Alien Redeemed

by Marie Dry

Growls erupted from all the warriors. Zaar’s growl echoed theirs, only it sounded deadlier. Their expressions, their body language turned mean and they looked ready to go and find the raiders that had hurt her. Sarah relaxed—they needed a purpose. A crazy idea occurred to her.

  “When the Aurelians threw me into that cell, I was so frightened. I thought the whole nightmare was starting again.” She took a deep breath. “I was so afraid.” They stood staring in front of them. Did they even hear what she said? “But then I noticed you guys. I was in that cell with Zyrgin warriors and I knew I’d be all right.” Something tickled her cheeks and she touched them. Something wet and warm coated the tips of her fingers. Tears were streaming silently down her cheeks.

  She stepped forward and cupped the side of the face of the warrior that had lost his eye. He stiffened and made to jerk back, more an instinctive gesture than anything else, she thought. Zaar grated something and the warrior stilled. She ignored everyone else, focused on the heavily scarred face she had to crane her neck to see. “You lost your eye so that I could keep mine. I thank you for your sacrifice. You are precious to me.”

  He stood staring in front of him, then said, “Yes parena,” sounding harsher than normal.

  She moved to the next warrior and motioning for him to bend over, she gently touched his ridge where the acid from the plant had taken a chunk out of the bone. “He said he’d smear that evil plant’s juice on my head and make me bald. We both know I wouldn’t have survived that—my human skull is not a strong as yours. The acid would’ve eroded my brain. You stepped forward, allowed him to damage your beautiful ridge without a whimper of pain. For me.” She stood on tiptoe, stared into his eyes. “I thank you for your bravery that saved me.”

  “Parena.” He bowed.

  She took the badly scarred hand of the next warrior into her own, careful not to hurt him. “You gave up the use of your hand to save mine. I can never repay you, but I will ask more from you.”

  Zaar stared at her with narrowed eyes, but she ignored him.

  The warrior with the wounded hand stood straighter. “It would be my honor, parena.”

  She’d thought Zaar would stop her from touching them and drag her away, but he stood silent. She went to the other warriors, thanking them all.

  She took a deep breath and pushed on. “On Earth we have a saying.” All those Zyrgin gazes briefly turned to her and she swallowed. Those quick, piercing gazes were more intimidating than a camp full of raiders. All five of them towered over her. “Own it. That’s the saying. You are scarred.” She took Zaar’s hand. “If Zaar was horribly scarred, I’d still want him and no other.” They shifted then stilled. “A few scars are nothing compared to your bravery and strength. That’s what I see when I look at you. Not scars, but brave warriors who were strong enough to keep me safe in that awful palace. You got those scars in service of your planet. To protect me. Because of you, the Zyrgin now knows of the new weapons the Aurelians developed.” She touched her rounded stomach. “Because of you, I’m safe back here, my baby unharmed.”

  Their gazes dropped to her belly and away. “So own it, call yourself the scarred squad with you chin raised and your…uh…swords up?” It’s a good thing she wasn’t a general, because talking to the troops was obviously not her strong point.

  She took a breath and continued, “You will find women. Any woman that rejects you because of your scars isn’t worth having.” She bit her lip, shrugged awkwardly. “That’s all I wanted to say.” She frowned. “I forgot, I wanted to ask if you’d consider being my personal guards.” She made sure not to look at Zaar. Maybe she should’ve discussed it with him first.

  For a long moment they stood without moving, didn’t even blink, then they knelt down and rammed their swords into the silver floor beneath them and bowed their heads. While they knelt there, they growled at Zaar, who growled back. She shuffled her feet and then forced herself to stand still. What did that mean?

  When they stopped talking at last, she leaned closer to Zaar and whispered, “What’s happening?”

  “They agree to be your personal guard. They will protect you and our small warrior and their small warriors will protect ours in the centuries to come.”

  She bowed her head to them. “I am honored to have such brave warriors as my personal guard.” If her stepmother could see her now. She’d always said Sarah would amount to nothing. And here she was with her own personal guard. “If I ever had to be protected by anyone but Zaar, I’d choose every one of you every time.”

