The Alien Warrior's Heart : A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Plutonian Warriors Book 3)

by Nelia Alarcon

  Simone had long grown past the fairytale princess stage. When she was little, when hell would break loose and pain was all she knew, she would wish on the stars. She would hope and pray that some handsome prince would come and rescue her.

  Guess what?

  Prince Charming never came.

  She didn’t start to break free until she realized that she wasn’t some helpless character waiting for the cavalry to arrive. She was capable of saving herself.

  Back then, she’d no other choice but to save herself.

  Summoning all the darkness from those days in her childhood, Simone pushed away from the tree. In the corner of her eye, she saw Zar tearing the lion aliens apart with his bare hands.

  Simone skidded to a stop behind a tall tree trunk just as Zar smashed one of the guard’s heads against the root. The entire tree shuddered, from the branches to the ground. Blue leaves dislodged and fell all over her head.

  Her eyes fixed on the alien corpse. The lion’s metal helmet had flown off his head and half his face was smashed in. Her stomach roiled and she turned away from the sight.

  Simone hated violence. Hated it with everything inside her. But freezing up when bullies were beating on someone was how people got themselves hurt, how they got themselves killed.

  She would fight when she needed to. It’s what she’d promised herself in that little Disney princess bed when she was nursing a broken nose and bruised ribs.

  She would fight.

  And so, Simone swallowed the bile in her throat and pulled the lion alien’s helmet completely off. She placed it over her head, gagging at the stench of blood and brain fluid. It overwhelmed her and made her eyes water.

  Push through it, Simone. You’ve been through worse than this.

  She dragged the heavy sword from the dead guard’s hands and pulled it behind the tree. Letting it flop into the grass, Simone stared at it. The weapon was too heavy for her to lift and carry, but if she could find a way to break it apart…

  Her fingers slid over the little trigger at the base of the sword and she grinned when she realized that it was modular. The transparent panes at the bottom were built on top of one another, almost like each round of bullets were built into the square barrel.

  If she broke it off…

  Simone grunted as she slammed the laser sword against her knee. It held steady.

  She tried it again, harder this time.

  The gun cracked.

  Just then, another lion alien careened through the air. She heard its gargled moans and saw the blood dripping out of its lips from where a sharp dagger had slit its throat.

  Simone swallowed hard and forced her eyes back on the task at hand. She was getting somewhere with the sword.

  Only a few more tries…

  There!

  She managed to crack the module until the sword was half its length. The ragged edges probably weren’t the safest, but at least it was still functioning.

  Lifting the modified laser sword, Simone jumped from behind the tree and ran into the field. Her eyes swept closed and she pressed her finger on the trigger, emptying round after round.

  She expected to hear the thump of lion aliens hitting the ground. The clank of armor. The grunt of exertion. The roars of pain.

  Instead she heard… nothing.

  She opened one eye and saw that the field was completely clear of lion aliens. They all lay in crumpled, bloody heaps, scattered around one furious blue alien who was staring daggers at her.

  “Z-Zar.”

  “Si-Moon, ez tud taye het.”

  She dropped her gun, a little embarrassed. Here she thought she was about to come and help save the day and Zar had taken care of all the bad guys already.

  “Taye het!” He pointed to the tree, a vein in his neck bulging. “Neh human dant?”

  She bristled at his tone. It reminded her too much of a darker time. Of a darker place. “I don’t take orders from you.”

  “Si-Moon!”

  “What?” She shrieked. “What the hell do you want from me, Zar? Should I just sit behind that tree all nice and pretty until you tell me to move? Should I wrap my hands around my knees and rock in fear and suck my thumb, feeling powerless and frightened? Would that make you happy? Would that make you feel like you’re doing something?”

  His nostrils flared and his eyes sharpened. She doubted he understood her, but there really didn’t need to be a translator right now. The heat that snapped through her voice could smash language barriers all on its own.

