Miss Claus and the Secret Santa: A Shifter Christmas Romance, Book 1

by J. L. Hendricks

  We must have been facing out towards space because I couldn’t see Earth or even the moon. The view was filled with stars as far as I could see. One small speck looked like it could be a planet, as it was bigger than all of the other stars around us, but I couldn’t be sure. The room was pretty cold, so they were doing a great job of simulating outer space with environment as well as with the view.

  I looked back at the man who had taken me; and he was smiling at me. What was that about?

  “Do you believe me now? That planet you can see is actually what you humans call Jupiter.” He looked out the window, and I took the opportunity to get a better look at him. His skin color wasn’t different from mine, but he did have some weird colored veins going up his arm. I could believe the veins were sticking out, just like any huge muscular guy’s arms. But the color had me perplexed. The veins pulsed and changed colors. One moment it was pulsing in a blueish tint, then the next it was pink, then orange. What kinda show was this?

  “Um, I think you have done a great job with the special effects outside this room. But I don’t believe that we are in space.” I walked over towards what appeared to be the door and pushed on it, nothing happened. “How do I open this door?”

  Venay walked up behind me and ran his hand over something on the side of the door, and it swished open, just like in the movies. The door moved sideways into the wall, and what I saw on the other side of the door freaked me out. There were more people, but they were in cages! Surrounding them were guards of some sort that looked similar to my captor, but they all were wearing some type of military uniform. The uniforms were tight fitting, button up shirts with a rank of some sort on the collars, not too different from an Army uniform. The pants were black cargo style, and they had a weapons belt with a dagger on one side and what appeared to be a toy phaser gun on the other.

  I started to walk out into that room, but he put his arm around my waist and brought me back inside as the door slid shut.

  “What are you doing? I want to go home! NOW!” I turned into him since he hadn’t let go of my waist yet and tilted my head up to look into his face.

  He looked down at me and with a smug look and said, “It isn’t safe for you to go out there, unless you want to end up in a cage with the other humans?” Then he arched one eyebrow.

  “Look, I don’t know what is going on here, but I did not sign up for this, and I want to go home. Would you please stop playing these games and let me out of here?” I put my hands on his chest and tried to push myself away from him, but he held on tight.

  “Human, tell me your name. Unless you want me to keep calling you Human?” He used his free hand to move my hair so that it fell along my back. Then he ran his hand through it. I had goosebumps again, but this time it wasn’t because I was cold. In fact, it was just the opposite. There seemed to be some sort of supernatural attraction. I didn’t want to be attracted to him, but I was. His pulsing veins were calling my name and asking me to kiss them, maybe even nibble on those along his neck. Sweat was starting to form on my brow as this man held me.

  As soon as I came back to my senses, I moved my shoulders in an effort to get his hand out of my hair.

  “Paris, my name is Paris. Can you please let me go now?” I couldn’t look into his eyes any longer; he was doing something to me with those hypnotic eyes of his. Instead, I focused on those cannons for biceps and watched as his veins pulsed out different colors, but the purple color seemed more dominant than the rest.

  “You are named after a city in France? Why?” He looked down at me with that perplexed look of his again, and then let me go. I walked back towards the wall and took a deep breath.

  “Wait, how do you know about the city in France?”

  “The last group of slaves I picked up came from there. Not too many of them spoke English, but our Universal Translator worked just fine with them. Well, until they tried taking it out of their head.” He chuckled at that moment and had a far off look on his face, as though he was remembering something funny.

  “One of them swore we were conducting human experiments on them and that the sub-dermal translator we installed into the side of the skull, near their ear, was an alien listening device.” Again, he laughed at the memory, while motioning with his arms out wide. “Where do you humans come up with this stuff? I mean, really, an alien listening device?” He shook his head as he continued to laugh.

  “If we wanted to listen in on your conversations, we have much better devices for that. The sub-dermal implants used over 60 years ago were never any good, so we only used them for a short time. But we did take them out of everyone we implanted them in, well… almost everyone. There were a couple who had died so we left them alone. It isn’t nice to dig up graves.”

  “It doesn’t feel like you have implanted anything into my skull.” I moved my hands around my head feeling for anything out of place and found nothing wrong.

  “Because I haven’t-not yet anyway. During the trip, we examine and perform the implantation so that all of you can understand us before we arrive to your new home. All of the guards and soldiers on this ship speak English so there shouldn’t be any linguistic issues until we get home.”

  “Does that mean that all of your prisoners are from North America?”

  He thought for a moment, “Hm, I believe so. We picked up a few in Japan, but they were speaking English before we picked them up. We do try to keep similar languages on each trip. It’s much easier that way for the crew to interact with you humans until the translators are installed.”

