by Rena Marks
Violet was beyond gorgeous with this second pregnancy. Her skin was luminous when she was with child, her hair even more glossy and silky than usual. And the firm, ample swell of her belly. Even as he watched, he could see the movement of one of the little ones as an elbow or foot rolled across her midsection.
“Ooh,” she gasped, her hand going to her belly.
“Are you all right?”
She smiled. “Of course. It’s just a lot more cramped with two of them.”
Next to her, Talpin rubbed the swollen bulge of his own mate, even as Dahlia giggled. But suddenly, Violet yelled.
“Lilja! Don’t you dare take off your clothes again!” His tiny daughter giggled as she smoothed the white shift back down over her ample legs that Violet called pure sausages. She played near a small pool of water with several Calabrian children.
Two more. At once. Cadoc was still stunned by the news. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that he’d have three small ones, all in swaddles. Or, as Violet called them, nappies. It was amazing. Along with which, his best friend Talpin and Dahlia were due any day. Life was good on the planet.
Suddenly, high-pitched tongue trills sounded out from many of the Calabrians. It was a form of congratulations, signaling the end of the wedding festivities for Josie and Roxian. In addition, the humans threw tiny food pieces they called rice. And Violet thought his mating customs were strange.
“Explain to me again the custom of throwing uncooked food?” Talpin whispered, but was elbowed by his mate.
“Berserkers would love it,” Cadoc whispered back.
“We don’t throw dead flesh,” Violet said, horrified.
But finally, the long ceremonies were finished. The happy couple took the platform again, and Trina had to nudge Jilly to remind her to snap photos.
“Thanks for coming, our dear friends! We’re honored to have the leaders of Docadia at our wedding. On the landing strip is another bridal cruise ship, just like the one we all met each other on. The humans have been brought here to visit the planet to get to know Calabrians. They’ll follow the Docadians home for a visit to their planet, too, and hopefully we’ll have more brides who choose to stay. We have Violet to thank for making those arrangements with Earth customs.”
The Calabrian tongue trilling sounded again, and Cadoc fought against wincing at the horrible pitch. The human flowers clapped their hands together, and Cadoc was grateful for the gentler method of thanks and appreciation.
“For now, eat, drink and dance. Please celebrate our wedding with us.”
A happy Roxian pulled his purple-clad bride to him and kissed her thoroughly, then emitted a moan.
“Oh, my,” Violet said, averting her eyes from the darker purple stain spreading across Roxian’s lap.
“Not again,” Jilly murmured. “No one even touched his horns.”
“I imagine she’ll be the next one pregnant,” Dahlia whispered to Violet.
“Da!” His plump daughter tugged his leg, and Cadoc scooped her wriggling body up in his arms, bringing her in for kisses.
A small Calabrian youngster stood with her. “Can we swim now, sir?” he asked. “The grownup wedding is over finally. We want to splash in the kid pool, and squish in all the mud at the bottom.”
“Yes,” Cadoc said. “You have kept clean long enough. Feel free to play.”
With a squeal, his daughter scrambled down and took the hand of the child to run off to the small muddy pond.
Violet moved in close to him, and he wrapped his arms around her, feeling their children squirm in the tightness of her belly.
“I love you,” he murmured near her ear.
“I love you as well,” she said.
Life was good.
Clarity’s Doom
C.L. Scholey
Ancient Origins Book 1.
A massive sinkhole phenomenon strikes terror on Earth and brilliant soon-to-be science graduate Clarity is sucked into a vortex that lands her on an alternate Earth planet where hybrid dinosaurs inhabit lush jungles. When caught in a fierce storm, she’s rescued by the most magnificent alpha male with a serene yet hypnotic gaze she’s ever encountered. As stunningly handsome as he might be, Clarity is no one’s fool. There is deception in his intense gaze.
A warrior marked by death, an executioner by force, Doom leads the victims of sinkhole gatherings to slaughter. Each tattoo adorning his flesh depicts a sad tale of loss, a burden he must bear. But when he finds Clarity, she’s spunky and filled with a determination he’s never before encountered. Something inside him rises to meet her challenge to save his people, his very soul. He’ll protect her at any cost, even if it means his life.
Tempest and the Warrior
C.L. Scholey
Unearthly World Book 7.
Hurting and angry, Cy, a lone Zargonnii warrior, spends years banished from a planet he loves. Home. The word eats his soul. Planet after planet he travels, but there is only one place for him. His ship crashes during a battle with a mind altering Angano alien, landing him on a desolate place with a human female and her young son. Tempest is his ticket home. Cy knows if he brings her back to his leader and best friend Titus, who banished him, he will be welcomed. The plan was easy: a human female, her son, Angano blood, and an Angano enemy ship. Cy would be welcomed back with open arms. Right? What could go wrong? Everything.
