The Alien's Escape: A SciFi Alien Warrior Romance (Drixonian Warriors Book 2)

by Ella Maven

  “C-c-calm d-down, Val,” I stuttered to myself. Hearing my own voice grounded me a little, and my lungs finally loosened. I gratefully sucked in as much air as I could. I collapsed onto the floor on my side, my cheek pressing into the gritty floor.

  I was a grown woman, but right now I wanted my mom, damnit. The hole in my heart which had opened like a fissure since her death widened. Maybe it was better this way. If she’d been alive, and I missed our morning texts, she’d be frantic. But now no one would miss me. Not for a while at least. I’d spent the last two years of my life either working or caring for my mom between her cancer treatments as she battled breast cancer. No friends would expect me to go out for drinks with them, and certainly no men were waiting on me.

  After a few moments of staring at the empty wall across from me and feeling sorry for myself, I caught the smell of something. I sat up and noticed in the corner of the cell, there was a tray with a cup on it and a bar-like substance which seemed like it might be food.

  With trembling limbs, I crawled over to it. The contents of the cup smelled vinegary but looked like water. If they wanted to poison me, they could have just injected me with something, so I decided to take the risk. I was dehydrated as hell, and I didn’t know when they’d offer me something else to drink. I took a sip and grimaced. Yes, a little vinegary, but it was also refreshing. I took a few more sips before setting it down. I didn’t want to drink it too fast and throw it up.

  The bar-shaped substance had a peanut-butter scent, but I wasn’t fooled into thinking it was made from peanuts. I lifted it and nibbled the corner. The textured was chewy, and it didn’t have much flavor. I ate it all, too hungry for caution. After the bar was gone, I sipped more of the liquid.

  The food and drink did a lot to calm me, so I sat with my back against the wall and tried to analyze the situation. The silver guys knew when I would ovulate. If they had that information, then I could only surmise my reproductive system was of interest to them.

  “They want my womb,” I muttered to myself. My heart slammed against my ribs like the Jaws theme. How did they plan to make use of my womb? What kind of sperm did they plan to use?

  My gag reflex kicked in as a door somewhere slammed open. Footsteps shuffled down the hallway accompanied by meaty smacks like flesh hitting flesh. I slid back into the corner of my cell and wrapped my arms around my legs to appear as small as possible. As the sounds drew closer, I laced my fingers at the back of my head and tucked into a tight ball. Through my hair, I peered into the hallway to prepare myself for what was coming.

  Two guards appeared, and it wasn’t until they turned to face my cell that I realized they had something between them. Well, not something. Someone. Whoever he was, he wasn’t conscious. I assumed he was male as he wore only pants, and his upper body and physique were masculine by human standards.

  But this creature was not human. His long black hair hid his face as he slumped forward. Large black horns corkscrewed from his head, ending in wicked-sharp points. And his skin was scaled with a variety of blue tones in patches that resembled cerulean camouflage. His tail hung limply on the ground behind him, a thick, scaled thing that ended in a curled tip. The guards opened the cell doors, and my eyes widened.

  I held out my hands. “Wait, wait. What are you doing?”

  The guards grunted at me and tossed the creature inside. He landed on his side with a lifeless thud.

  “You’re putting him in here with me?” I yelled and jerked to my feet. I skirted the body and slammed my palms against the cell’s bars. “What the hell?”

  The guards sneered at me, and then gave each other a look, chuckling. They still didn’t speak.

  “Can you talk?” I pulled on the bars frantically. Of course, they didn’t budge. “What is this thing going to do to me when he wakes up?”

  “Don’t know,” one of them grunted finally. Then his creepy eyes narrowed to slits from behind his helmet. “But we’ll be back to watch.”

  “What?” My knees buckled, and only my hands on the bars kept me upright. “What does that mean?”

  They walked away. The assholes turned on their heels and walked away, leaving me with this unconscious horned beast that was three times my size. “Hello?” I called after them. “Answer me!”

  The door at the end of the hallway clanged shut, and only my words echoing off the bare walls answered me. “Fuck you!” I screamed as my voice went hoarse.

