Alien Dragon's Mate: Braxan (Science Fiction Alien/BBW Romance) (6 page)

Braxan shook his head as he made his way through the ship, clutching the oozing wound in his chest. Whatever she had shot into him was still there.

His mind lit up with a sudden insight.
She
had put it in there. Could she then not take it out again? Of course! It would make sense. If anyone could, it was her. The one who had inflicted the damage could reverse it. Indeed, perhaps
only
the one who had inflicted it could cure it.

The idea warmed his heart. And it would mean that he could see her again. His true hoard.

What?
He frowned in puzzlement at the strange thought. He had just seen his true hoard. Gold and gemstones was all he needed. Yes, of course. A slip of the mind, nothing more.

He came to the exit, Changed to the dragon shape and threw himself out into the blackness of space, folding his wings back into Far Travel configuration.

Soon now.

- A
melia -

“Take your fucking hands off me!”

She fought them and screamed until her throat was raw and her muscles exhausted. They didn't reply with anything but grunts and heavy breathing into her ears.

Then there was nothing else to do than resist sporadically and try not to throw up then their stench assaulted her nostrils too hard.

She
had
to slow them down. Her only hope was that someone would notice that Josh and she had been gone for too long, and then they would investigate and see the six-wheeler, find Josh and then see from the tracks in the sand that she had been abducted.

Then what? They would probably send out rescue parties in vehicles and follow the tracks. If she could slow down this band of stinking Pirgks who were pulling her away, maybe it would be in time. But she would expect to see some lights from the vehicles pretty soon now if they were to find her.

The rescue party wouldn't stray too far from the base, even to rescue someone. It was becoming clear that the Pirgks were much more numerous on this planet than anyone had suspected, and they could probably easily overwhelm a rescue force if they ambushed it.

“Let me go or I'll fucking kill you!”

Well, she had to say
something
. She didn't think they were that many in this gang, maybe just six or so. But they were strong and determined. And their hands often strayed to her chest and her crotch, just testing and feeling.

There was no doubt about what they had in mind for her. They had gang-raped Jean, probably trying to breed with her, and then tried to kill her when she had escaped. They probably had the same in mind for  Amelia. Except the escape part.

The terrain changed and became rockier. That meant they were getting closer to the outer edge of the crater where Belzon Base was located. That edge was so far away that there was pretty much no chance that any rescuers would go that far. If the dragons hadn't destroyed the drones, the base could have used them to scout for her and for small bands of attackers, just like this one.

Amelia felt the panic rise and her hope dwindle. And the sky was getting brighter, which meant that the orange sun was about to rise. The Pirgks were always more active in the orange sun than in the half-darkness of night.

Suddenly the Pirgks stopped dragging her. Their grips on her changed, and Amelia tried to slap the emergency button that would activate the distress beacon on her comms unit. Her finger was a half inch from it when a big, hairy hand grabbed her hand and pulled it behind her back.

Only now did she get a good look at the Pirgk aliens. And up close, they looked worse than she had ever suspected. Their skin was colorless, half translucent and splotched with boils and discoloration and what looked like revolting parasites, and two of them seemed to have faces that were slowly rotting. They had two stubby fingers on each hand, and they used them like strong crab's claws. They had thick hairs that grew in dirty tufts and no chins or noses on their faces, just irregular, misshapen holes. Their eyes were those of chameleons – just crusty growths with one little dark pinhole the diameter of a grain of sand. There was no personality in them, no soul. It chilled Amelia to the bone.

The stench was indescribable. But the worst part was that the Pirgks were obviously all male, and they were all obviously very excited to see her. They only wore loincloths, but they were all pitching tents in them. Not too large, but still – they definitely had something very unpleasant in mind right now.

Amelia yanked her hands and legs and tried to get out of their grips, but they used both hands and held her easily. They breathed with loud, raspy sounds and their eyes made crunching noises as they swivelled in their heads.

She felt cold fingers against her skin, right at her waist. They were trying to take her clothes off.

Amelia struggled, but it was no use. They had her, and she was helpless.

- B
raxan -

He could feel the tips of his wings heat up as they used the energy from the Other and pulled the rest of his body along through space so fast that the planet grew larger in front of him from one second to the next.

Then the air started whooshing past him and the dragon folded the wings out to soar and dive by itself, not helped by the mysterious Other realm that was so useful for travel through space.

He had done it thousands of times on a multitude of planets. But this time, something was wrong.

The outer parts of his left wing hung limply in the air and flapped helplessly in the increasing wind. His chest hurt like hell, too – right where she had shot him. It was the main muscle for the left wing that now had a large wound in it.

His mind reeled. A dragon injured? This bad? He'd never heard of that ever happening. Dragons could sustain smaller injuries, and they could die. But their scales were so thick and impenetrable that it was extremely rare for them to be seriously wounded.

With only one wing working, he plummeted chaotically through the thin atmosphere far above the planetary surface. He had no control and no balance, and he started to realize that if he fell to the ground from up here, that could well kill him.

The planet rotated under him as he tumbled towards the ground. For a moment he marveled at this new experience. It was refreshing, in a way, being this close to death. Being out of control, falling like a rock. Interesting, in its way.

No, he had to regain control before it was too late. He extended his right wing fully and was able to stabilize his sleek body in the air, using one wing like the keel of a boat. But that wasn't enough. He pulled the left one in as far as he could, then carefully extended it again until the pain became unbearable. He fell slower through the air and was even able to steer his descent. He didn't have full control, but enough to avoid landing in the middle of that crater with the desert in the middle. He also wanted to avoid the rocky edge of that crater, with what looked like forest beyond it.

His dragon eyes were large and extremely sensitive, and already he could see the human base he had helped the Pirgks attack. He wanted to land there. That was where she lived. But, he realized, it was out of reach the way things were going. He was falling too fast, even with the little control he had.

