Kidnapped by the Alien Dragon

by Ward, Abella

  "Hey," I greeted him when I got closer. "Want a brownie?"

  He eyed my offering. "No, thanks. Watching my weight."

  I rolled my eyes at his lame joke, then took a seat on the swing beside him. He dragged his feet against the ground, pushing himself back and forth.

  "So," he said. "I don't know if you remember, but when you thought you were dying, you told me that you loved me."

  His tone was carefully light, preparing to brush it off with a laugh. I flinched, remembering all the years I had him dancing on a string for me. If I hadn't died and become human, I'd still be teasing him. Macha had not been a good person. But my experiences had changed me. I reached for his hand.

  "I should have told you millennia ago," I told him. "I've been in love with you since we first kissed. I want to talk to you about this Uonaidh though," I added, trying to look fierce. "I looked you up on Wikipedia. When, exactly, were you going to tell me you were married?"

  Finvarra threw his head back and laughed. "Uonaidh? They're saying I'm married to Uonaidh?"

  "Humans. They like their romances."

  "Uonaidh," he repeated, his laughter turning to chuckles. "That's funny. She's like a sister to me."

  "I know. Even before I remembered about us, I dismissed her as your wife." I smiled wryly. "I would have to kill her if it were true, though."

  "Now who is the possessive one?"

  I shrugged.

  Finvarra clasped my hand in his. "Speaking of Uonaidh, I've left her in charge of the sidhe for now, until you and I have figured out what we're going to do and be." The mirth died from his face. "I don't know if you can feel it, but when you used your magic against Balor… it was too much for your mortal body to take. You're… you're not human anymore. Getting your magic back, it…"

  He trailed off. I wet my lips but said nothing. I had been so focused on my parents and what would happen now that I didn't pay much attention to myself. But now I felt it, that easy power flowing through my veins. The crow inside, nesting happily. I felt comfortable in my own skin. I couldn't remember the last time I felt like this.

  "Yes," I whispered. "I can tell now. I'm one of the Tuatha again. So… this means I'll stop aging, doesn't it? But my humanity is still here. It's more than just physical form. I'm still me."

  "You're still you," he agreed. "And I love you."

  I smiled, loving hearing those words after so long. "I love you, too."

  Finvarra caught the chain on my swing and pulled me over to him. We kissed, chastely at first but with growing passion. Flames leaped alive in my belly, my skin tingling with desire. I was going to have to figure out how to tell Mom and Dad that I'd been dating him for almost three thousand years here, soon. But for the moment, I melted into his arms and cared about nothing else.

  There was a lot to do in this world. So-called changelings were abused by society, and that had to change. There had to be a better relationship between humans and the Sidhe and other magical races. Eventually, Finvarra and I would have to return to the Daoine Sidhe, but that could wait. I had earned a break to get to know my parents again.

  We started swinging together, our happiness tasting like sunshine in my mouth.

  *****

  THE END

  Bonus Book 4: Rescued by the Barbarian

  Description

  He wore a kilt and nothing else. What does he want from me?

  When Veronica Benson wakes up on an alien ship, she knows that life as she knew it is over. She’s always been a fan of alien romance novels and movies, but never dreamed of meeting an alien herself, let alone a totally hunky one.

  Chapec can’t believe his luck when he sees the human he’s supposed to escort to the Zon Sanctuary. All curves and softness. Just the sort of woman he'd like to hold all night while they…

  But never mind. He’s not looking for a mate. And neither is she. There are secrets that need to be kept at all costs. And a mission to complete.

  Can Veronica and Chapec reach the safe haven of the Zon Sanctuary in time? Can they keep their enemies at bay? And most importantly, will they find a way to trust and love each other?

  Chapter One – Veronica

  Her lungs felt like they were full of water. Veronica Benson coughed violently, unable to pull in a proper breath. Her head spun. She felt her legs beneath her, but couldn't seem to make them work. Where was she? Flashes and bursts of color came from every direction. Nothing made sense. She lay flat on the cold floor, trying to get her mind and body under control.

