Chapter Eight
“It’s time to wake up.”
The low voice humming near her ear sounded familiar, but she ignored it. Instead, she snuggled deeper into her pillow, not ready to get up yet, for two very compelling reasons. First, she still felt the drag of exhaustion in every hair on her head and every pore in her skin, and second, she’d been in the midst of a very pleasant dream.
Walking in the rolling surf on the beach where she’d played as a girl, she slanted her face up to the sun, enjoying the heat on her cheeks, while the froth of the warm waves tickled her toes. It was idyllic, made even more so by the firm grasp of a strong hand holding hers. Looking down, she took in the darkly tanned skin, and long fingers then moved up a muscled forearm, over a thick bulging bicep, to unbelievably broad shoulders and beyond to a strikingly handsome face in profile. As if feeling her gaze, he turned his head and looked down at her, flashing a brilliant white smile, intensely beautiful light-purple eyes crinkling at the corners. The wind whipped his long, thick hair out behind him, and she watched as it gleamed darkly in the sun.
God, he was gorgeous. She couldn’t keep from staring, entranced by his natural grace and fluidity of movement for such a big man.
“Little captain,” the voice in her ear persisted.
Pulling on his hand, she tried to get him to hurry and leave the irritating interruption far behind. But he shook his head, smiling sadly, and said, “You must wake.”
Maggie frowned when he stopped walking. “No, come with me,” she pleaded, confused why he wouldn’t continue down the beach with her.
“You’re dreaming.” This time the soft words in her ear were accompanied by a light shake of her shoulder. “We have arrived at Primaria and will begin transporting down within the hour.”
Her eyes popped open, and a flood of memories rushed into her head. She twisted around. Commander Roth leaned over her, his beautiful purple eyes and handsome face the same as the man in her dream. But rather than smiling down at her like a moment before when he held her hand as they walked in the sand, or like the lover from last night who gazed at her with such passion, this man stared down at her with a much different expression.
His lips were set in a line, neither smiling nor frowning, and the stunning eyes that had smoldered with both anger and lust only hours before were distant. As he straightened, putting space between them, she noticed this wasn’t the arrogant, brash, though quick to smile and tease man she had come to know. Something had happened.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, sitting up. As she did so, the linens dipped in front, baring her breasts. His gaze immediately followed, but after a brief glance, it returned to her face, still remote, and completely unaffected. She clutched the sheet to her chest, sliding it all the way up to her chin as she felt suddenly uneasy and self-conscious in his presence.
“Nothing is wrong. You need to bathe and get dressed. I’ll be back in half a time cycle and take you to where the other females await transport down to Ariad, our capital city.”
“I can rejoin the others?”
“For now, until whoever has charge of you during your testing phase, and subsequently your mate, decides otherwise.”
Her mate. Of course.
Had she expected a night of passion to change anything?
He didn’t want her for more than that and had made it clear.
I’m not seeking a mate. My command takes precedence, not that I’m not tempted to have a taste.
He’d had his taste, and then some. Now, she would be passed off to the authority of another, one who would breed her, and claim her for his mate, until death, and it seemed he didn’t care to whom, as long as it wasn’t to him.
And hadn’t his cool, dismissive words made that perfectly clear?
She lowered her gaze, busying herself with the sheet, wrapping it securely around her as she prepared to leave the bed. It was a ruse, so he wouldn’t see how much his diffidence stung.
“The bathing room is through there, as well as everything you should need.”
As he spoke, she felt the bed shift as he stood. She didn’t look up at him or to where he pointed, acknowledging his instructions with a nod. There was a heavy, awkward silence in the room for a moment.
“Be ready to leave when I return.” His orders given, she listened to his retreating footsteps and the whoosh of the doors. Only then did she glance up. She was alone, of course, so readily dismissed despite what they’d shared.
With a groan, Maggie flopped on the bed, covering her eyes with her arm.
Thoroughly humiliated, it reminded her of the only other one-night stand she’d ever had. It was in her academy days. After a night of drunk and barely mediocre sex, the fellow student she’d hooked up with had slunk out of her bed in the wee hours of the morning. When she woke as he tiptoed to her door, it was patently clear he had hoped to leave unnoticed and avoid the uncomfortable chitchat about why he wouldn’t be calling. That brush-off, which had stung for a long while, hadn’t hurt nearly as much as this.
You begged for it, Maggie. He told you he wasn’t in the market for a mate.
The voice in her head was right. Neither of them had thought it was a good idea. That was before he had kissed her and touched her intimately. Then, she had practically jumped his bones. And after she’d come—in spectacular fashion because of his glorious mouth and tongue—she wanted more. It had been him who’d had to rein it in and set limits, and he who wouldn’t let it go too far.
So you came, and so did he; what did you expect? Heartfelt professions of love?
“No,” she whispered aloud, “but I didn’t expect to feel used like a common tramp, either.”
She sat up on the side of the bed, hating herself—hating him!
