Yce: Alien Abduction Romance (Captured By Aliens Book 3)
Page 17
“He found his Piper,” Crex said and Piper smiled, resting her head back against his chest.
“We’ll lessen his meds. That should wake him up soon, right?” She raised an eyebrow at Crex who nodded. “You just rest till then,” she said to Diana.
As Diana nodded, Piper smiled at her again, squeezing her hand softly.
“You have no idea how happy we are to see you guys,” the rainbow-haired woman whispered before glancing at Crex, who had been adjusting the meds attached to Yce.
Piper flashed her another smile before taking Crex by the hand and exiting the room, leaving her alone with an unconscious Yce.
Chapter Thirty-One
She lay there for probably thirty minutes just staring at him.
The last time she’d seen him, her eyes had been closing on their own despite her trying to keep them open and he’d been cradling her head between his hands.
Looking at him now, she felt relief wash over her.
By some twist of fate, they were both alive.
As she rested back against the gurney, eyes still on Yce, she saw him twitch and shortly after the twitch there was a pain in her head.
“Diana.” His voice was in her head along with the pain. It was like a continuous groan of torment with her name floating underneath it.
He was waking up.
“Yce?” she called to him.
“Diana.” The pain in her head increased and she struggled to sit up.
“Yce, you’re going to kill me. Wake up!”
He must have heard her because his eyes fluttered open and found hers immediately. As he looked at her looking back at him, the pain in her head subsided.
“You’re alive,” he finally said.
“As are you.” She found there was a soft smile at the corner of her mouth as the relief washed through her once more.
“I’m sorry.” The words left his mouth as he struggled to rise from his position.
There were bandages all across his chest as well and she could see he was in pain as he hobbled over to her gurney. It seemed Crex had removed the restraints when he’d lessened the meds, knowing Yce would have wanted to get up.
Resting his palm on her forehead, his fingertips brushed against her hair softly.
“Sorry for what?”
“It is my fault you are in pain.”
Ah. She understood now.
“No.” She touched the hand on her forehead and noticed his gaze focused on where her hand was touching his. He wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I was in a lot more pain before I met you.”
She tried to lighten the mood by smiling but it didn’t seem to have an effect on his mood.
“Yce,” she murmured, raising her palm to his cheek.
When he finally met her gaze, there was pain in his white gaze.
“You regret it now, don’t you?” He was looking at her as if he was searching her gaze for an answer and she didn’t know what to say.
Regret what? Staying with him on the Elysium and eventually falling so hard for him she was now wondering why she hadn’t seen it coming from a mile away?
“Can’t you read my mind?”
“I don’t trust myself.”
Even to her, it was strange to hear him so...vulnerable.
Then it hit her that it was because he was vulnerable. In this moment, there was no armor. It was all stripped and he was bare. He was vulnerable and that vulnerability was because of her.
“Yce, if I had the chance to do this all over again...I’d still have gone out there with you.”
The pain didn’t leave his eyes.
“You could have gotten killed.”
“You could have gotten killed too.”
He shrugged as if that didn’t matter.
“You don’t get it, do you?”
When he didn’t reply, she continued. “All my life I’ve been fighting for me. It’s always been me against the world. Alone. I’ve been fighting alone. And then...then I met you. And you,” she chuckled as if she could hardly believe it herself, “you...the last person in the universe I would have thought of to be there beside me...you started fighting for me. You cared.”
There was silence between them for a few minutes and it was only when his thumb brushed away the tear that ran down her cheek that she realized her eyes had watered.
“I don’t have to do this alone anymore,” she finally whispered.
“Does that mean you will stay...with me?” he asked as if the question had been on his mind for a while and it was one that he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer of.
“I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
The smile that broke her lips was genuine. It felt good to say it out loud.
There was nothing waiting for her back on Earth. There, her existence didn’t really matter. But here, with Yce, she could be part of something bigger than herself. She could fight for her freedom and for the freedom of others. Her life would mean something and she wouldn’t just be fighting the demons of her past.
She didn’t have to fight like that anymore.
“And you don’t hate me anymore?” he asked and when she looked at him she saw that his features had softened somewhat.
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” She giggled as he bent his head to hers.
As his lips touched hers, she sighed against him.
“I’m here with you now, Yce. And you are here with me.”
* * *
When they finally managed to exit the med bay, they found Piper cradled in Crex’s lap in the cockpit.
Diana cleared her throat as they entered, feeling somewhat as if they were interrupting them.
The meds were working wonders. It was as if she could feel her body healing, her cells mending her from within. Still, she was leaning most of her weight on Yce, because she could hardly walk.
“How are you feeling?” Piper pulled her attention from the alien she was sitting on to raise her eyebrows at them as they entered the room.