  I didn’t want to turn around. That meant having to face the beast. Ridiculous I’d been so lonely a moment ago and now I wished like hell for that loneliness back.

  Willing myself to remain calm, I slowly turned on my heel. My new cellmate’s shoulders heaved with each breath, so I knew he was alive. I was struck by the size of him. The cell, which had seemed rather large, was now crowded with his big blue body. His back rippled with muscles, and his arms seemed large enough to bench an entire gym’s worth of weights. Never taking my eyes off the creature, I took small, shuffling steps around the perimeter of the cell. As soon as I got a good look at the front of his body, I sucked in a breath.

  He’d been injured. Severely. His massive chest and ridged stomach were covered in long cuts like whip-marks. They oozed a black liquid which dripped onto the floor. Why had they whipped him on his front and not his back? His massive hands, fingers tipped with sharp black nails, lay still in front of him.

  I slowly dropped to my knees to get a better look. Hair covered his face, thick locks of black streaked with silver and light blue, long enough that it likely reached down past his chest when he stood. Speaking of his chest—thick gold rings pierced his nipples. Again, I was struck by how humanoid his body appeared. But of course, he was blue, his scales larger and more prominent in some areas while, in other spots he had tough-looking skin.

  I crept closer, my nurse instincts kicking in. I reached out to brush the hair from his face, then yanked my hand back. What the hell was I thinking? I had to assume everything on this damn planet was out to hurt me. Even unconscious, he seemed deadly. But his blood continued to ooze from his wounds. His wrists and ankles bore scars, like he’d been shackled. He was a prisoner, like me, and my heart lurched in stupid sympathy.

  After tearing a few strips of fabric off the bottom of my dress, I retrieved my cup and dipped the strips into the leftover liquid. With slow movements, I crawled toward him. When I dabbed at the cuts on his stomach, he didn’t even flinch. Jesus, this guy was ripped. His skin stretched tight over stacked abdominal muscles. Some dirt from the floor had worked its way into the cuts, so I did my best to clean him up.

  When I was satisfied with my work, I sat back on my heels. “What did they do to you?” I whispered. “Who whips someone’s chest? That’s crazy. I can’t imagine how badly that hurt.”

  His hair fluttered in front of his face as he breathed. I itched to know what he looked like. Did he have weird mandibles like the alien villain in the movie Predator? Did he have gnashing teeth or a snout or a beak?

  I slowly extended my arm until my fingers brushed his hair. The texture was surprisingly soft. I sifted the strands over his shoulder and went still at the sight of his face. Good lord, he was certainly not Voldemort. His lips, while cracked and clotted with dried blood, were full. His nose was slightly crooked—probably broken a few times—but it only gave him a bit of a rakish appearance, like a young Harrison Ford. Instead of eyebrows, he had a large, prominent brow ridge that was slightly nubbed. His blue tone was lighter across his high cheekbones and strong jawline. More gold rings pierced the entire shell of his ear.

  With his eyes closed, his face at rest, he looked almost peaceful. What would happen when his eyes opened? Would I see nothing but evil?

  I drew my hand back and was about to tend to his wounds again when one of his eyes opened to reveal nothing but black.

  I screamed.

  Two

  Sax

  A distant scream hurt my ears, and I winced. Fleck. My chest was on fire, and I worried my le
ft wrist was broken because I’d pulled too hard on my shackles. Those Kulk fleckers had really worked me over this time. Of course, I’d laughed at them until I’d lost consciousness. I’d never let them see me beg and plead. I wouldn’t break.

  With a groan, I rolled onto my hands and knees and shook my head to clear the haze of pain. My body tilted as my left wrist gave out, and I nearly face-planted back onto the floor.

  Gathering my one good hand under me, I pushed myself up and rotated my shoulders to work out the stiffness. I lazily waved my tail. It was still attached, thank Fatas.

