by Alana Khan
Galaxy Pirates Alien Abduction Romance Series
Book Two
By Alana Khan
Thantose
Table of Contents
Copyright
Up to Now . . .
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
SSLY Sneak Peek
Copyright
Thantose: Book Two in the Galaxy Pirates Alien Abduction Romance Series by Alana Khan
P.O. Box 18393, Golden, CO 80402
www.alanakhan.com
© 2020 Alana Kahn
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
For permissions contact: [email protected]
Cover by Elle Arden
Up to Now . . .
Several months ago, Thantose’s pirate ship rescued his cousin Devolose and four Earth females who had been abducted by slavers, equipped with subdural translators, and slated for sale.
Two of the females are now in serious relationships with two of the males aboard the ship: Tawny is with Devolose, and Lexa and Sextus are a mated couple. Carrie is still on the ship, hoping to find a planet where she can thrive. She’s been gone from Earth too long to return and could never answer the government’s questions about where she’s been.
Brin had been in alien captivity for a decade and was badly abused since she was twelve. Knowing she needed time to heal, Brin agreed to stay on planet Primus with Thantose’s mother, Valeria, even though Brin had made it known she wanted to be on the Tranquility with Thantose.
Prologue
Dear TT,
Can I call you TT? I think of you that way because I spend so much time with your ahma, who calls you that.
She talks about you all the time and I feel like I’m getting to know you even though you’re a million miles away. Don’t worry, everything she says makes me like you even more.
First, let me apologize for my behavior the last time we met. I took you by surprise when I asked to move in with you on your ship. My attraction felt so powerful and I wanted to be with you. I understand now that it was forward of me.
It was so sweet the way you handled it. A lesser male would have rejected me outright or made fun of me or even punished me. You were so kind to talk to me privately and suggest I needed more time to heal.
I’m working in one of your ahma’s boutiques and learning more about Primian society. Your ahma is just as nice as you are. I’m so lucky to be here.
I hope you’re not too mad at me,
Brin
~.~ ~.~
Brin,
I’m not mad at you. Please get that thought out of your head. You’re a fine young woman and deserve the best. I’m glad my ahma is treating you well and you’re adjusting to Primus.
Best,
Thantose
~.~ ~.~
Dear TT,
Thanks so much for responding to my last comm. I know you’re super busy captaining your ship. I pray you stay safe.
You know I was abducted at age twelve and haven’t exactly lived a normal life since then. The girls at school used to pass notes to the boys they liked, so I guess this is my way of doing that.
I think of you all the time. You’re so handsome. The first moment I saw you walking toward me on planet Paradise I feared you. But you saved my life. From that moment on, I thought you were the most attractive male I’d ever seen.
I probably shouldn’t mention that I think of you at night. And maybe I shouldn’t tell you all the ways I picture you touching me.
If you write back, I’ll tell you.
Fondly,
Brin
~.~ ~.~
Brin,
I’m very sorry you got the wrong impression. I do not envision myself in a relationship at any point in the foreseeable future—not with you, nor anyone else.
Please don’t take this as a personal rejection, you’re a very nice female.
I wish you the best,
Thantose
Chapter One
Present Day
On planet Primus
Thantose
It’s been five lunar cycles since I’ve stood in my ahma’s elegant foyer, chandeliers dripping with crystals, an intricate mosaic of a clinock tree beneath my feet.
I love my ahma, and she’s had her heart set on buying an original copy of the Meris for decades. As a pirate, I’ve tried to steal her a copy, but the hundred or so owners of these books keep them under more surveillance than the gilded chalice of Chaldea.
When she asked me to help her buy the book at auction, I was more than happy to do so. It’s only since I walked through the front door a few minimas ago that she’s informed me the auction isn’t on our home planet of Primus and she wants me to attend the auction without her.
“So you want me to go to planet Virago to buy the book without you?” I ask.
“Yes, TT.” She’s been holding my hand and smiling at me since I walked through the door a few minimas ago.
“But free males aren’t allowed on Virago. How do you expect me to accomplish this?”
“I’ve spoken with Brin. She’ll go with you, posing as your owner. You’ll pretend to be her slave. I’ll give her access to three million credits—that’s as high as I’ll go.”
I pull ahma into my baba’s study and close the door. She hasn’t changed a thing in the wood-paneled room since he died annums ago. I glance around and am bombarded with memories of sitting here with him.
