Science Friction: 15 Book MEGA Sci-Fi Romance Bundle (Excite Spice Boxed Sets)

by Selena Kitt

  “Please. Don’t you see? We’ve got to get out before we reach Omacron. Otherwise, they’ll sell us Dex. You know that. We’re—”

  He held out one long blue finger and clamped it to my lips. My entire body erupted with desire at that simple touch. I gasped, shocked again at the effect this alien smuggler could have on my body. I’d never felt anything like it before. Talk about shitty timing.

  “Dex,” I groaned, holding up my hands to push him away but not being able to bring myself to do so. “Please.”

  I stared into his rugged face, no protest left in me. I’d been thinking about this moment ever since they threw me into the gloomy holding cell with him.

  I glanced around the tiny cell, struggling to find something to distract me from him. It was difficult—impossible, actually. His presence was huge. I’m not just talking about his physical bulk, either; his whole aura was one of power and strength. Here he was, a smuggler operating on the outer reaches of the galaxy. Was that why he was so unfazed by our captivity? I mean, I felt the same desire as he did, but there was an undercurrent of fear. He seemed not to understand the need for us to find some way to escape as soon as we could.

  I stared up into his face again. “Dex...” I murmured as he reached his huge hands out and clasped them around my waist.

  And then I saw it. A flicker in his eyes. It lasted no more than a second and I told myself it was just a trick of the light. But I was still unsettled by it—I didn’t know why.

  “Laura,” he said, his voice a deep rumble that reverberated through my body and made me shiver. He was pure alpha; seven feet of dominant, protective strength.

  His eyes flickered again, for longer this time. I knew I wasn’t imagining it.

  And then I was no longer in the depths of an alien trafficker ship. I was cast straight back to 3043. I was sixteen and struggling to keep my eyes open during Educator Delphine’s Friday morning anthropology class. I had hated her at the time—she was the only one who forced us to memorize facts; all of our other teachers had accepted that there was no point when we had the HiveNet.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated, certain I could hear her slow languorous voice recite a set of characteristics for one of the many alien races we had studied.

  Control of light.

  Fearsome strength.

  Iron will; will stop at nothing to attain dominance.

  Ability to disguise appearance by changing skin color at will.

  I opened my eyes as the last part hit me like a juggernaut.

  Can change eye color too; rarer, as efficacy may be diminished as a result of proximity to mate.

  I stared up at him, hoping my face didn’t give away my reaction, but it was impossible to control my nerves—how could I, in the face of what I’d just realized?

  Oh fuck.

  I’d just remembered the major characteristics of the Havlors.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Dex

  “Dex,” she whispered, in that breathy voice that threatened to send me to the edge no matter how many times I heard it.

  I couldn’t resist her anymore. There was no reason to—my need for her was matched only by her desire for me. I looked at her, staring up at me. Did she have any idea of the effect she had on my body? Of the things I’d risked for her?

  None of that mattered now; all that mattered was me and her. And if they interrupted us again before I could have her? Well, this time I really would throw them aside. We’d come up with another solution in time.

  I reached out and pulled her to me. My hands almost touched around her waist, she was so tiny. My body thrummed with heat and anticipation for what was to come. I felt a pull, like I was being torn away from consciousness. I truly was intoxicated by her.

  “Laura.”

  She shivered, just like she did whenever we were in contact. Her body, like mine, knew that its mate was near. But this... I frowned. She still looked the same, staring up at me with those beautiful eyes. But there was something different about her bearing. A hardness.

  “Laura are you...”

  She turned away before turning back to me seconds later. “Yes. Yes. I’m fine.”

  “No you’re not. You seem shaken by something. By...”

  Her face turned white at the exact same moment as the realization hit me. Of course. It could only be...

  But what if it isn’t? If she knows the truth, my only option is to neutralize her. There’s no other way. I need to be sure.

  I stared down at her, my heart beating so fast I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t. Not her. Not when she’d been through so much fear and pain at the hands of the Doon. But I had no choice. If she knew the truth, then I wasn’t just putting my mission at risk, I was putting myself in danger. I needed to know for sure.

  “How did you find out?” I asked as casually as possible, willing her to look at me blankly; to confirm she had no idea what I was talking about.

  I want her so badly.

  She watched me silently.

  I need her.

  The Doon? Their interrogation was nothing like the pressure that I felt right then. And I wasn’t even the one being investigated. But I was the one with the most to lose.

  “Laura, I need you to tell me how you found out.”

  It was an interrogation method I’d used countless times before.

  There’ll be other mates, I told myself as she continued to watch me blankly.

  But I couldn’t force myself to believe that.

  I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the staleness of the air. The stillness of it around me. Anything but my feelings for her. “I’ll ask you one more time, Laura.”

