Highlander's Pride: Winter Solstice (Against All Odds Series 1)

by Veronica Wilson

  “So… you’re facing extinction and you came for us?” Mary Anne asked, but it was only one of the many questions that was trying to get out through her mouth. Why do they look like us? Are we even compatible? What about what I want?

  “I’d like to be able to say that the first thing I did was to pack everything up and head right to get you.” The alien bent his torso over the table, extending his arm and caressing Mary Anne across her chin and lips. She had expected to be repulsed by the touch of a stranger, let alone an alien one, but by the time he retreated back to his place, all she could feel was a desire for more.

  “Such fine skin,” Har’kreen commented, observing the fingers of his hand as if there was something of her left on them. “You alone would be worth a trip to Earth, Mary Anne.”

  A flatterer. She could feel the butterflies swarm around her stomach before a realization hit her, shattering her comfort within a moment. “How do you know my name?”

  “Your ID was in your pocket,” he answered, smiling for the first time since he had told his people’s story.

  Great, now the alien thinks I’m stupid, too.

  “So you can read our writing with those eyes of yours.” Mary Anne had avoided mentioning them, but the opportunity to do so was clearly there, so she took it. “While we’re at it, why do you look almost exactly like us, except for… those?”

  “Our eyes are the only piece of our original physiology that we absolutely have to keep.” Har’kreen made himself more comfortable within his chair as he talked, visibly scanning every little lump in her bodysuit while doing so.

  He likes what he sees. Mary Anne chuckled. Good, that makes two of us.

  “Although it is possible for us to interface with our technology without them, the tasks of shaping the spacecraft and directing the ch’orrds are infinitely easier to perform with our own set of eyes.” As if to prove his point, Har’kreen caused the diodes in his eyes to light up again, making the wall to his far left open up and letting a single humanoid figure walk through. It was the thing that had stalked Mary Anne through the streets of Wayward last night. The very sight of it gave her the shivers.

  “I apologize for any unpleasantness I might have caused to Mary Anne, Helerah of the Garoh,” it said in a disturbing emotionless voice before retreating back through the makeshift door, the portal closing behind it.

  “You see?” Har’kreen boasted, the yellow lights in his eyes slowly shutting down. “Everything else about my body is functionally completely human.”

  I like the “functional” part.

  “As I was saying, I’d like to say that I’ve come all this way for you, and in essence it is even true. However, this operation is not entirely my own. I am the commander in charge of the mission, of course.” He seemed all too eager to make note of that fact. “But the endeavor of finding proper females for us to breed with has been initiated all over the galaxy. It was only recently that we learned of your planet.” He paused for a second, as if to put some memories back in order. “And your own hometown of Wayward.”

  “My hometown?” Mary Anne was as shocked as she’d have been if he had just told her that his genitals were in fact three foot-long tentacles. “How is that den of close-mindedness and boredom important in any way?” Noticing how apparent her anger was in the tone of her voice, she chose to try and keep it down the next time she spoke rather than risk offending her host.

  “Besides bringing you into existence, beautiful, it is valuable in but one way,” Har’kreen replied, the amusement of hearing her talk about her birthplace in a negative manner clearly visible in his expression. “I assume that you are familiar with the practice of inbreeding?”

  “Me and half of the world, yeah. Why?”

  “Then you will no doubt understand what I am going to say.” He rose from his chair and slowly moved toward her, one step at a time. The manner of the alien’s movement should have caused her to flinch, but there was something about Har’kreen that Mary Anne could simply not categorize, and it made her trust him.

  It is more than trust, she concluded as his hand caressed her cheek again, the alien’s body towering above her. I desire him. She was certain of it—there was no going around that. Har’kreen was the most amazing man she had ever met, and he wasn’t even a man! His alien nature intrigued her, and working in tandem with the amazing appearance and powerful personality he had on display made her want him even more.

  “One of your ancestors,” he began, stroking his fingers through her hair, as if to take some edge off the topic he was about to elaborate on, “developed a peculiar mutation, one that made him or her capable of interbreeding with my own great race. Over the centuries, the descendants of that person spread around the continent you call America, mostly losing the trait.” Sensually, he pulled the tips of his nails down her neck. “But your own hometown of Wayward, isolated as it was, managed to keep that trait in the entirety of its population.”

  Suddenly, something snapped within her. Perhaps it was the repeated mention of the place. Maybe it was Har’kreen’s touch, the intensity of which kept sending wave after wave of pleasurable electricity down her spine. Or it might have been her own desire to break her ties with what she had left behind. Regardless of what it was, Mary Anne moved her neck to the side, exposing Har’kreen’s bare hand for her to see. Immediately, she dragged her own, pouty pair of lips all over it, giving it a quick lick before proceeding to suckle on it sensually.

  In a quick response, his manhood immediately showed signs of life, expanding beneath that archaic piece of cloth he wore over it within less than a couple of seconds.

  “Sure is special then, that old place,” Mary Anne practically purred as she turned her head up to meet Har’kreen’s inhuman pair of eyes. “In fact, I might just need some extra help forgetting about it!”

