Romulus

“Hey! Hey! Wait a second!”

The small human tries to get my attention, her voice echoing down the empty halls. I continue walking.

She hops in front of me, spreading her arms wide.

“Hold on a moment,” she says. “Don’t walk away from me.”

She’s got guts, this one. I can’t believe the sent me a female — and such an attractive one. Were they hoping that her looks would distract me from their attempts to steal Elban secrets?

Her luscious curves, her crystal clear blue eyes, her voluptuous figure… it’s all lost on me.

I will not surrender to temptation.

No matter how intensely my body is responding to the sight of her.

“Alexa,” I say.

I like the way her name rolls of my tongue.

“Get out of the way.”

“Look, I don’t want to be here anymore than you do, trust me on this.”

“Oh? Then why are you here?”

“Long story. I don’t want to get into it right now. Let’s just start over. I’m Alexa Oakley, and yes, I was sent here by the US government, because you agreed to host a researcher. That would be me. Now, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can get back home and get out of your hair. That’s what we all want, right?”

“Perhaps,” I answer.

I haven’t made up my mind quite yet.

With Nero and Victoria gone, it’s been rather quiet on the Classis lately. I sent them both down to Earth in secret, to enjoy some time alone, without the human governments prodding at them… for Victoria is carrying Nero’s child. The Octavius line will carry on!

I placed the rest of the crew in cryogenic sleep, to save their strength in case Magnus Bruttius returns from the dead to haunt us. I don’t expect him to, but I’m prepared for the worst.

“Answer my questions,” Alexa says. “So I can go back home.”

“I’m not yours to command, human,” I growl. “You are on my ship, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll obey my rules. If you ever want to see your home again, that is.”

I have no interest in holding this curvy one hostage, but I certainly enjoy watching her grow angrier with the second.

“I’m not your prisoner,” she says defiantly. “You can’t keep me here!”

“I can’t?”

I grab her wrist and slam it against the wall above her head. She struggles, legs flailing, her cheeks flushed red.

“Let me go, you brute!”

I lean in and whisper into her ear.

“I can do whatever I want, human. Don’t. Tempt Me.”

Her scent surrounds me, and to my own surprise, my cock grows as hard as a rock.

It would be so easy to slip one hand around her neck, tilt her chin towards me, and press my lips against hers. I could slip my tongue into her mouth if I wanted to, I could wrap her body around mine and bury my cock deep inside of her, I could make her scream and moan, I could show her what a real man is like…

I pull away, flustered.

What is wrong with me?

Humans are not my kind.

They are small. Weak.

Nero might have found his fatum, but I will not find one in this galaxy. Everyone I’ve ever sworn to protect has died, except for Nero. I have promised myself I would never allow that to happen ever again.

I will not lower my guard. Not for anyone.

Certainly not for a human.

So why is my heart racing?

The solitude must be getting to me.

I haven’t fought a proper battle in weeks. The holo-deck doesn’t even come close to matching the intensity of a real fight.

If you can’t draw blood it’s not worth doing.

Yes, that’s got to be it. Too much pent up testosterone.

Alexa rubs her wrist, avoiding my gaze. Perhaps I’ve been too hard on the small human.

“Ask your questions, then,” I say. “Get it over with.”

My calm exterior is a lie — on the inside I am brimming with pent up lust, rage, and aggression.

Yes, get it over with.

Perhaps I just ought to fuck the human and get it over with.

* * *

Alexa

I try to collect myself, but I feel like a ship lost in a storm. My knees are weak, and my heart is pounding like a drum.

Romulus dangled me in the air like I was nothing but a toy. I was absolutely and completely helpless. If he wanted to he could have ravished me right there on the spot.

He made that abundantly clear.

I felt his hot breath on my neck, his fingers on my wrists… and it filled me with fire.

A fire that has yet to die. Even now my core is burning for him, for this muscular brute, this… savage.

He’s not my type.

At all.

So I wish my knees would stop trembling. After what happened back in high school… I’m done with men. That way lies trouble. Love isn’t meant for me. I put all my time and effort into my work.

That’s what I’m here to do.

Work.

Not swoon over the alien warrior’s muscular frame, his intense gaze, his powerful, strong, athletic forearms…

“Ask your questions, then,” Romulus says. “Get it over with.”

