Married To The Cowboy (Love In Collin's Ranch 3)

by Veronica Wilson

  “Do you ever wonder what it is like to live on another planet, Tevar?” They both stared at Meredith now as she seemed to stare back, her blue eyes fixated on the camera lens.

  “No. I am happy to live on Kalar.” Placan frowned, he couldn’t be the only one who imagined the possibilities of living outside of the King’s reign. “You should go now,” Tevar nudged the chair, “there are many preparations to be made.” Tevar turned to Placan, his face a blank canvas. Placan nodded.

  As the pins and needles finally subsided, Meredith carefully got to her feet. She walked cautiously forward toward the bare walls. There had to be some way to get out.

  “Hello?” She pressed her body against the wall in hopes of finding a door of some sort. “I know you can hear me!” The truth was, however, that Tevar couldn’t hear her anymore, the camera peering in to her room had been muted. Meredith pushed her whole body weight against each of the four walls methodically, finding nothing. “Seriously? You know that this is illegal, right? I am gonna sue your asses off!” She looked up at the camera and gave the middle finger before walking over to the corner and sitting directly underneath it. If no one was going to do her the courtesy of answering her, then she would force them to come to her.

  Meredith wasn’t sure exactly who her captors were and while the idea of luring them in would likely terrify anyone else, it only served to make her angry. The least anyone could do after locking you in a door-less room was let you know who they were without your having to trick them in to coming to you.

  Placan’s comm device beeped shrilly.

  “This is Placan…” There was static before Tevar’s voice broke through.

  “…needed to check the human woman…” Placan felt his heart beginning to race at the thought of actual contact with a human.

  “Repeat that, please, Tevar.”

  “You are needed to check the human woman…she is no longer visible on the security camera. Then secure her for her meeting with the king.” Placan smiled, he was going to get to see the human woman himself!

  “Of course, Tevar. I will be there shortly.” Placan had never interacted with a human of any kind before, but he found something appealing in the way that this one looked. She wasn’t tall and slender like the Kalarians, you couldn’t see the bony cage that framed her heart and the large mounds on her chest were like nothing any Kalarian female had. Placan wanted to touch them. He knew it would be a certain death sentence if he dared to, but something inside of him made him want to do it anyway. He found it hard to determine if his desires were merely wonderment or if they were driven by something else.

  As Placan came to the sealed cell he looked around him to make sure that no one was watching. When he found the coast clear, he placed his long sucker tipped fingers against a touchpad on the door and paused as it vaporized. As he walked in to the room, the door reappeared behind him.

  “What…” Meredith sat staring at Placan open mouthed. He cocked his head to the side as he stared back at her, just as mesmerized by her appearance as she was of his. Meredith squinted at his relatively tall frame and his obscenely long slender legs. “Who…what are you?” She had never seen anyone with such strange proportions before and as her eyes met his fingertips she couldn’t help but gasp. He was nothing like any thing she’d seen before either, but she refused to give in to her fear. Whatever he was she knew that he couldn’t possibly be what she suspected because aliens didn’t exist.

  “I am Placan, royal guard to Obar king of the planet Kalar.” Meredith’s brow furrowed as she stared at his caramel colored skin.

  “What?” she shook her head, “you want me to believe that I’ve been abducted by aliens?” She laughed loudly, “Yeah, okay. This is the stupidest joke ever and your costume isn’t even that good. When my dad finds out who you are, you are going to be fucked. Now tell me who you are really.” Placan stared at the redness that was rising in Meredith’s cheeks.

  “I am Placan…”

  “Yeah, I know, I know, of the royal guard of whatever the hell it was. Seriously though, let me out of here and I might not even tell my dad about it.” Placan shook his head slowly as he stared in to her mesmerizing blue eyes.

  “It is more than my job is worth to release you, Earth woman. You are to be king Obar’s bride and I will surely be cast in to oblivion if I allow you escape.” Meredith stared in to his large brown eyes in disbelief.

