by Liz Paffel
“Open for me. I must taste you.”
Shuddering, she did as he asked and suddenly his tongue was licking her slit from top to bottom and back up again, swirling around her clit with firm, yet gentle strokes that forced stars to erupt behind her eyes. She cried out, her fingers digging into his hair. The sensations he caused were beautiful but scared her a little, too. She’d never felt anything like this… what if she lost control?
Tryllin increased the pace and pressure, lapping her up like a treat. Her legs began to quiver, a heady pressure building in her sex that pushed her to the very edge of control. Something softly brushed between her pussy lips—his fingers—and slipped inside, thrusting carefully in and out until he drove them in completely. She cried out, her back arching as the delicious pressure skyrocketed, leading her, calling her.
He pulled her clit lightly between his lips and she made a terrifying freefall, crying out again and again as pleasure convulsed through every inch of her.
“Yes, my little human. Yes, yes.” His words murmured in her ear as he covered her with his body and gathered her hips in his hands. Spreading her thighs even farther with the touch of his knee, his lined up the tip of his cock at her entrance and slowly thrust in. The feeling drew out the licks and zings of pleasure still swirling through her. He entered farther, his length and size stretching and intruding with both pleasure and pain. With one final push, he seated himself fully, his feratt rubbing against her tender, swollen clit.
She could barely breathe or think, but her body responded as she relaxed, wrapping her thighs around him as he began to thrust. Each draw and pull of his cock mixing a bruising ache with sweet, sweet pleasure, his nub rubbing against hers until her body and mind went completely under. Time, place, disappeared as she succumbed to the sensations. She was tense, yet limp, relaxed, yet tight until suddenly she was thrust into the sky and her body shattered into intense pleasure.
Tryllin held her tightly as he buried himself, the strong pulse of his release filling her sex. She was barely aware of her own cries until she realized he was cradling her in his arms, smiling down at her with the most brilliant, beautiful smile she ever imagined possible.
They lay there together in the water until their breathing slowed. Picking her up in his arms, he brought her back to deeper depths where he lathered her with sweet smelling soap from the poolside basket. They didn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say; wasn’t sure she could fully comprehend what they’d just done as long as he was here.
She’d just made love to her alien captor.
Her heart thumped hard against her chest. Did this… did this change things between them?
A buzzing noise like an alert sounded in the room. Tryllin tapped on his wrist comm.
“Yes?”
“My King, the Nozing craft has been located.”
He grinned, showing the tips of his pointed canines. Alora shivered.
“I am coming.”
He pulled her quickly from the water and wrapped her in a towel. He dried and dressed far faster than she could. His gaze swept her up and down, his expression cold.
“You will return to your cell and put on the captive’s dress you were originally given. Someone will retrieve you so you may start your work in the lab.”
Her stomach bottomed out, tears hitting her eyes.
She’d given him her body. And it had changed nothing.
Chapter Twelve
Tryllin steeled his emotions and locked them away.
He would not think about the amazing mating he and Alora had just shared, or the odd emotions it had cultivated inside him. The tenderness. The protectiveness.
The wanting… so much wanting for more.
He’d been having conflicting feelings for her since she arrived in the compound and it was unacceptable. She was here to serve a purpose, and it wasn’t as his mate. She was the weapon that would finally erase the Nozing and prove his ability as a warrior King. Putting her back into captive’s clothing was the best way to remind them both of her place here.
Besides, he had something else to focus on. His scouts had found their enemy.
The control room was buzzing when he walked in. An array of maps and geo locations were pulled up both on the solid screens and in the air.
“My King,” Quixx said as he rushed over. “We’ve found the Nozing tactical ship, cloaked fourteen miles to the North of us, hidden in a field the humans consider dead land as it is not appropriate for farming due to poor soil, and has been abandoned.”
Tryllin hitched a brow. Made sense. Most Nozing tactical craft were nearly half a mile wide. It took a lot of space to hide one.
“Tech Command was able to break into their communications frequency using a device found with one of the prisoners. We’re transcribing all of their comms as they come in.”
Tryllin waved a finger at one of his men to pull up the transcriptions. They appeared on a large screen, neon green letters populating into sentences written in the Nozing language. Quickly, the words each made a horizontal flip as it was translated into Axxeon.
“Do we know how many enemy ships are on this terraform?”
“Only the one, Sir.” Quixx swiped a screen in the air and pulled up a dot on a map. It enlarged and he scrolled through it down a series of streets until they left the city behind for the outskirts lined with trees and large stretches of grass. A sprawling complex of dilapidated brick buildings came into view.
Forward House Mental Institution
The name was written in peeling black letters on a chipped white sign.
“What is this place?”
Quixx shrugged. “I am not sure, but it is also abandoned. An atmospheric sweep with our cloaked drones found hundreds of heat signatures in the lower portion of the main building. Here.” He pointed to the largest of the five buildings. Words were stamped into a large stone plate above the main door: Treatment Facility and Ward.
Adrenaline pumped through Tryllin, tightening his muscles and making him restless. “The Nozing have turned this building into a compound. Go to glass view.”
