by Luna Hunter
But he didn’t.
“Not our fight,” he said. “We are not humans. We are not them.”
If he had intervened, Aria’s sister might not have been taken. I tried to fight, but he knocked me out cold before I could do so with a cowardly strike from behind.
I squeeze my mate’s round, firm ass, and some of the anger dissipates. Aria is my own personal stress ball. She mumbles in her sleep and cuddles up close to me, and I hug her tightly.
Her scent surrounds me. My mate is so much stronger than she thinks. I understand she blames herself, and that she wants to do something, but she’ll have to learn how to forgive herself.
As a Zoran, I know how hard it can be. Our home world was destroyed. I know what it’s like to be powerless.
Luckily, I don’t feel that way when I’m around Aria.
When her toes curl, her breath quickens, and she begs for my cum, I feel more alive, more powerful than ever. There’s nothing better in this world than watching your mate orgasm.
That’s why I did it five times last night.
The memory alone makes me hard again, blood rushing down to my cock in an instant. It doesn’t take much to make me hard when I’m around my mate, even though we mated until the sun was almost about to rise again. My body is ready and eager for more, but I know Aria needs her rest.
She can only take so much.
With my fingertips I draw circles on the small of her back, as I watch her sleep, peaceful and serene.
My com beeps, breaking the silence. I press a button to ignore the call. Not now. It can wait. I want to enjoy this moment for as long as lasts.
Awakened by the sound, Aria slowly opens her eyes.
“Morning,” I say, kissing the top of her head.
“Good morning,” she whispers. “I don’t want to get up.”
“Then don’t,” I say, wrapping my arms around her. I hug her tightly, my fingers digging into her skin. I never want to let go.
She shifts her weight, and chuckles when she feels my hard cock pressing against her naked body.
“What’s this?” she says as her hand slides down and she runs her fingers up my hardness. “Still not tired yet? Not even after last night?”
“My cock will never tire of you,” I say with a smirk. “I am always ready.”
She grips my cock and squeezes the base.
“God, you’re so damn big and hard,” she says. “It’s crazy.”
“Be careful,” I growl. “You are awakening the beast.”
“Oh, and what will the beast do to me?” she coos as she moves her hand up and down. With her other hand she pulls the blanket away, and my cock stands up straight, fierce, hard and throbbing.
I can hear her mutter to herself under her breath how she still can’t believe how big I am, or how well I fit inside of her, and her words fill me with pride.
With my thumb I tilt her chin upward before planting a big kiss on her lips. She moans softly as our lips touch, and the sweet sounds spur me on.
“The beast will punish you.”
“How?”
“By filling you up.”
Her eyes widen, her pupils dilating.
“With every inch?”
“With every inch,” I growl.
Her hands move faster now, stroking me up and down so quickly they are a blur. My fingers grip the sheets.
“It won’t fit.”
“It can and it will.”
“What if you hurt me?” she says, biting her bottom lip.
Fuck, she’s making me so damn hard.
“Should have thought of that before you awoken the beast,” I growl.
“I want to see you come,” she says, her voice barely a whisper. “I want to see it.” Her brown eyes are filled with lust.
If she keeps up her pace, it won’t be long before I come all over myself. She sees the look of pure arousal on my face and nods.
“Watching you explode is the hottest thing ever,” she whispers right into my ear.
Oh fuck.
I can’t hold out a moment longer.
One hand grips the bed sheets while the other finds her ass, squeezing her hard as my orgasm hits me like a supernova. I come hard, shooting my seed up high in the air.
Aria sits up and smiles broadly, watching with a mixture of fascination and lust as I shoot rope after rope of my hot, Zoran cum all over her hands and my own abs. Her hands keep moving, not leaving my cock until I’ve fired every drop.
Pure pleasure reaches every fiber of my beings, and I revel in the post-orgasmic bliss. I pull her in for a deep kiss.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “That was amazing.”
“No, thank you,” I chuckle.
Her cheeks are a fiery red, matching my own red, Zoran skin.
“I love watching you come. Is that weird? It’s just superhot to me.”
“Not at all,” I say. “We love what we love… and I happen to love coming as well, so, I think it works out.”
She nods, a sly smile on her lips. “I want it on me next time… is that okay?”
My cock throbs with arousal at the thought of coating my mate with my seed. I’ve been fixated on coming inside her and filling her womb, but now that she’s suggested it, I can’t wait to fulfill her fantasy.
“Where do you want it?”
She glances down towards the mess she made — there’s cum all over her hands and my abs, and now I see there’s also strands of the hot goodness all over her legs as well.
“Everywhere,” she whispers, looking back up at me, a wanton look in those gorgeous brown eyes of hers. “My tits, my stomach, my ass, my… face… if that’s okay,” she says with a nervous smile. “I can’t explain why, I just think it’s hot.”
By Zora, what a wonderful mate I’ve found!
“Because it is hot,” I growl as I kiss her again, nipping her bottom lip. “I have more than enough cum to cover you with, to fill your womb, to spray on your gorgeous tits, your round ass or your beautiful face, whatever you desire.”
