Taken by the Alien Savage: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Warriors of the Oasis Book 1)

by Ivy Sparks

  “Oh.” She realized why we were looking at her. “Yeah, no. As handsome as these aliens are, I have a husband and daughter waiting for me at home.” She pointed at the ring on her third finger.

  My heart sunk for her. Unlike me, she had people who must’ve been worried sick about her back on Earth.

  “I was going on a short business trip,” Nora continued. “That’s all this was supposed to be. I would have already been home by now if not for the hijacking.” Nora looked away, her voice heavy. “Home, with my daughter. Helping her learn the lines of her school play. Instead…” Her voice broke. “Instead, I’m here, light years away. I’m not sure if I’ll ever see my baby girl or husband again.” She buried her face in her hands and choked back tears.

  I got off my bed and sat next to her, putting a reassuring hand on her back. “Hey, Nora, look at me.” I squeezed her shoulder. She looked up, her eyes filled with tears. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to convince these Xekis to let you go.” My voice came out firmer than I expected it to be, given how unsure I was I could even talk sense into these barbarians. But if I had to give my body to them, my full cooperation… I would. Because Nora had people who cared for her back home. I didn’t.

  I let out a shaky breath as I realized this, then repeated, “I promise.” I looked over at Sophie. “Alien relations is your specialty, right?”

  Sophie gave an unconvincing nod. “I mean, sorta. I don’t exactly have my degree yet.” When she realized her response wasn’t exactly comforting, she corrected herself, “I mean, yes. I’ve read plenty of case studies of negotiations between humans and barbarian alien races. I’ve got some ideas about how to approach the king.”

  I looked back at Nora, seeing that her tense posture was loosening. “What’s your daughter’s name?”

  Nora smiled and replied, “Jasmine. She doesn’t like her name at all.” Nora laughed and wiped away her tears. “She claims it’s too feminine.”

  Nora continued on like this, telling different stories about her daughter. As she did, I couldn’t help but wonder how stupid Sophie and I were, talking about falling in love with these alien brutes. Nora was on the right mental track. How could I even imagine spending my life with a brutish hunk? We weren’t meant to live in an uncharted oasis with alien barbarians. We had to leave.

  But then an image of Ryker smirking at me flashed in my mind and I found myself smiling again.

  No, Claire. Focus.

  We had to leave… and soon.

  Chapter Eight

  Ryker

  I knocked on the door to the women’s quarters. They weren’t answering right away, that much was sure, so I began to wonder if I’d have to just barge in. I didn’t like having my time wasted, even by these delicate human females.

  Even by Claire…

  A thought crossed my mind, a barbaric thought: You won’t keep me waiting, Claire.

  Shaking my head, I looked down at the devices in my hand. These little earpieces would translate our words to one another. Maybe that would help lessen the tension the three women were clearly feeling.

  Soon the door opened and a wide-eyed Claire stood in front of me, wearing a simple slip, usually nightwear reserved for servant girls.

  I’d have to get her something nicer to wear.

  “Uh…” she said, then bowed awkwardly in front of me.

  I watched this display, then burst into a laugh. If only she knew what bowing meant to a Xeki!

  She frowned, taking offense. I handed the earpiece to her and indicated that she wear it.

  Once it was securely inside her ear, I said, “Bowing is beneath your station, Claire. As an honored guest, it’s servants who should be bowing to you.”

  She stood straight, her cheeks red from embarrassment. “Well, back on Earth, when you’re greeted by royalty, you bow.” Her eyes suddenly widened as she realized, “Hang on! We can both understand each other with these devices?”

  “That is their purpose, yes. And you should know, I’m an earl, not royalty. And instead of bowing, we do this.” I pounded my fist over my chest and lowered my head a little. “See?” I smiled at her.

  She watched me closely, as if every aspect of my posture needed to be replicated perfectly. “Like this?” she asked, pounding her fist a little too hard on her chest. “Fuck,” I heard her say under her breath. “Critical boob injury.”

