Yes, everything that she’d been told couldn’t have been a lie. It must be true. The last person who lied to her had died painfully at her hands. Surely her most recent employer wasn’t so foolish as to follow that man’s example?
She raised her blade again, and this time, she plunged it downward toward Alex’s unprotected throat…
… only to stop at the very last second when the door opened.
13
Gabrielle walked into Alex’s bedroom. The drafty air hit her naked body, but she barely felt it. Angelisians didn’t get cold easily thanks to their naturally high resilience to the elements.
A glance around the room revealed the culprit of the cold air: an open window. That was odd. Alex never left his window open at night.
He probably just forgot to shut it, she reasoned.
Shutting the window, Gabrielle climbed into the bed and crawled underneath the covers. Alex mumbled in his sleep and turned to lie on his side. Drawn to the warmth his body emitted, Gabrielle snuggled up to him. She was pleased when he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. It felt so nice to be in his arms... or arm.
Just like that, the alien princess went to sleep, a content smile on her face.
She never noticed the soulless red eyes staring into the room one last time before vanishing.
CHAPTER 2
A DAY JUST LIKE ANY OTHER
The next morning, Alex woke up with a very naked Gabrielle snuggling against him. He stiffened the groan that wanted to escape, especially when he felt her breasts rub against him and her leg move up to caress Alex Junior. He didn’t scream, however. Even Alex could learn from experience.
“Well, now. Isn’t this a most… enviable… predicament. You should take advantage of this situation. Go on. Have some fun with her. Prove to me that you’re a man.”
Alex ignored the voice. After carefully extricating himself from the girl’s grip, he slipped out of bed and dressed himself in a pair of black running shorts and a red shirt.
He glanced back at Gabrielle, smiling when the alien princess latched onto the pillow that he’d been using. She murmured something in her sleep, and then buried her face into the pillow, her smile widening as she took a deep breath. Despite himself, Alex smiled before leaving his bedroom, heading downstairs, and leaving the house altogether.
The air outside was crisp and cool that morning. The temperature in Mars City was controlled by a weather control station, which used an advanced system powered by canals to control weather patterns. It was also used to simulate seasons.
Right now, they were in the beginning of summer. Fortunately, it would never get too hot, but the temperature would probably rise to around 86 or 90 degrees in the coming months.
As Alex went for a run, he allowed his mind to wander. He mostly thought about Gabrielle and the feelings that she stirred inside of him. Every morning when he woke up to find her in his bed, Alex would get aroused. Several times he’d almost done something that he knew he would regret doing, and he wondered just how much longer he could hold out before his self-control slipped.
It didn’t help that the voice, which he’d simply taken to calling Voice Number One, tended to make itself known in the morning. He always heard it whispering to him, trying to seduce him into doing something that he would regret.
Alex had been ignoring the voice. Still, he didn’t know how long he could hold out. The voice was seductive, and its siren’s call could only be ignored for so long.
His stomach churned. He felt disgusted with himself for thinking about Gabrielle the way that he did, and for the many dreams he had that featured him and her having hot, raunchy sex really didn’t help. The alien princess was such a pure and innocent soul. She didn’t deserve to be tainted by his lustful desires.
Alex stopped by the canal and stared at his reflection in the water’s surface. Green eyes stared back at him. His skin was pale but not pasty, the result of no UV rays getting through the dome surrounding Mars City. Messy dark hair settled upon his head, swept back and spiky, with a fringe of silver bangs falling in front of his face, hovering over his blue eyes.
“I need to protect Gabrielle,” he said to himself. “I have to protect her from everything, including myself.”
He needed to get stronger, not just physically but mentally as well. He couldn’t let his mind and body waver. Alex didn’t think he could handle corrupting Gabrielle’s innocence. That was the biggest reason that he still hadn’t confessed his feelings for her. That, and the fact that he was too afraid of irreparably damaging their current relationship.
