Alien Romance: Astral Mates Complete Series (Book 1 - 4): Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Invasion Romance, Alien Romance)

by Chloe Joel

  Yet, somehow, he knew that she would never see him as anything more than that were he to.

  This one was special. Perhaps a mate? He toyed with the idea of such a thing and sipped his wine. Yes, a mate for him. She was strong enough, beautiful, powerful.

  In time, she could come to respect him and all he had built here. She could be at his side. It was an amusing thought, and one that, the more he thought about it, he grew fond of. A mate. Could he have finally found someone to match him? Had it been fate that led him to the auction this day?

  Originally, he was going to skip going. The auctions hadn’t had anything of worth in quite some time and he wasn’t interested in wasting his time. Despite this, he went anyway, and it was a good thing he did!

  She was expensive, as her fight had inspired all of the other males in the audience. To break one such as she brings a great satisfaction. It wasn’t a terribly difficult thing to do.

  Truthfully, she should’ve had her will broken like the others before having been brought to stage, but it was obvious this hadn’t been done. Still, what a great point of pride and boasting it would be to return to his brethren and show them that he hadn’t broken the woman, but bent her will to his own, had won her over to his side. It was a far more difficult thing to do.

  It took skill, time, and patience. For someone as strong as she, it was often considered far more trouble than it was worth. Yet if he was to do this, she was perfect for it.

  One of his servants came running into the dining room, stopped ten paces away and bowed. It was obvious the news he brought was urgent in the way he’d sprinted over.

  “Speak,” Gorren commanded.

  “Your female, the newest. She escapes.”

  “Hah!” Gorren slammed his hand down on the table and downed the rest of the wine. She was feisty indeed!

  “Fetch her then, man! And bring her to me. I wish to dine with her after she’s been cleaned up.”

  “Yes, my lord!” he said as he bowed again.

  “See she is cleaned up and dressed, but not harmed. I do not wish her flogged for her disobedience.”

  The servant came to a skidding halt and spun about. “My lord? But, your law, it clearly states—“

  “And they are my laws, are they not?”

  “Yes lord.”

  “Yes, they are. And I tell you now, she is not to be harmed. Captured, returned, cleaned and dressed, then brought down to dine. Not a step more or less. Am I understood?”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  “If I hear I’ve been disobeyed in this, I shall give you and the others her lashings, and then top them with your own for your disobedience.”

  “Yes lord.”

  “I wish to make sure I am absolutely clear on this.”

  “Yes, my lord. Not to be harmed. I do not understand it, but I shall see that it is carried out exactly as you desire.”

  “Good,” Gorren said and waved a hand. “Be gone.” Then, raising a glass to his waitman, he smiled as his wine was refilled.

  It would be a fine dinner indeed.

  CHAPTER THREE

  It was impossible to know how much time passed on that alien planet. The sun didn’t move like it did back on Earth. Was it still the sun if it was a different star?

  It was questions like these that both distracted her mind from her imprisonment, but that also threatened to drive her mad. Her sleeping schedule seemed to sort itself out, but the mealtimes they had threw her off.

  The brute, she learned his name was Gorren, continued to prance about his castle like a boy with a new toy. He tried to show her all of his trophies, and show her around the palace, but she did her best to act as unimpressed as possible.

  Her only hope of really escaping was for him to lose interest in her. It was like a bully. The less you reacted, the more they would lose interest and leave you alone. Right?

  Only that didn’t work at all. The more she ignored him, the more he smiled at her and tried harder. It was like her attitude amused him! She knew all he wanted was for her to give into him, but that would make him happy as well. He’d be satisfied because he won. But if she ignored him, he took it as encouragement to try harder.

  What were her choices? It was maddening. She just did her best to resist. Maybe if she did give in, he would lose interest and leave her alone, but at the same time, giving in would mean he’d won, and she’d be damned if she let that happen. She was his prisoner.

  Her pride was all she had left! She wouldn’t let him win this if she could help it. One day they were sitting down to dinner – or was it lunch? – and he was rambling on about some victory over this or that. At this point she knew not to skip meals, or he just wouldn’t feed her, plus a hunger strike meant nothing to him.

  Abbie sat there drinking her, was it wine? She thought it was wine. It tasted fruitier than that, but he seemed to like it. Gorren stopped in his tale. She looked up to see him studying her.

  “You have no interest in my victory, do you?”

  She shrugged. “You’re just bragging about yourself. Why would I be interested?”

  He puffed out his chest. “If I do not tell you, how else will you know how wonderful I am?”

  She laughed, and made sure it sounded bitter and belittling. “Where I come from, you prove your worth through actions, not words.”

  He leaned forward onto his elbow and swirled the wine in his glass. “Do you not think my deeds worthy of tale and song?”

  “I think you’re a liar.”

  His eyes went wide and she knew she’d struck a nerve. A big warrior like this, his honor was probably paramount to everything. “By all rights I should kill you for accusing me of this.”

  “Then do it. I’ll take it as a win.” She crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair, daring him to do something. Inside, she was terrified. She knew he could kill her with a thought, but on the outside she kept herself calm and cool.

