Alien Intent (Captured by Aliens Book 3) (5 page)

She
gaped at him. “Are you insane? It’s a fucking dragon! What was I supposed to do?
Hold on to the reins while he took off?

His jaw
tightened. “Precisely. He is a well-trained beast.”

She
planted her hands on her hips and dared him to say something smart with her
expression. “Not that well-trained, obviously. I’m not about to stop something
that big if it’s scared or wants to leave. How do I know you didn’t do this on
purpose just to screw with me?”

He
huffed, ignoring her jabs, and pulled a small silver cylinder from his belt and
put it to his lips. He blew on the silent whistle, casting his gaze to the
heavens. After a few moments, he tucked it back in place. “He’s gone. Bastard
probably smelled a female in heat somewhere in the wild. I should have known he
was getting ready to buck just from the way he’d been acting. We’ll be lucky if
he decides to come back at all.”

“I
thought he was trained,” she said wryly.

“You
can’t control all the wild in them. The need to mate cannot be denied,” Dar
said, his eyes glinting with hidden meaning.

Or maybe
she was reading too much into his expression. “Don’t look at me.”

He
raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not
here for mating.”

Dar
laughed. Guffawed would be a closer description. He held his belly, bent over.

Jasmine
glared at him. “I’m so glad I could amuse you.”

“You
should have stayed in comfort at the palace. No doubt the other ladies are
being spoilt by suitors and servants, living the high life until they choose a
partner. And you will all choose a partner, like it or not. Besides, I might as
well laugh. There’ll be no pleasures for us any time soon. All my supplies were
on the zhala.”

Jasmine
regretted agreeing with Princess Adrienne about touring her new home world.
What the hell had she been thinking? The princess had made her believe it was a
good idea. Now she wondered at the woman’s ulterior motives. She felt deflated
by reality and the need to make the best of a bad situation. The situation
could get worse, and that worried her more than anything. “Can’t you go rub
some sticks together and pull water out of a vine?”

He
looked at her like she’d sprouted a second head. Either he wasn’t familiar with
survival techniques, or he’d never watched any kind of reality survival television.
Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember seeing anything like a TV
anywhere, but they had to have some modern conveniences…“What about a phone or
radio?” she asked.

“We have
communication units, but I left it attached to the saddle…with everything else.
No. I’m afraid we are stuck together until we can find help or walk back to the
city.”

She
threw up her hands. “Well that’s just brilliant. You’re awful at this, you know
that?”

He said
nothing at first, merely stared at her. “I should not have allowed myself the
distraction by a pretty face. That is true. Peace time has made me lax and
soft.”

“I wouldn’t
call you soft, exactly. You look hard enough to me.” Jasmine swallowed,
wondering if she was the pretty face. And was he just messing with her?

“I could
be harder,” he said, watching her.

She knew
he was messing with her now. She cleared her throat. “I’m sure you could,
pervert. Will anyone come looking for us if we don’t check in?”

“Eventually.
Protocol is to send scouts after failure to report back to the city. We won’t
be missed for another day. I think we can survive that. At the worst, expect a
long trek back to the city.”

“What
about whoever’s been here recently? Could they help us?”

He
walked up to her and caught her hand, leading her away from the mine’s maw and
back up the old cobbled road. “Anyone who has been here was unauthorized and
likely up to no good. It appears as if a small vessel landed, possibly scouting
for resources. Had we not lost my mount, I would check other abandoned mines along
my route for a pattern of disturbance.”

She made
a face and caught a wayward strand of curls in her lips. Pulling her hand free,
she tucked her hair back behind her ears. Panicking wasn’t going to help, but
she wanted to run away screaming just for the hell of it—it could be a good
stress reliever. “What would that mean?”

He
looked down at her, his face grim. “With luck, it is only our people mining
without authorization. At the worst, this marks the arrival of an unknown and
unwelcome alien presence circumventing protocol.”

In her
old life, a grown man talking about aliens would have sent her running away and
laughing hysterically. Now the possibilities were endless. Anything could be
out there. It was enough to scare her witless if she dwelled on it too much. Jasmine
frowned and reconsidered giving up being cool and collected. After all, it was
her dumb butt stranded in the middle of nowhere. Cyndy and Samara were probably
living it up, getting massages and being fed grapes by groveling, gorgeous men.
“Seriously? You think some other aliens would be interested in this hunk of
rock?”

Dar
frowned. “Chalcedonite is highly sought for crafting interstellar ships. It is
rare and trace on other planets. Here we have enough to mine for generations.
The elder teachings say that we were created in the image of the Old Ones for
the sole purpose of mining chalcedonite. They come to collect the ore once
every five generations.”

