Syfi Warriors

by Rose Nickol

  “James!” Martin shouted, his body tightening. He was close. They both were.

  They’d reached the clouds, and above, bursting through the atmosphere as their bodies exploded like a supernova in the heavens. James cried out, as he released deep inside Martin, filling him, and then some, as Martin’s seed splashed between them.

  James’s legs shook as he slowly lowered them to the shower floor, the warm water still hitting them and washing away the evidence of their coupling.

  “Now what?” Martin sighed, his head resting against James’s chest.

  “Now I take you to bed,” James smiled.

  “Round three it is,” Martin agreed.

  Chapter 10

  “So, I heard he’s going home today,” Newt tossed James the football.

  Using a bit more force than needed, James threw it back. “Yeah.”

  Newt caught the spiraling ball, and hissed as it slammed home. Shaking his hands one by one he glared at James. “And you’re okay with this?”

  “Do I look okay?” James growled.

  “No. You look like a bear with a thorn in his paw.”

  That was a fairly accurate description of how he felt. He was grumpy, but he was also in pain. He didn’t want to say goodbye to Martin. Logic said Martin needed to leave. His project here was finished. His replacement had already arrived to take up the hospital construction. The only thing keeping him here was his relationship with James. That wasn’t enough.

  “So, what are you going to do?” Newt released the ball, and James caught it easily.

  “I’m going to see him off at the port.” James smiled. “And then I’ll see him in a month when I go for leave.”

  “Really?” Newt looked stunned, and barely managed to catch the football even when James sent it perfectly toward him. “You mean you aren’t ending things?”

  “No.” James couldn’t bear to just end things. He wanted to see Martin again. Parting now was going to be painful, but he knew it wasn’t goodbye.

  “Well, good for you,” Newt grinned, walking across the gym to grip James’ shoulder. “I’m happy for you. It’s about time you did something for yourself.”

  “You make it sound like I deprive myself of the basic needs.” James shook his friend’s hand off and headed for the new locker room. The rec-center Martin had overseen built was amazing. Everything was top of the line, but he’d also taken the soldiers’ tastes into account. It was a huge success. The only problem was, James knew every time he came into the building he’d be reminded of his lover.

  “When was the last time you got laid? Before Martin,” Newt specified.

  “I don’t know,” James frowned. “Maybe a month or two before he showed up.”

  “I rest my case.”

  “Just because you can’t go three days without fucking,” James laughed.

  James wondered who Newt’s partner was. The man was too loyal to sleep with prostitutes. No, he had a single person he slept with. Despite the years he’d known the man, he had yet to work out exactly who that lover was. For a while he’d thought maybe Newt was seeing Crissy, but recent events drove that idea from his mind completely. Leaving him to wonder again.

  Thinking of Crissy, she’d been distant lately. Not that he blamed her. She’d taken his actions during the explosion as a rejection. Of course, he hadn’t meant it like that. He hadn’t been thinking clearly. All he could think of was Martin and his safety. In hindsight, yeah, that was a pretty clear rejection.

  “You ever going to introduce me to your lover,” James tried for probably the twentieth time to get Newt to make an introduction.

  “You know him,” Newt shrugged. So he always said. The most he could gleam from that continued response was Newt’s lover was male, and James apparently knew him. That only left half the people on the base! “Why do you care so much?”

  “You know who my lover is,” James provided.

  “True. But as I said, you already know mine.”

  “Then just give me his name.”

  “Rodger.”

  James frowned. He couldn’t think of anyone off the top of his head with that first name. He sure as shit couldn’t recall anyone with that surname. Maybe it was someone he didn’t know the first name of? So, a superior officer?

  “Last name?” James tried, but Newt just smiled. Seemed a first name was all he was getting right now. Still, it was better than nothing.

  “How long till Martin’s flight out?” Newt changed the subject.

  James looked at his watch and sighed. “Two hours.”

  “Why’re you with me then? Go to him and say your goodbyes!” Newt shoved him from behind, pushing James toward the civilian apartments. “Good luck!” he shouted after him after a minute.

  James waved and hoped his hand wasn’t shaking as he crossed the base and came to stand in front of the large building. He could still remember the first moment he’d brought Martin here. The way the man flirted with him so shamelessly. Never would he have thought the eccentric man would come to mean so much to him.

  As he stood there, the doors opened and Martin came out. “Oh, hey.”

  “Hey,” James smiled. They moved at the same time, meeting in the middle. “You packed?”

  “Yep,” Martin indicated the luggage he’d been wheeling behind him.

  “You know, you’re not supposed to leave the apartment without me.”

  “Well, to be honest this isn’t an accident.” Martin released the handle to his luggage and wrapped his arms around James’s neck. “I saw you headed this way.”

  “You could’ve waited upstairs.” James returned the embrace pulling Martin close.

  Martin shook his head. “No. I think it’s best if we avoid privacy at this point. I might miss my flight.”

