Warrior of the Stars

by Lucee Joie

  “The guards have said some horrible things to me,” I started. “One made obscene gestures at me while he walked past the bars.”

  “Go on,” Horgeer insisted.

  I swallow hard before proceeding.

  “One even tries to touch me every time he is near. Before you came, he groped at me.” I said as I pointed out my chest. “He made these marks.”

  Horgeer stares at my breasts and I feel the heat rising once more in my cheeks. Slowly, he reaches out and traces the lines made by Ece. His fingers are soft and seem to absolve the shame I felt when the guard attacked me earlier. I close my eyes, but still, tears escape and I am surprised that I am so ready to cry about the incident. Although, if I am being entirely truthful, these tears have been a long time coming. Ever since I was taken from the train, I have tried to lock it all away and pretend that I am stronger than that. This situation is scary and strange and it makes me yearn for my parents in a way I hadn’t done so since I was a small child.

  Warm arms envelope me and I sink into Horgeer’s embrace. My sobs intensify and I allow it to happen, for the grief to pour out of me. In a way, this was more revealing than being naked for the first time with him. I feel exposed like never before.

  Yet, I still can’t stop crying.

  “Shh,” Horgeer whispers into my hair. “It’ll be alright.”

  And, I know he is right, that his words are true even though I am trapped and cannot escape.

  My mind is all over the place as I cry for myself. Yet, I also know that I am not alone, that there are likely others held captive, just like I am, and my mind catches on this thought, distracts me from my own agony.

  “How many others are like me here?” I finally ask as my sobs subside.

  “There are more,” Horgeer answers after a pause. “Plenty more.”

  I blink slowly as I swallow hard. “Humans?”

  I sit up, my wet eyes searching out Horgeer’s so that he only needs to nod his answer.

  “Are all of your kind like you?” I question further.

  “Some are. Many are not. Most of my kind are warriors, not akin to emotions and the feelings of others. In a way, it is probably the root of our problems. If only we had spent more time caring about others then maybe we would have noticed earlier that our race was faltering, that our womenfolk were no longer thriving.”

  I try to imagine what it must be like to know that you might be the very last of your line, and what it must feel like to look out over that extinction line knowing that you will never pass on your history and your memories to those that should be coming after you.

  I remember the deaths of my own parents, of feeling like I was the last of my kind after they had gone. Then, as I grew older, the weight of not having a partner. Not producing children that could pass on my parent’s traits was, at times, overwhelming to me. Yet, I knew I still had time to bear children, to continue my line. To be in Horgeer’s position, to truly know that he might be the very last of his kind, that triggers something deep inside of me.

  Suddenly, I understand why I am here, why I have been taken so abruptly. Sure, I knew this previously, Horgeer has explained it all to me. However, it now hits me with a clarity not earlier felt. With that, I am glad that I have been tasked with such a momentous job. Because, to see Horgeer as the last of his kind, was something I could no longer bear. I may have only known him for a few days but already I can’t imagine not knowing him.

  “I am glad that I am here,” I finally whisper and Horgeer touches my face. I close my eyes and lean into his hand.

  “You don’t have to say these things,” he whispers into my hair, his hot breath causing loose strands to dance across my face. “I understand your kind are not partial to what you call slavery.”

  I sit up and stare directly at Horgeer. “I mean it. I am thankful for being here, to be given the honor of learning about your kind, of being able to help you. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be on the brink of extinction, not truly anyway, and I hope I can help you out.”

  My hand involuntarily goes to my belly. It is still flat but I wonder if a baby already resides there, a creature that will look more like Horgeer than me and I hope for the luck of a girl.

  Horgeer leans forward suddenly, his lips crashing into mine and I return his embrace, my arms reaching around him, drawing him further in. This time I want to make love to him as my equal, as a partner to this man, a participant in the activity that I haven’t quite allowed myself previously. I want to make love to this man, this handsome creature that is so strange looking yet so very delicious all at the same time.

  I bite at his lip and hear a rumble in the back of his throat.

  The hiss of the airlock alerts me to the fact that someone is entering the room and, for a moment. I don’t even care.

  Horgeer, however, pulls away and positions himself between myself and the doctor.

  “It’s time for your examination.”

  I lay back, letting my arm cover my eyes as I sigh and wish for more time with my new alien lover.

  Chapter Ten: Horgeer

  It is hard to get myself back into my pants, to ignore the raging erection that Beth has caused. It feels like my world is spinning around me, that nothing is quite real, that if I reach out to touch anything, it will shoot away from me, never to return. Beth seems to like me and I cannot believe it. I dare not believe it.

  Never have I imagined that this human would have feelings for me. Sure, I feel things for her that I am surprised to encounter but I never dared to believe that the feelings would be reciprocated, not when she had originally been taken against her will. If it were me in her situation I would be pissed and not want any part of those involved.

  I am glad that she is not like me.

  Ece has told me all about humans, about how indignant they usually are at being forcibly removed from their home planet. Normally, they were abrupt and tried hard to escape their surrounds. Many times, restraints were used until they fell pregnant. They may be abrasive while without child but most became little wildcats when it came to protecting their young once they were born.

