I hated that I resonated with the bitter woman more than the hopeful person. Not wanting that to be the case, wanting to be strong and in control of my destiny, if only the tiniest bit, I lift my head.
“Thanks,” I mumble.
The young woman in front of me is black, busty and beautiful, with curves in all the right places. Thick, dark lashes frame her doe-like brown eyes. I can see why the yon abducted her. What I don’t understand is why they abducted me. I am nothing compared to this sex goddess. I’m sassy and fun, which I don’t think the aliens care a lick about. Men call me cute, but sexy like her? The woman in front of me is miles out of my league.
“I’m Laticia,” the woman says.
“Elizabeth,” I reply.
Scanning the rest of the room, I see there are at least twenty other women in here. I lift a hand in greeting. The others nod, smile, or wave.
“Where did they snag you from?” Laticia asks.
“Boston. Little Italy. I grew up there, but I’ve lived in Georgia now for a few years. I was back home visiting when they took me.”
“I love Little Italy,” Laticia says.
Clearly, she’s trying to get my mind off my shitty luck. She talks as if we’re two chicks out on the town, gabbing about restaurants we like. Her tactics work. My shoulders loosen a little. There’s something about Laticia. She has a soft, kind aura.
“Me too. Best pizza in Boston.”
“But it’s got nothin’ on New York.”
I don’t agree, but I’m not about to argue pizza with the woman trying to comfort me. I might have gotten myself abducted, but I’m not that big of an idiot.
“I have to say,” Laticia continues. “I’m surprised that you’re the only one they brought in. I came with eight others. Most arrive in groups.”
“There were more. Lots more,” I say. “But they got put in a cell closer to the main door. It was pretty packed, so the alien guard led me here.”
I shrug.
“I didn’t get any of the other ladies’ names, or where they’re from.”
She hums, taking that in. I don’t want her to stop talking because she’s calming me down, so I broach the question burning in my mind.
“You said that most of them are gentlemen? Sort of?”
Laticia shrugs.
“I’ve heard absolute horror stories about being abducted. I’m sure you have too. The ones that claim they immediately rape or kill you, but,” she gestures to the room, “we’re still here. Two women had shitty experiences, but the three yons I’ve had one-on-one time with seemed okay. I think they have some honor code in place. It’s hard to determine because we don’t speak their language.”
“Yeah, what do they do about that?” I ask.
If I’m going to be taken into space, I’d like to know what’s being said around me.
“I think when one of us connects with a dude, they implant a translation chip. At least that’s what happened with the woman who left with a male yesterday.”
“Willingly?”
I’ve heard that some women like the aliens. I can kind of see it. They’re attractive, I’ll give ‘em that, but their actions are inexcusable.
“She was all over the guy.”
“I thought they were looking for females to have their babies? Why bother with a chip. Why wouldn’t they force us to have sex and keep us all together?”
“Not sure, but I heard that too,” Laticia agrees. “It seems like all the women have to meet one guy before they meet others. I don’t know why; he didn’t say when I met him. He seemed all right, though.”
“Any idea who he is?”
“It’s clear that he’s high in the command chain. Everyone listens to him.”
I’m about to ask her more about the top dog when the door that leads into the prison-like area opens. Laticia glances out the bars and sucks in a sharp breath.
“It’s him,” she hisses.
One woman squeals. I twist to make sure she’s okay, tilting my head to the side. Others are scurrying to the far back of the cell.
What the . . .
“Come with me.”
Laticia pulls me into the crowd.
“You’re new, and we think he likes blondes.”
I do what she says, scampering to the back of the cell. I’m even more weirded out when most of the women part for me, placing their bodies in front of mine. When I’m tucked into the far back corner, Laticia stands in front of me. I catch the eye of a woman next to me.
“Who is it?” I whisper. “The head honcho?”
The petite woman, who is also blonde, shakes her head.