  I thought about his earlier question and decided I might as well answer him. Maybe he would let me go if he thought I was a real person. Isn’t that what they teach you to do if you are ever kidnapped? Make the assailant view you as a real human being and hope they decide to release you, or at the very least not hurt you. But does that work if they are crazy? Cuz this guy is certifiably nuts!

  I looked at him and gave him my best smile, “My parents wanted to honeymoon in Paris, but they couldn’t afford it. Both of my parents were teachers, and as you know, they don’t make much money. But they were happy to honeymoon in Vegas, where I was conceived. Instead of naming me Vegas, they decided to name me for the place of their dreams. She always said that she loved me more than Paris, which was kinda funny when I was a kid.” I looked down and stopped smiling when I remembered what happened to them.

  “That’s a pretty story. I like your name.” He walked over to a different wall and pushed a button I hadn’t noticed before. The wall opened up and a sofa slid out before the wall closed. He motioned for me to sit down, and then he sat next to me. He was a bit too close for my comfort.

  “Alright Venay, tell me what is really going on and where I am.”

  “I might not look like it, but I am not from Earth, and we are on a spaceship heading to my home planet to be precise.” He put his arm along the back of the couch.

  “Um, I hate to break it to you, but we aren’t moving. Did your special effects equipment breakdown or something?” I giggled at my stupid joke, but there was no way I was falling for this lame story of his.

  “Of course we haven’t left yet. We still have a shipment of slaves we are waiting for.” He shook his head like he couldn’t believe what I said.

  “What do you mean slaves? Slavery was abolished a very long time ago and is illegal all over the world.” Who was this guy to joke about something like that? Slavery isn’t a joke; it is really serious. But something in the back of my head was starting to warn me. What I was seeing and hearing was beginning to sound like it could be real.

  “Human slaves are very real on my planet. I make one trip a year here to pick up a ship full of slaves to bring back. However, some of them are lucky enough to become mates to my species, if they so choose.” He stopped talking and started checking out my body, and his eyes spent too much time on my chest for my liking.

  “Hey, alien boy, up here.” I pointed to my face, “My eyes are up here in case you were
wondering. You know, since you are an alien you might not understand human anatomy.” Hmph men are all the same no matter where they come from.

  “Oh, I understand human anatomy just fine. My mother is human. That is why I look so similar to you.” He stood up and turned around so I could admire his fine “assets”, which only made my body hum and feel all tingly inside.

  “Then what is your father?” He was taking this story pretty far, but sadly I was starting to believe him. This belief caused my heart to speed up and my head to feel foggy. I hoped I wasn’t going to pass out.

  We were interrupted by a communication in some foreign language that was quite guttural. I had no clue what they were speaking, maybe Klingon? He stood up and turned towards me.

  “Paris, you might want to watch this.” He put his hand out for me to take. I hesitated, wondering what he was up to. “You are safe with me; I promise you will not be harmed.” He put his hand out again, and I took it. Venay pulled me up, and we walked towards the one window in the room. He still held my hand. With his body so close to mine, I wanted him to do more than just hold my hand. My stupid body was aching to have him hold me in his embrace again. What is wrong with me? This guy is crazy, and I want him to hold me?

  He kept a hold of my hand and motioned for me to look out the window, which was more like a porthole in a cruise ship than a window. “Wow, are we really moving? It doesn’t feel like it.” The stars outside were slowly moving and that planet looked as though we were approaching it. It didn’t feel like we were moving, more like a 3D ride where we were stationary and everything around us was moving. Then I felt it, gravity was shifting, as was my reality. I felt heavier for a moment and almost fell over, but Venay let go of my hand and stood behind me with his arms wrapped around me, just like I wanted a few moments earlier.

  This feeling was strange, my head was spinning, and my eyesight was a bit blurred. I think the cause was two-fold; blurry eyesight was from the movement in “space,” and the head spinning was from him being so near me. “What is this, one of those 4D rides at an amusement park? I know we are not in space. It is impossible.”

  “Paris, it is very possible. Technically, I am part of a superior species that has had the ability to travel through space for about 200 Earth years.” He whispered in my ear, which just served to send a shiver down my spine. It was either excitement or fear, or maybe both. The idea that his species had been abducting people from my planet for two centuries was very frightening, but at the same time I couldn’t quite believe it.

  Chapter 2

  “Oh stink, this is real isn’t it?” I started to slink down on the floor as my body began to register the movement in space and my eyes confirmed what I was feeling. All of my senses were on overdrive, I could even taste the oxygen that had been pumped into the room. It almost felt like I was drowning.

