Captured By The Alien Barbarian: A Sci-fi Alien Romance series (Planet Atraxis Warriors)

Chapter 19

Iwake slowly, cocooned in a level of warmth and safety I never want to abandon. Pressed against me is my mate, Taccit, his skin deliciously toasty against mine.

It’s only then that I realize we’re not in our usual cave dwelling. There’s an actual roof above my head.

I must have passed out yesterday after Taccit found me and carried me off.

“Where are we?” I say. My voice carries and I flinch. Paranoia creeps in. I just don’t want to be discovered and torn apart from him again.

“We are with my tribe. This is a spare home that we can use until I can build one for you,” he says.

I stare into his eyes, the cogs in my brain whirring. “Your tribe? But you...”

Suddenly, memories come flooding back—the rescue mission, the others who had come to save me, even Melvall making an appearance.

His lips quirk. He tenderly cups my cheek, his thumb ghosting over the bruised flesh. He’s so gentle with me that I don’t feel even the slightest hint of pain. “Some wounds are good to reopen if for the right reasons. I needed help in getting you back. You were my reason.”

As if on cue, tears well up in my eyes. I thought I had cried them all, yet somehow they keep welling up.

Taccit’s eyes widen when he sees my tears, and he panics. “We are safe here, my mate. Our drolvden are being taken care of by Zoran, we have food aplenty. You can just relax.”

I grip hold of my mate’s cheeks, forcing him to look me in the eye. “I love you, Taccit. I didn’t get a chance to say it before, so I’m saying it now.”

His smile is slow in coming and utterly terrifying. I’ve never seen him look so possessive. Or so sexy. “I love you too, my Nika. I always have.”

Taccit gently kisses me, nothing like his usual forcefulness but more like a butterfly caressing my lips. He kisses me with reverence.

My hands trace his body, his firm muscles. I thought I lost him. I still can’t believe he is here.

Then, he flinches. I pull back, horrified. I hadn’t noticed earlier the marks on his chest, the ravaged and inflamed skin showing obvious signs of having been zapped by a laser pistol—multiple times—surely all for my sake. How many times has my mate nearly died in the last couple of days?

“I heal fast, remember? Much faster than your species,” Taccit says.

My once barbaric mate then pulls out a futuristic-looking jar of poultice from a pouch on his hip. This strange little remedy can mend just about any wound. Where did it come from?

I shake my head. If only he knew how fast I healed the other night. I still don’t have an explanation why, but it doesn’t seem so relevant right now.

“If it disturbs you so, we can use the last of my poultice. It can heal almost any wound. But I would much prefer to keep it in case you need it.”

He puts the small jar in my hands, and I look down at it, baffled. I shift my gaze between the jar and my primal companion. He’s all about leather, bones, and axes, but the jar is a sleek piece of metal, so flawlessly crafted that I can’t even discern the seam between the lid and the base. This is space age. This isn’t some weird plant that he’s ground up and put over the fire. I knew he had some crazy type of medicine… but not something like this.

“Where in the galaxy did you get this?”

“I traded it many cycles ago with Melvall. He charged me a fortune for it, too. At the time, I thought I had wasted so many resources. But now I see its value.”

Taccit takes the jar from my hands and twists it open. Inside is a shimmering, glittering gel. He dabs a small portion on the tip of his finger and proceeds to rub it over his blistered skin like a luxurious space moisturizer.

I watch, mesmerized, as the gel glitters for a moment before soaking in. Within seconds, the inflamed skin shrinks and returns to normal. It’s like some sort of magic trick.

“What the hell?” I shake my head, my mind awhirl. This is a level of technology I have never heard of. Being able to heal so fast should be impossible, yet I just saw it with my own eyes.

“That’s something you don’t see every day. I still can’t believe you used it on me.”

Taccit’s eyes cloud over. It takes me a moment to realize why. His childhood. How he had tried to heal his father when he’d been injured while hunting, only to be screamed at. Only for his father to die. He thinks I am blaming him.

“Yes,” he says, then repeats the word with more determination. His face hardens with resolve. “I used more poultice than usual to heal you back then. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat. You, my love, are worth the astronomical cost, even if I think Melvall charges too much for it.”

