Seized by the Alien: A Scifi Alien Romance (Fated Mates of the Titan Empire Book 3)

by Tammy Walsh

  He disappeared around the corner as he headed directly for his office.

  Tell everyone? Everyone who?

  An alarm bell rang between my ears.

  “Wait,” I said. “Who are you going to tell?”

  “It wasn’t only our household out looking for you,” he said. “I told my neighbors and they offered to help. I need to call them and let them know we found you. Then, of course, I have to call the police.”

  I came to an abrupt stop at the foot of his office. He rounded his desk and picked up the communicator.

  “The police?” My heart was in my throat. “What do the police have to do about this?”

  “They’re out looking for the kidnapper,” he said. “We can’t let them waste their time if we’ve already found you.” He spoke into the communicator. “Computer. Call Quill.”

  I didn’t care if he called his neighbors. It was good of them to try and look for us. But the police… It made me sweat to think about the awkward questions they might ask.

  I crossed the distance between us.

  “Don’t call them,” I said.

  “I have to,” he said.

  “Yes, but not right now.”

  He looked at me and sensed something was up, that something else was happening.

  I took a seat on the chair across from him.

  “I think you should sit down,” I said. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  Telling him the truth was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I licked my lips and my hands wrestled in my lap.

  “I’m not sure where I should start,” I said.

  “Start where all stories begin,” he said. “At the beginning.”

  Yes, but which beginning?

  “I guess the first beginning of the whole story was back on Earth,” I said. “I can’t tell you exactly when it happened because I honestly don’t know. Me and my friends were enjoying a party weekend. Hazel was getting married and we wanted to send her off in style. We were on our way home when this white light in the sky chased after us. It sucked us out of our minivan and the next thing I knew, I woke up in a shack in the middle of nowhere on Rang.

  “My master chained me to the wall and made me cook and clean for him. He used to beat me for stupid things. Missing a dirty spot on the floor that he just made, or burning his meal when I used ingredients I’d never even heard of before. Then one day, he made a pass at me. He tried to grab me, to… take advantage. I got angry and hit him over the head. I managed to knock him out and chain him to the wall.

  “I escaped and took what little money he had as payment for the work I’d done. I used it to buy a ticket. I wanted to head home, back to Earth, but it was too expensive. I didn’t have enough money, so I could only reach about halfway. That’s how I ended up here. I looked for a job and met with you. And, well, I guess you know the rest.”

  Traes just sat there. He didn’t say a word. It was hard to read his expression. I forced myself to look away and focus on telling him the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  So help me, God.

  “That’s why I wanted a hundred credits a week in payment,” I said. “So I could earn the thousand I needed to return home. But things can never be that simple, can they?”

  I took a deep breath. Now was the hard part.

  “The other day, when we were in town, that stranger that tried to kidnap us? He was the same man who kidnapped us last night. I guess you figured that out already. But there’s something you might not know yet…”

  Here it came. The big reveal. I raised my eyes and focused on his expression.

  “He’s the same guy who chained me to his wall,” I said. “He promised me he would find me one day. I guess he finally succeeded.”

  I sipped from a glass of water on the desk and wiped my mouth. My foot tapped nervously on the floor and I could barely sit still.

  Traes remained silent throughout my entire story. The blood drained from his face and he turned pale. He got up from his chair and moved toward the fireplace at the back. He braced himself on the mantelpiece.

  “You’ve lied to me this entire time?” he said.

  I took another sip of water. I might as well have not drunk it. My throat was still drier than the Gobi Desert.

  “I thought I had to,” I said. “I thought you would disown me if I told you the truth.”

  “It’s because of you this stranger came into our lives? Because of you, he kidnapped Cleb?”

  He put it boldly, so bluntly, it was difficult to refute. But I didn’t want to refute it, I reminded myself. I wanted to tell the truth.

  “Yes,” I said.

  He turned on me, quick as a snapping viper.

  “How could you do that to him?” he said. “How could you come into his life knowing you would leave him in ten weeks? Knowing this dangerous man was out there searching for you and not tell me?”

  “I didn’t think he would find me,” I said. “You have to believe me. I thought it was an empty threat, that he wouldn’t show up.”

  “And when he did turn up in town, why didn’t you or Cleb tell me you knew this stranger?”

  “Because…”

  This really was something I wasn’t looking forward to telling him. I shut my eyes and let my lips move.

  “Because I told him a story,” I said. “An extension of the story I used when I first arrived here. I told him I wasn’t a real governess. I told him I was an undercover spy who was here on a secret mission. I came up with it when I saw him playing with his spy toys. He reacted well to it. You saw how well he did after that. I got him to try new things by pretending like he was helping me with my secret mission.”

  “And are you a spy?” Traes spat. “Have you been sent here for some kind of corporate espionage?”

  “What? No. Of course not.”

  “Would you even tell me if you were?”

  He was angry and looking for things to get upset about. I was sure I could calm him down with the right words.

