by Sue Mercury
Alien’s Beloved Bride
(Mail Order Human, Book Five)
by Sue Mercury
Copyright 2017 by Sue Mercury
All rights reserved
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Sue Mercury. All names, brands, characters, and settings, etc. are purely from the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real people, real brands, and real locations is a coincidence. Contact: [email protected]
Published by Sweet Savage Press, LLC
About this book:
Riley eagerly boards the Starship Matchmaker, desperate to escape all the heartbreak she’s known on Earth, only to find her hopes for a better life soon shattered. The starship is attacked and she’s sold to a fearsome creature—who displays her as a curiosity in an alien marketplace. Just when she thinks her situation can’t get any worse…here comes a deadly flash flood. But to her utter surprise, she’s beamed onto a ship, where a huge green alien greets her and claims he’s her mate. Though she’s grateful for his help and can’t stop admiring his muscle-bound physique, she wonders if she’s truly safe with him.
Zurron is enraged by Riley’s treatment in the alien marketplace. He vows swift and brutal vengeance upon the creature who bought her, but first he must get her settled safely on his home planet. He’s entranced by her delicate beauty and light blue eyes, and his blood heats at the prospect of finally claiming her. He delights in exploring every part of her and making her blush hard, and he’s thankful to finally have a female to call his own. But when tragedy befalls Zurron’s family, honor and duty dictate that he must depart Norina and go to battle.
Riley finds it difficult to believe the very alien who kissed her senseless and made her body hum with pleasure possesses such a violent and vengeful side. Yet she longs for his homecoming and fears being given to another Norinan male if he perishes in battle. Will the hunky green alien who’s captured her heart return before it’s too late?
Excerpt:
She looked nervous, and he wondered if she detected the primal needs flaring within him. The outline of her nipples showing through her white shirt made him go painfully hard. A breeze ruffled her hair and sent her intoxicating feminine scent straight to his nostrils. Fluxx.
He couldn’t stop the growl rumbling from his throat. Grabbing her by her shoulders, he peered into her frightened gaze and anticipated stripping her clothes off and claiming her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly with her increasing breaths and her face reddened.
“You are the most beautiful female I’ve ever seen, my Riley.” He released one of her shoulders to stroke her hair. It was still messed up from her ordeal on the alien planet, but he thought she looked adorable so disheveled, as if she’d just been tumbled roughly in bed.
Her hair would be more tangled by the time he was finished with her, and her cheeks would be flushed an even darker shade of pink.
“I, um, thought there was to be a celebration today?” Her voice wavered with uncertainty, and though a dark part of him relished her nervousness, the part of him that always wanted her to feel safe with him spoke next.
“The celebration will occur in the late afternoon, after we have mated, Riley.” He tightened his hold on her when she tried to back away. “Don’t be afraid, my beloved. I will be gentle during our mating. I promise not to hurt you.”
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter One
Riley shifted on the bed of hay and winced. The manacles on her ankles were digging painfully into her flesh. She stared through the bars of her cell, her gaze drifting around the alien marketplace. Her stomach rumbled as a food cart passed by. The aroma of roasted meat made her delirious with hunger.
A sense of utter hopelessness settled upon her. Even if she managed to escape this hell, where would she go? From what she’d observed, the inhabitants of this planet weren’t hospitable, nor did they speak her language.
Would she be kept in this cage for the rest of her miserable life?
When she’d signed up for Mail Order Human and departed Earth on the Starship Matchmaker several weeks ago, she hadn’t known entirely what to expect, but she certainly hadn’t counted on the ship getting attacked before she was delivered to her mate on the distant planet of Norina. She also hadn’t counted on being put in cage like an animal.
Outside her cell, all manner of odd looking aliens walked by. Some of them paused to gawk at her, even pointing and whispering with one another, as if she was a great curiosity. She supposed to them she was the strange one, lacking facial ridges, fur, or scales. Or tentacles.
She shuddered.
Most of the looks directed at her were unnervingly callous, a reminder that she would find no mercy on this planet. No help of any kind.
At least it wasn’t cold. She peered down at her nakedness, having long lost her sense of modesty. She hadn’t been permitted clothing in over two weeks. Each morning she awoke, she added another day to her mental count.
Today marked sixteen.
Sixteen days as a prisoner. Or a sideshow exhibit.
The only consolation in her horrifying predicament was that none of the aliens on this planet had shown any interest in her sexually. When the large, four-armed creature who apparently owned her now had first stripped her clothes off, she had feared the worst.
But Four Arms seemed to want her naked to please the shoppers who came through the busy market each day. To walk close enough to peer through the bars of her cell, they had to toss coins into a bucket. Anyone who didn’t pay got their nose bloodied by Four Arms.
A freak show. Riley shook her head in disbelief. She’d felt trapped on Earth, but at least she hadn’t been kept in a prison cell. Each time she heard the clang of coins hitting the bucket, her blood boiled under a hot flash of degradation.
