Hunted By The Alien Prince: An Alien Abduction Romance (The Hunt Book 2)

by A. M. Griffin

  The female wasn’t as shocked to see him as she’d been yesterday. She peered at him through the slits of her eyes then touched her comlink. When nothing happened, her entire demeanor changed. “Shit.”

  Themba tilted his head and listened as his translator provided the definition of her word, using a frequency only he could hear.

  Shit. Feces. Shit. An exclamation of disgust, anger or annoyance.

  Ah, she thought to escape. He chuckled. “You won’t be able to get away from me that easily. The rock underneath your feet is too thick for the personal escape pod to penetrate.”

  The beast by her side dipped its head low, perked its ears and bared its sharp teeth. His jaws seemed powerful, and saliva dripped from its mouth. The female angled in front of it and placed a hand on the animal’s head. A visible indication she cared for it.

  “I’m surprised the beast stays by your side and hasn’t left to run free. I sense that an animal such as he would appreciate the freedom of this jungle.”

  It was in the guidelines of The Hunt that prey kept anything in their possession at the time of capture. He’d read that it helped with the acclimation process. Personal items included bags, children, pets, and weapons. His female had three out of the four items listed.

  “He’ll stay with me.”

  The beast took up position by her side. Themba decided it was a good protector. It didn’t cower behind her, even though Themba smelled fear rolling off both of them.

  The dog didn’t concern Themba. With one firm grip around its neck and a twist, Themba could kill it. Easily.

  She took her weapons from the pouch around her waist then kicked one foot behind the other in a fighting stance. Themba observed her actions as he considered what it meant. She wouldn’t win an altercation with him. Yet, she would try. Courageous. His tail swished through the air. He was pleased with this female.

  One of her fingers grazed the top of the dog’s head. She loved it.

  He couldn’t kill it.

  “Two against one?” he asked playfully. It didn’t matter if they both attacked him. They weren’t his match. But he did suddenly care that her dog be left out of this. He wouldn’t harm her, but the beast he might kill accidently.

  She brought her knives in front of her face and chest. “I think that’s fair.”

  He smirked. “I’m not here to hurt you, nonhle.”

  She frowned. Her translator might not have picked up on the Ngonyama word for beautiful.

  Most everyone who participated in off-world travel invested in a universal translator. Since humans weren’t interstellar travelers, they didn’t have one, but the medics would’ve implanted the cheapest translator in them.

  She shook her head as if the thought she held no longer mattered. “You’re just following me around to get my phone number?”

  Phone. Telephone. A communication device.

  “Do you wish to communicate with me?” His heart lightened. He wanted to communicate with her too. “Our comlinks aren’t synced to the same frequency though.”

  “Wh-what? I don’t want to call you!”

  “But—”

  “Just…just get out of here. We aren’t doing anything to bother you. Leave us alone.”

  “Ah, but if I leave you alone, another will come, and he may not be as nice as I am.”

  She thrust her knives forward. Her hands shook. “And what makes you so nice?”

  “I won’t kill your pet. It’s obvious you care for it.”

  Her gaze went from him to her dog. “D-don’t hurt him, okay? He only wants to protect me.”

  Themba stood. Her eyes rounded and she stumbled back. If he attempted to get any closer, she would run. She couldn’t access a pod here, but on solid ground, she could escape him. “You want to fight me. So let’s make it fair, shall we?” At her startled look, he continued, “One on one. You can keep your weapons.”

  She shifted light on her feet. “W-why do you want to fight me?”

  “I need the release, and you’re prepared for it.” He winked. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you, but if you won’t go away, I won’t have a choice.” She pulled her bottom lip in her mouth, then released it. “Is this some kind of fight to the death thing?”

  He chuckled. “Of course not.”

  “But if I win, you’ll leave us alone?”

  He nodded.

  She seemed to think about it for a moment. Then she knelt next to the dog. “Jack. Stay.” The dog stared past the female to Themba and pulled its lips away from its teeth. “No. Jack. Stay.” It whimpered. “I’ll be okay.” She kissed its forehead.

