“Almost there, ladies!” the pilot shouted.
He was laughing. Why was he laughing?
I clutched my seat, my stomach rolling and churning as the ship dropped again. We landed on the ground with a thud that made my body lurch up against the confines of my seat belt. My kidneys and back screamed at me, and I swallowed down the vomit rising up my throat before opening my eyes.
The ship slowed to a complete stop, but the hail hitting the metal ship made it impossible to hear anything. Sabrina smiled reassuringly as the outside doors opened. Cold air swirled in, plastering my hair against my face. I unclicked my seatbelt as two Draax males boarded the ship.
One of them approached me and took my hands, helping me to my feet. I winced, and he gave me a curious look before leading me to Sabrina. Three more Draax had squeezed into the ship and my heartbeat went into overdrive. Which one of them would I be expected to sleep with?
All of them were tall and muscular with broad chests, narrow hips and black hair. I stared in fascination at the tails that were waving back and forth behind them. I moved closer to Sabrina and without speaking, we put our arms around each other.
An older male, his body a bit bent with age and threads of gray in his hair, spoke into the ear of the Draax standing beside him. The Draax shrugged and the older one removed a thin, silver box from the inside of his cloak and approached us.
He tugged us apart and I didn’t resist when he pushed up my sleeve and scanned my right arm. He read the information on the screen before pushing a button and turning to Sabrina. He scanned her arm and read the information, then nodded and pointed to Sabrina. She was led toward the door of the ship, and I felt a pang of loss even though I barely knew her.
“Wait!” Sabrina pulled free of the Draax and turned around. She hugged me hard, and I flinched and gasped with pain. I returned her hug as she pressed her mouth against my ear.
“It was nice to meet you, Evelyn. Take care of yourself, okay?”
“You too!” I shouted.
The Draax took her arm again and gently tugged her to the door. I couldn’t hear her, but I could see Sabrina’s lips moving as she stared up at the Draax. I didn’t know why she bothered to talk to him, it wasn’t like they could understand us.
I watched in surprise as the Draax picked up Sabrina like she weighed nothing before walking out of the ship. The older Draax, as well as another, followed them out. I gave the two Draax standing in the ship a tentative smile.
The one stepped closer, and I held my breath when he bent and studied my face. He had thick, black, and slightly curly hair that was on the longer side, and copper coloured eyes. I stared in fascination at them as he frowned and scrutinized my own green eyes.
To my confusion, dislike was radiating from him in a strong vibe. I swallowed down my nervous laughter as he continued to study my face. There was a brief flicker of confusion in his eyes and he straightened and turned to the second Draax. The second alien had moved to the doorway of the ship, and he nodded before disappearing out into the storm.
I was already beginning to freeze in my t-shirt and jeans, and the shaking of my body was incredibly painful. I gave the Draax another timid smile as he studied my shivering body. He headed toward the door and I glanced at the pilots before following him. He was wearing a drab brown cloak and if he was the king, then the Draax certainly didn’t dress like they were royalty.
Don’t be stupid, Evie. Do you really think the king would come to get you himself? He’s probably a servant or something.
Yeah, that made more sense. Hopefully he really wasn’t the king. I had no idea why, but the big Draax definitely didn’t like me. Panic trickled down my spine. What if he really was the king? He hated me on sight. He would hurt me and make me cry and…
I took a deep breath, trying to quell my rising panic. I was acting like an idiot, but, truthfully, I was in an incredible amount of pain, and exhausted, and scared to death. I would most likely be having sex with a big green alien tonight, and what did I do if he took one look at my bruised-up body and sent me straight back to Earth because I was damaged goods?
Ask him to keep the lights off. He won’t see the bruising.
Good plan, but how exactly did I do that if we couldn’t even understand each other?
The Draax was waiting in the doorway and he looked me up and down before staring at the hail falling. I was surprised when he took off his cloak and wrapped it around me. It was deliciously warm from his body heat and I didn’t object when he buttoned it and then pulled the hood up over my head. It was miles too big and dragged on the ground. For a moment, I half expected the Draax to pick me up like the one did with Sabrina, and my face turned red when he raised his eyebrows at me before making a ‘come with me’ motion with his hand.
I followed him out into the storm. A combination of hail and snow was falling, and I winced when one particularly large piece of hail slapped me on the shoulder.
I flailed my way down the slick stairs of the ship, hanging onto the handrail in a tight grip. The Draax was moving quickly and I couldn’t really blame him for it. His thick cloak was doing a pretty good job of protecting me from the brunt of the storm, but his large body was being pelted with hail.
Ignoring the pain, I hurried after him as he headed to the back of the ship. Another Draax, he was wearing a uniform with the name of the docking bay on it, was standing next to my backpack and a large trunk. One of the Draax who had left with Sabrina, picked up the trunk and carried it toward a large land vehicle.
The Draax in the uniform handed over my backpack to the Draax with me. The possible king said something to the Draax who shrugged and nodded. He turned and looked at me and I nodded too.
