The Zoran's Kiss_Barbarian Brides

by Luna Hunter

I fling every insult I can think of at the rat-faced bastard who just shot my mate. Kane is not moving. I don’t want to believe this is it. I refuse. It can’t be.

  He’s too strong for that. He’s just playing a trick, I’m sure of it. He’ll rise to his feet, he’ll kick Ragh when he’s not looking, he’ll save me yet.

  Any moment now.

  Come on, Kane.

  Time’s up.

  Stop playing with my emotions.

  Ragh grab my cheeks and forces me to look at him.

  “Forget about him. You’re mine now.”

  “I’ll never be yours!”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  I can’t resist. I have one trump card — and I throw it in his face.

  “I’m no longer a virgin, in case you were wondering,” I say, my cheeks burning. “We took care of that for you.”

  His beady eyes light up with fire.

  “What?! You… whore!”

  Ragh strikes me across the face, and I fall down into the cold sand.

  “Take the Zoran! I’ll make him pay a thousand times over!”

  Oh fuck.

  Sorry, Kane.

  Me and my big mouth…

  Chapter Eleven

  Kane

  I wake up with a jolt. A jolt of electricity straight to my testicles, in fact.

  “That woke him up!”

  I’m hunched over in pain, tied to a chair. Naked.

  “That’s only the beginning. Couldn’t keep it in your pants, could you? What are you, some kind of animal? I thought more of you, Kane. Much more.”

  Ragh is standing in front of me, a taser in his left hand. I try to figure out where I am, but all I see is a big mirror and gray walls.

  “Don’t worry about where you are, you’re never getting out of here. Not in one piece, at least.”

  “Why?” I spit. “I thought we were doing something good!”

  “We are. What’s better than the Sahr in control? For millennia we have been nothing but scavengers, hated, spat upon. Not anymore. Now we are on top. All thanks to you, my friend.”

  “So let me go.”

  Ragh throws his head back and laugh. “You’re way too powerful for that, Kane. If there’s one man who could tear this whole clan down, it’s you. No. You are too good, my friend. You’re staying right here. And as a price for screwing me out of a million credits with that purple cock of yours, I’m going to make you watch this.”

  He flicks a button, and the one-way mirror becomes see-through. In the other room is Piper, tied to a metal contraption. She’s wearing nothing but her underwear, and tears are streaming down her face.

  “You let her go,” I growl. I do my best to break free, but I can’t.

  No matter how hard I try… I just can’t.

  “She has nothing to do with this!” I say.

  “No, she’s the reason for all of this,” Ragh says. “And by putting that monster of yours inside of her, you just fucked me out of a million credits.”

  “Who cares if she’s a virgin or not? It’s all bullshit anyway, isn’t it?”

  “What, their ‘powers’? Sure, that’s bullshit, but their hymens? The alien connoisseurs who will drop a million on her — they do care about that, and they will check. Luckily for me, technology has come far, and we’ll restore it. Not after I had my turn though,” he smirks.

  My blood runs cold.

  “You won’t.”

  “Watch me, Kane. Watch me.”

  Ragh exits the room, and I’m all alone. The only thing I can look at is Piper, tied up, exposed. I have failed to protect her, and Ragh is rubbing my nose in it.

  Piper

  This can’t be happening. It can’t.

  But it is.

  My wrists and ankles are bound to some strange contraption, and my clothes have been torn from my body. Only my panties and bra remain. I’ve seen the way the rats look at me. They’ll come for me.

  I thought it was all going to work out.

  I thought the other Zorans were going to save us. That we would get out of here, and I could help Kane find his memories… that is how all the books I’ve ever read would end.

  I guess that, even after all I’ve seen, I’m still naive. Kane is hurt bad, and I don’t even want to think about what’s going to happen to me.

  Tears stream down my face. You’d think I’d run out of tears at some point, but we haven’t reached gotten there yet — not by a long shot.

  Every time I think about Kane, the waterfalls are back.

  We had something so… pure.

  So perfect.

