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

by Nelia Alarcon

  Hopefully.

  She pushed the thought aside and blinked slowly. “Zar…”

  He brushed her cheek and asked her something in a low, concerned voice. Simone assumed he was asking if she was okay and she wondered how she should answer.

  His lips had stolen her breath.

  His touch had torched her skin.

  He hadn’t just kissed her.

  He branded her. Claimed her.

  If Zar managed to drive her wild with only his fingers and mouth, what would he do if she allowed him to have all of her?

  Simone’s heart bucked in fear and anticipation. She’d known she would probably die on this alien planet. Simone’s eyes dropped to Zar’s pants. But what a way to go…

  Zar stood and helped her to her feet. He pointed to the zapten and nodded. “Si-Moon.”

  “I know. I know. We have to leave.” She brushed her dress down, wishing she could clean up. Every time she walked, her thighs smeared moisture all over her legs and tunic. “Where exactly are we going?”

  Zar’s head lifted suddenly. His eyes scanned the perimeter and a wrinkle formed between his eyebrow nubs. She’d seen that look of concentration enough to know that he had heard something in the bushes.

  Fear tightened her throat, chasing away the hazy lust. The last time her alien protector had gotten that concentrated gleam in his eye, they’d been attacked by lion aliens.

  What would it be this time? What horror did this crazy planet have lined up for them next? Alien rhinos? Crazy birds that pecked their victims to death? Sentient killer vines?

  Her heart flogged her ribcage. Simone pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and whispered, “Zar?”

  The bush to their right started to sway. The sound of the leaves rustling was loud enough to get even her attention. She didn’t need alien ears to figure out that something was coming.

  Simone’s instinct was to draw back, but she forced herself to remain calm and stay by Zar’s side. She still had her modified laser sword. There wasn’t enough time to get it right now but, if the threat was warranted, she’d grab it and use it.

  How far I’ve come.

  She’d grown up in a violent home and, as an adult, swore off violence to the degree that she didn’t watch the fight scenes in Disney movies. Now, here she was strategizing about grabbing her weapon and doing some damage.

  Should she laugh or cry about that?

  Before she could decide, Simone saw a head emerging from the grass. Zar’s spine dagger pulsed through the back of his neck. His scowl was menacing and, for a moment, Simone shivered.

  Zar had not been tender when he’d kissed her, but she realized that he had shown restraint. The alien warrior was more lethal than anything she’d ever met. She had to remember that.

  Zar’s tense shoulders fell in a swoop. He tilted his head and stared at the bush, taking a step forward as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. Curious, Simone looked at the strange creature slipping out of the foliage.

  It had thin, green legs and a scrawny, near-boneless torso. A mask adorned its small face and it was trembling so hard that it seemed to be caught in an invisible hurricane.

  Her jaw dropped and her mind whirred in confusion.

  Wait. This alien looked like a miniature version of her captors from the dungeon.

  He wasn’t fully formed yet.

  A kid?

  Zar roared loudly. He ran toward the alien, unsheathing a knife from his pants and raising it high.

  Simone’s eyes widened. “No!” She ran as fast as she could, pumping her arms at her sides to outpace Zar. Skidding in front of him, she threw herself in front of the alien child and spread her arms out wide, shielding the creature with her own body.

  Zar’s momentum carried him forward. She saw everything in slow motion. The sweat running down his upper lip. The surprise glinting in his purple eyes. The wicked point of the dagger as it came barreling towards her head.

  Simone bent her neck and grimaced, bracing herself to get stabbed by the alien who’d just made her entire body explode in pleasure. Her head rushed with warning bells. Blue and silver flashed before her eyes in a whir of motion that could not be stopped.

  And then… nothing.

  She slowly peered up and her nose brushed against the hilt of the dagger. Zar held it in his palm, his chest heaving as he stared at her. He’d managed to stop himself just in time.

  Simone wilted to her knees, the shock and adrenaline pouring out of her in one swoop and taking her strength with it.

  “Si-Moon!” Zar caught her before she hit the ground.

