The Melier: Prodigal Son Read online

  Val’Koy roared with his release, thighs growing slick with every pump he rocked against her. He could feel his root extend, only an action at first, and then it expanded into nothing he’d felt before. His back bowed, muscles clenching tight, and before he could think to withdraw, it snaked forward, burying itself within her womb and trapping them both in an implantation hold they wouldn’t be able to escape from until it was done.

  Until he’d thoroughly bred the Therran beneath him.

  FIVE

  DANIA

  Dania attempted to catch her breath when the alien finished and rolled onto his back, taking her with him. Her cheek, clammy with her own perspiration, stuck to his abnormally warm chest. Her thighs felt hot and gooey where their bodies connected.

  City lights glanced off the walls in various colors where they peeked through her curtains. Nothing but heavy breathing penetrated the silence of the room.

  “You are human, yes?” the alien asked, sounding confused.

  Dania momentarily lifted her head to peek at his face before she laid it back down. “Yeah,” she said in between huffs. At least, she thought so.

  Truth was, she came from a long line of nomads. Past her grandparents on her mother’s side—who had only settled on Bocern because their age made it hard to travel anymore—she didn’t know her heritage. That’s how it was for nomadic families.

  That didn’t matter though. She was human. Looked like a human, talked and walked like a human...

  “Why?”

  Weird question.

  “Curiosity,” he murmured. “Confirming we will not procreate.”

  A surprised laugh bubbled out of her and she laid there, cackling atop him. “No,” she sighed, her chuckle fading. “I’m on the restriction serum anyway. And don’t worry, I’m vaccinated.” Dania patted his side. “Disease free.”

  The lingering sensation of his still erect cock pulsing inside of her was the last thing she consciously thought of before she couldn’t stave off sleep any longer.

  ****

  VAL’KOY

  She is human.

  Val’Koy laid beneath her slumbering form for another hour, according to the clock, before his root detached and he swiftly pulled out of her. He could feel his own fluid leaking from her and onto his abdomen.

  Even with the jostling when he gently peeled her soft weight from him and onto the bed, she didn’t wake. He wondered if humans could sleep through anything.

  He sat up. There’d been much time to think, and after her words of the restriction serum—which he’d learned from Val’Zun was a human contraceptive—he felt at ease.

  Human and Melier weren’t compatible, he’d learned that much from Tuzon, the palace’s head medic. His brothers’ mate was an exception—she had Yadana in her bloodline, a suitable species for breeding.

  Val’Koy scrubbed a hand over his bald head, standing. It didn’t take him long to locate the cleansing room and have a quick shower.

  Afterward he lingered in the room, taking a moment to watch the sleeping female. He wanted to fuck her again, his annex already hardened and rearing for round two, but he refrained.

  She looked... peaceful, and he found it perplexing and downright irritating that he didn’t want to wake her.

  That wasn’t like him. His desires came first. Invariably. He was a selfish male, always had been.

  The Therran’s pheromones hung in the air like the thick humidity of his home planet. He shivered. Again, he was reminded that this female, her scent, her call over his body, was dangerous.

  Better he leave and never look back. He wasn’t here for anything more than what he got—sex. A good time of experimentation. He could now add humans to his list of species, a figurative notch in the bed post.

  Val’Koy took note of the ruined bed where he’d shred her cheap, rough sheets and stiff mattress, before he slipped out the door. Backtracking to the kitchen, he found and donned his robe, preparing to leave—

  Something caught his eye. There, on the counter, was her underthing. The one that stuck to her slickened folds. A single claw lifted the flimsy fabric, and he nearly groaned at the scent that clung to it.

  He needed them. He was never one to need any kind of token from his sexual escapades, so it puzzled him. Quickly, he stuffed the fabric in his pocket.

  If he had humans pegged, she probably had a hundred other pairs—she wouldn’t miss these.