  Sure, the way we met was somewhat unorthodox — but that’s a great story to tell our children, right?

  Our children…

  More tears follow.

  I guess it wasn’t meant to be. I realize I never really thought about the logistics of it all either. Zorans are unwelcome on Earth, ever since the horrible events of Pazar. How would our relationship even work? Would I have to move to New Exon? What about my parents, my studies?

  The door swings open.

  I don’t even have the energy left to imagine it’s Kane who will carry me out of there. No, the rat-people have broken my spirit.

  Ragh smiles at me from the doorway, showing me his many, tiny teeth.

  “Don’t cry,” he hisses. “It makes you look ugly.”

  Kane

  I’m a failure.

  A monster.

  A killer.

  I wish I died in that crash. The flames could have taken me, and the world would have been better off for it. I changed nothing on Vagreon — I killed the Seven Lords, and what happened? New lords took over. Old boss, new boss. Same thing.

  The only good thing I ever did was save those human girls… but that’s negated by the fact that I brought them Piper. The most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. So positive, so sweet, so caring… and now, thanks to me, some alien prince is going to do unspeakable things to her.

  “Smile, human. Smile for me!”

  Ragh’s grating voice makes my eyes snap open.

  He’s standing next to Piper, running his hairy fingers across her cheeks. She’s looking at me through the mirror, her big blue eyes filled with bone-chilling fear.

  The moment I someone else touch my mate, I lose it.

  I lose it.

  All the hatred, the anger, the pure rage I have inside of me forms into one massive, powerful, ball. My muscles brim with energy, and I roar Piper’s name so hard it makes my eardrums bleed.

  No one touches my mate.

  No one!

  My chains start to rattle, tremble, shake. I feel my muscles struggling, my very bones about to snap, but I push on. Without Piper, I have nothing left to live for.

  Without Piper, I am nothing.

  My chains break.

  I rise from my seat, grab my chair and throw it right through the mirror. I jump through and pounce on Ragh. My vision turns red as my fists wail down on him. I don’t stop punching until my knuckles are red, raw and bleeding.

  “Kane! Kane!”

  Piper’s frenzied cries finally snap me out of my blood-lust. Ragh is nothing but a bloody pulp now, his legs still twitching — but that’s about all that’s left of him.

  The human must think I’m a monster. Fuck it, I am a monster — a monster who is getting her out of here.

  I rip her chains off and throw her over my shoulder. I kick open the door to her cell and run like hell.

  There’s Sahr patrolling the hallway, of course. They shoot me. They hit me.

  I don’t stop.

  I keep running. I keep going. One foot after the other. I’m losing blood, my strength seeping away, but I can’t stop.

  I won’t ever stop. Not until Piper is safe.

  Once we reach the surface, I collapse.

  We made it.

  “Go,” I growl, coughing up blood as I lower my human to her feet. “Go on!”

  She grabs my cheeks, tries to look me in the face, but
my vision is blurry. My hearing is off as well; It’s like I’m underwater.

  “Go!” I slur. “Go!”

  My eyelids feel heavy. I glance down, and all I see is red, bullet-holes riddling my silver body.

  A green vision appears. A tall figure, Zoranesque, like the one in my dreams. It’s time for me to return to the dreamworld. Forever.

  I have saved my human. I have done my duty. I can die with dignity.

  Chapter Twelve

  Piper

  “Stay with me! Kane! Please, stay with me!”

  Tears fill my eyes (my reservoirs are still not empty, it seems) as I try to get Kane to wake up. My hands are red with his blood as I shake him, as I slap him, as I yell in his face.

  He just saved my life, but it seems I can’t do the same for him. What he just did was nothing short of amazing. Kane rose up like the damn Hulk and tore his way through the entire building. Nothing could stop him. Bullets didn’t hurt him. He pushed through the rat-folk as if they weren’t there.

  I thought, for a brief shining moment, that he was invincible.

  However, it seems my rescue will come at a terrible, terrible price…

  “Step aside.”

