Reader Abduction (Alien Abduction Book 7) (5 page)

A
t the warning
, she expected Phyr to stop what he was doing. He really needed to stop what he was doing because, dammit, she didn’t want to slap his hand away and grab that big purple cock herself.

The guy was a fascinating jerk. Yes, she wanted to slap him every time he opened his mouth and said something arrogant, but she also wanted to kiss him because he had a way of making her feel so damned sexy and feminine.
He wants me.
He didn’t just say it. He didn’t just think it. He showed it. Look at his shaft, jutting from his body. Long. Thick. Tempting. And ball-less.

Yeah, he had no balls. At all. No hair either. Just lots of purple skin she wanted to lick and taste.

“What does the commander wish to do?” the guy on the intercom asked.

“Blow them into pieces. I’ll be there in a moment.”

“As the commander orders.”

With his ship under attack, Brigitte expected him to slap the wall and stop the weird decontamination thing. Instead, he leaned away from her, kept his hand on his cock, and kept stroking.

“What are you doing?” she asked, unable to stop her stare.

“Finishing.”

“But shouldn’t you be going to help your crew repel the attack?”

“My crew is competent enough to handle it without me. But I find myself in need of help with this.” He gazed downward then back at Brigitte.

What he implied…what he wanted… She bit her lower lip and shook her head. “I’m not touching you.”

“You will.”

“Are you going to force me?” So far, he’d not actually done anything unforgiveable, yet what did she truly know of him? He was an alien.

“Why force when I can bargain? In exchange for clothing and free run of the vessel, you will get on your knees and finish me.”

Suck him. Make him come. She should have burned with indignation at his offer. Instead, she burned with arousal.

“And if I say no?”

“Then you will remain nude and locked in my quarters.”

She frowned. “Let me get this straight. If I don’t blow you, then I’m going to be your prisoner.”

“You are my prisoner. The terms of your confinement are your choice.”

“I am not trading sexual favors for basic rights.” She angled her chin stubbornly, which really was at odds with her body. Her body seemed to see no problem with her having a bit of fun.

“Suit yourself.” He exited the waterless shower and pressed his hand against the wall. It opened, and he retrieved a fresh shirt and pants. No underwear.

The riveting appearance of his purple ass as he moved into the other room froze her only for a moment. She stalked after him, fully nude, somewhat annoyed and wondering if his arrogance was truly real or feigned.

In Eve’s books, the heroes always softened toward the heroines.

Am I comparing myself to a character in a story now?
Why not since she lived her own adventure? Except, in her case, the hero blithely ignored her as he yanked on his pants and pushed his arms through the sleeves of his silken black shirt.

He toed the bottom of his bed—a bed she noticed that sat on a platform and lacked any discernible pillows or blankets. Another compartment opened, and a pair of black boots slid out. He stepped into them.

“Are you going somewhere?”

“The vessel requires a captain to pilot it.”

“What happened to letting your crew handle it?”

His piercing gaze pinned her. “That was when I thought you might provide sport. Since you are unwilling, there are matters I need to attend.”

“What about me?”

He stopped strapping on his hip holster long enough to shoot her a gaze. “What of you?”

“What am I supposed to do while you’re gone?”

“Reflect on your denial. Perhaps when I return, you will prove more amenable.”

If she could have thrown something at him, she might have. All she could do, though, was stamp a foot in annoyance as he exited, the sliding door sealing shut after him.

“I hate you!” she yelled.

Hated, but wanted. Jerk.

A
s the door
to his chamber sealed shut behind him, Phyr found himself hesitating. Duty called him to check on his ship’s status, and yet, an urge assailed him to return to his room and his newly acquired prisoner.

Pleasure lost to habit, but it proved a close thing. He stomped his way through the hall and to the levitation shaft. Exiting the gravity-controlled tube, he entered the ship’s bridge. He immediately noticed only Zor manned the space. “Where is Zus?”

“While my captives allowed themselves to be cleansed and stored in the barracks, he ran into difficulty with one. I believe he is chastising her right now.”

A cynical brow arched. He knew Zus and his reputation with females. “Chastising or copulating?”