  Yeah, he had a point. Since that first time they’d come together, it was like a switch had been turned on and it was nearly impossible to turn it back off. James knew that if he’d made it up to Martin’s room and they’d touched like this, there would be no stopping. At least out here, where people could see them, they could control themselves.

  “Give you a ride to the station?” James offered.

  “I’d love that,” Martin smiled at him before leaning in and kissing him softly.

  Their last ride across the base together, and James found himself wishing for time to slow. Or for the flight to be delayed. He didn’t want their time together to end.

  They arrived at the boarding area too soon for James’ liking, and that left them standing there. The ship having already arrived but wouldn’t start boarding passengers for another hour. They spent that last hour just sitting beside each other. There was probably so much they needed to say, but neither seemed to be able to speak.

  When an hour passed, the call for passengers to board rang out and Martin stood. Before James could follow, Martin leaned over and kissed him. “I’ll see you in a month.”

  It wasn’t a goodbye. With that James felt a bit better about this parting. Pulling Martin back to him, he kissed him with every fiber of his being. Martin responded in kind, moaning, and pressing close. “In a month,” James whispered as he broke the kiss and released him.

  Martin nodded, grabbed his luggage, and walked up the gangplank and out of James’ sight. He stood there the entire time, until after the ship had launched. One month wasn’t that long, he’d managed to fall in love in that period. Still, it suddenly felt too long.

  One Month Later…

  Martin looked at the time and cursed. Submitting his report, he tossed a few things into his briefcase, made sure his tablet was packed, and rushed from his new office. He went straight to the underground parking garage, checked out his car, and sped out of the building. He zipped in and out of traffic as he headed straight for the airport.

  Glancing at the clock when he arrived, he smiled. He had ten minutes. Finding a parking spot took five minutes. Another minute was lost as he waited for traffic to clear so he could cross to the terminal. By t
he time he made it to gate fifteen he had seconds to spare. He gasped, pulling oxygen into his lungs as the arrival of flight R5-W302 from the Genus System was announced. Martin smiled, his heart fluttering as he watched people mill into the building two minutes later.

  He looked about, feeling like a child at Christmas. When he spotted the military fatigues, he rushed forward. “James!” he shouted. The dark man stopped and opened his arms. Martin flung himself into his arms, and they kissed. People clapped, but they ignored them as they greeted each other. “I love you,” Martin whispered. “I missed you.”

  James smiled against his lips. “I love you too.”

  The End.

  Author Bio

  I live in Southern Oregon and enjoy spending as much time outside as I possibly can. My boyfriend and I often find ourselves hiking with our two dogs when the weather permits it.

  I got into writing as a way for personal therapy and have since expanded that into a hobby and profession that I enjoy. I like to write believable relations between people overcoming unfair hardships set before them. I always love a happy ending and no matter the hell my characters go through they’ll always get their forever person.

  Also by A.M. Halford

  Itáyu Lake

  A Dragon’s Dream

  A Cougar’s Cry

  A Fairy’s Fears

  The Hunter’s Wolf

  Midnight Romance

  Lyle’s Lynx

  Teak’s Second Start

  Galaxia Pirates

  Abroad in the Stars

  Escape to the Stars

  Wrench in the Engine

  Mages of the Nether

  Destiny’s Call

  Desires of a Mage

  Love or Sacrifice

  Tulsa Immortals

  Leo’s Salvation

  Coyote’s River

  Elite Dragon Warrior

  KD Jones

  Elite Warrior Markus traveled a long way from his home world of Drakonia. This new planet called Earth is strange and the people even stranger. He was there for one reason, to find more of his people and to protect them from enemies old and new. What he didn’t expect was to find a mate that both he and his dragon wanted to bond with. Things just got more complicated but he was a dragon shifting warrior, he could handle anything.

  Untitled

  Elite Dragon Warrior

  By Author KD Jones

  © 2017 Romance Rebels Publishing

  Blurb:

  Elite Warrior Markus traveled a long way from his home world of Drakonia. This new planet called Earth is strange and the people even stranger. He was there for one reason, to find more of his people and to protect them from enemies old and new. What he didn’t expect was to find a mate that both he and his dragon wanted to bond with. Things just got more complicated but he was a dragon shifting warrior, he could handle anything.

  Prologue

  Dragon shifters once lived on a distant planet named Drakonia, a beautiful world with two suns and a multitude of live volcanoes. A place where they flew in the skies freely and without fear.

  The dragon shifters had overcame their own struggles with leadership and worked to save their people from destroying themselves. They divided the population into eight regions, and each region was ruled by a king. The kings wou

  ld reconvene every quarter to make trade deals and resolve disputes that arose between the different regions.

  They created warriors who could take to the stars in battle cruisers. All of Drakonia prospered and lived in peace for many decades. That peace was broken when an alien race known as the Votens invaded.

