His Fallen Star Read online

  Books By Lily Thomas

  Giant Wars Series

  Loving His Fire

  Grounded By Love

  Melted By Love

  Wicked Flames of Desire

  Galactic Courtship Series

  Xacier’s Prize

  Claiming His Champion

  Captivating the Doctor

  Escaping the Hunt

  Abducting the Ambassador

  Wicked Prisoner

  Seducing the Enemy

  Cuff Me Now

  Challenging the Arena

  Dark Desires in Space

  His Fallen Star

  Ice Age Alphas

  The Sabertooth’s Promise

  His Fallen Star

  Lily Thomas

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover created by SelfPubBookCovers.com/ woofie_2015

  Copyright © 2018 by Lily Thomas

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce the book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information email [email protected].

  www.lilythomasromance.com

  ISBN: 9781719978514

  ISBN: (ebook) B07GZL4WTP

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 1

  Olivia found herself unable to fall asleep on her new lumpy bed. She’d been tossing and turning for nearly an hour, and she was ready to call it quits on getting any shut-eye. This was only her first week on this research station, and she wasn’t used to the hum of the technology all around her.

  She’d recently spent a couple of years on an alien planet in a log cabin to study the wildlife. It had been the best time of her life. She loved roughing it, away from bothersome technology where the only sound was the hum of bugs at night. So, the hum of machinery was intruding on her pleasant dreams, and she found it hard to block it out.

  She rolled over on her bed again and stuffed her head underneath her thick pillow, but that only seemed to cause the hum to grow worse like it was coming from the metal frame of the bed.

  With a sigh, she threw her covers off of her in frustration, swung her legs off the side of the bed and rose from her bed, grabbed a robe to wrap around her body, and proceeded to make her way to the ship’s mess hall. Maybe an evening snack would help her get drowsy enough to sleep. It was definitely worth a try, and if all else failed, she could just get some more work done.

  She entered the mess hall only to stop short.

  Right in front of her, she found a couple of other women already sitting at a table with a hologram of an alien standing nearby. These women were part of the team she’d recently joined. She’d decided to join a survey of the primitive aliens living on the planet below them. It was an all-woman team, and that was part of what had drawn her to the study. She’d never had the opportunity to work with an all-woman team, and she was eager to see what they’d discover together.

  The other part that had drawn her to the study was the position of the planet. Planet X-37625 was on the edge of explored space and as far from Earth as she could get. Not that she had anything against Earth, but it was starting to make some powerful enemies, and this seemed like the safest place to sit it out until things calmed down a bit.

  Recently, the ambassador to Earth had been kidnapped. It was alarming to hear that someone who was so well protected had been abducted, and it made everything that was happening seem that much more real. She didn’t even want to think about the Sri’thaens and the threat they were posing to humanities existence.

  But she didn’t have to worry about any of that now. She was doing what she loved, studying newly discovered species on the edge of explored space. No Sri’thaen vessels would come out here any time soon.

  Olivia was the newest team member, so she was eager to befriend the people she’d be working alongside. This was her chance to lead her own team since she’d been appointed the team leader of this project. She’d gladly put up with the hum of the research vessel to experience this fantastic career opportunity.

  “Glad to know I’m not the only one who isn’t sleeping.” She called out, as she grabbed a bowl of popcorn sitting on a counter in the mess hall. Finders keepers she figured.

  One of the women she’d met earlier in the week, Sophia, glanced up. “Grab a seat.” Sophia tossed her a warm smile and patted the seat of an empty chair nearby.

  “But this might not help you sleep. Rather it might give you a whole new reason to stay up.” Another woman winked at her.

  Sophia elbowed her. “Seriously, Emma?”

  “What? It’s true!” Emma grabbed a handful of Olivia’s popcorn, as she plopped down in a seat near the other women. “Don’t you agree?” She pointed up at the hologram on the table.

  Olivia’s eyes widened, as she looked up at a hologram of an alien man. “Are those the inhabitants below?” She raked her gaze up and down the man’s form.

  She hadn’t yet seen what information the team had gathered on the planet below. Being the team leader was more about organizing and getting things done, then actual hands-on work. It would be different than anything else she’d done before, but she was up for the challenge ahead of her.

  “Yes.” Emma purred, as her eager green eyes skimmed over the shimmering hologram on the table.

  Olivia had to admit Emma was right to appreciate the sight in front of them. These aliens might not have any technology more advanced than an obsidian blade or fur tent, but they sure excelled in muscular bodies that would make a woman dream and drool.

  “Who’s this?” Olivia asked, her interest piqued as she looked at the hologram of the alien male.

  “We think he is the leader of the clan we’ve been studying. He appears to head a lot of ceremonies and hunts within the clan.” Sophia informed her. “Or he could be a shaman, but unlikely since we already think we’ve identified the clan shaman.”

