Chapter Four
Lana’s male arrived first. With a wholly satisfied grin on his exceedingly handsome face, he bent low, released her ankle cuff, and came to his full height again with her cradled in his arms. She squealed, pushing against his chest as he laughed, dipped his head, and hushed her shrieks with his mouth, lingering in what looked to Eva to be a thorough and very heated kiss. When he lifted his head, her friend had a dazed look on her face—and she’d gone quiet.
One by one, six men claimed the remaining women, until Eva stood all alone. Glancing around, worried what would happen next, she saw him, standing about twenty yards away, his golden eyes fixed on her, with an arresting smile on his oh-so-handsome face.
What on earth is going on?
Then he approached and, like the others, released her and carried her off, thankfully not slung over his back this time. They joined the other seven couples and the rest of camp, which consisted of four warriors and two older, white-haired, bearded men, though they were equally as tall and strongly resembled the dozen huge brutes. One she recognized from his tent the night before. She barely had time to wonder why they were all standing around with captives in their arms, when, the next instant, a tingling sensation swept through her. In a flash of light, a sense of disorientation engulfed her and then swirling darkness. When it dissipated, her head was still spinning, but lucidity was slowly coming back.
They were in a large room, brightly lit, with glass observation windows, humming control panels, and a half dozen more barbarians fully dressed and in uniform.
Eva took it in for a moment before turning her head and seeing Lana’s dumbfounded expression, as well as that of the other women. Maybe these barbarians weren’t as primitive as they’d first thought?
Her alien captor carried her out of the control room and down a long hallway, the other men following single file behind him, paired up with a woman in their arms, like a parade. With a whoosh, a door opened upon their approach, and they entered another brightly lit room. Rows of stretcher-like beds filled the space, with large monitors on the wall above each one. She had no doubt it was a medical facility. Afraid they had more probing and testing in mind, she began to struggle.
He tightened his arms and growled a few words. She stilled, but as he neared a bed and went to place her on it, she lost it. Not willing to be the subject of more alien experiments, she clutched at him, climbing up his chest, as if keeping herself off the bed would prevent them from doing whatever they had planned next.
With a show of his alien agility and superior strength, Eva found herself flat on her back on the bed, his face directly above hers. He had her wrists pinned on either side of her head as he issued commands in a stern tone. Thinking he addressed her, she stopped fighting, lying stiff and tense beneath him—she was no match for him, so what was the point, anyway?
From the corner of her eye, she saw a man in a black-and-white tunic standing at the side of the bed. Her gaze shifted, briefly taking in his pure-white hair and, like the rest of these aliens, his handsome features, despite being older. Her first glance was deceiving though, for as he drew near, a closer look revealed smooth, wrinkle-free skin.
He said something to her captor, who continued to hold her in place. He nodded in response, and the next thing she knew, the white-haired man—a doctor or medical technician, she presumed—placed a shield over her eyes. Once they were in place, everything went black.
No more than a second passed before he removed it.
“Can you understand me now, sprite?” The low, rich rumble by her ear magically transformed into words she could understand. Her focus zeroed in on his face as he leaned over her, his arms braced on either side of her body, while he watched her intently.
She nodded, having understood him perfectly.
“I can. What did you—?” She stopped. In her voice, the words sounded the same, but when he spoke, his strange speech became clear in her head. She frowned in confusion, unsure if he spoke her language, or she spoke his.
“This is Jarlan.” He tilted his head to the man still standing beside the bed. “He inserted a translator. We can converse now.”
“Inserted?” Her hands, which were strangely free, flew to her head, feeling for a mark, an incision of some kind, or a microchip under her skin. Her brows knitted as she gaped up at him. “How? There wasn’t time. He put on those glasses things and the next second took them off." She looked at the other man. "You couldn’t have—”
“Actually, it took a bit longer,” Jarlan corrected. “About a tenth of a time cycle as our computers deciphered your language and entered it into our data banks. It just seemed much shorter for you.”
“A tenth of a what?” She turned to the older man. “Are you a doctor?”