  Zar scowled at her so fiercely that she fully expected him to yell at her.

  But he didn’t.

  With a sigh, he glanced up and out toward the trees. She wondered if he’d heard something, but it wasn’t like he’d understand her if she asked anyway.

  Wrapping his fingers around hers, Zar pulled her forward.

  She yanked her wrist free. “I don’t need your help to walk.”

  The dark look he pinned her with would have made a weaker woman cry. But Simone was not that sniveling, terrified girl she once was. In fact, she hadn’t been that girl since she was eleven years old. Since she realized just how far the darkness in her really went.

  Zar huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. The alien remained like that for a long second as if contemplating what he should do with her. At last, he dropped his hands, strode toward her and swept her up in his arms again.

  Simone collided with his sweaty chest. He smelled like blood and stardust. Like something magical and menacing all at once.

  She pushed against him, protesting loudly. “Put me down.”

  He ignored her.

  “I know you hear me, Zar.” She struggled, but not wildly. Simone wasn’t really angry at him. She trusted him. She did. And that was what frightened her.

  I can’t rely on anyone but myself.

  If she forgot that for a second, she would lose everything.

  Just like she had so many years ago.

  Ten

  Zar

  Had he ever met a more exasperating creature?

  Zar wrapped his arms tightly around Si-Moon as he lifted his full-sized zapten into the air. The Rulari guards had been slayed, but there were more troops marching into the territory. He could hear their armor rattling and their ships whooshing into nearby fields.

  The Rulari were not known for their subtlety in battle. They weren’t particularly strong either, but those swords could do a lot of damage to a fragile human female.

  Although, the way this woman acts, one would think she’s made of steel.

  A memory of Si-Moon bursting from behind a tree, sword lifted and plump lips open in a roar flashed through his mind. Zar’s irritation burned anew.

  Danger lurked all around them and yet this fragile human with only one thin layer of skin thought she could eradicate their enemies on her own strength? She could have gotten herself killed out there!

  One stray bullet.

  Just one.

  A well-placed shot to her head. Or her heras. Or anywhere.

  She could have gotten hurt.

  And then where would he be?

  The more Zar thought about it, the more his teeth clenched. Fury and fear swept a whirlwind through his body and tore through his insides the way he’d shredded the Rulari.

  Si-Moon snapped. “Iz huttin me!”

  He scowled at her.

  Her dark fingers pried at his arms as if trying to peel him off. “Zar!”

  “You might fall,” he growled.

  He knew she did not understand him and yet her eyes narrowed as if she were calling him out for his lies.

  He relaxed his hold on Si-Moon and tried to breathe.

  The truth was, Zar was frightened. The thought of losing Si-Moon because of her outrageous bravery made him want to hug her tight and keep flying forever.

  Touching down meant running into his enemies. It meant facing wave after wave of Rulari guards. It meant possibly being dragged back to the Heronas prison to finish
whatever twisted experiment his enemies had planned for him.

  Bringing her back to his tribas was not an option either. If he handed Si-Moon off to Korben, she would land right back into the Heronas’s hands.

  I need to mate her.

  Yes, but how would he do that when her glares were sharper than the dagger that tore out of his skin? How could he pump her full of his seed if he could not decide if he wanted to hug her or shake her for her stubbornness?

  In all his sun cycles, Zar had never felt this much conflict. This much hesitation.

  Since his father’s passing, he’d had space in his heras for only one thing—rage. It pounded and twisted and shaped him into a being unrecognizable to the Zar of his past. He would admit it freely. He saw it bluntly.

  Death could not come quickly enough.

  And now, here he was, worried deeply about—not his mortality—but hers.

  If anything happened to this female, he would…

  Zar knew not.

  Only that it would end in many Heronas heads on stakes.

  Something vibrated beneath his hand. Si-Moon went stiff, her eyes freezing on a point just overhead and her hand lifting into the breeze to balance over her stomach. The human snapped something to him in her earthen tongue.

