Alien Prince Seeking BBW Bride: First Love: A Second Chance Science Fiction Romance (Alpha Mail Order Brides)

by Hart, Alana

  “W-what?”

  He sighs. That is the only warning I have before he lifts me and cradles me in his arms like a princess.

  I’m too stunned to move.

  Guys don’t pick girls like me up like this, because we’d break their back. But this man...not only can he handle me, he carries me like I weigh nothing. Then again, maybe this shouldn’t surprise me too much since I just saw him make a slew of metal bars his bitch.

  Still, my heart hammers in my chest. Every cell in my body is buzzing. I tell myself that the electric current mixed with my adrenaline and set off some sort of weird chemical reaction, but I don’t think that’s it. For the first time today, I actually do feel like a rare and exotic flower. And (since we’re going with flower metaphors here) a certain part of me is very ready to pollinate.

  Chapter 6

  I’d like to say that running down a narrow hallway while a big group of Ta’aran soldiers with even bigger laser guns chased us got me out of the mood, but it didn’t. My body didn’t care that this was the worst possible time for it to remember it had a sex drive. Still, my mind wasn’t so lust-clouded that I couldn’t think straight; I guess I had the fear that consumed me every time a laser flashed by to thank for that. Even so, as I clutched onto my Ta’aran savior’s back for dear life, I might have sort of rubbed certain parts against him a little bit.

  He peered around the corridor and shot off his laser a few times. This was followed by the clattering sound of metal boots retreating. Then, he turned his attention back to me.

  “Are you wounded?” he asked.

  “Uh...what?” I reply, breathless.

  “You keep pushing against me and crying out. Are you hurt?”

  Oh no. He noticed that? Alright, actually how could he not notice that? What the hell was I thinking? And how do I answer this?

  No, I’m not hurt. I’m just trying really hard not to hump you while we’re being shot at, and I’m only sort of succeeding.

  Yeah, in some cases lying really is best. “I’m fine, really. This is, uh, how we say ‘thank you’ on my planet.”

  He grips my shoulder. “That’s not true. You’re hurt. Don’t lie to me.”

  “I’m not lying!”

  “Yes you are!”

  “Okay, maybe I am, but I can’t tell you! It’s girl stuff!”

  He sighs, relieved. “I see. You’re menstruating.”

  I stare at him as my reason and my libido rage a war inside my mind. The rational part of me really doesn’t care what he thinks—it just wants to get out of this crazy place ASAP. Who cares if this alien dude thinks I’m on the rag? It’s not like I want to get it on with some Ta’aran barbarian I just met!

  Then, there’s the other part of me. The part of me that wants to scream: NOOOO!!!!!! because the last thing I want this sexy alien beast to think is that I’m having my period because that is not sexy and will significantly decrease the chances of him ripping my clothes off and mounting me in the middle of this hallway.

  Yes. Right here. Right now. Those large, strong hands of his holding me up as we…

  Wait, I think he’s staring at me. Were we talking about something?

  Luckily, a laser beam wizzes by my head, close enough to frizz my hair. Okay, Alpha really needs to rethink its policy on distress buttons, and we need to get out of here before we die.

  My savior turns his attention away from me and at the man who probably shot that near-fatal laser beam barrels straight into him.

  It’s the Ta’aran I blew bubbles at. The one who demanded I be locked in a cage. His eyes bulge out as he clamps his metal-clad hands around my savior’s neck.

  “Show yourself, coward!” the mean Ta’aran on top growls. “Fight like a Ta’aran!”

  My savior reaches for something on his thigh. It slides out of his slot smoothly, gleaming.

  A knife.

  The Ta’aran on top looks to the side, catches glimpse of the blade, and growls just before my savior slashes the air.

  The Ta’aran rolls back, snarling. He reaches into his belt for his own blade.

  “We finish this now, Darajeem. You and me.” Then, he raises his knife to his mouth and licks it, painting it with this dark blue blood. “Your head shall be a gift to our Prince.”

  “He is not my Prince,” my savior whispers.