“Was it too much to ask for kindness or a smile? I gave him a blow job for crap sake,” she grumbled. “That at least deserves a thank-you. Anything would have been better than that.”
Maggie dropped her head, and with shaky hands, raked them through her hair as she moaned, “I can’t believe I gave him a freaking blow job.”
She thought about having to see him in less than a half hour. Wanting it to be the last time, and never having to think about last night ever again, she got up and went to the bathroom, intending to be dressed when he came for her.
There was a problem with her plan, however. Every step reminded her of him and what they had done here last night. He was present in the tenderness of her well-spanked bottom, which she’d scrutinized in the mirror, but saw nothing except a faint blush to her skin. She also felt him in the sensitivity of her nipples, and in the residual ache between her thighs where his tongue and fingers had made a lasting impression.
As she showered and towel-dried her hair, putting it up in her usual bun with what few pins left in her bird’s nest mess of a hairdo and recovered from the rumpled bedding, she prepared herself to return his indifference.
She didn’t want to be mated any more than he did. Her priorities didn’t include any man, especially an alien from a far-off world with a skewed perspective on women’s roles, and one who could so easily forget what she had stupidly thought was something exceptional.
Screw him! Her needs were few: freeing her crew, retrieving her ship, and carrying on with their mission. That and only that, needed to be her focus.
With time to spare, she was ready and waiting by the door when he came back.
When he quirked that annoying dark brow, appearing surprised she’d done as she was told, Maggie ignored it and brushed by him without a word. Out in the corridor, she waited for him to lead her to wherever she needed to be, still not speaking, or looking his way. That seemed fine with him, because, with only a light touch on her shoulder, he escorted her to the large dining room, the same one where their failed escape attempt had started the day before.
There were few people present, other than white-shirted aliens who were busily clearing the remains of breakfast. “You should eat something,” he said, indicating the tables still laden with food.
“Thank you, but I’m not hungry,” she muttered as she turned toward the door they had entered through a second ago. “I’d prefer to be with my crew.”
He caught her arm and halted her. “You slept through the evening meal and need something in your stomach. We will be teleporting down. It can cause dizziness the first time, and is especially difficult on an empty stomach.”
She twisted free of his hold, though fully aware it was only because he allowed it.
“Little one—”
She whirled on him, all thoughts of mirroring his cool, removed air gone with those two words. “It’s Magda,” she snapped.
His head jerked in surprise. “What?”
“Mag-da,” she repeated, enunciating it plainly as if he were slow-witted. “It’s my name. It’s also customary where I come from to at least get a woman’s name before you go at it. Next time you have your face between an Earth female’s thighs, you might want to remember that.”
Biting sarcasm accompanied the tone she knew he didn’t like. She could see his reaction in the tensing of his jaw and the darkening of his face, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
“I thought I made myself clear—”
“You did. And I warned you it was a bad idea. But did you listen?”
“It was difficult with your fingers in my hair, your tongue down my throat, and you begging me to take you.”
Her mouth dropped open for a split second before she snapped it shut, so outraged that her teeth audibly clicked as she did so. She spun and faced the door. “Take me to my crew, please.”
“Maggie…” Regret was evident in his tone. She ignored it, not giving a shit if he felt a few pangs of remorse—the bastard. She did care, however, that he used her nickname, which he had obviously overheard from one of her crew and still refrained from using last night.
“To you, I am Magda,” she replied tersely, cutting off whatever nonsensical platitude he might spew. “Maggie is reserved for those I know and trust—or like—none of which I would ascribe to you.” It was a childish thing to say, and her anger was revealing her hurt feelings, but who did he think he was? “Besides, it’s too late. I’ll give you another useful tip in dealing with Earth women, Commander. A name doesn’t mean diddly after you’ve already made her feel no better than a two-bit streetwalker who can be had without the least of common courtesies.”
After a brief pause, Roth said softly, “First, I didn’t understand half of that. Second, I apologize for not using your name, and for taking things too far. As you pointed out last night, it was a very bad idea.”
As apologies go, his sucked, because his regret completely decimated something she had stupidly found special. In the face of that, she didn’t respond, instead staring at the closed door.
She thought she heard a low growl of frustration and ignored that, too. If he thought she was going to let him off the hook so easily, he was sadly mistaken.
His fingers curled around her upper arm as he waved his hand over the sensor, and led her out into the hall. “I’ll take you to the others.”
“I have a better idea. Release my crew and let us leave on our ship.”
“That isn’t going to happen, as I’ve explained, repeatedly.”
“What isn’t going to happen,” she shot back as she tried to wrench free, “is for us to docilely submit to becoming breeders for the sole purpose of repopulating your planet with more arrogant assholes like you.”
His fingers tightened as he halted mid-stride and turned her into his chest, pulling her up on her tiptoes as he got down in her face.
“Foolish female. When will you get it through your head what you want no longer matters? As the subjugated, you do as you are told or suffer the consequences. Some of which you got a taste of last night. Do I need to bend you over my knee right here in the corridor and give you another demonstration of what you can expect if your imprudent tongue doesn’t cease? Is your memory that short?”
