Captured: A Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Romance (Garrison Earth Book 1)

by V. K. Ludwig

  She took a massive bite of her burrito and stared out the window, the fogged glass turning the outlines of those passing by on the street blurry. All color drained from her usually tan skin. I lowered my spoon and reached for her hand, but the moment I opened my mouth, a hunched figure pushed into my vision.

  “I lost my son.”

  I turned toward the pained voice.

  A woman stood at our table, her white dress a little too wide as if it fit at some point but not anymore. She held herself in a tight hug, rocking back and forth in a self-consoling manner.

  Anna and I exchanged a glance of confusion before I looked back at the woman. “Pardon me?”

  “You’re Eden da taigh L’naghal. I saw you. Saw your hologram.”

  “Yes, that’s me,” I said. “Can I… help you?”

  A shadow came over her already gray-veiled features, and she spat the next words right in my face. “You fucking traitor whore.”

  Anna sucked in a sharp breath.

  I immediately placed my hands around Gabriel, fingers already numb at the tip. The paralyzing sensation climbed my arms from there, leaving goosebumps behind underneath the warm fabric of my dress. Who was this woman to call me that? To bring back the memory of a time when I had called myself the same thing?

  “Excuse me?” My voice came out as a shout, making Gabi startle against my chest. “Look, I don’t know what your problem is with me, and, frankly, I don’t give a shit. You think this was easy for me? To get to this point where I could stop hating, and just move on with life?”

  The woman shook now, trembled from her toes to the ends of her ponytail.

  “You fight for their children,” she snarled. “But what about our children? Are you going to do something about that too? Or you’re just going to sit there and pretend —”

  “Stop it!” A Vetusian healer wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her against him, hushing in her ear. “Are you out of your mind?”

  “What’s going on here?” Anna asked.

  “Eden da taigh L’naghal…” The Vetusian continued to struggle against his mate, trying to bow while he lifted the groaning woman to the side but kept a tight grip on her. “Please forgive her. My mate is very unwell. She’s confused and not in her right mind and… if you would not report this incident…”

  His mate wrestled his tight grip as much as she seemed to hold on to it, letting her guttural moans break against the sleeve of his uniform. Red-rimmed and furious, her eyes widened and squinted as if she’d lost all control.

  Who was this woman?

  What was her story?

  Those questions fueled my curiosity.

  Was I a traitor?

  A whore who enjoyed her Vetusian mate?

  Those unwelcome questions fueled anger, rage.

  “Don’t listen to her,” Anna said.

  She was probably right.

  I had spent months hating the Vetusians, and weeks hating myself over how I gave myself to one of them. And what did that bring me, other than frustration?

  “You need to move on,” I said, my veins heated, but my voice icy. “This is our life now, and we all need to make our peace with that. I did, and I refuse to let you make me feel bad about it.”

  I expected to find hate in her eyes.

  Instead, they turned hollow, unfocused, with tears glistening behind them as she wailed, “I lost my son.”

  “Baby, please.”

  “You let it happen!” Her fists punched against the healer’s chest her arms so weak they barely made an impact. “You did nothing to stop it, you fucking coward.”

  “I’m really sorry for your loss,” I said. “I’m sure your mate will take good care of you, and perhaps you can try for another child once you feel ready.”

  She would have collapsed to the ground if it wasn’t for the way the Vetusian pulled her up, taking her into his embrace as she screamed into the pit of his arm.

  “My deepest apologies,” he said, then he carried his mate away, whispering in her ear, caressing her face with his.

  “My sister miscarried once,” Anna whispered. “You think the chances are increased with hybrids?”

  I shrugged, mute with shock.

  I didn’t know what to think, and yet my first instinct was to hold on as tight to Gabriel as my arms would let me.

  Chapter 25

  Torin

  I walked up to the door of our habitat, snow crunching underneath my soles. With Gabriel held snug against me, I slipped out of my boots and stepped inside, the warmth of our home immediately drying the cold moisture on my skin.