He helped me with my homework on his oversized desk, taught me about sex here, and consoled me in secondary school when the female I was seeing died in a horrific hover crash. I tamp down a pang of sadness, then turn my attention to ahma.
“Do you realize you’ve asked Brin, a female who was a slave for a decade, to pose as a slave owner? Have you considered how difficult this might be for her? And me, ahma, asking your only child to impersonate a slave. Have you given this thought?”
“Oh.” She looks contrite. “You were in plays all through secondary school, are you telling me it will bother you to pretend to be a slave?”
I shake my head. I’m not shy.
“But Brin? How do you think it will affect her?” I press.
“I’ll admit I didn’t think that through. I’ll ask her again, but she didn’t seem to mind,” her voice isn’t as strong as it was a minima ago. Is she reconsidering?
“Explain again why you can’t do this yourself?”
“It’s an exclusive society, like a club. I’m well over one hundred annums old. Even though Primians routinely live to two hundred, I don’t think they’ll sell it to me. They’ll want a younger female to own the book.”
She frowns. I can tell it killed her to admit it. No one likes to acknowledge they’re getting old.
“I didn’t realize the auction wouldn’t be here on Primus. Our ship is in for minor repairs. How do you expect—”
“I’ve rented you an adorable two-person vessel for the trip. I’ve organ
ized everything. Because it’s a three-day affair—they’ll be vetting Brin to not only own the Meris, but be part of their exclusive society—I’ve arranged clothing for you both for all the events. Luckily I’ve made a very good living as a fashion designer. You’ll look stunning together.
“I’ve tutored Brin on the finer points of their expectations. You two could make it fun.”
Fun, indeed. I try not to think about the comms full of sexual innuendo that Brin sent me, nor will I ever admit that in the five lunar cycles since she sent them I’ve been fisting myself to images of the things she alluded to in said comms.
Brin. I doubt she wants to make this trip to Virago any more than I do. She’s fragile. After what she’s been through, she’d never relish impersonating a slave owner. And I doubt she wants to be in my company.
When we rescued her several lunar cycles ago, she was so meek she couldn’t look any of us males in the eye. She told the females about the hideous abuse she suffered at the hands of her previous owners. We were appalled when she told us she yearned to reunite with the last male, the one who relinquished her to brutal slavers in order to trade her in for another model.
Lexa went to school to study people’s behavior; she labeled Brin with a diagnosis. But you don’t need a degree to know that Brin isn’t ready for a relationship with anyone. She needs time to heal. Which is why she stayed on Primus with ahma rather than joining us on our vessel.
I didn’t take the bait of her thinly-veiled sexual comms, thinking my lack of interest would be a clear message. I was hoping by now Brin could tolerate my decision that she not join me onboard the Ataraxia as she’d requested. Also, I was hoping she would have changed her mind and no longer want to be with me.
I’ve been kind to her, but I never gave her reason to believe I was interested in her. The females tell me she’s pretty. Lexa said Brin was “movie star beautiful.” I’m not certain what that means, but I assume people on her planet would pay money to see her.
Frankly, it’s hard to see the attraction. Humans all look alike to me. Nor do I understand her interest in me. Her species thinks Primians look like devils. I guess her wanting to be with me is part of what Lexa describes as her ‘disorder’.
“I hope this book is worth what you’re putting both of us through,” I tell ahma. “If I do this, consider it both your birthday and your Chingress Day present,” I scold.
There are two reasons I’m considering this trip to Virago. The first is that even though she can be pushy, she’s always doted on me. I like to return the favor. There’s a small compartment in my hold filled with trinkets I’ve stolen for her. I could have bought them, but where’s the fun in that?
The second reason is that the galaxy’s most brutal underworld mastermind has sworn to kill us and we had to buy a new ship—a very expensive new ship that I had to borrow money from my ahma to buy. This is the deciding factor that seals the deal—I’m in her debt.
“Alright, Ahma, I’ll go to Virago to buy the book for you. If Brin’s willing, we’ll leave Primus tomorrow for the two-day trip.”
“I love you, TT. You’re the best son an ahma ever had.” She smiles warmly as we walk back into the foyer.
Two days there, several days on the planet for the auction, and two days back. It will be interminable, and awkward,being in an enclosed space with the damaged female who all but offered herself to me via comms.
