Kidnapped by the Alien Dragon

by Ward, Abella

  Gylden stepped forward, gaze intent. "What was your father's name?"

  Dievca stepped a little closer to Chapec. Her voice wobbled. "Ontzag."

  "I'm sorry."

  Chapec's head jerked up. That was the last thing he had expected to hear. They were the ones that threatened his family, and he was apologizing to them? The older T'shav's shoulders were slumped, his face creased with sadness.

  "I don't remember all the people I've killed. I don't remember your father. As a gladiator, I tried to forget the faces I saw. If it weren't for my Bianca, I don't think I'd have the sanity to go on every day. I was put in the games as a child after my parents were killed. It wasn't something I chose for myself."

  And we were going to kill him. Chapec was surprised to feel his eyes burn. If it wasn't for Veronica coming into his life, making him question his path of vengeance… This man didn't deserve death.

  "But I am so, so sorry for taking him from you."

  "I'm sorry," Dievca whispered. "I'm sorry for hating you. I'm sorry for threatening your child—"

  "Forgiven." Gylden put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't carry guilt. Acknowledge it, but don't let it crush you."

  It was the sort of thing their father would have said. Chapec felt his lips twitch into a smile despite the situation. He felt like a weight had lifted off his chest. No longer crushed by the desire for revenge or the heavy feeling of not knowing how to ever make things right. But he knew that he would have to keep working, to prove to himself he was worthy of Veronica.

  Gylden looked at him now. "As for you… Don't let go of that mate of yours. She has visited me every day to plead your case. She's a rare one."

  "I know. And believe me, I am not going to take that for granted again."

  "Good. Because I have decided on your punishment."

  Nerves churned in Chapec's stomach. Dievca clutched his hand.

  "You'll stay here in the Sanctuary. Veronica tells me that you have decent farming skills. So you'll be placed with the farmers. After you have worked twice as long as you held Veronica captive, you'll both be given assessments to see where the best fit for you really is. And you, Dievca, will not be allowed to drink alcohol for that time, either. Veronica told me how you have been overindulging."

  Dievca swallowed and nodded. "But is that it? We'll work and… that's it? We're forgiven?"

  "Not exactly. You will be kept under watch until you can prove that this isn't some sort of complicated plot so you can try to kill me again."

  She shook her head. "I don't want to anymore. I… I want to learn how to find my own life."

  "I know what that feels like. Good luck. To both of you."

  With a gentle smile, Gylden left again. The twins stared at each other. Chapec didn't know what to say. This was better than the best scenario he had dared hope for. Freedom. A place at the Sanctuary. Farming wasn't necessarily his strongest talent, but he didn't care. They weren't prisoners.

  It wasn't much longer before Veronica came to see them. A grin spread across her face and she threw herself into Chapec's arms. She kissed him fiercely, making him chortle in delight. Dievca groaned and turned away, making gagging noises.

  "Stop it!"

  Veronica pulled away and shot her a half-annoyed glance. "Forgive me for being happy. But I heard the news. It's fantastic! You're both free. And we'll get our own little plot of land, and Ava will grow up with her father, mother and aunt all looking out for her."

  Chapec's heart swelled with happiness as Veronica nestled his arms. Dievca smiled at the two of them before murmuring that she was going to go find out more about the plot of land they were going to farm. Chapec and Veronica also left to go to her apartment, though it didn't escape the T'shav's notice that they were followed by a couple of guards. He didn't mind. After what had happened before, it was only logical. The Sanctuary had to maintain its security, after all. And they'd be gone soon enough.

  "Where is Ava?" Chapec asked.

  "Sara is looking after her right now. I wanted time to speak with you. To tell you how much I love you."

  "I love you, too. And I will make you proud of me. I will make Ava proud of me. I promise."

  "I know." Veronica leaned into his arms. She raised her face to his, and they shared another kiss; the kiss that would start them on their new life together.

