Ignite: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Romance (Inferno Force of the Drexian Warriors Book 1)

by Tana Stone

  “Something else I find impossible to believe,” I muttered.

  “Come on,” Nina said. “You know how it is. Boys never go for the smart girls.”

  I still couldn’t buy that she hadn’t attracted guys with her untamed curls and ample curves. “Then they were idiots.”

  “Speaking of guys, you’re sure you don’t want to give this Drexian a try?”

  For a moment, I thought she meant Kalex, and my pulse quickened. Our encounter in his strategy room had flustered me, as had the way he’d looked at me afterward. If he hadn’t assured me that he wasn’t interested in any type of relationship, I would have been worried. He’d bristled at the mention of Dryx, and I was pretty sure his menacing growl hadn’t been about the Kronock.

  I shook my head, both to assure Nina I wasn’t interested in Serge’s match and to rid my mind of the image of Kalex’s tortured expression. “Would you want Serge to pick your husband?”

  Nina crinkled her nose. “Good point. His idea of a snappy dresser is probably not the same as mine.”

  “Not unless you like mid-century pimp.”

  Nina put a hand over her mouth to quiet her giggles. “Don’t let Serge hear you. He puts a lot of effort into his wardrobe.”

  “Too bad their research into Earth fashion stopped in the 1970s.”

  “I don’t know. I think the flared collars and ascots work on Serge.”

  Before I could argue that flared collars didn’t work on anyone, the communication device I’d jammed into my pocket trilled. I pulled it out, my eyebrows lifting in surprise before I could school my reaction.

  “Let me guess?” Nina said. “Our Gatazoid friend?”

  “Actually, no.” I shoved the device back in my pants. “The captain wants to see me about the additions to the fantasy suites.”

  “I thought he nixed those?”

  “Maybe he changed his mind,” I said, wondering if his potential change of heart had anything to do with our new arrangement. The thought made me feel a little uneasy. I didn’t want to ever be the kind of woman who got what she wanted by using sexual favors. Then again, I did enjoy the sexual favors.

  Leaving Nina with a wave, I made my way to the inclinators, stopping at one of the fantasy suite levels. It had been a few days since I last checked on this particular level, which had been designed to recreate an alien planet and not an Earth environment. It was one of the ways the Island would be different from the Boat. Since the new human brides were now all volunteers, the theory was that they were more adventurous and didn’t necessarily need to stay in a place that looked familiar—or at least recognizable.

  I stepped off the inclinator car and hesitated, wondering if I’d gotten the right level. I checked my comms device. Nope, this was the level on which the captain had asked me to meet him.

  Instead of entering into a holographic recreation of a Caribbean island or a mountainside chalet or even the African savannah, I had the strange sensation of stepping into a jungle slash science experiment. A lush rainforest surrounded me with vines wrapping around tall trees and colorful birds swooping overhead, but the entire place seemed to glitter. Vividly hued crystals were interspersed with the trees—some of them taller than my head. Light from two suns sifted through the canopy of leaves, making the crystalline structures sparkle and vivid shards of color dance across the wooden walkway. Steam rose from occasional sunken pools as the surface of the green water bubbled, sending up a scent that reminded me of mangos.

  Vekron and Nina and the holographic design team had done an impressive job—at least I thought they had. I had no idea what this alien environment was supposed to look like, only that it was a popular R and R destination for Drexians. I only hoped the women from Earth would find it appealing, since we had devoted an entire level to it.

  I strode impatiently down the walkway. Where was Kalex, and what was the problem? When I saw an open door leading inside one of the suites, I sighed, and walked through it.

  If the outside of the holographic environment had been unexpected, the inside of the suite was even more so. The center of the room was sunken and opened to the ground below, one of the bubbling springs the centerpiece and surrounded by cushions and low loungers. One the other side of the pool, wide round steps led to an oval-shaped bed that was draped in layers of sheer fabric, vines like the ones in the jungle dangling from above and creating an unusual headboard.

