Alien Redeemed E-Book

Marie Dry

• Herausgeber: Marie Dry
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

On a harsh alien planet, in a faraway galaxy, Sarah, a gentle human woman, is determined to start a new life, far away from the hardship she endured on Earth and the pitying glances of her friends.

Once on Zyrgin, Sarah finds that, instead of being the empress and helpmeet at the side of the Zyrgin leader, she is merely his breeder. She is trapped in a gilded cage, not allowed to go out and interact with the other women on the planet, until she's proven her loyalty to the empire by birthing Zaar’s child. After her traumatic experiences in the raider camps, and the resultant PTSD, Sarah doubts she could ever make love to her Zyrgin warrior.

Zaar assures her he has a superior plan to cure her of her problem. But is he able to reach through all the barriers Sarah has erected against true intimacy?

Leseprobe

Zaar, ruler of all the known galaxies and soon to be ruler of the unknown galaxies, didn’t want another breeder. Didn’t need another fragile female to betray him and call him barbarian, and then kill herself.

Shortly after Zaar’s breeder ended herself, the Wise One, the religious leader of the Zyrgin Empire, found the scrolls—Zaar still thought the timing rather suspicious—that predicted that a small, golden woman, with the birthmark of swords, would redeem his honor. Zaar had ignored it. He didn't believe in prophecies and didn’t consider his honor lost.

Unfortunately, Zurian’s breeder had shown him a likeness of her friend that had been sold into slavery. The woman had the mark of the swords, and word had spread like wildfire through the ranks. When Zacar’s warriors had rescued the human female, Sarah, with the mark of two swords crossing on her skin, he knew he’d have to take the puny, golden-haired human, with the mark of the prophecy, as his breeder. He might be the most powerful person in the known galaxies, but in this he had no choice. Would she hate living on Zyrgin, like his first breeder did?

Many times after her rescue from the raider camps, he’d come to her room, camouflaged, to observe her. To try and find something about her he could use to refuse taking her. Instead she fascinated him with the odd things she did.

He stood against the wall of her room, invisible to her eyes, and observed her hiding food, putting pieces of cloth on the floor, and then she’d sit staring at it for hours. Only to pack it back into a basket. The odd things she did fascinated him. He wanted to touch her golden hair, wondered if her pearl-colored skin would be as soft as it looked. Wondered where her head would fit against him when she stood in front of him. That first time he came into her room, she’d sat, trembling, in the corner, softly moaning, her eyes staring unblinking in front of her, as if she saw images only she could see. But every time he returned, she’d been different, stronger.

He’d left her and had killed as many raiders as he could find. He’d also taken a personal interest in the men in his dungeon. He might not have wanted another breeder, but he would avenge her.

Months had passed since that first time. He couldn’t stay away—kept coming back to observe her unseen.

Zaar materialized, camouflaged, inside the room where his breeder sat on the floor, wearing what the humans called jeans. It wasn’t proper, the way it looked on her, but he enjoyed seeing the way it stretched over her hips. Sitting on the floor, she was trying, without much success, in his opinion, to unravel what looked like balls of peasant silk. She never sat on a chair if she could sit on the floor. It was a habit he didn’t think a delicate human female would have.

She muttered something he couldn’t make out, even with his superior hearing, and yanked on a string entangled with several others.

Zaar looked her over critically. No doubt he had the most beautiful breeder in the empire, but everything about her was alarmingly fragile. A Zyrgin like him needed a woman that was strong mentally and physically. He’d experienced firsthand the results of taking a weak woman as breeder.

Alien Redeemed

Marie Dry

Copyright © 2019 by Marie Dry

Cover Design by Dar Albert

All Rights Reserved

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

About the Author

Also by Marie Dry

Chapter One

Zaar, ruler of all the known galaxies and soon to be ruler of the unknown galaxies, didn’t want another breeder. Didn’t need another fragile female to betray him and call him barbarian, and then kill herself.

Shortly after Zaar’s breeder ended herself, the Wise One, the religious leader of the Zyrgin Empire, found the scrolls—Zaar still thought the timing rather suspicious—that predicted that a small, golden woman, with the birthmark of swords, would redeem his honor. Zaar had ignored it. He didn’t believe in prophecies and didn’t consider his honor lost.

Unfortunately Zurian’s breeder had shown him a likeness of her friend that had been sold into slavery. The woman had the mark of the swords, and word had spread like wildfire through the ranks. When Zacar’s warriors had rescued the human female, Sarah, with the mark of two swords crossing on her skin, he knew he’d have to take the puny, golden-haired human, with the mark of the prophecy, as his breeder. He might be the most powerful person in the known galaxies, but in this he had no choice. Would she hate living on Zyrgin, like his first breeder did?

