The Alien's Ransom: A SciFi Alien Warrior Romance (Drixonian Warriors Book 1)
Page 22
Her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull, and her whole body jolted. She balled her little fists on top of her knees. “Oh my God,” she murmured. She shook her head. “I-I don’t know what to think.”
I tilted my head and studied her. I could understand her words as the Uldani had updated my translation implant with all the major Earth languages after they’d stolen me. I spotted a familiar bulge over her left ear from under her hair. “Did they give you an implant?” I asked her. “Can you understand me?”
Her fingers drifted to graze the implant near her ear before she jerked her hands back to her knees. “I… yes. I can understand you.”
In an attempt to look less threatening, I crouched down on the balls of my feet. She didn’t cringe at my movements and I considered that a victory. “I’m sorry you’re here.”
Her gaze drifted to my beaten chest before returned to my face. “I’m sorry you’re here, too.”
Her soft voice soothed the rapid beat of my cora and tempered the heat of anger in my blood. Her voice didn’t belong here in this dank and hard cell. What would her yellow hair look like when the sign shone on it? Would her eyes crinkle when she smiled?
“My name is Sax,” I said. “I’m a Drixonian warrior, originally from planet Corin.”
“Those words…” she nibbled her lip. “I don’t know what most of those words mean.”
Of course. My brother, Dax, had told me humans weren’t aware of any other life other than what resided on their Earth. “It means I won’t harm you. What’s your name?”
“Valerie. Well, Val. You can call me Val.”
It was then I realized she clutched bloodied scraps of cloth in her hands, and that the hem of her dress had been ripped. The soothing tone of her voice was all but forgotten as the rage inside me renewed. “Where are you injured?” I barked, sliding on the floor toward her. “What did they do to you?”
She jumped at the sharp crack of my voice, and dropped the scraps of cloth as she held her arms out like she intended to defend herself. “I-I’m not injured,” she stuttered.
I snatched the cloth and shook it at her. “Then what is this?”
“It’s—”
“Why is your dress torn?”
She slammed her fists down on the ground. “Because I used it to clean your cuts!”
I froze with the cloth straps swinging between our faces. Color flooded back to her cheeks, deepening them with a red flush. Her bright eyes flashed at me like glittering gems. I dropped my hand from between us. “You cleaned me?”
“I’m a nurse,” she announced with a slight upward lift of her chin. “You were unconscious when they threw you in here with me. I can’t see someone injured and bleeding and not do something.”
“What’s a nurse?”
“Someone who takes care of sick or injured people.”
“A healer?”
“Yes, sure. I’m a healer.”
I narrowed my eyes. “But you didn’t know if I was an enemy or not. I could have woken up and killed you.”
Some of the bravado left her strong gaze. “I never said it was the right choice. But it was the one I made.”
“You can’t trust anyone in this entire fortress except for me. Do you understand?”
Her eyes glistened. “I don’t even know that I can trust you.”
“You can.”
She scoffed. “Of course you tell me I can trust you, but trust doesn’t work that way. You have to earn it.”
“I trust you.”
“Well then you’re crazy.”
I tossed my head back. “I will earn your trust then.” My voice came out as more of a growl than I intended.
She flinched and watched me carefully before speaking again. “I’d like nothing more than to trust you,” she said. “But it’s a little hard based on everything that’s happened to me since I’ve gotten here.”
Anger sparked in me. “Tell me.”
She took a deep breath, and then she did. She told me about waking up on the spaceship and arriving at the Uldani fortress of Alazar. I explained to her that the silver aliens were Uldani, and the armored guards, called Kulks, worked for them. My machets lifted as she spoke of Borhan prodding her in his lab, the sick fleck.
“They know when I will ovulate next and that terrifies me.” She wrung her hands. “Why do they need to know that?”
“What is ovulating?” I asked.
“It’s when I’m fertile… when I can get pregnant.”
The words were like a punch in the gut. I’d known all along that was why they wanted her, but to hear her confirm it still knocked me down. I collapsed back on my ass and dropped my forehead into my hands. “Fleck,” I muttered.
“Do you know what’s going on?” she asked, her voice closer. When I glanced up, she had crawled toward me on her hands and knees. Her unrestrained breasts swung free in her thin dress. Her pert little ass rose in the air, and I imagined my hands on her soft, lush hips. My mouth on her stiff nipples. My tongue licking the cream between her thick thighs.
My cock stiffened, but on the heels of lust rode panic, swift and sick. I skittered away from her, retreating to the far side of the cell with my arm out to ward her off. “Stay away from me.”
Her mouth dropped open, and the utter devastation on her face took my breath away. “W-what’s wrong?”
I closed my eyes, but I could still see her supple form and pretty lips behind my eyelids. “I can’t… stay away, Val.”
She sucked in a breath at the sound of her name. “Please just tell me what’s going on.” A sob left her throat, and the sound choked me.
I opened my eyes to see large liquid drops leave her bottoms eyelashes to splash on the floor, mingling with my blood. This pretty female who’d known nothing about me but had still risked cleaning my wounds cried… and I felt helpless. She deserved an explanation and to know what was going on, no matter how flecked up the truth was.
“They want to know when you’re fertile, because they want to breed you,” I said.
She pressed a hand over her mouth, but a pained cry escaped her. “The Uldani want me to bear their children?”
I shook my head. “No, sweet Val. They want you to bear mine.”
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Acknowledgments
I can’t write these acknowledgements without first and foremost thanking my cover designer Natasha Snow. I have used her work for my books in the past, and I’m always blown away at what she creates. I had already begun drafting this book when she released this cover as a pre-made for sale. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it. I knew that the alien on the cover was Daz, and this cover would be mine. And as I wrote, I made this cover my backdrop on my laptop. It inspired me every day. So thank you, Natasha, for creating beautiful covers that inspire writers. You are truly one of a kind.
Thank you also to my copy editor, Edie Danford. I am constantly amazed at how you make me look better! Your insight is amazing and this book is better because of you. I can’t thank you enough for kicking butt with every weird world I throw at you. You are one of a kind!
Major thanks to Del’s Diabolical Editing for fast and thorough service. One of the best proofers I’ve ever worked with.
Huge thanks to Patty for beta-reading for me and ensuring me I’m not crazy and others will want to read my world!
As always, thanks to family and friends for supporting me in this new venture. I couldn’t do it without your support. To my husband, you are amazing. Your push for me to do this, your interest in the data I presented, and your trust in me to commit is what made this possible. Thank you. I love you.
About the Author
Ella Maven is the pen name for a multi-published USA Today Bestselling author who decided to finally unleash the alien world that had been living in her head for years. (Is that weird? Probably). Her books feature dominant, possessive aliens who are absolutely devoted to their humans.
She lives on the
East Coast with her completely normal husband and two spawn who sure seem alien some days.