Fire Planet Warrior's Captive (Science Fiction BBW/Alien Romance)

by Calista Skye

  He placed his axe back in his belt and walked over to her while the three young men gathered in a mystified huddle with their own short swords back in their belts. “Well done. Harper very fearsome Earth warrior woman, expert fighter with gardening spoon. Thankfully, did not murder young man with sword who is friend of Vrax'ton. Also, by extension is friend of Harper.”

  She straightened and he embraced her, gathering her in his arms and drawing in her fresh, feminine scent. The joy of what had just happened made him squeeze her extra hard. Did she realize that they were saved now?

  “Could have fooled me,” Harper said and returned his embrace, and he felt her rapid breathing and fast heartbeat and heat in her whole body. “That sword felt pretty sharp.”

  Vrax'ton gently examined the skin at her throat. There was not a mark, just healthy skin. “Doesn't look like boy nicked my Harper. If Harper damaged, young boy warrior would have to complete Trials without head on shoulders.”

  She looked at him with eyes that he thought were shining, then over at the young men. “So these are warriors from your tribe doing the test?”

  She was quick, and he loved it. “They are.”

  He waved the three men over, and they almost fell over themselves in their eagerness to obey. They probably thought there was something special about this, that they were being honored. Or at the very least that their Trials were over.

  He straightened and stared at their youthful faces. Spirits, had he once been that young? Only ten years earlier, he had.

  “Boys, how long have you been here now?” They were technically still boys until they passed the warrior Trials and graduated to full men, and it was something every warrior used to full effect when in the presence of an un-tested male.

  “Twenty-six days, Sire,” one of them said, his voice clear and proud.

  That meant that they still had three days until they'd be picked up again. Twenty-nine days was the sacred length of time which was kept secret from them until they had passed the test. It would be just about enough for them to stay ahead of the Fire if they made decent progress every day. Vrax'ton had been in that same situation. “Where are your comrades?”

  “Dead, Sire.”

  He had known it, of course. That three of them had survived this long was very good going. Vrax'ton had been completely alone for the last ten days of his Trials. “Hergs?”

  “Yes, Sire. And firebirds and a campfire gone awry.”

  He frowned. “A campfire?”

  The young men exchanged glances. “Sire, the first night, it was cold. One of us wanted heat. He set fire to a bush.”

  Ah, of course. “And it was a smehl bush.”

  “Yes, Sire. It exploded and threw burning barbs in all directions. Most of us escaped, but one died.”

  He took them in. They were thin and dirty and their young faces were drawn from exhaustion. They all were bearded after weeks of living off the land. They all had many injuries, some fresh, but most many days old. These proto-warriors were at a stage now where they knew the planet. They knew what to fear and what not to do. The worst was behind them. Probably all three of them would survive to be picked up.

  “Very well. I can only assume that you are surprised to see me here. It is uncommon for me to come to this planet. And I did not plan to be here. This is Harper, a human woman from planet Earth. She is my captive.” He left a dramatic pause. “ And my Mahan.”

  Their sharp intakes of breath, their astounded faces and their puzzled glances shifting from Vrax'ton to Harper and back again were satisfying to him. Yes, it was a major thing, now he came to think about it.

  “Don't they like me, or what's the problem?” Harper mumbled, her tone worried.

  He squeezed her closer. “There's no problem. Vrax'ton just told boys who fantastic Earth woman is.”

  “Yeah? 'cause it kind of seems like they're ... I don't know. Weirded out. Or awestruck.”

  “Then must be because Harper is awesome. Upon reflection, Vrax'ton agrees with their sentiment.”

  “Sure, but they think you're the awesome one. They can't take their eyes off you. Are you famous or something back on your planet?”

  Vrax'ton nodded thoughtfully. “Vrax'ton is renowned warrior. Harper understand what this means?”

  Harper smiled, and the beauty of her face made him want to rip her clothes off and take her right there and then in front of the young soon-to-be full warriors. “That we're saved? These guys will get picked up, and we'll tag along and get off the planet.”