  He left the dwelling, greeted by his guards exactly where he’d left them. They fell into step, not asking any questions or giving any commentary.

  "Thirnuk,” Val’Koy said to one of them, “have new bedding delivered to the Therran’s address by sunrise." The proud female may not accept his credits, but he could at least replace what he'd damaged. "High quality. Do not disappoint me."

  "Of course, Your Highness."

  SIX

  DANIA

  Dania woke with a sharp intake of breath. She sat up, her middle immediately cramping. Pushing the sheet aside, her eyes bugged at all the... green spew. It leaked from between her legs, sliming her already ruined sheets.

  Claw marks, the span much bigger than a human’s hand, tore the bed open around her. Her mattress—that she’d pinched her credits for—was bursting stuffing and the special organic gel.

  “That jerk,” she grumbled, gaze darting around the room. She was alone. He’d left without a word.

  Dania sat there rubbing the side of her neck, unable to deny her relief at not having to face him the day after and make awkward conversation.

  Her body was throbbing. It was determined to echo what happened last night with the imposing alien man. She tightly shut her eyelids to brace herself against the tremble that rolled through her.

  She barely suppressed a moan.

  What had she been missing all her life? Why had she never explored intimate relationships with non-human men before?

  She dropped her face into her hands and half-groaned, half-laughed. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t looked. Dania had a major crush on a Rishin actor in her favorite network drama—

  But that was fantasy.

  Her sight dropped to her pitiful sheets again. Now was not the time to have a ruined bed. She couldn’t afford to replace it anytime soon—

  The door buzzed.

  Dania leaned over, tapping a sensor on her nightstand that brought up the one-way camera view outside her apartment door.

  “Hello?”

  “We have a delivery for...” the man looked at his tablet. “There isn’t a name, just an address. This address.”

  Dania scowled. “I didn’t order anything.”

  “It’s already been paid for. We’re here to setup.”

  “What is it?” Dania’s skin tightened. She was barely awake and—she felt the goopy fluid between her legs—she was in desperate need of a shower.

  “A bed.”

  Her spine stiffened. “Who’s it from?”

  “It’s against store policy to give away customer information.”

  Of course. But Dania already knew who it was—she didn’t need this delivery man’s confirmation.

  The alien stranger. She didn’t even know his name... It was better this way. A bed, though? Dania looked around again.

  She’d take it.

  “One moment please,” Dania said, flipping up her bra that’d never left her middle and scrambling from the bed. Once her feet were on the floor, she felt it...

  Her pussy squelched with goo, as if standing popped the cap and down rolled the alien’s cum. Mouth agape, she bent her knee, horrified to see the fluid stretch, webbing between her parted thighs.

  “Stars above...” she breathed and hoped enough time had gone by for any allergic reactions to manifest. Dania snatched up her ankle-length robe and then booked it to the door.

  She’d worry about a shower after.

  “Hi.” She stood aside as the delivery guy in the red shirt and his partner walked in. “It’s down the hall. And uh, sorry about the mess. Wasn’t
expecting you.”

  “No problem, lady.” The taller one with stringy blond hair shrugged, even though his brow arched when he walked by the kitchen.

  Shit. She forgot about the Skittles! And her panties! Were they still in there?

  Dania trailed them, her furtive gaze darting over the countertop and floor. She exhaled, not seeing her panties anywhere in plain view. Maybe they were hiding in the sink.

  By the time she got to her bedroom, the delivery guys were donning their gloves and scowling at the bed...

  And the green ooze...

  And the shredded sheets...

  Dania wrapped her robe tighter around her body, squeezing her legs together to stop the sticky cum from sliding down her calf. Her face felt like she’d spent too long over a hot stove.

  “I um...” She bit her lips for a second. “I wasn’t expecting company.”

  “We’ve seen worse,” the stringy blond said.

  They got to work, wrapping the old mattress in a synthetic compression material that shrank what was once a queen-sized bed into something no larger than a briefcase.

