A few land vehicles had been salvaged from the crashed ship and still ran even all these years later. The Human colony had one, as did two other settlements. I heard one approaching and crouched, hoping to blend in with the scratchy branches and dead leaves lining the roadway. My heart pounded so loud I worried they could hear it.
A hand covered my mouth and I was jerked against a large, hard body.
“Quiet,” a male voice said in my ear. The accent was different from anything I remembered hearing before, and my body tensed, but I knew better than to fight. If anything, my life had taught me that to deny a male would only end in more pain and suffering.
The hovercraft drove past and the male holding me moved further back into the dead foliage. Once the sound of the patrol was gone, I was released. I stumbled, nearly falling to the ground, but the guy caught me, holding me against his broad chest. I stared at it a moment, then blinked and blinked again.
His broad gold chest. My panic rose again as I realized that none of the survivors on this world were gold.
I whimpered, but my upbringing in this hostile place had taught me not to fight. I hung limply in the stranger’s embrace and hoped that if he wanted to kill me, that it would be quick and painless. The fact I’d never seen anyone like him before made me tremble, and I worried about what would happen to me. When had a new race of aliens landed on X-2?
The sheer size of him was intimidating, as he towered over me and was rather broad. Not from fat, because his arms and chest appeared to be thickly muscled. His eyes seemed like liquid gold as I looked up at him. Long black hair cascaded over his shoulders and down his back, with a braid on either side of his face. His jaw was covered in a short beard and there was a scar along one cheek. Something flicked against my ankles and I looked down, gasping when I saw a long, slender tail. I’d never seen anything on two legs with one of those before. It was golden like him, with a puff of black at the tip. As I studied his face again, I realized there were three ridges across his brow that looked like some sort of hard plating.
“You’re safe now, female,” he said. “My name is J-Ril, and I mean you no harm.”
I stared but didn’t move. He knew my language? How was that possible? Had he met others like me before? When he spoke, I could see the tips of really sharp teeth. He wouldn’t bite me, would he?
Just because he said he wouldn’t hurt me, it didn’t mean anything. I’d learned that the men who claimed to have our best interest at heart used that as an excuse for them to do whatever they wanted. They’d used the aliens as an excuse to do whatever they wanted and make slaves of all women, insisting it was for the betterment of the Human survivors. They groomed the male children to become just like them, and the females to be little more than whores.
“Calm, female,” J-Ril said. “You’re safe now. Those who captured your people perished in the crash and others of their kind aren’t nearby. I’m not here to take you as a slave. My people want mates.”
My body tensed further.
“Voluntary mates!” he said quickly. “An Elorian male would never force himself on a female. It would leave him without honor. Will you come with me? I can keep you safe.”
Did I really have a choice? I glanced toward the road and I knew that if another patrol came through they would return me to my settlement, and to Bruce. A shiver raked me as I thought about what punishment he might inflict on me if I were caught. I’d always heard that saying “stuck between a rock and a hard place” but I hadn’t really experienced it until now. Deciding the alien was the lesser of two evils, I agreed to go with him.
“May I carry you?” he asked. “You’re not wearing anything over your feet and I smell blood.”
My eyes went wider and I looked down at my feet. I didn’t see blood, but the soles did hurt. I lifted a foot and checked the bottom, wincing when I saw the blood smeared across my skin. Now that I knew the damage was there, pain pulsed through my foot and ankle.
“Yes,” I said. “You may carry me.”
J-Ril lifted me into his arms and began striding through the trees. It felt like we walked forever, and maybe we did. The sun was sinking for the two-hour reprieve we’d have, since night only fell for a short time each day. As the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, we approached a large vessel I’d never seen before.
Steps descended from an open doorway and the alien carried me up the steps and into the ship. I looked around at everything and gaped at the bright lights and how crisp and clean everything seemed to be.
It was far cleaner than where I’d been living, and more of the golden aliens were inside. They stopped to stare as J-Ril carried me through what must have some sort of cargo area judging by the multitude of boxes. He strode down a corridor to a closed door.
When it opened, I only saw a metal box, but he stepped inside and the door slid shut. I let out a squeak as I felt it move, and a moment later the door opened to a different hallway. My eyes were wide as I took everything in.
He paused in the hall, looking at the different doors. “You need to get clean, and I can find you some clothing. We tend to salvage what we can from wrecks, and often trade at the different outposts. We’ve gathered a decent collection of female clothing, in case…” He looked away.
“In case what?” I asked.
“In case we ever found females who would be compatible with our people. My race is dying out because of a lack of females on my home world. We have studied the races we could find with single females and only a few have been a match, and yet none were attainable. They are guarded fiercely by their males, or they themselves are combative. When we learned of the crashed ship on this world and that the Human slaves on board could carry our offspring, it seemed like the perfect solution.”
“Do all of these rooms belong to your people?” I asked, trying not to freak over becoming a broodmare for an alien race.
“No. My home is on this level, as is the Elite Commander’s, and one other. Everyone else resides on a different floor. There is also an infirmary, a mess hall, a weapons hold, the cargo area, which you already saw, and the command center.”