  He smiled back. “Three days wait. Then leave with valorous Acerex warrior craft.”

  “And they definitely will take us with them?”

  He had to concentrate not to break out in laughter, and made sure to keep his face serious. She couldn't know. “Probably chances are good for Vrax'ton and Harper.”

  They prepared the dead herg and started a fire that left an unpleasant chemical smell on the cooked meat, but it was better than nothing. One of the young proto-warriors stood guard, and the rest of them sat on the flammable grass. The young men were very quiet and only replied to questions without asking any of their own, although the curiosity plainly burned in their eyes. Had they been full warriors, they would have talked more freely.

  “So this is the way you ran around here back in the day, huh?” Harper took a swig from a primitive cup that Vrax'ton had fashioned from the leaves of a bush. The three men had camped in the vicinity for a few days and knew where to find water.

  Vrax'ton tossed a bone into the fire. “It is so. Only, by this time in Trials, all fellow boys had died. Vrax'ton alone. Being three together much better. They have done well. Notice how they work fantastically together without speaking words. These will have a perfect bond between them for as long as they live. Closer than brothers. Went through the Trials together and know all each other's weaknesses and strengths.”

  Harper took another bite of the tender meat. Her hesitation in eating herg was forgotten. “Will they get their axes when they come back home?”

  “When home will be honored by warriors of tribe, while dead ones will be remembered. Then they forge their own weapons. Most forge swords. Axes not common.”

  “Why did you pick the axe?”

  He looked away. Because it is tradition for my position. “That choice was made long before Vrax'ton came to life. Herg now eaten. Time to move. These boys are acting valiantly, staying still in one spot. Perhaps too valiantly. But Vrax'ton approve of their actions. Have water here. Hergs and other dangers are plentiful close to the Fire.”

  He gathered the three proto-warriors. “It's time to break this camp and move on away from the Fire. Harper and I will stay with you until we're all picked up by the Trials commander. You have all proved yourselves capable so far. Keep it up until the end. I feel it is proper now to tell you that the end is in sight. Three more days.”

  The boys' serious faces broke up in relieved smiles at the thought that they would soon be going home.

  “Thank you, Sire. We will do our best.”

  They walked on, but now that Harper and Vrax'ton had two almost-warriors in front and one behind them, they could go much faster. The two in front would chase away dangers, and larger troubles would be settled by Vrax'ton and his axe.

  “This is nice,” Harper said and munched on a herlee berry. “It's like having an escort.”

  “More common defense. Boys much safer with us among them.”

  They kept going all day, just stopping briefly for the occasional herlee bush or thin stream of water. The terrain was hilly, but not as mountainous as Vrax'ton had feared. At this speed, they would stay well ahead of the fire and the margin of safety was wide enough.

  Still Vrax'ton was too experienced a warrior to allow himself to dive into pleasant visions of a future that now seemed much brighter than it had just that morning. A future where he would have his Mate.

  What would the Elder Council think about his mate being an offworlder? An alien? They would not
love it, he knew that.

  He itched to take Harper's hand and feel her cool, soft, female skin, but with the young man walking behind them and guarding against attacks from the rear, it was inadvisable. He had to stay cool and detached. Still, as soon as possible, he would take her aside to a safe place and enjoy her wondrous body once more. The thought itself created an immediate pressure in his pants.

  The shadows grew longer, and it would soon be too dark to continue safely. The hergs were almost invisible in the daytime, but completely invisible at night.

  He called a halt at the side of a hill that would give them a view of the jungle and the Fire behind them. It now seemed unlikely that Harper's friends would turn up, and much less important than before, but still he wanted to be able to see the sky in the direction they would probably come from.

  “No campfire is needed tonight,” he said. “The Fire will give enough light to spot predators. I'll take the first watch. You boys can rest. Starting now.”

  The three young men straightened and bowed. “Thank you, Sire!”

  Then they went a respectful little distance away, lay down on the ground and were immediately fast asleep. Vrax'ton smiled. To them, it would feel like they were finally safe forever. They would sleep deeply.

