Pregnant to an Alien King Box Set

by Gloria Martin

  As she began her hike she thought about that. She’d sat and gorged herself on beauty and flavor all night. At home she had never done that. She realized suddenly why and thought herself stupid for not recognizing the reason immediately. At home she would admire her collection and then go to bed. In Carnelian Valley she spent the whole night in a living dream where she ate her fill and admired beauty for the whole night, every night. That was not the same as she had done at her home. In fact, she thought, if she actually had left her cabin and found other things to do she would not have been filling herself every night. She had been isolating herself as a way to protect her fear. She slowed as she came near one of the streams and heard voices. Hiding behind bushes she eavesdropped for a moment.

  Christy and her girlfriend were having an evening swim. Christy came up out of the water and Sapphira was surprised. The woman was wearing a bikini that just barely covered her bulging chest, with a bikini bottom that was just as skimpy. She was laughing, and splashing water at the lithe, beautiful elf she had become attached to. Sapphira felt a hitch in her chest seeing it. The scene was one she had never actually lived herself. She never had the time.

  She walked away reprimanding herself. She would have had the time if she had tried. She just would never have it. Growing up a trust fund orphan had given her a distaste for getting to close to anyone. The death of her parents at an early age had taught her lessons about getting to close to people. It could hurt, like watching Christy and her friend experience their bliss hurt. She tried to push it from her mind as she walked her path. She was almost to the end of the valley, about midnight when she paused at another gathering. This one was bigger.

  It was a party. Elves, dwarves, humans and various animals were eating and drinking, enjoying being together. Dancing and laughing was the name of the game here. It was a sort of joy that was foreign to her as much as Christy’s bliss was. She had been invited to these affairs every night since she had arrived but turned them down. Why?

  She knew why. She was scared, that was why. She clung to the kind of desires that would not hurt her; she always had. No matter how much work or how difficult, that was how she always operated. It was part of who she was. She found she was walking up the path to the rim now and part of her wanted to stop, maybe find what it was that she was missing. Everyone else had found it here. Even Joseph Hardcore had, in the end, found what he desired. She stopped halfway up to the top of the rim and stood thinking. She became angry.

  With herself.

  She was running, Sapphira would admit that now. She was on the edge of leaving the biggest possibility at a happy life she had ever had because she was scared. She always told people nothing scared her. But it turned out there was one thing. Sapphira scared Sapphira. She wanted to blame Ty, but she knew better now. He was the one desire she was scared to embrace, beyond having a good time. She was arrogant, and greedy as well as resistant to anything that could make her life better. No more, she told herself. Not this time!

  She turned and began running down the path. She was going to go find Ty before she lost her nerve. She splashed through the stream near the bottom but slipped in the mud and fell, rolling down the rest of the way getting covered in dust. She did not care and kept going. She was determined not to screw this up and nothing was going to stop her. When she rounded a corner on the path near the syrup barn she tripped over a tool left on the ground by Hardcore and fell into a giant barrel that overturned, covering her in what smelled and tasted like maple syrup. She swore at herself, but got up and kept going. Her light hiking clothes were stuck to her and she tried to tug her top down as she ran but it was too slippery and she did not want to stop. She wiped the syrup from her eyes and pushed her sticky hair out of her face.

  It was a long run but somehow she never lost strength. It was too important. But as she got closer she could see lights around the front of Ty’s cave and there was much discussion happening. She slowed and came up, standing behind a bush to listen and catch her breath.

  “She left. I had hoped she would stay, but her gear is gone,” Christy said to the gathering of people. There were many there spread out in front of Typhoon the Dragon.

  “So she failed the Valley! She failed everyone here, she failed me!” Typhoon roared. Her eyes flashed and smoke left his nostrils but she heard grief not anger in his roar. An elf from the fruit tree groves raised a hand. He was standing just about ten feet on the other side of the bush she was hiding behind. Sapphira found herself trembling, almost ready to run.

  “Do not be too hasty Typhoon. She is a woman of extremes. Extreme desires can make for extreme doubts. She also is an intelligent woman however. Wherever she is I am sure she is learning more about herself right now than she ever has,” the elf said.

  “Do you think she will be back, and not leave?” Ty asked the elf with a growl.

  “I think it is possible. She is too smart not to realize it, and when put to the test that woman always ends up where she should be.” He turned to Typhoon.

  The Dragon snarled, and said, “If we are wrong then she gets away, goes out into the world with knowledge of us as well as stones given to her by the Professor. We cannot stand that!”

  “I do not begrudge the woman the gift. She is the one to truly appreciate those stones, whether here or there. It was freely given with no strings,” the Professor said humbly from the other side of the gathering.

  “It does not matter. I have the duty to keep these things from happening and I now have to go get her. Then she must be confined until we can be sure of her loyalty to the valley. I have no choice,” he proclaimed and everyone was silent, watching him.

  Sapphira saw Christy and Matt looking worried along with everyone else. She had caught her breath and told herself, now or never dummy. She stepped forward, up next to the elf who had spoken for her.