Many times after her rescue from the raider camps, he’d come to her room camouflaged, to observe her. To try and find something about her he could use to refuse taking her. Instead she fascinated him with the odd things she did.

He stood against the wall of her room, invisible to her eyes, and observed her hiding food, putting pieces of cloth on the floor, and then she’d sit staring at it for hours. Only to pack it back into a basket. The odd things she did fascinated him. He wanted to touch her golden hair, wondered if her pearl-colored skin would be as soft as it looked. Wondered where her head would fit against him when she stood in front of him. That first time in come into her room, she’d sat trembling in the corner, softly moaning, her eyes staring unblinking in front of her, as if she saw images only she could see. But every time he returned, she’d been different, stronger.

He’d left her and had killed as many raiders as he could find. He’d also taken a personal interest in the men in his dungeon. He might not have wanted another breeder, but he would avenge her.

Months had passed since that first time. He couldn’t stay away—kept coming back to observe her unseen.

Zaar materialized, camouflaged, inside the room where his breeder sat on the floor, wearing what the humans called jeans. It wasn’t proper, the way it looked on her, but he enjoyed seeing the way it stretched over her hips. Sitting on the floor, she was trying, without much success, in his opinion, to unravel what looked like balls of peasant silk. She never sat on a chair if she could sit on the floor. It was a habit he didn’t think a delicate human female would have.

She muttered something he couldn’t make out, even with his superior hearing, and yanked on a string entangled with several others.

Zaar looked her over critically. No doubt he had the most beautiful breeder in the empire, but everything about her was alarmingly fragile. A Zyrgin like him needed a woman that was strong mentally and physically. He’d experienced firsthand the results of taking a weak woman as breeder.

Female footsteps came from outside and he stared at Sarah who didn’t react. The bad hearing of the humans never ceased to amaze him. How did they function without hearing and with their bad eyesight? A bell rang and his breeder jumped up and went toward the door that opened to allow Zurian’s breeder to walk in.

Julia touched Sarah’s shoulder briefly and then stepped back. “How are you doing, Sarah? How’d the visit with Hester go?” She asked that every time, and Zaar couldn’t see the reason for the repetition. Hester was the therapist they’d found to talk to the women about what happened in the camps.

“I almost punched her in the face yesterday.” Sarah threw a punch in the air; her stance was wrong and the way she punched wasn’t effective at all.

Julia laughed. “Obviously our training sessions are working. But please don’t beat up our therapist. You have no idea how difficult it was to get someone with those qualifications.”

Zaar had conquered many planets, but Earth was the first planet they found where the intelligent life forms, the humans, were close to making themselves extinct. He would honor Zacar’s promise not to do conquest on the humans, but they needed managing. The scarcity of trained doctors and these therapists showed how they’d mismanaged their planet.

Sarah lowered her fists and shrugged. “Okay, she can live, but if she tells me one more time about healing tears, I’m punching her.” She made another odd jab with her small fist.

Julia laughed. “Honestly, if you can actually manage to land a punch, I’d volunteer to go out and find a replacement for Hester. You have no idea how impossible a task it is.” She rummaged in the large, bright red bag she’d brought with her and took out a pair of pink and another pair of gold shoes. She held it up. “Ta-daa.”

Sarah frowned and looked from Julia to the shoes. “Why did you bring heels?”

“We are going to do the exercises in these heels. The first one to lose her balance gets to make the coffee and cake.”

Zaar cocked his head, tried to make sense of what Julia said. He debated putting a stop to this plan; Sarah could break an ankle. But he wanted to reveal himself to her when she was alone. Not with Zurian’s mouthy breeder around. And he was curious to see what they’d do.

Sarah smiled and grabbed the pink shoes from Julia. She sat down in a chair and pulled off the sensible shoes he approved of and put on the pink high-heeled shoes. She stood and Zaar decided to obtain more of them for her. In Zaar’s opinion, Sarah should have the gold pair; her hair was shinier and would fit better with the shoes.

They played the program, and Zaar stood watching as his breeder kicked and jumped as the fat human in the exercise program instructed. It was no surprise when Sarah lost her balance and ended up on the floor. She threw back her head and laughed as Julia tumbled down next to her. Her human laugh sounded odd to him, but he couldn’t stop watching the way her blue eyes sparkled when she laughed.

Sarah walked barefoot to the synthesizer and ordered coffee and a cake that looked revolting. “How is Mirabelle?” she asked as she handed Julia a plate and cup and then sat down on the floor next to her.

