I gestured to my room.
“Is yours the same?”
She looks around.
“Pretty much. Yours is a little bigger, but they’re both vanilla.”
“Might be a spaceship thing,” I agree. “Sooooo, I actually managed to get these because I’m supposed to be the emperor’s mistress.”
My friend’s mouth drops open at that.
“I’ll try to hook us up with some furnishings. As we’re about to leave Earth, it looks like I better act fast. Unless you think they have fly-by furniture stores in space?”
My friend snorts.
“Can you imagine a bunch of yons just strolling through the aisles of a store plopping things in the cart?”
We laugh, because the imagery is so ridiculous.
“Anyway, I wanted to stop by and say thanks.” Laticia says when our mirth dies down.
She gestures to the door at our right.
“You know where I am if you want to talk. For now, I think that I’m going to take a nap with no other people around.”
She makes prayer hands.
“No more snoring. Heavens be praised. Girl, as far as I’m concerned, you’re Mother Teresa!”
We laugh again, and once she’s in her quarters, I shut my door. I’m glad that I asked for the extra room, and even more pleased that Laticia will be accessible. We might not know each other well, but I’m sure that we’ll become excellent friends. Particularly if we are both stuck on this ship for God-knows-how-long.
The minutes tick by and to my great surprise items are delivered. Bedding, towels, extra clothes, lingerie, which I’m shocked by, but probably shouldn’t be, and best of all books. All the titles are in English. Some stories I’ve read. Others, I have not. When the soldier hands them to me, I can’t help but ask why I’m receiving such luxuries.
“There’s not much to do during space travel,” he informs me. “Emperor Quazar realizes he can’t be with you all the time. He doesn’t want his mistress to suffer boredom.”
I gesture next door.
“That’s why Laticia is here.”
“She will be preoccupied at times too. Once we choose mates—”
“Does she get any say in this?” I cut him off. “Do any of the women? Or do you guys go around choosing women you think are attractive and making them your own?”
He looks uncomfortable by the question, which gives me my answer.
“I think I’m going to have a word with the emperor about how y’all choose mates.”
The guard’s face falls, but I don’t care. I have a mission. Well two actually, the first one is to win my freedom. The second is to make life as fair as I can for the other women. As I have a lot to accomplish, it’s time to get to work. With that in mind, I start getting myself ready for my meeting with Emperor Quazar.
5.
Despite having a super limited wardrobe, I take forever to decide what to wear when I meet Emperor Quazar again. It’s not really a date, as I’m required to go. Then again, I do want him to find me attractive.
My looks are a bargaining chip that, in this situation, I’m not afraid to use. And, if I’m being honest with myself, I’m super fucking attracted to him.
I might as well make the most of my circumstances. Perhaps even get some pleasure from them.
I keep on the low-slung jeans I was wearing when they abducted me. They’re going on day three of wear, so the fabric is officially loose and frumpy. Still, they’re much sexier than the other pants the soldiers gave me. As for the shirt, I have to change mine because it stinks to high heaven. I pluck a tank top, plain and olive green, from the pile.
Although I’m grateful to have wardrobe options, I prefer not to think too hard about where the yons got the clothing from.
Space Target, I tell myself. Just think of them as wandering through space Target. They only went in for one thing and came out with a goddamn closet full of women’s clothes!
Hey, it happens all the time.
Freshened up and ready to charm the pants off the emperor, perhaps literally, I’m not sure yet, I ask the guards to escort me to his chambers for our date. However, they take me outside to where Quazar is waiting.
Tears form in my eyes as bright sunlight splashes across my face. I smell the sweet green grass, hear the wind fluttering through the trees. Since I’d been taken, I wasn’t sure that I would experience such things again.
And this might be the last time, if you don’t pull yourself together, Liz.
I inhale, puff out my chest, put on a bright smile that would make my southern belle friends proud, and approach the emperor. His back is to me, but he must sense my arrival because he turns when I’m a few feet away. His nostrils flare.
Omg. My pace slows. He’s smelling me.
“I tried to shower all the scents from the last few days off,” I say self-consciously.
“Why? I thought you smelled good. Although I’ll admit that now you smell better.”
I cock my head.
“Before I hadn’t showered for days!”
His lips quirk up.
“You’ll discover that our sense of smell differs from yours. I’m reacting to your feminine odor. Which I find very pleasing.”
A shiver shoots down my spine. Something quintessentially female inside me wants to jump on him right then and there, but I tell that hussy to take a seat. It’s going to happen sooner or later, but good grief, I need to show some restraint.
“Alrighty then,” I say, trying to play it cool. “What are we doing?”
Emperor Quazar gestures to the woods surrounding the ship.
“I’d like to take a walk in there.”
Hiking? I glanced at my shoes. At least they’re sensible. When I was abducted, I was in tennis shoes and that’s what I’m wearing now. I’m cursed with man feet and none of the others that were delivered fit. Stores never seem to have my size either. It’s a sore spot with me.
“Does that displease you?”
I shake my head. If he wants to go hiking and it will help me earn bonus points, I’ll damn well go tromping through the woods.
