Morgan shot a puff of air through his teeth dismissively. “There are finally women here, and good-looking ones, too.” When I continued to glare, he shook his head. “You wouldn’t understand. You got females of your own kind running every which way.”
I tried not to bristle at the way he said “your own kind” and turned stiffly away from him. Dane, the Elder of our kingdom and my old friend, had gotten to his feet. He stood in the very center of the oratory platform and looked upon the gatherers before him with calm acknowledgment. He was only there to greet and introduce himself to the newcomers, as it was my job to explain the finer details of their new life on Albaterra, but I wanted to set an example by showing him the respect he deserved.
The low rumble of voices echoing up to the ceiling evaporated into relative silence, and Dane began to speak. “Welcome, colonists and citizens of Montemba,” he boomed. He spoke English, as A’li-uud was a language only understood by our race. English, however, was spoken by both. I could see several humans leaning forward in their seats with fascination on their faces while others looked wholly disinterested. “I am pleased to see many of you recovered and well in my presence today.”
Out of the corner of my eye, a sudden movement grabbed my attention. I turned my head minutely to locate the source. Sitting in the front row, hands clasped together and eyes riveted on Dane, was Celine, her blonde friend beside her. Immediately, my focus on my Elder was lost as I drank in the sight of her. Her brown hair seemed effervescent under the gleam of sun-shimmering aspex, and her skin was pinker and livelier than it had been in the infirmary. There was still visible redness on her neck and chin, but it was beginning to fade from an angry scarlet to soft carmine noticeably. She was back in her travel jumpsuit, adorned from collar to ankle in iron gray. I was unable to refrain from eyeing the smooth curves of her luscious figure through the hugging fabric.
Her gaze broke from Dane and swung, and before I could look away, she spotted me. The air in my lungs constricted until I felt like a great weight was upon my chest. Her mouth opened, lips parting into a delicate ellipse.
“Hi,” she mouthed.
It was simple, so simple it was barely noteworthy, but a jolt of adrenaline shot through my body and plunged into my core. I was acutely aware there were almost three-hundred sentients before me, however, able to witness my every move, so I tightened my muscles into controlled rigidity and merely offered her an imperceptible nod in return.
“I am honored to now introduce you to Montemba’s highly-skilled and accoladed War Chief, Lokos. Thank you for your attention.”
Hearing my name yanked me back into the present, and I rose to my feet. The humans began to clap, an uneven and jarring noise that rose to the ceiling before cascading upon us in bullets, but I opted not to acknowledge it as applauding was not an A’li-uud custom. Dane inclined his head to me as I took his place on the platform, and I mirrored the gesture before turning to the crowd.
“This is a most unusual orientation,” I began, not one for preface or preamble. I watched several sets of eyebrows shoot up toward hairlines in surprise at my bluntness, but I was not deterred. “Not only am I looking upon the first human civilians to colonize Albaterra, but I am also looking upon the first human civilians to survive an unanticipated attack by an unknown force in our journey to true coexistence.”
The silence within the hall was utterly deafening. Unlike Dane, I was given fixed attention from every being inside the walls, and I could feel the fear rippling through the congregation in the whispers of their bated breath. I tried to slowly swivel my stare from one side of the room to the other, but my eyes continuously rotated back to Celine, and I began to speak autonomously rather than cognitively.
“It is imperative you understand what this means,” I continued. The beautiful brunette was clutching her friend’s hand now, and she looked terrified. “It is likely there will be another attack. The assailants may target another group of incoming colonists, or they may decide to focus on Albaterra itself. As we do not yet know who is behind the Conquest’s bombing, we have no foundation for determining reason or intent. This means you must adhere to the laws and regulations you will learn about today. You cannot take matters into your own hands, and you cannot operate under the guise that a small infraction will harm none. We are here today in this hall together in pursuit of a strong alliance between our two races, and, if we are to be successful, we must remain vigilant for the safety of ourselves and one another.”