  Coats, hats, mittens, and whatever attire the frigid temperatures of this sector required went into the closet. Then I carried my son over to the small cleaning chamber beside the kitchen and placed him onto his station.

  Red-cheeked and wide-eyed, he stared up at me, his coos digging their way through what was once my impenetrable chest. Gabriel filled me with a radiating joy I had never experienced before. All day, I walked the hallways of the Imperial Assembly, wondering if he’d take his nap, empty his bottles, or discover a new sound.

  “I hope you’re paying attention to the mission objectives,” I said, changing his diaper with quick and precise movements. “We took a half-hour walk, and don’t tell me you’re not tired because I can see those heavy eyes. You are what your mother calls pooped. Your bottom is clean, and your bottle is coming next.”

  I fumbled his three limbs back into his romper. Together, we made our way to the kitchen, where I let the milk synthesizer prepare his bottle. Another swipe over the holographic control panel hovering at the center, and the coffeemaker first rattled, then steamed.

  I grabbed the bottle and sat down on the armchair by the window, cradling my son slightly more upright. “You will listen to my words now. Eat your meal. Go to sleep. Stay asleep for a very long time. No excuses.”

  He issued a coo, which I interpreted as the infant equivalent of ‘yes, sir’. Then he suckled on the milk, gulping noisily while his curious eyes drifted over my features.

  Cracks coming from the staircase betrayed Eden before she stepped around the corner and into the kitchen. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

  “Coffee. By the machine. Drink it.”

  “Um… okayyy.” She stretched her arms above her head and yawned, the way her stomach swelled more each day filling me with pride. “How long have you been up?”

  “Five Earth hours perhaps. I spent most of it going over reports, but I also took a walk with our son.”

  She placed a kiss on my head and squatted down beside us with her mug hovering in front of her mouth. “So, what’s going on here?”

  “You and I will spend the entire day mating.”

  She chuckled. “What?”

  “Our door carries a sign, stating in three languages that I shall personally execute whoever dares to knock or ring. I canceled all my appointments for the day, and this child is supposed to be very, very tired.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Even in her breathy response, I sensed a notion of excitement, making my heart throb in my chest. She sat down on the floor with her head cocked, something knowing sitting inside her beautiful eyes.

  There was no escaping this. Not anymore, for I hadn’t touched my mate in much too long, and I yearned for her closeness.

  She took a sip of her coffee, watching how Gabriel’s eyes turned heavier with each gulp. “Are miscarriages a concern with hybrid babies?”

  “Not to my knowledge.” My eyes wandered down to her stomach, where my child grew, blessed with a mother so fierce, the respect I held for her had no measure. “Surgical removal of the child might be more likely because of the size, but we have yet to experience the birth of the first hybrid. Why are you asking me this?”

  “There was a woman at the NUFAC who…” Her voice trailed off with a head shake. “I’ll tell you another time.”

  I rose and carried Gabriel over to his gravity swing, skillfully retrieving the
bottle from the grasp of his lips. Then I lowered him down. A push of a button placed him into zero gravity position, removing all strain from his body.

  One pull and my shirt dropped to the floor.

  I returned to where Eden sat on the ground, staring up at me from taunting eyes. Denying me would have done her no good. And she knew it because she immediately put her mug on the table. Her legs parted slowly, and she pulled the hem of her dress suggestively over her hips.

  Fumbling furiously on my pants, I released my hard cock, watching how her eyes grew wide and hungry. I let the fabric slip to the ground and stepped out of it, stroking myself right in front of her eyes.

  How long had it been since I had that tight, wet mating cleft wrapped around my shaft? Had her moan the name of her mate, the male she was fated to be with?

  Eden bit her lip and pulled the dress over her head, revealing a set of breasts I knew still ached. This female carried my child, my future, my salvation.

  No. She was my salvation.

