“What did you say?” I stopped messing with my clothing and stared at her in great surprise.
“I said, you are not going to die. Not today, not tomorrow. Not till I say it’s time. Got it?”
“You heard him?” Dhior asked, looking at us both.
“Wait. Did you?” I stared at him but pointed at Gia.
It was common on our planet for mates to be able to hear each other’s thoughts. Mates and family. But never in all my years with Gia had she ever heard my thoughts on Earth. And I was sure I had not said that out loud. Perhaps it was a trait specific to being on planet?
“I’m pretty sure it is not,” Dhior said. “When we were on Earth together, I heard you. They used me,” he said. “To find you. Used our bond against me, forced me to find you. I was certain there was a reason you had not returned home, and I didn’t want anything to happen to you when they found out what it was.”
“You protected me?” I asked, stepping up to Dhior.
“Always,” he said. “You are my mate. Now and always. I would never betray you.”
With that, I pulled him to me and crushed my lips to his, kissing him voraciously, still able to taste Gia’s enigmatic pheromones still on Dhior’s tongue.
It was then that I knew what I had to do. What we all had to do.
Gia was right.
We would fight.
“We can’t win against them, Kai.” Dhior’s cheeks became flushed and the frantic worry began spewing from his silent thoughts.
“It will all be okay,” I said, still holding his cheeks in my palms.
“It will,” Gia said. “I don’t know anything about what I’m walking into, but I know this … Kai and me, we’re a lethal team. On Earth, we kicked ass. We’ll do the same thing here, I swear.”
“No, you will be hurt or worse.”
Gia smiled at Dhior then. “You’re so adorable. I may be falling for you already.”
Dhior looked at me then with confusion lacing his expression as wrinkles creased his forehead. “I do not understand.”
“It’s okay,” Gia said, reaching out for him and me. She held both our hands in hers and smiled between us. “I’m in. One hundred percent committed to you both. We’re a team, and nobody is going to separate us. Not today, do you understand?”
“You don’t know Drakkaras. He is ruthless.”
“Well if I truly am his daughter, then everyone is severely underestimating me. And let them, I’ll use that to my advantage.”
“Commander, we are preparing to re-enter our galaxy. Is the prisoner detained?” A voice from the other side of Dhior’s door rang through the room like a speaker. “Is the princess safe for re-entry?”
“What do we do?” Dhior whispered.
“We have two choices. Either present ourselves to Drakkaras as he’s expecting us, and prepare for the fallout, or we take over this ship and do things our way. You know as well as I do that once the craft lands, you are as good as dead.” Dhior looked to Gia. “All of us.”
“He's right,” Gia said. “I don’t know Drakkaras, but I’ll be damned if he or anybody is going to hurt the man I love.” She looked over at me. “Let’s take over the ship. Tell me what to do.”
“Never in my life have I been prouder to call you my mate.” I reached out for Gia’s cheek, running my finger along her jaw line, then leaned in and kissed her passionately. Almost forgetting it was do or die time.
“Suit up,” Gia said after releasing my lips. She turned to Dhior and grinned. “Let’s do this.”
I couldn’t return Gia’s grin at the moment, since I knew how slim our chances of surviving this were.
“Okay, we must eliminate five crew members, including the pilot. They’re all loyalists and will not help us in any way. We do have one ally on board, but I don’t know how far that allegiance will last if things get too serious.”
Dhior’s face fell. “I know we need to, but I hate the thought of killing our own kind.”
His shoulder felt tight and tense as I gently massaged him. “I hate it too; it goes against all we’ve ever believed in. But Drakkaras won’t have any qualms about killing us or anyone else who gets in his way.” I exhaled and continued, softly. “You can lay these deaths at his feet. It’s not our choice, it’s either them or us. And the entire resistance crumbles, if we die.”
“Yes, my love,” Dhior whispered. He pulled me into an embrace and kissed my cheek. “It’s all on the shoulders of Drakkaras. Let’s do what we must.”
Gia looked us over, the seriousness of our mood reflected in her expression. “Earth really isn’t like our home, is it?”
