Under Fire: Dragon Shifter Romance (ComeShift Series Book 2)

by Sky Winters

  She had barely taken a few steps in the direction from which she had come, when she noticed a familiar face, only this time, it didn’t seem as bland as it had been back at the compound.

  “I thought they might like that pretty face with the blue eyes, I just didn’t think it would be Lord Darius,” she said, placing great emphasis on her owner’s name.

  “Look, I don’t want any trouble,” Cynthia said. She took a few steps back.

  “I guess now you think you're better than the rest of us, huh?” the woman said. She took a step or two closer to Cynthia.

  “What? This is crazy,” she said. She turned to walk away, her heart fluttering so hard in her chest she was sure she was about to have a heart attack.

  “I was talking to you,” the woman pressed, shoving Cynthia in the process.

  Cynthia stumbled and fell, landing hard, on her side, and she screamed out in pain. Before she was able to stand, the woman was standing over her, eyes flaming red. Cynthia pushed against her and twisted her body, causing the woman to topple over sideways. Cynthia got onto her knees in a bid to stand, but before her hands had left the ground, she felt searing pain in the back of her neck.

  Her hands found the spot, as her eyes tried to focus. Everything seemed in a daze. Tears stung her eyes, and she fell to the ground. Through the mist of her tears she saw one of the guards from the house as he apprehended the woman, still flailing and kicking in his grasp. The others who had gathered close quickly dispersed, and the woman was carted off.

  Cynthia's head grew heavy, she fell back, and everything grew still.

  CHAPTER 10

  When Cynthia opened her eyes again, it felt as if her head was bobbing in water. She saw the sky moving and felt her body rocking before she realized she was being carried. Her head pounded, and she made no attempt to move. She looked upwards to see the face of the guard she'd seen earlier, when she'd left the house.

  “Where am I?” she asked.

  “Don’t worry,” he replied, without looking down. “You'll be home soon.”

  Her head dipped back, and her eyes closed as the door to the house opened. The guard placed her on a futon-like resting pad, as he and the other guards busied themselves deciding whether to get Lord Darius, or to wait until he came from the meeting. They decided on the latter, and Cynthia spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon nursing a head injury and a nagging pain in her neck.

  She was rubbing the bruised spot and walking into the bedroom when Darius charged through the door. “Why didn’t someone come to get me?” he barked.

  “Sir, we didn’t want to disturb you, and--”

  “Nonsense!” he shouted, and he rushed to her side. “There is nothing more important to me now than her,” he said as he sat down beside her and took her hand, “and this child.”

  “It really was nothing,” Cynthia told him, but he would hear none of it.

  “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for a woman I wanted to be with? I got lucky when I met you,” he told her.

  “They got her,” she tried to tell him.

  “Where is the woman?” Darius shouted at the guard.

  “In custody,” the man replied, respectfully.

  “I will see to it that she is shown the full measure--”

  “Darling,” Cynthia said, stopping him. “Don’t be so hasty to make judgement. She was just…jealous.”

  “Jealous? Of what?” He didn’t seem to realize his own station and status, and how the other humans would perceive someone chosen by him.

  “Not all of the women who were taken here are treated well. I saw one with a bruised cheek and red eyes. The woman who hit me seemed like she'd seen better days, as well.’

  He seemed to register what she was saying, and his features softened. His eyes sloped downwards, and his hand reached out and touched her stomach. “Is he all right?” he asked tenderly.

  “I think so,” she told him, smoothing the hair that had been hiding half of his face like a drawn curtain. She could hardly believe he had become everything she had ever wanted, and had given her even more, this man from another planet. With each passing day, the memory of her hurt sank further into the abyss, and she embraced Darius.

  “He'd better be,” he whispered, and even while his guests looked on, he lowered his head and kissed her slowly and deliberately. She curled her hand around his neck, allowing the emotions within to overcome her. “How about we go and do something else?” he asked her, a grin spreading from ear to ear.

  “I can barely move,” she replied, though her body had already begun to react to his words.

  “That’s all right--you won’t have to do a thing,” he said, and whisked her off to the bedroom. By this time, the help had all but disappeared, leaving the two alone, and as the evening sun grew orange in the background, they made love, not as master and servant, but as lovers.

  ************

  His little face looked up at them, his bright, blue eyes melting their hearts. He reached tiny pale fingers upwards, his face displaying features that resembled his father, and cooed.

  “Are you ready?” Darius asked as he bent to pick up the infant. Baby Dane was just two weeks old, and already the spitting image of his father.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Cynthia replied. She stood and took her place next to him. There was to be a showing in the large council room where Dane would be presented to the people in a welcoming ceremony. It was a big deal, considering his status on Argon, though there were smaller ceremonies for the other babies when they were born.

  “So, do you still want to go back to Earth?” he whispered into her ear as she walked next to him.

  She was clad in an elegant, silver gown that fell to her ankles, and adorned with diamond accessories. “I wouldn’t dream of it now.” She turned to him and smiled, remembering the conversation they'd had a few months ago, when she had told him of her desire to return home. “You’re not as bad as when I first met you.”