Did every alien on this planet lack a conscience?
Guilt besieged her for having once thought she had it bad living in her stepfather’s crowded house. He hadn’t been particularly kind to her, instead showing favor to his biological children and several nephews he’d taken into his care. He’d also continually pressured her to marry one of the drug dealers to whom he supplied guns.
Now the prospect of living as a violent drug dealer’s wife didn’t sound so awful. If she could turn back time and marry one of her stepfather’s asshole friends, she would do it in a heartbeat and consider herself the luckiest girl in the universe.
How long would Four Arms keep her in this cell?
Would she ever be permitted clothing?
She hugged her legs to her chest and eyed the darkening sky. A sudden breeze ruffled her tangled hair around her shoulders. Lightning flashed in the distance, illuminating the faraway snow-capped mountains. A flock of massive birds swooped down from the trees of a small wooded area, momentarily casting shadows over the streets before disappearing beyond the city.
An alarm started blaring, much like the alarm that had sounded when the Starship Matchmaker had been attacked. Near the closest shops, a large red light flashed at the top of a pole. Though it had been located straight across from her all this time, she hadn’t noticed it until now.
Screams resounded all around her, and the marketplace began to clear, the aliens scattering
as the vendors shuttered their shops. The merchants themselves ran off after closing their doors and windows, leaving her perplexed. Why was everyone running as if their lives depended on it?
Four Arms exited the large tent he called home. He turned to her cage and fumbled with a key—the key to her cage, she realized with horror—but dropped it and shook his head, as if he didn’t have a second to spare in retrieving it from the dusty ground.
He spun on his heel and rushed down the street.
“Hey! Come back!”
But he didn’t come back. He didn’t even spare a glance over his shoulder as he hurried around the corner of a clothing shop and disappeared in the swelling crowd. More aliens sprinted from their shelters, many of them carrying large sacks.
Riley swallowed hard.
Did the dark storm clouds signal something worse than rain? During the other times she’d witnessed it raining on this planet, no one had evacuated the marketplace, and the red light hadn’t flashed, nor had any alarms blared.
Unfortunately, from her place in the cell, she couldn’t glimpse much in the surrounding area, other than a few building tops. Were the aliens running from the marketplace only, or from the entire city?
Thunder rumbled overhead, so loud the ground actually shook. Panic rose in her chest. She had a sick feeling something horrendous was about to happen and she would be left to fend for herself.
For the umpteenth time, she tried to pry the bars apart, but her efforts proved futile. Even if she forced the bars open, she would never succeed in escaping because of the manacles on her ankles. She called out for help, but there was no one left.
The marketplace was now eerily deserted. A loud crack of thunder made her gasp, and the ground shaking harder beneath her reaffirmed her suspicions that all hell was about to break loose.
“Help! Somebody! Anybody!” She stood on her tiptoes and stared in awe at the sky. Ominous gray clouds whirled straight for the city, traveling faster than any clouds she’d ever seen. With each flash of lightning, the spinning clouds lit up bright red.
Like blood.
Fear tightened her stomach. When the sky finally opened above her, the flooding was almost instant. She barely had time to scream before the rapid moving water reached her knees.
She clutched the bars and yelled for help, though she knew in her heart no one would come. Four Arms had left her to die, and no one else would rescue her.
The water rose to her chest in mere moments.
She didn’t even know the name of this planet, yet she was about to die here. She’d been so determined to leave Earth that she hadn’t considered the risks. Space travel was rife with danger, and many alien species had a reputation for violence. But she’d believed the representative from Mail Order Human when he promised her new husband would be kind and that her circumstances would vastly improve after she left Earth.
Too late, she realized she’d fallen for a sleazy salesman’s pitch.
Tears burned in her eyes. She cursed this cage and the restraints holding her captive. She was an excellent swimmer. If not for the bars and her manacles, she might swim to safety. Or at least die trying.
Water sloshed against her neck.
She closed her eyes.
*
Zurron navigated his ship through the raging storm. His sources—well paid smugglers who’d witnessed the human females’ auction on a nearby trading post—claimed his mate was likely being held on this planet.
Initial scans for human life pointed to the southern tip of the largest continent, right in the middle of the bad weather. The blip of a human life sign on his radar screen pinged fainter and fainter, causing his concern to grow.
Perhaps his female was in trouble. His hands flew over the ship’s controls as he prepared to beam her aboard. As soon as she was within minimum range, he would activate the transporter beam and rescue her from the alien who’d bought her. If not for the storm, he would land the ship and track down the four-armed creature, then make him pay for any harm he’d visited upon his mate.
But vengeance would have to wait.
He couldn’t land in a flood. The ship’s sensors warned of fast moving water below, and his heart lurched at the thought of how frightened his mate must be in this moment. Her life signs were weak, but he hoped it was due to the storm’s interference on the ship’s sensors.