  “Oh, no, that’s not the way it’s going to be!” Forcefully, the alien grabbed her by the waist with one hand, the other one planted next to her shoulder. In a single motion, he shoved her down against the table with just enough force so as not to cause her any injury. By the time she managed to recover from the impact, the alien had already removed the cloth from under his waist, revealing his massive, throbbing erection.

  “I will not have a human dictate the course of our copulation!” he roared, lowering both of his hands atop the supple globes that lay on Mary Anne’s chest. He was close, the only thing that prevented any action having been Mary Anne’s bodysuit.

  With two synchronized motions, he ripped a large piece of material from each side, exposing the soft flesh within. Firm and erect, Mary Anne’s nipples extended even further on contact with the chamber’s atmosphere, causing her to emit a single ecstatic moan.

  She didn’t have time to get used to her new situation, however, for less than a second later her lover’s right hand had done the same to the material covering the tender area between her legs. Embarrassed by the juices that surely must be dripping out in abundance, she closed her eyes in an attempt to avoid his gaze. Mary Anne was no virgin, but so much time had passed since she had actually even liked someone that she might as well have been one. Regardless of her sudden reluctance, the insertion of Har’kreen’s bulging erection caused her to gasp, effectively unprepared for what she knew was going to come.

  Now aware of nothing but the throbbing appendage that was slowly moving in and out of her body, Mary Anne found herself unable to think. Time ceased to exist, replaced by an all-consuming void that slowly gave way to a pleasant rippling sensation from between her legs. Slowly, the ripples increased in frequency, and with them came awareness of herself and her surroundings.

  At first there was only a pair of hands, gripping her powerfully by her ankles, not allowing her to move in any way that Har’kreen would not approve. Then came the rest of her body, so enflamed with pleasure that the alien’s every touch felt like a drop of pure, undiluted pleasure.

  It was at that point that she dared to open her eyes, the feeling of sha
me that her parents had instilled into her rendered inconsequential by her state of mind. She was on the edge of the bed, lying on her back; both of her legs spread up in the air.

  Standing above her was Har’kreen, full of power, holding her by the ankles with his hands as he pumped away, faster than she thought was possible. After noticing Mary Anne’s eyes on him the alien upped his pace even more, causing the waves of pleasure that expanded throughout her body to converge within less than a second.

  Rolling her eyes frantically, May Anne managed to let out but a single moan before the incoming climax whited everything out.

  Four months later

  He is going to get it when I find him.

  Enraged, Mary Anne, Helerah of the Garoh, traversed the chrome-colored hallways of the alien spacecraft at a manic pace, her disposition thoroughly different from usual since she had started her life with Har’kreen.

  Indeed, throughout the previous four months, she had been treated as nothing short of a queen. Every little (and not so little) need of hers had been met swiftly and readily. Furthermore, when she had asked for a reliable personal guard, Har’kreen was eager to provide a unique ch’orrd, fashioned specially for her.

  Now in front of a wall, Mary Anne activated the diodes in her eyes, turning it into another passage for herself. Kitty (her synthetic guardian) followed closely, remaining by her side at all times.

  These eyes are indeed too useful not to have, she concluded as the wall closed up behind her just as she had willed it to. Initially, she had been deathly afraid of the surgery, but the benefits so greatly exceeded the drawbacks that Mary Anne could scarcely believe what it was that she could have missed out on.

  Nothing could have possibly gone bad, right? Wrong.

  It began as a nagging sensation that not everything was exactly the way it seemed. Then, there were the stares of the other aliens, who looked at her as if she was an enemy rather than the beloved of their lord. Finally, some parts of the ship flat out refused to open themselves up to her. No one would discuss the nature of those areas, and any and all databases referring to them were placed beyond her ability to access.

  Then, earlier today, she had made a breakthrough, and the results were not pretty. The idea was sound: Kitty, her synthetic guardian, would pose as a regular ch’orrd and follow the others into one of the forbidden sectors, with Mary Anne observing remotely through Kitty’s eyes.

  What she learned came as a shock—nearly a third of the capital spacecraft was in fact used as a prison for captive humans. These were not consorts like she was, but rather trained, tempered soldiers.

  Har’kreen, Har’kreen, why did you not tell me you are at war with my planet?

  The idea was not all that implausible, she mused while shaping another passage for herself right before the Garoh’s chambers. These aliens were not all that different from humanity, regardless of their actual appearances, and mankind had never been altogether understanding of the needs of other species.

  Regardless, hiding this from me is –

  Mary Anne froze, her mind barely capable of processing what lay before her eyes. The Garoh’s room was covered in blood, both alien and synthetic, and littered with mechanical bits and pieces. In its center, struggling for survival, Har’kreen was caught in a deadly embrace with the only intact ch’orrd left in the room.

  Help him! Mary Anne mentally issued the commands to Kitty, the yellow diodes gleaming in her altered eyes, and the synthetic organism sprang into action instantly. Like an actual, living predator, the inorganic guardian leapt to the side of the other ch’orrd, delivering a powerful kick into its side. With the sound of metal crunching inside of its body, the contraption that had tried to assassinate the Garoh rolled backward, colliding with a wall. Within seconds, it tried to get back on its feet, but Kitty was faster, wrapping its hands around the enemy ch’orrd’s head and ripping it off before it had a chance to fight back.

