Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,6

I don’t want you to watch, either.” I shove her back in her pocket.

I bend down again to study my catch. The female draws away from me. She must come from a prey species, always fearful and skittish. Her heartbeat is fast and loud, her breath quick and shallow.

But at least she is definitely female. Almost ridiculously so, with the heavy chest and the roundness and the finely sculpted face. The hair is long and thin, sexily messy and exotic, her neck slender and agile. Perhaps the nose is too small and the legs too long, but otherwise she does get my juices both flowing and boiling.

Yes, I will have some fun with this one.

My tongue shoots out once more, just checking.

Yes, there is something not quite right here. It’s not that she’s gone off, far from it. It’s not that she’s faking the fear. She smells like prey, real enough. But there is an undertone there, something I can’t place. Not unpleasant at all. Just… forbidding?

No. That’s laughable. I took her, she’s mine, she can forbid me nothing at all.

And still...

I lean all the way in to the bars of the cage. She yelps and scoots away, hitting the bars on the other side with a sharp little zap.

“Ow!”

“You see,” I say in my somewhat rusty Interspeech, “that is electrified. You get shock when touch. The idea is: not touch. Yes?”

She just stares at me, and some notes of anger are creeping in among her scent of fear.

Hmm. That is not prey-like.

Which is good! I wouldn’t want to mix my superb genes with those of a pure prey species.

My tongue flicks out a couple or more times, just making sure.

Yes, my first impression back at her planet was right. There is something there, something so unusual I’m sure I’ve never smelled it before. Something that intrigued me so much it wouldn’t leave my thoughts, leading me to come back and take her.

Forbidding and inviting at the same time, the promise of more, the key to my very own soul—

Great. Now I’m thinking nonsense.

“You make me think nonsense,” I accuse the female.

She draws away, hugging her knees, eyes big and anxious.

Well. I can’t stay here and enjoy my catch. The Gurandu are still some distance away, but not so far that I can relax. I must get going, put more light years between myself and my pursuers.

Just one more look at her. Oh my, that smooth skin. So supple, so fresh...

My tongue shoots out by itself. No, she doesn’t appear to be aroused. At least not as much as I am.

“Are you an imbecile?” I inquire. I really should know before I take this further.

“Fahk yu, frik,” mutters the female, looking down.

“Culturally untranslatable expletive,” says her translation device.

I stare at her for three more heartbeats, then turn and march towards the control room.

Expletive? Directed towards an apex predator that’s caught her? She has some fire in her. I like that in a breeding mate.

3

- Averie -

He leaves, and I start breathing again.

He’s scary. Those unblinking eyes, staring right through me. That tongue, so long and smooth. He resembles a snake far too closely.

Even his voice is oily smooth. But deep and resonant, with some hard consonants that make him sound exotic.

He looks basically human. Two legs and arms and about the same kind of muscles, except more of them. Much more.

The face is plainly not human, though. The two eyes are big and the pupils more triangular than round. Apart from that… no, the eyes take all my attention. I couldn’t describe the rest of his face even if I tried.

He did seem to have a cell phone or something like that, talking to someone through a device of some kind. Kind of sounded like a woman, but who knows. That language was really weird.

I suppose there is a chance that there’s another woman or female aboard this ship, and he was talking to her. That might be a good sign. At least he’s not a lone murderer or something. On the other hand, some seriously bad dudes had willing female accomplices.

No, let’s not think about all the terrible things that could happen to me.

I get my cell phone out of its holder.

No signal.

Huh. That’s a first since shortly after the invasion. The aliens are very particular about keeping track of each human at every moment.

“Phone, call Gabrielle.” My voice trembles, but that’s to be expected.

“There’s no signal, Averie Dashey,” the phone states in its cold, robotic voice. Some like