Alien Romance: The Alien's Pregnant Mate: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Romance, Alien Invasion Romance, BBW) (Celestial Mates Book 2) (7 page)

A few rounds later, Erena stumbled to the bathroom to take a second shower. Glimpsing herself in the mirror, she paused in surprise. She was covered in kiss marks. He'd left them everywhere. And an obvious bite mark on her throat. That was going to take a few days to fade.

She blushed in embarrassment, covering it with her hand. But somehow, the sight of it stirred warmth in her belly again. The idea of being marked by him, of being claimed by him so entirely, made her skin tingle with desire.

She liked it, the thought of belonging to him. Thinking of it so frankly made her blush darken and she hurried to shake those thoughts off.

It wasn't like that. They had fun together, that was all. He wasn't even human. But she had to wonder as she climbed into the shower about her future out here. She might be traveling with him for a long time. She didn't have anyone else, or any money or even an ID that would work in this star system.

If they even used IDs. She would have to depend on him for a while at least. Ultimately, she still wanted to get back to Earth. But she didn't have the resources to do that from here. She didn't even know where she was in relation to earth. The ship that picked them up could have taken them light years off course.

What if getting back just proved to be impossible? Would he want to stay with her, or would he leave her alone once she could manage by herself? And which option sounded better to her? She couldn't decide.

As she came out of the bathroom, she saw Shang standing outside on the balcony, something like a cigarette between his fingers, looking out over the city. He'd left clothes out for her on the bed. More of the black material. She'd seen aliens wearing other colors and fabrics.

Did he just get this because it was cheap and easy? She suddenly had a feeling it was probably the kind of thing sold in vending machines around here.

She pulled it on anyway, turning it into a loose, comfortable dress for sleeping in. She went to join him on the balcony, the night breeze chilly and slightly misty, sweeping in moisture from the sea.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, curious.

"Future," he muttered tersely.

"What about it?" she pushed, not ashamed to pester him when he was being short like this. He sighed, knowing she wouldn't stop asking questions till she had learned what she was after.

"Just wondering how long we could hide out here," he replied, "It might be worth it to get a place more permanent than a hotel room. There are some houses for sale, over there. View of the ocean and everything."

"You want to buy a house with me?" Erena asked, surprised, "Like, to live in together?"

"Well I couldn't just leave you on your own," Shang sounded annoyed, either because that was obvious, or because he didn't like her pointing out that he was being unexpectedly kind, "A fluffy headed thing like you? You'd get eaten alive."

Erena laughed and looked back out at the view, her eyes wandering to the houses he'd pointed out. They were small, colorful little places. Ideal little romantic vacation spots. But not somewhere you could raise a family. Erena wondered why she was thinking of such a thing and shook it off.

"It would be nice, living with you," she confessed, "but I can't. I have to get back to earth. I don't belong out here."

Shang was quiet for a long moment, considering it.

"Then I'll take you back," he said after a moment, unable to meet her eyes.

"Really?" her eyes widened in surprise, "You would do that?"

"You're only trouble to me anyway," he griped, "Without you, I can go back to my regular life."

Erena was surprised by how much that stung. But she supposed it made sense. They were only in danger because his enemy wanted her.

"Thank you," she said softly, reaching out to touch his hand, "I know I've caused you a lot of trouble. You could have just sold me or got rid of me. That you're willing to take me home instead..."

She laced her fingers with his, smiling at him tenderly.

"You're a good person, Shang."

Shang didn't answer, looking away down towards the street below them. A second later he tensed, dropping his cigarette thing and pushing her away from the balcony.

"Get down," he hissed.

Erena, confused, did as she was told, looking through the bars of the balcony down at a car pulling up in front of the hotel. With horror and confusion, Erena realized the man getting out was Rin'rokir. Shang cursed, hurrying Erena inside.

"I knew he wasn't dead," he hissed, "Damnit, I hate bugs. We have to get to the ship, now."

Erena was grateful they didn't have any luggage as he rushed to pull on his clothes and grabbed her hand. They hurried out of the room, skipping the weird, hovering elevators that had brought them up here to the more traditional stairwell. Erena frowned as she realized they were going up.

"Why are we going to the roof?" she asked, worried.

"He'll have people watching the elevators and the front of the hotel," Shang explained, "but he might not have thought of the fire escape yet. We can get to it from the roof and be out of here before he realizes we're not in our room."

Almost as if on cue, shouting started in the stairwell below them. Shang let out a string of colorful curses that Erena's translator could only pick out half of. He pulled her faster.

They sprinted up the stairs towards the roof. Erena looked down once and glimpsed them men following them. They all appeared to be of the same or similar species as Rin'rokir, but she didn't see the bug himself among them. Somehow she thought that didn't bode well.

Shang broke the delicate electronic lock on the door to the roof with a kick and they burst out into the chill night air. Shang looked frantically for the fire escape, his gaze landing at last on a round, silver disc like a sheet pan in a fixture on the side of the wind wall.

"That's the fire escape?" Erena wrinkled her nose in confusion as he pulled her towards it, "I was expecting stairs."

"What?" Shang looked equally confused, "No. Lay down."

He had pulled the fixture the sheet pan was attached to up and now it lay horizontally over the edge of the roof. Shang had opened a holographic screen over it and was working at something quickly.

"What is it?" Erena asked, climbing on anyway, "What are you doing?"

"No time," Shang snapped, closing the screen. Erena jumped as she heard the thud of someone slamming into the roof door. Shang had blocked the handle with a loose piece of metal, but it wouldn't hold for long.

