I glanced down nervously. My nipples had tightened into hard little buds, poking out of the sheer fabric of my bra. He didn’t have to be a mind reader to figure out what was going on in my head. No wonder he was smiling.
The doors opened, creaking like something out of a horror movie, and I caught my first glimpse of the inner chamber. Not what I’d expected.
Plush rugs in a riot of colors layered the stone floor. Tapestries depicting strange animals and exotic plants and flowers covered the walls. A carved wooden chair sat in the place of honor, centered under a surprisingly high curved ceiling studded with translucent stones and more of the glowing crystals. The effect was like a stained-glass dome when the sun hits it, sending brilliant gem-colored rays shooting across the room.
I was so transfixed by the sight, I missed the figure sitting in the chair. It wasn’t until Tarzan took a knee before him that I realized this must be the high priest.
He was bald, like the young monk in training, wearing the same toga-like garment. His was a rich fabric in a deep shade of royal blue. His bronze face was unlined, his body strong and powerful, but gnarled veins stood out in the hands resting on the arms of the chair. I did a double-take when I met his eyes. They were just like Tarzan’s charcoal-black pupils, except his were surrounded by smoky gray irises. It was impossible to guess his age, though I had the sense that a very old soul was behind the shrewd gaze calmly appraising me. I squelched the urge to bow.
“Holy One, I found this intruder in the sacred grove . She speaks our language, though strangely. From the pale color of her skin and hair, I’d guess she hails from another world.” He glanced back at me, as though expecting me to deny it.
I didn’t speak, and he went on. “She has eaten a fruit from the forbidden tree, and I caught her stealing many more. I deliver her to you for punishment, as our law commands.”
The old man was silent for a very long time, staring at the sweat-soaked pants and sheer bra clinging to my curves, then at the figure kneeling before him. When he spoke, his voice was low. I didn’t know anything about their species, but I could have sworn it held a hint of amusement.
“Found her, did you? Dressed like that, eating a rana fruit. And you brought her straight to me?”
“Yes, Holy One.”
The high priest shook his head. “Someday, my boy, you’re going to have to ignore your overblown sense of responsibility and let yourself have a little fun. Look at her. You know what rana fruit does to females. She’s obviously lusting for you. If you were really being responsible, you’d have satisfied her raging fever first.”
“Excuse me.”
They both stared at me with their mouths open, as though one of the tapestries on the wall had decided to join the conversation.
“I do understand your language – even if I speak it strangely,” I added, glaring at Tarzan. “So you can stop talking about me and start talking to me.”
I took a couple of steps toward the old man, lifting my hand and ticking off points as I came near him. “First of all, I’m not lusting for anyone. I don’t know where you came up with that raging fever thing. I happen to be a little sweaty because it’s hot and humid here.” I straightened my shoulders and assumed a military bearing, trying to ignore my still-prominent nipples.
“Second, Tarzan is right,” I went on. “I do come from another world. I am the captain of a spacecraft that crash-landed on your planet after it was damaged in an asteroid storm.”
I realized I sounded awfully confrontational and decided to dial it down a notch. After all, I was completely outnumbered, and the aliens were a lot bigger than me. Maybe it was time for a little diplomacy. I put both hands out, palms up.
“I come in peace, Holy One. I apologize for invading your sacred space and partaking of the fruit. I meant no disrespect. My people will owe your world a debt of gratitude for providing me with life-giving nourishment as I made my way through the vast jungle, seeking help for my crew.”
Okay, maybe I was laying it on a bit thick with that whole life-giving nourishment thing. I hadn’t exactly been crawling along on the brink of starvation when I ate it.
His eyes bored into me, and he didn’t say a word for so long, I wondered if the tellex chip had malfunctioned during my speech. Maybe I’d just insulted his mother – or those fucking monkeys.
Finally, he waved a hand. “You have done your duty, Jalen, guarding the rana tree and protecting our sacred shimba from harm. I will see that this alien is properly punished.”