  “I’m telling you the truth now,” I said. “When I met you and Cleb… and I’ve never felt more at home in my life. I’m sorry I lied to you. I didn’t know you before. The only Titan I knew abused me. I didn’t know other Titans would be kind and decent people. I especially didn’t know I would fall in love with one.”

  I reached out a hand to touch his face, to kiss him if he would let me.

  He blocked my hand, shook his head, and turned away.

  “So what story did you tell Cleb in town?” he said.

  “I told him Asshole—sorry, that’s the name I use for the kidnapper because I don’t know his real name—was a bad spy.”

  “You lied to him too?”

  He looked disgusted with me and couldn’t even bear to look at me. He turned back to the fireplace and stared into it even though it wasn’t lit.

  “My sister made me the godfather of her only son,” Traes said. “He was the most important possession she had. I guess she thought I would make a good godfather because I had enough money to provide well for him. I’m not saying I was perfect—far from it. But at least I could give him a good start in life. He would never want for anything.”

  “You’ll be a great godfather.”

  “Do you know how his parents died?”

  “I thought they died in an accident?”

  “It was anything but an accident. It took me a long time to learn the truth. And at considerable expense. It turns out my darling sister and her loser husband were gamblers. They couldn’t pay their debts and the sharks came calling. My sister could have asked me for the money but she was too proud. That was probably why she asked me to be Cleb’s godfather. She knew one day she would be in that position.

  “I’ve been working to cover it up ever since,” he said. “Nobody knows the truth. Except for me, and now you. Cleb will never learn the truth about his parents and neither will anyone else. I’ll be his shield. I’ll protect him. Including from you. And I almost lost him because of you
. I won’t let that happen again.”

  His tone was hard as steel, just like the first time we met in his study. The warmth that’d grown toward me was now gone, replaced with ice-cold calm.

  “What are you saying?” I said.

  My emotions were pent up and ready to burst like a dam.

  He raised his eyes and caught mine.

  “I’m saying, I don’t want you in Cleb’s life anymore,” he said. “Or mine. I’ll pay for your ticket home. I never want to see you again.”

  The cold stark bluntness struck me full in the chest. I thought I’d be ready for them. I thought I could withstand the barrage. I thought I was ready for whatever he had to throw at me, but I couldn’t stand this.

  He turned away from me and faced the mantelpiece. I’d been dismissed. He wanted me to leave and never come back.

  I moved to step away, to head upstairs and pack my things, but I couldn’t move. I stood still, unsure of where to go or what to do.

  My mouth moved to speak but no words came out. My emotions ran high, then dry. One moment I was angry, the next disappointed. Then I was glad I’d told the truth. Regret featured heavily. I feared I might carry it for the rest of my life.

  I backed away, hustled out of the room, and ran up the stairs. A handful of servants greeted me with warm smiles and open arms.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I need to… My room… Sorry.”

  I ran past them, got to my room, and slammed the door shut behind me. I turned the lock, not wishing to be disturbed. I dug out my fancy S’mauggai bag and stuffed it with clothes. The world turned blurry and finally, unable to see what I was even putting in my bag, I stopped and let the tears cascade. I grabbed the bag and hurled it across the room.

  I ran my hands through my hair. I gripped it in my fists and screamed.

  I sank to the floor and sobbed.

  I packed the rest of my meager possessions and took a long shower. I kept turning it off to listen to the door. I thought I heard someone knocking. No one did. I hoped it would be Traes coming to give me a second chance.

  But he never did.

  When I emerged from my room, the hallways were empty.

  I went to Cleb’s door and listened intently. If Traes was inside, I didn’t want to be there. After about five minutes, I determined he wasn’t inside and entered.

  Cleb was still in bed, recovering from the adventure the night before. Someone had washed and dressed him in fresh pajamas. He was in a deep sleep.

  It was probably a good thing he was asleep. I didn’t think I could face whatever emotions he would throw my way.

  I sat on the edge of his bed and gently ran my fingertips through his hair the way he liked. He mumbled something in his sleep, turned to face me, and fell into an even deeper sleep.

  It hurt that I would never see him again, never hold him or brush his hair like this.

  Who could I blame but myself? There was no one else. It was my fault. If I could have gone back, if I could have told the truth from the start…

  Or even revealed my backstory when Asshole turned up in town. If I’d come clean, he would have forgiven me. I was sure of it.

  But I hadn’t.

  Instead, I’d allowed the lies to fester and grow, ruining the relationship I had with Traes and now, Cleb.

  I had lost them both.

  “I’m… going away for a while,” I said to Cleb’s sleeping form. “I want you to knuckle down and work hard. Do you hear me? You’re very smart. And remember, being a spy takes lots of hard work.”

  I couldn’t stop the tears. I let them come. I leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

  His spy figurines sat on his bedside table. The figurines that had saved both our lives.

  A shame they couldn’t save our future too.

  I picked one up. It was the little boy spy with a jet pack on his back. If I looked closely enough, it resembled Cleb. I hoped he wouldn’t mind if I took it. I tucked it in my bag.

  I would keep him with me always.

  I went into the bathroom to touch up my makeup and undo the damage my tears had done.

