by Tanya Jolie
Glad that she could converse with anybody she wanted to, Lynne decided to investigate the city. Some distance from her new home, she could see a shining palace, and she wanted to start her acquaintance to the area there. If the princess was from Earth, maybe she could have a chance encounter with the woman.
Lynne was happy to be out and about after having been in the house for several days. To her surprised, she wandered into an open market much like one would see in Pakistan or Egypt.
Artisans there sold their wares just like in one of those countries, haggling back and forth with customers. There were so many voices, though, that Lynne had trouble understanding anything in English.
As she made her way through the market, she perused the goods—gold, silver and copper trinkets; colorful woven rugs; fruit she couldn’t identify; the softest, most brilliant fabrics she’d ever felt. Now she wished she had some Cartonian money so she could buy something.
During her walk, though, she realized something. Despite all the colorful fabrics, no one wore it. Everyone she encountered wore simply colored jumpsuits, all of the same style. If no one wore the fabrics, why were they even in the market? And no women even stopped to look at the material except her.
Lynne made her way through the marketplace and exited into an open courtyard. In the middle of it stood a large, golden statue of a man which was surrounded by a pool of clear water.
“What are you doing here?” Fenrir asked from behind her.
“I just wanted to take a walk,” she replied, turning to face him. “I wanted to explore my new home.”
“You need to be home,” he insisted. “Go there now.”
A new tone crept into his voice, one that Lynne didn’t like. If she had come here willingly and received this kind of treatment, she wanted to go back to Earth immediately.
“Go,” he said before she could complain. “It is not safe for you to be here.”
Not safe? Why would he word it like that? Unsure of what to do, she left without protest. Then she had second thoughts and glanced over her shoulder to see what he was doing. To her relief, he was walking in the opposite direction.
Curious, she followed him through the narrow streets and between stone houses, until he reached his destination. Outside it appeared to be no more than a hovel, but when she peered through a window, the building was decorated elaborately.
Fine, colorful cloth like what she had seen in the marketplace adorned the window across the room, its layers held back with golden tie-backs. Daring a better look, she checked to see if this window had the same material, which it did.
She stood aside for a moment then glanced inside again. A brass table and chairs sat in the middle of the room. A couch of gold with purple material, which appeared to be velvet, sat off to one side.
A movement caught her attention, and she shrank back against the stone wall to avoid being seen. As she did, the curtains fell shut.
Damn! Now she wouldn’t be able to see the person Fenrir went to see. Hopefully, it wasn’t a female. She would hate to have come all this way just to be cuckolded. To her relief, she heard an unfamiliar male voice speak.
“Is everything ready?”
“Almost,” Fenrir replied. “We have to proceed very carefully if this coup is to succeed.”
“What is left to do?”
“For one thing, we need to find somebody to infiltrate the palace, someone we can trust, someone Odin would not suspect of being a spy. Do you know of anyone?”
“What kind of individual do you want? Male or female?”
“I was actually hoping for somebody who could work for them. Someone who could be a guard would be good.”
“I do not know of anybody like that, but I wondered about your mate. She could become friends with Princess Melanie since they are both from Earth, maybe as an assistant or handmaid. She could bring home information for you.”
“I had not considered that,” Fenrir said, “but it is a possibility. Since Odin is my cousin, I would have a good reason to go to the palace and introduce them.”
Lynne had heard as much as she wanted. They were plotting against the king or prince—or whatever he was called on Cartonia—and she wanted nothing to do with that.
Chapter 7
At home that evening, Lynne attempted cooking a meal for Fenrir, but she was unfamiliar with the thing they called a stove. It bore no resemblance to a stove on Earth. There were no burners or oven, but it changed the appearance and consistency of the food as if by magic. It didn’t even look like a microwave.
One put food on top of this thing that looked a little like a clothes dryer and pushed one of many buttons. Unfortunately, she couldn’t read their language, even though she could hear what they said in English. She simply pushed a button that Fenrir had used in making food and hoped it would cook the chicken-like food she’d put on top.
Inside the glass door of the dryer gadget were mechanisms that ran the machine. If it had been empty, she would have put the food inside and used it as an oven.
The remainder of the dinner would be food she didn’t have to cook, possibly green carrot-like vegetables, or what she assumed were vegetables. She also cut up some leafy gray food that tasted like Romaine lettuce. It wasn’t much to look at, but she liked it.
Then an unexpected thought came to her. All the colors were so vibrant here, yet this lettuce was gray. Why was that?
Fenrir entered the house at that moment and saw her at the stove. “What are you doing?”
“Cooking your dinner,” she replied.
“You’re going to feed me that?” he asked in shock. “Why would you try to kill me?”
“Kill you? I’m not trying to do any such thing. I just wanted to show you that I appreciate you.”
“That gray stuff is poisonous.”
“I ate it and it didn’t bother me. You should be fine.”
To her surprise, he released a breath that sounded much like a laugh but was shorter. Maybe she could call it a burst.