Jalen. So that was my Tarzan’s name. He took the high priest’s remark as a dismissal, rising to his feet then bowing his head slightly. I watched that long tail swish back and forth as he stalked out of the room. He never once looked back at me. I stifled a sigh. Too bad. The idea of punishment was a lot more appealing when I thought he’d be the one administering it.
The door closed behind him with an ominous thud, and I turned my attention back to the high priest.
“You – and your crew – are fortunate. The Naxian people have been observing the Feast of the Rana. Fasting and praying, giving thanks. Even our military participate in the festival. Your vessel must have crashed last night, on the Eve of Stillness. The one time when our defense systems are monitored by a skeleton crew. Otherwise, your ship would have been blown out of the sky the moment it entered our orbit.”
I stared at him, openmouthed. He’d gone from primitive high priest sitting in a stone pyramid in the jungle to calmly referring to his planet’s interstellar defense system. Maybe this civilization wasn’t as backward as I’d first thought.
Chapter Three
“How many alien beings are on your ship?”
I took a moment to assess my situation before answering. If I told him the truth, that we were a crew of seven female scientists on a small research vessel gathering preliminary data about an unexplored quadrant of Vector Eight, I could assure him we posed no threat to his world. But then he’d have no compulsion about annihilating us, the way you’d squash a weird-looking bug that crawled into your house.
On the other hand, if I made it sound like we were a large, well-armed crew separated from our fighter squadron by the asteroid storm, fear might make him decide to attack the ship before I could get back to warn the crew. Either way, we’d be screwed.
I sized him up. That comment about blowing us out of the sky was out of character with his otherwise calm demeanor. I went with my gut and told him the truth.
“We are a crew of seven, Holy One.” I figured it wouldn’t hurt to suck up a little and keep on addressing him the way Jalen did. “We are on a mission to find and gather data about worlds in this part of the galaxy, worlds our planet knows nothing about.”
He started grilling me on specifics. Exactly where was my planet located? How many beings resided there? Then he wanted information about every member of my crew.
“I am accompanied by six female scientists, each of whom specializes in a different field of study. Geology, climatology, biodiversity, botany, oceanography, and ethnology. Our planet is Earth, and we call ourselves humans.”
He absorbed that without a response then went on to peppering me with questions that became increasingly invasive.
“I’m thirty-six Earth years old. My species has a lifespan of approximately one hundred and fifty years, so I am in early adulthood… I’m in excellent health, otherwise I would not have been chosen to lead a mission into unknown territory. Yes, you heard me correctly. I’m a scientist and the leader of this mission. On my world, females are educated along with the males. Positions of authority are earned based on skill and knowledge rather than gender. No, I do not have a mate, and I’ve never born young, though that is by choice rather than from a biological inability to do so… Yes, I did find the rana fruit to have an intoxicating effect… Okay, yeah, it did stimulate my sex drive.”
“Turn around.”
I tried not to shiver. The chamber was much cooler than the jungle had been, and the sweat was
drying on my body. All the while, I could feel his eyes on me. I’ve been told by Earth guys that I have a nice ass, but I’d never been ogled by an alien before. It creeped me out.
“Face me.”
He had a strange expression on his face. Not the lust-driven one I had expected. This was more thoughtful, as though he was weighing a major decision.
“You look to be a sturdy female. Healthy, good breeding stock. The king is reaching the end of his lifespan, and it would give him great comfort to know his bloodline will go on. I will suspend your punishment for defiling our sacred grove on one condition. You will mate with…”
I interrupted him mid-sentence. “Oh, no! I’m not screwing some decrepit old man on his deathbed and getting knocked up with an alien baby! I’ll take the punishment instead.”
