by T. S. Ryder
"There's something I should tell you…"
Zon glanced at her, bumping her gently with his hip. "You're not going to tell me that you're not actually attracted to me, are you?"
Lisa's jaw dropped. "What made you think I'd say that?"
"Well… T'Shav aren't an attractive species. Our skin is too red, our build too muscular…"
"Too muscular?" Lisa shook her head in amazement. "If you were on Earth back in my day, women would chase you all the time. You're the most attractive man I have ever met. Too muscular… Nope. Not at all."
Zon laughed. "So what is it that you want to tell me?"
Lisa stopped, reaching for both of his hands so he would turn towards her. He smiled, waiting patiently while she took in the sight of him. Her heart swelled and a silly grin grew over his face.
"I really don't know why it's taken me this long to tell you, or admit it to myself. I guess I was just frightened."
"Of me?"
"No." Lisa shook her head. "Of the magnitude of what I'm about to say."
"You'd better be frightened of me if you don't tell me soon." He added a playful growl in his throat that had Lisa rethinking her position of waiting until the next day for sex.
"I love you."
Zon's eyes widened.
"I don't know when it happened, but I love you, Zon. Whether we’re starmates or not, I don't know. But I can say without a doubt that we are meant to be together. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, and I can't wait to explore this exciting new world with you."
Zon wrapped his arms around her, bringing her in, answering her without words. As their lips met, far out in the reaches of space a star glowed brighter.
*****
THE END
Kidnapped by the Alien Dragon
Description
The hunt is on, and what a delicious hunt it will be
Libba Ross is no quitter. When she wants something, she will get it no matter what. But when she’s abducted by the cruel alien Din who wants to use her and her curves for scientific experiments, she’s helpless.
Alien dragon Brask has a job to do. He is a Justice Warrior who saves humans from horrendous scientific experiments. So when he hears about Din’s newest catch, his dragon will not stop before he rescues her.
But his job soon gets complicated when this woman awakens flames inside his belly he had long forgotten.
Libba learns there’s only one way to stay with Brask and out of Din’s hands: get pregnant with Brask’s child. Strangely, she doesn’t find that idea all that upsetting... This exotic alien with his temper and terrifying eyes is slowly working his way into her heart.
Unfortunately, Din doesn’t quit easily. Powerful forces in the government are backing him and force Brask to return Libba. But if he thinks Brask will simply hand her over, he is sorely mistaken.
Forced together by circumstances and hunted by the government, do Libba and Brask stand a chance? Will Brask do the unthinkable to keep her and their baby safe? Is their love worth dying for?
Chapter One
The walls were so shiny she could see her face reflected in them. Her eyes were wide and her mouth open, although her screams had long since stopped. Her fists were bruised and bloody from repeatedly smashing them against the unforgiving walls. Even though anger and fear had long since given way to despair, she kept beating the walls, refusing to give up.
Libba Ross was no quitter.
She backed away from her own crazy-eyed reflection, scraping her fingers across her bare scalp as her stomach churned.
This was impossible. It was just impossible. She had heard the news reports of young women disappearing from all over the planet, starting with homeless women and prostitutes. At first, the theory had been a bunch of deranged, misogynistic serial killers all surfacing at once, though no bodies were ever found. But then other women began to disappear: college students and women who worked in fast food, at the grocery checkout or in other thankless jobs.
And it wasn't just in the States that it was happening. In Canada, the UK, China, Nigeria, Afghanistan, all around the world, women were simply vanishing.
Only the crazies thought it was aliens. Libba wasn't one of those crazies. She thought the most likely answer was that the women were getting fed up with their lives and simply leaving to start over. The wholesale disappearances were only because so many of them had got away with it already and emboldened others…
Now she knew better.
Her hands throbbed and Libba sat down, assessing the situation. She had been abducted by aliens and was now a captive on an alien ship. Throwing herself against the walls wasn't doing any good, she was only damaging herself. She needed to figure out what these aliens wanted with her, and what they wanted with women in general.
Did it have something to do with what she had been doing before she had been abducted?
What had she been doing?
She took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline that was clouding her brain. It was difficult to do, but she managed to utilize the breathing techniques she had learned from her yoga classes to slow the racing of her heart and think back to her abduction.
She had been frustrated with her inability to decide what to do with her life. At twenty-seven, Libba thought that she would be steadily working to the top of her chosen field, maybe even with a husband and a child. The problem was that she didn't know what field of work she wanted to dedicate her life to. She had three Bachelor's degrees, but none held her interest enough to know what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
How long had she been in this ship now? Hours? Days? Weeks? The day they had taken her away from her home she had gotten three acceptance letters into three different Masters programs. Two were at home in the States, one in London. But once again, she wasn't sure that any of those were fields she wanted to spend the rest of her life in. She knew she had to move on with her life. Being a career student and drowning in debt was not working.
Frustrated by not knowing what to do, Libba had driven out to the countryside and hiked up a mountain. Most people thought she wasn't an active person, given her size, but she always enjoyed strenuous physical activity. Going alone, though, was probably her first mistake. As she was walking, she heard the beating of giant wings. She turned to see a dragon diving at her.