“Perhaps I should ask you the same question?” Zor retorted.

“What are you speaking of?”

“You and the female you brought aboard. The one distracting you.”

“I am not distracted.” How he lied. But only because a man should never admit to weakness. Especially for a female.

“Since when do you allow me to take care of an attack?”

“You are more than capable of deflecting barbarian missiles.”

“Of course I am, but you’ve never allowed it before. Not with your precious ship.”

“Her name is
Ju’el
.” After a rare flower that only bloomed every hundred cycles on the jungle planet of Apria. What better name for something priceless? He stroked a hand over the warm metal of the console that ran in a ring around the circular room. “You know she doesn’t like it when you don’t call her by her name.”

“You know we think of mutiny every time you speak as if the ship is alive. Argh!” Zor leaped from his seat and rubbed his posterior.

“I told you not to insult her,” Phyr said with a pat to his ship. “Now report. What happened to the Earth missiles?”

“Given the humans were using archaic nuclear technology, I sent out an encapsulating bubble that detonated the bombs and then dissipated the harmful radioactivity they would have left behind. Someone from the galactic council should really speak to, and by speak to, I mean ream, those Earthlings for using such destructive devices. Are they so behind they’ve not discovered laser technology, disintegrating pulses, and molecular disruption?”

“I told you they were barbarians.” With a sensual allure that addled the mind—and fired the blood. No wonder so many other warriors from the academy had acquired some as mates.

“Now that our cargo is stored, shall we set course for our home world?” Tapping at his console while standing, Zor brought up a shrunken map of the interconnected galaxies. The Earth’s star system lay at the farthest edge of the cartographer-drawn universe, past the Badspace where some stars, which had reached the end of their lives, had exploded, leaving debris and black holes behind. Only the truly intrepid dared to enter that dangerous, wasteland of space, but few ever exited.

This dangerous layer of travel was the only reason why the Earthlings remained mostly untouched, that and the High Galactic Council had declared them a protected species that was currently the subject of several research projects on the development of intelligent life. They were also the subject of a few discussions on the lack of intelligence. Some saw humanity’s blatant use of fossil fuels, waste of natural resources, and appalling pollution of water as a sign they lacked cognitive ability.

“Set the coordinates for our home planet. As soon as we clear the seventh planet from their sun, have us jump to warp.”

Boom
.

The blow rocked the ship, almost throwing Phyr from his seat. “What the frukx?”

Zor’s hands flashed over his console. “Incoming Xamian light raiders. A trio of them.”

Damn those blue bastards. If there was another race the Kulin respected, it was the Xamians. Respect didn’t mean they got along, though. “Where did they come from?” And what were they doing in this restricted galaxy?

Probably the same thing we are—pilfering women.
The Xamians had suffered a devastating blow when a deadly virus had been released on their home world, killing all the females. The Xamians got revenge, but in order to rebuild, they now had to abduct females in order to ensure they didn’t go extinct.

Although this is one branch that won’t live to see another galaxy
. Phyr wasn’t about to let them escape and possibly tattle on his presence here.

“Judging by their flight path, I’d wager they hid behind the Earth’s moon.”

Hid and then popped out. “Engage the shields. Fasten down the cargo. Make sure our captives are secured.”

“Already done. Arming our weapons array. Cannons charging.”

Settling into his seat, Phyr let his face settle into a grim mask. “Show the enemy onscreen.”

The map disappeared to display a grid. His vessel appeared as a glowing mauve spot, the planet as a blue-green ball, and the moon was a white smudge. Zipping in an inverted vee formation was a trio of fighter craft. With the shields active, Phyr ignored them for the moment. He was more interested in the vessel that spat them out to attack. Raiders never strayed far from their base ship.

His eyes scanned the map. “Zoom in on the second planet from the sun.” He jabbed a finger. “Their base ship is there, sitting in the orbit of the planet the humans call Mars.” The universal history annals referred to it as Earth 1.0. The one that failed.

Drumming his fingers on the armrest of his seat, Phyr watched as the larger ship broke orbit and came streaking toward them. Big and magnificent. What a shame he’d have to pulverize it into space dust.

