Thabo (Scifi Alien Romance) (Galactic Mates)

by Luna Hunter

  I reach under the table and pull out a bottle of cuhla and two glasses. I pour each of us a drink of the black goodness.

  “You shared your food, here is mine,” I say as I clink our glasses together. “To our species.”

  “I thought you hated humans?”

  “Who says I don’t?”

  Riley takes a small sip and her face instantly contorts. “Oh my god,” she groans. “My tongue is on fire!” She dives into her plate, stuffing as much of the sour-crotch into her mouth as she can.

  “You’ll learn to love it.”

  “I doubt it,” she heaves, rubbing her tummy. “Are you trying to kill me?”

  “If I was, you’d be dead by now.”

  Her hazelnut eyes linger on my biceps for a moment. “Point taken.”

  I see a question is burning on her lips. “What is it, Riley Harper?”

  “Very well,” she says. “What made you change your mind? About this mission?”

  “Tell me why you won’t eat, and you’ll get your answer.”

  She gives me a look. “I thought Zorans were supposed to be straight-forward.”

  “You’ll find I’m no ordinary Zoran.”

  “I can believe that,” she says under her breath. “Fine, if you insist. It’s my father.”

  “What about him?”

  “He’s ill.”

  She crosses her arms over her chest, her gaze drifting downwards, and I feel the strange urge to wrap my arms around her and comfort her.

  I’m a born warrior. I’ve never comforted anyone in my life.

  “I hate leaving him behind, down on Earth,” she continues. “He’s probably millions of miles away already… it’s… it’s hard.”

  I feel a tinge of guilt. I’ve been obsessed with her beauty, her form, her body, and now I’ve plucked her out of her life. All because I’m having trouble controlling my mating instinct.

  “I’m… sorry.”

  Her eyes flutter up, as wide as saucers. “You are different,” she says. “I’ve never heard of a Zoran apologizing.”

  “And no one will ever hear of it,” I growl. “Continue.”

  “R-right,” she nods. “Thank you, but it’s not your fault. Not really. This mission is a wonderful career opportunity. I should be thrilled, but…”

  “But what?”

  She stares into my eyes, a hint of a smile appearing on her thick, kissable lips.

  “But nothing.”

  Our eyes linger, and the room seems to warm up several degrees. Underneath the table my cock throbs, hungry for just a taste of her…

  “He’s the reason why I got into this business in the first place,” she continues, and the moment is gone. “My father. I want to take care of him, so I need a good job. That’s why I suffer DuPont’s foul moods. Enough about me though, let’s talk about you. What’s your family like? How’s your father?”

  My jaw instantly tightens.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I grit through my clenched teeth.

  “Why not?” Riley continues, oblivious to my changed mood. “I told you something, now you tell me something. That’s how it works.”

  My eyes grow cold, every muscle in my body tensing up.

  My father. Thanos. My hero and my enemy. My entire life, my entire career has been about escaping his legacy. No one dares to utter his name in my presence, but the female knows not of what she speaks.

  Riley reaches out and touches my hand, and the warm sensation brings me back to the present. “Are you okay?” She asks. “Did I say something wrong?”

  I shake my head. “No, it is not your fault, human.”

  If he saw us together now, he’d be furious. Conversing with a lesser species? he’d howl. You are an embarrassment to my name. I wish it was you who died, rather than your brother.

  Fuck you, father. I’m going to trust the human, just to spite you.

  “My father is a controversial figure,” I say, re-filling both our glasses with cuhla. “Drink.”

  Seeing my grim look, Riley complies, taking a small sip. She’s already gagging less.

  “Thanos is his name. The butcher of Benzon, they called him. Before the war. Now he’s…”

  Riley touches me again, wrapping her fingers around one of mine. Her warmth soothes my rising anger.

  “You don’t have to tell me,” she says, her voice a soft whisper. “It’s okay.”

  “I want to tell you,” I say. “I want you to know what a rotten bastard he is. He was a born killer. Ruthless. He knew no fear. He became the youngest general Exon Prime had ever seen. Soon his strength and prowess was known throughout the galaxy.”