“Those in my profession are known as healers. Some refer to me as a physic. In your world, yes, I would be a doctor.” He looked at her captor. “She might experience some dizziness, though this could be from her first teleportation, as well. Either way, it should pass by morning. Contact me if it doesn’t or if her symptoms worsen.” The healer reached down and peeled an electrode from the side of her neck and nodded. “You can take her now, Max Kerr. Rest will do her well for the remainder of the day.”
She looked at her captor, now able to give him a name.
Max Kerr.
She frowned. He didn’t look like a Max.
He caught her hand and helped her sit up. As she slipped down from the tall bed, his other hand slid to her back. She held onto him as a wave of wooziness struck and the room tilted. Although she felt suddenly tired, the brief spell of vertigo quickly passed.
“Dizzy?”
She shook her head, pulling on her hand, but he didn’t let go. “I’m fine,” she said, tugging to get free again. “I’d like some answers. I want to know—”
“I will answer your questions in due time. For now, you will do as Jarlan said and rest. Come along.” He turned, towing her along toward the door. She passed another bed with Eryn lying upon it, the same visor-like glasses on, and not moving at all. Eva dug in her heels, wanting to stay and make sure everything was all right. Her resistance had no effect, however, as Max continued out the door and into a corridor.
“We will arrive on Primaria in about four time-cycles. You will rest in my suite until then.”
As he started down the hall, her hand enveloped in his, she hurried to keep up, taking two steps for each one of his long-legged strides. They passed other people—all men—dressed in the same tunics as the healer, but in different colors. After several turns, they arrived at a lift, and he guided her in. She barely felt it move before the doors opened again. Thinking they hadn’t gone anywhere, she stayed where she was only to be tugged out by Max.
“This is the warrior’s level. We’re almost there.”
“It looks the same as the floor we just left.”
“Look up. The colored stripe on the ceiling indicates the level you are on.” He slowed as they approached double doors. “Here we are.” He passed his hand over a sensor embedded high in the wall, and, with barely a whisper, they slid open. “I’ll have the doors programmed for your heat signature after you have learned your way around. It might not be on this flight, however. Our transit will be brief.”
Still leading her by the hand, they entered a large room with plush furniture and several large viewing screens on the wall. Bypassing it, he proceeded down a short hallway, through another set of doors, and into a bedroom. “We sleep here.”
“We?” she squeaked.
“Of course.” He arched a brow and cast her a meaningful look as he crossed to the wide bed. “I would think last night made it clear you belong to me now.”
Eva bristled. “I’m not sure what last night was all about since I didn’t understand a word you said. What’s more, I’m a lieutenant in the United States Interstellar Forces. I don’t belong to anyone except myself. Nor do I answer to anyone other than my captain.”
“Correction. You are my mate, so you answer to me. And since through me, you are now a citizen of the planet Primaria, of which I am Maxime Princep, it goes doubly so. None of what you were before is relevant any longer.” He pulled down the linens on the bed as he gave her more directives. “Remove your clothes and climb in. I am going to shower and change. Then I have some contacts to make before I can attend to you. I will rejoin you later.” Without waiting to see if she complied, he left.
She stood staring after him with her mouth open. Then, she shut it with a snap, before it dropped open again. “His mate!” she finally sputtered. “Fuck that!” She spun on her heel and rushed out of the bedroom. “And fuck him,” she grumbled as she retraced their path through the suite to the main entrance. Where she would go, or what she would do when she got there she had no idea. She only knew she had to get away from the bossy, arrogant, infuriating alien.
“What I was before is irrelevant now, my ass.”
When the door didn’t open, she waved her hand over the sensor, a stretch for her, as it was placed high on the wall to accommodate the above average height of Max Kerr and his cohorts. It didn’t budge, nor did the indicator light flash as it had for him.
She took her hand away and tried again, frowning when nothing happened. Laying both hands flat on the door, she tried to slide it. When this didn’t work, she eyed the sensor panel at length. It had to be the key.
