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

by Chloe Joel

  He began kissing her neck, her shoulders, her breasts, and she moved with each kiss, her body responding to every place he explored. Her breaths were coming shorter now, and her head began to spin. A moan of desire turned into one of discomfort as she started to feel ill from the way her heart was racing.

  Ashley tried to focus on the intensity of Martin’s obvious desire to have her, but her body did not see capable of responding as she wanted. Though she had felt better, she was by no means healed of the health issues that had kept her bed ridden for so many days.

  Without warning, he was off the bed, panting and looking down at her with something she didn’t recognize. Regret?

  “What do you think you are doing?” he finally managed, trying to control whatever emotions were coursing through him. “I only want to … I was trying to…” he couldn’t find the right words, and ended his explanation by vigorously running his hands through his hair.

  Ashley could only look at him.

  Martin picked up his shirt and put it on as he quickly left the room.

  The next week, Ashley didn’t see Martin at all. Servants came in and fed her, talked to her, or helped her with her therapy. Whenever she tried to ask about Martin, the servants gave her a look until she felt too uncomfortable to continue asking.

  By the end of the week, she was able to walk around with relative comfort. Whatever the servants were doing, it was infinitely more effective than what the therapist had done. There was no limp as long as she moved slowly.

  The problem was that the better she felt physically, the more torn she was emotionally. Every time Martin was kind to her, she repaid him with lust, accusations, or some other form of blatant disregard for what he wanted. He had responded with a cold condescension that was bordering on cruel.

  Then when she thought he was sick of having her around, the man had stood up for her, not knowing she could hear him, and gotten rid of the woman who was making things unbearable. The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that he had been putting up a front to push her back.

  After all, Ashley had literally thrown herself at him several times, even after he had told her that he did not take that step lightly. She wanted to talk to him, to apologize and to let him know that she really was grateful for everything he had done. He had saved her life in so many ways that she wasn’t even sure where to start.

  Trying to keep herself from overthinking everything, Ashley tried to keep herself busy with recovery and cleaning her room. The more mobile she became, the more eager she was to take away some of the strain of having her around. If nothing else, at least she could make it so that his servants didn’t have to clean up after her.

  Time passed, but still he didn’t come.

  After a second week of not seeing Martin and the servants continuing to refuse to talk about him, Ashley decided she had to find her savior herself and apologize. For one thing, being cooped up in the room was really beginning to wear on her. Spending several weeks sitting around useless was not something she was accustomed to, and it was making her unbelievably restless.

  Since she was feeling better, it was probably time to stop abusing his hospitality as well. No better time to go when it was so evident he had no desire to be near her or even allow his staff to talk about him. The only way to interpret the treatment was that her departure was the next phase of the recovery process. She felt very strongly now that it was time to leave, and if she kept the discussion short, she could do so without worrying about offending him further.

  For a couple of days, she considered how to leave and how to pick the right time. Each morning she awoke to a downpour, which was entirely uncharacteristic for this time of year. The servant came in and mentioned that different areas had been flooded that day, effectively making the decision for her that she would need to stay for at least one more day.

  So when she awoke early one morning to the sound of birds and a hint of light from a sun preparing to crest the horizon, she decided that was the day to leave.

  Feeling guilty and ashamed of her behavior that first week, Ashley decided to track Martin down on her own to give her apologies and thanks. Then she could permanently exit his life so that he would no longer be bothered by a low class, poorly raised human within his walls. The words he said about Joanne felt like they applied to her too.

  If he didn’t feel that way, then he wouldn’t have been avoiding her for almost two weeks. Clearly, he had thought she was too fragile to be honest with her after the ordeal that brought her into his life. He had been kind and as patient as he was capable of being.

  She remembered how even then, Martin had found it difficult to keep the gentle tone in his voice. More than two weeks later, she had no doubt that her knight in shining armor had done his good deed and was eager to see it come to fruition. His investment was only in saving her life because he was such a decent human that he couldn’t sit by and watch injustice.

  Ashley felt at this point the man should be able to sleep just fine at night knowing that he saw her overcome the worst of it. She was healthy and walking again, so whatever he felt his obligations to her were, they had been more than met. With no bags to pack, there wasn’t much for her to do to prepare.

  A small part of her couldn’t help but feel a bit hopeful that he wasn’t being honest and he was more interested in her beyond just getting better. She would love to stay here forever, to talk with Martin now that she was more herself and see if there was still something there.

  When he had taken care of her, the man had been so tender and sincere that she couldn’t help but want more. The problem was that no matter how she thought about it, now that she was back to her more normal self, Ashley knew that there had never been anything real to begin with.

  In her memory, Martin was extremely attractive, to the point of distraction, but she knew that like her hallucinations the night he saved her, her mind had been deluding her the whole time. First the drugs, then the lack of food. She really hadn’t been in her right mind for at least a week after he had brought her here.

