"Alright," he said, a nervous tremor in his voice, "I'll go with you."
They rushed back to work on finishing the Hermes. The Hive-kind workers were blazingly fast, beyond anything Penny could imagine, their multiple limbs working in mechanical harmony so quickly they blurred together. Soon the human crew could only stand back and direct, realizing how outmatched they were.
"That's it!" Rivera said, going over the checklist one last time, "I think that's everything! God I wish we had time for safety checks. This is going to be terrifying."
"Nothing about this mission, from day one, has been anything but terrifying," Ian said as he ran past her with a box of food supplies from the Oshun. Tau had managed to load it not just with the remaining dehydrated foil packets, but with the reformulated hive kind nutritional supplements as well. They would be well stocked for their return.
"Alright everybody, strap in!" Rivera called, "Time for final checks!"
The workers cleared out, rushing to join the evacuees or the fight, which they could now hear just outside the cave.
Penny settled into her seat in the rebuilt Hermes bridge, watching as Ian, Salome, Cho, and Rivera all took their seats at the console as well. Finally, Tau took the sixth seat, added by the superstitious Hive-kind to satisfy their obsession. Directly across from Penny, he smiled at her, trying to be reassuring, though she could see the worry in his eyes.
Rivera called out the checks as she ran them, ensuring that all the critical systems were in order, testing everything she could to be as sure as possible that it wouldn't fail in the air. But the workers were as flawless as they were fast.
Soon, she was starting the engines and pointing them towards the cave mouth, getting a handle on the new alien systems that would let them fly out of here without rockets. The Hermes slowly lifted off the cave floor to hover just a few feet up.
"Everyone ready?" Rivera called one last time, "Taking off in five, four, three, two..."
The hive kind's magnetic engines kicked like a mule as they shot the Hermes out of the cave like a bullet from a gun and into the fiery dogfight happening outside. Rivera steered the bulky shuttle like a needle through the warring drone ships and mutant fighters as they clashed directly outside the cave.
"Up, up!" Ian was shouting as they flew through the flame and debris of an exploded ship. Rivera obeyed, turning their nose skyward, narrowly avoiding a burst of drone fire as they fled skyward with all haste. As the sky darkened to the blue black of space around them, the crew whooped with relief.
"We did it!" Salome sobbed, tears of relief in her eyes, "We're going home!"
"I wish we could have stayed a little longer," Cho said regretfully, "I was finally starting to learn something."
"I'm sure you'll get another chance," Ian laughed, "You just became the world's foremost authority on that planet. They'll probably try to send you back, once the misunderstanding gets cleared up and the planets start communicating regularly."
"Do you really think that'll happen?" Salome asked, hopeful, "We'll just figure out how to get along?"
"I don't want to consider the alternative," Ian replied, and Penny privately agreed. Interstellar war would be too costly for either species. They'd surely find a way to work together.
She smiled across the ship at Tau, who smiled back. There was definitely a way to understand each other.
Once they'd left orbit, Ian began plotting their course home. It was easier, he said, since they had a better idea now of what they would encounter. He still had the rest of the crew go over his work several times, not over his insecurity over what had happened to the Hermes crew. Penny wasn't sure he'd ever quite recover.
Penny helped Tau patch himself up in the meantime, glad Hive-kind were so hardy. Dangerous as those wounds looked, Tau assured her a hive kind drone could regrow whole body parts. With rest, he would be fine.
Once Ian had entered the course and Rivera had set them on their way, the crew prepared for cryo sleep as the ship accelerated towards light speed. Salome and Cho had put their heads together to figure out the best settings for the cryo pod to suit Tau's biology, testing it a few times to be sure they had it right before everyone else settled in to sleep.
Tau's pod was next to Penny's, and she kissed him one last time before she lay down.
"See you on Earth, Aiten Tau," she said as the lido of her cryo pod began to close.
"See you there, Penny Allyn."
Chapter Fourteen
Earth's satellites picked them up as they entered the solar system, and from there it was one long series of complicated explanations and official statements as the Oshun crew explained how they were returning in a ship that was not quite the Hermes, carrying a new crew member who was not quite human.
For a while, it was nonstop madness, dealing with the political and legal ramifications. Deciding how the Hive-kind would be dealt with. Deciding what would happen to the crew and to Tau.
Ian tried to claim responsibility for what had happened to the Hermes crew, but examining the data from its computer which Tau had retrieved for Penny's trial revealed it had been a mechanical error that had sent them off course. He had never been to blame at all. He had a hard time accepting that.
It had been more than a decade since they left, thanks to relative time, but one by one Penny watched her crew mates settle back into their lives, old and new. Rivera retired, well compensated, and returned to her wife and children happy. Cho became something of a celebrity scientist, talking about her experiences with the hive kind and planning proper research trips for as soon as the political climate settled.
Salome and Ian became heavily involved in breaking down and coming to understand the technology they'd brought back, adapting it to improve Earth's space travel capabilities. Ian never wanted to go into space again, or at least not out of the solar system, but Salome was eager to return to the stars, faster and safer than ever.
