The Alien Pirates' Treasure (Star Pirates Book 1)

by Charity Wells

  Chaos erupts as the smoke obscures our movements.

  Firing at the dark shapes scrambling to escape the smoke, I enjoy the satisfaction of watching several fall motionless to the deck. Normally, Had’dir would follow us in and tag each body with a sedative to keep them unconcious while we move forward, but with him staying on the ship to protect Polly, that job falls to Va’naar.

  “I know I got five, counting that first foolhardy pup,” I call.

  “I’ve downed another seven,” Kuma brags with a sense of cheerful pride.

  “And I’m pretty sure I got three,” Duresh says and huffs.

  “That’s fifteen. There can’t be that many more on board. I’ll take the Alpha since Kuma insists on taking the merchant himself. Move in,” I order just before darting through the smoke. My crewmates are right on my heels, firing wildly as they cover my charge.

  The defenders focus on the first sign of movement, firing at me and missing the advance of my team. Thankfully my fur blends into the darkening smoke, but I have only a small window before the ship’s ventilation clears it away.

  My target is the big Sylvian leader. I’ve got to take him down before he can rally his pack. Without him, they’ll be easier to handle. Hive minded species are always vulnerable when you remove their Alphas.

  As if my thoughts conjured him from the smoke, he appears right in front of me, looming in the shadowy wisps that form as the venting kicks in and pulls the foul gas from the cargo bay.

  “You didn’t think your little attack would be that easy, did you?” The tall male says, swiping at me with massive black claws that extend from behind his knuckles. He manages to knock my blaster out of my hand.

  “Easy? Hah! A pup could take this ship. You never had a chance,” I mock, dodging his attack by ducking under the blow and spin to miss the lash of his whiplike tail.

  I’m too close for him to use his own gun now. Wrenching his rifle from his hands, I toss it across the room, effectively disarming him. His scales turn an ominous shade of red and he rattles again, calling his pack to him. Their rattling reply echoes through the hall. No doubt they are doubling their efforts to fight back, but there’s only five of them left and my crewmates are keeping them occupied.

  Kuma fights two in front of the bay doors, Duresh fires at another two, keeping them cornered behind a pile of crates. The remaining pack member, a younger male, rushes me impulsively, forgetting his own weapon in his eagerness to attack.

  “That was a foolish mistake you’ve made, pup,” I taunt, jumping back from his headlong rush. His wild swing is easy to avoid and leaves him an open target.

  Grabbing the skinny male’s arm, I pivot, throwing him over my shoulder and headfirst into his Alpha, knocking him out. The Alpha staggers under the sudden weight of his limp packmate. He pushes the smaller male off and lunges for me in an attempt to dig his claws into my stomach.

  Sidestepping once more, I crack my fist into the side of his snout, knocking the bulky alien off balance. I catch the end of his tail and yank, sweeping his knee with my foot. Toppling over, he rolls away and tries to get out of my reach. He tries again to trip me with another swipe of his tail, but misses. I jump out of the way looking for a good opening, then barrel towards him as he regains his footing.

  Too slow, he rears back to dodge my next blow, exposing himself for an uppercut to the jaw. His teeth clack together as his head snaps upwards. He drops to the ground, limp and out cold. His pack members immediately know he’s down and they stumble, their focus broken as they lose the connection to their Alpha. Kuma quickly knocks his opponents out and dashes over to assist Duresh.

  “Va’naar!” I shout. “Keep them down!”

  Darting from body to body, Va’naar sedates each one, while Kuma heads for the doors to the rest of the ship. His need to feed has been aggravated by the battlelust now raging through his system. And his mind is only on one thing, the merchant I promised him.

  “This should hold them for a few hours,” Va’naar says, tranquilizing the last enemy.

  “I hope so. I don’t want a repeat of what happened the last time you said that. Those darn Triops woke before we could even reach their hold, and when we did, they locked us in for three cycles! If Messa hadn’t compromised their life support they never would have released us.”

  “You can blame Ha’dir for that one. He makes the serum, not me. It wasn’t my fault he got sick and couldn’t join us,” Va’naar protests, kicking the body next to him to make sure he’s out.

