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

by Chloe Joel

  They continued to go for walks together as he explained the way things were on his planet. He educated her on their customs and showed her the many different types of plants in his garden. She found herself less and less paying attention to guard rotations and more to the things he told her.

  As she found out more about this red place, she discovered more and more of its hidden beauty. Much like her captor. As strict as he was with his men, he was always gentle with her. The only times she’d seen him be even slightly upset or rough with her was before when she was viciously insulting her.

  Even then, he never struck her or treated her harshly. He became upset, because she had upset him, but he had controlled it. It was a respectable quality. Now that she was open to him, she saw the true kindness that he held inside.

  It was almost like watching one of those thorny weeds blossom. It seemed sharp and fierce at first, but once you accepted it and allowed yourself to be touched by it, it became the softest thing she’d ever laid hands on.

  One day he said he had a surprise for her. They went around to an area of the castle she’d never been in before. Here the corridors were decorated in sharp angles and matte finishes. There were many grays and pictures of warriors and destruction.

  When he opened the security doors at the other end of the hall, it revealed a great hanger. There were a dozen or more flying machines in perpetual hover, just waiting to be piloted.

  “Wow,” she said. “Are all of these yours?”

  “Indeed,” he said, smiling with pride. “It is my fleet. Every lord in my position houses a standing army. It is so that we have an immediate defense if we are ever under attack or if we need to summon our military to defend our capitol.”

  “Does this happen often?” she asked as she ran her hand along the hard lines of one the vehicles rear fins.

  They walked between them slowly, sauntering along without a care. “Not terribly often, but it does not require much for the power to shift.”

  Abbie couldn’t help but admire the beautiful machines, plus the view was outstanding. On the edge of each landing pad were turrets on swivels. They constantly scanned the sky, and had a commanding view of the ground below.

  She realized they were at the back of the palace which had been built at the edge. It was nothing but a straight drop down.

  “Careful,” he said, coming to stand beside her. “It’s quite a fall.”

  Abbie smiled over at him, and realized that with one small push, she could solve all of her problems. If she just tipped him over, he’d fall hundreds of feet down to his death. She thought about it, but saw the smile on his face. He was happy. He was happy, there, with her. That was when she realized that she may have actually been happy there with him.

  She put a hand on his back, and ever so gently, rubbed his back. He gave her a smile and another glance over the edge before resuming their walk.

  “If power were to shift, what would happen then?” she asked.

  “Depends,” he said. “Any number of things can happen to cause such a turmoil in the system. An artifact discovered usually brings with it great power. There would be those to fight for it, to control it. This of course would provide a tactical advantage for anyone wishing to move into their homestead while their standing army was weak and away from home.

  Anyone coming to claim the home and wins it from that lord’s men, claims the home and the men within. With that, he claims the power and station the lord previously held.”

  “Just like that?” she asked. “The other guy doesn’t get a say in the matter?”

  Gorren shrugged. “He shouldn’t have lost it in the first place.”

  “So, if something were to happen while you were gone, and someone came here to claim this palace, that’s it? You’d lose your position and your title? What… what would happen to me?”

  “Worry not, this is why my brother and I share this home. We share the title and power. Besides, our mates are protected. You would be expelled.”

  Even as he said the words, they died in his mouth and he stopped.

  “But I’m not your mate,” she said, stating what she knew he just realized. “I’m your property, right?”

  “Yes,” he said, the word sticky in his mouth.

  The conversation died and it was clear they both had much to think about. He walked her back to the palace proper shortly after that.

  After a meal, he escorted her to her room to sleep and left. In his absence, Abbie sat on the edge of her bed to think. What was she doing? How did she really feel about him?

  She was his property. She was here only because he willed it. She was a prisoner, no matter how good the sex was. If someone came and took over this house, she’d just switch owners. She wasn’t some piece of stereo equipment or a car or something!

  She’d let herself get caught up in the moment – or, the many moments – but now she sat utterly confused about how she truly felt about this man. Was it only lust, or did she have true feelings for him? It was clear how he felt about her.

  She was his property.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Gorren went to his martial hall to train. Exercise always helped clear his mind and readied him for any battle. This was a battle of his heart, though, and the exercise, while exhilarating, didn’t help clear up how he felt.

  He set up targeting drones, and as they flew about the cavern-like room, he blasted them out of the air with waves of his hand. The power he summoned belonged only to he and his brother, the others of his race possessing powers unique to their own.

  Of them all, he wasn’t as strong as his brother. It made his brother arrogant, but with every right to be so. Gorren trained constantly, strengthening his control over it, but it never increased in strength. Still, he was more articulate with it, able to wield it with greater finesse. Still, when it came to sheer force, his brother could burst through even the strongest materials.

  He was mid-practice when his servant came into the room. “My lord, you are summoned.”

  Gorren walked over to the holocomm the servant held on a tray. With a touch of a button he tossed it into the air in front of him, and his master appeared in the air as crisp and real as though he actually stood there in his physical form.

