5

Lexi sat at her desk and wrote out a list of every possible variable involved in her situation. No matter how she arranged her lists, there seemed to be no way out. Her father’s debt, Mario’s threats, Melody’s innocence, five hundred thousand dollars. It all seemed to line up. The only solution was for her to go and sacrifice herself to the dragon that would be her husband.

Lexi had never even wanted a husband. It hadn’t been something that crossed her mind in years. She’d been focused on pushing herself to do as well as possible in school. The only things she had ever thought of were getting out of the ghetto, protecting her sister, and making a better life for both of them.

Now, none of that seemed to matter. All those years of hard work and struggle, for what? To be served up to an alien male, who would do God knows what with her? It all just seemed so surreal.

She ripped the piece of paper from her pad, wadded it up, and threw it in the wastepaper basket. Today was the day she was supposed to meet the man the Draconian computers had chosen for her. She didn’t know who he was. She hadn’t been given any photographs or names. All she knew was that her online profile now had a big red slash through it that read, ‘Mated’.

From what she understood from the website, that meant that the computers had found her a match. A Draconian and Lexi had all of the right genetic markers. The Draconians called that ‘fate’. They believed that whichever female was genetically matched with them by the computers, was their destined mate.

Even if Lexi believed in something metaphysical like soulmates, which all the old Hollywood movies seemed to advocate, she couldn’t bring herself to believe that a computer could find you one. Still, this was the Draconian way of doing things. Nothing they did seemed to make any sense.

She pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose, and with a deep sigh, opened the door of her bedroom. She was dressed in her best outfit—a pair of jeans that weren’t faded yet, the tennis shoes that didn’t have any holes in the bottoms, and a trendy suit jacket that she’d recently purchased from the thrift store.

Out in the living room, her father and sister were dressed equally well. They would be escorting her to the Draconian base in downtown Seattle. Butterflies smashed against the insides of her stomach. They seemed to be made of iron, and were fighting each other to the death. She wanted to throw up, but instead she smiled and showed a strong face for her little sister.

There were still several days left before Mario’s deadline. Her father would have the money from her dowry deposited directly into his bank account. After that, it was his responsibility.

She hoped that this time he would actually do what was right—pay off his debts, get off the drugs, and use all of his computer technology to make an actual living that he could use to support Melody as long as she needed.

“You look nice, Lexi,” Melody said, in her sweet voice.

Her father had taken a break from his computer to ride downtown with her, and give her away to her new husband.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Lexi said. She had resolved herself to a lifetime of misery at the hands of an evil race of men who were bent on destroying her people and taking all of their women.

She picked up her bag and hurried out the front door without a word, leaving all of her schoolbooks and education behind. She stood in front of the bus stop down the street from her house, without saying anything to her father or her sister. She wasn’t angry at Melody. She was very sad that she would probably never see her sister again. But, Lexi couldn’t speak. She was too overcome with raw emotion, and didn’t want anyone to see it bubble through to the surface.

Some of the thugs she’d seen on the street a few days before, shooting at the Dragon, were back on the street corner again. They hooted at her from across the street and slowly made their way toward her, holding up their baggy pants as they walked.

“We heard you were gonna marry one of those dragon bastards,” one of them said, posturing above Lexi. She didn’t have one of her smart responses right now. She didn’t have any response whatsoever. A tear clung to the corner of her eye and she turned away, blinking it back. She didn’t want to let these assholes see her cry.

“Go away, hoodlums,” her father said. Too little too late, Dad, she thought. He would start to become protective just when she was about to go spend the rest of her life on a spaceship.

“Have fun taking that dragon dick,” the second one said, as they laughed and jogged back across the street to their corner. Lexi let out a rage-filled groan just as the bus pulled up in front of them.

Not a moment too soon.

She was about to flip out and totally lose it. She’d go down in a blaze of gunfire and glory, and there would be nothing left for the Draconian to take from her. But instead, she stepped onto the bus, found a seat near the back with her sister and father, and watched her neighborhood slide past as the bus drove away.

About a half an hour later, they filed off the bus into downtown Seattle, where the new Draconian consulate was located. It was a domed building with flags flying all around. One of these domed buildings had been built in every major city on Earth, as a gateway between the Draconians and the human women they craved.

