by Celeste Raye
Then, her hands moved down his body to wrap around his pale, thick member, which was hard for her. She remembered it now, how it had grown up against her body and ground against her skin so deliciously. She had wanted him so much at that moment and had felt empty when he let go and backed away.
Alexis woke up with a start, a cold sweat coming over her body. She felt a need inside of her that only Nabvan would satisfy, but it wouldn’t be so easy. Yes, he still looked after her sometimes, but the king was always around; everyone was always around always watching her. She had become famous to the Milisarians in such a short time as the king’s mate. She knew what they all assumed too: that she had slept with him and that any moment her belly would be as round as Destiney’s. But that wasn’t the truth at all. She just let them think it so she could keep her freedom.
It was all about looks for King Shene. What was civil behind closed doors had to be true and on fire in public. She couldn’t help but think that was what led Nabvan to finally pay her some attention the day before at the wedding. He had seen them together: the way she had acted like she was smitten with the king. Nabvan couldn’t handle it, and she couldn’t blame him. Alexis didn’t know what she would do if she ever saw Nabvan with another woman, especially knowing that he believed in mating for life like most of the rest of the Milisarian knights. It would be devastating.
The thought made her go somewhere she was afraid to go in all of this: her feelings. Her feelings had taken a backseat in order for her to survive her new life. If she thought about her heart for too long, she never would be able to keep King Shene happy enough to keep her dignity. She would be crying in her room with more lash marks on her back that she wouldn’t want to heal this time. But she knew more than anything that she was in love with Nabvan. She knew it because as she played in her mind every moment they had together, it played just like a love story. From annoyance to lust and then beyond. It was the makings of an excellent romance novel, but in real life, it just hurt.
She knew that Nabvan would be standing outside her door right now as her guard until King Shene came to get her for whatever they were to do that day. She could easily pull him into the room with some excuse about needing food or something, but she didn’t feel ready just yet. She didn’t want to fall apart in front of him with all her frantic thoughts. Instead, she thought she would wait and get some perspective on how this was going to work. How was she going to get time with him and then hide how she felt? How would she still let King Shene touch her the way he did after spending time with Nabvan?
A knock came at the door, and she shot up, running her fingers quickly through her hair and tying a lace robe around herself; she made it a point to never let King Shene see her at her worst. It was funny since seeing her at her worst was exactly when Nabvan began to have compassion for her. Maybe she was afraid to let King Shene in because he might actually begin to feel more for her than covetous lust.
“Come in,” she called to him, and the door slid open to reveal King Shene. Nabvan turned his head to look inside for a moment just as the door slid shut again. His look was lingering and longing, and it just made her feel shakier where she stood.
“You look lovely today, Alexis,” King Shene told her as he came up to her to give her a kiss on the cheek. His lips actually landed on the side of her lips. She tried to act like it didn’t faze her and hoped she was convincing. She wrapped her arms around him in a sweet embrace just in case.
“Thank you,” she told him. “So, what is on the agenda today?” she asked him, hooking her arm in his, expecting him to lead her out of the room and on to breakfast and a day full of royal duties. But he hung back and hesitated, leading her to the bed instead.
“I actually wanted to take the time to talk to you today and see how you were feeling, how everything was going. I was hoping you could tell me you liked it here,” King Shene added. It was a question she had not expected. Did he really care about her answer? They had never had such conversations before.
Alexis thought for a moment about what she might say to him, and she decided to take the time to finally speak up more about the other women. She knew very well they were still being mistreated. They deserved at least as much freedom as she had. “I am happy now that I am a bit freer to experience Milisaria. It is a beautiful planet. I hope to see more of it someday,” she commented, easing into it. Maybe that would be a hint that she wanted to see beyond the inner city as well.
“I think that can be arranged, but I sense there is something else. Why don’t you tell me? I want you to be my partner. Do not fear me,” he told her, picking her chin up gently.
“The women. I know they are still being locked in their rooms. I know that they aren’t cooperating very well, but you have to understand what they came from and where they were going. They didn’t expect to be forced to breed with Milisarian knights. Things might go better if they were given a little more freedom. They would feel happier.” There, it was out. She let a breath out and slouched into it. It felt like she had been holding that in for a while.
“I think I can do that, but there is something I must ask of you in return,” he told her, his face looking sterner than before. Alexis prepared herself for whatever would come from his mouth next. She was afraid of what to expect, but she knew she would have to face it for the sake of those women. “I need you to consider mating with me. That was the whole reason for bringing these women here, and I feel I have been very generous to you now. I’ve been trying to give you a good life here with me.”
Alexis had thought he would say something like that. It didn’t surprise her, but it was hard when the first thought that came into her mind was about Nabvan and how he would handle something like that. Though, the truth was, if she was to survive, that was where this whole thing had been headed all along. She would have to give in at some point. “I will think about it, yes,” Alexis told him, nodding her head. She didn’t look at his face because she didn’t think she could just yet.
