Rornak’s Command: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Science Fiction Alien Romance) (Survival Wars Book 4)

by Hana Starr

  Grudgingly, Horule nodded and then turned into his shadow-dark dragon and leapt away. He disappeared down one of the exits from the central cavern, and only then did Rornak allow himself to relax down. The rest of his people were silent and submissive in the aftermath of his display and skill, and he held himself up firmly against the ache in his arms and the scrapes on his body that were currently leaking trails of white down his skin.

  “Does anyone else have any concerns?”

  They all shook their heads, and Takla finally sat down as well.

  Satisfied now, he shifted forms and bounded over to a low area of the wall where an overhang jutted out. Slithering his body up onto it, he let his tail dangle down over the edge and placed his head on his paws to watch over his people. Some of them stayed, but others eventually rose and filtered out to attend to their various duties of the day.

  Keeping watch over them all, he let memories of that dreadful day wash over him. This was all he had left. Everything else had been destroyed. These people, his peers, the generation which had all been gathered into one place on that day to sit through another mandatory speech about the development of a new housing area. And then there was fire and blood, and…

  Rornak closed his eyes tightly to dispel the image of one of his friends, a girl whom he had admired for years, with her lithe body and thoughtful eyes, being torn apart by a strange weapon which shot fragments of metal. Her blood stained the air like snowflakes before spattering to the ground. That had been only the beginning.

  I swear to you, my people, he promised, watching Takla switch forms and stretch out beside the nearest male. I swear to you that I will never let another of you die. I made that promise before, and I will continue to make it until the day comes when I can keep it.

  Takla crossed her tail over the male’s, and their wings folded together. An idea began to form, a bit of celebration. If they had kept the rest of their rituals, he saw no reason as to why he shouldn’t mate off that cuddled-up pair. He would need to speak to her about it, as she was a bit young yet, but if she was willing, the sight of life continuing might embolden them. And if she then became pregnant with the start of their next generation, it would be an omen of their longevity.

  Thinking idealist, dreamy thoughts, Rornak lowered both sets of his eyelids and fell asleep right there on his favorite perch. It had been a trying day, and he would need his strength to return to handle what might come in the future.

  Chapter Four

  Nelly woke to a mix of emotions, each of which felt more complicated than the last. Her main concern however, was that she woke up tossing around and feeling extremely bothered down between her legs. She felt strangely tingly, and her hand started to work its way down to her pussy to take care of that odd need. Normally there was a discernable reason when she felt turned on she hadn’t dreamed of anyone but…

  “Good,” a sly, clashing voice said from somewhere within the small room. She jumped, snatching her hand away from herself even though she was firmly tucked up beneath so many layers of blankets that there was no way he could see what she was about to do. Her heart hammered anyway, wondering frantically if he could smell her arousal somehow or…

  Rornak continued on. “It is about time that you awoke. I have been standing here for far too long.”

  She grudgingly felt that he might be right, since her head was pounding like it normally did when she slept in. Rubbing at her temples, she lowered her head. Then, she lowered it a bit more so that his relaxed member wasn’t directly within eyeshot. “Sorry,” she said, and he made a small purring sound in the back of his throat as though he could detect that she didn’t mean it. “I was up for a very long time before…our meeting.”

  He purred again. “Meeting. I do like that.”

  Was it just her or did he seem calmer, more relaxed now? Whatever he’d had to do, taking care of it had obviously left him feeling better.

  Sliding out of her bed, Nelly raised her arms high above her head and began to stretch. This was always a sort of zen time for her, getting her mind to limber up as much as her body; she wasn’t the most physically active of women due to long hours spent sitting in one spot, but she at least tried to take a few minutes from every day to do this much.

  As she bent over to touch her toes, she suddenly became aware of Rornak’s burning gaze on her body. His eyes raked over her body, caressing her as surely and firmly as a hand. Blushing, she straightened up and turned away but not without noticing that his limp member seemed to have stiffened a little.

  A silence fell between them, distinctly awkward to her. Then, she cleared her throat. Physical attraction was a perfectly normal phenomenon and he was very comfortable with it apparently, which meant that she should respect his lifestyle and not mention it. What could one say in that sort of situation anyway? Asking him to cover up would be rude.

  The fact that she was only now realizing they went around naked to be able to transform into their dragon forms made her feel a bit inadequate, also. Up until now, she had been far too unpleasantly distracted to really come to her full potential. No more. From now on, whatever she faced, she would face it with calculations and analysis as she always had.

  “Shouldn’t you start showing me around now?” she finally asked.

  Rornak nodded. “Yes. I have already informed everyone of you.” He tilted his head then, seeming to gather himself before going on. “Listen to me well when I tell you that what you see may not make sense to you, but please keep in mind that neither do you make sense to them. No one will threaten you as long as you are in my company, so please do not try to stray as you have been.”