  The ceiling itself was arched and looked like the inside of a woven basket, more vines hanging at intervals to suspend swinging chairs or floating tables. Standing crystals served at lights, giving an ambient glow to the peculiar room. The entire suite was open to one side and overlooked the jungle, lush greenery extending onto the balcony.

  “Kalex?” I called out, scanning the space. If he’d stood me up, I was going to have his head.

  Then I heard a slight rustling from behind, but before I could turn, my hands were grabbed roughly and pinned behind my back.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Kalex

  “What the hell?” Zoey jerked her hands, but I held them tightly.

  I lowered my head so that my mouth brushed her neck. “I thought we were rushed in my strategy room.”

  She twisted her neck to look at me, her eyes flashing with fury. “So, you tricked me into meeting you in an empty fantasy suite?”

  “Once the tributes arrive, there won’t be any opportunity for us to try it out, and you really should experience a Zandoran pleasure moon at least once.”

  She jerked in my grasp, but I didn’t release her. “What’s so impressive about a Zandorban pleasure moon? It looks like a jungle to me.”

  “Zandoran,” I corrected. “And it’s nothing like one of your Earth jungles, I promise you. Now do you want me to tell you about it or are you going to keep fighting me?”

  She glared at me but let out a breath. “Fine. I don’t have anywhere else I need to be.”

  “Good.” I let go of her hands and walked around her toward the sunken natural spring.

  “You’re naked,” she spluttered as I stepped into the steaming water and inhaled the steamy perfume rising from the surface.

  I glanced at her over my shoulder as I descended fully into the pool, sinking down under the water covered my shoulders . “Of course. No one wears clothing on a Zandoran pleasure moon.”

  She shook her head. “You’re crazy. This is crazy.”

  I eyed her as the scented water bubbled around me, each popping bubble sending up more of the pungent, fruity aroma. “I thought you liked to take risks.”

  She crossed her arms and jutted out one hip. “What’s risky about sitting in a hot tub?”

  “Zandoran natural spring water has certain properties.” He held my gaze in silent challenge. “Aphrodisiac properties.”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “You’re telling me that hot tub will make us horny?”

  Already the water was working on me, my cock swelling beneath the water and heat simmering in my core.

  I tilted my head. “Not exactly. It simply enhances whatever secret desires you already have within you and brings them to the surface. If you have any dark, forbidden desires, this water will reveal them.”

  “I don’t have any dark desires,” she said quickly, and a bit defensively.

  I shrugged one shoulder. “Prove it.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re a maddening alien, do you know that? I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

  One of the crystal lights pulsed, sending lavender light across her face.

  “You don’t,” I admitted. “But don’t you want to prove me wrong?”

  Her gaze dipped to the water for a moment. “You think I can’t resist you?”

  I leaned back against the edge of the pool, a growl building in my chest. “I don’t think you want to.”

  She huffed out a breath. “This isn’t part of our deal, you know. I’m the one who’s supposed to say when and where.”

  “Are you really going t
o pass up the chance to see if you can resist the Zandoran pleasure pools or prove to me that you don’t have the dark hidden desires I know you do?”

  “Just because you’ve fucked me doesn’t mean you know me,” she said as she pulled off her clothes, tossing them on the floor and stomping over to the pool. The water splashed as she entered, and she also sank down until her chin touched the surface. “There? Are you happy?”

  “Very,” I said, closing my eyes and letting my head rest behind me on the ledge.

  “So, we just sit here and wait to be overcome with perverted desires?”

  I opened one eye, my mouth quirking up. “Perverted? I didn’t know you were a prude, Zoey.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Considering the fact that we’ve been screwing all over the station, you know I’m no prude.”

  I breathed in deeply, the aroma of the water working its magic as I waited patiently for Zoey to feel its effects. “Okay, you aren’t a prude, but you have no desire for a Drexian mate. Why?”

