Alien Romance: Arcturus Mates Complete Series (Book 1 - 9): Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Invasion Romance, Alien Romance)

by Julia Sexton

  He picked up a grey-blue kimono from the back of a matching chair. He smiled. His eyes twinkled. The kimono was the same color as his eyes.

  “Here. Put this on. I’ll show you around.” His fingers grazed hers as she reached for the garment. She felt it again, that frisson, as though her entire body was a spark.

  “Do I get clothes?” Sandy was stunned by the effect he had on her body and the bizarre, unbelievable situation she was in. She couldn’t decide which was more powerful.

  “Giulia is getting clothes for you. Your ensemble from last night is in the closet. It’s quite nice. I like it. You look stunning in red.” Did he look just a bit surprised? Sandy couldn’t tell. He gestured toward a set of doors on the wall opposite the windows.

  Sandy somehow maneuvered the sheet and the silky blue kimono and made a quick dash into the closet. She found her clothes, just as he’d said, hanging or folded neatly in a dresser drawer. Everything in the closet seemed to glide with customized ease.

  She eased into her clothes and stood before the floor to ceiling mirror between to built-in dressers. No makeup and a scare. She definitely looked pale. She ran her fingers through her luxurious tresses, still clean from last night’s shower. If she only had a bit of makeup. She’d show this Josh Harrington that she was not a submissive prisoner. She would convince him to let her go.

  “Ready? I have to leave soon.” Josh called from the other side of the doors.

  The arrogance of that man. She’d take an extra minute just to show him. She pulled open the top drawer of a dresser. Two honey-based lip balm sticks: one clear, one tinted red. She took the tinted stick and smoothed her lips. There, not so pale. She opened the doors and met Josh standing impatiently in the middle of the bedroom.

  “Well, you do look more presentable. Come. I’ll show you your new domain. It was the flat of the last owner’s mother. He kept her in comfort. I’ve just made it a little more secure.”

  He was right. As they walked through she realized her prison was the size of a house. Two bedrooms, three bathrooms, study, kitchen, dining room, a laundry area, a reading room, an entertainment room, two patios, one with a small swimming pool. Sandy realized that by secure Josh meant, no escape. The patios were walled in glass to the top of the portico arches.

  “Beautiful view,” he said as they stood by the swimming pool. “Much better than your ground floor apartment.”

  Sandy had to admit the view was magnificent. The mansion was perched on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. San Diego was built up, but here the mansion was the only structure on the hill. Tall, slender palm trees towered over luxurious gardens. The ocean spread to infinite blue to meet the sky. If it weren’t for being a prisoner she could like this place. Well, Josh Harrington was not going to bribe her with luxury. She’d get out of here…somehow.

  Josh turned to her and his shoulder brushed hers. That frisson. That damn frisson. She could feel it inside, the warmth, the desire. She would conquer that for sure. She hoped her excitement didn’t show.

  “I’ll let you get used to the place. I have things to do. We’ll meet for dinner.” Josh said in his arrogant way. He sounded all pleasantry, but she heard the steel behind the words. With that, he turned and walked through the living room to the door. He opened the door and without a glance back walked through and closed the door. She heard the click of the lock and then nothing.

  She ran inside, collapsed on the broad tapestried sofa, and burst into tears.

  *

  Giulia found her lying on the sofa staring at the ceiling.

  “Signora, food.” She placed a tray on the coffee table and removed the lid. Sandy heard the heavy Italian accent even in the two words.

  Sandy sat up as the delicious aromas lifted into the air. She wasn’t sure what they all were, but it smelled wonderful. And, coffee.

  “Thank you. You must be Giulia.”

  “Yes.” Even her "yes" was heavily accented. She was lovely. In her late 30s with honey blond hair and delicate features over a slight body with curves in all the right places. She didn’t look like a jailer.

  Giulia smiled and placed a finger to her lips. “ I…you…once. He…good. Man.”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “He good man.” She repeated and then shook her head. “No English good. Cook good.”

  Sandy took a bite of a delicate pastry sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. “Mmmm. You are.”

