Out of Darkness

by Anna Carven

  She had no armor, and the only weapon she clutched was a long black stick, which she wielded like a gun. As the Xargek approached, she pulled the trigger, squirting blasts of cold vapor at the Xargek. Facing only one or two of the creatures, it might have been effective. But there were around five or six of them, and she couldn’t hit them all at once. She was extraordinarily vulnerable.

  Unacceptable.

  Kalan came beside her and swept her up into his arms as she discharged the vapor-gun yet again, surrounding them with a cold mist that quickly evaporated.

  The peacekeepers started going crazy, simultaneously shooting at the Xargek and yelling at Kalan. “What the hell are you doing, Kordolian? Put her down!”

  Jia shook her head, wrapping her arms around his neck for extra support. “Don’t put me down,” she whispered. “They’re nipping at my fucking ankles.”

  The Xargek larvae scattered as the peacekeepers tried to take aim and fire at them. Kalan shook his head. Humans had no idea how to kill the creatures. They hadn’t been properly trained, and they were slow.

  The shots from the Humans’ bolt guns were deafening, but they were misdirected. One of the peacekeepers took aim at Kalan. “Let her go, alien.” His pale features were twisted with animosity.

  “He’s all right, peacekeeper!” Jia yelled. “He won’t hurt me. Let us be.”

  “You crazy, lady?” The peacekeeper raised his gun. “He’s a fucking Kordolian.”

  She started cursing at him in Human-speak. Kalan turned, shielding her from any potential gunfire. The situation had turned into a chaotic mess of interfering Humans, Xargek, and Jia’s warm body pressed against him, her slender arms around his neck.

  Kalan retracted his helm as he stepped clear of the confusion, because her scent was driving him crazy, and he wanted more. “Hold on,” he said softly, using one arm to support her as he drew his sword with the other.

  He cut a swathe through the Xargek at his feet, breaking free of the melee, leaving the Humans to deal with the remaining larvae. They rushed around awkwardly, shooting with less-than-perfect precision at their targets.

  Unacceptable.

  They really needed training.

  He kept walking until they were well clear of the fighting, sheathing his blade and wrapping his other arm around Jia’s small frame.

  She really weighed next-to-nothing.

  Kalan inhaled her heady scent, which was a mixture of something woody and fragrant; something that spoke to him of warm, distant planets where things actually grew.

  She’d bathed. There was no trace of the machine-oil smell she’d carried before. She was all feminine softness, warm, delicate, and unlike anything Kalan had encountered in his short and brutal life.

  “You know,” she said quietly, lifting her head, “you can put me down, now.” She pushed a strand of long black hair away from her face, and Kalan got another whiff of her intoxicating scent. Her glorious hair was imbued with it. He wanted to run his fingers through her hair. He wanted to see those dark, exotic strands twined around his fingers.

  Kalan blinked, trying to snap himself out of the spell she’d put him under. He had work to do. He couldn’t afford to be getting distracted.

  Common sense told him to let go of her.

  But he willfully ignored it, watching with a sense of deep satisfaction as the pink flush suffusing her face deepened. He suspected he knew what it meant.

  She was aroused.

  He could smell it on her, a secret, tantalizing scent that stood out amongst all the others.

  He was holding onto her, and she didn’t protest.

  A dark voice at the back of his mind told him he should claim her, right here, right now.

  He was a fucking Kordolian. That was what his people did. He could overpower her and take her for himself, and neither she nor any Human onboard this station would be able to do anything about it.

  Although the Kordolian High Council openly expressed their disapproval of inter-species mating, many Kordolians kept alien pleasure slaves on the sly. After all, the female to male ratio on Kythia was so low that many males had no hope of finding a Kordolian mate in their lifetime.

  He could bind her and make her his. He could make her beg for his touch, and he would satisfy himself only with her.

  “Kalan?” She looked up at him with wide, dark eyes. Her lips were slightly parted, and she squirmed a little bit in his arms. “What are you thinking?” Her voice wavered, just a little bit.

