Captured by the Alien Warrior

by Hope Hart

  My hands slide to her hips, holding them steady as I pound deep, ravishing her as she tightens even more around me, throwing her head back.

  Her breath catches, and I slam my mouth down on hers, capturing her loud groans as she shakes and trembles around me. I follow her over, pleasure bursting along my every nerve, my limbs trembling as I claim her one last time.

  How will I make myself leave her?

  Charlie

  Dragix brushes a gentle kiss to my cheek, and the furs rustle around me as he gets out of bed.

  I open my eyes. “Where are you going?”

  His expression is resigned, and I narrow my eyes at him.

  “You’re leaving, aren’t you? You were just going to sneak out of here without even saying goodbye.”

  “I thought it would be easier this way. For both of us.”

  I let out a choked laugh. “Easier? I never thought you were a coward, Dragix.”

  His eyes sharpen at that. His expression is remote now, as if he has mentally already left.

  I throw back the furs and get to my feet, ignoring the fact that I’m butt naked.

  Dragix’s eyes travel down my body before he wrestles them back to my face. “Be careful, little two-leg.”

  I stare at him. “You’re threatening me now?”

  “I am the one being that the warriors here fear. You should remember that.”

  “Fuck you.” He steps forward, eyes flaring, and I hold up a hand. “Why are you picking a fight? So it’ll be easier to leave me that way?” He’s silent, and I laugh. “Right. You don’t have to go, you know. You could stay here. With me. Help us fight off whatever is coming. Be with me, Dragix.”

  I’m practically begging, and his face is getting colder and more remote by the second. After last night…the thought of not seeing him again…it cracks something inside me.

  “I don’t belong here,” he says. “These are not my people.”

  “I know they’re not. But…they could be your people. At least for a little while.”

  He bares his teeth at that, and I realize it was the worst thing I could have said. He turns and stalks from the kradi, and I pull on a pair of pants, cursing as I shove my legs into them.

  Surprisingly, he hasn’t flown away by the time I stumble from the kradi, still pulling my shirt over my head. He’s stalking toward the camp gates, ignoring the few Braxians who are walking through the camp this early.

  The sun is rising, bathing the ground with a warm light. The air is cool and fresh, and my heart is breaking.

  I follow him, running to catch up with his long stride. And then I push him behind one of the kradis. It’s only the fact that I have surprise on my side that makes it work, and he blinks at me for a moment before his face hardens again.

  “The people here could die, Dragix.”

  He’s silent, and I stare at him.

  “You don’t care, do you?”

  “I told you. I only care about you.”

  I’ve made a mistake giving him human traits. Imagining that he felt human emotions. He’ll never be able to see past his rage and hurt to help the Braxians, even if it means also helping me and the other women.

  I step back. I’ve made a fool of myself chasing after him. We agreed to this. He was going to drop me off here and leave. I’m the one who asked him to stay the night.

  My mistake.

  He looks at me, those gold eyes hard. But something flickers in them as we stare at each other, and his mouth tightens, as if he’s fighting back the words he wants to say.

  I clear my throat. I did what I swore I would never do again. I got attached to a man who I knew would hurt me. It may not be physical pain, but it still feels agonizing enough to kill me.

  “There’s no point drawing this out, then.” I step back. “Goodbye, Dragix.”

  He nods, his face blank. But I know him well enough by now to see torment flash through those gold eyes.

  “Goodbye Charlie.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Charlie

  I feel like I’ve been cut open and left to bleed out. But I put on a happy face and attempt to explain why Dragix chose not to help us.

  It’s obvious that the other women don’t understand, but they accept my explanations anyway. We have bigger things to worry about, and after another meeting, we’ve decided that some of us will travel to the tribes that still haven’t agreed to ally with us.

  Tomorrow, I’ll be heading to a tribe that’s located close to what the others call the Colossal Water. Apparently, the tribe king is called Khax. His tribe hasn’t been seen for a while and has only recently returned to this area. Rakiz described Khax’s warriors as savages, which, given how brutal these warriors are in their training arena, makes me more than a little nervous.