  “Not as bad, huh?” he asked.

  “Nope. He is adorable, isn’t he?” she asked. She reached over and touched her son’s chin. He gripped her finger, smiled, and her world seemed to shake.

  “He absolutely is,” Darius replied. Cynthia looked up at his face, her heart warming when she saw nothing but love there.

  When they got to the room, she sucked in her breath. She hadn’t made a public appearance of this magnitude since Darius had taken her. She witnessed the smiles and nods she received as they made their way to the entrance hall.

  “Welcome, Lord Darius,” the guard said. He pressed the button and the door slid back.

  “Thank you,” he replied, much to the guard’s surprise, who smiled in turn, and then faced forward, once more.

  The members of the room stood as soon as they appeared, and Cynthia got a feel of what royalty was really like. The elder councilman held his hand out to Darius for the baby. Darius placed him in the councilman's outstretched arms. The two of them stood there solemnly, as the man pressed his thumb to the babe’s forehead and chanted words in a tongue unfamiliar to Cynthia's ear.

  When it was all over, they retired to the dining hall for the festivities. They received congratulatory remarks from several of the guests, who were largely Argonites, with a few of their human mates scattered throughout.

  “Come on,” Darius said. He took her hand and led her to a now familiar room on the other side of the building. Dane was resting nearby in a cot, being watched by Annette, who had taken to the child, and was less fearful of her Lord than she had been in the past.

  “What are we doing?” Cynthia asked as Darius led her away.

  “Overseeing the next selection process,” he told her, eying her suspiciously. Images of when she had first arrived rushed through her mind, and she gripped her chest as anxiety beset her. “Don’t worry,” he told her. He rubbed the back of her hand. “It won’t be like it was then.”

  And he was right. This time, the women were brought i
n, and they got to choose. Cynthia smiled as she sat there, not approving of the fact that humans were still being abducted, but that they would have a chance at a better life. And the men didn’t seem to mind either.

  “What did I tell you?” he asked at the end of it. “It’s a part of the new amendment.”

  “I approve.” She smiled. “The women will appreciate it more, too. But tell me something: does that mean that I am your master now?”

  “Anything you wish,” he told her. He kissed her temple, slipped his hand around her waist, and they all went home.

  THE END

  Kidnapped by An Alien

  Aurora Palmer pulled the throttle back and hurled forward into the black abyss polka dotted by meteor rocks that whizzed by her ship. Her eyes focused on the monitor for any signs of the Thraxians, but all that showed was the red line going back and forth on the screen and detecting nothing.

  “When I get my hands on these sons of…”

  “Not on my ship Nora,” Aurora warned.

  “Why do you have compassion for these things? The Thraxians have been terrorizing our planet for years. This last attack claimed the lives of many, and we can’t seem to get the better of them. I don’t get why you would even want to sympathize with them.” Nora slammed her fist on the panel and got up.

  “You think I sympathize because I don’t want you to call them names on my ship? Nora, my brother is dead because of those things. Why would I sympathize?”

  “Look, I’m tired and frustrated and I just want this thing to be over,” Nora replied and paced the floor.

  “Then let’s just find them so we can go home,” Aurora suggested, and nodded at the seat across from her. “Nora you know I can’t do this without you. You have been my wingman for…I don’t even remember how long.”

  “Eight years,” Nora said and smiled. Then she walked back to her seat and took her place as second in command on the starship Aurora piloted. There was silence for a while as the two checked the blackness for a motion or heat signal, but there was nothing. “Do you think they are even out here?”

  Aurora took up her communicator and pressed the button on the side. “Come in base, this is starship one.”

  “Go ahead starship one,” the muffled voice said over the speaker.

  “We have been circling for over an hour. There is zero activity here. What should we do?” she asked and waited for instructions from the command center.

  “Hold on a second starship one,” the voice said.

  Aurora kept her hands on the device and rested her head against the padded headrest on her seat. She was tired, and she just wanted to go home. It had been a long month, and she was sick of chasing the Thraxians over the galaxy. She had grown up to stories of the animals they were; they would find neighboring planets and pillage and plunder them, taking whatever spoils they could return to their home planet. Their stories were told over bonfires and for bedtime stories to the children of Earth for centuries. Of late, the stories had all come to life after repeated invasions on other planets nearby. The Galaxy Peace Corp had called for assistance from the other planets since Planet Nirvana, the latest planet to come under attack, was unable to defend itself.

  “Starship one, there is activity about thirty-five miles east of your location. Do you copy?” the voice from the speaker asked.

  “Copy base,” Aurora said and clicked off. She replaced the communicator and programmed the location into the monitor. The space ship dipped right and sped off in the direction. Five minutes later and Aurora heard the monitor beeping and the red lights that were flashing before suddenly turned to green. But the size of the vessel they saw was nothing compared to their own, and she looked across at Nora as she gazed at it in shock.

  “Do you think we need help?” Nora asked, her eyes still wide with astonishment.

