by Amalia Rey
As we walk away, the tablet in my hand, my mate by my side, I know that the fate of Narul has been forever changed. But my mate looks heartbroken, and the look on the faces of those females tells me what I had not understood until now.
This is a trick, and the females feel like they’ve been robbed of their choice. Yes, we need them. But we’ve stolen them to serve our own purpose.
Rachel wasn’t even the loudest female.
Alondra, the last female selected, took one look around the room and screamed. She started kicking and punching the warrior she’d been selected for, and he let her. They would war with us, one angry female at a time.
By the time we get to my quarters, Naomi doesn’t want to talk or cuddle. She moves silently to the bedroom and collapses in the bed, where she continues to cry.
21
Naomi
At some point during the night, I awaken. I can hear somebody else crying, and I know that I’ve participated in that woman’s pain.
I stand and cross the room, where I find my captor standing by a strange contraption.
After seeing all those women being “selected” I don’t feel much like being his mate anymore. He didn’t care if he got me or someone else. All he needed was a warm female body with a uterus.
He would’ve accepted any female. I was just overly willing, since I’d had too much vodka.
“I’m sorry,” Marv says without turning. He’s sifting through a box, and when I approach, I see that it’s a memory box filled with pictures.
“Oh,” I whisper, seeing a picture of Marv with his little sister.
I sit down beside him, on the floor. “Tell me about Julee,” I say.
Marv runs his hand over her little face. She has the most beautiful hair.
“She liked to play rough. I used to wish I’d had a baby brother, instead, so she tried her best to act like a male. She liked to play fight with me.”
“She looks feisty,” I say.
A loud moan rolls through our wall. Oh. Those walls are thinner than I expected. I glance over at Marv, but his expression doesn’t change.
I guess mating is just expected. No goofy expressions, nothing.
I reach over and touch Marv’s arm, and he turns to look at me. His words stretch into my mind: ‘I only wanted you. I saw you first and stayed on your pic. I wouldn’t have chosen a different female.’
I release my hold on his arm. Does he know what he just told me?
I’m not sure I like being so connected to him.
“Let me show you something,” Marv says suddenly. He puts away the photo.
I lean back on my elbows and take in the design of his wall. Marv leans forward and presses a button, and it illuminates his dark wall in front of me. I don’t know how I didn’t see it until now.
His wall is made up of an enormous fish tank, like a wall at an aquarium. Inside, there’s sea veggies and other plants. But there are also hundreds of weird looking fish swimming together. They have weird boxy shapes and silvery bodies.
“What are those?”
“Chutts. They taste amazing.”
I can’t take my eyes off the weird little chutt fish. They spin when they swim, perhaps because they’re box shaped.
“Does everyone keep fish in their quarters?”
“Yes. We have to stay below ground, until the fighting ends. The Ta’al have taken down too many of our fighters.”
I shake my head. “But what makes you think the war will end when you have females? Didn’t someone do something to kill off all the females?”
Marv’s face changes, and he suddenly looks tired. Like I’ve drained the last bit of hope from him.
He shrugs and stands. “Would you like dinner?” he asks, just as the woman on the other end of the wall lets out a series of very content moans.
“Yeah. But can we go to another room?”
Marv grins. “You know most of them are mating tonight.”
“See, you are a perv. I thought it was just me that was wondering that.”
“Perv?” Marv reaches out to offer me his hand, but I ignore it.
“Never mind,” I say, standing up. I wipe my hands on my borrowed pair of pants and then try to shove them in pockets.
But there aren’t pockets.
That’s going to be a problem.
“Come with me, Mate,” Marv says, oblivious to reason 9,834 that I’m unhappy here. Or perhaps, ignoring me.
22
Marv
Naomi is smarter than an entire room full of generals, warriors, and royalty. She sees the question that we’ve all avoided asking.
Who did this to our females?
The battle won’t end. They’ll just find another way to harm our new females.
I suddenly understand the reason why the V’aalarans offered the App to all the tribes. It makes sense now. They already figured out the problem.
Someone went after the females. And they want to keep their new females safe.
I don’t know who to trust and who to fear. We’ve held an alliance with all the tribes except the F’oogalians and the Ta’al. We’ve kept peace with everyone else.
But have we been wrong?
Another moan shakes through the wall, and I suddenly don’t feel hungry. I want my mate. I turn to look at her, hoping to see the same hunger in her eyes.
Naomi is staring at me, a strange look on her face. “What is it?” she asks.
I watch as she steps forward and touches my arm. She pauses, waiting for something.
Why won’t she trust me? I stare at her, wondering why she won’t let me love her.
“Why should I?” she asks, and I realize why she’s holding my arm.
“You can hear my thoughts?”
She shrugs. “Some of them, but only if I’m touching you.”
“But I can’t hear yours.”
“Are you supposed to?”
“I don’t know. I thought the Connection would work both ways.”
