Aron: A SciFi Alien Romance (Alien Shifter Force)

by Maya Kane

  Redon stared at him, out of things to say.

  “Yes,” Aron continued. “I can’t believe it. I’ve never heard of the mating call having this effect. Then again, I’ve never heard of it happening twice for the same Dreon.”

  He tried to focus again but found he couldn’t. It was a good thing—he knew it deep down. There were so few of them on this hostile, alien planet. His new strength could only help their cause. Who knew how weakened he’d be if he gave in and mated with her.

  He stared over at her. She had shrugged out of the top of her black spacesuit. The arms were tied around her waist, and it emphasized her generous curves even more. He shook his head. She was breathtaking. And it drove him wild that he couldn’t have her.

  All his life he’d been raised to do what was right for his planet.

  But he’d never faced a challenge like this before.

  Athena sighed heavily and her chest heaved. His eyes were glued to her body. She glanced up. She flushed when she saw he was watching her, before quickly looking away.

  Aron’s cock tightened. He was scarcely able to breathe, let alone think.

  “How much longer do we wait for Heran and Salen?” Redon asked.

  Aron looked up. “What?” he asked. He hadn’t been paying attention to anything that wasn’t Athena.

  “Heran and Salen,” Redon said slowly. “How long do we wait?”

  Aron shook his head. It felt like there was something wrapped around it preventing him from thinking straight. “I don’t know.”

  Redon looked surprised. “We should go hunt for them.”

  The suggestion jolted Aron. A huge sense of loss descended over him and slowly he began to realize why.

  Each new campaign; each new mission increased the risk of them being discovered. And with that came the risk that he’d never get to feel her soft skin underneath him; her hands on his body.

  “Yes,” he said frowning.

  His heart pounded like never before.

  Aron couldn’t do this. He couldn’t do the noble thing, no matter how good and right it was. And anyway, who said the right way was the best? Hadn’t Redon saved them all by giving in to his urges instead of radioing the high command?

  He cleared his throat. “Athena,” he said as seriously as he could.

  She looked over at him, seemingly startled by his tone. “Yes? What is it?”

  “I’ve just thought of something. Can you accompany me to the control room?”

  He couldn’t believe he was doing this, but he’d reached the end of his tether. If anything happened to her, he’d never forgive himself. He stood and gestured to the door.

  “Where are you going?” Redon asked.

  Aron coughed. “I want to run through the feeds from the backup systems in the engineering room. See if Athena has any thoughts on whether the navigation system is salvageable. I’m not hopeful given the metrics I’ve seen, but she might have a different opinion.”

  Redon’s eyes glazed over, just as Aron had expected them to. Athena got up and followed him to the door.

  14

  Athena knew nothing about navigation equipment, but the atmosphere in the strategy room had gotten so tense that she jumped at the chance to get out of there. Plus, spending time alone with Aron wasn’t something she considered a hardship. They walked briskly through the ship without speaking.

  He’d been in a strange mood since they returned. He was different somehow; more aggressive. Athena found him even more intriguing than ever when he was in that state, which surprised her.

  “In here,” Aron said suddenly, stopping outside an unmarked door.

  Athena frowned. “This isn’t the control room.”

  He opened the door and pulled her inside.

  “I know,” he said when he’d closed the door behind them.

  Athena looked around and saw they were in a cabin. Aron’s probably. Her pulse quickened. “You said you wanted to go to the control room to check the equipment against the feeds.”

  He watched her carefully. “I lied,” he said at last. He seemed almost triumphant.

  “Oh,” she whispered.

  What does this mean? she asked herself feverishly. Could he possibly… Athena shook her head. She knew she shouldn’t think like that, but she was so far gone she couldn’t help it.

  This was fucked up. Athena was always the sensible one. She was logical. Rational to a fault. So what was going on now? Her pulse raced and her mind felt fuzzy and clouded. He was all she could think of. The thoughts that ran through her head were like something out of the X-rated movies she had often caught the guys at the base watching. She’d never had a problem with it, but she’d never been drawn to it either.

  “What are you thinking about?” Aron asked, stepping closer.

  All of a sudden he seemed to surround her. He was so tall and broad that he naturally towered over her, but it wasn’t just that. She was acutely conscious of his scent. Of the way his ridges vibrated. It was like he was the only thing in the room. He demanded her attention.

  Athena shook her head. What was the sense in trying to deny her feelings? She could have stormed out of there and chastised him for misleading her, but the time to do that had passed. Why was she still standing there? There was no explanation other than she wanted to find out if her desire was mutual: did he want her as badly as she wanted him?

  “Oh god,” she murmured, looking up into his golden eyes and feeling a jolt when she saw the intensity of them.

  “Athena, I can’t explain this,” he started.

  She shook her head. He was so like her, she realized. This must have shocked the hell out of him too. And it was likely he was looking for reasons why they shouldn’t.

  “Wait,” she whispered.

  He stopped and watched her, waiting for her to speak. The words were at the tip of her tongue. She knew exactly what she should say—that she understood. That it was for the best. That it was fine if nothing happened between them because it was for the good of the mission.