  “Wait a minute…you’re telling me that not only are you an alien and I’ve been abducted to your planet, but you are marrying me off to your king?” She burst in to laughter, the sound shocking Placan. He blinked slowly.

  “Yes. You will be very happy, I am sure of it.” He wasn’t sure of it, not really, but he had heard that the other wives of the king were satisfied with their life. Part of him however, hoped that Meredith wouldn’t be because he wanted her for himself. Meredith stood up and walked towards Placan. Placan looked at her uncertainly, Earth women certainly were strange creatures with their short shapely legs and their pale white skin.

  “Okay, this has been great, really, but seriously...” She pinched at the tan skin on Placan’s long slender forearm, it puckered for a moment before sinking back against the bone of his arm. Meredith frowned and reached up to his face, Placan flinched. Meredith pinched both of his hollow cheeks and attempted to pull them away from his bony skull. When the skin snapped back in to place, Meredith’s eyes widened and she stared at Placan, horrified. His massive eyes stared right back at her quizzically. “You…” she pulled her hands back, her fists balled up. “You’re not wearing a costume…” Placan shook his head.

  “On my planet we do not wear costumes like you humans do, just simple robes…” Placan reached his long fingers forward and fingered the sleeve of Meredith’s nightgown. Meredith stepped backward, a look of horror on her face as she looked him up and down. She had never seen a creature with eyes as large as his, they were twice the size they should have been and she couldn’t help but stare in to them.

  “Why am I here?” This time her voice shook with uncertainty.

  “You have been chosen to wed Obar, King of the planet Kalar.” Meredith shook her head.

  “I know, you said that…but it doesn’t make any sense. There are billions of people to choose from on planet Earth, there have to be billions of people on planet…Kalam too? Why doesn’t he just marry one of you? Why drag me in to this?”

  “Kalar, it is planet Kalar.” Placan couldn’t understand why she was not honored to be chosen as the king’s bride like all of the others had been. Instead she seemed almost panicked by her selection. “The king has chosen you, this is a great honor.” Meredith shook her head, great honor or not, there was no way it was going to happen. Even back on Earth Meredith had had her doubts about marriage, and now she was being asked to marry someone from a different planet who she had never met? It was never going to happen.

  “Why has the king chosen me? I didn’t even know that he existed so how could he possibly have chosen me?” Placan had never faced a situation quite like this before and he found her unique resistance to be quite intriguing.

  “King Obar is aware of all planets in the universe. It is his mission to take a wife from each of these planets to foster trade relations. You have been selected by the king himself to represent the planet Earth.” Meredith slumped down against the wall, shaking her head slowly from side to side. It was like a bad dream, none of it made sense.

  “Wait a minute…” She replayed their conversation in her head, “Now I’m going to become part of some harem so that your king can foster trade relations? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” She could feel her body shaking with a mix of anger and fear, “That is not how things work on Earth and I am not going to be bullied in to it on Kalam either!”

  “Kalar…” Placan interjected.

  “Kalar, whatever you call it. I don’t know how your king got my number, but I’d appreciate it if you told him I wasn’t interested. I’d like
to go home now.” She tried her very best to hide her fear as she ordered the creature before her to take her home. Placan however, could hear her heart rate beginning to race and his own anxiety began to pick up. If he was responsible for causing the king’s new bride to have second thoughts about the marriage it would most certainly be his head. He began to wish that he had never stepped foot in to the cell in the first place.

  “It is an honor to be chosen by the king…” Meredith glared at Placan and he shut his mouth knowing better than to finish his sentence.

  “It may be an honor on your planet, but on my planet this is called abduction and I don’t want to get married, to your king or anyone else for that matter.” Her heart was racing so much faster than anything Placan had heard before. He took a step forward and leaning down he placed the suckers on his fingertips against her bare arm. Meredith felt the smoothness of his fingers on her skin, but more than that, the touch of his fingertips brought with it a peace. Meredith took a deep breath, her heart rate slowing down. “I am sure you are just trying to do your job…but this is…” she couldn’t think of the words to describe what she wanted to say, “illegal.” She wondered if the term even had any meaning here.