  But we need allies. I can vividly remember the long sticks that the aliens used to shock us. If they have other weapons like that, we need to find a way to disable them before they use them on us.

  The Braxians are tough sons of bitches, but they’re still only armed with swords and crossbows.

  I bring my attention back to the present as Ivy touches my knee.

  “How are you doing?” she asks gently.

  My eyes sting, and I push the palms of my hands against them. We’re sitting in the same kradi as yesterday, only the others have already wandered off to do whatever they need to do. Zoey is crushing some kind of sweet-smelling herbs in the corner, and she sends me a sympathetic look as I move my hands away from my face.

  “I’m…struggling,” I admit. “Who would’ve thought that I’d fall for the dragon who kidnapped me and took me back to his lair? It’s like something out of a bad fairy tale.”

  Zoey grins at me from across the room. “You know, the original fairy tales are much worse than the soft little stories we were told as kids. If it was really a bad fairy tale, the dragon would have eaten you and used your bones to pick your flesh out of his teeth.”

  Ivy and I both stare at her for a long moment, and she blushes.

  “Sorry,” she mutters, and we crack up.

  It feels good to laugh about something, anything.

  “He’s basically a sociopath,” I mutter. “He doesn’t care about anyone but me, and even that seems iffy right now.”

  Ivy tilts her head. “You’ve been trying to treat him like he’s human.”

  I shrug. Her words echo what I was thinking earlier. Dragix isn’t human. I know that. But still… “I have. And I’ve been alone for so long. My ex…he was abusive. It was bad. And I don’t think he ever truly loved me. I don’t think he knew how to love. I was young and lonely, mourning my family, and he wanted me because I fulfilled a purpose. Someone to dominate. To hurt. When Dragix took me, one of the first things he said was, ‘I saw you, and I took you. I am Dragix. I can do what I like.’” Tears are running down my face, and I brush at them. Across the kradi, Zoey’s eyes are wet in sympathy, and Ivy puts her arm around me.

  “You think they’re the same.”

  “Yes…no…I don’t know.”

  “Did Dragix ever…hurt you?”

  “No. Never. He was obsessed with healing me actually. When we first met, he was little more than a beast. But he was still careful with me. I just…I worry that I’m the problem. That I’m only interested in emotionally unavailable, possessive men.”

  Ivy tilts her head. “I get it, but two guys is not a pattern. You can’t compare an abusive jackass on Earth with an alien dragon on Agron. I know it’s tempting to try and ‘figure it out’ so that it’ll hurt less. But do you think blaming yourself and putting Dragix in the same category as your ex will make you feel better?”

  “No. No, not at all. I just miss him. Life was simple on that mountain, you know?”

  She nods. “I get it. Men suck.”

  Zoey and I both laugh, but Ivy’s face is serious, although her eyes sparkle.

  “I get what it’s like to fall for a guy who’s considered barbaric even on this planet, which truly
takes some work. Vrex was living his life as a hermit in the woods before I managed to civilize him.”

  She grins at us, and she looks so happy, so content, that I’m suddenly wrestling with envy, wishing with everything I have that Dragix was with me right now.

  The grin disappears, and she squeezes my hand. “It’ll get better, I promise. It’ll just take time. Thankfully, you have more than enough stuff to distract you right now.”

  I laugh. “That’s for sure. Any advice for talking to this tribe tomorrow?”

  “Don’t let them intimidate you. Stay cool and lay out exactly what it will mean for them if those purple bastards are given free rein on this planet.”

  I nod, and we watch while Zoey transfers her herbs to a small wooden bowl. She has mostly been quiet, her mind obviously elsewhere, and she glances at me.

  “I wish I could come with you.”

  “You can,” I say, surprised. I hadn’t thought she wanted to come.

  She shakes her head. “Tagiz will lose his mind.”