Zaar stared down at the two human women. He’d thought they would sit at the table, demand someone serve them. Normally, if he came to observe her and she had the other women with her, Zaar would leave. He should rethink that strategy. He’d learned a lot today. She was beautiful even when she did her ugly human laughter, and she was terrible at self-defence. He’d trained many warriors, and no amount of training would turn his breeder into a fighter. It was a good thing a warrior owned her.

“What do you want, Sarah?” Julia asked in an abrupt manner.

Sarah’s shoulders stiffened and she frowned down at her cake. “What do you mean?” She pressed the fork into the cake, until it looked like mud.

Julia set down her plate on the floor and looked Sarah in the eye. “You’ve been holed up here for months, almost a year now.”

“You want me to go?” His breeder sounded tragic, as if she wanted to make human tears. Zaar took a silent step forward. He couldn’t harm another Zyrgin’s breeder, but he could deliver her to her warrior with instructions to keep her in their dwelling.

Julia shook her head so vigorously, the hair Zurian always bragged about—that was not nearly as shiny and gold as Sarah’s—swung about her face. “No, Sarah, never. I want you to stay with us forever.” She took Sarah’s hands in hers. “You can’t continue like this. You need a purpose, something to live for. Something that makes you so happy you laugh from deep inside your belly.” She gestured at the peasant silk. “You pretend to be interested in making clothes, but I know what you look like when you’re excited about something. If it’s not your passion anymore, find something, anything that gives you a reason to get up every morning.”

Zaar didn’t appreciate her meddling. Sarah had a purpose as the breeder to the Parenadorz of all the known galaxies. That was purpose enough for her.

Sarah’s face was unmoving, but she still pushed the cake around with her fork and that more than anything told him how upset she was over Julia’s question. He’d seen her eat warrior-sized meals and she always looked as if she could pack away more. Sarah shrugged. “All I ever wanted was to be loved, to have children, and work on my business like me and Charles had planned.”

“Charles might come b—”

“He doesn’t want me anymore,” Sarah interrupted, her voice harsh with emotion.

“Why are you so sure of that?”

Sarah shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anyway. All I want now is to be safe, not to be sold by people I trust.” She put the plate down on the floor and then shuddered. “I want to belong somewhere, Julia.”

“You belong with us,” Julia said.

“Not really. You are my friends, the best friends I could ever ask for. But I want what you and Natalie have. You belong with your warriors and the children. I can never have that.”

“Of course you can.”

Sarah looked up at Julia and her lips twisted in a way Zaar didn’t like. “You know what happened to me? If Charles who loved me couldn’t accept me after what happened, why would any other man?

“You don’t know—”

“I know him. Even if there’s a man out there who could accept that, I don’t think I can have a normal relationship.” She clenched her fist. “But I want to, I don’t want those b… b… beasts to win.”

Julia took his breeder’s hands and held it. “You know, you won’t be struck dead if you call those assholes bastards. That’s what they are.”

Zaar could think of much more descriptive words to call them.

Sarah shook her head. “It’s too ingrained in me, I suppose. No matter how hard I try, the words just won’t come out.”

“I wouldn’t mind being as ladylike as you,” Julia said. They both sat silent, eating their cake, and then Julia suddenly said, “Promise me something?”

Sarah looked wary. “What?”

“If a chance for adventure and change presented itself, no matter how outrageous it seems, grab it with both hands and go for the ride.”

Sarah put down her plate again, and stared at Zurian’s breeder. “Do you know something, Julia?”

“Of course not.” Julia got up and got busy putting the high heels into her bag. If she warned Sarah about the fact that she would be Zaar’s breeder, he would pay Zurian a visit. “Just don’t let fear hold you back.”

“All right.”

Julia jumped up. “I have to go. Mirabelle is with Natalie and I promised not to be too long.” She hugged Sarah and ran out the door. She came back almost immediately. “I almost forgot, here’s the canned food you wanted.” She shuddered. “How you can eat that when you can synthesize meals, I don’t know.” With that she ran out again.

“She’s hiding something from me,” Sarah mumbled. She went to the bed and put one tin of the human food under her bed, the other she hid among the peasant silk. Making lines on her forehead, she took up the fighting stance again.

“Stuff off, Destiny,” she said. Who was this Destiny? He didn’t approve such a person for contact with his breeder. She reached up and behind her and tightened the band that held her hair together at the back of her head. He’d noticed she did that before she tackled any hard tasks. She adjusted her stance again and still didn’t get it right. “Start Program,” she said. The image of the instructor, that had to be the worst he’d ever seen in his lifetime, appeared again.

