The Zoran's Fated (Scifi Alien Romance) (Barbarian Brides) Read online

  “For me to return.”

  “Am I your prisoner?”

  He turns and looks at me… do I detect a hint of a smile on that chiseled face of his?

  “You are my guest.”

  Chapter Five

  Daruk

  This night started out unusual… but the feelings coursing through my veins right now are not only unusual; they are downright bizarre.

  I trod through the jungle, following the scent of the captured humans. It is easy to follow — I can smell the smoke sticking to their clothes a mile away. Yet, my mind is not on the mission.

  My mind is on the brunette in my cave.

  I never could have imagined the strength, the sheer intensity of what I’m feeling. Love, lust, confusion, anger, all rolled into one potent mixture. Every step I take, takes me farther away from her, and I have to will myself to continue.

  I was raised to hate humans. To despise them.

  Never did I feel as strongly about humans as my father, but I understood the need for our own path. The idea of finding a new home, of living like the ancient warriors, appealed to me. What young boy wouldn’t want to live out in the open, to climb trees, fight with sticks, hunt for food, with only the law of the jungle to govern him?

  However, never did that plan involve ambushing visitors. That’s not right.

  And the battle that I saw… it was a slaughter. I need to know what happened, if not to sate my own curiosity, then for Lilith.

  Lilith.

  What a beautiful name.

  One look into her almond-shaped eyes erased a lifetime of indoctrination. No one as fair as her could prove a threat to our kind. In fact, it seems to me that her curvy body was made for me. Her lips were made for me to kiss, her hips were made to straddle my waist, her arms were made for me to hold behind her back as I pound her from behind, as I watch my golden cock slide into her wet cunt, as I give into our most animalistic desires, as I…

  I grab onto a tree trunk and shake my head.

  Focus, Daruk!

  If you’re not careful, the Special Forces will see you before you see them.

  Continue stumbling around the jungle with an erection hard enough to smash rocks and a mind clouded by lust, and you will screw up.

  These are the most talented hunters of New Exon.

  Nothing you can’t match, but… you need to be one hundred percent focused.

  Lilith’s life depends on it.

  Get caught and who knows what they’d do to you? The humans were attacked without warning… they aren’t exactly fucking around.

  And without you, Lilith might very well starve to death, trapped in that cave.

  The thought of the innocent human dying because of my carelessness whips me back into shape. I push my shoulders back, readjust my cock, and take a deep breath.

  The humans are close by. I also smell Zorans, and one other peculiar scent I can’t place. I follow the trail, maintaining complete focus.

  It doesn’t take long for me to catch up with them.

  The captured humans, both male and female, are being marched through the jungle, single file. They are flanked on either side by Zoran Special Forces, the elite fighting unit of New Exon. They are wearing full body armor, laser rifles resting in their hands.

  So much for abandoning technology.

  What draws most of my attention are the strange, pale aliens, tall and slender, that are at the front of the pack. Their armor is as golden as my skin, their long hair as white as bone.

  I make my way to the front, keeping my distance, moving as quietly as I can. The Zoran soldiers have let their guard down, and they pay no attention to the twigs that snap underneath my feet.

  When I see father, my blood turns to ice. He’s not just involved — he’s leading this whole damn mission! He is talking to the lanky aliens in a tongue I do not understand, and the black pit in my stomach grows.

  This goes way deeper than I feared.

  Lilith

  I pace around in circles, trying to get my thoughts in order, trying to wrap my head around everything that happened… but it’s all just too much.

  My life was so simple.

  Go to work, deliver packages, go home, watch TV, fall asleep. Rinse and repeat.

  Kinda boring, perhaps, but there was order. No surprises.

  No spaceships being blown to bits.

  No half-naked alien warriors abducting me.

  No confusing, messy feelings either!

  Daruk… I’ve been unable to forget him, try as I might. I fear him and trust him in equal measure. It’s complicated. Technically I’m his prisoner, locked here in this cave… but he also saved me from whatever fate befell the Destiny’s crew.

