Tied to the Barbarian Warrior

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Tied to the Barbarian Warrior Page 120

by Abella Ward


  “Thank you,” he said to the woman who quickly left. Strath slowly sat up. I rolled over to face him, running my hands over his muscular back. I remembered last night. The way we had moved together. Would we continue? I wanted there to be more.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. My voice was rough and he handed me a glass of water and I drank it gratefully.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” he answered taking the glass from me and then smoothing down my messy bed head. “It’s just morning and I have work to do.”

  “It’s morning?” I asked. My internal clock was off. I had no idea how long I had slept. My wrists stung as they grazed the blanket and I remembered the fate I had just narrowly avoided.

  “Yes. And as always, I have much to do. Though it is very tempting to lie here in bed with you,” he paused for a long moment and looked at the stars on the screens all around us. “However, you and I had an agreement and you have fulfilled your end. Your ship has been put back together and is ready for you to leave. No one will stop you when you go.”

  “Thank you,” I said. I fell back on the bed. My head landing on the soft pillow. It was so tempting to just stay in this bed. To allow myself to become the plaything of this Lord. I could be like one of the three women he kept in his bed. My only obligation to look beautiful and please him.

  Who was I kidding? I would never last in such a role. I would get bored and become quarrelsome. I would start trouble. No, I wasn't built for that kind of domesticity.

  Strath scoffed, “Perhaps I should be thanking you.”

  He stood up and I followed him with my eyes. “Will I ever see you again?” I asked him.

  “That’s up to you,” he answered. What did that mean? Did he want me to come back, even with my ties to the rebellion? Would he want me even if I wasn’t as free as he was?

  “Goodbye, Andromeda Nus,” Strath said stroking my cheek. “Be careful.”

  I nodded. I knew that I should have said something, but I didn't know what. It was like I was holding a bag filled with all of my emotions. I kept reaching in and pulling out a new one: I wanted him, but I wanted to get the rebellion plans, I was attracted to him, but his people were my enemy. I wanted him but I knew I could never have him.

  It felt strange to be back in my ship. Strath’s men had done their best to put it back together, but it still wasn’t quite right. Things weren’t where I left them, the settings were built for someone of Dolcivs size. I felt like a stranger in my own home, awkward and confused as I wandered from place to place.

  I dallied. I fiddled with my machines, ran diagnostics. I should have just gone, started the engines and been on my way, but some part of me was still hoping that Strath would come. I didn’t know what I wanted him to say or what I wanted to say. I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him yet. I didn’t know if we would ever see each other again and I wanted to know what he was going to do. Where was he going to go? It seemed impossible that we had just met and already we were being pulled apart.

  Finally, there was nothing left to do but go. I fired up my engines, received permission from the men in the command post and navigated out into open space. I fell into the gravity well of the red giant. From down here I could see the true size of Strath’s ship. It was massive, an entire city filled with thousands on one ship. It was so big it had its own gravitational pull and it was affecting my orbit. Pulling me back to it.

  I entered the radio signal needed to locate the data packet. I had it memorized in my head and hadn’t told it to anyone. After everything that had happened, I had managed to keep the rebellion’s plans secret after all. All it had required was the best sex of my life. Not a bad deal.

  I wasn’t worried about Strath following me. There was no way his great ship could traverse the thick, dangerous atmosphere of the gas giant. He had smaller vessels that could have survived in it, but it would be hard to follow me in the chaos of the planet’s poisonous gasses.

  My ship descended into the gas giant. Red and yellow mists floated around me as one by one my sensors began to glitch and malfunction. The dense atmosphere messed with my equipment. It set off sensors and alarms even though there was nothing there. That’s why this planet was the perfect hiding spot.

  I only needed the radio to work in order to locate the data packet. I sent out the signal and waited for the responding ping. There was a probe on this planet with the information. It was looking for me and I was looking for it, we just needed to find one another.

  I had been flying for about five hours when my computer picked up a signal from the drone. I located the signal, zooming in on it. Thankfully, it wasn’t far away. I sped up my ship in the direction of it. My sensors were pinging and blinking and going wild. But there was no way to know what was setting them off. The gasses on the planet and the small bits of debris kept giving me false alarms.

  I saw the probe, a trashcan-sized hunk of metal floating in the mists. I maneuvered my ship and sucked the probe into my cargo bay. I waited impatiently for the ship's life support to clear the gasses and then finally I was allowed to enter the cargo bay.

  I pulled the data stick out of the computer and plugged it into the ship. It was designed for the newest Dolcivs warships. It listed everything: the crew manifest, how many weapons would be on board, weak spots. It was exactly what the rebellion needed.

  Suddenly, alarms were going off. The ship rumbled and tilted to the side. I fell over, hitting my shoulder on a bulkhead. I got to my feet quickly and raced to the bridge, the ship rolling and shuddering. Someone was firing across my bow. It was a warning.

  I reached the bridge and pulled up the main screen and there, in front of me, was a lone ship bearing the markings of the Dolcivs Regime. My heart stopped, I couldn’t believe this. I had just managed to get the plans and now the Regime was here.