  The Ta’aran’s lids peel back and his pupils start dancing like he’s got googly eyes. “Blasphemy! Traitor! Tonight, I bathe in your blood!”

  Wow. I never thought I’d hear words like that come out of someone’s mouth. And if such words did, I certainly never thought they’d be spoken completely seriously. Also, what the fuck? If he wasn’t foaming blue blood from his mouth from the tongue he just cut, wildly rolling his eyes around like a madman, and wielding a deadly weapon, I would have laughed.

  My savior sidesteps, avoiding the attack. But instead of making a move, he jumps to the opposite side of the corridor and slams his fist into the wall. Immediately, metal doors shut, separating the three of us from the swarm of Ta’aran soldiers gathering at the other end of the hall.

  Unfortunately, his back is momentarily exposed and his opponent uses it as an opportunity to continue his attack. His spiked, gloved fingers penetrate my savior’s armor like talons. My savior cries out and reaches behind him, trying to tear away from the Ta’aran’s grip. This just makes the Ta’aran behind him more desperate. The crazy dude bellows before whipping his head forward and biting into my savior’s neck.

  My savior throws himself into the opposite side of the wall again and again, trying to get the Ta’aran freak off his back. In response, the Ta’aran takes a bite out of the nape of his neck and spits a small piece of blue skin into the air.

  “RUN!!!!!” my savior bellows, obviously in pain. “Hit the button at the end of the hall! It will beam you to my ship!”

  I look down the hall. The button is no more than fifty feet away. Only a short sprint and I’m free. I shut my eyes.

  Move your ass! I tell myself, but I can’t.

  I look back at the struggling duo. “What happens to you if I go?”

  My Ta’aran savior is currently trying to elbow the man behind him whilst wiggling his head side to side—probably so the freak can’t continue eating him. “It doesn’t matter! Just go! I can’t hold him off forever, and the doors will open soon.”

  I watch the struggle. This Ta’aran was sacrificing himself to for me, even after I called him a stupid blue piece of shit. Why? Especially since the entire reason he didn’t see the Ta’aran soldier attacking was because he was worried I was hurt when in reality I’d just been super…

  Oh god. This is all my fault.

  “Go!” my savior yells.

  No. I couldn’t leave this man behind to be eaten alive. I grab the laser gun he’d dropped during the struggle and walk over to the Ta’arans.

  “You can’t shoot that,” the evil Ta’aran backpack yells. “You’ll kill us both.”

  “Who said anything about shooting?” I whisper, raising the weapon above my head.

  The Ta’aran’s face scrunches up with confusion as I bring the butt of the laser gun down on his nose.

  I was kind of expecting him to just go unconscious, sort of like they do in the movies. He doesn’t, and the fact that my savior had already been repeatedly pounding his head against the wall and achieving nothing should have tipped me off. Still, the front of his face is far softer than the back of his head. Blue blood sprays from his busted nose all over my dress.

  Well, at least I no longer look like I’m interviewing to be someone’s granddaughter, my mind thinks, briefly trying to distract me from the horror that is the Ta’aran soldier’s face.

  He cringes, but I can still see his eyeballs rolling wildly behind his closed lids. The bridge of his nose has turned deep purple and is now angled in a direction it should not be angled in. My stomach twists. I think I broke it.

  The Ta’aran just laughs, sick and slow. “You can’t do it. You’re we
ak, just like the Darajeem.”

  I gulp, readjusting my grip. That’s right. I hated violence. I hated being mean. That’s probably why I’d never hit anyone in my entire life. But do you know what I hated even more than all those things? Cannibal bullies.

  I raise the lasergun above my head, and this time when I start hitting him, I don’t stop. The Ta’aran screams, but soon I can’t hear his over my own screams as I shut my eyes and beat on his face like a possessed Jack Nicholson with an ax.

  Finally, something grabs my hand. “It’s alright.”

  I start shaking, or maybe I’ve been shaking all along. But at that moment, I’m shaking so hard that the laser falls to the ground.