  Breathe first, think later, she told herself, screwing her eyes tightly closed.

  She forced herself to take a few deep breaths, ignoring the uncomfortable full feeling of her lungs. Nausea churning her stomach diminished and her head stopped spinning as much. Veronica shivered. What had happened? What had she been doing just before she got so suddenly ill?

  I was walking home from the fertility clinic.

  It had been a rocky appointment. The doctor had spent half the appointment trying to convince her that she should settle down and get married instead of trying to have children on her own. He eventually did give her the treatments she had paid for, but only with a great show of reluctance. This was despite the fact that she was over thirty, had all of one boyfriend in her life, and hadn't even had a date for about five years. She suspected it was more that the doctor thought she was too fat.

  Veronica's job as a financial advisor was going well. With a steady, sizable income, she could support a child. She already had looked at what she needed, had begun stockpiling diapers and was looking at the best nannies to hire.

  Not to mention she had lots of family around that would shower the baby with attention, and three brothers who were ready to be positive male influences in its life. She explained this to the doctor, but he kept acting like she was going to end up making her child a drug addict because she didn't have a husband. By the time the appointment was over, she was so angry that she decided to walk back home instead of taking the bus, just to cool her head off.

  But what happened next? Veronica opened her eyes, only to be blinded by a bright light. She closed them again.

  Had her mother called? She remembered a ringing sound. And a light. Had she answered her phone, and stepped out in front of a car? There was a scream. Pain in the base of her spine…

  Something bit into her behind her right ear. It was a sharp jab, like the bite of a black fly. Veronica jerked, her hand flapping at her ear. Another hand caught her wrist and pushed it down to the floor. Her eyes snapped open, adjusting quickly now that the light wasn't shining into them. Another bite just behind her left ear.

  "Translators in and functional," a voice said from somewhere.

  "The sedative is wearing off," another voice said. "Give her some more."

  "I've given her enough. She has been in stasis for billions of years. It would be too easy to overdose her in this state. A dead human is worth far less than a living specimen. Let her adjust a little. If need be, I'll give her something to make her more complacent in a few minutes."

  The hand released her and she whirled around. Her eyes widened and her heart jumped to her throat. A gray face stared into hers, tentacles squirming around its nose and mouth like a living goatee. Pale white eyes with no pupils stared down at her. Her jaw dropped open to scream, but nothing came out.

  "Ah, it appears she's more aware than I thought."

  The mouth moved, the sound coming from the gray face, but it didn't match up. Like watching a badly dubbed movie. And yet she could understand it. Veronica's panic pushed to the back of her mind. This had to be a dream. She often had vivid ones, although she could usually tell when she was dreaming right off the bat.

  But gray tentacle-faced creatures weren't possible, so this had to be a dream. Which meant she was safe. Right?

  "We're lucky we were able to find a ship that still had a living specimen on it," the gray face said. "These days it's difficult to get them before the Zon Sanctuary arrives."
r />   "That T'shav thinks he's the creator incarnate," a voice said from the side, full of disgust.

  Veronica turned her head towards the speaker. A blue person with gold eyes stood there. It was a he, as far as she could tell, with a tall, lean figure. He held a long stick in his hand that looked like a fire poker. Just behind him was a coffin. Or at least, something that vaguely looked like a coffin. Or one of those little fish oil capsules, only blown up a billion times bigger. A combination of the two, maybe. Thick yellow goo dripped out of it.

  She looked down and saw she was covered in the same icky stuff. She could feel the weight of it, a slight chill on her face, and her head spun again.

  Just a dream.

  It didn't feel like a dream. She jerked upright, slapping away the gray creature's hand as it reached for her. The blue creature straightened, the stick in its hand pointing towards her. Veronica pushed herself backward until she was pressed against the wall. Her heart faltered. This was no dream. An elaborate prank? Had she been kidnapped?

  "Who are you? What sort of sick joke are you playing? What do you want with me?"

