Anders: An Auxem Novel

by Lisa Lace

  The Markans had regrouped and flown off a couple of minutes ago. We were the only remaining target for the pirates.

  “How am I supposed to fly straight enough for you to get a lock?” She pushed the gunner’s console away and switched to the flight controls.

  “Get us up to speed and give me three good seconds, Gwen. I’ll figure it out.”

  The next few seconds felt like the longest of my life. Time seemed to slow down, and we were precariously balanced between life and death. Keeping focused on the generator was hard. I felt the ship accelerate. I knew Gwen was struggling to keep us on course while the photon torpedoes hit us on all sides.

  “Our shields are at thirty percent,” she muttered. “Sixty seconds to target.”

  The ship continued to shake and bump from the collisions. I wasn’t even going to get three seconds.

  “We’re not moving fast enough. I’ve got to accelerate to near light speed.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a very good idea. Are you sure your reaction time is fast enough?”

  “Going faster is the only way I can give you a three-second window.” She was already speeding up. “It will take five seconds to get us moving fast enough. I hope you’ll have time to lock on. You have two seconds to fire before I have to adjust our course.”

  She didn’t finish the thought, but we both knew it ended with us exploding as our ship crashed into the maintenance corridor wall.

  “But that’s impossible.”

  “I know. Now there will be five things you’re good at. The new one is doing impossible things.”

  She studied the screen. “Prepare for target lock.”

  A small benefit of our insane speed was that the photon torpedoes didn’t affect us as much. It was easier for Gwen to keep the ship on a straight course.

  Nothing else existed for me except the generator. I took a deep breath and focused on the targeting overlay. I immediately realized we were moving too quickly. The swaying target remained red, showing that we didn’t have a lock. I held my breath.

  “Three. Anders!”

  The screen bleeped as the color changed to green. I fired immediately and missed.

  I started to focus again, trying to forget all the lives that were depending on my trigger finger.

  “Two...”

  I felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of my face.

  “One. We’re out of time. I’m moving our ship out of the way.”

  Green! I had a lock again. I aimed directly at the generator and fired. The computer predicted a direct hit.

  “We’re out of here.” Gwen started moving at such a tight angle and high velocity that I felt my stomach lurch. She hailed the transport on an encrypted channel. “The beam’s down. Get those pirates off our ship.”

  I hoped they had managed to take out the pirates in the control room.

  “Roger that, Gwen.” Priya’s voice came over the speaker, and I felt giddy. “Transporting them now.”

  “While you’re at it, can you lock down the fighters they stole? Make their ships fly back to the transport on autopilot.”

  “You got it.”

  Gwen sat back in her chair, looking like all the stress had finally caught up with her. She set the ship on autopilot and leaned back, closing her eyes. I felt like I was walking on air. I unbuckled and moved to the cockpit, sitting down next to Gwen.

  “Anders, you sure like to cut things close.”

  “It wasn’t my idea to go so fast. It’s hard to shoot at that speed.”

  She smiled smugly. “Anything can be the correct decision as long as it works.”

  “We’re the best, aren’t we?”

  “If we weren’t, we’d be dead. I hope we never have to do anything like that again.”

  “About the couch in the changing room...”

  Her eyes got big. “No way. The next time I make out with you, Anders, I want it to be on our wedding night. We won’t have to stop, and we can do whatever we want for as long as we want.”

  “It’s hard to argue with that.”

  Allex’s voice came from the speaker. Gwen had left the channel open. “I didn’t need to hear that. Bring your ship into docking bay fourteen. It’s ready for the returning heroes.”

  Gwen had turned away from me already and was preparing to dock our fighter. Our make-out session would have to wait. When we exited the ship, we were immediately greeted by Allex and Priya.

  “You did it.” Allex shook his head. “We managed to move all the pirates directly to the police ship. A lot of people are scared, but we only have one injury thanks to you.”

