by Wells, Juno
ALIEN WARRIOR'S FATED:
AIZAK - WARRIORS OF FISOAR
JUNO WELLS & SHEA MALLOY
Table of Contents
Copyright
About the Book
Excerpt
Chapter One: Marissa
Chapter Two: Marissa
Chapter Three: Marissa
Chapter Four: Aizak
Chapter Five: Marissa
Chapter Six: Aizak
Chapter Seven: Marissa
Chapter Eight: Aizak
Chapter Nine: Marissa
Chapter Ten: Aizak
Chapter Eleven: Aizak
Chapter Twelve: Marissa
Epilogue
Preview: Trouble
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Copyright © 2015, Juno Wells, Shea Malloy
All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.
Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
About the Book
“You are my fated mate. Mine.”
Dumped by her boyfriend on her birthday, Marissa Kenley seethes with anger she'd not been the one to do it first. That's OK, because despite the shitty hand that life tends to deal her, she always finds a way back on top.
But fate's a contradictory bitch, and when Marissa discovers her name on a beautiful watch, she's teleported ass-first into a strange new world filled with terrifying creatures that try to eat her. Thank goodness for the sexy as hell alien warrior who saved her. Tall, bronze and powerful, her body is lit on fire the instant he touches her.
She really ought to find her way back to Earth. Yet as the time goes by, she wonders if she ever has to leave.
Aizak has no time or attention for a woman, least of all a human. As the leader of his tribe, his sole focus is protecting his people from the monsters that seek to hurt them. But the moment he holds the soft, curvy human woman in his arms, his plans are diminished in importance. The connection he shares with her is deep and intense. She is his fated and all he wants is her.
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Excerpt
Marissa closed her eyes and welcomed the feel of Aizak’s lips on hers. Her body was afire with an arousal so intense that only his touch would be able to calm her. The kiss rapidly turned deeper, fiercer, rougher. His hands travelled up from the back of her neck and into her hair, tugging her head back so he could dominate her mouth with his.
And Marissa let him. She was his, after all. Every single bit of her belonged to this powerful alien man, willingly, shamelessly. She should feel ashamed by this prospect but she didn’t. She was his fated mated he’d said, and by that logic he was hers too. Nothing else could explain the sweet heat in her lower belly that burned hotter when his lips grazed her jawline then her neck, or the way something seemed to sizzle just beneath the surface of her skin as he pushed her dress off her body.
“Perfect,” he said as he eyed her body with a possessive glint in his eyes. He’d seen her naked before but the way he looked at her now made her shiver with excitement. Often, she’d feel self aware of Neil’s gaze on her body, but never with Aizak. He regarded her with a hunger that would have been terrifying had she not been so aroused.
“Aizak,” she moaned when his big hands found her breasts. He kissed her again, swiping his tongue across her lip, demanding access to her mouth. She clung to his shoulders and reached up onto her toes to return his kiss hungrily, whimpering as he fondled her breasts and pinched her nipples.
She ached for him. Wanted him deep inside her as soon as possible. And to let him know how much she needed him, she dropped her hand to grasp him through his pants. He was thick and hard, his size making her hand still momentarily in amazement before she resumed stroking his length. He groaned into her mouth as she touched him, breaking their kiss to nip her neck.
“Gods, woman. I want to be inside you,” he growled. “I want you on me.”
CHAPTER ONE
Marissa
“Look, I just don’t love you anymore. Not the way I used to. Besides, I’ve met someone else.”
Marissa stared at her boyfriend of four years. Ex-boyfriend now by the way this conversation was going tonight.
Shock coursed through her, but she kept it hidden from her face. She searched for the anger, the sense of betrayal at his admission he was interested in another woman but it did not come to bear. All that existed within her was this quiet sense of acceptance. Inevitability. She’d be lying if she said she’d not known this moment was on the horizon. She supposed the shock did not stem from Neil’s words, but that he’d been the one to speak them first.
“OK.”
Neil frowned. “OK? That’s all you’ve got to say?”
Marissa tapped her fingers against her cold beer bottle. “What else am I supposed to say, Neil? You said you don’t love me anymore. I can’t change that.”
“You can’t or you won’t?” He sat up straighter, his brown eyes holding the anger that was non-existent in her chest. Quiet conversation hummed around them in the mildly empty restaurant. It was their go-to eating out spot for the past few years because Neil disliked change. She’d long grown tired of the offered fare at the place. Most of her relationship with Neil had consisted of her compromising to his finicky demands.
But no more. Not after tonight. It was her twenty-fifth birthday and breaking up with her was probably the most generous birthday gift Neil had ever given her. On some level it irked her that she was the one being dumped. Nevertheless, the end result was still the same: freedom from a dead relationship.