  My savior rubs my back, pulling me close. “You did good, Sally. You’ll be alright.”

  I don’t feel like I’ll be alright. “Is he—did I—-?”

  “He’s not dead.”

  “Oh thank god!”

  I open my eyes. The second I do, he places his hand over the top part of my face.

  “What is it? I thought you said he wasn’t dead!”

  “He isn’t. You just...uh...kind of made a mess. You’re pretty scary when you’re angry.”

  There’s an unexpected admiration in his voice. It gives me a tingling, burning sensation—but it’s a really good one.

  He picks me up and holds me close. I know it’s just my imagination because it’s buried beneath layers of armor, but I think I can hear his heart beating. I sneak a peak as he walks us down the hallway, catching a glimpse of his bare blue skin.

  I remember—A summer, so many years ago. Leaning forward with a smile and kissing a boy’s blue neck. The boy’s skin was warmed by sunlight, and carried the scent of cedar from the logs in his house. In moments like that, when he reminded me of so many familiar things, it was difficult to think of him as alien, but he was. And it was difficult to think he would ever leave, but he did.

  The Ta’aran carrying me slams his fist into the button and light flashes all around us. We’re about to be beamed somewhere.

  I tense up. My savior squeezes me gently. And for a moment, he feels like home.

  Chapter 7

  The second time using the teleporter is no easier than the first time, through at least I knew I wasn’t dying. With my Ta’aran savior’s arms wrapped around me tight, I felt safe even during the most difficult moments. Still, when we landed in the cockpit, I collapsed and started blowing bubbles.

  “Is she alright?” a man asked.

  “Yes. It’s just what she does,” my savior answered. “This is only her second time being transported.”

  “Well, you’re takin’ it like a champ, then,” the man says, crouching down to rub my back. “You just...let all those bubbles out, girl.”

  Finally, after many minutes I stop. I fall back against the base of some sort of control panel, panting.

  “There,” the man says. I look up into his wizened blue face.

  I glance at my savior. He’s very interested in a control panel on the other side of the room. He hasn’t taken off his helmet yet, but even if he had it wouldn’t matter. His back is turned to me.

  I stand, wiping my mouth with the back of my wrist. “Hey.”

  My savior doesn’t respond.

  “Um, excuse me,” I continue.

  Still nothing.

  I inch closer. “I just want to thank you for saving me back there. I don’t know why you did it, but...thanks. I think.”

  He continues pressing buttons.

  A cold dread fills my stomach. Was I actually saved, or was this another trap? Sure, I wasn’t in a cage, but I knew nothing about this guy. He could be anybody, and he could be taking me anywhere.

  Stealthily, I push the alarm button on my transporter bracelet. The damn thing still isn’t working! When Alpha said they were dismantling it, they’d really dismantled it, which was criminal if you ask me. If our “alien mates” really meant so much to us, we wouldn’t hit the panic button, would we? If they were so sure their system worked, wouldn’t they have the confidence to keep it on? These, and many other things, were things I really should have considered more carefully before signing the dotted line.

  My alien savior sighs. “I can’t think with her this close to me. Lock her in her room.”

  Wait, what? “No!”

  My alien savior inhales deeply. “It’s for the best.”

  “What’s for the best? What the hell is even going on here? I was supposed to meet my Ta’aran mate. Instead, I was thrown into a cage and had to run for my life from...I don’t even know what that thing was...and now you want to lock me up too?”

  “It’s for your own good.”

  I can tell he’s talking through his teeth. Well, guess what? He’s not the only one who’s pissed. I cross my arms over my chest and level him with an impressive glare I’m really sad he’s not turned around to see. “Bullshit.”

  The Ta’aran’s horns move like a circling bull as he looks over his shoulder at me. “What did you just say?”

  I swallow the swell of panic that rises in my throat. “Bull. Shit,” I repeat slowly. “If you were really interested in my own good, you’d let me go.”

  “Well, lucky for you that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

  What?

  He turns all the way around, sighing. “Your mate hired me to save you and take you back to earth.”

  “He did?”