“Yes, that’s mine.” The wind whipped away the sound of my voice, and I watched as the Draax said something else to the one in the uniform.
The uniformed Draax shook his head and pointed at the backpack again before, bending his head against the hail and the snow, heading toward the building about twenty feet away. The other Draax who’d been in the ship with us was just opening the door of the building and slipping inside.
The maybe-he-was-a-king Draax held my backpack in one hand and walked toward a land vehicle. He opened the back door and threw my bag in before slamming it shut and opening the front passenger door. I swallowed nervously and moved past him to slide onto the seat.
He closed the door and moved to the driver’s side. I stared in fascination at the steering wheel as he shut his door and pushed a button on the dashboard. The vehicle rumbled to life and my eyes widened when the alien pushed a pedal on the floor, and we moved forward.
I never thought I’d be in a vehicle in my lifetime and now, not only had I been in two vehicles, but one of them was a gas powered one that you steered yourself.
Despite how tired I was, despite the pain that just wouldn’t go away, I smiled in delight as I watched the Draax drive away from the ship.
We’d only driven a few minutes when he said something in his low voice. I had no idea what he said, it sounded like complete gibberish, but it made my stomach clench with something that was almost lust. I jerked in my seat and then bit back my groan as pain radiated across my back. I’d never had such a visceral reaction to a man’s voice before.
He was waiting for me to reply and I cleared my throat. “Um, my translator isn’t working yet. I don’t understand you.”
He stared at me before scowling and pointing to my throat. I nodded and touched the spots where the translators were embedded in my throat and behind my ear. “Yes, I have a translator, but it isn’t working yet.”
Feeling slightly stupid, I put my hands over both spots and shook my head. “Not working yet.”
He scowled again and while I was no expert on the Draax language, I was pretty sure he was spitting out an expletive.
“I’m sorry,” I said as he gave me an angry look.
He stared out the windshield. I folded my arms across my shivering torso and stared at
the falling hail and snow. Hopefully it wouldn’t take long to get to the palace.
Chapter Four
Bran
I eased the door shut to Bella’s nursery and returned to the living room. My home was decorated similar to the humans’ dwellings, as were all Draax homes. My grandfather had told me once that when our kind and the humans first made the breeding agreement, we’d mimicked the human’s furniture and decorating choices to help the females feel more comfortable and entice them to stay even after bearing us a child.
I sat down on the couch, picked up the remote and pushed a button. The fireplace lit, and I stared moodily at the flames. Not that it had made a difference with my female. Dana had never truly been happy living on the Draax planet, even though it was her choice to join me and Court. Her misery was not eased by similar housing décor.
I pushed the memory of Dana and her unhappiness out of my head. In the last two years, I’d become very good at not thinking of her. It helped that Bella looked very little like her mother, but ever since I’d made the decision to hire a human as a nanny, thoughts of Dana kept creeping back in.
I stood and paced in front of the fire. The storm was getting worse and I was worried about Court. We may have been pushed apart in the last few years and it felt awkward between us even though he’d returned home as soon as I needed him, but he was still my best friend and always would be. The thought of losing him was almost as bad as the thought of losing Bella.
I grabbed my tablet and was just logging in to hologram him when the front door slammed. My hands turned sweaty and my tail flicked back and forth in nervous agitation. I remained by the fire, hoping I didn’t look as nervous as I felt, as Court’s boots clomped down the hall.
“Bran? Where are you?”
“The living room,” I called.
He stepped into the room. His cloak was missing, and his shirt and pants were covered in snow. “We barely beat the storm.”
“Where is your cloak?”
“I gave it to the human. She was not dressed appropriately for the weather.”
I peered around him. “Where is she?”
“She saw the bathroom and asked to use it. At least I think she did.”
“What do you mean?”
“The translator is not working yet.”
I groaned. “Krono, are you serious?”
“Yes. She does not understand a word I say, and she speaks complete gibberish.”
“The agency assured me that she would have a working translator when she arrived.”
“She does not.”
I muttered a curse and rubbed at the back of my neck. “How does she look?”
Court shrugged. “Small and frail. She does not carry enough meat on her bones.”
I frowned. In her picture, she’d looked curvy enough. Not that it mattered. I wasn’t attracted to the human. I had deliberately chosen her both because she was breeding incompatible and because I did not find her pleasing to the eye. I knew I didn’t need to worry about Court. After what Dana did, he hated all female humans, but I didn’t trust myself, so I made sure to find a human I was not attracted to.
Does that matter? Even if you were attracted to her, you would not be able to satisfy her. Your ability to please a woman is gone and it is never coming back.
I shoved my inner voice deep down as a flush covered my face.
Court gave me a curious look. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing. Does she seem healthy?”
“I guess. She,” he paused, “flinches when you move too fast.”
“She is probably nervous. She cannot understand you, and you do not give off a welcoming vibe.”
Court frowned at me. “I was courteous to her. I gave her my cloak so she would not freeze to death. She did not even have a coat, Bran. She came here for a three-year job with only a small bag. Does that seem strange to you?”
