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  The turbulence suddenly began to shake the ship, and I looked at Zaine, who smiled reassuringly.

  “This is normal, Yula,” he said. “It doesn’t last too long.”

  Just as he promised, the ship soon ceased in quaking, and I ran to the windows, crying out in delight when I saw the blue sky and puffy white clouds surrounding us.

  “It’s so beautiful!” I exclaimed, tears springing to my eyes. “I thought I’d never see it again…”

  “Get down!” Zaine shouted in reply, and I furrowed my brow.

  “What?”

  But the ship was suddenly hit with something much more sinister than turbulence, and I was thrown onto my stomach.

  “The baby!” I gasped as Zaine growled, steering the ship’s wheel sharply to the left. We jerked sideways, and the ship was suddenly hit with another heavy blast.

  “Brace yourself, Yula!” Zaine shouted. “Do not move. And don’t panic! Stress is bad for the baby!”

  I whimpered and crawled between two chairs bolted into the ship’s floor panels, holding onto them for dear life as we cascaded at an ever-increasing speed toward the surface of Earth.

  “There will be impact!” Zaine yelled. “Lay on your back and go as limp as you can! Put your hands under your head!”

  It was a bit different than the safety protocol I’d learned, but I realized suddenly that he was attempting to protect not only me, but our child as well. I would have felt sentimental about it, but another blast made me cry out in terror.

  “Peace to you, Yula,” Zaine said, his voice as calm as I had ever heard it. “We are going to be all right. I have this under control.”

  A sudden explosion shook the ship, and I was certain that we had been struck down. A huge red flash filled the room, and I squeezed my eyes closed. If I had known this was going to happen, that I would die in the ship attempting an escape, would I have chosen instead to stay in the prison?

  No, I decided, suddenly daring to open my eyes. I would go down in the hail of gunfire and smoke, knowing that, at the very least, I had done my best.

  My eyes caught Zaine’s from across the room, and he smiled sincerely at me. I realized that we hadn’t exploded and died at all. In fact, when I looked out the window of the ship, another ship was heading down to the desolate fields below. A small soldier was in the distance, dangling from a parachute and undoubtedly glaring at us as we hurtled toward the ground.

  Zaine managed to steer us deep into a wooded area, a place that was surprising to find. Everywhere I had ever seen had been desolate and war-torn. But it seemed that the Verians and humans had an unspoken pact that the forest here was not to be touched.

  “Almost there, Yula,” Zaine said, lowering the craft as gently as he could into a small opening in the forest. When we finally stopped moving, I let out the breath I had been holding since we had hit the turbulence. “We’re all right now.”

  Zaine stood from his seat and strode toward me, his tall, muscular body seeming almost magical now that I was nearly delirious with the pleasure of our narrow escape to Earth.

  He held his hand down to me and helped me to my feet. My legs were shaking badly, and he allowed me to support myself against him as we moved through the ship and out the escape hatch. The normal door had been destroyed by the gunfire.

  “So, Yula, what do you want to do now that you’re home?” Zaine asked, smiling at me.

  I held his hand tightly and smiled up into his face. “Make love to you,” I replied. Zaine’s eyes widened in surprise, and I laughed as I led the way through the forest.

  “We should make camp first,” he said, but a broad smile was lighting his face. “And then I pleasure you in ways you never even imagined.”

  ***

  The forest was unbelievably quiet at night. We had walked as long as we could before Zaine stopped and picked out the perfect place for us to rest.

  “We’re going to find the communes,” he confided in me. “Rumor has it that there are places out here where Verians and humans alike live in harmony. Wounded Verian soldiers who had been cared for by humans and vice versa. People who want nothing more than the war to end so peace may thrive.”

  I had never heard of such a thing existing on Earth, but it made sense to me why the soldiers would want to hide it. The very idea of it was radical, and could change the way we viewed the alien race we were at odds with.

  “Do you know where they are?” I asked, surprised.

  “No,” Zaine admitted. “But I am willing to look until we find them, and protect you until we do. That I swear.”

  My heart warmed as Zaine moved close to me, and held me as we gazed into the fire. His hands were gentle and strong as he allowed his long fingers to caress me, and I shuddered beneath his touch.

  “I thought I would never see you again,” I whispered, my voice cracking. The idea had kept me up all hours of the night, until I had been abducted by Karan and forced to think of nothing but my own pain. “I’m so glad that you’re here with me.”

  “It’s all thanks to him,” Zaine said, placing one hand firmly against the small mound of my abdomen. I felt a stirring inside of me and gasped.

  “Him?”

  “Yes,” Zaine said softly. “We are linked by the bond of life. My strength is his, and vice versa. It is this way with all of the hybrid born children. It is the only way to persevere against the disease.”

  “What disease?” I asked, frowning.

  Zaine shook his head. “These unpleasant truths can wait. I have been waiting for far too long to be inside of you again.”

  The sexy rumble of his voice against my ear sent a thrill coursing through me, and Zaine was suddenly on top of me, kissing my face gingerly as our bodies became entwined on the small bed he had made us of grass, leaves, and his shirt.