  “This is not what you desire?” Placan asked as he cocked his head curiously to the side, she shook her head.

  “I just want to go home.” Tears welled up in her eyes and Placan nodded. He didn’t know a thing about the women from Earth, but he knew about compassion and he knew about fear. Meredith was afraid and there was nothing he could do for her but give her compassion.

  “There is nothing to be afraid of…” Placan lowered his head to look in to her tear filled eyes.

  “That is easy for you to say, you aren’t supposed to be marrying the king of some totally random planet that you didn’t know existed until a few minutes ago.” The tears were now overflowing and sliding down her cheeks. Placan brought his face close to hers, he could feel the coolness of her skin radiating towards him.

  “Do not be afraid.” Leaning in, Placan placed a kiss on her cheek. Her skin was much cooler than he had imagined it would be and it tasted of salt. He attempted to give her a smile but found his own sadness robbing him of the ability, this confused him. He had never been so close to someone that their emotions became his own and it made him want to give her everything that she desired.

  The door to the cell vaporized and as Tevar stepped inside, Placan jumped backward away from Meredith.

  “Placan, why are you taking so long to secure the prisoner?” A large furrow in Tevar’s oversized forehead conveyed his anger.

  “I am doing so now, Tevar. My apologies.” Tevar stared down at Meredith as she sat in the corner wiping her cheeks with the sleeve of her nightgown.

  “You will do so quickly, the king is becoming impatient.” He shifted his gaze to Placan before placing his hand against the wall where the door had been, waiting for the door to vaporize and disappearing through the space that it left behind.

  “What does he mean ‘secure the prisoner?’” Meredith looked at Placan questioningly. “Where are we going?” Her anger now completely gave way to fear.

  “I have been ordered to take you to the king, he would like to meet you before the ceremony.” Meredith’s eyes widened.

  “Ceremony? I’m supposed to marry this guy today?” She jumped to her feet, “No, no, no, you have to help me!” The panic began to rise and Placan could hear her heart racing once again. Stepping over to the wall where Tevar has been moments ago, she pressed her hand against it. Nothing happened. She stepped over to her left and tried again, she was desperate for escape. When nothing happened the second time she looked to Placan, desperation in her eyes.

  “It will not work for a human hand, your core temperature is too low.” Meredith’s breasts were heaving with each breath that she took and Placan couldn’t help but watch them momentarily.

  “Then help me! I have to get out of here. I can’t marry him, not today, not ever!” Placan watched her struggle for a moment with sadness in his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to help her, but he knew that if he did it would mean a certain death.

  “But you must, the king has decreed it and that means that it must be.” Her heart was racing even faster now, Placan could hear it thumping loudly in his ears. “If we do not obey the king’s orders we shall all be killed.” Meredith frowned.

  “Then come with me, help me escape and come with me!” She pleaded with him, “You can live on Earth, you can come with me!”

  “I cannot.” Placan reached for her wrist and pulled it behind her back gently, repeating the procedure with her other wrist before drawing a figure eight around them with his finger. Meredith tried to pull away in resistance, but whatever Placan had done had secured her arms tightly behind her back. She sniffled loudly. “We must go before Tevar returns, he will not be as gentle with you I fear.” Placan gently pushed Meredith against the wall as he pressed his hand to it. For the briefest of moments he could feel the cool softness of her body against his and it made his soul soar. Seconds later the two of them were standing in the hallway.

  The hallway was lit by a series of small lights running along the sides of the ceiling and the sides of the floor, it reminded Meredith of an airport runway. She tried to concentrate on each of the lights as they approached in an effort to distract herself from whatever it was that lay at the end of the light trail. The silence made Placan uncomfortable.