“I am glad to hear that, but I think it is appropriate to tell you that I will be busy for the next week, and that is how long you have to decide,” he warned her, standing up. There was no malice in his voice, but Alexis sensed there was something else to it: a reason for that specific deadline.
“What happens in a week, Shene?” she asked, using his name to catch his attention. He looked like the ruse of it affected him and gave him hope that is how she had meant it, even if she decided not to mate with him. She needed to know those consequences, though. She would talk them over with Nabvan in that week. One week to fulfill all of her dreams about a man she loved before giving into whatever she had to.
“This experiment with the women has not worked. It had clearly caused pain to some of my men as well as the women. So, we have decided that on our next voyage to Earth, these women unwilling to cooperate will go with us. We will take them back there and drop them off. That way they can choose to live a life on Earth again and be free of Milisaria. There is no need to keep them here if they will not mate, and I am afraid the same should go for you.”
Alexis nodded her head, not liking what she was hearing. For her, going back to Earth would not be so bad. She would just go see her family like she should have in the first place, but the other women would not have such options. Some of them would even end up back in jail for the crimes they were granted leave of on the agreement that they would leave the planet. She wondered if they even knew that it was the plan to take them back. If so, many of them must be even more afraid than they already were. But she let it go.
As King Shene opened the door, he turned back to her with an afterthought. “I will leave Nabvan to keep you company for anything you need while I deal with business this week. I will be away in the villages. I hope that your answer when I come back means I can take you with me next time.” Nabvan looked to Alexis, hopefully at that. He had not heard the rest through the door, of course. What would he do when he found out the terms of their agreement?
She watched as the king left, feeling more distressed than she had in several days. This was no longer just about Nabvan. This was about the future of more than one woman.
Chapter 15
If Alexis had to guess how long it was before Nabvan came into her room, it would have been about an hour. The moment the coast felt clear, he had come into the room with a sweet smile on his face that was hard to resist. Her mind went immediately to the deal she had made with King Shene, but she didn’t know if she could say anything just yet. She had to process it first for herself, and she knew she had a whole week to enjoy whatever time she could have with Nabvan. It was a selfish notion, but it was all she had to cling to these days.
Alexis watched Nabvan as he walked over to her and sat down on the bed, leaning in to plant a sweet, chaste kiss on her lips. There was more feeling in that less-than-thirty-second contact than anything she’d experienced with any other male: Milisarian or human. She had to think about all the events that led up to that kiss and wonder if there was a driving force behind the things that happened to people. She was supposed to be with an Arkani man right now, possibly already married to him. She was supposed to be working in one of the Arkani labs, finding out why all of their women were getting ill and dying. Instead, she had been captured by the Milisarians along with all of the other women, and she found herself in love with a Milisarian who was not the man that chose her. But it didn’t matter. Her life would be just a little emptier without Nabvan in it.
“Do you ever think that all of this happened for a reason?” she asked him, trying not to give too much of her emotional state away. She didn’t need him to go asking any questions that she wasn’t ready to answer yet.
“Yes, actually. I absolutely think this happened for a reason,” Nabvan said, surprising Alexis. She hadn’t expected such an answer out of him, especially after the way he had reacted to their first kiss. He had said he was sorry and she had forgiven him for it. But there was a piece of his personality in there that made her think he regretted meeting her. “I don’t know the reason yet; I can’t deny that. But I don’t know if I could ever want this to turn out any other way. Well, unless it meant me choosing you to begin with. That might have been better.”
That made Alexis smile. “It might have, but you wouldn’t have. You were too stubborn.” They laughed at that, only because it was so true.
“You are probably right about that,” he told her, meeting her eyes in a way that made her feel like she might be melting into the bed. “Alexis?” he said quietly, like he was afraid to say what was coming next. Alexis perked up, wondering what he might have to say. She needed to let him know what was on her mind about the women, but she had to know what he had to say first. Maybe he knew. “I love you. I don’t know what that’s going to mean later on, but I know that I do. I love you the way Siefer loves Destiney, but maybe even more than that.”
Alexis felt her heart skip a beat in response to what he said. She was not expecting him to say something so strong. It did complicate things since she loved him too. What would that mean for King Shene? Nabvan might have to make a decision to leave or stay sooner than either of them thought. “I don’t know either, Nabvan,” she told him, afraid to say it back because it was so final. There was nothing they could go back on after that point. But she couldn’t just leave him hanging. “I love you too.”
Nabvan looked shocked, as if he had no idea she felt that way. How could he not know? She was risking so much for him now, and he had been there for her when no one else was. He had done so much. He embraced her, and she him, squeezing him until they couldn’t breathe. “I didn’t think you did,” he admitted as they pulled away.
