Chapter 86—Maxx

“I just don’t like it, is all.” Miekil crossed his giant arms across his chest and huffed. “I’m tired of being associated with the bad guys.”

Hours later, after the who-lived, who-didn’t-die reveal on Alien Love Paradise, most of us gathered at the beach house. Everyone had gone to bed already except Nera, Miekil, and me. We sat in the living room in front of the muted television, which was looping my impromptu marriage proposal. Every time Nera mouthed the word, “Yes,” her fathomless dark eyes brimming with tears, my hearts spun in wild circles all over again.

I could hardly believe she’d agreed to marry a Faid clone like me, but her belief in me, after everything she’d been through with Rain, meant more to me than I could ever hope to explain. But I would sure try to for the rest of her life.

Nera frowned sympathetically at Miekil. “Mike and Miekil don’t even sound the same. You’re two different people. You’re two different species. No one’s going to mistake you for him and vice versa.”

“Not even if he grows green horns like yours,” I told him with a clap on the back. “You’re not the bad guy. You’re fine.”

Chuckling, Nera jerked her thumb at me. “See? Even your worst enemy thinks you’re a good guy. It can’t get any better than that.”

“Well, I still think he needs to be off this planet to avoid any confusion,” Miekil said. “Either that or he can change his name because I can’t change mine.”

“You can’t?” Nera asked, doing a double-take at the lube bottle someone had left on the end table.

Miekil shook his head. “It was given to me by the Killian god Reeshva.”

“Reeshva’s their god of names,” I filled in. “The Killian culture has gods for pretty much everything while we have only the one goddess.”

“Ohhh,” Nera said, nodding and licking her lips at the lube. “It makes sense you know this. Know thy enemy, as they say. Good thing I know mine too.”

“I’m glad,” I said. “Because I may have bought us some time with my proposal, but not much. If Earth Space Fleet killed us the night before our wedding, the public outcry would be severe, even for them.”

“Yeah, but once the show’s audience forgets about us, it’s lights out unless we can turn the tables fast.” She grinned, a striking one full of teeth and cunning. “But guess who has a plan?”

Miekil scooted to the edge of the couch and rubbed his large green hands together. “Please don’t say anyone other than you.”

“It’s me. I’m the one with a plan.” Her grin never faltering, she fished out something from her black Space Fleet uniform pocket and held it out to me.

I blinked down at her palm, not quite sure if what I was seeing was real or not. “Larxxa’s scale?”

“If by that, you mean Roxxanne’s great aunt’s scale, then yes. You can tell just by looking at it?”

“Yes, they’re akin to human fingerprints, each one different from the other, but… Roxxanne gave you this?”

Nera nodded. “She said not to tell you, but you and I agreed no more secrets. When it comes to her other secrets, though, my lips are sealed.”

“I…see…” What kind of secrets would my own daughter be keeping from me? Hopefully not any as big as the one I was keeping from her, that her dad was a Faid clone.

Chuckling softly, Miekil reached out and traced the intricate patterns etched onto the scale’s surface. “This is news to you that teenagers have secrets?”

“I suppose so,” I sighed.

“Maxx,” Nera said, her voice soft yet urgent, “we can use this scale to lure Earth Space Fleet into a trap they won’t be able to resist. And when they come for us, we’ll show the world what they truly are and what they’ve done to the both of us.”

Miekil winged up an eyebrow. “On live TV, I’m guessing.”

“You guessed right,” Nera said. “Now, the part I haven’t worked out yet is how a tiny scale will bring about their downfall. Because when I said I had a plan, I didn’t say it was a good, well thought-out one.”

“It’s against universal law to sell Xenoxx scales for profit,” I said, “since we’re on the critically endangered species list.”

Miekil shifted uncomfortably in his seat, something he often did when I brought up the topic of our near extinction. “We already know that Earth Space Fleet doesn’t give two shits about laws though.”

Nera whistled. “Okay, wow. That means Roxxanne knew exactly what she was doing when she gave me this scale. She might be even smarter than her dad.”

“Oh, there’s no question about that.” I chuckled, my hearts near overflowing with love and pride for my daughter. “We could plant the scale where they kept me prisoner. They won’t be able to tell it’s not from me, assuming they find it and try to sell it, which is assuming a lot. But if they do find out we planted it…it will paint an even bigger target on us, Nera.”

