Deceit: BBW Alien Lottery Romance (Chosen by the Karal Book 1) (8 page)

“Are you in pain?”

“No. No, please don’t worry. It just different, that’s all.”

“I’ve brought you food.”

She smiled, looking a little more like the woman who had boarded his ship on Earth. He shouldn’t care; he knew it shouldn’t matter. But he wanted her to be happy here in his home. “Thank you.”

“I have to go out. Your bags are here. Please make yourself at home.”

She sat up at that. “Where are you going?”

“I have to go and report to the Hierarchy.”

“To tell them that we…”

“No. Well, not just that. It is customary for us to visit when we return from Earth.”

“I see. What should I do?”

“Stay here. You may go in the garden if you want to. But I would prefer it if you stayed in the house.”

“Am I a prisoner?”

“No. At least not in the sense you think. But you are the only woman on the planet.”

“Would I be in danger if I left here?”

“I don’t know. At least, no. But the mating urge... I don’t know how strong it is in the others.”

“Will you be long?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll stay inside. Thank you for the food.”

He turned to leave, and then caught a glimpse of her down-turned mouth. He knew that whatever men and women did after sex, bringing her food was not it. He would have to try to learn from her and update the records so that the next volunteers would know how to make it easier for their women.

Being the first Karalian to take a mate was not going to be easy. Earth women were the most advanced of those his species had mated with in the past. It was going to make for some interesting times for his planet.

Elissa ate the food he had brought her, but hated doing so alone. After they made love, she had expected him to stay, to hold her. But he didn’t understand how desperately lonely she now felt, trapped in a world full of alien men. His warning about not going outside, although veiled, worried her. If she was never allowed to leave the house, except if accompanied by Marin, it meant she might just as well be a prisoner, or a sex slave.

Neither of which appealed to a woman from the modern world that Earth was. She was equal to any man, on Earth at least. They had become weaker, while women had remained strong. In many ways, they were the dominant sex. She knew it was different here; she also knew they might have to change their rules once more Earth females came to live here. No way were all the lottery winners going to be content to stay at home all day every day.

She ate his food, taking note that the vegetables looked like carrots yet tasted like apples, and the meat tasted like nothing she had ever encountered. Maybe the animal it came from was similar to some species that had long died out on Earth; she had no idea. What passed for meat on Earth was usually textured vegetable protein. There was not enough land to farm animals. Except those bred for the tables of the pents.

Once her hunger was satisfied, she got out of bed and found a shirt to pull on. She couldn’t face putting on her own clothes again, not until after she had a shower. (If such a thing existed.) She needed to wash; the decon' had left her feeling too clean, if that was possible, and she longed for some fragrance to scent her skin.

Trying all the different doors coming off the bedroom, she found a walk-in wardrobe, although it contained few clothes, and a laundry room. At least that was what she thought it was. The machines looked different from those on Earth. But then there was no reason they would look the same. The planets were light years apart; only the wormhole allowed the Karalians to travel backwards and forwards between the two planets.

Behind the third door, she found what must be the bathroom. First, she headed for the toilet, hoping it was obvious how you got rid of waste. Luckily there was a flush, but it didn’t use water, and she decided she would have to ask him to explain that to her when he returned. She figured it was some kind of compostable solution, so there was no need for sewers, but she wasn’t sure.

The next stop was the shower. Here she found she was out of luck if she expected water. It must work similar to the decon' system, she thought. But she had been unconscious for that, so she wasn’t sure. A mixture of something resembling dry powder covered her skin and then blasts of dry air took it off, leaving her skin fresh, but she missed the feeling of wet hair piled on her head. Showering was one of the things she would miss about Earth. That and her friends.

Trying not to feel too sad, she went back to the bedroom and tried to work out if she should take some of his wardrobe space. Eventually she decided there was enough room for her clothes next to his. She took her bags, lifted them onto the bed, and unpacked. Her clothes hung rather colourfully next to Marin’s. It seemed that because of the changing colours of their skin, they wore boring, often drab colours. Still, it wouldn’t be the only thing about her that stood out.