Quixx grumbled. “I will attempt to do so again, my King, though I was unable to see through the walls earlier.”
He enlarged the view on the screen, tapping in the code that allowed the scan to create solid matter into a glass view and giving them a peek behind the walls. The transmission blurred and turned to static, creating a fuzzy, muted image.
“The stone wall is made of quartz. It’s reflecting back the scan.”
Some natural materials found on Earth had the frustrating ability to thwart even the best Axxeon tech.
A sense of urgency coursed through him. Alora needed to create the xerron-G weapon immediately. It would render the Nozing unconscious long enough that the secondary weapon could be implanted onto their ship without their knowledge. They would need enough xerron-G for the compound and the ship. He couldn’t risk a single Nozing inside the building getting tipped off. Death looked good on the Nozing, but unconsciousness was a good start.
His body tingled at the sudden remembrance of Alora’s taste against his tongue. Soon, she would be gone.
Completely erased.
“May I ask what you are thinking, my King?”
“Assemble three groups of three warriors each to scout these buildings. I suspect we’ll find the missing firefighters there. Our warriors will not show themselves or engage in any combat. We do not want the Nozing to know we are there.” He cut Quixx a hard look. “Any ripple in the water at this moment could disrupt carrying out the plan.”
“Understood.”
“Follow me to the prison. Make arrangements as we walk.” Tapping on his comlet, he ordered Jahtal to bring Alora and the other human scientist to the lab and wait for him there.
With long, urgent strides, he descended to the prison while Quixx spoke through his comlet to organize teams. The Nozing captives were in cells, some on the floor, some huddled on the small bed. Others, hanging onto the bars
and staring out with blank expressions. His lip turned up in distaste. He’d ordered each prisoner to be sprayed with disinfectant and put through the showers, then dressed in the boxy shirt and pants of a male captive, but the smell of illness and decay clung. Nothing could cover up what they’d done to themselves.
Tryllin stopped before the row of prisoners and assessed them coolly. They began to stir as he entered, all eyes on him gleaming in various shades of hatred. All but one.
The Nozing approached the bars but was roughly pushed away by another.
“My King, I seek counsel with you.” The Nozing’s head bowed, his shoulders hunched submissively. He was quickly pummeled but the two men next to him as they hissed and spat aggressive words between them.
“Enough!” Tryllin approached the bars. Grabbing his blaster from his hip, he aimed it at the Nozing closest to the bars. “Back up or I disintegrate you where you stand.”
Both of the enemy retreated, leaving only the hunched man in the middle. “Come toward me with your hands out.”
“My King,” Quixx hurried. “I will retrieve him.”
“No.” Tryllin stopped his warrior with a glare. He was doing this himself, King or not.
Were these very Nozing the same that had dropped the virus onto his planet that killed all of their women? The thought filled him with rage. It could be one or more of them, right here before him, responsible for the destruction of his species. He alone would do the interrogating.
Censoring his emotions, Tryllin returned to the prisoner and gestured him out of the cell. The man complied, arms shaking as if holding them up was a great effort. Pulling cuffs from his belt, Tryllin snapped them onto the Nozing and indicated he should sit at the table in the middle of the room. The man complied, head bowed, and placed his hands on the table in clear view.
Tryllin stood on the other side of the table and gestured to Quixx. “Lower the dome.”
A net of lasers created a shimmering blue dome around the table.
“This electric grid is linked to your cuffs. One wrong move and you will be electrocuted to your death. Do you understand?”
“I do, my King.”
“It also provides privacy. No one outside of the grid can hear anything we speak of. What is it that you want to say?”
From the corner of his eye, Tryllin saw Hahn slide into the room. He spotted them and approached. With a sigh, Tryllin had the dome lowered so his brother could join before putting it back in place. Hahn cocked his head, eyes narrowed as he took in the botched face of their enemy. The swollen cheeks and metal implant above what used to be his left eye, red and infected. His hair hung in balding patches, long and stringy. A large lump stuck out from his neck, his collarbone misshapen as if an implant had been put in but shifted and lodged somewhere it should not be.
“My Kings,” the Nozing said. “I offer myself for sacrifice, torture, or servitude as you see fit in exchange for a life.”
Hahn crossed his arms. “A life?”
“The Prince. I’m humbly begging you to save my Prince.” There was a squeaking sound as the man took a breath. He pointed to the Nozing with pure white hair-- the healthy one. “He is the last of our kind who is unmodified.”
“How did he escape modification?”
“The Prince put himself into hiding years ago. He is horrified by the terrors his father is causing on the galaxy, and adamant that our people not be forced to endure the modifications. He is… he is a good Prince who wants something different for us. Peace. To be allowed our own bodies and actions. But autonomy is not the Nozing way.”
Tryllin walked the length of the table. “Why are you sharing information with me?”
The Nozing shrugged. “Maybe one of my mutations has allowed me to develop a conscious.”
Unlikely. But if the prisoner was willing to talk, Tryllin was happy to spare the torture in order to get it out of him.
“Where has your prince been hiding?”