  Fear bubbled up in her stomach but she pushed it back down and nodded. “Of course, Rory.”

  He had started to turn away, but now spun back with a confused expression. “What does that mean?”

  “Rory? It’s just a nickname.”

  Great. Now I’m going to have to explain how people use nicknames and he’s going to get the wrong idea of my opinion of him.

  Instead, the dragon alien just nodded and made for the door again. “It is going to be very dark for you. Grab the lamp if you wish.”

  Nelly did, and held it up slightly in front of her as she walked. Her room led out to a long, craggy tunnel which seemed to have many off-shooting branches but Rory ignored all of them and continued plowing straight ahead. Practically trotting to keep up, she did her best to keep an eye out for anything that seemed very technologically advanced but really, there were only the rounded walls.

  Then, very suddenly, a blue glow appeared ahead. Rory shifted slightly to the side and slowed his face to let her walk out at his side. That seemed important somehow, and she fell in step with him almost automatically.

  The tunnel opened out into an enormous cavern, which slowly slanted down to a sort of basin in which a number of silver-skinned people were gathered around lamps similar to the one which she held. They all looked up as she approached, black eyes catching the blue and glowing with it.

  All at once, everything was suddenly very pretty. The light and the shadows made it seem as though she was encased in a room of ice, and each of the people watching her were more beautiful and perfect than the last. The women were slender and the men broad, their muscle definition sharp enough to cut diamonds. No one was overweight –though they were all a bit too thin.

  Suddenly feeling inadequate, Nelly looked to Rornak for guidance.

  He stepped forward now, though he did not stand in front of her again. “Akait,” he called to them, “this is the woman I spoke of with you. Remember, she is our honored guest and should be treated as such. Come. Greet her.”

  In the moment it took for the dragons to clamber to their feet, Rory leaned over and whispered to Nelly, “Hold your ground no matter what.”

  The warning in his voice made her feel a bit afraid but she just nodded and faced the Akait as they filed up towards her. They all stated their names, of which she did not remember a single one, and
then bowed their heads before moving to settle back where they had been before. She bowed her head each time in return, but they didn’t lift their heads to see it. All but one, that was. There was a particularly young woman with high, proud breasts who glared right into Nelly’s eyes and snorted before moving away again.

  That reaction shook her, but she tried not to show it because this was very nearly the sort of thing she’d expected. People stuck in this situation were often embarrassed rather than grateful, and tended to lash out rather than accept help. By the looks of it, they could all crush her even without transforming and so she sincerely hoped that Rornak would keep his word.

  When all had passed by her, Rornak moved on past her. “Come,” he said over his shoulder, and then it was a matter of hurrying to keep up. He moved past a ledge high up on the wall, reaching out to stroke his fingers along the white-streaked stone beneath, and then on down through yet another tunnel.

  “Much of this was already here,” he explained. “Takla, our apprentice digger, found this hidden system deep within a low, nearby mountain range. She expanded it to our uses, all on her own.”

  “That’s impressive,” Nelly commented. Takla had to be the fierce young woman. She looked like the type of girl who could dig tunnels –probably as a dragon.

  “Indeed,” he purred with agreement, and then took an abrupt turn. “Most of these tunnels were carved by her on claw and fang alone. They connect with other natural caverns. They are typically sleeping or eating areas. You do not have much use for those.”

  “Oh, of course. I never have to eat. Humans don’t do that.”

  He glanced over at her. “I was referring to other sleeping areas.”

  Nelly opened her mouth to explain, but then decided that she didn’t exactly feel up to dwelling into the concept of sarcasm. All she did in the end was make a vague humming sound in the back of her throat.

  As they walked, she tried very hard not to look down but wasn’t entirely successful and just ended up watching his firm ass cheeks move against each other as they walked. Part of her ached to reach out and grab them. Her palms were tingling. She felt very breathless, and a low trail of warmth thrummed in her groin.

  Please not now, she begged quietly, and tried to imagine how on earth she would go about building a spaceship of any kind here. Most of her constructions had been team efforts, but even on her smaller builds she had had the assistance of robotics. I wonder if they would be willing to help me? They have wings. I wouldn’t have to worry about some aspects of the work…

  After several more abrupt twists through the tunnel, Rornak held out his arm and drew to a halt. His voice was low. “We must be quiet. Around this bend, the tunnels come to an opening and we do not wish to be found.”

  Nelly whispered back, “Is this hiding place very close to where you used to live?”

  The alien shrugged his shoulders. “Within sight, though only just. And this opening is on the opposite side of the mountain range, pressed against another, but they have shown themselves to be a formidable enemy. We cannot ever be careful enough.”

  Curiosity overcame her, and she figured she had best prepare herself. “What kind of creatures are they? Do you know why they attacked you?”

