by Liz Paffel
Hahn approached him easily, taking the guard’s head in his hands and twisting his neck before he had a chance to blink. Sasha winced as the body fell hard to the ground. She refocused on the activity in the hanger bay. There was no sign of living things being stuffed into the ships. Humans, aliens. Females. Slaves. But it didn’t mean they weren’t in there, somewhere.
“Done.” Hahn slung a pack over his shoulder and adjusted the wide band with a small screen on it, much like the smart watches people wore on Earth. He fastened it to his wrist.
He crouched with her, his eyes darting back and forth, that little muscle in his cheek jumping now and then as he took it all in. “There’s the Xeno craft. The small, triangular shaped one. It’s got to be close to take off.” He turned to her and took her face between his hands. “Do you trust me?”
Sasha gripped his wrists with her hands. His eyes were a deep lavender, the normally youthful lines of his striking face showing the strain of their situation.
“Yes, Hahn, I trust you. I do.”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “Then do not fight me in what I’m about to do. Do not speak. Don’t utter a sound.”
Within minutes, he’d slipped into a flight suit and helmet he’d taken from the intake room. Holding out a cargo bag, he had her step into it. He tied the top and in one swift motion, slung her over his broad shoulder. All the blood rushed to her head, his strong clavicle bones pressing into her gut.
She started to bounce lightly as he walked with long, hard strides. Something beeped, like the lock on a hotel door when the keycard was accepted. Voices. Nausea rose in her throat as Hahn swung hard to the right. Her body rose off his shoulder then came slamming back down. The sound of the zapper making contact… and again, the crackle sickening followed by the instant waft of burning flesh.
A soft woosh, then they went up, up. Her body went down, down, until she lay on something hard. Vertigo zinged through her head. “Lay still. Don’t speak. We’re not safe yet.”
Something chirped and purred behind her. Like a cat? A bird? A cat-bird? Hahn must have dropped her… she hit her head. The noise was comforting yet intimidating. A cage rattled… something touched her on the shoulder.
She tensed, having a flashback of being under the invisibility fabric while waiting out the Meshuuks. Only those beasts hadn’t purred… nor had they gently rubbed her back in tiny, soft little circles.
The roar of jets blasted through the air, revved higher, higher until the noise was completely deafening. She covered her ears with her hands, her mouth salivating as the craft took off in one hard, fast bolt forward. Nausea rose and fell right back down as the craft made a sudden free fall before righting itself.
And then there was nothing. Just, floating. The hum of the craft and the gentle purring behind her.
“You can come out but stay down.”
She struggled to bust out of the tied opening at the top of the sack. She popped her head out with a relieved sigh. Remembering her little friends, she spun to look behind her.
A handful of brilliant figures looked out at her. Tinkerbell. They were all Tinkerbells, but bigger. More like the size of a toddler, with human-like faces and pointed ears and anime-size eyes. They blinked, smiled and hummed with the soft purr.
“Those pods that you delivered? You’re looking at them.”
“What?” Sasha scrambled to be free of the bag, resting on her knees before the cage. Shivers and goosebumps raced over her skin. “They’re so beautiful. And calm. I feel so calm.” She hesitantly reached a hand to the cage. Several small hands reached through the close-knit bars.
“Can I touch them?”
“If they allow it.”
“I’m sorry for what happened to you,” she whispered. “I’m sorry you were taken from your home.”
An alarm rang from the front of the ship, followed by a roar from behind.
“We’ve been spotted. Hang on.”
She gasped and fell on her butt as the craft made a 360. Hahn gunned it, slicing ahead. The cabin pressurized. Sasha put one hand on top of the cage and pressed the other to the bars.
Small hands pressed against her palm.
“This is going to hurt!” Hahn yelled from the front.
And the cabin filled with fire.
Chapter Fifteen
Hahn cut through the atmosphere at the craft’s full capacity. Flames encased the nose of the craft, filling the cabin with a hot, orange glow.
The air inside pressurized and heated as the internal system struggled to maintain stasis. He either had to punch through now, or slow down before they cooked to death.
Slowing down wasn’t an option.
Scanning the control panel, he searched for warp, finding none. There was a boost drive, which might be enough to get them through. Three fighter craft had been launched and gained on him faster than he’d thought possible. It made sense that their tactical defense worked in speed. They had to overtake offenders before they left the atmosphere or risk losing their navigation.
He checked an area scan.
The fighters had backed off. They veered right before entering the atmosphere. Within seconds, Hahn lost sight of them. They were almost through. The heat intensified, making it hard to breathe. He wanted to reach behind him to comfort Sasha, but he didn’t dare let a hand off the controls. As soon as they jumped into space, he’d need all his strength to gain control of the craft after barreling ahead at this speed.
The flames roared up and over the Xeno. His forearms strained as the craft shook and he struggled to maintain course. With a hard jerk, the craft burst free, smoke billowing around the view screen as they entered a film of bright light. He pulled back, decelerating until the Xeno settled into a comfortable speed and the view screen opened to the brilliant colors and light of space.