  I wanted to touch her. Brush my fingertips over that silky mound where she had removed her hair once more.

  The harder I ran my fist over my shaft, the closer she came.

  She pushed herself to her knees, and I wanted to groan.

  “The Commander is desperate.” She slapped my hand away and replaced it with her own, making me gasp as she ran it down my flesh.

  Yes, I was desperate.

  Doomed the moment we met.

  “I need to get inside that mouth of yours.” My voice came strangled, need turning me selfish enough to guide her hand, raking my crown over her lips. “Show me again how a flesh-born female does it.”

  Eden licked her lips as if she anticipated the taste of my flesh straining her mouth. But first, she trailed her tongue over my sack, and kissed the root of my penis, already groaning in pleasure. When she came back up, she twirled the tip of her tongue around my crown, then sucked down on my shaft. My flare nudged around her tight clasp each time she retreated.

  “Mmh… just like that.” I grabbed her hair and shoved her to take more of me.

  By all the planets in the universe, how had I ever been alive without this creature by my side? Just having her in my life seemed to complete me where I had lacked since birth. She was so precious to me. Not because she had the ability to save my species. But because she had saved me.

  “I missed the taste of you.”

  Despite my strength, I still whimpered each time she ran her lips down my penis, her eyes closed, her moans vibrating through my veins.

  Slow thrusts mated her mouth, her hand firm around my girth, and still, she could not grab all of me. And like that, I felt myself leak onto her tongue, losing my seed with drops of excitement, and yet I knew I had enough to fill her all day.

  Her lips tracked every part of my cock, from the tip to my sack again. I shook with pleasure, almost tore with the urge to spurt into her mouth; the sensation was that intense.

  Her suckles intensified, making me throw my head back in sweet indulgence. Too many unfruitful attempts at mating had me throb against the pad of her tongue. So many nights longing to be close to her. So many times, one of us nodded off before we had the chance.

  Hungry eyes flicked up at me. “I want to taste your cum.”

  I couldn’t help but sneer the moment I pulled out of her sweet mouth the cold surroundings of our living room not nearly as delicious as the heat of her mouth.

  Grabbing myself at the base, hard, I ran my fingers up my shaft until a drop of seed formed translucent white at the slit of the bulging head. “Lick it.”

  She didn’t lick it.

  She dragged the entire width of her tongue over it as if wasting any would be a sin, an agonized wail pulling from the depth of her throat.

  My penis ached like the bullet wound she’d once given me, nerves overloaded after they hadn’t received tending in almost three weeks.

  “Torin.” She brushed her cheek along my shaft, her features so full with the same need that burned in me.

  “Yes, anam ghail?”

  “Don’t hold back,” she groaned. “Just once, let me do something for you.”

  I would have laughed if I had the breath for it. Didn’t she know that she had given me more than I’d ever dared want?

  Whatever I gave her, she returned it improved. I gave her freedom, and she returned it as a life shared. I gave her an occupation, and she returned it a historical event. I gave her a Vetusian child, and she returned it a family. I gave her my seed, and she grew my heir of it.

  My hand fisted in her hair, and I navigated her head, showing her just how hard and deep I wanted her to suck me.

  The muscles on my abdomen tightened, drew up into my ribcage. My sack tightened, strained with the building release of my semen.

  “Duilghe surg min,” I groaned in Vetusian.

  Suck me harder.

  Her suckles intensified, sending heat through the veins along my shaft. Lips red from the friction, they clasped tighter around my flesh, rimmed with a frothy white mix of cum and saliva.

  My body shook, knees going so weak underneath me, so I stretched and locked them in place.

  Her tongue flicked along my corona, sending a surge of heat into my sack.

  “Yesss.”

  I closed my eyes, feeling my seed ejaculate into her sweet mouth. Small, strangled gulps came from below, mixed with her own moans of excitement.

  I ripped my eyes open and searched for hers. They were wide with surprise and pleasure alike as she swallowed my seed, raking her tongue over my still throbbing cock in search of every last drop.