Not running was her second mistake. But she had been too stunned to run, and the dragon had snatched her in its claws and swooped off. The next thing she knew, it had deposited her in a ship and turned into a man with orange scales and blood-red eyes. He told her that they were leaving the solar system. When she tried to free herself, he injected her with something that caused her to lose consciousness. She had woken up here, alone.
So what was she supposed to do now?
Libba's eyes snapped open when she heard the hiss of a door opening. She jumped to her feet, raising her hands as she faced the alien who stepped into the room. It was the same one who had taken her away. At least, she thought it was. It had the same orange scales.
"Are you finished damaging yourself?" he asked in his tongue, which she could understand only through the translator they had roughly inserted deep in her ear.
The alien looked human, except for the tiny scales covering his skin and those blood-red eyes. If he were a character in a movie, Libba would have found him attractive. He had a muscular build, a strong jaw and thick, curly brown hair. Under these circumstances, however, he just looked terrifying. Libba's mouth was dry and she stood straighter, trying to look important.
"If you don't take me home, you'll be sorry," she rasped, hating how weak her voice sounded. She swallowed, trying to moisten her throat, and tried again. "My father is a high-ranking air force general and he's developing space travel. If you don't take me home the whole planet will—"
"Your people are decades away from interplanetary travel, let alone being able to tesseract into string space to come after me. And I have been watching you for nearly six months now, Li
bba. You don't have any family, and no friends left alive. Your classmates and coworkers hardly know you exist. By my calculations, it won't be until the end of the month that anybody will notice you're gone, and even then they won't take the matter too seriously. There is nobody who will miss you, and nobody will try to come for you. Why else do you think I chose you?"
Libba clenched her hands to stop them from trembling. Her bruises pulsed with pain, and she welcomed it. It was something to focus on besides her fear. "You've been watching me."
"Yes. You are perfect for my means. A loner. And you have the right build for what I have in mind." His eyes trailed down her body.
"What means?"
Libba knew she wasn't what was considered traditionally beautiful. Her proportions were wrong, with most of her weight clinging to her belly, hips and thighs, making her top appear to be small, even though she wasn't exactly tiny in the boob department. But this alien dragon had specifically picked her because she had a little extra weight on her. Was he going to boil her down for oil? Eat her? Did these aliens need a fat-rich diet?
"Forgive me, I forgot that you don't know anything." He smiled, clearly enjoying his insult. "My name is Din, and I am Science Alpha of this ship."
Libba blinked, confused by this information. "Science Alpha?"
"I command this ship. I'm essentially the King as long as we're onboard." Din looked quite pleased at his comparison. "I am a dragon of a race known as the Stlozyn. Our males are dragon, our females dragonesses, like your males are men—"
"I get it," Libba interrupted. "I'm not an idiot. I don't care about what or who you are. I want to know what you're going to do to me."
Din shrugged, an oddly human gesture. "For many years, we have suffered from a disease that causes us to become infertile. It was recently discovered that an infusion of human DNA actually reverses the effects of the plague. Actually, human women can get pregnant by a dragon easily, even without the cure."
Libba went cold. Bile rose in her throat. Please don't mean what I think you mean.
"The dragon who developed the cure was promoted to the Science Board, our highest level of government. But the synthesis of the cure is taking longer than some of us are comfortable with, and so far it's been handed out only to dragonesses." Din made a face. "Because one dragon can impregnate many dragonesses, it's deemed more important that they receive the cure."
Libba inched backward. If he came at her, she knew how to fend off a temporary attack, but how long would she last against him? And if she did manage to fight him off, where would she go?
"Those of us dragons who want children find it to be most discouraging that we have not been given our ability to father children back yet. I'm sure you've noticed the trend of human women disappearing?"
All those women had been abducted in order to be baby making machines? Libba wanted to be sick, and a surge of anger went through her. "You're disgusting!"
Din's brows rose and his eyes widened. "Excuse me?"
"I won’t have your baby! If you try to touch me, I'll kill you, I swear I'll kill you."
Din stared at her, clearly baffled. "Such emotion. I've observed humans, yes, but I always thought it was emotion reacting to emotion. How can you people live with such outbursts? Do try to think logically, Libba. You are not here to have my children."
A jolt of relief went through her, but it didn't last long. "Then why am I here?"
"I need a living specimen to extract DNA from. Synthesis takes too long. It would be much easier to melt down your body into its base form."
Melt her down. Kill her. She backed away as he came forward, her hands trembling. "And you needed my build why?"
"You have an extra layer of blubber on you. That means that you will provide us with more genetic material to use." Din actually smiled at her. "I think I will name my first daughter after you, in honor of your sacrifice."
That did it.
Libba launched herself forward. Her palm cracked into Din's nose. She felt the cartilage snap but she didn't stop there. She jammed her knee between the fork of his legs and, as he doubled over, grabbed his ears and yanking his head down. She brought her knee to his face. With a final elbow to the back of his neck, Libba ran from the room, leaving the alien gasping behind her.
