Alien Intent (Captured by Aliens Book 3) (3 page)

Dar
sighed and pushed through the double doors to head into the harem to drop her
off.  He would need to notify the prince and princess of the situation. 
Perhaps Princess Adrienne could spare time to welcome the women and ease their
fears.  The thought of facing their wrath—if they were anything like this
one—made him shudder.

Jasmine awoke
to a headache and the sound of a toddler giggling in the background. The sound
of a child’s laughter was so stunningly unexpected that Jasmine thought at
first she’d been stuck in a horrendous nightmare. She opened her eyes to see a
young woman with a lean figure and amazing hair bouncing a chubby little girl
on her lap. They were both looking at her where she lay on mounds of pillows.

“I
thought you’d never wake up.  Your cousin Samara said you’re a sound sleeper. 
She wasn’t kidding! But no one can sleep through my daughter’s antics.  I’m
Adrienne.  Well, Princess Adrienne now.  This is my daughter Lily.  Welcome to
planet Chalcydon.”

None of
it was a dream. She was stupid for daring to think so optimistically. Jasmine
scooted to a sitting position, looking around at her new strange surroundings. 
A vast area stretched around them with vaulted ceilings supported by fluted
columns.  Seating areas arranged in recessed circles in the floor were filled
with embroidered pillows and many of the women she’d been held captive with
were sitting, eating, and talking. She turned her attention back to the
princess.  “Where’s Samara?  And my friend Cyndy?”

“We’re
here,” Cyndy said, coming up behind her.  Her sleek black hair was clean and
held in place by a thin headband of lace.  She’d changed from the hideous,
papery hospital-like gowns they’d had on into a long, shimmery red gown that
flowed around her petite figure.

“Hey,
cuz.  How you feeling?  We brought you some water and fruit.  I can’t remember
the last time I ate,” Samara said, sitting beside Jasmine on the pillows.  In
her hand she held something that looked like a shiny-skinned plum but was a
bright blue.  Samara’s hair curled in soft waves around her face, and she wore
a billowy white dress that puffed around her hips as she sat.

Jasmine
looked down at herself and saw she still had on the hospital gown.  The neck
and armholes gaped, revealing side boob.  She grimaced.  “Do I get new clothes too? 
Damn, girl.  I never thought your hair would look so good natural.  You’ve always
had weave or perm.”

Samara
touched her hair.  “Me either.  Something in the water here does it really
good.  I couldn’t believe I didn’t have to work on tangles for an hour. 
They’ve got these amazing creams too.”

She
wasn’t sure good water, new clothes, and hair cream were worth leaving home
for. She was also deeply suspicious of the aliens’ motives for kidnapping them
from her home planet. Princess Adrienne seemed trustworthy enough—especially
with that adorable kid. Jasmine took the fruit she’d been offered and sniffed
it.  It smelled sweet and citrusy.  She took a tentative nibble, found it to
her liking, and devoured it while the group watched.  She licked her lips. 
“Sorry.  Don’t know what came over me.”

Samara
handed her a goblet of water, which she took.

“You’ve
been in stasis on a Lamian spaceship. So we’ve been told,” Adrienne said.  “The
trip from Earth took a long time. I’m not sure how long it was for me either,
but I think they’ve gotten better with their collections.  Or more careful…”

Jasmine
choked on her water.  “So we
have
been abducted by aliens?”

Adrienne
looked troubled.  “Yes.  But it wasn’t our intention to take more captives. 
And by ‘our’ I mean the people of this planet.  There was a miscommunication.”

“Are you
sure you’re not suffering from Stockholm syndrome?” Jasmine asked. She didn’t
want to look rude and ungrateful, but being forced to accept an entirely
different way of life after being kidnapped was more than she could swallow
without complaint.

Princess
Adrienne sighed. “I know where you’re coming from. I wish I could guarantee
your happiness and acceptance, but no one can do that.” She stood and captured
the attention of the crowded area. “I want to welcome you all to our planet,
Chalcydon.”