  Then there was the fact that she hadn’t seen him in a couple of weeks. Her muddled mind probably had made him out to be far more gorgeous than he was in reality. It was easy to find the beauty in someone who saved you, even if the person was really just an average looking guy.

  She knew that that kind of impression made the eye emphasize the positive aspects of a person and minimize anything that was wrong. Now she knew exactly how much time had passed since that initial encounter and knew that the attraction was probably one more of being grateful to be alive than actual physical appeal.

  Even though she was torn, the deciding factor was that Ashley absolutely refused to continue to be a burden. No matter how miserable her step-father had made her, his words about having taken care of her for so long echoed in her mind. No one would ever be able to accuse her of holding them back again, or of being a worthless drain.

  She was now free to do with her life as she pleased. Even in her dreams of the man wanting her to stay, it was only when he proved that he needed her as much as she needed him that she could choose to stay. A beautiful dream that had no place in her reality.

  Ashley could now live independently, and the allure of the idea, of not being beholden to anyone, was something she was beginning to find appealing. She had expected to serve her step-father hand-and-foot until he died because she never expected to find anyone. She had thought that was in the distant future. But it was happening now, the young woman had her whole life ahead of her and it wasn’t a dream that she could never live. She would be sad to go, but it was inevitable.

  As she got dressed in some clothes the servants had brought just three days earlier, her eye was drawn to movement outside of the window. Instinctively, her head turned, and she saw the man jogging on a dirt trail near the woods. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the way his shirtless torso moved and glistened in the sunlight.

  His movements and the rhythm of his pace se
emed to be in sync with her heart, and for a moment she was transfixed. Something lurched inside of her, but Ashley pushed the emotions back down. Apparently, her memory of his body had not been inaccurate, but surely the fine details of his face must have been enhanced. After all, she had spent more time looking at his body than his face, right?

  One thing was certain. She couldn’t go talk to him right now. It would be best to give him time to finish his workout and cleanup. For a moment, she considered just leaving because Martin would obviously have to work today too, but she couldn’t bring herself to go without taking the time to apologize and thank him for everything.

  She mentally began to prepare for the upcoming discussion. If this was the reaction she had to see him from this far away, she had to hope that her memory of his face was completely off.

  Shaking her head, Ashley reminded herself that she was fully competent, not some swooning teenager who had no experience with relationships. After what she’d been through, Ashley no longer had any delusions that she would find a man who would care for her unconditionally.

  She knew that kind of thing happened, but in reality, that was not the life she had lived. Best to prepare for what was likely instead of torturing herself with the impossible what-ifs her heart was hoping for. Her mother had loved her, and that was more than some people ever got. No reason to be greedy.

  Ashley decided to strip the bed and do some general clean up of the room. After all, she wouldn’t be needing it anymore. There was no reason to leave a lot of extra work for the servants. They had been friendly and helpful in nearly every way she could have asked for, except for their refusal to talk about their master.

  Cleaning up her room was the best way she could think to say thank you to the people who had cared for her the last few weeks. Looking at the clock, she knew there was at least an hour and a half before anyone would come into her room.

  This pleased her as that gave her enough time to clean and Martin enough time to cleanup from his exercise. She would be able to find him and exit the house before anyone realized she had left her room. Ashley smiled as she finished making the bed and moved over to tidy the books. The first day of her own life, all possible because of one man.

  Chapter 6

  Ashley slipped out of her room, closing it behind her. Not quite sure why, she just felt it was right that the door was closed, like a chapter of her life that had been short but had changed absolutely everything she had ever known. Smiling, the young woman turned to look at the area around her.

  Suddenly, she was struck with the realization that she had never been outside of her room and had no idea about the layout of the house. There were multiple floors and she had no idea where to find Martin. Though it felt wrong to wander around his house, Ashley did not really have much choice. Even if she waited around for one of the servants to show up, they wouldn’t help her. She had no reason to make them uncomfortable by asking them questions they wouldn’t answer.

  Looking in both directions, Ashley decided that the left side was more promising. The right hallway looked like it was a dead end. Silently, she moved away from the room where she had stayed for more than half of a month.

  As she made her way down the hall, Ashley couldn’t help but be impressed by everything around her. The furniture was exquisite, if a little modern. Whomever had decorated the place had really outdone themselves because the furniture looked like it was built just for where it had been placed. The colors were pleasing and impressive, if a little intimidating and cold.

  Once or twice, Ashley found herself staring at the artwork. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before, like pictures of places that you could only imagine. A few of them even seemed to be of space, and she wondered if this wealthy man had his own version of the Hubble Telescope that he would have such staggeringly beautiful pictures.

  They certainly didn’t look like they were painted. Ashely was particularly drawn to one picture, and when she stopped to look at it, she could have sworn that parts of it were moving, more like a digital image hooked up to telescope or satellite than an actual picture. She shook her head and moved away thinking that maybe she wasn’t as healed as she had thought.

