by Maia Starr
I cared so deeply for her. Perhaps the only way to make things right was to take her to Earth and let her go. It was making us both miserable for her to be a captive in my home. Perhaps freedom was the only true resolution.
“Human, it is time. I shall return you to Earth,” I said, bursting into Alice’s room. She had treated it like a sanctuary, an escape from me, and I loathed violating it anytime I walked through the door.
I had expected a cry of surprise, or a laugh of pleasure, but there was no sound coming from the room. She was gone.
Gone? But where could she be?
I tore through the house, desperate to find her or any clue of where the human might have gone. When I returned to my bedroom to grab my weapons, I realized suddenly that my clearance card was gone.
The base.
Suddenly, her whole plan seemed to unfold before my eyes. She was going to stow away back to Earth on the rescue mission. Subject herself to a whole new level of torture back on the planet Hexa by staying stuck in the Raither ship until the search party had come to a close.
I took off full pelt to my hovercraft, grateful that it was still intact. Thankfully the human had no idea how to maneuver the ship and had apparently gone on foot. That would give me some time to catch up to her, if it wasn’t already too late.
It was no secret that the Raithers had a deep mistrust of the humans; anyone from the planet Hexa was treated with suspicion. She hadn’t had a very warm welcome, but I knew that once the situation was sorted out with the Resha Federation, an official announcement would be able to change all of that.
When I arrived at the base, I felt a chill creep through me. Something wasn’t right.
I got out of the craft quickly and looked around, worried about what I might find. I couldn’t get inside without my clearance card and cursed loudly.
As if prompted by the sound of my voice, I heard a muffled scream followed by a harsh hiss. I took off running toward the noise and found the human on the ground, being dragged, one Raither tugging each of her arms as they moved toward an idle hovercraft.
“Release her at once!” I demanded.
Instead of heeding my words, the Raithers shuffled even faster toward their craft. I pulled out my laser and shot one beam into the air as a warning. Still, they did not stop, and Alice’s wide, frightened eyes bore into me, terrified and ashamed. But I would save her. I always saved her.
I fired again, this time striking the shoulder of the Raither on the left. He cursed but did not slow himself, and I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, shooting at the other man.
They surprised me by dropping Alice in unison and turning toward me simultaneously, drawing their own lasers and firing. I leaped out of the way of one shot, but a shooting pain seared through my abdomen and I knew that I had not been so lucky when it came to the other. I shot blindly at them both, and they ran away from the human, their sole mission now to murder me in cold blood.
Although I was outnumbered, I also outranked them, and soon had one lying on the ground struggling for life while the other was cornered. I shot the weapon out of his hands and he whimpered, trembling violently as he cowered away from me.
“What were you doing with her?” I demanded, aiming my weapon at his head. “You answer me now!”
“We were just going to get a little information is all,” he said, cowering.
“The Federation already conducted its investigation on her!” I shouted. “You are not to lay a hand on her or on any other humans! Do you understand that?”
He nodded emphatically, and I growled, pulling the radio out of my belt and radioing the Federation.
“We have a Raither who is going to go with the search party in the morning,” I informed them. “He was not a part of the original plan, but he is to be part of the team and stay behind on the planet until every last human and Raither are rescued.”
“Understood. Can we have his ID?”
I read the number from the tag on his wrist, glaring at him all the while. He quaked in fear, and I bound his hands and sat him down on the steps of the Base with a note for the crew when they arrived in the morning.
Once he was fully dealt with, I retrieved the human, picking her up carefully in my arms and looking her over.
“Are you all right?” I asked her.
She nodded, clinging to me, tears springing in her eyes. She could not speak, and I didn’t expect her to.
“Good,” I said. “Let’s go home.”
***
The human watched me, her oceanic eyes dubious as I slowly peeled off the layers of clothing away from my body. A creep of red colored her cheeks once my abdomen was bared, and then quickly turned pale.
“You’re hurt!”
She ran forward, her hand hovering over the wound as if she were going to touch it. I chuckled and nodded.
“I have survived worse,” I said, sighing painfully as I moved toward the cupboard in my greeting room, where I had found it most convenient to store my medical supplies.
Alice took them from me and led me to a seat in my common room, gently pressing my shoulder down so that I sat.
I sighed, pursing my lips as she worked, expertly tending to the wound and occasionally asking me what the liquids in the medical kid were intended for. I explained them all in depth to her; it was a welcome distraction from the pain searing my abdomen where the laser had pierced me.
Finally, the wound was dressed, and Alice sighed, her hand pressed against the flesh above the bandage. She looked at me, her eyes stormy with unspoken words.
“You could have been killed,” she finally sighed, her brow furrowing miserably. “I don’t want you to get killed…”
“I don’t think it was that bad,” I said. “I know what I’m doing. Human…”
I trailed off, unsure of how to proceed with the conversation. I had given in to the possibility that I might have to surrender her to her home planet. Now, her plan had failed, and I still had the option of providing her safe passage. But the words were stuck in my throat.
