by Abigail Myst
Athen punched him anyway.
Kave fell back into the sand with a grin still on his face. He did not get up, probably because he knew Athen would just punch him again. “She’s your mate, Athen. Nothing you can do about it except fuck her and fill her belly with little Etlonians. Time you dealt with that.”
Odette
The last thing Odette expected when Leif promised a surprise for her was to see her mother staring back at her from a vid screen in HQ. Plastering a quick smile on her face, she politely requested a little privacy. He quickly bowed out, leaving her with her mother.
“Odette! I just cannot believe what a stupid, stupid stunt you pulled.”
“I see you pulled some strings. A vid call from this distance is not cheap.”
“I promise I will get you home.”
“Mom. Seriously? Look at me!” She spread her arms wide to show off her new tan. “I landed in a tropical paradise! It’s all beach and waves and 80 degrees all year round! Not a shiny lizard in sight!”
“I have my lawyers working on a technicality. Megan said they cleared you, sent you home and then kidnapped you.”
“My new husband is a stud muffin. He’s so hot. And I think he’s some sort of royalty. Like his dad owns a planet.”
“You were drunk. Not able to consent.”
“I’m not drunk now.” Odette crossed her arms across her chest and stared her mother down for the first time in her life. She was a little less scary from halfway across the universe.
“That’s not the point.”
It was all half truths, but there was no way Odette was going to let her mother see her flinch. She was in charge of her own destiny. She was a skilled competent woman with grit and determination. When that ship arrived to take her away, Odette was getting on it, and she wasn’t looking back, not to her mother and Earth, not to Athen.
“Mom, you’re just going to have to accept that I’m living a dream life here. They even gave me a lab. Don’t spend any more money on trying to bring me home. I’ll send everything they give me for the first grandbaby and send it to you.”
“But, but... They’re green.” Gloria Seaborne said it like it was a dirty word. Green was the new black.
“And?”
“Do they have… a tail?” Her mother actually shuddered.
“No Ma, no tail. But they change colors. It’s pretty cool. And that thing about glowing in bed. Yeah. Like a lightbulb.”
“Odette!”
“Mom. I’m safe here. Happy even, and maybe you can come visit Etlon when we get settled. It’ll be fun.”
An alarm sounded in the background. Odette had no idea what it was for, but it was urgent and loud enough to send goosebumps prickling out over her body.
“Odette!”
“Uh, nice to see you again. Love ya, bye.”
She punched out of the vid and opened the door to the module.
Warriors were everywhere with knives flashing.
Jungle squids were falling from the sky. At first, she was not alarmed by the brown masses of tentacles that were landing in the camp, each with a loud, squishy plop. She watched as one just sat there wriggling for a moment before side winding its way to Goru, who roared as he shook another off the long end of a knife. This one made a sudden leap and, at the last moment, bared a sucker mouth full of teeth that took a large bite into Goru’s leg. He howled and took a stab at it as another one approached. Leif threw a knife and pinned it, leaving it writhing in the dirt.
Odette did not need to be told to retreat to the HQ module. Closing the door behind her, she turned on the monitors and watched as the warriors efficiently dealt with the swarm of tentacled beasts. With the benefit of the vid screens, Odette could see weren’t actually falling from the sky. There was a point, not too far into the jungle, that seemed to be an explosion of squids. Only a portion of them were making it over the force fence. A large number were landing quite near or frying themselves as they skittered too near the barrier.
Suddenly, her little jaunt into the jungle with Athen didn’t seem so safe anymore. She watched as the warriors stabbed the things with their knives, some with a sense of glee. Even Goru, who was limping around with a gaping wound on his thigh, seemed to be enjoying himself.
The rain of squid stopped, though the force fence alarm still sounded. The squids that had fallen outside the camp were still plentiful and wandering into the barrier.
She saw Athen approaching on the monitor and opened the door just as he got there. He looked her over. He still held his knife in hand, dripping with a brownish purplish goo. Athen wore quite a bit of squid guts himself.
“You are unhurt,”he noted, circling around her just to make sure.
“I want a knife.”
“What?”
“If there are going to be carnivorous squids falling from the sky on a regular basis, I’m gonna want a knife. You all carry one.”
“We are warriors. You are not.”
“All the more reason for me to have a way of defending myself. Honestly, I’ll take a laser pistol. Or a phaser, or a stun gun.”
“You do not need one. We would all have to be dead for you to come to harm. It is the Mahdfel way.”
“But sweetie, it would add to my piece of mind.”
“I am not sweet.”
Odette actually snorted. Athen was sweet all right. She remembered how he had filled her mouth with his sweetness. But he’d made up his mind. He, despite his biological imperative, wanted nothing to do with her for bearing and raising his children. It was best to make a clean break. Stop pressuring him or taking advantage of the hard evidence even now visibly growing in his shorts. It was easy today, considering the squid guts were beginning to make him smell just a bit fishy.
“It’s a term of endearment,” she said, forcing her eyes away from the bulge in his shorts.
“I am endearing?”
She laughed. “You are messy and stinking.”
