by T. J. Quinn
He didn’t understand the full meaning of her words, but he did understand the menacing tone of her words. “What friend?” he murmured back. He intended to buy every human, but perhaps she was talking about someone else.
“They’re not exhibiting her.”
“Dear customers, please return to your seats, the auction is about to start.”
The females were taken away, and Asgar followed the rest of the customers to the seats.
“What did she tell you?” Egil asked him, as soon as they took a seat.
“Apparently, there’s a human they’re not auctioning,” Asgar replied, with a frown. “But, we’ll take care of that later.”
The auction started and one by one, the females were sold, and after spending a considerable amount of money, Asgar acquired all the human females and ordered Egil to take them back to their ship.
He planned to find more about the mysterious woman the Slythonians were hiding.
But his soul mate had other plans. When she realized, she was being taken away from the ship without her friend she lost her temper.
“No… no… I’m not going anyway without my friend,” she cried out, charging against Egil, trying to stop him.
“Stop, right now,” Eskol shouted the order, but that didn’t stop her. The collar did, and Asgar only had time to catch her before she hit the floor.
He picked her in his arms and whispered in her ear. “I’ll get her. Leave this to me.”
She looked at him, with so much pain in her eyes; he almost let out a growl of rage.
Chapter Ten
He handed her to Egil and waited for them to be out of the Slythonian ship before he turned to face the Captain.
“That’s a feisty one,” the captain said with a smirk.
“I like them that way,” Asgar assured him. “What was she talking about?” he asked, in a careless tone.
“She has been feisty from the moment we acquired her, to the point we were forced to bring with us her roommate,” the captain explained.
“Why wasn’t she at the auction?”
“She’s… special. I’m preparing a special auction for her,” the captain explained.
“What do you mean with special?” Asgar asked, with a slight frown.
“She can’t walk, she’s crippled,” the slave master replied, with obvious scorn in his tone.
The captain sent his man a warning look. “As you must know, we are able to find customers with all sorts of… tastes.”
“I guess she’s human, right?” Asgar asked, not sure he should take back a woman as the one described, but the pain in his woman’s eyes, made the decision for him.
“Yes, she is. The earthlings don’t seem to have knowledge of other species,” the captain replied.
“Perhaps, we could help each other, Captain Rurik. Our king has grown a sudden taste for human females, and he ordered me to take all of them back with me,” Asgar started explained. “What if I pay you the highest bid you had tonight for that human?” he proposed.
“It’s damaged merchandise,” Eskol snorted.
“I’m aware of that, but the King won’t mind.”
The captain seemed to consider his proposition for a few moments before he finally nodded. “Very well, you can have her. That way I can depart immediately.”
“Perfect.” The transaction was made, and Eskol was asked to bring the female.
“Would you still be interested in more females? This time, we shall take longer to return to this quadrant, but I could warn you when we do,” the captain suggested, and Asgar nodded his acceptance.
“Yes, please, captain, I would appreciate that,” he made a small pause. “I guess the planet where the humans are from is very far from our galaxy.”
“Yes, it is,” the captain replied, and his tone showed Asgar he didn’t admit any more questions on the subject.
Eskol returned carrying a woman on his shoulders and dropped her at Asgar’s feet.
“Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you, and I’m looking forward your next visit,” Asgar said, with a cold smile, picking up the female. She was unconscious.
“Us too,” they said, nodded and Asgar left their vessel.
By the time Asgar arrived at his own ship, the other women had been taken to their quarters and Egil was waiting for him.
“So, they were hiding one,” he said when he saw Asgar carrying a woman.
“Yes, but this one wasn’t in their original plans,” Asgar explained as he rushed to the infirmary. The woman was still unconscious.
“What happened?” Egil rushed after him.
“Not sure yet, but she doesn’t fit their parameters of perfection,” he replied as he reached the medical unit. “She can’t walk,” he turned to look at the doctor. “Check her vitals. I’m sure Eskol did something to her.”
“Even after you bought her?” Egil asked as they stepped aside, giving room to the doctor.
“Yes, for some reason, he didn’t want her to be sold,” he rubbed his face, a bit anxious. “Set a course back home immediately. I’ll go talk to her friend.”
“Are you sure you want to do that? She has been pounding the door to her quarters ever since I left her there,” Egil explained.
Asgar scowled but nodded. “I might be able to calm her down.”
“Good luck with that.”
Asgar walked to the area they had prepared for their guests, and soon he was hearing her poundings. He opened the door, and she fell against him, ready to pound once more.
“Let me out of here…” she cried out, struggling to free herself.
Asgar carried her easily inside the room and closed the door. “Please, calm down.”
“You left her there… he’s going to kill her… you bastard…” she yelled at him as she punched his chest.
“I brought her with me,” he finally managed to say, though he had to repeat it a few times until she finally understood what he was saying.
Her hands stood still over his chest. “What did you say?” she asked in a low tone.