He started his run again, but he stopped upon spotting a familiar figure.
“Azazel?” he called out to the angelisian commander in confusion.
“Groom-to-be!” Azazel cried out in joy at seeing him. Literally. Tears were streaming down his worn face. The man looked like a lost soul who’d given up all hope.
Azazel was a giant of man who stood several heads above Alex, at least 244 centimeters tall. His segmented breastplate clinked and clicked as he moved. It looked a bit dinged up. Shoulder pauldrons and streamlined grieves gleamed brightly in the artificial sun, though some of the luster was gone, replaced with scratch marks. His hair was the color of dirty snow, his eyes were purple, and his wings were far larger than Gabrielle’s. They jutted from his shoulder blades instead of his hips, two pinions of pure white... well, they would be if they weren’t covered in mud and grease.
“Are you still calling me that? Can’t you call me by my name?”
“That would be inappropriate. You are Lady Gabrielle’s chosen husband, her groom. It is only right that I call you by the title most befitting your status.”
“Can you at least call me something else?” Alex whined. “Anyway, where have you been? You’ve been gone for nearly two weeks.”
Upon hearing the question, Azazel began crying again. “I have been lost! I must have taken a wrong turn or something, because after traveling away from the convenience store, I found myself in a really dark and dirty place that reminded me of the seedier cities of this galaxy.”
“You must be talking about the ground level of Mars City.”
Minus the Outer District where he lived, Mars City was built with levels. The upper levels, middle levels, lower levels, and ground level. Ground level was exactly what it sounded like.
Alex had only been there once, and he hoped to never visit that place again.
“I suppose. Anyway, I traveled through there for days. I kept asking people for direction, but they all ran away upon seeing me. Then I got into a fight with these giant rats—”
“Giant rats?”
“--and I’ve been running ever since. I only just managed to escape from them recently.” Azazel paused. “Oh, before I forget, here is the milk that you asked me to buy. I made sure that no harm befell it.”
Alex took the milk from Azazel. He had asked Azazel to buy milk two weeks ago, the day after he, Gabrielle, Alice, and Jasmine had returned from Mars Homespring Resort. Naturally, the milk had long since spoiled.
“Uh… thank you, Azazel.”
“You are welcome, Groom-to-Be.” Azazel smiled at Alex, but then he frowned. “Is something troubling you, Groom-to-Be?”
“It… it’s nothing. I was just thinking about something.”
Azazel crossed his arms over his armored chest, his face contemplative. “I see, and what were you thinking about?”
Alex wondered if he should tell Azazel about his worries. If the man reported everything he said to Gabrielle’s old man, it could cause him trouble. On the other hand, he really would like someone to speak with.
“It’s Gabrielle. She keeps climbing into my bed after I go to sleep, and I’m really not sure what to do about it.”
Azazel raised an eyebrow. “And? I do not see what the problem is. You and she will be getting married, provided you manage to fend off her other suitors. It is only natural that married couples sleep together, or is it not t
he same for you humans?”
“No, it is.”
“Then what is the problem?”
“The problem is that she sleeps, uh, well, she sleeps naked.”
“And?”
Alex frowned. “What do you mean ‘and’? Gabrielle sleeps in the buff!”
“Princess Gabrielle has always slept nude,” Azazel told him. “According to what I have heard from her maids, Princess Gabrielle has problems sleeping while wearing any form of clothing.”
She also has problems wearing clothing period, Alex wanted to say but didn’t.
“Well, if that is your concern, then you need not worry. Since you and she are engaged, there is no problem if you two become intimate with each other.”
“Uh… no, that wasn’t quite—”
“In either event, now that I have delivered your milk and helped you resolve your problem, I really must be heading back to my ship. Commander Karen doesn’t seem to like it when I walk around the city for some reason… and every person I meet keeps on running away from me, too.”
