Stolen and Seduced

by Christine Pope

  I’m having a hallucination. There really is no other explanation for this nightmare. It grunts at me and then smiles, its mouth wide and thin. I’m standing in a room that’s seems to be made entirely of steel. The lights are so bright in the room that my eyes hurt from blinking repeatedly. There is one massive window taking up the whole side of one wall, but everything outside is dark with stars and so many moons. What is this place? We’re seem to be moving, seamlessly and silently through the darkness. That can’t be right?

  “Are we moving?” I ask them. No reply.

  Oh, did I mention my new friends? There are four of them, like octopuses but different. Octopuses? Octopi? Whatever! There are four of them, pink, made of a jelly-like substance and almost transparent. Each of them has eight tentacles of varying lengths, huge black eyes and stand about four feet high. I know this because I’ve been openly gaping at them for about an hour. They are identical, holding electronic tablets and scanning me while smiling nervously at each other. Wait! How do I know they’re nervous? I have not one fucking single clue. I appear to be either drunk, on drugs, dead or in spaceship. Shaking my head, I rub my hands up and down my face.

  “It rubs its frontal expression panel,” one squeals in delight. Their voices are high pitched and make me nauseous. I touch one finger to my ear and feel a button-like device wedged in deep. One for them bounces up and down and claps two tentacles together.

  “Its brain is working. See! Look at the screen, its brain is small like a Kiland’on,” it says, squealing again. They all giggle in unison before peering at their screens. “Like a Kiland’on,” it repeats. More squealing.

  “What’s in my ear?” I ask, rubbing my eyebrow.

  They look at each other oohing and ahhing when I speak.

  “What is a Kiland’on? Why don’t you have legs? Oh yeah, you’re Octopus? Am I dead? If this is the afterlife? If it is, we’ve got this so wrong! My friend Jeremy had a three-hour argument with a woman about black Jesus. He is going to lose his shit when I tell him.”

  One octopus moves closer, his big cute black eyes blinking at me. He hits a tentacle against my ear. “It is a universal translating device, silly human female. That’s how you know how to decipher our complex language. You have a small brain. Please listen carefully. You…”

  “Kiland’on,” one of them whispers. More squeals.

  I’m very obviously on drugs then. Who slipped me something? And where? There’s no way anyone in our local pub O’Neil’s slipped me anything. Wait, what kind of drugs would me feel…It’s all so foggy. The cliffs, a green light in the water and then flying. My arm stings, and I flinch when I look down and see a dark pink tentacle pressing a device against my arm.

  “Ouch. Jesus! What did you do that for? Is that a probe? Are you fucking probing me?” My excessive use of bad language is heightened by stress. I would say I’m at motherfucking 100, in terms of stress levels right now. If I’m dead would I feel pain? The octopus shakes its head.

  “I am merely checking your fertility. I will now make an introduction to you. You are a living female. I am Marvoin of the clan K’VaRconn,” it squeaks.

  I squint and stare at its mouth hole as it moves. “Human female. Human female! Look and listen!” It taps a tentacle against my head, and I jump in response. “Do not be alarmed, human female. You have been gloriously chosen by the members of the K’VaRconn clan to offer up your…”

  It glances at the its electronic device.

  “Womb and vagina for the express purposes…”

  “Now, wait just a damn minute!” I exclaim, while trying to move forward on the floor. It’s impossible, my feet remain glued and immovable. Stuck in some way. As though I’m paralysed from the waist down. I pull myself up to my full height of five feet ten and a half inches before pulling down my raising t-shirt. The creature blinks and watches the movement with interest. I wish I’d worn a shirt that fits today. Instead of one I bought in the charity shop that’s a full two sizes too small, and makes my boobs look outrageous. Hey, I am not going to bypass a Dolly Parton shirt, any day, in any size.

  The four octopus people gasp in unison, look to the door behind them and furiously click buttons on their strange devices. Trumpet music pipes into the room we’re in, and I raise an eyebrow. What the actual fu...

  “Oh, Jupiter and its many moons!” They shuffle into a semi-circle around me. The one who calls itself Marvoin stares at me blinking its huge eyes.