  I tried to climb out of here the moment Daruk left, but it’s useless. The walls are way too steep, the climb too high. I can get up a few feet, and then what? If I slip, I’m bound to break something.

  Better to wait for Daruk to return.

  If he returns…

  He better! I didn’t come halfway across the galaxy to starve, thank you very much. I’m only here because of that damn guard, who was either too stupid or lazy to realize I was in the cargo hold before the HF Destiny took off.

  I swear, if I die out there, I’m going to find that man and haunt him for the rest of his days.

  That thought brings a weary smile to my face. There’s not been a whole lot to smile about since I ran out into the jungle. Peanut’s gone, ship’s gone, crew probably gone…

  My life is in Daruk’s strong hands. Perhaps that ought to worry me, but funny enough, it’s also comforting in a way. There was something in the way he looked at me that’s reassuring.

  No man has ever looked at me like that.

  Meow!

  My heart skips a beat. That sound is what got me here — if I didn’t chase that damn cat, I might still be at home — but I’m still happy to hear it. I look up, and see Peanut is standing at the entrance, looking down at me, his furry face illuminated by the small fire Daruk made.

  “There you are!” I say. “I’ve been looking all over for you, and in the end, you find me? Figures.”

  He walks over to the edge, peeking down.

  “Careful,” I say. “You might fa-aah!”

  The ledge Peanut is leaning on breaks, and the cat comes tumbling down. I jump out and hold out my arms, managing to catch him in the nick of time.

  “Don’t scare me like that!” I say, my heart racing as I clutch the cat to my chest.

  Peanut, unfazed by the drop he just made, simply nuzzles me, meowing contently.

  With that, the small fire flickers out, and I’m left in total darkness.

  “Well… at least you’re here,” I say as I stroke Peanut’s fur. “At least you’re here.”

  Daruk

  I stride into our family’s home filled to the brim with unadulterated rage. The human prisoners were being led to the main camp, the home of the Elders, but I saw father head towards our small village, which lies on the outskirts.

  I can’t risk him finding out I’m not at home, and so I abandoned the chase and ran home as fast as I could.

  “Where have you been?” Yano asks the moment I storm in. “I was worried sick!”

  “You don’t want to know,” I growl as I sit down on my bed, resting my head in my hands.

  I can’t make sense of it all. It feels like my life has been a lie, like New Exon itself has been built on a lie. I’ve trained my whole life to be a warrior, to control my emotions, my fears, but there’s no controlling what I feel now.

  I just want to be back in that cave.

  “Don’t say a word to father,” I say. “Not a fucking word, okay?”

  “Of course,” Yano says. “But I want to know what’s going on. You’re acting crazy.”

  “I feel crazy. The less you know, the better.”

  “Bullshit,” he says. “Stop treating me like a kid. Don’t you trust me?”

  “Of course I do!”

 
“Then tell me what the fuck is going on!”

  “What are you two talking about?”

  My father’s words are cold, calculated. He is standing in the entrance, his lips pulled into a tight line. “What is going on here?”

  “Nothing,” I say, avoiding his gaze. I can’t look at him. If I do, the anger might just overtake me. I can’t confront him… not yet.

  First, I need to make sure Lilith is safe.

  “Then what were you two arguing about?” he says calmly.

  He strides into our cave, and runs one gloved finger down my shoulder.

  “You are covered in sweat. Why?”

  “Daruk was having a bad dream,” Yano says, covering for me. “That’s all.”

  “Is that so?”

  I force myself to look up, trying to look as neutral as possible.

  “Yeah,” I say.

  Father has a thin, disrespectful smile on his face. “Pitiful,” he says. “A true Zoran doesn’t have nightmares. He is a nightmare — to everyone who opposes him.”

  And what do you know about being a true Zoran? Does a ‘true Zoran’ lay waiting in an ambush like a highway robber? Does a ‘true Zoran’ enslave other species like cattle?