  My words are dripping with venom.

  “It must be difficult to have to live up to that,” Riley says.

  I nod. “It’s impossible. How do you follow a legendary warrior? You can’t. However, failure was not an option. Not for my father. He drilled me and my brother hard, every day, every hour. All our lives. He pushed us hard. Too hard.”

  My chest is heaving with every breath, tears stinging in the corners of my eyes. I’ve never cried a day in my life – my father would have killed me for it. I thought I was strong enough for this conversation. I was wrong.

  “Forget it,” I growl as I stand up so fast I knock the bottle over. It shatters on the floor, the spicy smell filling the room instantly.

  “This was a mistake.”

  Riley holds her arms out for me, but I push my way past her. I can’t have her see me in this moment of weakness. I bring shame to myself and every Zoran.

  The ghosts of my past are still haunting me.

  5

  Riley

  “Did you sleep okay?”

  I rub the sleep from my eyes, but Michelle is already up bright and early. I don’t know how she does it, because she stumbled into bed last night reeking of vodka. I groan a response and turn over, but my co-worker is having none of it. She sits by my side and pulls the covers away.

  “Are you alright? I heard a sound last night, I thought Thabo hit you.”

  “No,” I yawn. “He’d never do something like that.”

  She raises her perfectly manicured eyebrows. “How do you know that? He’s a Zoran.”

  “Because. I just do.”

  Last night Thabo showed me his soft side. I thought the Zorans were just hulking warriors, walking stereotypes of alpha behavior, but I greatly underestimated him. I sensed a lot of pain in the way he talked about his father.

  For the first time since meeting him, I didn’t fear him.

  “You’re crazy,” Michelle answers. “He wants to devour you, hair and all.”

  I prop myself up on my elbows. “I thought you had a fever, and the only cure was more Zoran. What made you change your mind?”

  She wrinkles her nose. “I thought I wanted him, but last night I realized Thabo’s a big dick.”

  No, he has a big dick. There’s a difference.

  “Why?”

  The knowledge that Michelle is no longer chasing his fire-red behind soothes me more than it should. I’m not in love with him or anything. Why should I care?

  But despite my very logical protests, I do care.

  “He was pretty rude to us last night,” she says.

  “Well, you were all making a racket, most likely.”

  “We were celebrating! That’s what diplomatic missions are all about: free booze!”

  I roll my eyes. “That’s not all they’re about.”

  “They are to me.”

  “Michelle, you beautiful blonde starfish. Please get off my bed.”

  “Suit yourself, miss pajama pants.”

  “Hey, don’t talk smack about my jammies,” I say. “These are still hip.”

  “Hip?” Michelle says. “Hello, the 21st century called. Oh, please don’t tell me Thabo saw you in those.”

  “Why?” I say. “What’s wrong with them? They’re comfortable and easy to wear. That has to account for something.”

  She s
hakes her head like a scolding teacher. “It doesn’t, girl, it doesn’t.”

  I’m fed up with this conversation, and with a huff I throw my covers over my head. Secretly, I’m relieved Michelle is on this mission with me, though I’ll never tell her that to her face.

  And I’m not just happy she’s here so that she doesn’t hate my guts forever out of sheer jealousy. No, over the past few weeks we’ve developed a bit of a report.

  Of course, we couldn’t be more different. She’s from the affluent Coors family – she knew DuPont as a child growing up! Meanwhile my father was a mechanic, and I’m the first in my family’s history to ever attend university. Michelle’s blond and thin, while I’m brown-haired and curvy. She only wears exclusive and expensive brand clothing, while I just buy whatever is on sale. I could go on and on… but in the end, I’m happy that I’m not the only woman on board.

  The door to our cabin opens suddenly, right as Michelle is changing out of her sleepwear, and DuPont’s bushy eyebrows poke around the corner.

  “Ladies, you’re late for our meeting,” he says sternly. His eyes scour Michelle’s exposed body, and he makes no attempt at leaving.