“How many of you are there?” I asked.
“This ship can hold as many as twenty-four males, but we currently have fourteen on board. On our home world of Elora, there are hundreds who are in need of mates. Our civilization once boasted millions, and now we are dwindling. With no new births, it won’t be long before we’re extinct.”
“Extinct?” I asked.
“Yes. The last female born on our world is now past childbearing years. All of her children, and the children from her generation of females, have all been born male. It has been close to a century since a female was born on Elora. My people are dying out with no hope for the future. Until now.”
“You really want to save me? Not enslave me?” I asked.
J-Ril looked horrified at the thought of making me a slave, and the last of my tension eased. For whatever reason, I trusted him. Maybe it was stupid, since a male had never once been kind, or truthful, with me, but he seemed different from the males here.
The kindness and concern in J-Ril’s eyes were enough to tell me I was safe. I couldn’t remember a man ever looking at me like that, as if he wanted to protect me. Even my father had eyed me as if I were a commodity of some sort, a bargaining chip.
His gaze locked on a door and after a moment, he strode toward it. He placed his hand on a glass plate next to it and the door opened. He carried me through what looked like living quarters, a sitting area and small table with chairs. He carried me into a smaller chamber that looked completely foreign to me. J-Ril set me down on the counter next to a basin of some sort, and then he opened a glass pod and pushed a few buttons. Water shot out of two spouts on the wall and I gasped. I’d never seen running water, except for in the river. Never in a home!
“It’s hot?” I asked, as steam billowed out of the glass door.
He nodded. “We always have hot, fresh water for bathing and cold wate
r for drinking.”
“It’s wonderful!”
“I’ll place clean clothes in the bedroom for you. It’s the next door down.”
I looked down at my tattered shirt and pants, something my mother had stitched together from the plants and animals the men hunted and gathered. Anything that wasn’t consumed was used for other things, like clothing or utensils.
“The mat next to the shower will air dry you when you step onto it after bathing.” With that last parting bit, J-Ril walked out and the door closed behind him.
I didn’t waste time stripping out of my clothes and shoving them into the corner of the room. The water felt like heaven when I stepped under the spray. There was a bar of soap in the dish and I used it to lather my hair and body. I couldn’t remember ever being truly clean, and I almost wanted to cry as the dirt swirled down the drain. My hair squeaked when I rinsed the strands and my skin was nice and pink when the water started to cool.
I pushed the button I’d seen J-Ril press to start the water and marveled at how quickly it shut off, then I turned.
A startled yelp left me as the glass door was jerked open and biggest man I’d ever seen pulled me out. My heart pounded at the fierce expression on his heavily bearded face, and I felt small as a mouse next to his towering height. He even made J-Ril seem puny, and the alien had been bigger than Bruce.
I trembled and fought not to lose control of my bladder. I’d done that once when I’d been frightened, and it hadn’t ended well for me.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice a deep growl.
“M-Marcy. My name is Marcy. J-Ril told me I could get clean in here.”
His expression softened and his gaze raked over my body. He slammed his eyes closed and groaned as he released me and took a step back. “My apologies. I didn’t realize a Human female had been rescued. Your hair is so long that from the back it obscured your curves. I thought an intruder had entered the ship undetected. I’m sorry if I frightened you.”
“Who are you?” I asked, as my arms banded across my breasts.
“Elite Commander K-Tan.”
He backed up until he bumped into the doorway, then he stepped into the hall. His eyes opened again and the hunger I saw there had an unexpected effect. My body warmed and I grew slick between my legs. My nipples hardened against my arms and for the first time in my entire twenty-three years, I felt desire. My pulse pounded and I licked my lips as I stared at the golden alien. There were black swirls down one arm, and I wondered if they held significance.
“Don’t,” he said, his voice coming out in a gasp as he hastily took another step back.
“Don’t what?”
His eyes closed again. “That smell. It is so enticing.”
My gaze lowered to his leather pants. His cock was hard and pressing against the material. The size was rather intimidating, but my body heated even more. I should be terrified after all I’d been through, but something felt like it was building inside of me. This need I’d never felt before, and more.
I took a step toward him, and another. His jaw tightened and he growled, a low menacing sound that just made my nipples even harder. What was happening to me? Inside, a part of me screamed to stop, to run away, but I couldn’t ignore the even stronger urge to get closer to him.
“I… I don’t…” I swallowed hard and a pulse of desire hit me so hard I fell to my knees.
K-Tan came closer and lifted me into his arms. His chest was bare and warm against my skin. I moaned as the heat of his body pressed against me, and a weird pulsing sensation started between my legs. He stepped back into the weird room with the fresh water and set me down on the counter. I mourned the loss of his body pressed against mine, which just confused me even more.
“What’s happening to me?” I asked. “I’ve never felt like this.”
“Mating heat,” he said.
“But I’m Human! We don’t do that.” I looked up at him in confusion. “Do we?”