Sasha popped up from the back, sweat glistening on her face, her hair plastered to her temples. “Are we good?”
“Oh, we’re good. Come up here.”
She moved between the front seats to sit in the co-pilot’s chair, but Hahn intercepted her and drew her onto his lap. She smiled and looped an arm around his neck as she looked out the view screen to the aurora of colors around them.
He ran a system scan, finding a striking similarity to the one he’d run in the Threv. “We’re in the same galaxy as the sand planet with the atmospheric storm. So… we have to exit the hole I entered when I came in.”
“How do you find it?”
“It finds us.”
He tapped on his comlet, sending a transmission to Axxeon 9. He’d been unable to communicate once he’d entered the hole too deeply, but perhaps he could use a signal to get himself out.
Nothing.
They cruised further and he tried again.
His comlet crackled. “Incoming. From King. Tryllin.” The robotic voice broke into several fragments.
“Brother! Hanh do you connect?”
Hahn sunk back against the seat and pressed a grateful hand to his forehead. “Yes! I need a steady transmission for navigational guidance. Can you connect to this craft?”
He opened all communications on the Xeno. A beacon signal began to chime on the control panel. He set course to follow it. They were going home.
“Where have you been?” His brother’s face populated above the comlet. Strain was heavy beside his eyes and mouth.
“I will tell you everything when I dock. Is there… anything I have missed while I’ve been gone?”
Tryllin looked away. Hahn detected something. Disappointment, but there was more. “I have no choice but to fill you in when you get here. Brother, we detect lifeforms with you.”
“Yes, one human female.” He grinned. “You won’t believe it. We have Estral infants on board. They’ll need to be delivered to the GU for return to their planet.”
Tryllin almost smiled. Hahn had the impression it was a difficult thing for him. His joy at seeing his brother wasn’t being returned quite as he’d expected. He knew Try
llin would be angry with him, but this was something more.
“You’ve been on an adventure, Hahn. We will see you soon.”
He disconnected the transmission and watched the incoming beacon with relief. Sasha quietly ran her fingers down his hair.
The reality hit him. He was about to face judge and jury with his brother and Quixx. Possibly more, depending on how much was said.
“What’s going to happen to me when we get there? Will I stay with you? Or—”
He pulled her on top of him, so she straddled him. Her firm legs pressed atop his, her hands going to his shoulders. He adjusted a little, so her ass fit more firmly against him.
“I have no choice but to explain myself to my brother when we arrive. This means, I have to tell him why I took the Threv out so secretively. There could be dire consequences for me, Sasha.”
“What are you talking about?”
He reached for the console and turned off the communications channel. He didn’t want any of their conversation to possibly be leaked back to Axxeon 9.
“My father is no longer the King. He committed treason which resulted in the death of our females after our enemy unleashed a deadly virus. My brother Tryllin is now King, and he has ordered our father’s exile to a wasteland planet. He will die there. I plan to smuggle my father to safety. I was looking for an appropriate planet when I crashed into you.”
“I don’t understand why this makes you the bad guy.”
“Because it’s a direct disobey of the King’s orders. Our father was sentenced by the Council, with his own son demanding exile. I may be the Prince, but to disobey and remove my father from his fate is treason.” He brushed a lock of hair from her cheek. “I will be found guilty, and I will be exiled.”
“No. Hahn, no.” Her hands slid away from his shoulders.
“Don’t worry, my beauty. There are many human females aboard, most mated to Axxeon warriors. You will never be treated poorly. Accommodations will be made for you. Even if I’m not there, you’ll still be well cared for.”
“I don’t want you to be exiled.” A hard breath rushed out of her, desperation flashing in her eyes. “I don’t want to be… without you.”
Hahn flinched. Such softness and sincerity in her confession. How he wished to take it to heart! A mate of his own, this female, his. But to be paired with him now, only to have him exiled in the ultimate shame? That’s not how he wanted her new life on Axxeon 9 to begin.
She deserved a warrior who would honor her and bring honor to her name, to their kinder. She might not be shunned or turned away, but she would always feel the strain of what he’d done and the shame he brought to their family. His only mission had been to keep his family together, to grow the Axxeon kingdom and ensure a home for his people.
Sasha deserved that. Even if it meant that another male gave it to her.
“I do not deserve you. And until I know the outcome of my plan, and my fate, I can’t bind you to me.”
Her lower lip trembled. “You’ve done so much for me. I have to tell you something.” A sad smile crossed her pretty lips. “I did it. I got rid of the ghost.”
“How?”
“I forgave him. It will never erase or excuse what he put me through, but it, I don’t know, it just gives my heart a sense of peace. Because my anger and fear over what happened no longer controls me. I just gave it up. Gave it away with forgiveness. After we connected on the dining table on Yala, I realized that I want whatever that was. I want it always, but I had to make room to let it in.”
“I’m proud of you. You are so strong, my beauty. So very strong.”
“Now it’s your turn.” She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “You’re caught between your anger and shame over what your father did, and your loyalty to him as a son. It’s going to tear you to pieces.”
Hahn thread his fingers into her hair. “It already has.”
“It might destroy you.”
