Yagrax Read online

  Yagrax: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Jorathian Warriors Book 3)

  by C.R Corbin

  Table of contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  More from the Author

  Sign up to C.R Corbin’s mailing list if you would like to receive bonus chapters for her books and a free book in addition to news and updates about new releases!

  Introduction

  All the nights with him in this little “apartment” that we had earned through combat could never be matched, even with the knowledge that we were still imprisoned. We had been imprisoned and forced to fight like animals in these arenas to have any hope of emancipation.

  My heart settled in the comfort of the cool darkness that filled the room. Despite the fact that our liberation was still a rather distant dream, all of those negative musings that I had at times were flushed down the drain of my consciousness once he held me. Once he held me in his arms, once he ran his long fingers along my strands of black hair and whispered softly into my ear...I knew that it would be okay.

  Even now when I lay beneath him I felt comfortable. Those hands of his tensed around my hips as his immense size sunk into me, that rock hard muscle of his tensed. His powerful Jorathian body was bare for my eyes and my eyes only. All members of his species were granted with incredibly tall and muscular physiques but none were as strong as he was, none were as enrapturing, that was a fact.

  We had confessed our affections to one another in the nights prior to this one. I was his mate, he had told me that it meant that we would be bonded for life, that our love would be eternal, a concept that was incredibly rare in the realm of purely human romance but in Jorathian culture the sanctity of monogamy was as ever present as the stars dotting the fabric of night outside of our windows at the moment. I felt his love as his warm vermillion eyes locked with my amber orbs and I felt his lust as I dashed a hand over his abdomen as he slipped deeper and deeper inside of me. Those red eyes locked with mine and I can only quiver as his powerful, rugged body tensed up in front of me. I cry out and I felt the warmth splatter across my flesh as our heat melded into one another and I am left to sigh as I laid there beneath him, his hands had been busy groping my curves. The way his fingers dashed along my ample mounds was absolutely….heavenly.

  We would fight and earn our freedom no matter the cost, our emancipation was close and we would have it or else we would seize it. I had arrived in his cell as a scared young woman and I was now a warrior, I now belonged in this arena and I would protect my love with my life and I knew that he would do the same for me. There was no longer any fear, any hesitance that lurked in my heart, I would not be denied my love and I knew that he would destroy anything that would deny him his mate.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Melissa

  All I felt were my feet sliding against cold, rusted metal, and my hands shaking. My arms were collected on each side by two guards both wearing makeshift suits of combat armor. The only facial protection that they had was a simple metal face plate with two holes drilled in with what I would assume was a power drill for eye holes. They were human, I knew that much, I could tell from their height that they were certainly not Jorathian and they didn't have wings so they certainly weren't Kasorians, and they weren't Neborans either because...well they weren't basically floating octopi.

  But they wouldn't help me, they all belonged to Merdin.

  "You know...when the ambassador got canned I wasn't entirely sure how many survivors there would be but I was expecting someone a bit more...I don't know, rugged? Ain't this chick a bit too weak to have survived that whole thing?" asked the guard to my left, they barely knew I was conscious and my eyes were barely open at this point.

  "Yeah usually it's a soldier ain't it? Ah well, at least the crowd will have something to look forward to." said the guard to my left.

  "You know we haven't really had a good mauling in a while, should be fun. I wouldn't want to be there though, especially since she's going in with...Yagrax." the guard to my right shudders as he said the name.

  Yagrax. It sounded...Jorathian in origin.

  "Hey won't be any different from the last 10 partners the guy had. I think they purposely give him weaklings so that he can't advance. He'll always live but they always die because he can't be bothered to protect them." the guard to my left chuckled.

  "Yeah well....I don't count on him having a soft spot for this one." said the guard to my right.

  I was barely hanging on but looked around to get a grasp on where I was. We were currently in a long hallway with one large concrete slab of a wall to my right and a variety of cell doors to my left. The doors were comprised of a sheet of iron and the air was filled with the buzzing of an electrical field, probably from in between the plates of iron that comprised the door.

  "We're getting close...do you want to go in and toss her?" asked the guard to my right and the one on the left shakes his head vigorously.

  "Hell. No. You do it." said the guard to the left.

  "I already did? Why the hell should...fine. As long as we get out of this place the better, this place is so fucking creepy." said the one on the right.

  I only then began to notice the blood stains, the markings on the wall. There were claws marks, bones, all of these littered the floor. Only then did I begin to smell the miasma that prevailed this place. There was so much...stench, it smelled like death in here. It was absolutely atrocious and I shuddered as it wafted across my face. My body was quivering and I feel my hands shaking as I tensed my grip around the guards before the door opened and the one on my left leg go.

  The large slab of iron shifts and I gaze at the door with my lip quivering in anticipation. My fingers press into the black plate armor of the guard, I didn't want to die, I didn't want to go in here. I had no idea who these people were or what they wanted but...god I just wanted out of here! I wanted to go back to Gerai! I wanted to live!

