Forbidden Delivery (Galaxy Smugglers Book 1)

by Amelia Wilson

  “Wow,” he sighs, rolling over onto his back with a smile. I curl up in his arms, naked, tired, and satisfied. He plays with my hair, leaning in to smell it, exhaling the last remains of energy he has left. I look up at him, once again loving those green eyes. He kisses my forehead softly, and I can’t help but think about what’s going to happen tomorrow.

  I try to push those thoughts aside though, instead just taking in this moment, my mind reeling from this beautiful connection.

  CHAPTER 8: DELIVERY

  FALAX

  I’ve been doing this delivery thing for a while now, and I’ve always given myself one rule: don’t ever, ever, open yourself up to the cargo, let alone have sex with them. As I roll over to look at her, the faint light from the window highlighting her soft face, just barely revealing the freckles on her nose, I’m glad, for once, that I broke that rule. My body still hums from the incredible sex of last night. I reach over to brush the hair from Becca’s eyes and she stirs. My heart aches for the moment that she wakes up, and I realize that our one hot night together has completely vanished.

  I can’t believe I still have to carry out this mission. I think about running, just grabbing her and taking her away, to show her the rest of the galaxy, even if it’s just in my escape pod. We’d get a new one, start somewhere else. Wild thoughts run through my mind, a whole journey of our life together. In this moment, it feels so far away from me. Mezzias is an asshole, and I just can’t let someone this wonderful pass into his clutches. But I know he’ll find us, wherever we go. He has his whole army spread out on every planet, military trained like myself, ready to kill.

  The pain kills me, but I know what I have to do. I roll over and put my clothes on, taking the escape pod tracker out of my bag. I pull up the coordinates to find that we’re only another hour’s walk away. I feel a lump in my throat, as I take another look at Becca, still blissfully unaware. Until then, though, I don’t know how I can face her without feeling this stabbing pang of guilt of the mission that I have to fulfill.

  “What’s wrong with you?” She asks as we leave the comfort of the inn, putting our beautiful night and everything with it behind us. I try to brush her off, like I did when we first met. It’s easier this way. I feel that if I say anything it’ll just make it worse. We find a man just a few paces away from the inn, a single trader who tells us he has room for us in the back of his desert carrier. I don’t hesitate to hoist Becca into the back, following after her as we each awkwardly find a crate to sit on. The carrier rumbles over the dust, and Becca looks sadly out the back, watching the inn disappear behind a dune.

  “I don’t understand why you won’t talk to me,” she says, not looking at me. “Especially after what happened last night. Are you going to pretend that didn’t even happen?” I cross and uncross my legs, uncomfortable in the heat and the way the carrier thrashes us around. “Hello?” She tries again, with the same tone of annoyance she used with me with when we first met. “You’re doing that thing again where you won’t talk to me, and it’s really getting on my nerves.”

  I shake my head, “Becca,” I say, preparing myself, “What happened last night, shouldn’t have happened. I’ve never slept with the King’s future mate before, and I’ve been doing this gig for a while. I broke a rule that shouldn’t have been broken. We’re going to have to just forget about it.” I already regret saying any of it, since I don’t mean a single word, except for the part where I’ve never slept with past deliveries. Becca’s face goes red, and at first I think it’s from the heat, but I see that, for the first time since we’ve met, she’s crying.

  “God, why does this keep happening to me?” She exhales, wiping her eyes. She somehow keeps the rest of her tears from flowing.

  “I’m sorry,” I tell her, trying to cushion everything somehow. She just shakes her head.

  “I knew it was too good to be true. Who am I kidding? I’m being handed off to some random creep. I guess I just thought…” she waves her hand, not finishing the rest. We sit in silence for the remainder of the trip.

  Finally, we come to the escape pod, lodged into a sand dune. I check the status of its servers on my tablet, and surprisingly they’re all in good shape. There’s something else there though, waiting for us. A familiar marble-shaped drop ship, adorned with gold metallic accents. I instantly recognize it as one of Mezzias’s leisure pods. He must have traced our crash signal after all, and beat us here before I could even have the chance to escape with Becca.