  The only problem was those words wouldn’t come out of her mouth. She didn’t want to say them.

  “Athena,” he murmured, reaching his hand up hesitantly and brushing her hair away from her face. “My body is surging. For you. But my body appears different to that of Redon. It has derived strength from the mating call, not weakness and chaos as one would usually expect.”

  Athena wanted to scream. Damn it, she thought. She couldn’t wait another hour, let alone several days.

  “Wait, Aron,” she said, surprising herself. She took a deep breath. “I know. Kate told me.”

  “So you understand,” he said gravely.

  She froze. Of course she understood—well, she should have. “No,” she whispered, sounding petulant even to her own ear. “I don’t care about that. Aron, I want…”

  His huge hands circled her waist. “I don’t care about the strength,” he said simply, surprising her.

  Athena shook her head, even though it was exactly what she wanted to hear. “Kate said you’ve got so much strength from this.”

  He nodded. “It is true. The more usual effect is what happened with Redon.”

  “I wish it was the same for you,” Athena sighed, not realizing what she had said.

  His eyes lit up. “Why? What would you do in that case?”

  She smiled and stared up at him.

  He described himself as studious and unemotional. But there was nothing clinical about him—at least to Athena’s eyes. He was huge and strong and full of vitality. And she had thought so ever since she met him.

  “You’re sure it’s changed you?”

  He nodded. “At first I was worried that it might affect me as it did Redon.”

  Athena froze. “Why didn’t you say something? I would have.” She stopped and grinned. “It wouldn’t exactly have been a hardship.”

  Aron laughed. “This isn’t easy to do in Uniton, is it?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head, relieved th
at he had broken the tension between them.

  “Athena,” he murmured, pulling her closer and dipping his head so that their faces were tantalizingly close. “I don’t care about my strength. I’ve never heard of it disappearing altogether and even if it did,” he glanced down and swallowed. “I’m not sure I’d be able to stay away.”

  “Aron,” she gasped, as he inched closer. She could feel his hot breath on her skin. It was as jagged as her own.

  15

  She could see the need written all over his face. Her pulse raced so hard she felt certain he should be able to hear it.

  “Aron. The others…”

  He stepped closer, forcing her to take a step back. “Think we’ve gone to discuss the instruments in the control room.”

  “They’re not stupid,” she murmured, never once taking her eyes off his face. “Why would we have gone without Vedan?”

  His eyes shone with an intensity that made her shiver. It shouldn’t have, but it turned her on to know that somebody as dedicated as Aron could go so crazy for her. It wasn’t like it was a one-way thing. Those alien invaders could have knocked on the door and flashed their weapons, and Athena would barely have paid attention to them now.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispered, before shaking his head. “This Uniton. I wish I had a way to tell you what I truly feel. Our Dreon word for it is drahau. Beautiful is just this.” He touched her face. “To be drahau, it means everything.” He tapped a forefinger against her temple. “This too.”

  Athena was rendered speechless. “I… I…”

  He seemed to sense her discomfort. He bent his head. She thought he was going to whisper something in her ear. Instead, he nipped gently at her earlobe sending delicious tremors through her body. The ridges on his face were throbbing out of control now. She reached up and ran her hand over them, surprised at their hardness.

  He smiled, watching her. “They get like that when I’m stressed. Or aroused.”

  “Yeah, I figured that,” she whispered, flushing.

  All she was thinking of was the identical ridges on his shaft. More accurately, she was wondering what sort of effect they’d have on her body. She was willing to bet it would be an explosive one.

  Hell, even his hands on her waist were setting off chemical reactions in her that she would never have expected from such an incidental touch. But it was different—everything was different with him.

  “You’re shaking,” he whispered.

  Athena shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “Are you nervous?”

  “No,” she lied quickly.

  His eyes widened. “I think you are,” he said, bending his head and grazing his lips against hers.

  The kiss was feather-light. Athena’s lips parted; wanting more.

  “You’re impatient,” he said.

  “No I’m not,” she said, realizing too late that her abrupt tone proved his point perfectly. She shook her head. “Okay, I’m impatient. We’ve been flying around trying to figure out how to save the world. I’ve spent so much time translating for Kate and Redon when I really wanted to be with you.”

  “We’ve been flying together since we met.”

  She took a deep breath. “That’s not what I meant,” she said, reaching up and stroking those ridges again. “How does this feel?”

  He swallowed. “Like the most beautiful feeling in the world.”

  “It feels good when I stroke them like this?”

  He nodded. “But,” he said, sounding pained. “We’re not here to pleasure me.”

  “We’re not?” she said, trying to sound blasé.

  “No,” he said, pushing her backward. She couldn’t miss the determination that had appeared on his face. “I want to pleasure you.”

  Athena threw her head back and laughed.

  “What is funny?” he growled, pushing her back onto his strange Dreon bed.

  “Nothing,” she drawled, wiping her eyes. “It’s just… that’s not something you hear very often from earth men.”

  “I’m not an earth man,” Aron pouted. “I am a Dreon. I am stronger. Faster. More accomplished in combat.”

  Holy hell, Athena thought. My comment must have hit a nerve. He’s the hottest being I’ve ever met.