“Your body is responding to mine,” he said. “I’m sorry, my sweet female. I won’t take advantage. I won’t be like other males and take what isn’t offered, no matter how tempting you are.”
“And if I offered?” I asked softly.
What would it be like to be with a man because I’d chosen him and not because I was being forced into it? My first time had happened when I was sixteen, and the man had held me down. It hadn’t been my choice; nothing in my life had ever been my choice.
Now I was twenty-three and still didn’t know what it was like to be with a man who didn’t want to hurt me. I hadn’t even realized that was a true possibility. My mother’s stories had always seemed just that, stories. Now I had to wonder if maybe life away from this place was truly different.
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” K-Tan said. “To mate with me… it wouldn’t be a one-time thing. We’re compatible, Marcy. If we are intimate, you would be mine and I would be yours. When an Elorian male takes a female to his bed who is able to bear him offspring, our scents mingle and our bodies… An Elorian becomes addicted to his female, and she to him. If you’re feeling the mating heat, then it seems Human females are more like Elorian females than we realized.”
“As in forever?” I asked. “I’d be yours… forever?”
“Yes.” He took a breath and his hand tightened on me a moment. “I can… give you pleasure without mating you.”
I studied him. There was tension along his jaw, in his brow, and in the taut lines of his body. Yes, he’d be willing to give me pleasure without taking any for himself, but at what cost? Was I selfish enough to agree? I reached out and placed my hand on his chest, feeling two hearts pounding against my palm. In a matter of moments, I felt my own heart sync, matching his beat for beat.
I was overwhelmed, incredibly turned on, and yet… for the first time in my life, being this close to a male felt so very right. My mind was slightly fuzzy and my body felt like it belonged to someone else. The sensations overtaking me were foreign and a little scary.
I’d wanted a different life. I’d looked to the sky often enough and asked for a reprieve from the hell I’d been born into. Was this the answer to that plea? Had some entity sent K-Tan to me? I’d heard tales of a God, but I’d never believed in one. Maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe there was some divine being watching over us, and they’d seen fit to send K-Tan to save me.
Chapter Two
K-Tan
The blue of her eyes deepened as the dainty little Human stared up at me. I could hear her heart beating in time with both of mine, and I knew that I’d found my true mate, the perfect female for me. Under the scent of her arousal, there was something extra. I breathed deep and everything inside of me grew still. Blood. I smelled blood on my sweet Human female. My cock no longer throbbed and begged for release. Knowing she was injured doused my arousal.
“You’re hurt,” I said, pulling away from her.
She released me and I skimmed her body with my hands, checking for any wounds. I hadn’t noticed blood when I’d seen her in the cleansing unit, nor had I seen any when I’d had my arms around her. I hadn’t even claimed her and already I was failing her as a mate and protector. Instead of making sure she was all right, I’d been too focused on my need for her, and fighting the instinct to make her mine in every way possible.
“It’s my foot,” she said. “I think I cut it when I ran away from the settlement.”
I lifted the small appendage and noticed several scrapes and cuts along the bottom. None of them seemed very deep, but I knew if they were left unattended they could fester. Checking the other, I noticed a bruise forming in the center. It would pain her for a while, but at least the skin hadn’t broken. Still! My mate was hurt and here I was lusting after her, no better than the males who had enslaved her. Anger filled me, not at her but at myself.
“I’ll get the med tech,” I said, drawing further back. Before I left, I retrieved one of my shirts from my sleeping chamber and pulled it ov
er her head. It was too big for Marcy, but it covered her bare body. I wasn’t about to let another male see her curves and soft, silky skin, especially an unmated male. Perhaps I’d feel differently once we’d bonded fully. Right now, we both felt the mating heat, and our bodies were syncing to one another, but that tenuous connection could still be severed.
I rushed down to the lower level, my boots clanging on the metal flooring as I hurried to our med clinic. K-Vik was lounging in a chair, his feet propped on a low table. He bolted to attention as I entered the space. He was the only trained healer on board, and while the medical pods did most of the work, sometimes K-Vik had to use other methods for healing.
“There’s a Human female in need of assistance,” I said.
K-Vik grabbed the portable kit and rushed toward the door. “Where is she?”
“My quarters.”
He froze a moment, then pushed forward. I knew it wouldn’t take long for word to spread that the Elite Commander had a female in his rooms. It wouldn’t look good, me claiming the first female to board our vessel, but I couldn’t deny the pull I felt toward Marcy. And it seemed she felt it as well. If Humans didn’t feel mating heat, as she’d claimed, then her body’s response to mine meant we were destined for one another. I couldn’t think of any other explanation.
K-Vik stopped just inside the doorway to my quarters and waited. I led the way down the hall to the bathroom. Marcy still sat on the counter. Her hands fidgeted in her lap as she eyed K-Vik. Her fingers trembled, and her lip quivered. Even from the doorway, I could hear her heart skip a beat before syncing with mine once more. I hated that she felt fear, when I knew my males would never harm her.
Loved by the Elite Commander Page 2