The sight of it made Lexi want to faint. Usually an extremely emotionally tough person, Lexi was overcome with fear and anxiety. She’d never felt so vulnerable in her entire life. The only other time that she had felt this level of intense emotion was when her mother passed away from cancer, just before the Draconians arrived.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs that led to the Draconian consulate, Lexi felt that her heart would jump out of her chest and her brain would explode inside her head. She couldn’t breathe. Her limbs were numb, and her head was dizzy. Melody took her hand and helped her climb the stairs, her father’s hand pressed into the small of her back, pushing her up toward the front door.

The doors slid open and they walked inside. The vast domed room held a single desk, with a Draconian male sitting behind it.

“I’m Lexi Garcia,” she said, her voice hoarse and quiet.

“What’s that?” the man behind the desk asked her. He had the beautiful, sharp features, and the extraordinary height of all Draconians. His skin glistened with the undertone of forest green, and the hint of his sharp, canine teeth showed below his lips.

“This is Lexi Garcia. She entered the mating lottery and has been mated,” her father said, pushing her up toward the desk.

The man looked down at his computer screen, typed into a keyboard, and then looked back up at her. “Yes, I have you here. You’ve been mated with—Oh, you’ve been mated with the Commander. Lucky you,” he said.

Lucky. That was rich. Lexi saw herself as anything but lucky. Cursed maybe. Lucky? Never.

“How does this work, now?” her father asked.

“You say your goodbyes. The bride will be taken into the back, where she will be prepared to board the transport vessel to the Commander’s ship. The Commander has an exceptional lifestyle among the Draconians.”

“You hear that, Lexi? You’ve been matched with the Commander. He’s rich!”

“Great,” Lexi managed through clenched teeth.

“So, when will I get the dowry?” her father asked. Lexi narrowed her eyes at him.

“Dad,” Melody whined. “Can we just talk about the money later? Now is the time to say goodbye to Lexi. We may never see her again.”

Melody threw her arms around Lexi, and hugged her tightly. “I’m going to miss you, sis,” she said, tears dripping from her eyes.

“As a matter of fact, after the Commander claims Lexi as his bride, she is allowed to return to Earth to visit. But until the groom properly claims the bride, she must remain aboard the ship. There are no exceptions. No visitors. I hope you will understand.”

“So, she can come visit us?” Melody asked.

“Yes, I don’t see why not. The Draconian armada is scheduled to be here for the next ten Earth years. During that time, the brides may continue to spend time with their families on the surface of the planet. Are you prepared?” he asked Lexi.

Lexi was anything but prepared. She wanted to run screaming from the building, as if she was being threatened by a psycho murderer. Every cell in her body was telling her to run as fast as she could away from this. But, she was trapped. She had to help her family, and this was the only way possible.

She would rather be a dragon’s bride, than let her sister be taken into prostitution by a man like Mario. That was never going to happen. Instead, Lexi was being sold into a fate perhaps worse than being sold into Mario’s brothels.

She took a deep breath and nodded her head in the affirmative. She still couldn’t talk. It was all too much for her. For a girl who was seldom tongue-tied and always had a smart comment, this was out of character. It was one of the most desperate moments of her life—it didn’t even feel real.

“Well, say goodbye, and let’s get going,” the man said from behind the desk.

Melody hugged her again, and after she released her, her father hugged her. Lexi accepted the embrace grudgingly, cringing at her disloyal father’s touch.

“Follow me, Lexi Garcia. The transport vessel is waiting.”

She followed the Draconian through the vast, open dome, turning one last time to wave goodbye to her family before stepping through the back door. Where they emerged was a narrow hallway with computer screens across an entire wall. The Draconian started pressing and flicking at the screens, until one of the walls slid open with a whoosh.

“This is the transport vessel,” he said, pointing to the open door. “You will enter and wait. The doors will slide closed. You will sit in your seat and safety restraints will cover your body. You will feel the rush into space. Do not be alarmed. When the doors slide open again, you will enter the starship, and be greeted by your new mate. Do you understand?”

