by Maia Starr
He held his hand down to me and helped me to my feet. My legs were shaking badly, and he allowed me to support myself against him as we moved through the ship and out the escape hatch. The normal door had been destroyed by the gunfire.
“So, Yula, what do you want to do now that you’re home?” Zaine asked, smiling at me.
I held his hand tightly and smiled up into his face. “Make love to you,” I replied. Zaine’s eyes widened in surprise, and I laughed as I led the way through the forest.
“We should make camp first,” he said, but a broad smile was lighting his face. “And then I pleasure you in ways you never even imagined.”
***
The forest was unbelievably quiet at night. We had walked as long as we could before Zaine stopped and picked out the perfect place for us to rest.
“We’re going to find the communes,” he confided in me. “Rumor has it that there are places out here where Verians and humans alike live in harmony. Wounded Verian soldiers who had been cared for by humans and vice versa. People who want nothing more than the war to end so peace may thrive.”
I had never heard of such a thing existing on Earth, but it made sense to me why the soldiers would want to hide it. The very idea of it was radical, and could change the way we viewed the alien race we were at odds with.
“Do you know where they are?” I asked, surprised.
“No,” Zaine admitted. “But I am willing to look until we find them, and protect you until we do. That I swear.”
My heart warmed as Zaine moved close to me, and held me as we gazed into the fire. His hands were gentle and strong as he allowed his long fingers to caress me, and I shuddered beneath his touch.
“I thought I would never see you again,” I whispered, my voice cracking. The idea had kept me up all hours of the night, until I had been abducted by Karan and forced to think of nothing but my own pain. “I’m so glad that you’re here with me.”
“It’s all thanks to him,” Zaine said, placing one hand firmly against the small mound of my abdomen. I felt a stirring inside of me and gasped.
“Him?”
“Yes,” Zaine said softly. “We are linked by the bond of life. My strength is his, and vice versa. It is this way with all of the hybrid born children. It is the only way to persevere against the disease.”
“What disease?” I asked, frowning.
Zaine shook his head. “These unpleasant truths can wait. I have been waiting for far too long to be inside of you again.”
The sexy rumble of his voice against my ear sent a thrill coursing through me, and Zaine was suddenly on top of me, kissing my face gingerly as our bodies became entwined on the small bed he had made us of grass, leaves, and his shirt.
I shuddered on the ground as his erection made itself known, and he stripped me delicately before pressing his sensual lips against my breasts. I cried out in pleasure as his tongue found the hard mound of my nipple, and closed my eyes as the ecstasy of the act consumed me.
Soon, we were naked together, and I allowed my hands to explore Zaine’s perfectly chiseled body. He was beautiful, in so many ways, and now, I knew, he was mine.
I gasped as his hot lips reached my earlobe and sent a hot shiver down my spine, igniting my loins with a sensual thrill that I couldn’t help but buck my hips as a result of. Zaine grinned at me and responded in kind by thrusting his hips powerfully against me, unleashing a flood of desire within my body.
I could feel myself being slowly pried apart by his rock-hard muscle, and shuddered in delight as Zaine slowly entered me, his member immediately swelling once it was fully enveloped by my body. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fully feel the effect of his body filling me up, and we were still for a moment as pleasure rocked our bodies.
Then, without warning, Zaine began to roll his hips languidly against me, massaging the bundle of nerves in my middle until I was out of breath and gasping as the pleasure consumed me. He showed no signs of stopping, and I found myself surrendering to the rapture that Zaine introduced to my body.
“Are you all right, Yula? And the child?”
I nodded, gasping as another wave of ecstasy electrified me, and Zaine grinned.
“You like that, eh?”
I grinned sheepishly at him, and Zaine made a point to continue the motion for as long as he could keep it up, slow and steady until I was close to screaming with the pressure of my anticipated release.
A sudden explosion of power erupted from his hips, and I found myself shocked again and again by the electric thrusts of Zaine’s impressive member. I could feel my body tightening around him as he thrust in again and again, until I could no longer help the contractions that were tightening around him.
He grew rigid, and our eyes met. I knew immediately that we were going to reach the epitome of our pleasure together. I braced myself, ready for it, and Zaine growled sensually into my ear, rocking my body with another torrent of sheer power.
I felt myself suddenly filled with an explosive testament to his desire, and cried out loud as my orgasm lifted me to new, Earth-shattering heights. I gasped as Zaine thrust inside of me, again and again, until our bodies had finally had enough of the act.
He collapsed beside me and smiled, stroking my hair away from my face.
“All is well, Yula,” he said, kissing my sleepy eyes one at a time, and then covering my mouth with his in a sensual good-night kiss. “We will raise our child in peace.”
Epilogue
Regan Lawrence
I was much more pregnant by the time we had wandered far enough through the protected forests that we saw a sign of life. At first, Zaine had been cautious, forbidding me from following my nose to the smell of the campfire. He left me behind, promising to return with the news, whether good or bad.