  “I’m fine,” she said wearily. “I’m fine.”

  Zar glared at the alien child as if he were personally responsible for everything that had gone wrong today and would go wrong tomorrow.

  The small alien looked at them both and then burst into big, fat tears.

  Fourteen

  Zar

  “Step away from the Heronas, Si-Moon,” he growled, keeping his eyes locked on the beast.

  Si-Moon gave him a defiant look and stood her ground. Her slender arms were stretched out to her sides and her chin tilted up, catching the sunlight.

  Zar’s eyes narrowed. Hatred and anger built in his chest. It would not be contained. It cried for retaliation. “Si-Moon.”

  “Zar,” she snapped. Her feet planted deeper into the ground.

  Denizi.

  This stubborn female…

  “Move,” Zar demanded.

  The Heronas offspring whimpered.

  Zar scowled harder in response. What kind of act was the bastard trying to pull? Was he a scout? Had he been sent by the Heronas to lure them somewhere dangerous?

  Zar imagined Si-Moon following this Heronas into the foliage and getting surrounded by guards. They would drag her back to the prison they’d escaped from and force her to endure a fate worse than death.

  Neh. He would die first.

  Gritting his teeth, Zar lurched forward, intending to drag Si-Moon to safety and finish the Heronas off.

  “Dun cree pur babee.” Si-Moon swung to the Heronas and wrapped her arms around his filthy body.

  Shocked, Zar careened to a stop and stared at her. Si-Moon rubbed the Heronas’s bald head in the same, gentle manner he’d shown her beneath the tree. In a soft voice, she cooed to him until the leaking liquid dried from his eyes and his body stopped shaking.

  Zar scowled. “Si-Moon, get away from him. He could be—”

  “Dun.” Si-Moon pinned him with a dark look.

  Zar stopped mid-step.

  She stood confidently and took the Heronas’s hand. The brood hid behind her, poking his head out past Si-Moon’s skirt to watch him with wide eyes.

  Zar’s nostrils flared. “Do you understand what you are touching?”

  Si-Moon arched an eyebrow. Though she said nothing, defiance simmered in her brown eyes and in the firm set of her lips. She had taken a liking to this Heronas brood and would not allow him to kill it.

  He huffed out an angry breath. How could she dare to see that Heronas as anything but an evil, betraying beast in the making? Perhaps he had not matured to the level of his comrades, Zar would admit that, but this brood would become his enemy in time.

  Neh.

  He was already Zar’s enemy.

  “Zar,” Si-Moon sighed, “plez.”

  His top lip curled in a sneer. “Neh.”

  “Zar!”

  “I said neh, Si-Moon!” His voice crackled with fury and Zar had to spin away to keep a lock on his temper.

  Si-Moon was treating his enemy as if he were harmless and in need of help. She knew not what she was doing. When Zar looked at that Heronas brood, he did not see a small, helpless creature. He saw his father being slashed down in battle. He saw blood draining from the wounds. He saw the Heronas sneering as he stood in the puddle of red. He saw his own hands tearing that Heronas apart while his father bled out and died.

  Neh.

  The Heronas deserve
d to perish.

  All of them.

  Even their brood.

  Zar, we must show kindness to all…

  He pushed his father’s voice out of his head.

  Kindness helped no one. On this planet, showing mercy to an enemy could spell the end of an entire species. Zar could not afford to follow that Plutonian tradition. Not when the anger inside him threatened to cloud his vision in red.

  This Heronas scum would not receive forgiveness. Because of him, because of his back-stabbing kind, so many Plutonian offspring had grown up without fathers.

  Korben, Pin, Tiegan, Lans—all of them.

  Every. One.

  It was bad enough to lose their females in the Red Death, but the Heronas were never satisfied without bloodshed. It was their fault that he had suffered. Should he take pity on this Heronas young when those bastards had never taken pity on the Plutonians?

  Neh.

  Never.

  Brood or neh, the Heronas would feel his rage.

  Zar felt a soft hand on his thigh. Expecting to find Si-Moon when he turned around, he was stunned to look down into the dark eyes of the Heronas. He roughly threw the brood down and pressed a blade to his neck.