  I’m jealous of a pet.

  She stood and wiped her palms on her clothes. Her muscles shook, and by the blanching of her skin, Themba thought she would lose the contents in her stomach. He should call off this game before she changed her mind and begged him to spare her.

  Would that show of cowardice change his mind about her? He didn’t think so.

  She brought up her weapons, then as if another thought crossed her mind, she transferred one knife to the other hand and reached inside her pouch. “Just give me one second.” She brought out a small device and pushed a button, then waited. After a few minutes, she aimed it at him. “Say cheese.”

  Did she intend to shock him with some electrocution device? “What is this cheese, and why do I have to say it?” he demanded.

  There was a series of clicks. If her intent was to kill him, he hadn’t done a thing to get away.

  She pushed a button again then stored the device back into her pouch. “Well, let’s get on with it then.”

  She hadn’t tried to kill him, and now she wanted to fight. A female after my own heart. “Who do I have the pleasure of fighting? What do they call you?”

  Defiance flashed in her eyes. “Why do you want to know my name? It doesn’t matter.”

  “I know your beast’s name but not yours. I should know my opponent’s name.” He raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. “I can call you ndebele, if you prefer.”

  She frowned as she’d done earlier. “I don’t understand part of what you’re saying. I hear most of what you said, but then I also hear odd clicking noises.”

  “Your universal translator is cheaply made, and my language is harder to understand than most. Ndebele means ‘treasure.’” He used the universal language instead of his own to say the word.

  She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m definitely not a treasure. Call me, Payton.”

  “Very well, my ndebele Payton.”

  “Hey, don’t call me th—”

  “Engage.” He took three steps back and readied in a stance.

  He expected her to circle him, cataloging his weaknesses. But instead, she crossed the distance between them with quick steps. He could’ve countered her easily with a duck and a quick jab to the face. The warrior females on his planet wouldn’t expect him to hold back, but this human wasn’t a warrior. Her sloppy slashes through the air, body positioning, and her choppy foot movements proved it.

  Her mammary glands swayed with her every swing. So round and soft looking. He wanted to squish them with his hands. Sweat dripped from her neck and rolled in fat drops down the slopes of her breasts, and he was mesmerized by the way some escaped under the thin shirt that clung to her body in wetness. He imagined following each trail the sweat made with his tongue.

  She lunged forward and her shirt lifted from her abdomen and sweat slid down her stomach to her waistband. He groaned low in his throat.

  There are so many trails to follow.

  His cocks pulsated. On his planet, sparring between lovers often led to sex. Aggressive sex. He wanted to take her down. It would be easy. She didn’t have a true fighting form, and she held the knives wrong. All he had to do was flick them from her wrists during one of the many times she overextended her arms.

  But her inexperience worked in her favor. Themba couldn’t anticipate where she would st
rike next.

  Payton cut through the air, and the tip of her knife caught him with a slash across his forearm. Themba pulled back with a hiss. A fine trickle of blood came from the thin cut in his suit. He didn’t know who was startled more. Her or him.

  With mouth agape, she staggered back. Her breathing labored and heavy. Her skin flushed red.

  Beautiful.

  “You can go now, and I won’t hurt you again.”

  Themba locked his eyes on hers then brought his arm to his mouth, and with one swipe of his tongue licked the blood away. He could taste the excitement in it. She stared at him with wide, round eyes. Her fear rolled off her in waves. He dropped into a fighting stance again and smiled. His body thrummed. “Engage.”

  Payton rushed forward again. Jack barked. Payton’s attention went to the dog. If Themba had planned to do her harm, he would’ve taken advantage of her. This time Themba wasn’t mesmerized by her mammary glands and the way they swung when she moved.