“Er. So
are y’all overdue or what? And…you were…slaves?” she asked, walking beside him
along the path. He led her back to the misty waterfall, and for the first time,
she noticed a winding path leading down the mountain that she hadn’t paid
attention to from the air. Strange how different things looked from this
perspective. Looking out, she could see mountains from where they’d flown and a
patchwork quilt of green forests in the direction he faced. It reminded her a
lot of riding through the Smokies in Tennessee.

“I
suppose it could be thought of like that—in some ways, yes. Not until our new
king was crowned could anyone choose their life path. Before him, every aspect
was dictated by the state. In ancient times there was only the mine and pleasing
the Old Ones with our offerings. We kept little for ourselves. We are still
adjusting to our newfound freedoms. Come, this path will lead us to a village.
We’ll make camp there tonight and perhaps I can signal my zhala to return in
the morn.”

They
walked for a while in silence. Descending a mountain, even with a path, made
her hips and knees ache. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was from being in
stasis for months or years on a spaceship that left her slightly out of shape. Ahead,
peaking above the treetops, Jasmine could see the crumbling lines of a stone
building with slate tiles covering what roof remained. “What’s that?” she
asked, pointing in its direction.

Dar
followed the line of her finger. “We are close to the town. A mill once
generated power for this town, and a—what you call a temple—stood near the mill
by the river.”

Moss
covered the wide stone steps, making their path slippery and treacherous with
every step. She could still hear the falls above them roaring in the distance,
and felt the cool dampness of the air from the nearby river, though she
couldn’t see it through the heavy vegetation. She focused on not losing her
footing and keeping close to Dar as they descended, until the trees grew thick
and close overhead. Light dimmed under the canopy and beneath the shadow of a
once great structure, now crumbling from abandonment.

“The
temple,” Dar said, taking her hand once more. His larger hand enveloped hers,
making her feel strangely small.

He
frowned up at the archways, leading her through the carved stone doorway
inside. The ceiling timbers were
collapsed on
the interior of what must have once been a beautiful temple. Or so it appeared
at first glance. Looking closer, she saw broken colored glass strewn through
the building, and there were no signs of nature having reclaimed the innards of
the building. Great stones were
scattered over
the floor as though pounded in by a huge fist and powdered to dust and gravel.

Dar released
her hand, walking among the destruction carefully. “This temple has been
recently desecrated.”

She
looked around, echoing the feeling that the building, though old, looked
recently destroyed. The outside had appeared worn and ancient, grown with vines,
but the inner walls were cleaner, less exposed, and stained by the elements. “Why
would someone do this? I thought you said the town was abandoned.”

“It is,”
he said, walking to the front of the temple. Splintered wood from a stage or
pedestal was scattered amongst the stone and glass. He bent and picked up a
strange silvery-white rock. Following behind him, she looked at the rock he
palmed.

“Chalcedonite,”
he offered, anticipating her question before she could ask it. He straightened
from his squat and swept a hand toward the gaping opening of a
broken stained glass window. Glass marked the edges
like jagged teeth. “Someone crushed the roof in, broke the windows, and took
the offering to the Old Ones.”

“Offering?
You mean this ore? Doesn’t look like much to me.”

He
nodded. “All the mines have a temple nearby with offerings to the Old Ones. It
is the old ways, but no one has ever dared disturb them. The priests had kept
this offering awaiting their return for generations. It is the same all over
our world and has been for as far back as I can remember. Someone destroyed the
temple and has stolen the chalcedonite. It is a sacrilege. I don’t believe any
of my people would do this. They are too superstitious.”

“There’s
a first time for everything. Could it be the same people up at the mine?”
Jasmine asked.

Dar
dropped the rock and looked at her. “Possibly. Many still revere the Old Ones.
Others fear them, though none alive today has ever beheld one. But that fear
and awe has kept the old ways intact. I cannot imagine one of my people coming
and taking a sacred offering to them.”

Jasmine
toed a timber and cringed when it fell over and caused fallen masonry to roll.
Dar shook his head then stiffened, looking at something on the floor once
hidden by rubble. He pushed timbers and stone away, revealing scratches in the
floor. At least, it just looked like scratches to her. “What is it?” she asked,
kneeling beside him. She couldn’t help but be intrigued—she’d always been an
archeological buff back home. Indy Jones had been her ideal hero when she was a
little girl. Ruins, mysteries, and artifacts were right up her alley. She’d
lived in fantasies and books when she got old enough to be tortured by her
fellow students for her complexion and hair. It was easy to pretend she
couldn’t hear when she was reading.

Dar
brushed the debris away, blowing bits of sand and limestone from the deep
incisions in the stone until he’d revealed a two foot section of the floor.
“It’s writing. A warning in the Old One’s language.”