  One of them rose, stepped forward, and bowed. “With your permission, we would be called the parena’s scar warriors.”

  Sarah swallowed tears that wanted to flow again. It was if a river flowed behind her eyes now. “I would be honored,” she said huskily. “I’d like Zorian to be listed as one of my scars. We will honor his memory.”

  They grunted something in Zyrgin and after grunting back Zaar translated: “They request that you stop touching them. Being touched like that by another warrior’s breeder is highly disconcerting to them.”

  Sarah burst out laughing.

  They left the warriors and walked back to their rooms. She’d had a wild idea on Aurelia and at first she’d dismissed it, but it might be a good idea after all. “Would you consider letting the warrior who lost his ear rule Aurelia?”

  “Why?” He didn’t sound angry that she was sticking her nose in warrior business again.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, I just have this feeling that he should be the one to go there.”

  “I will consider it,” he said at last.

  By the time they reached their rooms, it was time for third meal. Two warriors brought in their food and Sarah stared down at her plate. Wasn’t she supposed to be eating for two? “It’s weird, but I don’t feel like eating.” It made her edgy—you never knew when there’d be no food to eat.

  Zaar moved his chair so that he sat next to her. He picked up her fork and brought some of the spider eggs to her lips. “I will help you.” She pressed them together and flinched at the awful smell. Clasping her hand over her mouth, Sarah turned her head, ready to run for the bathroom, and hesitated, a heavenly aroma, rich, irony, reached her nose and settled her stomach.

  She locked onto Zaar’s plate, was up and moving before she even thought about it. She had to get to that delicious-smelling meat. Find out if it tasted as good as it smelled. Not bothering with utensils, she grabbed the deliciously bloody meat and bit off a chunk of it. Or tried to. Her teeth wouldn’t cut through the delicious-tasting food. She moaned in frustration, her stomach contracting in anticipation. She tried gnawing a piece off without any success and growled. At any other time, it would’ve concerned her that she’d managed to produce such a savage sound, but all she wanted was to be able to chew and swallow.

  “Allow me,” Zaar purred. He extended a finger, his claw lengthened, and he tore a small piece of meat from the large hunk. He fed it to her, his gaze blazing red heat. She chewed and moaned and her eyes closed at the ecstatic taste. When she swallowed and opened her eyes, he cut another piece and held it against her lips. He fed her the whole plate and then had the warrior bring in more for him.

  “That was so good,” she purred and sat back in her chair.

  There was something odd in his expression.

  “What?”

  He materialized a cloth and gently wiped her mouth. “You stained your skin with blood when you tried to gnaw on the meat.” The cloth moved softly, slowly over her skin.

  “You have to tell me how you make things appear out of nowhere,” she almost moaned. He kept stroking her with the cloth— her chin, her cheeks, her neck, and she’d never thought being cleaned like that could be so sensual an experience.

  “We program the jinz izwe to minimize and maximise as we need them.”

  She barely heard him, focused on the way he picked her up and carried her to the bed. She nuzzled his neck. “I love the way you smell,” she murmured.

  He
stopped. “Do you need me to—”

  “No, I don’t need you to shower. I want you to make love to me. Right now.”

  He laid her down on the bed and lying down, he leaned over her.

  Sarah flinched. It happened—a reaction she had no control over. But, she was sick and tired of being ruled by her fears. She’d go weeks without reacting to having his weight on her, and then suddenly she’d have a flashback.

  He moved, rolled over, to put her on top, the way he always did if she so much as tensed. She put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “I appreciated your sacrifice more than I could ever tell you. But this time, I want to do it with you on top. I’m tired of being ruled by fear.” Truth be told, with any other man there was no way she’d be able to do this.

  “We will do it like this.” He lay on his side next to her and she knew it was to avoid looming over her.