Marissa shrugged, fully invested in the ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude now. She no longer had to pander to his needs or his easily hurt feelings. Goodbye, good riddance.
“I don’t know what you mean by that.” She took a deep pull on her beer and enjoyed the coolness of the liquid flowing down her throat. “I’m not going to fight for someone who doesn’t want me.”
“Just admit it. You never loved me.” He sneered at her and it disturbed her how his average features had transformed into something ugly and foreign. “You’ve always been a cold-hearted bitch. You’re incapable of love, Marissa. Maybe it’s because your folks died—”
Marissa clenched her fingers around her beer bottle. “Shut up. Shut the fuck up.”
There it was. There was the anger. Playing the victim she could take from Neil. Reviving the memories of her deceased parents to prove a point, however, was way below the belt. Fury filled her blood and she wanted to hit him with the bottle. What an asshole. Instead of walking away with grace he had to throw punches on his way out of the relationship.
His gaze shifted to where her knuckles had whitened from squeezing the bottle. He must have sensed her violent thoughts because he got to his feet out of her reach.
“We’re over,” he said, glaring at her. “I want you out of my apartment by the end of the week.”
“I’ll be gone a lot earlier than that,” she spat.
He left her there to seethe over his callousness and the fact that he
’d not bothered to pay for his beer. In time, her outrage ebbed. After downing a second bottle of alcohol that left her somewhat tipsy, Marissa paid and left the restaurant.
Outside, the cool fall breeze ghosted over her exposed arms and calves. Most of the time, she wore a plain work blouse over plainer slacks, her hair in a loose ponytail. Her work demanded long hours and efficiency during them. Being pretty was often left on the back burner. Today, however, she’d gone for a flattering, teal halter dress and made the time to arrange her dark brown hair into soft curls. Neil never bothered to compliment her lately, but she’d hoped he’d see her efforts tonight. Marissa snorted and shook her head as she slid on her jacket. What a waste of time and energy.
We’re over. Marissa took a big lungful of air then released her frustration and relief on a long exhale. She wished to go home right at that moment, pack her shit and be out by tomorrow but that was not possible. Neil would be there and definitely raring for a fight. What she’d do was gather her essentials tomorrow while he was at work and make arrangements to move the bigger items she could not grab on her own.
She grimaced at the thought of sleeping at work. Still, as an overworked research assistant, it wasn’t an uncommon thing for her. The various researchers she worked for at the university often piled on the workload. Sometimes she’d catch herself drooling over her keyboard at ungodly hours in the morning after staring at her computer for hours.
As Marissa hailed a taxi to take her back to the university, she thought on her overworked lifestyle and how that may have contributed to the degeneration of her relationship with Neil. Still, though, things must have really gotten bad between them if he could admit he was cheating on her and she didn’t even care.
The taxi ride did not take long. In time, the sprawling brick building she called her second home loomed ahead. Darkness shrouded the landscaped walkway toward the entrance and the unease she felt dissipated at the sight of the weeknight security guard, Andrew.
“You realize it’s after ten, right?” He took a final drag on his cigarette before dropping it to the floor and squashing it with his foot. “Go home.”
“I can’t help that I’m addicted to work.” She smiled at him. “I thought you said you’d quit smoking.”
He smiled back. “Bad habits die hard. I’m fifty-two years old and if I haven’t quit by now, I ain’t gonna quit anytime soon.”
“Lazy.”
“Shh.” He pressed a finger to his lips. “You’re gonna get me fired if you speak the truth so loud.”
A knowing smile played over Marissa’s lips. “Oh please. Dean Carelli will never let you go.”
Andrew grinned. “Well, she’s the only reason why I’m still here, anyway.”
“Ouch. And here I thought you and I had a good thing going.” She chuckled. “Dumped twice in one night. That’s gotta be a record.”
The mirth in Andrew’s pleasant blue eyes died as a concerned look came over his features.
“You broke up with your boyfriend?”
Marissa nodded. “He broke up with me. And on my birthday at that.”
“Christ. You OK?” He stepped closer, uncertainty written on his face. “What an ass. A blind ass too. If I were twenty years younger there’s no way I’d let a beautiful woman like you go.”
“Andrew, you can charm the skin off a snake.” Marissa chuckled as she moved to the door. Holding the door open for her, Andrew gave her a quick, consolatory pat on the shoulder.
“Happy birthday, kid,” he said. “You’ll be fine. You’re tough. I’ve lived long enough to know that things tend to get real shitty just before they’re about to get real good.”
Nodding, Marissa slipped inside the university and made her way to the faculty lounge.
CHAPTER TWO
Marissa
The taste of coffee did not mix well with the sour after-taste of the beers she’d drank. Nevertheless, Marissa sipped on her steaming cup of java as she sat at her desk. She’d forgotten to shut her computer off, so when she moved the mouse the computer awoke from its slumber.