  Please tell me you have no idea what I’m talking about, a voice in my head screamed; I heard it as clearly as I’d heard the voices of the Doon.

  She opened her mouth.

  I held my breath.

  “I...”

  A hard and sudden impact threw us across the cell before she could continue. I caught only a glimpse of her face as she flew past me—the terror was clear, but I wasn’t sure of the cause; where it was because of me or the prospect of the auction.

  To be continued...

  Find out what happens next (links to Book 2)

  ABOUT MAYA KANE

  Maya Kane is a hopeless romantic who loves staring up at the night sky and dreaming of tall sexy aliens. She lives with her husband. He’s not an alien--she thinks (it’s hard to tell what’s under his impenetrable beard). By day, Maya is a corporate drone, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the twin threats of mind-numbing bureaucracy and terrible office coffee.

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  Maya’s Amazon books page

  The Alien King Book 3: Alpha

  Alien’s Fated Mate

  Paln’s Destined

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  Second Chance Among the Stars by Angelique Voisen

  Five Years Before

  Terra

  I planted my feet at the back of aisle and the violinists started to play. For a couple of seconds, I didn’t move or make a sound, but simply took it all in. The sun felt nice on my face, so did the cool ocean breeze. Whoever said an outdoor beach wedding was too much work didn’t possess much of an imagination.

  Waiting for me at the end, stood the groom, the man of my dreams. The world narrowed its scope until I no longer saw the crowd or the tasteful décor I spent hours mooning over. Only Ted mattered. I would never forget the way his face lit up, or how his sinfully sexy lips turned upwards to a brilliant smile.

  I took one step and then another. I wanted to dispense with ceremony and break into a run. Tell Ted to forget about this all, because we didn’t need anything else. Behave. You both wanted this wedding and it took a huge chunk out of your savings. It’s the happiest day of my life and I couldn’t wait
for it to be over. Taking a deep breath, I grounded myself and walked to my soon-to-be husband.

  “Seth.” Ted said one word, my name, and I knew I made the right choice marrying this man.

  Ted is the only one that mattered. All my life I’d been a failure. My parents, both interplanetary diplomats working for the Alliance government, expected more from me, certainly not mediocrity. I tried to be what they wanted—loyal son, promising member of society, but nothing stuck or felt right, except Ted.

  “Baby,” I whispered back, loving the feel of his large callused hands clasping mine.

  Exchange of rings, wedding reception, first dance and cake—I didn’t think I missed anything out on my mental check list. After that, I finally had Ted all to myself. I couldn’t wait to show Ted what I wore underneath my tux. Even now, I could imagine Ted blanketing his body over mine, his hand easily ripping away the tiny piece of cloth covering my thickening dick.

  We knew each other inside out. Mapped out every inch of each other’s bodies with our hands and mouth, but tonight would be the first time Ted claimed me as his husband. Not lover or boyfriend, but as my man.

  My soul mate.

  Unable to help myself, I stole a kiss. Ted didn’t pull back or reprimanded me. The familiar heat and taste of Ted flooded into me. I shamelessly rubbed my body against his, letting Ted feel the bulge in my trousers. Clutching me close, Ted responded, a tangle of tongues and teeth. I opened my mouth wider, letting him thrust his tongue down my throat.

  The priest cleared his throat. We turned to him, a matched pair perfectly in sync. Behemoth shadows danced across the water, stealing the sun light away. I looked up, not expecting rain or the shapes about to make their descent second. None of us moved, we stared, mouths gaping open as they landed one by one, a fleet of ships, each different from the rest, yet the same. Plates of different metal covered their hulls. Bright red war paint gave the ships a savage look. Tattered black fabrics fluttered in the wind with white grinning skulls crudely painted on each one. Certainly not Planetary Alliance ships I knew.

  Fear crawled down my spine. My heart started at a gallop. I didn’t know how hard I clutched at Ted’s hand until he made a groan of protest.

  “Raiders,” I whispered, waking from the paralysis. My mind raced. How did space pirates bypass the Terran Guard guarding our borders? The better question was—what did they want?

  “Run,” Ted mouthed.

  He tugged me along, practically dragging me through the sand but I couldn’t move. This must be all one horrible nightmare, a terrible joke. I’ve fantasized about this moment plenty of times and none of them involved vicious space pirates.

  The nearest ship, mounted with an ancient-looking gun turret, swung to our direction. Ted tackled me to the ground as the first explosion hit. The sound roared through my ears. Looking past Ted’s shoulder, I saw flowers and plastic chairs flying, along with blood and body parts.

  “Seth, are you hurt?” Ted’s voice made me blink.

  Feeling surreal, I touched his face with trembling fingers, catching the trail of blood on the side of his face.

