Kidnapping Keela (7 page)

“What is it? Why did you scream?” he asked sullenly.

“The … the …” uttered Keela, with difficulty, as one of the cats crept around her.

Keela’s heart was pounding madly. Why did she yet again not have a weapon in her hand when she needed one? She did not even have a knife and there were two of these beasts staring at her as if she would make a tasty snack.

Solima laughed as it dawned on her what the problem was.

“Are you afraid? But they’re harmless. Don’t you have cheetahs where you come from?”

“Yes, we do. Only … only they’re not harmless there. And not so … big,” explained Amber, her eyes wide.

“Can we carry on now?” asked Marruk who was clearly irritated by the whole thing.

“Of … of course,” said Keela, trying to ignore the two big cats as she carried on.

Berka was chuckling behind them. He obviously found the situation very amusing, unlike his brother.
 

“Shall I conquer the beast for you, Lady Amber?” Keela heard him say.
 

“Very funny,” Amber snapped back at him.

Keela looked round and saw that Amber’s face was bright red. It was not clear whether this was down to embarrassment, anger or because the blond warrior unsettled her.

Perhaps it’s a little of each
thought Keela.

They entered the palace through the side entrance. The long corridor that they were going down was decorated on both sides with tapestries showing various landscapes, hunting scenes and battle scenes. The corridor ended in a large hall and they turned left into another corridor. Marruk stood still at the bottom of the staircase and turned round. He nodded to Berka, who went up to Amber.

“Come with me, I’ll take you to your chamber,” he told her.

Amber and Keela exchanged looks of surprise.

“I thought we’d be staying together,” said Keela anxiously. “Also, we’re meant to be introduced to the king and queen.”

“We can’t just burst in,” explained Marruk impatiently. “You’ll first have the opportunity to freshen up and rest. Later I’ll officially introduce you.”

“But still I don’t understand why Amber and I can’t stay together,” Keela insisted stubbornly.

She looked at Marruk, her eyes glowing. As always his expression was impenetrable. Did this alien ever smile? He seemed to be a pretty sullen guy. Only when he spoke with his daughter did his facial features soften. But perhaps he simply did not like her. He must be nicer to his wife.

Damn it, Keela! Stop this crap! Anyone would think you were interested in this Mr. Arrogant!
she scolded herself.

“Lady Amber is going with my brother,” Marruk declared, showing no expression. “You’re coming with me and Solima.”

“You’ll see one another later,” Solima tried to console her. “Won’t they, father?”

Marruk nodded.
 

Berka took Amber by the arm and led her along the corridor whilst Marruk began to ascend the staircase. Keela felt a little uneasy, but she still had Solima with her whilst poor Amber was all alone.

Solima reached out for Keela’s hand and they followed Marruk up the stairs and along a corridor until Marruk stopped again. He opened a door and indicated that Keela should enter. She went into the room with Solima, whose whole face was beaming and who was looking expectantly at Keela.

“Wow!” gasped Keela, overwhelmed.

All of her concerns and irritations were forgotten.

The room was huge with a long window through which the room was flooded with light. In the middle of the room there was a large bed with a lot of pillows - in the corner there was a large, inviting corner couch with matching armchairs - the other corner was filled with a huge fountain and numerous plants. To Keela’s joy she discovered, in the midst of all the plants, a comfortable lounger and a small table with two chairs. If she were to sit there she would definitely feel as if she were in a garden. There were even fish in the fountain. Solima pulled Keela through the room and opened a door into a big bathroom lit by a glass-domed ceiling. At the back there was a bath sunk into the floor – it deserved to be called a pool because of its dimensions. One wall of the bathroom was completely covered in rocks and when Solima pressed a switch a waterfall rushed down making Keela cry out in surprise.

“I must be dreaming!” cried Keela. “A waterfall in the bathroom?”
 

“Do you like it?” asked Solima gleefully.

“Yes, it’s wonderful,” confirmed Keela, laughing. “But where’s the … uh … toilet?”

“It’s here!” said Solima, pressing another switch. The rock-covered wall next to the waterfall shower opened and there was another room with a toilet and a washbasin.