She grinned, her dark eyes sparkling. “Unless we can bring them down before they get out their little paintbrushes to do their target painting.”

I could hear the determination in her voice, but also the trepidation. This was a dangerous plan, one that would put both our lives at risk. But with each passing day, it became more evident that we had no choice. Earth Space Fleet’s corruption was spreading like an infection, devouring everything in its path.

And taking lives with it.

We couldn’t let that continue. For us. For Roxxanne. For the entire Xenoxx planet. Soon, before we lost, or nearly lost, anyone else we cared deeply for because of Earth Space Fleet.

I could see it in her eyes—that same fire that burned within me. We were bound together by our shared loss, and we would fight together. For justice, for retribution, and for us.

“Then we’ll use the scale to expose them,” I agreed. “We’ll set a trap.”

As one, we looked to Miekil, who shrugged.

“What else am I going to do on a reality TV love show?” he asked, sounding so bitter that Nera winced. “Who’s going to do the scale planting and the luring though? Not either of you, obviously.”

“Someone willing to put themselves in harm’s way,” Nera said. “Someone who understands the risks but is willing to take them for the greater good.”

“Who do you have in mind?” I asked, knowing she already had her answer.

Nera bit her lip. “Pete?”

Miekil groaned and rubbed his forehead, even though we all knew he loved Pete in a brotherly sort of way.

I nodded. “He’s already shown his willingness to help us. He’s proven himself resourceful and trustworthy, and he knows how to handle attention—both wanted and unwanted.”

Nera squeezed my hand. “We give him some sort of disguise and an Earth Space Fleet uniform and—“

“We’ll never hear the end of it?” Miekil sighed and shook his head. “The guy already walks through life thinking he’s starring in an action movie all the time.”

Nera burst out laughing. “Oh my god, you’re right.”

“Do you think he’d be willing to risk his life for us once again?” I asked, drawing tight spirals on Nera’s palm with my thumb.

“No question he would,” Miekil answered.

“All right,” I agreed, “let’s bring him in on this.”

“Tomorrow?” Nera looked from my thumb to me to the lube, more pressing ideas evident in her fevered gaze.

“Tomorrow,” I growled.

Because right now, I needed to show my wife-to-be how happy she’d made me with one simple word.

Yes.

I wanted to hear her say it a thousand more times, hear her moan it while she came apart in my arms.

“Annnnd that right there is my cue to leave.” Looking between us, Miekil stood and started for the sliding glass door. “But don’t worry. I’ll stay close enough to make sure nobody kills the almost newlyweds.”

“Thanks, Miekil,” I muttered, already reaching for Nera, already lost to her.

“Thanks, Miekil,” she repeated, her gaze dipping to my lips.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said from somewhere far away.

In one swift motion, Nera swung her leg over me to straddle my lap.

I took full advantage of the new, much better position and palmed her ass with a hearty groan.

“You ever get this itch that only one other person can scratch?” she asked, her lips hovering over mine.

“All the time. That problem is both caused and solved by one soon-to-be queen.” I reached up to hungrily claim her lips, but she pulled back, a teasing glint in her eyes.

“A good itch, though, right?”

Chuckling, I lifted my hips into hers and ground myself against her. “If you’re asking if I’m comparing you to a STD, then definitely not.”

She threw her head back and laughed, and with her distracted, I dove in to take what was mine. Her mouth, her body, her essence—everything that made up my future wife.

Her laughter turned into moans as I tasted her tongue and kissed her even deeper, already ridding her of her uniform.

“Right here?” she asked, panting.

I glanced at the closed bedroom door, where all the contestants slept. “It’s more private than anywhere else.”

“Fuck it,” she agreed and ripped her bra the rest of the way off.

Her perfect breasts jiggled free into my face, and I immediately sucked a nipple into my mouth and bathed it with my tongue while I flicked and teased her other one with my thumb. Either she or my writhing kaxxui had undone my zipper and already dragged my pants down. I was so filled with love and lust, I hadn’t noticed. Or cared.

My kaxxui slithered up into her hair and pulled her even closer.

