Aedian: Alien Warrior: A Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Paranormal Romance (10 page)

But he wasn’t worried about that at the moment. For the moment he was enjoying feeling the way his climax was building under his skin, the way the white hot molten pleasure grew and tightened and the way his fingers dug into Roxanne’s skin, claws drawing blood slightly as he held her and pulled her down onto him again and again.

She cried out, but it was all pleasure, all want, and when she shuddered and went so tight around him, eyes closed and mouth open, he knew she was coming, and he was only seconds away from following her, body arched as the pleasure was nearly ripped from him.

In the aftermath, they laid together. It was the closest they’d ever been intentionally in the bed, since it was big enough for Roxanne to have her own side and plenty of space between them. But now her head was on his chest, and his fingers were in her hair, and her fingers were tracing one of the tattoos on his arm as they caught their breath and sweat cooled and mingled between them.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked after a moment, and Roxanne shook her head.

“No, I’m fine. I’ll have some scratches from your claws, but...I think I like them.”

Aedian snorted, amused. “That is good to know.” He was unsure of himself in that moment. The peace between them felt fragile at best, and shaky overall, and he didn’t know what would be the thing to kick them back into their antagonistic behavior of just a few days before.

It couldn’t always be like this, of course. There was much more to their responsibilities than having sex, but Aedian had to admit that if fighting and sleeping together was the way things were going to go, he could probably adjust to that.

“I didn’t think your people were big on cuddling,” Roxanne said, and Aedian tensed.

“It’s not our way, no,” he allowed. “But then, you do not know very much about my people.” That wasn’t an insult, it was just a fact.

She rolled her eyes. “Like you know so much about humans.”

“I’ve learned more about them,” Aedian replied carefully.

“Mm, I guess we haven’t really been bridging those gaps very well,” Roxanne mused. “I mean, my people are more interested in your tech than you as a people, and your people are more interested in...well
surviving
, I guess, which makes sense, don’t get me wrong. It just seems kinda dumb that we’re relying on and trusting each other so much without even trying to really get to know each other.”

Aedian didn’t want to tell her that, at best, Calphesians saw humans as particularly useful nuisances that had come with the planet and therefore had to be dealt with, no matter what they said during ceremonies. He also didn’t want to tell her that there was danger on the horizon if the Platoks decided they wanted to come to Earth.

The moment they were sharing was nice, and they’d avoided fighting so far, and Aedian didn’t want to upset that. So he just sighed softly and continued petting her head, fingers touching her soft curls almost reverently.

Soon enough she was asleep against him, and he relaxed. She smelled like him, and she was
his
, and that was enough for him to be content with for the moment. Anything else could wait until later.

Chapter 8: For the Common Good

That seemed to be something of a turning point for them, and Aedian was forced to admit that there was something to be gained from talking about feelings and all that. Before, his method of problem solving was hitting things until they did what he wanted, but even he could see that wasn’t a viable option here.

They still argued and bickered, but that seemed to be just a part of how things were for them. They were both headstrong individuals with a fierce sense of pride in their people, so it made sense in a way.

When he voiced this opinion to Demos, the other had nodded sagely. “You can’t treat them like they’re that different from us,” he said. “They are different, but the same way we have pride in ourselves, so do they.”

And as much as that baffled him because humans were weak and greedy things, Aedian decided to just go with it. He only needled Roxy about being human when she needled him about being a Calphesian. Gone was some of the bitterness that both of them used to have in their voices when they talked about each other, replaced by something that was more cautious and fragile, but there nonetheless.

As far as he was concerned that was all for the better especially considering the fact that they had to get married regardless of whether they wanted to or not. He wasn't going to break the treaty just because they fought sometimes. So learning to live with each other seemed to be their only option.

Honestly, it wasn't as hard as he was expecting it to be. Roxanne didn't seem to want anything from him other than his respect, and for the most part they both went about their lives, not getting in each other's way. He sparred with his friends and attended meetings and did all the things he'd done before, and she disappeared for hours in her car and came back smiling and happy. And then they had sex.

The sex, Aedian was pretty sure, was what was really keeping them afloat. Even if they were strained and bickering, all it took was a round of sex to mellow them both out, and he thanked every Creator there was that they were compatible in that respect.

Especially after a conversation with Shiia about how he still hadn't had sex with his life mate to be because he was afraid of his size.

Aedian had never seen a human penis before, but just going on proportions alone, he could tell that Calphesians were much bigger. And yes, he could see how that would be intimidating to a human, but Roxanne had never shown anything but eagerness when it came to his cock, and that gave him a smug sense of satisfaction that he identified as pride in his choice of her. Granted, she'd been the only one left when it was his turn to pick, but they sort of fit in a weird way.

He mused about this as he headed down into the central meeting room once again. Everyone was on high alert, and the thread of tension in the air let him know that something big was going on; kicking him out of his pleasant thoughts about finding Roxanne after this and having sex with her against the wall or the door (their height difference would make positioning tricky, but he was equal to the challenge).

Hushed whispers followed him into the room, and everyone on the council looked grave and a bit afraid. That was how he knew there was something wrong for certain.

It wasn't that Calphesians didn't feel fear, because they certainly did, it was just that when they felt it, they were careful not to show it. Admitting fear was a weakness and it was one that was easily exploited. For some of the top people of their kind to be looking so openly concerned, he knew there was something big going on.