  “Gorren. It is good to see you remain strong.”

  “My master. You summon me?”

  “Forces are mobilizing. Three of my generals have stopped responding to calls. Your brother and yourself remain loyal, yes?”

  “Of course, my lord,” Gorren said, still panting as he struggled to regain his breath. “I’ve heard nothing of this.”

  “These are under your command, lord Gorren. How could you have heard nothing? What have you been doing?”

  “I have been distracted,” he admitted, but wouldn’t say by what. He was still sorting out his own feelings. The conversation with Abbie had brought up a point he hadn’t considered at all. Just the thought of losing her, in any way, struck him with a pain unfamiliar to him. Nothing could hurt him as much.

  “What would you have me do?”

  “Discuss with your brother, and then investigate these dealings. Yourself. I would trust few with this, were I you. If there is a coup attempt, there very well may be spies already in place in the highest of ranks. This includes yourself.”

  “Indeed, my master. I’ll look into this right away.”

  Holding out his hand, the holocomm flew into his palm. With a flick of his thumb he turned it off and placed it back on the tray. He and his servant exchanged a look. He’d heard the accusation of spies being in place, but Gorren knew better. He’d rescued this man from the jaws of death.

  In return, the man had once saved Gorren’s life. A servant he may have been, but he was also a loyal and trusted friend. Gorren gave him a small nod to show he trusted him and that he wasn’t concerned about the servant’s position.

  “Go to my brother. Summon him to the war hall. We have much to discuss, he and I. War is coming.” The servant bowed and
rushed off.

  After cleaning himself and dressing in his regal uniform, Gorren met his brother in the war hall. It was a chamber filled with computer systems, surveillance equipment, as well as a constantly running log of troop moments, counts, and armament.

  Everything a commander needed to operate a campaign of war from afar. After a few minutes his brother arrived. He lived clear on the other side of the palace, so it was no surprise that it took him so long to reach the hall.

  Byreen’s dress was less formal, a sign that he didn’t take this as seriously as Gorren did. This as much was clear when his brother raised an eyebrow at how Gorren looked.

  “Are things truly so grave?”

  “We’ve been summoned by our master. There are spies, our generals not responding to his call, and possibly more. Have you heard anything?”

  Byreen folded his arms and walked over to one of the surveillance monitors. “I’ve not heard of anything so dire. Are you sure it is not our master’s paranoia that has gotten hold of you? You both tend to jump at shadows quite easily.”

  “Be serious! It is our position to take these with all due attention and respect.”

  “All due attention, yes. This is nothing. The ramblings of a mad king afraid of his crown being knocked from his head.”

  Gorren pressed his knuckles against the table and rose from his seat. “Are you a part of this?”

  “What?” Byreen looked at him as though it was the most amusing thing he could’ve said.

  “Are you a part of this?”

  “How can you say such a thing? To do this would be to go not only against our master, but against you, my own brother.”

  “Any number of reasons why. You are tired of sharing the title, you wish for greater power. You are, after all, in a position to take the master’s title were this to achieve victory.”

  “Would you listen to yourself? I could very well say all of these things about you!”

  Gorren came over and took his brother’s collar in his hands. “I need you in this. We took this palace together, so that we could guard it together. Our title. Our power. This was meant to be a partnership, a team. Do not betray me. Not now, not in this.”

  “Brother,” Byreen said softly, and reached up to hold onto Gorren’s wrists. He didn’t try to remove them, but it was more a comforting gesture to show he wasn’t afraid of Gorren’s touch. “I am with you. We are still together in this.”

  “Then please, take this seriously. I must go and perform reconnaissance on our troops that are not responding to discover what could be the issue. If this is a coup, if there are those after our positions, it will be up to you to protect our home and our power.”

  “That was always the plan.” Byreen said.

  After that they discussed what the mission would be. Their troop placements weren’t far from the palace, so the mission would be a short one. No sense in delaying, Gorren went to his rooms to dress in his combat outfit and summoned the troops to the flight deck. He then went to Abbie’s room to say goodbye.

  He’d expected her to be sleeping, but to his surprise she sat awake in the dark. “Is all well?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Look, I get that you’re having fun with me, but I just can’t right now, okay? I need a rest. It’s getting really—“

  “No, no,” he gave an uncomfortable laugh, “I haven’t come for that. I must go on a mission, but I’ll be back shortly. I just wished to say goodbye.”

  “Oh,” she said. What was that emotion? Happiness? Worry? It was untouchable. “Thank you for coming by. Be safe.”

  “I will.” He came to her bed and kissed her. He knew the touch of her lips and what it was when she kissed him back. This was a firm, formal kiss. One granted to family, not lovers.

  “Is all well?”

  “I said I’m fine.”

  He sighed softly. He just hadn’t the time for this. “I’ll be back and we can talk then.”

  “Whatever.”