  Maybe something of his inner thoughts had shown in his expression, because he could have sworn she’d sounded a little bit fearful just now.

  And the thought of her being afraid of him was enough to douse his arousal, just a little bit.

  Her fear was distasteful.

  Kalan quashed the dark voice in the back of his mind. Although he was Kordolian, Kalan and the First Division had come to regard the Universe differently under General Tarak’s leadership.

  They served under the Empire, but their true loyalties lay with the General, and with each other.

  The more suffering they inflicted and the more destruction they saw, the less the Empire’s propaganda machine held sway over them.

  On this matter, Kalan didn’t have to act like a Kordolian. In this far-flung outpost of the Nine Galaxies, he could do and act as he pleased.

  And right now, it would please him if she wasn’t afraid of him.

  He gently set her down on her feet, and she adjusted her thin garment, which had become slightly loose. It was similar to a traditional Kordolian kashkan in the way it draped loosely around the body, but was belted snugly at the waist.

  Jia looked down and wrinkled her nose in disgust. Small yellowish flecks of Xargek-gunk stained the delicate fabric of her garment. Kalan had probably been covered in the stuff when he’d picked her up.

  She reached across and picked up a spindly fragment of a leg, which had become stuck just above her left breast. She flicked it away, an elegant look of disgust crossing her features.

  The distant sounds of gunfire and Human shouting reached Kalan’s ears, echoing from further down the corridor.

  “Thank you, Kalan.” Despite the mess on her clothes and the chaos down the hall, Jia smiled. “I know you probably didn’t see any reason to rescue that peacekeeper, but you probably saved his life back there. Even though he’s an asshole, he didn’t deserve to be killed by those monsters.”

  Kalan shrugged. “It would have been an unpleasant death. I wouldn’t have wished it upon my enemies.”

  The look she gave him was one of gratitude. Kalan wasn’t used to that. He raised an eyebrow, unsure what he was supposed to do now. Her smile widened, giving her perfect, rosy dimples.

  His arousal flared again, stronger than before.

  He could see the twin points of her nipples through the thin fabric of her garment, and he wondered if she wore anything underneath it. They were perfectly erect, crowning small, pert breasts.

  He found the shape of her body most pleasing. The robe she wore now was much more flattering than her work uniform. To Kalan, it was a revelation.

  “There were so many of them,” Jia said, her voice laced with disgust. “Are we dealing with an infestation?”

  “We are.” There was no point in hiding the truth. Not after what she’d just seen. “But we will get it under control.”

  “That’s why you guys had to stay behind?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s an unexpectedly noble thing for Kordolians to do. Why should you care about a remote Human mining station that has absolutely nothing to do with you?”

  “Our objective is to stop the Xargek from spreading,” Kalan said stiffly. “We will do whatever it takes to eradicate the horde.”

  “And we poor Humans just happened to get caught in the crossfire.” Jia looked down, becoming aware of the direction of his stare. She cleared her throat awkwardly and crossed her arms, her gaze becoming sharp, as if she were somehow displeased. “It’s n
ot as if you stayed here to save us from the mess you inflicted upon us, is it?”

  “No,” Kalan answered honestly. “But we’re the best chance you have of destroying them.”

  “I see.” It was as she’d erected some sort of invisible barrier between them. She regarded him warily, as one might watch a semi-tamed beast, unsure whether he might bite or nuzzle her.

  If Kalan had his way, he would do more than just nuzzle her.

  But first, she had to trust him. The problem was, he didn’t know how to convince her to let her guard down.

  He was a Kordolian, and in some dark, distant evolutionary past, he would have probably been a natural predator of her kind. Perhaps, somewhere deep in her subconscious, she could sense it.

  “I would protect you,” he said gruffly, surprising himself. The words sounded strange and foreign as they dropped from his lips.

  Kalan didn’t say such things to anyone. Ever.

  Jia’s eyebrows rose. In the background, the fighting started to die down as the Humans gained the upper hand over the Xargek. It had taken them far too long to deal with a few insignificant larvae.

