Bound By Her Alien

by Tempest Luna

  “We do not eat hill beasts until they are very old. They are too valuable as pack animals. The Supreme Ruler has most of them corralled. Only males are ever sold. He keeps all the females. If he sold them…we would have milk.”

  Tessa tucked an errant curl behind her ear, brushing the scar the scaly Supreme Ruler had given her when he ripped her neural implant from her neck. “You said there aren’t enough free males left. How many are there?”

  “A thousand at most. Balrov is small. All the planets in this galaxy are. The Supreme Ruler has an army equal in number, but his weapons are far advanced.” A shadow passed over Ro’s features. “When he invaded, he used flying crafts with mounted blasters. All we had were single shot weapons.”

  A band tightened around Tessa’s skull, and she staggered back until her legs hit the thick cushion along the wall. “Ro,” she whispered a second before her vision went white.

  The Supreme Ruler stalked closer, his long, forked tongue tracing a lazy path around his thin lips. “I am going to break you,” he hissed. “And then you will pay for what he has done.”

  With a jerk of his head, he indicated a large Balrovian male hanging from chains suspended from the ceiling. Silver hair covered his face, and across his chest, a deep gash oozed purple blood down his cut abs, to the black pants molded to his powerful legs. He moaned, and a woman screamed.

  “No. Please. Let him go!”

  “Tessa!” A slap to her face stung, and warm arms held her tight. “Tessa, open your eyes.” Ro’s lips claimed hers, and a hand threaded through her hair, cupping her head protectively as he took all of her, and she forced the vision away, her alien’s scent all around her.

  “Ro?” She blinked hard to try to clear her muddled thoughts, and his bright silver eyes locked on hers. Concern welled in their depths, and his palm skimmed her cheek. “Oh God.”

  Not until Ro shifted did she realize she was in his lap—and he was hard as a rock. “What has you so scared, Tessa?”

  She couldn’t tell him. Her visions didn’t always come true. Except…what if she was right? “Where is…Zaden?”

  Chapter Ten

  Ro

  “Zaden is somewhere in the eastern sector. I have not seen him at a trade in sixty cycles, but I believe he is still free. Why?” His little human clung to him, her chest heaving, and by the ancient gods he wanted to claim her. But she was too scared, and he did not understand why.

  “I saw him. I think. He’s as tall as you are, right? With silver hair.”

  He nodded. “You collapsed. And when I called your name, you did not answer. Did I hurt you?”

  “N-no. My visions…I lose all control when I have them.”

  “I do not understand. You said you saw…me. Before.” Ro tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and ran his fingers over the back of her neck. “You knew about my scar. My father used to speak of dreams that came true. But yours…they happen when you are awake. How do you…’see” these things?”

  “It’s like a dream you can’t wake up from.” Tessa wriggled, and his cock jutted painfully against his britches. If his mate were not so scared, he would claim her right now. But she still trembled, and her pale skin and bloodshot eyes worried him.

  With a grunt, Ro shifted back against the cushions. “Are they always true?”

  “I didn’t used to think so. But…maybe. I was right about you…” Tessa stroked the back of his neck, finding his scar. “I saw another Balrovian. Silver hair. As big as you. In chains. The Supreme Ruler asshole was mad at him.” Tessa toyed with the buttons on her shirt. “There was a woman there. I didn’t see her, just heard her crying. The Supreme Ruler said he’d break her to pay for what the man had done.”

  “Come with me, sonara.” Ro cursed himself for his lack of control. If he were not careful, he would initiate the bond without meaning to. He could already feel the pulsing need deep inside him. The unrestrained desire. Pheromones thrummed under his skin and a fine purple mist started to swirl in the air.

  He held Tessa close, his arm around her waist, as he led her to the far corner of the room and pulled out a stool. When she was seated, Ro tapped four distinct places on the cabinet next to her, and the communications array slid out of the wall.

  “It’s still early.” Her heart-shaped face tipped up, concern behind her eyes.