  The blue creature laughed, and the gray one shot it a look that may have been disgust. "Do not be afraid, Human. My name is Kena, and I am a Wlobq. You were taken from Earth some billions of years ago and then put in a stasis pod on a ship traveling at light speed. The temporal distortion allowed the ship to survive all these years."

  One phrase stood out. Veronica swallowed down bile. "Billions of years?"

  The white eyes were unmoving in the gray face, making shivers climb up and down her spine. "The Earth you knew is dead. Humans have long since left its ground and traveled to other worlds, evolving into new species. You wouldn’t think it seems like it, but both Wlobqs like me and Aphrosians such as my companion are your distant descendants."

  Veronica's head spun. She wished she could pass out again, but had no such luck.

  "Kena, her new owners will tell her all this, you're wasting time. Can we take her to the buyers or not?"

  Buyers? New owners? "What are you going to do with me?"

  The blue creature smirked, stepping forward. "Humans are rare commodities. Since all species are descended from humans, your kind can breed with anybody. Even squidface here. Best thing is, humans pass down very little of their traits to the offspring. You're also very useful in disease research and other sorts of testing."

  Veronica felt the blood drain from her face. She opened her mouth, but there was nothing she could say to that.

  Two sets of footsteps clicked from behind her, and she turned to see two devils striding up a long, shiny corridor. Both had deep red skin, black hair and black eyes. All that was missing were the forked tails, horns, and pitchfork. As they got closer, Veronica processed that one was male and the other female. He wore a kilt and nothing else. She wore a flowy, strapless dress. Both had the hilts of sword peeking out over their shoulders.

  The blue creature–alien, Veronica's brain was beginning to process–straightened with a frown. He pulled a gun from his waist and pointed it at the newcomers. Veronica scrambled to her feet, her heart pounding.

  Just a dream. A trick. A prank. This isn't real. This can't be real.

  "What are you doing here? You'll have your chance to bid on the human like everybody else."

  "My brother wants to test out the product," the female said. "Chapec?"

  The male stepped toward Veronica. She shrank back–until their eyes met. A spark of electricity ran up and down her spine. His eyes were deep, with so much conflicting emotion in them that she wasn't sure how to take it. Those weren't eyes looking at her as if she was a product; they were seeing her as a person and for that alone, she was drawn to him…

  Or maybe not that alone. Veronica had always been a fan of alien romance novels and movies, and right now she could have been looking at a Hollywood hunk painted red. Broad shoulders, symmetrical features, strong chin, muscles everywhere. He stepped closer again.

  "I just said—" the blue alien turned his gun on the male–Chapec.

  Before he could finish his sentence, the female did some sort of quick wrist movement. A flash of silver sped from her hand. In the next second, a spray of blood spurted from the blue alien's throat. His eyes bugged out and he staggered backward.

  The gray alien jumped to his feet, but Chapec was quicker. In one fluid motion, he drew the sword strapped to his back. An arm snaked around Veronica's waist, pulling her in tight against him as the sword made a circle–she barely had time to turn her face away before she heard the slice of flesh and twin thumps hit the floor.

  Bile choked her. She fought against the alien holding her. Her awareness was heightened tenfold. The heat of his skin against hers. The smell of blood in the air. The sound of her own ragged breath. Adrenaline pumped through her body.

  Oh, God! This is real.

  Chapec dropped his sword to hold her with both hands. "Calm down. We're not going to hurt you."

  With two bodies lying on the floor, Veronica wasn't going to believe that. She threw her head forward, her skull crunching against his nose. But even as he grunted in surprise, a sharp prick stabbed into the back of Veronica's neck.

  "That should calm her down," Chapec's sister said.

  Veronica sagged against the alien.

  "What did you just give her?"

  "A sedative. She'll hurt herself if she doesn't stop struggling. Besides that, think about it. The whole situation has a lot of shock inherent in it–it's healthier for her to sleep and process some of this unconsciously, rather than being awake and going deeper and deeper into shock."

