was a planet comprised mostly of water. It had an atmosphere similar to Earth, and NASA's probe had discovered evidence of microorganisms on the planet's surface. Life!

  As MIT's premiere astrobiologist, she had been consulted about the next phase of exploration. NASA had been planning on sending their robotic scavengers to the surface first, but Sylvie had convinced her colleagues to support her proposal of sending a team of scientists to investigate.

  Sylvie had testified in front of the committee charged with planning the mission. "The scavengers are not far enough advanced to perform the type of critical thinking that would be required. We need someone who can troubleshoot, someone who can respond on the fly."

  The issue was safety. It always was. While there had been plenty of landings on uninhabited planets, this mission had the potential to be more dangerous. NASA wasn't ready to risk the lives of an entire team.

  Then an idea popped into her head and flew out of her mouth before she could stop it. It had the power to turn her life upside down, but that was a problem for later. Surely they would choose someone far more qualified than her.

  "What about a single human volunteer?"

  It made sense. A scientist would be much more efficient at scouting the best areas for potential life, and at making the split-second decisions that might be necessary in the survey of a new and unknown world. In the end, the committee had agreed with her.

  She was the chosen volunteer.

  Now it was lift-off, and before she realized it, she was out of Earth's atmosphere and into the darkness of space.

  "Wow." It was awe-inspiring. The void burned with countless points of light. In the distance, the moon was looming larger by the second. "Just... wow."

  "Please repeat your query."

  Sylvie laughed. She'd forgotten about Magnis. Multi-Access Generative Networked Information System. The ship's computer.

  "Nothing, Magnis. Just taking in the sights." She punched in the command for the view screen to shift, pulling up the image of Earth shrinking behind them. It was beautiful, a swirl of white, blue, and brown.

  A pang of homesickness hit her in the chest but it didn't last long. The ship was shooting through space at such a speed that before she knew it, Earth was just another point of light.

  Chapter 2

  On the third day of the journey, her target appeared on the view screen for the first time. Sylvie had seen pictures of the planet, but they hardly did it justice. Captivating clouds of soft lavender whirled around seas that shifted from deep indigo to aquamarine and every color in between. There were darker ridges of maroon that became more apparent the closer the ship came. They were few in number, with great distances between them. Land.

  Sylvie stood and walked to the view screen, which took up a large portion of the ship's hull, the game of
Go she'd been playing with Magnis forgotten. Magnis always beat her anyway. Like he beat her at holo-checkers. And he'd cleaned her out at tarot poker. It had been a long three days.

  But the journey was worth it, just for the chance to see a new world with her own eyes. The first human eyes ever to take in the beauty of JL-398.

  That name's got to go.

  She would be on the surface for ten days, more than enough time to come up with something fitting, and hopefully enough time to find definitive signs of life.

  To be the first to prove that humans were not alone in the universe would surely cement her scholarly legacy for all time. The most important scientific discovery of the twenty-second century. It would justify all the long, lonely hours spent in the library, in the lab, alone in her room reading and writing and running experiments. It would be the pinnacle of her young career. Of her life.

  "Sixty seconds until we enter the atmosphere," Magnis informed her.

  Sylvie scrambled to her seat and struggled to strap down her protective harness.

  "Atmosphere in five seconds." Magnis's calm tone was a strange counterpoint to her own frantic feelings.

  This is it. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply as the seconds ticked by.

  Suddenly the ship shook with a powerful impact. An alarm began sounding.

  "Main power is down. Auxiliary power spent sealing multiple hull breaches and sustaining life support. No residual power for navigation."

  "What?" Entering the atmosphere couldn't be responsible for such damage, could it?

  Magnis's voice was as tranquil as ever. "We have lost navigation. The ship is about to crash."

  The view screen showed their descent. The seas of this unknown planet were getting closer by the second. Then the screen crackled and cut out.

  "Impact in ten seconds."

  The alarms blared. Lights flickered.