  Pictures didn’t move. Not unless he was developing that as well as weapons, which wouldn’t make sense at all. The man had only as much time as there was in a day, and art did not exactly go hand in hand with ranches and weapons.

  A few minutes later, she heard someone approaching. Instinctively, Ashley hid. Not quite sure why she felt it was necessary, she watched a couple of servants she hadn’t seen before walking down the hallway. They were speaking a really strange language that she couldn’t understand.

  That did not come as surprise as most of Martin’s staff seemed to be foreign. He and the therapist had been the only two people Ashley had encountered who were clearly American. The language sounded extremely complex, but she had heard that some of the tribes in Africa used clicking noises and other sounds.

  It was not like she had any exposure to other cultures while living with her stepfather. He hadn’t been the most reasonable man. Strangers had mostly been welcomed because he was greedier than xenophobic. Had it not been for the money, Ashley doubted the man would have let anyone in the bar who wasn’t from within a few square blocks.

  She was much more open minded, and thought that learning more about other countries, cultures, and people would be fascinating.

  Thinking about all of this, she reached the bottom of some stairs. If she went up, she would be exposed to the view of anyone coming from several directions. On the other hand, she hadn’t really encountered any other hallways and only a few doors on the way. Perhaps one of the closed doors was the right way.

  Ashely was about to turn and head back the way she had come when she heard voices. With nowhere to hide, she quickly darted up the stairs. Moving just fast enough to avoid detection, she hid in a room. With her back pressed to the wall, Ashley realized just how silly she was acting. She was a guest in this home, it wasn’t like she needed to hide or sneak around.

  My instincts have been so out of sorts since …. She shook her head and chided herself for the somewhat paranoid behavior. Just find Martin and leave, she instructed herself as she stepped away from the wall.

  Turning her attention to her surrounding, Ashley started to notice odd things about the room. This area was nothing like the other floor. Blinking a few times, Ashley tried to make out the shapes in the room, but the sound of muffled talking down the hall reminded her what she was doing there in the first place. Tilting her head slightly to the side, she left the room and headed down the hall to find the source of the sound.

  The voices were coming from just a few doors down. As she approached the door, Ashley realized that her heart was pounding. No matter how hard she tried to keep herself calm, now that she was getting close to Martin’s voice, Ashley knew that she would find his features every bit as pleasing as she had two weeks ago.

  What if she couldn’t say anything? What if he was with another woman? The thought made her tremble. What if he was angry with her for bothering him? Especially, if he was with another woman. Ashley was just a charity case, after all. It was clear he hadn’t seen her as anything more than that.

  Standing just outside the door, Ashley wondered whether she should knock or just turn and leave. Her resolve was slipping when she heard her full name. Swallowing, she stepped forward and lightly rapped on the door.

  The voices continued as if nothing had happened. Gently, she pushed the door open and saw that no one was in the room. Stepping further into the room, she looked around, both longing to see Martin and fearing what else she might find.

  “Hi Martin, I just wanted to …” Once she was in the room, she realized that it was empty. The voices were coming from a room that was not attached to the hallway. Looking around, she realized that Martin had a thing for space that went beyond the artwork he had downstairs. The whole room looked a lot like some kind of strange sp
ace fight.

  I wouldn’t have pegged him for a sci-fi nerd. Maybe that’s why he’s a little more resistant to advances from women. Looking around the room, it made sense. He was wealthy, so maybe it was plastic surgery that had made him look so perfect. That seemed entirely possible.

  She knew that most people would use money to make themselves more attractive. It was obvious looking around the room that Martin had a deep interest in space. Probably loves Space Movies. Shaking her head, she moved to the sound of voices.

  Martin’s voice was strong and firm as he spoke. There was a sound to it that she could not identify (Probably deep annoyance, she thought as she headed toward the door.) “I’ve been told that she has almost recovered and that she will be ready within a couple of days. Ashley Stephanie Barton is showing signs of restlessness and an eagerness to be out of the room. I think that we need to start planning…”

  Again, her full name was used. Ashley’s step-father had definitely not used her name that night. How would anyone here know who she was? Suddenly it dawned on her. Martin must have gone back to the town when he reported the killings, found out who she was, and was now probably reporting about her to someone. If that was the only reason he had kept her here…it was really disappointing, but not surprising.

  Her heart was still hammering as she neared the source of his voice, but it was more because she was now afraid to have her suspicions confirmed. Ashley was so deeply immersed in her own thoughts and disappointment that she wasn’t listening to the conversation anymore.

  Her feet didn’t make a sound as she reached the door. Head bowed and hand poised to knock, Ashley looked up wanting to get one last, long look at her savior, even if he was in a meeting with other people from the town.

  Ashley froze, her hand less than an inch from the door before the first knock. Her mouth was dry and her brain was having trouble taking in everything in front of her.