I was by no means a seasoned speaker, nor was I trained in the art of motivation, but the audience was watching me as if I were the only thing in the universe. The listening A’li-uud had visibly tensed as I spoke, not because they were offended by my words but because they understood the weight of them. The humans were exponentially more emotional. Most had become living masks of panic, and a fistful was visibly shaking. The warrior within me would have rolled his eyes at such a vulnerable response to danger, but the War Chief inside was more understanding. The greatest threat humans had faced in nearly their entire existence was themselves. To be uprooted to a new planet with unfamiliar beings, and then to learn there was a new brand of unfamiliar beings intent on causing some manner of harm or homicide, was reasonably alarming.
“The Elder Council is already working together with the present human authorities to learn as much as they can about the new threat as quickly as possible,” I added. I turned my eyes to Celine, then, staring back at her unabashedly. “In the meantime, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. Welcome to Albaterra.”
8
Celine
Listening to Lokos speak was like listening to a well-recorded audiobook. Though his words were clipped and clearly a far cry from his native tongue, he was captivating. My attention was held further by his rippled abdomen and strong jawline.
The red-faced, leering human in military garb spoke next, introducing himself as General Rodney P. Morgan and boasting his many successes in the colonization process to us. I didn’t bother to pay attention to him. He sounded bossy and authoritarian, taking too much pleasure in his position of power. I did, however, make a mental note to avoid him in the future if possible.
Following the general was a series of A’li-uud, some warriors and others pillars of the community. They explained their various roles, encouraged us to learn some of the skills prized within Montemba or Albaterra as a whole, and offered tutorship if we desired so. While I found them fascinating, I was unable to properly focus on them, still preoccupied with the knowledge that something or someone out in the cosmos wanted us dead. The low mumblings of murmured chatter around me indicated others felt the same way.
Finally, after what felt like hours, we were told about the A’li-uud guides. There was one assigned to each dormitory residence, and, when the mentors gathered on the platform, I was surprised to see Lokos didn’t join them. He remained seated next to General Morgan as each guide stepped forward and called out their dormitory number.
Donna leaned into me and whispered, “I thought we got our own mentor. And I thought you were going to be with that War Chief.”
“So did I,” I whispered back, feeling utterly bungled with confusion now.
As if he’d heard our brief exchange, Lokos turned his head and met my gaze. He tilted his head forward slightly and quirked his brows. It was a subtle gesture, but I understood its meaning.
“You belong to me.”
Heat flashed between my legs. His phantom eyes pressed past my exterior into my core, and I could feel him within the depths of my body. My stomach twisted into a knot until I couldn’t stop myself from squirming in my seat. God, he was sexy.
A crash of thunderous footsteps jerked me into reality again, and I realized everyone around me was getting up. Apparently, we’d been dismissed or bidden to join our mentors because pale-skinned alien guides were dismounting the platform and collecting their assigned protégés. Donna, too, was on her feet and looking down at me with a crinkled brow.<
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“Aren’t you coming?” she asked.
“I—” I faltered as, again, I felt his gaze searing into me. “No. Go ahead. I think I need to check with Lokos first.”
“Okay,” she replied uncertainly.
I waited until she’d walked away to get up, then crossed the wide aisle separating the colonists from the speakers. Lokos was still sitting with his hands curled over the regal chair’s arms, feet planted flatly on the floor, but his eyes moved with me as I approached.
“You are healing nicely,” he said by way of greeting when I drew near enough.
I reached up to gently touch my raw throat. “Thanks,” I responded. “So, I am with you? Because my dorm is assigned to—”
“You are mine,” he interrupted. “Just you.”
The way the words rolled from his tongue to his lips before purring to my ears was like spoken honey: thick, sweet, and exquisitely crafted. I actually felt my breath hitch in my diaphragm before I was able to speak again.
“Why?” I didn’t mean to ask it, but I wanted to know, and he sorely lacked in explanations.
