by Jaylee Davis
Fantasy Warrior
Jaylee Davis
Edited by Marisa Chenery
Cover design by April Martinez
Copyright 2015 Jaylee Davis. Published by Forever More Publishing, 31 Wycliffe Place, Kitchener, Ontario, N2M 5J6, Canada. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.
ISBN: 978-1-92785-967-4
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
Aliens invade Key West during the island’s annual fantasy festival! Pamela Buchanan’s vacation goes south in a terrifying way. A handsome muscle-bound guy in a sexy barbarian costume rescues her. She finds him irresistible, but can’t believe her eyes when sharp blades emerge from his arms. Her private fantasy turns monstrously real when the demented alien claims she’s his mate and takes her to his spaceship
Kord, a Tauran warrior, is part of a landing party sent to spy on Krellian slave traders. When a human female runs into him, literally, his body instantly recognizes that she’s his mate. Time isn’t on his side, but he’ll do everything he can to win her affection and trust before he’s overcome by claiming lust, a primal urge so strong he can’t resist.
Chapter One
“I can’t make it until late Tuesday, but I’ll be there!”
Pam hit the “end call” key on her phone and then did a happy dance jig in the middle of her apartment’s living room. Amanda, a friend she’d kept in contact with after college, had called to invite her to go to Key West with her and her boyfriend, Sam, for the annual fantasy festival of 2091. They’d rented two condos, one for themselves and another for a woman named Sandra Moore. A.k.a. Pam Buchanan.
As the days passed leading up to her trip, Pam could barely contain her excitement. She intended to stay disguised at all times, and had thought of a costume of some kind for every day she stayed in Key West. By the time any snoopy reporter or photographer found out she’d left Texas, she’d be back home. She was going to take a little break, and a few carefully laid plans would ensure she enjoyed an anonymous fun-filled vacation. Nothing could stop her this time, not even her family or an act of God, by god!
For as long as she could remember, she’d always tried hard to be the perfect daughter. She wanted to please her parents and make them proud of her. In turn, they expected her to behave properly at all times. Especially now, since her father was serving his second term as governor of Texas.
For the greater part of a decade, she’d been thrust into the shadow of his political career. It’d stifled her social life and limited her to a handful of close friends. She had a sneaking suspicion state security did thorough background checks on all of them. She understood it was her parents’ way of protecting her. They loved her, but most of the time they went overboard in an effort to keep her safe. Pam always longed for a bit of freedom.
On rare occasions she’d rebel and sneak away from her restricted life in order to let go and party with her girlfriends. Disguised in some form or another, she’d elude the constant horde of reporters always waiting near her doorstep. A twenty-six-year-old woman should be able to have a private life separate from her family. At least that was what she kept telling herself, especially when it came to going to Key West.
This year’s fantasy festival’s theme intrigued her—A Booty-full O’ Babes and Barbarians. Who could resist a crowd of barbarians? Certainly not her! After all, she was a great fan of renaissance festivals, Halloween costume parties and science fiction conventions.
The event had been cancelled the previous year due to damage from the meteor strikes that had pounded Earth for months. They’d caused wide-spread destruction all over the planet, and most of the orbiting communication satellites had been destroyed along with the ground-based cell phone towers. The cosmic disaster had plunged Earth into a digital Dark Age for many months. However, what lurked behind the meteor cloud had been even worse. It was a rock so large even the astronomers had dubbed it the Doomsday Asteroid.
Chaos had ruled the planet after astronomers announced that Earth was directly in the path of the killer asteroid. A few weeks later, its course had shifted. By some miracle it had missed the planet completely.
Scientists around the world had scrambled for answers while everyone else had simply rejoiced in their good fortune. Unfortunately, much of their euphoria had taken the form of mass rioting and looting worldwide. At that point, the New World Government had stepped in. They’d enforced law and order, thanks to the cooperation between the military forces from most of the member countries. A planet-wide clean-up followed.
Most areas in the United States had received some major damage. Southern Florida and the Keys were no exception. A portion of the Seven Mile Bridge had been destroyed, shutting down the Overseas Highway south of Marathon Key. For months, Key West had become a ghost town, frequented only by local residents, construction crews and stalwart tourists who’d made the journey by boat. Supplies had to be shipped or flown in. After a year, the bridge had been repaired and most of the local night spots along Duval Street had been restored or replaced by new buildings. This year’s fantasy festival was Key West’s kickoff party to attract visitors once again.
Eager to play tourist, Pam had put her plans into action to make sure she wouldn’t be discovered. She told no one, especially not her parents. On the flight to Miami, she’d gone makeup-less, had donned owl-sized sunshades and worn the frumpiest outfit she could find at a secondhand clothing store. She’d even colored her auburn hair a hideous shade of brown. A temporary disguise, but it would serve her well enough.