Then he said, “You do not know how to work our stove.”
“I’ve watched you, and it isn’t funny. I’m trying to do something nice for you, and you’re laughing at me.” At least, I think you’re laughing, she added in her mind.
He approached her from behind and slid his arms around her. “I apologize.” He kissed her neck at the place just below her ear that always made her quiver with delight. “I did not mean to offend you.” He kissed the junction of her shoulder and neck. “Let me make it up to you.”
His hands cupped the large breasts. For those, she was grateful. She’d had moderate breasts on Earth and had always longed to have large ones. He tweaked her cloth-covered nipples between his thumbs and index fingers. She moaned with pleasure and leaned back against him. His organ throbbed against her buttocks.
When she’d picked out this body, he’d told her that it was his favorite. He’d also told her that they would never mate unless it was to procreate. But he had apparently lied about that because he wanted sex daily. Then again, he’d also told her that the Earth way of mating for fun was something he liked.
Releasing her breasts, Fenrir unzipped her jumpsuit. Beneath it she was naked, as was the custom here on Cartonia. Fenrir turned her to face him and slid the jumpsuit off her body. It dropped to her feet, and she stepped out of it. Every time he saw her nude body, the look in his eyes surprised her. For a man who believed that sex was only for reproduction, he certainly was lusty.
Lynne stepped out of her clothes as Fenrir fondled her breasts. On Earth people would call him a breast man, but she didn’t mind his constant playing with parts of her body. She felt sexy this way, something she hadn’t felt in a long time on Earth.
He bent over and his lips caught her nipple, suckling like a hungry infant. His tongue taunted the excited tip as his hand caressed the mount between her legs. When he slipped a finger into her wet passage, she threw her head back. Her long hair tickled her buttocks as he dipped a second finger int
o her.
With his fingers still inside her and his lips now on her other nipple, he maneuvered them backwards to a straight chair at the table. He broke for only a moment to unzip his jumpsuit and drop it to his feet. Finally, he sat down on the chair.
While he sat there, he continued rubbing her clitoris with the heel of his hand, at the same time working his fingers around in her wet cavity. It felt so good! Even in this new body, which shouldn’t be all that interested in sex according to Fenrir, her appetite for him didn’t wane. She really enjoyed their lovemaking!
“Sit on me,” he ordered softly. “Impale yourself on me.”
Without a word, she straddled him, lowering herself until she felt his hardness at her opening. Then she stopped to tease him a little, to get him even harder if it was possible. Her womanhood was right there, wetting the tip of his penis with her juices.
Taking her hips in his hands, he thrust her down upon his organ. It filled her in an instant. She ground against him, their pelvises meeting seductively. Her excitement grew with each movement until she needed that release. She moved faster and faster until her body took over, and she exploded in an orgasm.
When she stopped panting after the exertion, he pushed her off him and turned her around before bending her from the hips and laying her face down on the table. He entered her from behind, filling her even more deeply. At the same time he pumped into her, he toyed with her clitoris, not roughly but with a gentleness that made her long for more.
The moment her body convulsed in a second orgasm, he drove into her as far as he could with his own growl of ecstasy.
For several minutes, he lay atop her. Finally, when their bodies parted naturally, he pushed himself from the table and pulled up his jumpsuit.
“Why did our parents tell us that this is only for having children? This is wonderful at all times. I do wonder, though, why you still are not carrying my child.”
Lynne grabbed her jumpsuit from the floor and stepped into it. “How would you know that I’m not?”
“If you were, your skin tone would change to mine. That would mean that you have an heir in your womb. We need that soon.”
Confused, she asked, “Why soon?”
“It is time to tell you everything.” He sat down on the sofa and patted the cushioned seat beside him. “Sit.”
Chapter 8
Lynne couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The man sitting next to her was the grandson of a former king of Cartonia? Apparently, he had been dethroned after having beheaded a number of citizens who had done nothing wrong except speak unkindly of him.
Now Fenrir wanted to reclaim his “rightful” place in the palace. His fuchsia hue denoted his regal status. This confused Lynne, because he lived in housing that was like many other houses, common brick and stone, not the gold of the palace. Why had he been designated to such low status?
“What happened, Fenrir?” she asked. “Why do you not live like royalty? Why is your house so barren and stark?”
“My grandfather was banned from having any luxuries. Here it is passed down from generation to generation. My father did not want the throne, so it went to his brother, Odin’s father. As my father’s oldest son, I want to get the throne back. Then you will be queen.”
“Why not let the people vote on who they want? That’s how we do it in America.”
Lynne cringed internally. She’d unthinkingly let him know that she remembered something. Much to her relief, he concentrated on one word.
“Vote?” he asked. “I do not understand. What is that?”
“Everybody says who they want, and then the person with the most people wanting him or her wins. So if you got nine votes and Odin got seven votes, you would win. Does that make sense to you?”
