The shame washes over me.
I have just abducted a human. I have done the one thing I swore I would never do.
My gaze drops to my lap. This woman is here because I was lonely and my dick did the talking for me.
I will get to see my father and friends once more but, at what cost? The woman in front of me did not deserve this.
“You are on an Ochekia vessel,” I say. The least I can do is answer her question. Plus, it distracts me from the fact that I am a horrible person. “I am an Ochek or, as you might say on Earth, an alien.”
“What the actual fuck?” She spits the words at me, the same she used the first time around, and I want to wrap my arms around her, to reassure her that everything is okay. Except that it isn’t. I know that, she knows that as well. I can see it in the hateful look in her eyes that is directed unashamedly at me.
“I’m so sorry, I should never have taken you,” I continue.
I reach out towards her but my hands are palms up, open. Hopefully, she sees this as my truthful admission. She shrinks away from me and my hands drop to my sides.
“I want to go home.”
“I’m sorry, I cannot do that.”
I wished that I could say the words that would release her. However, for some inexplicable reason, I messaged my father and let him know that I had a human, that I was coming home. I did it before I could back down, before I could reason with myself. And, I have regretted the action ever since. Although, on some level, I know very well the reason why it happened. The dark part of me, the tiny piece that somehow reveled in taking a human hostage, the bit that I hid down well most of the time, surfaced with a vengeance and had taken control of my very reasoning before I could fight against it and bury it quickly.
That and the fact that my loneliness was so acute that my body ached with it.
All I could do now is plead with this woman. And that is exactly what I do.
“You are stuck with me,” I say. “However, I promise that I will not hurt you, that I will do everything within my power to protect you—even if that means my own death.”
Dropping my gaze from the lovely creature in front of me, a shuddering breath escapes me and I falter for a moment. The words I speak are the truth. However, to promise to die for this woman hits me harder than I can understand. Sure, I will do everything to protect her, I took her against her will, that is my duty. However, I also know that if I have to defend her to the death, well, my own demise would mean a living hell for her afterwards. And that is what scares me the most. I do not ever want to be in a position like that, to do so would mean that all hope was surrendered.
I chance a glance back in her direction and my brow furrows. She has taken a step toward me and the killer stare has softened around the edges. I delude myself into believing that this could actually work.
“I mean it, I truly mean it,” I whisper as the woman takes another tentative step towards me. “I have—what’s your Earthly expression? Fucked up?” The woman nods briefly so I continue. “I will do everything within my power to make it up to you.”
“Where are you taking me?”
I continue to stare at the woman, her wide green eyes searing into me and making one of my hearts falter. My hand reaches to my chest, as though in preparation to thump it, to get my rhythm back into kilter. Once again, I have the urge to stroke her smooth skin, to compare it to my own.
“I am taking you back to my own kind.” My voice is scratchy as I speak, as though I am ready to cry. I swallow against it. My people are not weak like that. I will not be weak.
“Why?”
It is a simple word, yet it is loaded. I take in a staggered breath as I try to sort out my thoughts and emotions.
“The Ochek are dying out, we need women to help boost our population.” I feel shame at the words and duck my head rather than see the understanding of her situation bloom on her face. “Human women are compatible with our kind and I took you before I really thought about it properly. I just wanted to see my father again, to return home and see my own kind. And, now I have ruined your life.”
I had not expected all of those words to tumble out of my mouth and my jaw clamps shut suddenly, as though ashamed of me, of the fact that I might reveal more of myself than the Ochek normally did.
However, revealing my inner turmoil is the best I can do and my gaze rises once again. I am ashamed but, also, I am too proud not to tell her everything, to lay my life on the line for this scared creature in front of me. It is the least that I can do.
“I am so sorry.”
I am surprised to see her dart past me, to head towards the front of the ship. I am equally shocked when she leans her face against the thick glass of the front window.
“So, it’s really true? Aliens are real and I am on a ship headed away from Earth?”
She turns toward me and smiles for the first time since I took her.
Lizzie
I pinch my lip between my thumb and forefinger as I gaze out over the vast expanse in front of me. Not, gonna lie here, the prospect of an exciting new adventure in my humdrum existence is the sort of thing I have only ever dreamed of.
Plus, as soon as the alien in the room mentioned a breeding program my insides lurched and I can’t believe that the notion of it turns me on. I clamp my thighs together and try not to be obvious about the fact that I am squirming in delight.
Get a grip, Lizzie! I tell myself as I continue to roll my lip between my fingers. Don’t let him know that you are into him.
They are words that I have heard plenty of times in the past, uttered by a foster mother. I can’t remember which one and maybe it was more than just the one. They all seemed big on denying sex.
I find myself squaring my shoulders and fighting the urge to turn and give the man another once over, one that takes in his enormous biceps. Even through his vest and pants I can tell that there is nothing but pure muscle under his clothes. I close my eyes and swallow.
Must. Not. Think. About. Hot. Alien.
Even as I am forcing myself to open my eyes and look at the stars once more, my mind’s eye is pulling up the image of his arms and what appeared to be a soft down on them. I wonder what he feels like.