Of course, I refused to just take him at his word and followed stealthily behind. If this was our chance to find a new settlement, I wasn’t going to miss it.
“Yula!” Zaine shouted happily. I still couldn’t see what he was looking at, and he was both surprised and also obviously not surprised when I popped out from hiding to join him just seconds after he called.
“Look!” he said, pointing to a clearing that opened out in front of us.
I gasped, dropping my hand to my swollen stomach. This was it. It had to be.
A Verian woman was walking toward us, her eyes narrow as she attempted to figure out whether we were friend or foe. Her child, an obvious hybrid, followed along after her, as a human man held its hand lovingly.
“Be careful, honey,” he said to her, squinting into the brush. Nobody could see us yet, but they had heard Zaine’s exclamation.
“Peace to you,” I said suddenly, pushing in front of Zaine and holding my hands up in the air. “We’ve come seeking shelter…a place to raise our child.”
The Verian woman looked at me at first in surprise, and then in genuine glee.
“Have you?” she asked, a wide smile creasing her face. She stepped forward and embraced me suddenly, an act that left me dumbfounded. The Verians were very much not huggers. This was certainly a blending of culture.
“Zaine, come,” I said shakily, taking a look at our surroundings. There were several huts in the clearing, some of them styled in the Verian architecture, others in a more obviously human way. But they were arranged in a circle, and in between was a large fire pit where humans and Verians of all ages were sitting together, staring at us curiously.
Zaine made his way to me, his face clearly telling me it was not okay to rush into danger that way, but when the human man came out to shake his hand, he smiled broadly, and all traces of his agitation melted away.
“Welcome to you!” the human man said.
“Come,” the Verian woman said, leading us to the fire. “We were just sitting down for a meal. You must be starved.”
In truth, Zaine had done a great job of providing us with food along the way, but I was starving for something: the company of other humans.
We followed the couple to the fire and sat down hand in hand, both of us feeling happier than we ever had before.
“Here you are,” the Verian woman said, handing us each a plate of food.
“Welcome to you!” the group chorused.
“Thank you!”
I grinned at Zaine, and he held me close, his eyes full of love. We were home.
The End
Zern-Raither Warriors
(Raither Warriors)
By Stella Sky
Chapter 1
Captain Zern Krechan
“We will be awaiting your orders, Captain.”
I nodded to Lesna, my second-in-command.
“That is good. It is best that none of you expose yourself to the elements on the planet Hexa. Unless I find that I need reinforcements, I want you to stay here and wait for me, no matter how long it takes. If I have not come back to you within a week’s time, you must send word to the Resha Federation. They will instruct you how to proceed from there.”
“Of course, sir. As you say.”
Lesna disappeared back into the ship, and I headed down to the prison planet, fully prepared for whatever I might find there.
My job, as the strongest man in the Raither Army, was to gather the wreckage of the ship that had crash landed on Hexa a few months prior. It was actually something of a punishment; the assignment was horribly dangerous, and the operation should have been done by several men. But the Federation was convinced it was safer to have only one Raither on the ground working to collect the ship’s wreckage, and because I had been disgraced, I was the underdog chosen for the assignment. My strength had become something of a curse in this aspect.
But I didn’t need to think about that right now. My job was to get myself safely from the ship without any detection so that my crew could wait for me just outside of Hexa’s atmosphere as I collected the missing pieces of the ship and prepared it to be towed back up to Yala.
I couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of bitterness. The Raithers trapped here had been on Hexa for many, many months. In fact, we had presumed them dead. In all the time they were there, they hadn’t thought to go out and try to salvage any parts. Only the commander of the ship had come anywhere close to collecting the missing pieces, and the rest would be left up to me.
Most of the crew had already been saved, leaving the ship behind as a testament to their bad luck. However, the Resha Federation had declared the ship being on Hexa a state of emergency. If any of the diabolical minds entrapped on Hexa were able to catch wind that there was a virtual wealth of resources on the planet, a beakout could potentially occur. There were no minds craftier than those with nothing to do but plot an escape. We could not let the enemies get their hands on the Raither technology. Especially not the kind with the intelligence to learn how to use it.
Whether the Raithers themselves had been able to bring the ship back into working order or not, it didn’t mean that there weren’t threats on the planet Hexa that might be able to do what seemed impossible to my own people. The criminal mind could turn even the most innocent thing into a weapon. Who was to say what these brutal creatures, confined for much of their lives to this planet, might do once they were finally able to escape?
It was my job to see to it that this didn’t happen. The Resha Federation had also asked me to look around for any missing parts to the ship that may have been within the area, so it was probably going to take quite a bit of time before we were ready to leave. They were predicting it might take me about two weeks, but that was barring any unforeseen obstacles. And on Hexa, there were always unforeseen obstacles.
And now, I would embark upon it alone, hoping against hope that whatever evil may be lurking out there, I would not meet my match.
***
The foliage of the planet Hexa was breathtaking. From above, the planet seemed quite varied in terms of terrain, and it was impossible to tell from a distance just what it might be like as one actually walked the planet, but now that I was off of my ship and immersed in the unbelievably lush jungle-like plant life, I couldn’t help but feel impressed.