  I moved to the door and, before stepping out, glanced back at that tiny figure in the huge bed. He looked even smaller now I was leaving him.

  I shut the door and headed down the stairs. The servants were back at work performing their duties. The mood was dark and dull, the way it was when I first arrived.

  “Would you care for something to eat?” Waev said, meeting me at the foot of the stairs. “Or something to drink?”

  Even he had turned stiff again, although that was common enough for him. He usually was stiff.

  Did he know about my lies? Did he know the truth? Had Traes shared them with the servants?

  I didn’t think so. Traes wasn’t the gossiping type.

  At least that was a small mercy.

  “No, thank you,” I said. “I’m not hungry.”

  That wasn’t exactly true. But anything I swallowed would never stay down.

  Waev bowed deeply.

  “May I say, it’s been a pleasure having you stay with us,” he said. “You’ve made the world of difference to Cleb, and of course, to Traes.”

  He knew I was leaving. I supposed Traes had to tell the servants eventually. So why not tell them right away?

  “Thank you for everything,” I said. “I… really enjoyed myself here.”

  It was no good. I couldn’t speak with him any longer. I needed to grab my ticket from Traes and get out of there.

  I knocked on the door of his study.

  A commanding voice replied with:

  “Come.”

  I took a deep breath and opened the door. He glanced up at me and bent back down over his work.

  I approached his desk. Every step felt like a thousand miles.

  I stopped in front of him. Even now, as angry as he was and perched behind his desk, commanding his mini-empire, he was handsome. He would work all the hours he could.

  To quench the pain, I realized.

  It was his distraction. Some people liked to watch sport, others to exercise. For him, the solution to unwanted thoughts was work.

  “The ticket is on the desk,” he said, not looking up at me. “I hope you have a nice trip.”

  I opened the envelope. The ticket was for the most expensive option. I would have an entire private suite to myself. It would have taken me a year to afford to pay for it.

  “Thank you,” I said. “But I don’t want to stay awake for the journey. I want a pod.”

  His coping method was work. Mine would be sleep.

  The less I had to think over what happened, the better.

  “I’m sure they’ll downgrade you if you ask,” he said, signing a document and placing it in the out tray.

  He reached for the next report.

  I placed my hand on his. I felt the bolt of electricity.

  Did he?

  He gently removed his hand from under mine.

  I guess not.

  “We don’t have to do this,” I said. “We can try again. We can go slow. I can live in town and take care of Cleb. Maybe with time, you might want to see me again. One day.”

  “That time has passed,” he said.

  He pulled the document from the tray and placed it in front of himself. He bent over it.

  So, it really was over.

  For him.

  It would take me time to get over him.

  “Can you do me one favor?” I said.

  He didn’t say a word.

  “Don’t get him a strict governess,” I said. “He deserves someone kind and gentle. Someone who cares more about him than rules and regulations.”

  He scribbled on the report and placed it in the out tray.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” he said.

  He wasn’t interested in conversation. He just wanted me to leave.

  “Okay,” I said, dismayed and more than a little hurt.

  I got halfway to the door before I turned on my heel
.

  “And one more thing,” I said. “Don’t work so much. You have so much more to offer Cleb than just a comfortable upbringing. Cleb needs you. Now more than ever. Don’t bury yourself in work the way you used to. You’re ten times the man you used to be.”

  Unable to say another word for fear I would burst into tears, I quickly marched from the room.

  As I shut the door, I glanced up. I thought I saw him looking up from his document and watch me go.

  But that had to be impossible.

  Didn’t it?

  Traes

  I was suffering from the same problem.

  I slid my eyes down the page but the words made no sense.

  Nothing seemed to make much sense anymore.

  I wasn’t kidding anyone. Least of all myself.

  I got up from my chair and wandered over to the window. Waev worked in the garden, chatting amiably with the other workers. Even now, I found it hard to believe he wasn’t who I thought he was. He’d once been a soldier—a highly trained soldier—and he’d kept it from me all this time.

  He’d never lied to me. He just hadn’t divulged the complete truth. I never questioned who he was. You took people for who they presented themselves to the world as.

  Just as I had with Bianca.

  Had I been too harsh on her? It was difficult for me to trust someone who lied, especially when Cleb’s parents had done nothing but told mistruths.

  Their entire lives were a lie.

  Except for that humble core at their heart. Cleb. He was the only honest and true thing they had ever done.

  And because of Bianca’s lies, I almost lost him.

  I couldn’t let liars into his life. Not after they had dominated him until he came to me. I was his parent now and I had to protect him.

  Even from her.

  When Bianca reached over and touch my hand in the inbox earlier, I felt the same flutter in my chest, the same electricity pulse across the surface of my skin. She always had that effect on me.

  I was still in love with her.

  Still in love, and yet so angry I could scream. She didn’t need to remind me not to backslide into the man I had once been, the man I was before she changed me.

  I knew what was best for Cleb. I knew I would never return to being the same dour workaholic. But I also knew it was hard to fight one’s nature. You became the people you surrounded yourself with.