Zarik

by Elin Wyn

  “Don’t hold back,” I groaned. “You can’t break me.”

  He nodded with his eyes shut tight, and I could tell he was almost there, too. He drove into me even faster, holding me tighter under his huge body.

  I arched my hips to meet his cock. I wanted so much of him, like he wanted me. His skin rubbed against my clit and sent enormous waves of pleasure all over my body. He panted even more above me as sweat trickled off his face and dropped to my cheeks.

  He slammed his fist on the headboard, and I felt his cock tighten inside me.

  “Oh, God, yes,” I moaned. “Mine, mine.”

  Zarik roared as he shattered within me, his orgasm triggering my own, until we lay together, tangled and exhausted.

  He held himself over me, supported by his elbows, as we panted.

  I brushed my hair from my face. “You do know this is way too small for us to do this too often,” I said breathlessly as I feebly waved my arm to indicate the room.

  He nodded. “I agree. Want to go look for something that fits the both of us?”

  I nodded as I kissed him, over and over.

  Us.

  Forever.

  Zarik

  It was only yesterday that General Rouhr had bestowed the Silver Crystal on me and cleared up everything that I had obsessed about fixing.

  Today, he was having a meeting in the town square for the entire city in order to fully explain what was happening with the Puppet Master and the planet.

  I approved. By putting all of the information out there for everyone, maybe it would cut down on the anti-alien sentiment and help make things less volatile between all of us. Then again, even if I had not approved, I would be there anyway. I was assigned to guard duty.

  A proper duty.

  When I had gone to the armory to get the gear I needed for my guard work, the rest of the teams congratulated me and talked to me like I was one of their own.

  Things were finally at a point where I was no longer the waste of space, but now someone of importance.

  I took my position near the stage that had been erected in the square. The stage was very large, with over a dozen chairs set on it.

  Sitting in the chairs were the women of our lives, a few city leaders, and the general. A light breeze blew from east to west through the square, bringing the tantalizing aromas of Lunch Lane to my nostrils. Something smelled good.

  The large crowd that had already gathered were mumbling and getting to be a bit restless. I looked over at the stage to see Miri looking at me. I flashed her a smile, and was relieved to see the general rise from his seat and head towards the podium.

  “My friends, people of Nyheim, and the people of Ankau watching this,” he said with a nod to the cameras recording and broadcasting to the people unable to be here.

  He opened up with a report about what we had found out in the woods; the lab, the synthetic memory-loss compound, the anti-alien group, all of it. While he spoke, several people in the crowd either gasped or called him a liar.

  He took it all in stride, handling it with class. I would have probably yelled back, called the hecklers all idiots, and had them forcefully removed in order to stop their stupidity from messing up my speech.

  Then again, that’s why I wasn’t in charge and he was.

  Between General Rouhr and Vidia, they explained everything about the Puppet Master and what was happening to the planet.

  “PROVE IT!” someone in the crowd yelled out, immediately followed by numerous others demanding the same thing. I didn’t like the look of the crowd. Too many of them were looking angry, skeptical, and far too nervous. Two men in particular were constantly whispering back and forth, pointing at the stage as they did. I motioned to one of the human guards and brought them to his attention.

  “Keep an eye on them from where you are, I’ll watch them from here,” I whispered. He nodded.

  “Very well,” the general answered the crowd.

  I glanced over and saw his face go blank for a second. “Ladies and gentlemen, I call for your calm and composed behavior. The being known as the Puppet Master will now send some of his tendrils up, not to attack, but to present himself and to communicate with us all.”

  Not a second later, dozens of tendrils slowly came out of the ground, sending several people on the outskirts of the crowd running away while many more screamed and yelled.

  Things were getting out of hand as the tendrils erupted and snaked from the ground. After only a few seconds, things stopped. Four tendrils that came out by the stage wove their way towards a microphone that had been set up at the far corner. I had wondered why that was there.

  But, how was the Puppet Master going to use electronics to speak to everyone? I thought he only spoke in our minds.

  “There are times when I can do more than that, friend Zarik,” came the answer. Okay, that was something different.

  The tendrils wrapped themselves around the microphone and a little bit of feedback sounded through the speakers before the Puppet Master’s unmistakable voice replaced it.

  “I am the center of this world, and it is my charge, my duty, my responsibility to ensure that life on this world continues. I had no intention of causing harm, or causing any kind of pain and suffering when I first made my presence known.”

  He went on to explain that the Xathi ship crashing down on the planet and the subsequent leaking fuels and chemicals had awakened him. Those leaking chemicals, combined with the battles and the raping of resources by the humans were harming the planet, causing him to adjust what he did, which resulted in much of the vegetation of the planet suffering and dying.

  Nothing like a giant talking plant to calm a crowd down.

  Over the next hour, General Rouhr, Vidia, and the Puppet Master answered questions, accusations, and threats.

  The threats were generally answered with an aimed rifle convincing them to stop, or a quick escort away.

