Keecha (Rathier Warriors) (A Sci Fi Alien Abduction Romance) Read online

  Every long stroke of his member brought me closer and closer to the height of my pleasure, but I wanted to hold back and see if there was any more that I could take. My heart was racing as Jaize’s handsome face gazed down at me tenderly, as if I were the most precious thing in the universe to him.

  But that couldn’t be possible. I was just his housekeeper, after all. And a human one at that.

  Still, it was difficult to deny the tender way he held me, and the deep, gratifying ecstasy that his body was driving me toward, again and again, with each thrust becoming more rapid and urgent.

  I cried out in rapture as I felt Jaize shudder against me, and I knew that he was as close to his climax as I was. Soon, he was releasing the full power of his hips against me, and I yelped in shock as I began to drown in an earth-shattering orgasm unlike anything I had ever experienced.

  Jaize grunted in pleasure, his face contorted in rapture as his body began to release a hot torrent of his liquid desire inside of me. I received it greedily as my own body was catapulted even deeper into my orgasm, and I cried out softly despite myself as Jaize emptied himself into me and finally, carefully, removed himself from the heat of my body.

  He rolled off of me and laid on his back, staring at the ceiling with his chest heaving. It was only then that I realized just how taxing the deed must have been for him. The disease he was suffering from was just as real as he said it was, and I suddenly felt an immense compassion for the man. He, and the other Verian men, deserved relief from this horrible condition. Jaize was right. There were certain kinds of warfare that you just shouldn’t touch.

  And if there was anything at all I could do to relieve that suffering, I would do it. If not for Jaize, then for the release of Lucas from the Verian prison. I would do anything to free my brother. Even if that meant being a slave to Jaize for the rest of my natural life.

  ***

  I woke up to find that at some point throughout the night, Jaize had left the bedroom. I felt the rapid onset of a deep shame as my memory began to unravel the events of the night before in my sleepy mind. What had I been thinking? I had been so overwhelmed with relief at the thought of Lucas being safe and sound, and not only that, but on the same planet as myself, that I had given in to the deep attraction I had been harnessing for Jaize since the moment I’d laid eyes on his graceful, otherworldly body lying on the ground of Earth.

  It had been a moment of weakness on my part. I had been so excited to believe that if I just helped this man, he would be able to rescue my brother and bring him back to me. My life was a desolate and lonely place without Lucas. He was all I had left. The rest of my family had been killed in the war, and when Lucas had disappeared, I thought I had lost everything. But knowing he was alive made it possible for me to smile again. To feel joy and excitement. To feel passion…

  I shook my head, driving away the shameful thoughts of the night before and setting my mind to think only of Luke from now on. It had surely been a mistake to trust a man like Jaize in the first place, but if I did my part to heal his body from the terrible effects of Project V, then he would do his part to reunite me with the family I’d lost so I could live the rest of my life in peace.

  I wandered out of the room and prepared myself for the day, taking care to try my best to wash all the scent of the night before off of my body. It was hard enough to remember it happened without worrying that the Verians might have some kind of heightened senses that would make it impossible to retreat from my horrible secret.

  “Your meal is ready.”

  I jumped in shock when a small being covered from head to foot in shaggy auburn hair rounded the corner of the hallway and looked up at me. This must be the Pelin man that Jaize had spoken of before.

  “Th-thank you,” I stammered, turning away quickly so as not to stare at the strange little creature. He went on his way, and I tried to compose myself for a moment before continuing into the kitchen. No wonder it was so small. It had to accommodate the Pelin, who, I had just found out, were only about as tall as the top of my kneecap.

  The meal was laid out before me on the table when I arrived, with no sign of Jaize anywhere. I had to wonder what he was doing, and couldn’t help but feel agitated by the lack of his presence. As much as I wanted to avoid him, it stung to think that he might want to do the same. Couldn’t I just take it for the lucky break that it was and move on with my life?

  But apparently, I couldn’t because I spent the rest of my meal glowering over my food and wondering what I was going to do to avoid Jaize’s wife. We certainly hadn’t been quiet the night before, and although their relationship was basically over, wasn’t there some sense of propriety to be had? A sense of propriety we had most certainly broken.

  A sudden wave of nausea hit me, more powerful than anything I had experienced before, and I ran back to the bathroom, my hand over my mouth. I barely made it in safely when I expelled all of the contents of my breakfast and gasped for breath. What was going on? Had Malnia had my breakfast poisoned because I had slept with her husband?

  No, if she was going to do that, I had a feeling she would have made her plan known, both to myself and to Jaize. I was a human after all, and as far as I knew, that made me dispensable. If her father was the second in command of the planet, then it was likely she would be able to get away with getting rid of one human who apparently threatened her marriage.

  It was possible that whatever I ate wasn’t agreeing with me. But with neither Jaize nor Malnia anywhere near me, there was nobody to consult about this. I would just have to retreat back to my room and hope that whatever it was, it would pass quickly.

  ***

  I didn’t see much of Jaize for the next few days and simply went about my day as I had the day after we’d slept together. I would wake up ravenous, eat my fill, and then vomit up most of my stomach’s contents not long after. It was starting to get old.

