Free Alien Warrior's Mate: Sci-fi Alien Military Romance (Brion Brides Book 1) by Vi Voxley Page A

beneath her wobbled and opened up into a deep shaft, which she only avoided by a fraction of an inch by jumping to the side. Her heart rate rose and she opened her eyes as the first dummy came for her, swinging its heavy mechanical arms and making her duck and weave between punches. She brought it down by crouching low and catching it in its legs before it could react, swiftly spinning around and flipping back out of its range as it fell, arms still flailing.
    Deliya grinned to herself as a laser shot whizzed over her head, making her hair billow a little. This was what she needed. More robotic opponents came for her, determined to make her feel even better. Moving between the dummies and dodging laser bullets, the AI measuring the damage she would have taken in actual combat, she felt herself coming alive again. Like her lungs could open again and her heart could beat, though perhaps not as quickly as she would have preferred it.
    Being naturally optimistic, nothing brought her down for too long. There was no room for depression or moping about if one was a warrior on the Triumphant, but as much as she would have wanted to just shed everything that had happened with Darien like a bad dream, she couldn’t. He had gotten deep and she wasn’t sure if any amount of battle, training or excitement could make her whole again the same way that his touch could. And that had her worried.
    The problem with the exertion and the battle hormones running wild in her body again was that all of them dragged her mind back to Darien.
    The last thing I need , she thought, more amused than mad. If I start thinking of him and battle in the same way I’ll lose my mind.
    She laughed off the thought. If Darien got even a whiff of that parallel, he’d never let her live it down.
    As the dummies lessened, the trouble in her mind did as well. So yes, the whole situation was a bit weird. Darien wasn’t the first warrior with whom she’d shared the heart of battle passion, and he possibly wouldn’t be the last. The only thing odd about the affair was that her desire for him didn’t go out of the door with the object of it. And it felt different too. But with nothing to do about it, there was no need to worry over it. The Brions didn’t think much about the possibilities to change something. They accepted the way things were. Even if reluctantly.
    Fate would bring her someone good, she knew that. At least, she had to hope that. Maybe someone less infuriating.
    Or not. Fate seemed intent on mocking her the next day when the commander summoned them for another attack. It seemed a few of the champions had had the wisdom to hide from the initial battle after all. Not enough to remain hidden while the skies were still packed with Brion warships.
    Not that it mattered. Their location was pinned and the Triumphant was ready to send its best down to Antaris’ cold, cruel surface again.
    Deliya was proud to be considered one of the best. She wasn’t surprised in the least Darien was present as well, greeting her with that familiar smirk. Sighing, Deliya sent a questioning look to the stars, to the unknown direction of fate. If they were not meant to be, did she have to see him all the time?
    Darien, at least, seemed perfectly joyful. He took a seat next to Deliya as soon as the boarding began, the very image of expectation.
    “I woke up this morning,” he began conversationally, brushing their shoulders together completely not accidentally, “feeling truly warm for the first time since we left Antaris. But, you know, warmth and peace don’t suit us. So I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if there was a battle where I really belong?”
    Despite herself, Deliya found herself smiling, simply enjoying his company. She wanted to stay mad at herself, or him, or the fates for dangling him before her and then snatching him away, but she couldn’t. He was just so damn… him. And the fates were the fates and she would simply have to trust them to