  The brood rose on the tips of his toes, his eyes trained on the dagger. He tried to retreat, but Zar grabbed him by the back of his long neck and kept him still. So close. Just one whip of his wrist…

  “Zar!” Si-Moon darted toward him. She knocked into his arm and tossed his dagger away. Her tongue began to wag in a scolding hot enough to burn the foliage.

  “Si-Moon, stay out of this.”

  Si-Moon threw her arms wide, her eyes flashing.

  “She says she wishes to understand you,” the Heronas said.

  Zar’s eyes widened.

  Si-Moon snapped her lips shut as well.

  They both stared at the brood.

  “Is this a plea for your life, Heronas?”

  The brood went quiet.

  “Do you really think,” Zar advanced menacingly, “that you will live past the sun’s descent?”

  The Heronas’s lips began to tremble.

  Si-Moon speared him with another blistering look.

  Zar ignored it and focused on the Heronas. “You know who I am, don’t you?”

  “Neh.”

  “Lies.” Zar grabbed the brood by the shoulders and shook. “You know.”

  “I only know you are a Plutonian.” His voice cracked. The gulp of fear travelled down his long, scrawny neck. “You want to kill me.”

  “Why should I not?” Zar hissed.

  The Heronas dipped his head. Liquid leaked down his cheek. “Go ahead and kill me.”

  Zar paused. What was this game? Did the Heronas think he could manipulate him?

  “Zar.” Si-Moon placed her hand on his chest and pushed him back.

  He remained in place.

  She used both hands and gave a mighty shove.

  Zar barely budged.

  “Ez nedz tuk yuh.” Si-Moon scowled at him. Then she turned to the Heronas and gestured firmly.

  The brood lifted its head and whispered, “She says she needs to speak to you.”

  Zar let loose a bitter laugh. “Do you think I trust your interpretation?”

  “I know the earth language.” His eyes darted to the left. “I… it was very difficult to acquire the translation chips in the lab, but I am sure.”

  Zar wanted to rage at the sky. The opportunity to communicate properly with Si-Moon was in front of him, but to do so he had to accept the assistance of a Heronas. He wanted to insist that he needed no help from that monster, but Si-Moon folded her arms over her chest and tapped her bare feet on the grass.

  Zar needed no translation to read her impatience. He swallowed his pride and growled, “Fine.”

  Si-Moon was his priority. His heras.

  Soon, she would be his mate.

  Compromise was an important part of a coupling. In any event, the Heronas would announce his impending death. As long as Si-Moon understood that he would be killing this monster, it mattered not if they discussed it first. In fact, he found some joy in the thought of brutally detailing all the different ways he could kill this Heronas and have the brood translate it for him.

  Si-Moon rattled off a long list of words that all sounded like gibberish to Zar. She finished with a nod and looked expectantly at the Heronas.

  The brood said nothing.

  Zar stepped closer. “Please be sure to interpret properly. If you do not, I have no use for you.”

  “Zar!” Simone smacked his chest. She wagged her finger and pulled the Heronas into her side as a muda would with her brood.

  The sight made Zar want to punch something. “Why do you keep touching him?”

  The Heronas squeaked. “She says that if you touch me again, she will leave.”

  Zar scoffed. “My female did not speak such a ridiculous thing.”

  Si-Moon tapped her chest and pointed away from him, her eyes narrowing with the threat.

  Zar paused and studied her intently.

  Denizi.

  She really intended to…

  What a ridiculous notion. There could be Rulari and Heronas waiting in the bushes, seeking out the signal from their scout to tackle her and take her away. Even now, the brood might have alerted his comrades to their location. Their enemies might be surrounding them.

  Even if Si-Moon managed to escape the Rulari’s attack unscathed, she would face the wrath of the lizera and the oninis. There were poisonous plants and dangerous storms.

  If Si-Moon thought for a second that he would ever let her out of his sight…

  If she thought he would ever let her come to harm, well…

  She, perhaps, had a lesson to learn.