Prias waited until everyone was inside and the door had been shut before he banged his hand on the table to call the meeting to order. It was clear from the rabble in the room that everyone else had noticed the same things that Aedian had. Of course, instead of responding to it with hushed words or quiet speculation, everyone wanted to be heard at once, nearly shouting over each other to have their voice heard over the din.

The agitation on their faces and in their tones was as clear as the concern on the heads' faces, and Aedian shook his head as Prias banged his fist harder, demanding order.

Finally the people started to settle down.

"What is going on?" asked one of them, face drawn into a frown. "Something is not right."

"We've been told to gather weapons," another said. "As if preparing for war. My life mate is afraid, and I do not know how to console her."

Someone else snorted. "Being joined to a human has made you soft, Ciatri."

Ciatri glared back. "And being alone has kept you callous. There is nothing wrong with-"

"There's everything wrong with weakness. Why should we care if the humans are afraid? They should be afraid."

"We should be protecting them!" Shiia insisted, joining the argument.

"That has never been our role!"

"All of that changed when we invaded their planet," Shiia replied. "They will be defenseless if we leave them to it."

Ciatri frowned harder and turned his eyes to Head Prias. The usual calm atmosphere of these meetings was nowhere to be found here, and it was clear from the screens on the walls that the other heads were having similar problems with their people, clashing voices only adding to the babble and confusion.

For once, Aedian remained silent. Usually he would leap right into something like this, asserting his position and standing his ground. But at the moment he thought it better to listen and figure out what exactly was going on before he opened his mouth.

Instead, he also looked at Prias. Never had he seen their head look so worn and old. He seemed weary, watching the argument rage with little hope of reining it in. Insults were being thrown back and forth, and Shiia was half out of his seat, claws digging gouges in the table.

"You will leave her out of this!" he roared, and Aedian gathered that his human woman had been insulted.

At his side, Ciatri, one of the first champions who had been joined to a human for five years, was pressing on his shoulder, clearly trying to get him to sit back down and calm himself.

It didn't seem to be going well.

Prias usually had this sort of thing under control, silencing squabbles with his fists against the table and a sharp word, but now he wasn't doing anything to contain it, and this was getting out of hand.

It wasn't Aedian's place, and he knew that, but he also knew that he had a burning need to know what was going on.

So he slammed his own fists down on the table in rapid time until the arguing faded away and everyone turned to stare at him. "That is enough," he said, voice quiet and disdainful. "I am sure we weren't summoned here for this." And then he made a show of turning to look at Prias, handing control of the meeting back to the head before he could be accused of being an upstart or issuing a challenge.

Prias looked surprised, but he inclined his head to Aedian in a gesture of thanks and respect. "Aedian is quite right," he said. "I did not call you here to listen to you bicker and snipe at each other. That is not our way. We do not fight our own kind for no reason. Do I need to remind you all what it means to be a Calphesian?"

Everyone knew that reminder would be harsh and most likely painful, so they shook their heads, falling silent and obedient once more.

"Good," Prias continued. "We have called you all here for a reason, and it is a grave one."

"The Platoks?" Demos asked, and Prias inclined his head once more.

"Yes. They've been sighted headed this way. There is nothing to be gained from any of the other planets in this system, so it's clear they mean to come for us."

That wasn't necessarily a surprise, but somehow the news was still startling. The Platoks had been wanting to usurp control from the Calphesians for longer than anyone in the room had been alive. It was just a fact, and now that they'd had to flee, the Platoks had an advantage. Earth was much less defensible than Calphas had been, and they didn't have the force they'd had on their home planet. Not to mention the fact that the humans were weak and couldn't defend themselves adequately, meaning there would be plenty of collateral damage.

Somehow that didn't sit right with Aedian. Before, he wouldn't have cared all that much about the humans and what happened to them, but after spending time with Roxanne and her family, he could see that humans weren't as worthless as he'd assumed. They had lives and families and the Calphesians had already interrupted those with their presence. A full on war with the Platoks on their planet would only make things worse.

"The blame lies with us," Aedian was saying before he could think better of it, and heads and eyes turned to look at him. "We've brought this here."

Prias sighed and then nodded. "You are right. If it weren't for our presence here, the Platoks wouldn't dare come this far. The humans are no threat to them, and the Platoks don't want Earth for its resources. There's no other reason for them to be making the journey."

To be honest, most other races thought that humans were like vermin and that the reward for wiping them off their planet and taking it for themselves wasn't worth what they'd have to go through to get it. It was unlikely that the Platoks knew about the treaty and how easy it had been to work with the humans, so they were probably just coming for them.

"Do you think they've destroyed everything else in their path?" Shiia wanted to know. "To be coming all the way out here, they must be quite confident."

"We don't know," one of the heads on the screens said. "We've just been monitoring the situation and the streams to Earth, and they're in one heading fast towards this planet."

"How many ships do they have?"

"Five."

That wasn't so many. The Calphesians had come to Earth with more than that. "Do they think us so weakened?" Aedian asked.

"Possibly," Prias replied. "They have always underestimated us, and they no doubt think Earth has softened us."

To some extent it had, Aedian knew. They were lying with humans now, eating their food, living among them. Life here was not as harsh as it had been on Calphas and that was one of the things that had made them strong. They hadn't had another choice. Between the harsh living on their home planet and the other races that were always trying to fight them, there hadn't been any place for softness before. But things were very different on Earth, and the Platoks clearly wanted to capitalize on that.