by Liz Paffel
Quixx of Third Command stood before the floor-to-ceiling surveillance screen in the command center of the Axxeon’s frozen underwater compound with his hands clasped behind his back and watched unrest blossom in the city. Humans battled each other with random weapons found in the snow-covered streets—a garbage can lid, a shovel, a discarded license plate. Two males faced off with thick branches while a teenaged human lashed out at another with his fists.
Yiiy, he could not wait to leave Earth.
Two weeks ago, the Axxeon had defeated their long time enemy the Nozing after they’d unleashed fire-breathing degarzee on the city only to find out the same human leaders who had welcomed the Axxeon to this city had made a pact with the enemy to destroy it.
He hated the Nozing for the pain they’d caused his people, and he despised humans for their lack of honor and weakness. There were three humans inside the compound, brought here after the Nozing defeat. One, Alora, a scientist had been claimed by King Tryllin as his mate. Her brother Brandon, a firefighter, as well as her close friend and fellow scientist, Priya. As far as he was concerned, they were simply taking up good oxygen and consuming precious supplies.
It was time for them to go.
“Commander, I thought you would like to see this.”
He turned to the young ensenya, officer, behind him and took the see-through tablet he offered. The image on the tablet screen populated into a four-dimensional rendering which hovered in the air above the tablet surface. Quixx held back a thrilled smile. The image showed B-2 Delta, a planet the Axxeon had been steadily monitoring, waiting for an atmospheric storm to clear so the planet could be explored as a possible new home.
“The storm is lessening.”
“Yes, Commander. The Expedition Team from Axxeon 9 sent me this image moments ago. If the storm continues on this track, they will begin preparations for launch.”
Quixx manipulated the image with his fingers. The storm was violent and consisted of churning toxic gases, mile-wide debris, and flaming shrapnel left behind from an exploded sun. He could ascertain without looking at the recent statistics that the storm had lost ferocity since it was last monitored one month ago. Hope coursed through him laced with potent urgency. Their people had suffered terrible loss, including the death of their planet which forced them to repair an abandoned base station, Axxeon 9, and make it their temporary home. The station hovered now above Earth’s atmosphere.
His people deserved a real home on a sustainable planet.
He had a plan and it was time he spoke to his King.
Closing the image, he thanked the ensenya and handed back the tablet.
Turning back to the surveillance screens, Quixx tempered irritation that clawed at him. He was more than eager to leave this place. Human leaders had promised the Axxeon females in return for fighting the Nozing. They had already collected two rounds of women and sent them to the base station to be distributed as mates and would collect one more group before leaving Earth. When that was complete, they were departing for the base station.
They hadn’t Summoned enough females for every Axxeon male of age to take a mate. Quixx scoffed. Since the Nozing had unleashed biowarfare that killed all but a handful of Axxeon females, Quixx had resolved to be mate-less. Had he done a better job of protecting his people, the attack could have been thwarted.
No, he didn’t deserve a female. He did not want a female. He would never father a kinder. His secret plan was more important than subjecting a female to the shame of being forever mated to a failure like him. King Tryllin had been pressuring him into taking a mate and soon. Quixx feared if he didn’t not comply, the King would choose for him. Perhaps if he continued craftily stalling, Tryllin would forget about it...
Suddenly restless, he strode from Command and took a left down the corridor, heading for the combat training room. He would work off this tension by sparring with some young, strong ensenya who might be able to keep up with him.
Quixx paused mid-step as he approached the laboratory where Queen Alora and her scientist friend Priya had created the weapon that killed the Nozing two weeks ago. It had sat empty for several days since. However, he noticed Priya inside, her dark head bent low as she worked at something on the table before her. They had crossed paths a few times since her arrival here, and she seemed to have acclimated to her new environment. She certainly had never shown any fear of him, or any of the other warriors.
She was angled slightly away from him, looking into a microscope. He’d heard she was experimenting with live skin cells harvested from a chunk of degarzee flesh to find a way to disarm or kill the creature. Queen Alora had suffered heart failure during the fight with the Nozing and was recovering after receiving a bionic heart, leaving Priya to work on her research alone. She was being tenacious about it, if word around the compound was to be believed.
He worked his jaw back and forth. Priya had been brought here with the last round of Summoned women to be sent to Axxeon 9. Queen Alora had requested she be allowed to stay in the compound with her during the fight with the Nozing. Would she be mated now that the conflict was over? He considered which warrior she might be paired with. Many were eager to be mated and would take a human like this without question.
He uttered an indifferent growl.
What did it matter? He cared not what happened to her. She may be alluring with her caramel skin, dark brown eyes and lush mouth, but he had no interest in her. The sooner she was mated and sent to Axxeon 9, the better. She shifted lightly on the stool, using the end of a writing instrument to push hair out of her eyes, her movements graceful. Little tingles raced over the top of his scalp.
A red light began to beep furiously on the comlet on his wrist, pulling his attention. He’d been so absorbed in watching Priya work that he’d blocked out the notification.
He answered and a shimmering green image of King Tryllin populated into the air.
