by Maia Starr
“Krocha!” the last man shouted in fury as his head hit the ground hard. I grinned. I had never felt so alive in my life. Narei cried out and backed away toward the wall with his hands raised in the air.
“Don’t hurt me!” he pleaded. “I didn’t want to do this!”
I shook my head at him and tossed him the keys.
“Don’t try to stop me next time,” I warned him, pointing my finger at him.
“I won’t!” he promised.
“Come on,” I said to Lucas, taking the boy’s hand. “We’re going to get out of here.”
“Where are we going?” he asked. He was clearly afraid of me, and really, I couldn’t blame him.
“I know where your sister is.”
The boy gasped, and I couldn’t help but smile. I was doing the right thing. Finally. And nothing was going to stand in my way.
Chapter 10
Dr. Christina Evans (MD)
I looked out over the murky green water pensively, the Pelin man standing silently beside me. He refused to tell me what we were doing here, and all I could think about was Jaize. He had promised to help me get Luke out if I helped to heal him, but I hadn’t. I didn’t know anything about the disease. And now, my little brother was doomed because of one man’s selfishness. How was I ever going to live with myself after this?
A loud whirring noise filled the sky, and I looked up, afraid and confused about what was going on. The Pelin hopped up and down excitedly, and I frowned as the huge craft landed on the sand beside me.
“Christina!”
My heart nearly burst, and tears sprang immediately to my eyes as Lucas wrapped his small arms around my neck and clung tightly to me.
“Your friend is so cool! He got me out of jail! We’re going home!!”
I looked at Jaize through the tears in my eyes, my entire body electrified by the handsome smile on his face.
“It’s true,” he reassured me, crossing the sand to help me to my feet. Apparently, I had collapsed as soon as Luke’s voice reached my ears. “But we have to move fast.”
“Are you coming?” I asked, turning to the kind little Pelin. He seemed surprised and looked at Jaize.
“Well?” he asked.
The Pelin ran onto the ship, as if afraid we were going to change our minds, and Jaize laughed.
“Come on. We don’t have much time.”
I boarded the ship, the same stealth craft that I had bumped my foot on before, and before I knew it, we were flying through space at the speed of light.
I held Luke tightly, and suddenly he touched my stomach.
“I’m going to be an uncle?!” he exclaimed.
I nodded. “Yes,” I said, kissing his forehead. “And you’re going to be the best uncle there ever was.”
***
Several hours later, Luke and the Pelin were sound asleep, and we landed safely on Earth, far away from the Zones or settlements. Jaize had packed us enough resources on the ship to last us for years to come, and we camped out in the darkness quietly.
We were alone in the bunker, Jaize sitting quietly across from me, gripping my hand tightly as if he were afraid I might disappear.
“I didn’t know if I would ever see you again,” he whispered. “I thought that because of my disease, succeeding at this would be a long shot.”
I held his hands to my lips and kissed them tenderly. I had heard him, somewhere in my sleeping mind, that morning, and I had woken up wishing dearly for him to be beside me.
“Please promise me you’ll never do anything so reckless again,” I whispered. “I don’t think the baby and I could take it if anything happened to you.”
I had been trying so hard to deny my feelings for Jaize that I had completely missed the part where I’d fallen head over heels in love with him. But now that he had risked everything he had ever known, including his own life, to bring my brother and me back to Earth safely, I knew there would never be another man I wanted more in my life than him.
“I’m really sorry, you know,” he said awkwardly, looking down at the ground. “For everything I put you through.”
I laughed quietly. “I’m sorry for that too. But it worked out. We should try to forget the bad and focus on creating more of the good.”
My eyes caught his, and our gazes lingered for a moment. Suddenly, rapid heat surged through my body, and our lips were touching. I kissed him passionately, his lips generating fire all throughout my body. I had never wanted a man so badly in my life. Now that all was said and done, and I knew exactly who he was, nothing had ever felt more right.
Jaize seemed to feel the same way, and I gasped as the urgent mound of his erection pressed against my thigh. We kissed languidly for a few more moments before he pulled away, his brow arched in concern.
“Is this safe? For the baby?”
I laughed and pulled him down to continue the kiss.
“Yes,” I whispered, my hands roaming the broad muscle of his chest and the soft skin of his face. “Don’t you dare stop.”
He grinned and lifted me easily, and I was shocked by his strength. He truly had made a miraculous recovery: one he attributed entirely to our baby.
Jaize stripped me quickly, his mouth settling over the sensitive ring of my nipple, and my back arched involuntarily as pleasure surged through me. I helped him to strip his clothes off and took in the deeply gratifying sight of his completely naked body. Men on Earth would kill to look the way a Verian man did naturally, and I relished in the firm muscles brushing against my skin and the impressive size of his member as it teased and caressed the hypersensitive nerve endings between my legs.
I sighed in bliss as Jaize buried his mouth against the nape of my neck and tasted my skin, his muscle swelling against me. I cried out softly as it entered me, suddenly and swiftly, and our bodies soon found the rhythm they needed to become one.
