by Sam Crescent
Ella hated when he used their differences against her.
The pain was too much.
Leaving the garden, she went to the bedroom.
He still held her throughout the night. She couldn’t sleep without his arms to give her comfort. Nights had always been hard for her back at home.
Wrapping her arms around her waist, she kicked off her shoes and crawled on the bed, feeling tired.
She didn’t know if she should ask him for a pregnancy test. They would finally find out the truth, but she had a feeling she already was. The changes to her body, although slow, were happening. Her appetite had increased as well.
Time ticked by. She stared at the clock, her thoughts drifting to the past and future.
After a few hours, she heard Dhiro walking around. The usual sounds came from the kitchen, letting her know dinner was being cooked. He took care of her physically, but she needed more than her basic needs met to be happy.
She stayed in the bedroom, hunger meaning nothing to her.
He didn’t seek her out.
Grabbing his pillow, she held it close to her body, hating her own hope for putting her through this. She thought Dhiro was different. He’d claimed to be so.
How could he be different when all he seemed to be doing was ignoring her?
“Ella, here you are. You were not out in the garden,” Dhiro said. “Dinner will be ready in ten minutes.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I want to go home.”
She hadn’t meant to say the words, but they left her lips in a rush. Other than biting her lip, she made no other sound to take them back or to apologize.
Dhiro moved to her side. “Ella, what is the matter?” He placed his hand on her forehead.
She wanted to jolt away, but his touch was everything. Even his scent was addicting.
“I want to go home,” she said. “My time here is done, and you’ve gotten what you wanted, or you hate me, or there’s something going on in your head that I’m not privy to.” She stopped to take a breath. “You’ve realized what a giant, big mistake you’ve made, and it’s time for me to go home.” She couldn’t stop the tears from falling as she spoke. It hurt her to say this when she had such fairy-tale dreams.
Dhiro had crashed into her world, abducted her, taken her to a place that was so far away from home, bred her, and broken her heart, all within a matter of a few weeks. She was pregnant, she was almost sure of it, and so incredibly sad that her abilities in the bedroom weren’t good enough for him.
She wasn’t good enough for him.
“I don’t understand what is going on,” Dhiro said.
“Then you tell me. Tell me why you’ve been ignoring me. Tell me what I’ve done to make you stop caring about me. Have you realized what a horrible woman you’ve picked? A fat, ugly human female when you can have your pick of any one of your beautiful women?”
Her hormones were also out of complete whack.
This conversation was moving too fast for her.
Dhiro cupped her cheek and slammed his lips down on hers.
Ella froze as the sudden intimacy took her by surprise. She wanted him so much. Grasping his arms, she held on to him, needing more of him to surround her. The kiss he gave her sent her hormones even further out of whack.
He kissed her like he was a drowning man. She didn’t want him to stop.
Breaking the kiss, she rested her head against his chest. His heart raced. “Tell me what’s going on,” she said. “You’re confusing me. Why are you ignoring me?”
“Ella, I didn’t realize I was ignoring you.” He cupped her face, forcing her to tilt her head back. “I…”
“You’ve been different since our time together. Since I gave you pleasure.”
Dhiro sighed.
“Was I that bad?” she asked. “I know that it takes time and practice.”
“I shouldn’t have allowed you to do that to me, Ella. It was wrong and it was selfish. My shame has stopped me from coming to you.” He kissed her lips. “I will never ask you for anything like that again.”
Ella frowned. “But I liked it.”
“What?”
“I liked giving you pleasure. I liked seeing you come apart. There was nothing wrong with what I did to you. We both enjoyed it.”
“I … your eyes were watering after I finished.”
Ella tried to remember, and then she chuckled.
“I’m confused,” he said. “You’re laughing.”
Maybe them being from different planets didn’t exactly help with communication. “Dhiro, do you still find me attractive?” she asked.
“Yes. Always. It has been hard to keep away from you. Nearly impossible. You have also not desired me to touch you. I guessed that you didn’t like having me in your mouth, and you were ashamed of me.”
“Far from it.” Happiness rushed through her, and she was somewhat relieved. She would have gone back home but with a heavy heart, and in truth, with an alien baby in her stomach. She didn’t even want to think of the implications of that little anomaly. “Dhiro, I wasn’t crying. I wasn’t emotional. I loved having you in my mouth.” This was a whole new experience for her. “How do I say this?” She nibbled on her lip. “You’re a very big man in that department, and you went past my gag reflex. Because of that, it makes my eyes water. It’s not a voluntary thing.” She was bad at this. Considering her love of education and teaching, talking about a woman’s anatomy and sexual education to an alien man, yeah, she needed to do a little better.
They were both quiet for several seconds.
“You weren’t sad?”
“No. I promise. I loved feeling you in my mouth.”
“My life is about giving you pleasure.”
She sighed. “Believe me. I do love it when you give me pleasure. It’s amazing.” She moved her hands onto his chest. “But I also love it when I give you pleasure. It means a lot to me. I’m not a selfish person, Dhiro. I don’t want you constantly serving me. I … men on my planet can be very selfish, but I do believe with the right man and the right relationship, it can be very rewarding for both people. There can be love and lots of sex, many different ways.” She ran her hands down his body, going toward his cock. “Did you like what I did?”