  Finally, I heard the sound of Jaize’s deep voice down the hallway one morning, speaking cheerfully with the Pelin cook, and my heart thudded despite itself. I wanted to strangle him for shunning me so long after we’d been intimate together, regardless of the fact that I wanted nothing to do with him after the fact.

  “Human!”

  The deep rumble of his call immediately made me furious, and I pushed through the doorway of my chambers and glared at him. His already milky white skin seemed to pale instantly, and he gazed down at my body as if in shock.

  “What’s the matter?” I exclaimed. “Did you forget what I looked like? You were gone long enough.”

  I was confused, and mildly uncomfortable when he stepped toward me, his hand outstretched. His face broke out into a shockingly handsome smile, and I backed away from him.

  “What’s the matter with you?” I asked, my voice wavering.

  “The human,” Jaize said down to the Pelin man beside him. “She looks different, does she not?”

  The Pelin man tilted his head. “I’ve only seen her the first time just a few days ago.”

  “How has she been eating?”

  “Fine, but I am concerned about some digestive issues.”

  I stomped my foot at Jaize, furious that he could carry on a whole conversation about me without consulting me directly.

  “Stop speaking about me as if I weren’t here!” I demanded. “What is going on with you?”

  “Are you feeling unwell, Yula?” Jaize asked, finally acknowledging me and meeting my eye.

  “Actually, I’ve been sick. For days now. And if you had been here to see me at all, you would know that!”

  “I’m sorry, Yula, but I have to attend to my duties. That means I can’t be home all the time. I am at the mercy of the Doyan Vera.”

  “I remember her,” I muttered. “She’s pleasant.”

  Jaize scoffed. “Hardly. There are rumors of her overthrow. I believe that Malnia’s father is hoping to be next in line to lead the planet to glory. But for that to happen, we need to have people to lead.”

 
“Yeah,” I sighed. “The population crisis. I know.”

  Jaize’s eyes sparkled at me, and he flicked his wrist at the Pelin, who scurried away as if he had been abruptly dismissed. Apparently, he had.

  “What if I told you that you are going to help us to make up for that disparity?” Jaize asked, taking a cautious step toward me as if I were some kind of feral animal. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me and backed away from him a little bit more.

  “I would ask you what makes you think such a ridiculous notion.”

  “Well, I think you had better get ready to accept that notion, Yula. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re pregnant.”

  ***

  The news had hit me like a ton of bricks, and everything that happened after that commenced in a blur. I don’t know if I fainted or nearly lost the strength in my legs, but Jaize ended up rushing toward me and carrying me to the bedroom. I cried the whole time he was standing over my bed with the doctor from the laboratory, the unsettling man I could scarcely stand, and we were told that yes, there was no mistaking the fact that I was carrying a Verian hybrid inside of me.

  “She must come to the lab for observations,” Karan insisted. “It is for the good of the scientific community. It could be a marvelous opportunity to study the human form as they go through pregnancy.”

  But Jaize was firm. “No. I want her to stay here. You have plenty of females you can observe from the prison. What more could you learn from my human?”

  I knew I should speak up and object to the way Jaize was speaking as if he owned me or something, but the claim actually warmed my heart. He wasn’t trying to be a possessive asshole. He was just making it clear that he was going to take care of me. I was his to care for. For the first time since he’d come back to the house, I almost felt happy that he was there.

  “But, Jaize!”

  Jaize shook his head firmly, and Karan stalked out of the room, clearly unhappy not to have gotten his way in the matter. Something about that man really made me nervous, and I was sure Jaize could sense it. It was bad enough having to share the lab with him on the occasion when Jaize had hoped I would be able to cure his disease, but having him right in my bedroom had been nearly unbearable. If Jaize hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I would have done.

  “Please don’t ever leave me alone with him,” I whispered once Karan had left the house. Jaize chuckled deeply.

  “Of course not,” he said. “There are many rumors about his sadistic streak. He treats everything with scientific curiosity. You would be more like a toy to him than a living thing.”

  I had forgotten how nice it could feel to be so near to Jaize, his strong, protective body capable and willing to fight for me even though he was fighting through one of the direst diseases that humanity had ever concocted. He was incredibly brave, although it could be difficult to remember that sometimes.

  “Where were you?” I finally asked, allowing my pain to leak into my voice for the first time. It had really made me feel unwanted for him to just leave without warning like that. It hadn’t done much for my self-esteem. Especially being so sick. It felt like I had nobody to care for me at all.

  “I had to go halfway across Helna to visit with diseased troops and train them for combat despite their limitations. We don’t get a break from war just because we are struggling. In fact, most men don’t want to admit their pain is real until it is too late. That can be dangerous, not only for them, but for their whole squad.”

  “You could have told me that you were leaving, though,” I said, my hand automatically touching the soft flesh of my abdomen where, apparently, our child together was just beginning to grow. “I thought…”

  Jaize’s handsome face out into a broad smile and he laughed. “Did you think I was just done with you?”