“Is it true?” Alice asked, her eyes heavy with emotion and serious. “Would you do whatever it takes to protect me?”
“Of course,” I breathed. “Every day of my life.”
She nodded, and for a moment I thought she might just lean down and kiss me. Instead, she sighed and turned away from me, looking over her shoulder before disappearing back to her room.
“Thank you,” she said. “Get some rest.”
***
“Come on, human,” I said.
A week had passed, and my wound was healed, and I had decided that it was finally time for me to bite the bullet. Despite my claim on her, our relationship was going nowhere. All I wanted was to make the human smile again, and so I was going to do the one thing I wanted to do least in the world: return her to her own planet.
“Where are we going?” Alice asked.
Ever since I had saved her, Alice had been kinder and more soft-spoken, doing small, considerate things around the house for me and even on occasion bringing me meals. It was strange, these shows of affection, but it almost felt as it had been when we were together on the planet Hexa. And yet, there was still tension between us. The pain of my betrayal. It was time to make that right.
“I am going to take you home.”
Alice froze, her face filled with a strange apprehension that surprised me.
“Home?”
“To Earth. Where you belong. If you are willing to get yourself killed to return to that wretched planet of yours, then who am I to keep you here against your will. You are free. Let’s go.”
To my surprise, Alice didn’t budge. Her face looked tormented, and she grew rigid where she stood.
“You mean you’re going to release me?”
“You were never my prisoner, human,” I said. “You were simply mine. And as that is not the way you want to live, then you are free to leave.”
Alice opened and closed her mouth, then slumped down on the
floor, a sob wracking her chest. I rushed to her side and helped her back to her feet, holding her steady as we moved to a couch.
“What is it, human? What have I done wrong this time?”
She shook her head, as if unable to speak, and swallowed hard. “I don’t know…the thought of leaving…”
I furrowed my brow, unable to understand these humans and their strange, contradictory emotions. Did she want to go, or did she want to stay? I would never know unless she told me.
“It is a short trip. Perhaps two days at most. We can have you back before you know it.”
“That’s just it,” she exclaimed, her gorgeous eyes boring into mine. A forbidden surge of heat consumed me, and I was tempted to look away, but what she was saying seemed far too important. I held her gaze, despite my confusion. “I think I need to think about this.”
I was stunned when the human got up and walked away, shutting herself in her room and leaving me alone on the couch, wondering if I would ever possibly be able to do anything right by her.
***
“Kecha?”
I sat up in bed, startled awake by the human’s soft, almost pleading voice.
“Human? Come in. What is it? Are you well?”
“I’m fine,” Alice said quietly, coming closer to me.
“Sit,” I said, moving aside so the human could take a seat.
She did, and the room was filled with the sweet fragrance of her hair, and the gentle soaps that had been imported from Kerna that were just delicate enough for the sensitive skin of a human. It was intoxicating, and yet I would not make a move. Not when the human so resented me.
“Now tell me, what is it that you want?”
She turned to face me, her beautiful oceanic eyes filled with an emotion that was hard for me to interpret.
“When I left to stow away on that ship…”
Alice’s gentle voice trailed off, and I scooted closer to her, trying hard not to admire the way the bright moonlight highlighted the sensual curves of her body. She was here to talk, not for my unrelenting desires.
“Yes?”
“I found myself wishing I was back here. With you. Home.”
“Home?” I asked, startled by the word. “Is not Earth your home?”
“It was…” Alice said, looking down at her hands. “And I have been so angry at you for bringing me here, for lying…but…”
I took the human’s hands in mine, watching her closely. She was such a beautiful creature. If only I could show her just how much she meant to me…
“I get it now. Finally. I get that maybe you were scared, just like I was scared, to lose this.”
She laced her fingers through mine and lifted my hand up so that our hand was between us.
A deep, urgent desire began to simmer deep within me, and the human’s beautiful eyes flashed at me, as if she, too, were feeling the same thing.
“I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered.
That was all I needed to hear. I lifted the human and brought her close to me. She let out an attractive gasp and closed her eyes, our lips finding each other’s in the dark. The sweetness of her breath consumed me, and my loins were engulfed in flames. I had never seen anything quite so beautiful as the human’s body, and now that I was about to feast upon it again, my need consumed me.
I could feel the heat of her desire pressed against my groin, my muscle hardening under the friction of her body. I took the initiative and stripped her slowly, my eyes devouring every delicious curve of her sensual body. She trembled and gasped as my lips tasted the supple flesh of her breasts, finding the hard, pink nipple and slipping it inside my mouth, enveloping it with heat. She melted under my touch, her body awakened by a sudden voracious desire. She was mine.
I shook my pajamas off, growling in bliss as I began to feel the soft flesh of her skin against mine. I wanted nothing more than to be one with this human, and I laid her on her back, climbing above her. She gasped as I pried her legs gently apart with my hand, and then slowly, carefully, began to encase my member in the soft, heated folds of her body.