Finally, his female—the one called Riley—was within range of the transporters. He activated the transporter and beamed her aboard, then immediately set the ship to hover. The storm was strong, but his ship could withstand a few more minutes of abuse while he checked on her.
He hurried for the transporter platform down the narrow corridor.
The door slid open upon his approach and he went straight for the naked female huddled on the floor. Heaving coughs racked her body, and she spit up a small amount of water. She peered at him with wide blue eyes once her coughing was under control. Relief swept through him to have found her before the flood swept her away.
He crouched in front of her and tucked her wet hair behind her ears.
Finally. She was finally safe.
“Are you injured, Riley?” he asked, hoping she understood his English. He’d studied her tongue extensively after coming to an agreement on price with Mail Order Human, but he hadn’t yet practiced the language with a native speaker, only with his brothers.
Confusion spread across her delicate features, and she tucked her knees against her chest.
“Human female, can you understand me?
“Yes, I can understand you,” she said, her voice hoarse. “I-I’m not injured, thanks to you. Wh-who are you?”
He rose and grabbed a blanket from a storage cabinet, then draped it over her shoulders. A look of appreciation warmed her eyes. She clutched the blanket around her and released a shuddering breath.
Star Gods, she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever beheld.
“I am Zurron, from the planet called Norina.”
Her gaze lifted and she appeared to study him intently. She swallowed hard. “Norina? Does that mean you’re my…” Her words trailed off and her face reddened.
“I am your mate, Riley. I began searching for you after my people learned of the fate of the Starship Matchmaker.” He crouched in front of her again, his fingers tingling with the need to touch her further, but he kept his hands to himself, not wishing to frighten her. He could only imagine what kind of horrors she had endured in captivity on the planet below.
Why was she naked? His jaw clenched, rage pumping through his veins. After he got Riley settled in his home back on Norina, he would return and tear the four-armed creature apart. No one touched what belonged to him.
When Riley flinched and scooted away, it took him a moment to realize the fierceness of his visage must have unnerved her. He instantly softened his expression and held his hand out.
“I will not harm you, Riley. You belong to me, and I vow to keep you safe, always. Come to me now and let me tend to you, my human. My beloved.”
Chapter Two
Riley could scarcely breath. She huddled underneath the warm blanket and stared at the huge alien who claimed to be her mate. His skin was a brilliant shade of green. He wore a short sleeved shirt that hugged his massive biceps and dipped into a large V to reveal black ragged stripes crossing his broad muscular chest. She wondered if the markings were natural to his race, or if they were tattoos.
Kindness shone in his dark gaze. He still held his hand out to her.
Could she trust him?
She gulped, wincing at the burning in her throat and nose caused from the water she’d inhaled—after she’d been unable to hold her breath for a second longer. She’d felt faint and believed she was about to meet her death in a watery grave, only to suddenly find herself transported elsewhere, as if by magic.
“I-I’m on a ship?” she asked, looking around at the gray walls. Buttons on a panel by the door flashed yellow, green, and red. The only furniture in the room,
a bench, was bolted to the floor. Cabinets were built into the walls and the overhead lights cast a soothing white glow about the room.
“Yes. This my personal craft, the Marunna. We’re the only two aboard.” He reached his hand closer to her, and after a deep breath, she grasped onto him and allowed him to pull her up.
He wrapped his arms around her, letting her lean against him. Her futile struggle to escape the cage as the rushing water rose higher and higher had left her weary, and believing she’d been about to die had shaken her beyond measure.
I’m safe, she thought. I didn’t die on that awful planet.
Tears burned in her eyes, and she blinked rapidly to dispel the moisture, not wishing to appear weak in front of her mate. Her stepfather had yelled at her and called her pathetic every time she cried, and Four Arms had sneered at her when she tearfully begged him to set her free. What if her mate’s people didn’t like such displays of emotion?
“You’re trembling, Riley. Are you certain you haven’t been injured? Perhaps I should take you to the medical bay.”
She shook her head and peered up at him. He spoke English amazingly well, without a translator of any kind, it would appear. The words issued directly from his mouth in a deep rumbling tone that made her insides quiver, and his alien accent was ever so faint and lent an extra layer of exoticism to him.
My beloved.
That was what he’d called her moments ago. Her heart clenched at the tender possessiveness he was showing her. As she’d prayed for rescue in her cage, it hadn’t occurred to her that the very alien she’d been promised to might be searching for her.
By some miracle, he had found her just in time.
He cupped her face in his big green hands and gazed upon her with concern. Stepping back slightly, he let his eyes drift up and down her body, though she did her best to conceal her nudity with the blanket.
His nostrils flared when he noticed the wounds on her ankles.
“I will kill the creature who harmed you.” His entire body tensed, and she hoped never to find herself on the receiving end of his anger.