Alex wondered if he should tell Azazel that people probably ran away from him because he looked really imposing in that armor. Unfortunately, before he could say anything, several large rats came running down the street. The angelisian commander squealed like a little girl and began running way, the rats hissing and spitting as they chased after him.
“Well,” Alex stared, “that just happened.” He paused. “I’m sure he’ll be okay. If he can take getting hit by a shuttle and still come out fine, then a few mutant rats won’t harm him.” He began walking again, and then paused… again. “And just when did Mars City have mutant rats?”
1
Alex returned home after his run. His body was covered in sweat, so he traveled upstairs and entered the changing room, where he stripped off his clothes, wrapped a towel around his waist, and walked into the shower room.
It was much bigger than it used to be. Where before, the shower room had consisted of a small five by five-meter room, now it was nearly three times that size. Most of that space had been taken up by the tub, which looked like something from a hot spring resort. There were also three detachable showerheads for multiple people to use.
All of these changes were courtesy of Gabrielle who, after returning from Mars Homespring Resort, had wanted to make her own personal hot spring. She’d used her dimensional warping technology to expand the space, and then she and Alex had used several new inventions to create the tub, install the showerheads, and exchange the old tiles for new tiles. Alex had to admit, he was satisfied with the results.
On a plus note, everything in this room worked.
Alex had just turned on the water to one of the showerheads and sat down on the stool when the sound of the door sliding open made him freeze. Had he forgotten to lock the door? No, he was almost positive that he’d locked the door. So how could someone have opened it?
“Alex!”
Despite all the warning signs in his head telling him not to, Alex turned around.
“Gabrie—hurk!”
Alex didn’t think he’d ever get used to the sight of a naked Gabrielle. Everything about the girl was perfect. He didn’t think he would ever meet another girl as beautiful as this one.
“Oh, my,” Voice Number One returned. “Now that’s a sight I wouldn’t mind seeing every day, though I could do without those horrid wings. Don’t you just want to take one of those pretty pink nipples into your mouth and—”
Alex thought he heard a loud kong! like someone had bashed a musical symbol against someone else’s head. A yelp echoed inside of his head, followed by a loud thump!, and then the sounds of something being dragged across the floor.
“My apologies,” Voice Number Two, the male voice that sounded like him but wasn’t him, said. “I had not been paying attention, and she managed to catch me off guard. Please do not let her bother you anymore.”
Several expletives were released inside of his mind. Voice Number One had quite the foul mouth. The many curses eventually faded into the distance, however, by that point, the damage had already been done.
Alex couldn’t stop staring at Gabrielle’s breasts, which were topped with beautiful pink nipples. Her boobs bounced and jiggled with every movement she made. Part of him really was tempted to take them into his mouth and do as the voice said. He groaned and placed his hands over his crotch to better hide his erection.
This is… so humiliating!
“W-what are you doing in here?” Alex asked after making sure that he hadn’t swallowed his tongue.
Gabrielle’s beaming smile was akin to an innocent child. “I was going to take a bath, but the door was locked, so I used Mr. Key to unlock it. It looks like I came at the perfect time. Now we can take a bath together.”
“Actually, I-I think I’m going to get out…”
“Why would you get out when you clearly haven’t finished getting cleaning? Ah, I know! I’ll help wash your back!”
“I’m perfectly capable of washing my own back,” Alex told her.
This didn’t matter to Gabrielle, though, who reached him before he could think of getting up and tried to wash his back. The act kick-started his fight or flight instincts—and since he didn’t have anything to fight other than hormones, he chose flight.
Alex stood up abruptly. Because Gabrielle had been washing his back—or trying to—when he shot to his feet, she latched onto him. Her arms went around his neck, which subsequently caused her breasts to press into his back.
Feeling the soft suppleness of her superlative bosoms caused Alex to freak out. In his panic, he ran out of the shower room with a laughing Gabrielle clinging to his back. Heedless of his own nudity, he rushed into the hall. He didn’t even notice the figure walking down the hall until he’d crashed into them, sending him, Gabrielle, and this new person tumbling to the floor.