“Wash me?”
“Hose you off? All those guts would probably clog the drain.”
“Woman.”
The way he said it, soft and gooshy, made it sound like an endearment.
“Odette,” she prompted. He suddenly reminded her of a puppy that had gotten into a joyous mud puddle and was only now feeling the shame.
Odette checked the skies before stepping outside, but the rain of squid seemed to have stopped completely. The warriors were busy making large piles of the dead carcasses and congratulating each other on their kills. Goru’s leg seemed to be the most serious of the injuries and he was not so patiently letting another warrior wrap it with a bandage.
Leif spotted her and waved, two dead carcasses in each hand, jiggling somewhat obscenely as he showed off his trophy. She smiled and flashed him a thumbs up, a sign that she’d had to explain during their volleyball lessons. He threw his squids on the nearest pile and presented her with his own thumbs up in response. She smiled and nodded.
Once at Athen’s module, she turned. He was still right behind her.
“So just for future reference. How strong is this wall netting? I mean, if there’s a squid attack in the middle of the night—”
“It is strong enough to withhold most anything. And the door will lock when the alarm sounds, so nothing can pass through. You may also electrify it, like the fence.”
“You’ll have to show me how to do that.”
“But you needn’t worry. The flegan only spawn once a season, and generally are quite docile. They are actually quite tasty.”
“So they are on the menu tonight?”
“Yes. And tomorrow, they will round up the ones outside the fence and put them in stasis for the next shipment back to Etlon.”
“Cute. Now into the shower with you.” She waved him into the shower and he stepped in, docile and silent. She watched the water pour off his skin and ripple down his shorts, carrying the flegan blood and innards with it. Once he was clean of most of it, Odette reached in and stroked his ches
t. He stood there proudly while she lowered his shorts and continued to redirect the water to make sure that all of his blood covered bits were reached. She considered ignoring his cock but realized that it would be cruel, and despite her vow to put some distance between herself and the warrior, she found her own body betraying her, puckering her nipples and sending heat and wetness directly between her legs.
She grasped him with two hands and began a steady stroke. It was biology taking over. Give him reLeif. Clinical and detached.
Except when Athen groaned and reached for her, dragging her into the water with him. He claimed her mouth in a searing kiss and pressed her against the wall of the shower. His tongue explored her mouth. It was difficult to keep stroking his cock when he reached into her shorts and started sparking all those fires with his fingers.
“You’re going to make me come,” she said when he finally released her mouth and made his way down her neck.
“That is the general idea. After all, you have said how dishonorable it is not to reciprocate.”
“But I thought we were…” Odette trailed off when he began to thrust inside her with one finger.
“In the friend zone?”
The thought was so ridiculous that she actually started to giggle. It was absurd, being so close to the edge and yet laughing. She ran out of breath and could not catch it again, but Athen was relentless.
“I want to taste you again.”
“That’s going to be a little difficult in the shower, especially with my jeans on.”
“Sweetie, I don’t plan to do it in the shower.” He removed his hand and lifted her by the ass. It was a short trip to the bed.
“Now when you use it, it just sounds silly.”
He made short work of her jeans and panties while she managed the top half.
“What term would you have me use?” he asked her.
“How about Odette?”
Whether he used that or something else, Odette couldn’t tell, because he was mumbling against her pussy. He seemed less rushed this time, trailing his tongue along the crease of her legs, then slowly made two full circles of her outer lips.
A few days ago, Odette, under the guise of some other nonsense, had gotten both Leif and Goru to stick out their tongues and her suspicions were confirmed. Much like their cocks, Etlonian Mahdfel tongues were nearly twice as long as their human counterparts, and Athen knew how to use his. He teased her, even though she was already primed to fire.
“Athen, I should like my orgasm now,” she gasped. He laughed. It was a very rare sound, made even rarer by the fact that he had stuck his talented tongue into her and was using it to thrust into her. Odette heard her cries growing louder and stuck her hand in her mouth. It did very little to muffle the loud sound of the first crest of her orgasm. She came again right on the heels of the first when he didn’t slow or stop. If anything, he increased his intensity until her hips rose to ride the third wave of pleasure.
Athen lifted his head and then kneeled over her, one hand on his cock. He hardly needed more than a stroke before he shot his neon blue ropes all over her still heaving stomach and breasts. The sly smile on his face made Odette sure that he liked covering her with his come as much as she liked being covered by it.
She lay there for a moment, letting him gaze at her hard nipples and the spot on her stomach where some of his seed was forming a little blue lake.
“See, now it’s me all covered with ooze,” she teased.
“I don’t plan to leave you like that.”
“No? Just admiring your handiwork?”
“Something like that.”
Athen scooped her up and headed back to the shower. She thought he’d be quick about it but he took his time, exploring her body as washed away the evidence of his pleasure. Odette loved the way his green hands looked against her pale breasts. Athen took the time to learn how much pressure of a tweak he could apply to her nipple before she let out an audible gasp. Odette was ready for more, whether it was in or out of the shower. She could feel Athen’s cock pressing against her back.