  She was silent, and I finally opened my eyes and pivoted my head to look at her. Zoey’s eyes were squeezed shut and her jaw was tight. Clearly, I’d struck a nerve.

  “It’s a long story,” she finally said. “You don’t want to hear it anyway. We’re fuck buddies, not friends.”

  “Fuck buddies? Is that an Earth custom? Do people have lots of fuck buddies?”

  “It depends on the person. You’re actually my first one. Before you, I’d never been with anyone just for sex.”

  Even though I’d never wanted more than sex from Zoey, I didn’t like hearing her say that. A possessive urge swelled within me, more evidence that the water was working. “And do you like having me as a fuck buddy?”

  “I love it,” she said, then sucked in a breath and slapped a wet hand over her mouth. “Did I say that out loud?”

  I grinned, my chest puffing out as I swiveled in the water so that I was body-to-body with her. “You did. I told you the water would reveal your true desires and eliminate inhibitions.”

  Zoey put a hand on my chest as if to keep me at bay. “This was probably a bad idea.”

  “Why?” I reached under the water and held her waist with one hand.

  “Because I’m a good girl, and good girls don’t have fuck buddies and want to do the things that I want to do.”

  I jerked her so that her body was flush with mine, the warm water sloshing around us. “And what do you want to do?”

  She tipped her head back, biting her lip as if she was fighting the urge to tell me. “For once, I don’t want to be in control.”

  “I thought you liked being the boss.” I dragged my thumb across her full lower lip. “You seem to like trying to boss me around.”

  “I’ve had to be in control for so long because I’ve had to fight for everything I’ve achieved, but I don’t want to be.” Her pupils had gone so wide, her eyes were black. “I want you to take control of me.”

  My heart thundered in my chest, and I rolled my head to the side as I fought the primal urges storming through me. “Do you want to know my secret desire?”

  She nodded without blinking.

  I dropped my head so that my mouth skimmed the shell of her ear. “To tie you up and do what I want while there’s nothing you can do to stop me. To have you at my total mercy while I fuck you.”

  “Do it,” she whispered. “Please.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Zoey

  Before I knew what was happening, Kalex had scooped me out of the water and was practically jogging out of the pool and across the room. Water dripped off both of us, leaving puddles on the floor but he clearly didn’t care as he strode up the wide steps to the bed and threw me down in the middle of it.

  All rational thoughts had left my mind, as desire thrummed through me. I was practically vibrating with need, my skin tingling and my heart pounding. My eyelids fluttered, even as I fought to keep them open.

  Kalex jerked my hands over my head and wrapped something around my wrists, each arm stretching to one side. I peered up and saw that he’d used the dangling vines, which were surprisingly flexible and soft.

  “Like this?” he growled, parting my legs and tying those, as well.

  I arched my back, lightheaded with arousal, the only noises coming from me breathy, desperate moans.

  When he’d tied me so that my legs were spread wide, Kalex crawled up my body, his rigid cock brushing against me. When he hovered above me, he locked his gaze on mine. “You’re mine, Zoey. Your body belongs to me. Do you understand?”

  I nodded, pleasure surging through me at his possessive words.

  “I’m going to fuck you, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. You can scream, and no one will hear you.” He ran a finger between my slick folds. “There’s nothing you can do to keep me from claiming this pretty pussy as mine. Over and over until you beg me for mercy.”

  I knew I shouldn’t want this, but I did. I managed to move my head up and down as the sound of rushing blood in my ears drowned out all other noise.

  Despite his body being so close to mine and the heat pulsing off him in waves, my nipples pebbled from the cool air. I arched my back until the hard peaks brushed against his firm, wet muscles.

  He made a tsk-ing sound. “Still trying to call the shots?”

  Before I could protest, he was moving down my body, settling his head between my legs and moaning as he parted my folds with his fingers. “Do you like my tongue inside you?”

  “Yes,” I gasped.