  I pulled her up by her hands and pushed her into the armchair beside us, her panties gone quicker than her eyes could follow the motion.

  “The only meal I enjoy on this planet,” I said with a grin, hoisting her legs over my shoulders. “Your mating cleft.”

  Her pelvis lifted toward me with a laugh. “I hate when you call it that.”

  “Shh,” I hushed. “Wake the baby, and you’ll be severely punished. I thought you might have adopted more cultural acceptance by now.”

  “Look who’s tal—”

  Her clit clasped between my lips shut her up. A hard bud, throbbing against the tip of my tongue it was that ripe.

  She kicked her heels against my back each time I sucked on it, pulling her pelvis away from me before she changed her mind and shoved her sex over my mouth.

  From my angle, I could see the flush on her cheeks perfectly, her lips never fully closing as one moan chased the other.

  She was magnificent.

  And she was mine.

  “Fuck,” she shouted at the way I sucked on her labia. “God, make me come, or I swear I’ll lose my shit.”

  I entered her with two fingers, working them against her body while I continued to nibble on her clit.

  “Oh my god!”

  She prayed to her deity, her beautiful stomach pebbling with goosebumps before me. Her pelvis swayed and rotated, gravitating toward friction, pressing her lips against mine.

  I curled my fingers for her, raking the tips over that soft area inside her that made her hold her breath.

  “Trying not to scream?” I taunted, fucking her harder with my fingers.

  The moment her calves contracted, I kept my pace even, alternating between soft and firm pressure.

  She threw her head back and her hands onto her face, mumbling inaudible curses against her palms.

  Watching her peak against my face like this must have been one of the most beautiful sights, and my penis only agreed.

  Eden’s pussy still jerked with the after quakes of her orgasm when I entered her with one thrust, forcing a groan through her splayed fingers.

  She pushed herself up and wrapped her hands around my neck. “You weren’t kidding when you said all day, huh?”

  “Neither was I kidding when I said the sign on the door mentioned execution.”

  She smiled and fisted my hair. “Take me upsta
irs.”

  I lifted us up and walked up the stairs with her wrapped around me. And with each step we ascended, dread somehow seeped into my core. As if something lurked in a dark place, waiting to tear us apart. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that said dark place still resided in me.

  Chapter 26

  Eden

  No matter which way I held Gabi, carried him, rocked him, that baby kept on crying. Not that it had me worried.

  If anything, he fit right in with the dozen of other screaming children at the holographic imaging facility. The younger ones complained of hunger. The older ones of boredom, climbing over the chairs of the waiting area while their mothers scolded them. Without success.

  Some Vetusians tried to intervene, but even the strongest warrior was no match for a bored child. It was a battle they’d never been prepared for.

  All of them were new to the role of a father, thrown into it with no rehearsal since their human mates came as a family package. Single moms probably. I didn’t dare picture any other circumstance than that. No need to wonder if their biological dad had been killed during phase one.

  You can’t walk forward if you continue to glance back.

  I kept pacing between the rows of chairs, my eyes drifting to the window at every other step. Torin was supposed to meet me here ten minutes ago, but there was no skycar in sight.

  “Are you pregnant?” the woman beside me asked, the occasional gray strand running through her coarse black hair.

  “Yes, but it’s still very early.” I pointed at the seat next to her. “May I?”

  “Of course!” She pulled her coat from the chair and folded it neatly in her lap. “That is such an adorable little thing. Gabriel, right? I saw the hologram back when they first projected it.”

  “Yeah, he’s even more adorable when he’s not so cranky.”

  “You want me to hold him for a second?” she asked, her hands already reaching out. “Give you a chance to peel out of that coat of yours. I raised three of my own, so I know aaall ’bout it.”

  To my surprise, Gabi stopped crying the moment she lifted him off my hands, his eyes transfixed by the woman’s dark complexion.