  I push those thoughts away, lest my anger seep through in my expression.

  “Yes, father,” I grit through my teeth.

  Whatever it takes to get him off my back. Returning to Lilith is my priority now.

  I can’t wait to see her again.

  Chapter Six

  Lilith

  “Good morning.”

  I slowly open my eyes. I find myself laying in the hammock, swaying gently. Daruk is standing in a cone of sunlight, his golden body illuminated like he just descended from heaven.

  “What is that?” he growls, pointing at the floor.

  My cat hides underneath my hammock, hissing at the alien warrior.

  “That’s Peanut,” I yawn.

  I do not get a look of understanding from the gruff warrior.

  “He’s a cat,” I explain. “An animal from Earth. He’s my friend.”

  “Hm,” Daruk grunts.

  I sit up straight — as best I can in a hammock — and rub the sleep from my eyes. Only now do I see that there is a carcass of a boar-like animal slung over Daruk’s naked shoulders, dripping blood onto the floor, contrasting greatly with the Zoran’s natural beauty.

  “Wh-what’s that?!” I stammer.

  “Breakfast,” he says. “You must be famished.”

  The Zoran warrior sits down on the floor, pulls out a dagger, and starts skinning the alien animal. My stomach, barely awake, feels like it’s been turned upside down. With all the excitement, the drama and the horror of last night, food was the last thing on my mind… though now that I think about it, I do feel rather hungry.

  However, watching Daruk skin this animal is not exactly whetting my appetite.

  “I assume pancakes are off the table, huh?”

  “Pahnkakes?”

  “You don’t have pancakes?” I ask. “What kind of backwater planet is this? Next thing, you’ll tell me you guys don’t have whipped cream either.”

  A smile forms on Daruk’s face. “You know nothing of our planet, do you?”

  Well, I know there are spores in the air that make me super horny whenever I look at you, you smug alien, and despite the antidote the captain gave me, that aphrodisiac is still working its magic. In fact, if anything, the feeling is still growing in intensity, and watching you handle that blade, seeing your muscles bulge, is only making it worse and worse and…

  “No,” I lie. “I know nothing except what I’ve seen in this cave, which is mostly… rocks.”

  I gesture at the wall, but I stop when I see the beautiful murals carved into the very rock itself. The small fire was not enough to light them up properly, but now, with the cave bathed in sunlight, I can see them perfectly.

  “Did you make these?” I ask. “They are beautiful!”

  “They are, aren’t they? No, that is all my brother’s work. He is the artist of the family.”

  “You have a brother?”

  He nods as he continues skinning the beast. “His name is Yano. He’s young, impulsive, with much to learn, much growing to do still… but he has his head on straight.”

  “Any other Zorans in your family I should know of?”

  “No,” he says resolutely, his smile disappearing. Instantly I feel his mood change, as if a thundercloud has just passed before the sun.

  “Tell me about your planet, then,” I say, changing the subject. “What do I need to know?”

  “We have returned to the old ways,” he says. “We have built a new life here, on New Exon. No technology, no crutches. Just us and the wilderness. At least, that was the idea.”

  “So… that explains the, uhh…”

  My eyes are drawn to his loincloth. This time his hardness doesn’t threaten to burst out, and I almost feel sad because of it.

  “My outfit?”

  That thin cloth only counts as an outfit in the loosest of terms, but it’ll do.

  “Yes, your outfit,” I say.

  Daruk nods. “So, there are no pahnkakes here. We live on what this planet has to share with us, in harmony.”

  “And you… like it that way?”

  “I do.”

  Harmony sounds great, in theory. But the more I think about it, the more it sounds like they’re living like barbarians. Daruk certainly looks like one, with his barely covered body, every muscle in his seven foot frame looking perfect, his hands covered in blood as he wields that knife of his.

  I, on the other hand, am a 22nd century woman. I’m used to certain comforts.

  “There’s no running water?”

