Dusan (Scifi Alien Romance) (Galactic Mates) Read online

  “Thank you, ship,” I say as I make my way over to the docking bay. I walk past the naked bodies of my squad members. They’re encased in their sleeping pods, floating in a gel that maintains their body heat as much as possible. Every one of us is in peak physical condition, though I do believe that I’m the strongest of the bunch.

  The hatch opens with a hiss.

  Time to meet this Cindy Knox.

  I hope the sight of naked Zorans doesn’t scare her.

  3

  Cindy

  Just my luck. The moment I veer off the beaten path, and the damn spaceship craps out on me.

  It’s supposed to be a top-of-the-line ship that can run continuously for decades.

  So much for that!

  I’m happy Nora, the ship’s AI, is still online, but that’s a small comfort when faced with asphyxiation. There’s only so much oxygen on this ship, and it’s running out — fast.

  This is not what I meant when I said ‘take me far away from the Federation planets’!

  “Is there anyone out there, Nora?”

  “I’ve been sending your message far and wide,” the ship’s AI answers, “but so far I haven’t received a ping back.”

  “And far does your ping go?”

  “Pretty far.”

  “That’s not really a scientific answer.”

  “Far enough to know that we’re in bad spot,” she answers.

  Damn it. This is bad.

  I have so much left to do. I haven’t even had my first kiss yet — this can’t be the end for me.

  I sink down to my knees, staring off into nothingness. My fingers play with the hem of my shirt as I wonder what Michelle and Novak are doing right now…

  “Wait,” the ship says. “I have a response.”

  “And?” I say.

  “It’s… an unknown vessel. It received our ping, and it’s heading in our direction.”

  “Is that… good?”

  “I don’t know,” Nora responds. “The ship is unregistered, its type and make completely unknown to my database.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “There are two possible options. Either the ship is run by space pirates, self-built from spare parts and scrap.”

  A shiver runs down my spine. I think I’d rather suffocate in this tiny metal box than fall into the hands of a pair of ravenous space pirates…

  “What’s the other option?”

  “A highly classified, experimental military vessel.”

  Great. Pirates or soldiers are going to be banging down my door.

  I just hope they’re in a good mood, and not the types of soldiers who haven’t seen a woman in months. I don’t want to my first to be a whole squad of alien soldiers…

  “They’re only five minutes away now.”

  Crap.

  “Wait, what will happen to you?” I ask the ship. “If they pick me up, you’ll be left here…”

  “Don’t worry about me, honey,” Nora answers with her familiar southern twang. “I’m not physically located on the ship. My programming is based on a supercomputer that’s housed on Earth, which I frequently exchange messages with. I’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely positive. When you make it to New Atlanta, come by and visit me, alright?”

  “Do you think I’ll make it back home?”

  “I’m certain of it.”

  “Alright. It’s a date then.”

  The ship shakes gently as the mystery vessel docks onto the Needle.

  This is it. In a moment’s time I’ll either be saved… or worse off than I was.

  The hatch opens with a hiss…

  …and I find myself staring at a imposingly tall, salmon-colored Zoran. His armor is the darkest black, lacking all insignia or marks that would reveal his status or company. An axe is clasped to his thigh, an assault rifle hanging on his back.

  His eyes, a penetrating turquoise, are fixed on me.

  “Cindy,” he says.

  His voice is a low growl, like a dangerous animal.

  “Yes,” I say. I try not to quiver in front of this steely-eyed warrior.

  “Come.”

  He reaches out his hand for me.

  I stare at it in trepidation. Staying on the Needle is not an option, of course. The engines are dead. I have to go with this mysterious Zoran, but there’s something ominous about him.

  I’ve spent a while working on the human embassy. I’ve travelled with Michelle and Novak on his warship. I’ve met numerous Zorans, but they all either wore uniforms or armor that designated their rank and status. They weren’t flashy about it, but there was also something that a trained eye could identify.