  Had Strath given my info to the Dolcivs Regime? No, I couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t part of the Regime, he was a free man and always would be. He wouldn’t betray me. They must have found me on their own.

  Panic flooded my brain. I knew now that I would never last under torture. I would tell them everything. I would give them the plans and I would tell them how Strath helped me.

  A message came in for me. It was the standard order to shut down my weapons system and prepare my ship for docking. Yeah right, I thought. I kicked on an engine burst and backed away from the ship. Maybe there was a chance I could lose it in the mist. I zoomed into the red mist of the planet going as fast as my engine would allow. But the Dolcivs ship was faster than mine. No matter what I did or how fast I flew, it was always right behind me.

  I flew faster, my engines straining. I tried to get lost in the mist, but it was impossible. The Dolcivs ship was too fast. It would have me soon; I wouldn’t last much longer. The Dolcivs ship was broadcasting its message over and over again, but I ignored it. I would rather die than be captured.

  I felt their tethers hit my ship, locking on with a strong magnetic force. The Zephyr shuddered and then slowed as the Regime ship reversed their engines and the tethers began to reel me in. This was bad, really bad.

  The only way to get rid of them was to cut them off. I fired a missile at the ship, but their countermeasures blew it away. They suffered no damage at all. I shot everything I had at them. I emptied my weapons, but the Dolcivs ship struck them all out of the sky. Their defenses were better than my offenses and slowly I was being pulled into their ship.

  I looked around my panel, desperately wondering what was left for me to do. My engines were straining, I was out of weapons, I had a small escape vessel, but it would never survive the dangerous gasses of this planet. I was lost. I was going to lose the plans and then be captured and the Regime would pull out every secret I had.

  Just then, just when all seemed lost, another ship emerged from the mist.

  It had the markings of Historan Strath. It flew up through the mists and with two quick laser bursts it cut the cords connecting me to the other ship. Once free I zoomed forwar
d, but I didn’t get far before my engines stalled. This most recent battle had been too hard on them. With a loud whine, they shut down and my computer told me it would be at least five minutes before they could come back on.

  I was stuck in the mists, but Strath’s ship flew and settled between me and the Regime ship. He had come for me. I couldn’t believe it. He was angering the Regime, all for me. My heart swelled in my chest. I could never repay him for this.

  “This is a ship of the Dolcivs Regime on official Regime business. That ship and its Captain are under arrest. Cease your actions immediately,” the ship that had tethered me was announcing this message to both my and Strath’s ship.

  “This isn’t a Regime controlled system. This is my system,” was the stern voice of Strath. My heart pounded in my chest as I heard his voice. I wanted to see him. I wanted to be in the same room with him. I wanted to feel his strong presence and his hands on me. “Leave now, or your ship will be destroyed.” The powerful weapons on his ship came to life and I watched the Dolcivs ship back off and then to my relief, it flew away.

  Chapter Ten

  I docked my ship to Strath’s and waited. I paced up and down my bridge as my engines slowly came back to life. I was worrying my hands, nervously rubbing them together as I waited for him. What would he say? What would he do?

  He entered wearing a dark, well-fitting jumpsuit. I wanted to run to him, wrap my arms around him and feel him holding me tight. I wanted his strong arms comforting me and telling me he would always keep me safe, but I held myself back.

  He looked around my ship, appraising every inch of it. “Are you alright?” he finally asked.

  “Yes. You saved me, how?”

  “I had my men put a tracking device on your ship. I’ve been watching you since you left. When this other ship entered the system I knew it was coming for you and I knew I had to beat them.” He stepped towards me and I looked up at him. “When you left, it was like my heart left with you.”

  I reached up and put my hand on his chest, over his heart. I could hear the thumping, feel it under my fingers. “I didn’t want to leave.”

  “But you had to,” he finished my sentence for me. “Did you get what you needed? That which was so important?”

  I nodded, “I almost lost it again, but thanks to you, it’s safe.”

  I wrapped my hand around his neck and pulled him down. I needed to kiss him. I needed to know that he was really here. We kissed long and hard, I finally broke the kiss to talk to him.

  “I’m not free,” I said, looking up at him. “I’m not and I never can be. I can’t be some woman who just sits around waiting for a man. That’s not who I am.”

  “I know,” he said with a nod, as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

  “It’s easy for you to not be involved in the war. But I can’t. My people are losing. I have to fight for them. I can’t sit back and do nothing.”

  “That’s what I love about you,” he said, “your fire and your passion and your wits. I would never take that away from you. I am not truly free either. I am indebted to my people. I must think of them and their safety and happiness.”

  “And now because of me, you’re involved.”

  He shrugged, “I can handle the Regime. I’m not without my own resources.”

  “You could help us, you know,” I said. “I know you appreciate Earth’s arts and culture. If the Dolcivs Regime has its way, all of that will be lost.”

  He nodded, “Tell me where you need to go. I’ll go with you. Anywhere you go, I’ll be with you.”

  Andromeda smiled, her heart bursting, a tear trickled down her cheek. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this happy. Was she ever this happy, she wondered? Having Strath by her side, she felt she had it all.