  Zar would have let it pass, but he felt the rumbling again. Glancing down, he noticed Si-Moon wincing. The vibration had come from her stomach.

  She is hungry.

  Annoyance washed over Zar. Of course she was. Who knew when she had last eaten before she was dragged into the Heronas dungeon and tossed into that cell with him? Where was his head? He should have offered her a meal long ago. What if she had fainted because of his inattentiveness?

  Gritting his teeth, Zar quickly scouted a safe place for them to rest. They were far from the nearest damas, but he simply needed shade and a place to sit.

  To be honest, Zar was feeling the effects of their journey as well. Adrenaline had carried him through their break from the Heronas prison. It was only his immense protective instincts toward Si-Moon that carried him through the Rulari attack.

  Now, he was drained.

  If his enemies descended, his body would give out and he would perish. Without the Healer, he could only find temporary means of rejuvenation. If they lost the most important member of their species, every Plutonian would eventually suffer these effects.

  But he would not allow himself to think on that. If he perished, all would be lost anyway. And then who would protect Si-Moon?

  In the distance, Zar spotted a thick huddle of foliage. He pointed Garbas in that direction and landed near a pith bush. Before his zapten had properly descended, Si-Moon popped out of his arms and scrambled on the grass, flinching in embarrassment.

  Zar pressed his thumb against the biometric lock to shut the zapten’s engine and growled at the exasperating human. “You wish to run away from me?”

  Instead of speaking, she folded her arms over her chest and turned away. Zar heard her stomach answering for her in the quiet that followed.

  His lips tugged up.

  This female…

  Rummaging through his case, he pulled out a block of tumari—a flat, dry meal that was perfect for long journeys. There were plenty of pith hanging ripe from the low branches too.

  Striding over to Si-Moon, he offered it. “Here. Eat.”

  She slapped his hand away.

  Her gurgling belly begged him closer.

  Zar smiled slightly. What was this human trying to prove?

  Si-Moon whirled on him, her fingers gesturing wildly. “Tek id an stoof id!”

  “See?” Zar picked a piece of the tumari off and popped it into his mouth. It melted against his tongue. “It will not harm you, Si-Moon.”

  Her dark look speared him, but her stomach gurgled again and this time, Si-Moon hunched over from the force of it. Zar’s smile disappeared and he grabbed her arm, helping to keep her up.

  “Stubbornness will not ease the pain,” he growled.

  She huffed, snapped the tumari from him and stalked off to the other side of the grove.

  Zar stopped her.

  She wrenched her shoulders and spun, glaring at him.

  “Here,” he said firmly but softly. Handing her the flask of dama, he nodded. “You will need this to replenish your strength.”

  Her eyes flickered as she accepted the drink from him.

  Zar moved away from her, giving Si-Moon the distance she seemed to crave. As he returned to his resting zapten, Zar thought of the Heronas’s desperation to apprehend them.

  Something had seemed odd about their strategy. They had kidnapped Clavas and the Healer three sun rotations ago in a surprise attack similar to the one they had launched on him.

  Even a lone Plutonian packed a punch. To subdue one required a vast army and heavy artillery. The amount of effort the Heronas had used to capture him, Clavas and the Healer had seemed excessive and organized.

  It was no secret that the Heronas habitually kidnapped lone Plutonians to experiment on. But this felt different.

  Those masks…

  Had he ever seen the Heronas wear those masks before?

  A quiet thud pulled Zar from his worries.

  Si-Moon!

  Spinning around, Zar unleashed his dagger, prepared for the Heronas or Rulari assault, but he saw no one. His eyes dropped low and he found Si-Moon sitting with her back to a tree, sleeping soundly. The thump had come from her hand slapping the ground.

  Zar’s heras pattered gently as the adrenaline waned, leaving only a strong warmth behind. He approached the female and stooped to his knees.