The
suspense was killing her. Did he know he was making her want to bite her nails
off? “Can you read it? What’s it say?”

He
furrowed his brow, remaining silent a moment. “I believe it says ‘we come’.”

“Jesus!
You give me the fucking creeps. Should I be scared? Should we even stay down at
the village or just high tail it through the woods like maniacs?”

Her
attempt at lightening the mood fell flat. Dar was in thought, walking out of
the desecrated church.

“Are you
sure you read that right? Maybe it was ‘we came’. Or so and so was here. Just a
joke by some asshole teenagers pissed off at the end of the world?” she said,
quickening her step to keep up with him. Ahead she could see the trees, thin as
rooftops, come into view. At least they didn’t have much farther to walk.
Though that meant they weren’t that far from the touchdown site either.

“That is
a possibility. Minute, but possible. Very minute,” he said. “I could be wrong
of course. It has been many years since I studied the ancient language.”

“Should
I be worried?”

“We
should all be worried if they return displeased. They created us. They could
take that life away. We are no mighty civilization. We stand on the brink of
destruction every day.” He sighed. “I should not share these fears with an
outlander. I was ordered to make you feel welcome and safe.”

Jasmine
snorted. “You’re doing a bang up job. Congrats.”

Dar shrugged.
“I cannot be perfect all the time.”

They’d
reached the first of the buildings on the cobbled street. Most of the buildings
here where white-washed stucco framed in heavy black timbers and crowded
together along one main road. Dar reached the first house and tried the knob.
It was locked. He put his shoulder down, jiggled the handle, and rammed it with
his body until the weakened door casing relented and allowed them inside. The
door slammed against the wall, the force of his entry sending dust flying into
the air. But there was no scent of mold and mildew—everything was dry and
remarkably modern looking. Though not as state of the art as the palace they’d
left, the house certainly didn’t match the medieval-like exterior.

“One of
our more modern cities. This province had more influence and wealth than
others. More conveniences,” he said.

“What’s
that mean?”

“Electricity
for one. Running water. Many villages in the old days were barely livable.
Despicable conditions considering the wealth of the nation. It was a means to
keep us under control.”

“Damn.
Think we could get some power right now?” she said, feeling hopeful and looking
around for a switch or a lamp.

He shook
his head. “They cut the power when they abandoned the town. I could go down to
the mill and try to restore power, but it’s nearly dark and I probably couldn’t
get it working before nightfall. We’ll go in the morning and see if there’s a
communication unit still there. We might get lucky for once.”

“You’re
just building up my hopes now, aren’t you?”

“Perhaps.”

She
shuddered, beginning to feel inadequately dressed for roughing it. The ride on
the zhala had felt brisk with the wind, but quickly forgotten with the exertion
of trekking down the mountain road. Now she could tell the temperature was
dropping. With her eyes adjusted to the dim interior, she looked around for
something to cover her shoulders. The bottom floor reminded her a lot of an
open concept modern home with a galley kitchen, a couch and chairs nestled
around a large stone fireplace, and tucked near the staircase was a small round
table with two chairs.

Dar
noticed Jasmine shiver and rubbed her bare arms. His warm touch felt strange,
eliciting more shivers to travel up her spine. “I’ll go upstairs and see if
there’s anything usable for tonight. It can get cold after dark. I’ll start a
fire and we’ll sleep here then head out in the morning.”

There
were matches on the mantel and wood in the firebox beside the fireplace. Dar
had a fire going within minutes and left her to go upstairs. She fed split logs
to the fire until it filled the space with a bright orange glow and radiated
enough heat to make her sweat. Finally, she was warm. Dar returned with an
armload of blankets and pillows and dropped them on the floor, looked at the
fire and her, then swore under his breath. “You’re going to cook us if you keep
adding wood. Why don’t you let me handle keeping the fire going for tonight?
I’d rather not wake to the house burning down around us. I’ll take care of you.
It’s only fair since I can’t do more for you.”

“That’s
an about face if I ever heard one. Did you bump your head upstairs?” she asked,
looking at him.

“Can’t a
man be apologetic and kind without having an ulterior motive?”

She
narrowed her eyes. “Not where I’m from. Men are only nice when they want sex or
something else from you.”

He made
a sound somewhere between a snort and a chuckle—a snortle? “Sex is the last
thing I’d want from you.”

“Good.
That makes two of us,” she said, feeling her ego bruise. Not that she wanted
him to lust after her. It just stung to know he didn’t find her the least
attractive. Which meant his looks and innuendoes were probably all in her head.
Just how good looking did a woman have to be to incite men to lust when the
competition from other women was so low? Jesus H. Christ! She had some kind of
problem.