“Let’s go.”
We fall into step, side-by-side, entering the cover of the forest. As soon as the greenery shrouds us, the emperor breathes in a deep breath and smiles.
“You like the trees?” I ask, curious.
He nods.
“Where I’m from is not green. In fact, everything about this part of the world differs from Ittux. You’ll soon see.”
“What’s it like?”
“Red, desert like, dry, and warm.”
My lips curl up. I was born and raised in Boston, but I’ve always liked the heat. A better climate was part of the reason I’d moved to Georgia. Although Ittux sounds even nicer, to me dry means no humidity. After two summers in the south I’m already of the mind that humidity could go suck it.
“I see you like that,” he says.
His nostrils flare again. I wonder what he’s smelling now.
“What else do you like?”
Where do I begin? Does he mean sexually? It’s a forward question, but I am his mistress. Maybe yons weren’t such prudes about that sort of thing. Or maybe he means where I like to live? Or food? There are so many aspects of life and I don’t know what yons value, so I just start listing things off as they come to me.
“I do like the desert and heat. I also like spicy food and ice cream.”
Just the thought of mint chip has me salivating.
“Oh my God, actually, I love ice cream.”
He lets out a chuckle at my reaction. The sound raises goosebumps on my arms.
“I enjoy music and love dancing. Oh, and I—”
My mouth snaps shut as his hand takes mine.
It’s a bold move. Or it would be if he were any normal man. But this is the emperor of the yon race. He owns me.
I sneak a glance at him and my nerves light on fire because he’s watching me closely. Oh, so closely. When our eyes meet his
blue lips curl into a sexy smirk. I bit my lower lip, not sure what to do or think.
It’s kind of crazy, but I think I like him, more than just as a hot dude. We’re vibing more than I’ve connected with a human guy in years. But how is this happening? Any why? It’s so confusing.
“What else?” the emperor presses. “I need to know what you enjoy, because we will be spending a lot of time together.”
That makes me tilt my head.
“What about the rest of your harem? Won’t you make time for them?”
“You’re the only female in it so far. I’ve been trying to find women whose company I enjoy for a while. You’re the only one who caught my eye.”
He shrugs.
“Right now, I have time. With that time, I will get to know you.”
“And what about me knowing you?” I ask a little sassily. “Do I get to ask you anything? Or is this a one-sided thing?”
“What do you want to know?”
I think for a moment. Best to start easy and get into the more difficult stuff later.
“What’s your favorite season?”
“Winter. Ittux is so hot. Particularly in Cantana, the capital city where I live.”
I ask him a few more questions and he lobs some back. It’s almost like a game, how we consider the question and take in the information each other gives. But when he asks me one specific question, I understand that he’s raising the stakes.
“Do you have children?” The emperor asks. “Or umis, as we call them.”
I stop walking and only then realize that my legs are tired. I’m not one to frequent the gym. Who am I kidding? I effing hate that place. We must have walked two miles already, it went by so fast that I barely noticed.
“No,” I say carefully. “I’ve never been one to want them. Is that a requirement of my . . . position?”
He looks shocked, which is nothing new. People always give me that look when I tell them I don’t want kids. It’s a little frustrating and tiring to explain my personal choice every time, but I do because I see where they’re coming from. I’m of “mothering” age, and the global birth rate is dropping every year. Despite the world turning into a shitstorm of economic collapse, war, and now, random alien abductions, they can’t understand why I’d give up such a gift. Truly, I get their perspective. But that doesn’t mean I have to comply with their wishes.
It’s not that I don’t like kids. I love them. They’re just not for me. Above all, I want freedom, which is ironic given my current situation, and the ability to travel, if I wish. As I make enough to support myself and indulge in two frugal trips a year, kids wouldn’t be on the table right now even if I wanted them.
The emperor still hasn’t said anything, which makes my stomach plummet deeper. I’ve enjoyed our conversation. In fact, except for when he first brought up the harem, I’ve enjoyed most of our interactions. But if he expects me to have his babies, what does that mean?
Will he force me? He could, but something tells me he wouldn’t like that either . . .
“I have four young sons already,” his voice cracks a little when he speaks. “From my deceased mate. Although I would love more umis, my sons are enough for me. So no, I will not require you to have children, should you not want to.”
The tension in my chest loosens.
“Thank you.”
He gives me a slight smile.
“The more we learn about each other, the surer I am that we are compatible. Many soldiers on this sojourn don’t have umis. They would want them.”
“I’m glad I got stuck with you then,” I say.
My eyes widen, because my words came out flirtier than I intended.
His eyes gleam at my tone and the emperor inches closer. Heat emanating off his body reaches me, warming my bare skin. I gulp as my mouth dries up and my hormones kick into overdrive.
What the hell is wrong with me? I’m not sure why I feel this way about him, the guy who is ultimately responsible for abducting me. I’ve never been the girl to jump straight into bed with someone, but that’s how I’m acting now. It’s like an invisible force is connecting us. As if the core of me is resonating to the core of him, pulling us together like magnets.
Quazar clears his throat. My eyes, which have dropped to look at his chest, snap up to meet his. Violet gems sear into me, squeezing my heart.
