Alien Romance: Hunter: Space Commander's Fated Mate (Space Beasts Book 3) (7 page)

Her hips pushed up into his hands index and middle finger rubbed over her nub in long, slow circles. “I want to hear you beg again, Juliet.”

She whimpered, giving into what he wanted. “Please, Zalgar… Please don’t stop. I want more…”

He smirked, lowering his hand further, teasing her entrance. She was so wet for him, and Juliet wondered how that had happened so quickly. Her fingers pulled at his hair in desperation, crying out into the night air as his fingers entered her.

His exploration was measured and patient, trying to find Juliet’s most sensitive spot. When Zalgar found it, her breath hitched in her throat, fingers digging into his scalp. He paid special attention it after that, rubbing at the best angle possible to hit it over and over again, curling his fingers.

Juliet felt herself begin to spiral out of control, her hips writhing like a wild animal. Though they were outside, she didn’t care that she was loud, crying out her orgasm into the night sky. Zalgar eased her down, withdrawing his fingers when she started to settle down again, only to pull her shorts completely off.

Juliet looked down at what he was doing, her expression completely sated and tired, but when she saw the tent in his leather jerkin, she felt the hunger begin all over again. “Yes,” she hissed, just as he pulled his length out, “Please…”

“Tell me what you want,” Zalgar ordered, taking himself in hand and rubbing against her wet slit, “Beg for it.”

Juliet tilted her head back, letting out a whine at how close he was. He rubbed the tip of his cock over her clit, stimulating her even further. She needed more, and she’d do anything to get it. “I want your cock,” Juliet said, something she never would have done before during sex, not without feeling too embarrassed and ridiculous.

Now, she felt like a sexy, wanton woman, with a strong man on top of her, wanting her. “I want you to fuck me, Zalgar, fuck me so hard that I’ll still feel you two lifetimes from now.”

That seemed to get him, the alien obliging her and shoving his cock deep inside of her, burying himself to the hilt with one movement. Juliet moaned just as he held one hand up to her cheek. His thrusts were hard. “I’ll find you again,” he grunted, “You are mine, Juliet Moore. And you always will be.”

“I am yours,” she agreed, her voice growing more high-pitched as each thrust skyrocketed her closer to her climax. “And you’re mine.”

Neither lasted long after that, as much as they wanted to. Juliet kept her legs tightly wrapped around his waist as he drove into her, leaving marks all along her neck. They would be there long after she got home,
if
she got home. Juliet didn’t know how she would explain them to people, but she didn’t care. She would wear them like badges, the last thing she would have left of Zalgar, proof that him and their time together was real.

“Juliet!”  He shouted in the dead of night, spilling his seed in her. Juliet stayed completely still, keeping him there against her, and for a minute, they both absorbed what they’d just done. She remembered what it felt like to have his skin slick against hers with sweat, how his dark hair started to come undone and tickle her face like feathers.

She remembered how soft his lips were, contrasted with how he would use his teeth to establish dominance with their mouths. She remembered his fingertips digging into her skin, causing marks on her, as if clinging onto her hard enough could prevent this from ending just as it’d begun.

Chapter Eight

They didn’t stick around long enough or try for anything else by the river. Afterwards, they spared just a moment to kiss one another, but then it was back to being on the run. After getting dressed and fixing her hair, Juliet followed him through the forest. She realized when they were getting closer, the stars becoming more and more sparse in the sky. Back home, there were hardly any stars because of the big cities.

The trees that she’d grown accustomed to seeing grew thinner until there was nothing but a road, and further down the hill that they were on, was a city, tall buildings towering and stretching towards the skies. Juliet was struck with awe.

It was nothing like what she’d seen back home. It looked more like something that Earth would have had in the 18th century, all the buildings made of brick-like stones. “It’s beautiful,” she remarked.

Zalgar huffed, “On the surface, maybe.”

Holding hands, the two made their way through the city. There were no walls or guards, which Juliet was happy for, but there were patrolmen. “This is where it’s going to get hard,” Zalgar told her, the both of them hiding around a corner. “The hangar is on the southwest side of the capital. We’re in the northwest section.”

“So basically the opposite side of town,” Juliet summarized, cocking an eyebrow, “How am I going to get across town without getting noticed?”

“We’ll have to worry about them noticing me too,” Zalgar said, “I was once a hero here. When I abandoned the city, that didn’t go unnoticed by the guards and civilians, I’m sure.”

While she appreciated the honesty, it only made her more nervous at the fact that they had more obstacles thrown at them. “We’re just going to duck and hide the entire time?” she asked, looking at Zalgar.

