Guarded By Them

by Skye MacKinnon

  “I already have-“ Kili began, but then his eyes widened as he stared at his screen. “Laird, I haven’t. Velos curse me. Let me fix this.” He frantically flicked several switches, then typed into his data pad. “Alright, all the power in rooms we’re not using is off. Heating is off too, so it might get a little chilly.”

  “It’s working!” Raf cheered before I could ask. “Give me a click to establish if I can access the data.”

  We waited in silence. I kept stealing glances of Wren, whose eyes were fixed at the screens. Her tension was evident in the way she held herself, and I wanted to reach out to reassure her, but I had to stay focused myself. If I touched her, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else. Wren was intoxicating; one big temptation that I had to resist.

  The ticks passed slowly until Raf finally looked up from the console. “Got it. Now it’s just going to be a few clicks for the data to be fully transferred to my comms. I could transfer it straight to the Athion ship, but this seems safer. Kili, keep it flowing.”

  The Athion nodded. “On it. It should last for a few more minutes at the very least. After that, I’d have to drain more of the life support systems.”

  I gripped the end of my tail as I waited. It had been restlessly pounding on the ground and I didn’t want to risk bruises. Sometimes I wished I had more control over it, but that had always been one of my issues.

  Suddenly, Kion screamed, drawing all attention on him.

  “What’s wrong?” Kili shouted, unable to see his fellow Athion. “Do I need to shut it off?”

  I zoomed into the image of Kion. Sparks were spraying from the cable at his feet, and a few had landed on his clothes, burning holes into them. Why was this zutting idiot not wearing a fireproof suit?

  “Are you hurt?” Wren asked breathlessly, concern lacing her words.

  “I’m fine,” Kion panted. “Keep going but hurry up. The cable won’t hold for much longer.”

  “Zut,” Raf cursed. “I still need two clicks at the very least. The data transfer is slower than I expected.”

  Kion was aiming the fire extinguisher at the sparking cable. I hoped he wouldn’t cause any further problems by doing that.

  There was nothing we could do but wait.

  Wren got up from her chair and joined me, standing next to me.

  “What happens if this doesn’t work?” she whispered quietly enough for the others not to hear her.

  “Then we’ll have no choice but to submit to the Athions when they arrive,” I replied with a sigh. “We’ll be split up. You shouldn’t have anything to worry about. They might even return you to Earth, if you’re lucky. Unless they give you to the kraktz who abducted you in the first place.”

  She shuddered and I reached out to take her hand. “I would never let that happen,” I promised. “And neither would the others. We will look after you and make sure you’re alright.”

  “You may not have that option,” she muttered. “They will imprison you, won’t they.”

  I nodded. I didn’t tell her that the Athions might sentence us to death. Thinking of that possibility made me go all cold inside. Not just because I was scared of that prospect. No, because it would mean leaving Wren.

  I squeezed her hand. “We’ll find a way. Even if this doesn’t work out. We’ll come up with another idea. Trust me.”

  She looked me straight in the eyes, then gave a small nod. “I do.”

  My heart warmed at her words. It meant a lot for her to trust me. We’d come so far since we’d first found her. Here I was, holding her hand, and she was fine with that.

  “Got it!” Raf shouted happily. “Kili, you can switch off the power, I’ve got everything I need. I’ll head to the bridge in a click to start the transmission.”

  “I’ll meet you there,” Kion said, a smile lighting up his face. “I just need to get cleaned up first.”

  I realised I was grinning too. This was the first time we’d had good news ever since we’d crashed. I got up from my chair and stretched, the tension slowly leaving my body.

  “It worked!” Wren laughed and stepped forward, hugging me tightly. My tail curled around her waist, before I carefully wrapped my arms around her. I was still a little scared of frightening her if I got too close, but she seemed completely comfortable with my touch.

  She looked up at me, smiling, and then she reached up and pulled me down to her level. Her breath touched my face before her lips descended on mine.

  Wren

  He didn’t respond at first. Had I overstepped? Misread the moment?