  “Please do not be afraid, King Obar is a good man.” Meredith remained silent. “He will provide you with a good life, with anything you could desire…”

  “I want to go home.” Meredith’s voice was sullen and sorrowful. Placan could feel her sadness radiating from her and it made his heart heavy with sorrow for her that he could do nothing to save her and for him that he would never have a bride like her.

  “Please, I know that when you meet king Obar that you will like him. I am sure that you will be happy that you are going to be his bride.” Meredith was silent again. She would not be happy that she was going to be his bride, in fact she adamantly refused to be happy about anything – particularly not meeting the man who had you abducted so that he could marry you against your will.

  After walking what felt like three miles of sterile lit corridors, Placan steered Meredith to a large set of double doors. He parked her in front of them and stepped to one side to knock. Meredith watched as his long slender fingers curled in to his palm and she wondered if king Obar had the same suckers on his.

  “You may enter!” A deep booming voice emanated from the interior of the room and Meredith took a sharp breath in. Placan stepped behind her and took her wrists with one hand while he reached forward to open the door with the other.

  “King Obar, your highness, I bring to you your human bride.” Placan announced themselves as he gently pushed Meredith down a length of shiny marble tile until the two of them stood at the foot of an oversized throne. Meredith kept her gaze on the tile below her feet, unwilling to look up at the king. She felt like a child who was about to receive their punishment.

  “Bride?” the king looked down at Meredith with his large brown eyes, she still didn’t look up. “I said bride!” Placan nudged Meredith gently in the back and she lifted her eyes up to the throne. There he sat before her, the king of an entire planet and he looked nothing like she had imagined he would. He was similar in form to Placan, his tall slender body having a little more substance than his however, so that his rib cage appeared less sunken in. Unlike Placan, his tan skin had an opalescent sheen to it that shifted each time Meredith moved her head. She had imagined from his voice that he would be much larger and somewhat fearsome, yet he was just a little larger than Placan and looked almost identical. “She is quite large…” king Obar looked from Meredith to Placan and then nodded with a loud chuckle. “I like her!” Meredith looked to Placan and back to the king with a frown.

  “She can speak for herself!” Meredith knew that speaking out of turn in fron
t of the king was likely an offense that was punishable by something awful, but she couldn’t help herself. Her anger had returned and in its forcefulness it had shoved her fear out of the way.

  “Oh yes?” The king eyed her suspiciously trying to hide the look of surprise on his face. “And what else does she have to say?” He tapped his fingertips on the arm of his throne, each of the suckers sticking briefly before he lifted them back up.

  “Well for starters I don’t appreciate being abducted from my home. I also don’t appreciate that you assume that I would want to marry you.” Meredith could feel Placan’s hand gripping her wrist tightly in silent warning. “And to assume that I would want to be one of your wives?” She couldn’t stop herself despite the redness that was rising in the king’s cheeks.

  “How dare you speak in such a way to the king!” The king’s voice boomed off the walls and even Meredith was shocked. He looked to Placan who was desperately trying to avoid eye contact. “Has this woman not been briefed of her position in this court?” Placan shook his head nervously.

  “No, your highness, she was brought directly to your throne.” King Obar looked back to Meredith who had recovered from the shock of the king’s outburst and was once again being overtaken by anger. Her plentiful chest was heaving.

  “THIS WOMAN does not need to be briefed of anything because she has no intentions of staying here. I want to be taken home, now!” Meredith didn’t know that demanding would make any difference in her plea, but she was willing to give anything a try if it meant the possibility of going home.

  “You will not be taken home, you have been bestowed with the honor of being my next wife. You have no say in this decision, you will be my bride.” Placan took a step backward as he felt Meredith’s body begin to tremble with rage.

  “This may be how things are done on your planet, but where I come from this is not how it goes. You cannot and will not force me to do anything against my will.” The king exhaled loudly in exasperation.