He pulled out his two blades. “If it doesn’t work, we kill the ones that see us. You still have your blade from Jahan, don’t you?” Juliet nodded, reaching behind her and into the bag to grab it. “Then we just need to make it quick and quiet, alright?”

Juliet didn’t know if she could do what he was asking, killing a person. She hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that, staying close behind Zalgar as they moved their way around the city. Luckily, he knew his way around well, and with his role as commander of the city, he also knew how the shifts worked, when they traded off, what their rotations and patrol areas were. They had gotten to the hangar with only two incidents, guards that noticed them sneaking around. Zalgar had taken both out before they could even finish asking what the pair were up to.

She felt all the stress she’d been holding onto finally leave her as she looked at the hangar. Inside, there would be ships that could get her outside, away from a hostile planet full of people that wanted her dead.

There was only one problem, and she could see that Zalgar was thinking about it as well, his steps growing heavier. She reached out for his hand as they approached the warehouse. He turned and gave her small, half-hearted smile that didn’t last long before collapsing into a frown.

Juliet squeezed his hand. “Thank you. For everything.”

Zalgar nodded, opening the door and pulling her inside. Once they were safe in the darkness, he put both hands on her shoulders. “I meant it when I promised I would get you here safe. And I meant it when I promised I will find you again.”

Then a voice came from the dark, echoing off the walls of the hangar. “Funny, you told me something else, Zalgar.”

The pair turned to look in the direction that it came from. It was a low, sultry voice, definitely belonging to a woman. “Samara,” Zalgar growled, then called out, “You said you would give me time to get rid of her!”

Samara replied with a tinkling laugh, the lights all turning on. Juliet and Zalgar squinted at the sudden brightness. When their eyes adjusted, they found her in all her black leather glory, hands on her hips, surrounded by five other men in military uniforms. While she looked purely angry, hiding it behind a playful smirk, the others were straight-laced, expressionless. They were almost like robots.
Was Zalgar like this before
?

“I meant that you should kill her,” she said, taking a step forward. The other men followed her. “I didn’t expect you to actually bring an
earthling
into the city… You didn’t used to be this stupid, my love.”

“She is getting out of this one way or another,” Zalgar threatened, “His fists tightening around his blades, “Don’t make this hard on yourself.”

Samara replied by withdrawing her own blades, swirling them around her wrists with an artistry that Juliet didn’t dare hope that she could master. Ever. “I thought about it. Really, I did,” she replied, though her tone was so apathetic that Juliet had a hard time believing her claim, “Once I realized what this thing was to you… I thought it would be harder for you to forgive me, killing your true love and your father, but… You know me. I’ve always been so jealous.”

“Samara-”

“Finding Jahan dead was just the last straw, Zalgar,” Samara continued, now pacing back and forth between her row of soldiers, boots clicking against the hard floor of the hangar, “We could always cover it up, tell them that the hideous earthling creature managed to seduce him, killing him after she got the information she needed, but…” Now Samara paused, looking straight at Zalgar. There was no smirk anymore, just the raw anger left. “I can’t trust someone that would choose an outsider over his own people, his own
friend
. Not even you.”

“She’s going to leave, and that’ll be the end of it. You can do whatever you want to me.”

Samara shook her head. “And risk others finding out about us? Have them come back in droves to fight us and take over our planet all over again? The man I was going to marry wanted to protect his people. He was
never
this weak.” She nodded her head. “Men… Kill them.”

“Juliet, stay back,” Zalgar ordered.

Even if he told her to move, Juliet wouldn’t have been able to. She was frozen in fear, watching five men come at her, their own blades in hand. Five against two? Those weren’t favorable odds. And then she felt the hot glare of Samara burning into her. Their eyes met, blue to green, the alien woman twirling her blades around and around again the entire time.

They didn’t break eye contact, even as Juliet heard Zalgar grunting and shouting, blades clanging together. She didn’t want to look, didn’t want to find that he was losing, even though a small part of her had complete faith that Zalgar wouldn’t lose, even with the numbers against him.

With him distracted, it left his ex-fiancée with a window of opportunity, stalking towards his new lover. Juliet knew by now how their race worked, how predatory they were. While she stood up to fight Jahan, there was something different, scarier about Samara. Jahan only hated the human for what she was, an outsider. Meanwhile, Samara had several reasons to kill and hate Juliet.

This time, Juliet ran. She ran away from Zalgar, sprinting towards the closest space shuttles, but her opponent caught up with her quickly, elbowing her in the chest and knocking Juliet on the flat of her back, hitting the ground hard. Juliet coughed, trying to stand up, but Samara took advantage of her being on the ground, pressing her boot down onto Juliet’s cheek, her face tilting to the side.

