Romulus

The human female is staring at me with her mouth hanging open, a look of absolute terror on her face. She seems genuinely surprised I’m piloting the Classis into deep space.

I can’t believe her superiors told her so little of what to expect on board. It confirms my suspicions: They are a bunch of infighting little monkeys, undeserving of the destructive weapons that they command.

“I have to gather information on your solar system,” I tell Alexa. “In case of an attack. Any place in your system you ever wanted to see?”

“I-I don’t know,” she says. “Home.”

“You’ll be back home soon enough. Come on, there’s an entire universe out here to explore. You’re not very adventurous, are you?”

“Hey… I’m supposed to be the one asking the questions here,” she answers.

Ah, there’s some life in her still. Good. If she’s scared stiff of me then the weeks will be a bore.

“What’s your favorite planet?”

Alexa looks up at the ceiling.

“Uhm… I’ve always like Titan, though technically, it’s a moon.”

“Titan it is, then.”

“Are you serious?”

“I always am.”

I punch in the coordinates.

“It will take us a few days. Come, let me show you your quarters.”

I lead her to her room.

“My quarters are just down the hall. You will have a single hour every day to ask me questions — no more. If I am busy, do not interrupt me. Understand?”

She nods, still somewhat dazed.

“Good.”

* * *

Alexa

Romulus closes the door, and I’m all alone.

And I feel like crying.

It’s all happening so fast. One moment I was in that shuttle — and now I’m in an alien spaceship… for weeks?

And I have no other option than to hope we don’t get crushed by an asteroid, or obliterated by a solar flare?

I can’t deal with this.

It’s too much.

I’m good with books. Papers. Dissertations.

Boring stuff.

I’m not even a globetrotter, let alone an interstellartrotter. I prefer to trot within the confines of my own home.

Wearing pajamas.

Or nothing at all, if the mood strikes me.

That’s all history now. I’m at the mercy of Romulus Valerius, Elban warrior extraordinaire.

The very first thing I did on that computer was look up Romulus, and apparently, he’s a fabled warrior, sworn protector of House Octavius, and reigning champion of the Blood Bowl… whatever that may be.

It sounds terrifying.

Mary told me she was jealous of me getting this mission instead of her, but right now, I’d give anything to switch places with her.

I curl up on my bed and let the tears run down my cheeks.

* * *

Last night was beyond awful. I barely slept. I kept fearing that the oxygen would run out, or that a meteor would smash into us and I’d die a grizzly, painful death.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

Nothing happened.

The ship is silent. Empty.

Except for Romulus stalking the halls.

I peek out my door, but the hallway is empty. I’m still wearing my pajamas and my hair is a mess, but I need breakfast. I wasn’t allowed to eat for twelve hours before the shuttle-launch, and in the confusion of being abducted by an alien warrior, I plainly forgot to have dinner as well.

Conclusion: I am starving.

I tip-toe down the hall, peering into all the different rooms. I have zero idea where the kitchen is, or if the Elbans even have a kitchen.

What if they don’t eat? What if they live on sunlight or something crazy like that?

They’re aliens. I’m not ruling anything out.

Finally, after stumbling of room after room stocked with weapons, I find something that resembles a kitchen. I pull open the fridge to find absolutely nothing that resembles human food.

Argh!

“Looking for something?”

I nearly jump out of my skin.

“Fuck!” I say as I whirl around and close the fridge-door. Romulus is standing in the door-opening, a robe ties loosely around his well-built frame, a cup in his hand.

“You scared the bejesus out of me. Where did you come from?! I didn’t hear you coming.”

“I’m a warrior,” Romulus says. “I’m supposed to be silent and deadly.”

“I’m not your prey, though,” I answer.

Our eyes meet, and his lips curl up.

Or am I?

I do feel rather hunted. Even though I’ve never looked more unflattering than right now, with my baggy clothes and my birdnest-like hair.

Romulus doesn’t even seem to notice. He looks at me with the exact same expression as he did yesterday. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.

“I’m looking for something to eat.”

“You found it.”

“I can’t eat this,” I say, pointing at the fridge. “It’s all…”

“All what?” Romulus asks.

Oh crap.

I’m going to offend the proud warrior now, of course.

