by Selena Kitt
She looks me deep in the eyes, and her face is serious for a moment. “You’re his now. You don’t want to run anymore. There’s no need. He’ll take care of everything.”
The music changes. Tana pulls me to the edge of the dance floor and spins away from me, making me lose my balance for a second.
I bump into someone. And before I can see who it is, I know: It’s him.
He helps steady me and I turn to face him.
“Tana should be more careful about how she discards her dance partners,” he says. His quiet power screams louder than any overt display of mastery or dominance.
“I guess so,” I say. He is pretty close, and he smells very good. I can feel the heat from him... but I’m not attracted to guys.
“I’ve been watching you,” he says, and I can’t help feeling happy that I’d have some effect on this alien prince. I glance at his face. I can only take those eyes for a split second at a time. They bore into me.
“Okay,” I say.
“And I would like to get to know you better.” His voice is deep and touches something deep inside me.
I want to tell him once more that I’m not attracted to guys, but the words get stuck somewhere on the way.
I look away, but he’s not having it. He gently puts his fingers under my chin again and forces me to look at him.
He leans closer once more, and I can’t take my eyes away from his full, sensual lips. Suddenly I become aware that everyone in the room is looking at us.
“I’m not- attracted to guys!” I gasp and turn away from him again, and now I don’t pretend to be doing anything other than running away from him.
Everyone is looking. I have to get away. Where is the exit? I find an arch and pass through it. On the other side is not the exit from the spaceship, but a pleasantly lit corridor. Maybe the exit is at the end of it.
I continue on. This is plainly not the way to the exit, but I’m not really that keen on leaving anyway without mating with an alien. An alien woman, I correct myself. Taking a look at the inside of this alien spaceship might be interesting in itself, while I can take some time to calm down and think about things. I’m not attracted to guys.
It’s a strange, spiral-shaped corridor that’s artfully decorated and very beautiful. Then it widens out into a much larger space, with sculptures and abstract artworks and a high ceiling that looks like it lets in light. It looks like a museum.
I walk around a little, touching and admiring the sculptures. They’re very elaborate and have an almost technical feel to them, as if they have a purpose beside being art...
Suddenly the light goes off and it’s pitch black. I freeze. How can I get out of here without bumping into any sculptures? And where is the exit, anyway?
I take my cellphone out of my pocket and am just about to activate the screen when the room is filled with a kaleidoscope of colors and bright light and images in quick succession. It has a definite unfriendly feel, it’s downright unpleasant, and I can’t focus on anything.
There’s a sound as from a turbine spinning up, when you’re in an airplane and they’re starting the engines, a whine that gets louder and louder.
Then a loud bang behind me makes me jump, and then there’s another bang from elsewhere, really loud and sharp bangs that make me cringe, and then there are more noises, a cacophony of screaming and bangs and electronic screeching and tearing sounds, so loud they cut through my mind like razor blades. In combination with the disorienting lighting of the room, everything is just dangerous and completely nightmarish, invading my mind with horror.
I’m about to panic, and I most of all want to get away from this hellish environment. I stagger back the way I’ve come and bump into something, hard, and a bright red line sears itself into my vision. There are more bangs and screeches, and it’s getting louder.
Something hits me in the back, so hard it knocks the wind out me and I fall to the floor. But the floor is moving now, in multiple directions, and still the nightmarish light and the sounds... I clamp my arms over my head and stay down on the moving floor in the fetus position. I’m breathing fast.
And then I smell smoke, acrid smoke that fills the room.
This is it. I’m going to die.
Chapter Eight
- Prince Brax’on -
He runs off, out of the room. He’s really upset, but I want to give him time to get to terms with his emotions. Every part of him screams that he wants me, but there’s something toxic inside him that keeps him from following his instincts.
He can’t get far that way he’s going anyway, there’s not much there. I’ll give him some time.
His friend Deliah has tried to monopolize me for quite some time now, even when others have come to me to chat. She hasn’t budged. She appears to still be waiting for the prince.
“I’m so glad you came to Earth,” she says, running out of topics, and I’m not helping her. “I’m sure the technology you’ll bring is just wonderful.”
I just nod, my mind still on Aithan. He seems to be taking a long time.
But there’s nothing in that part of the ship. Well, unless...
I freeze and a ball of ice settles in the pit of my stomach.
Then I take off like a shot, leave a befuddled Deliah behind and sprint through the arch Aithan walked through. Yep, the corridor is empty, and now the red light is on at the end of it.
Fuck!
I sprint over, slam the door opener, it slides aside and reveals the nightmarish inferno of noise and light and acrid smoke in there. He’s in there somewhere, and he’s in mortal danger.
