Aedian: Alien Warrior: A Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Paranormal Romance

by Ashley West

  “Is that even going to fit?” she asked, but it seemed more like she relished the challenge more than she was afraid of it.

  Honestly, that was more of a turn on than anything, and he growled lightly and rubbed the head of his cock against the sweet wetness between her legs, enjoying the silky feel of her heat. “Yes,” he assured her. “It will.”

  He went slowly, though, not wanting to hurt her, watching her face for signs of distress so he could stop.

  All he saw on her face was pleasure, though, and she spread her legs wider and arched her hips as he sunk in inch by inch, stretching and filling her until he was fully seated inside.

  Aedian held himself above her on his forearms and they both panted for breath, holding still for long seconds. When Roxanne shuddered and tightened around him, Aedian had to move, and he set a steady pace, snapping his hips and burying himself in her again and again.

  In this, at least, they could be united.

  Chapter 4: Culture Clash

  A week into her engagement (and she used that term lightly), and Roxanne was about ready to pull her hair out. She knew what was expected of her, and she knew that this was important, but honestly, Aedian was driving her crazy.

  It didn’t help that the sex was fantastic. He was a thorough and skilled lover in bed, and Roxanne had been surprised that he wasn’t all about his own pleasure like she would have expected. That first night when he’d dipped his head between her legs and gone down on her, she’d come so hard that her eyes had rolled back into her head for a moment, and she’d had to remind herself that breathing was a thing she needed to do to survive.

  It was amazing, and his size and stamina meant that it had been very late by the time they’d passed out in an exhausted heap on the bed. Roxanne recalled that her last thought before falling asleep had been that if they could just keep doing that, then things might be alright.

  Of course, they couldn’t just have sex all the time, and it became evident the very next morning that things were not going to go smoothly.

  As a future wife of one of the Calphesians, Roxanne was expected to pack her things up and move them to the compound so that she could live with her husband to be and learn about their culture.

  She’d have to drive all the way back to her apartment and deal with that, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.

  When she’d woken up that morning, sore and sated, it had taken a few minutes for her to reorient herself and remember where she was, and Aedian was nowhere to be found. So she’d gotten up and walked around his rooms naked, wondering what a girl had to do to get some breakfast.

  Luckily, someone had brought her clothes and the things she’d brought with her from the day before to the room, so she’d dressed in those quickly, wanting a shower, but not wanting to try and figure out how the complicated button system in the bathroom worked.

  She didn’t know if she was allowed to just get dressed and leave, so she hung around, waiting for Aedian to come back and getting more and more agitated by the minute.

  When he finally came strolling in, over an hour later, sweat damp and shirtless, she’d scowled at him. “Is that all you people do? Work out and fight?”

  “Just like all your people do is whine,” had been his retort, which set the tone for the exchange.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Are you lacking in hearing?” Aedian asked, tipping his head to one side as he looked down at her.

  Roxanne had glared. “No. Look, whatever, I honestly don’t care what you do on your own time, but I have places to go, so what’s the deal with coming and going in this place.”

  He looked at her blankly. “Why would you need to go?”

  “Because I need to go get my things? And because I have friends and family that I want to see? I’m not your prisoner,” she’d snapped, even though it sort of felt like she was. “And I won’t be kept caged here. It’s fine for you and your kind, but I still have a life outside of here.”

  They held each other’s gaze for a moment, Roxanne hating the fact that she had to look up to meet his eyes. It gave her a crick in her neck and made her feel small. Especially when he was looking at her like she was some kind of insignificant vermin.

  Finally he shrugged a shoulder. “Do as you please. I do not care.”

  It should have been relieving to hear him say that, considering she didn’t want him telling her what to do or thinking he had some kind of control over her, but it just made her madder, and she glared harder.

  “So pleased to have your permission.”

  His eyes had flashed, and Roxanne was struck by just how eerie and silvery they were. When he leaned down into her personal space, she’d fought herself to keep from taking a step back, even though everything in her was screaming that he was a threat and she needed to back up. But she reasoned that if she acted like she was afraid of him, then he’d never treat her with respect. And she was determined not to be cowed.

  “You’re whining right now,” Aedian said, leaning in so close that she thought he might kiss her. “If you want to go somewhere, then go. I don’t have time to watch after you.”

  “I’ll have you know that I’m an adult, and I don’t need anyone to watch after me.”

  “So you say. But you people are all so weak. It’s a wonder you haven’t been killed off yet.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Something was unclear?”

  “Yeah, your problem is unclear,” Roxy snapped. “I know your kind think we’re worse than ants, but you don’t have to be a muscle bound ox, to be worthy of respect.”

  She’d half expected that she’d gone too far with that quip, but Aedian just looked bored. “I do not know what an ox is,” he said, and Roxy was done. She snarled under her breath, and grabbed up her things, unwilling to keep arguing with him.

  “Fine. Whatever. I’ll be back when I’m back.”

  Without looking back, she’d slammed the door behind her and stalked along the halls. Of course she had to stop and ask someone how to get out of the compound, and it was just a bit embarrassing to be escorted to where she’d parked her car and eyed like she was some kind of criminal.