Way to go, Alexa.

You’re great at building bridges.

“All… unfamiliar.”

“That’s not what you were going to say.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. You were going to say weird. Gross. Strange. Alien.”

“It is alien. Technically.”

“From my point of view, you’re the alien,” Romulus says. “On my vessel, we eat Elban food.”

“And what if I don’t want to?”

“You’ll starve.”

“How do you know my metabolism can even handle your food? What if it kills me?”

Romulus shrugs. “I’m willing to take that risk.”

Bastard.

“I’m not! There’s got to be something else!”

The Elban warrior sighs.

“I suppose you could use the food-replicator to produce human food. It won’t taste as good though, and you’ll lose my respect. The little of it you have left.”

It’s too early for all this sass.

On a full stomach, I might have given the cocky jerk a taste of his own medicine, but right now? Mamma’s gotta eat.

Fortunately, the controls of the replicator are easy enough for me to understand. After messing with the settings, I muster something that resembles pancakes.

Romulus shakes his head as he watches me scarf it down, while he attends to his strange meat-broth.

We’ve definitely got a long way to go.

* * *

Romulus

My blade cuts through the air. The holograms fall before me easily, zapped out of existence by my sword. Sweat drips down my half-naked body, and no matter how hard I swing my sword, my pent-up lust and aggression is not dissipating.

If anything, it’s getting worse.

She stands in the corner, watching me train.

Observing me. Taking notes.

Alexa Oakley.

Have I made a mistake allowing the curvy human on-board? I know Nero wants me to open relations with the humans, for after all, his fatum is going to give birth to a human/Elban child… but still.

I’m not sure if this was a wise move on my part, for I feel inexorably drawn to her.

My allegiance lies with House Octavius. Protecting Nero and his legacy is my only priority. I can’t let the human female distract me from my mission.

With a mighty roar I throw my sword away, the metal clanging on the marble floor.

“What do you want?” I growl as I grab a towel. “Can’t you see I’m training?”

“You said I had one hour a day to interview you,” she says. “You didn’t exactly specify when, so… I was wondering when you had time.”

I stretch my muscles as I contemplate an answer.

In truth, I have all the time of the world. Nero is away, the ship practically runs itself, and in the off-chance that Magnus Bruttius does rear his ugly head, the ship’s sensors will alert me straight away.

There’s literally nothing else for me to do than answer Alexa’s questions, but she doesn’t need to know that.

I like to keep her on her toes. Complacency gets one killed.

“Now is a good time as any, I suppose,” I mutter as I sit on the edge of the arena. “Ask away.”

“You don’t… you don’t want to put something on?”

I glance down at my bronzed, naked chest, glistening with sweat.

“No. Or am I distracting you?”

“N-no,” she stammers. “Not at all.”

She’s a poor liar. I like that.

Alexa has certainly done her homework this afternoon, for she’s now familiar with Elban history and culture. She knows we are an all-male warrior race, united five-hundred years ago by the late Emperor Decimus. Under his stewardship we conquered every galaxy our ships could reach, enslaved their men and used their women as concubines.

This isn’t lost on Alexa.

“That’s barbaric,” she says. “Humanity abolished slavery centuries ago!”

“House Octavius never participated in those raids, if that eases your mind.”

“Somewhat.”

“Yet we Elbans need alien women to breed… it’s that simple. And if the females aren’t offered to us, we take. We have no other choice.”

Alexa swallows the lump in her throat. All this talk about breeding is making her uncomfortable.

I enjoy seeing her squirm in her seat, her eyes darting to the floor.

It’s cute.

“How does that work?” she asks. “How can you all be males? Where did you come from, originally?”

I shrug. “Where did you come from, originally, human?”

“I see your point. Next question,” she says.

The hours pass quickly as we talk. I allotted her a small hour, but when I stop for a drink, I notice we’ve been at it for half the day.

“Time’s up,” I say abruptly. “We continue tomorrow.”

Before she has a chance to respond I walk to my quarters to take a long, cold shower.

Staring into Alexa’s brown eyes all day has me yearning for a release…

I must resist.

Yet, as my hand becomes a blur, my cock growing bigger and harder by the second, I realize I’m my control is slipping…