“And on this side …” said Solima, leading her to the other side of the bath and pressing another switch, which also opened a wall. “… is the beauty parlour.”

Keela’s chin literally dropped. The big room, dominated by enormous wall mirrors, was also lit from above by a glass roof. There was a long row of washbasins on one side and on the other side high shelving with every possible type of tube, container, comb, make-up and everything that someone, or, more precisely, a woman, could possibly think of to beautify herself. In the middle of the room was a high lounger that Keela thought a little out of place.

“And this is the best thing,” said Solima, going up to the lounger.

She pulled on a gold cord that hung from the ceiling near the lounger and a robot appeared. The robot had two hands that looked very human.

“At your service,” said the robot politely.

“What is that?” asked Keela in amazement.

“That’s a massage robot. It understands everything you say. You can say where and how he should massage you. He even makes polite conversation. He can also make you a drink.”

A grin spread over Keela’s face.

“I think I’ve arrived in paradise!”

Solima grinned, too.

“Solima. Can we go now?”came the impatient voice of Solima’s father.
 

“In a minute, father. I need to show Keela everything.”

They left the bathroom and Keela avoided looking in Marruk’s direction. He was still standing at the door and did not appear to be very happy about his daughter wasting so much time on her.

“I’ll just show you the clothes maker. Come on!”

Keela followed Solima through the enormous room. The girl opened a door and entered a room covered in mirrors from top to bottom. In the middle was a strange structure with a sort of screen and a machine.

“Get undressed and stand under here,” said Solima.

“Solima, I don’t think that I …”

“Please,” interrupted Solima. “I need to show you how it works!”

Keela sighed and slipped out of the dress that she had been given on board the
Cordelia.
Just wearing underwear, she stood under the machine. She felt rather silly and had no idea what to expect.
 

“Right, you press here first to switch it on. You see.”

Solima pressed a button and the screen came to life. A refined-looking woman appeared on the screen with a professional smile on her lips.

“Greetings, lady. How may I serve you?”

“Evening wear …” said Solima. “… that matches the colour of Lady Keela’s eyes.”

“As you wish. Please look at the selection!” said the woman’s voice from the computer.

Various dresses appeared, one after the other, all numbered.

“Number four,” said Solima, and an image appeared on the screen showing Keela in the requested dress.

“Oh no, not that one after all,” Solima decided. “Number seven.”

The picture disappeared and a different image of Keela appeared, this time in another dress.

“Perfect. That dress, please,” the girl decided.

Keela jumped in shock as the machine around her suddenly began to move. Before she could look down at herself she was dressed. The soft material moulded itself perfectly to her figure.

“That’s not possible,” she cried in astonishment, stepping out of the machine to look at herself in the mirror.

The dress really was the same colour as her eyes. It consisted of a close-fitting bodice decorated in golden ornaments and a wide, swinging skirt that fell to the floor. She moved a leg forward and saw to her amazement that she was even wearing golden dolly shoes.

“You absolutely will wear that when we go to the reception, won’t you?”
 

“What reception?” asked Keela.
 

“Well, the reception that’s taking place this evening for you and Amber, to introduce you. So, you’ll wear it, won’t you?”

“If it means that much to you,” Keela agreed with a sigh. At the moment she felt a little as if she were in a fairy tale and she was not yet sure whether she liked that.

“Great!” Solima was very happy.

Keela began to take off the dress and put it carefully over a stand before reaching out for the simple dress that she had been given on the ship.

“Solima, now we really must …,” she heard Marruk say.

Keela cried in shock as he was suddenly standing in the doorway, staring at her as if he had never seen a woman before. The hunger in his eyes unsettled her and made her pussy burn with desire.

Can the ground beneath me just open up and swallow me, please? – Damn it! Why can’t that happen just when I need it to?