  Mezzias waits in front of the escape pod, a rolled out carpet under his feet so he’ll never have to touch Gemma Six’s sand. He has a similar look to me, minus the tattoos. You’d never know he has wrinkles since he does some kind of work to keep them tightly wound back, leaving his face permanently stuck in a sickening grin, even when he’s upset. He has long, dark hair, which he keeps braided. He’s skinny and gross in my opinion, and it’s a shame to have to call him my king. He holds out his arms as I usher Becca towards him

  “Ah! My beautiful mate!” He cries out, in a high voice. His servants roll the carpet closer to us, and he holds out his arms to embrace Becca, inhaling her scent. It makes me sick.

  “You’re even more beautiful in person,” he says, reaching for her face. Becca flicks her head away before he can touch her, and he shrinks back with a sly laugh. “She’s feisty. Yes, she’ll be excellent.”

  Becca doesn’t even look over at me, and I so badly want to just grab her and make a run for the escape pod, even though that’s a certain and very sudden death. “I suppose you’d like your payment, Falax,” The King says, holding out his hand for his servant to open a small case, revealing a cluster of shimmering coins. It’s thirty million tetzles; enough for me to buy a ship and enough fuel to travel around the galaxy for years, until I find a decent living on any planet of my choice. For some reason my paycheck looks dirty in this sunlight.

  I take the case, and the King whisks Becca away by her waist.

  “Shall we get going, then?” He asks her. Becca says nothing. Mezzias looks over at me, “Must have been a boring trip here, huh? She’s a little quiet. I suppose you might have something to say though? After spending all this time together?” His voice is almost mocking. I look at Becca, mentally screaming for her to look at me, but she doesn’t.

  “No,” I say bitterly, “I have nothing to say.” Mezzias guides Becca towards his ship. I want to break his fingers off of her hip one by one, and it takes everything in me not to do so.

  “Thanks again Falax. Once again, you’ve done me an excellent service. See you in a year!” he says over his shoulder as he waves for his servants and guards to follow him.

  I watch them enter the ship, further away from the escape pod. As the doors close, Becca turns around, and I wonder in that second if she’s looking at me. I watch with gut-wrenching horror as the drop ship takes off into the atmosphere, with Becca inside. I enter my escape pod and fire up the engine, looking at the map to my next destination, wherever that’s going to be. I look over at the co-pilot’s seat next to me, where the chest of tetzles sit, waiting to be spent.

  I don’t deserve them… not a single one.

  CHAPTER 9: ALONE AT LAST

  BECCA

  After being poked and prodded at by hairdressers and stylists on the king’s main ship, I finally have a moment alone to process how horrible my future is about to become. I sit in front of a large mirror, staring with disgust at how similar my outfit is to the one I had to wear at the auction, only this time it’s draped over with a thinly veiled cape of some kind. What is it with aliens and bikinis? I guess it’s a sexy outfit on any planet. I count the moments until I’ll be called into the king’s quarters. Who knows what’ll happen to me then. I think about Falax. My heart feels conflicted about whether I should hate him or love him. He’s made everything so difficult, and I can’t believe that after all we shared he’d still kick me aside. Maybe he was loyal to his king after all. He never really told me.

  I’m start
led by a knock, and with a faint glimmer of stupid hope I believe that it’s Falax, coming to save me from all this nonsense. I’m even a little surprised to see that it’s just a servant coming in to bring me to the king. I take another look at myself in the mirror, then at the dressing table, where there’s a slender pair of scissors. I pocket them in one of the cups of my bra. Falax isn’t coming to save me. I decide I’m going to have to do it myself.

  The king is sprawled out on his bed, his chest drooping, despite the skin-tightening precautions he must have used to hide it. He’s even more slimy-looking without all his robes on.