“I apologize for the delay in answering, my King.”
“Good, you are by the lab. Collect the female scientist and escort her to the prison where you’ll meet Yawnlit. They will be examining the Nozing prince.”
Quixx’s eyes narrowed. The prince had been captured during the attack on his people. King Tryllin had promised him amnesty; however, Quixx was more than eager to reverse that promise.
“Of course, my King.”
“Quixx, there is something else.” Tryllin’s voice had an oddly light tone.
“Yes?”
“Be gentle with the human female. I have plans for the two of you.”
The communication ended and Quixx glared at the comlet, wondering if he’d heard Tryllin incorrectly. The only plan he wanted with Priya was to escort her out of the compound and never see her-or another human-again.
Smoothing the front of his leather vest with one hand, Quixx rapped on the doorframe in a measure of human custom before pressing the button to open the door. Priya gave a cursory glance over her shoulder before returning to her work, clearly dismissing him.
He approached with long strides.
“The King requests we meet the physician Yawnlit in the holding cells to attend to the Nozing prince.”
She didn’t respond. Perhaps the communications device she’d had implanted at the base of her skull was not properly working. Quixx moved closer to her. “Do you understand what I said, female?”
She sighed with impatience. “Yes.”
He waited for her to rise, but she made no motion to do so. Crossing his hands in front of himself, he raised his voice with a stern edge. It was his Commander’s voice, the one no one dared ignore. She was clearly in need of direction in how
to properly respond to a high-ranking official.
“Do you need assistance in rising from your seat?”
“No, I just need a minute.”
“The King’s orders do not wait. Get to your feet, woman, or I will assist you.”
“You will kiss my ass, okay? Just a second.”
His face heated. With a low growl, he reached for her. How dare she defy his order. She thrust an arm out behind her to stop him, and to his surprise, he found himself obeying.
“Don’t touch me or I’ll drop the damn sample. Freaking Neanderthal!”
She had something gripped between the tips of a metal forceps and was delicately adding it to a narrow tube of solution. She repeated the process several times with different samples and tubes.
Crossing his arms, he found himself observing her work. She was under the protection of the King, and a friend to the human Queen, so perhaps he could spare her a few quick moments to finish her task. He raised his chin and studied her. She’d been quiet when she’d arrived with the other Summoned females two weeks ago. Not timid, but… observant. Watchful. As if she was collecting data and biding her time. He’d noticed a deep intelligence in her eyes and suspected she held an inner fire close inside herself.
Some of that fire was coming forth, as she’d insulted him without a moment’s hesitation.
“What is a Neanderthal?”
“What?”
“The word you used to describe me. I feel as if it is an insult, but I do not know what it means.”
She grabbed another tube. “Neanderthals, early humanoids? Big, hulking bodies, flat forehead, small brains.”
He frowned with the suspicion that she was once again insulting him. He had never cared to learn the nuances of human speech or its contexts, including humor. He understood straight forward speech. Deciphering meaning only frustrated him. “I have none of those things.”
She spun on her stool and gave him a head-to-toe glance, one corner of her mouth turning up. “You have one of those things.”
He glanced down at himself. Axxeon males were tall, lean, efficient with perfect musculature for speed and strength without added bulk to weigh them down. His forehead certainly was not flat. Which meant she was suggesting the size of his brain was diminutive. Ah, she suggested he was unintelligent. His lips twisted in irritation. This is why no one liked humans.
The green and red hexagon solar skin on his chest began to heat, the outlines glowing a faint white. How confounding. It was not cold enough in this room to cause his solarderm to activate and flush heat through his body. The only other explanation was…
Arousal.
That was ridiculous.
She did not find him attractive, and he reciprocated the feeling. Why his body was acting differently was very odd.
Spinning back to her work, she picked up the tubes. “I’m going to put these in the holding area, and we can go.”
The stretchy band holding her ponytail broke free when she stood, causing hair to fan to her waist in a black, glossy sheet. She muttered something under her breath as she placed the samples into the cabinet. Taking off her gloves, she threw them into a trash receptacle and slipped out of the beige laboratory coat she wore over her clothing. She was wearing a long brown dress that hung like a drape over her tall, lithe body and hid the rise of her breasts and hips.
Good. He was not interested in seeing her form. He thrust his hands onto his hips. “You are ready now?”
She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and secured it with a new band from her pocket. “Yes. I’m very curious to check out this prince.”
Why would a human be interested in something as insignificant as a Nozing captive? He might be a prince, but he was nothing more than a soulless, bloodthirsty beast. Perhaps this female was not completely right in the head.
He gestured her to the door and stopped her before she could exit. Her eyes widened and hardened as he produced a set of glowing yellow handcuffs. She should be used to them by now. She’d been required to wear them while being escorted around the compound since the moment she’d arrived at the compound. The neural transmitter in the cuffs interfered with human cognition, slowing down mental processing and reaction times. Sometimes, it rendered them completely useless.