  In tears, Mary Anne ran toward Har’kreen’s prone body, wrapping her hands around his torso and weeping all the while. For almost a minute she remained in that position, and might have kept it for a good while longer, had he not interrupted it by speaking.

  “Mary Anne… I’m bleeding to death here.”

  Of course! Stupid, stupid girl!

  Knowing full well what she had to do, Mary Anne started altering the arrangement of the chamber, elevating the floor under Har’Kreen’s body and turning it into an independent hospital unit. In no time at all, the mechanism was operational, diagnosing the full extent of his injuries and working to fix them up. A large contraption in the shape of a mechanical freshwater hydra moved its limbs at a manic pace, patching up wound after wound within seconds.

  By the time it was done, Har’Kreen Zoracht was as good as new, his tired expression the only visible tell of what he had just gone through. Relieved, Mary Anne extended her hand to him, but he insisted on getting up with his own power.

  You’ve always been stubborn as hell, she concluded, fascinated by how little that fact bothered her. Another fact, however, would not leave her alone, even now. You’re not getting away with what you hid from me, Har’kreen!

  “You asshole!” she cried out, wanting to slap him on the cheek yet unable to go through with it. “What the hell happened out here? Why didn’t you tell me about the prisoners you’re keeping below deck? Is there a war on?”

  “My dear, fierce little Mary Anne…” he would always resort to flattery when she was like this. It worked every time. “If I had told you that mankind is trying to drive us out, what would you have done?”

  Mary Anne tried to speak, but within seconds of opening her mouth the intrusive tongue of Har’kreen invaded it.

  If anyone ever told me I’d enjoy being made to shut up, I wouldn’t have believed them…

  “You would have tried to do something, of course!” the alien continued, visibly reinvigorated by the taste of Mary Anne. “And what do you think would have happened then, my dearest firebrand?”

  Instead of replying verbally, Mary Anne simply turned her head to her left, giving the mayhem in the Garoh’s room a better scan. It was obvious what would have happened; she knew that now.

  Someone would have come for me.

  “No need to speak, I know that you get it. What I did not dare to assume, however, is that some schlogger would actually try to assassinate me.”

  Not once in all the time she spent here did Mary Anne hear Har’kreen swear. His were the ways of the alien elite, and for them, excellence in all things was the only option. That did not exclude language.

  He is rightfully pissed.

  Like a panther, the alien leapt from his hospital bed, the diodes in his eyes lighting up and turning it back into the shape of a floor. With a fierce gesture, he signaled for his Helerah to follow suit, as the wall in front of them opened.

  “What are you going to do, my Garoh?” she inquired, grabbing his bicep while she stood at his side. “You are not going to kill them, are you?”

  “Of course not, my beloved.” He smiled, knowing full well that she knew just how ticked off he was. “It is forbidden for one of the great race to end the life of another. The punishment for that is a fate worse than death.” He took several steps forward and she followed suit, Kitty running close behind.

  “But you’ll be able to see the full extent of that rule soon enough, I’m afraid.” The door closed behind them, following the dimming of the diodes in his eyes. Mary Anne stared into those eyes for a few seconds, lost in the sight as much as she was in her own thoughts.

  They seemed much darker than she was used to.

  An hour later

  One beside another, the high-ranking officers of the alien expeditionary force stood, all of them lined up against the wall. There were ten of them, each accompanied by a couple of ch’orrds. On the other side of the chamber, Mary Anne stood right next to Har’kreen, both surrounded by their own synthetic protectors—although theirs numbered only a meager ten. Some of th
e aliens were visibly unnerved by the sudden meeting, a clearer indication of guilt than a confession could ever be.

  “My council of elites.” The Garoh addressed them in their own language, but the translators Mary Anne had acquired in an earlier surgery made her capable of understanding all of it. “I have no doubt that all of you are aware of the attempt made on my life less than one Earth hour ago.” In a peculiar notion, he stood with his back turned to them, a gesture that had no meaning in the aliens’ culture as far as Mary Anne could recall.

  The other extraterrestrials were silent at first, not unlike children caught doing something they were not supposed to. It was only when Har’kreen was about to continue his speech that one of them dared interrupt it.

  “You will bring us all to our deaths, Har’kreen!” Or’azoth, one of the Garoh’s highest ranked subordinates, stepped forward. “You’ve given our technology and knowledge to an outsider, by far exceeding our most sacred of tenets! For sharing our ways with one such as her, there is no punishment other than the loss of rank!” Eyes wide, he practically roared the words out.

  “I have broken nothing at all, Or’azoth! The tenets clearly dictate that those who share union are privy to all the knowledge that any one of them might choose to divulge. You know that, as well as I do,” Har’kreen rebutted, apparently still intent on noting every little detail of the wall he still faced.

  “You speak so, lord,” the way Or’azoth spat the word out indicated nothing short of outright disdain, “all while knowing full well that the laws that bind our society say absolutely nothing about union with the enemy! We are at war with your consort’s race, and that places you in a peculiar position, does it not?”