Alien Apocalypse: The Complete Series (Parts I-IV)

by JC Andrijeski

  Instead, he let go of the edge of her shirt, and raised a hand to her hair, stroking it as if she were a cat. By then, her side didn’t hurt at all, and she found herself leaning into his fingers, even as she moved closer to where he stood. Once she slid an arm around his waist, however, he stepped backwards, releasing both her hip and her hair. His disengagement confused Jet more than embarrassed her...then it made her slightly sad.

  When she frowned up at him, she found him looking at her again, his eyes hard, but again holding more than she could really pin down. She felt strangely floaty, but surprisingly clear, too. In fact, everything around her seemed suddenly much more clear...and real...almost bright. She had a sudden desire to take off all of her clothes and lie on the green sofa...or maybe the eggshell smooth floor.

  “No.” Laksri shook his head, his voice firm. He took her arm then, and strangely, she felt a sort of regret through the skin of his fingers where he held her.

  If he didn’t want to say no, Jet thought, then why would he?

  “No,” he repeated, before she could ask. “We go out.”

  “You’re hungry,” Jet remembered, as though through a thick pane of glass. “...You want food. Right? Is that it?”

  He nodded, once, but she felt his relief, too. Pulling her towards him, he hesitated though, and she could almost feel him thinking that time.

  “You want to sting me again?” she said. Thinking about it, she caught hold of the fabric of her shirt, lifting it on the same side as before. “Okay.”

  Laksri stared down at her, his dark eyes blank.

  Then she felt his hands tighten. She felt him make up his mind, seemingly before he let himself think about it clearly, then his tail wrapped around her waist from the other side, holding her in place before he stung her again. That time, he let out a short gasp, his tail tightening around her until their bodies were nearly flush. He gasped again as he continued to let out the venom, and that time, Jet felt the same rush of warmth and near-release somewhere in her own body, as if through the middle of his chest. It was intense enough that she clutched at him with her fingers, leaning against him in the pause.

  He didn’t unwrap his tail right away, but when he started to, she grabbed hold of it, shaking her head.

  “Another,” she told him.

  That time, she felt a near-panic on him. He shook his head, even as a denser feeling rose from under that panic.

  “No,” he said. He started again to uncoil his tail.

  Jet felt a swell of disappointment, strong enough that Laksri looked away, as if he felt it, too. It took Jet another few seconds to realize he’d stopped moving away from her.

  “Why not?” she said.

  She noticed that his tail remained around her waist as well, if more loosely than before. Laksri looked down at her, as if preparing to answer, and that time, the colored points in his eyes seemed to stand out in the deep black like stars...even miniature constellations.

  “One more,” she said, seeing the doubt that stood there.

  Her voice was cajoling that time.

  Laksri looked away, then his expression hardened. When he looked back that time, his tail once more coiled sharply around her waist. He gripped her tighter that time, his long fingers holding her shoulder in one hand, her rear in the other. It didn’t bother her, though...and it didn’t occur to her that maybe she should wonder about that, too. Instead, she found herself feeling what it was like inside his body, the different rhythm of his pulse against her fingers where she held his arm. Her other hand caressed the skin of his tail, and then the leg below, exploring the definition of his thigh muscles through his pants.

  “One more, I might do sex,” he said, his voice gruff again. “Want it. Already I want...” He stared down at her, his tail tightening enough that she had her whole body against his, and even then could barely breathe.

  “...More than I thought,” he said after the pause. “More than before.”

  “You wanted sex with me before?” Jet found the idea bewildering, but not repugnant in any way. Not even undesirable really, which made her mind pause again.

  “Yes,” he said, short, while she still thought about this. “Yes, before...since the ship...”

  Jet looked up at him, at a loss for words.

  “Would that be...bad?” she said finally.

  His tail tightened more, forcing a gasp out of her.