  On this light-red warrior I see nothing except sculpted abs, broad shoulders, impressive biceps and powerful thighs.

  His obsidian armor looks like it was melted onto his colored skin.

  “Come,” he repeats, his voice betraying agitation.

  Here goes.

  I grab his hand and pulls me onto his ship. The metallic door snaps shut behind me with a bang.

  My eyes drift up the Zoran’s large frame. I barely reach past his chest. These Zorans are so freaking big. I wonder who’s taller, him or Novak…

  Before I get a chance to ask for his name, a red light starts flashing and an alarm starts blaring.

  “Intruder detected! Intruder detected!”

  “Damn it, DEVO,” the Zoran shouts. “You know this is not an intruder!”

  “Intruder detected! Emergency wake-up system initiated.”

  On both sides of the room, hatches fly open. I haven’t even seen them — the alien man took up all of my attention. What I see next makes my breath falter and my knees weak.

  Three Zorans step out into the room from their pods. One a fiery red, with scars covering every inch of his bright skin. One blue, with intricate tattoos covering most of his skin. The other is a deep, rich purple.

  All of them are completely and totally naked.

  Their sculpted, incredible bodies are dripping wet and covered in some form of transparent gel. This has the effect of making all of their many, many muscles glisten.

  And not just their muscles.

  My eyes inadvertently drift down to the giant, multi-colored cocks that are bobbing between their legs.

  Holy crap.

  My eyes switch from one to the next. Red, blue, purple. Different shapes and sizes — from extra large to extra extra large.

  I instantly become painfully aware that I’m practically defenseless. If these dripping wet, naked, and, ahem, big-dicked Zoran warriors want to have their way with me, or want me to pay for my safe passage with my body, there’s nothing I can do to stop them.

  The warriors growl and stretch, as if they have just been woken up from a deep, deep sleep. The red one howls and growls like a beast, stretching his arms above his head, all of his deep scars on full display.

  He scares me the most.

  “DEVO, shut the fuck up,” he growls. “What the fuck is happening?”

  His eyes, a fiery yellow, fall on me.

  “What in hell’s name is she doing here?!”

  “Her ship malfunctioned,” the pink one says, stepping in front of me. “I answered her distress call.”

  “You what?!” he bellows. “You… you what?! Dusan, have you lost your fucking mind?”

  The tall Zoran straightens his back and folds his arms, making himself appear even taller, and shielding me from the red one’s view at the same time.

  Dusan. My mystery savior has a name.

  “You jeopardized our mission for a human? There’s billions of them! I can’t… I can’t believe you right now. What the hell was I thinking, putting you in charge?! You’re a damn liability, Dusan.”

  “I couldn’t let her die,” Dusan says. “It was only a five minute detour. We’re already back on course. I haven’t jeopardized anything.”

  “Typical,” the purple Zoran growls.

  “C
ouldn’t resist the white meat, huh?” the blue one says with a smirk as his eyes scour my body. His cock seems to grow an extra inch, and I avert my eyes.

  I hide myself behind Dusan’s large, imposing frame.

  He’s the only thing standing between me and the three seething, naked, ravenous warriors.

  4

  Dusan

  Zlatan stares right at me, his yellow eyes burning brightly with righteous fury.

  I’m not about to back down, though. I feel the human press against my back, her hands resting on me for support. My fellow squadmates are all leering at her, making no attempt to cover up their sculpted, naked bodies.

  “What is she going to eat? Where’s she going to sleep? This is a stealth-fucking-mission, you idiot. Now you’ve brought a civilian, an alien civilian at that, on board! We’re not the damn Coast Guard, Dusan.”

  Zlatan is teeming with rage, spitting the words out like venom.

  “I’ll share my portions with her. She’s a human, she doesn’t need much. And she can use my sleeping pod if she wants. I’m fine without it.”

  “Oh no,” Zlatan bellows. “I’m not spending valuable energy and resources on a non-vital part of our mission.”

  “And what is our mission exactly, anyway?”