Lexi bit her lip at the lecture and nodded her head. “I need your verbal confirmation,” the man said, moving toward the open door

“I understand.” Lexi’s voice came out quivering and hoarse. She didn’t even recognize it. She cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the sound of the scared little girl hiding in the pit of her chest.

She passed through the sliding door, and inspected the vessel within. There was one seat. The Draconian watched her sit down, and then the safety restraints automatically strapped over her body. The butterflies in her stomach had become more like charging elephants. Her stomach threatened to empty itself again, but she gulped it back down. She gripped the armrests of the chair, trying to give herself strength.

“You’re ready for takeoff,” the man said, stepping outside the door.

The sliding doors shut behind him, and Lexi was alone in the small craft. She felt the room began to vibrate and she gasped, crushing her eyes closed. Even though she wasn’t religious, she prayed anyway.

The vessel suddenly shot up into the air, slamming her down into the seat. She gasped, but she could barely bring air into her lungs. It was as if she was on the fastest roller coaster that ever existed in the history of the world, taking off into outer space.

There were no windows in the vessel, and she couldn’t see how far she had risen. Only a few moments later the violent thrust subsided. She was sailing smoothly through what she assumed was outer space. The vessel stilled as quickly as it had started, and the doors abruptly slid open. The safety restraints pulled away from her as she stared out the sliding door.

No one was there. No one had come to meet her. Perhaps, it had all been a mistake. Perhaps she hadn’t been mated with a Draconian, and she could go home. She stood up from her seat, still shaking from a mixture of anxiety and fear, and the aftermath of the trip through space.

She peeked out the door, slowly taking in her surroundings. She was in a quiet transport bay, full of other small craft like the one she rode in.

“Hello?” Her voice echoed throughout the vast room.

“It’s you,” a deep, masculine voice rumbled from behind her. She swung around, expecting to find a monster. Instead, she found the man she’d seen on television—the one who’d made her tingle between her legs. She let out a gasping moan under her breath, as surprise and arousal overtook her.

Commander Nash Or of the Draconian Navy strode toward her across the transport bay. His impossibly broad shoulders and seven-foot tall form seemed to fill the massive room. As he approached, she could see the curves and dips of his musculature under the skintight uniform he wore. It showed every contour of his body, including what he was packing below the waist.

When her eyes grazed over that part of him, her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide.

He arrived next to her suddenly, grasping her in his arms. She had expected a dragon to be cold to the touch, but instead she found him hot. The warmth of his body radiated through the skintight suit, and warmed her chilled skin.

The scent of him was strong and overpowering. He smelled of something astringent, like pine with an undertone of deep, masculine musk that made her instantly weak in the knees. She let out a deep breath as he held her tight to his chest. At five foot three, she barely reached the 7-foot tall man’s pectoral muscles.

As he held her there, and caressed her back, and petted her thick kinky hair, she could feel the bulge between his legs grow stiff.  She gasped and tried to back away, but was pinned in his grasp.

She squealed and pushed harder, at which point he released her and looked down into her face. His eyes blazed yellow with an inner fire she didn’t understand.

“Lexi Garcia, my fated bride. I am so pleased to finally meet you after all this time.” She watched his eyes fill with lust and she was astonished to feel desire of her own in response.

“Right back at you,” she croaked, her voice still not her own.

“It is a blessed day for us, my beloved bride. The first day of the rest of our lives,” he said, putting his hands to his heart as he bellowed his proclamation.

Lexi looked at him sideways. This was not exactly what she had expected. Lexi didn’t follow all of the gossip media about the Draconian brides, like so many other young women her age. Practically every young woman she knew was signed up for the lottery, hoping to land one of the big boys.

“Right, the first day of the rest of our lives,” she said, finally finding something that sounded similar to her own voice.

Nash threw his head back and laughed, a full-bodied, hearty sound that made Lexi smile in spite of herself. He patted her on the back, slightly too hard. “Indeed, my bride,” he said, wrapping his arm around her waist and starting to walk.

He was so tall and she was so short, that he had to bend over to even reach her waist. After a few feet of slouching, he instead picked her up and carried her the rest of the way through the transportation bay. Lexi looked up at him with confusion, her eyes narrow, her lips pursed.