  I shuddered on the ground as his erection made itself known, and he stripped me delicately before pressing his sensual lips against my breasts. I cried out in pleasure as his tongue found the hard mound of my nipple, and closed my eyes as the ecstasy of the act consumed me.

  Soon, we were naked together, and I allowed my hands to explore Zaine’s perfectly chiseled body. He was beautiful, in so many ways, and now, I knew, he was mine.

  I gasped as his hot lips reached my earlobe and sent a hot shiver down my spine, igniting my loins with a sensual thrill that I couldn’t help but buck my hips as a result of. Zaine grinned at me and responded in kind by thrusting his hips powerfully against me, unleashing a flood of desire within my body.

  I could feel myself being slowly pried apart by his rock-hard muscle, and shuddered in delight as Zaine slowly entered me, his member immediately swelling once it was fully enveloped by my body. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fully feel the effect of his body filling me up, and we were still for a moment as pleasure rocked our bodies.

  Then, without warning, Zaine began to roll his hips languidly against me, massaging the bundle of nerves in my middle until I was out of breath and gasping as the pleasure consumed me. He showed no signs of stopping, and I found myself surrendering to the rapture that Zaine introduced to my body.

  “Are you all right, Yula? And the child?”

  I nodded, gasping as another wave of ecstasy electrified me, and Zaine grinned.

  “You like that, eh?”

  I grinned sheepishly at him, and Zaine made a point to continue the motion for as long as he could keep it up, slow and steady until I was close to screaming with the pressure of my anticipated release.

  A sudden explosion of power erupted from his hips, and I found myself shocked again and again by the electric thrusts of Zaine’s impressive member. I could feel my body tightening around him as he thrust in again and again, until I could no longer help the contractions that were tightening around him.

  He grew rigid, and our eyes met. I knew immediately that we were going to reach the epitome of our pleasure together. I braced myself, ready for it, and Zaine growled sensually into my ear, rocking my body with ano
ther torrent of sheer power.

  I felt myself suddenly filled with an explosive testament to his desire, and cried out loud as my orgasm lifted me to new, Earth-shattering heights. I gasped as Zaine thrust inside of me, again and again, until our bodies had finally had enough of the act.

  He collapsed beside me and smiled, stroking my hair away from my face.

  “All is well, Yula,” he said, kissing my sleepy eyes one at a time, and then covering my mouth with his in a sensual good-night kiss. “We will raise our child in peace.”

  Epilogue

  Regan Lawrence

  I was much more pregnant by the time we had wandered far enough through the protected forests that we saw a sign of life. At first, Zaine had been cautious, forbidding me from following my nose to the smell of the campfire. He left me behind, promising to return with the news, whether good or bad.

  Of course, I refused to just take him at his word and followed stealthily behind. If this was our chance to find a new settlement, I wasn’t going to miss it.

  “Yula!” Zaine shouted happily. I still couldn’t see what he was looking at, and he was both surprised and also obviously not surprised when I popped out from hiding to join him just seconds after he called.

  “Look!” he said, pointing to a clearing that opened out in front of us.

  I gasped, dropping my hand to my swollen stomach. This was it. It had to be.

  A Verian woman was walking toward us, her eyes narrow as she attempted to figure out whether we were friend or foe. Her child, an obvious hybrid, followed along after her, as a human man held its hand lovingly.

  “Be careful, honey,” he said to her, squinting into the brush. Nobody could see us yet, but they had heard Zaine’s exclamation.

  “Peace to you,” I said suddenly, pushing in front of Zaine and holding my hands up in the air. “We’ve come seeking shelter…a place to raise our child.”

  The Verian woman looked at me at first in surprise, and then in genuine glee.

  “Have you?” she asked, a wide smile creasing her face. She stepped forward and embraced me suddenly, an act that left me dumbfounded. The Verians were very much not huggers. This was certainly a blending of culture.

  “Zaine, come,” I said shakily, taking a look at our surroundings. There were several huts in the clearing, some of them styled in the Verian architecture, others in a more obviously human way. But they were arranged in a circle, and in between was a large fire pit where humans and Verians of all ages were sitting together, staring at us curiously.

  Zaine made his way to me, his face clearly telling me it was not okay to rush into danger that way, but when the human man came out to shake his hand, he smiled broadly, and all traces of his agitation melted away.

  “Welcome to you!” the human man said.

  “Come,” the Verian woman said, leading us to the fire. “We were just sitting down for a meal. You must be starved.”

  In truth, Zaine had done a great job of providing us with food along the way, but I was starving for something: the company of other humans.

  We followed the couple to the fire and sat down hand in hand, both of us feeling happier than we ever had before.

  “Here you are,” the Verian woman said, handing us each a plate of food.

  “Welcome to you!” the group chorused.

  “Thank you!”

  I grinned at Zaine, and he held me close, his eyes full of love. We were home.