  “You and Priya helped too,” Gwen reminded him.

  “We weren’t the ones on the suicide mission. You’re lucky you didn’t die out there, Anders.”

  “What would have happened if I did?”

  “I probably would have killed you.”

  “Didn’t you have to take the Hippocratic oath when you became a doctor?” Gwen looked like she was trying not to laugh.

  “Hippocrates was from Earth, not Auxem. But we have something similar. He just likes to act tough.”

  Allex punched me, and I hugged him again. I was just happy to have everyone safe. Priya and I smiled at each other.

  “Let’s tell everyone they can come out of the panic room. They must be having a hard time with the twins in such a small space.”

  Allex looked uneasy and glanced at Priya. She had unconsciously moved behind him to hide.

  “Why don’t you guys do that?” Allex started backing away. “I’ll be up to see everyone later.”

  “What should I tell them?”

  “Don’t tell them anything.” He put an arm around Priya. “They can’t find out about her, you guys.”

  I sighed. “Okay. But now that we know, you’re making us part of your deception. Just to be clear, you don’t want me to mention that you’re hiding the stowaway again?”

  “Anders, this isn’t a joke.”

  “If it’s not, then you should come up with a solution to the problem instead of lurching from crisis to crisis. We’re not going to be able to hide this for much longer.”

  He looked as tormented as I felt about keeping a secret from our brothers. Before Priya, the Madellan brothers didn’t keep secrets from one another.

  “It won’t be for long, Anders.”

  “It won’t take long for our brothers to figure out you’re hiding something.”

  He nodded. “I know you’re right, but Priya has been here for a while. She can last a little longer.”

  “I’m going to enter the code to let them out. You should use the time to get out of here. See you around, Priya.”

  “I’m not so sure about that, but goodbye.” Priya’s large black eyes looked fearful, and it made me uncomfortable.

  I liked Priya better when she had an attitude. If Allex didn’t figure things out, the woman he loved would get arrested. Our father would be the one pressing charges.

  An hour later, I was back in the docking bay, making sure all the fighters had shut down properly. I didn’t trust that the pirates had maintained anything. After I finished checking the last one, I turned around and was surprised to see all four of my brothers coming toward me across the darkened room.

  Arnon has always intimidated me. His dark hair and eyes give him a severe appearance. Ayrie was the exact opposite, fair and relaxed with a devil-may-care attitude, always looking so good that my eyes hurt. Avren, who somehow managed to seem studious all the time, had brown hair that was constantly mussed and contrasted with clothes that were always perfect. Allex trudged behind them all like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

  I rarely saw all four of them simultaneously unless we were at a family event. The fact that they were looking for me made me nervous. I straightened up and waited as they approached in silence.

  “Hey, guys.” I wanted to appear laid-back, but I utterly failed. “What brings all of you here?”

  Arnon and Ayrie glance
d at each other. Then Arnon spoke for all of them.

  “We came to apologize.” He looked contrite.

  My eyebrows raised. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I looked from one to the other. “What for?”

  Ayrie spoke up. “It’s really only Arnon and me.” I studied my two older brothers, waiting for them to explain. Ayrie went on. “We’ve been too hard on you lately.”

  “But it’s because we were worried about you,” Arnon cut in. “We didn’t like to watch you screw up your life, and we should have been supporting you, instead of teasing you. We owe you an apology. Can you forgive us?”

  I wasn’t sure how to feel or what to say.

  “You were amazing today, Anders.” Arnon’s eyes were full of pride. “You came through for us and thought about others before yourself. We learned about your true colors.”

  “I didn’t know you were such a good pilot.” Ayrie clapped me on the back.

  “Gwen was flying.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “Nope. I was shooting. She was piloting.”

  “Unbelievable. You’ve got one hell of a partner.”

  “I’m glad you think so. I’m hoping that Gwen will soon be my partner in other ways.” I looked at everyone’s faces to see their reactions.

