Authors: Kate Shepherd
MC BIKER ROMANCE: Bad Boy Romance: BETRAYED: (New Adult Motorcycle Club Navy SEAL Romance) (Contemporary Military Romance Thriller) (119 page)
Giggles sounded throughout the room as Emma Neal felt soft lips press against her neck. She smiled as her lover left a small trail of kisses on her skin. Eventually, she tried to push him away but he was persistent as he continued to make his way down her delicate flesh, slowly approaching her collarbone. Suddenly, however, he stopped, looking up at her, his red eyes shining brightly. He flashed her a smile, his sharp teeth sparkling in the candle light.
Emma looked down at him, gently brushing his silver hair out of his eyes. When Emma had first met Varius she had been afraid of him. He wasn’t like her. He was an alien from a planet far, far away from Earth; a place called Strernon. Emma had arrived on this foreign ground two years ago.
While still on Earth, Emma enrolled in a space travel program. Her mission was to find life in another galaxy. It was a solo operation. Emma had been eager to take the trip, picturing herself famous when she came back with the proof that there was indeed life in other parts of the universe. As she boarded her ship, she wondered what these other lifeforms were like.
With this motivation, she was soon traveling through the Milky Way Galaxy making her way to the unchartered corners of space. Everything had gone smoothly until she reached the outer recesses of the galaxy. Her spaceship started to malfunction and she found herself plummeting through the darkness of outer space. At one point she fell unconscious as she plunged into the unknown, into a sure fire death.
Somehow, however, she woke up. When she looked around everything was different. She was still in her spaceship but when she looked out of the window, she found herself on a foreign planet. All the wildlife was green and exotic, like something out of a sci-fi movie. She had tried to pry herself out of the pilot seat, but she was trapped. Her legs were broken.
She groaned as pain throbbed throughout her entire body. She felt weak and light headed as she looked around. Her throat was parched as she tried to call out for help. “S…Someone… Please!” Her screams were feeble and it seemed like no one would ever come for her. Emma feared death. Why did it have to end like this?
Emma spent two days passing in and out of the hands of mortality. By the third day she was stranded on the foreign planet she was sure her time was up. She closed her eyes and accepted her fate. However, just before death could take her, someone wrapped their arms around her and pulled her out of the wreckage. Before falling into the pits of unconsciousness, she looked up to see an almost human face looking at her: a Strenkon. The last thing she remembered was looking at his beautiful silvery hair.
Emma took a deep breath and pulled herself out of her daydream as she ran her fingers through Varius’ soft gray hair.
“Thinking about the crash again, aren’t you?” He asked in a husky voice as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. She looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
“How did you know that?” She asked as she rolled over and laid on top of him, playfully pinning him to the bed, before kissing his neck. Varius bit his lip as he felt her legs squeeze his waist. He loved when she straddled him. It made him feel helpless but yet really excited at the same time.
“You had that look on your face again…” He explained before pulling her toward him and kissing her lips passionately.
“What look?”
“That look you get… like you are thinking really hard… you get it whenever you think about the crash.” Varius gently caressed the side of her face before kissing her forehead.
“Well, I think about it a lot… if it wasn’t for you… I wouldn’t be alive right now. I had dreamed of being a famous astronaut… of furthering the human race… but I failed on my first mission.” Emma’s voice was soft as she thought about her disappointment.
“Hey… it’s okay… you did your best… plus… don’t you like living and being with me?” Varius offered her a puppy dog face. She chuckled before smiling.
“Of course, I do. I love you, silly. You know that.” Emma leaned down and kissed him again before laying by his side, cuddling close to him. “I just wonder what my life would have been like if I had succeeded…” She said as she looked at the ceiling of their cottage.
Varius and Emma lived in the Wooded Area, a part of the planet that was barely populated by the Strenkon. Most of the aliens lived in their main city: Miuvis. But Varius had never been there as he had lived his entire life in the Wooded Area.
Varius was about to roll over and get on top of Emma when there was suddenly a knock on the door. The two of them blushed, knowing they both had the same thing on their minds, but that it would have to wait. Varius got up and walked over to the door before opening it.
Suddenly, a small green skinned alien female hugged him. “Good morning!” A peppy voice rang out as Varius chuckled.
“Good morning Antica,” he said affectionately before running his fingers through her leafy hair. She smiled before unlatching herself from her brother’s legs. She squealed as she spotted Emma on the bed. In an instant, she jumped into the bed and hugged her tightly.
Emma smiled as they hugged each other. Antica was now like a sister to her. She loved the little tree-like alien almost as much as she loved Varius. The three of them had lived together in their cottage for two, almost three, years now, and even though Emma’s life wasn’t what she expected it to be when she had set out on her mission, she was still happy.