Her toothbrush was the next problem. She went back into the bathroom and looked for some water; there must be some, surely. It took her a while, but she found a washbasin, you had to push down a switch for a panel to slide out. Opening her wash bag, she took out her toothbrush, wondering if it was possible to give herself a wash with her flannel. It might be the closest she got to a shower. Feeling tired, she decided to leave it for tonight. Only when she took out her toothpaste did she find a tube of lotion she had never seen before.

Her heart rate increased. Where had it come from?

Gathering everything back up, she headed back to the bedroom. There she carefully took everything out from her bags and laid them on the bed. There were a few other innocent-looking bits and pieces that she had not seen before. She went over everything, trying to recall if they belonged to Tikki or Reja, because none of the things were new. They were worn, which was what made so little sense. Until she smelt the lotion.

Dropping it on the bed, she put her hands over her mouth and walked to the window. It looked out onto his garden, so well kept and secluded. For minutes, she simply stared at it. Then she returned to the bed, picked up all the things that were not hers and placed them in her wash bag. Then she went out to the garden.

At first, she simply walked around, pretending to admire it, smell the blooms, and inspect the fruit and vegetables that grew so prolifically. What she was really doing was trying to judge where she could bury her wash bag. She needed somewhere it would not be discovered too easily. Whoever had put the things in her bags had been very careful to raise no suspicions when her luggage was scanned.

Visions of the resistance rally came flooding back to her. The bomb used that day probably consisted of similar materials. It was thought that several people had brought the different components needed. Then at a prearranged point, they had come together, one by one passing their parts to each other until it was assembled. This was why the finger of blame had been pointed at Elissa; she had arranged the rally. She had done it to provide cover for the bomber, but there was no proof, so no charges had been brought.

It was all lies, but she had been responsible. Responsible for giving Harri the opportunity to carry out the blast. He had never admitted it, but over the last few months, she had pieced it all together. And his visit at the hospital along with his threat to Tikki had confirmed it. But she had nothing concrete to offer the authorities.

Elissa dropped to her knees and began to scrape at the dirt. Placing her wash bag in the hole, she covered it up. Standing, she looked at the spot, hoping Marin would not see the freshly dug earth. Then she went back to the house to wash, her thoughts filled with worry for her sister.

The tower loomed up in front of him. It was the tallest man-made structure on Karal; every other building hugged the ground, blending in to their surroundings. But not the tower. It was meant to be seen and not just as the symbol of power. It also held the laboratories, libraries, and universities. It was here where all knowledge came together, for the greater good.

Well, that was the theory, but it still boiled down to the Hierarchy trying to look impressive. That was the view of most on Karal, and no doubt, that had always been the view. Not that anyone cared, most of his fellow men enjoyed living away from here; it always felt better knowing there was no Hierarchical guard watching your every move. Especially when you grew some kind of contraband in your garden. There were certain fruits that were not permitted to be grown, except for medicinal purposes. But mostly, a blind eye was turned.

He wanted to get this over with; he needed to get back to work in his lab, housed in one of the buildings around the tower. His time on Earth dealing with the lottery had also left his chores undone. As he had left his house, he noticed his solaris needed cleaning. Dust had settled on it, blocking out the rays from the dual suns. With two people using power, he would need to make sure it could cope with the extra output.

The Karal used solar power for everything. Why wouldn’t they when they had the rays from two suns to convert into electricity? As he entered the tower, he thought of the giant stars in the sky, always dancing around each other, never quite meeting. It was as he and Elissa would be once she was with child. On the same planet but never meeting.

This was in his mind when he presented himself to the Hierarchy.

“Marin, you have worked hard to bring the female here. Credits to you.”

