Simone shoved the doubts from her mind and wrapped one leg around his waist, poising herself perfectly in invitation. Her passion ignited again, and she bucked her hips forward, a silent plea for more.
As Zar’s hot fingers slid down her body, she prepared herself to be impaled against the wall again when he stopped abruptly.
Her eyes at half-mast and her voice a sultry croak, Simone asked, “What?”
He pressed a finger to her lips. Sh.
She kissed his finger gently, smiling when his eyelashes fluttered and his body inched towards hers. Sadly, Zar shook his head at the last minute. He pointed to the other room where Chozo was.
Disappointment whirled through Simone. Zar must have heard the kid stirring. Which meant that their private time would have to end for now.
She sighed heavily, not bothering to hide how much she’d wanted him. Zar smirked at her when he handed over her tunic. Grazing his hand over her chest, he nodded and she saw the promise in his eyes. Later.
Yes. She’d seek him out as soon as they got to wherever they were going.
Which was… where exactly?
As Simone pulled on her tunic, she watched Zar out of the corner of her eye. He was pulling up his pants. His tail swished through the fabric and her knees buckled when she remembered all his tail was capable of.
Focus, Simone.
She shook her head and followed him through the room. As she’d thought, Chozo was sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
He brightened when he saw her and ran to her. Wrapping his thin arms around her waist, he said, “I thought you’d left me.”
“Sorry, we were…” She glanced at Zar who was glaring at where the kid had his arms wrapped around her.
It really bothered her that he looked so sexy even when he was scowling. How was that fair?
Simone shook her head. “Never mind.”
“The rain stopped,” Chozo said.
Zar peered at the mouth of the cave and she did too. He was right. The storm was gone, and it had left behind a sea of golden sand from where it had pummeled the earth.
Zar cleared his throat and she glanced at him.
He signaled toward the zapten.
Simone nodded her understanding. It was time to go.
Twenty
Zar
He wrapped his arms around Si-Moon’s waist and placed her gently on his zapten. Even with his measured, careful movements, her nose scrunched, and her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Discomfort screamed from her expression and Zar cursed himself for not being gentler when he’d pounded into her heat.
It had not been his intention to be so rough with her. The human female was fragile. Zar knew this and he had tried to remember to have some control. But his instincts took over the moment he entered her body.
Si-moon had been tight. So welcoming to his invasion. So, so enjoyable to grab and stroke. He’d grunted when Si-Moon bit his shoulder, but it had not been because she hurt him. It was because he’d lost control at the same moment that she did.
He’d rammed her against the wall, pumping her full of his seed. He’d opened his mouth in a silent roar that she had been too caught up her in her own pleasure to notice.
Dangerous human.
The elders had never spoken of what mating a female would do to a male. The way the heat would tear through his body and singe his veins. The way his beastly instincts crowded his mind. The way his heras expanded to the point of combustion.
So much had been left out of their instructions.
So much had been discovered tonight as he claimed his human.
Si-Moon.
Mating her had cemented their bond. Now, she was officially his. Her safety, her comfort, her pleasure, and her needs rested on his shoulders. It was the responsibility of the male to care for, honor and uphold his female.
Zar did not doubt he would be able to fulfil these roles. He had been trained as a child to honor females. Like the son of a terros groomed to become terros of his own tribas one day, he had studied and learned to become a good mate.
A good mate.
Yes.
And he would be all these things and more to Si-moon.
But this was not the thought that bothered him.
He could no longer run from his tribas, from Korben and the mission of saving Clavas and the Healer.
Zar had a responsibility to his species. If not for the serum, he could have died in this cave tonight. Many of his comrades would not have medicine on hand. They needed the Healer.
It was time to face his terros.
Zar clenched his jaw and considered his options. He could run. He could take Si-Moon and disappear somewhere far, but he owed it to Korben to show up.
The terros had been a friend. Zar could not simply disappear without first explaining what he had done. He would not expect understanding or even forgiveness.
Neh. Forgiveness was not his goal.
Accountability. This was about letting his terros know where his heras lay.
Zar tapped his interface as he thought about the message Lans had sent. It was still unread, and it would remain so. He would not communicate with his tribas until Si-Moon was out of earshot.
“Zar?” Si-Moon touched his hand softly.
He glanced at her and shook off his heavy thoughts. She seemed intuitive to his moods and he did not want to startle her. The choices he had made were his alone and he would not change any of it.
“Are you okay, Plutonian?” Chozo spoke from behind him. “You look upset.”
Zar gritted his teeth.
Denizi.
He was wrong.
He would change one thing.
That.
“Mind your own business, Heronas.”
Chozo followed him to the zapten. “Before we go, I would like to relieve myself.”
“How about you relieve yourself and we go without you?”
The brood’s eyes turned teary behind his mask. “Do I still anger you, Zar?”
Si-Moon saw the brood getting upset and a slew of indignant words flew at him.
This was Chozo’s fault. He and his female had just mated, and the brood had to ruin everything.
“Fine,” Zar said. “Do what you have to.”
“I can’t with… her watching.”