  “I’m fine.” Even the sound of my own voice sounded strange to my ears, disembodied, weak and unfamiliar.

  “We need to run, baby. Get up,” Ted urged.

  I swallowed, barely hearing him. Screams pierced the air. Hatches opened and men in mismatched pieces of armor slid down ropes, whooping and cheering, the sound more animal than human. Some of them carried strange projectile weapons I once saw in a history book. Gun nets, I remembered. A different kind of fear lanced into me.

  One pirate fired and the net spread out, instantly trapping a young couple.

  “They’re flesh traders,” I whispered.

  Dying a quick death seemed like a much better alternative than being sold as human merchandise in some God-forsaken planet, who saw humans as nothing more than chattel.

  “Seth, you’ve fucking got to use your feet, baby. I can’t drag you the whole way.”

  A human-shaped shadow crept behind Ted. I opened my mouth, but only a ragged and miserable scream came out. The pirate swung the barrel of his plasma rifle, hitting Ted on the side of the head.

  “No!” I caught Ted’s unconscious figure in my arms, hugging him close, refusing to be parted.

  The pirates had to rip us apart, yanking me away from my intended. Before, fear consumed me. Now, rage purified me. Seeing Ted’s pale face and his mouth slightly parted in shock, something broke within me. I bit and clawed, screamed and kicked, but I’d never stood a chance. None of us did. Something prickled at the side of my neck. Craning my neck and spotting the needle, a wave of desperation filled me. How could it all end this way? This was supposed to be the beginning of our new life, not the end.

  I swayed on my knees, fought against the drug, but it was no use. I couldn’t move, all the fight had been drained out of me. Falling face-first into the ground, I tasted a handful of sand. Ted lay inches from me. A sob caught in my throat, but I saw his eyelids flickered. It was faint, but I saw the rise and fall of his chest—Ted wasn’t dead, I had that at least.

  Someone grabbed the back of my tux and started dragging me along like a sack of flour. I wanted to yell, to say something meaningful, but no words came out. I mouthed them instead, the three little words that said everything.

  I love you.

  The pirate dragged me up the hatch of the nearest ship, past winding corridors, and down a flight of stairs.

  Kept in the dark containment area, in chains and despair, I huddled against the wall, staying away from the other miserable captives. In my dreams, I imagined Ted opening his eyes at the very last seconds. I saw the rage in misery in his eyes and heard his last words. “I love you too, baby. I swear I’ll do everything in my power to get you back.”

  Fantasies are nice and all, but they have limitations. It was better to leave them behind, than nurse false hopes.

  Present

  H-382 Transit Planet

  Sitting on my cushioned bunk, I idly swung my left leg back and forth, mimicking a pendulum. I silently counted the seconds away. Potential customers peered at me through the bars of my human-sized cell with disinterest, before moving on to the next captive on display. Terran pleasure slaves no longer fell in the spectrum of the exotic, as more flesh dealers ferried more of us into the off-world planets.

  Sighing, I rolled on my side, annoyed at the tug of the silver chain clipped to my ankle. I planned to take a short before the late night crowd tickled in. Being a place of transit, most of the galaxy’s ruffians stopped by H-383 to refuel, gamble, or sate their needs in the backwater planet’s expansive pleasure district.

  During the earlier years of my slavery, I tasted the whip and taser more often than I liked, but defiance died quickly enough. These days, I wondered why I bothered getting up from my bunk. Living in a cage like an animal made it easy to forget Terra and everything I’ve left behind. I couldn’t even remember what Ted looked like anymore. I had to believe he lived through the ordeal, made a nice little grave stone for me, moved on, and found someone else. Making up stories of that happened to Ted after kept my sanity intact.

  No surprise I turned bitter, but who could blame me?

  My past felt surreal, like someone else had that life, not me. It’s easier to think Seth died and I’m only a sad copy wearing his face. I’ve fought to survive this long, but I have nothing else left to give. If a natural disaster struck D’alik’s House of Exotics now, I won’t give a damn. I’d lie patiently on the cold floor of my cell and wait for death to take me.

  As if the Gods of the Galaxy heard my wish, a sudden crash from somewhere above the roof silenced the chattering customers in the pleasure house. Curious, I rolled out of my bunk and peered out through the bars.

  “What’s happening?” I asked a fellow slave housed in the cage to the left of mine in the bastardized international space standard the denizens of the underworld used. He shook his head, all three green eyes scared.


  “Someone’s attacking,” the woman to the right of me whispered.

  A large spider web crack spread through the ceiling. The walls shook and an explosion went off, scattering more dust and plastic. Blinking, I stared at the new enormous hole in the ceiling, which gave me a rare glimpse of the night sky and the three blood-red moons.

  “Fuck, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the night sky.”