He tilted his head almost curiously. “You ask many questions.”
“You give very few answers.”
A shadow crossed his angled face, lifting the corners of his mouth so minutely I nearly missed it, lightening his already sun-white eyes. The flicker of a grin was gone as quickly as it arrived, but I was sure I’d seen it, and warmth spread from my scalp to my shoulders.
“Come,” he said, finally getting to his feet. “We are to convene.”
It sounded like such a silly way to put it, but I didn’t comment. Instead, I let him lead me across the platform to a slender door along the rear wall of the hall. As I walked, I caught a glimpse of Donna halfway toward the main entrance. She was watching me, ogling Lokos from behind and utterly beaming from ear-to-ear. She flashed me a thumbs-up, and I rolled my eyes before disappearing through the door Lokos held ajar for me.
The room was not a room at all, but rather a skinny, narrow corridor with absolutely no doors on either side. I furrowed my brow in confusion and looked over my shoulder at Lokos, but he brandished a hand forward, indicating I needed to walk. I obeyed, but I felt like I was walking toward a dead end. Even the wall on the far end of the corridor was blank.
“This is…weird,” I muttered, holding hands out on either side of me to run them along the wainscoting. “Where are we going?”
“More questions,” he commented in his suggestive growl. His voice floated to my ears from behind, and I had to restrain myself from shivering. “You must learn patience.”
“I almost died a few days ago. Life is too short for patience,” I retorted, a little irritated at his lack of proper responses.
Suddenly, I felt hands on my waist. My entire body was spun around in one wrenching pull, whipping me in an about-face that disoriented my vision. Lokos’ face appeared before me, and I caught another flash of that inconspicuous shadow smirk before I was thrown into the air. His shoulder caught me in the midsection, knocking the wind out of me, and his fingers closed around the backs of my thighs. I barely realized I was hanging upside-down, staring at his bare back before he lunged forward, and then we were falling, and there was nothing I could cling to but him.
9
Lokos
I landed with a thump, and Celine’s body jerked on my shoulder. Lifting her free, I placed her back onto the ground and was amused to see an expression of shock and irritation on her heart-shaped face.
“What did you do that for?” she demanded furiously.
My hands still held her waist, and I leaned forward to lift one gently to her chin. Tilting it up to reveal her burn, I said matter-of-factly, “It was a big jump. I did not wish you to injure yourself further.”
“That has nothing to do with a jump,” she snapped, batting my hand away and stepping back. “Besides,” she added, jabbing a finger to her right. “There’s a ladder.”
“Ladders take too long,” I replied dismissively. “Come.”
I took the lead again, striding down the new, wider passageway with purpose. Her fire thrilled me. In the infirmary, she had been rather reserved and clearly intimidated, but it was becoming evident that it was merely a symptom of her condition. To hear her address me so brazenly now built a pressure in my lower region I had not anticipated, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. She continuously surprised me, this Celine.
“Are you really not going to tell me where we’re going?” she asked again in a huff. “I thought we were supposed to be convening.”
“We are. I am taking you elsewhere to do it.”
“Is that allowed?”
I stopped mid-step and turned, bringing her to a sudden and unexpected halt. She looked up at me challengingly, and I had to fight the urge to press her against the wall and call her bluff. “I am the War Chief,” I said, speaking with distinct calculation. “Anything is allowed.”
This particular corridor had doors lining either side, and she reached for the nearest knob. “What’s in here?”
I scowled and snatched her hand away from the knob. “That is not your concern. This area is relegated to human and A’li-uud authority only. It is a privilege for you to even walk this hall.”
“Well, you’re not telling me anything, so I have to find out for myself,” she retorted bitingly.
My fingers twitched. I desperately wanted to seize her by her rich tresses and rip her jumpsuit to shreds. Lowering my voice to a coarse murmur, I said, “You will learn patience one way or another, little human.”