Digging the toe of her shoe in, Samara smiled. “That was easier than I thought,” she laughed, “Zalgar used to love fighters. Sad to see how he was destined to be with a runner…”

Juliet grit her teeth. She was tired of thinking she was going to die, and out of all the people who threatened her, she refused to be killed by Samara. “I’m not running anymore,” she replied, quickly withdrawing her knife from the belt loop on her shorts and stabbing deep into Samara’s leg. She tried to get as many stabs as she could, but once the boot was lifted off her face, Juliet focused more on getting out of the vulnerable position she was in.

Samara screamed from the surprise and pain, her foot shooting up. “I’ll kill you!” she yelled, reaching for Juliet. With her injury, she was forced to limp, moving slower than she normally would. Juliet smiled, proud of what she’d done so far.

I might actually win this
. Looking at her enemy, she tried to think of the area that would be the next best place to hit.
Get rid of her weapons
. Juliet lunged, ducking low to avoid Samara’s attempts at slicing her.

Her blade hit flesh, and only when Juliet pulled away did she see she’d cut deep into her left forearm, causing Samara to lose her grip on one blade. The blonde moved forward now, tackling the alien to the ground and placing her knee firmly on Samara’s good arm. She knocked the other blade out of the way, the woman thrashing beneath her.

“You’re nothing!” Samara screamed, “You think you’re going to escape here? They’ll kill him, and then they’ll find you and kill you too.”

Juliet glared down, anger and fear pouring through her. “You fight like shit,” she spit, “And if the rest of the army is anything like you, they can come and get me!” She didn’t think anymore, forcing her blade down into Samara’s throat. Juliet heard a woman’s cry, realizing only too late that it was her own. Samara was drowning in her own blood, unable to say anything or do anything besides jerk. Realizing what was happening, what she’d done, Juliet scrambled away from the dying woman, dropping her blade. Her eyes stayed on Samara the entire time, until finally, her body grew still and silent.

That was when Juliet realized the entire room had gone silent. Her head darted to where she left Zalgar to fight the others. He was standing, looking right back at her, his opponents dead at his feet. She expected to see horror in his eyes, but as he rushed forward, grabbing her in his arms, Juliet realized it was the same look he gave to her when she caught her first fish. It was pride. She was a fighter, no longer just a victim or a runner.

They were both covered in blood, none of it their own, but Juliet didn’t care. She held onto him tightly as he pressed hurried kisses over her face. “You were amazing,” Zalgar told her, “Are you alright?”

Juliet nodded, feeling almost numb. “I… I had to, right?” she reasoned, coming to terms with the fact that she’d just taken her first life, “She… She would have killed me if I hadn’t.”

He didn’t even hesitate, nodding. “She would have. She would have killed you and let you bleed out without a second thought. Juliet, don’t give her the satisfaction.”

The blonde nodded, burying her face in his neck. “I can’t do this,” she whispered, “I can’t go home and pretend that none of this happened.” Juliet wasn’t the same girl that boarded the shuttle a month ago.

She didn’t care about her work-study, her finals, what her friends thought of her, or how to prove that she was completely over her college boyfriend. Would she even be able to look at her parents after everything she’d gone through?

“You have to,” Zalgar insisted, pulling away from her so that he could look straight into her eyes. Juliet wondered if she would always remember that exact shade of purple, that lilac color, or if it would fade over time. “There’s no place for you here. They will find you and kill you here. After what’s happened to Samara and Jahan, and the others… I can’t protect you anymore, Juliet.”

She gripped his vest tightly, her hands balling into fists. “Then come with me,” she begged, “Don’t make me leave you… They’ll kill you if you stay here too; you know they will.” And Juliet couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him to his death.

He shook his head. “And then what?” Zalgar asked, desperate for an answer that he could believe in, “They’ll hate me there.”

“They’ll accept you-”

“Juliet, no,” he insisted, “My kind is not welcome in your Alliance. We tried, my family did… My grandfather, he tried, just like my father did, to make Rolq’thos come out of hiding. He barely made it out alive, and the only reason he did was because one man, one man from Earth, saved him. He wouldn’t have lasted another second out there.”

It made sense even more now, why his family was for showing their faces to the universe, and maybe why he had helped her, besides the soul mate aspect. Juliet smiled, thinking it really was Fate that they meet. And she believed that it was Fate to meet him in this life. They deserved more than just a month together.