Yes. That’s a good idea.

Get it over with.

Be done with it.

The sooner I’m off this ship, the better.

The longer his gaze lingers on me, the more I see the hunger in his eyes, the more likely I am to do something foolish.

“Err, right,” I say, running my hands down my body and straightening my uniform. “Questions. Let’s see. Where do I begin?”

Romulus rolls his eyes and walks away, and I have to walk twice as fast to keep up with him.

“You’re not prepared?”

“I didn’t have a lot of time,” I pant.

“Then ask your questions while I work. I don’t have time to wait.”

The Elban warrior leads me down a hallway while I pull out a tablet and scroll through my files, trying to make sense of it all. He’s got me so flustered that my thoughts are all over the place.

“Erhm, Nero Octavius,” I say. “Where is he?”

“That’s classified.”

I stop dead in my tracks.

“You’ve got to give me something.”

“Next question.”

“But—”

“Next. Question.”

“Okay. Victoria Snow. Where is she?”

“That’s also classified.”

“Did you kidnap her?” I ask. “Is she your prisoner as well?”

Romulus’s unhelpful attitude is rubbing me the wrong way. I just want some answers I can give Dr. Bellamy. Is that too much to ask for?

The alien warrior chuckles.

“She is as far from a prisoner as one can be. If anything, she ensnared Nero.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Next question.”

Sigh.

“For that matter, where is the rest of the crew? Or do you run this massive spaceship all by yourself?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“Bullcrap.”

Romulus turns and smirks at me, and I glance away quickly, before my cheeks turn to fire again.

“I’ll show you.”

He leads me deeper into the ship. I struggle to keep up with him — his strides are immense. Finally, he stops, and I nearly bump into him.

“Look.”

I gasp when I look around the corner.

There are dozens of pods in the room, each with an Elban warrior inside, coated in an eerie blue light.

“Cryogenic pods,” Romulus says. “Don’t worry. They’re just sleeping.”

“Why?” I ask as I slowly walk into the room, my eyes darting around.

“To save their energy, in case that we’re attacked.”

“By us?”

The Elban warrior chuckles softly, as if the thought of humanity posing a threat to him was laughable. “No, not by you.”

“By whom then?”

“That’s classified.”

I whirl around and jab my finger into Romulus’s chest. It’s as hard as a damn rock.

“Are you going to answer any of my questions?”

“That depends on the questions.”

Argh.

I rub my temples and take a deep breath to calm myself.

Keep it together, Alexa. You’ve got this. Don’t let him get to you.

Meanwhile, Romulus has his arms folded and he’s looking at me with a bemused grin. I want to hate that cocky smirk of his, but for some reason, I can’t.

“What can you tell me?” I ask. “Where are you from? What is your planet like? I want to know your culture, your art, your kind, just give me something.”

Romulus shrugs. “Why didn’t you ask?”

I’m this close to throwing my tablet at that chiseled face of his and give it another scar.

“Come,” he says.

I follow him to the ship’s helm. Through the window I see Earth orbiting in the distance, and a shiver runs down my spine. I still can’t believe I’m in freaking space.

“Here,” Romulus says as he points towards a workstation. “You can read up on Elban history.”

I sit down behind the computer, even though the seat is way too big for me, and start to pull up files randomly. Finally, I’m getting somewhere…

The ship jolts forwards, and I glance up, eyes wide.

Romulus is sitting behind the wheel, his hands on the control stick. Earth grows smaller by the second — we’re leaving.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’re flying away.”

“Correct.”

“Why?” I ask, my mouth dry. “Stop. Stop, now.”

Romulus laughs. “Not possible. I have to take the Classis on a long rotation throughout your solar system.”

“You what?” I stammer. “Why?”

“To save energy, and to avoid detection from any other human governments… they didn’t tell you?”

They didn’t tell me shit.

“No,” I say. “How long… how long is this going to take?”

Romulus shrugs. “A few weeks, it depends.”

“Depending? On what?!”

“If we run into any trouble. Solar flares, asteroid fields, that kinda stuff.”

Oh god.

I sink back into my seat, terrified.

I’m stuck on this ship, alone with the alien warrior, for weeks.

FML.