  I was in a cell again, which was nothing new. The view was always the same—stone floors and bars. I glanced down at the cuts on my chest and frowned. Had they cleaned me up? That would be a first, but the marks were already scabbing over, and they seemed clear of dirt. My blood littered the floor, yet my stomach was clear of dried blood trails.

  It wasn’t sure how long it had been since my brother escaped this hell with his human mate. Maybe three rotations? Time had blurred in a fog of pain. I’d known the Uldani would punish me, but I hoped they would grow tired of the beatings soon. I was over it.

  Fatas had a reason for my being here, but as the rotations went on, I was finding it harder and harder to maintain faith. Right now, it felt like my only purpose was to suffer at the hands of the Uldani.

  I froze as a sound reached my ears. There was someone in this cell with me. I could hear shaky breathing and felt a slight disturbance in the air. Despite the pain in my limbs, I spun in a crouch to face the source of the sound and lifted my machets. The bone blades rippled out from under my skin all along my forearms and from the top of my head down to the base of my tail.

  The small creature in the back of the cell screamed, and I remembered now. It was the sound that had woken me up. I blinked as I got a good look at my new cellmate. Long yellow hair. Pale flesh. Two blue eyes, and a lush pink mouth. My body went still at the sight of her. That scream? The uneven breathing? They belonged to a human female.

  She sat huddled with her knees tucked tight to her chest. Her wide eyes took in my machets, and stark fear drained her face of color. Of course, she was terrified. I slowly rose to my feet and let my machets slip back under my skin. She didn’t look any less scared as she tracked my every movement.

  Anger roared to life inside of me, swift and scorching. The last thing I wanted the Uldani to possess was a human female. I knew their plans for her, and the one fact that had been keeping me going since waving goodbye to my brother was that the Uldani didn’t have a human female to manipulate and use. Now they did. She sat in front of me, all long hair, pretty skin, and soft curves. The most precious object in the galaxy huddled in a dirty cell in a torn dress.

  My machets itched to lift again. I wanted to rage and roar and burn down this entire flecking city to make every last Uldani pay for putting this creature before me behind bars. The human whimpered, and I realized my scales were rippling, the colors shifting and rolling over my skin as a sign of my inner turmoil.

  Willing myself to calm down, I lifted my hands, palms out. She wouldn’t be able to understand me, but I hoped my tone conveyed my words. My pain all but forgotten, I focused on her. “I won’t hurt you.”

  Her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull, and her whole body jolted. She balled her little fists on top of her knees. “Oh my God,” she murmured. She shook her head. “I-I don’t know what to think.”

  I could understand her words. After they’d kidnapped me, the Uldani had updated my translation implant with all the major Earth languages.

  “Did they give you an implant?” I asked, gesturing toward the implant by my ear. “Can you understand me?”

  Her fingers grazed her hair, and I was able to see a familiar bulge over her ear. She jerked her hands back to her knees. “I… yes. I can understand you.”

  In an attempt to look less threatening, I crouched down on the balls of my feet. She didn’t cringe at my movements, and I considered that a victory. “I’m sorry you’re here.”

  Her gaze drifted to my beaten chest before returned to my face. She studied me and seemed to reach some sort of decision. “I’m sorry you’re here, too.”

  Her soft voice soothed the rapid beat of my cora and tempered the heat of anger in my blood. Her voice didn’t belong here in this dank and hard cell. What would her yellow hair look like when the sun shone on it? Would her eyes crinkle when she smiled?

  “My name is Sax,” I said. “I’m a Drixonian warrior, originally from planet Corin.”

  “Those words…” She nibbled her lip. “I don’t know what most of those words mean.”

  Of course. My brother Dax had told me humans weren’t aware of any life other than what existed on their Earth. I went with the simplest explanation. “They mean I won’t harm you. What’s your name?”

  “Valerie. Well, Val. You can call me Val.”

  It was then I realized she clutched bloodied scraps of cloth in her hands, and that the hem of her dress had been ripped. The soothing tone of her voice was all but forgotten as the rage inside me renewed. “Where are you injured?” I barked, sliding toward her. “What did they do to you?”