  But then he pulled me close again and pressed his lips to mine. They were soft and warm, and the tiny scales surrounding his mouth tickled my skin as he moved his lips against my own. I’d never felt anything like it. It should have been strange kissing him, someone so different from my own species, yet it felt right. Like we were made for each other.

  When his tongue nudged open my mouth, I let him in. I clung to his back, my fingers gripping his shirt as the kiss got more and more passionate. My body moulded to his, and through the kiss we became one. Sparks ran over my skin; one pleasant shiver after the next.

  His hands roamed my back, and even though I was wearing a shirt, the heat of his skin seeped into my own. A soft moan escaped my lips. A tiny voice was telling me to stop this now while I still could, but my body was taking over and everything went blank.

  All I could focus on was the feel of his mouth on mine, the gentleness with which he held me, the passion that sparked between us.

  The closer he pressed me to him, the more I realised how aroused he was. His hardness was obvious. For a second, an image flashed into my mind, another alien, this one blue and fearsome. I froze.

  “What’s wrong?” Vuk whispered, his lips hovering a hair width away from mine.

  I pushed back the memory. That was the past and I couldn’t let it determine my future.

  “I’m fine.” I chuckled softly. “I’m more than fine. Do all Trads kiss like you?”

  His eyes blazed with heat, his expression taking on a new intensity. “No. Don’t even think about other men. I want you to be mine. I want to protect you, keep you safe. I want you to trust me just like I trust you. I want to merge my soul with yours until there’s no space between us.” He paused for a moment and licked his lips. “Does that scare you?”

  It should have, yet his words had started a fire in my core that I wasn’t going to put out myself.

  “No,” I whispered.

  “What does it make you feel?” he asked, his eyes still locked with mine. I’d never seen eyes as intense as his before.

  Before I could reply, the doors slid open and a cool draft kissed the back of my neck.

  “What the zut are you doing?”

  Raf entered the bridge and just like that, the spell was broken.

  Chapter 14

  We stepped apart and heat flushed my cheeks. I didn’t dare look Raf in the eye. Here I was, kissing his friend on the bridge of an Athion ship. If I thought about like that, it seemed kind of wrong.

  “Couldn’t you have knocked?” Vuk growled.

  “And miss the sight of you snogging Wren? No way.” He grinned at me. “You’re beautiful when you blush.”

  My cheeks got even hotter. He’d called me beautiful. Had anyone ever done that before? I had a hard time thinking of that ever happening. Maybe a teenage boyfriend before the invasion, but that had never been anything serious. We’d never progressed past some shaky fumbling, which had left me more disappointed than anything else.

  Vuk cleared his throat. “Do you have all the transmission data?”

  Raf nodded and pointed at his communicator. “All there. Let’s see if we can reach our pirate friends.”

  Kion and Kili entered the bridge together. Kili was covered in engine oil, but a happy grin was spread across his face. It was the first time I’d seen him look genuinely happy. It completely transformed him.

  “Do you want us here during your call or wil
l that complicate things?” Kion asked.

  His thoughtfulness surprised me. I’d assumed they wanted to see what the Trads were going to discuss with the pirates.

  “No, you can stay,” Raf muttered while already working on one of the consoles. He seemed to have no problem finding his way around the Athion system. I guess having hacked it helped. They had different languages and alphabets, but all four men spoke each other’s tongue plus excellent English. I wondered if that was normal or if I was surrounded by men more intelligent than average.

  Vuk was still standing close to me; too close. I wasn’t able to think clearly. It felt as if there was still electricity flowing between us, a pleasant tension that only another kiss could resolve.

  I retreated to the captain’s chair before realising that one of the guys might like to sit there during the video call. Oh well, they’d tell me if they wanted me to move.

  I watched as they all worked together to establish the connection. The Athions had said that they’d had trouble reaching their own ships, so I wasn’t sure how they’d achieve calling pirate ships. Surely the Custo vessels had superior technology that would allow them to pick up long-distance signals?

  Once again, I was reminded of how foreign I was to all this. If I ended up staying with the guys for a while, I should try and learn more about their technology. I bit my lip. Staying with them seemed both scary and tempting. For now, I didn’t have a choice. There was no way to return to Earth. But if I had the chance to go home, would I take it? A few days ago, the answer would have been a clear yes, but now I was no longer as sure.