Penny threw herself into her diplomatic work. With Salome and Ian's innovations on the alien tech, they found a way to send signals to the other planet and opened a line of communication. Penny led efforts to reach a peaceful resolution to the Hermes Incident, as it was being called.
Tau was invaluable in explaining the Hive-kind's values and perspectives on things, and eventually understanding was reached. The Queen was infallible and thus could not apologize, but in diplomatic terms it was made clear that, newly pupated and unaware of the nuance of the situation, she had acted rashly, and regretted the lost opportunity.
Almost a year later, things began to at last calm down. Cho was leading a new mission, preparing to return to the Hive planet for a first formal diplomatic exchange. She'd begged Penny to come along, but Penny no longer wanted to run from Earth. She had something worth staying for now.
It was late fall, and the wind carried the taste of snow through the pine trees to the comfortable mountain cabin. Penny stood on the porch, looking up at the stars, and wondered what other, stranger life might be out there. Not that she was in any hurry to meet it.
Tau put his arms around Penny's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. She felt him breathe deeply, his chest moving against her back. Convincing the government to let him stay on Earth as a citizen and live here unmonitored had been a feat, perhaps the hardest of Penny's career.
"You're sure you don't want to go back when Cho leaves?" Penny asked, a touch insecure. His hair brushed over her shoulders, a tickle of sensation. "Now that the situation is resolved, they might welcome you back as a hero."
He shook his head, hands sliding down to squeeze her hips.
"That isn't my home anymore," he said simply, "In truth, it never was. The only queen I have ever wanted to serve is here in my arms."
Penny's heart soared as the wind kicked up the scent of pine and cold stone. All her life, she'd only ever wanted to escape this place. Now that she wasn't running anymore, she could finally see how beautiful it all was. The world was a brighter and more colorful place since she'd
returned, and Tau was at the warm, beating heart of it.
Penny turned in his arms to kiss him hard, wishing she could convey beyond what any translator chip ever could just how much she loved him. He squeezed her closer, and then turned to press her against the cabin wall as he showered kisses down her throat.
His hands slid under her thighs, lifting her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, tangling her hands in his hair as his kisses moved down towards her breasts.
His touches were still just as passionate and curious as they had been the first time, patiently learning more about her every day, until he could play her body like an instrument, every graze of his fingers sending ripples of pleasure through her.
The door was still open and the cold air made her nipples stand to attention as he pushed her shirt and bra up above her breasts. He surrounded them with his hot mouth, teasing with his tongue, until Penny ached for him and whispered his name, quietly begging for more.
Rather than going to the bedroom, he snatched a coat off of the rack by the door and carried her outside. He spread it on the ground to make a rough barrier for them, and Penny laughed.
"Out here?" she asked, incredulous though she was already removing her top, "Really?"
"I've had enough of hiding in tunnels and caves," he answered, "I want to love you in the open air."
He set her down, but before he could follow her, Penny stopped him, settling on her knees before him.
"I want to show you another human trick first," she said with a playful grin, and tugged down his pants. He'd taken to wearing human clothing since he arrived, though he still tended to favor very simple things, like the black t-shirt and jeans he was wearing now.
She pulled his already hardening manhood from his pants, heat filling her even at the sight of it. Not quite human, but close enough to be familiar and unthreatening. She pressed a delicate kiss to the head first and heard him inhale sharply above her.
As she wrapped her mouth around him, she felt him shudder and she purred with delight at her ability to make such a powerful man weak with just this. She moved forward to engulf him, feeling him heavy, throbbing on her tongue and already leaking his copious amounts of tingling, mint and anise precum.
She had underestimated how much of it there was, how much of him there was. She could only do her best to swallow it as she bobbed her head down his length, feeling his hands tangle in her hair, push her down harder, demanding more in a way that made her moan around him with desire, loving how he could take control, take her roughly, but never make her feel she was in danger. She loved him using her this way because she knew he would never hurt her.
She opened her mouth wider, struggling to breathe as he rocked his hips into her throat, pouring out his endless stream of precum. One hand gripped her hair just tightly enough to be felt, holding her in place. The other stroked hair, her cheek, full of affection even as he was thrusting into her mouth so relentlessly.
She felt him throb on her tongue and suddenly pull back, his torrent of cum splashing over her lips and breasts. She worked him with her hands until he was finished, then let go as he fell to his knees to kiss her, ferocious and sloppy with desire, his come slick between them as he pushed her back onto the spread out jacket.
His seed tingled on her skin everywhere it touched, and as he rubbed it into her breasts, she could feel them becoming more sensitive, every brush of mountain air making her tremble with heat.
He dove between her legs and pushed up her skirt, his long, talented tongue diving past her underwear to taste her already wet need. Penny writhed and sighed under his skillful attentions, hooking a leg around his shoulders to pull him closer, clutching at the grass as pleasure overwhelmed her over and over.
He didn't stop until she begged him too, trembling with over stimulation, her face flushed and her eyes hazy with need. He sat up, licking his lips, and moved between her thighs, sitting on his knees as he dragged her hips up into his lap.
