Nero

“Strip.”

The soldier in front of me doesn’t reach past my abs. He has to crane his neck to look up at me, which his heavy helmet barely allows for.

“I don’t have all day, big fella. You need to go through decontamination. Strip. Or we’ll do this the hard way.”

I got half a mind to knock that helmet clean off… but I restrain myself. I don’t want more blood on my hands.

I want Victoria Snow.

She is the only familiar thing in this strange, new world. I feel a connection, a need, a hunger for her… she is the only thing keeping me sane.

After everything what happened, only she’s keeping me from self-destructing.

My father? Dead.

My best friend? Dead.

My house? Destroyed.

Their killer? My half-brother.

I still don’t understand the reason for Magnus Bruttius’s killing spree. Even if I had known I was Emperor Decimus’s son (assuming I believe Magnus), I’d never have any aspirations to the crown.

Being the successor to House Octavius was more than enough pressure.

Fuck being the successor to the entire Elban Empire.

Magnus hinted at something, as did father… something big. A grand plan that I’m not privy to. It’s enough to drive a man insane.

It’s enough to give me a death wish.

It would be easy to die. I’m surrounded by heavily armed soldiers. If I wanted to, I could lash out and let them end this suffering… but no.

I can’t.

Victoria’s brown, doe-eyes are burned into my soul. If I created more carnage, I’d be disappointing her. I just know that, deep down in my soul. And disappointing her is the last thing I want to do.

So I follow the small man’s command. I unbuckle my armor, letting it fall to the floor. I hook my fingers into the loincloth wrapped around my waist, the very last thing on my body.

“Do you want me to strip everything?” I growl.

“N-no,” the man stammers. “Th-that’s okay. Please. In here.”

I duck down and enter a dimly lit room. I sit down on a bench and wait, my mind going over the many questions plaguing my mind, but returning to Victoria again and again.

It’s good that she’s gone.

I can’t protect the ones close to me. Romulus, Gaius… escaping death is like running from my own shadow. She should be far away. A galaxy away.

“Nero?”

I open my eyes — Victoria Snow is standing in the doorway, wearing nothing but her underwear.

* * *

Victoria

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Nero is sitting in front of me, barely clothed. At first I thought he was naked, but when my eyes inadvertently looked at the space between his legs, I saw a cloth tied around his waist.

A very small cloth. One that barely leaves anything to the imagination. His powerful, muscly thighs are on full display, just like all his other muscles.

There’s so many of them I barely know where to look.

Do I start with his broad shoulders? His reality-defying abs, that have that V shape, the one that makes it seem like his entire, imposing body is just a giant arrow pointing down at his no-doubt massive alien cock.

Get it together, Victoria.

I turn around just in time to see the hazmat-suit wearing soldier close the door behind me.

“Stop! Hey, stop! Is there another decontamination room? Hello? Hey!”

“Do I scare you, Victoria?”

Nero’s voice is a low growl that makes the hair on my arms stand up, that makes my stomach flutter and my panties wet.

And panties and a bra are the only things I’m wearing right now.

“No,” I say.

I’m scared of myself. Of what I’ll do when I’m around you; I could barely restrain myself when you were clad in armor. Now with all of you on display… I need some divine intervention.

I sit down on the bench across Nero, folding my legs and arms, trying to shield as much of my barely clothed body from his view as possible.

I try to look away, to avert my gaze, but it’s hopeless. Everywhere I look, there’s Nero Octavius. He is so tall, so broad. He seems to fill the entire room.

He seems to be the center of my universe.

I hate decontamination. You have to spend hours in this small, hot room, as the sensors scan every inch of your body, as the computers do their calculations and measurements, all to make sure you’re not carrying some alien bug.

Normally it’s a bore. But normally, I don’t have a drop-dead gorgeous alien warrior to keep me company…

“So what is this place?” Nero asks. “What are they doing?”

I turn my gaze towards him.

Mistake.

His legs are spread wide, like it’s a damn invitation. And his bulge… his bulge makes the heat rush to my cheeks so quickly I’m sure the computer scanning me will have the mechanical equivalent of an aneurysm.