  “If that’s true, we should let you get back to your lady.” Ayrie grinned. “Make sure to let us know what happens.”

  “You can’t keep anything away from us, brother.” Arnon nodded slowly. “If you tried to hide something from us, we would sniff it out in a second.”

  I laughed awkwardly. I glanced at Allex out of the corner of my eye. He looked like a statue. “I know! There’s no way I could hide anything from you guys for a day, let alone a year.”

  I hadn’t realized how much of a difference it could make to have my family proud of me instead of disappointed. I wasn’t going to let anyone down ever again.

  Chapter Eighteen

  GWEN

  The day had been exhausting, and evening loomed in front of me.

  Two weeks had passed since we’d booted the pirates off the transport and continued across the galaxy toward Auxem. The pirates were all in jail, and that sector of space was a little bit safer for everyone else. Allex had hidden Priya again. I assumed they were trying to figure out a way to get her out of hiding, but I hadn’t heard of any concrete plans yet.

  Anders’ family had decided to make a change to the panic room. They were enlarging it to make space for at least two children and more couples.

  Oh, and I had finally figured things out with Anders.

  “Mrs. Madellan, come over here.” My husband was speaking to me. He stood on the other side of a bridal suite. The transport had all the rooms necessary for an Auxem wedding and the wedding night. After all, they had ventured out into the stars looking for women who were willing to become brides and mothers.

  I wondered with a little burst of excitement how soon I would become a mother. Would we conceive on our first attempt? The idea made me happier than I could have ever imagined.

  Anders had his wings on full display. He was wearing black wedding pants, but he didn’t have a shirt on. He noticed me eyeing his wings. “I guess you’re not used to them yet.”

  I shook my head. I had only seen them twice.

  “What do you think?” He looked a little unsure.

  “I love them.” I lightly ran my hand over the feathers.

  He shivered and closed his eyes. “Do that again.”

  I gently brushed his wings. He drew in a ragged breath. “You won’t have to stop tonight, you know.” He reached out and pushed one of the spaghetti straps on my wedding gown off my shoulder, leaving it bare. “We can go all the way.”

  “It’s about time.” It had been a long two weeks. We had spent the days apart. I had insisted there be no physical contact between us, knowing it would be torture.

  We hadn’t been able to keep our hands off one other completely, but our interaction had been completely unsatisfying. I was ready to fuck.

  I couldn’t wait to bond with him. And it wasn’t all about the sex.

  After the marriage, we would be closer than a human couple could ever be, thanks to the life bond. We wouldn’t be able to lie to each other. And apparently, Anders would never want to look at another woman. To be honest, I didn’t think we would need anything to ensure his fidelity. He only had eyes for me. I knew that would never change.

  He was different from Jake.

  Anders looked anxious. “The first time is going to be intense. We have to do things a certain way, according to custom. And I might not be exactly the way you remember me.”

  “I’m getting more and more confused with each sentence.”

  “Never mind. You’ll see. Come here and give me a kiss.”

  His touch was passionate and intense. I felt overwhelmed by his body, which seemed larger than I remembered. His wings surrounded me as his arms held me close. I could feel his bulge pressing between us. More than anything, I wanted to feel him inside me.

  Somehow his hands were on my breasts, but he couldn’t reach them through the dress. “Take your clothes off.” There was a demanding look in his eyes that was new to me. I had seen different sides of him before: the comic, the pilot, and the lover, but I didn’t know what he would be like as a husband.

  It turned me on. I began removing my clothes. There were about a thousand buttons on the front of my dress, and they all had to be undone. It was inconvenient, but it was so lovely that I had overlooked any impracticalities. I was regretting that decision now as I undid the tenth button. Anders watched my feverish fingers, his eyes dark with lust.

  I wondered if he was going to get impatient and tear the thing off me. The dress had cost a lot of money. I remembered that he had already waited a long time to have me. A few extra minutes wasn’t going to make a difference.