  He sat down next to Harper, who was surveying the jungle below.

  He put his arm around her shoulders.

  She sighed heavily. “No sign of any shuttle. I guess I overestimated them. Felt like we were pretty good friends, you know? On the base? But I guess this was too much to expect.”

  He squeezed her shoulders. “Perhaps. Always big challenge predicting actions of others. Harper not know what happened. Perhaps technical problems. Perhaps craft has not sufficient range to come Bosh. Perhaps misunderstanding. Anything might happen.”

  She sniffed, and he hated that something had made her sad. He nuzzled her hair and kissed it, enjoying the silky feel and the sweet smell. “Two more days Bosh, thereafter taken off Bosh for transit to Acerex. Vrax'ton think Harper will enjoy. Will be first Earth woman to come there.”

  She sniffed again, but she was perking up. “Did you know about our base and about Earth?”

  He nodded and cupped her breast over the alien fabric of her jumpsuit. He couldn't help himself. “We did know. Usually ignore aliens irrelevant to Acerex life. Not useful contact every alien republic. Too many aliens make silly war with Acerex.”

  She pulled down the zipper of her jumpsuit to give him better access, then unceremoniously grabbed his cock through his pants. “Have there been many wars?”

  He snaked his hand inside her jumpsuit and felt the soft, womanly flesh there. He swallowed in a dry throat. “Some wars.”

  She stuck her hand down his pants and took around his shaft. “Did you win?”

  He had trouble thinking straight. “Won some wars.”

  She loosened the drawstring and took his cock out of his pants. “Against aliens?”

  He peeled the jumpsuit down and tweaked her nipple the way he knew that woman usually liked. “Aliens,” he confirmed, not really knowing what he was saying. He realized that she was fascinated by his manhood, and it made him feel even better.

  She kissed the tip of it and got on her knees in front of him. “We have some time now. Tell me what you think about this.”

  She took his cock into her mouth as far as it would go and he almost came right there. The sight of his shaft disappearing into her beautiful face, her submissive way of keeping eye contact while she pleased him and the heat of moisture of her mouth around him was almost too much. This was not something that Acerex women usually did. But now he was suddenly of the very strong opinion that they really should.

  “Vrax'ton likes it,” he panted and concentrated on not dishonorably spraying after five seconds, like an adolescent. “Sensational. Astonishing.”

  She took his cock out of her mouth for a second and looked up at him, and her dark eyes twinkled. “Fantastic, maybe?”

  She put it back in and used her hands around the length that didn't fit in her mouth, and then – he couldn't believe his eyes – then she started fucking her own mouth with his cock.

  “Fantastic,” he agreed, delirious with pleasure. “Harper is fantastic.”

  She took another quick break. “You're not so bad yourself.”

  It was the shortest buildup and climax he'd ever had. Hardly even a full minute. But that didn't matter. He was dizzy with happiness. His own Mahan brought him to heights he hadn't experienced before. And she was his captive.

  How could one man be this lucky?

  15

  - Harper -

  The young men from his tribe were treating him with so much deference that he seemed even more majestic to her. It made her feel proud of him. Their eyes shone when they looked at him, and they jumped to obey his every command.

  Sure, they were relieved that he was there and could give them more protection. She got that. But it was more, too. He was someone. Someone important.

  She held one large, callused hand in both of hers and pressed it to her chest above the heart. She was falling so hard for this alien it made her feel dizzy and lightheaded. As if her life had been turned upside-down. Inside-out. And the whole universe, too.

  This was love. This, right here. On a hyper-dangerous alien planet that was pretty much just a prepped barbecue dripping with lighter fluid, waiting for the match. On this alien hill with grass that smelled of jet fuel. Right next to a mysterious alien with luminous eyes, huge, natural muscles that had never seen the inside of any gym and a confidence so thick you could cut with an axe.

  Right here. She had never been happier than right here. Right now.

  “Vrax'ton must stand up or fall asleep,” Vrax'ton growled into her ear. “Warrior must keep watch. Hergs want meat. Vrax'ton will not let them enjoy meat of Harper. Only Vrax'ton enjoy Harper.”