  I chuckled and put a hand over her fist. “Not so hard next time, okay, human?”

  “Just call me Claire. Being referred to as a ‘human’ is like one step above being called an Earthling. Just sounds sorta weird. So do I call you Earl Ryker, or…?”

  I thought about it. All those beneath me had to call me by my title, and even the king, in a showing of respect, used my title too. But a mate… A mate simply used one’s name.

  She didn’t know that, but I liked the idea of her referring to me as such. “Just call me Ryker.”

  “Ryker then,” she said, before returning to the room. I smiled as I followed her. Hearing her say my name like that felt right.

  Nora and Sophie were fast asleep in their beds. I watched Claire as she hesitated to wake up her friends. She looked so beautiful, even with the pondering frown on her face. Her auburn wavy hair hung at her hips, a length I never saw on a Xeki woman. The slip made her look like she belonged from here, from our oasis. She batted her blue eyes straight into mine, her earrings shining, and I could see her little freckles from where I stood.

  I broke my stare and glanced at her bed. There was a tiara of carnias on her bed. “Where did you get those?” I asked quietly, so as to not wake the other women.

  “The flowers?” she asked, looking at the white-speckled purple flowers. “The servant girl left them for us. She said their fragrance would calm us, and it has.”

  “We call them carnias. They’re a type of flower that only grows in this oasis. Though others have tried to export them, they grow nowhere else.” I sat on her bed and delicately picked up the tiara. “The flower has special healing properties. We keep an entire garden of them outside the castle for this reason.”

  She stood at the end of the bed, watching me closely. “A whole garden?”

  I looked into her eyes, never seeing such a beautiful blue color before. “Yes. It’s one of our treasures, as a tribe.”

  She stepped forward. “Is it nearby?”

  “Yes.”

  She sat beside me.

  Seeing that this might be a way to connect with her, I suggested, “I can take you to the garden, if you want me to.”

  Her eyes fixated on my lips as she replied, “I think I’d like that.” With her cheeks flushing brightly, her quickened breath, and the scent of her arousal, I knew she wanted me. She reminded me of a young bride then, shy and having never even been kissed. She couldn’t have gone all these years without experiencing a man, but it appeared that no man had truly excited her before.

  Until now.

  Claire cleared her throat then stood, quickly rousing the other two women. They both shot up upon seeing me in the room.

  “It’s all right,” Claire told them, before motioning at me. “He brought us earpieces so we can understand the Xekis now.”

  Sophie’s face went from alert to excited, “Oh!” She and Nora both put on their ear pieces, then Sophie asked me, “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  I nodded. “I’ve understood you since the beginning, as I’ve been wearing this device the entire time. It’s you who’ll be understanding us now.”

  Both Sophie and Claire shot each other looks, and I’m pretty sure they were trying to recall whether they had said anything embarrassing. In the end, Sophie shrugged. “Thank you… Ryker, right?”

  “Earl Ryker,” I corrected her softly, and Sophie nodded. Claire eyed me, possibly wondering why I hadn’t corrected her earlier.

  Nora, on the other hand, didn’t seem so pleased. “I’m sorry, Earl Ryker, but I want you to know I’m not happy with my situation. While you and the
other Xekis have been… welcoming…” It seemed to bother her to admit this. “I’m still here against my will. I want to return to Earth, back to my family, straight away.”

  Nora knew what she wanted, and I had to respect that. Still, I had bad news for her… “I’d have to confirm it with the king, but I see no reason why he’d disagree: You will be free to leave, just not until the sandstorms subside. It may take four moons until it is safe to pass through the desert again.”

  “Four moons?” Nora repeated indignantly. “How long is that, even?”

  “A moon here is about twenty day cycles.”

  “Eighty days?” she shouted, and I had half a mind to muzzle that woman.

  As my muscles tensed, Claire rushed to Nora’s bed, saying, “Please, Nora. This is still a better situation than the one we were in. He’s saying you can leave, just once it’s safe.” Despite her words of reassurance, I could see disappointment dawning on Claire’s face. She too must’ve felt like eighty days was too long to be stranded here.