  And just like that the room is revealed to me, in front of me was a large wooden slab that was set up to split a room that was about 20 ft by 20 ft, in half. I fall onto the concrete floor and press myself off the ground, I look over at this simple bed roll that was laid out in front of me and crawled towards it. It looked matted and dirty but....it was better than this practically arctic floor.

  "Alright close the door! C'mon!" said one of the guards as I stumbled forward and the metal slab behind me shut.

  Shit.

  The journey that I took to end up there was...well I wasn't quite sure how it went entirely. I was in the spaceship assisting the ambassador to the small Kasorian colony of Uresca when there was a powerful quake that rushed through the craft. Soon after it was reported that intruders were boarding from the back and well....we got taken over. I was waiting in the cockpit when it all happened, a grenade was tossed in and I was pushed back by the concussive force of it and fell onto my side. I heard in the back that the ship was being driven into a nearby moon and was pulled into its gravitational pull to purposefully crash by the pilot. I was knocked unconscious moments later. I guess they thought I would have died since the only ones that would have survived such a crash were the guards but...here I was.

  I don't know if I should be thankful or saddened.

  I sprawled out on the simple bed roll, my jumpsuit was torn in spots and I was sore all around but they had already given me medical treatment so I could feel the wounds closing. All there was now was....rest. I needed rest. I wanted to shut
my eyes and forget about this whole mess.

  I wondered if the ambassador survived all of this. She had to right? More of us had to have survived. I don't really know what the motivation behind taking our ship over was but I could think of a few things. You could steal a class IV cruiser which would net you a lot of change if you sold it, you could get some slaves out of the deal...oh god that was a horrible thought, and you could take an ambassador hostage.

  I wonder who else survived the ordeal.

  Most of the guards probably lived due to the fact that they were defending the ship and couldn't be subdued with the same efficiency as ordinary civilians but...some of my colleagues must have lived right? They couldn't have all perished. At least I hope not.

  But my attention as soon caught by something else out of the corner of my eye.

  I lifted my head up and looked around the room, in the corner was a shadow, behind that wooden divider lurked something. It was a shadow that was only barely moving but one that got larger and larger. It was approaching, this Yagrax, I just hoped that I wouldn't be horribly mutilated. If what the guards had said was true then he didn't care one bit about me so hopefully that meant that I would live as a consequence of his indifference.

  Right?

  "Grrrr." I heard and shivered as the long body of the man stretched out amongst the lights, I didn't see any tentacles or wings so it was likely Jorathian as I had suspected. The noise only deepens as this...thing gets closer and closer to me until I see something peek out from behind the wooden slab.

  A tussle of black hair.

  "Hello?" I called out and the figure continued to march into my frame of view. I gazed at it with my eyes wide open and see the entirety of him.

  He was wearing rags for clothing, basically a stitched together canvas sack that was wrapped around his chest. He was incredibly broad and his back was incredibly muscular, as with all Jorathians. There were some scales running along his sides and along his calves and his entire body was muscular in every sense of the word but especially his arms and back. He had these small claws that peeked out from his fingertips and his toes, I knew that they could grow to be at least 3 inches long but he currently had them retracted so that was good...I hoped.

  His skin was a grey, a darkened grey with areas that grew lighter and darker but overall his entire figure retained that same shade, the same shade that concrete or ash had. His eyes flickered and I look to those red orbs, I bite my lip as I see him approach, if I had to guess he was 7 feet tall, perhaps even more. I don't know, I was still somewhat delirious.

  "Hello." I muttered and he gazed at me with a blank expression. I could understand Jorathian since I was a diplomat and each of us had to have a translating implant embedded into our ear but I was unsure if he would understand anything I would say so any conversation would be rather one sided. There were fangs peeking out from those grey lips of his and his eyes softened for a moment. That tussle of black hair was messy, his figure had some scars but not nearly the amount that I would think a hardened convict would have.

  In those red orbs I could see something burning, I could see a soul ruminating and a heart flicker with the flame of doubt for just a moment. There was a warmth that was unmistakable, almost like how a close friend would look to another...similar in nature to a look of love. Then it ceases and a blank and stoic expression takes over, I bite my lip while gazing at him and began to notice it how...desirable this man was.

  He was rather handsome and lacked scars on his face for the most part with exception to a small cut on his right cheek which was barely noticeable. He had high cheekbones and had a bit of a stumble growing but nothing too severe and his broad physique contributed quite a bit into the image of this...grey Adonis.

  "So you're the new one." He remarked and turned on his heel to walk back to his side of the room.

  Funny, I thought that he would just be silent and walk away. Guess I could at least be glad that he said a word to me.

  #

  Yagrax

  How was this possible?

  I glanced her over and eyes surveyed every inch of flesh, that curvy flesh that was revealed in patches through the holes in her jumpsuit, it left little up to the imagination. That pretty face framed by those locks of black hair and those wondrous brown orbs that glanced into me...my she was incredible indeed. I could feel my legs shaking already, my heart threatening to leap out of my chest, it was a wondrous thing that the guards had brought in today.