“The leader is all right. Intimidating, but not creepy. There’s another one though . . . he’s so gross. Sometimes he comes and stares at us, like we’re meat.”
“Stares?”
It’s unnerving, sure, but there are worse things.
She gulps.
“He actually told two blondes, hence the theory that he likes them, to stand in front of everyone naked. Then he just looks at them. For like ten minutes.”
I wrinkle my nose. Okay, that is disturbing. And humiliating. Those poor women.
“Has he taken any girls from the cell?”
“One . . . she’s over there.”
She gestures to the opposite corner of the cell.
I crane my neck around her and my mouth falls open. There’s a woman, maybe a year or two older than my twenty-five years, sitting on the ground. Her knees are to her chest and she’s rocking, a distant look in her eyes.
“What did he do to her?” I ask, horrified.
“No one knows.”
The woman’s mouth snaps shut, and her eyes grow as wide as saucers.
“Shhhh! He’s here.” She ducks so that there’s no way the horrible dude can see her.
But I have to see him, to know who I could be dealing with. So, instead of following reasonable tactics of avoidance, I lift on my tiptoes. Most of the captured women are short, so even though I’m average, it’s easy to peer over the crowd.
When I see him, I stiffen.
His cold ice-blue eyes are searching the sea of females hungrily. Scars run up and down exposed arms rippling with muscles. Another disfigures his face. This yon looks hardened, almost soulless.
I shudder and am about to hide in the crowd, when his eyes snap to me. Our gazes lock, and the corner of Hard Face’s lips curl up ever so slightly.
Laticia releases a soft groan.
The asshole yon has zeroed in on me.
I’m so fucked.
The scary, cold yon grunts and suddenly an alien I have not seen appears and opens the cell door. The scarred alien beckons for me to come to him. Bravely, an older woman steps forward, but he shakes his head and plows through the group. The petite blonde next to me slithers away and the woman rocking in the corner flings her face into her knees. Adrenaline shoots through me as I begin to panic, but it’s too late. He’s already standing right in front of me.
I don’t move a muscle as he lifts his hand to my face and begins stroking my long, blonde hair. I shiver at his touch.
Why didn’t I hide?
Hard Face grunts grabbing my arm. I shoot a panicked look to Laticia, who bits her lip. Immediately, I feel bad for looking to her for help. She already tried to help me by hiding me. I’m an idiot who didn’t listen. I can’t ask her to throw herself in harm’s way again.
Instead, I put on a brave front, following the enormous yon warrior out of the cell. Well, follow is a loose term. The jerk is pulling me down the corridor, and as I haven’t eaten since they captured me late last night, I struggle to keep up.
“Can you slow down?” I snap.
He whirls on me and his nostrils flare. He grunts out a word that I don’t understand. I do the universal gesture of ‘I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about’. He closes his eyes and releases a frustrated growl.
“Tell me about it. I can’t understand you either, and I sure would like some sort
of explanation as to why I’m here.”
A big blue hand slaps over my mouth. Once I’m quiet, Hard Face changes course, grabbing my wrist and pulling me into a side hallway. We go about halfway down the hall, when he stops in front of a door, opens it, and pulls me inside. There’s another yon in the room.
He reminds me a bit of a scientist, although he doesn’t wear a white lab coat but dark black robes. Which, when I consider it, really is more sensible. Scientists deal with a lot of weird shit. What if they spill something on themselves?
Hard Face motions for me to stand on the other side of him, away from the door. The yons have a conversation. The scientist glances at me and shakes his head, which makes creepy Hard Face visibly pissed. My fists clench. Dammit, I don’t want to be so helpless. I want to know what’s happening. It’s clear the scientist doesn’t want to do whatever the other guy wants to do.
They talk for a few more minutes before the scientist whirls around and reaches for a device, a holo, like a fancy phone.
Before he can lay a finger on it, Hard Face grabs him by the neck, shoving him up against the wall.