Various browser pages and her text-editor chock full of hastily typed notes came into view on her monitor. Ah, yes. Research work she was doing for Dr. Victor Hausten on the DNA changes of an off-spring born from an interracial union. This was familiar research work for her as she’d majored in anthropology studies, but why did Dr. Hausten want this? Yet another question to which there was no answer. Just like why she often wondered why he’d sought her out specifically, an anthropology graduate, as his research assistant. His focus was predominantly on astronomy, and at a secondary level, engineering. He was insanely intelligent, insanely intuitive, and just plain old insane. But Marissa preferred to call him ‘quirky’.
He was the main reason Marissa worked so hard. Not only because he gave her lots of work, but because his intellect and his drive was so compelling Marissa had no choice but to emulate. She wanted to be the best at her job because he was the best at his. Even when he walked around the lab bare feet.
She’d not seen him in over three weeks. No warning, no note. He just hadn’t shown up to work one day and all the following days since. At the start, she’d welcomed the reprieve. She’d managed to get some backlog of work done. Now she found her days so free, she had to seek work from the other researchers in the university. She was starting to worry about Dr. Hausten’s absence. Even though it was common for him to pull a disappearing act like this, he’d never been gone for this long.
Rising to her feet, coffee in hand, Marissa decided she’d check on his cactus. He held a strange affection for the spiky plant. He’d even nicknamed it ‘Doris’. Turning on the lights in his lab, Marissa navigated around the room with care. Dr. Hausten had a penchant for strange and sometimes deadly inventions. Even knocking against a table’s edge too hard might cause a catastrophe.
“How you doin’, Doris?” said Marissa as she poured water from a beaker into the plant’s soil. “Looks like you and I are in the same boat. Ditched by our men.”
Satisfied with the amount of water she’d given the cactus, Marissa set the beaker to dry and wandered over to Dr. Hausten’s desk. Still disorderly as ever. Once, in her quest to be an overachiever and gain favour with the scientist, she’d tried to put his desk to rights.
“Oh, none of this is right at all,” he’d said while undoing her entire day’s work in mere seconds. He claimed he had a ‘system’ but as Marissa eyed the chaotic mix spread across the large desk, she shook her head in amusement. She supposed not everyone was like her. Some people worked best in a messy environment. When she thought about it, her dad, a scientist when he was alive, was just like that too.
“Where are you, Dr. Hausten?” she murmured as she sat down in his old leather chair. She absentmindedly read his research notes on the possibilities of powerful beings existing in another galaxy. Dr. Hausten did have a belief in extraterrestrials. She supposed these ideas came with the territory of being an astronomer.
Putting down his notes, she smiled when she encountered her birthday date with her name beside it written down amid his scribbles. It warmed her he had remembered. Had he planned something for her?
Just as she wondered the question, she spied the pastel-coloured pattern of gift-wrapping paper beneath a large stack of paper. Unearthing it, she discovered it was a long rectangular box about the size of a bracelet case. He’d scrawled her name on the paper and there was no ribbon inhibiting her from lifting the lid of the gift box.
A watch made of gleaming silver sat within the cottony insides of the box. Marissa’s eyes widened as the light above her head reflected in the shine of the watch face. It was not like any watch she’d seen before, but it bore some similarities to regular watches. Instead of two hands, there was only one. The lone hand was positioned in one of the three coloured sections of the circular face.
It looked like a Simon Says game to Marissa, but made of three colours: black, blue and yellow. The hand pointed midway through the yello
w section and when Marissa lifted the watch free from its container, she marvelled at how small and light it felt in her hands. It was a gorgeous piece of jewellery and looked expensive too. As she wondered when she’d get the chance to thank Dr. Hausten for such a generous gift, her thumb ghosted over the watch face. A bright purple light bloomed from it, enveloping Marissa.
“What the hell?” Her surprise and horror increased when Dr. Hausten’s lab disappeared into black nothingness. A tightening sensation surrounded her body like if she was being compressed. Then the purple light disappeared and she could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing. She was conscious…yet not. How was this possible? She cried out for help but she had no voice.
In the distance she saw a spot of light. It grew nearer and larger, like if the darkness was receding, opening up. In that growing spot of light, she saw a forest but the trees were all blue-green and weirdly shaped. As she got nearer to what she believed was the exit of this nothingness, sensation returned. Her terror came rushing back. She was at the end now and she screamed and she kicked and she flailed as her body was dumped unceremoniously onto the dewy floor.
CHAPTER THREE
Marissa
Marissa sprang to her feet away from the violet grass blanketing the area. Eyes wide and her heart slamming in her chest, turned around wildly in search of understanding. Preferably an exit from this new, strange place. She tripped over a thick, gnarly, upraised tree root and scrambled right back up the instant she hit the ground.