With a moan, Nera reached down to stroke my thick member, her hips bucking greedily before she lined me up with her entrance. She teased her clit with the tip of my cock, and her breath caught at the friction as she arched her back and pressed her chest into my face. I growled in approval and drank her succulent nipple in deeper, then she lowered herself slowly.

Any remaining thoughts fled. All my blood rushed to my cock that now filled her up.

I kissed her with primal hunger, our tongues near manic, while we found a frenzied rhythm. She moaned and writhed, clinging to me for dear life as I plunged upward into her. My sexual serpents made love to her breasts or stroked up inside of her along with my cock.

At my command, they stayed away from her ass. This time, it was all mine.

Reaching between us, I thumbed her clit in tight little spirals while the rest of my fingers fondled and played in her juices. When they were sufficiently soaked, I brought one to her ass and gently fingered her hole.

She instantly relaxed, knowing my intentions. That only turned me on even more, the fact that we were so in tune with each other that we didn’t even need words anymore.

I slowly inserted a finger.

“Ohhh, Maxx,” she moaned.

She rode me harder, faster, and I matched our rhythm with the finger in her ass. Then I added a second one, readying her body carefully to see that she still liked it.

“Fuck. Yes,“ she cried out.

I chuckled into her neck. Okay, so maybe we still needed words sometimes.

Her muscles began to shudder. She flattened her palm against my chest, right between my hearts, threw her head back, and cried out her release.

She was gorgeous all the time, but especially when she came apart all over my cock.

With her climax still pulsing and sheathing me even tighter, a burst of electric sensations rocketed through my entire body. I reached my peak, too, releasing all my pent-up passion in one explosive climax.

But I wasn’t anywhere near finished with my fiancée. It didn’t matter that our fellow contestants were only one door away or that the sliding glass door to the pool and backyard had its shades wide open.

Let everyone see two people in love, against all odds.

As soon as Nera came back down to Klio-3, I gently peeled her off of me, stood us both up, spun her around, and positioned her with her ass in the air and her hands splayed on the couch cushions.

“You saw me eyeing the lube, didn’t you?” Nera asked breathlessly.

“And then you licked your lips. Point taken.”

“Thank goodness.”

Laughing, I poured some of the cool lube into my palm and stroked my already gleaming cock with it. I wasn’t sure I even needed it, soaked as I was with Nera’s cum, but better to be safe than sorry. I would never, ever hurt Nera—physically, emotionally, or any other way—again.

While I prepared myself for her, my kaxxui wound toward her lithe body. One of them focused on sucking and flicking her clit, while the other switched between plunging into her dripping pussy and lapping up the wetness between her trembling thighs.

The sight of her thrusts against the kaxxui fueled the fire burning inside me. Taking her hips roughly, I pressed my hard cock against her quivering ass. With a possessive grip, I spread her open, baring every inch of her to me.

Groaning, I entered her slowly. The heat from her body seared through my veins, intensifying with each small, subtle thrust.

She peered over her shoulder, caught my eye, and winked.

I laughed at my beautiful star’s eagerness.

My hips rolled against her ass, a slow burn that soon built into an intense inferno. Soon, I was pumping into her relentlessly, driven by a primal need.

My entire being was consumed by pleasure, my body responding to her every moan and backward thrust.

I came with a feral growl, but I didn’t stop, my hips still pounding with merciless fervor. She orgasmed again too, hers milking mine into yet another one.

I couldn’t get enough of her, but when her body sagged with exhaustion, I immediately pulled out and caught her before she collapsed.

Both of us still naked, panting, and spent, we sank down onto the couch wrapped up in each other’s arms. While we caught our breaths, I used my discarded pants to clean up both Nera and myself.

“I wish I didn’t have a refractory period.” She looked up at me and smiled, nothing but devotion and love written into every corner of her face. “Lucky you.”

“Lucky us. We have our entire lives together. We have time,” I reminded her with a single kiss.

“Lucky us indeed.” With a contented sigh, she took my hand and clasped it to her chest. “With all that sex, how many babies do you think we’ll be making?”

I pressed a kiss to her temple, another to her cheek. “How many do you want?”

“My answer used to be one. But now, with you, with the Xenoxx so close to extinction, I’ll settle for two hundred.”

Laughter burst from the depths of my soul.

Goddess help me, this woman might just kill me. And I would enjoy every second of it.