My cock responds in turn, this wanton conversation already filling me with lust, even though I just came. My member stands up straight with cum dripping down the side, ready for more.
“Fuck,” she breathes, her fingers gripping my member again, spreading the seed all over my hardness. “I don’t deserve you.”
“You deserve nothing but the best,” I say, grabbing the back of her neck with one hand and kissing her deeply.
“Let me guess: That’s you?”
“You’re damn right,” I smirk.
My com beeps again — more incessantly this time. Not now! Not ever again! I want nothing more than to stay here in bed with my mate, to kiss and fuck and mate and cum and eat her out and taste her juices and fill her with my cock and fill with my cum and cover her with my seed and lose sight of the world, of obligations, of commands and missions and planets and uniforms.
I just want to fuck for all eternity with my fated mate.
Is that too much to ask?
I grab the device and throw it against the wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces. The beeping sounds dies away, and I focus my attention back on Aria’s tongue which is in my mouth.
“Shouldn’t you get that?” she asks between kisses.
“Fuck them,” I respond. “Fuck the mission. I want you.”
She places her hands on my naked chest and pulls back.
“What are you saying? You are the general. I thought your command meant the world to you.”
“You mean the world to me,” I answer. “The rest is just background noise.”
“Oh Dost,” she sighs.
A heavy knock on my door ruins the moment.
“General!” Trent says from the other side. “Are you there?!”
Damn it.
Aria rolls off me, despite my protests. “Go,” she whispers. “They need you!”
My mate’s right.
“I’m here,” I answer. “What is it? Is it urgent?”
“The HF Boomerang, sir! She’s under attack!”
“Under attack?!” I growl. “How? By whom?!”
“We don’t know! The attack…it seems to be coming from inside the ship!”
19
Aria
Slithering
Dost hops out of bed, cursing as he slides his armor back on in record-time. I get dressed as quickly as I can, but despite our efforts the both of us still have that slightly guilty, post-sex look.
The HF Boomerang is under attack, and we missed the calls because we were too busy mating. I’m so embarrassed I could sink right through the ground if that was possible.
Trent knocks on the door again.
“Sir? Are you alright? We tried to call you, but we didn’t get any answer!”
Dost pulls the door open only seconds after I slip my shirt on.
“I’m fine,” he growls. “Let’s go!”
Moments later we’re back on the shuttle as it blasts off the surface, heading towards the massive spaceship. This time the pilot is not taking it slow and steady. The entire thing shakes and rattles, and my heart is racing like mad.
One moment I was stroking Dost without a care in the world, the next moment we’re under attack…
That’s what you get for letting a warrior knock you up.
“What do we know?” Dost asks Trent.
“Very little,” he answers. “We received a distress call, but it cut out before we could even answer. We tried to hail them, but we got no response. There are no other ships in the area, so it’s got to be something internal.”
“A malfunction?”
“Maybe,” Trent answers. “But even if there’s some kind of environmental problem… that shouldn’t lead to a distress call which is instantly cut off.”
“I can’t imagine anything else,” Dost says. “There are only humans and Zorans onboard. No one to lead a mutiny.”
The general turns to me, a deep frown on his face. Our eyes meet, and I can tell he feels just as guilty as me, if not more so.
What if he answered right away?
We’ll never know — we can only focus on the now.
“Suit up, everyone,” Dost says. “Prepare for the worst.”
The Zorans slide on their helmets. Their armor suits double as spacesuits, but my breezy clothing certainly does not. Luckily there is a compartment with human spacesuits on the shuttle, and I manage to put it on without any Zorans having to lift me up like a toddler. Not this time.
Everyone is silent as the soldiers check their weapons one final time. I hold my breath, afraid to break their intense concentration. I guess this is what it’s like to ride into battle. Moments from now those large metal doors will slide open, and I have no idea what to expect on the other side.
Perhaps the communication dish is down. Yeah, that’s got to be it, I tell myself. We’ll open the door and everyone on the HF Boomerang will be simply working as normal, and we’ll laugh about this later tonight over a glass of kuhla.
Dost’s steely gaze tells me it won’t be that simple.
Something is seriously wrong, and we’re about to be in the thick of it.
Maybe I should have stayed down on the surface of Delta Y… I’m so used to following Dost that I didn’t even think twice about it, I just hopped onboard. And there’s no place safer than by his side, no place I’d rather be.
The shuttle rumbles as it docks.
“We’re here,” the pilot says over the intercom.
“Copy that,” Dost answers. “Ready?”
“Ready,” the squadron answers in unison.
The big, metal doors slide open, revealing a dark, empty hallway. Normally this is a hub of activity, but now there’s just… no one.
Nothing.
No sounds either.
The lights flicker haphazardly, giving the familiar hallways an otherworldly feel.
Yes, something’s wrong alright. The hair on the back of my neck stands straight up, and I place my hands on Dost’s side. As long as I’m touching him, I’m safe.
Dost raises his hand and motions for his crew to advance down the hall. The Zoran squad moves as a well-oiled machine, rifles drawn, checking around every corner. No one speaks, but I know we’re all thinking the same thing.