  That voice, so deep and commanding… it can only be…

  I turn around.

  An emerald-green Zoran is standing behind me, clad in jet-black armor that seems to hug every muscle in his powerful frame. Flabbergasted, I take a step back. The man kneels in front of my mate.

  “Kane,” he growls. “Kane… I wish I’d gotten here sooner. Can you hear me? I’m getting you out of here, buddy. Hold on. You hold on, okay?”

  He lifts Kane up (not a small feat), and nods at me to follow him. Behind us, in the courtyard, a ship awaits us.

  I’d been so concerned with Kane’s wellbeing, so consumed with grief that I hadn’t even noticed the ship touching down — or the four other Zorans, armed to the teeth, who are keeping the rat-people at bay. The Sahr don’t dare to attack us now. One Zoran can rock their world — imagine what five can do.

  “Wh-what,” I stammer. “Who are you?”

  “The Resistance,” the green Zoran grows.

  So they are real!

  I follow the Zorans into the ship. Seconds later we’re off, flying through the air so fast I’m pushed into my seat. The green man places Kane in the middle of the ship and pulls out a med-kit, and the other Zorans assist him.

  “We got here just in time.”

  “His vitals are weak.”

  “Can you get a pulse?”

  “He’s lost a ton of blood. Do we have enough?”

  “I’ll cut open my own veins right now if I have to. Scalpel?”

  I pull my knees up to my chest, my mouth covering my face as I watch the battlefield surgery. I don’t want to see, but I can’t look away either. Kane is my hero, my mate, my savior, my everything.

  The cruiser we’re in docks, and the metal doors open. To my surprise women — human women! — come pouring into the room. They have a stretcher ready, and Kane is lifted up and carried of, leaving a huge pile of blood on the ship’s floor.

  I don’t move. I want to chase him, but I’m… frozen.

  A human women places her hand on my shoulder, and this snaps me out of my trance.

  “Sorry,” she says. “You must be Piper.”

  “I am,” I say. “How do you know?”

  “Girls being abducted by aliens tend to make headlines,” the woman answers.

  Right. I hadn’t even thought of that. Ugh, I don’t hope I some kind of celebrity now.

  “I’m Miah,” she says. “Don’t worry about Kane. He’ll be fine.”

  My eyes can’t help but dart towards the trail of blood my mate has left.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m positive. Egon and the others — they’re miracle workers. And Zorans are tough to kill, as you may have noticed. He’ll pull through.”

  “I hope so.”

  By god I hope so.

  “Do you want to go check on him?”

  I nod.

  She helps me to my feet and guides me through their ship. It’s an amazing place, filled with life, and happiness. So different from Vagreon. That planet was dirty and grimy, but this ship it’s… cozy.

  A pair of children run by me, and I freeze in place. Their features…

  “That’s right,” Miah says. “Those are half human, half Zoran children.”

  I turn back to her, my mouth wide. “What is this place?”

  “The only safe place in the galaxy for people like us.”

  “What kind of people is that?”

  “According to the current Federation administration? Blood traitors. But if you ask me, we’re the only people who still believe in equality, in freedom. In love.”

  This makes my head spin.

  “So I’m not alone…”

  Miah smiles warmly at me. “Come here, you poor thing,” she says as she hugs me tightly. “You’re not alone. You’ll never be alone again.”

  After all this time, all the hardships… I’m so happy I can cry.

  A door flies open, and the green Zoran stands in the doorway, his body covered in blood. Kane’s blood. My smile instantly disappears. Is he…?

  “He’s stable,” the green Zoran says triumphantly. “He’s stable!”

  “That’s great news, honey!” Miah says, and she flies into the Zoran’s arms. He lifts her up and plants a big kiss on her lips. “I’m so happy for you!”

  He twirls her around and places her back on the ground. Then, he steps over to me and offers me his hand. “You must be Piper!”

  “Yes,” I say. “Sorry, this is all so much to take in. Who are you?”

  The green Zoran frowns. “My name is Egon. Did Kane… did he not tell you about me? Are you two not mates? I thought… did I misread something?”