I yelp, backing up. The scientist squirms as he cries out, probably for assistance, but the warrior brute doesn’t release. Instead, he picks up what looks like a gun from a side table and hands it to the scientist. With trembling hands the scientist takes it, twists, and inserts something into the gun.
Fear rampages through me and I begin to tremble uncontrollably.
What’s going on? Did the asshole yon bring me here to shoot me?
I’m nearly convulsing, when Hard Face grabs me again and forcibly extends my arm. Before I can stop them, the scientists presses the gun to my forearm and pulls the trigger.
Pain slices through me, halting the shaking. I release a scream that’s cut short when a hand claps over my mouth again.
“Shut up woman!”
I rip Hard Face’s hand off me.
“You try getting shot in the arm!—”
My mouth snaps shut. Hells bells and buckets of blood. Did I understand him?
The soulless alien leers.
“Good, the translation chip worked. Let’s go to my chambers. Hurry.”
Translation chip?! What the actual fuck!
I seethe as he pulls me behind him. Who just implants someone with a chip? But there’s nothing I can do about it. The chip is already inside me, not even slightly visible.
And as Hard Face wrenches me out of the room and down the hall, my gaze snaps to his determined face. He’s on a mission, and while I’m no shrinking violet, I know I’m not strong enough to stand up to him. My throat constricts at the idea, because this guy gives me the major creeps. I’m fairly certain he’s one of the baddies and wants to rape me.
Knowing there’s only one thing I can do, I act, stopping and dropping to the ground where I begin to scream bloody murder.
2.
“Shut up, female! Stand up! You’re coming with me!” Hard Face hauls me to my feet and clamps a hand over my mouth again. His eyes rove over my blonde hair, as if he’s trying to convince himself that I’m worth the trouble.
I curse my hair for enticing him as I tug away and holler through my muffled mouth. Unfortunately, the hallways are empty. No one hears my cries.
I yank backwards again, wanting to free my voice. He clamps down harder; I squirm enough so that his hand slips from my mouth. The moment it does I release another bloodcurdling scream. The second his hand is pressed back down over my lips, I bit him. Hard.
Hard Face’s grasp loosens as he releases a roar unlike anything I’ve ever heard. Taking advantage of his pain, I ripped myself out of his hold and ran.
“Help! Help! He’s going to hurt me!”
I’m not sure if anyone on the ship would care if he hurt me. After all, they’ve abducted me and plan on taking me to their planet. Still, the words slip out naturally, and what I’m saying isn’t as important as getting attention. If I get attention, maybe someone will stand up to the guy. Tell him to back the fuck off. From there, I can figure out how I can keep out of his grasp.
There must be a reason the scientist hesitated to allow me to go with him, I just haven’t figured out what it is yet.
I yell out for help again. Footsteps trail behind me, hard and fast against the ship’s floor. My heart rate kicks up, and I put on a burst of speed as I round a corner.
The corridor I find myself in is nicer than the ones we traveled before. More polished with actual accents of decoration. Unfortunately, as the creeper’s footsteps close in, I don’t have time to take it all in. I push my burning legs harder, trying to distance myself from him.
I don’t make it very far. A door opens and a hand reaches out to stop me. It wraps around my waist, crushing me against a hard, muscled chest.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
A gruff, growly voice hits my ear. I relax a bit. Finally, someone else. Maybe they can help me.
I twist my neck and find another yon. His blue skin gleams, unscarred, almost glowing. He’s at least a foot taller than the creeper guy and has amazing violet eyes that take me off guard.
“Why are you out of your holding room?”
His eyebrows knit together. They are blue and very, very bushy. I’ll admit it, he’s hot, but this guy could use a pair of tweezers.
“And who are you? I haven’t seen you yet.”
Hasn’t seen me yet? What kind of statement is that?
I stiffen as something more major strikes me. He’s speaking English. So far, none of the aliens have spoken English.
“Answer me!”