  “You will be angry,” he said, after she watched emotions war across his suddenly, vividly expressive eyes. She couldn’t remember seeing so much in them before, and had to assume that must be from the venom, too. Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to question it really.

  “Sting me again,” Jet suggested. “Then we can decide...”

  Laksri looked down at her, again his expression almost hesitant.

  Then his jaw hardened, right before he pressed his tail against her side again, seemingly harder than before. He shoved it up against her skin right before the barb went into her, and that time, Jet let out a little gasp, even as Laksri wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her tightly against him. He let out a low, rumbling sound in his chest, almost like the purr of a great cat, just as the venom in his tail started to let go. She had her arms wrapped around his waist by the time he finished, her fingers caressing his tail where it left the tailored hole in his pants. He gripped her tighter as she kept touching him, tighter still when her other hand slid under his shirt, caressing the smooth muscles and skin. From what she could tell, every part of him was muscle; the velvet skin moved over those hard slopes and planes like a silk covering.

  She didn’t remember them changing positions, but suddenly, Jet was aware of lying on her back on something hard and flat.

  She had a vague recollection of the Nirreth pushing or pulling her somewhere...putting his hand on the wall...then being here, in this dimmer space, and now Laksri had no shirt. His upper body had a kind of angular symmetry that threw her a bit...hairless, of course, with no nipples and ribs that seemed more vertical than horizontal. His shoulders were larger and more banded with muscle than they’d seemed even when he wore clothes. He pulled her against him, his tail wrapped around her again, only this time, inside and under her shirt.

  “Again?” he asked her gruffly, raising his head from where he’d been sucking on her throat with his mouth and tongue. “Again?” he said, his voice more cajoling as his fingers stroked her bare skin under the shirt.

  Jet’s breath was coming hard now, in strange, short pants, and she found her hands roaming to places on the Nirreth she’d never even explored on another human being. His hand slid inside her pants, gripping the back of her thigh in long fingers, even as he sucked more on her shoulder and throat. She felt desire coming off him in waves, even as she continued to explore his body with her hands, feeling him react under her fingers.

  “Again?” he said, his voice more urgent, despite the murmur. “Again? Please...?”

  Before Jet could answer, another voice broke the quiet, seemingly from right over where they lay.

  “I think you’ve both had enough...don’t you?” it said, booming over the small space.

  Jet looked up, dazed, her whole body tensing even as she clutched protectively at Laksri’s arms. If she’d been remotely in her right mind, she probably would have known what to expect when she looked up...or who, at the very least, given the wry humor in his voice, mixed with a darker sort of warning.

  As it was, she could only blink in surprise at the image of Richter standing there, fully clothed, arms folded and a hard look in his coffee-colored eyes.

  “Laksri!” Richter commanded, his voice holding more of that edge. “Get up. Or I’ll shoot you with your own stunner...like we talked about...” He chuckled a little, but Jet still saw that hard, almost angry look in his eyes. “...I figured I’d better check in on you two....make sure you didn’t get too carried away for your first time. I guess it’s good I did.”

  Jet glanced up at Laksri, who frowned, still obviou
sly having trouble focusing his eyes.

  She saw him glance at her, right before his face tightened more. He said something to Richter in that gutteral Nirreth language, still gripping Jet with his fingers and tail. His body remained heavy on hers, too, and it took Jet that long to realize her own hand was between them, caressing the front of his pants. Even as she thought it, Laksri pressed tighter against her, letting her know he didn’t mind even as he gripped her possessively.

  “We talked about this, my black-skinned friend,” Richter said, his voice warning as he cut Laksri off in mid-speech. “Laksri, I’m not kidding about the stunner. If you need to get laid that badly, we’ll find you someone in the slave pens, all right? We’ll do this experiment another night. When you’re thinking with a different part of your body...”

  At Jet’s cry of protest, Richter only spoke louder, his gesture at her dismissive.