My own home planet, Yala, was not exactly rich in this type of plant life, and it had been quite a while since I had enjoyed air of this quality. It was clear that there were no technological advancements made on this planet, and nobody who was imprisoned here was allowed the luxury of a hovercraft.
Even the most sustainable of technologies often had adverse effects on a planet’s air quality as manufacture was often primitive. Here though, on the planet Hexa, the lack of technology made it abundantly clear that there was little pollution, and the planet was as close to its original state as it could possibly be.
“How is everything on the ground, Captain Krechan?” my second-in-command asked through the small device in my ear. “Do you need reinforcements or are you confident that you can handle this matter quietly and on your own?”
“This should be nothing for me,” I said quietly. “Though it would be safest if we were not to speak much. The creatures on this planet are likely to hear, and if they suspect anything, then there is going to be hell to pay. Is that understood?”
“Of course, Captain. Just contact us when you are ready. We will be waiting here for your commands.”
I didn’t bother to answer. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. But it was too early to tell. The ship was just a few more kilometers away. All I had to do was make it there and assess the situation. I would be able to move from there.
I continued cautiously, unable to shake my suspicion and paranoia. The woods seemed to be alive with formidable enemies; beasts I had only read about during my studies of the Species Anthology all Raithers had been forced to study during our schooling years. While it was important to understand economics, mathematics, and sciences, it was equally important to understand each class of being in the universe and their potential weaknesses and strengths, should our powerful planet someday find itself on the receiving end of an attack.
To date, Yala had been undefeated in terms of warfare and hadn’t seen a battle on its own soil in many hundreds of years. We were quite proud of this accomplishment and were not afraid of hiding it. The Raithers were proud warriors, a race that could hold its own in any terrain throughout the galaxy. And yet, being in the forests of Hexa managed to give me pause.
Finally, my heart pounded as I stepped into a small clearing, where the metallic, Raither beauty was jutting out of the ground. Most of it was uncovered, but they seemed to have given up at trying to dig it out of the ground at some point because now most of the machine was surrounded by piles of dirt despite not being fully freed from it.
The plan was that I would go to the ship and slowly, carefully, begin to disassemble it. Once I had a load of pieces, I would place them all carefully at the drop-off point and my crew would teleport them up into the ship, to be stored for safekeeping until we were able to return to Yala. When my mission was accomplished, I would return back to my home planet victorious, and perhaps be able to go back to my old job and clear up the misunderstanding once and for all…
Now wasn’t the time to think about glory and victory though. I had to get to the ship and begin my task. If I wasn’t killed by the creatures of Hexa, I would be considered for a great promotion in rank. After the demotion I had suffered, it would be very beneficial to be able to get whatever shred of honor back that I possibly could.
I would have to begin with the control panel. That was where the most valuable technology lay. I checked my toolbelt to make sure that I had everything I needed before heading into the ship. For some reason, I felt deep apprehension before going inside. It was dark and ominous, almost like a relic of a forgotten past lost in a prehistoric jungle, even though it was the most advanced technology that the Raithers had to date. There was something intimidating about that.
Not only that, but I had no idea what I was going to find inside. Most of the advanced technology that I had been trained to carr
y did not work within the confines of the prison planet, but I had been equipped with some primitive throwing weapons and knives for my safety’s sake. I had to hope that whatever I might find inside, I would be able to hold my own against it.
I took a deep breath as I began to climb the extended ramp into the entryway of the ship, my stomach fluttering at the prospect of the unknown. I was brave, the bravest in my class according to the field test results, but there was something about this place that got under my skin. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it yet, but I would in time.
My footsteps echoed along the metallic corridor as I headed cautiously toward the control panel, my senses finely tuned to the activity around me. I wanted nothing more than to turn right back around and demand I go back home to my own planet, but I could not be disgraced any further. And this time it would have been my own doing that dishonored me, not an unfair situation I had no control over.
It was rather odd for me to be this disconcerted. I had always been able to hold my own in battle. They had likened me to a gentle giant, whose strength and resilience was unmatched. It made me the target of many an envious soldier, however, which had ultimately led to my downfall.
I jumped at the sound of something clattering at the far end of the ship, right in the control panel where I was headed at that moment. I drew my weapon, my hands shaking, and walked forward, forcing my fear down to the recesses of my body where it most belonged. I had no room for fear when it came to survival. All I could do was fight.
The doorway of the control panel was ajar, which made it a little bit easier for me as I crept forward, sure that I was already going to face my first battle on this strange planet. I pressed my back against the wall before peering inside, hoping I might have the advantage of a surprise attack.
My eyes registered movement in the corner of the room, and I leaped forward with my weapon raised, unleashing a war cry that echoed in the metallic chamber of the control panel. My bellow was met by a shriek of fear, and my eyes narrowed as they fixed upon a slight, mysterious creature of a pale complexion, with the most dazzling green eyes I had ever seen.