Her mouth opened, and I heard the sharp intake of breath that burst between them. The defiant spark in her eyes continued to flicker, but it was muted behind a curtain of stunned stupefaction. When she said nothing, I turned around again and resumed walking. I had taken several steps before I heard her footfalls once more behind me.
She did not speak again until we reached the final door on the right. I opened it, and sunlight spilled into the dimly-lit corridor, blinding us both for a few blinks. My vision adjusted faster than hers, so I entered first, but she was quick to follow.
“I thought we were underground,” she mused, glancing around with a dramatic squint.
“We are,” I confirmed. “Look.”
I pointed upward, and she followed my gesture. Hovering nearly thirty feet above us, there was a glass ceiling of such transparency it appeared to open into the sky. The panes curled down where they met the walls, blending to form a dome-like shape that surrounded us rather than covered us. Only from the ground to my waist were there standard, opaque walls made of the same t’kiel logs as the vast meeting hall, but they, too, seemed to converge seamlessly into the glass. It was difficult not to marvel at the room’s architecture.
“This is gorgeous,” she whispered. She sounded delighted, and the way the corners of her eyes crinkled and the corners of her lips lifted confirmed the inflection.
“You will spend some time here, I am sure,” I told her. She dropped her gaze back to me again, no longer squinting. “You work with food, yes?”
She made an odd balancing motion with her hand, rocking it from side to side rapidly. “Kind of,” she said. “I’m a nutritionist.”
I blinked.
“I tell people what they should eat based on things like their current weight, muscle mass, and long-term body goals,” she explained.
Again, I blinked, but, this time, it was not due to confusion. I lowered my eyes to her form, skimming them from her shoulders to her ample chest to her waistline and hips. When I looked back at her face again, she was frowning.
“What? Just because I’m curvy, I can’t be a nutritionist?” she shot at me defensively. “I might not be stick-thin, but I’m healthy. I’m perfectly qualified.”
A chuckle rose in my throat, but I held it back with a quick swallow. “No. I merely cannot comprehend an intelligent species needing to be told what is best for their bodies,” I said, unable to mask the amusement completely.
“It seems to me that should be instinctual.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks rouged slightly, but she held onto her composure admirably. “Sorry. I guess I’m just used to catching a lot of flak for being a nutritionist with a fuller figure.”
My eyes drifted down again of their own accord. “Your figure is magnificent,” I said straightforwardly.
The blush that had risen in her cheeks darkened until it matched the heated hue of her burn. She stared at me wordlessly, but there was no displeasure on her lips. Rather, a shy smile played on the carved mouth. Before she could speak, however, I tore my gaze from her and swiveled with an arm outstretched.
“This is the Seeding Lab,” I told her. “It will mostly be staffed with your agriculturists and a few biologists, but you might expect to visit from time to time to discuss hybrid development or request specific plantings.”
I was not facing her, but I could feel an odd wave of disappointment radiating from her. “And I have to go down the special authority hallway to get here?” she needled.
Again, pressure swelled in my pelvis, and I purposefully kept my back to her. She was feisty, this one. Though I would have expected to find it annoying at the least and insubordinate at the worst, I actually found it stimulating. Apparently, certain parts of me found it stimulating as well.
“No,” I replied coolly. “There is a door behind you. It requires a keycard, but I am unsure whether you will be provided one yet. I will be sure to find out as soon as possible.”
“Is this where you want to do the whole mentor convening thing?”
Finally, under control of my extremities, I turned to face her once more. “No,” I repeated. “I only wanted to show you this before moving on. The Fifth Ward is a larger place than it seems at first glance. I thought it best you learn the lay of the land early.”
“Okay. So, where to next?” she asked.
I opened my mouth to reply, but, before a single sound could come out, the door to the corridor burst open and Silah raced in. He was not out of breath, as A’li-uud rarely were, but there was a deeper tinge of blue in his cheeks than normal.
Lokos: A Scifi Alien Romance: Albaterra Mates Book 4 Page 4