  I had nothing left for me on Earth. No family, no friends. Instead, the constant danger of Trads turning me into one of their breeders.

  Maybe I had to rethink my future. Perhaps it didn’t lay on Earth, but in space instead.

  “Almost got it,” Raf said, his fingers flying over the console, typing faster than I’d thought possible. “I’ve established a secure channel that only other pirates can detect. Now we just have to hope that someone is close enough to pick up our signal.”

  “How long will it last?” I asked. “The channel, I mean?”

  “It will stay open until I close it,” Raf replied with a grin. “Or until the ship runs out of power. It’s taking a lot of energy to boost the signal. The asteroid field around us is not making it any easier either.”

  The other men took a seat on the chairs around me. Now that everyone was sitting, it felt as if we were ready to fly away, with me as the captain. When I didn’t look at the lower part of the windows, I could almost imagine that we weren’t trapped on an asteroid but instead flying through space. Pity the ship was damaged.

  We all stared at the blank screen, waiting for something to happen. The tension in the room was palpable.

  After several minutes, a shrill beeping sound broke the silence.

  Raf started typing frantically again. “It’s a faint signal but I should be able to…yes!”

  A hazy picture appeared on the screen; a man so alien that I couldn’t suppress a gasp. Two horns sprouted from his forehead, two more curled behind his pointed ears like those of a ram. His grass green skin seemed rock-like, his mouth a lipless crevice, his nose non-existent. His eyes were deep-set and sparkled liked diamonds. His neck was almost as wide as his head and there were strange gashes on the front of his throat. Did he breathe through those?

  Compared to him, the alien males in this room looked positively human. I couldn’t see rest of rock man’s body, but I bet it was just as strange as his face.

  “Ki’to’lok,” Raf greeted him with a bow of his head. He was speaking English and I knew he was doing it so I could understand him. “It’s good to see you.”

  “Raf. Vuk.” The man’s voice sounded like an avalanche sliding down a rocky slope. “What’s the meaning of this? Have you been taken prisoner?”

  His words were translated into English by a mechanical voice coming from speakers all around us. Handy, the ship had an inbuilt translator.

  Vuk quickly shook his head. “No, these Athions are with us.”

  Ki’to’lok’s diamond eyes sparkled with surprise. Yes, they actually sparkled, like light reflecting off a gem. How very strange. It didn’t seem possible, but then, what did I know. I didn’t even know what his species was called.

  “Two Trads, two Athions and is that a human? A human female? I sense a story.”

  Raf chuckled. “It’s quite the story indeed, but I’d prefer telling it to you in person. We are stranded on an asteroid with no way of getting off it. Sending you our coordinates now. Are you in the vicinity?”

  “Define vicinity,” rock man replied, his lipless mouth curving into something like a smile. “Close enough to do this for a friend, but too far to reach you until tomorrow. You are lucky, we were about to leave this sector. Is it just the five of you?”

  “Yes,” Vuk replied. “You have our gratitude. We’ve lost our ship, but I’m sure there are ways we can repay you in the future.”

  Ki’to’lok waved a large hand. He only had three fingers, but they ended in sharp diamond claws. Not a hand I’d want to shake. I’d end up with lacerations all over.

  “We have your coordinates locked in and will be with you soon. And about that ship…I might have an offer to make you, but it can wait until we reach you.” His eyes flashed again. “I prefer to negotiate in person.”

  Vuk laughed. “I remember. We’ll-“

  “There’s another transmission coming through,” Raf interrupted him. “It’s coming from an Athion ship.”

  “Velos,” Kili cursed. “Vuk, Raf, shut down the call and then hide. Wren, you can stay.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Ki’to’lok said before the screen went dark again.

  The Trads ran out of the room, but I knew they’d be watching what happened on their communicators. Raf still had control of the ship’s systems, after all.

  Kion took Raf’s seat and pressed a button. A new face appeared on the screen; an Athion this time. He was the thinnest Athion I’d ever seen, but his eyes were full of authority.