Heated anticipation flashed through Penny as she watched him bring his head to her lips, sliding his length through her wet labia, teasing her before he sank lower to her entrance, pushing slowly in.
He leaned over her as he sank into her wet folds and she reached up to catch his shoulders and pull him in for a kiss, whimpering as he filled her completely.
He pulled out of the kiss to look down at her as he rocked his hips, grinding deeper within her. She blushed, realizing he was watching her expressions, the way she gasped and moaned and bit her lip as he thrust deeper, striking the places within her that most wanted his attention. He was always observing, always learning, like he'd dedicated his life to discovering the best ways to make her quake with pleasure.
He pulled back after a moment and began to thrust in earnest, every strike filling her to all she could bear, every withdrawal leaving her feeling empty and desperate for more. He lifted higher, from sitting on his heels to kneeling forcing her to arch her back to follow him.
She was tense as a bowstring, supporting herself on her arms, and the tense position made every thrust made her feel even harder and deeper. Even as she struggled to stay up she couldn't focus on anything but him. His hands on her hips, pulling her into his thrusts, the weight of him moving inside her, hot and thick, filling her up.
He let her back down onto the jacket so that he could lean over her again, meeting her eyes with an intense, passionate stare. She could feel he was close; planting a hand by her head while the other still clutched her hip.
She stared up at him, awed by the sight of those glittering eyes and all the love and desire they contained. She knew she never wanted to be anywhere more than right here, living this life. All the pain she'd gone through was worth it for this moment, knowing she would never be without his love again.
He pulled her close suddenly, kissing her hard as she felt him throb within her, finishing in a rush that left Penny shivering with pleasure.
In the moments after, they lay beside each other, the cool air drying their skin, their hands clasped between them. Tau brought them silently to his lips to kiss her fingers.
"I love you, Penny Allyn." he said, earnest and so soft she almost couldn't hear it.
"I love you too, Aiten Tau."
***
PREVIEW OF ‘THE ALIEN’S PREGNANT MATE’ BY MARLA THERRON
Chapter One
The lights of the stage were blinding, dazzling Erena's already hazy eyes. Whatever drug her captors had forced on her had left her so helpless she could barely move, her skin burning, her body aching, her vision blurry.
Every sensation was overwhelming, from the clink of the silver chains around her wrists, to the grain of the cage floor beneath her bare skin, to the murmur of voices as creatures too strange to be real moved past her prison, only pausing briefly to stare at her before moving on.
She tried to hide her nakedness; ashamed of what she had come to, but moving was a desperate struggle against the drug, which made her limbs so heavy. And anyway, nothing mattered anymore. Her entire team was dead except for Alice, and Erena had no way of knowing where the other woman had been taken.
She could be in one of these cages too, or a thousand lightyears away. And as for Erena herself, she didn't know what was going to happen to her, but she couldn't imagine it was going to be anything pleasant.
She was naked and drugged and surrounded on all sides by strange, totally alien beings. Some of them looked almost human, but many of them were so far from humanoid she could barely comprehend them.
And the way they stared at her, openly hungry, eyeing her body like meat in a butcher's shop… Maybe that's what this was, she thought with trembling, hopeless fear. Or some kind of zoo. Whatever it was, she was certain it was the last place she would see. This was the end of her.
Just as she was giving up totally, the cage opened and something reached in, clipping a leash to the collar around her throat and dragging her out onto the stage.
"Our next item for bid," the thing hol
ding her leash was shouting as it pulled her on her knees to the front of the stage, "A true rarity! A female from a totally undiscovered species, stolen from the furthest depths of uncharted space! Even if you aren't seduced by her alien beauty, she'd certainly be a fascinating research subject! She's already been outfitted with a full set of vaccinations and a language chip for your convenience! So who wants to start the bidding at ten million?"
The auctioneer rattled on, praising Erena's attributes as she sat on her knees, naked and trembling and confused. She could barely see the audience past the stage lights, but she could hear them crying out bids.
Fear bloomed in her despite the numbing effects of the drug. She was being sold, like an object. This wasn't right! She searched the crowd as tears stung her eyes, looking for someone, anyone, who would point out how wrong this was and save her.
Her eyes locked with a man across the room. At least, she thought it was a man, through the blinding stage lights everything looked strange. But she saw his eyes, piercing even from this far away. They locked with hers, clear even through the haze of the drug, and she trembled at the sharpness of that gaze.
Help me, she thought, wishing she had the strength to form the words, Please, save me!
Erena had dreamed of this moment all her life. She'd always longed to be a scientist. She'd grown up completely fascinated by all of it. Chemistry, biology, physics, nothing was beyond her. It felt like magic to her, learning all the building blocks of the universe, the secret undercurrents and reactions that caused every single thing on earth.
Eventually, she took a specialty in astro physics. Not because it was her favorite or because she wanted to stop studying everything else. She went on studying all the other subjects in her free time. But astro physics was what would allow her to go into space, and in this day and age all the most exciting discoveries were happening in space.
Alien Romance: Caged By The Alien: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Romance, Alien Invasion Romance, BBW) (Celestial Mates Book 4) Page 11