“Connection?”
I shrug. Might as well lay all my cards on the table. She can hear my thoughts anyway.
“My Father used to tell me he had a Connection with my Mother. I never understood it, until you started to tell me you were hearing some of my thoughts.”
“Why can’t you hear me?”
I wonder. “Maybe it’s a simple answer,” I say. “Maybe it’s because I love you, and you aren’t sure how you feel about me yet.”
She lets go of my arm. “Convenient.”
“There’s nothing convenient about it. I want to know what it feels like to hear you. I want you to be happy with me.”
“Do you hear yourself?” she demands. “You want me to be happy with you. Not just happy, but with you. My happiness is only in conjunction with us being together.”
“But you enjoyed making love to me. I could definitely feel that.”
Naomi shakes her head emphatically. “That doesn’t mean I should instantly fall in love with you, or that I should suddenly be okay with you guys stealing a bunch of Earth women.”
Oh. So that’s why she’s upset.
“Look, you knew we were going to need more females. We talked about this.”
Her little face scrunches up in disgust. “Yeah, but I was there. Rachel looked me in my eyes and blamed me.”
“You had no say in what we were doing. Just like you can’t stop what we’ll be doing tomorrow.”
Naomi’s eyes widen. “What’s happening tomorrow?”
“We’re summoning the rest of the mates. Our entire tribe will have a female for every male.”
“But what if the females don’t want to be here?”
“Then they shouldn’t be on an App looking for a mate!” I growl.
“Not every woman is on there for a mate. Some of them just want a friend. Others just want sex. I wasn’t looking for a mate.
I was drunk.”
“Well, you’re here now.”
“Yeah, I’m here now.” Naomi’s shoulders sink and she storms quietly out of the room. I peek into the bedroom, where I see her covering herself with blankets.
I hadn’t intended to fight with my mate. Now what?
23
Naomi
It’s weird, being able to read his thoughts when he can’t read mine.
At some point during the night, I awaken with a start. Some noise must’ve pulled me out of sleep.
I glance over and see that Marv is sound asleep. Of course, he is it’s been a busy couple of days. And he lost his virginity to me in a whirlwind of crazy space sex.
I roll over and hug him from behind. I’m not sure why, but I crave affection from this handsome alien. Nighttime is too lonely, and even though I’m mad, I don’t want to sleep alone.
Thankfully his bed is small enough that I can pretend I accidentally invaded his space.
My hand settles on his belly. He’s apparently sleeping nude. I guess we need to figure out our sleeping habits, but it is what it is. In the middle of the night, it isn’t wise to wake a sleeping bear.
I sigh. A teddy bear. He has not raised a fist or been cruel to me in any way.
I lay my head against his shoulder and try to imagine a future with him. I had expected to be above ground, breathing in fresh air and seeing sunlight. Instead, he has a massive indoor fish tank, and in his other room, a large garden filled with plants that provide him food and oxygen.
His life is like nothing I’ve ever seen.
Was my life much better?
I think about my ex, banging on my front door. That’s where all this started, right? I was cheated on, feeling lonely, and looking for love.
But was I even capable of love?
Marv’s breathing changes, and he lets out a soft snore. Is he awake?
I try to lay completely still. Maybe I’ll just listen to his thoughts.
But I hear nothing. He just continues snoring softly.
I’m a terrible person, because I really just need human connection. I want to be touched. I want to be loved. But I don’t know how to give those things in return.
I lay beside him, wondering time and again if he’ll wake up. But he doesn’t. He even manages to roll over in his sleep.
When his broad chest is within my reach, I rest my head on him. I even start to move my hand along his stomach, seeing if I can arouse him.
He continues to snore.
Seriously?
I roll off the bed and take off all my clothes, then climb back in. I lay beside him, but none of his thoughts invade my brain.
Nothing.
He just snores.
I start to get worked up by the fact that he doesn’t even notice me. It feels like hours must have passed, but there’s no clock and no sunlight. I kick away the blankets and reach for his cock.
It immediately hardens.
Ohhhh.
I lower myself to his waist and study his cock. The shaft is long, and the tip is soft. I wrap one hand around it, remembering the way it felt like silk in my hands back on his ship.
I lick the tip, then continue moving my tongue down the shaft, towards the base.
He doesn’t move. His breathing changes, but if he’s awake, I can’t tell.
I open my mouth and taste him. He feels warm and excited, all at once. Liquid heat stirs at my core, and I know I want him.
But instead, I move my mouth up and down his cock, gliding as far down as I can. My hands explore his soft, fuzzy balls. He has fine, curly hair over them, and they feel amazingly round.
I release his cock from my mouth and work my way down to his balls, taking one, then both of them, into my mouth. I suckle him until he lets out a loud moan.
And then, I don’t stop. I work my way back to his cock and take all of him into my mouth, down my throat. His hips start rocking, pleading.