  “Commander Frarali,” Kion greeted the man. “We didn’t expect anyone to be able to reach us.”

  “We’re trialling a new communications system,” the Athion replied without greeting. “It allows us to send messages over longer distances. We’ll be reaching you tomorrow. Until then, you need to put the human into custody. Troubling facts have come to light about her and she needs to be kept secure.”

  I stared at him, unable to believe what he was saying. Troubling facts? It had to be Laki and Arri spreading those. I clenched my fists. Those fucking bastards. As if it hadn’t been enough to abuse me and almost beat me to death.

  “May I ask what facts those are?” Kion asked, his voice emotionless. Colder than I’d ever heard him sound.

  “It’s classified,” Frarali replied, glaring at me for some reason. “It can wait until we meet in person. For now, I order you to contain her. We won’t take longer than a day.”

  “Sir, she wouldn’t be able to escape off the asteroid, there’s no need to-“

  “Contain her,” the Commander interrupted Kion. “That’s an order.”

  The screen went black, but I kept staring at it. Until now, I’d only feared what might happen to Vuk and Raf once the Athions came to rescue us from the asteroid. Now, I was worried for my own safety. If Arri and Laki had somehow managed to deceive the Athions in charge, then things were looking bleak for me. It was their words against mine. And nobody would listen to the Trads.

  Kili sighed loudly, then kicked the console in front of him.

  “How dare he,” Kili seethed. “How fucking dare he.”

  The doors opened and the Trads stormed into the room. Suddenly, I was in Vuk’s arms, pressed against his hard body.

  “They’re not going to hurt you,” he hissed. “I will kill them all before they ever get the chance.”

  He was trembling with rage and I realised I was shaking myse
lf.

  Raf put his hands on my shoulders, steadying me from behind.

  “We’ll protect you,” he whispered, before stepping closer, until his chest touched my back.

  I was sandwiched between the two Trads, their bodies forming a barrier between me and the world. Maybe I should have been scared. They were big, far bigger than me, and they could easily crush me with their large bodies. Yet I felt safe. Safer than ever. I believed them when they said that they’d protect me. I trusted them more than I’d ever trusted anyone.

  Raf’s tail curled around my upper thigh, briefly touching me between my legs. I was sure it was an accident, yet heat pooled in my core at the touch. Their proximity aroused me. I looked up at Vuk, hoping he’d kiss me again. I didn’t care that the Athions were in the room with us. I needed them to touch me. Hold me. Make me forget the danger we were all in.

  “I can smell your arousal,” Raf whispered from behind me, his voice hoarse. “Is that just for Vuk? Or…”

  He didn’t finish his question, but I knew what he meant. For him. I examined my feelings. The desire for Vuk’s touch was a strong pulse running through my body, almost unbearable. But there was more. I enjoyed the way Raf was pushing against me from behind. How his hard erection touched my arse.

  I turned around, having to fight their grip, until I faced Raf. His eyes were wide as he looked down at me.

  Not knowing where I took the confidence from, I reached up and gripped the collar of his shirt, pulling him down to my level. His mouth opened and a groan burst from his chest, just before his lips met mine in a fast, passionate kiss.

  “We’ll leave you to it,” I heard Kion say from far away, but I didn’t care.

  All I wanted was to focus on the incredible feeling of Raf kissing me and Vuk hugging me from behind. His hands were on my hips, pushing me against Raf, whose hardness was in turn pressing against my belly. The size of it scared me a little, but for now, we were only kissing, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go further than that. Not yet.

  Vuk snaked one hand beneath my shirt. His skin was rougher than mine, but not too much so. His hand stayed on my belly for a moment, as if he was waiting for me to protest, but when I didn’t, he slowly moved up until he reached my breast. Thanks to Kili bringing me clothes from the Phoenix, I was wearing a bra. Nothing pretty, but enough to hold my boobs up so that they didn’t bounce all over the place. When Vuk gently cupped my breast, I almost wished I didn’t wear it. My nipple hardened against the fabric, straining to be set free.