I closed my eyes, relishing every wave of pleasure that Jaize and his body took me on until I could hardly think anymore. All I could do was feel the distinct satisfaction of my climax building and building; the tension of release as Jaize continued to thrust deeply into my body, carrying me beyond the sweet sensation of pleasure and into the ocean of ecstasy.
“I love you,” Jaize whispered, his deep voice rumbling in my ear. I closed my eyes, my back arching as the words sent thrills down my spine. The small movement brought his member deeper inside of me and my body ever closer to my climax.
“I love you too,” I gasped, gripping Jaize’s muscular arms tightly as I braced myself for another powerful round of thrusting.
I shuddered beneath him as his body took on a power I had never experienced before. It shocked me deeply, and I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming out in rapture. Jaize hissed in pleasure as he submerged himself deeply inside of me, and suddenly I could feel the tension of our bodies give way to orgasm.
The sweet nectar of his longing filled me in a hot rush of ecstasy, and I quaked beneath him as my world opened up to new heights. A new swell of pleasure overwhelmed me as he emptied the last of himself inside of me in a final, fluid motion, and we collapsed on the bunk together, our chests heaving laboriously.
“Welcome home,” Jaize said, kissing my forehead. I hugged him tightly and lifted his hand to touch my belly for the first time.
“You too,” I whispered.
We fell asleep like that, both exhausted and excited for the new chapter of our lives that was about to unfold.
The End
Verian Mates(Complete BOX SET(1-4)
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Aliens Of Jenalk(Complete BOX SET(1-4)
By Maia Starr
Book 1: Zerkk
(Aliens Of Jenalk)
By Maia Starr
Chapter 1
Dr. Lain Brousseau
“I don’t believe it,” I whispered, pulling away from my telescope. “That can’t be righ
t.”
But when I peered into the dark sky above me, all I saw was what I saw every other night. There were a few glittering stars in the sky, and the moon was waning. Beyond that, I couldn’t see any sign of the planet I’d been watching. No matter how hard I looked, there were no answers. Nothing to account for what I’d seen.
“What is it, Lain?”
My research partner, Kara, slid back in her swivel chair to look at me. We were sitting side by side on a large balcony, each of us consumed by our own telescopes.
“Something’s happening on Planet 139,” I said, looking down at my desk to scribble some notes. I pushed stray strands of wavy blonde hair out of my eyes for the fifth time that day. That’s what I got for forgetting my hair tie at home.
“What do you mean? They’ve been dormant for years,” Kara said, standing from her chair and moving to my side.
“See for yourself,” I said, offering her the telescope.
Kara bent over and peered into the dark tunnel.
“Oh my god…you’re right,” she breathed.
What I’d seen didn’t make sense. The alien race I was studying seemed everything but exploratory. And yet I had just been the first woman—no, the first human—to witness the launching of a spacecraft. Of any kind. Even the Vellreq, who were so open about so many things, were secretive about their crafts. Somehow, the alien race managed to cloak them far from where any human eye might see them as they came and went.
“What are they doing? Are they traveling somewhere?”
Sure enough, the spacecraft was hurtling beyond the atmosphere of Planet 139, and I watched in awe. The craft was round and robust, with a huge fuel tank resting on the outside of it. I had no idea what the purpose for it might be, but it was groundbreaking to finally see the launch of an alien craft in person. I memorized every detail I could, right down to the rust-colored bolts holding the craft together.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” I said. Kara nodded.
“This is extraordinary,” she agreed.
Research into alien colonies was a budding science, and I was one of the lucky few chosen to document it in detail. The pioneering research group was known as the Orion Project, and really it was the project of a lifetime, conducting research that would pave the way for exploration in the field of alien lifeforms for generations to come. Our conduct and methods were a turning point for an entirely new scientific field. Every little detail counted.
And yet, they had Kara and I, the only two women on the team, researching the planets with the least activity. Go figure.
“You’d better get back in here and take down the records, Lain. You’re going to be famous for this.”
“Famous? It’s not like I built the ship,” I mumbled, taking Kara’s place at the telescope. Still, my hands were shaking. Kara was right. This would launch my career.
I had been assigned to this job by my superiors with the intention of researching the peaceful alien race that had been accidentally discovered during a mission to explore the black holes plaguing our galaxy. Lucky for us, they were just close enough to Earth that the new super-powered telescopes and satellites could give us a constant stream of information.
Still, our access to and understanding of this information was limited. All we really knew was what we had heard and experienced first-hand through dangerous pilgrimages through space.
What that really meant was we hardly knew anything. And now, it seemed possible that my peaceful alien race might not be so peaceful after all. The rule of thumb seemed to be that if an alien race left their planet, something bad would soon follow. Whether it was a famine they were trying to escape or an attack on or from another alien race, only time could tell.