  In that cell on Aurelia, when she thought she was going to die a horrible death, burned by acid, she’d wished she’d had a chance to kiss Zaar with passion, to make love to him with total abandon. “When I was in that cell and thought I might die a horrible death, I promised myself that I’d never again hold back with you. That I would savor every moment we had together.”

  She reached up and pulled him down to her. Kissed him with open-mouthed abandon. He deepened the kiss, gripped her hair, and she pressed her legs together to ease the sudden emptiness inside her body.

  “I want you,” she murmured in between kissing him. He growled something back in Zyrgin. At last he lifted his head and she caught her breath when she opened her eyes. Crimson blazed down at her, the skin over his cheekbones pulled tighter than normal. He looked like a savage, a barbarian, and he was hers. “You’re so sexy,” Sarah said and pulled at his clothes, moaning in delight when she touched his bare skin.

  “Take”—she kissed his neck—“off my”—she moved on to his chest—“my clothes.” She didn’t want to waste a moment of kissing and touching him.

  He had her naked in seconds and she moved against him, enjoying his tougher skin rubbing against hers. “I love how you feel,” she moaned.

  “I love how you feel even better,” he said and stroked his hands down her sides. He palmed her buttocks and then continued that leisurely stroking. She kissed his chest, his stomach, and every part of him she could reach.

  What felt like hours later, she parted her thighs, urged him over her.

  Sarah lay sated in Zaar’s arms, lazily stroking his beautiful skin, moved over a six pack to end all six packs. “That was incredible. You made me a whole person again, Zaar.”

  His chest puffed out and she suppressed a smile. “You are a brave human.” He played with her hair. It seemed to hold an endless fascination for him. “Your heart is very soft, but you are brave.”

  She sighed. “Most of the time I don’t feel very brave.”

  He came up on his elbows, leaned over her. “Could you be brave one more time?”

  Sarah stiffened. “Why? What’s going to happen?”

  He picked up a strand of her hair, played it through his fingers. “I was going to wait a few years to bite you.”

  “Bite me,” she squeaked.

  “We bite our women and they live longer lives.”

  Sarah remembered thinking about the age issues when Coralinda had talked about Zaar’s first wife. She didn’t want to be bitten, but she also didn’t want to be old years before him. “Will it keep me young or just elongate my life?”

  “It will keep you young and strong for many centuries. I have to do it now. You have to be stronger.”

  Sarah wanted to be stronger, as well. “Will it harm my baby?”

  “No, it will make him stronger, as well.” His eyes glowed and his incisors lengthened to intimidating size.

  She scrunched her eyes shut. “Do it.”

  Somehow, she’d thought it wouldn’t hurt, or that it would be like the bite of a vampire they described in the books. Sexy and sensual. It wasn’t. It hurt and she was glad when the darkness overtook her vision.

  Sarah came to in Zaar’s arms. He lay staring down at her, his eyes unblinking. “Please tell me you don’t have to bite me like that a lot?”

  “Only every hundred years,” he said.

  They lay quiet for a while. Something had been nagging at her for a while. “Who is it that you talked to about winning over a human woman?” She had her suspicions. “The one that told you to give me chocolates and tell me bedtime stories.” And wash behind her ears. That wasn’t normal advice.

  “I will introduce you to her.”

  “Her?”

  “Our holographic system will allow you to see my expert. It will be as if you are on Earth.”

  “When will I meet her?”

  “Now.”

  She bolted upright. “Now? Can I see Natalie and Julia, as well?”

  “Yes.”

  Sarah didn’t know what changed his mind, but she wasn’t about to argue. Putting on a T-shirt she’d left on the bed, she ran to the bathroom. “I’m just going to take a quick shower before I talk to her,” she said over her shoulder.

  She started the shower and then frowned. Going to the door, she stuck her head out. “What time is it in Montana?”

  “It is early morning,” Zaar said.

  She went to shower but then stuck her head out again. “Is your expert in Montana?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right.” She had a good idea who this expert was. Sarah showered and put on clothes in record time. She faltered when she emerged from the bathroom to find him sitting on a chair, his head bowed. Sarah rushed forward. “Zaar, what’s wrong?”