She didn't get far. It seemed that within seconds two more aliens were blocking her path. Libba snarled, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet while she lifted her arms, curling her hands. She'd started kickboxing to tone her body; who knew she'd be using it to attempt to escape an alien abduction? The two guards both held weapons, though. It wouldn’t be a fair fight.
"Human, stand down or we will be forced to fire," one of the aliens growled.
She glanced back the way she had come. The corridor ended in the room she just escaped from.
"Don't harm her!" Din's voice rang down the hall. "Just stun her."
Libba charged the two aliens, screaming. A blast of energy radiated from both guns. It knocked her to the floor. Her ears buzzed and her vision danced. Every muscle in her body seized and she struggled to draw a breath. She could feel her consciousness ebb away and fought against it.
Libba Ross is no quitter!
Her arms and legs jerked as she attempted to get back to her feet. Din's face came into her field of vision, a delighted expression on his face. He clapped his hands. "She's a strong one. I knew I’d chosen right. Her DNA will work excellently."
Libba spat at him. The glob of moisture fell back onto her own forehead as everything went black.
Chapter Two
"Stealth shields are up."
Brask nodded at his pilot and best friend, Biryl, to acknowledge that he had heard him. Their small ship was especially designed for these raids. Usually, it was used in attacks sanctioned by the Justice Board, but when it came to Science Alpha Din, nobody dared touch him. His mother, Nylæq, was one of the most powerful dragonesses on Bronæl, with half the Science Board, not to mention the other boards, in her pocket and the largest privately-owned fleet of ships at her disposal.
Everybody knew that Din practiced unethical scientific experiments, but every attempt to imprison him for his blasphemy was frustrated. His mother was too powerful and used a variety of means to ensure that her son escaped justice.
And so Brask had no choice but to step outside of the law himself. Din's horrendous experiments on non-sentient beings were bad enough, as they were unable to give their consent to his methods, but he had crossed a line now. There were newly-formed laws to prevent the abduction of human females from their planet, yet here Din was, kidnapping one for his twisted experiments.
Humans were sentient. They could understand and protest against the experiments he intended to perform. The Creator only knew that Din would enjoy every scream, every plea for mercy. It made Brask's fires burn so hot they scorched his throat.
Brask's informant had told him that the human on Din’s ship was going to be disintegrated and her DNA injected into Din's crew and sold on the black market. It left the fires in his belly nothing more than coal. What sort of depraved Stlozyn couldn’t wait a year or two for an ethical cure? If he had his way, they'd all be stripped of rank and set under the supervision of the Sanitation Board, cleaning sewers and sweeping streets.
"Bring us in close," he ordered Biryl. "I'll have to jump across."
"I still think you should have brought more of a crew," Biryl grumbled, steering the little ship in closer to Din's. "Look at that thing. If we make it out of this alive, I might just start believing in that Creator of yours."
"You won't and you know it," Brask replied, lightly punching his friend's arm. "You'll still believe the atoms of the universe exist by chance."
Biryl shrugged.
Din's vessel was a huge, intimidating vessel armed with all the latest weaponry, big enough to pull a small asteroid off its course. It was unthinkable that a science vessel should be armed like a warship. Weapons were for guards and Justice Keepers, not scientist
s. Certainly not scientists who flaunted the blasphemous unethical practices Din employed. If it were not against the Warrior's Code, Brask would have killed the dragon long ago and submitted himself to the Justice Board. But he was physically superior to Din, and to kill him without direct provocation would be just as bad as the experiments the Science Alpha performed.
"I still say you should have brought more of a crew."
"The fewer involved, the fewer imprisoned if Din stops us. Or killed, depending on his mood." Brask scowled. "Open the cargo door on my mark."
Biryl nodded. Brask walked to the cargo bay, sealing himself in to prevent the vacuum from ripping Biryl from the pilot's chair. He took a moment to compose himself before he let his beast transform him. His body lengthened, the tiny scales that covered him grew bigger and thicker and his mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. Wings sprouted from his back and a tail ending in five barbs stretched out behind his body.
Once the transformation was complete, he let out a short barking sound, knowing it would travel through the ship. Sure enough, the doors opened seconds later.
The vacuum of space hit Brask hard, knocking the breath from his lungs. His fires burned hotter to counteract the cold that had already frosted over his eyes. He pressed his wings against his back, streamlining himself. The force of being sucked from the cargo bay was enough to shoot him directly onto the hull of the science vessel they hovered over. He latched on with his claws, knowing he had only seconds to get out of the nothingness that was stealing his life even as he scrambled along the ship's hull.
Brask quickly found an exhaust port. They were made big enough for a person to slip inside to clean off the internal residue, and the Justice Warrior was just able to squeeze himself in. Though air brushed against his face and his lungs begged him to inhale, he resisted the urge. These emissions were the only ones that could not be broken back into their atomic level and restructured into useful gasses; to breathe this air would mean instant death.
