Beast: An Alien Roommate SciFi Romance (Rose Rising Book 3), page 1
B E A S T
Thea Masen
Rose Rising book 3
Dodgy Press LLC
Copyright ©2023 by Dodgy Pres
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher or author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review and certain other noncommercial use permitted by U.S. copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Resemblance to actual persons and things living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 979-8-9885009-3-3
Published by: Dodgy Press LLC
Cover Design by: Dodgy Press LLC
Contents
Six weeks after The Rose launches
1. Nomi
2. J'bel
3. Nomi
4. J'bel
5. Nomi
6. J'bel
7. Nomi
8. J'bel
9. Nomi
10. J'bel
11. Nomi
12. J'bel
13. Nomi
14. J'bel
15. Nomi
16. Epilogue: The Saboteur
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Also By Thea Masen
About The Author
Six weeks after The Rose launches
Chapter one
Nomi
My roommate’s boyfriend has a fabulous butt. Not that I should know. It’s just kind of hard to miss when he’s railing her against the wall in front of me. His pants are around his shins, giving me a perfect view of his tight, bare ass. He’s shirtless, so I can also see each rippling back muscle as he holds her pinned in place.
This was not what I was expecting when I came to my room for a quiet lunch. I thought I would read the latest book I downloaded on my com or maybe send my mom a message. I didn’t think I’d see a naked man for the first time. Or that the first naked man I saw would be having sex with someone else while I watch.
I am watching. Even though I shouldn’t. I’m riveted. I can’t look away. There’s so much skin. Muscle. Raw power.
Galen’s broad physique covers most of Ada, which makes it easier for me to imagine myself in her position—pressed against the wall while a gorgeous man pounds into me.
These are very inappropriate thoughts. He’s my roommate’s boyfriend. They’re madly in love. This isn’t the first time I’ve found them together in our room, but normally they’re still wearing their clothes and haven’t gotten this far.
Galen caught my attention even at Uni. He and Ada were in the class ahead of me. But I’m at least four or five years younger, since I skipped multiple years to graduate early. We weren’t friends or in the same classes, but I knew who Galen was. Everyone knew him. And now, his ass is on full display right in front of me.
He groans, and the sound goes right between my legs. Ada cries out—a noise unlike any I’ve ever heard. Pure pleasure. I’m jealous and turned on and incapable of moving.
With a grunt, Galen’s whole body shudders. It’s the most intriguing thing I’ve ever seen. If it means what I think it means, I need to walk out the door right now. Run, even. They can’t know I was here.
Galen wraps his arms around Ada and whispers something to her that’s too low and tender for me to hear. This is my chance. Leave, I tell myself. My body doesn’t respond. There are alarms in my brain, but I’m paralyzed, unable to look away.
They see me at the same moment. Some sort of squeaking noise hops out of my mouth and my whole body feels as if someone has set a match to it.
Before Galen can expose his front to me, he reverses his turn and protectively covers Ada, who looks horrified. He grabs a shirt from the bed and pulls it over her. Then throws a quick smirk over his shoulder and casually pulls up his pants, unperturbed by my voyeurism.
I was on fire before. Now I’m nothing but cinders.
Ada crosses her arms and glares. She’s not called the Space Bitch for nothing. “Did you just watch us have sex?”
“I… I walked in and you were… and I never…”
Galen pulls Ada into his side in a calming, possessive motion. He kisses her temple, and she melts against him.
“Don’t yell at the baby,” he says with another smirk. “It’s not her fault I’m so stunning.”
“You’re such a cocky jackass,” Ada says, but her smile is as bright as a star.
“I’m sorry.” My gaze drops.
There’s lint on the floor. Right next to a condom wrapper. Suns. Oh suns. My cheeks must be as red as a doov, but for some inexplicable reason I pick up the lint and the wrapper. Then realize what I’m holding, and throw it. Right at Galen! Suns, why? Why am I such an awkward idiot?
“I’ll just… be going.”
“It’s your room, too.” Ada huffs and grabs a change of clothes out of her cubby. “Just give us a few minutes to get dressed, okay, baby?”
“Sure. Yeah. Of course.” I walk backwards towards the door, but miss the mark and slam my calf into my bed, almost falling over before I straighten up and scramble out of the room.
The door closes behind me, and I slide to the hallway floor. At least there aren’t any condom wrappers out here.
When I took the position as Chief Communications Officer, I was thrilled and honored. I’m the youngest officer in Federation history. I haven’t even served on a space station before, let alone a starship. Added to that, I only had two years at Uni instead of five, which also makes me the youngest crew member. Which has earned me the nickname baby. No one uses it in a sexy way, as a term of endearment. It’s always a reminder of how inexperienced I am. Like they pity me. Or think I’m cute.
Seven years of this is going to be torture.