  “Did you ever—” I couldn’t complete the thought, cutting myself off before I said the words. I finally finished with the last button and spread the dress apart, revealing a matching bra and panties.

  “Let me take a guess. Did I ever think about you when I was jerking off? Of course. I couldn’t help it. I burned for you.”

  He wasn’t touching me now, though.

  I removed the dress and draped it over a nearby chair.

  “I think you have to put it on the altar.”

  “Can we dim the lights?” I felt exposed, which I usually didn’t like but now it was making me hot.

  He shook his head. I figured it must be against their wedding night rules. “You’re not in control here.”

  A spike of lust shot through me.

  “Get on the altar.”

  He repeated himself in a tone I couldn’t ignore.

  I dashed over to the altar while my breasts nearly fell out of the tiny bra which barely covered my nipples. I could feel my scrap of panties getting wet already.

  I had seen the altar earlier, but I thought it was just another table. I wondered how I could gracefully climb onto it. Without warning, Anders picked me up and set me on top. It felt like it was made of stone. Having a heavy altar like this on the spaceship was expensive. Every ounce of weight was carefully planned out. Even so, it felt like a slab of rock, and I must have looked like an offering to Anders.

  A pulse of energy shot straight into my core, making me gasp. Anders was between my legs, kissing me savagely. He couldn’t contain his pent-up desire any longer. His tongue dived into my mouth, claiming me with every silky touch. Finally, his hand reached up and cupped my breast, making me moan. He groaned when he found material again. He quickly unhooked my bra and tossed it away. He shoved his hands into my panties and ripped them off me, flinging them onto the floor.

  I was completely naked now. My pale skin gleamed in the bright light. I felt completely vulnerable. Anders spread my legs and opened me. I had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. My breasts rose and fell with my harsh, uneven breathing. They looked swollen to me as
I arched my back, eager to feel his touch against my skin. He put both hands on my boobs, lifting them a little before gently squeezing.

  I watched him without saying a word.

  His fingers caressed me, and with every touch, I felt the ache between my legs increasing. He circled the hard, pebbled tips of my breasts, making me go wild with desire. He pinched my nipples a little too hard and elicited a gasp.

  I realized I was nude and he was still completely dressed. I longed for him to get things moving but I had a feeling he didn’t want to rush things.

  I ran my hands over the smooth muscles of his arms and around his wings. He stepped back, eyes blazing, and dropped his pants to the floor.

  I had seen his cock a few times before. He hadn’t looked like that.

  “Don’t worry, Gwen.” He looked worried. “Auxem men are a little larger when we have our wings out.” There was nothing little about Anders right now. “You don’t have to be scared.”

  “I’m not scared.” It was mostly true. I was aroused...and somewhat frightened that he wouldn’t fit inside me.

  “It will fit. It always fits.”

  “How would you know?”

  “My brothers warned me about it.”

  I didn’t want to think about his brothers right then.

  “Kiss me again. We’re talking too much.”

  We spent the next few minutes making out. His long cock pressed between us, hard and ready to go.

  He pulled away and breathed sharply. “I can’t wait any longer.”

  “Then don’t.”

  With eyes closed in ecstasy, he eased the tip of his cock into me. He was really fucking big. He slid in a little more, spreading and stretching me. When I was ready, he sheathed himself completely, disappearing inside me as our bodies joined into one. He held still for a moment.

  But Anders had waited a long time for this, and soon he was moving again. He pulled out and thrust back at a slow, steady pace that had me writhing on the stone. Anders pushed me down, forcing me onto my back. I spread wide for him as he pleasured me.

  I felt my climax rising as he rocked into me. I thrashed beneath him. The joy overwhelmed me. My body felt hot all over. My clit throbbed and my nipples were incredibly sensitive. Every thrust took me higher. I squirmed as he plunged into my body, deeper and harder and faster.