  She didn’t want to be here, did she? None of them did. Though we had been accommodating, these human females were still intimidated by us. As much as I wanted to believe this circumstance was all fated—and further, that Claire was fated to be mine—these women weren’t made for our world, were they? Who was I kidding to think someone from so far away could be fated to me? I was foolish, my judgment turned blind when Claire didn’t initially look at me in repulsion. Now reality was dawning on her, and she didn’t want to be here.

  Still, I thanked the gods that this storm would force them to stay, if only for a little while. Maybe with time Claire’s mind could be changed.

  “My daughter a-and my husband…” Nora’s cries snapped me back to reality as she slumped down. “They’ll think I’m dead after I’ve been missing for so long.”

  Sophie joined Claire in sitting next to Nora, putting her hand on the weeping woman’s shoulder. “It’ll take a few months,” Sophie was saying, “but at least we’re safe here. At least they said we can leave once the storms are gone.”

  Nora looked up at me, her tears suddenly subsiding as a more fierce expression took over. “Those Ixol bastards let another woman get taken by some creature. What if she’s still alive out there? Would you be willing to look for her?”

  I only knew of one creature ferocious enough to abscond with a woman. “A sand beast probably took her. And if that’s the case, she was dead before the beast made it to its nest with her.”

  The women gasped and stirred uncomfortably.

  “The desert is harsh,” I began. “It’s a lesson taught to even the smallest child of our tribe, because there is very little mercy to be found out there. Remember this if you consider trying to escape the oasis. We won’t come after you, because you’ll already be dead.”

  Though it was the truth, I didn’t need to state it so harshly. I said it, however, to ensure Claire would never consider leaving our territory until I told her she could.

  I couldn’t stand the thought of her leaving otherwise.

  Chapter Nine

  Claire

  “…You’ll already be dead.”

  The words hit me like a semi-truck. The idea finally sunk in that we weren’t going anywhere for almost three Earth months.

  Four moons, I corrected myself. If I was going to be stuck here, I ought to get used to the Xeki terminology.

  Ryker had left us soon after dropping that bomb. He seemed as upset as we were, though probably for different reasons. I think he expected us to be happy to be here for the next four moons.

  And, I mean, I sort of was. I had been getting cold feet, planning ways to escape because who was I kidding? Though Ryker looked at me a certain way—looked at me with a desire I had never seen before—I couldn’t just assume he wanted me in the way a human man wants a woman. He wasn’t looking to wine and dine me, get to know me, that whole shebang. This guy was a barbarian. If he wanted me, he’d just take me.

  And though a part of me wanted to be taken, another part of me had to worry how long a relationship like that could last. After a good fucking, would he just toss me away like so many men in my past have?

  “He could be lying,” I heard Nora saying to Sophie. “We didn’t see any sort of storm brewing when we were in the desert. How convenient is it for the desert to be too dangerous to cross now?”

  I butted in before I could stop myself, “Hey, maybe Ryker really does want to keep us safe. We don’t know how the weather on the planet works, and so far the Xekis have done nothing to hurt us.”

  “We should see for ourselves,” Nora said, looking off. “My leg… The cut is still recovering so I really shouldn’t walk much, but maybe you two can get to the edge of the oasis and look out there? See if it’s really so dangerous to cross.”

  Sophie looked over at me. “She does have a point. As much as I’d like to believe the Xekis are keeping us here out of the kindness of their hearts, we should do our own due diligence.”

  I felt oddly defensive, even though I knew they were both talking sense. “Maybe that’s all true, but do you really think the three of us stand a chance in that desert, even if the skies are clear? With the ‘sand beasts,’ as Ryker called them, we’re going to need help, preferably from some Xeki warriors.”

  “Yeah, true,” Sophie admitted, deflated.

  Nora wasn’t buying that idea. “Let’s say we do stick around for eighty days. Why would these barbarians waste their resources on us for that long just to eventually let us go? They have to want something in return. They can’t be that selfless.”