“What are you doing?” she asked, crossing her arms with irritation.

“I’m carrying you. You are so small and delicate. I assume that the trek across the transportation bay would be too much for you.”

“I walk all the way across Seattle every single day. I think I can manage to walk across the garage.”

“Ha ha ha,” he laughed. “My bride is full of strength and spirit. I should’ve known that the female mated with me would be a force to be reckoned with.” He seemed to be genuinely happy about that prospect. Lexi heaved a sigh. He was kind of funny, and making it extremely difficult to hate his guts.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“To my chamber. To mate with you, claim you, and make you mine forever. I will plant young in your womb, and we will propagate the next generation of proud Draconians.”

So it was gonna be like that? Mating and claiming, the first second she arrived? She should’ve known. Nash’s charming personality was just a front for what he really wanted from her. She started to shiver in his arms, and he looked down at her with concern.

They passed through the outer door of the vast warehouse room, and into the hallway of the spaceship. “Why do you shake, my bride?” he asked.

“I’m not shaking,” she said, her teeth rattling and giving her away.

“I have studied human anatomy. I know that when a human shakes like this, it means they are either cold, or they are in fear. As the temperature of these hallways is suitable for your biological necessities, I assume that you shake out of fear.”

At the end of the hallway, he came to another sliding door. He set her down inside, and she looked around, taking in the room. It looked like a luxuriously furnished apartment in some upscale high-rise in Manhattan.

“Wow, I had no idea Draconians had such good taste.” This might not be so bad. Immediately, she felt like she’d betrayed her family…and herself.

“I’ve had the apartment furnished for you, my beloved bride. I am pleased it is to your liking.”

She stepped further into the apartment, examining the luxurious couches and tables, and the decor that made the space beautiful. At the far end of the room was a vast window that looked out onto space, and Earth below. She went to the window and gazed out at her planet. Placing her hand on the glass, she made a silent vow that she would return and make sure her sister was being taken care of.

She felt big hands on her waist, and they pulled her back against the hardness of the man who was to be her husband. She clenched her teeth and turned around, placing her hands on his broad chest. He looked down at her with the cutest grin—she had a hard time staying angry with the guy.

“Look,” she started. “There’s something that you need to understand before we go any further. My father forged my signature to sign me up for the mating lottery. He did this against my will. And, I only accepted the mating because there was no way of getting out of it. My father owes a great deal of money to a criminal who wants to make my sister a prostitute. The Draconian dowry was the only way to save my sister from that fate. I am here for that reason alone, not because I wish to be mated with a male of the species who has brought poverty and destruction to my planet.”

Nash’s face went shocked for an instant, but his expression changed immediately to one of thoughtful outrage. He pulled back, rubbing his chin while his other hand rested on his hip.

“Your father is involved with a criminal who is threatening to make your little sister into a prostitute? Why haven’t you gone to the authorities?”

“Because my father is a dumbass, and took out a loan from a loan shark. If we go to the police it will land my father in jail, and then there would be no way to support my little sister,” she said, her voice filled with disgust.

“But, you are my beloved fated bride,” Nash said, the surprise and disbelief evident in his voice.

“Just because we’re a genetic match doesn’t mean we’re fated,” Lexi offered. She hoped her rationality about the situation would rub off on him, and he would come to see the error of his ways. But, that’s not what happened.

“But, we are fated to be together. The computer system has matched us. We are a one hundred percent match. There is no possibility that you will not mate with me,” he said this as if it was the final word on the subject

Lexi sighed and turned away, going to sit on one of the big, plush couches that faced the galactic window.

“Whatever you say, bro,” she said, crossing her arms and putting her feet up on the expensive looking coffee table. “Doesn’t mean it’s right. And, it doesn’t mean it’s true.” She ignored the faint stirring inside of her at the thought of ‘mating’ with him.

“But my body has already prepared itself for claiming my bride. Once the process has begun it cannot be stopped. You are my mate. You will mate with me. I will make you see that it is proper and right. Now, go take your clothes off and lie down in the bed through that door.”

“Dude, you’ve got to be kidding me.” She growled and stood up, knowing that this would be her fate for the rest of eternity—she would be repeatedly raped by a dragon shifting freak with a monster cock.