I scold myself once more.
“So, this breeding program?” I ask. It is the first thing that comes to mind and totally the last thing that I want to talk about. However, the words are free now and I turn, figuring that it can’t get any worse now that I have spoken aloud. “What does it entail?”
Even as I say it, my eyes flicker to the man’s long appendage. It swishes slowly from side to side, much like a cat’s does when it is distracting a bird.
I am the bird, I realize.
Also, I don’t care.
I watch the tail intently, waiting to see if it will flicker quickly right before he pounces.
“We are expected to mate every day until you are pregnant.”
I gulp before speaking and the words are hoarse as they form the question. “Does anyone watch?” I may be turned on by this strange feline form. However, I am not a voyeur and not so into people checking me out while in the act.
“No.” The man shakes his head and his shaggy mane dances across his shoulders. He paces two steps towards a bench, where he sits down. “They check afterwards to see if the act has been completed.”
“On.” There are no other words. I try not to think about being probed by aliens.
“So, we just cruise around in space and have sex until I am pregnant?” I try to sound nonchalant, to not let the sheer thrill of the situation bleed out into my expression. “What happens afterward?”
“This is merely a single unit ship. We would return to the main Ochek breeding ship. You would have your own room there, with plenty of Earthly distractions like television and books. However, you would be kept separate from others of your kind.”
Okay, so the stark realities are starting to creep in.
Yet, all I can think about is reach
ing out and touching his fur, to see what he feels like. Will my fingers snag on the short hair when I rub it the wrong way? I remember watching dressage events at the Olympics and seeing patterns made on the horses’ rumps. Could I totally do that to his hair? I stifle back a smile and look up to the man’s face. “Hey, I don’t even know your name?”
“Nuvul.”
“Mine’s Lizzie. I think I need a drink. Do you have alcohol? Do you even know what alcohol is? Also, why can I understand you now?”
Yes, I realize that I sound crazy right about now. I think that all this new information is catching up on me. My head swims and I stagger slightly.
Nuvul reaches out and grabs my elbow, steadying me as he does so.
“We have alcohol,” he responds, standing and leading me towards the bench that he was sitting on. “I think that we both need a drink.”
“Damn straight we do,” I reply as I sink down into the offered seat. Even just the few moments by his side was enough for me to inhale his male aroma. My mouth actually waters in response. My nether regions, also.
Seriously, body? I know it’s been a while but you just can’t go fucking everything that offers to sign you up for a breeding program.
Considering my upbringing, did I even want to be a mother?
But then, Nuvul is passing me a drink that looks like something out of those popular sci-fi movies and I am not so sure I want to drink alcoholic milk—especially considering its blue hue.
“It’s called chax,” Nuvul says before sitting down next to me. “Sorry, this craft is small, we’re going to have to share this seat.”
“No problem,” I say and scoot over. Even still, we are crammed together, our thighs against each other. I can feel the heat of him radiating through my leggings and warming me up. My insides do another flip-flop as I concentrate on not putting my hand down on what appears to be a rock-hard thigh. “How’s the best way to drink this?”
“Swallow it down quick,” Nuvul replies and I close my eyes against my perceived double meaning. “Apparently, it is an acquired taste.”
I do as I am told and knock back the drink. It is swallowed and gone before I can acknowledge it. However, as soon as I think about it, the harsh taste—like a fermented milkshake— is already making me clutch at my sides.
“That is rotten!” I say with a slight laugh. “Does it get any better the more you drink?”
“Yes.”
“Well, hit me up with another, then.”
Nuvul hands me his own drink and I swallow that too. I wipe my lips with the back of my hand and watch as he pours himself another drink.
Already, I feel the warm fuzz of potential intoxication. When Nuvul offers to pour me another one, I put my hand over the top of the glass. I need to be level-headed at the moment. However, the light fuzz and the warmth developing in my nether regions has relaxed me and taken the edge off the entire situation. My mind is still scattered but I care less about it now.
“How strong is this?” I ask.
“I am not sure I know what you mean?” Nuvul says. “I can drink four or five of these and be just fine. However, I know that humans can be quickly affected by it.”
“Then, I’ll drink no more.” I do not hold my alcohol well. “Tell me how I can understand you now.”
“The only reason that I rendered you unconscious earlier was so that I could place a translation chip in your neck.” He reaches up and pushes aside my long hair. His fingers brush gently against my neck and I shiver in anticipation. “It’s back here and it might be tender for a day or two.”
As soon as he touches the spot, I wince. Now that I know where the area is, a slight bruising sensation occurs. I reach up to touch the area myself. A small flat square is under my skin. At one end there appears to be a line of scar tissue.
“Did you perform surgery on me?” My mind wanders to all those alien probe memes I have encountered on the internet and swallow hard.
My fingers are still against the small lump and Nuvul’s hand settles on them. They are warm, almost hot to the touch as he curls them around my own in what I assume is reassurance.
“One small incision and then I used a special implement that I don’t think you have on Earth that closes the cut up again afterwards. It was over in a matter of a minute, I assure you.”