We’d just begun to develop communications technologies with the helpful race that frequented Earth. They called themselves the Vellreq, though they never seemed to say the word Vellreq to each other when speaking in their mother tongue. I was certain they had their own name for themselves, but nobody seemed to care about that hypothesis. What mattered most to the Orion project was that the Vellreq entrusted us with bits and pieces of information as they saw fit. I’d never met a Vellreq in person, though most of the team worked closely with them while conducting research.
I finished scribbling my report and put on my headset, keeping one eye closely on the ship. It was heading west, into a cluster of meteors that had been deemed unsafe for travel. If this was an exploratory mission, my race, nicknamed the Kartugians, were headed for disaster.
“All eyes on Planet 139!” I exclaimed into my headset. “Unknown vessel traveling west toward meteor field. Launched at approximately 0300 with no known agenda!”
“Copy that,” a man’s static-filled voice said into my ears. “We’ll take it from here.”
But I wasn’t about to let them take over on one of the most exciting things I’d ever seen happen on my job. Instead, I took control.
“Is there any way to get a feed inside the meteor field in sector 16?” I asked. If we weren’t able to keep our eyes on them, we might lose track of them for good.
“Affirmative. Locking in on sector 16.”
“Good,” I said, opening my laptop and typing furiously so I could keep track of the feed.
The little ship was heading through the meteors, spunky as ever, not bothering to stop or even slow down. We had never seen a ship come through here before, and it struck me as bizarre that they would try to navigate it with such intention. They were surprisingly bold.
“Keep the cameras focused on the ship,” I said. I typed in a command that recorded the activity on the screen. “This is important.”
“Roger.”
“Can you believe this?” Kara whispered. She had her computer on the feed and was watching the bizarre events unfold with the same astonishment as I felt.
“I don’t think it’s a warship,” I murmured. “Look at how bumbling it is. It’s almost like…”
“What?” Kara prompted when I trailed off. But what I said just sounded so silly.
“Well…it’s almost like they’re just going out for a joy ride,” I finally said.
Kara laughed, and we watched the little ship as it navigated the meteor field. I felt a strange sense of pride as they dodged the meteors, again and again. I could almost hear exclamations of excitement, and in my head, I compared them to humans who enjoyed high-adrenaline sports.
I was really enjoying the show, but suddenly my stomach dropped. I had to blink hard and rewind my footage before I could even begin to believe what I had seen. As suddenly as it had come, the little ship disappeared into thin air.
Chapter 2
Commander Zerk’k Arkti
“Commander Zerk’k! Look out!”
“Fuck,” I growled, slamming my fist onto the control panel and jerking the wheel. “When will those cursed Lenely learn to drive?”
I had barely been able to steer my ship out of the way in time to avoid hitting the obnoxious looking little ship head-on. The Lenley blinked their lights at me, as if I were the offender, and sped away. As furious as I was, I was grateful that the ships hadn’t collided. That would have been a humiliating way to end the mission.
“Well, Commander,” Jerd said, smiling sardonically at me. “They do only leave their planet once every millennium.”
“That’s no excuse. They shouldn’t leave at all if they haven’t mastered their aircraft!”
Jerd shrugged, which only fueled my fury.
“They’re a liability for anybody traveling through here,” I continued. “Somebody should go to their planet and force them to pass a safety seminar.”
“Who better than you, sir?” Jerd replied.
“Oh, please,” I said, tapping my fingers against the sleek control panel. “I have bigger issues to worry about right now than to teach those idiots how to drive.”
Nothing could be truer. My people, the Thressl’n, were suffering, and we had only ourselves to blame. In the very early years, the
Thressl’n had favored male children over female, for our brighter complexions and insurmountable strength. Unfortunately, this preference had lead to an unprecedented imbalance of males over females. Now, males outnumbered females by a ratio of 16:1. And as Second in Command, it was my job to try and find the best solution.
Currently, the situation had become a crisis, with most of the females married and some of them curiously infertile. If we didn’t resolve the situation soon, the Thressl’n were going to become extinct.
Certainly, a lot of resentment was directed my way as many of the younger females refused to mate, hoping they could be my first and only lover. But my attentions lay elsewhere. In fact, until I made a public declaration of my celibacy until further notice, I felt the rivers of anger directed toward me by the many noblemen who had been refused on the grounds that they weren’t me.
“How much longer now?” I asked, tapping my foot impatiently. Nobody knew this, but I despised flying. The long treks through dark space left me irritable and restless. I’d rather have my feet on the ground any day.
“We are 15 lightyears away from Earth,” Jerd answered after a short beat.
“I see,” I said, looking darkly at my monitor. That meant there wasn’t much time left. As soon as we made our way out of the meteor field, we would be within sight for the more advanced Earthling technology. “Raise the cloak. We don’t want anybody to detect us coming in. It could spell trouble. How have the other ships fared?”
“They’ve logged in as successful, and are heading back to Jenal’k with their cargo in tow. Everything is right on schedule.”