  He stood over her, huge hands on his hips. He had changed into one of the flimsy Dreon spacesuits as soon as they arrived back, but it did nothing to hide the massive bulge that was now at her eye level.

  Athena swallowed. Her pulse buzzed in her ears. She was shaking—so hard that he had noticed. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.

  Damn it, she was no good at this kind of thing. Give her a technical manual and she could master it in an hour. But this?

  “What are you thinking?” he asked, brushing his fingers over her thighs.

  She smiled, wondering if it was actually a good thing Uniton was so inadequate when it came to feelings.

  He leaned over her, carefully holding himself up so as to avoid crushing her with his weight. She shuddered to think how heavy he was—she wasn’t exactly light herself, but she probably seemed that way to a seven-foot alien.

  “Relax,” he whispered, stroking her cheek.

  She stared up at him and felt a strong burst of desire. He held himself up effortlessly on his feet and one hand.

  “Tell me about Dreon,” she whispered, immediately wanting to kick herself for blurting that out. This wasn’t a damn cultural exchange for extra credit.

  He shook his head. She couldn’t say for sure, but it seemed like he was doing his best to bite back a smile.

  “No. I don’t want to talk about Dreon. Do you know what I do want?”

  She shook her head wordlessly.

  She knew what was coming. She could feel it in her bones.

  “You,” he whispered.

  She stared up at him, entranced. Because he was perfect. Smart and sexy. She’d never known anyone who ticked two of those boxes, let alone three.

  “Good,” Athena murmured. “Because you’re all I’ve been able to think about since I first met you.”

  He bent his head and kissed her. This time, his urgency was obvious. Athena reached her arms around his hips and tried to pull him closer to her.

  “No,” he hissed. “I’ll hurt you.”

  “I don’t care,” she groaned. She didn’t. If anything, she wanted to feel the weight of him on her.

  “I have a better idea,” he said suddenly. Before she knew what was happening, he had flipped her over so now he was beneath her.

  Athena frowned, trying to recall what had even happened.

  “Did I mention I’m quick?”

  “Not in all matters,” she said, quirking her eyebrow.

  How was she so comfortable with him? she wondered. She’d had more awkward interactions in the canteen at the base with colleagues she’d worked with for years. Aron made her feel completely at ease, like she could say anything and he wouldn’t push her away or think she was weird.

  He ran his huge hands up and down her thighs. Athena’s core clenched with pure need for him. She groaned.

  “You like that,” he murmured.

  She nodded, reaching for the zip of his suit.

  He shook his head. “You first.”

  “No,” she said, suddenly feeling shy.

  “Why not?” he asked, pushing her back so that now she straddled his lap.

  Athena shrugged. “This is the first time you’ve seen a human woman naked?”

  He nodded.

  “Well…”

  Aron’s expression darkened. He seemed totally different to the Dreon she had first met. He was animalistic now, driven by baser needs. “You’re the one I want. Noone else.”

  Athena bent to kiss him. As she did so, he grabbed either side of her space suit. She gasped as he tore it apart. She was naked to the waist now. She watched his face; watched the way his eyes widened at the sight of her.

  He reached up and carefully cupped her breasts. She watch
ed him, fascinated. So many questions swirled in her mind, but she was too aroused to focus or care.

  Athena threw her head back and cursed as his fingers found her nipples. Already bullet-hard, they throbbed painfully the moment his callused skin came into contact with them.

  “This gives you pleasure?”

  Athena nodded. “Yeah. Just a little.”

  He ratcheted up the pressure. Athena gasped and ground against him. “Wow, Aron.” She exhaled a huge puff of air. She’d been so close to coming from that one little flick of his wrists. She could barely believe it.

  He grinned up at her. “So more than a little.”

  She nodded mutely.

  “And this?” He tweaked them harder this time.

  Athena didn’t know what was hotter: the physical sensation of him touching her like that or the way he was staring into her face, hell-bent on gauging her reaction. Whichever –it was intense enough to stop her from even trying to play it cool.

  She threw her head back and relished the feeling of his huge hands all over her body. She was barely conscious of the way she was grinding against his lap. She didn’t give a damn how she looked anymore. Her core had turned to liquid and it clenched deliciously for him.

  The only thing on her mind right then was feeling him inside her. Everything else had faded to gray.

  “Aron,” she murmured.

  His hands reached between her legs. Even with the spacesuit in the way, his touch sent sparks of pleasure through her. Her body tingled in the most pleasurable way.

  “Can’t wait,” she groaned, opening her eyes.

  His golden eyes seemed like they were about to burst into flames. He watched her carefully, never once taking his eyes from her body.

  Athena pulled away and kneeled up on the bed. She reached down and eased the suit down over her hips—which wasn’t difficult, given it had been made with a huge Dreon body in mind.

  “Now you,” she ordered.

  She had never been particularly bossy in the bedroom, but he was driving her crazy now.

  Aron shrugged and tugged at his suit. His eyes flashed amber for a moment and his muscles bulged even more than usual. The thin fabric tore away as if it was delicate silk and not high-tech alien material.