“If you can’t spin and kick yet, turn as fast as you can, and kick hard, and with meaning,” the instructor on the TC program said. Zyrgins never gave conquered planets their technology. They improved existing technologies if it was necessary for the smooth running of the planet. The TC that allowed the humans to watch programs and badly reported news, was the most primitive of all the technologies they’d encountered. That went for the instructor of this so-called exercise program, as well. Why did she want to learn anything from this human male that had no muscles and no fighting skills?

Breathing hard, Sarah paused the program and adjusted her stance again. “Julia’s right, I need more exercise,” she mumbled and played the clip again. Sarah turned and kicked. “Take that, Destiny,” she screamed at the same time the solid thwack sounded as her foot connected. Zaar didn’t know which of them was more surprised when her heel hit his groin.

His breeder jumped around on one leg. “Ouch, ouch, ouch.” She stumbled back from him. “What the h… What happened?”

Zaar made himself visible.

She looked up at him and whimpered and scrambled away. “Where did you come from?” Then that Zyrgin-like spirit he’d observed in her several times, stopped her in her tracks. She lifted her head and stood her ground, her gaze flicking from his jacket to his face.

“Who is Destiny?” he asked. His breeder will not have relations with a human male.

She made lines on her forehead again and then touched her hair. “Someone I’m going to kill,” she replied. “How did you get in here?” She moved away from him, in the direction of the door. “And why didn’t I see you enter? I faced the door the whole time.”

He glanced at the corner where the TC still played the exercise program and then looked her up and down. “You do not have the skill to kill this Destiny. It would be better if a superior Zyrgin warrior like me killed him for you.”

She gave a strange laugh. “Oh, I think I can kick his butt without any help.”

“You are small and weak and your fighting skills are inadequate.” He glared at the instructor, still showing off his marshall skills. “Learning from an inferior male like that will not help you. You need a warrior.”

Her face leaked of color, becoming as white as the clouds in the Earth sky. “I don’t need a warrior; I don’t need anyone.” She smoothed her hands over her jeans, all the while watching him with those jewel eyes. “You haven’t told me how you got in here and who you are. I will call Zacar if you take one step closer,” she threatened. Her gaze went to the door, measuring the distance.

“Zacar is under my command and I can be anywhere I want andcalling him will not help you.” He ignored the way she trembled and looked her up and down.” You are too puny to kill this Destiny. I will kill him for you.”

She wrung her hands. “You don’t understand, Destiny is—”

She stopped talking and bit her lip. “Thank you, but I can kick his butt,” she said. What was she going to say about this Destiny? Was it a male she met in secret? She inched to the left, still giving the door those furtive glances.

“You won’t make it,” he said gently, not wanting to scare her. But he wasn’t about to allow her to run out, screaming for the guards or Zacar.

She froze and for a moment he saw sheer terror on her face. He’d seen it on many alien faces during his many conquest campaigns. He didn’t want that look on her face when she looked at him.

She took another step back, but pointed her chin at him. “You have no right to invade my privacy like this. Who do you think you are?”

“I am the Zyrgin,” he told her. Obviously she didn’t understand when he’d told her before.

“I know you’re a Zyrgin,” she added under her breath. “Did he think I missed the green-and-copper skin, bulging muscles, ridge on his head, and those odd eyes?”

Zaar decided to never tell her how good his hearing was. He enjoyed listening to her strange ramblings.

“The Zyrgin,” he corrected.

She rocked back a little, as if the truth had hit her. She touched the band that held her hair together, then plucked at her shirt. She took two more steps back, her eyes so wide, it looked like Earth viewed from space. “You’re the emperor?”

“The correct title is Parenadorz, but you can address me as my leader.”

“If you’re the Parenz-whatever, how can you be here? Julia said it takes a year for your ships to reach us. Surely you can’t just leave everything to travel to Earth to talk to one insignificant human.” She said that pointedly, as if she wanted to convince him she was of no importance.

“Your feeble human mind cannot comprehend my powers and how I can be here,” he told her and she narrowed her eyes at him.

She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her toe. “Why don’t you try explaining it to me? My feeble human brain might surprise you.” She trembled so much, he was surprised her thin limbs didn’t rattle together. But she was brave, standing her ground. He was impressed that she tapped her toes at him, in spite of her fear.

“I do not need to explain anything to you. But you should know that you are the least insignificant human on this planet. As my breeder you have a status above all others.” He knew what impressed breeders. The next time he came, he’d bring jewels and silk clothes. And strings of silk to replace her peasant silk.

“B…breeder?” she stammered. And then in that undertone: “So that’s what Julia talked about? Wonder how she knew?” She sounded disappointed, as if she thought her friend had betrayed her.