  She thrust her right arm forward, and he smacked it out of the way. She made a sloppy attempt to stick him in the gut, and he stepped away. She tried to turn in a circle and swing her arm wildly in his direction. He caught her from behind, arm pressed across her neck while his other arm held her body locked against him. Her butt fit perfectly over his groin.

  He nuzzled his nose into the small space behind her ear. The smell of her fear and excitement entrapped him. “Don’t ever turn your back on an opponent.”

  She growled, and the sound went straight to his cocks. They strained painfully. He bent his knees and thrust softly against her, hoping to bring some relief to the pain he felt. It didn’t. He longed to do more. Payton stiffened in his grasp.

  “How do you plan on getting out of this?” he whispered into her ear.

  Jack whined and pawed at the ground in front of him. Themba turned his gaze to him. “Don’t worry. I will not harm your master.”

  “Let me go or else I’ll give you another scar across your face.”

  “Then I would have a new story to tell.”

  He’d gotten the three-clawed scar after a training retreat gone bad. A beast native to the land he and the elite guards had set-up at had ambushed them in the dead of night. The beast was eventually killed but not without fatally wounding one of his own and mauling almost everyone else. To Themba, the scar was a reminder to never get comfortable and always be ready to fight, no matter how calming the situation may seem.

  Payton sniffled then leaned forward. Maybe he’d taken this too far? Humans were weak, after all. She brought her head back and slammed it against his nose. Stars danced through his brain. She lifted her foot and crashed it over his. Pain erupted in his toes. She wiggled from his grip and slashed at him again.

  Themba danced away as she advanced. She struck out. He slapped the knife, sending it skittering across the rocky ground. She slashed the other knife close to his face. He caught her wrist and applied pressure until she dropped it, then kicked it off to the side.

  Now he could focus on her soft body without worrying about getting poked.

  Payton, undeterred, balled her fists and punched with her free hand. Themba let her land a few. Her tiny fists against muscles trained to withstand a more powerful force didn’t hurt. With every little punch, she grunted. He liked that sound. It was nice on his ears. Seemingly frustrated because she wasn’t hurting him or maybe because he couldn’t stop smiling, Payton screamed then rammed her body into his.

  Wrapping his arms around her, Themba fell back and took her down with him. He cradled her in the fall and kept her on top of him, protecting her from the ground. In her moment of confusion and surprise, he flipped her onto her back and pinned her beneath him. Her legs were spread wide. His groin pressed against hers and held her in place. His chest laid flat and smashed those soft mammary glands between them. He held her hands tight and high above her head. Then he claimed her mouth.

  Themba kissed her full lips and licked around them. She held her mouth closed, but he nipped at her and coaxed her lips apart. She opened them on a soft breath. He delved his tongue inside and met hers. She was hesitant at first; then, she became the aggressor. She lifted her mouth to meet his and shifted her hips to grind against him.

  Themba moaned into her mouth and thrust. She let out a sigh on a breath and met his second thrust in time. He angled himself against the heat radiating from her core. So hot. Payton bent her knees, planting her feet flat on the ground to give him better access.

  He lifted from her chest and still locked mouth to mouth, thrust against her harder. The moan she released was purely sexual. The scent of her arousal wafted over him.

  He released her hands and adjusted his elbows to bracket her shoulders. He’d been itching to touch her breasts since he’d seen them. He used his free hand to graze over the top of one. Her nipple was hard under his touch. Payton moaned and arched her back, pushing her breast into his palm.

  “My ndebele,” he whispered.

  She careened her head, stretching her neck to the side. He kneaded her breast in time with his thrusts. They were as soft as he’d imagined. If he weren’t careful, he would spill his seed before he got a chance to thrust inside of her.

  “Oh, God,” she moaned out. Her hands traveled urgently down his body. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She fumbled over his cocks.

  Her hands, aggressive and needy, shoved inside his waistband. As she grasped his smaller cock, his ionwabo, her hand grazed his other cock, his ngumniki. Then she moved to touch him there too. Before he could thrust into her hand, she released him and grabbed his ionwabo again.