The Nozing raised his gaze, his watery blue eye strong and determined. “Here. He followed you here, my King, after the death of your planet, in hopes of approaching you to find forgiveness and peace.”
Hahn gave a hard, sardonic laugh. “The Nozing will not allow peace. What is your name, liar?”
“U-5. I do not remember my name given at birth, only my modification number, Sir.”
Hahn moved as if to strike the man down, but Tryllin stopped him with a touch on his arm. “How did your people find the prince here?”
“Prince E’lothin said he found a way to deactivate his tracking device, but it must have turned back on after these few years had passed. We homed in on his signal about six human months ago.”
Hahn caught his brother’s eye. “You’ve been on this terraform for six months?”
U-5 licked his lips with a split tongue. “My Kings, the Nozing have been in negotiations with the human leaders for untold years, just as the Axxeon have. In these recent times, humans have demanded more from us in exchange for use of resources. Like you, we gather water and soil.” His voice cut off as he swirled a finger on the table. “Also like you, we have a need for human women.”
Tryllin’s body stiffened. “What have the humans demanded from you in exchange?”
U-5 shifted in his chair, his left leg bouncing erratically. His breathing ticked up and he shifted again as he cast a glance back at his cell mates. “My Kings, will you promise that you will kill me once we are done? I cannot be returned to my own or they will strip each bit of skin from my body and remove my organs one by one until I am dead for treason.”
Tryllin worked his jaw. “I promise.” He ignored the look his brother shot him. “Continue.”
U-5 sniffed and dropped his gaze again to the table. “They have begun human selection. Removing genetically undesirable humans from this city so more desirable offspring can be bred. Once all undesirables have been erased here, they will move on to the next city.”
He knew about the government’s intention to begin a selective breeding program in order to create humans who are resistant to disease, intelligent, and physically strong. It wasn’t unlike what the Nozing themselves were trying to do. And to some extent, the Axxeon. When resources begin to dwindle and disease overtakes a population, the reaction is to create offspring who have a better chance for survival while not consuming as many precious resources.
“You brought the degarzee,” Hahn spat.
“Yes.”
“By order of the United States government?”
U-5 nodded. “They know that creating terror and mass panic often causes humans to turn against each other. It will help their mission if humans assist in culling each other, leaving more room for desirable offspring to grow. Besides, the degarzee are insatiable and can kill an entire sector of humans in one swipe by creating intense fire. They are an alien species, therefore, blame can be diverted by the government and placed elsewhere.”
The human leaders had known about the Nozing all along. The Axxeon were allowed to collect resources and initiate the Summons for their own breeding program. In exchange, they were to protect the earth from the Nozing… the very same enemy the government was also working with. Not only did the humans acquire a deadly alien species as a killing machine, they were likely going to blame it on the Axxeon.
What a fitting way to try and drive the Axxeon from Earth… or start a war.
Something clicked.
“Did the humans promise to disclose Axxeon locations in exchange?”
U-5 was silent for a moment. “No, but they mentioned they would not interfere if we killed each other off, or if a human mutiny resulted in alien deaths.”
Hahn laughed. The humans were playing both sides. Weakling bastards. As if they could intervene in a war between the Axxeon and the Nozing and stop either.
“I’ve heard enough,” Tryllin barked. “I will move you to the laboratory where my human scientist will use you as a test subject. If you die in the process, then you will have your wi
sh.”
U-5 pulled in a breath through his nose, his expression falling. He’d hoped for an immediate end to his misery. He stood at Hahn’s urging.
“You will spare my Prince? I have done my part and now—”
Tryllin looked to the private cell where Prince E’lothin lay on the cot with his back to the bars. “I will spare your prince. But it’s up to him to ensure that he lives.”
Chapter Thirteen
“You are not leaving this room until the weapon is ready.”
Alora’s brow furrowed as Tryllin deposited a mutilated looking alien into the observation box in the lab. He stepped willingly inside the plexiglass box and sat on the small fold-out cot against the far wall, head hung low, hands clasped before him.
The King looked at her as if he were waiting for a response. Anger welled up, deep and hot. How dare he! First, he’d made love to her in the freaking pool of all places, and now he was all bossiness and business. Her middle tightened and it wasn’t just from nerves.
“I haven’t eaten.”
Her admission caused him to do a double take. “I will send food.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you have everything else that you need?”
She looked at Priya who stood in the corner with her arms crossed, her gaze on the floor. Her friend hadn’t been right since coming back from the lab raid. Who would be after being stormed by aliens and having to put yourself in a cage to protect your life?
“I don’t know yet.”
“There’s been a change of plans. We need four delivery devices.”
“Why four?”
He gestured for her to approach him, but Alora stayed put. She wasn’t about to go running to him. Grinding his jaw, he came to her and yanked her to him the last few inches.
“We have found a Nozing compound at a place called the Forward House Mental Institution. Do you know of it?”
His scent accosted her senses, making her pulse pick up. She ached between the legs as a potent reminder of his huge shaft inside her. For her first time, it hadn’t been nearly as painful as she’d been expecting. Probably because his feratt had rubbed her so good—