  “No, I got this,” Aurora said as she opened a compartment below the monitor and flicked two switches that armed the space craft.

  “What’s going on?” someone asked from the back.

  “The Thraxians are in sight,” Aurora responded. “We are going in.”

  “Alright,” the man hooted enthusiastically.

  “Can’t say I blame them,” Nora said and smiled. “We are all itching to snag some Thrax.”

  “Let’s go do just that,” Nora said as she pressed another button and the guns crept forward and set poised for battle.

  The space craft Aurora piloted was about a third of that of the Thrax, but she was accustomed to battle and knew enough to be confident that size was not always an advantage. Those big vessels usually have engines underneath them, and she guided her ship exactly there. She was only a few hundred feet off when the vessel started turning, and before she had even begun to engage, she felt her ship rock as they discharged their weapon.

  “Hold on,” Aurora said as she swerved and flew to the other side of the ship. She targeted a spot on the underside of the vessel and pressed the button. A torpedo flew out and there was a big ball of fire as the vessel was hit. She dipped low to avoid shrapnel backfiring and damaging her ship, and then let fly another. Before it made contact Aurora’s ship jerked and catapulted a few yards away from the Thraxian vessel. She hung from her chair after the ship did, and by the time she realized, she saw smoke coming from the bottom of her ship.

  She looked across and saw blood coming from Nora’s nose, and her body slumped over the seat. She reached for her communicator and pressed the button, but all she heard was a crackling sound. “Mayday! Mayday!” she said with a cracked voice that only came out as a hoarse whisper.

  She tried to sit straight and level the space craft, but when she looked out, she saw the Thraxian vessel directly before her, with the guns aimed directly at her. “Not today,” Aurora said and gritted her teeth. She grabbed the throttle and pulled it back. She hit the seat hard when the space craft suddenly shot into the air, and when she was on top of the vessel she levelled it off. She checked and saw that the Thraxian vessel was too big to turn as quickly, and when it did, she was already too far off.

  She programmed the coordinates for Earth into the monitor, and hoped she could make it home before they caught up with her. She was beginning to get hopeful when she heard a loud beeping sound. She had damaged two of the air ducts, and she felt the panic rising in her as she mentally calculated how long her oxygen would last. The space craft was moving too fast, burning oxygen she needed. Aurora started gasping for air before she decided to set the control to auto pilot.

  Aurora staggered to the back of the ship and strapped the oxygen tank onto her. Then, unsteadily, she tugged the mask over her head and worked her way back to the seat. The beeping was growing louder, and she decided to risk going faster, but one quick glance at the time signal told her she wouldn’t make it to Earth. She scanned the perimeter for the closest friendly planet, but there was none; there was only Thrax. She was left with the decision to die or to try to make it to the enemy planet she was at war with.

  The decision was taken from her when there was a loud explosion and the ship shot forward. One of the engines gave out, and Aurora’s heart rate increased dramatically as her vessel hurtled across the black void and into Thraxian territory.

  CHAPTER 2

  Aurora’s eyes fluttered open and she gazed around her, trying to make sense of the hanging wires and contraptions dangling before her. She grabbed her head when it started to pound, and then she tried to move. It was only then that she realized she couldn’t when she felt the searing pain shooting up her leg. She cried out in pain and slammed her fist into the only solid sheet she could find: the small space on the floor next to her head. There was fire gashing from the electrical wires a few feet away, and her conscious mind did not register the crash until she saw her crew. Her head snapped upwards as she remembered Nora, and when she looked over to the co-pilot’s seat. Nora’s body was slumped over the seat still, and her hands hung limp.

  “Nora!” Aurora croaked. Then she held her throat whi
ch suddenly started to burn. She looked around, but there was no other movement. “Is anyone awake?” she called. She waited, but all she heard was the increasing crackling of the wires as they dangled.

  She tried to move again, and it was then that she saw the blood on her thigh. She moved the torn cloth away and saw a gash just above her knee. She winced and closed her eyes as she used her hands to pry the beam from her. Then she hauled herself along the floor until she was free of the debris that had trapped her. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, and it was only then that she realized she wasn’t using her oxygen tank.

  Aurora tried to stand, but the pain was too much. With tears filling her eyes, she yanked off the bloody shirt she still wore and wrapped her busted leg with it. She screamed in pain as she did, and she slid to the floor again when she was done, pain overtaking her conscious mind and threatening a blackout. She sat there for a while as she tried to regain some semblance of time or space, when it dawned on her that she wasn’t where she was supposed to be. The last thing she remembered was that she was hurtling towards Thrax. Was she now on Thrax?

  “No, no, no,” Aurora said and pulled herself up again. She looked out the windscreen and saw a large deserted wasteland. “Where the hell am I?” She limped back to the dashboard and retrieved the communicator. “Command center, this is starship one,” she said and then waited for a response. There was none. “Come in command. My ship has been downed in enemy territory: come in,” she repeated, but not even the crackling sound was heard that time. “Dammit,” she said and dropped the device.