I dive into the room. I can handle this, but the level is pretty high, and I don’t know how long a human can take it. Lots of things in here can kill.
I sprint and roll and jump along one wall, navigating the various traps and obstacles. I go almost all the way around the place before I see him on the floor, covering his head with his arms.
And he’s very close to that laser... I take a running jump across an abyss and fling myself down beside him, yell “come with me!” into his ear and get him to his feet, then pretty much drag him out of there, dodging lethal weapons and traps on the way. If I were not used to it, it would never have succeeded.
When we get out, he’s practically shaking.
“What the hell was that?” he gasps as we sink to the floor, side by side, supported by the wall.
I take a deep breath to calm myself. “Combat simulator. Very realistic for certain types of space battles. Dangerous stuff. We lose hundreds of soldiers to those things every year. And they have full battle gear. You don’t. Just surviving in there is pretty well done.”
I want to build him up again immediately after that experience, make him feel that he handled it okay, make it less traumatic in his mind. And he did handle it well.
I look him over, examining him carefully. “Are you okay, Aithan? That laser can easily burn a hole straight through you.”
“I think so,” he says, already recovering. “But I think my hair got singed.” He smiles sheepishly.
He’s even joking now. Resilient guy. I like that. I like that a lot. And he’s not feeling shame about the whole thing.
“It’s insane that we didn’t make sure that thing is locked when it’s not in use,” I say. “Please accept my apologies. It’s ultimately my responsibility that the ship is secure.” I can’t turn off the machine from here, it has to be done from inside the thing. Deep inside it. It’ll just have to run its course until it turns itself off.
He looks at me, and this time he doesn’t look away. “Yeah, they tell me you’re big on responsibilities. Ever think that when you take all the responsibilities on yourself, no one around you will care much, because they know the buck stops with you and not them? And then things like this happen.”
I ponder it. It resembles thoughts I have had myself on occasion.
“There might be some truth to that, Aithan.”
“Oh, there is,” he says with certai
nty. “You asked me earlier what I think of you, and it took me a while to figure it out. You’re different from the others. You’re... more alone.”
He flashes me an embarrassed little smile. I’m too astounded to react right away. It’s an interesting way of putting it, and it hits me a little too deeply. It has always been my impression, too, that I’m different from other Itherians. Not just because of the royalty thing, but on a deeper level. Others seem superficial to me, shallow, unshaken by misfortune and unaffected by happy events. It’s almost a chief characteristic of our species. I, on the other hand, think too deeply, worry too much, ponder things that I can’t change. It comes with the princedom, of course. Partly. But most of it is me. Yes, I am alone most of the time, especially when surrounded by a crowd of Itherians. Part of my reason for coming to Earth is my hope that maybe here, I won’t be quite so alone.
I don’t know what to say and I just look at him. He has features that are male, yet betray a sensitive soul. And now that he no longer looks away, I see it even more clearly.
Then, to my astonishment and joy, he reaches out and touches my cheek with his fingers. It’s a test, he wants to feel it, and to see how I react to it.
Chapter Nine
- Aithan -
His eyes widen in surprise, and I’m a little surprised, too. It’s my first time ever touching another man affectionately like this, the way I might touch a woman. His cheek is firm and warm and I can feel just a little bit of stubble there.
I have never seen a more worried face than the way he looked at me after the incident in his damn simulator. He was genuinely concerned. And he did get me out of there, and he didn’t make me feel bad about what happened. Then he showed me some vulnerability when I said I thought he seemed alone. It moved me. It was real.
I thought that his dominant behavior at the party was just a mind game, that he was trying to humiliate me or making me look stupid. But no, he meant it, he wanted me. He’s not a fake. He’s real.
I’m not attracted to guys. But I am attracted to this person in front of me.
He puts his hand behind my head and leans in. I catch my breath. He’s a powerful man with a dominant manner and the ability to fill a room just by entering it. And now he’s all mine, we’re alone here. It makes everything easier.
His lips brush against mine, and I spread them a little in welcome.
His kiss is tender and probing, but not too deep, which is fine with me. This is much more erotic to me than downright frenching.
He looks into my eyes and smiles enigmatically. “I wonder if I may have found something on this planet that I don’t have at home,” he says.
“Yeah? You like our evening wear fashions?” I misunderstand on purpose.
He chuckles. “No, not really. I mean something else, something... important.”
“That’s okay too. Sometimes we have to travel to find ourselves.” It sounds very wise. I wonder where I picked that up.
He looks at me again, straight into me. “I will never force you to do anything, Aithan. Anything that happens is your choice. Nothing happens that you don’t want. Do you hear me?”
I nod, and his tone is so strong and caring and true I have to force down tears. Dammit, he’s breaking down my defenses with his honest awesomeness.