  “Meeting?” I yawn, feeling very grateful for the cover’s shielding my body from his penetrating view. “At this time? It’s not even past eight.”

  “Yes, miss Harpy,” he says, his round face growing red. “We’re here to work, not lounge around like a bum. Come on, get!”

  I stare him down, my eyes narrowed. I’m not getting out until he leaves.

  “Sure thing, boss,” Michelle says as she hits the close button for the door. It snaps shut instantly, nearly singeing DuPont’s eyebrows. “Creep,” she says under her breath.

  We spend the rest of the day going through all the Federation’s reports on the Intergalactic Alliance – all of them. DuPont wants me and Michelle to commit every line to memory, to know every single one of the 120 client-races from the top of our head, and name their leaders, homeworlds and capitals as well.

  Meanwhile, our boss spends the whole day drinking cocktails with the other two men he brought along. They introduced themselves as Mr. Smith and Mr. Johnson, but I’ve never seen either one of them before. Of course I’m not familiar with every single person working at the ministry, but after spending some months as DuPont’s aide I have a fairly good understanding of his social circle.

  And these two men don’t fit the mold of a civil servant. Their hair is shaven at the sides, and there are tattoos peeking out from under their sleeves. DuPont has even more flop-sweat than usual, almost as if he’s worried about something.

  “This is bullshit,” Michelle mutters as she opens the 34th file of the day. “I need a Bloody Mary, and fast.”

  I actually don’t mind the work. Reading about all these different alien cultures reminds me why I wanted this job in the first place, and it’s a good reminder before I face these aliens for real. Last thing I want to do is accidentally cause an intergalactic incident by offering the wrong hand to the wrong alien…

  Plus, it helps me take my mind off Thabo. He stays hold up in his quarters the entire day, and although I’m a bit worried about him, it’s a welcome break from the fluttering feeling I get every time he looks at me.

  “Which alien race are you looking forward to meeting most?”

  “Whichever one stocks the most alcohol,” Michelle sighs, resting her head between her hands. “I can’t do this anymore.”

  “Come on, we’re almost done,” I smirk. “Only two more stacks to go.”

  “Oh god,” she groans.

  “Personally, I’m looking forward to meeting the Tyk’ix,” I chime in. “I wrote my thesis on them. Did you know they can communicate telepathically? They have these orbs they use to communicate instantly with their entire civilization! How cool is that?”

  “The Tyk’ix? Aren’t they those purple, squid-looking people?”

  “I wouldn’t say that to their face.”

  “The ones with tentacles around their mouths, right?”

  “Right,” I say. “But that’s not the p—”

  “They give me the creeps,” Michelle shudders. “Weird looking.”

  “Perhaps they think we’re the weird looking ones,” I answer. “You shouldn’t judge them based on their skin… there are a lot stranger aliens than the Tyk’ix in the alliance.”

  “Maybe you’re right, but still,” Michelle says adamantly. “They are damn creepy looking, and that’s my final answer.”

  “They’re the founding members of the Intergalactic Alliance! We’ll be seeing a lot of them!”

  “You can take them off my hands then,” Michelle says.

  I throw my hands up in the air. This is useless. “Let’s just get back to work.”

  We spend the rest of the afternoon in silence as we pore over the documents. After several hours all the letters start to blend together, and my mind keeps drifting off to General Thabo.

  I wonder what’s he doing right now. I could go check on him, see if he’s alright. Maybe I ought to. He seemed pretty upset last night…

  No, wait, that’ll probably ‘shame his warrior honor’ or something stupid like that.

  Zorans.

  Why couldn’t I have met a cute, soulful Tyk’ix? Preferably a painter, or a historian. We could stay up and watch the two suns rise over Xia V while we talked the day away. He’d teach me about his culture, his people, his history…

  No. That doesn’t do it for me anymore.

  Not now that I’ve met Thabo.