  Venay reached down and picked me up. He held me to his side while walking me back to the couch. “Are you ok? Is the oxygen mixture too high for you?” He was looking me over and paying close attention to my chest, but in this case I believed he was watching me take shallow breaths.

  “Why can I taste the air? I shouldn’t be able to do that.” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow while breathing in deep.

  “We have an increased level of oxygen when we first leave the planet. Over the years we have discovered that humans tend to pass out easily unless we do this. Your bodies have a difficult time processing oxygen while in shock as we are leaving your solar system. But once we get moving your bodies adjust. They really are quite adaptable to most environments. Another reason our ancestors chose your people to integrate with us.” He puffed up his chest and sat up straighter. It looked like he took great pride in the fact that his ancestors abducted and experimented on humans.

  That just made me angry. “How could you take pride in the fact that your species has been kidnapping my people for two centuries? What do you do with my people? Do you force yourselves on the women? Force the men to be your slaves and do your hard labor?” I fisted my hands at my side and debated if I should hit him or try to run again. Although, I knew running wasn’t an option at this point. It was at this point that I truly believed he was an alien and I was in space. Not sure how this all happened, but there it was.

  He didn’t answer me at first, he looked back towards the porthole and watched space as we hurtled through it. I had to admit, it was quite beautiful and oddly enough, calming. I felt myself relaxing and let go of my fisted hands and my shoulders started to loosen up as well.

  “Paris, I will admit, our ancestors were not the most civilized. But we are very different now. We never force a woman to mate with us. If we take a human mate, she is very willing…” He looked at me and his eyes dilated while he gave me a smoldering smile.

  “Hey now, don’t go getting any ideas about me. I am NOT to be used as a breeding mare. No one who abducts me will be using me as a slave either. Stockholm Syndrome won’t be my downfall.” I got up and walked over to the open porthole and sighed as I watched the stars zoom past. I put my arm on the side of the porthole and leaned into it and whispered, “I will find my way home again.”

  “I chose you because you are my mate. I could feel it across the field when our eyes met. You felt it too, I know you did. The connection was visible on your face and when I touched you a moment ago as well.”

  “What exactly do you mean by ‘mate’?”

  “You would call it marriage. When we mate, it is with our one true love. The universe has created someone for all of us to love and join with. When we meet that one, we feel an instant sense of right, of belonging to each other. It is how my species have chosen their true mates since the beginning of time. There are exceptions, there are always those who can’t wait and will sometimes mate with someone they were never meant to mate with and that always causes problems.”

  “You might as well lock me up with the other slaves, because no one is going to mate with me.” I locked eyes with him and stared at him until he spoke again.

  “If that is what you wish, but I must warn you. Without my protection, any of the males on this ship have the right to try and persuade you to become their mate.” I tried to interrupt but he held up his hands, “They will not force themselves upon you or any other female, but they will try to get your attention in other ways… Most of the males who volunteer for this mission are looking for their mates. About half of the women will become mated to the men on this ship before we even reach our home planet.” He stood up and walked to the door but stopped before opening it.

  “Are you certain you would not reconsider and become my mate? I hold a very high rank and your life would be quite comfortable. You would be well taken care of and would want for nothing in life.” He looked me over slowly as I thought on his words.

  “I am positive. There is no way on God’s green Earth I would choose to give myself to anyone who kidnapped me. I want to go home and forget about this entire experience.” I huffed out and put my arms around myself in an effort to comfort me. It didn’t help…

  “Paris, this is the last time I will offer you my protection. You are intended to be my mate, I feel it. Life as a slave is not one you will enjoy. While we do treat our slaves better than we used to, it is still a very difficult life. One you will experience on this voyage home if you turn me down.” He reached over and took a strand of my hair into his hands and slowly drew it between his thumb and forefinger.

  I pulled my hair back, what he was doing was sending small shivers down my spine. That was too intimate of a gesture to accept from my abductor. “I am positive. It would be preferable to rot away as a slave than to be used up as someone’s mate.”

  He sighed and lowered his head for a moment, then stood up tall. Man was he tall, and imposing when he put his warrior mask back on. “Very well, but don’t come to me when you find that you don’t have enough food or warmth on this trip.” He proceeded to open the door and he grabbed my arm rather forcefully and hauled me
over to one of the cages in the other room.

  “Open cage A-1, process this slave but make sure she gets extra in her evening meal.” He took one last look at me and then walked away as another alien took me by the arm. I heard Venay say something about putting his uniform on and then he would be on the bridge.