Dhiro released a little growl. The sound made her body ache, her pussy growing wet within seconds, wanting him inside her. “Very much. When I look at your lips, they make me instantly hard.”
She felt his response.
“I loved how you sucked me, and holding your head in place as I came was one of my favorite experiences. I want to do it again.”
“Good, because I want to give it to you again.”
“I cannot waste my seed,” he said.
Ella knew she should tell him what she suspected, but what if he did change toward her? What if he no longer wanted her? She didn’t want the fantasy to end.
She hated her insecurity, but the moment she started, there was no stopping it.
“Dhiro, it’s not wasted if it brings us closer together, right?” She sank to her knees. “What if I told you I could please you at the same time you could please me?”
“I’m listening.”
Chapter Seven
“They know about your female.”
Dhiro paced in the control center. “And how far have they moved?”
“There have been some sightings just on the outskirts of your village,” said his senior commander. “It’s unsafe.”
“Let me take a team to wipe them out.”
“Do you not think they’ll expect that?”
“I don’t care what they expect. We will wipe them off the face of Trenu Zel,” Dhiro said.
They should have dealt with those lawbreakers years ago. Now they were becoming dangerous and threatening their way of life—threatening his mate.
“It’s more than that.”
He didn’t like the tone in his commander’s voice. “Go on…”
“You were told this mission, this voy
age across space of yours, was based on the Earthling getting pregnant. She was the last hope for our planet.”
“Yes, I am aware. What are you saying?”
No, Dhiro wasn’t happy they had not yet achieved a successful mating, but it was out of his hands.
“Things don’t appear to be going according to plan.”
“I didn’t realize we had a time limit. We are trying our best. For all we know, anyone landing on this planet will become infertile.”
“She has one more moon cycle, then my hands are tied. Permitting an alien on our planet has only been allowed due to our unique plight. According to the elders, she’s an experiment gone wrong.”
Dhiro shook his head, a rage he rarely felt growing inside him. He wouldn’t give up his mate.
“I’ve bonded with her. She’s not an experiment!”
“But she was. Until you changed the parameters. Maybe the Earthing is making you weak, like the human males she’s accustomed to.”
He had to hold back from striking his superior. Instead, he stormed out of the office, allowing the slamming door to punctuate his sentiment.
After driving off in a flurry of dust, he knew he couldn’t go straight home. Ella would sense his emotions. Instead, he drove in the direction of his brother’s house. He was only two years younger and had helped him prepare for his voyage to Earth. Dhiro needed a listening ear right now so he could vent his frustrations at the unfairness of his arrangement.
Bronn was working on one of his projects outside. When he noticed Dhiro approaching, he stood up and wiped his brow with a towel.
“Your place looks like a junkyard.”
His brother shrugged, tossing a tool into his case. “I’m not here to impress anyone.”
He began to pace. Where would he start? Dhiro would have been the first person to agree in returning Ella back to Earth if their plan failed. He’d never anticipated bonding with a human, but it happened, and there was no changing that fact.
“I already know,” Bronn said.
Dhiro stopped in his tracks. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s been spreading. Word of the human experiment failing. Morale is at an all-time low. There was so much hope, and now we have nothing.”
“They’ll send her back,” he said.
His brother frowned.
“What? If you know something, say it.”
“I doubt they’ll send her back.”
Dhiro exhaled a breath, feeling a sense of relief. “You think so?”
“Dhiro, that’s not what I mean. They’re not going to approve another trip to Earth just to return one human being. I’m still surprised they allowed you to go in the first place. The costs, the risks, it’s unprecedented. Now, they have no reason to go above and beyond.”
He was suggesting they’d terminate her? His people weren’t a violent race. Desperate, but not violent. Yet, deep down, he knew it was true. The leaders on Trenu Zel had no respect for humankind. They were primitive and self-destructive. Nothing would change their minds on the subject, not even his amazing mate.
“I won’t let them harm her.”
“Then what do you suggest? The female has been here for many cycles. You haven’t impregnated her. How will you protect her if they decide to terminate her life?”
It felt like a knife twisted in his gut. Did Dhiro really have to choose between his own people, his sense of loyalty to Trenu Zel, and his lifemate? No words came to mind.
“I’m sorry,” Bronn said.
“Take her. Please. Use my ship and return her to Earth.”
His brother ran a hand through his hand, doing a spin. “What are you asking?”
“I can’t go back. I’m head of the taskforce, and the Scyathra are moving in. I have to protect our people, eliminate our enemies, but I also won’t have them harm Ella. She’s innocent.”
“You’ll let her leave? Never see her again?”
Dhiro scoffed. “As soon as things are safe, I will go to her. I will live my life out on Earth to be with my mate.”
“Must be love. Mother was right.”
“Oh?”
“She said you’d fall for the human, even when you said it was impossible.”