  “...Plenty of girls down there who’d be more than happy to get you off...but not this one,” he said, emphasizing the word darkly. He pointed at Jet without looking her in the face. “We need this girl, Laks. You know it, as well as I do. I don’t care what kind of puppy dog crush you think you have on her, I’m not about to let you start screwing her for kicks...she won’t help us at all if you make a habit of raping her, simply because you can’t control yourself...”

  Again, Jet tried to protest, but Richter cut her off.

  “So what’s it going to be, pal? You really want to go toe to toe with me on this? Spend all of tomorrow with a hangover from the stunner? Or can we compromise? Find you another mammal to play with?”

  Jet felt her mouth harden as she stared at Richter.

  Then her eyes shifted up to Laksri’s. The Nirreth returned her stare that time, and again she felt that glimmer of regret, as if through his very skin. At the same time, she felt him avoiding the question in her about whether he intended to do as Richter was suggesting...find another ‘mammal’ in the slave pens.

  Using his arms, Laksri lifted himself off her, uncoiling his tail from around her waist and back as he did. Jet only let go of him when he pulled the rest of the way out of her reach, and even then, she did it reluctantly, fighting not to take his withdrawal personally. She watched, still half-sprawled on the cushioned surface where she lay, as Laksri pulled his shirt off the floor and tugged it over his head once he’d straightened.

  Looking down at herself, Jet was mildly relieved to find herself fully clothed...although perhaps not as relieved as she should have been. When Laksri left through a rounded door to a brighter, larger-seeming room beyond, Jet felt another stab of loss. Glancing around, she saw that she lay sprawled on a flat, wide cushion on some equally flat support structure, whether wood or metal or something else. Square cushions formed what might have been pillows, and Jet saw herself lying on sheets of a pale, blue color.

  Richter chuckled again, reminding Jet that he was there, that she wasn’t alone, despite how alone she suddenly felt. She looked up at him, and he motioned towards the bed.

  “Looks like he spruced the place up for you, kitten.” Winking at Jet, he added, “Nirreth don’t normally use pillows. Or sheets, for that matter...”

  But Jet was staring up by then, seeing a scattered pattern of lights embedded in the darker blue ceiling, almost the same color as Laksri’s skin. Lights shone from there, some pale blue, some white, some with faint-colored tints of orange or red or yellow. One even seemed to flicker in a myriad of different colors, like a tiny kaleidoscope.

  “Are those...stars?” Jet said.

  She’d only really seen stars since she’d been in the Green Zone, when she ventured out in the night and gazed up at the recreated stars of the dome.

  Richter shook his head, rolling his eyes as he approached the bed.

  “He got you a few times...didn’t he, kitten? You’re high as a kite...”

  He took her arms above the elbows to help her off the mattress. She flinched a little without helping him or herself to move, still pointing upwards.

  “But, are they...”

  “Yes,” Richter grunted. “They’re stars. Now get up, girl, or I might be tempted to finish what that big lug started...”

  A hiss emanated from by the door. Jet glanced over and saw Laksri standing there, his cat-like face taut, his teeth bared in obvious displeasure at Richter’s words. Richter tensed a little, even as he tugged harder on one of Jet’s arms.

  “Take it easy, Laks,” Richter began, his voice cautious.

  Laksri said something harsh in the Nirreth tongue, speaking too quickly for Jet to make out more than a few words. His sharp gestures and violently darting tail conveyed the tone of the message well enough, however. After the Nirreth took a step closer to the bed, Richter released Jet altogether, holding up his hands in a kind of peace gesture that was at least part supplication...maybe even a form of submission to the larger male.

  “Fine,” Richter said. “Just remember yourself, my big, blue friend. After all, I wouldn’t need to be here at all, if you had any self control. So don’t get high and mighty on me...got it?”

  By then, Laksri had inserted his larger bulk between Jet and Richter and helped her off the mattress with careful hands. Once Jet managed to pull herself upright, his tail coiled around her protectively, even as he turned to face Richter, speaking strongly in the Nirreth language once more.