Chapter two
J'bel
It’s been six weeks since I’ve fucked someone. I haven’t touched a woman since we left the space station. Definitely the longest dry spell I’ve had since before I got into Uni.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, but my dipshit wingman got his hands on the girl he’s been pining after for years, and now she’s got him wrapped around her little finger—or he’s got her wrapped around his dick.
To make matters worse, my best friend got married. MARRIED. To some woman he barely knows who snuck onto the ship as a stowaway. Yep, the captain of The Rose, a man who swore to the five suns he’d never marry, married a stowaway.
I don’t blame them. Galen’s girlfriend, Ada, is fiery and fun as fuck. Sure, she can be a bitch sometimes, but in a way that makes men hot and bothered. It definitely got under Galen’s skin.
And Captain Rook Havaford’s wife is hot as sin. She’s wicked smart and a faultless shot with a laser. Her body is curvy and thick—perfect for grabbing onto and fucking senseless. The first time I saw her, all I could think about was sinking my fangs into her plump ass. Not that I had a chance. The captain had her glued to his side even before she officially became his wife.
I get it. Really. I would kill for what the two of them have. I’m just not likely to find it here, away from my home planet. There aren’t a lot of Bee’h in the Federation and other species find mine to be… undesirable mates. I gave up on the idea of an actual relationship my first year at Uni.
Which is why it feels like a kick in the gut to walk into the room I share with Galen and find him curled around Ada in that tiny cramped bed like someone tied them in a fucking knot. They’re both sound asleep. Probably wore each other out.
The women I fuck never want to stay and cuddle. Which is a damn shame because Bee’h are the best cuddlers in the universe. If the other races could get past our sharp incisors, clawed finger nails, and pointed horns, they’d see that the fur that covers half our body makes for a great pillow.
Ignoring them, I turn away, strip down to my briefs, and crawl into my bed, facing the wall. I fall asleep with a dull, empty ache in my arms and heart.
But I wake up in the middle of the night flaming mad.
Ada is moaning. The bed is squeaking. The sheets swish around the sound of skin hitting skin.
Fucking dickface. He’s getting it on with his girl while I sleep on the other side of the room. My bed is close enough to kick him with my long legs. Talk about salt in the wound. It’s not enough that the two of them are all sweet and lovey-fucking-dovey with each other. Their chemistry is off the charts, and I swear they have sex more than anyone else in the galaxy. They’re gonna hurt themselves with how much they fuck. I’m shocked Ada can even stand.
Most of the time, they have the decency to do it in private. We worked out a system to keep me from walking in on them. They’re supposed to change the code on the door when they’re going at it, so I know to come back later. It’s annoying as hell because I can almost never get in my room unless it’s to sleep, but now they’re invading that too.
Ada whimpers in this way that makes my cock twitch, already half-hard. We lived in the same dorm at Uni, and I’ve seen her in nothing but a sports bra and briefs, so I know how hot her body is under those blankets.
I’m tempted to let the assholes go at it while I jerk off to the soundtrack, but then I’d be an even bigger dick than them. My roommate’s girlfriend isn’t someone I should fantasize about.
I heave off the bed, taking my blanket and pillow with me, and storm out of the room, sending a curse over my shoulder as I go.
Dicks. That’s what they are. Fucking dicks in fucking stupid love. I’m not gonna lay here and listen to them for seven years. I’ll talk to Rook about a new room assignment tomorrow. There’s got to be somewhere else I can go.
For tonight, I’ll just have to make do with a bench in the mess hall.
Chapter three
Nomi
“How in the five suns could external coms be down?” Captain Havaford is just shy of furious.
“I—I don’t know, Sir.”
He’s an intimidating man. Not just because he commands any room he’s in, but because he’s gorgeous. Like staring at the sun gorgeous. I wonder if his butt is as firm as Galen’s.
The inappropriate thought gets a quick shake of my head. I need to focus.
“It was all working fine two days ago. Then, yesterday, we didn’t receive any messages from the space station. Which I thought was strange.” We usually get a few a day. News reports. Personal messages to crew members. That sort of thing. But yesterday there was nothing. “So I ran a systems analysis.”
“And…?” Captain Havaford waves his hand as if to signal, get on with it.
I swallow my nerves. “Well, it’s all down. The internal coms are still working, but we can’t get a message out or any incoming.”
“Could we be too far?” Galen asks from his place at the flight console.
My cheeks warm, thinking of what I walked in on yesterday. This is getting ridiculous. I’m turning into some sex crazed lunatic who can’t look at a male without wanting to take his clothes off. It’s like yesterday’s encounter birthed a dormant, unexplored libido I didn’t know I had. Now, all I can think about is naked butts.
Focus, Nomi.
“We shouldn’t be out of range for another month. We’re still in known space.”
Captain Havaford sinks farther back in his chair. One of his two volups—long skin-covered antenna-like protrusions—rubs his chin like a finger.
“What will you need to fix it?” he asks.
Not wanting to back myself into a corner, I take a second to think about my answer.