  Si-Moon turned to the brood. “Ez hus tak.”

  “She’s asking,” the Heronas swallowed nervously, “if you are ready to talk.”

  Zar’s entire chest heaved on a sigh.

  “She says… you need to drop your arms.”

  “My blasted—” Zar let his arms swing limply at his sides.

  Si-Moon kept talking and the Heronas translated. “And your dagger.”

  “Neh.”

  “Zar,” Si-Moon hissed, her eyes slashing into his.

  Heras pumping, Zar slowly tossed his dagger.

  Denizi.

  He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. An instinctive annoyance washed through him. Whatever Si-Moon was about to say next, he was not going to like it.

  Fifteen

  Simone

  As she stared at the baby alien, Simone saw herself. Well, not herself. She looked nothing like the alien with the long neck and the heavy face mask. The baby’s green-toned skin could blend into a forest on earth and its deep, pure black eyes could fit straight into the settings of a 90’s horror film.

  Still, she saw the innocence in his expression and the genuine fear in his gaze.

  Those things couldn’t be faked.

  She knew.

  Because she’d been there.

  She’d lived with that fear.

  She’d been just as helpless.

  Sometimes, it took one to know one and, immediately, Simone felt like she and this kid had a lot in common. If she could help someone who was lost and alone, no matter if they resembled the evil aliens who’d kidnapped her and tortured Zar, she would do so.

  Besides, this little guy was coming in handy. Simone had been surprised to learn that he understood her. She had been about to ask his name when Zar came bursting out of nowhere like a freaking axe murderer, wielding his dagger and trying to slit the throat of a child.

  Simone turned to the baby. “What’s your name?”

  “Chozo.” He blinked unsteadily and leaned in to whisper. “Is he going to kill me?”

  Zar grunted angrily. His eyes darted between the two of them, clearly disliking their shared conversation.

  “No, he’s not. I won’t let him.”

  Chozo winced. “He loo
ks like he’s going to do it.”

  “No, honey. Don’t worry.”

  Zar growled when she soothed Chozo’s head.

  Simone lifted her hands into the air and glared at him. “You need to relax.”

  Zar’s eyes narrowed.

  Simone glanced at Chozo. “Can you tell him to calm down?”

  The baby alien rattled off the instruction.

  The moment Zar heard it, his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. The request, coming from Chozo, had the opposite effect. If anything, the flames in Zar’s expression shot higher and his scowl deepened to an even fiercer depth.

  What was this brutish alien so angry about? It wasn’t like Chozo could do a warrior like Zar any harm.

  She studied Chozo again. If not for his long, giraffe-length neck, he wouldn’t even reach her knee. His body was thin and undeveloped. She didn’t know much about alien years and birthdays, but she could tell he was young. And whip-smart.

  “Tell us what happened to you,” Simone said, putting her hand on Chozo’s shoulder.

  He lowered his head. “I don’t know.”

  Zar grunted at her, an eyebrow nub arched. What did he say?

  She jutted her chin out at Chozo. “Tell him.”

  He did.

  Zar scoffed disbelievingly. Their eyes met over Chozo’s head and though he didn’t say a word, she read his cynical expression immediately. You expect me to believe this crap?

  Yes. Simone nodded.

  His upper lip curled menacingly.

  Chozo whimpered again and turned to her, chasing comfort in her embrace. Si-Moon held him closely and shot Zar a threatening look. Scare him one more time and see what I’ll do.

  Zar huffed.

  “Chozo,” she whispered, easing him back, “what are you doing all the way out here? I thought your city was a long way back?”

  “I was sent away.”

  “Who did?”

  “My parents.”

  “Why?” Simone wrinkled her eyebrows. Suspicions crept into her mind as, once again, Chozo hesitated to answer. The despair in his eyes was real. She could sense that. But maybe Zar had a point. Maybe she should be more careful around this alien, even if he was a kid.

  He’d won her heart over when he appeared crying and lost out of nowhere. She’d softened because he reminded her of herself, but that didn’t mean he was one of the good guys.