I didn’t want to admit it, but it was a bit strange. When Dana moved in, she had three trunks and four suitcases. Her clothes alone had filled my closet and the guest bedroom’s closet.
“Perhaps she does not care for material things,” I said.
“Perhaps.” Court studied me for a moment in the light of the fire. “Her eyes are green, not blue.”
“What?”
“Her eyes are not blue. They are green.”
“They are blue. In the picture, they are blue.”
“I do not know what to tell you, Bran. You will see for yourself soon enough that they are green.”
Something niggled at the base of my skull and I flicked on my tablet. I pulled up the human’s file from the agency and scrolled to the end where her picture was. I studied it carefully. Her eyes were definitely blue. I glanced up at my best friend. “Court, her eyes are -”
The human was standing next to Court. She was wearing his cloak and she had a clearly anxious look on her face. Her pale cheeks flushed, and she bowed her head and, oddly, curtsied before smiling at me.
I studied her face, feeling a weird warmth burning in my gut as I stared at her soft pink mouth, high cheekbones, and light green eyes. Krono, she was beautiful.
I tore my gaze away from her, my heart thudding in my chest, and Court gave me a curious look. “Bran, what is wrong?”
“That is not the right human.”
Court jerked in surprise, and the little human made a soft cry and cringed away. Her mouth was trembling, and she stared wide-eyed at Court as he turned and studied her. “What are you talking about?”
“That is not the human I hired to be a nanny. That is not Sabrina Green.”
“Of course, it is,” Court said. “She was scanned at the ship and I saw the screen. It said Sabrina Green.”
I had joined them now and I showed Court the picture on my tablet. “This is Sabrina Green.”
Court’s skin turned a light green. “That is the other female from the ship.”
“Krono! The stupid humans mixed up the identification chips.” My agitated tone made the human cringe again. I ignored my weird urge to soothe her and scowled at her instead. “What is your name?”
“She does not understand you. Remember?” Court said.
“Oh, for the love of Krono.” My irritation at being given the wrong human and my unexpected attraction to her, made my tone harsh.
I glared at the human, immediately feeling guilty when she wrapped her arms around her torso and backed away until she was touching the wall and could go no further. She was making quick darting glances around the room, wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue, and I could see her body shaking even under Court’s thick cloak.
“You are scaring her, Bran.” Court’s tone was disapproving, and I turned on him.
“What do you care? You hate her.”
“I do not hate her.”
“Please, you hate all female humans.” I ran my hands through my hair. “We need to call the agency and tell them there was a mistake. Find out where my nanny was sent to and trade her for this one.”
“Have you forgotten the storm?” Court said. “Communications with Earth will be impossible by now. And lower your voice before you wake Bella.”
“So, what are we supposed to do?” I snapped. My gaze wanted to keep returning to the intoxicating human. I wanted to touch her skin and see if it was as soft as it looked, and it was making me even angrier.
“We wait out the storm. Once it is finished, we will contact Earth and inform them of their error.”
“A moon, Court. This storm will last at least a moon. What do we do with this human in the meantime? I do not want her anywhere near Bella.”
“Why not?” Court asked.
“She is a stranger. Who knows what she would say or do to Bella.”
“Bran,” Court gave me a strange look, “what is wrong with you?”
“We have a human that we know nothing about living under our roof. What is wrong with you, that you are not concerned for the safety of Bella?”
I was overreacting, I kne
w I was overreacting, but the human’s presence was making me feel strange and off balance.
“You know that I will allow no harm to befall Bella until the day I die,” Court snarled at me. His own temper was hitting the breaking point. “But you are acting like a froden. The girl is harmless, and you know it.”
I took a step back, breathing deeply as my tail flicked back and forth. Court was right. I was being a froden.
“I will take the human to her room and bring her some food. She can stay in her room until morning. No doubt the translators will be working by then. We can explain the mistake and that we will send her to where she is supposed to be once the storm ends,” Court said.
“Fine.” I was suddenly extremely weary. “But I do not want her to have anything to do with Bella.”
“All right. Come with me, human.”
I watched as Court made a ‘come here’ gesture to the human. She stepped toward him hesitantly, and then made another strange curtsey in my direction before following Court from the room.
* * *
Evelyn
I poked at the blue rice and the weird looking meat on the plate before setting my fork down and standing to pace the room. Ten minutes after the Draax brought me to the bedroom, he’d returned with a plate of food and a glass of water. He’d set it on the top of the dresser and made a ‘stay’ motion repeatedly with his hand until I nodded in understanding.
That was three hours ago. I wasn’t normally a picky eater and I was fairly certain that no one in the palace was actively trying to poison me, but I couldn’t eat a single bite of food. The pain in my side and lower back had made my appetite disappear.
That’s not the only reason.
No, it wasn’t. Much like the Draax who had picked me up at the ship, the king seemed to actively dislike me on sight. I had no idea why or how I’d offended him, but I didn’t need to understand what they were saying to know that I had.
Rule (The Draax Series Book 2) Page 4