Tempest and her son were abandoned three long years ago by a Tonan warrior, leaving her bitter and betrayed. When a massive alien lands and encourages her to go home with him she is eager to be away with her son from a planet promising only death, yet she is wary. Cy wants something from her, or needs something from her. Is it in her heart to risk another betrayal?
Abducted
Book 1 in the Blue Barbarian series.
Alien abductions are real.
I was the third female awakened aboard the spacecraft that specialized in kidnapping females. Their mission? To sell us to other galaxies.
Human female Numbers One and Two didn’t make it, but I was lucky. I was able to comprehend the instruction from Drakar, a caged abductee from the planet Blaedonia. I live only because of his warning to me not to fight the aliens who have me on the table. Together, we formulate a plan for escape for both us and the ten other unawakened Earthlings.
Lucky for Drakar, the spaceship crash-lands back on his planet. Unlucky for the Earthlings, we’ll never be able to travel back home.
We’ll have to learn to adapt.
Niki’s Story:
Suddenly my shackles tingle, the sensation shooting down my arms like a spark of electricity. But it doesn’t hurt, or feel uncomfortable. It feels kind of…nice.
In a strange way.
“I can see you, though, little human. I have night vision that your species does not.”
I lick my lips. It doesn't seem fair that I've never seen Drakar, but then he blows warm breath on my neck, and suddenly it no longer matters.
“How do you like to be touched?” His touch skims across my lower abdomen.
Goosebumps race across my skin and it’s not from cold. It’s instantaneous and it’s weird, but it's sexy. Either he’s a master seducer, or the shackles on my wrists are doing something strange to my libido.
I writhe. “Drakar.”
“Niki.”
“These bracelets are doing something to me.”
“I know. I feel it, too.” His voice exudes sex. “I want you.”
“What’s happening?”
He groans. “Your arousal seduces me.” His breath is heated, and his body temperature feels suddenly warmer.
Stargazer Series
In 1692, a starship carrying volunteers arrived on planet Earth near a small town called Salem, Massachusetts. The long journey across many light years caused the female inhabitants aboard drastic memory loss. It was already known when they would arrive on Earth, they would have no memories of who and what they really were. They would be as helpless as newborn lambs.
The go
al was to breed with Earthlings, to prevent their own race from dying out. If it was successful, years later more Stargazers would be sent to co-exist with the humans on Planet Earth.
But alas—the females were slaughtered.
Book 1—The Hunter
Dante and Kele
Book 2 —The Enforcer
Diamond and Felicia
Book 3 —The Defender
Hayze and Cassio
Book 4 —The Protector
Neo and Jessie
Book 5 —The Guardian
Vesta and Bay
The Hunter
Prologue:
The atmosphere in the grand council meeting was tense, grim even. In the center of the room, laser lights of green and blue flashed, drawing attention to the enlarged hologram of the speaker. Around the hologram stood dozens of females. They were dressed in odd clothing, obviously not from this world. The fabric looked coarse, and the garments were crudely designed. They consisted of shapeless cumbersome gowns. Some of the women even wore strange head coverings.
And then the voice boomed.
“We are gathered here to review the report on the future of our race. I am Nepa, and I am your general speaker.”
He paused, allowing the audience time to adjust to the beginning of his speech. The pause wasn't necessary, however, as the entire planet was riveted to this life-altering event.
“As you are all aware, we have spent decades on one ongoing problem. Our females are slowly becoming infertile. At this point, there is a huge imbalance on our planet, with males outnumbering females six to one. With all of our advanced technology, we cannot figure out why. The dilemma of the council consists of reaching out to inhabitable planets to decide if we can co-exist with other species. To interbreed. It is a dilemma because those planets are not as technologically advanced as we are, most are not even aware other space inhabitants exist. Their ignorance may cause fear. What we can offer to those planets is a solution to their own in-breeding, and to share knowledge of future ramifications. As we have discovered, eventually the gene pool narrows so dramatically that every culture faces the same problem we have, the phasing out of a species. We offer this benefit to smaller planets, the knowledge of our experience without having to find out the hard way, as we did.
“However, we are not making contact with other planets at this point. Instead, our scouts will be sent out to see if conditions are favorable.
“Naturally, that is a concern. At this point, our females are precious and few. It hurts every one of us to ship them off to a strange new planet to adapt. We are grateful for the brave volunteers.”
Huge clapping ensued. The hologram vision bowed his head, signaling acknowledgment of the applause. When the clapping ended, he raised his head to speak again.
