SAFIR: The Warlord's Bounty: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Romance, Alien Invasion Romance) (Astral Guardians Book 1) (5 page)

Safir

Arianna returned to the cabin and I continued chopping up the three branches I’d pulled down from a few surrounding trees. I lined up the firewood and then brought a few inside when I was done. Arianna was taking a nap when I got back. With a book resting on her chest, she was curled up on the couch. I couldn’t help but marvel at how peaceful she looked while she slept.

Her hair was falling into her face and I brushed the silky strand away from her eyes. She sighed in her sleep and I was just about to cover her with a blanket when I heard heavy footsteps approaching through the trees. It knew it was Rayne and Josiah. I pulled on my sweater and went to meet them outside.

“Lord Commander, we have a report on the others. They are hunting the woods for the female, though they are looking in the opposite direction. They’re heading west and we will continue leading them on a false trail,” Rayne updated me and Josiah spoke up after him.

“Lord Commander, it would be wise if you began to show them that you can control your abilities without the female as your mate. That way, they can recover from their fears and angers,” Josiah brought up a good point, but I was skeptical about leaving Arianna alone for any length of time.

“While you regain their trust my lord, we can protect the woman from afar. We’ll hide somewhere in the trees so that she doesn’t feel our presence,” Rayne suggested.

“You both make valid points…I will go and seek them out to regain their trust, though I think it will be best to give them more time to control their anger before I do so. I think, they’re more interested in attacking me than listening to me at the moment,” both Rayne and Josiah nodded in agreement.

“All is well my lord, we will return if there are any further updates,” Josiah and Rayne saluted me with their fists crossed over their chests before they shifted into their lion and hawk forms and retreated into the forest. I went back inside to check on Arianna where she was stirring from her slumber.

“That was a quick nap,” I noted with a small smile and Arianna smirked while she rubbed her eyes.

“I only take twenty minute naps. It’s weird, my body refuses to sleep for long periods of time during the day,” she informed me before she stood and stretched.

“Would you like to go for a walk with me?” I asked her politely. Arianna studied me and then she nodded, almost reluctantly.

I knew she figured there was nothing better to do than just exploring the forest. She put a pair of shoes on and we went out into the trees. There was nothing but narrow deer paths in these woods and one had to be careful of mountain lions, bears, and other animals.

“So what was Voltaire like?” Arianna asked me while I led her down a small deer path. We had the scenery of the forest as winter settled over it, many of the leaves were falling from the trees and there was scarcely any green to the leaves that managed to cling to a branch.

“It was beautiful. We were a proud race of scientific and technological development. Some of the movies on this planet that depict the future remind me of Voltaire and my home city of Pandem.”

Arianna smiled as she thought of these movies.

“It sounds like a beautiful place then…were all the people shifters?” I shook my head.

“No, only my men were. There were fourteen of us in total, but only half survived the crash. We were specialized, a rare kind of Voltairan. We were genetically engineered to be shifters for the purpose of warfare. Technically, I can shift into any form of animal depending on the planet I’m on. But my base form is the tiger when I shift.”

“Wow…so when your men were talking about me bringing forth an heir, really I would be…” Arianna trailed off and I nodded. I could tell she was on the right track in her thinking.

“You’d be bringing in the first of a new breed of Voltairan. We were created with no mates so that we could not reproduce naturally; we were solely an experiment meant to last for as long as our lives did. If we were successful in our military endeavors, which we were, then the powers on Voltaire would create another squadron of shifters artificially,” Arianna considered this and I sensed that she felt certain sadness for me.

“That’s kind of…cold, don’t you think?” she looked up at me curiously and I shrugged.

“It is the way of Voltaire, like I said, we’re largely a scientifically minded race. We do think empirically, though logic does have greater bearing on our planet than it does here where emotion often gets in the way of things.” Arianna looked at me strangely and she captured her bottom lip in between her teeth. The small enticing movement captivated my eyes.

“Emotion got you here, didn’t it? Hidden in the woods with me.” Arianna’s observation caused me to wonder why I
did
feel so much when it came to her.

“Yes…it did,” I said simply as I tried to sort through these confusing…emotions. How could I feel so much for one person that I barely knew. In fact, how could she make me feel so much?

“Be honest with me Safir. Do you
want
me as your mate? As your wife? To give you a child? Or, are you simply attracted to me and
think
you want those things because of it?” Arianna studied my face as she waited for my reply.

“I do—I want those things yes; I want them with you more than I want to be reconciled with my men. I just do not know why as of yet and I sense that is what you are truly after.” I said, being completely honest with her. She appreciated my honesty and nodded to herself while she reviewed my words in her mind.

“I don’t really have family you know. My parents…they were both adopted children and I was their only child. They died in a car accident a few years back and left me alone. I
do
want a family someday, a big one where my children won’t have to worry about being alone ever, even when I’m gone. But sometimes, I struggle with finding a guy to start a family with. I feel like a drifter who can’t settle…” Arianna trailed off as she realized she spoke more than she intended.

“I don’t know why all of that just came out...” Arianna turned her attention to the hibernating trees. Most of them had shed their leaves already and the forest was almost ready for a fresh blanket of white snow.

“I think it is the forest, it is quiet here,” I suggested. Arianna glanced up at me with a small amused smile.

“Yeah and I think you’re just a good listener too.”

I wondered what Arianna had been trying to say when she brought up the topic of family. Was she considering being my mate and bearing heirs to our race? I looked at her with new eyes and wondered if I needed to repeat moments like our kiss the night before. Perhaps, she had started to feel something for me.