The
crowd quieted, turning their faces to Adrienne. She stood in the center of the
room, regal as a queen. “I was once like you all, taken from Earth without my
consent.  Before the old king was overthrown, he had orders with the traders,
the grey aliens, to select more women for his harem.  Unfortunately, to keep
trade agreements viable, our king has been forced to accept their shipment. You
will be unable to return to your homes.”

Gasps
and cries echoed through the room.

Jasmine
stood up. “What are you going to do with us?” she asked.  “Are we prisoners?”

Adrienne
shook her head.  “No.  You are free to move about these quarters and the city. 
Chalcydon suffered a crisis which decimated the female population.  They need
you as much or more than you need them.”

“I’m
trying to decide if I like where this is going,” Jasmine muttered to Samara and
Cyndy as they stood beside her with worried faces.

“Half of
you will travel to New Chalcydon where King Fallon and Prince Damon rule with
my sister, Ebony, as their bride.  The other half will remain here to choose
husbands for one year…or longer if you find love.  You must all choose a mate
and bear children.”

Jasmine
clenched her jaw and her hands. Her back went stiff.  They were here for making
babies? Finding a husband and having children were the last things she ever
wanted to do. She damned sure didn’t want to be forced to do it.

“How
will we choose husbands?” Samara asked.

“Names
have been drawn from a lottery.  The winners will attend a ball held in your
honor—for those of you that stay in this city.  You will make selections there. 
New Chalcydon will have its own selection process.  Again, I’m sorry for the
circumstances, but I believe in time you will see, as I and others did, that
this could be the best mistake to ever happen in your life.”

“Mama! 
Go!” Lily tugged at her mother’s dress.

“Shhh.” 
Adrienne chuckled.  “Does anyone have any questions?”

Jasmine,
Samara, and Cyndy wandered off as Adrienne was swallowed by the crowd, choosing
who was to go and who was to stay. “Can you believe we’re here to be baby
making machines?  It’s fucking ridiculous,” Jasmine fumed, crossing her arms
over her chest.

Samara
shrugged.  “I didn’t have many prospects back home.  You know the statistics
for a black woman getting married as well as I do.  Plus, the few men I’ve seen
here are huge, attractive, and built like they were pulled from Sparta.  Did
you see the one that tagged you?”

Jasmine
frowned and crossed her arms.  “Not really.  I was too busy trying to run
away.  That fucker had me knocked out by one of his men.  My head wouldn’t hurt
right now if he hadn’t!” She rubbed her temples.

“If I
had a head like yours, it’d hurt too. Anyway, I caught the tail end of it when
he was carrying you,” Cyndy said.  “Omigod!  Freakin’ Leonidas from Sparta with
silver streaked black hair.  Wet panty level five.” Cyndy held up five fingers
and fanned herself.

Jasmine
rolled her eyes. “Jesus, Cyndy.  Get a grip on yourself.  These people paid for
us.  Essentially, we’re slaves,” she said. Samara and Cyndy looked at her. “
Sex
slaves,” she emphasized when they continued their impassive stares.

Samara
and Cyndy giggled like they were both sixteen again.  “I hope so, Jasmine.  I’m
ready to get my freak on.  Might as well make the best of a bad situation,”
Samara said with a shrug.

“I’m
glad you’ve both accepted your new roles so well.  Forgive me if I seem a
little bitchy about it.”

Samara
threw up her hands and smacked her own forehead. “For fuck’s sake, Jasmine. You
make me want to shake the shit out of you. What do you expect us to do? Start a
rebellion when we’re outnumbered, outgunned, and who knows how far from home?
You want us to put the pussy on them and make them take us back to Earth? We’re
lucky we aren’t being gang-raped. It seems like a genuine attempt at finding a
love match and building a family. Just accept reality. We’re stuck. If you want
to bitch and moan, take it somewhere else right now. You’re not the only one
upset and disgusted. Just because we don’t show it doesn’t mean we aren’t
scared and worried.”

Jasmine
wanted to rail against her cousin and the others, but they were right.
Complaining wasn’t going to do anything but turn the other women against her. She
didn’t want to be the resident bitch that got on everyone’s nerves. “Fuck it. I
guess we don’t have a lot of options.”