I have so many questions. Where did this mysterious medicine come from? How did my barbarian mate get it? But those can wait for another day. Despite Taccit’s conviction, I can see the fear in his eyes. He believes I’m rejecting him after everything he’s done.

I lean forward and kiss him softly. “Thank you, Taccit. Thank you so much for saving me.”

“I will always come for you, Nika. You are mine. I won’t allow anyone else to have you.”

I look up at my mate’s face. I know by now that expression means he’s made up his mind. He can be incredibly stubborn. But so am I. Maybe that’s what makes us perfect for each other. Taccit once called me his soul mate, and I’m starting to believe it. Neither one of us will break beneath the other’s will.

As tough and wild as Taccit is, he never hurts me. He struggles with the right choices sometimes, especially when my safety is involved, but he always listens to me when I have an opinion. And if anything ever truly means something to me, I won’t ever back down. He’s given me that.

“I love you, Taccit. I don’t ever want anyone else. Just you and your over-protective ways,” I reply.

“I am not overprotective,” he says.

I giggle at his scowl before reaching up and cupping his cheek. “We might need to work on your communication skills, though. You can be a bit demanding, and you do have a habit of giving me orders without asking for my opinion.”

“I am sorry, my mate. I will try to be better.”

And I believe him. Taccit has always shown me that he tries. He genuinely wants me to be happy. He’s not perfect, but neither am I.

Taccit’s lips spread slowly, turning into a sly smile. “Besides, I thought you liked it when I gave you commands.”

I can’t help but yelp when his tail playfully grazes my nether regions. And as quickly as it appears, it’s gone, leaving me with goosebumps dancing across my arms.

Oh, trust me, I know what Taccit can do with that tail of his. It was nearly unbearable thinking I’d never experience it again when I believed he was gone for good. But now that I have him back, I’m not going to take my mate for granted anymore.

With determination, I grab Taccit’s head and pull it towards mine. Our lips collide in a ferocious kiss. He tangles his fingers in my hair, tilting my head back at an angle that allows him to deepen the embrace. When his tongue boldly parries with mine, I’m treated to his earthy taste, which sends my senses into overdrive. Desperate for more of... everything, I moan against his mouth. I need him—badly.

Frantically, I try to release the knots keeping his pants in place, but Taccit chuckles, murmuring, “Calm, my mate. We have time.”

But I’m not having any of that. I push his hands away and actually whine, “I need you now.”

There was a time when I swore I wouldn’t beg for him, right? Yeah, I’m a different woman now.

In an abrupt display of strength, he stands, tossing me back onto the bedding. But before I can sit up, he’s got my ankles in his hands, placing them on his shoulders as his intense gaze locks with mine. His hands flex, and I feel the slight tickle of his claws grazing my skin.

“Be a good girl, Nika,” he says. “Don’t make me tie you up again.”

At his provocative threat, a surge of heat races through me, pooling between my thighs. I’m not afraid of him, not anymore, but I am feeling brazen.

“I’d like to see you try,” I say. He responds with a dark chuckle, like my desperation is his favorite game. Oh gosh, what if it is?

Focused squarely on my exposed and needy core, I’ve never felt so vulnerable, yet so amazingly safe, all at once.

“You will be begging by the time I am done,” he says, and before I can protest, he dives in like a man who hasn’t eaten in weeks. With one long, confident stroke of his tongue, my body arches up off the bed.

“Be still,” he says, laughing.

His tail lands over my hips with a heavy thud, holding me in place. Grateful for the added stability, I hold onto it like a lifeline.

Because what his tongue does next—it shouldn’t be possible. He explores me with a wild frenzy, his relentless strokes winding me tighter and tighter until I’m ready to burst. And then, he suckles on my most sensitive spot.

Everything within me shatters. A joyous scream tears from my throat as my vision whites out, replaced by sparkling dots that dance about the darkness. Gradually, he slows as my peak subsides.

Exhausted and sated, I lie limp as he towers over me, poised and ready with a single press against my entrance to remind me that we aren’t quite done yet.

“You are beautiful,” Taccit says, his face awash with wonder. His words make new heat prick at my eyes.

“Make love to me, please,” I say. I don’t care about who wins this round. I just need to feel him within me.

Tenderly, Taccit pushes into me—inch by tantalizing inch—until the burn is replaced by the most delightful sense of fullness. It’s as if I were made just for this, just for him.