I shook my head. “No, our culture celebrates life and cooperation. Earth … not so much.”
“I’d hoped you learned from them, however. Earthen selfishness and violence might come in handy if we’re going to make a stand.” Dhior nodded at Gia, with a slight smile turning up the corners of his mouth.
“Let’s find out.” She grinned.
“Okay,” I said. “We need to go up two decks and into the forward surveillance room. There’s a communication booster in there that we should disable before we attack. If anyone calls for help, Drakkaras might send a fleet to disable the ship. Then, we begin.”
“Follow me.” Dhior smiled.
We exited the room and ghosted along the corridor on quiet feet. At every intersection, Dhior walked ahead like he owned the ship, then waved us on once the coast was clear.
Two stairwells later, we made it into the surveillance room. Dhior went in first to make sure it was empty.
Unexpectedly, I heard another voice from inside the room. Shit.
Gia burst into motion and rocketed through the still-open door. The soft voice turned into a surprised yell, then grew silent.
I walked into the room, surprised to see a limp form at Gia’s feet. Dhior’s face was ashen as he stared at the fallen crewmember.
“We need to do this quickly, right?” Gia asked. “Sorry, I couldn’t keep still. I can’t bear the thought of losing either of you.”
“Is he … dead?” My own horror was not a good sign, given our current situation. I needed to get brave, fast.
“I don’t think so,” Gia said as she knelt. She felt along his throat, feeling for a pulse. She frowned. “Nothing. Oh shit, I was trying to knock him out because I didn’t know if he was the good one or not.”
Kneeling down, I shifted her fingers over a couple of inches. “Try here. Our anatomy isn’t exactly the same as a human’s.”
Her frown was swallowed by a faint smile. “Okay, there we go. He’s still with us. Now, is this the one we wanted to keep?”
Dhior looked very relieved. “Yes, he was loyal to us. This will work though. We can tie him up, and he’ll be safer that way.”
After securing the crewman and disabling the communications equipment, we moved our way through the ship. Gia took out two more in a hallway near the bridge using a large pipe she picked up in the maintenance area. Blood ran from their caved-in heads. Those two were definitely not going to be okay.
We snuck up one more deck and crept down a hallway. Dhior walked ahead but stopped short of the next intersection. He held a hand up over his shoulder.
Gia quietly crouched against the wall, low behind Dhior. She looked like a cat ready to pounce.
Dhior walked out into the intersection and turned to his right. “Greetings, Talanjhi. Are we nearly home?”
A soft, silky voice echoed through the smooth-walled hallways. “It won’t be long. Are you sure you can fulfill your duty to our King? I know you were close to Kai once.”
“I do what I must do,” Dhior said sadly, after a pause.
Dhior’s fist shot up suddenly, and a thud reverberated through the air. He disappeared around the corner briefly, then returned a moment later.
“And I must be true to us.” A tragic smile graced his blood-spattered face.
Gia stood and wiped at the mess. “Thank you, Dhior. Thank you for fighti
ng for us.”
“What have you done?” A gravelly voice came from behind me.
I tried to spin around, but my body refused to function.
Our new assailant had used an immobilization field. I was frozen. All I could see were Gia and Dhior, also unmoving.
We’d failed.
Our lives were over.
Execution awaited us, and imprisonment for Gia.
Surprise washed over me as the pipe Gia held swung over my head, landing with a massive cracking noise.
“How do you turn this fucking thing off?” Gia said, clearly frustrated.
Dhior and I both stumbled at the same time, freed from the field.
“Just like that, my sweet. How were you able to defeat the immobilization field?”
“At first, it held me completely still. I couldn’t move. But then it just stopped working on me. So, I took my shot.”
“She is half-human, after all. Our physiology must be more than a little different.” Dhior smiled at Gia.
“Let me deal with the pilot,” I said. “I need to step up, too.”
We padded along the hallway on silent feet and crept up to the door of the cockpit.