“I brought your friend with me,” he repeated again.
For a moment, she didn’t say a word, she just stayed there, with her hands on his chest, and her eyes fixed on his chest. And all of a sudden, she had buried her face in his chest and started crying out loud.
Asgar simply held her in his arms and allowed her to unburden herself. She clearly had been through a lot.
In a day, they would arrive at Zuvrak, and the time for explanations would finally arrive.
Excerpts from
Haakon 2140
Rosalind paced her room, trying to make some sense out of the past few days. One moment she was home, alone, having a well-deserved glass of white wine, snugged on her couch and the other, some disgusting lizards were abducting her from the planet and selling her to some sort of dragons on an even furthermost planet called Zuvrak.
On her group, there was only another human female, Erin that had been abducted from England, and during those weeks at the lizards’ vessel, they had become good friends. Fortunately, she had been bought along with her, so she wasn’t completely alone on a strange planet, god knows in what galaxy, with no hopes of ever returning home.
According to the king on this planet, they were expected to become one of their males’ soul mate, but so far they hadn’t given them any more details on that. She guessed they wouldn’t even know they were half dragons if it wasn’t for the unexpected arrival of one of them, still displaying his wings and claws.
Seeing him had been like a shock to her. Something strange stirred up inside her and she felt as if her guts had been clutched in an iron fist, as soon as her eyes fell on him.
Tall, at least seven feet tall, like all of the Drogons she had seen so far, with a long, platinum mane, that fell down his back and those peculiar gray eyes, Haakon was one of the most attractive men… being… whatever he was… she had ever seen.
In fact, he looked like his brother, the kin
g, a lot. Same hair, same build, same features, but for some reason, the king hadn’t allured her the way this man did. Perhaps, it was the barely contained fierceness you could sense in him, that wasn’t as obvious under the veneer of civility of the king. She had no idea what it was, but it was so powerful, she couldn’t deny it, at least, not to herself.
Used to show an unmoved expression to the world, she found herself struggling not to show her attraction to him and that had been the last straw.
She had asked the king to end the meeting and he had finally agreed.
Egil, one of the men that had bought them from the Slythonians, aka the lizards, guided them through what felt endless hallways to their suites. The place was huge, and though she had had a very good life back on Earth, the planet’s overpopulation had forced people to live in smaller and smaller houses and apartments. She was sure her whole apartment would fit in the suite’s living room, not to mention the bedroom, the bathroom and the dressing room that were also a part of the suite.
The only thing she didn’t like was the minimalism of the decoration. The suite had the basic furniture and nothing else, not a picture on a wall, not a cushion on the puffs, and surely not a vase with flowers on the small table.
Suddenly feeling very tired, she decided to take a shower, as long as she was able to decipher the shower stall she had seen in the bathroom.
But she wasn’t. She couldn’t read the hieroglyphs on the shower stall and she simply wasn’t able to make the damn thing work.
Frustrated, and feeling a bit edgy, she left her room looking for someone to help her.
She had taken just a few steps out of her room when she heard someone behind her. Startled, she turned around just to find Haakon walking her way. Her heart jumped on her chest and she instinctively put her hand over it.
“Is there a problem, Víf Rosalind?” he asked, with a naughty smile on his face, as if he knew exactly how she was feeling.
She looked around, eager to find someone else to help her, but they seemed to be alone in the hallway. She let out a deep sigh. “I need to get a shower. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to make the shower stall work. How can I call someone to help me?” she asked, making sure he understood she didn’t want his help.
“I can help you.” he offered immediately.
“I’m sure you have more important things to do than to show me how to work the shower.” She dismissed his offer as politely as she could.
“Nonsense, there’s nothing more important than to see your guests are well-cared for.” He said, taking her by her elbow and guiding her back to her room.
The moment he touched her, jolts of energy rushed through her body, as if the fabric of her tunic between their skins didn’t exist. Her heart speeded its pace and she was having trouble to control her breathing as he dragged her back into her bedroom.
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Excerpt From Dream Alien
PROLOGUE
Chaytok (shay’tok) Larrin ran through all the checks on his starship for a third time while he was waiting for lift off clearance at the Narovian Starport on the outskirts of Narov. It was a busy day at the Starport which was adjacent to the city airport. There were about two dozen starships waiting in the queue. Chaytok’s was number fourteen with about one lift off per hour since dawn.
He’d already waited months, a few more hours would make little difference. All that mattered that he was leaving finally.
Chaytok had returned to Narova after serving in the United Alliance of Planets combined military defense force. Outsiders had tried to take over one of the colonies in the Alliance had been terraforming for a thousand years. Colonists from the Alliance were already in route with a small fleet of settlers.
The terraforming had cost so much and had taken so long, the Alliance was not just going to hand it over to some alien faction. They had taken a barren planet in a yellow dwarf system and made habitable for humans and humanoids of various species. The Alliance had offered to compromise and allow the aliens to settle there as well if they would join the Alliance and abide by their laws.