“Thank you.” The credits would be useful—he needed more tools for his garden—yet he felt strangely awkward about taking payment for bringing the woman he had mated with here.

“How do you find her? Satisfactory?” The Hier Ruler asked.

“Yes. More than satisfactory.”

“In what way?” The Hier Commander stepped forward to inspect him. His eyes were watching the colours on Marin’s face. “Ah, you have already mated with her. A swift coupling. Tell me, did she fight you?”

“No. She was more than willing.”

“Indeed. A ploy to allow you to give her freedom, no doubt.”

“I do not think so, Hier Commander. The emotions she passed to me were not deceitful.”
Not now, at least.

“Then she has hidden it well. We must be more careful.” The Hier Ruler sounded concerned.

“I do not understand. These humans enjoy the very act of procreation. Is it impossible she might
want
to mate?” Marin asked.

“I hate to be the one to disappoint you. I can see you have grown fond of her already. A mistake. You know she will go to the breeding centre when she is with child.”

“It is tradition, I know. But she is not like our mothers.”

“It is tradition for a reason. And perhaps when you see this, you will understand why it is best for her to be taken from you and put where she can do no harm to you or us,” the Hier Commander warned.

He turned to a big screen. There a grainy picture appeared; in a second or two the image cleared and he could make out Elissa, she was in hospital. A man appeared, dressed as one of the people who nursed her. He spoke to her and then gave her something. What humans call a stimulant, or stim’, but what kind he couldn’t tell. She had not appeared to be the kind of woman who took drugs for the sake of it, but then she didn’t seem to be the kind of woman who would organise the bombing of an embassy.

“What is this?” Marin asked.

“The male she is talking to is the accomplice from the bombing. Since that day, they have stayed miles apart. It appears he could not let her go without visiting her won last time. It has given us the information we need.”

“What do you intend to do?” Marin asked, trying to cover his emotions.

“I believe that accidents are quite common on the Earth. I have a contact who will make sure he meets one. But first we are going to monitor him, find out who he can lead us to,” the Hier Commander said.

On the screen, the man was walking out past him. It made Marin angry to know the man responsible for the death of Karalians had been within his reach. But then the woman responsible was also in his reach, and even though he searched his emotions, he found no hatred for her. Only desire.

“And the woman?” Marin asked.

“Proceed as planned. We need to start the breeding programme; we are already ten years behind. Our search was long and arduous. I still would prefer to keep peace with the humans and see if we can find a way to prolong their existence so that we will always have a reservoir of breeding stock,” the Hier Ruler said.

“So you want me to find a way to be at peace with her?”

“Yes. See if there is a way the past can be put behind us. We will take our revenge on this man. He is of no use to us. In fact, it might be wise to kill off a good many of the males. That would stem the population rise.”

The Hierarchy walked away, and Marin took this as his cue to leave. His thoughts wrapped up around Elissa and her deceit. He had thought she was coming around to him, but he wasn’t sure now. He needed to know what the man had given her. And what she intended to do with it.

“SimCoff is fine,” Elissa said, as Marin poured boiling water over a red powder.

“I refuse to make that stuff, it’s disgusting.”

“I like it,” Elissa insisted. She wanted to use the stimulant to ward off the way he made her feel. It was down to his skin and the way he could affect her emotions; she was sure of it. If not, she was on dangerous ground, because she remembered when she first started dating Harri, he made her feel like this. It had left her open to his lies.

With Marin, her stomach had butterflies every time he came near, and her body wanted to press itself close to his, to
feel
the colours of his skin. Last night she had discovered they gave a faint electric current across the new skin on her hands. It had made her attuned to him in a way she had never felt with a human. This was what frightened her so much.

If she had been so deceived by Harri, whom she had thought loved her, but really only wanted to use her for the resistance’s work, then what chance did she stand against Marin, a man who could open her mind up to so much more? What frightened her most was what he could teach her about herself, feelings and desires she never knew she had. He had awoken something deep inside her.