  “They are strange creatures which resemble you and I in shape, but they wear very large white suits that we do not understand. We have never seen the face of one, nor do we even know if they have faces, really.

  “We first became aware of them when there were reports of these strange creatures on the edge of vision, watching. That is when we also started noticing odd lights that seemed to grow closer every day. Sounds as well, like dragon roars. Footprints where no one had walked, and depressions in the earth from where we assumed they were exploring or taking samples for whatever reason.”

  Nelly listened quietly as Rornak told her the story, her heart beginning to ache from sympathy. Living like that under a constant threat must have been even worse than living like this. At least now they could take full stock of the situation to deal with it but beforehand everyone must have been so scared all the time. Every sleep could be the last, and every breath could have been final.

  She opened her mouth to apologize for things that she couldn’t fix, but the alien just shook his head to silence her. “Do not fret over it. There is no use worrying over the past and what cannot be changed. However, understand my wishes on this matter are that you do not ask such questions of any Akait but myself. The others are not so willing to forget.”

  “Are you?” she asked doubtfully.

  Rornak said nothing for a long, silent moment. He just sighed and looked down at his feet before lifting his head up. His eyes flashed. “I will never forgive anyone who seeks to harm. I will never forget the rain of fire and their strange weapons, but mine is a bigger purpose now. I protect these people. As much as I would like to throw myself into my anger, I cannot. It would doom us all.”

  Nelly blinked a little, and then raised her hand to rub at her face. Tears of admiration wanted to rise in her eyes, but she pushed them back with a swipe of her fingers beneath her eyes. “That’s really noble of you.”

  He looked away wordlessly, and then gestured forward. It seemed like that was the end of the conversation, so she just took a moment to think that perhaps she’d been wrong about his character before moving on to follow him around the bend.

  The light outside seemed slightly brighter than it had when she looked out the window, but the sun was so eternally distant from Pluto that she could hardly tell the difference. A pale wash of white coated the very end of the tunnel, and outside she saw a large blank expanse of flat stone which certainly looked as though it could house a starship. But was the overhang enough to cover it?

  Almost impossibly, it was. Rornak guided her out into the open and she felt the atmosphere shift as the cold pressed hard against the shield wrapped around her body from the collar. Shivering without really feeling it, simply knowing its presence, Nelly watched around the ceiling as she paced the length of the outside. The overhanging shelf above seemed almost impossibly precarious, yet when Rornak saw her looking, all he did was reassure her that it was steady.

  Nelly turned around to face the tunnel where they had come from, pacing steadily backwards to try and find the actual cliff face to get a glimpse of it.

  Suddenly, Rornak was at her side with her wrist snagged in his fingers. “Always look behind you,” he warned stoically, and then pointed at her feet. She twisted around and gaped as she realized that only a foot past the tips of her toes there was simply a chasm. It was thick and bottomless, curved like a snake deep within the mountains here, and the weak light could not penetrate it.

  “Thanks,” she manage.

  He nodded. “Just keep it in mind. Now, how are you going to build the ship?”

  That startled her. “What, you want me to just start pulling building materials out of my hat?”

  “Hat?”

  She closed her eyes and then opened them again, gathering up her patience. “Look, I need to know as much about this place as possible. And it won’t do for you to just tell me stuff, okay? I have to have it written down so that I can look at it.”

  His eyes glinted, and he nodded, looking serious. “What all do you need to know? I can send out a patrol to gather our records.”

  “Anything having to do with your atmosphere. Anything that has to do with your planet at all. Okay? I have to figure out what I’m going to need to be able to build you a ship, and then I have to design it. It could take some time.”

  “Well,” Rornak said, “We have nothing but time here. It will be done.”

  Chapter Five

  True to his word, Rornak sent out a patrol as soon as they came back to the central cavern. A group of men, including a hulking grey-skinned dragon who Rornak explained was called Horule, dispatched from the hiding place immediately by filing down one long hall that she hadn’t even noticed before until now because it was set at an angle.

/>   “What do we do until they come back?” Nelly asked.

  The leading alien looked a little bothered, as though he didn’t have an answer. “I suppose you might be hungry?” he suggest hopefully.

  Truthfully, Nelly was too excited to be hungry but there wasn’t anything else that she could think to do. Besides, she had to keep up her strength and she was reluctant to stop talking to him. Now that their initial arguments had faded somewhat, she thought that she might actually really like him. At least, she liked him enough to feel sorry for the things that he had to deal with and to actually want to help him now.

  By now, everyone would be missing her back home but she just couldn’t do anything for it. She couldn’t think about that. When she didn’t show up to work, her colleagues would wonder about it but then they would just assume she was sick, or happened to just wake up late. As the hours dragged on without a word, they would become annoyed and then worried in turn. They knew where she lived, and they would come investigating after a few days of silence.