  *****

  THE END

  Alien Romance: The Alien Warrior's Secret Baby

  Description

  A curvy girl held prisoner on planet X29 PLUS a hot alien who is commander at her camp PLUS a secret human-alien baby!

  A generation ago, an alien force named The Gosebs invaded earth and imprisoned the entire human population. Mereen Silver has never known a life different to the one she has. She was born on a Goseb garrison and spent her entire life in their servitude. She has never known hope or happiness, only hard work and despair.

  When Mereen is transferred to a different ship, she meets the revolutionary Goseb Commander Detro Mirol. He is not cruel or malicious, he is kind and gentle and, even more, he wants to help the human prisoners under his control.

  As time passes Mereen and Detro grow closer and he shares his vision of a peaceful future for humans and Gosebs alike. Mereen is happy to help him in any way she can. But the rest of the Goseb commanders do not agree. They like having power over the humans, using them and discarding them as they will.

  But then Detro suddenly disappears in the midst of a fight with a fellow commander over Mereen...

  Just then, Mereen learns that she’s pregnant with Detro’s child. Will Detro come back for Mereen, and can she survive until he does? Will their love win out, or will the horrors of war crush them both?

  Chapter One

  Happiness was in short supply on X29. The planet should have had a better name, but we humans trapped on it felt no love for the strange, dusty place. It didn’t deserve a nickname. We called it Ex sometimes, but that’s all. It wasn’t home and it was never going to be. It was Ex, a place where we had to live because we had no other choice.

  The klaxons rang loudly from speakers spread through the camp, signaling the start of another day. It was a horrible, loud, shrieking noise designed to wake even the drunkest man. The klaxons meant that it was time to get up and go to work. They were a call to the men of the camp, telling them to descend into the mines for another day of hard labor. The days were endless, filled with work followed by more days filled with more work, each one leading to the next with no break or rest.

  With a loud sigh, I pulled myself out of bed and stretched. It was a struggle to keep my eyes open. I felt tired all of the time. It was an endless exhaustion. All I wanted to do was stay in bed. Nausea hit me when I moved and I put my hands to my lips, struggling to contain it. I couldn't afford to be sick. I needed to keep every bite of food I ate in my body.

  I rubbed my soft belly. I could feel the start of a swell there. Or maybe there was nothing. Maybe it was all still in my imagination. But the symptoms were clear enough. I was pregnant. It was good I wasn’t showing yet. Hopefully, I could hide it for a while, wear baggy clothes, wrap myself in rags. I had always been curvy and I was thankful for that now. It would help hide the pregnancy for a little longer.

  “Knock knock,” I heard a low voice say. I looked over to see a man with a red face and yellow eyes leaning into my tent. He was tall and thin, with that sunken-cheeked look that all the miners had after enough time spent here. He had dirt permanently trapped under his fingernails and his clothes were thin rags, though he managed a wan smile.

  “Good morning, Rob,” I said, as I stood and stretched my already aching back.

  “Ready to do some business, Mereen?” he asked me. Behind him, I could see the glaring morning sunlight of the planet. Morning and night were words that had no meaning here. The planet sat between two suns. There was no night. The temperature ran from hot to hotter.

  “Always,” I replied. Rob was my salesman. He sold my wares to men in the mines for fifty percent of the profit. It was a high markup, but it kept me safe and away from the more dangerous side of the business. It was too risky for me to deal with the miners. Rob was better at it, and he knew them. He knew their schedules and personalities; he knew who could be trusted. I handled the supply, Rob handled the demand.

  Rob and I had done this countless times. He didn’t need to be told to close the flap and wait on the other side. Once the flap was closed all the way and I knew he couldn’t see, I reached into my rucksack at the foot of my thin mattress. Inside, sewn into the lining, w
as a secret compartment. Reaching in, I took out a handful of small bags filled with a clear liquid. Alcohol, concentrated and deadly, but easy to smuggle around the camp.

  “Enter,” I called to Rob, and he opened the flap and came inside. He handed me a heavy clump of copper ore and I placed it on the scale. It was three pounds, exactly. “How do you always get the number so perfect?” I asked.

  “A magician never reveals his secrets,” Rob said, grabbing the small capsules of alcohol and slipping them into the many hidden pockets of his vest. “Same time tomorrow?”

  “I’ll be here,” I answered, and with a tip of a nonexistent cap, Rob left. I let out a deep breath and sat down on my bed again. Just that small act had taken the strength out of me.

  There were no comforts in my Spartan quarters. This was a work camp; it wasn’t meant to be pleasant. My tent had a thin mattress on the floor, a bucket for waste and a jug for water. I kept the few personal items I owned in my rucksack, and carried it with me wherever I went.

  Our settlement was in the northern half of the planet. Anything further south would have been too hot and inhospitable, though I knew the southern pole had a small tropical island. It was the one place on the planet that wasn’t a miserable desert.

  We lived on a huge, wide, flat plane. Thousands of tents lined up in neat rows, each one with human men and women working and struggling to survive another day. There were children as well, though only those boys that would one day be suitable for work were allowed to live.

  The klaxons outside changed their tone. Tent check. I stood up, my body crying out from exhaustion. I grabbed my shawl and brought it over my head to shield my skin from the bright sun.

 

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