  She jumped at the sharp crack of my voice, dropping the scraps of cloth as she raised her arms to defend herself. “I-I’m not injured,” she stuttered.

  I snatched a handful of the cloth and shook it at her. “Then what is this?”

  “It’s—”

  “Why is your dress torn?”

  She slammed her fists down. “Because I used it to clean your cuts!”

  I froze with the cloth straps swinging between our faces. Color flooded back to her cheeks, deepening their color with a red flush. Her bright eyes flashed at me like glittering gems. I dropped my hand. “You cleaned me?”

  “You were unconscious when they threw you in here with me. I can’t see someone injured and bleeding and not do something. I’m a nurse,” she announced with a slight upward lift of her chin. “That’s what I do.”

  “What’s a nurse?”

  “Someone who takes care of sick or injured people.”

  “A healer?”

  “Yes, sure. I’m a healer.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “But you didn’t know if I was an enemy or not. I could have woken up and killed you.”

  Some of the bravado left her strong gaze. “I never said it was the right choice. But it was the one I made.”

  “You can’t trust anyone in this entire fortress except for me. Do you understand?”

  Her eyes glistened. “I don’t know that I can trust you.”

  “You can.”

  She scoffed. “Of course, you tell me I can trust you, but trust doesn’t work that way. You have to earn it.”

  “I trust you.”

  “Well, then you’re crazy.”

  I tossed my head back, wishing I could tie my hair out of my face. “I will earn your trust, then.” My voice came out as more of a growl than I intended.

  She flinched and watched me carefully before speaking again. “I’d like nothing more than to trust you,” she said. “But it’s a little hard based on everything that’s happened to me since I’ve gotten here.”

  Anger sparked in me. “Tell me.”

  “Tell you?”

  “Tell me all you remember.”

  She took a deep breath, and then she did. She told me about waking up on the spaceship and arriving at the Uldani fortress of Alazar. I explained to her that the silver aliens were Uldani, and the armored guards, called Kulks, worked for them. My machets lifted when she spoke of Borhan prodding her in his lab, the sick fleck.

  “They know when I will ovulate next and that terrifies me.” She wrung her hands. “Why do they need to know that?”

  “What is ovulating?” I asked.

  “It’s when I’m fertile. When I can get pregnant.”

  The words were like a punch in the gut. I’d known all along that was why they wanted her, but to hear her confirm it still knocked
me down. I collapsed back on my ass and dropped my forehead into my hands. “Fleck,” I muttered. I hadn’t known they had the means to test a human female’s reproductive cycle. They were gaining too much knowledge.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” Her voice drew closer, causing me to look up, seeing her crawling toward me on her hands and knees, her breasts swinging beneath the thin fabric of her dress, her round ass flexing.

  I imagined my hands on her soft, lush hips. My mouth on her stiff nipples. My tongue licking the cream between her thick thighs.

  My cock stiffened, but on the heels of lust rode panic, swift and sick. I skittered away from her, retreating to the far side of the cell, raising my arm to ward her off. “Stay away from me.”

  Her mouth dropped open, and the utter devastation on her face took my breath away. “W-what’s wrong?”

  I closed my eyes, but I could still see her supple form and pretty lips. “I can’t… Stay away, Val.”

  She sucked in a breath at the sound of her name. “Please just tell me what’s going on.” A sob left her throat, and the sound choked me.

  I opened my eyes to see large drops leave her eyes to splash on the floor, mingling with my blood. This pretty female who’d known nothing about me but had still risked cleaning my wounds cried… and I felt helpless. She deserved an explanation and to know what was going on, no matter how flecked up the truth was.

  “They want to know when you’re fertile, because they want to breed you,” I said.

  She pressed a hand over her mouth, but a pained cry escaped her. “The Uldani want me to bear their children?”

  I shook my head. “No, sweet Val. They want you to bear mine.”

  Val

  “What?” I whispered.

  He rubbed his eyes and then banged his head on the wall behind him. “Fleck,” he muttered to himself with each thud of his skull on the hard wall. “Fleck, fleck, fleck.”