  “You,” he said, pointing a finger at her as though it helped him think, “you only say these things because you are not from here. You do not believe I would harm you. But you tread on ground that is unsteady. Do not push me.”

  “Oh, I’m pushing you. I know exactly what I’m saying. I know full well that insulting your honor would probably force you to kill me. Bring it! I won’t go down easy. Let’s do this!”

  Gorren slammed a hand down on the table shaking all of the food trays as he jumped to his feet. In a heartbeat, he’d rounded the table and lifted her by the leather top he’d had made for her. She glared into his eyes, daring him to hit her, touch her, do anything, but he just stared at her. His eyes flicked from one of her eyes to the other, studying her.

  “You truly have the heart of a warrior. You are a stout soul.” He released her and straightened out her top.

  “You are correct, however. I would never harm you. I wished to test your resolve, to see if I could bring out the fear in you. I smell only a taste of it, yet you show none of it in your eyes. I have known warriors to crumble under the threat of my hand.”

  He looked at her and gave her a wink. “I have chosen wisely indeed.”

  Abbie screamed and threw up her hands. “Stop finding everything I do amusing!”

  He shrugged and walked back to his chair, practically falling into it and throwing a leg up onto the table. “Stop being so amusing.”

  “I’m not,” she moaned and sat back in her chair.

  Begrudgingly she picked up a piece of meat that she still had no idea what animal it came from, and took a bite. The spicy seasoning was unfortunately delicious, and she’d never been more upset that she loved something.

  “I believe that is what makes it so amusing,” he said. “Still, you raise an interesting point. You are not from here. You know nothing of my deeds and you are not from here. You would not hear of them from others.”

  “Maybe because you never let me leave.”

  “Particularly because I will not allow you to leave,” he said with a smile. “Therefor
e, I shall prove them to you. I shall bring you a trophy.”

  Abbie made a disgusted snorting sound and rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re a trophy hunter. There is nothing more disgusting than men who kill animals for sport.”

  “Animals?” He looked at her, confused. “Your people do this? What sport is there in killing food?”

  “Men on my world, and I guess women too, they go around shooting food animals, sure, but also predators. They think it makes them seem big and brave.”

  “Shoot them?”

  It was obvious they’d touched on a subject he was interested in. It wouldn’t hurt to have a conversation for once, did it? She’d gone so long without just being able to talk to someone. This was about hunting! What harm could there be in just chatting about it?

  “Yes, shoot them. With guns. Bang, bang.”

  “And these great hunters of yours, they feel this is worthy of praise? To shoot a thing with guns? From afar? They don’t stalk them and kill them with their hands? Or at least a blade?”

  To demonstrate, he picked up a dinner knife and stabbed a roasted carcass on the table.

  “Nope. Most of the time they sit up in a tree and drink beer until something wanders by, then they shoot it.”

  He slumped back in his chair, completely dumbfounded. “And your people praise this?”

  “Eh,” she said, shrugging a shoulder and picking at another piece of meat. “Usually only other hunters. Those that don’t do the hunting think it’s just as stupid as you. Most people value life. All life, not just our own. Killing for food is one thing, but just killing to kill is…”

  “Either psychotic, or justice. Depends on the prey.”

  “Justice?” she asked, intrigued.

  “Mm,” he agreed as he took a bite of bread from his plate. “Were you listening to my tales, you would understand that this is the hunting I do. There are those among us, most distasteful. I hunt them. Bring them to justice. It is known that when I have your scent, you are as good as dead.”

  “Ooo,” she said sarcastically, though when she looked at him and imagined him hot on her trail, seeking her blood it chilled her to the bone. She’d no doubt that everything he was saying was true.

  After that day, she’d forgotten about that conversation entirely. It was just one of many, as far as she was concerned. What was more important was the day he said he had to go on the hunt, and ordered his men to watch her in his absence. She bid him farewell, as was the custom, doing everything she could to not raise suspicion.

  The second he was gone, she waited perhaps thirty minutes before wandering the palace. There were guards stationed everywhere, and his personal servant followed her around at a discreet distance.

  She asked him about rooms as she passed them, pretending as though she was merely exploring. Finally, she heaved a big sigh and made her way to the bathroom. When he moved to follow her, she looked at him as though he were crazy.

  “You’re not coming in here.”

  “I must. My lord gave me specific instructions—“

  “To not let me leave, not to go to the bathroom with me. I was there, I heard what he said. Are you trying to see me naked?”

  “My lady, I assure you that I have no interest in—“

  “Oh! So I’m ugly. The female that your lord bid so highly on is hideous to you, is that what you’re saying?”

  “No, the lady misunderstands”

  “Oh so you do lust after me. I had suspected as much, but do you know what your lord said when I brought it up to him?”

  “You said this to him?” the servant asked. His face dropped in an expression of horror.

  “I did,” she confirmed, “but he said I was being ridiculous. That you would never dishonor him, his household, and everything that he does for you. I said that he shouldn’t trust you, but he assured me that you were the one person in this whole friggin’ place he could trust. I can see now how wrong he was.”