  “Come on in, my love,” he coos. The servants reach to untie my cloak, and he waves them away. “I like to unwrap my presents myself,” he tells them, and they leave us alone together. I shudder at his slippery voice as he refers to me as his ‘present’. I think of ways to stall, anything that can maybe buy me some time, or at least get close enough to use my concealed weapon. I’ve never thought I’d have to attack a king at any point in my life, especially without having a backup plan.

  “Well, Becca” he says expectantly, “your king awaits.”

  I know that at this point I can’t run, or I’ll just be brought back in here. Instead, I’m going to have to play along with this whole thing, except I’m not going to touch him at all if I don’t have to. I put on my best, but fakest, sexy act that I can muster, sauntering over to the edge of his bed.

  “Isn’t it a disgrace to do this out of wedlock?” I ask him, adding a “Your Highness,” at the end for good measure. He seems to love it.

  “It’s customary for the king to mate with his selection whenever he pleases, regardless of marriage,” he says confidently. “If you’d like a formal ceremony, though, I’m sure we can arrange something. Though I must warn you how pointless it is.” He adds.

  “What do you mean?” I ask him, scooting a little closer to him.

  “Well, you’re only good to me for a year, and then I send you back to your home planet. Hopefully, I can get a few offspring from you before I move on to my next mate. That’s how I prefer to have my heirs made, with no strings attached.” He smiles a crooked smile at me, but I can’t tell if that’s just from all the work he’s had done.

  He tries to reach over and touch me, but I slink away, hiding the gesture by batting my eyes at him as I roll over to the other side of the bed. “You’re very coy,” he says, crawling towards me, “but I don’t mind hunting my prey.” He jumps at me, making a horrifying growling sound, in an attempt to be sexy. I scream, but try to play it off as if I’m enjoying the whole thing.

  “What would you like to do first, My King?” I ask, pressing my breasts together between my arms. I feel disgusting doing this, but it’s my only chance of escape. Still, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up without him touching me. As he gets closer to me though, I realize I’m probably going to have to make a few sacrifices. He pulls at the string of my cloak, and it falls onto the bed, leaving me more vulnerable.

  “We’ll start from here,” he says, grabbing for my boobs.

  I push him away, a little too forcefully onto the bed. He looks up at me, startled.

  “Sorry, I like to be in charge,” I tell him in an attempt to recover myself. It seems to work, as he settles into a devious smile.

  “Ooh, I’ve never had a mate like you,” he says through his teeth.

  “Of course you haven’t,” I reply, my lips pursed sexily.

  I reach into the cup of my bra, pulling out the pair of scissors.

  “On Earth though, we have a different custom,” I say, clearly making something up. “Before I give myself to you, I’d like something from you: a lock of your hair.”

  He looks at me, not really buying what I have to say.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that Earth custom,” he says. I scoot myself closer to him, closer than I’m comfortable with.

  “Trust me,” I tell him, running the scissors slowly along his neck. His breath gets heavier as I press the blades deeper into his skin.

  “Careful,” he warns.

  “Oh, I’ll be very careful,” I assure him. Careful to not get blood everywhere I hope. I pull the scissors back, ready to strike. His eyes are closed, it’s the perfect opportunity.

  Suddenly, a harsh roaring sound echoes through the room as we’re thrown from the bed. I scramble to find my cloak to cover myself, even though it’s not much. The inside of the ship rumbles as we roll back onto the floor, the King grabbing onto his bed to support him. Is it another asteroid field?

  “What is going on?” Mezzias demands, as his doors open to reveal several soldiers standing in the hallway.

  “Sir,” one of them says, “the ship is being attacked!” Another roar and the ship rolls to the side, making me fall back into the wall. Guess I didn’t have to hurt anybody after all.

  We run out into the hallway. Guards and other crewmembers of the enormous ship are rushing down the halls, trying to save the ship.

  “The shields have been taken out!” I hear someone say.

  “We can’t log back in to reset them, they’ve been disabled wirelessly!” Cries another voice.