“Like shit.” Diana smiled.
Crex’s eyes were on her and Yce and a knowing look passed over his gaze.
“This is a Tasqal ship,” she heard Yce utter.
“Yes, brother. Piper commandeered it. Now it is ours.”
“Piper?” It was Diana’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
Piper shrugged. “A lot has happened since we jumped ship.”
“Where is the Elysium?” Yce directed his attention to Crex, who leaned back in the pilot’s seat.
“It is at the Muk outpost. We sent a message to the Restitution. A cargo ship will collect it and hold it for repairs.”
She could feel some tension leave Yce’s body and knew he was relieved. She’d realized the ship was important to him from that day he had refused to abandon it and she’d stayed behind with him.
Who would have thought that one decision would have led her here now?
“So what’s the plan?” Diana asked as Yce helped her over to one of the pilots’ seats. Thinking he was going to let her sit, she let out a surprised yelp as he lifted her into his arms and sat, placing her in his lap.
She could feel Crex and Piper’s gaze and her cheeks warmed.
Well, they were going to find out sooner or later for sure.
“We look for the others. Now with Yce here, we can track them down more easily.”
“That’s if they haven’t dug themselves into holes in the sand trying to get away from his tormented psychic groans of distress.” Piper chuckled.
Yce’s eyes glowed white but there was no hostility in his gaze.
“They tell me you blasted everyone around us.” Diana touched his cheek.
“I did,” he said it so matter-of-factly, it brought a smile to her face.
To the point, Mr. Logical. Except, what he had done wasn’t logical and the thought that it was all because of her warmed her somewhat inside.
“I can sense Xul and Kyro,” Yce said, directing his gaze at Crex. “But I can’t sense Kyris.”
>
The room fell silent for a moment. The only sound being a constant beep somewhere in the control room.
“Who was Kyris with again?” Piper asked. “It was so confusing when we had to abandon ship. I don’t remember.”
“He was with Song.” Diana played back the events in her memory. She was sure of it. Kyris had taken off with Song.
The room fell silent again. So much so that Piper’s whisper echoed in the space.
“Do you think they are dead?”
No one answered.
“No,” Yce finally said. “I cannot sense him but I am sure of it. He and your human, Song, will be alive…somewhere.”
Diana sighed.
She hoped he was right. And, although it was all based on his belief in his brother, she found comfort in his words.
She wanted everyone to come out of this alive.
“There’ll be a big fight soon,” Crex said, pulling Piper closer. “We will need you to do what you did to kill all those Hedgeruds again, brother.”
“Big fight?” Diana frowned, looking from him to Yce.
“The Tasqals are angered. They will not rest until we are all dead.” Crex’s eyes suddenly went cold.
“And that’s why we’re going to kill them first,” Piper cut in.
“You will be fighting with the Restitution?” Diana raised an eyebrow at Piper. She hadn’t imagined the woman as a fighter but she guessed that in the circumstances, they’d all grown tougher, faced their demons, and were better for it.
“If he’s going, so am I.” She watched as Piper’s gaze settled on Crex and there was no denying the tension between them. There was definitely something there. Something strong.
Something like what she was feeling for Yce.
Glancing at Yce, she settled back against him.
She felt the same.
If he was going to fight, so was she.
She felt him stiffen against her and realized she must have projected the thought.
“I have to,” she whispered and she watched as the gem in his forehead swirled with yellow and purple.
She knew exactly what he was battling inside.
After what just happened to them, she was sure the thought of her in another battle was the exact opposite of what he wanted.
“My Diana,” Yce murmured and paused. “I cannot stop you. Can I?”
A soft smile graced her face.
He knew what her answer to that was.
“Promise me one thing,” he continued. “If you must fight, promise me it will always be by my side.”
To spend eternity fighting alongside the man she loved?
The decision was easy.
She’d already spent an eternity fighting on her own, and she hadn’t liked it.
“Of course,” she said, resting a palm against his cheek. “Always.”
As she raised her lips to his and sealed her promise with a kiss, it hit her with clarity that this was a new chapter in her life.
A new life among the stars, with a future worth fighting for.
The End
Next in the Series
KYRIS
Book 4 in the Captured by Aliens series
This is the story of Song and Kyris’ journey across Muk and towards each other!
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to my husband.
I always have to thank you because you deserve all the gratitude for making my writing possible. Without your help, I wouldn’t be able to do it.
You mean the world to me.
Love,
A. G.
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About the Author
A. G. Wilde is an avid reader, a gamer, a lover of all things space, alien, and sci-fi.
She is addicted to intense romantic adventures, irresistible heroes, and deliciously naughty things.