  Ivy glances at me and then narrows her eyes at Zoey. “Is he bossing you around, girl? You know you can’t let these warriors get away with that shit. If they thought we’d take it, they’d keep us tucked up safe in our kradis day and night.”

  I laugh at the thought, and Ivy grins at me. Then she returns her attention to Zoey, who blushes.

  “It’s not that. I mean…he’s definitely bossy, but I think that’s in the Braxian blood. It’s just that…he’s the one who rescued me, and he seems to think it’s his responsibility to make sure I’m safe every moment of every day. He treats me like a patient.”

  Zoey’s lower lip sticks out in a pout, and her huge eyes are wide with annoyance. She has lost weight since I saw her last, and her sharp collarbones and high cheekbones make her look fragile. Her skin is pale and flawless, with a few tiny freckles scattered across her small nose, and her dark hair is tousled around her shoulders.

  “Well,” I say, “unfortunately you suffer from terminal cuteness.”

  Zoey glares at me, and I laugh.

  “Girl, I was the smallest kid in my class my whole life, I get it.”

  Ivy chimes in, “Add in the fact that you almost died in front of Tagiz, and he’s likely struggling with all those instincts that make Braxians so good in bed but so much work to deal with out of the furs. Even a human guy would want to look after you, but you’re going to have to show him that you don’t need him to baby you.”

  “How do I do that?” Zoey wails, and I stare at her.

  “This is a lot of drama for a random Braxian. Spill.”

  She turns bright pink and chews on her lower lip. “I kissed him,” she admits.

  “Oooh, girl,” Ivy crows. “I knew you had it in you.”

  Zoey is now bright red. “I was proud of myself too until he pushed me away and told me he didn’t want to hurt me.”

  Yikes.

  “There’s only one thing for it,” I say, and Zoey angles her head. “Prove to him that you’re better. But you can’t do that until you actually are better. If you push yourself too much and end up passing out or something, you’ll just prove him right.”

  Ivy nods. “In the meantime, if you want him to stop seeing you as a patient, you need to ban any conversations about your health,” she says. “That’s what I’d do anyway. Only talk to him if it’s about something else and he’ll soon get the message.”

  Zoey blinks, and then her eyes harden. “You’re right. I’m a nurse. I deal with pushy doctors and difficult patients all damn day. I can handle one Braxian male.”

  Ivy grins and shoots me a look, and I laugh. I can’t wait to see the fireworks.

  “That’s the spirit,” Ivy says.

  Dragix

  I can feel Charlie like a ghost inside me. My little two-leg is in my blood, in the air I breathe. Everything reminds me of her, from the forest she liked to explore, to the river she once bathed in naked.

  Even basking in the sun on top of my mountain holds no pleasure. I keep opening one eye, expecting to see Charlie sauntering out of my lair, a grin on her face as she pleads with me to take her flying.

  Maez walks up the stairs and sits next to me, staring out over the plains below.

  “It’s quiet around here without Charlie,” she says, ignoring me as I snarl at her.

  “She belongs with the other two-legs.”

  “And you? Where do you belong, Dragix?”

  “Here.” Alone. For eternity.

  Maez’s dark eyes are on me, and I show her the edges of my teeth. She rolls her eyes, something I never saw her do until Charlie was with us, constantly demonstrating her irreverence.

  The sight reminds me so much of Charlie—of the way she would tease me, hoping to make me growl so she could laugh in delight—that I can no longer even look at Maez.

  I get to my feet, ignoring her sigh as I spread my wings and leave my mountain behind.

  I fly over my territory, absently scanning it for Zintas, Braxians, or a beautiful, dark-haired female making her way back to me.

  I push the thought aside and bank left, swooping down to hunt. Then I make my way to the river, where Charlie first saw the other two-leg female.

  If I had never allowed her to leave my lair, she would not have talked to the others. They would have imagined her dead, would have left us alone. Eventually, Charlie would have accepted her fate. She would have stayed with me.

  That would make me no better than the male who caused her such pain and suffering.