  I blushed and looked down at my hands. It wouldn’t be the first time a man had simply used me for what he wanted and left. Still, the way Jaize said it made it sound like the silliest notion in the world.

  “Yula, I’ve wanted you from the moment we met. Although, frankly, Malnia does make it somewhat difficult.”

  “Does she know about this?” I asked, suddenly horrified. If a woman like Malnia had suffered multiple miscarriages, what would she think of me for carrying her husband’s child?

  “Yes,” Jaize said quietly. “As you can imagine, she is not pleased. No matter how often I tell her it is simply my duty as a Verian male to provide hybrids for the army, she still refuses to even look at me. I fear when I do…”

  “Wait,” I interrupted, anger curdling in my breast. “Are you trying to tell me that the only reason you’re with me is because you want our child to fight in a war that seems will last until every last person standing, whether on Earth or on Helna, is dead?”

  “No! I simply—”

  “That isn’t going to happen! I’m not going to let you just use me for breeding! I’m not some kind of farm animal!”

  “You don’t understand, Yula. This is strictly—”

  “No, I don’t think you understand, Jaize. You may have abducted me from my planet, but don’t you dare think that puts you in charge of any aspect of my body. And that includes our child!”

  “Christina, wait!”

  But I was already standing up from the bed. No matter how wobbly my legs might have been, I couldn’t stand to be near Jaize. Not for one more second. How could he have been so insensitive? And what hurt just as deeply as his willingness to sacrifice a child to a disaster of a war was his view that simply because I was under his roof, I was his for the taking. Did he only view me as an object? That made him no better than Karan!

  But what had I expected? It wasn’t like he was the most sensitive of men on the planet. It was stupid to think that he and I might have shared something special, even if just for a brief moment. Nothing that we had experienced together would mean the same thing to him as it did to me. We were a different species after all. What did he know about love?

  And wasn’t I getting ahead of myself there? It wasn’t love. Not when the two of us were simply getting to know one another. It had been a moment of weakness on my end, and a moment of victory, of pure animal lust on his end. Pure and simple. There was nothing keeping him attached to me, and it would be stupid of me to hope for that to be a possibility. As soon as I had Lucas, I was going to take my brother and my child off of this planet, no matter what it would take. They were what mattered now, and I would raise them both and make sure they were safe, no matter what Jaize had to say about it.

  Chapter 7

  Commander Jaize Lorna

  “I hope you’re happy,” Malnia said, her eyes shooting daggers into mine. “One of us is going to be a parent.”

  I was happy, of course. Ecstatic, really. Out of the two of us, I had always been the one who wanted children the most. But now that I was going to have one, with a human no less, my wife was clearly furious at me.

  “You know I wanted you to be the yula to bear my children,” I said as gently as I could. It was a sensitive subject to both of us, and Malnia was prone to bouts of temper. It had been a peaceful few days for me to escape the house for a while and train without having to worry about the feelings of the females I was bound to, but now that I was back, I remembered why it had felt so good to let go of all my marital strife and bed Christina.

  What I hadn’t counted on was not being able to get the human out of my head. Everywhere I went, all I could think about was her. It had never been like this with Malnia. Of course, I enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh with her quite thoroughly, but as for keeping my mind occupied, the only thing that had ever done that had been the promise of advancing my career.

  “It didn’t work out that way though, did it?” Malnia spat. “If I would have married Volnos, this wouldn’t have happened. His wife already bore him three children! Why did I ever settle for you?”

  Her words not only stung, but they made me angry. It had been for her sake that I’d taken on the extra shift
with Squad 22, where I had been stricken down with the disease in the first place. Most of the Verians I was working with at the time couldn’t even speak at this point. They were weak and bedridden, their wives not even considering the tragedy of being unable to bear children because they were so terrified that their husbands were going to perish right before their eyes.

  “You think you understand everything that is happening, but in reality, you’ve always resented me. Even before.”

  “Before what?” Malnia asked, throwing her hands in the air. “Before I realized just how weak you were?”

  I wanted so badly to throw it in her face that what she considered a weakness was actually a testament to my strength. The fact that I wasn’t bedridden with this disease, what the human referred to as Project V, was proof that I was made of stronger stuff than most of the men on my entire planet. That I had earned my position of leadership through the merit of my hardiness and the incredible amount of work I put into leading my squad.

  But I couldn’t tell her any of this. If she didn’t already see it and understand it enough for herself, then it was clear she would never be happy with me. Still, it would make Malnia and her family look bad if the marriage was dissolved entirely. It was against the law to divorce your mate on Helna. Now only would it dishonor our names, but it would make Malnia ineligible to seek out a new husband. The only way around these laws was for me to either die or go missing, in which case it would be the honorable thing for a man to step up to take care of her.

  “I am sorry that you feel that way. I still believe we can make this marriage work,” I said.

  It was what I was supposed to say. There was a lot to lose for both of us if we couldn’t stand to live with one another. It would show that we were stubborn, foolish Verians who were not suited to having a life mate. If we couldn’t compromise and find constructive solutions to problems at home, then how were we supposed to be expected to be able to do the same thing but with another Verian? It was a sort of cultural safeguard against toxic relationships.