“I’m
glad we’ve cleared that up,” he muttered, walking to the kitchen area. She
watched him dig around for glasses, set them on the counter, then go outside.
He returned after a several minutes and went to the sink to fill the glasses
with water. Crossing the room, he handed her a water. “I primed the pump
outside. You’re welcome.”

“Thanks!”
she said, ignoring his sarcasm as she drained the glass. He followed suit, then
set about making pallets on the floor beside each other. She’d have time to
move her pallet when he was done. He might not want sex, but she wasn’t going
to take chances by sleeping right beside him.

“Are
there beds upstairs?” she asked.

“One.
You want to sleep up there and share?” His face stayed impassive.

She
wasn’t buying his neutral expression. “Uh…no. Is there a reason we’d have to?”

“I
think, given our little discoveries today, it is best if we stay close to one
another. I know it must be painful for you to have to share the same air and
space, but you will have to bear with me.”

“Now
you’re just being nasty,” she said, planting her hands on her hips. “I want to
think you mean one thing, but your body language and tone’s all off. I’m done
trying to read you.”

He
grunted and tilted his head, studying her as one would a strange new species.
“I thought I was making the best of a poor situation. If you’d rather us sleep
upstairs, we can.”

“That’s
not what I meant and you know it. You ain’t that dense.”

He held
his heart, looking stricken. “I’ve never had the pleasure of sharing a woman’s
bed. You’d be my first.”

Jasmine
laughed and abruptly stopped. “Now I’m to take you seriously that you’re a
virgin. You’ve never had sex with a woman?” She wondered how long they’d been
without any women at all. He looked mid-thirties. It was possible he’d grown up
without access to any females at all—which just left men to experiment with.
She burned with the desire to ask him what he’d done all this time, but decided
he didn’t look like the type who would share.

His
voice dropped an octave and rumbled in his chest with sexy undertones. “That I
did not say. I thought we established we weren’t interested in sex? I’m sorry I
cannot oblige you. The walk has tired me. I meant sleeping. Isn’t it obvious?”

In spite
of his words, she had the distinct feeling he was flirting with her. Had he
only been playing socially awkward this whole time? She wasn’t sure of anything
anymore. Sitting on a pallet, she divided her attention between him and the
fire. She shrugged, noticing the bedding was clean. The house looked like the
former residents had just walked out and would return at any moment. She
scooted around and faced him. “Why would someone just leave everything like
this anyway?”

Dar sat on
the couch, watching the fire with his long legs extended. What was it about a
military man lounging and looking relaxed? He’d kept precise movements, stiff
and straight until now, and the contrast between his rigid disposition and one
of ease were stark and noticeable. His bold features looked impossibly harder,
his jaw squared like cut stone in spite of the lax position.

“War.
Death.” He raked a hand through his silver-streaked black hair, looking as
spent as he’d claimed. “Disease ravaging our women to the brink of extinction.
It is easier to pool our remaining resources into a few cities. There aren’t
enough of us left to people this world. That will change with new blood.” He
paused, sliding his gaze toward her. She could see her silhouette limned by
fire in their depths. Something in his eyes made her shiver inside in spite of
the warmth bathing her back. “With women.”

“With breeders,”
she said, swallowing and averting her gaze when she realized she sounded
breathless. Her stomach grumbled. She attributed her mooning on low blood
sugar.

“If you
want to call it that.”

“I don’t
see any sense in trying to hide what you want from us.”

“Breeding
would be the first step to recovery,” he said quietly. “It is a natural thing.
Pleasurable, though I’m sure you already know how much pleasure can be had in
the arms of a man. Are you ready to be bred?”

Her
heart thudded dully. Or maybe it was her stomach knocking her ribs for
attention. She swallowed audibly. “No.”

“Holding
out?” he asked.

“Sure.
Why not? I’ve only been around one man here.”

“Maybe
that’s all you need. There’s no need to be greedy and have more than one of us.”

She
lifted an eyebrow. “Oh. So I could choose a few? Now that’s giving me some
ideas. I used to have this recurring fantasy to be pinned between two men…According
to y’all, I’ve got a planet full of horny men to choose from. No need to limit
myself it seems.”

She
watched a vein throb on his temple and felt amused she’d touched a nerve in
him. Feeling stiff from sitting on the floor, she got up and sat beside him on
the couch. She patted the cushion. “I think I’ll sleep on this tonight. No
sense in both of us being crippled in the morning from the floor.”

“Indeed.
I think I’ll go and look for something to eat,” Dar said, standing.

“I
thought we needed to stick together?”

“You
should be fine for now. It’s nearly dark. I won’t be gone long.”