  I turned to Sophie, hoping for some optimism. “You really don’t remember anything else about the Xekis from your studies? Nothing about their culture, their morals? You only know their race’s name?”

  Sophie nodded, “Sorry. The Xekis are hardly a footnote in my textbooks. As you can see, they’re not exactly space-faring.”

  Nora sighed again, looking listless.

  I didn’t know what to feel. Had Ryker really meant what he said? Were we really safe inside this oasis? Or was this just a ploy to keep us compliant until it was time to make use of us?

  The barbarians were definitely going to want something for all the resources they were expending on us, but what did we have to offer other than our bodies?

  Then again, my thoughts involuntarily shifted from the topic at hand to the handsome Ryker, how pleasant he had been, how this alien was more of a gentleman than any guy I had ever dated.

  Ever since he bought us, he was nothing but kind to me and I couldn’t deny my feelings for him any longer no matter how wrong it was. I knew there was something there—a spark, a connection. Deep down I knew he’d never use me, yet the logical side of my brain couldn’t comprehend why.

  We had been awake for an hour now but we didn’t leave the servants’ quarters—at least, we weren’t sure if we could.

  A knock got us all on our feet. Sophie marched toward the door and opened it. A beautiful Amazonian woman stood over her, the alien’s markings dark, unlike Ryker and the king’s. She wore an elaborate dress and had several garments folded over her arm.

  She carefully offered the garments to Sophie, a soft smile on her supple lips. “Hello, our honored guests. I’m Demi.” She looked down at the garments in her arms. “I’m here by the order of Earl Ryker. He told me to give you proper clothes. Once you’re dressed, I’ll then show you girls around.”

  Sophie eyed her, the garments, then us. When I shrugged, she accepted the clothes on our behalf. “Thanks, uh, Demi. How did you know our sizes?”

  Demi let out a soft laugh. “Our traditional clothing is very adjustable. You’ll see. It can be easily tightened or loosened for comfort, and for temperature.”

  “Huh. Cool,” Sophie responded, before padding over to us and handing Nora and me each a garment.

  Demi stood there, her soft smile persisting, as she acted as a visual guide for how we should wear the garments. I kept my slip on underneath, as
I didn’t have any underwear after the whole hot tub thing.

  Thinking I finally figured out how to put on the dainty dress-like robes, I looked up, seeing Demi’s eyes on me. Not wanting to make a bad impression, I said, “Hi… I’m Claire.” I smiled and pounded my chest, then remembered to bow my head too.

  Demi looked at me with her mouth agape before she broke into a fit of laughter. “Oh, you don’t have to do that with me, dear!” She paused to wipe a tear. “Only greet Xeki males that way. Oh my goodness.”

  “Whoops,” I said, my cheeks flushing. But Demi had a kindness to her eyes that made me quickly get over my embarrassment.

  Demi then turned to Nora, extending a slender hand toward her. “And your name, beautiful?”

  Nora looked away at first, before giving in. “Nora.”

  Demi nodded, aware of Nora’s hesitation. “You’ll find sandals underneath the beds. Once you have those on, I can show you around.”

  I remembered the garden Ryker mentioned earlier and asked, “Can we see the carnia garden?”

  Demi’s eyes widened very subtly before she put on another smile. “Ah, I wish I could, but the garden is off limits to outsiders. We’ve had problems in the past with guests trying to smuggle carnias out and causing a lot of damage to the garden in their attempts.”

  Reasonable, but if outsiders weren’t allowed in the garden, why had Ryker mentioned it to me earlier? Ugh. I chose to drop the subject for now.

  “But,” Demi added excitedly, “we have many, many places you can see! And it’s not every day I get to give a tour to non-hostile aliens. So please, follow me.” She turned and headed for the door, leaving me to realize that to the Xekis, I was the alien!

  At least they thought of me as ‘non-hostile,’ I guess.

  Even though the suns were shining with all their might, the weather was still chilly. I tightened the straps on my garment, limiting the airflow and thus making it warmer and cozier.