  “Clothes,” Giulia said and left the room. Sandy heard the lock on the door click and then a light clanging. All of a sudden she was ravenous. The coffee was perfect. The pastry, whatever it was, seemed to melt in her mouth. Scrumptious. She heard rustling in the bedroom and Giulia singing softly to herself.

  When she finished the pastry, she took the mug of coffee into the bedroom. Giulia was in the giant closet singing away. When Sandy looked in, Giulia was filling a dresser drawer with underwear. Her underwear! She looked at the racks. Her clothes! All of her clothes were hanging in the closet.

  This was no joke. Josh, or somebody, had gone to her apartment and removed all her clothes. Shoes, dresses, slacks, tops. And now, her underwear was going into a drawer. Sandy looked for a minute and realized everything was here but her bags. No mobile phone, no wallet. No ID, no calling out. Just like a nightmare it was real and yet wrong.

  “Giulia. What is happening?”

  “He, Signor Harrington. He tell. I work.” She closed the drawer and wheeled the luggage rack out of the bedroom, down the hall, and out the door. The lock clicked.

  So that was it. Trapped in a mansion with no way out. Josh Harrington’s mansion. Josh Harrington the controlling alien. She was in a nightmare.

  *

  Alright, she thought, I’ll explore my prison. She found the refrigerator stocked. An entertainment room held a huge screen. She found the remote and clicked it on. It seemed to be connected to a computer because there was a long list of movies to watch. Right! I’ll while away my time watching movies and eating bonbons. As soon as she thought it she noticed a bowl filled with Baci. Oh, fantastic. Chocolate kisses with little romantic sayings. Just what a prisoner needs. She clicked the remote. A long list of music.

  She’d read somewhere, or maybe she saw on TV that prisoners spent their time keeping their bodies in shape. She decided she’d start on day one by swimming. She swam laps and laps. Short laps in the small pool, but she stopped counting and just turned and turned. All the while she thought, I’ll beat Josh Harrington. I’ll beat Josh Harrington.

  She woke from a nap after the swim. She woke thinking, I’ll beat Josh Harrington. As she thought it she heard a knock at the door. Oh, it’s him. Is it dinner time?

  “Just a minute,” she called.

  The handiest garment was the blue kimono from the morning. She threw it on and went to the door.

  “Hello.” There he stood. Josh Harrington. All of him. Tall, commanding, fresh from a shower in designer jeans and a navy pullover that complimented his piercing eyes and, somehow, made is auburn hair glint with gold. Next to him was Giulia with a catering cart.

  “Don’t hello me, Josh Harrington. Do you think I’m a submissive dummy, just a little secretary, and I’ll fall for your alien story? I’ll find a way to get away from you.” She waved her arm to emphasize her point. The kimono fell open revealing her form-fitting navy underwear.

  “Oh, I don’t know. We’re matching colors. I think you’re copying me.”

  Giulia walked past them pushing the cart to the kitchen.

  “Invite me in,” Josh said.

  “We definitely need to talk. I’ll put some clothes on.” She couldn’t help it, she smiled. He looked so…inviting. Everything about him spelled M.A.N. in capital letters. She felt it again, that spark. Her body tingling.

  She dashed through the bedroom into the closet. What to wear. I’ll see his navy sweater and raise him one. She rummaged through the racks and found just the thing. She was never sure where navy stopped and midnight blu
e began, but this dress—silk, short, body-clinging, spaghetti straps—was just the thing, almost nothing. She wiggled into a black lace bandeau to keep her nipples under control and slipped on the dress.

  When she emerged in the great room, he stared as if dumbstruck.

  “You look beautiful,” he said breathily. “I never noticed. I mean…”

  One for me, thought Sandy. He is going to suffer. Because what he sees is just not available. Never.

  “Thank you.” Sandy smiled what she called her glamor smile. Sort of like a beauty pageant queen on a parade float, all teeth and no sincerity.

  “What’s on the agenda, Mr. Harrington?”

  “This isn’t a meeting. I thought we could get to know each other. We’ll have a good meal, a glass of wine. Talk.”

  “Well, here I am. What you see is not what you get.”