  I glower at the large ship, half sunk in the river. The idea of a solution to whatever fertility problems the Braxians have…it is not a good thought. It does not please me at all. I would be happy if they died out naturally. Surely even my mother would not expect me to actively help the Braxian race prosper.

  I land in the river, studying the ship. Then I’m the one mentally rolling my eyes at myself as I push against it. I am strong, but the ship has been stuck here for decades. I use my claws to scrape at the riverbed, to push the rocks aside, and then I dig in, pushing against the ship again with a roar.

  I push until it sits on the riverbank, no longer contaminating the water—if that is indeed the source of the Braxians’ problems.

  Perhaps…perhaps one day Charlie will see this. And maybe she will know that even if I could not stay with her, could not surround myself with my enemies, I am not a monster.

  A thought occurs to me, one so repulsive that I roar, flames surrounding me as I lose control.

  Charlie is beautiful and brave, and she…shines. Braxian males will fight to win her. If she does not find her way home to her planet, she will eventually mate with one of them. They will have younglings.

  I eye the ship. Perhaps now they will be more likely to have daughters, with her soft, curly hair and dark-blue eyes.

  It takes more self-control than I have ever used before not to push the ship back into the water. Not to set this world on fire. Not to fly to the Braxian camp and snatch Charlie up from where other males are likely sniffing around her.

  I tremble with rage, and it is only the thought of her face and the disappointment in her eyes that keeps me from doing just that.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Charlie

  We’re leaving early this morning. Zoey was forced to admit that she’s not yet up to the journey, even if she’d like to be. But from the way she was huddled and whispering with a warrior called Hewex earlier, it’s obvious that she’s up to something.

  Good for her.

  There’s a lot riding on this visit. Rakiz is already away negotiating with another tribe, and apparently his ally Dexar—Alexis’s mate—is doing the same. They’ll return to camp later today, but for now, it’s our turn to step up. They’re trusting us to convince Khax—the king of a tribe they consider savages—to help us fight.

  My eyes are heavy and gritty from a night of no sleep. From the sympathetic look Ellie just shot me, I don’t need a mirror to know that they’re likel
y swollen and red as well.

  To say I miss Dragix is the understatement of the year. I wonder what he’s doing now. If he’s in our hot pools, flying over the forest, napping on top of his mountain. I wish…

  That’s enough of that.

  I force my attention back to the present and smile at one of the Braxians who is coming with us. His name is Jozet, and he looks like his face would crack if he smiled back at me. He gestures to one of the slightly terrifying beasts they call “mishua,” and I gulp as it stares at me through red eyes.

  “She won’t hurt you,” Jozet says. “Her name is Vari.”

  “Vari, huh? Nice to meet you.” I slowly raise my hand to her face, and when Jozet doesn’t object, I stroke along her nose. Her scales are very different compared to Dragix’s, but the feel of them beneath my hand still makes my throat tighten.

  She gazes at me and lets out a tiny snort, but when I go to remove my hand, she nudges it, encouraging me to pat her some more.

  I laugh. “Spoiled girl.”

  Jozet’s face stays blank, but his eyes dance as he slaps her lightly on her flank. “They’re all spoiled. They wouldn’t tolerate anything less.”

  “Neither would I,” an amused voice says, and I glance over my shoulder at Vivian.

  “What are you doing up this early?”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  Jozet sighs, and Vivian ignores him.

  “I always get stuck behind,” she tells me. “I’m desperate for some adventure.”

  I raise my eyebrow. Somehow, in a warrior camp on an alien planet, Vivian looks impeccable. She’s done something to her eyes to darken her lashes, and her hair spills down her back like gold silk. Her dress fits like it has been tailored, but the steely look in her eye warns me that while she may care about her appearance, she’s no airhead.

  “If you’re sure. Jozet said we need to travel fast if we’re going to get back this afternoon. Otherwise, we’ll have to camp somewhere.”

  Vivian sends me an amused look. “What are we waiting for?”