I turn away, quickly, covering my face as my panties grow wet. I sure hope his sense of smell isn’t as well-developed as the rest of him, because I’d die of embarrassment if he ever finds out how hot and bothered he’s making me.

“They are… scanning us. Making sure we’re not carrying some bug or something.”

“Hm,” Nero growls. “What do you think they’ll find?”

I turn back to Nero, my eyes finding his.

“That you’re not from here.”

A small smirk forms on his lips. Next, he closes his eyes and rests his head against the wall. This gives me a moment to steal a few glances, to look at his body without his cocky eyes daring me.

It’s so damn hot in here. A bead of sweat tickles down Nero’s chest, and as I watch it slide down I’m suddenly aware of how dry my lips are, how thirsty I am, and how nice it would be to just lick that drop right off, to run my tongue up his chest, to sink my nails into his shoulders and…

Get it together, Victoria!

I wipe the sweat from my brow. My forehead is burning fiercely. I must have some type of fever.

Nero fever.

Wait, I don’t actually have some alien bug, right?

“So… are you going to explain to me what happened, back there?” I ask, breaking the tense silence. Perhaps conversation will get my mind out of the gutter.

“I wish I could,” Nero answers, “but I am as in the dark as you are.”

“Are you… an alien?”

Nero opens his eyes, chuckling.

“I could ask you the same thing, Victoria Snow.”

It’s silly, but I like the way he says my name. I’ve never really cared for it — it’s just a name like any other — but the way Nero says it, the way it rolls off his tongue, it just feels… right.

It makes me feel all kind of things.

“You’re not from here,” I say, licking my lips. “You can’t be. You seem human, but you’re not. You’re too tall, too strong, too quick. So, if you’re not human… what are you, Nero Octavius?”

He leans back and stretches his arms above his head, and the sight of his many muscles tensing up makes my heart skip a beat.

“Human,” he says, though he doesn’t say it quite right. He makes it sound more like hugh-mang. “Is that what you people call yourselves?”

“Yes,” I say. “I am human.”

I don’t think I’ve ever uttered that sentence before. It seems a given. Yet, now, nothing seems to be ordinary anymore.

“And what about your planet?”

“It is called Earth.”

Nero nods.

“I am Elban,” he says. “Named after our planet, Elba. It is the crown jewel of the Idriana system, a grand planet. Your world would fit inside it many times over.”

A smile appears on his face, as if he’s remembering something wonderful.

I knew it. I knew it! No one’s going to believe me when I tell them I met an actual alien, but that’s okay. I know what’s real. And I sense that he’s telling me the truth, I can feel it in my gut.

“Why are you here?” I ask, barely containing my excitement. There’s so many things I want to ask him that I don’t even know where to start.

His smile disappears instantly.

I suddenly remember that man — Magnus? — and his words, and realize I might have ruined a perfectly good moment. It seems so far away already, that knife jutting into my back, his arm wrapped around my throat, but maybe that’s because I’m in Nero’s presence now.

In presence of his barely clothed glory.

And the thoughts of what’s underneath that flimsy cloth of his is filling up all the space in my mind usually reserved for fear and anxiety.

I wait for Nero to elaborate, to explain himself further, but he makes no attempt to. He stares into the distance, his eyes now cold and filled with anger.

I remember only bits and pieces of the conversation the two warriors had. Something about Nero’s true father… it was hard to hear with my blood rushing through my ears, my lungs fighting for air.

I wonder what demons haunt Nero. I feel the sudden, overwhelming urge to comfort him, to tell him everything’s going to be alright — but how can I? I’m just a nobody.

There’s nothing I can do to make Nero’s life better.

Buzz!

The sharp sound of the buzzer rouses me from my thoughts.

“Decontamination is complete,” a voice says over the intercom.

For the first time ever, I’m sad decontamination is already over. I’m happy to return home, of course, but… if it would just take a few more minutes, that would be okay. I want to know all about Nero’s homeworld, but he doesn’t seem the talkative type.

I’ll have to settle for looking at a body that puts Michelangelo’s David to shame.

“Please proceed to the showers,” the voice continues.

A door on the far side of the room opens automatically, the tiles of the shower beckoning us, and my heart leaps into my throat like a frightened animal.

Oh crap.

I forgot all about the showers.