  Olivia shivered, as she studied the well-defined image in front of her. The leader might be attractive, but she never wanted to meet this alien in real life. He had to stand taller than six feet, with black claws instead of fingernails, golden eyes, and black lines flowing all over his tan skin. This was definitely not an alien one would want to mess with, because he was born to be a predator.

  “Are those black lines on his body like the tattoos of the Vrak’rir?” She asked as she dug her hand into the bowl of popcorn and popped a few into her mouth.

  Vrak’rir were one of the most intimidating aliens Olivia had ever seen, and they’d tattoo their bodies with black ink to show their position and triumphs in their society. Anything they thought was worthy of appreciation would be tattooed on their massive blue bodies.

  “Nope. It’s just part of their skin. They developed to have two tones of skin. We’re betting it’s so they can blend into the shadows of the rainforest better.” Sophia explained. “Kind of like how animals have stripes and dots on their bodies.”

  “So, no importance when it comes to their position or achievements in life?”

  “Not that we can tell.”

  “Flip to the next one. Flip to the next one.” Emma chanted eagerly hopping in her seat with excitement.

  Sophia followed Emma’s instructions and flipped to the next holographic image. Yet another alien male appeared, and this one was smiling, showing off a huge pair of upper
fangs.

  “Dear lord. They’re built for a fight, aren’t they?” Olivia’s eyes widened, as she took in the intimidating form of the alien in front of her.

  “Yeah. They look pretty scary, but we haven’t seen them interact with other clans yet, so we aren’t sure if they’re peaceful or warlike.” Sophia chimed in.

  “With all those muscles, would anyone think they weren’t warlike?” Emma asked as she stole some more popcorn from Olivia’s bowl.

  Olivia frowned and moved the bowl to the other side of her seat. Emma was going to eat all of her popcorn if she wasn’t more careful to protect it from her teammate’s eager hands.

  “What’s the family life like?” Olivia asked as they flipped to an image of a woman. The women were just as tall and muscular with fangs and claws to match their male counterparts.

  “That’s where things get weird.” Sophia raised a finger in the air. Her eyes took on an interested gleam. “There are strong warriors without a woman, yet there are weaker members with a woman.”

  Olivia pursed her lips. “That is strange.” Usually, the stronger men would get at least one woman to reproduce with since a stronger male should attract more females to him because he should provide them with the fittest offspring. Which meant the weaker males shouldn’t have any females.

  “We still have yet to figure that one out, but we hope time will end up telling us some more about their culture.”

  “Too bad personal invisibility cloaks aren’t being produced yet.” Olivia smiled at them. “Then we could get an up close and personal view of their lives by going down on that planet and watching in person.”

  Emma winked at her. “Or spy on all those sexy men.”

  Sophia rolled her eyes behind Emma’s back, and Olivia let out a bark of laughter. Emma was insane if she thought these men were appealing.

  “So, what about the men with a woman? Are they faithful or do they move on to other partners after some time?” Olivia asked, changing the subject away from sexy alien men. She was more interested in facts than daydreaming.

  “They stay faithful, which is confusing poor Sophia over here.” Emma hitched her thumb over at Sophia.

  “It’s just different from any primitive society we’ve seen. They’re like cavemen living in a rainforest, yet they are faithful to their partners. I mean faithful. I haven’t once caught them cheating or fooling around with another woman if they already have a woman.”

  Olivia nodded. It was out of the norm, but it wasn’t entirely out of the question. “We’ve also only been here for a week. Give it some time, and all will become clear. Maybe we just haven’t been here long enough to see one of them cheat.”

  “You should see some of the wildlife on this planet.” Sophia flipped through the holograms until she reached animal images.

  “Is that a saber tooth?” Olivia’s mouth dropped, at the sight of the enormous predator right in front of her face as she leaned back in her chair. It was so lifelike. She could just imagine it jumping off the table and ripping her throat out.

  “No, but it’s similar in size. It’s like a rainforest panther on steroids. They are born black and are the only true predator on the planet, other than the inhabitants we’re here studying.”

  Olivia couldn’t imagine one of those prowling around the rainforest while she was living in a fur tent like these people were. It was a terrifying idea. The wildlife reminded her of the Amazon, the one forest Earth still had, amazingly enough.

  As Emma cracked another joke about alien bodies, Olivia decided to call it quits for the night. She really had to get some sleep before the next workday started on the small scientific space station.

  “Don’t stay up too late you two!” Olivia waved at them and then handed the bowl of popcorn to Emma, who took it eagerly, nearly spilling the popcorn on the floor.

  It was time for her to go and get some rest before her work began in the morning. There was going to be a lot to learn and a lot more bonding she’d have to do with these women on her team. They’d been here a lot longer than herself so she might be the team leader but she was still an outsider of the group.