He felt torn down the middle. His loyalty to his leaders was now overshadowed by their ruthlessness, the fact they’d sacrifice Ella when she was willing to try to help an alien race. It didn’t matter if she was human. Ella didn’t have an evil bone in her body. Not all humans were created equal, and Dhiro knew that firsthand.
“She’s always been more intuitive than most,” he said. “Since our father’s death, she’s kept our family together. She deserves a grandchild. I can’t even give that to her.”
“You tried. You traveled across the universe,” Bronn said. “It’s a voyage I know I’m not capable of.”
He wanted to argue with his brother but knew the trip had been dangerous at best. He’d barely made it to Earth with the ship in one piece. His brother was a mechanic, not a pilot. Dhiro couldn’t risk Ella’s life or his brother’s. He was back in the same dire position.
“Let me know if you hear any news,” Dhiro said. “I need to get home.”
“Are you sure you’ve been breeding her enough?”
“Daily. At least.”
Bronn scrubbed a hand down his face and sat down on a metal stool. “I had hope. So did Kaalen.”
He only had two brothers. No sisters. They were all close in age, but his brothers still had no mates.
“Everyone had hope. We all want to save our world.”
His brother shook his head. “Maybe I’m selfish, but I wanted a woman for myself. A family. A future.”
“That’s not selfish, Bronn.”
He pointed to the scrapyard of metal next to his home. “I even started working on my ship. Thought I could get my own little Earthling.” Bronn shrugged. “But I guess this is the end for all of us.”
“Human fertility cycles are unpredictable. We can’t lose hope just yet.”
“Go home to your mate, Dhiro. Enjoy her while you can.”
Bronn reflected most of their population, a somber acceptance of a grim fate. Once hope was lost, what was left? Ella was that one shining star, but the longer they went without a pregnancy, her shine began to dull.
His brothers worked at the space launch as mechanics. They were so joyous when they’d helped him prepare for his voyage to Earth. Now their joy had faded to nothing.
As he drove back home, he realized what he needed to do. At all costs, he had to protect Ella. He didn’t want to be put in a position where he couldn’t save her. He drove faster, needing to see Ella’s sweet smile. To hold her, smell her, feel her close to him. Even without a baby, at least he’d found something he never expected to attain—love. He’d only hoped they could live out their days in blissful ignorance on Trenu Zel, but now, he wasn’t so sure.
****
There had been sirens wailing a couple of hours earlier. Back home, they usually warned of an impending storm or earthquake. She wasn’t sure if it was the same here. There was so much for her to learn.
She’d missed her period. Ella knew she must be pregnant. Or was it just her body’s reaction to being carted across space? The last thing she wanted was to disappoint Dhiro and his people by getting them excited for nothing. She needed to be one hundred percent positive before letting anyone know.
The rumble of Dhiro’s truck engine approaching aroused her. It meant he was home. She always looked forward to his return from work. At first, she’d had more freedom, but just lately, he insisted she wasn’t safe to roam even in his garden. He left her crates of rocks and gems to study, but she was growing bored. There was a whole alien planet out there she was itching to explore.
One thing that continued to plague her mind was why their females had become infertile on Trenu Zel. As a scientist, she naturally wanted answers. There had to be a cause. Ella wanted to help, but if their advanced scientists hadn’t figured it out
after all these years, there was likely nothing she could do about it.
When Dhiro opened the front door, she jumped up from the desk chair and rushed to see him. He immediately began unbuckling his black tactical vests. She loved him in uniform. And with nothing on at all. He had the perfect male form, and she couldn’t get enough of him.
Ella stopped in her tracks before throwing herself at him. Something was off.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Ella. How was your day?” He passed by her and hung up his gear.
“What’s wrong?” she repeated. She swatted his arms when he tried to hug her.
“All is well. I have just been thinking about Earth lately.”
“What about Earth?” she asked.
He walked into the living area, pacing back and forth. She sat on the sofa and waited for him to say something.
“I think we should return.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“I would like to visit your planet. No, live on your planet. It will be a new adventure for us.”
Ella scoffed. “You don’t want to live on Earth. You hate Earth. How many times have you told me how hot and primitive it is?”
He kept quiet, stoic. Her nerves began to race as she thought of every possible scenario.
“What is it? Do your people want me gone? I don’t understand.”
“Our enemies are closing in. It’s dangerous for you here.”
She remembered the alarms. “The Scyathra?”
“Yes. My commanding officer said they’re moving dangerously close. They’re insistent on capturing you for their own benefit.”
“For my body, my womb?”
“Yes.”
“But you’ll protect me.” Dhiro never seemed like the type to give up or run away. There was something he wasn’t telling her, and she didn’t like secrets. The last thing she wanted to do was tell him about her pregnancy. That news should be joyous, not stress him out even more.
“That’s why I think we should go to Earth,” he said. “I can keep you safe there.”
She shook her head. Ella was actually getting used to the new planet and way of life. Most of the negatives he mentioned about Earth were true. She wanted a new start with Dhiro on his world. Going back didn’t seem right to her.