  “Yes. He’s giving up his claim. Once the process is finished, you’ll be free—and safe. The Ta’aran will never bother you again.”

  I frown. Something about this story didn’t sound right. “Why is he giving up his claim?”

  “That doesn’t matter.”

  “Like hell it doesn’t. I thought that impossible.”

  “It’s not impossible. It’s just not often done.”

  The old Ta’aran behind us coughs. “Actually, it’s never done. It’s pretty damn stupid, if you ask me.”

  My savior’s metal gloves screech as he curls his hands into fists. “No one asked you.”

  The old Ta’aran raises his hands. “Fine, fine. I’ll leave you to it, then.”

  “Leave him to what?” I ask.

  The old Ta’aran sighs. “To—”

  “Don’t answer that,” my savior interrupts.

  I grit my teeth. “I don’t believe you. Either of you. Take me to my mate.”

  “Hey, that’s a good idea,” the old Ta’aran says. “You should take her.”

  “No. That is not happening. She’s going directly home after the ceremony.”

  “What ceremony?” I ask.

  “The ceremony is none of your concern,” my savior declares, stalking forward to grab my shoulder. “Now, the only place you’re going is to your room. And since my friend can’t be trusted, I’ll have to take you myself.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” the old Ta’aran says.

  “Shut up,” my savior hisses before pulling me out of the cockpit and into the hall.

  Chapter 8

  You’re going home.

  The words echo in my skull and seem to slide down my spine like the bead of sweat slipping between my shoulder blades as he leads me down the hall. Less than an hour ago, all I wanted to do was go home. I wanted nothing to do with the Ta’aran. I’d begun to long for the mundane things I’d left on earth. The small apartment I’d once found oppressive. The hills that changed with the seasons. The small town where everyone thought they knew me and my limitations. I’d begun to believe the things they said I could or couldn’t do—begun to see myself as they saw me instead of the way I wanted to be seen. I knew exactly what my life would look like if I stayed—the tragedies I would endure, the unhappiness that would fill my heart, the longing for something more I’d never be able to completely extinguish.

  I stop walking.

  “No,” I whisper.

  My savior turns his head. “What is it? Why did you stop?”

  I grip my hands into fists in an effort
to keep from shaking. There’s a vehemence in his voice I don’t understand. No, that I’m afraid to understand. He hates me, but that can’t be. I’ve never even met him before. Where is all of this anger coming from?

  “I’m not going back,” I tell him.

  He shakes his head. A snide, sharp sound echoes from his helmet—a stifled, mocking laugh. “Yes, you are.”

  I gulp. “Why are you doing this to me?”

  “Why am I doing what? Saving your life?”

  “I don’t believe that’s all you’re doing.”

  He sighs, turning again. “Believe what you want. It doesn’t matter. Soon you’ll be home, and all of this will be behind you.”

  That’s impossible. If nothing else, I’m pretty sure the memory of beating in that cannibal Ta’aran soldier’s head in will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life.

  “Earth is a beautiful place,” he continues. You should be happy to go home.”

  I frown. “You say that like you’ve been there.”

  “I did go there a long time ago. It was...nice.”

  Nice. That’s a word I that’s not often used to describe earth. Usually, aliens called it backwards or backwater. I wonder what my Ta’aran mate thought of it. I wonder what he’d think of me…

  My savior’s voice cuts through my musings. “You’ll be home soon. You’ll be happy.”

  No I won’t. I knew it would be impossible to convince him, but he had to hear it so he knew that if he sent me home he was doing it for himself, not me. I was done letting other people tell me what I wanted. “You can’t just make decisions for me.”

  “We’re done talking.”

  “No, we’re not.”

  “Is that why you’re saying this with your eyes closed? You can’t even bring yourself to look at me. You want to think you’re so strong, want to prove your strength to me, and yet you can’t even look at me?”

  I opened my eyes and glared, “That’s rich coming from you. You won’t take off your helmet.”

  He’s quiet a moment. “You’re right, I won’t. And I won’t continue this. You’re going home where you’re safe.”