  He’s their polar opposite in many ways. I never in my life imagined myself with a seven feet tall, broad-chested warrior, but I can’t deny what my heart wants.

  And right now, my heart wants the Zoran general.

  Every last, hard, brooding inch of him.

  Now that I think of it, my heart is not the only thing that wants something…

  I excuse myself – but when I look up I see Michelle’s head is resting on the table as she’s drooling onto the paper. Great, how long has she been out?

  I tip-toe away, making sure DuPont doesn’t see me leave. I don’t need him to give me some more busywork, not now that my body is burning up. I head into the shower and lock the door behind me.

  Finally, some peace and quiet.

  The showers are made to fit Zorans, so it’s paradise for me. I strip naked and hop under the warm rays, the liquid washing away my stress. As my hands lather up my body, my mind instantly snaps back to Thabo.

  The fire-red giant is only two doors away. If I wanted to, I could walk right up to his quarters, wearing nothing but a towel… what would he do to me if I did just that? If I dropped the towel the moment he opened the door, and presented my naked body to him?

  Would he snatch me up, press me against the wall, ravage me, right there and then? Or would he take his time, driving me to the edge of insanity with his skilled tongue, and make me beg for him to fuck me?

  Fuck me, Thabo.

  My fingers find my wet lips, and an involuntary groan escapes my mouth when I touch my swollen clit. I can’t even remember the last time I touched myself, but I need it. I need the sweet release, the blissful climax.

  If not, I’m going to do something stupid – like offer my virginity to a Zoran.

  I shut my eyes so hard I see stars, my mind conjuring lewd, salacious images of Thabo.

  Thabo and his big, fire-red cock. Every last inch of it throbbing with desire for me and me alone. I wish he hadn’t controlled his lust, I wish he’d just ripped my dress clean off, lifted me up in the air and slid every last inch of that Zoran cock of his into me the day I ran into him.

  I want him to make me his. I want him to claim me, to leave his mark on me, to feel his teeth sink into my skin, to feel his load fill me up.

  Fuck.

  I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from screaming as the pleasure builds, thump after thump, each beat of my heart sending waves of pleasure coursing through my veins, the feeling building
and building until I can’t even stand up anymore.

  I slide down, sitting on the floor as one hand rubs my clit, the other squeezing my own breast as the warm water rains down on me.

  Finally, I come.

  My hips buck upwards, my entire body trembling as my orgasm rocks every last fiber in my body. I can’t suppress a loud scream that echoes of the walls as I imagine Thabo and I, together, our bodies entwined, his cock buried deep inside me.

  Yes.

  My chest rises with every deep breath as I come back to the land of the living. I blink against the bright lights, and a knock on the door makes me nearly jump out of my skin.

  “Are you okay?” Michelle says. “I heard you scream.”

  “I… slipped,” I say, thinking on my feet. “I’m okay though, thanks!”

  My heart is beating like a drum. Please believe me please believe me.

  “Sure,” Michelle laughs. “Have fun.”

  Nooo.

  I don’t think I’ve ever felt more embarrassed. I towel off quickly, mentally chastising myself for giving into my body’s yearning.

  I had to admit, it felt good, though. For a split second, Thabo’s touch felt real… and I’ve never felt more wanted or more complete than in that single moment.

  It’ll have to stay a fantasy, though. I can’t really fall for a Zoran. They’re bloodthirsty, dangerous killers. If I take him home, my dad will have a heart attack!

  I’ll just have to resist these powerful, overwhelming urges.

  No problem… right?

  6

  Thabo

  Pathetic.

  Disappointing.

  You’re a failure.

  It should have been you.

  My father’s words ring in my ears, no matter how much I try to push them out. I thought I was past this, but I can’t escape him. I can’t outrun my past. I worked my way up to the position of general, matching his. I’ve led man into battle, I’m a decorated veteran. I even had some battle tactics named after me.

  And yet, still, my father Thanos casts a shadow over my life.

  I throw the bottle across the room, the cuhla smashing against the window. Not even the bottle can soothe me now. There’s only one thing that can.