“I wish to kiss you.”
He speaks as if he’s unaccustomed to asking. Considering he’s the emperor of an entire planet, he probably is.
“May I?”
I draw in a long, slow breath. My sex is coiled and my nipples hard through my bra. I can say no. The ball is in my court. He asked. The option of denying him is on the table. There’s no mistaking it. Even though I’m reassured by that, I find that no part of me wants to deny him.
So, I don’t. I lift onto my tiptoes and tilt my face up to his. Because Emperor Quazar is at least a foot and a half taller than me, he has to bend down quite a bit, but when our lips meet, it’s worth it.
Oh my, holy fucking hell is it worth it.
My lips burn, and a deep moan tumbles from me. Usually, I’d be embarrassed by such a flagrant display of how he’s affecting me, but right now I’m not. Who gives a rat’s ass about playing it cool when his lips taste like the most magical honey. The magnet pulling me to him is too strong. And I think he’s feeling it too.
Or at least, a part of him is feeling it. His cock presses into me, hard as a rock. Huge, close to a foot long.
Oh my God. That thing will be probing me one day.
The idea makes me quiver with anticipation. Unable to help myself, I reach up and entwine my hands through the emperor’s long hair.
He growls, and our kiss deepens. With no warning at all, his wings expand and wrap under my ass to lift me up. I’m sitting within a cup of his wings, kind of like I would on the kitchen counter, but his hands are continuing to roam my back and plunge into my tresses. I hadn’t considered how handy those wings would be. Damn if I don’t wish that normal men had them.
The sensations are threatening to overwhelm me, and my heart rate is picking up dangerously. Down below, my sex throbs, the need for release coiled, begging to be unwound.
“I can scent you,” he growls in the seconds that our lips part for breath.
“Scent me?” I ask breathlessly.
“Your arousal.”
His eyes, even more crystalline violet than before, travel from my face to my breasts and down. He licks his lips, his nostrils flare.
“You can smell my vagina?”
For a moment, I pressed my lips together, mortified.
“I’m so sorry. I—”
“It’s the most irresistible scent.”
His tone indicates that he means it. Like my scent makes him ache with hunger.
“I wish to taste it.”
My mouth falls open.
“What?!”
He licks his lips again.
“I wish to taste you. Now.”
My heart is hammering so hard it might crack my ribs. I glance around. “Here?”
Lord have mercy.
The emperor lets out a gravelly chuckle.
“Are you concerned that someone might see?”
He gestures to the empty woods.
We haven’t come across a single soul since we started the hike. Humans stay clear of where the yons land their ships.
“I—”
My mouth snaps shut. On pure reflex, I was about to deny him, but I don’t want to. I want him to taste me. I want to explode in his mouth. Seeing as I’m his mistress, not some girl on a first date, why should I be shy? I push down the ridiculous bashfulness cropping up and meet the emperor in his eyes.
“Then taste me.”
He doesn’t hesitate.
His wings unfurl, but his enormous hands catch me, squeezing my ass so that I yelp with delight before he sets me on the ground. With a flourish he takes his jacket off and lays it down before picking me back up and pl
acing me, as if I were delicate China, on top of the fabric.
“You didn’t have to soil your jacket.”
The thing is nice-looking. I’d never have laid something so fancy on the ground.
“I’m not afraid to get a little dirty.”
“That’s good to know. I plan on getting you dirty many, many times.”
I bite my lower lip, and a faint growl rolls out of him as his eyes caress me.
“You are so delicate. So beautiful.”
I laugh.
“For most human women, I’m not that small. Average, a little on the fluffy side.”
“Whatever you are, I like it.”
He’s tugging at my jeans. For the first time since I left my room, I’m no longer self-conscious about the unkempt bagginess of them. If anything, I’m pleased. If they were tight, they would be harder to get off. I squirm, assisting him in disrobing me.
The pants disappear a few heartbeats later, and my underwear, thankfully a sexy red thong and not my more practical undies, follow.
The emperor, who had been on his knees, sits back on his heels to examine me. His hands on my calves, stroking. The sensation is different. He runs warmer than human men, or maybe I’m wanting him so badly it just feels that way. His skin also seems smoother, almost velvety soft.
“Is this the first time you’ve seen a human woman naked?” I ask.
If it is, I’ll die of shock.
He shakes his head.
“There have been a handful of others, but none have affected me like you are. You look perfect, your scent is enchanting. As if meant to lure me in.”
He drags his eyes from my mound and inhales deeply.
It will take some getting used to, that he has a sense of smell like a bloodhound. Suddenly, my throat tightens.
“Have you known all along that I find you attractive?”
His full lips quirked up slightly at the corners.
“Of course. Most human females do. Whether they will admit it is a different matter.”
He doesn’t say it smugly, rather like it’s a fact. Which I guess if he can smell arousal, he would know. His confidence is sexy and I find myself more attracted to him.
“But your hormones are stronger than most. They were certainly a determining factor in my desire to get to know you. Which I plan on doing right now.”
Stolen and Seduced Page 35