Shang turned to a second of the silver dishes, which Erena now realized lined the roof every few feet like life boats. He pulled his into the same position as hers and began working on it with the holo screen.

"These are programmed to take the user to the nearest emergency station," he explained, "But any teenager can reprogram them to go almost anywhere within the same distance. These will take us to the hanger where my ship is at. Press that button when I hit mine. Just don't let go of my hand, I don't want us separated."

"Got it," Erena agreed, wide eyed and certain she didn't get it.

He closed the screen and reached for her hand. She took it just as the stairwell door burst open. Shang didn't hesitate, slamming a button on the side of the disc's frame.

Erena hit hers a second later, then shrieked as the two discs suddenly shot out of their frames, rocketing away in the same direction and leaving their pursuers behind.

"Stop screaming!" Shang yelled over the wind, squeezing her hand, "You won't fall, look!"

Erena forced her eyes open, only to see Shang let go of his disc entirely, but remained in place, held there by some magnetic force.

"That's amazing!" Erena stared, wide eyed, her fear shifting into curiosity, "How does that work?"

"You can take it apart and figure it out when we get to the ship if you want," Shang offered, "For now, just hold on to my hand. We're not far away."

The wind whipped Erena's hair behind her, stinging her eyes, and she stared down at the city zipping by below them, the crystal beaches glittering in the light of the planet's cluster of small moons. It was an incredible sight, and laying on nothing but the silver disc felt like flying, more so than anything Erena had ever experienced.

"This is so great!" she shouted grinning at him, "I've never done anything this incredible!"

"You sure got over being scared fast," Shang laughed.

"I use to have dreams about this!" Erena giggled.

Shang glanced down, frowning.

"We're not home free yet," he scowled and Erena looked down as well, seeing the same vehicle that had pulled up in front of the hotel zipping under them, moving over other vehicles in the rode on magnetic lifts like the landing gear of Shang's ship.

"Can we make these things go faster?" Erena asked, worried.

"No, we can't even steer them," Shang answered anxiously, "They're just programmed to go to one location."

Erena hummed nervously and squeezed his hand tighter as they zipped down towards the parking garage. They discs zipped into the hanger doors, then skidded abruptly to a stop, leaving them lying on the floor. Shang scrambled to his feet and pulled Erena up after him, rushing up the ramp to the higher level where his ship was stored.

"Come on," he gasped, "We're still ahead of them!"

He was still holding her hand, clutching it tight as they sprinted between the rows of ships, turning a sharp corner towards where the ship was supposed to be.

Shang skidded to a stop immediately as he saw Rin'rokir leaning against the sleek black hull of his ship, two other insectoids to either side of him.

"Did you really think I would confront you in that hotel?" the bug asked, and Erena thought he was grinning behind his mandibles, "The things I want to do to you require privacy."

"A decoy," Shang concluded miserably, "You drove us here."

"Like prey into the web," Rin'rokir confirmed, "You really did a number on me back in the Labyrinth. I had to molt months early."

"So you're still soft shell," Shang hissed, baring his claws, "Good to know."

"Not so fast friend," Rin'rokir gestured to the men beside him, who raised their suspiciously gun like weapons, "There's no weapon restrictions on Diamat, so unless you want your pet there caught in the cross fire, you're going to want to listen to me."

"You're bluffing," Shang's voice was a low, dangerous growl as he stepped closer to the bug, "You wouldn't risk killing her. She's too valuable."

Rin'rokir gestured to one of the insectoids beside him, who trained his gun on Erena, finger on the trigger.

"Don't test me, Shang," Rin'rokir's voice hissed and clicked with humor, "She's just as valuable to me dead. The med labs on Primus will pay a planet's ransom for her body. But she's only useful to you alive. That is, if you're planning what I think you are."

"Rokir," Shang's voice was threatening but his eyes were wide. Erena frowned, confused by his reaction.

"You're going to use her to track back to her home planet, right?" Rin'rokir sneered, "Then turn it over to your buddies in the stellar military police to get back on their good side."

Erena's heart froze in her chest and she stared at Shang in shock and confusion, his abrupt offer to take her home suddenly starting to make sense.

"Shut up," Shang snarled at Rokir, his face twisted with rage.

"That's how you fell out with them in the first place right?" Rokir continued to needle him, laughing, "Over some podunk far edge planet? This would be just the thing to get you reinstated,
Major
Ren’ai Shang."

"Shang?" Erena's voice was tense with barely controlled fear and anger, "He's lying, right?"

He glanced back at her without answering, and her gut twisted at the sight of guilt in his eyes. She saw his hands shake with anger, and suddenly he had darted forward, throwing himself at Rokir in a fury of teeth and claws. Erena threw herself to the ground as soon as she saw him move, barely avoiding the laser fire that sailed right over her.

She rolled to her feet in the same movement and saw Shang clawing at Rin'rokir's face, locked in a hateful grappling match with the bug while Rokir's men seemed briefly unsure whether to catch Erena or help their boss. Erena knew their confusion wouldn't last.

"Shang!" she shouted, her cry echoing in the parking garage. She didn't want to run without him, but if he didn't let go... She hesitated on the edge of running a moment too long and one of the insects fired at her again, too quickly for her to react in time.

She dived to get out of the way, but still felt the sudden searing burn and spreading fiery pain as the laser blast struck her in the shoulder, sending her spinning.

The pain was unbelievable, searing through her like nothing she'd ever felt. Her vision flashed through light and darkness with every throb of the wound, which matched her frantic heart.

She shook with equal parts agony and fear, unable to gather her scattered thoughts. She could hear shouting and further laser fire, but she couldn't make sense of any words.