  As the doctor talks to Beth and examines her I turn away, the moment of our passion now lost to the vulgarities of reality. I stride from the room, wishing I could stay, that Beth and I could continue the exploration of each other’s bodies.

  While I had access to her, had won her–albeit thanks to Ece’s meddling–it still didn’t really mean that I owned her. The Galactic Union, formed and headed by my own race, owned her outright, all in the name of preservation. If Beth were to become pregnant, the child would be taken from her as soon as breastfeeding duties were complete. A girl child would be cherished by the nursemaids assigned to the task. If a boy were produced, he would eventually go into servitude for the Union, as unwanted as girls were before that sex had nearly died out.

  “Horgeer!” I turn at the sound of Ece’s voice. His hand claps down on my shoulder and I smile at my friend.

  I follow him to the bar and order a drink as he tells me all about his day. Even though Ece is a guard like me, he is actually more important than any other Ochek on board the ship. He is Emperor Thahars’ son. Which means that he has much more sway on board than anyone else. I am thankful for his friendship, especially considering it is only my rank on board this ship that truly put me into his sights.

  As a result of this position, when our drinks arrive, I have a matter to bring up with him, that he might be able to answer for me.

  “Beth tells me that some of the guards are being harsh towards her.”

  “Beth?” Ece asks, confused.

  “My human,” I reply, shrinking away from the expression.

  “Ah, yes,” Ece replies as he swigs heartily from his drink. The blue liquid is gone before it even has time to create condensation on the glass. “What does it matter if they are?”

  I try hard to force down the anger that is starting to rise inside as I repeat the phrase back to Ece. “Wh
at does it matter? It matters because it is causing her grief.”

  I put my glass down more forcibly than I should and the drink slops over the side.

  Ece looks up at me and I avoid his gaze, as though the thunk of the glass against the bar was an accident. He is not the only person to have noticed and I can feel the gaze of others in the room on me and I try my hardest to control my emotions.

  It must seem irrational to others around me but they have no idea that Beth is anything more than a breeding device, that she has thoughts and feelings and has totally pledged herself to me. I try to backtrack, to seem like I am not really as invested in Beth as what I have just displayed.

  “And, you know that it is important to keep our humans happy if we want them pliable and open to conception.” The words feel like moon rocks in my mouth and I try not to choke on them as I take another drink.

  “She’s just a human,” Ece laughs and it takes everything I have not to punch him. “It’s sport to provoke them. She’ll conceive whether she is happy to be here or not. It’s a myth that they can make themselves not conceive. I thought you were smarter than that. Or has the power of your human’s pussy made you stupid?”

  I have hit him before I even realize I have pulled my fist back. His nose explodes in a red splatter of blood and I jump on him, the smell of his gushing blood exciting me further, encouraging my rage.

  “What the fuck?” Ece shouts out through the blood, spitting red into my face as he does so.

  “How dare you call Beth sport!” I yell as I lay into him further. My fist is aching with the impact of hitting him and I have straddled him by now so that he has nowhere to go. Ece is solid, though, he has more muscle mass than I do and he manages to flip me as I pull back to strike once more.

  Before Ece can really lay one back on me, we are being pulled apart. Guards have arrived from everywhere and we are quickly dragged to opposite sides of the room.

  “There is no excuse for your behavior,” General Rukkali roars across the desk at me. I look downwards, watching the blood dripping onto the stark white of the floor as a means to distract myself, to help draw my anger inwards, in an effort to dispel the rage. “No excuse at all. I have no choice but to strip you of your title and assign you to the docks for the term of a moon cycle.”

  I look up quickly, shocked at the reprimand. “But it was just an argument, nothing serious.” Although I know this isn’t true, friends or not, I just punched the royal heir in the face. His father will be out to get my blood and Rukkali has likely had his butt kicked prior to this meeting.

  “Besides the fact that you threatened the only heir to the throne, we can’t have this sort of behavior when there are humans on board. You know how they react merely by being here. The last thing we need is them thinking they can cause a mutiny on board. As of now, you have been also been stripped of you human and she will be reassigned to another.”

  I blink at the general, trying my hardest not to jump across his desk and snap his nose as well. “You can’t take Beth away from me.”

  I know that I am making a grave mistake by calling Beth by her name in front of Rukkali. It is not doing me any favors since it is preferred that no emotional attachments are made to the humans outside of the breeding program.

  “There will be no further discussion on the matter,” Rukkali says and I fantasize about breaking his nose, of how warm the blood will be as it runs over my hand.

  I blink and realize that this is not just my imagination, I really have smashed in the nose of the most senior officer on this craft.

  Shit.

  I bound from the room, seeing no other option but to flee.

  Chapter Eleven: Beth

  I hear a ruckus outside my room and sit up quickly, pulling the sheet around me, not really sure how it would offer any serious protection.

  “Quick, get dressed,” Horgeer says as he appears at the bars of my room. “We don’t have much time if we want to escape.”

  I don’t even question it. I simply get up and start pulling on clothes. Horgeer has unlocked the door but he is positioned in the doorway, holding the door open for me, his hand beckoning me onwards, urging me to hurry.