  I do the same, as a precaution of course. Satisfied with the result, I follow after Kuma, signalling the others to come as well.

  “I can smell him,” Kuma snarls. A feral grin widens on his face as I catch up to him. “The rich bastard is hiding, but he can’t hide forever.”

  A shiver crawls down my spine. “Easy there. I know it’s been a little too long, but you’ll have your chance to feed soon enough.”

  Kuma hisses softly as he stalks the corridors. Every so often, he sniffs out one of the remaining crew members. They are unarmed and non-combative, so Va’naar and Duresh escort them to a nearby cabin and lock them in. Soon only the merchant is unaccounted for and Kuma leads us straight to his cabin.

  “Knock, knock,” he calls out, pressing the comm button on the door panel.

  “Grik sucking pirates!” Hodan yells in response. “You won’t get me! I’ll see you all dead!”

  “Gotta love the feisty ones,” Kuma says, fixing his bypass module to the door controls.

  “Careful now, he could be armed,” I caution.

  Kuma’s grin only grows wider, and all four of his eyes light up with maniacal glee. “The best ones always are,” he purrs as he watches the module cycle go through its sequences until it finds the right code.

  The door beeps and silently slides open. Almost immediately, beams from a laser pistol slam into the hall panel. Obviously we aren’t dumb enough to stand in front of the door, so each shot misses. The blaster whines each time it fires, telling me two things. It’s cheap and the charging unit is about to burn out.

  We flank the door and patiently wait for the weapon to burn out. It doesn’t take long. Cursing as it overheats and sparks in his hand, the merchant throws the useless weapon at Kuma, who is now stalking into the cabin after the surly Kiskisan. Hodan’s angry exclamations devolve into pleas for mercy at the sight of the hungry Shirshen. Unperturbed, Kuma catches the heavy set bastard by his fancy robes and rips his sleeve away before biting into the soft tissue of his forearm.

  Kuma’s saliva has a tranquilizing effect on the merchant who soon falls silent and hangs placidly from Kuma’s grip. I watch from the doorway as my friend feeds, taking the protein he needs from Hodan’s blood. Some Shirshens can’t control their feeding, especially so near a frenzy, but Kuma is strong. He takes only what he needs and drops the unsavory Kiskisan at his feet. Standing over the sleepy male, Kuma pulls in several deep breaths, trying to focus on his environment again. Finally, his eyes rise to meet mine.

  “You good?” I ask.

  “Aye, better than good. Bastard is healthy enough but apparently has a craving for sweets. His blood is so rich and sugary, I’ll be jittery later. I’m good though, real good.”

  “Great, shall we see what other goodies he has in here besides the treats I can already smell?”

  “What about him? He’ll be awake in a while,” Kuma says, prodding the limp Hodan.

  “Throw him in with his crew, they can deal with him,” I suggest. “If they don’t want to end up in a slave pit, the merchant won’t wake up and the crew will disappear with his ship.”

  Kuma grunts in affirmation and drags the merchant away.

  Tapping my comm, I make a quick call. “Messa, it’s all clear. Leave Polly with Ha’dir and get over here.”

  “On my way, Cap.” Messa’s job on these raids was to check for hidden panels and trap doors. The best loot is always tucked out of sight.

  Now it’s time to get to work.
<
br />   ∞∞∞

  Polly

  “How many more are you going to eat?” I ask, completely shocked with Messa’s appetite for sweets.

  Once the Sylvian yacht was secured, Ca’lek called Messa to come over and assist in bringing the cargo over. I’m not even sure she brought anything back with her except a boxful of fancy candies, pastries, and other goodies. Crowing in delight, she had hustled me away from medical and off to the mess hall to help ‘put it away’, which was Messa speak for, ‘let’s eat as many as we can before we get caught’.

  “As many as I can. Oh, this is so good,” Messa moans, taking a bite out of the creamy pastry. Flakes of crust cling to her lips while she chews in blissful delight.

  I snort at her ridiculousness. I knew she liked sweets, but her expression is downright orgasmic.