“You know,” she said, turning. “There’s not a single one of your men who’s going to actually believe that we haven’t been up to any funny business in here.”
“I will tell the truth, and they will believe it because I do not lie.”
“Well, fine then. But you know I would totally be okay with you taking me back to that bed and having you mount me. Now that you’ve taken the edge off, it should be easy enough to screw me and then pull out and shoot all over my breasts. You really seem to like that.”
“I do.”
“Then why don’t you?”
Athen turned off the shower and picked her up once more. Feeling her wet skin against his, Odette wanted to wrap every inch of herself around him. She was beyond reminding him that she could walk. Besides, she was pretty sure that he was ready to crack, that she was going to spread her legs and he was finally going to climb on top and give her the fucking that his first kiss had promised.
Suddenly, a far off roar of engines sounded. Immediately, Athen’s head snapped up and toward the side of the camp with the launch pad.
“Stay here.” He put on his shorts, cursing as he tucked his hard on back in. A moment later, he was out the door.
“Shit!” Odette scrambled off the bed and went on a mad rampage looking for her own bits of clothing until she realized they were all wet from the shower. Instead, she grabbed a sweater dress out of her suitcase and pulled it on over her braless frame. She’d wet the crotch of any pair of panties instantly, so she decided to go commando. Besides, once this new intruder was dealt with, it would be easier to haul Athen off to another corner and remind him of his earlier plan.
Odette poked her head out of the module to see that Athen hadn’t gotten far. His men were lined up like some sort of honor guard, escorting a tall figure in a black cloak. Athen stood just outside the module looking a hell of a lot less happy than he had a minute ago.
“Who is that?” she asked.
“That is Etlon. My father. He has come to take you home.”
Chapter Twelve
Athen
When he had called in the favor, Athen knew that his father would find out about the match. That was inevitable. You did not become the highest warlord on the planet by being dumb. You did it with a network of connections, spies, and of course, with a little brute strength. His father had these in spades.
So much so that he could influence where his only remaining, of-age son was stationed, even when Athen had railed against it. Etlon had placed his son as far away from the Suhlik as possible. He probably thought of it as a move of caution. Athen thought of it as an insult.
But what Athen never expected was his father to actually leave the planet and come pick Odette up himself. It had been years since his father had commanded any military units from the field and even more since he’d done so from the ground.
“It appears my arrival is fortuitous with all the flegan just littering the ground,” his father said with a wave, indicating to Athen’s warriors that the honor guard could disperse.
“We shall eat well tonight,” Goru stated. The men let off a cheer and tended back to their work.
Etlon spied Odette as she tried retreating back into the module. She froze and put on one of her plastic smiles that said she was about to start rambling.
“Come here, daughter, and let me get the look of you,” Etlon said. Odette froze and then slowly approached, still with the same unmoving smile on her face. As his father took a large whiff of her, Athen had to stop himself from growling in response. It was a juvenile move and he needed to control his actions.
“Hi. I’m Odette from Earth. I’m a botanist and I’m working on a formula for this thing that my father first started.” She stuck her hand out in that strange Terran greeting.
Etlon stared down at her hand. “Are you with child yet?”
“Uh, no, that would be-”
“Woman,”
Athen cut her off. But she had started her ramble and didn’t seem interested in ending it.
“Difficult, considering you have to, you know, try to have a baby first.”
“Did you refuse him? Sometimes, Terran females can be a bit jumpy at first.”
“No, he refused me. So we should talk about what I can do for you back on Etlon.”
“What is wrong with her?” Etlon turned towards his son. “She looks appealing and her scent is quite-”
“There is nothing wrong with her,” Athen bit out. All he wanted to do was punch his father in the face but that would not go over well. That would be a challenge. And then Athen would either kill his father or end up the High Councilor and leave his father in disgrace. Neither of those was an appealing option.
“Then what is wrong with you?” Etlon asked.
“With me? I did not ask for a mate. No. I specifically expressed a desire not to have a mate. And yet someone decided for me and brought her here.” That someone was suspiciously absent yet again. Athen’s fists clenched at his side. His father’s color was placid, as usual. It was a trait that they shared.
“Well, we shall speak of this more in the morning. I have been promised a feast!” Another cheer rose up and Athen stood by while his men prepared for their special guest. Etlon had brought with him ten of his own men, all wizened warriors and the most loyal anyone could ask for.
The feast was truly a lively affair. Someone had brought out the rotgut that they had been storing away for just such an occasion. It loosened quite a few tongues that normally would have been silent. The group of them struck up song after song, much to Odette’s delight. She was all smiles and politeness. She nursed one glass of rotgut the entire night, wary of the power that the alcohol had over her.
Athen watched Odette just as his father was. He knew the elder warrior was searching for whatever flaw his son saw in her. He would find none. Truly, it was not her fault.
Etlon was here to take her away. To take her from him. It was what he thought he wanted. Odette, far away and safe. Far from him and the curse that plagued the rest of his brothers. But the thought of not being there to protect her, of not tasting her again...