  Richter had his hands up again, in the same gesture as before.

  “Understood,” he said, when Laksri paused. “When you’ve come down off your little horomone surge, then we’ll have more words...agreed?”

  Jet looked between the two of them, then up at the stars on the ceiling. She heard Laksri grunt a few more words in Richter’s direction, then he gently steered her towards the door to the main room, using his palm and his tail. Jet followed along willingly enough, still a little confused by the hostility between the two of them, and uneasy about the thought of Laksri going to find some other human to sting once they’d finished dinner.

  When she thought it that time, however, his tail coiled more tightly around her.

  “I will not,” he told her bluntly, wrapping his fingers around her shoulder.

  Exhaling a little in relief, Jet nodded a thanks to him, even as she caught Richter looking warily between them.

  “Should I ask?” he said.

  “No,” Laksri said warningly, tugging Jet tighter against him.

  Jet didn’t mind. Anyway, the concern in her mind had disappeared entirely, leaving no trace after the Nirreth’s reassurance. At that point, all she felt was a mild disappointment that they were leaving...and hungry. She could feel Laksri’s hunger so clearly through his skin that all she could think about was food. The more she thought about it, the worse his hunger seemed to get, which of course made her hunger worse, too.

  Either way, she found herself relieved by the time they finally began heading for the door to the outer corridor, pausing only long enough for Laksri to remind Jet to put on her shoes. Again, she had no memory of having taken them off, but somehow Richter held them in his hand and was handing them cautiously to Laksri to put on her feet. Jet noticed that Richter still seemed to be approaching the male Nirreth like one might approach a dangerous wild animal. It didn’t strike her as anything more than a curiosity, however...Richter himself didn’t really interest her much at that point.

  The fact that Laksri knelt down and began putting the shoes on her feet, one by one, didn’t strike her as particularly odd, either. His long fingers remained gentle, and she found herself remembering the look of his densely muscled, nearly black-colored chest. Her fingers touched the side of his face as she thought about it, and briefly, Laksri closed his eyes, just before he pushed her fingers gently away.

  She started to wonder if he was unhappy with her in some way.

  “No,” he said, glancing up. “I am not.” He regained his feet in one, smooth motion, towering over her once more. Reaching out, he caught hold of her hair in one hand, again stroking it in his
fingers almost carefully. That time, it didn’t bother her at all.

  “Not mad,” he said, adding a reassuring purr.

  Leaning closer, he pressed his cheek briefly to hers. When he pulled away, Jet caught Richter staring at them again, and frowning. Jet saw what might even have been anger in Richter’s expression, but she had no idea what to make of it.

  “I think you two better stick to a one-sting limit from now on,” he muttered, looking away when he caught Jet’s eyes on him.

  Laksri didn’t answer, and when Jet turned, she found him staring at her again, as if the two of them were once again alone in the room.

  Jet tried to focus on the room around her, and the people in it.

  She felt eyes on her, which made her nervous...and caused her to flinch into Laksri’s side a few times, even though he sat on the bench right next to her, hovering almost protectively whenever another of the Nirreth came over to speak to either him or Richter, or merely to stare at her and Laksri together. She felt the appraisals, and some of Laksri’s reactions to them, not all of which were pleasant.

  Clearly, in Laksri’s mind at least, a number of those stares held a little too much interest.

  Humans sat scattered among the Nirreth as well, dotting the various tables with their smaller heights and lighter complexions. A few were male, which mildly piqued Jet’s interest...or as much as anything could interest her through the pleasant backdrop of venom in which her mind rested. That hyper-clarity didn’t confuse things so much as make it nearly impossible for any one thing to really bother her.

  In addition to ordering food for her and making sure she liked everything they gave her, Laksri also answered her questions...some of them anyway, between the rounds of curious and roving Nirreth. He often did so whether or not she voiced those questions aloud.