I open my mouth to reply, but at that very moment Hard Face rips around the corner and skids to a stop. His eyes widen.
The alien holding me appraises him and his lips flattened into a frown. “Folgru, have you taken this female from her quarters without my permission?”
He has switched to the yon language now.
There’s a noise inside the room that Violet Eyes emerged from. I peeked past him to find four other aliens, all wearing official-looking uniforms, kind of like this guy. They’re standing around, halfway between a large table and the door, as if a meeting has just adjourned.
“Speak.” Violet Eyes says.
There’s a demanding tone to his voice, one that tells me he is used to being followed. Is this the head honcho? And why does my heart flutter when he’s barking out orders like that?
Folgru’s eyes dipped to the ground.
“It’s not fair that you get first pick. Many of us have never had a mate, or umis. We wish to have them too. You—”
The yon who’s holding me stiffens, and his jaw tightens. For the first time, I notice how good he smells. Clean and fresh, almost citrusy, but in a masculine sort of way.
“Don’t you dare mention my deceased mate,” He snaps. “What I do with these females is none of your concern. It is my right to choose first. You will follow orders.”
“I wish to mate too,” Folgru says, his tone more heated this time. “To be the first to touch—”
Whatever he’s about to say falls away as Violet Eyes smashes his lips against mine. I let out a squeak as he kisses me, hot and full of anger.
But fuck me, if he isn’t a good kisser.
His tongue probs into my mouth and it’s like I have no will of my own. My lips part, allowing him inside. The alien presses harder, like I’m water and he’s in desperate need. My panties become damp. The heat of him is sweeping through me, unstoppable. It makes me want to cling to him. What the fuck is happening?
A soft moan teases out of me. Abruptly, Violet Eyes stops kissing me and lifts his face to look at Folgru.
“I’ve claimed her. In case you can’t tell, she desires me.”
Folgru growls low in his throat.
“You’ve stepped over the line one too many times. First, by defiling females that others wished to claim, and now this?” The yon holding me sneers. “You will be no one’s first as long as I’m here. A
ccept that now, or you will get no female at all.”
He snaps his fingers, and two aliens rush out of the room.
“Tizax, Kitza, take Folgru to a holding cell. Only once every other yon has met each female and we have chosen, then I will release him. At that time, if there are unclaimed females, he may meet them.”
Folgru looks like he wants to fight, his muscles are so coiled but he doesn’t. He falls in line and disappears.
I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Thank you.”
The leader’s eyes widen, and he shakes his head.
“You understood all that? He’s put the translation chip in you already? He deserves a cell.”
I don’t disagree, although I have to admit it is nice to know what people are saying.
“When did you arrive?”
“An hour ago.”
“Impossible. I stopped by the new females’ quarters as they arrived. I don’t recall seeing you.”
Behind us, someone clears their throat.
“I believe they put one woman in a room with females who have been here a while. To keep the overcrowding at a minimum.”
“Yeah! That’s what Laticia said. And then that asshole pulled me out of the cell, sorry, my quarters.”
There it is, the sassy me is back. Apparently, I can’t shove it deep down inside me, even for my rescuer. I cringe because now is so not the time for sass. I could piss this guy off and he could do anything to me.
But instead of appearing frustrated, Violet Eyes regards me, looking amused.
“Sir, should we return her to her quarters?” someone asks.
After a moment of intense study that makes my toes curl in my tennis shoes, Violet Eyes nods and releases me.
Once back in the cell, the women interrogate me right away. Laticia is at the front of the pack.
“Girl! Are you okay?”
While I assumed that she only talked to me before so I’d stop losing my shit, I now see Laticia just has a good heart. We’ll be fast friends. Well, as long as we don’t get separated being sold as slaves or something shitty like that.
“Fine. That asshole put a translation chip in me. To be honest, I’m not sure why. His goal was definitely to rape me, which doesn’t require talking, but another yon stopped him.”
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