  The End

  Verian Mates(Complete BOX SET(1-4)

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  CYLO- Dragons Of Kelon

  (Dragons Of Kelon)

  By Maia Starr

  CHAPTER ONE

  MELODY REEVES

  I saw a large dark shadow just underneath the surface of the water. The massive ripples let me know that it was something fast. It looked dangerous, but I could not look away. I took a few more steps and got as close as I could to the edge of the cliff jutting over the Pacific Ocean. I was very scared of heights and I did not want to be anywhere near the edge, but I had to take a look. My knees grew weak as I looked out over the water.

  "Are those wings?” I whispered to myself as I watched the dark shadow underneath the water get closer to the surface and create a dark outline. It looked like a very large bird swimming underneath the water.

  "That can't be, Melody. I think the pressures of being the president's daughter have finally caught up with you,” I said as I rubbed my eyes and shook my head from side to side as though I could make it disappear.

  I looked back at the water. Whoosh! Suddenly the creature burst from the surface of the water and flew straight up, shooting into the sky, into the blinding light of the bright sun. It was so fast that I could not exactly see what I was looking at. But in the backlight of the sun I saw a brief outline as the creature spread its wings out from its sides. They look to be at least 10 feet across and my mouth was wide open as I stared at it. What the hell was I looking at? Was it some form of dinosaur that we thought was extinct, but would reappear now and then to create a legend like the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland?

  I took steps backward as the creature seemed to hit the highest point of its flight and change direction, toward me. It was diving very fast. I kept my eyes on it but walked faster; I could not run. I was too frozen with awe at the sight of this strange thing.

  Boom! The ground seemed to shake underneath me as the creature landed a few yards in front of me.

  "Holy shit," I whispered to myself as I put my hands over my mouth. I could not believe what I was looking at. It was a man. It was a very large man, almost 9 feet tall. His very broad strong chest was naked, and only a simple loincloth covered his waist down to his thighs. He was very muscular, toned, with six-pack abs that looked chiseled. His jet-black hair was long down to his jaw, and a 5 o'clock shadow beard covered his face. But as he took slows cautious steps toward me, it was not these features that made me feel like I was losing my mind. It was the imprint, almost like a tattoo, that covered his right arm from his wrist up to his shoulder. It looked like a strange pattern, and the very large wings that he had folded behind him let me know this was something not human. My breathing grew heavier, and I knew then that this moment was the start of something that would change my life forever. But little did I know exactly what it all meant.

  I couldn't believe that all of this was happening simply because my friend Gloria had recommended I take a hike to clear my mind. I was the daughter of the current President of the United States, President Reeves. The pressure of all of it was getting to me, even though I lived all the way across the country in California. Being the daughter of the president was not all it was cracked up to be. I hated politics. But I hated even more the intrusion of privacy that came with it. I was a writer, and I wanted nothing more than to have an adventure in order to write about it. But I was never able to really get away without people knowing who I was. My father's security detail watched my every move. Even though I was 25-years-old with my own life on the other side of the country, my father ran my life. I could not wait for his term in office to be over. It affected my life more than anything, and that included my romantic life. I never knew if a man was interested in me because of my own personality or if he was just using me for my position in the world.

  Just like the guy I had been seeing: James Buckley.

  "Are you going to eat that?” James said as he sat across the table from me at a romantic restaurant. We had been dating for two months, and he was a very dashing, rich, Ivy Leaguer. My girlfriends loved him and thought he was perfect. I, on the other hand, thought he was just okay. He was nice and did everything by the book, but I found him to be very boring.

  "No, I'm not,” I said pushing the plate of veal toward him.

  "Good, I am famished.”

  I looked down at my very expensive pink and maroon Dior dress and heels. “What a waste,”
I said under my breath.

  “What was that, Melody?” James said.

  “Oh nothing,” I said.

  “I worked out for two hours today before dinner. I'm working on my quads. Have you been able to tell?” he said.

  "No, I have not really—”

  "I'll show you later back at your place. My personal trainer says that I am doing really well. Maybe you should start going to him too. You could use a little strengthening,” he said squeezing my arm.

  "You want me to go to your personal trainer?” I said, looking at him with annoyance.

  "Sure. It's not like you can't afford it. Just tell your dad to cover it. You could use some working out.”

  "I will consider it,” I said simply because I knew that opposing him would keep him talking about it. I did not have the energy to deal with that.

  "Speaking of your father, when will you be visiting him? I would like to go with you if I could. Or better yet, when is he coming here? I'd love to show him around my office. I think he would be very excited about some of my proposals,” he said to me.

  "I don't know,” I said rolling my eyes and turning my attention to the attractive waiter walking by the table. A part of me wanted to grab that waiter and take him home. I just wanted to have some passion without the man putting his agenda on me.

  "Or, you could email him some of my proposals…” James continued talking about my father, and I tuned him out. This was how it went. This was always how it went. Even before my father was president, he was the Governor of Connecticut. Even then when I was dating, the men in my life always had a political agenda. It did not matter if I was dating a veterinarian or a stockbroker, they always found a way to try to help their position in life through me, and through my father. I wondered if I would ever find someone that did not care who my father was, someone that would really fall in love with me, me as a person.