  “Don’t worry,” she’d said through clenched teeth. “I’m not planning on running away or anything.”

  Her escort hadn’t looked convinced, which just put her in a worse mood.

  And it had been like that all week. Arguing with Aedian and being insulted by him, while her own insults never seemed to faze him. She was sure if she called him weak or something then she’d strike a nerve, but she wasn’t stupid enough to piss him off in his own territory. Not when there were over a hundred of his kind in the compound who could come to his aid if he called.

  She was angry, but not stupid.

  Gradually she brought things over to the compound, taking her sweet time with the moving. It felt like once all of her things were moved over, then she’d truly be trapped there, and it was a scary thought.

  Her mother called her every day to check in, and it was nice to know that her parents were concerned, but since there wasn’t anything either of them could do about her situation, she told them that they didn’t have to worry. She wasn’t being hurt, after all, just annoyed, and she wanted them to believe that she was safe so they didn’t have to suffer.

  One week after the tournament, she went to meet Samantha for lunch. Her friend had been texting her all week, asking for details, and Roxy thought it would just be nice to get away from the compound and go into the city for a while. Surround herself with humans and not feel so trapped.

  They met at a restaurant, and Roxy could see that Samantha was nearly bouncing out of her chair and bursting with questions.

  She sighed and made her friend wait until they’d ordered their food before she spoke. “Go on, then. Ask whatever it is that you’re dying to ask.”

  “How is it?” Sam said. “I mean, I know it’s probably awful for you, but how is it, really?”

  Roxanne sighed. “It’s no
t awful, exactly,” she said truthfully. “Aedian’s a complete idiot, and he’s a jerk to boot, but for the most part they leave me alone. I can come and go as I please.”

  “That’s good at least. I know you like your independence.”

  “Yeah. What’s not good is the fact that I have to listen to my dear husband to be talk about how weak and idiotic humans are all the time. It’s like he doesn’t think we’re even worthy of respect just because we don’t walk around with massive horns and axes slung over our shoulders.”

  Samantha giggled at that. “Cultures clashing, I guess. Neither of you are likely to give an inch.”

  “Hey, I think I’ve done a lot of giving, thank you very much. I mean, I’m giving up my whole life to honor the stupid treaty. It’s his turn to do some giving.” And she definitely wasn’t pouting when she said it. Definitely not. Because that would just be pathetic.

  “Speaking of giving…” Samantha said, waggling her eyebrows at her. “Have you consummated the marriage yet?”

  Roxy rolled her eyes. Leave it to Sam to get right to the point. Honestly, she was surprised that hadn’t been the first question out of her mouth. “We aren’t married yet,” she said, desperately not wanting to have this conversation anymore.

  “You know exactly what I mean, Roxy Weaver. Don’t you beat around the bush with me.”

  “Ugh. Yes, okay? Yes. We had sex.” Roxy just knew her face was bright red, and she was so glad for the interruption of the waitress who brought over their food. The last thing she wanted to do was go into detail about that night, but with the way Sam was looking at her over her burger and fries, she knew that she wasn’t going to get off that easily.

  “And?” she asked as soon as they were alone again.

  “And what?”

  Samantha scowled at her. “I’m not playing this game with you.”

  “Oh yeah, because you have the right to be upset that I’m not spilling all the details of my private life to you,” Roxanne muttered.

  “I’m your best friend, Roxy. Spilling the details of your private life is practically mandatory. So get to spilling, sister.”

  There really was nothing for her to do but to spill. Samantha was like a dog with a bone when it came to information she wanted, and Roxanne knew she wouldn’t leave it alone until she talked. “Fine,” she huffed. “We...it was good, okay?” She lowered her voice, not wanting to be overheard. So far no one had come up to her all ‘Hey aren’t you…’, but she didn’t want to take chances either way.

  “Just good?”

  How she wished it had been just good. If it had been just good, then she could write this whole thing off and keep being angry about it. She could say that there was not one good thing about this union and be bitter and justified about it. Even Samantha, who was romanticizing this a ridiculous amount, would leave it alone and feel for her if she said that the sex was underwhelming in addition to everything else.

  But that would just be such a lie, and Roxy tried to make it a habit not to lie to the people she cared about.

  So she sighed and rubbed at her forehead before shoving an onion ring in her mouth. “No, not just good. It was. He’s amazing in bed, okay? Literally amazing. I came twice, but I was so worn out afterwards that I passed out and didn’t wake up until morning. He’s hung like a porn star and knows what to do with it. Is that what you want to hear?”

  Samantha’s eyes were wide as she took that in. “That’s not what I was expecting to hear. I thought maybe their kind would be selfish in bed. You know, be focused on their own pleasure.”

  “Nope,” Roxy said, popping the last part of the word. “Not even a little bit. The first thing he did when we got in bed was go down on me.”

  “Holy crap.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Maybe he’s not such a jerk then?”

  Roxy shook her head. “No, I don’t think he did it because he wanted to give me pleasure or anything like that. I think he just...wanted to do it.”