  Her responses dug at him. He wanted to stay and fix this, but in a choice between his position and his relationship with Abbie, he had to be responsible. He’d never felt like this, such a tug of emotions inside of him.

  Always before he’d pushed his emotion down to the dark core of him. Emotions got better men than him killed. What had she woken inside of him? Gorren left for his mission with a troubled heart yet struggled to maintain his mind.

  When he reached the location his generals had last reported, he found the grounds emptied. The forts had been abandoned, the logs erased. They were gone.

  Gorren and his men scoured the grounds for any sign of them, any clue, but everything came up empty. With nothing but betrayal leaving a bitter taste in his mouth, Gorren returned to the palace.

  The trip took but a few hours in total, but when he returned, he found the flight deck smoldering, men running about still attempting to put out the last of the fires. Gorren and his men landed. Without hesitation, he rushed over to help quell the flames.

  “What happened? Were we under attack?”

  The man looked to Gorren, and it was clear he was trying to contain his own anger. “Perhaps you should speak with your lust slave.”

  “No,” Gorren breathed. “Abbie did this?” He looked around at the destruction. Of his twelve vehicles, four had been destroyed or were damaged beyond functionality. There would be many repairs needed to the flight deck itself.

  Even as he observed all of this the ceiling at the far end creaked and groaned before finally giving way. Two support pillars collapsed as the massive armor plating of the ceiling collapsed down. Fortunately the metal plates crushed what were already ruined flight vehicles.

  “How?” he asked no one as he looked at it all.

  Gorren didn’t even bother undressing out of his combat gear before storming to Abbie’s room. There were six guards posted at her door. He nodded to them, but they simply continued to look forward. The disapproval of his men was never clearer to him.

  When he opened the doors and entered her rooms, he found her pacing as she chewed on her thumbnail. Her head shot up to him, and she immediately backed away from him, keeping the distance between them wide.

  “I’m not sorry,” she said loudly at him. “I’m not sorry! I’ll do it again, too!”

  “I don’t understand,” he said, trying to close the distance between them. “What did you do? I thought we were past this.”

  “Past it? Hah!” She threw her head back and laughed bitterly at him. “Past what? Me being your property? A thing! Something that can just be given from one man to another. I’m a piece of furniture that belongs to whoever moves in? Screw you!”

  “So you destroyed my flying craft?” Gorren threw up his hands. “This makes no sense!”

  “No I didn’t destroy your flying—I mean, I did, but not, I mean, that wasn’t the point.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I was trying to get away! The controls, though, are really, it was so confusing.”

  “You…” Gorren pictured her in one of this craft randomly pressing buttons, firing weapons, and generally causing mischief. Even then, the amount of destruction she’d caused was impressive. He tried to keep the smile from his face, and wasn’t entirely succeeding in hiding it.

  “You mean to tell me that you snuck onto the hanger deck, climbed into a machine, started it, and managed to get it in the air all before someone caught you?”

  Abbie crossed her arms. “I’ll do it again, too!”

  “No, I’m not even mad. That’s impressive.”

  “How did you know I got it in the air?”

  “I know the placement of all of my machines, and which three I took with me. The ones you destroyed were at the opposite end of the hanger from where one was missing. There are too many obstructions for you to have simply fired from the landing position. You had to have been hovering in circles.”

  “Yeah,” she said and twirled a finger. “It just kept spinning around. No matter what I
pushed, it wouldn’t move more than a few inches at a time. The controls are really counter-intuitive.”

  “For you, perhaps,” he said with a grin. “The next time you attempt an escape, the movement controls are on the arm, here.” He brought his elbow to his hip and waggled his fingers where the armrest would be.

  Abbie clenched her fist. “Damnit! I thought those were the weapons, but when I pushed buttons I thought would move it…”

  “It fired the weapons?”

  She blushed and tug a toe at the ground. “Yeah.”

  “Not quite as counter intuitive as you may imagine. You just need some training.”

  “Pfft, right, like you’ll train me to fly one of those things.”

  Gorren came forward and took her hands in his. “I would train my mate.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes aglow. “What?”

  “You’ve changed me, Abbie from Earth. What began as a game, a distraction from the normal traditions of my people to use slaves purely for our pleasure has turned into something so much more. I find myself thinking of you when I’m not with you.

  I desire you in a way I’ve never desired anyone. Or anything. It goes against everything my people stand for, but I wish to officially announced to the stars in the sky that you are my soul-mate. I wish to make you mine, my one and only, forever.”

  “Is that…” She looked confused and shook her head. “Are you proposing to me?”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  Her eyes filled with tears, but despite this sad gesture, she smiled. “You are, aren’t you? You really mean it? You want me to be your wife? I mean, your mate, or whatever.”

  “I do.” He held her hands to his chest. “When we were speaking, before, about what would happen were someone to take this palace, I realized I couldn’t bear the thought of being without you. The fact that I felt that way, that’s when I knew I couldn’t be without you. Ever. I need you in my life, to be a part of my life.”

  “Yes, of course I will.” She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.