“I’m not sure.” It’ll take some more analysis to narrow down the problem. It could be an issue with the software, but I wrote that program myself. Maybe the hardware? “I might need an engineer to help.”
“You’re rooming with Ada, right? I’m sure she can do it.”
“Actually,” Galen interrupts. “Ada’s still dealing with the broken propulsion. She did a patch-up job to get it working, but she’s swamped trying to fix it.”
“Okay, find someone else. I don’t care who, but we need it fixed. The Federation won’t be happy if we drop off the map without warning.”
He sends an internal com to all the crew members, letting them know they won’t be able to send messages home, but we’re working on it.
I do system checks until my eyes blur. When I get up to stretch, Galen looks over his shoulder and motions for me to follow him out into the hall.
“Nomi, right?”
I confirm he’s got my name right, annoyed that he isn’t sure. He’s been in and out of my room since we left the station weeks ago. Clearly, his focus has been elsewhere.
“Ada and I came up with a solution for our… problem and wanted to talk to you about it.”
This would be a lot easier if she were the one talking to me. I’ve never been good at talking to guys, especially ones I find attractive—and really shouldn’t find attractive. I don’t know where to look. My gaze bounces from his face, to his hips, to his shoulders, to his feet, to his crotch. My eyes shoot up, hoping he didn’t notice.
“You’ve lived in a co-ed dorm before, right?” He continues without waiting for me to respond. “What do you think about a roommate swap? My roommate can move into your room and Ada can move in with me.”
Woah. They really are serious. It’s not the worst idea. It would keep what happened yesterday from happening again. I don’t want a repeat performance… at least… I don’t think so.
“What’s your roommate like?”
“He’s great. I’ve lived with him before. One of my best friends. Tidy and clean. Mostly chill, but he can be talkative if you get him going. He likes to read—just don’t tell him I told you that.” Galen’s conspiratorial smile brightens. “He showers twice a day. And he always lets you know if he needs the room so you don’t have the problem we had yesterday.”
The thought of what happened yesterday happening with someone else—maybe someone more available—sets my cheeks on fire. Again.
Galen laughs. “You blush more than Ada. I love that about her. I think my roommate’s gonna love that about you, too.”
His words only make me blush more. Being compared to his sexy girlfriend, even in this small way, is the best compliment of my life. Which is not helping my disastrous crush. I really need to put as much space between me and Galen Frenzi as possible.
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
“Great. I’ll let him know you’re down to swap.” He touches my shoulder. “Thanks, Nomi. This means a lot to us.”
I think I mumble something, but I’m far too flustered to be coherent. He walks away without looking back, and I take a moment to gather my wits before returning to the bridge.
A new roommate. A man. I’ve never lived with a man before. I mean, I lived in co-ed dorms, but it wasn’t just me and one other male. It was me, ten other women, and eight males of all different species. There was nothing confined or intimate about it.
This will be different.
But it’ll be worth it to get away from the happy couple and their constant love making.
Chapter four
J'bel
The mess hall is a crap place to sleep. People are hungry bastards and there are shifts around the clock, so it’s never empty or quiet in here. I should have known better. But there aren’t a lot of options on a starship.
I get a few hours of shut eye, but eventually give up. A shit ton of imitation coffee from the food replicator will have to suffice.
My shift starts soon, but I’m not ready to go back to the room and face the lovebirds. The last thing I want is to see Galen and Ada right now. I’m still pissed as suns.
Who does that? Fucks with your roommate asleep in the bed next to you? I mean, I’m sure they were trying to be quiet, but I’m a Bee’h. Galen knows we have the best sense of smell and hearing in the galaxy—even better than his Luxaain senses. He should have known better. Jackass.
I bury my face in another cup of coffee and choke down my bitterness. When I lift my eyes, a woman is smiling at me across the room.
As First Officer, I’m required to know profiles on all members of the crew. So, I know this woman, Juniper, is the ship’s botany specialist. She’s tasked with studying the vegetation on whatever planets we discover and experimenting on plant growth and adaptations in deep space while we travel.
She’s human, like most of the woman on the ship. Bee’h don’t allow their women off planet. Mahara rarely leave their matriarchal society. Tamzell women are rare after an infection killed most of their females. And the Luxaain population is sparse in general after the Ice Wars.
Juniper is attractive in this elegant ballerina kind of way. Tall and thin, with her hair always up in a bun. She floats over to me, grace personified. I already know what she wants. It’s the same thing most women want from me. An experience. A notch on their belts. They want to try a Bee’h. Once.
At any other time it wouldn’t bother me. I’ve gotten some pretty great lays out of it. But right now, I’m not in the mood. I wish I was. It would ease some of the tension I’m carrying. But I’m still pissed as shit.
I don’t want a quick lay. Someone who’s going to get what they want—the wild ride of fucking a beast—and then take off the minute I’ve made them orgasm so hard they scream.