  “No,” I say, my cheeks burning brightly. “You got that right. But Kane, he is not… well. He’s lost his memories. Sorry.”

  Egon is silent for a moment. Then he swallows the lump in his throat, and nods.

  “We’ll just have to make new memories then. Can you tell me about him?”

  “Sure, but can I see him first?”

  “Of course, of course!”

  He clears the way for me. Kane is lying in bed, hooked up to several monitors, bandages covering him all over. The other Zorans step aside, and I grab his hand.

  “I’m here,” I whisper. “I’m here, Kane, and I’m not leaving your side, you hear me? You silver oaf? Why’d you have to go and try to get yourself killed like that?”

  I bring his hand up to my lips and kiss it.

  Be strong, Kane. I need you by my side.

  Kane

  I am adrift. My body feels weightless as I glide through the air.

  All my friends and family are there. People I had forgotten about. I can finally see their faces, as clear as day. Piper is there, too. And she’s pregnant!

  She’s never looked more beautiful to me.

  That a Zoran like me could land a human like her… I’m blessed.

  Something tickles my bottom lip.

  I open my left eye.

  Wait, what?

  Piper is looking right at me, her face so close to mine that her hair tickles my face. My… my mate! Is she real? Have I died? Is this heaven?

  “P-Piper?” I cough. My mouth is dry.

  She flings her arms around me tightly and hugs me so hard that pain flashes through me. However, I don’t care about the pain. I’d endure pain a thousand times worse for another hug.

  My mouth finds hers, and we kiss. I don’t stop kissing her until my lungs are bursting, until I have to gasp for air.

  “You’re alive!” she says. “You’re alive!!”

  “I-I am,” I say. “I think. Where are we?”

  “You’re home, brother.”

  An emerald green Zoran stands in the doorway. His color is so familiar. Could he be…

  “Yes, it’s
me, Egon,” he says. “Your friend. Do you remember?”

  I shake my head. This is all too much to take in.

  “I…”

  “It’s okay if you don’t,” he says, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Just know that you are among friends, Kane.

  “I remember bits and pieces,” I say. “I remember… a battle…”

  Egon winces. “I’ll tell you all about that battle another day, friend. Right now you need to rest. It’s good to have you back.”

  The green Zoran salutes me and then closes the door behind him, leaving us two alone. Piper is still holding my hand — she’s never letting go. In the distance I hear the faint hum of a hyperdrive.

  “Are we on a ship?”

  Piper nods. “They are the Resistance. The actual Resistance. They saved us, and just in the nick of time. You were moments away from dying…”

  I look down at my body. It’s covered in bandages. “Seems I got banged up pretty good.”

  “You were incredible,” Piper says. “You tore through those rat-folk like a hurricane.”

  “I’d do it all again for you.”

  “Please don’t,” she smiles. “I don’t want to see you bleed out. Again.”

  “I’ll try not to. Come here.”

  “But your bandages?”

  “I don’t care,” I growl as I throw my covers to the side. “I want to feel you on top of me.”

  “O-okay,” she hesitates. She gets up, locks the door, shimmies her way out of her clothes and climbs on top of me.

  “Are you sure this doesn’t hurt?”

  “I’ve never felt better,” I grin.

  Sure, there’s pain — but the feeling of her naked body pressing down on mine? That’s priceless. Nothing in the universe feels better than that.

  “Tell me something,” I say as I breathe in her scent. I just want to hear her voice.

  “Well, we’re on this ship,” Piper says, her fingers drawing circles on my chest. “And guess what are on board?”

  “What?”

  “Human women. A whole bunch of them!”

  “No way.”

  “Way. And guess what? They’re either pregnant or they have children. Zoran children!”

  “Whoa.”

  “Yeah. They’re a whole bunch of Zoran/human children running around here. There’s Jacob, who is Sarah and Kazim’s kid. Can you believe Sarah Granger is here? On board? Right now? THE Sarah Granger?”