“I give you the privilege to become my breeder.” He manifested and presented the gold eduki pelt.

“What’s that?”

“It is the pelt of the eduki that I hunted and killed with my bare hands. You are now my breeder.” Zaar had resolved never to do this again, and yet he felt a savage satisfaction at knowing she belonged to him now.

She shook her head, her hair swinging back and forth. She ran to the door, but he’d programed it to stay close while he was with her. “No, no, no! Not again, never again.” She slammed her hands against the door.

Chapter Two

Sarah hammered on the door until her fists ached. “Open,” she shouted, but the doors remained stubbornly shut. He’d locked them in somehow. Trembling, her harsh breathing loud in the room, she turned and faced the alien that wanted to claim her. “I won’t be…that.” Her knees threatened to collapse beneath her. She was supposed to be safe here.

“No one told you of the prophecy?” he asked in that harsh voice that sent shivers over each and every nerve in her body. The first time he’d spoken, his voice had reminded her of planets colliding in a burst of speed and violence, splintering and reforming in a loud bang.

“What prophecy?” she asked while she frantically tried to find a way out of this room and away from this alien. She associated the Zyrgins with her escape, with safety, but this one was different. Bigger and stronger and much meaner than the others. His presence alone had lowered the temperature in the room. She stood facing him, her hands pressed flat behind her, against the door that wouldn’t open.

He studied her, cocked his head in that reptilian way the Zyrgins had, and conjured a wooden club out of thin air. Natalie and Julia had told her of their ability to produce things out of thin air. That didn’t startle her. What worried her, a lot, was the club. She wouldn’t survive a beating from that.

He held out the wooden weapon. “Take this breeder—it will settle your weak human fear.”

She grabbed the club and glared at him. “I don’t fear you.” Yeah right, she wasn’t trembling in her jeans. But she’d never tell him that. Sometimes it felt as if her life consisted of different levels of fear. Would there ever be a time when she’d feel safe?

“It was prophesied that a woman with silk growing out of her head, and the mark of two swords, will become my breeder and restore my honor.” He said the last between clenched teeth.

Sarah touched the birthmark low on her neck. Felt the slightly raised skin. She’d never thought it looked like swords, but she supposed it could look like it to him. “You have no honor?” Sarah could’ve bitten off her tongue the moment the question escaped her.

He grew until he took on gigantic proportions in her terrified mind. “Never accuse me of that again. My people believe in this prophecy.”

“I didn’t—”

“Never.”

Sarah let it go—she had another question that burned a hole in her mind. “Do you really expect me to—” Sarah frowned at him. He haven’t touched her or looked her over in that oily way the raiders had done and didn’t seem bent on forcing himself on her. “What exactly do you expect from me?”

“I expect you to come to my planet and be my breeder.” Natalie had explained to her that to the Zyrgins, the word breeder meant wife more than the connotation humans put on it. But she still didn’t like the sound of it.

She was about to shout “no” and “heck no” when Julia’s words came back to her: a chance at adventure. She looked around, at the room she’d rarely left since the months of her rescue. Lately she’d been feeling restless, wanting to do more. But did she dare go to his planet with this strong alien? She’d kicked his…his privates and he didn’t even flinch.

She shook her head. She couldn’t do this. “I’m not empress material so why don’t you just leave?” Even as she said the words, some part of her yearned to go to another planet and have the adventure of a lifetime.

“You will come to Zyrgin with me. Within reason, you may state your demands. I will return for your answer.” The silky quality underlying that gravelly voice scared the pants off her. He disappeared.

Sarah stared around her. “Where’d he go?” It was like those old cartoons. “Poof and he’s gone,” she muttered.

Sarah wiped her hand over her eyes, but he was still gone. Could all Zyrgins do that? He wanted her, the emperor of practically the whole universe, wanted her. What was there for her here? Her friend’s pity and charity. On the alien planet she’d be sort of married—if breeder meant what Natalie said—to their ruler. Surely that would give her some power. Make her safe from ever being sold by someone she trusted. It was irrational, she knew that, but every time Natalie or Julia invited her out, she broke out in a cold sweat.

Sarah sank down on the floor and tried to breathe through her panic. What was she thinking—she couldn’t belong to a being so powerful he could appear out of nowhere. Natalie said he ruled practically every inhabited planet in the universe. In the superhero movies she’d watched with Julia, it had looked really cool when they poofed in and out of places. In real life it was one of the most disconcerting things she’d ever experienced.

For two weeks, she waited, expecting him to poof in and demand an answer.

How long did she have to think about it before he appeared, expecting her to leave with him? She agonised over this decision. It haunted her while she untangled the hand-spun wool Julia brought her, when Julia came to her, when she used the material Natalie gave her. Sarah thought about it when she went to sleep at night and it was her first thought in the morning when she woke.