“We cannot send males at this time. Radiation from the youth of certain stars have rendered males infertile. The feminine reproductive system is encased within the body, protecting it from radiation. We have tried everything possible to mimic the results with males, to no avail. And we are out of time. If we do not split our planet at this time, we face the very grim reality of our population dying out. However, we continue to work on the problem and are confident that males will be able to travel without the threat of sterilization in the next decade. In the meantime, we wish a positive farewell to the cherished females of our planet.
“You each will arrive in various—but nearby—locations on a planet called Earth. We chose Earth because of their limited communications and technology. It is completely necessary that our scouts do not interfere with the education of their planet, instead allowing them to self-educate naturally. For this, our scouts have each agreed to be placed in stasis.”
Hushed whispers swept through the audience.
“I know,” continued the hologram. “Being placed in stasis for an undetermined amount of time will cause permanent brain damage—namely, complete amnesia. You will enter a planet without communication from your own race. You will be 'reborn' in a sense, on planet Earth, dressed in the clothing similar to what other Earthlings wear. You will be ejected from your stasis capsules, and the ship will implode. Your capsules will dissolve, nourishing your bodies, until you awaken. But once you are awake, you will have no knowledge of who or what you are. You will adapt to the planet and learn to live as a human. It will not be easy. Does anyone wish to resign her volunteerism?”
The room was hushed. Of all the females around the hologram, no one stepped up.
“All right. You are aware of the dangers. One condition of your new life, which all of you already know, is permission granting us examination of you and of any offspring you may bear. Your memories will be wiped clean of each future abduction. However, I'm sure it will be a terrifying experience as you will be as immature as an actual Earthling, who have not even experienced space travel yet.
“Ladies, please step into your stasis capsule. Good luck to every one of you.”
Bubbles floated gently around the hologram, circling around the image. Each oddly dressed female stepped forward and entered the shiny, invisible bubble-like capsule. Once inside, they lay horizontally, seeming to float in air as the capsule expanded around them. Immediately, the inner air collapsed and they fell unconscious.
The hologram was solemn. “God be with you.”
Present day:
The Hunter entered the great room of the Communicator. The man who was normally projected as a hologram sat alone, staring out the grand windows that made up an entire wall of his office.
The Communicator spoke without turning around. “Did you set up the portal?”
“I did.”
There was a brief moment of silence while The Hunter came and stood at the wall of windows also. Together they watched their stars. The community down below. The hovering dots of light that signaled their airborne travel system.
“What did you find?” The Communicator's voice was a whisper. “I know your moods, and this somber attitude cannot be good.”
“Most of the travelers were slaughtered.”
“What?” The Communicator turned his head sharply.
But The Hunter still stared out the window.
“They called our females witches. While they were able to blend in with the clothing we assigned, it was suspicious that so many had amnesia and did not have any previous memories. Panic shifted into frenzy and it grew from there.”
“But witches? That is good, is it not? Why would they have been slaughtered?”
“Apparently, on Earth witches do not have the same revered status they do here. There, they were feared. They were believed to be devil worshipers. Instead of being healers, they were said to cast witchcraft.”
The Communicator's mouth fell open. “They still believe the devil exists?”
“The religion of the people where they landed did. A lot of others around the planet believe the same thing. It may have been better if we had sent them a bit earlier, because the more primitive people who had lived in that location prior gave thanks to the environment. They worshiped the land, the air. They did not believe in the devil. We could have changed Earth's history by sending our females a bit earlier. However, luck of the draw chose one hundred and fifty years ago, when Salem, Massachusetts was already dominated by Puritans. Mass hysteria ensued.”
“We are not to change history,” The Communicator murmured softly. Automatically, almost. But his next words belied his horror. “How many were slaughtered?”
“Ninety-five. However, history has changed the figure to reflect a lot less. Human history tends to smooth over vile acts. The primitives that had lived in the land earlier? They are now called Native Americans. Today they celebrate a holiday as a treaty between the two populations of humans, when in fact they slaughtered the entire community to confiscate their land.”
“The remaining few of ours who survived?”
“They have bred,” The Hunter said. “We do have a handful of descendants on the planet.”
; “One small success,” whispered The Communicator. “The descendants are healthy?”
“Yes, our DNA has merged successfully with the native species of Earth. Our ship has monitored a scant handful over the centuries.”
“Then it is time for contact.” He cut his eyes to The Hunter finally. “You will be best for the job. You have been on the crew, gathering the info on the species. I know you have been hunting for a long time. Are you ready for something different?”
The Hunter widened his eyes. “It is not something I had thought about.”
“It will open you up to be one of the first settlers on the new, safe Earth. First in line to find your own mate and have a chance at being part of a family. It is a small reward for your years of servitude to protecting others.”
Dante the Hunter bowed his head.
Chasing Violet
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Chasing Violet Copyright March 2017 Terran Publishing
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