“We do not do that here. Here we either take over peacefully or we fight.”
“That seems so barbaric for such an advanced planet.”
“I would like you to meet my cousin and his mate. Would you like that?”
Knowing what he was planning, Lynne hesitated. She didn’t want to be involved in this, but if she agreed, maybe she could decide for herself which side to support.
To postpone her answer, she said, “Let me put the food on the table—after I sterilize it, of course. We don’t want burnt dinner.”
While they ate, Lynne pondered what she should do about meeting Odin and Melanie. She’d heard tales that Melanie was from Earth, but she hadn’t been sure it was true until today when Fenrir mentioned it. If anybody would know, it would be a member of the royal household.
***
The palace, with its gold walls, was more beautiful than Lynne had anticipated. Everything was ornate without being gaudy. One of the first things Fenrir showed her was the throne room. Two large thrones of gold, silver and bronze sat at the head of the room, with two matching smaller thrones on each side of them. All of the thrones were padded on the seat and back with a purple brocade-type of material. Purple—the color of royalty, which was not different from royal colors used on Earth.
“That is where we will sit someday,” Fenrir said with a dreamy tone in his voice. “We will rule the land and have wealth beyond your imagination.”
“This would be a wonderful place to live,” she agreed as she gazed at what appeared to be stained glass windows with pictures of previous kings. “I assume they have servants to clean everything and keep all of the metal shining the way it does.”
“Many servants, my dear.”
She shot her startled gaze to his face. My dear. That was the first time he’d ever used such wording. Did that mean he loved her? She certainly did love him, but she worried that he would leave her.
As he had predicted when she chose a new body, she remembered little from when she lived on Earth. Her actual life there was a total blank. Cartonia was her home now; Cartonia was all she truly knew.
Fenrir stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her hips, pulling her back against him.
“One day I will sit on that throne,” he whispered into her ear. “I will tell the world that I am ruler, and I will rule as my grandfather did and make him proud.”
A door behind them opened, and a deep male voice spoke cheerfully. “There will be no mating in the throne room, cousin.”
The light tone of the man’s voice startled Lynne because everyone on Cartonia seemed so serious. Fenrir released her as the tall, bronze male approached them. He also wore a jumpsuit, but his was silver material.
The men touched chests and thumped once on each other’s backs in greeting.
“How is my favorite cousin?” Odin asked as they faced each other.
“I am well. I brought my mate to meet you. This is Lynne.”
“Lynne?” Odin repeated, gazing down at her. “I believe that is a name from the planet Earth.”
She curtsied before she replied, “Yes, sir. I am from Earth.”
“As is my mate. You should meet her. You will like her, just as everyone else does. She is a very giving soul.”
“I would like that.”
“Now, for the reason I invited you here,” Odin said. “I feel that we have been at odds for far too long. Our families need to rejoin, and to begin that process, I would like to gift you with the mountain palace, all of its furnishings, and its staff.”
Gazing over at Fenrir, Lynne was surprised to see his expression of shock. Then again, how could he not be astonished by this announcement? He was plotting to overthrow Odin because his grandfather had been dethroned and banished to be a commoner. Now the very cousin he wanted to remove from power was giving him a palace. As happy as she was for Fenrir and herself, she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen next.
Would Fenrir change his mind about the coup? Or would he continue down the path that could cause destruction to many, himself included?
THE END
Desired by the Alien Hero
A Scifi Alien Abduction Romance
Prologue
The dining ro
om, lavishly furnished with gold and silver tables covered in bright material, astonished Jane. The castle was beautiful, but the palace was astonishing. With polished gold walls, ceilings and floors, everything gleamed as the sun shone in the windows.
“I have never before been invited to dine here,” Tyr said. “I did not know his palace was this beautiful.”
“Beautiful? It’s absolutely amazing!” Jane turned to stare up at him. He was a handsome man or alien or whatever she should call him, but he seemed reluctant to express himself honestly. “If you follow Fenrir’s orders, you could live here someday.”
“If I decide to assist my uncle, I would most certainly live here. However, I also wish to serve my prince. Would you like to live here?”
She studied him without responding. In a way, his desire was honorable, but it also left her wishing that he had more courage to want more than just to serve. She wished he would show more initiative.
Although she remembered next to nothing about her life on Earth, she knew one thing for certain. She had not wanted to join him. She had only done so because he had stolen her soul, and she’d had no choice.
One other thing she knew was that something had happened with her pregnancy because her skin had turned a peach color. It was not fuchsia as it had been when Tyr had declared that she was having his child. She didn’t know what that meant for them, and she was concerned that he no longer wanted her for a mate. In fact, he hadn’t even touched her since the evening they spent at the lake and grotto. What did that mean here on Cartonia?
“Don’t you just love the palace?” Lynne asked from behind her.
Startled, Jane turned toward Lynne and Fenrir. During the few Cartonian days that she had been living in the castle with them, she and Lynne had become quite good friends.