  “Remember the third Zyrgin who killed his closest blood to rule?”

  Sarah scratched her head. “Yes, you said you’d tell me about it later.”

  “I was the third Zyrgin that killed my closest blood.” He remained bent over, staring down at his hands.

  For one horrifying moment, she lost all hearing and the room swirled around her. But then she looked at him, at the warrior she loved more than life itself. Sarah went to him and knelt on the floor, took his hands in hers. “Tell me.”

  “It was before my third change—the ruling Zyrgin was what you would call my father. He could feel the powers in me and came to kill me.”

  Sarah shuddered. “But you weren’t even fully grown.”

  “He did not act with honor. My ability to poof saved my life.” He smiled slightly when he used her word. “I defeated him and pretended that I killed him to rule.”

  “Why?”

  “I was only second change and I had to appear strong to rule. No warrior would follow a weak leader.”

  “Why are you telling me this now?”

  “Sometimes a leader is born and normally he would be raised to one day rule. After the ruling Zyrgin died. But when they are born with strong powers, like mine, sometimes it drives them to kill the other power.”

  Sarah felt a chill down her spine. “Who has this power?”

  “Natalie’s son.”

  Sarah closed her eyes and leaned her head against his knees. This was awful—she didn’t want Zaar to kill Natalie’s son, but she also didn’t want Zaar to be killed. “Are you sure he’d come for you one day?” She knew, deep in her heart, that Zaar wouldn’t be the one to search out and destroy Zorlof.

  “When the powers are that strong, the instinct will force him to try to defeat me.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Nothing. Zacar and the warriors on Earth have built a spaceship and Zorlof is leaving for the unknown galaxies.” He cupped her head. “I am glad. I do not want to kill him.”

  They sat like that a long time, comforting each other. Sarah looked up her warrior. “I love you, Zaar.”

  He leaned down until his forehead pressed against hers. “I love you with superior Zyrgin love.”

  Sarah laughed. Who would’ve thought she’d ever be this happy on a strange planet belonging to this savage al
ien?

  At last he made the call. Natalie appeared in front of her, the holographic projection so clear, she might’ve been real.

  Natalie smiled, her whole face lighting up. “Sarah, it’s so great to talk to you at last.” She leaned forward. “You look great.”

  “So do you.” Now that she’d gotten her wish, she didn’t know what to say.

  Natalie glowed, but there was also sadness in her eyes. She laughed. “I’ve been nagging Zacar to let me talk to you, and now that I have you in front of me, I don’t know what to say.”

  “I know, it’s the same for me,” Sarah said.

  “You haven’t met my daughter.” Natalie beckoned over a little girl dressed like a Zyrgin warrior. One look and it clicked. She smiled up at Zaar. “Your expert?”

  “Yes.”

  After his breeder talked to Zacar’s breeder, Zaar thought of the sleek new ship heading toward space, far beyond the unclaimed galaxies, and he was there. Materializing behind the control station.

  Zorlof turned, his laser aimed at Zaar’s head. “Come to send me off, grandpa?” he asked with a smirk. But beneath the bravado Zaar saw loneliness and fear. Before Sarah, he wouldn’t have noticed or cared.

  If this newly third-change warrior thought that laser would kill him, he was no more than a naïve first-change warrior. “You sound like a human.”

  Zorlof lounged back in his chair, in a very human way. “My mother is human.” Unlike Larz, he talked in that curiously informal way the humans had. Sitting there, his body relaxed, the only sign he gave that he knew the danger he was in being the laser pointed at Zaar’s heart with a steady hand, his eyes watchful. Along with his eyes, his denser muscles and greater height proclaimed him a potential parenadorz.

  He’d felt the powers developing in Zorlof from across the galaxies separating them. But he’d pretended not to and now he was going to break with millions of centuries of tradition. As much as he’d like to deny it, change was necessary for Zyrgin and his people. Three Zyrgins coming to power, killing their fathers or sons, was three to many. Strange how the human word for “closest blood” made it so much worse.