Ecstasy rocked us both, and the expression of pure rapture on the human’s face nearly set me over the edge. I contained myself, however, for the time being, but once I knew she was all right, I knew it was time to unleash my full power.
Alice’s gasps grew louder as I showered her body with hot, tender kisses, my member sinking deep within her and embraced by the sensual walls of her body. We became one at that moment, our pleasure intrinsically linked as we devoured the bounty of our passions and explored the height of ecstasy together.
“You are mine,” I reminded her, a deep growl in my voice as I spoke into her ear. I felt her body tense up beneath me and then yield completely to the power of my desire.
I worked myself within her, again and again, until neither of us could suppress our climaxes any longer. A hot tingle erupted deep within my abdomen, and I hissed in pleasure as my hot seed began to burst forth. Together, just as I had wished, we would begin to repopulate my home planet.
The sensation of my seed as it poured into her sent Alice into a fit of trembles, her body surrendering beneath me to the height of her desire. I held her close, looking deeply into her eyes as she gasped, her climax contracting around my member sweetly, until we were both completely exhausted by the act, our bodies humming with the sacred implications of our union.
We collapsed together on the bed, and I gathered the human into my arms, kissing her gently on the temple as she began to relax, her breathing slowing steadily as we rested.
“Are you sure you do not want to return to Earth?” I asked her. “You are mine, and I will care for you however I must.”
“I’m sure,” she whispered. “Maybe just for a visit. There is so much I can explore on Yala.”
“We would be pleased to have you here,” I agreed. “There is much work for scientifically minded beings. And not only that, but there is much space in this home that must be filled. It is too big to live in alone.”
Alice gazed at me, her expression tender. “I will stay,” she said firmly. “Because I am yours.”
My heart soared, and I held her tightly all through the night, even as we slept. I could finally rest easy now. My claim had come to pass, and finally, we were both happy and safe. No Raither could ever ask for more.
The End
Jex-Weredragons Of Tivoso
By Maia Starr
Chapter 1
Captain Jex Kailen
“Captain Kailen, I want you to report back to Haven Brook in six months’ time,” King Karik said to me.
I was readying my fleet of ships to head northeast to a human colony.
“Yes, my king. As you wish,” I said with a bow of my head.
“If I am not here you will still report. The report will get to me,” he said.
“Yes, my king. I will not fail you. We will make sure the mission is successful in the region I am assigned, and I will report back the progress to you,” I said.
“Good. Now you are going northeast and General Razook is going southeast. That should cover the area along the east. I just hope the human colonies Vanessa has told us about are still there,” he said.
“So do I, my king,” I said.
“Carry on, Captain. You are free to leave at will. As soon as you and your soldiers are ready, you are cleared to leave on your mission. Best of luck to you, and remember what I told you about the blackness plague and the cure,” he said.
“I cannot forget that information, my king. It has given me hope that there is still time to save the Veruka race,” I said.
“It has given me hope as well as your king. Now go and make your king proud, Captain Kailen,” he said. He held out his hand, and I grabbed his forearm, and he grabbed mine. This was the Veruka handshake. He walked away. He was a good king. I was eager to bring him glory and victory. He was a king that you wanted to fight for and there were a few of us that thought of him as a brother, even if not by
blood. We followed him to Earth without a second guess. I would see him again.
I walked around my fleet of ships, inspecting them to make sure they were to the utmost standards. We were going on a long journey. It was not a space travel journey, but it would take many miles to get where we were going. Then I decided I would stretch my wings before being cooped up on the ship. I shifted into weredragon form. My emerald wings spread out behind me and stretched. I pulled my arms over my head and pulled to stretch my muscles. Then I ran at full speed and flew up into the air. My wings flapped the wind getting me higher and higher. I flew fast and hard over the small village of Haven Brook. I wanted to fly until I felt like I could not fly anymore. I inhaled the crisp air of Earth, allowing it to fill my lungs. Then I flew back to the camp. Now I was ready to go on this mission. I rounded up my soldiers for inspections.
Later, I left with my band of soldiers to find the small colony called Willow Springs. According to Dr. Vanessa Lopez, there were less than one hundred humans in the colony, but that was a couple of years before. A lot could have changed since then and going there was the only way to find out. I needed to get this virus to them, but I also had my own mission.
Yeah, I was loyal to my king and loyal to accomplishing the mission, but I also had my own plans. I was going to take care of myself, and I needed a human female in order to do that. You see, King Karik had discovered something during our time in the Haven Brook village. He had come down with an illness called the blackness plague, something that our race of Veruka had been dealing with on Tivoso for years.
It was the reason we had come to Earth in the first place. But we had come to attain the medical knowledge that the humans had that could possibly help us to defeat this illness that was plaguing our weredragon community. But instead, the king stumbled upon the cure. He fell in love with a human female and mated with her. When he did, he found the most extraordinary results.