A few days later Emma and Varius were in the kitchen waiting for Antica to come back home. She had gone out to gather some food for their dinner. While the couple waited, Emma walked over to Varius and smiled at him.
“You know, I am happy I married you.” She looked up at him lovingly and he chuckled.
“At first, I thought it was silly since it is not customary to “marry” in our culture.” Varius looked at his wife with kind eyes. Emma gave him a quizzical look.
“So if you guys don’t get married… what do you do?” She asked. Varius looked at her, about to answer, when Antica walked into the kitchen. There was a sad look on her face as she held the basket in her hand. Varius frowned.
“Antica… what happened? Why are you upset? Did something happen?” Varius asked concern in his voice as he looked at his baby sister. He brushed her hair out of her eyes. She looked up at him with watery eyes. She had been crying. He kneeled down, getting to her eye level before gently placing his hands on her shoulders. “Antica… please… tell me.” His voice sounded desperate as he pleaded with her.
Finally, she answered by holding out the basket and showing him the meager amount of food she had gathered for the three of them. There were a couple of berries and some roots from the trees, but nothing else. There was barely enough food to feed one person, let alone three. Tears started to fall down her cheeks. “I… I think the Wooded Area is dying… all the trees and creatures… they are sick…” She whispered softly.
Varius’ eyes grew in surprise. He had noticed this change weeks ago when he had hunted for meat. It seemed like the creatures in the area were running away and the wildlife that remained struggled to stay alive. At this rate, they would have to move soon. He looked around the cottage and frowned. He had lived his whole life in this cottage, it would be painful to leave but if it meant the survival of his family, then he would pack up his things in a heartbeat.
“Hey… shh… don’t cry it will all be okay… I promise… alright?” Varius said seriously as he looked into his sister’s innocent yellow eyes. She sniffled a bit before nodding her head and walking over to Emma, handing her some of the berries.
Emma shook her head. “No… sweetie you eat it.” Emma looked at her before pushing the food back. The small Strenkon’s eyes widened as she slowly ate some of the berries. The two adults watched as she quickly ate the rest of the food. Emma’s stomach growled slightly. Varius frowned, looking in her direction.
“We can’t stay here anymore…” His voice sounded sad as he moved toward the bedroom. He started to fumble with an old chest as if looking for something.
“What are you doing?” Emma asked, watching him as he pulled out various items from the chest, discarding them throughout the room. Soon he pulled out a folded piece of paper looking excited.
“I found it!” He exclaimed as he started to unfold it quickly before placing it on their bed.
“What’s this?” Emma asked.
“It’s a map to Miuvis,” he explained before looking at it more closely. His finger gently pressed against the center of the map. There was a vivid picture of a bustling city there with a label above it.
Miuvis.
Emma tilted her head. “This is Miuvis. It’s the capital. Almost 90% of the Strenkon population lives here. They will have food and resources there for sure. They always do.”
“Are you suggesting we go there?” Emma asked.
Varius looked up at his wife, his red eyes bright as he nodded. “I don’t think we have any other choice,” he said, plainly.
“Okay… so where are we on this map?” She looked at it, but most of the map was colored in green. Varius looked at the piece of paper closely before pointing to a spot to the left, surrounded by tree-like symbols.
“Here. It looks like a two day trip by foot.” He said, looking out the window. “We should start packing.” Emma nodded, grabbing a bag.
Soon, their bags were filled with what little resources they still had left. Each one of them carried their own bag. Eventually, they left the cottage with heavy hearts. Antica was crying by the time she walked over the threshold. She couldn’t believe that she was leaving her childhood home, the place where she had lived her entire life. She looked at her brother before grabbing his hand.
“Hey… it’s okay… I won’t let anything happen to you… I promise.” Antica nodded and looked up at her big brother.
“Can I hold Vivi?” She asked with large yellow eyes the size of the moon. Her brother chuckled but nodded before whistling loudly.
Suddenly, a small red, dragon-like creature came flying toward them. The creature landed on Varius’ shoulder looking at him with a questioning look in his beady black eyes. Varius pried him off his shoulder before handing the creature to his sister. She smiled and petted him gently, cuddling into him, much to the creature’s discomfort.
“You know… I don’t think I will ever quite get used to the fact that you can pretty much do magic with that little spirit animal of yours.” Emma commented looking at Vivi, who was trying to squirm out of Antica’s grasp.
“I still can’t believe I married someone from a different planet… but I did…” Varius smiled before kissing her cheek. She blushed a little. “Or the fact that humans change color when they are embarrassed.” Emma blushed harder making Varius chuckle.
“C’mon, let’s go… we have a lot of walking to do.” With that, Varius made his way toward the tree line. Antica and Emma looked at each other for a moment before holding hands and following him into the unknown.