  “Why?” She’d edged closer to the wall. Now, her back was pressed against it. Kalan leaned over her as she glared up at him with defiance in her dark, glittering eyes. Something had upset her. Kalan didn’t understand it. “What makes me so different from any of the other Humans onboard this station? Why am I worth saving, Kordolian?”

  “Because I’ve decided I’d rather not have you die.” Kalan pressed his hand against the wall, mentally commanding the black gloves covering his hands to retract. The exo-armor dissolved, revealing his rough silver skin.

  The action was almost automatic; he’d had a sudden desire to reach out and touch her face. He wanted to feel her soft skin, which was pale and flawless.

  Her breathing was rapid and shallow, and he could hear her fluttering heartbeat.

  Ah, fuck it.

  Kalan took a chance, reaching out to brush a strand of hair away from her face, allowing his bare thumb to graze her cheek. Her skin felt as smooth and flawless as it looked. To Kalan, she was perfection.

  His cock was straining underneath his impenetrable armor, his arousal stretched to near breaking point.

  “Why, Kalan?” Her voice was barely a whisper. She hadn’t flinched from his touch. He let his hand slide into her dark, lustrous hair, twining the long strands between his fingers. He bent and inhaled her scent, drowning in her sweet, pure aroma.

  The Goddess was playing a sublime trick on him. Here she was, completely at his mercy, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to make her his.

  Not yet.

  Not until she was willing.

  He leaned in, his lips almost brushing her ear. “Because,” he said, his voice a low, dark whisper, “I desire you, Jia of Earth.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was both terrifying and exhilarating.

  I desire you.

  Kalan’s nostrils flared as he drew back and took a deep breath, his large, warm fingers exploring her hair and face.

  It was as if he’d never been close to a woman before.

  She allowed him to do it.

  The object of Jia’s secret, never-to-be-spoken-of fantasies was right here in front of her, in the flesh, and apparently, he found her very attractive.

  Ever since the Kordolians had appeared on Fortuna Tau, Jia’s entire reality had been turned on its head.

  First there was the discovery of the Xargek, and now this.

  “Kalan,” she said carefully, trying to hide the fact that her heart was hammering and heat was building between her legs, “I’m… Human. You’re… not. Do you really think this is a good idea?”

  “I don’t know,” he answered, his warm breath feathering her ear. He was so close, yet no part of him touched her except for his hand, which gently explored the contours of her face, his rough thumb sliding down her cheek, caressing her jawline. He tilted her face upwards, and Jia felt a sudden urge to taste his dark, inviting lips.

  This can’t be happening.

  It was too surreal.

  In the blink of an eye, Jia had gone from fighting giant cockroaches with a freeze-gun to being seduced by a towering warrior who just so happened to be a freaking alien. Things were really starting to get out of hand.

  She was well aware of how potentially dangerous her situation was right now. Kalan could easily overpower her, and Kordolian culture certainly didn’t seem to respect Human values.

  Jia’s thoughts turned to her friend Abbey, who had been stolen away by the General, a fearsome being who was apparently the leader of this crew of dark warriors. She shuddered. Jia hoped to hell that her friend was okay. The General had reassured her he was going to have her healed, but what happened after that? Abbey was plenty tough, but could she stand against a Kordolian?

  And could Jia handle someone like Kalan?

  Scary, indeed.

  So why wasn’t she afraid?

  His touch made her feel good, and she liked the way he looked at her. Even though her night robe was stained with Xargek gunk, he devoured her with his gaze. Jia was suddenly all too aware of his nearness.

  “You smell good,” he murmured, inhaling her scent. Jia tried not to let his sweetly whispered words turn her brain to mush.

  “It’s sandalwood and vanilla,” Jia blurted, before she could think. “Something to remind me of Earth,” she added hastily. His closeness was affecting her ability to string together a coherent sentence.

  “Hmm.” His hand slid down to her neck, stroking the hollow above her collarbone, brushing a stray bit of Xargek-muck from just below her throat.