  I lose myself in the crowd, trying to stay out of Mezzias’s sight. He’s too distracted by the commotion. As I pass by a nearby window overlooking outer space, I notice a familiar shape hovering just beneath us. A hooded figure inside the ship glides by the window…Falax! I follow alongside him as he flies by, and he notices me. He gives a small wave, and I immediately throw away any sense of resentment towards him. He came back for me, and that’s all that matters.

  I run to the main cockpit area, where several hundred machines are being run by crewmembers to keep the ship running. Through the large circular window at the front, I can see Falax’s escape pod hovering in front of us. A projection of his face appears on a nearby screen, watched by an angry Mezzias.

  “My King,” Falax’s voice echoes, “I believe you are carrying some precious cargo that I’d like to retrieve.” My heart flutters at the sound of his voice. I had felt so horrible about the way we had to part ways just moments before.

  “Hand Becca over,” he continues, “or else I will have to resort to brute force.” Mezzias hits a nearby server, making it spark.

  “You know full well that’s not how this process works,” he yells to Falax’s hologram image. “The Earth girl is mine. Besides, how are you supposed to hold up a royal star-fighter in that tiny floating husk of yours?”

  “Like this,” Falax says, and a sharp red blast hits the glass of the cockpit, creating a small web of cracks in the center. “Wait!” Mezzias shrieks, but Falax blasts him again, making the web larger. The soldiers in our ship start to hustle around the room.

  “Sir,” one of them asks, “should we retaliate and destroy the assailant?” Mezzias thinks, about giving the command to destroy Falax.

  “No!” I hear myself shout automatically. The king turns, raising an eyebrow at me. “Let him negotiate,” I suggest, “At least with a challenge.”

  Mezzias scoffs at me, “Or else what?” he threatens. I take the scissors from before, in one final desperate attempt to save Falax, and hold them to my stomach. “Or else you’re without a wife…and an heir” I threaten. Mezzias’s smile fades, though his mouth is too tightened to show it.

  “I’d just find another Earth woman,” he says, though his voice is unsure. “I don’t think you would,” I say, looking over at the hologram. Falax’s face has disappeared, but I smile at the King. I’ve already bought Falax enough time.

  There’s wild shouting, as Falax joins my side. The guards react, pointing their guns right at us, ready to strike us down in seconds.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Falax warns, and I can tell he’s using the same voice he did back at the auction, a sly improvised plan forming on his lips. “I must warn you, I have the most dangerous weapon in the galaxy.” He holds something up, pointing the rounded end towards the King and his men… my metal softb
all bat. The guards and the King step back in shock at the sight of it, not sure what it really is. “Now that we have your attention,” I add, sneaking a peek at Falax, “shall we negotiate?”

  CHAPTER 10: WIT

  FALAX

  Taking down the shields was hardly a challenge. Having worked with the king’s security systems before, I happen to know how to navigate through each of his ship’s systems, from shields to security. If he wanted a delivery boy, he probably shouldn’t have hired an ex-military smuggler like myself. I hold the bat up to him, knowing that it’s completely harmless, but still relishing the fear in the King’s eyes as he has no idea what this thing could do to him.

  “What is that thing?” He asks, his voice shaky.

  “A secret weapon from Earth,” I tell him, “It’s made of the strongest Earth metal in the world, so it is indestructible. And if I just hold it like this,” and here I take the bat and hold it as if I were about to hit a ball with it, “I can produce an incredible force of energy that could take a man’s head clean off.” I jolt my elbows, as if I’m about to do exactly what I just warned him. He flinches, along with the rest of his guards.

  “Alright,” he says, “what do you propose?” I think for a moment. “I’ll give you all your money back,” I suggest, “every last tetzle, in exchange for the girl.”

  “How is that a fair trade by any means?” Mezzias asks. He’s a little smarter than I remember him to be. After all, I only see him once a year. I try again, my mind working quickly.