“Is that the new XL9669 battle cruiser?”

“Yes.”

A low whistle left Zor’s lips. “Nice. But what are they doing in this forbidden space?”

Phyr snorted. “Probably the same thing we are. Looking for females.”

“So why attack us?”

“For the same reason we’re going to destroy them. So no one can tattle on our presence.” A determination to destroy his enemy didn’t mean he held the upper hand. While his craft bore many upgrades and was very well equipped, so was the Xamian ship. And he’d heard they employed intelligent onboard computer systems. Personally, Phyr didn’t trust any kind of AI. His starship,
Ju’el
, might be precious, but she wouldn’t think for him. He preferred to rely on himself. They’d survive or die based on his decisions.

It made a male positively hum with adrenaline.

“Cannons are charged and ready to fire,” Zor announced.

“Excellent.” A slide of Phyr’s finger and a compartment opened. From it emerged a lever. He wrapped his hand around it, careful not to press the sensitive triggers zones. Much like a cock that fired too early, a cannon set off too quickly would ruin things. “Set the view to surround. Unlock seat. Engage gravity harness.”

While he couldn’t see it, he felt the invisible straps crossing his body, holding him in place. Some might rely on a computer to fire at enemy targets, yet computers relied on mathematical equations and probability statistics. Phyr preferred to depend on instinct. All true warriors did. Those with a truly developed sense of self-preservation tended to enjoy long lives.

The lights on the bridge dimmed, and Phyr let himself scan the screen in front of him. Not noticing anything, he allowed his seat to pivot. His entire bridge had turned into a virtual video of the space outside his ship. He commanded a full 360-degree view. As he rotated his seat on its hovering axis, he scanned the black space for…

There. A blink of light as the dark cruiser sped at him, the slight glint enough for him to pinpoint its location.

His finger pushed on the trigger for the cannon. He didn’t hear any sound, yet he saw the streak of white light that shot from his larger vessel. The other craft banked, hoping to dive, but the second blast Phyr sent caught it.

Boom, a sound imagined as the enemy ship burst in a cloud of debris and sparks.

One down…two more to go. Then the mothership.

The second one tried to sneak up on him. Phyr caught it. Another flash of bright light.

But there was little time to celebrate. The Xamian cruiser was upon them. He banked his vessel, flipping it from side to side, avoiding the cannon fire.

One. Two. He sent his own missiles at the ship and whipped around in time to confront the third raider.
Boom
. Exploded before it could—

A tremor shook his ship as something impacted it.

“There’s a fourth player,” Zor yelled.

“Another raider?” How had he missed it?

“No, it’s the Cochonna.”

Pirates? How ironic that so many of them gathered in one area. But only one group would leave this place alive. He’d kill the Cochonna, too. He totally meant to, except his cannon didn’t fire.

It appalled him as much as a malfunctioning cock when he’d imbibed too much.

“My weapon won’t fire!”

“They have injections for that,” Zor snickered.

Ignoring the suggestion, Phyr barked, “Engineering, report.” Phyr didn’t just assume Zus had made his way there at the first sign of attack. He knew his crewmember would. They’d worked as a trio for years now and had a system in place.

The intercom erupted with Zus snapping, “Engineering is kind of busy right now since someone let some Cochonna scum sneak up on us. That last hit damaged the photon generator. The cannons are out of service.”

“Frukx.”

“Frukx would be me telling you the warp drive is also offline. It’s worse than that. Something rattled apart inside the engine, which means no space jumping for us until we fix it.”

They’d broken his
Ju’el.
Worse, the incapacity of his ship meant he wouldn’t prevail this day. The shame. The bitter taste of defeat didn’t sit well. Even as Phyr angled his ship this way and that, avoiding the continuous stream of fire from two enemies, he worked out various scenarios to escape—and live another day to wreak vengeance.

“Make note of the enemy signatures. We’ll have to locate them later and force a reckoning.”

“And how do you figure we’ll have a later?” Zor asked. “We’re kind of stuck with no weapons or warp drive.”

“We’re going to lose them in the Badspace.”

And hope they didn’t get lost themselves.