  “You’ll be told more when we get there,” my red commander grits through his teeth.

  “So it’s settled then?”

  “Fuck no,” Zlatan says. He walks up to me, pressing his forehead against mine as he growls into my face. “You’re an insubordinate, untrustworthy fuck, Dusan. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t shoot the both of you out the damn airlock right now?”

  “Because you couldn’t take me on even if I had both hands tied behind my back.”

  Zlatan is silent for a moment, his eyes fixed on me… when he bursts out into a menacing grin.

  “You’ve got stones, Dusan. I like that. But I don’t like how you break protocol, how you endanger all of us.”

  “Once again, she’s a helpless human female. I haven’t endangered shit. Command will back me up on this.”

  “We’ll see, won’t we? We’ll see.”

  Zlatan turns around and marches back to his pod.

  “Show’s over, boys,” he tells Ruvim and Todor. “Let’s go back to sleep.”

  “Ah, come on,” Ruvim whines. “Can’t we have a little fun first?”

  I straighten my back. I’ve seen the way he stared at the human, the way he licked his lips. Not on my watch.

  He’s my friend, and we’re as close as brothers, but that doesn’t mean I won’t beat him to a pulp if I have to.

  “I’ll rip your dick off, Ruvim. Don’t even think about it.”

  “What?” he says, raising his palms. “I wasn’t going to do nothing.”

  His smarmy smile says otherwise.

  “I mean it,” I growl.

  “She’s not worth it,” Todor says. “Let’s do what the boss says.”

  Ruvim gets back into his sleeping pod while grumbling, but not before groping his crotch once more time. I’ll have to watch him… but luckily, they’ll all be asleep for days to come.

  “And you,” Zlatan says, pointing at me. “One more fuck-up like this and I will be forced to terminate you. Understood?”

  I move my head so little it can barely be understood as a nod, but it’s enough for my commander. The pods all shut, and seconds later the rest is restored.

  Sort of.

  “Wh-what’s going on?” a soft voice behind me stammers.

  I whirl around and stare at the human female I just risked my career, hell, my life over.

  Cindy Knox.

  Her blonde hair reaches down to her shoulders, a few strands tucked behind her ears. Her eyes are blue, like two brilliant gemstones. A pair of glasses is perched on the bridge of her nose. She’s wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. Not a very practical outfit for space travel. Probably not a soldier, engineer or medic.

  “What were you doing out here?” I ask.

  “I was on vacation when my ship broke down,” she says. Her eyes keep darting around the room, watching the pods in which my squad mates are sleeping, as if she’s afraid they’re going to rise up at any moment.

  A tourist? In this sector of space?

  My eyes travel down her frame. She’s much smaller than I am, but her curves are incredible. My heart rate increases of its own accord as I witness her beauty.

  “Who… are you?” she asks.

  Her voice trembles, her eyes glossing over my rifle, my axe, my armor.

  “Dusan.”

  “I meant… this,” she says, gesturing at the room all around her. “What is this place? This ship? My sensors couldn’t identify your vessel. Are you military? What mission are you on?”

  She has certainly found her tongue again.

  “I’m not at liberty to say.”

  She plants her hands on her hips. “So that’s it? You won’t even tell me where you’re going? You’re… abducting me?”

  “I’m rescuing you,” I growl, my agitation rising. “If you didn’t notice, I just put my apricot ass on the line for you. Any one of them would have left you alone to die out there. Hell, I had to argue with the damn ship! You better start acting grateful real quick, missy.”

  “Missy? Missy? I’m not yours, or anyone else’s missy, bub. If I’m not your prisoner, then I want some answers. I’m not as clueless as I appear, I know this is some Zoran black ops mission. Your ship is unregistered, your armor has no markings, your rifle is top-of-the-line, and I’ve never seen a ship’s interior like this before.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “So I take it you’re not a helpless tourist?”

  “The ship didn’t do a database search on me?”

  “It did not.”