Marruk froze and did not finish the sentence. He had not counted on seeing Keela half-naked. He thought that Solima would only be explaining to Keela how the clothes maker worked and had not expected them to try out the machine straight away. Being completely unprepared for this erotic sight he had no hope of suppressing his body’s reaction. Hard and painfully his arousal pressed against the tight material of his trousers. He cursed himself for squeezing himself into trousers today – something that he very rarely did.

Out of here, damn it! Out of here!
he urged himself, but his body would not listen to him and stood as if rooted to the spot.

He took in every detail of the bewitching woman before him: from her big green eyes; the slightly open mouth with the most kissable lips that he had ever seen on a woman; her slender, fit body with her firm breasts; right down to her perfect feet. He was grateful that she was at least wearing underclothes because he was already having a lot of trouble not forgetting everything around him and pulling her into his arms to take those sweet lips and taste their softness. He wondered what her skin would feel like under his hands and what she tasted like. Whether the same light blond hair also decorated the entrance to her feminity. He bit on his lip to suppress a groan. He had not felt such yearning for a long time. No! He had
never
felt such yearning.

“Father?” his daughter’s voice tore him from his trance and he swore quietly.

How could he have forgotten that his young, innocent daughter was there? He was standing here with a mega-erection, gaping at the breasts of a woman whom he neither really knew nor wanted to get to know. Had he not sworn that he would never give away his heart again? After Morika’s death he had sworn never to take another mate and only to tend to his small daughter.

Solima reached out for his hand.

“See you later, Keela,” said his daughter happily, pulling him away.

Keela was still standing there, frozen to the spot, long after Solima and her father had left. She had pressed the dress against herself to cover up her body and to her horror she was aware of a telling dampness in her panties. Her nipples were pressing hard and painfully against her bra. How could his look alone cause such a reaction in her? How could she forget that he was tabu? He had a wife and a child. Perhaps he even had more children. She had not asked Solima whether she had any siblings. Cursing, Keela flattened out the dress and staggered with weak knees out of the room. She could not get his expression out of her mind. Never before had a man looked at her like that. Also she had not missed the fact that he had had a huge bump in his trousers. He wanted her, there was no doubt about that. She would need to be carfeful. Because she would not be able to trust herself when it came him.
 

Chapter 5

Keela had spent the afternoon in a very relaxed way and had eaten a little something in her room with Solima and Amber. Later she had taken a long bath and had a shoulder massage from the massage robot. She had to admit that she had never had a better massage. And Rob, as she had named the robot, was entertaining, too. He had made her laugh with his stories and jokes and so distracted her from the forbidden feelings that she had for Marruk. Now she was dressed and her hair was done and she was waiting to be collected for the reception. She was horribly nervous. What would the royal couple be like? Would Marruk’s wife be there, too? It should not matter to her but she could not help herself. She hoped that she would not be witness to any intimacy between Marruk and his wife. It was bad enough that a man who was already taken was having such an effect upon her. She ought to forget all about men for a while. Had she not been hurt enough? What was more, she could not seriously consider getting involved with an alien. She should concentrate instead on how to get back home again. Perhaps there was a way.

There was a knock at the door.

“Yes,” she said, a little breathlessly.

The door opened and Marruk appeared. He looked stunning in his dark red, knee-length skirt, white shirt and a black plaid that was held in place with a golden clip in the form of a cheetah’s head with rubies as eyes. Marruk’s brown hair had been plaited into lots of thin braids, tied together at his neck with a black band.
 

“Are you ready?” he asked in a slightly husky voice that went right through her.

She did not miss the searching look that he gave her - and likewise the dangerous flash in his eyes. He should not look at her like that and she should not wish for things that she was not entitled to. For a moment, that felt like an eternity to her, he held her gaze, and butterflies danced in her belly, the way she had not felt it since she was a teenager. He took a few steps towards her and she had the unsettling feeling that he was going to take her in his arms and kiss her. She almost hoped that he would. Her heart beat faster and her lower body clenched unexpectantly. But he stood still just in front of her and held out his arm to her. Keela tried to fight off the disappointment. Her whole body seemed to cry out in protest, wanting to feel him in every possible intimate way. Instead she put her hand on his forearm as she had seen in old historical films and was led from the room.