She stomped into the bedroom and began peeling off her clothes. Naked, she threw herself on the bed with an angry growl and laid there, limp. Nash came into the room, hit some switch on his skintight uniform, and was immediately naked. She only saw him out of the corner of her eye because she refused to look at him directly. She refused to look at his massive dick before he pushed it inside her.

“Look at me,” he said in a gruff voice.

Lexi rose up on her elbow and stared at him with her most fearsome bitch face; the same one she used to walk down the streets of her city. He had his huge cock gripped in his hand, and he slowly stroked it up and down.

“What the hell are you doing?” she barked. It was even worse than she’d thought. It was impossibly long and wide. She bit her lip and crinkled up her forehead. There was no way that thing was going inside her.

“I’m preparing myself for you,” he said in a husky voice.

“You don’t seriously think you’re going to get that inside me right now, do you?”

He stepped forward, continuing to stroke up and down in a steady rhythm. The sight and sound of it made Lexi tingle between her legs. She growled and lay limply on the bed. Nash drew even closer, standing above her. It was impossible not to look at him, unless she closed her eyes.

“The curves of your body are quite appealing,” he grunted.

Lexi didn’t respond. She just continued to lay there rigid and stiff, preparing herself mentally to be impaled. She wondered if he would literally impale her, and if she would survive it.

“Don’t you want to touch me?” he said in a whisper, the sound of his hand slapping against his flesh filling her ears. She shot up to sitting and stared him right in the eye.

“What the fuck do you even think you’re doing right now?” she asked him.

“I’m going to spill my seed on your breasts,” he groaned.

“What is that going to accomplish?” Oh god, why did his words cause my body to flush?

“You will see. I will not hurt you. Now lie back.”

She lay down and closed her eyes. A second later she felt the hot jet of sticky semen pump onto her breasts. Nash groaned as he climaxed. Lexi kept her eyes tightly shut, feeling his come drip over her breasts. There was something enticing about the smell of it. And before she opened her eyes, she could feel his hands rubbing it into her skin.

He gripped her breasts and rubbed the semen all over her chest as if he were giving her some kind of massage. As disgusting as it should have been, something about it was extremely arousing. She felt her body pulse as if she had been touching herself. She let out a little whimpering moan with the slight climax that throbbed between her legs.

When she opened her eyes again, Nash was standing above her with his clothes back on. Her core clenched, and the feeling of his seed over her skin was warm and inviting.

“What the hell was that all about?” She was determined to keep her hard shell, and not let him see he was starting to affect her.

“My semen on your skin will help you come to me. If you object to it, I will not do it again. This one time is the only catalyst that you will need to come to know your love for me.”

“You don’t know very much about human women, do you?”

“I know a great deal about human women. I also know what will make a female more receptive. There are chemical compounds in my semen that will do that for you. And only for you, because you are my fated mate.”

“Dude, you are all kinds of messed up.”

“Lexi Garcia, I am not all kinds of messed up. I am Commander of the Draconian Armada. I come from a long line of starship captains. I know my way around a female. I have studied long and hard in preparation for this trip. I apologize if it has offended you—but considering the circumstances of our engagement, I realized that dramatic measures were necessary. You will come to see, soon I’m sure, that I was right in this. But I will not come to you again, if you are unwilling. The semen will do its work. I have trust in the process, even if you do not. Now, let me show you around the apartment before I have to be back on the command deck.”

Lexi pulled her jacket back on and followed Nash around the apartment, as he showed her through the rooms and explained how everything worked. The kitchen and bathroom were both designed for humans, in a style that she understood, although they were fancier and nicer than anything she had ever seen before.

There were some controls near the front door that she was unfamiliar with, but Nash showed her how to use them to get in and out of the apartment. He also showed her how to use the voice commands to turn on and off the lights. Then, he explained how to communicate with him anywhere onboard the ship.

When he was done giving her the tour, he bent down, kissed her hard on the cheek, and left. Lexi groaned and sat down in the couch. She used the voice command to turn the window into a television, and used it again to turn the channel to one of her favorite shows. As long as she was in the lap of luxury aboard a starship, she might as well use it.