“You are so tight. So good,” he says above me. A bead of sweat forms on his brow, shining like a hard-earned trophy.

His hips pump, spreading a fiery tingling through my veins and to the tips of my fingers.

I whimper at the loss as he suddenly withdraws from me. But before I can demand more, his hips surge forward and his cock slams impossibly deeper inside of me.

I cling to him as my body spirals higher and higher towards ecstasy.

Taccit’s head descends upon my breast. His teeth nip at the sensitive flesh. I try to hold him in place, to guide him where I want him, only for his tail to wrap around my wrists.

“You are mine, to do with as I want,” he says, releasing my nipple with a satisfying pop. Each of his gasping breaths sends a matching throb of excitement from my head down to my clit.

I cry out, my head thrashing side to side. His hips meet mine, each thrust grinding against my core.

I am utterly helpless beneath him.

Then he slides his hand between us. His thumb finds my clit and presses down upon it with a firm pressure.

Taccit’s movements turn wild and erratic. He roars. I feel the hot burst of his cum painting my insides, my fluttering core milking him until there is nothing left.

It’s too much.

My back arches, electricity flying through my body.

The world erupts in a supernova of blinding light. Maybe I should have closed my eyes.

Exhausted, I cling to him as he holds me close. The sex is mind-blowing, but his love? That is priceless.

* * *

“Can I ask you a question?”Snuggled in Taccit’s embrace, the steady thump of his two hearts beneath my ear is oddly comforting. Sure, sooner or later, I’ll have to face the big bad world, but for now, I am perfectly content burying my head in the warmth of his arms.

“Why did Walter want you? Were you his mate?” He asks me softly.

My laugh bursts out before I can stop it. “His mate! No. Never. He kept asking me. But I refused his offers. I certainly will never be now, thank God.”

The gory image is going to haunt me for quite some time.

“My late-husband and I made wills. Turns out that he left me a lot of money, and Walter was hiding it from me. He wanted it for himself, but the only way he would have been able to get access to it would have been to marry me.”

Taccit growls, his chest vibrating with indignation. “If I could, I would kill this male again for his dishonorable ways.”

“Guess I’m not going back to the colony,” I say, as a heavy sigh escapes me. “The colony is probably going to consider me as good as dead. I wonder if they will hold a memorial service for me? Probably not.”

Still, every cloud has a silver lining. “At least my friends will be cared for now. My will said that if anything happened to me, anything I owned would go to Stacy and Maya.”

“These are the friends you told me about?” Taccit’s curiosity is charming. The tip of his tail brushes against my thigh in a soothing caress. “I remember you talking about this Maya and how she gifted you your bow.”

Nodding, I fill him in. “That was Maya. Stacy’s just a kid who hung around with us aboard the spaceship. After failing to fit in elsewhere, we sort of took her under our wings.”

Abruptly, Taccit sits up, disrupting my cozy nest. “Your species doesn’t possess wings, correct?”

My laughter returns, albeit softer. “No. It’s just an expression. It means we looked out for her, made sure she didn’t get in trouble. Stacy was always getting herself in trouble.”

I bite my lip, wondering about the future. Could Maya handle looking after that little rascal by herself? It’s just the two of them now. The poor girl has already lost so much—first her parents, then Eve, and now me. Stacy is smart, but she’s still just a child. There’s no doubt she’ll get herself into trouble right away.

Maybe we can keep tabs on the colony from a distance, just to ensure their wellbeing. If they aren’t... could I rescue them, too? I’m not alone anymore. I have Taccit by my side.

My life has taken a strange turn of events. Not too long ago, I was terrified of the wilderness and its beastly inhabitants. Now, it’s my new home. I’ve gone from being alone to finding love beyond my wildest dreams.

Taccit pulls me even closer. My head nestles against his chest, his heartbeat a gentle lullaby.

“Things will get better, my mate,” he says. “You are safe now. Soon, you’ll realize this. I’m here, no matter what. You’re mine, always. I claimed you the day I caught you.”

Tears slip down my cheeks, but I smile. He is right. Together, we will survive.

His playful tone catches me off guard. “And who knows, maybe you’ll befriend the other human female who lives in the village.”

“What?!”