  Chapec couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

  *****

  THE END

  Did you like what you read?

  ”Rescued by the Barbarian“ is a stand-alone story in a series, featuring the T’Shav species and their human mates. Other parts of the series (more coming soon!):

  - Sold to the Barbarian

  - Caged to the Barbarian

  - Bought by the Barbarian

  - Given to the Barbarian

  - Kidnapped by the Barbarian

  The books each have a HEA and contain plenty of action, steam and surprise pregnancies.

  Bonus Book 5: Taken by Two Alien Kings

  Description

  What’s better than being paired with a hot alien? Being paired with two hot aliens of course.

  Cheryl is the new queen in the Demante System. Purchased from Earth and raised as a temple-virgin, she was selected to rule. She’s about to meet her king, chosen through a series of battles. Only to find that there’s not just one, but two candidates...

  Oh my, whom to choose? One is even hotter and more dominant than the other. There’s Bjorn of the house of Leshire, the one everybody expected to claim the queen. And then there’s Maskin, the warrior-slave who is challenging the noble houses. Both are equally ready to punish any disobedience and submit her to their desires.

  The task is easy: who gets her pregnant first gets the throne. But who knew there’d be enemies along the way? Enemies that beat her alien kings to hell to have Cheryl for themselves?

  Staying alive isn’t easy, but it’s easier than choosing between the two warriors. Right? With the enemy on their heels and time ticking, Cheryl has to make the choice of her life. All she can hope for is that her sexy warriors stay alive long enough to hear her out.

  Chapter One: Cheryl

  Today was the day. The previous king of the Demante System had died, and the widow-queen was ready to hand her crown to the next temple-slave chosen to be queen. Cheryl would meet her husband and give the system a new king.

  The human tried to keep herself still as the temple acolytes buzzed around her. Their shiny metal skins flashed in the bright light cast by the sun rods, long tubular lamps that were charged in the sunlight and released their warm glow indoors. She was so excited that she couldn't stop herself from beaming, although she knew this was a solemn occasion.

  The acolytes painted her lips red and braided her golden hair into a crown around her head. The black gown she had been put into was tighter than anything she had worn before. It accentuated all her curves, although the seams strained at the waist. Probably a reminder from Priest Quincy that she hadn't dropped the twenty pounds he had told her to lose by this date.

  Well, no matter. She'd be away from the priest soon enough, and he couldn't remind her again and again that she was fat. She knew that she weighed more than she was supposed to, but she didn't care. She knew in her gut that her king wouldn't mind, either.

  "Are you excited?" one of the acolytes asked, tinny voice reverberating in its metal shell.

  "Deliriously happy. I love my life in the temple, but I am eager to see what the world is like. And to meet my husband." Cheryl ducked her head and blushed, a small smile on her face.

  She was more excited about her wedding night than she cared to admit. The only man she had regular contact with was Priest Quincy, but late at night, she liked to indulge herself in imagining what her king would be like. Cheryl had known from the time she was a little girl that her destiny was to be the next queen of the Temadian people. She had been selected from among the slaves purchased from Earth by the Demante System when she was just a baby.

/>   The Temadians were a society built by men. Their women had left eons ago, although nobody knew where they had gone. For centuries, the only way for the Temadian people to reproduce was to take their massive starships and steal women from other systems.

  Although that custom had long since died, the coronation of the new queen was a remembrance of those days. She was always a temple-slave obtained through trade with another species, and her king was selected through a series of battles. The Gods selected one of the champions to survive the tournament, and once he was married to the queen, he was king.

  Cheryl's king was rumored to be the previous king's nephew, Bjorn, but she wouldn't know for certain until she was presented to him. Her heart pounded with excitement as the acolytes put the finishing touches on her hair and rolled back to inspect their work. The dim, gold light of their eyes turned red, a sign that they approved of what they saw. The human took a deep breath, grinning widely.