  “Be prepared human female with the title Orla Quinn, our alpha king and your future mate approaches,” he squeaks.

  “Our what? My what?”

  The steel doors glide open, and a sudden puff of royal blue smoke plumes around the room, making me cough and cover my mouth. I close my eyes tight and reopen them slowly one by one.

  Holy. Shit.

  A bigger pink octopus saunters into the room, his eyes meeting mine. No, not sauntering, something else. I have no idea how to describe an octopus and its movements correctly. Glides maybe. It locks eyes with mine and I blink twice. Its eyes are huge and an intense yellow. I look away when holding his gaze make me feel a wave of nausea even stronger than the others.

  The alpha king looks at Marvoin and shakes his head as he speaks.

  “Where did you find it, Marvoin? Ugh! Ugh! It is hideous! It is beige, and smells and it is hideous. Hideous! Shield my eyes! I cannot bear to look upon its ugliness. It carries its waste receptacle within its body,” he roars. One of the octopus moves behind him and covers his eyes with his tentacles.

  My mouth drops open.

  “Listen up, Octo-man, I didn’t...waste receptacle? Are you talking about my intestines?”

  The king slaps the tentacles away before shaking his head, groaning and slapping his own tentacle across his eyes.

  “And it speaks?! You got a speaking one! Oh, for the love of all the rings of Saturn!”

  Marvoin rushes forward, his mouth opening and closing while he looks to his king and back to me again. He looks distressed. Well as much as I can tell from this race of octopus people. Jesus! He holds up two tentacles and waves them back and forth. A giggle bubbles in my throat.

  “Silence, human female person!”

  Turning to the alpha king his big eyes full of tears, he opens his mouth and lets out a howl. Big fat tears stream down his face.

  Are you fucking kidding me with this shit?

  In between sobs he bows before the king. “Sire, you are most displeased? Shall I exterminate it? I can eviscerate it in a second, my king. Maybe we can find another planet with more pleasing inhabitants. But it is fertile, and easily manipulated.”

  “I beg your pardon. I am not easily manipulated!” I bellow, crossing my arms across my chest.

  “It is angry. This amuses me,” the king says, before squealing, his eyes flicking over me, from head to toe. He shakes his head, his body wobbling like waves.

  “If only it wasn’t so terribly ugly. You are hideously ugly, human female. Hideously. Hideously.”

  “I find you hideous, you idiot!” I snarl.

  Orla, please shut the fuck up.

  “Whom does it love? The human female? Show me?” The king holds up strands of my hair in its tentacles and seems curious as to what it is. He sniffs loudly before sticking out a big black tongue and touching it against my hair. “Ugh, stinks!”

  Frantic tapping of the screen until Marvoin holds the device in front of the king.

  “Ask the human female what it is,” the king says.

  “What is this? You find this big human species desirable, silly little human female? This is your desired mate?” Marvoin asks.

  “I wish! I mean, no! I mean I like Jason Momoa, who doesn’t? Right? Look this is ridiculous, that’s just my screen saver on my phone. I have a life back on Earth. Please send me back. And please stop calling me silly and little. It’s insulting.”

  The king looks to Marvoin who frowns at me before shaking his head. “I have researched the human female, as you reque
sted my king. The human female has no clan, no life, she is an unimportant human. She has one companion animal-a feline-who regularly tells others of its species that it hates the human female.”

  The stray cat hates me. Okay, this doesn’t surprise me. But I swear she is kidding. She pretends not to like me but in private...oh what does it matter?

  “Wait one minute. Did you say queen?” I squeak.

  The king stares up at me for a moment before speaking. “I am bored now. You may exterminate the human female, Marvoin. I will watch.”

  “As you wish, my king. Human female. Listen to me now. Our King Alpha Xi’an has ordered your extermination. You will now cease to exist. Thank you for coming. Prepare yourself. All hail the king. Would you like to speak of our king’s greatness before you perish?”

  I take in a breath, my heart pounding out of my chest. Of all the ways I’ve envisaged dying, death by jelly-pus was nowhere in the equation. I close my eyes and think of my father.