  I was diligent in my duties, watching the crowd, especially my two talkers. They weren’t throwing out any threats or accusations, they were simply paying attention and talking between themselves.

  The crowd was still a mixture of skepticism and fear, but it looked as though many in the square were starting to come around. They were believing us and starting to show trust in us. It was a relief to see.

  Then it was time for the women to speak. Miri went first, and that had taken me by surprise. She quickly told her story, and I noticed that several people in the crowd ducked their heads in either shame or embarrassment, while some others seemed to be angry.

  They looked to be angry at what happened, not that it was stopped. That was a good sign, there were people that were against the anti-alien groups.

  The rest of the women spoke up, each telling their experiences and providing their expertise in regards to each particular situation they’d been involved in since we arrived. Finally, it was time for Jeneva to speak, and her words placed the final brick into the bridge that provided the way to unity and potential peace.

  It didn’t hurt that she had given birth to her and Vrehx’s child a week ago and she had brought him with her. Skotan children were, well, if I was honest, we were ugly little things.

  Our scales were constantly in flux, we already had some teeth, which made feeding something very painful from what I had heard.

  We were terrible babies, ugly, and downright nasty.

  It was a wonder anyone wanted to procreate.

  However, I had seen this baby and by the cosmos, he was adorable. His scales were almost like feathers, light and soft little things on the surface of his skin. Tiny little red things, still almost transparent, over skin that matched Jeneva’s skin tone.

  No teeth, but a sweet smile when he slept, which was all the time. Skotan babies yelled and screamed all the time, this baby was quiet.

  Jeneva’s tale, as well as the presentation of her baby, swayed more people to our side than all of the other speeches combined.

  Not even the Puppet Maste
r was as convincing.

  More questions were asked and answered, plans were made, and promises uttered to begin doing things the right way, to help rebuild everything properly.

  We were no longer a divided populace—okay, we were, but not as badly divided—and were working on finding ways to work together.

  We needed unity, not division.

  The planet of Ankau was no longer a split planet.

  It was now a planet that just happened to be home to several different peoples of different origins.

  And I was proud to call it home.

  Epilogue: Miri

  “Wow.” I had said that word a few dozen times since the town meeting. I was still completely blown away from what was said, how people reacted, and from what I had seen from Jeneva.

  A few hours ago, I had no clue who the woman was other than the first one to hook up with one of the aliens, and now as the first one to have a baby with one of them.

  From what Zarik had told me, she had a few complications during the pregnancy, but she survived and now had a darling baby boy.

  I had been lucky enough to sit only a few seats away from her and the baby, so I was able to see him.

  Maybe obsess over him was a better phrase for it.

  That idea that all babies are cute wasn’t necessarily true. I had seen some not-so-cute babies.

  I wouldn’t call them ugly because no baby is ugly, but not all babies are the same in cuteness.

  This baby, though, holy damn was that little dude cute as hell. The combination of human and Skotan DNA resulted in a very cute child. It helped that Jeneva was a babe and Vrehx was a decent-looking guy…I think.

  I mean, I know that I’m in love with and highly attracted to a Skotan, but my Skotan looked better.

  I looked up at him as we walked hand-in-hand, going to different parts of town looking for an apartment or something for us to live in.

  His tiny little room wasn’t exactly something that a couple could live in. I mean, it was one room, with nothing in it but a desk and a bed.

  How could we live in a place that small?

  And my apartment? Too many memories.

  So, we were looking around, trying to find a quaint little place of our own. Maybe a place big enough for more than just the two of us.

  Damn, that baby was friggin’ cute.

  I had apparently been staring at Zarik for a while. “Are you okay?” he asked me. “You’ve got a very weird look on your face.”

  “Oh,” I said, shaking my head and turning away from him. “I was just thinking.”

  “I see,” he smiled. “What about? As if I couldn’t tell.”

  I stopped walking and looked at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He laughed. “You’ve had that look on your face ever since you saw Jeneva and the baby. I might not be terribly smart, but I can tell when you’re thinking really hard about something.”

  I had to come clean. “Okay, okay. I am a little preoccupied right now. It’s,” I hesitated, “it’s just that, I was wondering if you ever thought about,” I took a breath and let it out slowly. He grabbed my hands and knelt down to look at me eye to eye. I smiled sheepishly, then continued. “Have you ever thought about having a family? You know, having kids and stuff?”

  He smiled, kissed me on the cheek, then led me to a nearby bench. “To be honest, no.”

  Oh.

  Well, that hurt. He put his hand on my chin and made me look at him. “At least not until now.”

  Wait, what?

  He licked his lips and kept going. “I went through life thinking I would be a soldier forever. That we’d be fighting forever. I never thought that there would be time for me to be a father.” He looked away for a moment and I could see the pain in his eyes. He was thinking about the mistake he had made so many years ago. “I wouldn’t deserve to be a father.”

  I hoped for a “but” to be added to that. I really hoped for a “but”.