I took the pipe from Gia and readied myself as Dhior waited by the entry controls. A few deep breaths gave me clarity and a calm feeling.
With a nod to Dhior, I readied myself. When the doors slid apart, I sprinted into the cockpit and swung the pipe at the pilot’s head.
Just as the pipe sailed near him, he ducked, and my balance failed. I tripped over my own feet and went down in a heap next to the pilot’s seat.
Some hero I am.
The pilot, a tall man with dark hair, reached down and pulled me up by my shirt with his meaty fists. His nose was inches from mine.
“There are cameras all over the ship, traitor. I couldn’t stop you three, but I could lock the course in for Thoruk. You can’t stop the inevitable now. You’ll be punished for your treason.”
Gia walked up and put a firm hand on his forearm. “Let him go. Dhior, take him down to the brig and lock him up. I’ll see if I can figure out how to un-fuck our fate.”
As Dhior escorted the pilot out of the cockpit, I stared at Gia. “How are you going to unlock the autopilot when you can’t even read the controls?”
“Not sure. I just have to trust that our fate won’t let us die yet. We’re only getting started. This cannot be the end.”
I smiled and held her hand for a moment. “Maybe we can figure it out together.” I pointed at a readout that glowed blue. “This is the heading we’re on, a combination of several coordinates. There’s this indicator here, showing our speed and remaining fuel. And then this,” I said, pointing at a flashing red array, “is the code the pilot entered in to lock out the controls.”
Gia frowned and looked at the display, her brows furrowed in thought. “If that’s the code he entered, wouldn’t he just enter it in again to unlock the controls?”
I shook my head. “He would have a second code in order to unlock it.”
“It’s really long. Would he have memorized that long of a code?”
Staring at Gia, I had a flash of thought. “It’s doubtful anyone could. That’s a huge code.”
Turning to the console, I started rummaging around in the drawers and compartments. “Here, try this one.” I handed her a tablet with a long alphanumeric string.
She punched in all the characters and the red code flashed green. “Did that do it?”
The planet loomed huge in the cockpit window. “Only one way to find out.”
A whooshing sound announced Dhior coming back into the cockpit.
I turned to him and wrapped my oldest lover in an embrace. “I think we got it, my love.” Grabbing the controls, I tested them out.
The ship lurched and then the view in the window changed as we altered our course slightly.
Just as we began entering Thoruk’s atmosphere, Dhior looked at me.
“Where to?” he asked, smiling.
“Anywhere we want,” I told him. “We’re free.”
“There’s only one place I’d like to go,” Gia said.
We glanced between each other then looked back at Gia.
“Let’s go home.”
The End
About the Author
Neveah Lux & Seraya Syn are two best friends writing naughty stories inspired by their insane imaginations. And they also happen to be the super-secret pen names for two USA Today Bestselling authors.
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Claiming His Queen
Michelle Mcloughney
About Claiming His Queen
Orla Quinn is losing her home, her business and possibly her mind. Getting herself abducted by aliens is just the cherry on top. Now, if she can just convince her sexy, brooding alien protector to return her to earth, that would be great! The problem is, Axion seems to think Orla is his mate, and will stop at nothing to prove his loyalty to her. Axion is an intense walking muscle of an alpha, and doubly endowed. Orla says she wants to go home. But, does she really?
Prologue
“You can’t do this, Freddie. Please!”
I’m literally on my knees begging. It’s unbecoming, but at this stage it’s the only weapon I have left in my rather meagre arsenal. Well, besides offering to sleep with him and that is not happening. Nothing is worth that.
“Come up off the floor, Orla, for the love of God,” Freddie pleads.
I stand up, sigh and gingerly brush non-existent dust from the knees of my jeans. I look down at the top of the bald head and all five feet one inches, of my boss, Freddie O’Brien. Well not technically my boss, he’s more like my landlord. A landlord who has the power to end my career in one fell swoop, and more than that, so much more than that. My dreams, and those of my father. Would it be worth it to try and seduce Freddie into letting me keep the store? Worth it? Maybe. Am I going to? Nope. Sorry Da. “Not even for you.”
