Lily and the Lion: A SciFi Alien Romance (Alien Abduction Book 12) Read online

  Lily and the Lion

  A SciFi Alien Romance (Alien Abduction Book 12)

  Honey Phillips

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Other Titles

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2021 by Honey Phillips

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author.

  Disclaimer

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover by Maria Spada Book Cover Design

  Edited by Lindsay York at LY Publishing Services

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter One

  “Fuck!” Lily screamed as the escape pod rocketed towards a planet far below. She had been shoved into the pod with no explanation by one of the alien bastards who had kidnapped her. In her attempt to resist, she had managed to land a solid kick to his balls before he was able to restrain her legs. He had responded by slapping her across the face. Her cheekbone still throbbed, but it wasn’t the first time she’d been hit. She’d survive the blow.

  Whether or not she was going to survive this descent was an entirely different matter. The air inside the pod kept getting hotter, and she could hear a terrifying rattle that reminded her of the sound her old car used to make just before it broke down. Periodically the pod would hitch a little, as if it was trying to slow, but it never seemed to have any effect.

  Through the small porthole, she glimpsed the rapidly approaching planet—wide expanses of ocean and what looked like heavily forested land masses. She didn’t see any signs of civilization—no cities or roads or farms. Maybe that was a good thing, she thought grimly. She’d rather take the chance of surviving on her own than being in the clutches of more aliens.

  The land grew closer with dizzying speed, and she braced for impact just as the pod crashed into the trees. She could hear branches breaking beneath her, barely slowing the fall of the pod, but as they grew thicker, the shock of hitting each branch reverberated through the interior until it finally slammed into the ground with stunning force. The pod came to a halt, one side cracking open like an egg.

  For a long time, she was too dazed to do anything but stare up at the broken branches and torn leaves above her. The faintly pinkish sky seemed to be a long way away above her, and some distant part of her mind wondered about the size of the trees. The leaves were an odd color as well—green with a slightly reddish tinge.

  How did I end up here?

  Only a few short weeks ago, she’d thought she might finally have found a place where she wanted to put down some roots. She had been living in the small town of Cosmo Beach for six months, and she liked it. The bar she managed catered to a predominantly local crowd, and even the occasional influx of tourists wasn’t too disruptive. The small apartment above the bar that came with the job was nothing fancy, but it had windows that looked out over the ocean and it was all hers.

  But then she discovered that Dave, her bartender and occasional lover, was stealing from the till. When she went to confront him, she’d found him in bed with a waitress she’d considered a friend. The woman’s betrayal hurt much more than his theft.

  After firing him, she wandered down to the beach. In all her years of traveling, she’d never lived by the ocean before, but she’d rapidly grown addicted to the sound of the waves and the vast expanse of water, the moon lighting a path to the distant horizon. She was only twenty-six, but she felt old tonight, old and alone. Sometimes it seemed like she spent her whole life running.

  She’d left home at sixteen, chasing after Stryker, the improbably named lead singer in a local band. His declarations of undying love hadn’t even lasted six months. She’d genuinely believed that she loved him—and that he loved her. His rejection devastated her, but then his older brother Barry, who managed the band, had taken her under his wing. He offered to let her stay with him, and he didn’t ask anything from her. When she asked him to kiss her, she was convinced that it was her idea. She was with him for almost three years, and it wasn’t until several years after they separated that she realized how easily he had manipulated her.

  Barry had left the band after one of his periodic arguments with his brother escalated—and he hadn’t asked her to come with him. At the time, she thought that perhaps their relationship had come to a natural conclusion, but looking back on it afterwards, she sometimes wondered if she had simply become too old for his tastes.

  Lily had ended up stepping into his role in managing the band. That had lasted another three years—a slurred landscape of late nights and constant travel, too much alcohol and the wrong kind of men.

  After her experiences with Stryker and Barry, she did her best to avoid entanglements, but life on the road had an odd kind of reality. And then one morning she woke up in yet another strange hotel room and realized she had no idea where she was. She didn’t remember what city they were in—she didn’t even know the date. Half a dozen strangers were passed out around the room, and the only person she recognized was Tony, the drummer, asleep in a chair by the window.

  With a complete and utter certainty, she knew that this wasn’t what she wanted—she wasn’t sure exactly what she did want, but she knew this wasn’t it. She quietly gathered her small collection of belongings, then went over to Tony. He was a sweet man with long thinning grey hair who had been playing music since before she was born. She kissed his forehead, and he woke up and gave her a sleepy smile.

  “What’s up, baby girl?”

  “I’m leaving.”