  He took a deep breath and turned back to me. “Then I met you and everything changed.”

  My heart started beating rapidly. My breath caught in my throat.

  “Now, when I look at you,” he said, “I can see my life being happy. I can see my life finally being worth living.” He leaned in and kissed me. “And, mate, if you and I end up having children, I know that I would be the happiest male in the star system.”

  I let out a happy little squeal as I threw my arms around him and held him tightly. “Really? You mean it?”

  I felt him nod against me and I couldn’t have been happier. I was terrified at the idea of having a little life growing inside me, eventually, but the idea made me so happy.

  Wait, mate? One thing at a time, brain.

  “You have no idea how great that sounds to me,” I said.

  “I hope I do,” he responded. “Because the idea of having children with you makes my heart race with joy.” We kissed and I started to run my hands up and down his body. He gently pulled away from me and grabbed my hands. “Slow down. We’re in public, remember?”

  I actually hadn’t, and that was a bit embarrassing. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” he chuckled. “Maybe we should decide if we need a place for just the two of us, or something a little larger.”

  A little larger.

  For a family.

  Mate.

  “Marry me,” I blurted out.

  He jerked his head back towards me, a mixture of shock and excitement in his eyes.

  “What?”

  I nodded. “Marry me. Like humans do. And we’ll do whatever Skotan ritual you want.” My mind raced. “There’s so much I don’t know, and you’ll have to teach me, and…”

  His face was blank.

  Shit.

  Maybe he hadn’t meant to say mate yet. Maybe it was a slip of the tongue, or I’d misheard, or...

  “You really want to be with me forever?” he asked, wonder in his voice.

  I nodded, terrified.

  Had I just taken it too far, too fast?

  He lifted me until I was taller than even he was and swung me around, laughing.

  “Whatever you want, whatever ceremony makes you happy,” he said, and his smile shattered the fear around my throat.

  “But what do you want?” I insisted.

  “Miri,” he said, “just stay by my side. That’s all you need to do.”

  I smiled down on him and kissed him on the nose.

  “Always.”

  Letter from Elin

  And with that, we’re starting to move into what my evil brain thinks of as phase three of the Conquered World…

  Next we’ll start to see the edges of a whole new enemy, one that even General Rouhr and the Urai never imagined.

  And first up to meet the enemy?

  Grumpy, snarky Sk’lar, the head of Strike team three. When he has to work with Phryne, the human head of security, you know sparks are going to fly!

  Keep reading for a sneak peek of Sk’lar, or get it on Amazon now!

  XOXO,

  Elin

  P.S. Did you miss the coming of Vrehx and Jeneva’s baby? Click here for Vrehx’s Quest!

  Sk’lar: Sneak Peek

  Phryne

  The blaring alarm startled me so badly that I jumped. Scalding hot coffee splashed over the steel rim of my cup and onto the array of datapads on my desk.

  “Shit,” I muttered more out of frustration rather than fear. I’d woken up hours before my alarm was set to go off. I’d been doing that ever since our sky split open and genocidal bug aliens started pouring into our world.

  That was over a year ago, yet I still couldn’t manage to remember to turn off my alarm.

  I grabbed a cloth and dabbed coffee off the surface of the datapads. I’d spent the better part of two hours reading over various reports from the city of Nyhiem and nearly every surrounding settlement.

  Three days ago, General Rouhr and Councilwoman Vidia – my boss- decided to make an ally of the giant tentacle-y
plant thing that held us hostage not too long ago.

  It’s sentient enough to hold a conversation, which was a huge surprise to me. However, I hadn’t had the opportunity to converse with it myself.

  Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.

  A week ago, I was brainstorming ideas on how to kill the damn thing. Vidia and Rouhr might’ve been able to switch gears and take their tea with the thing but I wasn’t ready to do that. After all, the plant thing was smart enough to use advanced military tactics.

  I should start calling it by its name, I supposed. The Puppet Master. Not sure who came up with that. It was clever when the thing was our enemy. It seemed a little rude now that the creature was our ally, but politeness wasn’t one of my strong suits. I was too direct for that kind of thing.

  I get results.

  Sometimes I have to be kind of a dick those results but I didn’t lose any sleep over it.

  The reports I’d been reading mostly consisted of various groups bitching about General Rouhr and Vidia’s decision to accept the Puppet Master as an ally.

  I could understand their hesitation. The average citizen wasn’t privy to the details exchanged between their leader and the Puppet Master in that hole in the desert.

  I, however, was privy to those details. In fact, I had that conversation and all others following carefully transcribed and sent over to me. That was what was on one of the many datapads strewn across my workspace.

  Once the spilled coffee was wiped up, I got up to get ready for my day. I’d gotten a fair amount of work done but nowhere near as much as I wanted to have done by now.

  Vidia often said that was one of my downfalls. I could do ten times the work of everyone else and still think I haven’t done enough.

  I walked to my bathroom. My apartment complex was right next to the central government building of Nyhiem. It came complimentary with the job.