Alien's Bride 1-3 (29 page)

I leaned my face into his caress.
 
“But Inga…”

“I told you it was pointless.
 
She gets a reprieve here.
 
That’s all.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in and out.
 
I didn’t let the actual thought of what I had to do form in my mind, but I knew.
 
It made a sob shudder up my chest.
 
Elentinus soothed my hair, but he didn’t know.
 
He had no…no idea.

“I told you not to take on the weight of her suffering.”

I tried to collect myself.
 
It was tough.
 
My only solace was clinging to the hope that there might be another answer.

“I wish she’d never come here,” I said.

Elentinus puffed out a forlorn sigh.
 
“It’s my fault.
 
I really thought that imbecile wanted help to change.”
 
He climbed into bed beside me.
 
“I’m naïve, Maritza.”

I kissed his soft lips and managed to laugh.
 
“So am I.”

He continued to caress my hair.
 
“It’s strange…how the two of us have turned out to be alike in so many ways.”

This gave me such a warm pang inside.
 
Looking into his eyes was like drinking ambrosia.

“That makes me think it was destiny,” I said.
 
“You and I were meant to be together.”

“I feel so certain of that.”
 
His voice had gotten breathy.
 
“I could never explain why, but I know it.
 
You were a gift to me from the gods themselves.”

I kissed him again.
 
He brought his hand around my head and lavished my mouth.
 
The kisses went deeper.
 
Our tongues started to slide against each other.
 
Then he rolled on top of me.

“We have to have dinner with them soon,” Elentinus said.

I wrapped my arms around him.
 
“Fuck them.”

“Such impudence!”

He sat up and threw me over his knee.
 
The dress didn’t allow me to wear the girdle underwear.
 
My skirt was thrown up and I was exposed.
 
He gently smacked his hand against my ass cheeks one after the other.
 

It was erotic.
 
It got me hot.
 

But I couldn’t stop giggling.

“Master!”

I froze.
 
Fortunately the curtain around the bed hid us.
 
Elentinus pulled my skirt back down all the same.
 
We crawled to the foot of the bed and peeked out.
 
Whore stood on the landing across the room.

“Lord Nayjoor would like his dinner now.”

“We don’t have time to have sex?” I said.

Whore became flustered.
 
“Do you require sex right now, master?”

Elentinus rubbed my back.
 
“I can wait.”

“I can’t,” I said.

“Yes you can!” Whore said.

“Boo.”

We met our guests in the lobby and walked to the dining hall together.
 
Inga latched on to my arm and tried to make us lag behind.
 
I struggled to keep up.

“Did you discipline her?” Nayjoor said.

Elentinus smiled.
 
“Yes.”

I managed to stifle a snort.

“It occurred to me that you’re in a very precarious position, Elen.
 
Your leniency could allow her to become a spy for our enemies.”

“Don’t be absurd.”

“Are you truly so bewitched?
 
Our own Dak-Hiliah women were helping the Cenes back in the day.
 
These human girls think we’ve enslaved them.
 
They see us as villains.
 
She’ll betray you even if she loves you.
 
She’ll feel it’s her fucking obligation.”

My stride began to falter.
 
Nayjoor’s words were like arrows piercing my soul.
 
My mouth went dry waiting for Elentinus’ answer.

“Lord Nayjoor,” Whore said, “with all due respect, you’re forgetting about me.
 
I’m not bewitched by the girl.
 
I’ve been keeping her in check.”

“Thank the gods for our servants, eh Elen?
 
Hor-Denay is saving your ass, no doubt.”

“There’s no strife in my house,” Elentinus said.

“So far as you know,” Nayjoor said.

I became nauseous.
 
Inga was digging her nails into my arm and I couldn’t even feel it.

Nayjoor took the seat across from me at the dining table.
 
I focused on the Domestics serving us rather than meet his eyes.

“My dear Maritza,” Nayjoor said, “Since you were so talkative before, why don’t you give me your opinion on a few things?”

“Leave her alone, Nayjoor,” Elentinus said without menace.

“Pah!
 
I thought she was your equal who could speak freely.”
 
He sipped his drink.
 
“Don’t worry.
 
I’ll go easy on her.”

I set down my utensil and looked at him.

“What do you think of the Dak-Hiliah?”

I glanced at Elentinus.
 
He looked annoyed, but didn’t signal me to stay silent.

“Where I came from we’re taught to judge someone based on the merits of the individual.
 