  He nodded thoughtfully. “It’s probably time. But I’m going to miss you.”

  “I’ll miss you too,” she said sincerely. He had always done his best to look after her in his own lowkey way. She was willing to bet that he’d spent the night in the chair just in case things got out of hand.

  Despite the band’s nomadic lifestyle, she’d managed to put some money aside. She could have gone back to school, or tried to do something different with her life. Instead, she drifted into a job as a bartender. Since then she’d had a variety of jobs, but she never ended up staying anywhere longer than six or seven months. Even though she enjoyed most of her jobs, there had always been something to drive her on. A manager with roaming hands or another disastrous relationship or simply the restlessness that prodded her to keep moving. Cosmo Beach had been the first time she’d actually thought of sticking around.

  Apparently, the gods had other plans for her.

  She’d been sitting quietly on the beach that night when she caught a whiff of something horrible, fol
lowed by a sharp pinch to her neck. When she regained consciousness, she was in a small cage next to two other caged women, with an unfamiliar male leering at her.

  An alien male. She had been abducted by fucking aliens. The translator they had placed in her ear meant that it was all too easy to understand their intentions. They planned to sell all three of them as sex slaves—and even though she had every intention of fighting, she knew that the odds were against her.

  They had been confined to their cages for about two weeks—long enough to form an unbreakable bond between the three women. Kate was a scientist, cool, practical, and smart. Lily admired her intelligence and her determination to find a logical solution to their situations. Mary was quite different, innocent and optimistic. She’d even managed to point out positive aspects about their captors, and Lily believed she genuinely meant them. Of course, she was also the only one who received additional treats and soft words from the despicable bastards.

  What happened to them? she wondered now, looking up at the sky. Earlier that day, Eshak, one of the most brutal aliens, had appeared and dragged Kate away without a word.

  “What if we never see her again?” Mary had whispered, her eyes wide and frightened.

  “We will,” Lily said fiercely, determined to hide her own fears.

  But then Eshak had returned for her, and she’d been forced to leave Mary behind. Why? Why had he dragged her into the pod, and why had they sent her to this planet?

  She did her best to emulate Kate’s cool logic. It seemed probable that all three of them had been forced into the pods—which meant that her friends could also be somewhere here in the jungle. She had to find them.

  She allowed herself a few more moments to recover from the descent, but she refused to give into the dizziness for long. If she’d understood Eshak’s muttered comments correctly, the slavers planned to recover their prizes. She didn’t know how hard it would be for them to find the pod in this immense jungle, but the farther away she was from it, the better.

  After wrestling with the restraints across her body, she managed to release them and wiggle free. Very cautiously, she poked her head up through the open side of the pod—and discovered she hadn’t hit the ground after all. The pod was wedged in the crevice between the branch that had stopped its fall and the huge tree trunk supporting the branch. Great. That meant she was going to have to climb down—and she had never been particularly good with heights.

  She wiggled her way through the opening, tearing the wretched slave gown in the process. She would have loved to just throw it away, but the thought of being naked in the jungle wasn’t much more appealing. In the end, she ripped the two pieces of white fabric apart. She twisted one piece into a crude bandeau bra and tied the other one around her hips to form a short sarong. Not quite the latest fashion, but at least it was her choice, not something forced on her by the alien slavers.

  The climb down to the ground was nerve-wracking at best, despite the fact that the bark of the tree was heavily ridged and provided multiple hand and foot holds. Thank goodness she had been enough of a tomboy in her misspent youth to know how to climb—and that the pod hadn’t crashed too far above the ground. She managed to avoid looking down, but her heart was still pounding when she jumped the last few feet and landed in the loam beneath the trees.

  Now what?

  Chapter Two

  Leotra va Situni walked into his spacious bedroom and came to an abrupt halt. A cloying perfume filled the air, not one that he would have ever chosen. His eyes went immediately to the bed, and sure enough, ripe female curves were clearly visible beneath the thin silk sheet.

  He deliberately cleared his throat, and the female sat up, letting the sheet drift down to reveal the smooth pelt covering her obviously enhanced breasts. The work had been well done, accentuating her naturally sleek physique, and he felt a flicker of interest. But then he looked at her face and saw the avaricious gleam she couldn’t quite hide behind her seductive façade.

  “Out,” he ordered.

  White fangs flashed as she snarled, but then she crawled towards him, her tail twitching seductively. “But Leotra, it’s been such a long time.”

  She knew him? Most of the women who showed up in his bed or his houses or his vehicles tended to be complete strangers. He took a second look at her face. Ah yes. She’d had work done there as well, but now he recognized her. Jinga. They’d had a brief and not particularly enjoyable liaison some years ago when he first came to maturity and was busy reaping the rewards of being heir to an extraordinarily rich and successful merchant house.