“I only want our freedom,” she whispered, hating it when his image wavered, and tears threatened.
Don’t cry, dammit, her mind screamed as she fought them. Not after insisting so firmly last night that you didn’t—ever. To do so now, because of him, well... Wouldn’t that be the icing on this cake of indignity?
“That is not possible, Maggie,” he replied after a moment, his tone milder, his hold on her easing fractionally. “Life often isn’t fair, but I swear we will try to make this as easy a transition for you and your people as possible. And after you’ve settled in, I believe you will be happy here.”
Her anger flared, and she met his gaze head-on. “I’m afraid you’ve failed miserably in both endeavors already, Commander. Nothing will be easy for us until our ship is returned and we get to do what we were sent out here to do. Save our people. Surely, since your own are threatened, you can understand that.”
His features softened, maybe with compassion, or perhaps guilt, although she doubted anything she said would get through his thick head. A small part of her could understand their desperation; she felt it, too, but being on the side of the conquered, she had little sympathy.
“Please, before I say something else I’ll regret, take me to the others.”
With a deeply troubled expression on his striking face, he stared down at her for a long moment before he nodded soberly and set her on her feet.
He led her through the maze of hallways, down two levels and past the empty docking bay.
“Where is my ship?” Maggie demanded.
“Our new ship has been taken to the space dock for inspection.”
A sense of hopelessness settled into her chest, escape seeming more out of reach than it had the prior day.
After navigating the complex maze of hallways, they entered another large bay. Inside, her people were in the process of boarding four shuttles. They turned and stared at her expectantly as if she had all the answers. Although she didn’t have any, she would have come up with something to put them at ease, if given a chance.
They would have to remain on edge, however, because the commander didn’t take her to one of the long lines with the others; instead, he swept her along the back of the room and through another set of doors to a control room. As she walked in, she saw Rebecca, along with several others on an illuminated platform in a shower of shimmering white light. Their eyes met as her image changed from solid to murky, and then to transparent. The next instant, just like that, she was gone.
“Oh, my God, where did she go?”
“To the surface below. There are so many of you; we are sending as many by shuttle as by teleportation. Like the translator, it is a painless, everyday process here, and quite safe.”
He steered her to the end of the line where a man—tall and muscular, although not nearly as big as the commander, stood waiting. He wore the same red tunic as Roth, except without all the embellishments declaring his rank.
“I must leave you now, little captain, but give you into the care of Kanei, one of my best warriors. He will assist you during the teleportation process, in case you experience any of the side effects I mentioned earlier.”
The man nodded to his superior before he focused on her.
“This is Maggie,” he told him. As he relinquished his hold on her arm, Kanei took her opposite hand. “I entrust her to your care.”
“I will guard her as if she were my own, Commander.”
“I didn’t expect anything less.” Glancing back to her, Roth bowed slightly. “I hope your new life on Primaria is in no way as terrible as you anticipate. Be well.”
The sense of finality to his goodbye was unnerving despite her anger, and before she could conjure up an appropriate reply to her jailor of the past few days, he was gone, disappearing into the crowd.
“We are next,” Kanei informed her, as he moved her forward, filling in the big gap in line left by the last group who were on the platform ready to depart. As they, too, disappeared into nothingness, she felt queasiness start in the pit of her stomach. “You can expect a flash of bright light and a weightlessness; some experience a tingling rush of blood to the head, or faintness. Any symptoms should pass shortly after we arrive below, but I’ll remain with you the entire time.”
He moved her onto the platform with three others from her ship, each with a Primarian male serving as escort, and her sense of unease increased. She searched the crowd anxiously for the commander. Why couldn’t he have stayed through this part, before handing her off to another?
Stupid, her rational mind admonished silently. You are not a child, he is not your mate, and one giant alien captor is as good as the next. Her irrational side didn’t have time to reason why having him instead of this stranger, Kanei, would have quieted her unease because he was murmuring in her ear the next moment.
“Hold still now,” he cautioned as the lights above them became blindingly bright, and with the promised flash, Maggie felt herself floating, prickly pins and needles dancing along her skin.
An instant later, she relaxed as the sensations dissipated and around her, the brilliant light faded to normal. “Was there a malfunction?” she asked, seeing the same room, the same platform, and the same three crew members and their escort.
“Why do you ask?” Kanei glanced down at her with concern.
“I thought we were going down to the planet.”
He chuckled and carefully guided her forward. “We did. This is the transport center in Ariad. Welcome to Primaria, Maggie.”
Amazed, she couldn’t keep from gushing. “It happened so fast; it seems impossible. And this room is identical to the one that we left.” She rubbed her temples as a wave of dizziness hit her; a surge of intense heat rushed through her body immediately after. “I don’t feel well,” she murmured as she clutched Kanei’s arm.
She was swept up into strong arms and carried, which didn’t help either the vertigo or her roiling nausea, or the feeling of devastating loss which overwhelmed anything else.