Upon arrival in Miami, she’d located Amanda’s car at the airport’s short-term parking lot. As planned, she had the extra key, which her friend had sent to her beforehand. After a few hours of nonstop driving, she arrived at the condo, confident no one had discovered her ruse.
She wasn’t really a dancing-in-the-street kind of girl, but when in Key West…well, things could become a bit wild, especially during festival time. Always levelheaded, Pam was careful to not get too caught up in the revelry. She’d flirted a lot, gave away several passionate kisses and had her ass groped once by a sexy-looking pirate as she’d leaned over a bar top, but she always stopped short of taking anyone to her condo. Sex, casual or otherwise, was definitely not on her agenda. She was there to have fun, nothing else.
The weather was perfect, and as expected, the party atmosphere was over the top. The days and nights seemed to blend together. In no time, it was Friday, the next to last evening of her Key West adventure, and Pam knew exactly what costume she intended to wear—absolutely nothing. For the first time in her sheltered life, she planned to take a walk on the ultimate wild side, right down the middle of Duval Street, dressed only in paint.
Earlier in the day, she’d taken every back road and alley just to arrive unobserved at the artist’s home-based shop. Lady Azalea, the mistress of color, had turned out to be everything Amanda had promised and more. After her body painting session had ended, Pam had to agree. The artwork had transformed her lanky athletic body. The image reflected in the mirr
or had looked nothing like a human being.
A perfectly painted leopard skin covered her five-foot-ten frame from head to toe. Her sun darkened skin seemed to have grown real fur, and it didn’t hurt that the color combinations lessened the severity of her dye job. She actually looked good as a brunette. Thrilled with the results, Pam had thrown on her jeans and a t-shirt to cover the masterpiece and then had hurried to the condo.
After sunset, she ventured out for the evening to meet Amanda and Sam at a popular bar. At the last minute, she chickened out just a bit and slipped on a leopard print thong. Her wild side agreed, accepting the small amount of taming. There was no need to parade every inch of her girly parts out in public. Especially when it was quite obvious she wasn’t a brunette. The glaring proof was clearly visible since she’d always been reluctant to remove the tiny triangular patch of red hair between her thighs. Right after college graduation, a spa trip to Rio with her friends had taken care of any other areas she would’ve normally had to shave. Permanent hair removal had freed her from that chore.
With the last touches to her cat costume in place—leopard-colored sandals, leopard eared headband and leopard print tail sewed to the back of her thong—Pam strolled down Duval. She mingled with a horde of other costumed revelers sporting various forms of nudity as she headed for Horseface Hattie’s.
The extra care she’d taken with her outfit made her late so she picked up her pace along the sidewalk and darted through a crowd in front of Sloppy Joe’s bar. Distracted by a hefty bald guy strutting down the street wearing nothing more than an elephant head mask strapped over his groin, Pam plowed into a wall of unmovable hot skin and muscle. Shocked and a bit embarrassed to find her ass hitting the sidewalk, she looked up, and up, until she locked gazes with an oversized brown giant.
To her stunned surprise, his stern features seemed completely devoid of any humor or party attitude. In addition, his eyes were a scary bronze color. Who wore contacts like that? Struck speechless, Pam just stared at him.
After a breathless moment, he leaned over and offered her his hand. Long, thick black hair swept forward over his wide bare shoulders. In fact, his entire upper body was on display. Brawny muscles rippled with each small movement he made. The guy was huge. Somehow, she managed to reach up. His hand swallowed hers in a hot grip, and he pulled her to her feet with no effort.
“Um…thanks,” she stammered. “I’m so sorry I ran into you.” She wet her lips, then bit the lower one while waiting for him to say something, anything.
He simply stared at her for a few seconds, tilted his head and scowled. He took a deep breath, then blinked a few times before his two shorter companions jabbed him with their elbows. He responded with a guttural grunt and tore his gaze away from her to glare at them. They spoke a few harsh words in a language Pam had never heard before. A few seconds later, he released her and the trio moved off the sidewalk to continue on their way.
Strange group, she mused while watching them plow through the throng of revelers. The giant’s short loincloth swished back and forth in time with each of his swaggering steps. Absolutely mesmerized, she stood rooted in one spot until she lost sight of every part of him—gorgeous butt, narrow waist, broad muscular shoulders and long, black hair. Since he towered over most of the crowd, it took a while.
Her hand had turned cold, as if it missed the warmth of his touch. She shook her head, scolding her silly imagination. He was probably just a foreigner, some oversized bodybuilder who’d come to Key West on vacation. Maybe he’d arrived on one of the cruise ships. No matter, he’d disappeared into the multitude of party people gathered on Duval.
A wistful sigh escaped her lips before she headed in the opposite direction to search for her friends. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t quite banish the huge man from her thoughts. Despite his downer attitude, the handsome guy had certainly come dressed for the festival. Even in her dazed state she had no problem remembering how sexy he’d looked in his boots and loincloth.