  "Remember, child, not to expect too much from your wedding night," one of them said. "Just close your eyes and imagine yourself somewhere else."

  Cheryl nodded meekly, although her mind was always full of dirty thoughts when she thought about her wedding night these days. She imagined intense pleasure, both for her and her king. Would he tear her dress right off her skin, the way she liked to imagine it?

  She smoothed her skirt as she stood, following the acolytes to where Priest Quincy waited. As head of the Queen's Temple, he was responsible for the ceremony today, as well as Cheryl's upbringing, although her teacher for most of her life had been her mother, until her early death. He shook his head when he saw her, a look of distaste coming over his face. Cheryl's heart dropped, though she tried to suppress it.

  Since she was a child her genes have been altered little by little so when she became pregnant with the king's baby, a pure-blooded Temadian would be born. It would take a lifetime to replace her, and the Demante system could not last without a king to rule over the dozen planets and order the fleets of warrior-slaves in their defense. No matter what Quincy thought, he would not take her destiny from her.

  "Our king will need nerves of steel to bed you. I told you to lose weight." Priest Quincy squinted his eyes at her. "A queen must be regal, not round. Well, you are your king's problem now, not mine."

  He turned and walked away, clearly expecting Cheryl to follow. She did so. Deep down, she knew she should be sad about leaving her temple and fearful about her future. But she was the queen. The only luxury was in her future, and a lifetime of giving her king beautiful, dark blue babies.

  Priest Quincy led her outside. Cheryl winced as a roaring cheer echoed in her ears. As she stepped onto the platform at the top of the temple steps, it rose into the air, a slight hum all that was indicative of the hover engines beneath the slab of stone. A sea of people spread all around the temple and they chanted her name as she floated over them. After a few minutes, the platform set down at the top of the palace steps.

  This was it. Cheryl eagerly looked down the steps, to the courtyard below. It was full like the temple grounds had been, but her king would be waiting for her on the bottom step.

  Her brow furrowed. There were two men standing below her.

  "I should have said that you are the kings' problem," Priest Quincy whispered in her ear. He stepped forward. "Bjorn of the house of Leshire."

  The man to the right stepped towards her and bowed. His brown hair was trimmed neatly around his ears. He wore the sleek, ruby-red armor of the noble houses. It was molded to his body, made from nanites that would detect coming pressure and thicken the armor at points of impact. It also showed off his impressive shape. He was muscular and lithe, like the panther in the Earth storybook her mother used to read to her. His skin was midnight blue, indicating that he was a pureblooded Temadian–or as pure blooded as was possible these days. The crowd chanted his name.

  "Maskin, Hero of the Apdratee invasion."

  The second man's most prominent feature was the fierce scowl he wore. His hair was long, braided down his back. He was larger than Bjorn. His black studded armor was clearly meant for heavy battles, rather than the ceremonial skirmishes Bjorn's nanite armor was designed for. His arms were naked and bore scars, both of blade and blaster. Dark diamonds were tattooed under his eyes. Judging from the sky-blue of his skin, he was born a warrior-slave. A mix of insults and cheers rose for him. He did not bow.

  "These men fought each other for a day and a night until both fainted with loss of blood," Priest Quincy shouted, more to the crowd than Cheryl. "The Gods have decreed that they are equally worthy of the crown. But which is more worthy of the queen? She must choose now."

  Everything went silent.

  Cheryl couldn't breathe. This wasn't what it was supposed to be like. She was supposed to be presented to her king, not given a choice between two men. Everything in the temple was decided for her, down to what she wore and ate. How was she supposed to choose between these two men? Her chest started heaving, her hands shaking.

  "You have to choose," Priest Quincy said again.

  Tears burned in her eyes as she stared at the two warriors. "I can't."

  Priest Quincy turned towards her, narrowing his eyes. She shrank back from him but shook her head. She thought she might vomit. Taking a deep breath, she managed to straighten her shoulders and raise her chin. Once more, she shook her head.