It was now their second day on the trip to Miuvis. The three of them were tired and fatigued, but they were almost to the capital. The sun was setting and they would have to set up camp soon. Varius looked at his wife before saying, “We need to stop for the night. We will travel the rest of the way tomorrow morning.” Antica and Emma nodded as they looked for a good place to stop.
Soon they found a river that would provide them with fresh water. “This looks good,” Varius said as he shrugged off the bags he was carrying. “Emma, can you go and gather some food? I will stay here and set up camp.” Emma nodded, grabbing her gun and clipping it to her belt. The Wooded Area was full of wild creatures at night time and she couldn’t run the risk of bumping into one of them without protection. Kissing her husband and sister-in-law, she left them in search of food.
Like the area around their cottage, this region was becoming plagued with death and disease. Emma looked around for food, but no matter where she looked there was nothing edible to be found. Instead, all she saw was dried up berries and the decomposed carcasses of wildlife trying to flee the area.
Emma looked at the horizon, watching the sun sink further and further. She knew she didn’t have much time until it was dark. She had to hurry or she would risk being separated from Varius for the night. Looking around, she desperately tried to find something that would hold them over until morning. She didn’t want to think of Antica going to bed hungry again.
As she looked around and thought about her family, she heard the sound of a branch breaking nearby. She pulled out her gun, turning off the safety, as her hands shook with fear. She had never encountered a wild creature by herself before and the fear of facing one now was making sweat. She looked around, trying to calm down, but the planet’s sun was quickly disappearing and everything around her was turning an ominous shade of gray.
Suddenly, a large lion looking creature with three horns and a green colored mane entered the clearing. He looked skinny and emaciated as he looked at her with hungry eyes. His large forked tongue darted out of his mouth as he smelled what he thought would be his dinner. He slowly stalked his way over to Emma, his eyes locked on her. She tried to aim her gun at him, but she was shaking too much. She knew she would miss if she tried to make the shot.
The lion creature was about to pounce on Emma. She closed her eyes and uttered a small prayer under her breath as she feared the end. However, instead of feeling his sharp fangs sinking into her flesh, she heard a loud whimpering noise. Opening her eyes, she looked up to see a well-built Strenkon standing in front of her, in a protective stance. Half of his body seemed to be covered with some sort of metal and his skin had a pale blue color to it. Emma stared at his back as he walked toward the creature.
There was an impressive looking sword in his hand as he approached the creature. Before Emma could stop him he had plunged his blade into the creature’s chest. Emma flinched as she heard its dying whimper. Her eyes were big and worried as she looked at the Strenkon. What if he meant to hurt her next?
He suddenly turned around and looked at her. His left eye was covered with a metallic looking eyepatch while his right eye was entirely blue with specks of white, like the nighttime sky on Earth. She stared at it in disbelief. These aliens had weird eyes, but she had never seen one like this before. For a moment, Emma felt a pang of nostalgia.
“What are you doing here?” The Strenkon asked gruffly as he looked at the woman. His eyes looked at her, up and down, taking in her figure. He had never seen a female like this before and he wondered what planet she was from. Her form was supple and sensual. Clenching his fists, he had to fight the urge to want to mate with her immediately. He ran a hand through his spiky red hair, clearing his head as he stared at her seriously.
“I… I was looking for food…” Emma stammered as she looked at the man. Her heart was beating fast but for some reason, she didn’t think it was fear causing it. Instead, it felt almost like she was sexually
attracted
to this alien. But she was
married
. Emma felt guilty as she looked at the stranger, but she couldn’t help herself as her eyes ran over his well-toned body. There was something about him that was incredibly alluring.
The air around them became tense with their unspoken thoughts and feelings. They both wanted to reach out and touch the other, but they both restrained themselves, despite the desires raging through their bodies. Finally, the Strenkon broke the silence.
“Well… it’s too dark to find anything now… I suggest you stay with me until the morning.” His voice was cold, yet she heard a tinge of compassion hiding behind his words.
“But… I am traveling with two others… and they will be worried about me.”
The man shrugged. “Too bad. It is too dark to do anything without getting killed. If you want to die go on and try to find them.” The Strenkon said as he turned his back and laid down next to a tree.
Emma thought about his words, knowing he was right. She would have to settle with the stranger for the night if she had any hopes of surviving. Hesitantly she moved over to him and laid down, still leaving a significant gap between them.
In a few minutes, the cold air got under Emma’s skin making her shiver. The man looked at her and sighed. “Cold?”
“Maybe… a… l…little…” Emma said through chattering teeth. The man suddenly reached out and pulled her close, spooning her against him. Emma tensed up feeling his body against hers. She thought she felt something poke against her, but she wasn’t about to bring it up. The man wrapped his arms around her tightly, making it impossible for her to escape. Her heart beat even faster as she felt him press her even closer to him.
The hormones in Emma’s body went wild. She tried not to think of the burning need between her legs she as closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.