  “I’m not interested, Jinga,” he said firmly.

  She paid absolutely no attention, slinking over to him and rubbing her body against his front while her tail tried to tangle with his. This close, he could catch the betraying hint of an artificial mating hormone, but he felt absolutely nothing, a reaction that was becoming all too common. The thought that he might be losing any sexual interest in the opposite sex horrified him, but not enough to try and reawaken it with this female.

  Reaching behind him, he slapped a hand on the alert panel. Less than three seconds later, two enormous Bukharan guards burst into the room. Both of them were too well trained to reveal their shock that the alert was nothing more than an attractive naked female. They had seen many of them in his rooms over the years.

  “Please remove Mistress Jinga. Find her some clothing and send her back to Yangu.”

  She snarled and sank her claws into the arm she had been stroking seductively. He refused to flinch, removing her hand as gently as possible. No matter how conniving she might be, he drew the line at hurting a female.

  When Gorik clamped his hand on her shoulder, a lot less gently, and drew her back against his body, Leotra shook his head. “You are not permitted to damage her.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He watched in disgust as the treacherous female immediately rubbed her hips against the guard. “My, you’re so… big.” She shot Leotra a challenging look. “Unlike some males I could mention.”

  He almost laughed. The last thing he was concerned about was her insulting his cock.

  “Take her away.”

  Gorik hauled her out of the room, but Leotra noticed that he didn’t attempt to push her away.

  “Sir,” Katta lingered. “Gorik is young and impulsive, but I wished to clarify your command…”

  “I said no damage,” he repeated firmly, then shrugged. “Willing consent is completely different—but Katta, I do mean willing.”

  “Yes, sir.” A smile crossed Katta’s face as he bowed and left.

  He was not concerned that the male would disobey. His guards were chosen for their discipline and sense of honor, and they would not force a female. He wondered if Jinga knew what she was getting into, taking on two of the huge horned males.

  No doubt she had employed a similar tactic to gain access to his rooms. Tomorrow, he would summon Hudomo and make it crystal clear that if it happened again, he would no longer retain his position as steward of his hunting lodge. Tonight, he didn’t want to deal with it.

  Crossing to the windows that led out onto the balcony, he flung them open, replacing the cool, overly perfumed air with the humid warmth of the jungle. The hunting lodge was a complex of buildings perched amongst the trees. From the outside, they appeared to be rustic if somewhat large shelters, but inside they contained every amenity. Unfortunately, the luxury came at the cost of a connection to the natural surroundings.

  He crossed to the railing, breathing in the night scents and listening to the sounds of the jungle. His tail lashed restlessly. Whatever had driven him from the active social scene and hedonistic delights of his home planet of Yangu still haunted him.

  The plan had been to take a hunting expedition into the jungle. There would be beaters to stir up the game, porters to carry everything necessary to set up an extravagant camp each night, his chef, his steward, and a number of other household staff. Right now, the thought only made h
im cringe.

  Suddenly decisive, he returned to his room, stripping off the long, embroidered robe and the flowing silk pants. He searched through his wardrobe until he found an old leather loincloth, one he had used long ago when he was first learning the ways of the jungle. He tied it around his waist and added his favorite hunting knife, already feeling less restricted. Leaving a brief message to be delivered to Hudomo in the morning, he returned to the balcony. The nearest limb was no more than ten feet away. He leapt easily across the distance, his claws sinking into the soft bark.

  An exhilarated roar rose in his chest but he forced it back. It would only alert his household. Instead, he began moving easily through the trees. By the time they received his message, he would be miles away.

  Lily studied the area beneath the huge tree, her heart sinking. The only thing she could see was more of the massive trees, interspersed with smaller trees and some low bushes with spiky orange leaves. She’d never been much of a nature lover, but nothing around her looked the slightest bit familiar. Instead of the greens and browns she would have expected, the colors were much more vibrant. The leaves were tinged with deep reds and oranges. She could hear rustling in the undergrowth, along with the constant whirr of what she assumed were insects, occasionally interspersed with a distant cry that made her shiver.

  Down here on the ground there was no trace of the crash, and for a moment despair overwhelmed her. Even if one of her friends had fallen nearby, she could walk beneath the crash site without ever knowing that it was there. No, she refused to think like that. Kate would be sure and find a way out of the pod, and she didn’t think that Mary was just going to sit around and wait for the slavers to return. They would break free just as she had. If they’re alive, her pessimistic side prompted, but she refused to accept that possibility.