A mental image of him standing naked, hip deep in a secluded jungle pool surrounded by lush, tropical plants came to her. Head tilted back, he’d be rinsing in a stream of water as it fell from a rock ledge just above him. Drenched tanned skin would glisten with each movement of his magnificent body. Yes, he could easily be the Polynesian god of her most erotic fantasies. Without a doubt, the hunky barbarian could definitely talk her into enjoying some sex, casual or otherwise. Damn.
* * * *
Moments earlier
The crowd parted for them as they made their way down a walking path on one side of the road. Kord eagerly took in the strange sights and smells all around him. He paid little attention to his companions’ conversation until one of the spacers nudged him and pointed to a brightly colored human female.
“I would like to try her,” the Tauran male commented. “Her skin is a pretty color.”
The other male laughed. “How can you choose? There are so many of them, and they come in so many different shades and sizes,” he pointed out.
“It’s not a difficult decision,” Kord scoffed. “I’d try them all.”
“Stop your warrior boasting. You’d frighten these human females to death before you ever had a chance to mount one.”
Kord laughed good-naturedly, drawing the attention of several females. They giggled and waved at him as he walked past. For some reason, he kept getting that reaction. He knew they couldn’t understand what he and the Tauran spacers said. In fact, no one on this planet would be able to converse with them, but thanks to their translator implants, he and his companions could understand everything the natives said.
With great difficulty, Kord tried to force his thoughts back to the exact purpose for their visit. He didn’t have time to seduce any of them, anyway, but his shaft seemed to have a mind of its own. It swelled to readiness whenever one of the females caught his eye. Many of them brushed against him as he strode through the jostling crowd, doubling his sexual frustration with each touch of their bare skin. He’d lost count of how many times he wished he’d not been ordered to wear the antiquated battle uniform, but he understood the reasoning. Many of the human males were dressed in similar fashion. He groaned in frustration and redoubled his efforts to think only of the mission.
Their ship, the Defiance, had tracked a slaver-ship to this planet. On arrival, they’d found two Alliance star cruisers already in orbit. Their former enemy had finally made contact with the inhabitants of Earth. However, once their diplomats had secretly met with the planet’s representatives, the outcome hadn’t been completely favorable. Earth’s government had placed certain restrictions on them. The Alliance couldn’t reveal themselves to the general population or interfere in Earth’s business at all, even after the New World Government had been warned about the Krellian threat.
The Krell were there to steal women, and they’d targeted an island village. Looking around, Kord could understand why. There were a great number of females in the crowd. The slavers could hide along several of the dark side streets and snatch them as they strolled by. There’d be no protests or cries for help since they had the ability to drug their victims with a single touch. To make matters worse, most of the humans wore odd clothing, which meant the slavers could move freely and blend in with the strangely dressed crowd.
For the time being, Earth had rejected the Alliance’s first overture. However, the Taurans hadn’t officially been banned from the surface. How could Earth ban them if they didn’t know of their existence? It was a convenient loophole.
For decades, the empire and Alliance had been fighting each other over territorial boundaries. They were bitter enemies until their leaders had met and devised a shaky truce by clearly mapping a defined border. The treaty had worked, and the war had ended. Part of their agreement stipulated a combined effort be undertaken by both parties to bring an end to the slave trade. Since the Alliance didn’t have the technology to track the Krell ships beneath the planet’s oceans, they needed the Ta
uran fleet’s help.
Once the Defiance had entered a stationary orbit on the dark side of the planet’s moon, his superior, General Jernick, had contacted the Alliance leader to offer their aid. He and Commandant Tram had agreed to take advantage of the legal oversight. However, Tram’s orders were quite specific. Observe Krellian activity and locate their transports. He’d also been insistent about another restriction. The Taurans couldn’t take any weapons to the surface.
Kord believed it was the last order that resulted in his presence on the planet. He was warrior born, a natural weapon. Nothing about him was artificial or manufactured. He was part of a Tauran landing team sent down to the surface to spy on the slavers, not to kill them. It seemed like an incredible waste of time and effort to him.
The Tauran Empire simply wanted to put an end to the slave trade by whatever means necessary. However, their present mission was twofold. They also had a “proposition” for the humans, but the Alliance insisted on making them wait until after Earth elected to join them. It was a complicated political mess best left to the diplomats.
Just the thought of it gave Kord a headache. He was trained to fight and kill his enemies. Ever since his blading many years ago, he’d lived by the warrior clan’s code—kill the enemy whenever possible, indulge in pleasure as often as possible and stay loyal to his clan. What could be easier?
Diplomacy had an annoying habit of complicating his life. Right now, the restrictions came between him and his objective—the Krell. Lost in thought, he didn’t notice the human female approaching until too late. They crashed together, and she fell to the hard walkway at his feet. He immediately looked down and saw beautiful green eyes framed by long feminine lashes staring up at him. In that instant, the world as he knew it shifted permanently.