Zar tipped his chin back and scoffed at the roof of the cave. When he straightened, he glowered at Chozo. “Then tell her to turn her back.”
“I’m shy.”
“Go into the other room then,” Zar snapped.
“But I’m scared.” His bottom lip quivered. “Would you go with me?”
“And leave my mate behind so you can call your Heronas comrades and steal her away from me?” Zar curled his upper lip in a hard sneer. “You are severely mistaken, Heronas.”
“Zar!” Si-moon scolded.
He huffed out a deep breath. “Tell her to turn around. I’ll walk you into the room and stay close enough, but I will not take my eyes off Si-Moon, do you understand? Try anything and I will end you.”
The Heronas brood dipped his chin once.
Zar walked Chozo to a different opening in the cave so he could relieve himself. As he promised, Zar’s eyes remained on Si-Moon. She pulled her knees up to her chest. Then set them down. Then turned on her side.
At last, she successfully wiggled into the desired position and fell asleep on his zapten. She reminded him of a tiny winged creature curling into their nest. Sunlight glittered on her dark skin, making her glow brighter than the sand. Her small forehead, flared nose and soft cheeks made his heras ache.
And those lips…
Zar longed to trace them even now. They were so soft to suckle. So enjoyable to nip. So stunning when they were parted on a hot gasp or when they were open wide and taking him in—
“Are we going back to your tribas?” Chozo asked.
Zar growled.
“Will they be happy to see you with a human female?”
“Are you asking so you can run back t
o your comrades and betray—?”
“I have no comrades,” Chozo said quietly. “Even before the… I did not have friends.”
Zar snorted.
“Simone is my first real friend.”
“And?”
“I will not let you use and abandon her.” Chozo’s voice trembled, but Zar heard the conviction in the words.
“Is that a threat, Heronas?”
“N-no.”
“If it is, know that I have no qualms ending you. My mate is the only reason I am sparing your life.”
“I am aware.” Chozo glanced down. “Why do you hate me so much?”
Zar snorted. How could this brood ask such a question?
“Why?” Chozo insisted.
“Your species—”
“I am not speaking of my species,” Chozo said, his voice rising bravely. “Me. Why do you hate me? What have I done to earn your mistrust?”
“You are Heronas.”
“But I am also Chozo.” The brood tapped his chest. “You do not know me.”
“I do not have to know you to want to kill you.”
Chozo swallowed audibly. “Does Simone know?”
“Know what?” Zar snapped, irritated. He disdained the mere sight of this Heronas and the fact that they were having such a long conversation made him want to release his dagger and end the madness.
“How angry you are. How much that hate fills your heart. How you treasure it above all else, even her?”
Zar’s fury splurged and he grabbed Chozo by the throat. “Listen closely, you little Heronas beast, your species killed my father in a raid that was organized days after the Heronas promised peace.”
“Ah…” Chozo’s small hands pressed against his, struggling to be free.
“You tortured him before he passed. You spit in his face. You made him suffer. That is the kind of treachery and wickedness your species is known for. That is what you are.”
“P-please,” Chozo choked.
Zar tightened his fingers until the Heronas’s mask began to fog. The white shadows clung to the clear pane in his headgear and covered his eyes from view. “Do not mistake my yielding to my mate’s wishes as weakness. The very sight of you makes me sick. I would enjoy nothing more than to see you die slowly, but I am holding myself back by a single thread. Now keep your mouth shut and never speak to me of these matters again before I slit your neck and bury your body in the ground.”
Chozo shivered.
“Do you understand me?”
His head moved up and down quickly.
Zar released the Heronas and whirled around. His anger flared and he had to take deep breaths to calm himself. His mind flashed with memories of his father’s body. The bruises and slashes on his face. The signs of the Heronas torture chains. The ghastly marks that spelled his father’s last moments were anything but peaceful.
He fisted his hands as a storm roiled in his heras and an angry tear fell from his eye.
Twenty-One
Simone
Her dreams were shapeless and colorless. All black and shadows. She was a light sleeper and that meant she rarely had any actual ‘dreams’. At least none that she remembered when she woke up. But a sharp unease filled her consciousness even while she slept.
Simone’s eyes snapped open. The harsh sunlight made her wince and she squeezed her eyes shut so it didn’t burn as much.
Where are we?
She sat up slowly, more confused than anything. When she glanced across the cave, she saw Zar standing with his back to her. Chozo was nowhere in sight, and her first thought was that Zar had killed him.
A moment later, the little alien stumbled out of another room, his face downcast and his shoulders slumped.
She’d missed something important.
“Zar,” she whispered.
He looked over at her and squared his shoulders. Despite his brave front, she saw the tears gathering in his eyes.
Simone gasped and hurled herself off the zapten. Rushing over to him, she stood on her tiptoes so she could reach his jaw and captured the one, lone tear that travelled down his cheek.
“Zar, what’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer.
Turning to Chozo, she demanded, “What happened?”
“We… argued,” Chozo said.
“About what?”