Dragging over a heavy chair from a nearby table, she climbed onto it to get a better look. She studied the glass paneled recessed box for a moment. Maybe she could pop off the outer casing and rewire—
“What are you doing?”
She jumped, shrieked, and twisted all at the same time. Max stood about three feet behind her, arms crossed over his chest, lips flattened into a thin line, and his golden eyes were snapping with anger. Instinctively, she stepped back, forgetting she stood atop a chair. Off balance, she flailed her arms wildly, trying to keep from falling. He was there in an instant, steadying her with his big hands on her hips. Her own fell instinctively to his broad shoulders as she stabilized.
Then she noticed the change.
Max’s loincloth and miles of bare, tanned skin were gone, replaced by a dark-red tunic and black pants. There were gold slashes across the shoulders which she assumed signified his rank. He’d tamed his long black hair, gathering it at the back of his neck, and the full, somewhat overlong beard had been removed, leaving his face clean-shaven and smooth. The barbarian had disappeared and, in his place, stood a handsome, sophisticated, evolved man.
“I asked what you were doing, little one.” His dark brow angled up, a habit she noticed he had when annoyed or impatient. “I’m not used to repeating myself. Nor am I used to having my orders disregarded. Where are you supposed to be?” His fingers flexed, digging into her hips, not painfully so, yet delivering a clear warning she was trying his patience.
Eva opened her mouth, but nothing came out. He dipped his shoulder with a grunt which sounded a lot like exasperation, and she was once more draped over it, being carried back down the hall. Her ass was in the air, her upper body dangling down his back, his heavy arm clasped around her thighs to keep her there. Yet again, he’d thrown her off balance—quite literally. Before she could get her bearings, he flipped her, and she landed flat on her back, this time on a plush mattress. As her world righted, she looked up into eyes flashing with formidable determination.
“What are you called?”
“Uh—” She hadn’t expected him to ask, anticipating a lecture or more smacks on the behind like he’d given her the previous night. “Eva.”
“Well, then, little Eva, heed me well. I don’t have time to explain all the rules right now. I will, however, clue you in on one you haven’t quite figured out. You are my mate. As such, you belong to me and will do what I tell you. If it makes it easier, lieutenant, think of me as your new captain and understand when I give you an order, I expect it to be obeyed. If I tell you to remove your clothes, which I did and am doing so again now, you will get naked. If I tell you to rest in my bed, you will do that as well. And, if I tell you to spread your thighs for me so I can take you as I did in my tent last night, you will do so eagerly and without hesitation.”
With his fists planted in the mattress on either side of her head, and caged in by his powerful arms, she couldn’t go anywhere when he leaned in and dropped his voice to just above a whisper.
“You see, Eva, you are not in your United States anymore. You are in my world, where men make the rules and women obey. This is the way it is, and you will adjust to it in time. If you do not, you will quickly learn disobedience carries consequences—and it’s often more extensive than the few light swats I laid upon your backside last night. I advise you not test me further.”
He shifted his weight to one side and lifted a hand to her face to gently brush the hair from her eyes. When he continued, the anger and exasperation were gone, and he seemed not to notice her slackened jaw as she stared up at him in shocked amazement. “Obey me, pretty one, and we will get along together very well. Please me, like last night, and the favor will be returned tenfold, resulting in more pleasure than you ever thought possible. Fight me and…well, if you choose this as your path, I promise you will find me a worthy and capable opponent. One you cannot and will not defeat.” He bent and touched his mouth lightly to her parted lips. “Now, I really must go. Be good while I’m gone, and get some rest.”
His face disappeared, and, while she stared up at the ceiling, she heard the fading thuds of his footfalls followed by a faint whoosh of the doors as they opened and shut. She lay there, rendered speechless by his archaic views on men and women, and came to a disheartening conclusion. Clean him up, dress him in fine clothes, and surround him by technology, yet, despite the showy façade, beneath it all, the Philistine remained.
“Holy cow!” she mused aloud. “I’ve been mated to a freakin’ barbarian!”