There was movement on the sand below, close to the crater's edge. He focused, and when he saw what it was, he was so astounded he lost control again and started tumbling. That was
her!
And a band of Pirgks!

Jealousy and suspicion welled up in him, and he wanted to yell at them to leave her alone. She was
his
.

He fought desperately to get his balance back, but there were gusts of wind this low and his chest and wing hurt so much he feared the wing might get ripped off him. He was very close to the ground now, but still he doubted that even the dragon could survive that drop.

A helpful gust of wind stabilized him for a split second, and he was able to slow down enough so that he could be pretty sure he wouldn't die. The rocky ground shot up at him with frightening speed. He spun around, getting his feet underneath him for the impact and readied the immense muscles in his body for the huge strain they would have to absorb.

He rolled and tumbled to spread the force of the impact over larger parts of his body. 

Then he was down, and a cloud of dust rose around him. He knew that his left wing was badly injured. He let the Change back to human happen without any resistance. The dragon needed rest. And lots of it.

He hadn't had the presence of mind to bring clothing when he dived out of the spaceship that was his lair, but that was of no concern right now. Only one thing filled his mind: she was close. Not only had he seen her close by right before he crashed to the ground, he could also feel her with his mind. She was close. And she was in danger.

His chest and his back ached, but he didn't notice it as he ran as fast as he could in her direction.

- A
melia -

She was already exhausted, but when they started pulling her clothing off her, she found new desperate energy to fight and scream and resist and try to yank her arms out of their alien hands. Even in the sulfuric smell that could be felt all over the planet, their stench was overwhelming.

Two of the Pirgks turned their unspeakably dirty loincloths to the side, and Amelia closed her eyes and turned her head away.

They held her tight, and then they pulled her over a rock. She felt clumsy hands fumble with the waistband of her jeans, but the fly and button were beyond their capabilities, and they gave up, instead trying to just pull it down.

There was a strange, hollow sound as of two coconuts being banged together, and suddenly she was free. There were no more hands on her.

Amelia turned fast and saw all the Pirgks lying spread across the landscape. One of them was still flying through the air and landed on its head thirty feet away, with a sound like a dry branch snapping.

The reason was obvious: there was a man there. There was no doubt that he was a man, because he wasn't wearing a stitch. His maleness was very obvious.

He came over to her, and she was too exhausted to do anything but shrink away from him and make sure the rock was between him and her as she rearranged her clothing.

His eyes ran up and down her as she pulled her utility suit closer to her. “Are you all right?”

His voice was deep and resonant and his face definitely had a worried look. His demeanor immediately made Amelia feel safer. Safer than she had been with the Pirgks, at least. His English had no accent that she could hear.

She swallowed and had to repress an urge to smooth down her hair. “I'm not too bad,” she managed. “Thanks.”

She took a deep breath and looked him over while she fastened the zipper of her suit. He looked like something from a story book. He must have been close to seven feet tall and his hair was dark with a golden sheen. His face was more rugged and characterful than the model perfection of a runway model, but that character gave it an unconventional beauty. His chin was strong with a hint of dark stubble, and his eyes appeared to be a vivid green.

He was so muscular and chiseled she almost felt envious, with shoulders like rolling hills and thighs like pine logs. And between them she couldn't help noticing an impressive manhood, even if it wasn't erect. She was glad it wasn't. This one she would never be able to fight off. 

He looked human enough, except for a hint of a ridge running from his chin up too his ear on each side of his face and some strange quality of the skin across his chest and shoulders that made it appear as if it had a metallic sheen and a strange texture.

His muscles looked unusual too, even if Amelia couldn't pinpoint exactly why. Except that they were uncommonly thick.

But she had no trouble pinpointing that he was hurt. His chest had a wound that looked painful and even infected, with watery blood seeping down his chest.

She pointed. “Looks like you're more badly hurt than I am.”

He just looked at her, and she was starting to feel uncomfortable. She checked his crotch real quick. No, there was no obvious action there. He wasn't planning to rape her.

He looked around. “This is not a good place to stay. These things” - he pointed to the unconscious Pirgks - “have friends nearby.”

Amelia found the button that would activate the distress beacon, but she hesitated to press it. The way things were, there was no chance anyone from Belzon Base would brave the desert inside the crater and come this close to the rim to get her. And they couldn't be sure if it wasn't a trick, a setup for an ambush. No, she had better save it.

She got her comms unit out even so. But she knew it wouldn't work. When the orange sun was up, radio signals were always badly distorted and the energy in her small set wouldn't even reach a hundred yards. That sun sent out a huge stream of radio signals that created ridiculous interference.

“The base I come from is over that way,” she said and pointed. “You can get medical treatment there.”

He came closer, and this time she didn't feel any urge to draw away from him. On the contrary. His sure way of moving, completely without any self-consciousness, reassured her. It was as if she could feel the heat from him.

He squinted in the direction she was pointing. “We shall not go that way.”

Amelia couldn't help herself, and stole a glance at his butt. Yeah, that was round and muscled.

After the ordeal with the Pirgks, she didn't mind being in the company of an actual human. Or human-ish man, anyway.

She was grateful for being rescued, but she didn't want to have gone from the frying pan and into the fire. She was
not
about to have a random stranger make her decisions for her. “Speak for yourself,” she said. “Thanks and everything, but I know I am.”

The stranger didn't look at her, just lifted his hand to shade his eyes as he scanned the horizon. “I count eight hundred of these things coming straight for us. From all sides.”

He turned again and looked towards the rocky wall that was the inner edge of the giant crater they were in. “That way there are none. There's no time to lose. They run fast. And you ...” He looked her over with a skeptical look on his face. “... you don't.”