  Dull heat and noise assault my senses a millisecond second before the door of the room explodes, sending me reverberating backwards. Whatever force was holding my feet in place has dissipated, and I fall back winded. Smacking against the wall of the ship, I cry out when my shoulder takes the brunt of the impact.

  “I…what’s…?” The pain in my shoulder is so intense that I fall in and out of consciousness. Do I dream him? The huge green man with the tail. His voice deep and low, reassuring me. Strong arms lifting me, cradling me against a solid chest. I push a hand against him, he feels human, but harder. So much harder.

  Axion

  “Lord Axion. The King of the K’VaRconn ceases to exist. It is best that we leave this quadrant immediately, before his council comes to learn of his demise,” Orban 5 says, waiting for a command.

  “Call my brother. Have him meet me in sector 10. Drift mode until you are commanded otherwise.”

  “As you wish, my lord.”

  I walk the ship’s interior pacing back and forth. My mate sleeps in my chamber, well protected and unaware of the potential shitstorm her freedom may have cost our species. It all happened so fast. That base need to save her overriding the strict protocol of the treaty. If the K’VaRconn broke the treaty by taking a human mate, I broke it with the killing of their king and council members.

  I enter Sector 10 and wait. I’m not looking forward to the backlash from my fellow lords. As for my brothers, they are likely to run me through or decapitate me for going in alone. Going rogue is not only frowned upon, it also goes against our laws. On cue, Maxion enters the room and walks towards me until we are mere inches apart. His face a mixture of rage and excitement.

  “Is it true?”

  I nod. “I have killed the K’VaRconn king.”

  Maxion’s eyes are on stalks, his tail flicks back and forth. “He will not be mourned, even by his own kind. But they will try to avenge him just for sport and to save face. The whole galaxy will be talking about this by nightfall. We’ll be on the run for an eternity. Are you prepared for this; you fool? For a human woman, why did you do it?” He turns from me, walking over to the window looking out onto the universe, his hands clasped tightly behind his back.

  “She’s our queen, she’s my mate,” I reply simply. Maxion turns sharply, his mouth falling open.

  “How do you know? Are you sure?” he asks, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

  “Yes, I’m sure. The signal was sent,” I say, raising my chin.

  Maxion runs a hand through his hair. “Good fuck,” he says. “So, the prophesies are true. I’ll alert the others. How did you hide it from us? Why did you hide it from us?!”

  “I made the signal only audible to in the Milky Way Galaxy. Since it’s my outpost, I never expected to get anyone else involved, until I was sure,” I reply.

  “So, you wanted to be the hero, return to Naaman with the queen! How the fuck did the K’VaRconn get involved?” He roars. I’ve never seen Maxion lose his cool before. Even in combat he is calm, the perfect strategical warrior. His purple skin flashes from light purple to pink, and then back to purple again. I would comment on the magnificence of it, but he’s the fiercest warrior of all the lords. I’ve no doubt in this mood he would slice me in two before I got the words out. Brother or no brother.

  “I wasn’t the only one operating in the fringes of the galaxy, apparently,” I say, dryly.

  Maxion throws back his big head and growls. ”Fool, you fool, Axion. Did you forget what our father taught us? Together an army, apart a target. They could have destroyed you. We will have to move the queen home to Naaman immediately.”

  Slapping his hand against the side of the counter he activates the communication device. “Orban 1, shields up 100%. No more drifting, set course for our home planet immediately.”

  “Yes, my lord,” Orban 1 replies.

  “Well?” Maxion asks.

  “Well?” I repeat.

  “Take me to see this human mate of yours. Take me to see our queen. If we are all to perish in the war that’s coming, at least let me gaze upon her before it comes,” he says gruffly.

  “She is sleeping,” I snap, a rush of protectiveness washes over me, I would kill this alien where he stands rather than harm come to my mate. He is my brother, and I would end his existence for Orlaquinn. The realisation is terrifying.

  “I will not wake her from slumber, brother,” he says, resting a hand on my shoulder. “I merely want to see for my own eyes, before I contact the rest of the lords.”

  I nod and walk briskly out of the room, listening for Maxion’s heavy footfall behind me.