“Well, I do,” she replied. “But there’s something I need to talk to you about. It has to do with the other women. I don’t want to get you involved, but I am scared for them,” she told him, hoping he would have something reassuring to say; an idea of what she could do to stop it.
“What’s going on, Alexis? Was it something the king said?” Nabvan asked. He didn’t seem to have any idea. That made it even worse. The king must not have been telling anyone his plan.
Alexis nodded. “It was. He was telling me that a lot of the women still are not cooperating with the men who chose them and that it was causing distress for both parties. I can see how that might be true, but I do not agree with how he plans on handling it.” She paused, trying not to choke herself up talking about it. She still felt like she was the one responsible for their fates. She was the one who had chosen them for that flight. “If they have not mated within the next week, they are going to be taken back to Earth when King Shene goes to meet with some of the leaders there. He’s just going to hand them over and leave them there.”
“Okay, so what is the problem with that? They aren’t happy here, and that is their home. Isn’t that better than forcing them to stay here as slaves?” Nabvan asked, clearly not understanding.
“Don’t you remember that I told you these women were leaving Earth for a reason?” she said desperately. Nabvan nodded. “The thing is that some of them were in jail. It means they were prisoners. They had done something wrong and wanted to get away from that life and start over. If they go back to Earth, it means they go back to that lifestyle they needed to leave. They go back to unsupportive and abusive families, friends who keep them doing things that are illegal, and possibly back to jail.” She was frantic at this point, trying to get him to understand the gravity of it all.
“Earth wouldn’t help them out and give them new lives after what happened to them? I mean, they have been captured by an alien race who is trying to force them to breed with them. I would think that would count for something,” Nabvan pointed out, but Alexis shook her head. She wished she could trust her own race to do those things, but she knew better. It wasn’t so easy.
“I wish I could say it would be that simple, Nabvan, but it’s not. Even if they didn’t go back to jail, finding a job and a home would be hard. Many would be forced to go back where they were before because they would end up starving on the streets otherwise. Humans can be kind and helpful, but laws can make them seem very cruel. There wouldn’t be much for them to go back to, and I don’t know what to do for them. I don’t even think they know this is what is happening to them.”
“I don’t know what we could do to change it, Alexis, but many of the men are away with the king. I could see if you could get to some of the women to warn them. At least then they would know, and they might change their minds about cooperating with the men. It is a harsh choice, but at least it would give them one,” Nabvan offered. It was better than nothing.
“You always do so much for me, I hate to ask it, but that would be great if we could just get through to them.” Nabvan nodded, sliding his fingers through her hair reassuringly for a moment before making the call. He would have to find out where they were at and how guarded they were before they even tried, but she knew she owed him for doing this for her. Nabvan was always putting himself in danger for her. She should have realized his feelings from the beginning. Maybe they would have had more time to figure it all out.
As Nabvan took her to the place in the inner city that now held all of the women who had not mated with their men, Alexis was feeling hopeful. They had gotten their own wing on tier four, so she hoped that meant they had more freedom. The king had promised that to her as long as she considered his proposal to mate with him.
Her hope was soon dashed as she realized that the king had only made the situation look better. The women were actually quarantined together so they could not leave the hall where their rooms were for any reason. Food was brought into them along with clean clothes, but they only had each other for company until the men had visitation hours when they continued to try and convince the women to give their bodies up to them.
And as she talked to each woman, she could see that they had begun to view her as one with the king. They did not trust or believe anything she said. They mostly thought sh
e was trying to trick them or that it didn’t matter what she had to say because she was just as evil as the rest of the Milisarians. Only one woman had said she might talk with the man she was supposed to be with and see if they could work something out because there was no way that she was going back to Earth.
Alexis felt sad with defeat as Nabvan led her back to her own room for a meal of her own. There was little hope for these women, then. But now she had a decision to make herself, and as she ate a meal with the man she loved, she knew she would have to tell him whether she liked it or not. She knew now that she did not want to be sent back. She did not want to be sent away from this wonderful planet, the man across from her, or the chance to make a difference with science. She knew what she had to do, and she was going to make the most of the week before telling Nabvan what that meant.
Chapter 16
It was two days before the king was supposed to be loading up his ship with the women who would not cooperate with the Milisarian knights and send them back to Earth, and Nabvan had been suspecting something for a few days now. The worry about the other women made some sense to Nabvan since he knew Alexis to be a caring person. It was one of the reasons he loved her so entirely. But he got the feeling there was more to the story.
Despite the fact that they had spent almost no time away from each other, making the most of the week where the king had left her alone, he could feel a sadness around her like a cloud, and he could only imagine what the reason might be. She had not mentioned if the plan to send women back to Earth that were not mating applied to her. That left him with two worrisome thoughts: either she had mated with him so it did not matter, or it did include her and she just didn’t know how to tell him yet. He was going to get to the bottom of it today, no matter how much it hurt.