“Silence!” The high priest’s voice boomed out, echoing off the stone walls of the chamber. “If you do not agree, I will impose the maximum punishment – not only on you but on your entire crew. The sentence for invading the sacred grove and stealing rana fruit is death to the defiler. I will have your crew executed one by one in front of you. You can listen to them pleading for their lives as we slaughter them – or you can agree to willingly become the mate of our prince and bear him an heir.”
Prince? I wouldn’t have to let some old alien fuck me. Instead I’d be whoring myself out to a stranger closer to my own age in exchange for the lives of my crew.
What the hell. Let’s face it. There’ve been a couple of nights back on Earth where you did the same thing after a night at the bar and one too many margaritas – without such a compelling reason. Maybe you’ll get lucky, and he’ll be as attractive as the two young guys you’ve seen so far. The odds are in your favor. Even this old high priest still has a good-looking bod.
That’s what I’ve always done. Deflected with dark humor. I knew damn well what I’d be agreeing to. The prince would own me. I’d be sentencing myself to life on an alien world, forced every day to endure whatever treatment my royal mate chose to subject me to. If I refused to mate with him willingly, he’d probably rape me then order me put to death.
“I’ll do it – but only if you will assist my crew in repairing my ship and then let them leave. Unharmed.”
He gave me a solemn nod. “ They will be free to leave once you have produced a royal heir. Remain here while I summon the temple maidens. They will accompany you to your mate.”
Like I had any choice. He disappeared through a door I hadn’t noticed on the far side of the room. It was much less grand than the formal entry, painted so it blended into the stone wall.
It seemed like hours passed before he came back. I didn’t want to think about what awaited me, so I busied myself making the rounds of the room, studying the tapestries. Might as well learn as much as possible about my new home.
Home. Hah. Who was I kidding? More like prison, and I’d just volunteered to do a life sentence.
I wandered aimlessly, taking them in. Strange animals with hides and furs in vibrant shades of purple and green grazed in lush meadows. Exotic plants in a rainbow of colors lined the shores of a vast lake. One tapestry depicted a huge stone palace surrounded by gardens brimming with flowers I’d never seen before. I spent a lot of time staring at that one. I love flowers.
When I landed the night before, all I’d seen around me was an endless jungle. If these were scenes from Naxos, at least I’d be spending the remainder of my days on a beautiful world.
I heard the door open and whipped around to see the high priest ushering six young females into the room. My mouth dropped. They were all stunning. Tall, with lithe, slim bodies like the female figures shown in the procession on the huge entry doors. They were all dressed in full-length versions of the short toga worn by the Holy One. Each in a different color, cinched at the waist with a thin cord in a darker shade of the same hue. Soft-yellow with a saffron cord, spring-green with spruce. I had to admit, these aliens had a great sense of style.
They had the same unusual eyes as the high priest, except theirs were brown. Pupils and irises in the same color range, with the irises light brown and the pupils a warm deep chocolate. Each one a carbon copy of the next. It was rather unnerving
With their golden-bronze skin and long dark hair reaching down to the middle of their backs, they looked like Greek goddesses. I had to wonder why the old man wanted me as a mate for their prince when he obviously had so many beautiful Naxians to choose from.
“You will go with my temple maidens. They have been instructed to accompany you to the palace and remain by your side until you are presented to the prince.”
Great. I had half a dozen bodyguards. Though they were slender, every one of them was nearly a head taller than me. I knew I could take them one on one, but I doubted I could fight all six and get away. Besides, where would I go? If I accompanied them to the palace willingly, and the high priest was a man of his word, at least my crew would be safe.
They bowed to the old man then silently ushered me outside and into a transport vehicle as modern as anything we had back home. Driverless, it rose into the air, skimming the treetops.
I tried to ask questions but my guards weren’t exactly talkative. They smiled faintly and shook their heads, either refusing to answer or not understanding me. I wondered if my tellex chip was functioning properly. Finally, I gave up and took in the view.
It was my first chance to really see Naxos. We’d crashed at night, and I’d left at first light, heading into a tropical jungle where even the ferns towered over my head.