I bob my head up and down, finding great pleasure in the moans that he continues to release.
He’s close to climax, so I remove myself and stare up at him. His eyes are intent on my face.
“You are magnificent,” he tells me.
In his mind, he tells me something else. ‘I don’t understand you. I don’t know if you’re mad at me or if you want to love me.’
I smile sadly and climb on top of him.
I don’t understand myself, either.
By the time he explodes inside of me, we’re both screaming and moaning. I need him, and I don’t know how I feel about that.
I can’t imagine any other man every making me feel this way – human or not.
24
Marv
When morning comes, my mate is resting peacefully in my arms. I hold her for as long as I can, but I know the males are waiting.
When I finally stand and get dressed, she opens her eyes.
“Selecting more women today?”
I nod. I’m not sure how to answer her without starting another fight.
“Can I stay here? I don’t think I can watch that again.”
I bend down and brush a kiss over her forehead. She pulls me down for a long embrace, and I’m sure she’s trying to hear my thoughts. It’s okay though. My only thoughts are of her.
“I’ll come back quickly. There is food in the ice chest.”
She rolls back into her blankets and fakes sleep.
When I leave my quarters, I stand in front until two guards arrive. True to the King’s word, he will protect my mate while I fulfill my task.
I turn to the guards and tell them, “Don’t worry, you will all get mates before the day is done.”
Both of them grin. They must’ve seen some of the gorgeous females yesterday. None were as beautiful as my Naomi, but the males were quite pleased.
I walk slowly to the main auditorium. We must work our way through the entire kingdom, which will not be an easy task. The King has prepared tablets for everyone, and I will upload the App for them all at once.
When the entire auditorium is full, I pick up the loudspeaker.
Silence fills the room immediately.
“The V’aalarans have offered us a gift,” I say. “They created an App that attracts females. Everyone here will choose a female today. Choose well. You can only have one.”
I conduct round after round of matches. The room fills, then empties again, each male hauling his prize out with him. Some of the females look devastated. One of them sank down to her knees and cried. She had to be carried out. Another kicked and screamed as she was carried over a warrior’s shoulder.
By the time I’ve finished the last batch of males, I’m exhausted. I’ve seen females of every size, shape, and skin tone. I know that the true females will bear the lavender color by morning. Others might take longer, perhaps a day or two.
But they will accept us.
They have to. What other choice do they have?
I return to my door, where both guards await eagerly. I repeat the process with them, and they each select a female. Their mates appear in front of us, one fighting and one forlorn. It’s a scene I’ve watched all day, and I’m exhausted.
“Thank you,” I finally say before entering my home.
I walk past the two guards with their newfound mates, locking the door behind me as I enter.
I don’t see Naomi when I enter, so I wander into the extra room.
She’s sitting next to a small plant, singing to it.
“Hi,” I say.
“Hi,” she answers.
“May I ask what you’re doing?”
Naomi shrugs. “I read somewhere once that plants grow if you sing to them.”
I stare at the little plant that she’s been singing to. It’s a slow growing foarder plant, one of the starchy vegetables. She pats the l
eaf then smiles.
“I’d like to think that it’s listening,” she says, then stands. “How was it?”
“Sad. I can see why you didn’t want to be there.”
She wipes her hands on her pants, smearing tiny traces of dirt. “It’s hard to suddenly have all your choices taken from you.”
“Do you feel that way? Like I won’t give you any choices?”
She moves slowly across the room, then bends to pick up a small plant. When she’s holding the little container in her hand, she tells me, “Imagine you’re a plant. You have to grow, that’s your job. But you could grow tall and be a tree, or you could stay small and keep your fruit to yourself.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m not sure if I’m the tree or the small plant. But I want to choose.”
She sets down the plant and looks up.
“Okay,” I offer. I’m not sure what she needs to hear from me.
“Let me try it another way. My life was difficult, but not terrible. I had my own place, a job, and friends. I visited my Mom sometimes. It was my life, and I liked it.”
I stare at her, waiting.
“But now I’m here. I have a big alien dude with purple biceps. I’m going to be living here, underground, and on a spaceship satellite thingie. But I won’t get to stand in the sunlight.”
“You want sunlight? I can find sunlight for you.”
“Let me finish,” she says. “I can’t decide if I want to be a tree or a small plant. But if I don’t have sunlight and I’m trapped, my choice is already gone.”
I think I understand.
But then, why did she wake me up with her mouth? And why did it feel so perfectly amazing?
“What do you need me to do?”
“I don’t know. Just be patient with me. This is really hard.”
“Of course,” I promise her. “Whatever you need.”
25
Naomi
We fall into an easy routine. We wake up, he cooks, I study his plants, his fish, and the computer library thing he has. He pulls me into his arms and heats me up a few times a day, and we mate like horny teenagers.
But something still feels off. I feel like I’m going through adolescent mood swings, to match the uptick in my sex drive.