  It was Zar’s first time seeing Si-Moon so relaxed. Oh, he knew her face when she was frightened and thinking he would force his heat into her without her permission. He knew her when she was boldly facing their enemies. He knew her snapping eyes and angry scowls.

  But this… was different.

  Thick black eyelashes fluttered softly in the breeze. The light bathed her dark skin and made it glow from within. Her long, slender fingers were coated in crumbs from the tumari. And her chest lifted softly with her breaths.

  His heras tugged at her beauty. Though she drove him out of his mind, he was already so devoted to her. Her safety and comfort rested heavily on his shoulders. She had helped him escape the Heronas, but it was more than gratitude that drove him.

  Zar knew that.

  Just as he knew he did not deserve to look at her this way. To want her this way.

  He would mate her.

  Later.

  For now, he would let her sleep.

  Eleven

  Simone

  In her dream, she was safe at home in her bedroom. Someone was stroking her forehead. The soothing sensation made her want to cry.

  Mom?

  No. The figure beside her in the dream was too big to be her mom.

  And it wasn’t him.

  So…

  She blinked and the figure’s skin shifted to blue. She blinked again and rows of hard abs formed on his torso. One more blink and his tattoos came into vision.

  Simone gasped. Zar?

  Why was she dreaming about Zar of all things?

  “Go. Shoo!” She told Dream Zar. “I’m angry with you.”

  He just chuckled, his tail flicking in amusement.

  At that moment, Simone’s eyes burst open. The alien landscape came into focus. Blue trees from the leaves to the roots. Twin planet hovering in the distance as if waiting for its opportunity to come crashing in. Harsh sunlight. Faint stars.

  Had she fallen asleep?

  She shifted slightly and then froze. The tree she’d been leaning on had just breathed. She’d felt the rise and fall of its chest. Heard the steady pace of its heartbeat.

  She’d fallen asleep on Zar. His fingers smoothly brushed down her cornrows. They were so big that they slipped and eased against her scalp, giving the most satisfying rub.

  But when had he gotten there? Had she been leaning on him this en
tire time?

  Zar slowly opened his eyes.

  Their gazes locked.

  Tension spun between them, pulling tight.

  I’m angry at him.

  For what again?

  Simone honestly couldn’t remember.

  Right now, staring into Zar’s purple eyes, she couldn’t remember her own name.

  He’d braided his hair in a thick plait that fell down his back. Only a few tendrils hung over his face. It should have been a girly hairstyle, but it wasn’t. Not on him. Not on this hulk of a blue warrior.

  “Si-Moon.” Zar touched her cheek gently. He spoke to her in a deep voice that was much softer and more measured than the one from earlier.

  Was he… apologizing?

  There was something in his eyes that told her he was trying to make-up. A patience to his tone. A gentleness to the caress of her jaw and neck. It felt like he was begging her to understand and she wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to.

  “I’m sorry too,” she said, cupping his hand and pressing her fingers against his knuckles. The dream of her mother—spurred by Zar’s tender stroking—had unsettled her. She rarely thought of the past and, in fact, tried to separate herself from it as much as possible.

  Those memories always attacked at the worst times. Thinking of all she’d lost always made her feel open and vulnerable, like a piece of fruit turned inside out, all the raw, ugly veins exposed. Yet, looking at Zar, Simone didn’t feel that familiar unease.

  She felt stripped, yes.

  She felt defenseless.

  But not in a bad way.

  In a way that made her want to lean just a little closer. To stroke Zar’s cheek the way he was stroking hers. To put her head on his shoulder and not just because she’d happened to fall on him in her sleep.

  It would be a big risk.

  A huge risk.

  What if he had ulterior motives? What if he had a wife and kids? Some miniature version of him could be running around with his purple eyes and his firm smiles. What if his blue alien wife was worried out of her mind because her husband hadn’t come home for days?

  She gulped, hoping that wasn’t true. The thought of Zar with someone else made her heart feel like someone had taken a dagger to it.