  Pulling clothes from the drawers, I have no idea what I am actually wearing as I rush towards the door. As I approach, Horgeer holds up a hand and I stop, not sure what is going on. I hear a click as his wrist passes over my neck. The shocker falls from my throat and I rub my neck, surprised to be suddenly free of the device as well as deeply concerned–just what sort of shit is he in?

  Horgeer grabs my hand and drags me from the room. Even with my concerns, I don’t look back as the door clangs into place. I trust him even though I am surprised that I do.

  I have no idea where he is leading me or even how we will ever escape our confines, especially if we really are on an aircraft that is barreling through space, as I strongly suspect. Yet, I follow him blindly as my chest heaves and my legs feel like they are on fire with trying to keep up with him, who is obviously built for speed.

  “What happened?” I finally ask when Horgeer stops at a room. He fiddles with the door, not passing his hand over it like he normally does. Instead, he has a strange device, somewhat like a screwdriver, and he tinkers away until there is a popping sound. Finally, he leads me through the doorway and into the darkened room where we stop to rest.

  “They wanted to assign you to someone else because I punched an imperial heir in the mouth for talking badly about you,” he replies and my heart leaps into my throat.

  I haven’t even considered that I was at the beck and call of the upper management and could be passed around like a plate of food at a party.

  I stare at Horgeer in wonder. I have always been the type of girl that is out to save myself. Those stories of women waiting for men to rescue them always left me cold. But, just now, with Horgeer admitting that he punched someone–and a prince to boot–well, that was just hot. So. Damn. Hot. My insides clench at the thought of this alpha male defending me in such a manner.

  “Where are we going?” I whisper in order to distract myself from the fact that I want to strip off and fuck his brains out.

  “I have a friend,” Horgeer replies. “He should shelter me once he realizes the situation, even after what I did.”

  “Can he be trusted?”

  “He’s the only friend I have here.” I nod and reach out to clasp his hand. Horgeer squeezes my fingers before pulling me into his strong arms. “I will protect you with my life if I have to.”

  A lump forms in my throat and I am amazed at how quickly I have fallen for this guy, this unusual alien who also happens to be the strongest–and hottest–man I have ever encountered.

  It’s hard to imagine that merely days ago I was stuck in my rut of a life that saw no change, no excitement. A normal night involving a microwaved meal and binging on the latest television series, and now that feels like worlds away–which in a way, it is.

  Fast forward and I am now an alien abductee on the run from the law. In a spaceship. I shake my head, still not believing it is true.

  Horgeer kisses the top of my head so gently that it nearly brings tears to my eyes. I have always searched for love, yearned for it, yet settled for way less. The closest I ever came to it was a three month stretch with a guy who promised he would leave his wife. Spoiler alert: he didn’t.

  I bite my lip as I look up into Horgeer’s dark eyes and realize that I never want to be anywhere but in his embrace. Reaching up, I cup his face in my hands and lean forward, my lips yearning for his.

  Our embrace sizzles when we finally kiss. As our lips crash into each other, I am desperate for his touch. My lips part and our kiss deepens as I tangle my fingers in Horgeer’s thick hair. While his body is covered in tan fur, it lengthens out on his head, reminding me of a lion’s mane.

  His hands roam over my body and I melt into him, my breasts crushing into his chest and I can feel his hot, urgent need as it grows against my belly.

 
Picking me up, Horgeer wraps me around his waist so that my legs straddle his hips and his erection is now rubbing against my core. Only thin material separates us from joining and I groan into our kiss at the thought.

  “I need you now,” I growl into Horgeer’s open mouth.

  He doesn’t need to be told twice.

  Still joined at the lips, he places me down onto a bench behind us. Horgeer pulls at his pants, unleashing his mighty erection, which springs free as soon as he unbuttons his pants. I bite down on his lip as I wriggle out of my pants as well.

  Horgeer grabs my lips, lifting me up and onto his cock. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I lock my ankles behind his back as he enters my welcoming tunnel. I rake my fingers across his back and bite his shoulder, my passion mounting until I feel like I could explode.

  We kiss once more, Horgeer’s tongue probing my mouth and I welcome him hungrily as our pace quickens.

  I am close, so damn close to a release that I can feel hot tears threatening. I want to scream out my passion but am mindful that we might be heard, that we should be on the run and not pounding away like this.

  Horgeer is groaning into my mouth, a rumble of delicious anticipation erupts through me with the sound and I can tell he is close to the edge as well.

  As we collide in a desperate frenzy that can only be felt when your very life is on the line, I can’t believe that living on the edge like this can make sex so fucking good. A small part of me is listening out for the influx of guards that I assume are coming but most of me just doesn’t care as my climax rips through me and I roar out my release. A second or two later Horgeer is doing the same and we are now floating together, settling down into our love and it feels like a cloud of bliss.

  Chapter Twelve: Horgeer

  Here I am trying to keep her safe and what actually happens is that we forget about everything in order to have galaxy-shattering sex. My mind is all over the place after my orgasm, part of me just doesn’t care about anything other than the warm depths of Beth and how much I want to remain there.