Crystal

Drelix has gone from drooling drunk to steely anger in a very short space of time. He blinks hard as he checks over the controls, and when I shift position, he puts a heavy arm over my lap.

"Where do you think you're going?" he growls, all smoke and sin.

"You don't get to hold me," I retort. "I don't belong to you. The claiming bite wasn't anything of the sort, if you remember."

"You do belong to me, little morsel, regardless of any bite. I am sorry for my deception, I truly am. It was not something an honorable Sarkarnii should have done and I am, I promise, an honorable Sarkarnii. But if I remember correctly, claiming bite or not, you enjoyed it as much as I did," Drelix rasps.

Dammit! He's not wrong. The memory of the orgasm which ripped through my body, and the effect it had on him, are pretty much seared on my brain.

I don't have time to think about much else as he slams the craft into a steep turn which forces me against his muscular chest. The one I tried to ignore when he poured water all over himself like some alien aftershave advert but was completely unable to tear my eyes from.

I'm fucking angry at him for lying to me about what happened after the bite, but I'm also starting to see the funny side, a little anyway. Drelix is, I have to admit, sex on legs. Acres of sculpted, gorgeous, scaled skin, a face which would make Henry Cavill put on a mask, and a tail which, frankly, looks like it could do very naughty things.

Plus, he purrs. And not only does he purr, but he purred because he thought I'd like it. Drelix is a chaos enigma I don't know whether I should run from (and then he'd chase me) or cling to.

Despite his mayhem flying at the present time, somehow I get I'd be safer with him than without him.

Below us, he lowers the pulsar cannon.

"They're pretty quick," I say.

Almost before the words are out of my mouth, Drelix jinks the ship right and left, firing as he goes, and two of the salvager vessels bite space dust.

Leaving only one. Drelix comes to a halt.

"What are you doing?" I say, still wriggling to get free regardless of the hopelessness of the activity. "We're sitting ducks."

"I do not know these ducks you speak of, but I can assure you we are not ‘sitting' on anything. Unless you count yourself on my lap." Drelix grins at me. "Wait, little morsel. Wait and see how a Sarkarnii deals with inferior beings."

Oh, now he's full of himself. Not the groaning lump from the floor a few hours ago. A position I'll need to remind him of before we go much further.

A warning fires up on the console.

"He's going to fucking shoot us."

"Is he?" Drelix queries with a cheeky cock of an eyebrow.

"If I die by being turned inside out in space, I will come back and haunt you," I snap.

The quizzical look on Drelix's face suggests he doesn't know what I mean. It doesn't matter because I mean it.

"He is leaving," Drelix says.

Sure enough, the salvager craft has turned and is heading away from us.

"Probably to get more of his friends."

"Salvagers know when they are beaten."

"Not exactly," I grumble.

"They were unaware this flyer contained a Sarkarnii. They know now," Drelix says confidently.

"That's the key to the universe is it, being a scaly twat?" I finally manage to pull his arm free and get away.

"Scaly twat?" Drelix asks, brow furrowed.

"Yeah, like the sort who makes a girl…a female…think she's somehow married to him."

"Ah." Drelix loses some of his cool, his hand going to the back of his neck. "I did not mean to mislead you, Crystal. I thought it might be amusing for a while."

"Oh yeah?" I huff. "How long? Until we had three kids and a house in the country?"

His brow furrows further. I know my metaphors are meaningless to a big dragon alien, but they make me feel better.

"You wish to breed with me?" Drelix asks, brightening.

"What?" I take a step back.

"Kids is a human word for sarkarnlings, isn't it?" He has a smile on his face I should be wary of.

"Well, yes, it does mean sarkarnlings, I suppose. How do you know human words?"

Drelix hops out of the pilot seat and moves around to the comms center. "I have met many humans," he says, somewhat smugly.

"What do you mean? Are you taking humans from Earth too?"

His head jerks up from where he's looking on the console. "No! The Sarkarnii would never do anything of the sort. We save humans!"

"Okay." I hold up my hands in a surrender pose. "You save humans. I get it."

"I need to speak with my superior…" Drelix says. "Nev! What happened to the quantum booster?" His tail thrashes in agitation.

"You mean this?" I produce the cylinder from my bag where it's been safely stored. "You weren't in a fit state to handle it."

Drelix growls and swipes for the item. "If you can handle it, so can I." He pulls it from my grip.

"I presume that thing isn't all you got from your not so friendly trader, given you were most insistent we come to this place." I gesture out of the cockpit at the mud-colored planet hanging in space.

"I was?" Drelix says, his voice filled with questioning before he remembers he's supposed to be grumpy Sarkarnii today. "I was," he repeats with authority.

"Whatever it is, I hope it's good," I reply.

He's looking back at the console, clawed fingers sweeping over it until the comm connects and staring straight at me is another Sarkarnii, only unlike the sparkling iridescence of Drelix's scales, this one has dark golden ones.

"Drelix, update," he intones in a deep voice, his eyes flickering to me and back to Drelix.

Drelix clears his throat. "I have retrieved the quantum booster, Draco," he says, impressively not looking at me, given I was the one who actually retrieved it.

There is a long beat while Draco, the dark gold dragon, stares at Drelix, as if trying to work something out.

"It is good to hear you have found your voice, warrior," Draco says. "Send my brother your co-ordinates and we can arrange to collect you."

"I have something more than the booster, Draco," Drelix says, pulling himself up to his full height. "I have the chance of information relating to the destruction of Kaeh-Leks. I've been pursuing it for some time, and I wish to obtain it before we meet."

Draco releases a lung full of smoke. It's clearly a thing for the Sarkarnii, as Drelix does the same, almost as if they're having a contest.

"It is my greatest wish for our enemies to pay the price, Drelix, but we need the booster," Draco says, finally.

"Give me one nova-day to find the information I seek," Drelix says. "And after that, we will return to the Golden Orion."

"We?" I hear a female voice call out. "I thought Drelix went on his own."

And into the frame of the holo projector steps the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, carrying the cutest baby.

"Oh, hello," she says. "Fancy meeting another human."