“Not even for who?” Freddie interrupts.
Shit did I say all that out loud?
“My father built this shop from nothing, Freddie. You know that. Now it’s…”
“Now it’s what?” Freddie shakes his head, his voice dripping with pity.
“Orla, you are running an alien souvenir shop, at the edge of a cliff in the south west of Ireland. I mean I know your dad was a bit…I mean a little…but you seem to have more…” He trails off and shrugs when I throw my hands on my hips and glare at him, daring him to say it. Daring him, almost goading him into using the nickname I know the villagers used when describing my father. Mad Mick Quinn. Poor ole Mad Mick Quinn, too fond of the drink and convinced he’d seen an alien one night down on the beach. Freddie coughs lightly and cocks his head to the side.
“You okay?”
“Sorry,” I mutter, before running a hand through my hair.
“I have a tendency to veer off into daydreaming.”
He sucks in his cheeks and clicks his tongue. “I mean I liked your da. I really did, Orla. Not that I believe in aliens mind, but I liked him. He always paid his rental fees on time. He was no trouble at all, and he was an interesting person. But there’s a pandemic happening, Orla. The tours to the cliffs have stopped and I can’t afford not to charge you rent. You’re four months behind.”
Freddie looks down at his feet and shuffles them anxiously. I know he takes no pleasure in this.
I clench my jaw; his mind is made up. I can see that. Leaving the flat and the shop is a forgone conclusion.
“Who will you rent it to? I presume you mean for me to leave the flat overhead the shop as well?” I ask.
“I’m sorry, Orla. Yeah, the flat too. My sister Maggie’s girl. She’s running an online shop for her clothing store
. She needs office space. Somewhere to fill her orders without having to go into her shop in the city. It would be easier for her just to stay in the flat. You know yourself, sure.”
I give a nod, stroll towards the front of the shop and run my hand over the metal spaceship that has been fashioned into a countertop.
“Oh. Okay. When do you need me to…?”
Freddie follows me and hovers near the door of the shop, I make eye contact and he turns beet red and licks his lips nervously.
“Soon, Orla. Thirty days?”
I pick up a little green man teddy from the counter and hug it to my chest. I could fight it; he shouldn’t be doing this in the middle of a pandemic. It’s not ethical. I know I could maybe get another month or two tying up the eviction. But why bother? Why stay where I’m not wanted? I suddenly realise I don’t want to be here anymore. Not in this town, or this country. Hell, not even on this planet. I plaster a smile on my face and meet Freddie’s eyes.
“I know. It’s business, Freddie. I understand. There’ll be no tours here for the next year. Sure, you have your own family to think about now, too. I’ll be out in thirty days.”
Freddie holds out his palm for me to shake. “I’m sorry, Orla. I really am. Maybe when things go back to normal you could come back.”
I nod my head and bite the inside of my cheek. We both know I’m not coming back here. Not ever.
“Sure, Freddie. We’ll see,” I reply, the smile across my lips growing tighter.
Orla
Sitting on the window ledge in the kitchen of my flat, I gulp down my hot, sweet tea and watch the seagulls dive and glide around the cliff face. Like elastic, memories pull me back to my childhood. Dark haired and with my little mug of cocoa in hand, I’d snuggle up beside my dad, listening to the deep timbre of his voice. My breath usually caught in my throat with the excitement of it. Inhaling that safe and familiar scent of cloves cigarettes, and the sea salt in his hair. Waiting for dad to get to the part where he’d describe the man he saw. The man who was so tall, he dwarfed the rocks around him. A giant of a man, dark haired with skin the colour of bright green leaves, and a long wide tail. Thighs the width of dad’s waist. Not human. No, not a man. A beautiful creature from the sky, from space. An alien. I heard it so often in my youth, how it happened that my father saved the alien stranger, returning him safely back to his ship. When Dad would finally say the alien’s name, I’d repeat it again and again. Loving the way, it sounded on my tongue, like the sweetest music. Axion, the Green.
Stolen and Seduced Page 81