  Jia swallowed nervously, bringing her hand up to meet his. Her heart was thudding in her chest, and a feeling of warmth had spread throughout her body. Her pussy throbbed with need.

  Whoa. The intensity of her body’s reaction surprised her. Jia appreciated the male form as much as anyone else, but she could usually keep her impulses under control. She’d never been the type to seek instant gratification. Although Jia wasn’t shy about admiring what she liked, when it came to having an actual physical relationship with someone else, she’d didn’t see the need to rush in. Actually, when it came to relationships, she’d never had much luck.

  The excuses were the usual ones. Too busy with work. Not enough time. Never met the right person.

  It had just never happened. And up here on a remote mining station, the chances of her meeting someone she actually wanted to get intimate with with were slim to none.

  There had been several offers, but Jia knew better than to screw a workmate.

  She’d been content satisfying herself with her little fantasies, doing what a girl needed to do… until now.

  This Kordolian had arrived from some distant part of the Universe and turned everything on its head.

  Nothing made sense anymore.

  She curled her fingers around Kalan’s wrist and gently pulled his hand away. He didn’t offer any resistance. “You aren’t interested?” He looked a little crestfallen, and slightly bemused. “But your scent tells me otherwise.”

  Jia added enhanced smell to the list of Kordolian super abilities. Was there anything these guys couldn’t do?

  “Not here,” Jia protested. “Not like this.” She glanced down at her dirty robe. There were little yellow stains everywhere.

  Kalan inclined his head, the twin points of his fangs visible through his slightly parted lips. A slightly pained expression crossed his features. He moved back, but he didn’t pull free of her grasp.

  “I will replace it,” he declared, wrapping his warm fingers around hers. “A fine Kordolian kashkan would suit you well.”

  He brought her hand to his lips, gracing it with a gentle kiss. A warm thrill shot down Jia’s spine. The touch of his lips on her bare skin was electric. In spite of his hard appearance, his lips were wonderfully soft and warm. She looked at Kalan in disbelief.
Was he trying to fucking court her like some gallant character from an ancient romance story?

  Jia’s head was spinning. In her other hand was the freeze-gun. She realized she was gripping it tightly. She opened her mouth to speak, still unsure whether she should protest or give in.

  But she was interrupted by a loud, tortured scream.

  A Human scream.

  Kalan’s ears twitched, and his eyes became hard. That was the last thing she saw before they were plunged into darkness.

  The lights flickered, and then went out.

  A piercing, inhuman cry echoed from down the corridor. The sound chilled Jia to the bone. “What the hell is that?” She looked around wildly, but everything was pitch black. The only thing anchoring her was Kalan’s silent, indomitable presence.

  “Shh,” he cautioned her, his voice barely audible. He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Listen to me carefully, Jia. I need to find a safe place for you. We’re going to have to run.”

  “Why?” Jia’s voice was a breathless whisper.

  “Xargek,” he hissed. “Adult stage.”

  “Run? But what about -”

  “They’re already dead,” Kalan said coldly. “Come.”

  The darkness was all-consuming. Jia couldn’t see anything. She’d been robbed of her sight, but she knew Kalan could see perfectly well in the darkness.

  “If we stay here, you’re going to get killed,” he said. “Even if I engage it now, I can’t guarantee your safety.” He’d switched to warrior-mode; his voice was emotionless and detached.

  The skittering sound that reached Jia’s ears made her skin crawl.

  “It’s coming,” Kalan warned. “I’m going to try and slow it down. Whatever you do, don’t move.”

  He pulled away from her then, leaving Jia with her back to the wall. He moved so silently that she had no idea what direction he’d taken. Jia had no choice but to trust him. If what he’d said was true and an adult Xargek approached, she’d be foolish to try and run, especially when she couldn’t see a thing.

  The fact that mains lighting had gone out was a worry. It meant that something had happened to the solar concentrator, which was essentially a huge battery that stored the energy harvested from the millions of solar panels attached to Fortuna Tau’s sun-facing side.