“Si-Moon…” Zar grunted. He took one of her hands and rubbed his thumb over her wrist. His blue skin against her dark brown flesh should have looked out of place, but it didn’t. It looked like the most normal part of this planet.
Zar muttered low words to her.
Chozo interpreted. “He says he’s okay.”
Zar spoke again.
Chozo sighed. “He said we should leave. He wants to get to his tribas before nightfall. He didn’t trust me when I said that everyone in my city perished. He thinks the Rulari will come for us.”
“The Rulari?” Simone turned to Chozo.
“They were once enemies of the Heronas, but now they are working together.” Chozo paused and glanced at the ground. “The Rulari run the beludas.”
“Beludas?”
“Places where…” Chozo faltered. “Females, um, entertain.”
Her eyes widened. “You mean like…?”
“Yes.” Chozo blushed. “Males from all over the galaxy attend the beludas and pay gold tokens to purchase females.”
“Like an auction.”
“Yes.”
“But I never went to an auction.” She tapped her chin. “The octopus aliens kidnapped me and sent me straight to the Heronas dungeons. That was worse, wasn’t it?” She shuddered. “What they did to me was worse.”
“I am so sorry, Simone. I understand if you hate me.”
“Chozo, I don’t blame you.” She gave Zar a dark look. “And Zar doesn’t either. We know you aren’t responsible.”
Chozo just shook his head. “He hates all Heronas.”
“Just give him time. He’ll come around.”
“Perhaps.” Chozo licked his lips.
Something in the kid’s eyes gave her pause. He had concerns about Zar. Was he seeing something she wasn’t? Simone could admit she was blind when it came to Zar. And that could put her in positions she wouldn’t walk into if she were in her right mind.
Zar’s hatred is so excessive. Can I trust an alien that volatile? Can I put my hope in someone so inflexible?
Zar tugged on her hand, pulling her out of her thoughts. He wanted her to get back on the zapten.
Simone held her ground. “Before I forget, there’s something I need to tell you.” She glanced at Chozo. “Can you interpret this for me?”
He nodded, still looking glum.
“Ask him what ‘intera-won’ means.”
Chozo haltingly delivered the message to Zar.
She watched him intently, noticing when his eyes sharpened on her. He spoke in that guttural alien tongue again and a shiver slid up her spine.
Intera-won.
He’d whispered that roughly in her ear when he’d been buried inside her. It sounded like he was claiming her. Declaring to the world—or at least to all the tiny creatures in the cave—that she was his. She’d held on to him and said the words back and he’d kissed her so hard her head had banged against the wall.
“He said,” Chozo interpreted haltingly, “that when a Plutonian joins with his mate, they become one. He said that it’s a sign that they are both committed to each other. It means mate connection.” Chozo tilted his head. “I’m not sure I understood the rest, but it has to do with a bonding and a lifetime.”
“Oh.” Simone’s eyelashes fluttered.
Bonding? A lifetime?
She gasped. “Did we get married?”
“Married?” Chozo scrunched his nose. “I do not know this word.”
Zar took her hand and nodded to the zapten. “Guh, Si-Moon.”
“He wants us to leave now.”
Simone stumbled behind Zar as he led her back to the zapten a
nd helped her to mount it. His words sparked more questions, but it wasn’t like she could ask him for clarification. He seemed annoyed whenever Chozo spoke.
It was clear that their relationship wasn’t getting any better. Simone couldn’t force Zar to accept the kid, even if she wanted them to patch things up, but his stubbornness troubled her.
What if he turns on you, Simone? What if he treats you the way he’s treating Chozo? What if you anger him and he blocks you out too?
Her cheek started to sting as a memory from her childhood unfurled in her mind. She saw herself back in that old trailer, her body on the floor and her knees curving into her chest to protect her ribs.
Zar has a temper. A bad one.
She wasn’t stupid enough to believe that she’d be the one to ‘change him’. Life had taught her that nobody changed. And if they did, it was only to get worse. Fear tightened her heart and she swallowed past the lump in her throat.
Zar got on the zapten and started it up, not bothering to check that Chozo was on safely. Simone had to stretch to help the kid up. When Zar saw what she was doing, he waited for her to settle in before lifting the zapten.
This time, Chozo sat in front of her while she sat in front of Zar. At least that was a small step of victory. Before today, Zar refused to even look at Chozo, but he was now sitting front and center on the zapten.
Zar would get over his anger on his own. He would make that choice. She had to believe that to keep her worries at bay.
The wind buffeted her face and made it impossible to hold a conversation. Simone still had so many questions, but she stuffed them deep inside. The warmth of being sandwiched between Zar and Chozo’s body lulled her to sleep.
A jolt woke her up what felt like minutes later, but she saw that the sky was completely dark. They’d travelled all day. How long had she slept?
Zar slid off the zapten and helped her to the ground. His jaw was clenched, and he held her a little tighter than normal. He was on edge about something.
Simone glanced around, and her eyes landed on a big, blue alien stepping out of a cabin. Like Zar, he had rows of muscles, tattoos and long hair.
The Alien Warrior's Heart : A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Plutonian Warriors Book 3) Page 10