  “What about my fingers?” he asked, sliding two thick fingers in at once as he started to suck my clit.

  I jerked from the intensity of his mouth as he sucked me hard, straining against the vines that held me tight as the Drexian worked his fingers deep inside me, twisting them to hit just the right spot. Kalex didn’t slow his pace, even when my breath grew ragged and my legs spasmed. There was nothing gentle or soft about the way he was taking me, and I loved how roughly he was claiming my body with his.

  When I began to tremble, crying out as my body rippled around his fingers, he pulled out and reared up, grasping me by the hips and plunging his cock inside me while I was coming. My pussy instantly clenched around him, tightening like a vise around his rigid length while he thrust hard and fast. I bowed back, screaming my release and finally sagging, my arms limp in the restraints.

  “You want to know a secret?” Kalex asked, panting as he continued to fuck me.

  I couldn’t manage to squeak out a sound, but I bobbed my head up and down.

  “I never thought a human could feel so good. I never thought I’d think about one all the time.” He stared down at where he was burying his cock inside me, his eyes rolling back as he bit his lip hard. “I don’t think I can give you up.”

  The powerful erotic haze still engulfed me, my body pulsing with euphoria. “I don’t want you to give me up. I don’t want to give this up.”

  He drove himself deep, reaching down and cupping one hand behind my head so my eyes were locked on his. “Tell me you’re mine, Zoey.”

  My mouth went dry, but the words spilled out of me. I couldn’t stop them. “I’m yours, Kalex.”

  With a roar, he knifed up and pistoned into me once more before emptying himself inside me. Then he collapsed beside me, and I stared up at the strange woven ceiling and all the vines spilling from it, wondering what kind of sorcery had made me say so many things I wished weren’t true.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Kalex

  I stomped into my strategy room and slumped in my desk chair. What had I done? It had been a day since my encounter with Zoey in the fantasy suite, but I hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything since then. I’d nodded my way through breakfast with Vekron and Jax and listened to my bridge officers explain the latest developments regarding the station power outage, but I hadn’t been focused on either.

  I rasped my fingers across the stubble on my cheeks, swiveling to stare out into the blacknes
s of space. This was exactly what I hadn’t wanted to happen.

  I’d spent most of my life running toward danger and excitement, which was why I’d joined Inferno Force and worked hard to rise in the ranks. Commanding my own crew of Inferno Force warriors to take on the most perilous missions in the galaxy had always been the goal.

  It was a goal no one had ever thought I’d achieve, which is why I had to do it. I’d been too weak as a child, struck down by the Virillian virus that had ravaged our people and forced me to have multiple organ transplants.

  I fingered the scar on my chest through my uniform, the words “fragile” and “delicate” echoing in my ears. Those weren’t words that could ever be used to describe me now. Not after I’d thrown myself into becoming an Inferno Force warrior. That damaged child was gone forever, but the fear lingered like a dark echo. Fear that I wouldn’t be able to measure up, that I wouldn’t be as strong as my Drexian brothers.

  I shook my head. I’d proven them all wrong—the healers, my parents, the admissions director at the Drexian academy. But that didn’t mean I could stop. I had to keep pushing and keep proving myself. And taking a human lover—or worse, a human bride—did not fit into that plan.

  Drexian warriors who took human mates inevitably slowed down. They took time off to spend with their new wives, they reveled in a fantasy suite on the Boat, they were granted a leave of absence that sometimes lasted for so long they retired altogether. It was almost unheard of that they continued to serve with Inferno Force, the one exception being Captain Brok who’d taken a mate who was as much of a thrill seeker as any Drexian.

  Would Zoey consider joining me on an Inferno Force battleship? The moment the thought entered my mind, I pushed it away. She was an astro architect who wanted nothing more than to return to Earth. Not to mention, humans weren’t usually welcomed on Drexian battleships. It was too dangerous, and the thought of her being put at risk every day made my stomach churn.