  Harper theatrically squeezed his hand harder. “I won't let you leave.”

  He kissed her hair again and gently freed his hand from hers. “Vrax'ton not leaving. Still here. Just standing up, like warrior should.”

  She laid back and checked her jumpsuit. Good, all zipped up. It would be awkward if the young men woke up before her and she was spilling out all over the place.

  The moon Gideo was right overhead, a reddish disk with a thin blue edge that was the atmosphere. If she had a telescope she could have seen Gideo Station. With the shuttle right there, no doubt just sitting on the landing pad, pristine and unused.

  She really had thought they were her friends.

  Drowsiness washed over her and her eyes closed all by themselves.

  “Bitches,” she whispered.

  16

  - Harper -

  They were all up and waiting for her.

  She stretched and sat up, and Vrax'ton gave her a kiss on the mouth and a handful of herlee berries. “Harper awake at last. Harper is good girl. Must move fast today. Fire doing new things.”

  She was wide awake. “What?”

  “Fire reached foot of mountains. Make Fire speed up gloriously. Will slow down going down again, but Harper and Vrax'ton stay far ahead of Fire. Go down from hill now.”

  The berries immediately gave her energy and a degree of optimism. They were pretty safe now, after all. “All right. Let's go.”

  They walked on in the same formation as before. The three young men looked much less tired now than the day before. Meeting Vrax'ton had been good for them. Probably meeting him was good for everyone, Harper reflected. He was that kind of man, the kind that would make any life he touched better. It was as if he had the sun in him.

  Walking down the hills was much easier than walking up them, and Harper lost herself in pleasant fantasies and plans about the future. How would his tribe like her? How would her parents like Vrax'ton? What would the girls back at Gideo Station think-

  The ground disappeared under her feet and she yelped as she fell straight down.

  Vrax'ton reacted as q
uick as a snake. His arm shot out and he grabbed Harper by her wrist, so she was dangling halfway down the hole that had suddenly appeared under her feet.

  She was looking down into something that was white and turquoise before Vrax'ton lifted her up as easily as if she had been a rag doll, then sat her back down on the ground ten feet away from the hole.

  “Harper is not badly damaged?” He passed a worried eye over her.

  She rubbed her wrist where his iron grip had caught her. “I'm fine. Just shaken. What the heck is down there, anyway?”

  One of the young men got down on his stomach and crawled over to the hole in the ground while another held his ankles. He said something in that melodious language with the hard consonants.

  She looked up at Vrax'ton. He was frowning. “Ice Caves, Eni'ar says. Not much ice left. Only liquid. Melting fast.”

  They tiptoed over to the hole and looked down. It was a cavern with uneven rock walls, and the sides were dripping with a clear liquid. Turqouise icicles hung down along the sides, but as Harper watched, a whole section of ice along one wall came loose and fell far down to the bottom of the cave, where it made a huge splash. The chemical fumes from the liquid made her eyes sting, and she had to take a step back so she could breathe.

  “That,” she said, coughing and wiping water from her eyes, “is some nasty shit.”

  Vrax'ton conferred with the three others. The only word Harper recognized was one that caused the four men to go quiet, and she thought she saw at least one of them go pale: “Brahn Or.”

  Vrax'ton turned to her. “Harper is fantastic explorer. Has found Ice Caves. Ice is melting. Is unusual. Vrax'ton and boys agree: bad for the common welfare.”

  “Inferno Year,” Harper said. “The Fire will be extremely intense as soon as it comes here.”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “Precisely. Harper has sharp mind.”

  She shrugged. “Not too hard to connect the dots about that. So are we dead after all?”

  The large, insanely hot warrior scratched his chin. “Not dead yet. When tribal leaders of Acerex see Inferno Year started, will cut the Trials short. Unfair for boys undergoing their Trials to be left on their own during Inferno Year. Given choice of leaving with their Trials passed. If choose to remain for the normal duration of Trials, great honor. Holy men if survive. Some choose great honor. Almost all die.”