But she knew, even while she tried to think it through, that she was going to do it. Before she’d been sold, she had done really well designing and making sexy underwear. She’d had several clients and was well on her way to realizing her dream of having her own business. Instead of leaving with Charles, she’d played it safe; she’d planned to pack up her things and go with Charles during her stepmother’s annual visit to her sister.

Sarah held up the cream-and-blue, lace panties she’d designed, and frowned at them. Where had her caution gotten her? Sold and abused until sometimes she barely felt like a human being. Julia and Natalie was so happy with their aliens. Maybe she could be, as well. She bunched the silky material in her fist. She’d be trapped on an alien planet if things went wrong. No quickie divorce for her.

Fed up with her pathetic indecision, she threw the panties across the room. They landed on the face of the large Zyrgin that had appeared out of nowhere. She moaned softly and clapped her hands over her burning cheeks. This was not happening.

He grabbed the scrap of cloth and, holding it open with the forefinger and thumb of both hands, stared from the scrap of material to her. The way his eyes dipped told her he knew exactly what it was. Of course it had to be panties she threw at him; it wasn’t a shirt or scarf she’d woven. Sarah’s face burned even hotter, as if she’d been in the sun for days without protection. “Don’t you knock?”

“No.”

She tried to look calm and collected. “How did you get in here?” she asked, and was pleased to hear how steady she sounded. She pointedly held out her hand, but he ignored her wordless demand and rubbed the scrap of satin between his thumb and forefinger, the powder-blue fabric appearing delicate and feminine in his large claw.

Sarah’s breath caught and for a moment, just a moment, she wondered what it would feel like if he rubbed her flesh like that. “That belongs to me—please give it back.”

It disappeared into a pocket in his jacket that appeared and then disappeared. It was disconcertingly as if his pocket ate her panties. “State your demands.”

Sarah stared at the jacket where the pocket was now gone. “How did you do that? Give it back.”

“No.”

Wait, did he say her demands? Sarah forgot about the panties his pocket had eaten. “My demands?” She hadn’t thought up any demands. Her lips pulled down. Being held captive in a raider camp had a way of lowering your standards.

“Yes, within reason I will allow them.”

“Say we agreed on my demands, what happens next?”

“You come to Zyrgin.”

“And then?”

“You will be my breeder.” He said it as if it was self-explanatory. But it couldn’t be that simple. It wouldn’t be that simple for her.

“I got that part. What I want to know is if I will have status and power?” No one would be able to sell her or take her away from her home.

He stepped away from her and his claws lengthened and retracted so fast, she doubted that she even saw it happen. “You will be the most powerful female in the empire.” There was an expressionless quality to his voice for the first time.

“I have only one demand. I want a home where I’m safe, where no one can walk in and sell me.” Physically she’d never be strong, but she could be too powerful to ever be sold again. Panic threatened to knock her out; black spots invaded her vision; was she really doing this?

“No one will sell my breeder.” He flashed his incisors. “I will kill anyone who even thinks to do such a thing.” He stepped forward, clasped the nape of her neck with those fingers that reminded her of a raptor’s. Chills rippled out over her body from where he touched her. “Who is Charles?” he asked and the temperature in the room dropped.

“How do you know about him?”

“Zurian’s breeder talked to you about it while I stood listening camouflaged.”

The way he held her, the change in the atmosphere, all told her that it was a good thing her former fiancé had disappeared. “Charles was my fiancé.” It hurt so much to think that he was either dead or he’d stopped searching for her and gone on with his life.

“Where is this Charles now?” He tried to appear casual, to put her at her ease, so that she’d tell him, but she heard the menace in his voice. Even if she knew she wouldn’t tell him.

She bit her lip. Deep inside she knew Charles would never accept her now. He was a good man, but he had strict views on what was proper. “I don’t know where he is. He tried once to find me and then he was captured. Julia told me, while she was searching for me, she and Zurian freed him and the other captives, and Charles just disappeared. No one has heard from him since.” She looked down at her clutched hands. Her knuckles was white, but she didn’t feel the pressure.

“He will be a very clever human if he stays lost. I will not tolerate other males near my breeder.” He slashed his hand through the air and her whole body jerked, glad for the table she used to cut her patterns that stood between them. “We are done talking about males with ugly long hair—state your demands.”

She touched her hair before she clutched her hands together again. “What do you mean ugly—”

“State your other demands,” he interrupted.

Her lips pulled down. “I told you, my only demand is that I be safe. Unless you have some miracle alien technology that can take my memory of the camps away.”