We walk together back to the party. There are much fewer people here now, because most of them have coupled up and have gone somewhere else in the spaceship to mate. I can’t see Tana or Jaiana anywhere. And I don’t miss them.
Brax’on walks slightly in front of me, which I suppose comes with being a prince or just being confident, and I admire his powerful, relaxed, easy walk.
Deliah is still here, and I think she’s been waiting for Brax’on, because it’s not as if she lacks alien attention. She’s got three of them orbiting her, but it looks like she’s been holding off and waiting for Brax’on to cave and go with her.
Her eyes narrow into little slits and I can almost see her going green when Brax’on just whooshes by her with just a brief glance and I wink at her. Hey, I love Deliah, and I wouldn’t have been here without her, but it sort of feels nice to beat her at her own game.
Brax’on briefly stops by some other Itherians, who I now realize are security personnel, probably to tell them about the combat simulator. I hope he scolds someone for it. He shouldn’t have to personally handle every little detail in this spaceship.
Deliah follows him with her eyes. “Hey,” I say. “You still here?”
She looks me up and down. “Uh-huh.”
“Were you waiting for Brax’on?” I ask innocently. I’m being naughty, but just this once...
“I was waiting for the prince,” she says coolly. She’s probably regretting her decision to drag me to the front of the line back when we were outside.
“Yeah, that’s who I mean. Prince Brax’on.”
She snorts and smirks cruelly. “You think Brax’on is the prince? I don’t think so. He told me-”
She sees the look in my eye and then gasps as the pieces come together in her mind. Her head whips around to focus on the alien prince. He’s standing there with his officials, all of whom are taller than him, but he’s the only one you really notice. There’s just something about him that screams alpha male. And now, in retrospect, it boggles the mind that I didn’t catch on to him being the prince the second I laid eyes on him. He oozes command. And Deliah feels it too, now.
“Fuck!” she exclaims. “It is him!”
Her eyes narrow even more, and now they’re just green slits. It’s not an attractive look for her, and it makes her face much less angelic. “Did you know that all along?”
“Yeah,” I lie. “Just look at him. How could he be anything other than the prince and ruler of billions of people?” One part of me dislikes being in conflict with my friend Deliah, but another part of me relishes winning. He wants me.
He walks over to us, in total control, wearing a calm, confident expression. Yep, that’s a prince of the stars. No one else radiates authority like that.
“You didn’t tell me you were the prince,” Deliah accuses, half-seriously.
“But I did tell you the prince is weird,” he counters easily. “That’s all you needed to know, I felt.”
He takes my arm, just grips around my upper arm in a very dominant way that would have caused me to punch anyone else trying it, but which is okay because it’s him.
“Goodbye for now, Deliah,” he says. “Find someone to mate with, if you wish. I promise you it will be a good experience. You’re always welcome in my realm.”
Emotions play in her face. She was never the best actress.
Then her expression settles. It’s a content smile. I knew it. That’s my Deliah.
She takes my other arm and squeezes it. “Have fun,” she whispers into my ear and winks. She means it, too.
I’m moved by her support and lean in to kiss her cheek. “Thanks,” I whisper. I needed her not to be weirded out by this, and she didn’t disappoint.
Then we walk away, and I feel reassured by his calm certainty. It makes me trust him. This is okay. I can’t really contain my excitement, and my jeans feel very tight in the front.
Some sort of invisible elevator zooms us up in the spaceship, all the way to the top. Because of course the prince has a penthouse at the top of his spaceship.
Chapter Ten
- Aithan -
He takes my hand, calmly and confidently. His big, strong hands feels good.
The furnishings are spartan and stylish, which makes sense. This guy doesn’t need all kinds of flashy stuff to feel comfortable. The whole top of the spaceship is transparent, and it almost looks as if there’s nothing that separates us from the outside. But there is, because there’s no draft here, the temperature is comfortable and it’s pleasantly quiet except for a background layer of soft, pleasant, alien music.
There is a recognizable couch there, and Brax’on gestures for me to sit down. I had trouble taking my eyes off
him downstairs, and now that there’s no one else here, I can stare to my heart’s content as he walks to some sort of drinks machine.
His moves are agile and powerful, like a predator patrolling its territory. I can see the muscles playing under his pale skin and under his clothes. He’s the master of everything here.
He hands me a cool glass of something and sips one of his own. He remains standing for a second, looking down at me with those gray, luminous eyes, then discards his jacket and reveals an alien shirt of shimmery, light blue. It’s pretty tight, and I can see the muscles underneath. His forearms are thick and wiry, and I an see a scar here and there. He looks a lot like a warrior.