  Orla

  I’m awake, but keep my eyes closed. I’m afraid to open them and see more octopus people. Openly one eye slowly, I figure out I’m in a very large bed. I stretch my legs out flexing my feet and try to get my bearings. Rolling my shoulders, I expect them to hurt more from the impact. You’re not in Kanas anymore, Orla. Or on the jelly king’s ship for that matter. Opening my eyes fully, I sit up and try to make sense of the last day or two. Is it night-time? The light in this room is low, a mere glow. This strange place is a lot more homely, more human-like. Cream silk sheets on the bed, clean white floors and walls. Shit? I look down panicking momentarily and breathe a sigh of relief when I see a white silk nightgown covering me down to my thighs. Who dressed me? Or better yet undressed me!

  The door to the room slides open, and I watch with my mouth gapping as the green giant from my dreams walks into the room. He’s shirtless, shoeless and built like a brick shithouse. My eyes are drawn to the prominent V muscles below his stomach which are barely covered by the cream coloured linen pants he wears. There are other men in the room too, in the corners hidden in the shadows. The fire simulation on the wall illuminates the room with a low light, and I see their outlines. All the same height and build, like carbon cut outs of each other. I wonder about their faces. Are they identical? I feel no danger from them. I’m in a room with five strange men, no, aliens and I feel safe? Do I have a concussion? A tall purple alien walks into the room and looks at me with a scowl, his eyes are an intense blue against his purple skin. Holy hotness. They are pure muscle and brawn.

  The purple one moves forward. “So, you are real. I’m glad of that. I hope you are worth what is coming, queen.”

  “Silence, Maxion!”

  I jump at the voice I recognise from the other ship. The tall wide shadow of my green rescuer blocks my line of sight, as the purple one storms away from me. He stops at the door and stands with his back to us for a moment, before turning to look at my green protector again.

  “Your mate is safe here, my brother,” he mutters, his tone softer.

  I notice the quick nod of the green alien’s head acknowledging the other alien’s words. Approaching the bed, he stops a couple of feet from me, his eyes never leaving mine. My breath catches in my throat. His gaze is intense, his breathing deep.

  I jump out of the bed and back slowly against the wall.

  “Mate,” he gro
wls. His eyes are the deepest brown, they capture mine. I try to look away from his face, but I can’t, I won’t. He follows me, slowly walking towards me until my back hits the wall behind me.

  “Do not come any closer!” I yell.

  “Do not fear me. Your ordeal is over now,” he murmurs.

  “You saved me. I remember. The…octopus.”

  “They have had their final ending.”

  “They’re dead?”

  “Yes. In your human expressions, they are now dead. Does this sadden you?” he says in a clipped tone, walking closer. He looks enraged at the thought that I would feel a kinship with my former captors. I watch a vein pulse in his throat, the corded muscle on his shoulders having a ridiculous effect on me. I’ve fallen off a cliff, been abducted, saved, on another planet and now wet in the presence of this hot green alien. I. Am. Not. Okay.

  “No. I am glad. They would have killed me,” I reply.

  Snaking out my tongue, I moisten my top lip nervously. He follows the movement with his dark brown eyes. His lips parting slightly, his breathe clean and fresh against my cheek. One hand reaches out and strokes the side of my face. I moan softly when the pad of his thumb grazes the seam of my lips, causes my breath to hitch in my throat. Swallowing deeply, I close my eyes and part my lips as he pushes his thumb into my mouth. It’s ridiculous and intrusive, and so freaking hot. Moaning deeply, I try not to think of the other men in the room watching all this take place. My tongue touches the tip of his thumb, I’m on the verge of coming. In the middle of a fucking spaceship, abducted for the second time, with the green man and his four friends watching me orgasm with his thumb in my mouth. Am I insane? Waves of tension build inside me. Opening my eyes, they meet his. We’re held there in an intense bond, his breath coming in sharper bursts. He moves into me, the hardness of him pressing into my belly. On hand resting flat on the wall beside my head. My hands find his hard stomach, and I lay them palm flat against the muscle there. Suddenly, he retracts his thumb and I feel like crying at the loss of it.