Instead, the Efargans attacked the landing parties that were comprised of construction crews. Their lightly armed security teams were no match for heavily armed cyborg warriors. Two-thirds of the crews had been slaughtered by the time the Alliance battle cruisers arrived with the special ground forces.
Chaytok was one of that elite regiment, also a trained shuttle pilot. They were not cyborgs but wore state of the art, enhanced armor that put them on better than equal ground with the Efargan cyborgs. They fought hard and won, but the cost in casualties was high. Chaytok had been one of them. If not for his cousin Jecklin Fantis who dragged him back to the escape shuttle, Chaytok Larrin would be dead.
Six months recovery time on his home world Narova was more than enough to make him restless to get back in space. While modern medicine had returned him back to physical fitness to perform his duties, it also gave him the opportunity to opt out of the service, that and the number of combat time he’d accumulated.
He was ready to make a new life for himself, but the six months he’d been back on Narova showed him clearly that it was no place for him. It was way too civilized a man like Chaytok after the things he had seen and done. The most important thing for him to do all day was to entertain himself. The family farm and business were primarily automated.
On Narova, Chaytok Larrin was just was just another wealthy feline heir with a huge trust fund. After his return from service in the Defense Force, he received full control of it and bought a ship with part of the funds. The rest saved to buy land on one of the more recently opened colonial worlds and begin a family of his own.
So far, the Narovian Matchmaking Agency had not found his meomee---his fated mate or true mate. Chaytok was of a feline humanoid race that evolved on Narova before homo sapiens had been seeded there by a far older race. The Narovian Matchmaking Agency find mates for felines by DNA matching for complementary subjects. It is the opposite of familial matching. The service seeks a mate that will produce offspring with the best genes from each parent. Testing is voluntary, though most Narovians participate, because meomee matches with feline guarantee a lifelong monogamous, loving relationship.
The Narovian agency was processing DNA from Earthers under the guise of ancestral evaluation, but again if was voluntary and somewhat costly for ordinary working people. Participation was random, so Chaytok was not surprised that no match was found.
His parents weren’t meomee so he didn’t consider it necessary to make a family. He was more concerned about building a home to shelter the family before making one.
But first, he had to get off Narova. Finally, his turn to lift off came. His ship was an older model, retrofitted with newer technology. It saved him funds he would need for land and a dwelling on Vesta Three. All systems were in working order according to the ship’s AI and his manual checks. He wasted no time giving the AI the lift off order. Within minutes he was in space and heading toward Vesta Three to make his new home.
This was new territory for Chaytok. He was a good pilot and navigator in familiar sectors, but he was in unfamiliar territory. About two weeks into the trip he discovered he was off course and there was a part failing in his star drive. The glitches weren’t directly related. There had been a power surge to the AI that caused the incorrect course and the part in his star drive had been deemed in good condition during the rebuild. That’s what he for cutting corners. But his reasoning was sound. Now he wished he’s waited for a passenger freighter. That would have saved even more money than buying his own meager little ship.
Chaytok weighed that factor in, too. Getting a direct transport to Vesta Three was a longshot. He could have been stranded somewhere even hard to find transport to an outlying colony. Nor could he have brought the amount of cargo he now carried on
his own ship.
When he found his trajectory would take him close to the Earth-Sol system, he was partly relieved because the Alliance had a large base on Mars. He gave up hope of landing there when he found how far Mars orbit was in relationship to Earth’s. He would need to go to Earth, close to his last choice. At least there was an Alliance presence there, and his cloaking tech was working.
One
What a gorgeous day, Alexa James thought as she led her big red gelding from the barn. The sky was bright blue without a cloud to be seen on that warm September morning. It was perfect weather for a leisurely ride through the woods on her property and into the public forest. Jetson stood patiently in the barnyard while Alexa mounted and seated herself atop the western style saddle. She urged him forward into a canter to the trail that began as two tracks etched in the dirt with a strip of grass down the middle. As she rode deeper into the forest, the trail became solid hard packed dirt.
Alexa needed the diversion to clear her head after she got the notice that Lawrence was released from prison. She had a restraining order against him, but a piece of paper wouldn't stop him from coming after her. He blamed her because she pressed charges after he kidnapped her, beat and terrorized her until she agreed to have sex with him. She finally escaped when he fell asleep. The case pleaded out so he would only serve up to seven years. With time off for good behavior, he got out in four. After what he did, she couldn't believe she ever thought she loved him.
At first, he seemed like a caring lover, but after they had become exclusive, the facade started to crumble. Lawrence became jealous and controlling. He had to know where she was and with whom at all times. The first time he thought a man had been too friendly to her at a restaurant he had raged at her. Another time he slapped her in the parking lot after they'd been to a club dancing. Things escalated from there until Alexa finally admitted to herself that she was in an abusive relationship.