  “No,” he says.

  “Where do you bathe?”

  “In the wild.”

  “What about, you know, using the bathroom?”

  “Also in the wild.”

  See? This is why I don’t go out. Next thing you know, you find yourself stranded on an alien world that doesn’t believe in toilets.

  “You look troubled.”

  “I am,” I answer. “No pancakes for breakfast — okay. Disappointed, but okay. I can live with that. Barely. But I can. I’ll rise to the occasion. However, no shower, no toilet? That’s not something I can cope with.”

  Daruk just shrugs. “You have no other choice, human.”

  The alien warrior stars a small fire, runs a makeshift spear through the pieces of raw meats he cuts from the skinned beast, and roasts it over the fire. His hands and body are covered in blood. Without saying a word, he gets up, grabs the liana and climbs up the steep wall easily. Several moments later, he returns, his golden body dripping with water, the blood washed away. He sits back down across from me, turning the spear, roasting the meat, and when he notices me staring at the droplets of water dripping down his perfect washboard abs, he raises an eyebrow.

  “What?” he asks.

  “I… need a shower too.”

  A very, very cold one.

  “You can’t. Too dangerous.”

  “Why? Where did you just go?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “It does to me!”

  “Too dangerous.”

  “Are you my savior or my jailor?” I ask. “When are you going to tell me what happened to my crew? What if you’re in league with whoever attacked the ship? For that matter, why do I even trust you?!”

  Daruk looks up. “Yes, why do you trust me?” he asks.

  I want to scowl, to look away, to curse, but his radiant eyes, as beautiful as jewels, capture all of my attention. I trust him because of the way he looks at me. A way no man has ever looked at me. Filled with compassion, care… and the slightest hint of lust, lurking just beneath the surface.

  “Just… please. Tell me what’s going on.”

  He hands me a piece of roasted meat. The smell hits me like a ton of bricks, and I realize that I’m not just hungry — I’m famished.r />
  “Eat up, and I’ll answer your questions… but I warn you, you won’t like the answers.”

  Daruk

  I watch Lilith devour the strip of boar like a woman possessed. For a woman who claimed to only eat pahnkakes, she knows how to handle meat. Juice runs down her chin, and instinctively I reach out and wipe it off with my thumb.

  She pulls back from me the moment I touch her like I poked her with a hot iron. Her brown eyes are opened wide, filled with shock… and a hint of arousal.

  “You had a… never mind. Your questions.”

  I turn my eyes to the crackling fire, searching for the right words.

  She deserves to know the truth — but can she handle it? I sense great strength in her, determination, righteousness. If she finds out her people, her friends, are being held captive by my own kind, by my own father even… would she still trust me?

  Would she try to escape, to rescue them, and in turn endanger her own life?

  I can’t risk that. I don’t want her to turn away from me.

  Simply being in her presence fills me with joy. Simply talking to her makes me feel warm inside… and that’s without making her body mine, making her scream and moan and thrash with pleasure.

  If just conversation feels this pleasant, then mating must be out of this world.

  “Who attacked the ship?” she asks.

  “My people,” I answer truthfully. “Assisted by aliens I haven’t seen before. I do not know why. I promise you that I had nothing to do with it.”

  “And you expect me to believe you on your word?”

  “I do.”

  “Where is the crew now? Are they… are they dead?”

  “No, they’re not. They’ve been taken prisoners. Where, or why… I do not know.”

  “What do you know?” Lilith asks. “When can I just… go home?”

  I glance up. Her arms are crossed as she frowns at me. I understand her frustration, but there is nothing I can do about it.

  And if it was up to me, she’s never going home.

  “Do you think I like this?” I say. “Finding out all of the teachings I’ve lived my life by have been a lie? Discovering that the men I look up, the men I’ve pledged my life to, are schemers? Slavers? I’m risking my life for you, human. If they find out I’m harboring you, it’s not just your life that’s on the line. It’s my own as well.”