  “Oh my god,” Dania breathed when the delivery guy unpacked the new mattress, complete with sheets, from his tote. “That’s a ten-thousand credit mattress!”

  She would recognize it anywhere because she’d ogled that thing like a youngling in a sweet shop. There was no way she could ever afford it.

  “Take it back,” Dania insisted.

  “Uh,” the blond looked at the other guy. “No returns, lady.”

  “I don’t care,” she shook her head, blinking owlishly. “Take it back. And tell the sender thanks, but no thanks.”

  Who sent a ten-thousand credit mattress to a one-night stand? And what if this was the prelude to something else? He knew where she lived. Would he expect other things in return for this gift?

  “Look,” the red shirt man said, “we can’t take it back, so you may as well let us set it up.”

  “No—”

  “We can’t undo the compression wrap.” He held up her old mattress.

  Fuck. She wouldn’t have anything to sleep on!

  Dania scrubbed her forehead. “Fine.”

  When they were gone, she stood there staring at her new bed. It was wrapped in heather gray C’venish fiber sheets—silky soft and luxurious—and she knew, without having lain on it yet, it would be the best sleep of her life.

  She groaned and spun on her heel. A much-needed shower was in order.

  ****

  Dania stood at the end of the kitchen, eyeing the candy that littered the floor among other things. What a waste of Skittles...

  Though she searched high and low, she couldn’t find her panties. They were one of her favorite pair, and she could’ve sworn the alien tossed them onto the counter...

  She shook her head and bent to carefully pickup her sharp cutlery. A thought niggled at the back of her mind when she arranged her knives again: would she ever be able to look at her countertop the same? Cutting vegetables from this day on would be uncomfortable and arousing.

  She set about sweeping up the candies. One day, Dania vowed she’d live in a decent building where the units came equipped with programmable cleaning AI.

  She’d have to get a better job than bartending or marry into a wealthy family and then she wouldn’t have to worry about cleaning at all.

  Dania frowned, knowing she’d feel too awkward letting a servant clean up the messes she made. Someone like her, growing up in a nomadic family unit, wasn’t used to the lifestyle of a citizen with a permanent family residence that housed generation after generation of the bloodline.

  But she could dream. Wasn’t that partly why she’d settled on Dor Nye instead of traveling wherever the stars took her?

  After she dumped the debris in the trash, she grabbed prepackaged ingredients from her fridge. A smoothie would help her reset the day fresh and maybe remedy the bloat she felt.

  Bzzzz.

  Dania counted to five for patience. She was officially annoyed. Her door buzzer was getting more attention than it ever had this early in the day, and she didn’t like it.

  The security vid popped up on the kitchen wall.

  Terry.

  Dania’s stomach twisted into a knot. Nausea had her swallowing repeatedly. It could be from lack of food, but she doubted it.

  Why was he here? Did he have a change of heart?

  Her pulse sped up.

  But wait... Last night she'd...

  Flashes of the alien stranger, and the mind-numbing sensations he’d given her, flooded her mind. A guilty sensation creeped into her stomach.

  She'd jumped into bed with a random guy not even an hour after Terry dumped her. There was no doubt in her mind the decision had been hasty. She'd just been so pissed.

  Why did she feel guilty? It wasn’t cheating. She’d been single. She still was single.

  Dania took a breath.

  She pressed the sensor on the door and cracked it open.

  Terry half smiled. "Hey, wasn't sure if you would be at work."

  "I’m off today." She cleared her throat. "What do you want?"

  "I, uh, brought you some soup."

  “Soup?”

  “Yeah.” He shrugged. “That little Hinshi shack was having a special, and I know you love their vegetable mix.”

  “I don’t want your pity soup, Terry.”

  “It’s not—” he cut off and scrubbed a hand through his messy black hair. “Can I come in?”

  “No.”

  He sent her that pleading puppy dog look that used to work. Every. Time.