  “No need Typhoon. I came back,” she said, dropping her pack on the ground. It squished, soaked in syrup as she was. Everyone stared at her and the dragon’s eyes were the fiercest. To avoid him a moment more she turned to the elf from the grove.

  “Did you hear me coming?” she asked. He smiled slightly and shrugged with a wink. His humor bolstered Sapphira and she walked towards Typhoon the Dragon in all his rage. She tried to adjust her sticky clothing and hair but it was not working so she gave up. Let them see her at her worst, she decided.

  “I came back,” she said stopping in front of the dragon.

  “Why did you leave?” he growled.

  “I was afraid,” she answered.

  “Of what?” he asked

  “Of myself. I realized this almost at the top, near the rim, before I turned back. I ran here to tell you, to tell everyone, what I attempted,” she said.

  His eyes locked with hers and for the first time she knew the reason to avoid looking in a dragon’s eyes. They consumed her.

  Typhoon saw everything about her. There was nothing about her he did not know in an instant. Unfortunately she too saw everything about herself. Her greed and stubbornness. Her greed and laziness. It was all there for her to recognize and she accepted it. She had always known those things about herself. Then she saw her fear and it was him. Love. She loved him. It caused her to tremble in fear, but it was too late to back out now. She heard his voice in her head.

  “Tell them all now, release your fear. It must be done to complete the healing of your soul my Princess Desire!” His voice was sounded human in her head. He released her eyes and she turned to face the silent audience for her shame.

  “I was afraid of me, because I am in love. I was running from it,” she began. She realized another piece as well.

  “I have fallen in love with this valley and all of you, too. That scared me. Despite my every need and desire being met with kindness and a good heart I felt I had to leave. I came back because I want it. As well as him,” she said, turning to point at the dragon who had shrunk back down to being Ty the human while her back was turned.

  His smile a
lmost lit up the night with the stars as he came forward and put his arm around her. The crowd cheered and congratulated her. As they quieted down Ty removed his arm that had become sticky touching her. She blushed and looked down at herself. She was covered in syrup and her clothes were bunched and ridiculous-looking. Her hair was a sticky mess and even her face was covered. The audience shouted the question too.

  “What happened, what happened?”

  Sapphira sighed. They did like a good tale.

  “I was running back here and as I was going by the maple syrup barn I ran into a barrel that overturned on me,” she admitted.

  “That’s what happened to it!” she heard and saw Hardcore slap his forehead. He was a big man who did love his syrup.

  “So how was it?” he asked. Everyone laughed. Sapphira licked her lips and gave him a thumbs up. Ty licked his fingers and agreed.

  “You best yet,” he told the man.

  “Yes, we have confirmation. My next batch of Maple Beer will be done in a month!” That got a cheer, mostly from the dwarves, and laughter. She realized an impromptu party was being started around them in celebration and she tried to brush off her arms, watching the crowd.

  “You will get used to your desires darling,” Ty told her. She hugged him

  “Will I get used to always ending up covered in food?” she asked jokingly.

  “If that is what your desire. I stand ready to lick you clean whenever you need it,” he promised. This was going to be an interesting life, Sapphira thought.

  THE END

  Bonus Story 14 of 50

  Outlaws of Love

  It’s ridiculous how so many women can still be in love with their exes, no matter how bad or good they treated you in the past. I had a boyfriend of three years before he proposed to me. We never got married though, because he suddenly called everything off and moved away to New York. Without an explanation, without a goodbye. I was left there, hurting for five long months. The crying wouldn’t stop, no matter how hard I tried to restrain my tears. I thought that I could never bring myself to forgive him. Until he interfered with my life again.

  “Nathan...” I gasped. I’d opened the door to reveal the green-eyed beauty I was once in love with. Possibly still in love with. “What the hell are you doing here in California?”

  “I missed you, Melissa,” he immediately responded, sincerity reflected in his eyes. I shut my closed tightly, wanting to believe him, but I knew that he was just saying that. How could he come back five months later for a person he had dumped as easily as throwing out the trash at night? Before he knew it, my hand flew roughly across his face. Shock crossed his face, his hand now rubbing the cheek I have just slapped.

  “Go to hell!” I screamed angrily, balling my hands into fists beside me. He looked taken aback, astonishment flashing on his face. “I won’t let you hurt me again, you asshole!”

  He let out a sigh before throwing his hand up. “I’m not trying to hurt you. What I did was messed up, I’m aware of that.”

  “It’s way more than messed up, you son of a bitch,” I growled, glaring at him from under my eyelashes. He was holding up his hands in defense, unsure how to deal with my aggressive manner.

  “You think I don’t regret it? That’s why I’m back now! Come on, we can fix things. We can pick up where we left off.” He reached out his hand to stroke my cheek but I slapped his hand away.

  “Pick up things where we left off? You can’t just come back to someone you abandoned and expect everything to be okay the moment you reunite with them!” I yelled, waving my hands around frantically.

  ”Can I please come inside?” he questioned.

  Without giving him an answer, I slammed the door with tears welled up in my eyes. My heart was clenching with pain as I leaned against the wall, stunned. He opened the door, peeking his head inside at me with a worried expression before slowly letting himself in.