  “We will risk it. When the Sypians came, they confiscated most of our advanced technology. Our comms units, our weapons, our medical wands. My brothers and I…we cobbled these devices together from spare parts over two revolutions.” Ro flipped the switch on the communications array, and static crackled over the air.

  “Zaden has not responded to me in over one hundred sun cycles. But Vrax saw him three trades ago.” Picking up the microphone, Ro cleared his throat. “Zaden. Answer me, brother.”

  * * *

  Tessa

  Ro tried to raise both Zaden and Vrax a dozen times, but neither of them answered. Eventually, he slammed the microphone down on the table, muttering something her chip didn’t translate.

  “Ro?”

  “Their arrays are not on. I will try again after the suns have fully set on Zaden’s side of the planet.” He turned to her, brushing the backs of his knuckles along her cheek. “You are tired, Tessa. And there is much work to do. We should eat, and then you need to rest. You are still healing.”

  Every time he touched her, she wanted more. She felt better around him. Like nothing could ever hurt her again. As he tried to rise, she linked their fingers. “Let me help.”

  Ro nodded, pulled her to her feet, and led her over to the cooking plate. “These flakes are dehydrated anu root. The grains I purchase from the trade. They contain spices and supplemental nutrients we can no longer obtain through farming.”

  “The Supreme Ruler wants them to have only the altered cold anu mash. It keeps them docile.”

  Tessa sucked in a sharp breath. “Ro? Do you add these grains to everything?”

  “Yes. Why?” He paused with a scoop of the grains held over the pot.

  “Don’t. For one meal. Trust me.” She didn’t want to admit her fear. That this Supreme Ruler asshole was drugging an entire planet. But it would explain her lingering weakness, the dizziness she hadn’t been able to shake. Gravity didn’t feel much different on this planet than Earth. Her body wasn’t heavy or light. The photo, the clothing, the blankets…they were different, of course. Not synthetic fibers. Softer. But if the gravity were different, she’d know.

  Ro set the scoop down and linked their fingers. His stern gaze collided with hers, and the punch of power almost had her taking a step back. “I can sense your emotions, Tessa. Why are you scared?”

  “I haven’t felt right since I woke up here. And…knowing you…Ro, you’re a fighter. You fought for me. To keep me safe. But no one rises up against this asshole? No one fights back? I get that he’s powerful. That he has an army. But for as long as he’s been in power, no one’s tried to start a revolution? What if…?”

  His eyes widened as understanding churned in their silvery depths. “Boltrak!” Slamming the lid down on the canister, he shoved it back into the little food pod. “How will we know?”

  “I think I’ll feel less…off balance. Steadier.” She cupped his cheek, the smooth skin warm under her palm. “And if I’m right, you’re going to get a lot angrier.”

  “Not with you,” he said, his voice a low rumble in his throat.

  She offered him a weak grin. “I’m not worried about that.” If Ro’s emotions were muted by whatever the Supreme Jerk-off was doing, she had only one concern. Would she survive sex with him? He was huge.

  Gesturing to the meat on the counter, she tried to distract him. “What’s this?”

  He handed her a blade. “Twalo. If you dice this, I will add it to the stew.”

  Happy to have something to do—even if it was just slicing meat—Tessa started to hum as Ro disappeared into his bedroom. She didn’t know where the tune came from, but it settled her ner
ves, as did the repetitive nature of the task. The stew simmered in the pot next to her, the warm, rich scent unlike anything she’d ever had on Earth.

  “Where did you learn that song?” Ro asked as he stood in the doorway, his eyes wide and his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

  “I heard it a long time ago. I don’t remember where. But it’s what always I hum when I’m…scared.” Tessa set down the blade and took a step back. Ro’s emotions hit her in the chest—an odd mix of tenderness and grief.

  “You were…unconscious. I sang you that song as I brought you here. It is…from my mother.” Ro’s pale silver eyes shone in the oil lamps. “You are a miracle, Tessa. My miracle. I care for you. More than I could have imagined possible.”

  She crossed to him, sliding her arms around his back and resting her head on his chest. “You’re mine,” she said quietly. “You’ve always been mine.”

