Marauder Cygnus: A Scifi Alien Shifter Romance (Mating Wars Book 1) by Aya Morningstar Page A

least have some kindof logic driving his actions.

16 Cygnus
    I enjoy the jerky meat as Aura drives. It tastes even better knowing that I shame debted the guard to obtain it.

    W e clear the tunnel that goes through the wall, and the crater opens up into a fairly large city. The top of the crater is covered by some type of dome.

    A ura pulls off her mask , but tells me to keep mine on. “Rust Bucket’s CO2 scrubbers have been known to fail; some paranoid people keep their masks on. You’re one of them.”

    T he buildings look haphazardly placed and organized. They are all quite tall, but each story is sometimes a different color from the one below it and made of a different material, as well. There are a lot of people in dusty clothes swarming through the streets.

    I see some other buggies , but pedestrians clog the streets, and Aura has to stop constantly as people walk right in front of us.

    “ R un them down if they disrespect us,” I say.

    S he looks at me and rolls her eyes. I know what that look means now, so I hold my tongue.
    We reach one of the taller buildings that I can see, and Aura stops the buggy right on the side of the street.

    “ A ll right ,” she says. “The cargo container is too heavy to take in, so you’ll need to guard it—”

    I reach down and unlatch the cargo container. I grab the handles with both hands and I lift it effortlessly into the air. I rest it on top of my head, still holding the handles.

    “ O kay ….” she says. “I guess you’re stronger than I thought. Let’s bring it all inside then.”

    I follow her into the building through a large glass door. There’s a large room full of tables surrounded by dirty and dusty people. The smell of mansweat is thick, which I find quite distasteful. I smell other human females, as well, but having bound myself to my lifemate, I pay no mind to them and their scents.

    “ P ut that down here ,” she says. “And sit on it.”

    I put the container down and sit atop it.

    “ I ’m going to go find some of my contacts,” she says. “I’ll bring them here to barter with us.”

    “ N o ,” I say. “I let you leave to pee and you were captured. I will not risk that again.”

    S he sighs , and I lift the container up again.

    “ Y ou’re going to have to carry that up a bunch of stairs,” she says. “But, come on.”

    W e enter a stairwell , and the cargo container is almost too large for the winding corners. It hits the wall each time I turn, but mostly because I’m distracted by Aura’s butt. I look up at it—right in front of my face—as we climb the stairs, and I feel my penis harden and swell as her femininity distracts me.

    W e reach the top of the stairs, which brings us into a smaller lobby.

    “ Y ou need a room ?” an older female grunts at us.

    “ U mmm ,” Aura hesitates. “I was looking for Jarek, actually.”

    “ J arek ,” she says. “He’s out right now. Should be back tonight.”

    “ H ow much is a room ?” I ask. My cock is still hard, and it sounds like we need to wait for Jarek anyway.

    “ T his place is overpriced ,” Aura whispers to me. “We can get a better deal—”

    I toss the cargo container down onto the floor and stride over to the counter. I lean into the counter and face the older woman. The tinted glass obscures my face, but she looks up at me.

    “ W oman ,” I say. “Do you like jerky?”

    * * *
    “ I got us a real deal ,” I say.

    “ N o ,” Aura says. “You didn’t. She pretended to lower the price. She just stroked your male ego, and you fell for it.”

    “ A t least we have a room now,” I say, smiling. I drop the cargo crate onto the ground, then slide it into the corner.

    I sit down on the crate and pull off the mask and jacket. I’m still sweating, so I begin to remove the rest of the clothes.

    “ W hat are you doing ?” Aura asks.

    “ I t’s hot ,” I say. “I’ve been confined in these clothes and mask for too long.”

    I tug