  Reaching for my own treat, I watch as she takes another slow bite of her dessert. Her eyes close as she hums her enjoyment. At this point, I bet there isn’t even an ounce of blood running in her veins that isn’t sugar rich and as thick as syrup.

  My own bite is nearly as good. The little truffle is crisp on the outside and soft inside, with layers of light cream. Complex flavors burst on my tongue with each bite. It’s sweet and maybe a little tart, but then there’s a hint of something deeper and almost savory. A flash of citrus and a hint of berry pop out of nowhere and I moan. It’s no wonder Messa is addicted to these things.

  “Polly, have you seen—”

  Duresh walks in, his voice cutting off at the sight of Messa with a small cake in her hand.

  Hastily, she shoves it onto my plate. “Thank you for the offer Polly, but Dendrobats don’t eat sweets,” she declares a little too loudly, still not looking at Duresh who watches us in silence from the door.

  His expressionless face turns to amusement and it only deepens when Messa continues to refuse to look at him. The guilt is written all over her face. He stalks his way over, eyes fixed on his cringing mate. Reaching for the cake she dropped on my plate, he picks it up and looks at it curiously. Then sniffs it. Messa groans and turns to dart out the door. Duresh catches her wrist, stopping her. She stiffens and hangs her head while uttering a small whimper of shame.

  “Messa,” Duresh says her name softly, but she cringes even more.

  I watch, feeling a little worried, and hesitantly stuff another truffle in my mouth. This whole situation is so very strange. I don’t know what else to do but watch and eat my candy.

  Seriously, what’s wrong with her eating sweets?

  Duresh steps closer to his mate and hums a small, amused sound when she backs away from him. He steps in again and now she has nowhere to go. He has her pinned against the counter.

  “Messa,” he croons again.

  She finally looks up. Her eyes are bright with anxiety. Leaning in, he licks a spot of cream from her lip and shocks her. I stifle an amused snicker when her eyes go wide and her jaw drops open. Guess she wasn’t expecting that.

  Taking advantage of her surprise, Duresh kisses her passionately, ignoring the fact that I’m standing right here. Messa moans again, but this time it’s sexual and watching the Dendrobats make out has me feeling a bit heated myself.

  Duresh breaks from Messa, leaving her open-mouthed and stunned. With a satisfied grin, he bites off a piece of the cake and pops the rest in her mouth before walking out, smugly humming a tune under his breath.

  “Oh, Polly, your mates are storing the new cargo, but they’ll be up soon,” Duresh says over his shoulder as he leaves.

  Messa stares after him, her mouth slowly closing on the sweet. “What in the world was that?” she asks, turning to me with shocked eyes.

  “That was him telling you it’s okay to like sweets and that was so freaking hot, I need to go find my mates and drag them off to bed,” I declare, fanning myself.

  “I should go after him,” she mumbles, turning towards the door.

  “You should absolutely go after him.” I laugh as Messa darts out the door and down the corridor. I hear her quick footsteps receding and then a masculine chuckle, followed by Messa squealing in delight.

  “What’s gotten into those two?” Kuma asks, stopping in the open doorway to peer down the hall after the mated pair.

  I burst into giggles of glee and soon I’m streaming tears of laughter at his confused expression. “Messa just found out Duresh apparently likes sweets too,” I explain once I calm down.

  “It’s about time. Now she can stop skulking around and hiding her treats in the access panels.”

  “You knew?”

  “Little human, we all knew, even Duresh, but he was content to let her keep her secret so she wouldn’t be upset. He doesn’t eat sweets much himself, but it doesn’t bother him that she does.”

  “Why is it such a big deal if she likes candy?”

  “Dendrobats process sugar differently than other species. For them, it’s highly addictive and gives them a sense of euphoria and arousal that is similar to the effect of drugs or alcohol on someone like me or you. Their homeworld even bans sweeteners from being imported or manufactured. It can’t hurt her like most drugs, but I know she avoids sugars while on duty so it doesn’t distract her from her work. Duresh says he can tell how much candy she ate by how insatiable she is in their nest.”

  I burst into giggles again. “So when she eats a lot of sugar, she gets horny?”