The planet could have been named Eden. We were heading up the side of a heavily forested mountain, where trees didn’t come only in shades of green. The vista before me looked like a page from the holographic art screen of an exuberant toddler with a brand new palette. Orange and red and yellow, just like you’d find in an autumn landscape on some parts of Earth, clashed with hot pink and electric blue.
When we hit the top of the mountain, I gasped. Had my ship’s onboard computer system not been fried when we got bombarded by the asteroid storm, I would have been prepared for the sight spread out before me. The information systems would have provided me with data about Naxos. I imagined this was how an alien would feel crash landing in an uninhabited valley in the heart of the Pacific Northwest then being whisked to the suburbs of L.A.
One of the temple maidens pointed to the sprawling city just over the crest of the hill I’d trudged up for hours. “Antaris.”
It wasn’t a gleaming modern metropolis with shiny buildings reaching to the clouds. This city looked like the place where you’d expect the culture that built the ancient temple to dwell. Stone houses in warm shades of cream and umber and terra cotta lined wide avenues paved with more stones. Naxians strolled along the streets while transport vehicles filled with more of the city’s inhabitants sped silently overhead. I’d wondered if the maidens were chosen for temple duty because of their beauty, but all the Naxians I saw were exceptionally good-looking. Not only that, there wasn’t an ounce of flab to be seen on any of them. Every single one, male or female, could have starred in a virtual ad back on Earth for the latest instant fitness pill. We passed several open plazas where children chased glowing discs speeding a foot or so above the ground. I wasn’t sure if it was a game or if they were trying to capture some alien life form, like giant round fireflies.
We headed toward a huge structure in the center of town I recognized from one of the tapestries at the temple. The gardens surrounding it were even more breathtaking in real life than they were in the wall hanging.
I gave my tour guides another chance, pointing. “Is that the royal palace?”
The one in yellow nodded.
I’d never been with a group of females who didn’t chatter nonstop, and their silence unnerved me. Did they know something I didn’t about what awaited me there?
Chapter Four
The palace must have been alerted to our arrival. When the transport vehicle touched down, a swar
m of Naxians surrounded it. I counted at least a dozen males I guessed were either palace guards or military. Every one of them was as gorgeous as my Tarzan.
They wore colorful uniforms in a beautiful shade of deep turquoise that set off their bronze skin. Not your typical military-issue garb, but the objects they carried gave them away. Weapons were pretty much the same all over the galaxy, usually items designed to point and shoot.
Along with the guards, there was a gaggle of what I presumed were servants. They were all dressed alike, too, but in a more muted shade designed to allow them to fade into the background. Both males and females wore one-piece garments in soft blue with hints of dove gray.
One tall male stood out from the rest. Unlike the others, he wore a navy tunic and pants. He had a rather prominent nose, and I guessed he was older than the people around him since his bronze face showed a few faint lines. But it was his eyes that made him stand out. They were cat-like, with white irises and green vertical slits for pupils. I wondered if he was from an alien race, or some other tribe living on the planet I hadn’t seen yet.
He stepped forward, opened the door of the transport vehicle, and ushered me out with a wave of his hand.
“Welcome to the palace of King Devan.” He inclined his head ever so slightly. “I am Crino, the king’s vizier. I was told you speak Naxian.”
It wasn’t really a question, but he arched one eyebrow, so I nodded. “Yes, I am conversant in your language.”
“Excellent. Please, follow me. We have prepared private quarters adjacent to those of the prince for you.” He gave my sweaty clothes a once-over and winced. “Your handmaidens will assist you in preparing to receive your mate.”
I was a little offended by his disdain. It seemed the Naxians put a great deal of importance on looking good. If I wanted this whole mating idea to be rejected by the prince, maybe I could refuse to bathe and change clothes.
Her Savage Mate_A Sci Fi Alien Alpha Romance Page 2