  “Please,” he pleaded, studying me cautiously to see if I would explode again. I didn’t say anything in return but just stared at him in betrayal and anger.

  He looked around my small, cozy apartment, while letting out a somewhat relieved breath. He took a seat on my nude couch. That’s when I noticed the outstanding Dior suit he was wearing, which made me stop myself from rolling my eyes. He was always one to show off.

  “Nothing has changed since I left, this place is exactly the same,” he said. He smiled slightly, his green eyes hopeful.

  I crossed my arms on my chest as I stood across the room from him, keeping my distance. I wiped away the tears that were lingering in the corner of my eyes. “What do you think was going to change, the shape of the walls or something?” I sarcastically remarked.

  This time, he let out an irritated breath, crossing his left leg over his right. He rubbed his temples. “Melissa, listen. I’m just trying to make amends here and you’re not making it any easier.”

  Amends? Did he really think it would be that easy? But unfortunately, I couldn’t ignore the feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to take him in, to sit down and listen to the Nathan that was once going to be my husband. Giving in, I slowly found myself taking a seat next to him. Half of me wanted to jump on him and kiss him but the other half of me wanted him to leave and not come back.

  “This whole summer, while I was away from you, I could not stop thinking about our relationship,” he said. He paused, dryly laughing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I missed you so much to the point I had to move back. I just couldn’t stay away. I was stupid for leaving you. I should never have left you.”

  I nodded my head in agreement, shooting him an indifferent look. “It still doesn’t explain why you broke off our marriage,” I spat, holding back the tears I can feel threatening to well up in my eyes. I couldn’t cry in front of him, I refused to.

  He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again, as if he changed his mind about saying anything. A regretful look appeared on his face as well as sympathy, and that’s when I kind of got a clue on what it was about. “I cheated on you with someone else and I ended up falling in love with that person.”

  I gawked at him for a long ten seconds before a hurt, cold laugh escaped my throat. Tears welled up in my eyes as he studied me closely and I quickly wiped them away before they could fall. All over again, my heart felt like it was getting ripped out of my chest and stomped on. I stood up from the couch, walking over to the kitchen to be away from him, so I could recollect himself. The sound of his Steve Madden dress shoes clacked against the ground as he followed me shortly after. I leaned my arm against the wall, looking down at my feet in defeat. In the wall, I could see the outline of his shadow as he stood behind me.

  “I was extremely dumb and I was going through a crisis at the time,” Nathan said, moving my black hair around my other shoulder so he could reassuringly rub my shoulder. “It…it’s just hard to explain. I promise I’ll tell you at another time.”

  I inhaled sharply before letting out a heavy, deep breath. It surely helped me calm down and restrain myself from bursting out in tears in front of his face.

  “There’s no explanation needed when it comes to cheating,” I whispered, balling my hands into fists.

  “I’m not saying that it was okay but—” He stopped, letting out a stressful breath and I can imagine him grabbing a handful of his hair. “Listen, I would tell you if I knew how to put it in words. Eventually, I’ll be able to know how to tell you properly.”

  What can possibly be so hard about admitting to the fact that he cheated? There shouldn’t be an explanation or a story. I shook my head, keeping quiet.

  He squeezed my shoulder gently, sending electric waves in every part of my body. He stroked my exposed shoulder blade agonizingly slowly, my heartbeat accelerating.

  He turned my body around so I could look at him, looking down at me with sincerity shown in his eyes. He was so good at lying that I didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not. But I didn’t feel like debating wi
th him any longer because he always won, no matter what. He made sure of it too, I don’t know how he did it.

  “Okay, fine,” I said. I sniffed my nose, crossing my arms on my chest. “But I want the whole truth. I want to know everything.”

  He smiled in relief, glad that I basically agreed to hear him out. It didn’t mean that he was forgiven though. I will never forget what he had done. But since love was such a powerful emotion, it was so easy for him to brainwash me and make me fall into his arms again.

  He pulled me into a warming tight hug, rubbing his hands around the small of my back. I instantly relaxed against his chest, closing my eyes as I inhaled the scent of his expensive cologne. I didn’t hug him back though, I just stood there frozen. He kissed the top of my forehead before releasing me, looking down at me since he was a few inches taller than me.

  “I’ll come by either tonight or tomorrow so we can go out to eat at this amazing restaurant I know. I have to get to a business meeting now,” he said, taking out his phone.

  Oh yeah, did I mention that he was a big time billionaire? After his father passed away a couple of years ago, the company was signed over to Nathan and he became in control of the whole corporation. Ever since then, he became such a busy man but that never interfered with our relationship. Actually, I had originally thought that his work was the reason he had abandoned me, but I guess I’d been wrong about that.

  “Tomorrow is fine, we can go out for lunch,” I agreed, walking with him so I could lead him out of the apartment. I didn’t want him to leave. I somewhat was fond of his company but there’s no way I was going to tell him that. At least not yet.

  He tidied up his blazer, brushing off invisible dust from it, and popped his collars. His rose gold Rolex watch shimmered with his movement that he made, making him even more attractive than ever. “That sounds great, Melissa,” he said. He smiled, opening the front door and turned to me again. “It was nice seeing you again.”