  The Drakonians had only recently begun exploring the stars with the few battle cruisers they had when the Votens arrived. In the end, it was not enough to save their world. However, there was still hope for their people.

  Chapter 1

  Drakonia Homeworld

  Markus followed his fellow warriors down the corridors of the King of the North’s castle. The structure shook from a blast it took from outside. Rubble fell from the roof. Women were covering their children’s heads, risking their own safety.

  “Help them!” his general ordered some of the warriors. “The rest of you come with me to the king’s courtroom!”

  Being a young warrior, barely in his twenties, Markus wanted to be out there fighting the enemy. Acting as a guard was not what he aspired to be. He dreamed of nothing else but to be one of the Elite Warriors, the best of the best that fought their enemies’ head on and took them down one by one. He longed to soar into the sky in his dragon form and burn those that would fight against him. Instead, he was shuffling into a room that the high society used for banquets.

  General Ranier ordered the warriors to spread out and be on guard. Markus positioned himself on the other side of the long table where the eight kings sat talking, or more like arguing with each other. He couldn’t stop watching the chaotic scene as the two most headstrong of the kings were facing each other and arguing the loudest.

  Malachi, King of the North, glared at his cousin Niko, King of the Northeast. Niko was known for his short temper but Malachi was always the calm one. Niko was not happy with Malachi’s plan.

  “The aliens have burned most of the regions, killed hundreds of thousands of our people. Do you really think you can negotiate with them?”

  “We have to try.”

  “King Rand tried when they first appeared. He went up to their ship to see if they would accept a truce. They sent his head back without his body for their answer.”

  “What do you want our people to do?” King Malachi asked in frustration.

  “We send as many of them up in our remaining battle cruisers.”

  “That will only help save maybe a quarter of our kind. What about the rest? Do we leave them to die?” King Zocor of the East asked.

  King Reichardt looked at his general. “We may have another way. Our mage, Hendricks, has been trying to locate other planets that we can use the portals to send our people through. Our only problem is that many of our portals have been damaged.”

  Everyone grew silent with the thought. Mages were rare breeds among his people who couldn’t shift. Their dragon magic was trapped inside of them. They could use that power in other ways, though, like opening up portals that the Drakonian people used to quickly travel from region to region. Never before had they used a portal to travel to another planet, especially one that would be unknown to them.

  The building shook again as it took another direct hit. The men all reached for the women in the room to protect them. A child cried out in fear. The atmosphere was as tense as it could get. Markus helped a fellow warrior to stand. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing from the kings.

  “The portals may be our only hope of saving as many as we can. Notify all regions to have their master mages contact Hendricks so that they can coordinate the evacuation. Also, assign security to guard the portals while the evacuation is ongoing,” King Malachi ordered his general.

  “My king.” Mage Craggen stepped forward. “The only way to expand the portal destination trajectory is to bind the spell to blood…of the kings.”

  “What are you saying, Craggen?”

  “We open the portals here with the blood of the kings and the portals will send those in each region to the same destination as their king. Once the kings enter the portals, it will close automatically.”

  General Ranier stepped forward. “That means that the kings need to go with the evacuation detail immediately. I will assign guards to ensure that the portals stay open long enough to ensure that as many of our people get through and to make sure that the portals close and the enemy cannot follow.”

  Markus listened to what was being discussed. He knew that the warriors chosen to stay behind to guard the portals would essentially be signing up to die. It would be a death that could be without much of a battle, but still it was honorable.

  Without thinking twice about it, Markus stepped forward. “Excuse me for i
nterrupting. I would like to volunteer for the evacuation security detail.”

  General Ranier shook his head. “Son, I was planning on some of our older warriors to remain. Even I was going to remain here to ensure the portals close.”

  “General, I need you to take the last of our battle cruisers to make sure that those evacuating via space will make it past the enemy cruisers. Allow any who wish to volunteer to do so.”

  “Yes, sir.” General Ranier motioned for the warriors to move to the outside of the courtroom. “Warrior Markus, your request has been granted. Are there any others who wish to volunteer?”

  Several other of the young warriors also volunteered. The older ones also stepped forward. It was a small detail, but the main city of Drakonia had been evacuated when the aliens first showed signs of aggression. Many families, women, and children had taken to their dragon shapes and flew to other regions that were not currently under attack. Unfortunately, the aliens had other ships moving into place to attack the other regions. Many had already died and the mages worked tirelessly to provide spelled shelters, but as they weakened, so did their spells.

  “Warrior Orteg will be in charge of the detail—follow his orders.” There was a pause as General Ranier looked at each of the volunteers. “Men, I know what is being asked of you and if your death flight comes, each of your names will be remembered as honored warriors. I will order the battle cruiser Zyon to remain close to the surface for as long as possible. Once the portals have been closed, head for the cruiser if you can. In defense of Drakonia!” General Ranier said the last while placing a closed fist over his chest. The other warriors responded the same way.