  “I assure you, my lady, I am most trustworthy. My lord—“

  “Shhh, it’s okay. I won’t tell him. It’s obvious you want to stick it to him just as much as I do. Come on in,” she said, backing away and opening the bathroom door a bit wider. “We’ll have sex together, and tell him. It’ll make him furious! That’ll show him he can’t boss us around. Right?”

  “No, my lady, it’s not—“

  “Isn’t that what you meant? I thought that’s why you wanted to come in here with me?”

  The servant held up his hands and backed away as though she were sick with the plague. “I’ll wait out here for the lady, if that’s quite all right.”

  “Well,” she said pointedly, as though she were disappointed, “I’ll leave the door unlocked. If you ever change your mind, you just come on in. No questions asked.”

  “That’s quite all right.”

  Abbie slowly closed the door. As she did, she gave him a sly smile and a wink. The servant couldn’t have looked more disinterested if he tried.

  She grinned to herself as soon as the door was closed. That worked better than she anticipated. If she understood these people as much as she thought she did, he wouldn’t come in for all the gold in the world. Or, whatever they valued here. Abbie ran to the bath and was pleased to find the rope she’d made out of sheets still there.

  She quickly tied it to a nearby fixture and pulled against it to make sure it was secure. This bathroom was on the second storey, but for how tall the ceilings were in this place, it might as well have been the fifth.

  Thing was, this particular bathroom window had a balcony under it. She grabbed the second rope made of sheets and dropped it out the window onto the balcony, and then climbed out the window.

  Holding onto the rope with both hands was one of the most difficult things she’d ever had to do. She had to face facts, she was not a small woman. She’d always known it, and even wore it with a bit of pride. She accepted who she was! At the moment, however, that was working against her. She’d never had to hold up her own weight before, and now that she had to, she realized how weak her muscles were.

  Still, it was this or stay imprisoned forever in this godforsaken place, and that just wasn’t an option. How long until he got sick of her attitude and just killed her outright? She didn’t think it would be much longer. It was now or never! She slowly made her way down the rope, the fabric slipping in her grip a number of times.

  Fortunately she was able to clamp her feet and legs around the knots she’d made in the rope to catch herself. In time, she was on the balcony, and tying the second rope to the edge of the balcony railing. The sheet would give her away whenever someone did come in to check on her, but she knew that wouldn’t be for some time. There was no way that servant would risk coming into the bathroom and seeing her naked, or something crazy like that. It would mean his head.

  Abbie laughed to herself at the thought as she tossed the second rope over the edge. It didn’t quite reach the ground, but it was close enough that if she fell from the end and maybe rolled a bit, she’d be okay. It’d hurt, but when compared with death or imprisonment, what was a little pain? She could take it.

  He had the right of her in that regard, she wasn’t a wuss. She could face anything he could dish. Abbie puffed out a few breaths to brace herself for the slow climb down.

  Her arms were killing her. Maybe if she tried to use her legs more and give her arms a rest? Then again she’d be using up her leg muscles, and she still had all of those stairs to go down. After that of course was the idea of what she would do, but she’d figure that out when she got there.

  First thing’s first, she had to get out of the palace. It was slow going, but she just focused on going foot by foot down. When she reached the end, she couldn’t believe it. She was tired, but she felt like she could’ve gone longer if she had to. Maybe she wasn’t as weak as she suspected?

  When she looked down, it looked like she was far higher up than she anticipated. Of course, the options at this point were to drop or
climb back up, and despite the fact that she wasn’t as tired as she thought she’d be, there was no way in hell she could climb this rope back up. With a small cry, she let go.

  Gravity grabbed her and dragged her down. Her stomach leapt up into her throat, and her head swam with the thrill of it. For just a second, air whistled past her ears, then she crashed to the ground. She tried to let her legs go out from under her and roll, but instead she twisted her ankle and fell to her side, cracking her skull against the ground.

  Fortunately the grass had softened some of the blow, but she felt like she struck a pebble or something, because warm, wetness trailed down the side of her face as she sat up. Sharp hot pain shot up her leg when she tried to stand, and she felt around her ankle. It wasn’t broken, but it may as well have been. It hurt just to move it.

  Abbie looked around her. There were no guards here still, just as she suspected when she planned this. It was a blind spot in his security, likely because no one ever thought anyone could do anything with how high up the windows were. Well, she was only too happy to prove him wrong!

  Now to actually escape.

  Abbie forced herself up despite the pain and hobbled her way to the edge of the plateau. If she just ran straight for the stairs, someone would see her. She knew that much for certain. Instead, she planned to run out to the edge of the land and followed it along to the stairs. The guards would be watching the open land between the palace and the staircase in the far distance. No one would watch the walls. Why would they?

  The plateau seemed to go on forever, the pain in her ankle firing up her leg and the side of her back with every step. She just gritted her teeth through it and forced herself on. Eventually she did reach the wall, and followed it all the way along to the stairs without any incident. By now, she was sure someone had to have checked on her and found the ropes, but she was far away.