He waited for her to hold her arms out for him. When she did not, he lightly grabbed them, and snapped the cuffs into place. Her skin was smooth beneath the pads of his fingers. Very, very smooth.
What a meaningless detail to notice.
“Why are you curious about our hated enemy?”
She glared pointedly at the cuffs and shook her head as if she couldn’t believe he’d put them on. Quixx ushered her out the door and into the hall, catching a glimpse of her perfectly plump ass as the gown curved momentarily behind her thighs. His skin glowed with a bright flash, surprising him for a second time, before quickly fading.
“Because, Neanderthal, I was informed he appears to be growing a set of wings.”
Chapter Two
She had to ride out the mental fog until he took the cuffs off.
Taking a deep breath, Priya Kotbf kept calm as she followed the huge alien in front of her. She’d met Quixx before and had immediately pegged him for a stoic asshole. He didn’t mince words, and he didn’t extend any unnecessary kindness. Everything about him was cool, aloof and hard. He was hot... for a man with blue hair, lavender eyes, and pale green and red skin covered with a strange pattern.
He was lean and muscular but not in a showy way like those guys who hooked themselves up to protein drink IV’s. His eyes were darker than the other Axxeon she’d seen, the violet almost brown. The edges of his mouth were hard as if he had little experience smiling… or kissing… or anything else that created those attractive soft lines around a man’s mouth. No, he was all hardass, all business, and probably self-serving whenever the opportunity arose.
God, did she know his type.
He was exactly like her ex-fiancé, and every man she’d taken to bed after him. All the same because she couldn’t seem to break out of falling for the same type over and over. Quixx seemed loyal to his King and his people. Loyalty was a trait she had little experience with where men were concerned. If he was anything like human men, Quixx would look out for himself first and only himself. Not that it would stop her. He was hot. Sometimes, that was the only requirement that mattered for a fun one-nighter. A laugh bubbled out of her before she could stop it. Her mind swirled with the familiar intoxication that had nothing to do with alcohol. The damn cuffs rendered her into a one-too-many fool, every time.
“Why do you laugh?” Quixx gave her an annoyed side eye.
She stumbled a little as she hurried to keep up with him. “If we met in a bar, you’re exactly the type of asshole I’d let take me home.”
He grumbled, or maybe it was a growl. “I do not see why delivering you to your residence would make me an ass-hole.”
“No, I mean… when I say, ‘take me home,’ I mean sex.” Her eyebrows dropped as her brain registered what she’d just said. “I-I wasn’t supposed to say that out loud.”
Good Lord, she was a highly educated, professional woman. Why was her brain acting like a college freshman who’d had too many wine coolers at a frat party?
He looked straight ahead, and she swore he started walking faster. “Delivering a woman to her home is an invitation for sex.”
Priya considered that a moment, not sure if he was asking or just saying it out loud so it sank into his alien brain. “Sometimes, yes.”
“However, sometimes no?”
She stumbled again, knowing full well that she wasn’t inebriated, but her brain and body didn’t get the memo. Frustration pumped through her that she couldn’t control her own movements. The next time she saw the King, she was going to request that these damn cuffs get clipped around Quixx’s neck and never touch her body again.
“Yes. Sometimes. It depends.”
“This is a confusing mating ritual.”
> She laughed again. “Tell me about it. I’ve been doing it since college and I’m still confused.”
He stopped so fast, that she ran smack into him. Priya gasped and pushed off him, her palms connecting with the curve of his lower back, his body heat radiating through her hands like a heating blanket set on high. Quixx spun, his expression harder than usual.
“You are saying that, multiple times you have allowed a man inside your body in exchange for delivering you to your residence?”
“What?” She pulled her hands away from him and glanced at them in shock. Why was he so damn hot? “Uh… I mean, women have sexual needs, too.”
That growly sound came from his throat again as he turned and resumed walking. “The more I learn about humans, the more pleased I am not mated to one.”
“Ouch. I guess even alien men think it’s okay to have as much sex as they want, but women better keep their legs closed. Do the Axxeon have a ‘good old boys club,’ too?”
He made a noncommittal sound. She noticed that they neared the end of a long tunnel and curved to the right where a soft yellow light filled the space. She eyed it suspiciously. “Wait, is that yellow stuff more of what’s in these cuffs?”
“The neural glow? Yes. This tunnel leads to the prison chamber. The light renders any who manage escape incapacitated as the effect is increasingly stronger than the cuffs. You may want to close your eyes, so you do not experience complete brain malfunction and lose control of your bodily functions.”
She tried to respond, but a stuttering sound is the only thing she could produce. Clenching her eyes, she flinched as Quixx unexpectedly grasped her arm and began leading her forward. Concentrating on the sound of their feet on the metal tunnel floor, she shuddered as pressure began to build inside her head. She stumbled, veering off to the left. If not for Quixx’s hold, she would have fallen.
He pulled her back carefully and pressed her against his side. Sudden weakness made her knees buckle. Suddenly, she was whisked upward as Quixx balanced her over his arms in a stiff cradle hold.
“Humans.” He spat the word as if this was the biggest inconvenience.