“Thank
you! That’s exactly my point,” Samara muttered. “You know what we go through
back on Earth, what it’s like having dark skin—much as anyone wants to deny it.
They don’t seem to have that hang-up here. No history. Maybe, just maybe, this
is a new beginning. They need us more than we need them. They want us here. Can
you imagine how different our lives will be without suspicion? It’s like a
fucking dream and I don’t want to wake up. And you shouldn’t either.”

***

Rooms
were assigned to roughly half the women.  The others left to go to the new
city.  Jasmine, Samara, Cyndy, and Mai shared a room.

“Bunk
beds.  Wow.  Feels like college again,” Samara said, collapsing on the bottom
bunk.

“I’m
going to go clean up and change.  At least they had the decency to provide us
with clothes that don’t look like the slave girl outfit Leia wore,” Jasmine
said, loading up on supplies to clean and wash her hair, a change of clothes,
comb, and a towel.

She felt
grumpy, abused, and confused, and disliked the combination.  If a man was
around, he’d just think she was about to start her period.  Thinking about how
many men must outnumber the women, and her new position in life, just pissed
her off even more. She felt justified in being perturbed and wanted to take it
out on someone or something, but making her friends suffer was wrong. She
didn’t want to alienate them anymore than she already had.  None of them had
asked to come here.  Despite the others trying to make the best of the
situation, she wasn’t sure if she was ready to give up and capitulate just
because they said she should or because it would make it easier for everyone
involved. Of course it could be worse—it could always be worse.

Jasmine
never had any intention of getting married and settling down.  She thought at
some point she’d end up with a baby if she could get over her pickiness about
men, but she enjoyed her freedom.  She didn’t want a man telling her what to do
with her life.  Was it some unspoken rule that big warrior men preferred
dominating their itty bitty women? And what if these men just looked human? 
What if they had two penises or something else bizarre hanging out in their
pants? She assumed they were genetically compatible, otherwise they wouldn’t be
here, but that didn’t mean there weren’t surprises to be had.

Maybe
she could make that her prerequisite for consideration. 
Drop your pants
before I’ll even consider you
, she thought, smirking.  Make them beg.

She
found the communal showers easily enough.  She’d never been big on public
nudity, but with no one around, she had her pick of the showerheads.  Washing
away the dirt and grime felt more than cleansing—the hot water soothed her
wounded pride. Absently she worked cream into her hair as she washed it too,
and used a thick comb to detangle her long hair.  Rather than being the chore
it usually felt like, she drifted off in her thoughts and enjoyed being alone
for the first time since she’d been taken.

A throat
cleared behind her—a masculine sound that made her stiffen in response. Jasmine
glanced over her shoulder to see who dared to interrupt her shower and spy on
her.

It was
him
—the
man she’d thrown dirt at…the man who’d chased her down.

He
glanced away when she met his eyes and turned around to give her a miniscule
amount of privacy.  How long had he been staring before that though? With his
arms crossed, his back looked impossibly wide as his lateral muscles slanted
down to his narrow hips. His uniform enhanced his well-defined body, leaving
little to the imagination. At another time she would have been intrigued.  She
stared daggers into his back, but he didn’t have the decency to drop dead.

She
pretended to ignore him and continued with her leisurely shower until she was
finished.  Padding to the towel bar, she pulled a thick linen from the bar and
wrapped it around herself and then a smaller one around her hair to soak up
some of the water. Finally, she walked up to him and poked him repeatedly in
the back until he faced her.  When he did, she was moderately unnerved. She’d
thought Cyndy was only joking.  God help her.

In her
panic before, when she’d thrown sand in his eyes, she hadn’t gotten a good look
at him with the sun shining behind his head.  Now, the soft muted lighting
accentuated his masculine features in vivid detail.  Black eyebrows formed
thick, straight lines over his eyes, lending him an angry, fierce appearance
despite the fact that he held his face impassive as they gauged one another.
Would this be resting asshole face?

She
could read no emotion in his vivid blue-gray eyes.  Maybe that was what
unnerved her.  Or perhaps it was the fact that he was huge, and without any
doubt, looked capable of kicking some serious ass. She half expected to see a
medieval sword hanging off his hip.  Instead, he had a utility belt not unlike
a cop, with a black holster and the glint of metal signaling the grip of a gun.