  “Being selfish by going down on you,” Sam mused. “Well, I still don’t think that’s anything to complain about. At least there’s something you two can use to bridge the gap between you. Just bust out your wicked sex moves and make him respect you that way.”

  Roxanne wanted to tell her friend that her idea was ridiculous and that sex certainly wouldn’t make Aedian stop looking at her like she was some kind of weak, useless thing, but she didn’t want to be hasty. Maybe there was something to that, after all. Calphesians were all about the physical, after all, and sex was one of the most physical things two people could do with each other.

  She ate the rest of her food with a thoughtful expression on her face.

  The thought was in her mind all the way back to the compound, and she parked her car and made her way back to Aedian’s rooms (their rooms, she had to keep reminding herself with distaste), arms full of the boxes she’d brought back with her. When she’d first started moving things, Calphesians had offered to help her carry things, but in that way that clearly said that they thought she was going to hurt herself without their assistance because she was weak, so she’d turned them all down. Now they didn’t offer, but watched her as if they were waiting for the moment when she dropped everything or collapsed in a heap.

  She kept her head held high, refusing, absolutely refusing to show weakness in front of them. Somehow she knew that if she did, it would get back to Aedian, and he’d just use it to fuel his ‘humans are the worst thing since planet death’ rants.

  When she got to the rooms, she had to juggle the boxes for a bit so she could press her hand to the sensor on the door that read her prints and let her in.

  Of course, as soon as she entered, Aedian was there, looking bored as he watched something on the huge screen that took up most of the far wall in the main room. He glanced up as she walked in and then looked away. “More things.”

  It wasn’t a question, and Roxanne bristled, sex thoughts on hold for the moment. “More things.” she confirmed. “What? You have a problem with me having things?”

  Aedian shrugged like he couldn’t care less either way. “Humans have a lot of things.”

  “Right,” Roxy snapped. “Because we came to your planet with all of our ships and tech and weapons. I forgot.”

  He looked at her then, eyebrow arched. “We needed those things.”

  “And I need these things. If you don’t want to deal with them in your rooms, then give me my own.”

  “That isn’t how things are done.”

  “Then stop complaining.”

  They looked at each other for a long moment and then Roxanne sighed, sagging slightly. If this was how things were always going to be between them, it was going to be exhausting. She didn’t know how the other two women were getting on with their alien husbands to be, but she was willing to bet that they weren’t fighting all the time like she and Aedian were. Remembering the conversation with Samantha, Roxanne made a decision.

  She put the boxes down in the corner of the room to go through later and turned to face Aedian. His eyes had drifted back to the screen, but she could tell he wasn’t really watching whatever was on. So she walked forward and stood in front of him, blocking his view.

  He didn’t say anything, just looked up at her (and he only had to crane his neck a small bit to look right in her eyes), as if he was waiting for her to say whatever it was she needed to say.

  Well, lucky for him, she didn’t intend to say anything.

  Slowly and deliberately, she sank down to her knees and scooted forward until she was kneeling between his spread legs.

  She didn’t know if it was her in a submissive position or the fact that he could guess what was about to happen, but something had those silvery eyes darkening as he looked down at her, and he spread his legs a bit wider.

  “Go on,” he murmured, voice husky.

  “I was planning to.”

  And honestly, it was ridiculous how easy this was. How as soon as sex came up, the bicker
ing stopped and they focused on each other and nothing else.

  She slid her hands up his thighs, feeling the hard muscles there and actually enjoying the way they tensed and flexed under her hands. Deft fingers found the fastenings of his pants, and she undid them quickly, smiling a bit when Aedian’s breathing quickened.

  He was already getting hard, and Roxanne was amused to note that it seemed like Calphesians didn’t bother with underwear.

  His cock was thick and long, curving towards his belly as it twitched and grew under her gaze. Roxy wrapped her hand around it, feeling the silky flesh and how warm it was. He was too tall to hold his gaze when she was on her knees, but that was fine. It gave her more cause to focus on his cock and making him feel good.

  With slow strokes, she slid her hand up and down his shaft, watching as it thickened and hardened even more, growing in size. It was sort of amazing to remember that this thing had been inside of her, hitting deep and hard and dragging pleasure from her effortlessly. Just the girth alone had her writhing on the bed, and she was skeptical about her ability to fit most of it in her mouth, but she was certainly going to try.

  When his breathing was hitching, and little growls and groans started falling from his lips, Roxy scooted forward more. She dipped her head and dragged the flat of her tongue up the shaft of him, circling the sensitive head when she got to it.

  Aedian groaned, and clawed fingers fisted into her hair. Usually she would complain about something like that, but he didn’t try to force her down more, and the tight grip actually felt good, so she let it pass and instead focused on the task at hand.

  Parting her lips she started small, suckling at the head of him, savoring the salty tang of his precome on her tongue as it leaked into her mouth.

  Above her, Aedian swore in another language.

  She smirked and worked her mouth down over more of it, going slow to pace herself, but making up for it with her hands and tongue, making sure that there was a steady stream of sensation.

  When Aedian began lifting his hips, she knew she had him.