  Apparently, it still did because Dania begrudgingly opened the door and headed for the kitchen to finish packing her blender.

  “Listen,” he began after setting the soup on the bar, “I’m sorry for last night.”

  “Last night?” Dania added some ice to the blender.

  “Yes.”

  “Ohhh, you mean when you dumped me over the comm because I’m too fat for you now?”

  “I never said—”

  “So that’s not why you broke up with me?”

  Terry did that fish-mouth thing, like he didn’t know what to say. Whether to lie or tell the truth.

  Dania hmph’d. “That’s what I thought.”

  “Wh—”

  She turned on the blender, forcing him to stop talking. Unsurprisingly, she drew smug pleasure from watching him stand there, frustrated. His lips flattened, his brow relaxed, and he stared at her like she was the most childish person alive.

  Probably true right now.

  When the machine stopped, he opened his mouth. “Why would—”

  She pressed the on button again.

  This is oddly satisfying.

  Off.

  “Are you serio—"

  On.

  Dania bit her lips.

  Off.

  “Let me ta—”

  On.

  Okay, she was having way too much fun. He reached over the bar and flipped the master switch, killing the power.

  They stood there in silence.

  “Don't touch my blender.”

  “Can't we have a conversation like adults?" he ground out.

  “Now you want to act like an adult and have a face to face conversation?" Dania couldn’t help the humorless laughter that bubbled out of her. “Get the fuck out, Terry.”

  When he stood there with that stupid expression, she marched her ass to the door and slapped the lock sensor. It clicked, and she opened the door. “I said, get out.”

  Terry stiffly walked across the living space but pulled to a halt when his eyes strayed to her bare leg. His face screwing up, he asked, “Are you... are you okay?”

  Dania looked down, seeing the wet spot at the crotch of her light beige shorts, and the dampness on the inside of her thigh. It took everything in her to keep her eyes from bugging at the trail of slime sliding down her fucking leg.

  How was this happening? She’d already showered!
r />   “I’m fine.”

  “But something green is coming from...”

  “Get out, Terry!”

  “Let me take you to a hosp—”

  “OUT!” She had to shove him into the hallway.

  “Dania—”

  “Bye.”

  She slammed the door and engaged the lock. Resting her forehead against the cool barrier, a shuddering breath released from her lungs and with it, all the emotion she’d been stuffing down. It finally hit her.

  The anger faded, and Dania cried.

  SEVEN

  FOUR MONTHS LATER...

  Planet Dravidim – Kinokym Cluster

  JRUVIIN

  His father hit him again. The force of his hand on the back of Jruviin’s head brought with it the sting of quills ripping free of his plumage. They caught in his father’s talons and floated to the floor to join the others in a collage of jade and azure.

  “You dishonor my dwelling!” Piktiin, his father, bellowed. “Punish her!”

  His eyes rose to see the servant girl cowering from him, from his enraged father, in the corner against the warm orange sand-brick that made up the home. This was the way of things—females had no say. They were subservient creatures. If they stepped out of line, as this servant had, they were disciplined.

  Jruviin should be thankful his father wasn’t demanding he cut off her fingers, her toes, or rip her scarlet plumes from her scalp.

  “I will not.” Jruviin had seen enough.

  Again, he braced himself for the oncoming beatings. More of his feathers pulled free with every subsequent blow to his head and neck.

  “Do as I say,” Piktiin threatened, his voice but a seething hiss, “or there will be consequences.”

  The lash dropped from Jruviin’s talons, the clack in the silence sealing his fate.

  “So it shall be,” was all his father said, gray talons grasping at the girl’s plumage and dragging her from the room.

  Jruviin squeezed his eyelids shut against the pitiful squawking and pleas from the girl that could be heard even through the walls of the dwelling.

  Why could he not bring himself to give her mercy? It would have been a mercy to lash her. Instead, she would now face his father’s wrath, possibly death.