  "It's the Gods who decide who the king will be. I'm only the queen."

  The corner of the priest's mouth twitched. He turned back to the crowd. "The queen has said let the Gods decide. Therefore, she and the two Kings Presumptive will be sent to the shrine of Nethja, Goddess of fertility. There they will stay until the alignment of the four moons. If the queen is with child, the father will be king. If she is not, then both will be put to death and a new king chosen."

  Cheryl pressed her hands to her mouth, horrified.

  There would be no wedding night for her, but two months in a moon shrine with rivals fighting to impregnate her. She stared down the steps at the two presumptive kings. Neither looked surprised. Maskin returned her stare with a hungry look in his golden-orange eyes. Bjorn's own green eyes twinkled. They both walked up the steps to join her on the platform. It lifted again, this time heading for the shipyard.

  In two months, one or both of these men would be dead.

  Chapter Two: Maskin

  The moon shrine of Nethja was an ancient place, established when the Temadian people first developed space travel. Maskin stood between two ivory pillars as he watched the sun rising on the northern horizon. The large planet of Thoutle, seat of the Demante System and home to the noble houses, was still visible in the sky like a large, green jewel. Maskin's own home planet was a hardly-visible speck in the morning sun.

  The warrior-slave had been on the front lines when the Apdratee attacked, trying to conquer the system. It was he who had led a single ship against their blockade after his Lord Commander had perished.

  At the time, he had never seen anything outside the strict barracks where he and the other warrior-slaves were raised and trained to fight. After he had taken control of an Apdratee ship and broken a hole through the blockade, ending their siege, he had been brought to Thoutle to be awarded his freedom and the title of commander.

  It was the first time he saw beauty. The planet was breathtaking. Everything was green and lush. He thought it must be paradise.

  This moon, however, was even more beautiful. Flowers grew everywhere. There were so much color and such sweet scents perfuming the air that when Maskin first stepped foot on the moon, he thought he had died and had been taken to the nirvana all faithful worshippers went to.

  Bjorn's presence had quickly reminded him it was not so.

  Maskin scowled as he turned from the sunrise. That man was the final obstacle to all of his plans. If Bjorn became king, nothing would ever change. Warrior-slaves would still be ripped from their mother's arms as infants. They would still live and die without being allowed to see
any beauty or have any choices.

  So he did not have the time to appreciate the beauty he was in. He only had two months to impregnate the queen, after all.

  He looked down as he finished the grass necklace he had been braiding. It was one of the few things that all warrior-slaves knew how to do. They rarely got any downtime, but when they did, they liked to make things with whatever resources were available. Necklaces such as these were used to express affection for one another. They were simple compared to the sapphire that was gifted among the higher ranks, but Maskin found a joy in the simple appearance of things made by hand.

  It was his only hope that Cheryl would feel the same. If she didn't, then he had nothing to compete against Bjorn with. Failure was not an option.

  Maskin wasn't afraid of dying for his attempts to become king. The odds had been stacked against him from the start, and he honestly hadn't expected to get this far. But he didn't want to be remembered as the warrior-slave who almost became king.

  He wanted to be remembered as the king who changed everything.

  The shrine itself was a wide space that included gardens, a lake, and several small cabins and pavilions. Cheryl was in a pavilion at the heart. The queen jumped when he entered the building. She gave him a look akin to terror, although she nodded and turned off the holographic view she had been using.

  If he were smart, he would just lay her down where she was and lift her skirts. The more times he claimed her, the more likely his child would grow in her belly. He wouldn't be surprised if Bjorn had already had her dozens of times.

  But she was so pretty, and in the black dresses, she favored she looked so innocent. Besides, he couldn't bear the thought of even kissing her when she looked at him like that. She wouldn't fight him, he knew that, but he wanted her to like him. He didn't want a queen who feared the times they were joined.