Aedian: Alien Warrior: A Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Paranormal Romance (4 page)

And then there was just Roxanne.

Roxanne and the last champion, of course. The bored looking one who looked like he would rather be elsewhere.

It was just her luck.

“And finally we have Aedian, our third champion!”

“No big mystery who I’m going to pick,” Aedian said, rolling his eyes and getting to his feet. He walked with plodding steps and then stood in front of Roxy. “It’s you.”

Roxanne opened her mouth to retort, but was aware that there were hundreds of people watching here, and ever more watching at home, since this ceremony was broadcast live. She took a deep breath and forced herself to smile, though it was thin.

“I’m honored,” she said, hoping it sounded sincere at least. If the treaty fell through because she couldn’t pretend like her entire world and life plan wasn’t crumbling around her, she was pretty sure no one would forgive her.

Aedian just nodded and went back to his throne, leaving her to follow.

There was a feast after the ceremony, Roxanne knew that much from the last time this had happened, and she knew she’d be expected to attend, regardless of how little she felt like eating. She moved to stand next to Aedian’s throne, taking in his uncaring posture and the way his dark hair fell into his eyes. He lazily fingered the curve of one horn, eyes unfocused.

“Splendid!” cried the commentator. “Just splendid. And the treaty is appeased. We thank the humans for holding up their end and promise another five years of peace and togetherness between our kinds.”

There was a horn call, clearly signaling the end of the ceremonial part of things and then the commentator clapped clawed hands. “And now we feast!”

The three Calphesians moved down from their thrones once more, Shiia and Demos both taking care to offer their arms to their prizes.

Aedian looked at Roxy once more and then huffed, looking over her head at someone behind her.” Have her brought to my rooms once this is over,” he said, and then turned to walk away, leaving Roxanne standing there, angry, hurt, and dreading the next...well. The next rest of her life.

Chapter 3: A Matter of Chemistry

For something that brought so much honor to his name, these things were really boring, Aedian mused as he sat at the long table that had been laid out for the feast. This part of it wasn’t broadcasted to anyone with a screen that could receive the signal, the ceremonial bits already over and done with, thank the Stars for that.

None of that mattered to him, if he was honest. Not that he’d ever been so bold as to say that to anyone who mattered. All this messing about with humans and the treaty, all of that meant nothing to him.

He’d come to Earth with the rest of his kind because he hadn’t had another choice and because he was good at following orders, even when he was that young.

He’d brought his blaster and his sword, even though he’d known that it was unlikely that he’d be called on to fight, but a Calphesian warrior was always ready to fight when the occasion called for it. Which it usually did.

Except not here.

Not on this strange and oddly peaceful planet where people seemed to fight with their words more than anything else, despite possessing plenty of weapons that, while ineffective against his own kind, would be excellent for killing other humans with if they so choose. And he was sure they did from time to time, but in the ten years that he’d lived on Earth, he’d seen very little carnage.

There wasn’t anything to
do
here. Everyone was all about trying to live their lives on this planet the way they had on Calphas, but that just wasn’t possible.

And to add insult to injury, there was this treaty.

Aedian wasn’t stupid, whatever people might think about him. He knew that without these human women it was likely that they would die out over the course of several decades. Their own women were few and far between and most of them weren’t able to give birth for whatever reason. The harshness of the way they’d lived on Calphas maybe. No one knew for sure.

But with the human women they had a chance, and that’s why so many openly embraced the treaty and what it granted them.

For Aedian it was just another annoyance. He’d never asked for a life mate, and he certainly hadn’t even considered children, and now he had one and was expected to produce the other. If it weren’t for the fact that throwing a tournament was the highest form of dishonor a Calphesian could achieve aside from taking his own life, he wouldn’t have even tried to win.

But tried he had, and now he had the woman to show for it.

To her credit, she was very beautiful. Her skin was a rich, dark color, and the gold paint that had been used on her by the women who’d prepared her for him looked lovely against her skin. Her hair was curly and full, spilling over her shoulders as he watched her.

She was seated opposite him at the table, her plate laden with food that she barely seemed to be tasting. It was all human food, of course, since they couldn’t cultivate the plants or animals they were used to on this planet, but it was filling and tasted good, and Calphesians were used to taking what they could get when it came to sustenance.

Aedian bit viciously into a chunk of meat and then washed it down with the sweet spirit in his cup, silvery eyes trained on the woman who was to be his bride.

Her face was round and soft like most humans’ seemed to be, and her eyes were a lighter shade of brown than that of her skin, full of displeasure. Clearly she was just as pleased about the situation as he was, which made him dismiss her just a bit less. She could at least see that this would limit their freedoms.

Other than that, he wasn’t at all fond of her attitude. She barely made eye contact with him, despite the fact that they were sitting right across from each other, and when she’d looked up to see him watching her with narrowed eyes, she’d glared at him and gone back to her food.

It wasn’t right. Humans were weaker, and by the logic he’d always lived by, that meant they should be subservient to them. As his future life mate, she would be seen as an equal, and that didn’t feel right either.

Who was this untrained and untried woman to think she was a match for him?

“What is your name?” he demanded when she glanced up again, and she made a face at him that had him narrowing his eyes again.

“Roxanne,” she said after a moment.

“Hmph. Strange name.”

“Oh because
Aedian
is so common,” she snapped back. “How many vowels can you stick in one name?”