What the fuck?
All I can hear is the beating of my own heart as it races at a million miles per minute. The ship seems abandoned, the engine damaged… but how?
We’re walking down a hallway, weapons drawn, taking one step at a time, when suddenly all hell breaks loose. The soldiers open fire, seemingly at random, the red laser rifles lighting up the hallway, and I throw myself flat against the wall.
Screams echo off the walls as chaos surrounds me.
“Contact! I repeat, contact!”
“Where?! Hold your fire!”
“Down below! He’s got me!”
“Hold your fire!”
“I’m hit!”
“The vents! They’re in the vents!”
The laser rifle focuses on the vents, and what I see there makes my skin crawl and my blood run cold.
A mass of writhing, green vines seeps forth from the air ducts.
The tentacles slither over the floor, tightly winding themselves around ankles. A few soldiers are pulled off their feet, and their comrades are quick to fire at the squirming, tangled mess, fighting and screaming and trying to free their mates, but it’s no use.
The tentacles move with a purpose, as if driven by bloodlust. The fire only seems to agitate it, and it moves faster, twirling like a whip, one vine snapping around Trent’s neck. He drops his rifle to the ground as he tries to free himself, but he’s lifted right up into the air and pulled towards the air vent.
Dost slashes his sword through the air, severing the vine.
Trent drops on the floor, the now severed vine thrashing about like a wounded animal. The vines retreat back into the vent as quickly as they appeared.
“What the fuck,” Trent says, gasping for air as he pulls himself free. “What the fuck?!”
The severed vine slithers across the floor, finding its way back into the vent as well, and I have to suppress the urge to throw up. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. My knees are shaky, my heart still racing. I’ve never seen anything as horrible as that pulsing, green mass.
After making sure that I’m unharmed, Dost kneels down next to Trent and checks his suit.
“You’re fine,” Dost says as he helps his second-in-command up.
“How did that fucking thing get on the ship?!” Trent curses.
Dost sheathes his blade. “Let’s find out. I’m reading a heat signal from the canteen — at least someone is still alive.”
We move quickly towards our target, forming a square with me in the middle, guns pointed in every direction. We reach the canteen without another attack. Thank god. I don’t know how much more I can take…
Trent tries to open the door, but it won’t budge.
“It’s barricaded from the inside,” he says.
Dost knocks on the door, leaving the entire thing rattling.
“Open up,” he growls.
“Who’s there?!”
“General Dost! What’s going on here? Open the door!”
“No!” the frightened voice responds. “H-how do I know it’s really you? What if… what if it can imitate voices? No way I’m opening the door!”
“Coward!” Trent screams. “Open the fucking door!”
“Fuck you!” the voice answers. “And fuck off! You’re only drawing it here!”
I’ve never heard so much fear in a man’s voice before. That man is not just scared. He’s terrified. Broken.
“Where is everyone?” Dost asks.
“Hidden, or taken! Like you’ll be, if you don’t get out of here!”
“What is this… thing?”
The man laughs nervously. “You tell me. You are the Zorans. I’m just a fucking chef. I didn’t sign up for this shit
.”
I have my back placed against the wall, taking deep breaths, trying to find my center. What the hell is happening? One moment I was in a tropical paradise with my mate, and now we’re being hunted by a tentacled monster…
“We should go to the bridge,” Trent says. “From the control room we can check the systems, see where this thing is located, plot a course of action.”
“You’re right,” Dost says. “This is useless. Come.”
I push myself off the wall and reach for my mate, wanting to feel the safe presence of his muscled abs underneath my gloved fingertips… but I never reach him.
To my horror I see a dark-green vine has wrapped itself around my wrist. It must have snaked its way around me when I was resting against the wall.
I open my mouth to scream, but before I can make a sound I’m yanked off my feet. I fly through the air, absolutely helpless, the world turning upside down.
The last thing I see before the world turns dark is Dost reaching out for me, a look of terror on his face, his roar, a sound filled with anguish, ringing in my ears as I’m dragged into a dark shaft, down into the bowels of the ship…
The fall is long, dark, and silent. The only thing I hear is the panicked beating of my own heart, and the rustling of the vines. After what feels like an eternity, but is probably only a few seconds, I land on a soft heap in a pitch-black room.
At first it feels like I landed in dirt, but dread fills me when I feel the writhing, pulsing vines all around me, on every side. The entire floor is covered with it. They snake around my arms and legs, pulling me towards the floor, trying to bury me alive.
I try to wrestle myself free, but the harder I fight, the more the plant resists, the stronger it pulls me down.
The only thing I’m happy about is that I’m wearing a spacesuit, because if the vines were slithering across my naked skin I’d lose my mind….
The lights flicker on briefly — Dost must have reached the control room!
My optimism is short-lived when I realize where I am.
This… this is the engine room.
The bright, blue light of the warp engine has been replaced by a horrible, pulsing green mass, countless vines all tangled up, with a massive bulb on top beating like a heart. Sprouting from the top of the bulb is a massive yellow flower, and my blood runs cold when I realize where I’ve seen that same exact pattern before.