I know I should be concerned at what is going on, at the surgery that he has performed. Maybe it is the chax affecting me. Or, maybe it is just the fact that I am too excited by this whole new concept and the sudden change to my world that I no longer care. After all, I have been stuck in my tiny apartment for months now and this level of excitement was entirely unprecedented—even for my active imagination.
“Is there anything else you’re not telling me?”
With his hands still over mine, I turn to look at him, to gauge his reaction to my words. His features are alien to me—of course they are, he is entirely foreign after all—however, I try to see the shadows that might be hiding behind his vertically-slit pupils. All I can see, though, is his slightly tan skin and the pocks of where his whiskers appear. I see all of his differences. Yet, I also see how similar we are. I want to believe him no matter what, I admit to no one but myself.
“I have told you everything that you need to know.”
There is a flicker of something behind his eyes. As he blinks, the movement is slow, almost calculated. However, the moment is gone before I can truly assess it and I am now unsure if it even occurred at all.
I continue to stare at him, to note our differences. Before I even realize it, I pull my hand free from underneath his and stroke his face. The fur is exactly how I imagined it. I once rubbed the nose of a pony and this is exactly how he feels under my fingertips.
Nuvul is barely breathing. He has blinked one more time, revealing a third eyelid that briefly films his eyes with white.
I continue to run a finger along his cheek and then down his jawline. I can feel his bones under the surface, as hard as the way I imagine that his biceps and abs feel. Not even pausing, I trail down his neck and he shivers slightly in response. Our gaze is still caught and I try not to blink in case I ruin the moment.
Using my whole hand, I pause at his shoulder, cupping it, feeling the power contained there. Then, I continue my travels and finally feel the steel of his arms. I squeeze briefly and he tenses slightly under my touch. He goes from rock hard to titanium and I close my eyes as a ragged breath escapes. Once more, my nether regions clench in the most delicious way.
The warmth of his lips graces my forehead while my eyes are closed. I wonder if there was more to the chax drink than just alcohol. Assessing myself, I find that I am only warmed by the drink and not truly intoxicated.
However, this is my ultimate fantasy. That drink could be entirely spiked and I still wouldn’t care. Instead, I lean into his tentative kiss and his soft lips firm against my skin.
“You feel exactly as I expected,” he whispers and his warm breath dances across my skin. It is my turn to shiver in delight.
“So do you,” I reply.
Turning my head upwards, I finally open my eyes and am greeted with Nuvul’s once more. His slitted pupils have dilated and the green of his cat-like eyes have nearly disappeared as a result. He looks more like the classic alien caricature that I am familiar with and, somehow, that turns me on even more.
His breath is heavy as he leans in towards me. My own quickens its pace as I anticipate the moment when our lips will join, when my far-fetched dreams finally become a reality. Out of everything that I anticipated this morning, alien abduction was not one of them but it was certainly the one thing that I had dreamed about more often than not.
Our lips finally clash and my thoughts are stilled as the warmth envelops me. While his body is hard, his lips are soft. They caress me and I sigh against the embrace.
As we kiss, Nuvul’s hands start to roam. The slight scratch along my arms makes me pull away briefly and look down towards his fingertips. He has paused
in his touch and I note that his claws extend out from the tops of his human-looking fingers. Reaching out, I run my forefinger over the sharp extrusions.
“I will not use them on you if you do not like them,” he whispers.
I shake my head and bring his hand up to my lips. Pressing my lips to the claws I then return my gaze. “I was just surprised is all. Anything else I should know about?” I can’t help myself and dart my gaze towards his crotch.
Nuvul shakes his head and I lean in for another kiss. His tongue darts across my lips and I can feel the slightly rougher texture of it to my own and I groan into his embrace. The added tickle of his whiskers against my cheek heightens my desire for him.
His hands return to my arms, the claws now retracted almost fully. It gives me a slight scratching sensation that is buffered by his fingertips.
Running his fingers up my arms, he then explores my back. Broad strokes of his touch make me arch in anticipation. Heading downwards, I relish the sensation as his slightly-clawed hands finally squeezes my butt.
Leaning further into our embrace, I part my lips and allow his tongue further entry. Our kiss intensifies as our tongues lash against each other. I can taste the light alcoholic kick as well as the unique tang of him. He reminds me of the usual taste of humans but with a muskier flavor and my head spins in delight.
I allow my curiosity to roam now. My hands scratch along his back and I am not as careful as he is. He groans into my mouth and it sounds like the rumbling of a lion.
“Fuck, that’s hot,” I murmur.
I scrape his back harder and he squeezes my ass again, allowing more of his claws to break through. I pant out my desire.
Needing to be closer, I reach around his shoulders, bracing myself before turning in my seat and wrapping my leg around his hard core. His hands are still on my ass but my action of spreading my legs seems to have put his fingertips closer to where I really want him to touch.
His claws retract as though he has read my thoughts. Breaking from our kiss, his wet tongue runs down my neck, across my shoulder, then lower, into the top of my cleavage. I throw my head backwards and one of his hands is there, ready to support me.
Stolen and Seduced Page 29