  “Well, I’m Cindy Knox, as you know. I worked for Michelle Coors, human ambassador to the Intergalactic Alliance, in the name of the Federation’s Ministry of Interplanetary Affairs. I’ve seen my fair share of alien vessels and Zoran warriors. None of them look like you, though.”

  Here I thought I’d picked up a helpless no one. “Michelle Coors? Wasn’t she involved in the Andromeda?”

  “The brand new ship that exploded and caused a giant scandal? That’s the one, yes.”

  “What are you doing all the way out here, then?”

  “Vacationing, as I said.”

  She crosses her arms over her chest, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.

  “I’ve never rescued anyone quite as ungrateful as you,” I say.

  “You rescue people all the time?”

  “When I’ve got the time.”

  What a strange being. I thought she was a small, trembling, helpless figure, but her mouth is a lot bigger than she is. If I had known her attitude, would I have still picked her up?

  “What do you expect me to do, your highness?” I say mockingly. “Should I draw you a bath?”

  “I know you’re mocking me, but is that genuinely an option?”

  “No.”

  “Oh.”

  “I can, however, see if there’s something to eat here for you.”

  “That would be nice.”

  “Follow me.”

  I lead her to the canteen and let the ship’s automated food dispenser whip her up a plate full of grub.

  “Here you are,” I say as I place the plate of nutrition in front of her.

  “What is this?” she says, wrinkling her nose.

  “Food.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I had that impression, yes, but what kind of food? This is a gray sludge.”

  “Does it matter? This contains all the carbs and proteins a Zoran needs. So if I were you, I’d eat half a portion.”

  She takes a single bite.

  “Oh my—” She gags. “You eat this?”

  I nod. “And I love it.”

  “Okay…”

  She pricks her food with her fork. “To get back on topic… you still haven’t told me where we’re going, or
what you plan to do with me.”

  “And you still haven’t thanked me for rescuing you from certain death. So how about you go first?”

  Humans, I swear.

  5

  Cindy

  I stare at the big, salmon-colored Zoran in front of me. His armor fits him like a glove — every muscle in his broad body is perfectly defined.

  “Thank you,” I say. “For rescuing me.”

  Perhaps I should have led with that, but all the weaponry got to me. The three naked, leering soldiers gave me the creeps. Especially the blue one. The way he stared at me… I really want to take that hot bath that Dusan teased me with.

  And I haven’t even started on that red one. The commander. Scars covering every inch of his body. He threatened to kill us both, right in front of me.

  I’m happy Dusan stood up for me. If he wasn’t here…

  “Now please tell me what it is you’ve got planned. I’d like to know what I got myself into.”

  “Like I said, I’m not at liberty to tell you.”

  “Why not? I’m just a passenger. I’m not going to run off and warn someone. There’s literally nothing I can do.”

  “You say that, but you are more resourceful than you let on, Cindy Knox. I haven’t decided if I can trust you quite yet.”

  “And what do I have to do to earn your trust?”

  His eyes flicker for a moment.

  “Oh no, I’m not doing that,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “I’m not that kind of girl.”

  “Do what?” he says, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “I didn’t say a word.”

  “I saw the look in your eyes. I know what Zorans want. What they like. What they crave.”

  Dusan leans in, resting his elbows on the table.

  “What is that then, hm? Tell me, I’m curious. What do we desire?”

  “Well. You know,” I say. Why has this salmon-colored man made me flustered? I thought I was in the driving seat of this conversation. “Females.”

  “Females?”

  “Yes. Women. Humans. Me.”

  He leans in even closer. He’s so close I can feel his warm breath on my skin; can smell his strong, manly scent.

  “You think I want you?” he says in a low, throaty growl. “You think I would go crazy for you? Feral, even? Become like a wild animal at the mere sight of you?”

  Dusan rises from his seat, towering over me. I can’t look away — he’s everywhere. My heart is beating like a drum, my cheeks feeling so warm you could cook an egg on them.