We don’t pass judgment based on someone’s race.
 
You and my husband are the same race, but are completely different.”

“My word!
 
Your wife is a diplomat, Elen.
 
And she’s quite a bit smarter than Inga.”
 
He turned to his wife.
 
“You never told me your world was so idealistic.”

“I’m Russian.
 
She’s American.”
 
Inga spat out her words with disgust.
 
“Her country was rich.
 
My country was poor.
 
Her people had the luxury of idealism.”

“Is that so?” Whore said.

“Anyway.”
 
Nayjoor wiped his mouth.
 
“Don’t you think we’re villains?
 
Enslaving worlds and so forth.”

I took a bite of food to have time to consider.
 
Honesty was usually the best way to go when someone was trying to trap you, but then, it might be used against me later if the shit went down with Inga.

“I think there’s hope for a happy future between our two peoples.”

“That’s easy for you to say from here.
 
Don’t you think your people might be suffering down on the planet?
 
Perhaps there was a reason your husband didn’t show you the colony.”

“If you insist,” Elentinus said to Nayjoor, “I’ll arrange a trip down tomorrow.
 
It’s a cumbersome undertaking.
 
Last time we landed I had issues to deal with.
 
A tour wasn’t feasible.”

“I insist,” Nayjoor said.

“Thank you, husband,” Inga said.

“Of course, my darling.”
 
He reached over and took her hand.
 
“See?
 
This trip is just what we needed.”

Elentinus and I looked at each other.
 
I shrugged.
 
He managed a smile.

***

Inga caught me alone in the bathroom before we retired for the night.
 
She clutched my sleeve with her usual white knuckle desperation.
 

I focused on her reflection in the mirror.
 
“Even considering what you want makes me sick to my stomach.”

“You listen to me—“

“No.
 
You listen.
 
I love my husband.”
 
I tried to be stern, but it was useless.
 
I was already crying.
 
“I didn’t ask to get dragged into your drama.”

“Shut up.
 
Give me the control unit after we come back from Earth tomorrow.
 
It’s perfect for you.
 
They’ll think one of the slaves helped me.”

I closed my eyes and winced.

“Don’t be a selfish bitch!
 
You found it, didn’t you?”

I gave the barest nod.

“I knew it.
 
Do you have it on you?”

“I…I’ll have to get it when he’s in the shower or something.”

“Then do it!
 
Don’t fuck this up for me.
 
Even if he said three or four days, those two are arguing so much we’ll probably get kicked out tomorrow.”
 
A noise outside the door made her dart a look back.
 
“And you better pretend to be ignorant and innocent once I’m gone.
 
Don’t give away any secrets.”

“I want a different solution,” I said.
 
“One that doesn’t make me betray my husband.”

“Fuck you.
 
There is none.”
 
She stormed out, but not before giving me a final threatening glare.

There has to be.

I stayed in the bathroom several more minutes to finish crying.
 

I tried my best to clean up, but Elentinus still noticed my swollen face when I climbed into bed.
 
He drew me into his large arms.

“Don’t be sad, my dear.”

I sniffled.
 
“Sorry.”
 

Every time I spoke to Inga I walked away with a storm cloud over my head.
 
I’d been looking forward to time alone with Elentinus, now my chest ached with too much emotion to enjoy him.
 
I wished we could have had a quickie earlier.
 
If we went at it now I’d have to fake it.
 
Elentinus deserved better than that.

“Do you want to get drunk?”

“Heck yeah.”
 
My instinctive answer came with a twinge of guilt.
 
“We…we shouldn’t drink just because we’re stressed though.
 
We could get addicted.”

Elentinus smiled at me.
 
“You can’t get addicted to this.
 
Not even Sasha could.”

“Will it be that stuff you gave me the first time we…?”

“No.
 
This won’t paralyze you.”
 
He ran his fingers through my hair.
 
“I prefer you active.”

I shined a smile at him.
 
“Bring it on.”

He had a Domestic bring us two glasses of brown liquid.
 
I showed Elentinus how to toast and we downed them.
 
The warm liquid seeped through me, spreading euphoric tingles.
 
My worries drifted away to some hazy place my mind couldn’t reach.
 
I let my eyes roll back in my head while savoring it.
 
Elentinus always made things right.
 
I was lucky…so lucky.
 
As I looked at his beautiful face my anguish turned into tearful joy.
 
I dove at him and locked our lips together.
 
His mouth tasted like the sweet Dak-Hiliah wine.