He blinked at her, quite sure that she was insulting him, but not at all sure how she was doing it. “You speak nonsense,” he said.

She rolled her eyes, which he had gathered from his time here was a gesture of disrespect. “Right, okay. Why don’t you stop talking to me then?” And without waiting for him to say anything else, she went back to picking at her food.

It was enraging that she thought she could talk to him like that.

When he glanced around at Shiia and Demos with their women, the scenes were different. They each were sitting beside the women they’d chosen, speaking softly to them and offering them things from their plates.

Aedian snorted. That was all well and good for them. Demos was soft and still young enough that his horns were getting their curls, and Shiia was old enough that his horns would curl no more. Shiia looked at his bride to be like she was something to be held close and petted, and Aedian did not understand that.

And he was certain that if he tried to do that to Roxanne, she would bite him.

Not that he’d ever lower himself to try.

The feast went on for several hours, with more food and spirits being brought out by the servers. By the time people finally stopped eating, the sliver of the moon (and they only had one, which he was still getting used to) had risen high in the sky, and night was deep and dark around them.

People began departing in twos and threes, wishing the new couples well with the traditional calls and jeers.

The champions bore it well, though Aedian just sneered. When he looked, Roxanne was nowhere to be found, but he wasn’t worried. There was no way she could escape the compound, and he was sure that someone had just moved her to his rooms.

There he would be alone with her. Much to his displeasure.

Draining the last of his drink he got to his feet and stretched, arms high overhead. There was still a bit of lingering soreness from the day’s exertions and it felt wonderful. He reveled in it for a moment before resigning himself to what he knew was inevitable. Sooner or later he was going to have to go back to his rooms and deal with what would be there.

Didn’t mean he couldn’t take the long way around the compound to get there, though, and it was another fifteen minutes before he was letting himself in.

Roxanne was there when he walked in, standing in the middle of the main room looking uncomfortable.

She was still dressed in the light, slightly sheer garment that she’d been put in to be presented to him, and in the brighter lights of his main room he could see more of her body than he’d been able to before, the curves of her generous chest and hips drawing his eye.

“Why are you staring at me?” she demanded, folding her arms across her chest defensively.

“Because you are pleasing to look at,” Aedian said matter of factly.

That seemed to surprise her, and she blinked, forehead creasing in a frown. “Oh. Was that a compliment?”

Aedian shook his head, walking further into the room. “No. Statement of fact.”

That brought the scowl back to her face. “Well, if we’re stating facts, you smell like you haven’t showered in days.”

“I smell like a champion,” he retorted. “You smell like a concubine.”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted, anger flaring in those lovely eyes. “You have
terrible
manners. Is that any way to speak to your future wife? I thought you were supposed to know better than that.”

He snorted, amused, and walked past her, rolling his shoulders as he dropped onto the low couch that was pushed against the far wall. He had a good view of her from there, and it was comfortable. “If you’re mine, I can say what I want.”

“
No
, you-” Roxanne broke off with a huff. She held his gaze for a moment and then seemed to draw herself up, shoulders rolling back, head held high. It made Aedian take notice of her more, the subtle dominance in her position demanding either challenge or attention, and he waited to see which it would be.

And then, the last thing he would have ever expected happened. Her arms dropped from their defensive position across her chest, and her hands found the sash that was holding her clothes up and together. With determination in her eyes, she pulled the knot free, letting the silky material fall to either side of her waist.

The front of the dress slipped open, displaying more of that beautiful skin, and Aedian leaned forward unconsciously. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“This is what I’m here for, right?” Roxanne said. “May as well get it over with. It’s not like we need to wait for the wedding night or anything, and it’s not like I’m going to suddenly come to like you more.”

“That’s...fair,” Aedian allowed.

“It’s more than fair. It’s just good sense. Now are we going to do this or not?”

Seeing that he
was
being challenged this time, Aedian got to his feet. He didn’t know how much to trust this seemingly sudden change of heart, but he wasn’t one to deny himself pleasures where they appeared. And she did have a point. He stalked with quiet grace up to Roxanne and reached out his hands, claws catching on the fabric of her outfit as he drew the edges of the dress back and away to reveal more of that skin, and his mouth flooded with the desire to taste it.

Her breasts were full and heavy, each mound tipped with a darker brown nipple that drew Aedian’s eye. It was these that he went for first, clawed fingers sliding from her throat to her chest and tracing around her nipples, which hardened at the contact.

She sucked in a light breath, and Aedian smirked.

He’d never slept with a human woman before. He knew that plenty of his fellows did, finding sexual release in the human women who found them fascinating and using that to their advantage, but it always seemed like too much of a hassle when they had perfectly good women right there in the compound.

But Roxanne’s skin was softer than the skin of any Calphesian woman Aedian had ever touched, and he spread his fingers out, cupping one breast in a large hand.

When he glanced up at her face, she had her eyes closed, and her breathing was rapid. It didn’t seem like fear, though, and Aedian could only imagine that it was because she liked his touch. Well. That was interesting.

He lowered his mouth to her neck and pressed his lips to the pulse that was fluttering wildly there, feeling the jump of life under his mouth. Slowly, ever so slowly, he dragged his tongue along that lifeline, feeling her shiver as he did. Aedian let his teeth scrape her neck lightly before he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to him and pressing her front against his own.

He was still shirtless, and her soft breasts felt amazing against his chest. Roxanne was much shorter than him, the top of her head barely coming up to his shoulder.