  Days had passed since Olivia’s nighttime gettogether with Emma and Sophia in the mess hall, and she was still glad she’d accepted the job. It’d been a long journey all the way out here to the edge of known space, but this was her dream job. All the women she worked with were terrific, and she couldn’t have asked for a better team to be leading.

  The only problem she could see as of now were the soldiers stationed here to keep them safe from any space pirates, not that she thought they were in much danger of that happening. No one would come all the way out here to rob a scientific space station when there wasn’t anything valuable and nothing else around this area of space. It would be a long trip for nothing.

  Liam, who was the leader of the men stationed here, rubbed her the wrong way. She got the feeling he was a shoot first, think later type, and that didn’t go over well with her. She was all about studying life, and he was all about being ready to take a life at a moment’s notice.

  Olivia walked up to the bridge where the rest of the women were studying the screens in front of them as information populated on the monitors.

  “What are we up to today?” She greeted the women around her.

  Aubrey swiveled in her chair and smiled. “I’m currently spying on the village shaman who appears to be healing a broken leg.”

  She was a nurse, here to see how these people used the environment around them to cure their ailments, so this would, of course, be something exciting for her to witness. They were also here to see if there were any plants here that could be used as medicine for humans to cure any disease that hadn’t been cured.

  “Anything interesting as of yet?” Olivia asked glad to have people around her who were just as excited about this opportunity as herself.

  “Not really. They fix the broken leg as our ancestors would have by splinting the leg, and then giving the patient something to take away the pain. Then they do their best to stave off infection.” Aubrey’s face fell in a frown. “The only problem is that once they go inside a tent, it’s hard to know what else they do. All we can do is watch them with thermal imaging, but that doesn’t let me know much other than the number of people in the tent.”

  “Keep at it.” Olivia gave her a thumb’s up in encouragement. “I’m sure you can make it out with some time.” She made her way over to the next console. “And what are you studying?”

  Avery glanced up and removed the earbuds from her ears. “What did you say?”

  “In the zone?” Olivia laughed.

  “Music always helps me focus.” Avery beamed over at her.

  “I was curious what you were studying down on the planet.” Olivia glanced over Avery’s shoulder at the console that was in front of her.

  Avery’s brown eyes lit up making the green flecks in her irises more noticeable. “Studying the flora.”

  “Anything interesting?”

  “There’s a flower that only blooms at midnight.” Avery smiled. “It’s almost magical. Here, let me show you.” Avery’s fingers flew over the console in front of her, and she pulled up a couple of photos of the flower.

  Olivia leaned close, and her eyes widened. “It almost seems to sparkle like it was made of crystals.”

  “I know. I’d love to have it by my bedside at night, gleaming in all its glory.”

  “You might not be awake to enjoy it if it only blooms close to midnight.” Olivia reasoned.

  “True.” Avery nodded her head. “Perhaps I’d just stay up to enjoy its beauty before going to sleep.”

  She was glad they were all finding something on the planet to intrigue them. “I’ll leave you to it then.” Olivia walked away and made her way over to her own console. She needed to review everyone’s reports and get back to them about anything they should explore further or find out a way to explore it more if they were having difficulty.

  Emma’s r
eport started with a picture of the leader of the village they were currently studying on the planet below, and Olivia rolled her eyes. Emma’s second page was dedicated to another barely dressed alien. Emma might be obsessed with these aliens, but she did her job, and Olivia had nothing to complain about, even if she had a one-track mind.

  It wasn’t like they had a great selection of men all the way out here, so Olivia wasn’t going to ruin Emma’s fun. The only men on the station were Liam and his men, and she knew those men and the female scientists would never see eye to eye long enough for flirtations to occur. She wasn’t even sure why the men were here. They seemed to think the women were weird for wanting to study a primitive species.

  No matter how many times she told them there was a lot to be gained by studying another species, no matter their technological state, she’d never actually convinced any of those men she was right.

  “How’s it going up here on the bridge of the Amazons?”

  Glancing over her shoulder, she watched Liam stride onto the bridge like he was the hottest stuff since the creation of the universe.

  “Amazons?” Olivia growled not liking the way he used it.

  “Yeah, you’re women, and you’re studying a primitive world. Although I guess none of you are warriors.” He laughed like it was pathetic to think any of them would be able to be warriors.

  Olivia frowned. “We’re busy working. We don’t need interruptions. Is there something you need?” She swiveled around in her seat hoping to get him off the bridge as quickly as she possibly could.

  Liam strode onto the bridge like he owned it, a gun strapped to each side of his waist. “Just checking on you women to make sure there isn’t anything you need from us men.”

  Bile rose in the back of Olivia’s mouth. “We’ve got everything handled, thank you for your concern.” She had to be diplomatic even if he set her hackles to rising. She wasn’t fond of the way he referred to the women under her command.