  “Sandy, truce.” He raised his hands. “Can we just spend a couple of hours talking? Have a nice meal? Enjoy the sunset? I’ll explain more. You were in shock this morning.”

  “What’s my other choice?” One last defiant stand.

  They both burst out laughing simultaneously.

  Giulia set two chilled flutes and a bottle of champagne on the table.

  “Come,” Josh said. “Let’s toast the truce and the evening.”

  “Truce,” Sandy sighed, as Josh gently lifted the cork out of the chilled bottle. The cork made a little swooshing sound.

  Chapter 3: Gilded Cage

  “I can’t eat one more bite,” Sandy declared as she watched chocolate sauce drip down the pear poached in champagne. Josh was right. “Giulia is a good cook. The entire meal was one sensuous taste treat after another.”

  “Here, I’ll help you,” Josh said. He pushed his fork into the pear and gently pulled up a piece and held it to Sandy’s lips. When the pear touched her lips, her whole body went Zing! She was glad her bandeau kept her nipples under control, they would have been a dead giveaway.

  The chocolate covered bite of pear sent flavor sensations all over her tongue.

  “Mmmmmm,” she murmured. “I feel sated.”

  “Oops,” Josh said as he pulled up his napkin and dabbed a drop of chocolate off her chin.

  There it was again. All he had to do was touch her. I’ll beat Josh Harrington. I’ll beat Josh Harrington. Ah, that’s better.

  “So, you will help me compile the data I get for the research project. I’ll give you the data, you will categorize and sort.”

  “You have the categories set up, I just add new data? Isn’t that sort of like a glorified data entry girl? Not much thinking?”

  He gave her what she dubbed the beam smile. She’d seen it work on clients in the office. He seemed to smile with his entire body, everything open and ready for agreement.

  “Sandy, you’ll be helping my real research. Now that we have that AI contract with the big search engine, will be getting the information we need about neuroscience and the patterns in the mind that connect with reality. That’s the real information we want about humanity. What it is that makes you all tick.”

  “But just the data, no connection to the outside world.”

  “Yes.” The beam was still in place. And, damn it, she was responding. It must be some Zinka trick.

  “So, I’ll be working in that study down the hall?” Uh oh, she was giving a tentative agreement. But, she didn’t know how to say no. Without agreeing she’d be a living vegetable hiding out in these rooms with nothing to do but prisoner exercises.

  “Yes, there’s a feed from my computer here. The Zinka computer.”

  She considered the alternative, then nodded her head in agreement.

  “Great. We’ll set up the connection tomorrow before I leave for Denver. Shall we toast our new working agreement?” He picked up the second bottle of champagne and filled their flutes.

  They gently clinked their flutes. Sandy smiled but inside she had a sinking feeling. She was not beating Josh Harrington. He had won this round.

  *

  The next morning Josh arrived as she was finishing her breakfast yogurt and fruit. Still sipping her coffee from the espresso maker, she followed him to the study.

  He started pulling cables and cards out of a briefcase.

  “Josh Harrington, the man who does everything. Most people would have a team of technicians do this, or at least one,” Sandy quipped.

  He looked up from the floor where he was crawling around behind the desk. “You are right,” he said as he got up and sat on the edge of the desk. She couldn’t help noticing how his jeans pulled taught over the curves of his thighs.

  “I am a man. I was made into a man at the cellular level. My conception was artificial insemination, the other AI. Those genes were then modified to make me as human as possible. I kept only my Zinka brain”

  He chuckled, then continued.

  “I’m a man, but with certain inherited…let’s call them gifts. As a man, I can’t help but respond when you dress in a next-to-nothing silk dress that reveals everything, even the lines of your bandeau, that almost hid the inviting buds of your nipples.”

  Sandy gasped. She hadn’t fooled him one bit.

  “But I am also the Prince of the Federation of Zinka, and whatever I feel, for the moment, as a man, that responsibility comes first. We can’t have, what you think will get you out of this with your feminine wiles. It can’t be. I must keep my mission secret. That is more important than any momentary feelings I may have as a man.”