Arianna and I walked out in the woods for much of the day. We spoke about everything and nothing. I learned about her favorite weather conditions, her favorite foods, her birthdate, what she liked to do when she was not working at the café, and little things like what she would consider a perfect day in life. She wanted to simply spend time with someone she loved without any distractions.

On the contrary, I didn’t have much to talk about my life. I simply gathered funds for our survival by owning a logging company. It was actually growing to be quite successful and helped me and my warriors work off aggression. If we grew to have too much aggression or uncontrollable mating urges, we were more susceptible to unpredicted shifting. The logging company helped keep that in check.

Other than my work, I appreciated the forest’s company and observing the human race out of genuine interest and curiosity. That was what actually fueled my growing respect and regard for human lives.

Once Arianna and I returned to the cabin, she insisted on making dinner. I decided to bathe and then join her in the kitchen afterwards. I planned to kiss Arianna again that night and see where things led us. She was no longer angry with me and she had already expressed her interest in starting a family.

The only way to be sure of her thoughts was to see if she acted on them. After I bathed and changed into more comfortable clothing, sweatpants and a pair of socks, I joined Arianna in the kitchen and sat at the breakfast bar.

“I made macaroni and cheese, I hope you like it. We had milk for the cheese sauce, but no butter, neither did we have salt so…basically it might not have any flavor to it,” Arianna smiled apologetically and handed me a paper plate with the flavorless macaroni and cheese on it. I took a bite while she watched me eating

“It simply tastes…almost sweet, bland yes, but not bad,” I told her truthfully. A slow smile spread across Arianna’s face until she gave into a giggle.

“I’m glad you think it’s not terrible at least,” she continued to smile and I wondered what I did that was so funny.

“What is so amusing?” I asked, though the question came out more like a subtle demand.

“I always knew you had a few husband traits. Liking my cooking even when it’s not all that great,” she spoke as if we were already married, or perhaps getting ready to be married. I couldn’t help but smile at this sweet gesture.

“It was just a funny little…joke,” Arianna added and I nodded with understanding. So she wasn’t imagining us as a mated couple after all. The need to know for sure burned within me and I forced myself to eat slowly while she sat next to me and ate as well.

After dinner, Arianna went to take a shower and I got into bed to play the next sci-fi movie. Arianna came back into the main room wearing a large t-shirt and nothing else. I could tell she was shivering and she quickly got into the bed with me. I marveled at how good she felt against my body.

“I think it’s just the fact that there are no towels here, which is why I get so cold after a shower,” Arianna slid her hands around my waist and I couldn’t focus on much other than the fact that her hand was so close to my waist and hardening sex. I wanted her badly.

I could not hold back any longer so I turned to face Arianna and pulled her against me. My arms were around her waist and I held her hips against mine so she could see how aroused I was. Arianna pressed her self tighter against me and I pulled one leg around my hip and gripped the soft globes of her bottom in my hands.

My lips met hers in an urgent embrace and I felt the heat of her skin against mine as her body flushed with arousal. Soon, she would be too warm and I anticipated sliding my hands against her soft skin to push the fabric off of her.

I gripped her flesh tighter in my hands and Arianna let out a soft moan that instantly ignited my blood and urge to claim her as my mate. I tried to push back my instinct to mark her as my own so that I could take things slowly. I pulled Arianna on top of me so that I wouldn’t crush her like some feral beast.

In that position, she straddled my hips; her core was directly pressed against the underside of my sex. I wanted to remove every bit of clothing between us to feel her wet heat sliding against me. Her hips moved against mine restlessly as our lips moved against each other, and then our tongues met and danced along.

My hands moved from her backside and slid underneath the large shirt. She wore nothing underneath, but a thin pair of panties. I caressed the smooth skin of her back and then pulled the shirt off of her.

I broke our kiss and sat up with her as she straddled me. I took her heavy breasts in my hands and kneaded them while I took one nipple into my mouth and sucked hard. Arianna moaned again and arched against me, giving me more of her breasts to handle. I gently bit down on the first one before I moved on to the other.

Her hands pulled restlessly in my hair as her hips continued to rock against mine. If she continued doing that much longer, I would soon lose control of my release. I wanted to taste more of her and touch more as well.

I ignored the pounding in my head and the throbbing need of my sex to bury deep inside her. Nearly every fiber of my carnal being wanted to mark her, I kept it in check and slowly moved forward to lie Arianna down on her back.

The sight of her full breasts bare for me was maddening. I had to take a moment to control myself as my eyes roamed from her mauve nipples to her flat stomach and curving waist.

“Can I taste your sex Arianna?” I asked her hoarsely and she moaned in anticipation while she nodded.

Her green eyes were heated with passion and intent on each of my move. I intended to slip the last bit of clothing off cleanly, but my barely restrained need made my movements a bit more forceful and I ended up ripping them from her body. Arianna gasped and I met her gaze, she was aroused by my display and not afraid or wary.

“Please Safir…” she whispered, her words colored with need. I spread her thighs and rested her knees on my shoulders as I settled myself in between her legs.

Her delicious scent hit me in a wave and I nearly became dizzy and lost my grip on the urge to take her. I closed my eyes to regain my composure and grit my teeth at the pain of my need to be inside her.

My sex was rigid and throbbing, simply laying on the bed was more than uncomfortable. I focused on Arianna’s pleasure though and kissed her inner thigh while I inhaled.

Arianna enveloped my senses immediately. I was scarcely aware of the outside world as all I heard was her, she was all I saw, all I breathed, tasted, and felt. I spread her sensitive folds with my fingers and lapped up her wetness with my tongue. She tasted like the most rare kind of fruit, sweet with just enough natural taste to addict me and have me lapping up more of her juices.