“Ouch…”
It took Alex several seconds to realize his situation. The eyes that he’d instinctively closed opened slowly at first, but they quickly snapped wide open as he found his face pressed mouth first into a pair of white cotton panties.
His face burned like a million suns. He tried to get up, but Gabrielle was still on his back, laughing like she hadn’t even noticed their predicament.
And that was when he noticed something else.
Killing intent.
He slowly looked up. The person who he had crashed into was none other than Nyx. Her face was a surprisingly deep shade of red, and for the first time since they’d met, her eyes were displaying one clear emotion: anger.
“I-I can explain!” Alex tried to say, but because his mouth was buried in Nyx’s panties, it came out sounding like a muffled, “Mm mma hmmhmmp!”
“A-ahn!” Nyx moaned at the feeling, though she didn’t seem pleased. Her face turned a ballistic shade of red. Then her glare hardened as she stared down at him. “I hate perverts!”
The last thing Alex saw before darkness claimed him was something large and black smashing into his face.
2
Gabrielle and Nyx sat on a shuttle heading for the entertainment district, where they planned on meeting up with Selene. Alice was going to spend the day at Jasmine’s house, and Alex said that he needed to meet with Caridna Tepes for something, so it was just them at the moment.
It was kind of depressing. Gabrielle had wanted to go out with Alex, but she knew that he took his responsibilities seriously. Caridna was his contact for when something dealing with her marriage candidates happened, sort of his go-between with the police department, and while he wasn’t a member of the police forces anymore, he still met with her daily to see if there was any news on the marriage suitor front.
Alex is working hard to protect me, so I don’t have any right to complain, Gabrielle thought, a fire lighting in her mind. Besides, spending time with Nyx and Selene will be fun!
“Have you had a chance to see the city, Nyx?” Gabrielle asked her companion, who sat by her side. Nyx was so
short that her feet didn’t reach the ground. Gabrielle thought she was super cute.
“Yesterday before meeting Alexander, I had the chance to view the city from an observatory and created a map of a good portion of the city,” Nyx replied robotically. “It should be enough for me to complete my task.”
Gabrielle didn’t know what this girl meant by task, but she pouted upon hearing her answer. “That’s not I was asking. I wanted to know if you’ve had a chance to explore Mars City and see everything it has to offer.”
Nyx tilted her head to look at Gabrielle. She looked back, blinking several times before offering the other female a wide, beaming smile.
“Is there something on my face?”
“No…” Nyx slowly shook her head. “It is nothing. To answer your question, I have not had a chance to explore Mars City.”
“Well, that’s no good,” Gabrielle murmured, pressing her fingers to her lips and looking contemplative. The expression soon disappeared and was replaced by a grin. “It’s a good thing I’m here.” She thumped a fist against her chest. “Don’t worry, Nyx, I’ll show you around the city!”
Nyx just stared at her.
The shuttle soon arrived at their destination. Gabrielle pulled Nyx to her feet and dragged her to the exit. Before they could vacate the shuttle, an older man who’d been eying them ever since they hopped on came up behind them and reached out with a hand.
“I hate perverts.”
Before Gabrielle even had time to blink, Nyx pulled one of the bands off her arm. The man who had reached out to them was sent sailing to the other side of the bus when something large and black smashed into his face. His body impacted with the durasteel plating and plasteel windows. He remained there for several seconds, as if gravity had yet to realize that it had a job to do, and then he slowly fell off the wall and hit the seat below him before sinking to the floor.
Gabrielle blinked. “I wonder what just hit that poor man?”
As an angelisian, her eyesight was better than most other species, but even she couldn’t be sure of what she had seen. Actually, she was pretty sure that her mind had been playing tricks on her. It had looked like Nyx’s band had morphed into a giant hammer for a second there, almost like…
A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol 4 Page 7