  Waves of black passed over Veronica's eyes. She tried to fight against it, but it was too powerful. The last thing she noticed was that Chapec smelled nice–like vanilla and cloves. Odd for a devil to smell like that, rather than like brimstone.

  Chapter Two – Chapec

  Chapec frowned as Dievca carried the human out from the bathroom on their ship. They normally didn't waste the ship's energy on showers, preferring to wash planet-side whenever they landed, but the human had been so covered in the foul-smelling gunk from the ancient stasis chamber that they had to clean her up. His sister had dressed their new acquisition in one of her old var'kins as well. The flowing garment covered up the bounteous curves the human had displayed in her own clothing.

  That wasn't what was making Chapec frown, though. He had carried the unconscious human back to their ship hours ago, and she hadn't woken up again. What had Dievca given her? What if it put her into a coma? Drugging someone out of stasis was usually a bad idea.

  "Are you sure she's alright?"

  "Yes. She should wake soon. Come on, Chippy. We have things to talk about."

  His twin left the room. Chapec stayed for a moment longer, watching the human sleep. She was beautiful. Her body was all curves, with a perfectly round belly and hips and breasts to match. Soft hair fell about her shoulders, and she had a round nose and perfect fat lips. Just the sort of woman he'd like to hold all night while they…

  He shook himself and followed Dievca to the center of the ship. Their vessel was a cozy, three bedroom rig with a spacious cargo bay, kitchen unit, and a reasonably efficient energy system as long as they were careful. Getting the ship made it so he and his sister didn't have to stoop to being full-blown mercenaries like many other T'shav like them.

  It was the only home they had, though, and at times that got tiresome, especially for siblings.

  "Well, the first step in our plan has now been fulfilled," Dievca said, pulling a package of bleki noodles from a nearby shelf. "We have a human. She's our ticket into Zon's Sanctuary. All we have to do is get her to claim you as her mate. And given those bedroom eyes she was making at you before things turned ugly, you're well on your way."

  "Bedroom eyes?" Chapec stole the noodles from his sister. "She looked terrified. There were no bedroom eyes."

  "Terror and lust aren't always mutually exclusive," Dievca shot back.

&n
bsp; "There was still terror."

  "So you just have to make her not be terrified. What's so hard about that?"

  Chapec grunted. "It's just this whole plan. It makes me uneasy."

  "I'm not overly fond of it, either."

  "You're the one who thought it up!"

  Dievca's eyes tapered to angry slits. She stabbed the pack of noodles through with a knife, narrowly missing Chapec's hand. He jumped back, reaching for the sword strapped to his back. The sword his father had made, the one bequeathed to his son upon his death. Chapec's throat constricted as emotion welled in him.

  He never got along well with his father. That was always Dievca. They shared so many of the same ideas and sense of humor. Chapec was too similar, but in all the bad ways. He and his dad never saw eye to eye. That wasn't to say that their relationship was without its good points. His father never made him feel any lesser for not sharing his viewpoints. But it was never a close relationship.

  And then one day he was gone. The United Species Corps had arrested him for an assassination he couldn't have possibly committed, and sentenced him to die. They said that he had chosen his method of execution to be in the gladiator games that the Rayne Five Network held.

  Chapec swallowed hard. His gaze met Dievca's. He could see in her eyes that she was having the same memories.

  Their father was not a violent man. He didn't stand a chance against the murderers in the gladiator games. His death had been broadcasted, to be cheered on by millions of viewers. The face of the man who killed him was burned in Chapec's mind. Eyes that were dead, a heart of coal. A T'shav gladiator by the name of Gylden–and now the only thing driving the twins forward was knowing that they had to find and kill their father's murderer.

  Dievca drew her weapon and swung it at him, but not so fast that Chapec couldn't block the blow. It was aimed past his head, with no danger of hitting him. His sister sliced the noodles down the middle and flicked half of them in his face. Chapec grabbed her arm and dragged her across the table. She kicked him in the knee, and he responded by flicking his sword towards her. She blocked. He stepped back and turned his sword downwards.