“We have such technology,” he said as if he didn’t just hand her, her biggest wish.

“You do?” she whispered. She clutched her hands to her chest and leaned toward him. Oh, to be able to function without constant nightmare memories ambushing her every moment of every day.

“It cannot remove all your memories. That would result in you losing critical functions. But it can make the memory recede so that it feels like an old memory.”

Hope, terrible hope bloomed inside her. She’d promised herself never again to hope for anything. Still it made her heart beat faster. “Why would you develop a technology like that? I thought you were mostly focused on weapons?” she asked, suspicious. It seemed too good to be true.

“We developed it to assist warriors,” he said and it was clear he wouldn’t tell her more.

She rubbed her hands on her pants that sat loose on her. No matter how much she ate, she just didn’t gain any weight. “If you can lessen my memories and promise I’ll be safe, I will agree to come with you to your planet.” Maybe when she was there, she’d find out what Destiny had planned for her. Because she had this weird feeling that her whole life had led up to this moment. That no matter what she decided, she’d end up on that alien planet.

One moment, they stood with the table between them, and the next, he stood right in front of her. He clasped her delicate nape, moved it to cup her shoulder, and rubbed over her collar bone, over the birthmark, with his thumb. Goose bumps broke out over her skin, and it wasn’t all fear.

“It will be difficult breeding small warriors with you. Your body could break if I am not careful with you.”

“What?”

He stared down at the junction of her thighs. “The doctor will have to measure your female channel to ensure we will fit.”

Chapter Three

Sarah’s heart hammered so loud, she couldn’t hear anything else. She jerked out of his grip and stumbled away from him. Her whole body burned and she was sure she was redder than the canned tomatoes Julia had brought her. No one was measuring her there. No one. “I can’t do this. You don’t know what happened to me. I just can’t—”

“I know you were held captive in the camps and suffered abuse because my warriors took too long to find you.”

Sarah tightened her ponytail to keep her trembling fingers busy. Was that how they saw it? “You don’t understand, they kept moving me. It’s a miracle they found me at all. I will be forever grateful to your warriors for rescuing me.”

“You will come to Zyrgin?”

“I can’t tolerate being touched.” She shook her head. “I can’t go with you. It wouldn’t be fair to you.” Being measured like that would be just one more item, in a long list of things that she couldn’t tolerate.

He looked at her, just stood there and looked at her, and she had the oddest feeling that he knew exactly what she struggled with. “It takes a year to reach my planet. You will be in stasis during that time.”

“Stasis? You mean I’d be asleep, like in the movies where people are frozen for long periods of space travel?” A few months ago that would’ve sounded like heaven, but she wanted to get on with her life. Not lie around in stasis for months on end. “Like sleeping beauty,” she muttered.

“Yes, you would be asleep for a year and during that time our program will assist with fading the memories of the camps.”

It was her personal fantasy offered to her. “All right, but that still leaves the problem of us, you know—”

“Know what?” he asked and she gritted her teeth.

She shrugged and looked down at her hands, her face hot. If she kept this up, she’d spontaneously combust. You’d think after the reverend and the camps, she’d be able to say the words out loud. “Would you want children?” She heard the longing in her voice. The loneliness.

“Yes. We will have one small warrior.”

“Unless I have twins like Natalie.”

He cocked his head, but didn’t respond.

“What about the prophecy you talked about? What if I come to your planet and it doesn’t come true?”

“I will see to the prophecy—the vagueness leaves it open for interpretation.” His disdain for the prophecy was obvious, but she had a hard time just discounting it. Not if she was going to get blamed if whatever miracle this prophecy foretold didn’t happen.

“All right.” She bit her lip and sidled backward, out of reach of those huge fists. “There is something else we have to discuss. You have advanced technology. Maybe we could use artificial insemination.” If this conversation lasted much longer, her face was going to be stained a permanent hot red.

“Never again say that to me,” he said silkily. The temperature dropped, became charged with danger, and she shivered. “We will make our small warriors with me inside your body.” He looked at her slender hips, cocking his head. “After the doctor has measured your vagina to ensure that we fit.”

“Stop saying that.” She forced herself to stay calm, to think. “Will you give me time to get used to your planet and to know you before we, before we, uh, become intimate?”

“I will allow you as much time as you need to know me before I fuck you,” he said.

She recoiled. “You don’t have to be that crude.”

“It is called fucking. Why should I not say it?” he sounded curious.

