Caged With The Alien Warrior

16.

Ronan

I'd never known the peace I felt holding Aanya in my arms. This small human woman.

Aanya's chest rose and fell with her breaths, her delicate features relaxed in sleep. She'd fallen asleep immediately, but I stayed awake, holding her in the dark, thinking.

I'd grown close to my unit, the Rhodinian unit that traversed the universe with, but those feelings were nothing compared to what I felt for Aanya. How she cared for a youngling that wasn't even her own, how she used her vocal weapon, how perfectly she fit next to me.

My body still thrummed from my release. It'd been years since I'd been with another female and all of that paled in comparison.

I hated that we had to perform for the Szenists, but a shameful part of me was happy, burning with my desire for her. I'd always remember how she tightened around my fingers, how she called out my name, how she held onto me like a lifeline.

Now, I understood how humans and Rhodinians fit together. It was like Aanya's soft, welcoming body was designed for me.

I looked down at her, my enhanced eye implant enabling my eyesight in the dark. She was using my arm as a pillow and her dark hair pooled on me. My gaze trailed down her golden brown skin to the tantalizing rounded curve of her hips.

I forced my eyes shut, shame burning through my chest. How could I take advantage of her like this? Any respectable Rhodinian male would have freed Aanya and Lani from this prison already. Yet another way I'd failed my family name.

Aanya let out a soft, gentle snore, distracting me from my thoughts. She shifted in her sleep, turning and wrapping her arms around my neck. The ease of her touch shocked me. Aanya gave so freely, so wholly.

At some point my eyes drifted shut into a sated sleep, but I was quickly awoken by the rattling sound of a shock stick being dragged across out cage bars.

I tightened my arms around Aanya, pulling her closer to my chest. What did the Szenists want now?

"Physical examination for Specimen 124," the Szenist hissed.

Aanya's brown eyes widened, shining with fear, making every protective instinct in me rise to the forefront. Ever since meeting her, I'd found it harder and harder to keep a leash on my base emotions.

"No." I snarled, shifting Aanya behind me on the cot.

"Physical examination for Specimen 124," the Szenist repeated. "Move aside, Specimen 198."

"Leave her alone." I stood, towering over the four Szenists that had come for Aanya. Logically, I knew right now wasn't the right time to make a stand against them, but I wasn't thinking at all right now.

"Last warning, Specimen 198." The Szenist flickered his shock stick and I swore I heard some sick glee in his voice. I tensed, muscles bunching.

"It's alright Ronan, I'll–" Aanya's soft voice started, but was cut off by the Szenists command.

"Immobolize him," one of them hissed, and the other was all too happy to shock me while I was looking back at Aanya.

I bit back a pained groan– I knew I could withstand one shock stick though.

"Wait, stop!" Aanya called out, scrambling to her feet.

A sharp pain in my neck bit through the dull ache of the shock stick. I glanced down at the needle sticking out of my neck. They injected me with something.

My muscles slackened and I immediately recognized the feel of the sedative that the Szenists used. Two of them gripped my arms, holding me up as my body sagged.

Behind me, I heard a struggle, and I barely could turn my head to see, the sedative kicking in.

Aanya was trying to fight them off as they strapped her down to the cot.

I growled, but my body wouldn't listen to my mind. My head lolled forward as the sedative fully kicked in. The Szenists dragged me away from Aanya, my knees scraping against the metal floor.

They threw me in an empty cell and walked up and down the hallway, talking to each other.

I don't know how long I was slumped there, but I began regaining my senses and caught snatches of conversation through my haze.

One of the Szentists hissed. "The breeding program will work and we will have our super soldiers."

"We will finally have soldiers of our own and nobody will be able to stand against the Empire."

Breeding program? Super soldiers? The Empire?

I wiggled my fingers, feeling returning, but I missed chunks of their conversation. I strained my ears to hear better.

"Our base on Earth is well protected. No other sentient species has found Earth yet and we will keep it that way."

"I'm glad I was not stationed on Earth. So primitive. Did you hear about..."

Earth? What?

They walked out of earshot. I moved my toes, but couldn't move my legs any further. I sucked in a breath when I heard the guards return and their topic of conversation.

"What if the Rhodinians come for him?"

"Nobody is coming for him, he is alone."

"I thought he had an implant, a tracker?"

"That was disabled as soon as he was captured, of course. We are not idiots."

"I never said that you are an idiot–"

"But that's what you implied, I should..."

Coldness hit my core and my stomach felt rock hard. My hands shook with slight tremors. This couldn't be real.

They disabled my tracker. Of course they disabled it! I should have know– they left it under my skin, but they somehow remotely disabled it. I had been told that wasn't possible, that the only way to disable it was through removal, but that clearly wasn't true.

Oh no. I dropped my face into my hands, biting back a curse.

If my implant wasn't working that meant that my team wasn't coming for us. Aanya and I were stuck here. 

✶ ☾ ✶

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Aaaand we're back to Ronan's POV! 

What do you think about what Ronan overheard? What are your theories/predictions for what's going on?

Comments and votes are much appreciated.

Virtually yours,

Ro