  “Indeed.” His lips curl in amusement, sharing in my mirth.

  I find myself staring at the big Shirshen again. Something is different about Kuma. He looks better than he did yesterday. His golden skin has a bright healthy sheen to it now that he glows in the mess hall lights. And his vibrant eyes are clearer and bluer than I’ve ever seen them before.

  “Were you feeling ill the last few days?” I ask curiously. He cocks his head at me and ponders my question. Understanding dawns after a moment.

  “Ah, no, Polly. I just needed to feed. I took advantage of the opportunity while we were on the merchant’s vessel,” he explains. His watchful expression tells me he was waiting for my reaction.

  I hadn’t thought of that at all, but I wasn’t unfamiliar with Shirshen biology. I knew they needed warm, live blood every so often because their bodies didn’t produce red blood cells or a specific type of protein, or something necessary to their species. The spa I had worked at employed quite a few donors for the resident and visiting Shirshens. I never worked with them directly, but the men and women who donated seemed to enjoy their work. If Kuma was waiting for me to be horrified, he would be waiting for a long time.

  “Did you get enough? You feel okay now?” I question without hesitation.

  Relief rolls across Kuma’s shoulders. “Yes, I am fine,” he answers, nodding.

  “Polly, can you bring my datapad to me?” Ca’lek comms, interrupting any further conversation.

  “Sorry Kuma, I’ve gotta go. Enjoy your evening.”

  He nods in understanding, but I almost feel bad for leaving him there as I make my way down to my cabin. The door slides open and I bump into Va’naar’s warm and furry body. He pulls me against him, wrapping his arms around my body in a tight embrace.

  “I’ve missed you.” His mouth crushes against mine and I moan.

  “I thought you were with Ca’lek?” I say between kisses.

  “He’s still in the cargo hold sorting through the loot.”

  “Shouldn’t you be down there helping him?”

  “No, I already have all the treasure I want right here.”

  “You are such a flirt,” I chide playfully.

  “And you love it,” he counters, kneading my breast and plucking the hard nipple through the fabric of my top. I swat at him and laugh.

  “Stop it, you incorrigible demon. Ca’lek needs his datapad.” I slip out of his arms and duck into the cabin, then snatch the datapad from off the table.

  “And I need my mate,” he whispers playfully in my left ear, his hands roam my sides until he grips my hips firmly, grinding his er
ection against my backside.

  “Not right now silly.” I slip out of his grasp again and head for the door before I lose all sense of my mind and jump into the sack with him.

  “Why not now?” he whines, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind and spanning my belly with his hands.

  “I swear Va’naar, both you and Ca’lek are insatiable, and that’s saying a lot considering I’m the one full of crazy pregnant lust hormones,” I snicker, while I open the door and walk into the hall.

  “My mate is sexy and beautiful. She smells so good, especially when my scent is all over her skin. Why shouldn’t I want to make love to her over and over and over?” he says, following me down the corridor.

  “I’ll tell you what, you two can move in permanently when there’s a full vacancy.”

  Va’naar stops, looking confused as he considers my comment. Then a big grin lights up his face and he leers at me. “As long as I get to be the primary tenant,” he counters.

  “You know Ca’lek might have something to say about that, but I’ll leave that up to the two of you to figure out.”

  We reach the lift and take it down to the lower level that contains the cargo hold where my other mate greets me at the door with kisses of his own.

  ∞∞∞

  Later that evening, I find myself alone in our quarters. Everyone is still preparing the cargo bay for when we arrive in Mephida in a few days time, and Ca’lek needs all the hands that can help. Except for mine. I’m too pregnant to be lifting heavy boxes and organizing them on carts and such. I’m not complaining though, my ankles have been so swollen these past few days. And besides, I’ve barely had time to myself, since these two sexy males can’t keep their greedy hands off me.

  “Computer, dim lights to fifty-five percent.”

  As requested, the lighting lowers. I waddle over to the synth unit and order a cup of beela, then head over to the personal comm unit on the desk in the corner of our sitting room. It’s small and nowhere near as advanced as the one in the Comm Center but I don’t need it for anything crazy. Just a few net searches and all.