She planted her face in her palm. “Never mind.” What other options did she have—going back to live in town? She shuddered. Even with the Zyrgins keeping an eye on her, she couldn’t go back there. At the same time, she couldn’t stay in this room forever. She squared her shoulders. Maybe it was time to see what Destiny had in store for her. “All right, I will come to your planet,” she said. She mumbled, “If I don’t die in stasis.” Inside her mind, a small rational voice screamed Stop, what are you doing?

“Our stasis machines are superior to any other—you will not die in it,” he said.

She bit her lip, tried to step away from him, and she knew she only managed it because he allowed it. For now. “What happens next?”

“You pack your belongings. I will allow you to bring as much decadent Earth possessions you want,” he said.

“Decadent, that’s me,” she joked feebly. Her bedroom in her stepmother’s house had been spartan. The camps horrific. This room in the guesthouse was the nicest she’s ever lived in.

“My imperial ship will arrive shortly to bring you to Zyrgin.”

“A…all right.” Was she really doing this?

“It is important that you do not tell your friends of your planned departure.”

“I can’t just go without saying goodbye.”

He cocked his head and for a moment, he looked disconcertingly like Zacar, her friend Natalie’s alien. “You will make a recording to say parting greetings to them.”

“Why can’t I just say goodbye in person?”

“Security reasons. Zacar has orders to provide you with anything you want to bring with you. Make a list on your TC and send it to Zacar.”

“All right, but I don’t have his address.”

“It is already in your TC and easy to find.”

Did he put it on her TC because he was sure of her answer, or because he had no plans to take no for an answer? “Will you be on the ship that takes me to Zyrgin?”

“No, you need to be in stasis so that your memory can be altered and I have to run my empire.” He didn’t sound as if he wanted to see her until she reached his planet and she felt a little ache in her heart. It would’ve been wonderful if she was a whole, clean woman and madly in love with him and he wanted her because he loved her and not because of the prophecy.

She frowned at him. “If you’re not travelling on the ship, how will you get to your planet? For that matter, how are you here now? I know it takes ten months, at least, for the supply ships to get here.”

“The same way I appear in your room. I think of where I want to be and I am there.”

Sarah glared at him. “If you don’t want to give me an answer, say so. Don’t make up wild stories. No one can travel between planets by only thinking about it.”

One moment he stood a few feet from her, the next he was in front of her. “I can do it. That is how I appear and disappear into this room.”

“Oh.”

“Before I go, I will implant your translator.”

She was about to refuse to have anything implanted in her, but when she reached Zyrgin, if she couldn’t speak the language, she’d be helpless and at this alien being’s mercy, unable to make friends. To start a new life.

“The doctor will assist me and I will do it now. I am weary of speaking your ugly language.”

“English isn’t ugly.” She said it absently, trying to breathe past the panic. She was going to live on another planet.

The door opened and the rude doctor walked in. He handed the Zyrgin two round, silver disks and then stood back and fiddled with a flat, silver piece of equipment.

“It sounds like the lisping of mudslugs,” the Zyrgin said and pressed the silver disks against her temples.

Mudslugs? Oh, he was still talking about speaking English. “I don’t sound like a slug,” she objected, trying very hard not to think about what was going into her brain.

“You do not have to fear the procedure. It is safe and painless.”

Easy for him to say—he wasn’t the one with alien technology put into his head. “Julia said her translator nearly killed her.”

“It was a defective model.” He tapped her temple gently with his finger. “This is an improved model and has been tested on humans.”

Her blood literally froze in her veins. “You used humans like lab rats?”

“No, we used raiders and implanted them with the translators. We did not turn them into rats.”

Sarah stared at him, not sure what to focus on. The fact that they experimented on raiders or the literal way he took her words.

She should be outraged that they’d experimented on the raiders; she tried really hard to feel outrage, but instead said with viciousness she didn’t know she was capable of: “I hope you hurt them a lot while you did it.” Hester might say that forgiving the raiders would set her free, but seeing them suffer would go a long way toward freedom for her.

A few years, even a year ago, she wouldn’t have been able to feel such savage pleasure at someone being hurt. But the thought of those savages suffering, gave her the kind of satisfaction no decent human being should feel.

“I did,” he said. “They died slow and agonising deaths. They died the way woumbers should. Begging on their knees.”

Maybe she wasn’t as hard as she thought, because now she wasn’t sure she wanted anyone to suffer like that, not even raiders. Wait, he’d used that word before. “Woumbers?”

“Men without honor,” he said.

He touched her temples and for a brief moment he surrounded her. His scent, his towering height, his savage beauty. And it was beauty. He might look alien and act like the universe belonged to him—she frowned—okay, maybe it did belong to him, but he possessed a kind of savage male beauty that called to her. Panic, at the thought of how powerful he was, and that strange unwilling attraction, warred within her.