He nodded. He didn’t tell her about Nanakka-Rak, clearing his father’s name with honor because so far, he had nothing to use in his defense. He’d tried to find the Zeph and come away with a promising clue, but potentially, no way to go back and follow up.
This whole thing could be for nothing. Nothing, except the female in his arms. He wanted her, more than anything. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t do that to her.
“Does this thing have auto-pilot?” Sasha caught his gaze, her hands moving to the front of her shirt. She ran her fingers between her breasts.
“Already engaged.”
She looked up at him by degrees as her body moved in to press against him, her hips tipping up and in, her palms finding his thighs. “You know, humans have a really good way of relieving stress.”
He grinned lazily. “Yes, I heard about that on Earth. It’s called spin class.”
She laughed. “Well, there’s another way.”
“A hot bath.”
“Something a little more physical.”
“Hiking.”
She slid her warm hand to his crotch and ran her palm over his stiff length. “Something that involves this.”
Hahn pulled in a breath as she caressed him. “Live streaming feeds of humans engaged in mating?”
“We call that porn, Hahn.”
“I don’t care what it’s called. I like it.”
She laughed openly, the sound filling him up. All the way. Her expression changed, the mirth quietly fading. “I want you.”
His hands cupped her face. “I can’t promise more than my body.”
“I’ll take whatever you can give.”
He kissed her deeply, hard, until she was panting. Pulling back, Sasha slipped out of her pants and worked the waist of his free.
The hunger inside him deepened when he spied her nakedness. She looped her hands around his neck and straddled him again, bringing her wet center along the tip of his cock. His lips cruised the side of her neck and work down to the top of her breasts. Urging her back, he took a nipple in his mouth.
She arched her back, and he sucked harder, his other hand sliding down her belly where his fingers paused at the apex of her sex. Sasha shuddered and pressed herself into his hand. He lightly fingered her, whispering his fingertips along her seam.
It’s like her sexual frustration cracked wide open. Sasha grabbed his hand and rubbed herself against it. His fingers sunk into her slit. She rode them, back and forth, catching the tip of his cock with each thrust. Hahn let out a soft curse and grabbed her ass.
Lifting herself, she lined up his cock and sank down on him as if she couldn’t stand another second of not having him inside her. The urgency was killing him, too. It was overwhelming and needy, driving him to fuck her hard and fast until they were both spent.
He watched in awe and sweet shock as she worked herself down, taking all of him until he filled her to the hilt. She stretched around him, pulling him in and encasing him perfectly.
“Holy shit,” she whispered. “It’s never felt like this.”
Hahn ran his hands through her hair and lifted his hips to meet her. His eyes fluttered to the back of his head as he smiled in complete shock. “I didn’t know a cunt would feel like this. My Sasha.”
She took him fully and paused to adjust. Heady zings of pleasure worked through him. She rolled her hips and ground her pelvis down. He grinned as she noticed his furloch, an extra appendage just above his cock that lined perfectly with her clit.
“You’re kidding me,” she rushed. “Yes, yes.”
She brought herself up and down on him, the nub-rubber working her with each thrust. She increased the pace until he was fucking her from beneath, his hips driving up into her. Their eyes caught and emotion welled inside him so wide and full, he could barely contain it.
“Come with me, Hahn. Fill me up while I shatter all over you.”
The sexiest sound he’d ever heard rumbled from her throat. That broke him. He increased the pace, thrusting both of them nearly out of the seat. Her cun
t squeezed him like a fist as her orgasm slammed into her. She cried out, gripping the back of the seat with one hand as she ground herself against his cock. And then he was gripping the back of her neck and ramming into her as hot jets of release spilled into her cunt.
It was primal and urgent and… perfect.
His mind felt as if it had ascended to another dimension, the fracture of colors behind his eyes corresponding with the most intense pleasure he’d ever experienced. He floated into it, clinging to it until it began to fade, and he was aware of Sasha’s body resting on his.
A beep came from the navigational console. Startling back to reality, he reached over her to check it.
“We’re here.” Hahn gripped her face between his hand and kissed her. Long, soft. Tenderly. He never wanted it to stop. In his mind, he was kissing her for the last time.
With a gentle smile, she moved off him and quickly readjusted her clothes. He righted his pants, his insides clenching in anticipation as Axxeon 9 came into view.
He angled the craft to the hanger bay below the base station, watching as the hatch came down to reveal the gaping yawn leading into the hanger.
Sasha looked nervous and he wished he could comfort her. Truthfully, he was still muddled from their intense mating. He grabbed her hand and held it tightly.
“I need to speak to my brother. You’ll likely be handed off to one of the human women to accompany you until we get this sorted.”
She gripped his hand with both of hers as he lowered the craft into the hanger, and the door closed behind him. He locked the craft into the bay and opened the hatch, his chest welling with emotion as he saw Quixx waiting at the docking station.
Hahn stepped out, Sasha right behind him.
“Quixx.”
The Third Commander didn’t smile. His eyes were blanketed with indifference. His lips twitched and he looked away for a fraction, as if trying to get ahold of himself.
