The Alien’s Reward by Luna Kingsley
Chapter 11
Sarah
My body trembles but it isn’t from the cold. The loud incessant blaring of the horn drowns out any other sounds I might be able to hear. It isn’t until I peel my eyelids open that I’m able to re-orient myself to where I am.
When I reach up to touch my face my fingers track through sticky liquid. It coats my eye and drips over my lips from the cut in my forehead. At least I hope it’s just a cut. I can’t see it but it’s pulsing, mirroring the beating of my frantic heartbeat.
There’s glass everywhere. All over the seats, cutting into my skin. When I turn my head toward the driver’s seat, Sam isn’t there.
She’s supposed to be.
I struggle with my seatbelt at the same time I open my mouth to scream her name.
“Sam, Sam, Sam!” I scream.
I scream until my voice is hoarse and I’m finally able to get free of my restraint.
“Sarah, wake up.”
My dream hangs heavy around me, pulling me down like quicksand while I try to fight my way to the surface. Soft fingers caress my face, dipping into my puddle of tears. Just like that night almost four years ago, it takes me awhile before I remember where I am. When I do, my eyes slowly adjust to the darkness before they’re caught in his web of blue eyes.
He’s holding me close, his face not far from my own. Do I allow him to give me comfort? Do I deserve it? I haven’t given up on trying to find a way out of here. Making it to Nedruinia means continuing my medical studies and working toward my goals. I can’t allow myself to be fazed by this setback, no matter how massive it seems at the moment.
“What is it that troubles you while you sleep?” he asks.
It would be so easy to pour my heart out and allow him to help me carry this burden. I’ve held onto it for so long that it has become a part of who I am. The events of my past determining the path of my future which set me on a journey of redemption. Maybe then I’ll finally escape these nightmares that renew my guilt and keep me clinging to the memories.
The recent crash has only set me back to square one, erasing the progress I’ve made since leaving Earth. He grows frustrated when I don’t answer but after a few moments, the lines ease on his forehead as he releases a sigh.
“Nights are often lonely for me,” he says, relaxing back into the bed. Now that he’s not watching me so closely, I take a moment to scrub the tears from my cheeks in an attempt to pull myself back together. “It’s a comfort to me when I hold you. Your breathing is steady in a way that distracts me from the thoughts that keep me from sleep.”
“What thoughts?” I didn’t share my secrets yet so I don’t blame him if he’s not ready either. But it doesn’t stop me from asking. Even if only to understand his actions or motivations a little better.
“The memories of all the ships I’ve been forced to take down.” My spine tingles at the reminder that I’m in bed with an assassin. He may have saved my life, but he took so many more. I’ve had the unfortunate experience of seeing it with my own eyes.
“It has always been you?” Strange initial question out of all the ones I could ask, but it’s important. Who knows how long they’ve been destroying ships that fly into their territory?
“Not always me, not exclusively. But I’ve done enough that sleep evades me because my soul is burdened with my misdeeds.” For the first time since he started talking, his eyes find mine in the dark. Only a glow coming in from a few windows above illuminates the room, casting shadows along his body. He looks at me with the expression of someone who recognizes guilt and carries this burden like a dagger in his gut, slowly seeping.
I nod, accepting his confession. Maybe he’s expecting me to run from him after this but the fact that it affects him only makes him more relatable. It humanizes him in a way I wasn’t expecting.
“Why do you have to keep doing it? Sure, we might’ve spotted the Isle in passing but we wouldn’t have done anything about it. We would’ve commented on how cool it looked and then continued on our way. Something must have happened in your past that made you so secretive.”
“This is the way it has always been. Because the core is necessary for our survival, we wouldn’t be able to survive if we were invaded and forced to flee. We protect our home because we’d die if we didn’t have it.”
“If you truly believe that, why are you overcome with so much guilt?”
He pushes off the bed and begins pacing through the room. Memories of my vivid nightmare have faded like ash, leaving me with a hollow ache in my chest. “I do not rejoice in the deaths of the innocent, even if I’m following the orders of my alpha.”
I don’t know how to respond to him. He’s following orders while I’m supposed to be meeting with various medical tribes on Cruna to learn all about medical treatments that might be useful on Earth in helping save more lives. We couldn’t be more different, and yet, he claims he wants to keep me as his mate.
Not a lot scares me anymore but expressing my feelings about this situation is one of them. Asking him to let us go so we can continue our journey is a close second. Acknowledging that he’s skilled with his tongue and I enjoy what he does to me with it is in there somewhere too.
“You have nothing to say?” he asks.
I push up so I’m sitting before taking a breath and letting my thoughts tumble out. “You should let me go…and the other girls too. We don’t belong here. Just let us finish our journey to Nedruinia and we can figure everything else out from there. We won’t say anything to anyone about you or this place. You can trust us.”
He stands eerily still against the backdrop of the night, his body occupying so much space it’s suddenly stifling. His anger becomes palpable to the point where I open my mouth to take it all back. Before I can, he steps toward the bed and leans over me, his legs caging me in so I have nowhere to escape to. His fingers work their way slowly from my arm, over my shoulder until they rest against my neck, this thumb pressing against my rapid pulse. “I will never let you go.” He licks over my neck, nipping behind my ear. “Get those thoughts out of your head.”
A whole-body shiver works its way through me as his free hand travels down to cup my mound. I gasp, my eyes flying wide at how quickly things have shifted. He spreads me, dipping his fingers into my wetness, a restrained growl sounding at my ear as he works his fingers through my arousal. He’s touching me like he’s proving a point, working his fingers in ways that have me dripping over his hand.
He tightens his grip on my neck as he focuses his attention on my clit, flicking and pinching until I’m moaning, my eyes unfocused as my limbs relax. I grab his wrist and move my hips, desperately chasing the orgasm that still eludes me. His hand relaxes around my throat, his thumb pushing up into my mouth so I suck it in and work my tongue over it like I would his cock. Our eyes meet just before he slams his mouth down on mine, plunging his tongue inside to twist and slide against my own.
His other hand fists my panties, tearing them away with a snap and rip, leaving me gasping into his mouth. Then his fingers are back, thrusting inside me two at a time. I cry out as I adjust to the sheer girth from two of his massive fingers but quickly relax as he strokes me in a controlled rhythm that lets me know who’s in charge. “Remember this,” he says, his voice raspy in my ear. “I will never let you go. And soon, you would rather beg me to allow you to stay than ever speak those words to me again.”
Then his mouth disappears from my face and he latches onto my sex, devouring me with everything he has. With his fingers still working me from the inside and his tongue pressing into my clit, I finally explode. The intensity is unfamiliar, taking me by surprise as I writhe and clutch at anything within reach. I’m sweaty and panting for breath when the sensations ease enough that I’m able to think clearly.
He managed to do it again. He distracted me with his skillful tongue and fingers that worked me over like a well-played instrument and I didn’t have an ounce of strength to resist him.