  “How long did you ‘dream’ of me?” His fingers threaded through her hair, and he angled her head up to meet his gaze.

  “Seven years.”

  His brows drew together. “How long is a year?”

  “It’s like your revolution. My first vision of Balrov, I saw the twin suns. And large airships blasting everything to hell.”

  Ro took a step back, shock apparent on his handsome features. “You saw the war?”

  “Yes. I think so.” Tears burned her eyes. “So many people died.”

  “I am sorry, sonara. You should never have carried that burden.” Ro crushed his lips to hers, and in that moment, he took on all of her sadness, all of her pain, and she felt only him. Only the man—the alien—she wanted to stay with forever.

  “It brought me here,” she managed when he finally pulled away and she caught her breath. “To you.” Stroking her fingers through this thick, indigo locks, she felt for the familiar scar. “Claim me, Ro. Make me yours.”

  He pulled her closer. “Are you certain? A Balrovian bond is for life. You…could never go home again.”

  “I don’t want to. Even if I did, my ship was destroyed. I’ve dreamed about you all of my adult life. I love you.” The emotion squeezing her heart made it hard to breathe, but she trailed her hands down her alien’s broad shoulders, over the ridges of muscles she knew so well. “I want this. I’ve never wanted anything more.”

  He studied her, his gaze piercing hers. “It is a blood bond.”

  Resting her left hand on his strong, sculpted chest, right over where she hoped his heart was, she looked him in the eyes. “Get a blade.”

  Anticipation thrummed through her body, and the connection between the two of them pulled taut. Ro turned off the simmering pot on the cooking plate, covered it, and returned to her side.

  “I will ask once more,” he said, his voice barely a whisper, and the blade in his hand glinting in the weak rays streaming in from the skylights. “Are you certain?”

  “Completely.”

  Ro pulled her over to the cushions in the corner of the room and eased her down next to him. “This will hurt, but only for a moment. And then…the bond will heal us.”

  “I know.” Her lips curved into a small smile. “I’ve…done this before. Sort of. In my dreams. At least the first part.” So many times, she’d felt the slice across her palm, then the punch of power as her alien had pressed his hand to hers. But she’d always woken up before they’d completed the mating. Always yearning, wanting more.

  Ro growled, and his eyelids fluttered. A purple haze rose from his skin, swirling around them, his delicious scent everywhere.

  “Ro? It’s…so…beautiful.” This, she’d never seen in her visions. But then again, they were always so dark. She hadn’t even known her alien mate was so very…purple.

  “Pheromones, my little one. Part of the bonding process.” In a lightning fast move, he drew the blade across her palm, then his, and before she could even wince, he pressed their hands together.

  Their connection flared, almost knocking her back, but Ro wrapped his arm around her. “I belong to you,” he said, “and you will belong to me.”

  “I belong to you. And you will belong to me,” she repeated. “Kiss me, Ro.”

  The mists thickened, painting the entire room a brilliant shade of purple. Ro’s silver eyes took on a hint of blue, so like her own, and Tessa couldn’t look away as he shifted her into his lap and touched his lips to hers. Gently at first, then more insistent, almost desperate.

  All of her visions over the years were nothing compared to the feel of Ro’s hands on her skin. Of his lips, his tongue, and the press of his cock through the thin fabric of his pants.

  Smoothing her hands over his pecs, she caught the straps of his chest harness and pulled them down his arms. “In my dreams, you were always so…dominant.”

  A possessive, low rumble came from his throat. “Boltrak. You were made for me, Tessa. You could not be more perfect.” He dropped the harness onto the floor as he slowly unbuttoned her shirt, then cupped her breasts, dragging his thumbs over her nipples. “These are mine.”

  “Yours.” She lay back against the cushions, and when he tugged at the thin rope holding up her pants, she raised her arms over her head, arching her back and offering her breasts like a banquet.