  Sandy felt her heart sink. He was smarter than her. He had an intelligence that she would never comprehend and he seemed to know every move she made and how to thwart it. She was trapped.

  Josh looked at her with calm. “You are a very good looking woman. I can’t help but notice. Most men would do just about anything to have you all to himself the way I do. But, it’s not the way most men would be. I am promised for my mission. I was made for my mission, physically created for this mission. My human body would not last if I went ‘home.’ Earth is my adopted home. I can never go back to Zinka. I’m doomed to be here as a man, but not a man, a brain that retrieves and sends data. That’s my mission.”

  “Josh.” Sandy put out her hand, but he brushed it away. “In a way you’re as trapped as I am.”

  “Well, my dark-haired beauty, you’ve described the scenario. Now we both have to live with it. Now, it’s back to getting you set up here.”

  He got back down on the floor and continued fitting cables and boxes together.

  Sandy sipped her espresso. It was cold. There was so much to think about. Now, that she knew what, who, Josh Harrington was, she’d have to rethink her escape. It would be the most challenging thing she had ever done. She had to outwit a man whose brain was more than human. I’ll beat you, Josh Harrington. I don’t know how, but I’ll beat you.

  After Josh left for Denver Sandy sat at the desk and turned on the computer. It was really just make-work. This was nothing like integrating a spreadsheet with a word processing system. Strings of numbers flew by on the screen. Every once in a while the computer would ping, stop at a string of numbers, and wait for her to flag the string. At the end of the session, her task was to collect all the flagged strings and send them as a file to Josh’s computer. That was it. Glorified data entry.

  While the computer scrolled faster than her eye could follow, she tried to figure out what to do next. Josh was smarter than she was. There was no denying that. A part of her was sympathetic to his plight. He could never go home. In a way, he was just as trapped as she was. But, his prison was bigger. It was the entire globe, not a grandmother unit inside a very large mansion.

  OK. Plan. First since silky dresses and revealing clothes were not going to work she would stop. She would stop wearing makeup. Well, maybe a little lip gloss. She would be a jeans and tops girl. No suits, no dresses, no high heels. He wanted plain, he’d get plain. She’d be the plain sparrow inside the gilded cage.

  Chapter 4: Alien Abduction


  “Yes, yes,” Josh said. He looked up from the desk in her study and smiled at her. “Exactly. You’ve kept those anomalies sorted. I’m glad the system is working. Of course, I designed it.”

  “There’s nothing you can’t do,” Sandy mocked, mostly meaning it. She’d come to realize that when it came to thinking he was the one, even if he was arrogant about it.

  “Well, that’s great. You really are helping. These are just the patterns that don’t fit with the patterns that were trying to discover.”

  “What do you mean, patterns that don’t fit with the patterns?”

  “We want to understand the paradox of the human mind. To understand that is the basis of knowing human behavior. It seems that the way humans act results in suffering and discontent. We want to examine the nature of patterns to gain an understanding of human life. How humans make decisions. We want to see if there is a way to eliminate, or at least reduce, that suffering.”

  “I don’t know, Josh. It sounds like you want to be some kind of god. Those mysteries are part of being human.” Here he went with the superior arrogance again! He will know all. Beyond, keeping her in seclusion, he was determined to understand the nature of being human! She shivered.

  “No, no. You humans…we humans, have a branch of science called neurophysics. Those patterns are exactly what are studied in neurophysics. We take those patterns and then examine them at a higher level. I’m a scientist, not the crazed, egotistical, fanatic you seem to think I am.”

  “I don’t understand. I don’t understand how it works.” She felt stupid. Usually she felt like a fairly sharp cookie, but this was all new to her. And now that she had no access to the outside world, she couldn’t even check what he said on the internet. She had to take his word for it. The word of Josh Harrington, mighty billionaire, Zinka Prince, and scientist. But, she wasn’t going to let him see how weak minded he made her feel. “You have to tell me more. I thought physics was magnets and force fields, not the human brain.”

  “I will,” he answered. “But now I have to go to the office. I haven’t been there since Thursday. A lot has happened. I’ll tell you more this evening.”