  What was she? How could I possibly think that a human was even potentially my mate?

  I have been attracted to women before but not once have I ever felt it with this much intensity. Never have I actually thought that this woman might be the mate that I was destined to have but now...the feeling was apparent I could feel it, I could sense it in the very fiber of my being but...I didn't have any emotional attachment, not yet at least.

  But every fiber in my body brimmed with the inclination to defend this woman, to safeguard her from any harm that may approach.

  A predicament that was only exacerbated by the fact that we were in the Arena, Merdin's arena.

  But perhaps...this is what I had needed all along.

  Usually they fed me the worst partners just to keep me in here and I had not a care in the world for saving them. I didn't care about freedom at this point, not after my last partner had been killed near the semifinals of the tournament and I was sent back here into this cell. I had not a care in the world now but she had sparked something in me that I had long since thought had been dead. This sense of care, this inclination to protect her, it bloomed with the intensity of a supernova. This was what I needed, both of us needed to live in order to advance and now I actually had an interest in safeguarding her.

  She would be my mate at the end of all of this, we would go free and I would safeguard her in order to earn our freedom. A freedom that...well it seems foolish to even chase now.

  What was I thinking? We would never get past the last levels. She wouldn't get past the last levels but...I still had the urge to protect her.

  I knew that our chances were slim so I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. She likely wasn't my mate, this was just the senses talking to me and she would perish soon enough no matter how vigorous my efforts may be. It was impossible, there was no escape and I knew it. No one ever won this tournament and well....here I was. Stuck here forever.

  I still remembered my old unit, a small squad sent off from one of the war parties to investigate a distress signal sent from one of our ships close to this point in the galaxy. That was about...I don't know? Two Jorathian years ago? My teammates were dead and well...I was the only one left I suppose. I never did see any of them in the arena, nor did I want to so perhaps...perhaps I had the worse fate of all.

  Which made the feeling that I had with her so...curious.

  I haven't felt this way for someone in such a long time. This warmth that I only shared with others when I truly cared, when I truly possessed some inkling of interest in them it was...it was pressing. During my time here I have become jaded, after all the killing that I had to do and all the killing that I had to witness I have finally thought that I had become numb to any emotion at all. This was all I was, an animal broken down to his most...his most primal senses and his desires.

  And...well this changed things certainly. Not for one moment in the last year did I not think of anything else other than survival, other than killing whoever was in front of me and yet now the feeling made itself apparent once more.

  Around my mat, which was neatly kept as well as I could keep it I suppose, were a pump and a tube of cleaning fluid . After each fight it was important to be sterilized and run through a cleansing bath in order to prevent infections. This was a business after all and if your fighters perished then you had nothing to sell. That rule doesn't apply to unruly prisoners however. One of the gladiators attempted to assault a guard granting him food and was promptly shot, his wou
nd splattered blood all over the wall outside and he had to claw his way back up before they hoisted him away into another room for torture. If I remember rightly it was a human.

  Before the second year I was actively attempting to safeguard my partners and help them, some would be receptive and some would not but each time I made it a bit farther. I got paired up with a Kasorian once and we made it pretty far until he was killed in the final rounds, actually cultivated something akin to a friendship with him as well. Name was Nemor, nice man, but weak fighter as were most Kasorians I suppose when you got a hand on them that is. After that I just...I couldn't be bothered to try anymore and just stayed behind, waiting for my partners to die. I would never get that close ever again so better to just live out my days here and not needlessly waste my time attempting to fight this fate that had been granted to me. Better to wait for a miracle to happen than to fight for my freedom since the odds of me winning were so slim.

  And then I hear it...the sobbing.

  It was coming from the other side of the wooden panel and I instinctively frowned. I wanted to go over there and investigate, to see what was wrong and yet...I can't understand why this feeling is flowing through my veins.

  Why was I caring?

  I tried to think back on the signs of a potential mate. We had all been taught this in our youth by the schools and our parents on Jorath and each time the lecture was the same. There would be this warmth that would bubble in the pit of your stomach with a great aggression and you would become incredibly enraptured by their physical presence. Both things were happening now so...this would be it wouldn't it?

  They had told us that the mating process took time to progress and it would progress at different paces for each Jorathian, some took incredibly long amounts of time and for some it happened in the span of days. It was always the same though, you both knew and with a human I wasn't entirely sure how the process worked at all. I would have to bide my time and see if this feeling was real, if this was an actual mating bond that was forming or if it was a simple case of infatuation for a man that hasn't seen such a figure in years. Humans and Jorathians were said to be compatible but I have never heard of such cases ever. This was uncharted territory but still this overwhelming instinct to safeguard her was there and...I kind of relished in its presence. It's been too long since I have cared this deeply about anything so I welcomed it, I cherished it.