Pirates aren’t known for their altruism. I can be a dracker, I’ve stolen from the rich all over this galaxy, but there’s something about Brin that tugs at my heart. She lived through a decade as a sex slave. There must be something I can do to help her.
Over the next hoara I devise a plan to improve the young human’s life.
Brin
I’ve waited five months to see Thantose again. I’m wearing my favorite kimono and I’ve tamed my red hair. Peering over the balcony, I catch a glimpse of him. He’s wearing an alien version of a black t-shirt and cargo pants.
Primians’ bodies have red, violet, or orange skin over part of their bodies and black on the rest. Their distinctive black and white markings, especially on their faces give them their individual appearance.
The first time I saw the males from the ship, they looked scarier than the raging flood waters threatening to drown us on planet Paradise. But they rescued us females from certain death and have been nothing but kind ever since.
I barely notice the differences in our species anymore, especially after living on Primus for months. And Thantose? He’s gorgeous. He’s fun and mischievous and strong and commanding. There’s something about the combination of being humorous and forceful under all that colorful skin that takes my breath away. When he’s around, I can’t tear my eyes off him.
Valeria, his mom, told me he was arriving today—and why. I wasn’t surprised she wanted a copy of that book; she talks about it all the time. I was surprised at the lengths she’ll go to get it.
Thantose couldn’t be happy about it. He’s made it clear he’s not interested in me. I’m sure he’s not thrilled we’ll be thrown together in a small vessel for a week. That I’ll be posing as his owner? Nope, a male like him wouldn’t easily agree to that.
This won’t be a walk in the park for me, either. After he and his crew left, I wrote him several emails. Well, they call them Intergalactic comms, whatever. I poured my heart out to him—God, I wish I hadn’t done that. His answers were short and terse and it couldn’t have been more clear he wants nothing to do with me.
One of his crew maimed and almost killed Daneur Khour, the head of the galaxy’s biggest cartel. Because Khour wants to kill everyone on board, they bought a new ship, the Ataraxia, to keep one step ahead of the bad guys.
I’d already planned to keep a low profile when Thantose returned. I knew it would be awkward to be in the same room with him after I threw myself at him via comms.
“Brin,” Valeria calls, “come say hello to TT.”
As embarrassed as I am after writing those provocative emails, I can’t wait to see him. I hurry down the stairs and join them under the enormous crystal chandelier. We’re all standing on an exquisite mosaic of a clinock tree in full bloom. It’s at least fifteen feet in diameter and depicts a black-barked tree laden with blood-red leaves and buttercup-yellow blossoms.
I glance at Thantose, mumble hello, then stare at the mosaic. Clasping my hands together, I position my weight on the balls of my feet, every muscle in my body ready to run.
Thantose grasps my elbow and leans toward me so his face is in front of mine. It’s impossible to avoid his gaze.
“Hi, Brin,” his voice is so deep it’s mesmerizing.
“Hello.” I’m so embarrassed at declaring my attraction to him in those comms I can’t look him in the eye.
“We leave tomorrow, but I wanted to take you somewhere tonight,” he sounds open and sincere.
My eyes fly to his. I thought he wouldn’t want to spend an extra second with me.
“I’ll meet you here at 1900. That dress is fine, but I’d suggest more comfortable shoes. We’re going to have some fun.” He winks at me.
Just what does handsome Thantose consider fun, I wonder, as I scurry up the stairs to my room.
Thantose
Exactly at 1900, she’s waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. She startles when she hears my boots descending the marbled stone.
I have one goal for tonight—I want Brin to smile. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cheerful expression on her pale face. By the time this week is over, when I tell her I don’t want her to join me on the Ataraxia as she originally requested, although she might feel rejected, I want to have restored her ability to laugh and be happy.
I’m starting tonight. I want to be careful I don’t give her any indication that I’m interested in her as more than friends, though. The poor girl is confused enough.
Her green eyes are wide in her heart-shaped face. She looks terrified—of me. That wasn’t the effect I was going for.
<
br /> “You ready for some fun?” I keep my voice light and upbeat.
She nods, too fearful to speak. If this keeps up, it’s going to be a long evening.
“Want to fly there?”
“If it’s too far to walk,” her nervous voice is breathy.
“I meant, do you want to do the flying?”
She looks over her shoulder to see if I’m asking the question of someone else.
“What I meant to say is, are you ready for your first flying lesson?”
“No.”