  Molten heat spread over her skin as he caught her nipple between his teeth. Tasting, swirling his tongue around the taut nub, he drove her higher and higher, and she couldn’t help herself. She wriggled half off the cushions. “Ro…”

  “Do not move,” he warned, kissing his way down her stomach.

  “Can’t…help it…” She nodded towards the rope belt coiled next to her. “Bind me. Please…”

  With each breath, she wanted—needed—more. And when Ro took the rope and wrapped it around her wrists, she moaned and bucked her hips against him. He looped the other end around a hook on the wall, and she pulled on her restraints, testing until he pinched the inside of her thigh. “Do not make me punish you, mate.”

  “I might like that,” she gasped.

  “I want to taste you, my little one,” he rumbled. Trailing kisses down her body, he touched her everywhere.

  The first swipe of his tongue through her slick folds made her ache, and when he scored his teeth over her clit, Tessa thought she might come apart right then.

  “Not yet,” Ro warned with another pinch—this one harder. The pain helped her focus, and she hissed out a breath, desperate to stave off her release as long as she could.

  He slipped a finger inside her, then chuckled. “You are so very wet, sonara. All for me.”

  Returning his focus to the throbbing bundle of nerves between her lower lips, he sucked and bit in time with the thrust of his finger. When he added a second one, she lost the battle for control and let herself fly.

  Endless waves of pleasure consumed, her, and she yanked at the rope binding her arms, desperate to touch him, to finish this dance they’d started so very long ago in her visions. “Inside me. Now!”

  With a roar, he jerked up, grabbed her hips, and thrust deep in a single move. The ridges of his cock rasped against her channel, and every pulse of her release drew him deeper.

  Her massive alien held her close. “Tessa. Mine.” He bit down on the sensitive curve of her neck, and the power of their bond shot through her.

  Without thinking, Tessa mirrored his movements, and as she bit him, her entire world shifted, her heart, her soul, her very being now bound to her alien.

  “You are perfect,” Ro said. “So tight. So sweet. And mine. Always mine.”

  “Yours,” Tessa gasped, and held his gaze as he thrust harder, faster, until she felt like she was going to come apart in his arms. “I…love…you, Ro.”

  Growling her name, he spilled his seed, and Tessa’s entire world shifted, something deep inside her settling in a way she’d never thought possible.

  Letting herself fly with him, she gave herself over to the bond, and her world went glassy and white before everything faded into silence.

  Chapter Eleve
n

  Ro

  His mate slept peacefully in his arms. At least four times during the past half a cycle, one of them had reached for the other. He’d heard rumors that the first few cycles of a new bond, a mated pair was insatiable. He’d not believed such tales until now.

  Because even though they’d come together again only a short time ago, his cock was hard once more. But Tessa needed to rest. Though the new bond would help her heal by giving her some of his strength, she was still so fragile.

  He’d told her so much as they recovered from their many couplings. On the cushions, in the bed, and once…against the counter where he used the rope from her belt to tie her down and have his way with her.

  Staring up at his skylight, he watched the clouds being buffeted by the pre-dawn winds. They would have to climb into the mountains soon for additional Foxfire crystals and more nissal leaves. He feared how his mate would handle the journey. The climb was arduous and cold, and he had little protective clothing that would fit her.

  At the next trade, he would need to purchase additional material for clothing. By the ancient gods, no. He would have to bring her with him. He could not leave her unprotected at his home for an entire cycle.

  No other males had come to catch a glimpse of the new human slave, but Ro feared the peace they had enjoyed the past sun cycle would not last long. Any one of the free males could eschew the trade and try to come take Tessa from him.

  The ridges along his neck and arms flared as a burst of anger flowed through him.

  No. Nothing will happen to her.

  He had to diffuse his temper before she felt it over the bond. In the past half a cycle, since he’d stopped adding the nutrient flakes to their food, he’d felt his emotions strengthen. Ro pushed himself up and stumbled outside into the light from the setting moons, then stretched his arms over his head and tried to work the kinks out of his back. The rather adventurous lovemaking had left his body thrumming with power. Or…perhaps that too was from the lack of nutritional supplement in his food.