  Ancients, she would drive him insane.

  Payton pulled her hands back with a gasp and scrambled from under him. Her eyes bulged. The horrified look on her face made him cringe.

  “What. What are those?” she asked in absolute horror.

  “My cocks. Do not be afraid.”

  “Your cocks?” She said in a voice that had changed from husky to shrill.

  He realized his mistake immediately. She didn’t know of the Ngonyama’s anatomy. She’d never seen an alien, let alone experienced sexual pleasures with someone outside of her species before.

  Themba pushed himself to sit back and ran his hand over his aching crotch. “This is called an ionwabo. It means for pleasure in my language.” Then he trailed his hand over his other. It pulsated painfully under his touch. “This is my ngumniki or life-giver.”

  “Oh, Jesus. Wh-why do you have two cocks?”

  “The females of my species have two vaginas. Only one can receive the seed necessary to gift life, but males are meant to pleasure both.”

  “Ohmygod. ohmygod. ohmygod.”

  The evening alarm screeched. Sadness overtook him. She stared at him in revulsion. He needed more time to show her that he could bring her to ecstasy. Now she would continue to hide from him.

  The alarm stopped, and for a beat, he and Payton stared at each other. Their confusion was thick in the air. Shouldn’t he have dropped into a pod by now? Was the system broken? A second later, he realized his grave error. Rock was underneath him. Impenetrable rock.

  Rule: Hunters who do not make themselves available to the personal pods at the end of the hunting day, as signified by the evening alarm, will be punished until such time a pod becomes available to them.

  Themba opened his eyes wide as the control collar emitted a low hum. It was powering up. The shock that struck his spinal column sent him into convulsions. He tried to stand but was brought to his knees as his legs buckled. The pain overtook his senses. He wanted to scream for help, but his jaws locked.

  He couldn’t die on Turolois. His brother would never forgive him.

  Themba pushed, pulled and rolled, fighting through the pain. His will to survive propelled him forward until he finally reached the muddy ground. A section slid back, and he dropped into a pod, almost passing out from the pain.

  Themba would change Payton’s mind tomorrow.

  C
hapter Seven

  What. The. Actual. Fuck.

  Payton glanced at Jack, who diligently sat where she’d made him stay. That guy could’ve killed her in so many ways and so many times. Instead, he’d toyed with her. She’d known that from the very start. There was no denying how he batted her hands away, playfully, or smiled like he was a kid with his new toy.

  Ugh.

  She’d tackled him in frustration. Not a smart move. At all.

  She’d been so afraid Jack would ignore her command and rush to save her. While Themba had played with her, Jack might not have been so lucky squaring off with him. Themba was dangerous. He would’ve killed Jack.

  She’d saved up all her tip money to buy a retired military dog. She’d been glad for it many times over, but none more so then now. Without training, Jack would’ve attacked, and she would’ve been burying his body.

  Payton motioned for him to come and he did, head down tail wagging. He crawled into her lap and gave slobber kisses. She accepted them all.

  “Roll call,” Ben’s voice came over the wristband. “Ben, Miranda, the kids and Esme are accounted for.”

  Payton pushed herself to stand on wobbly legs. “Apparently, we have to do a better job at hiding,” she told Jack.

  Payton didn’t know exactly where she was headed, but one thing was for sure, staying on the rocks was her best bet. She couldn’t call one of those personal emergency pod thingies, but that meant he couldn’t either. Nothing happened to her when the alarm rang, but if he couldn’t access a pod, he was toast.

  From the way he’d turned all shades of red, his body contorting in odd angles and the obvious amount of pain he was in, she’d thought he was going to die. She’d actually contemplated helping him get to wherever he was going.

  Thankfully that moment of weakness passed. Whatever happened to him, he no doubt deserved.

  Yup. He deserved all that pain and more.

  That’s what he got for thinking she was his plaything. And to think she’d almost…

  Heat crept up her neck and spread along her face.

  Surely I can’t be that hard up?