Guard (A Sci-Fi Alien Romance) (4 page)

Simo had been right. There was no way I was going to be able to make my escape as they delivered me to Kefi’s compound. The first time I caught sight of the backup unit was when we stopped in the lobby to put on my gaudy red mating sash. The sight of those ten armed Erostrians dressed in black SWAT gear made me realize it was over.

“Why do I have to wear this?” I asked. My shoulders slumped.

Simo looked at me warily but I ignored him.

The commander laughed. “That’s just the start. Wait until you arrive at Kefi’s compound and they prepare you for the mating. I wish I could see it.”

I followed them out the door, my heart sinking with every step. All this time, I hadn’t
really
thought about what was going to happen because I’d been so convinced I’d be able to escape. Now there was no hope. It wasn’t some far off possibility. It was happening. I was going to be defiled by Kefi that night. I closed my eyes tight to try and hold back the tears.

I felt the most fleeting pressure on my shoulder. I looked to my left in shock. Simo was staring straight ahead. I was about to turn away when he glanced at me and nodded ever so slightly. I felt a burst of hope again as we reached the bottom of the steps and the backup team swarmed around us.

“How long is it going to take?” I asked.

My voice sounded small and distant. I cleared my throat. I was surrounded by so many towering guards that I couldn’t see the streets and alleys we passed. I cursed myself for not being able to shut up and play along. If I had, the Erostrian commander wouldn’t have suspected a thing and I’d be as good as free by now.

The commander turned back with a sneer. “What matter to you?”

I shrugged. “I just wondered.”

He laughed humorlessly. “I bet you wish we could march all through the night. But we’re almost there.”

I held my breath as we got closer and closer to my prison. Once we entered the compound I’d never be seen again. We slowed and came to a stop. I looked up at the sign above us and couldn’t help but smile despite my terror. Cathedral of the Saints. Of course. My view of the spires had been obscured by the guards. I was still surprised I’d missed it.

The doors opened slowly as the first guards reached the top steps. It was too gloomy inside for me to see anything yet. I stepped across the threshold, holding my breath. I half expected Kefi to leap from the shadows and grab me. But there was no one there apart from three of his staff.

“Thank you guards,” the one at the front said. “I am Tyno. Kefi’s chief of staff.”

All three looked so similar that they could have been brothers. They were smaller and slighter than the Erostrian guards. My eyes started to adjust to the gloom. I glanced around at the familiar ornate foyer.

The backup guards nodded and left swiftly and quietly. There was plenty of space in the high-ceilinged room for the remaining nine of us, but it still felt oppressively small. I turned and glanced at the doorway. One of the guards stepped between me and the open doors.

I turned back to see the commander and Tyno share a look.

“I warned you that she was trouble.”

“You did,” Tyno nodded.

“Sir.” Simo stepped forward. “One of us should stay here in case there’s trouble on the mating night. Kefi is an influential member of the council, and—”

“I know he is,” the commander snapped.

“All the more reason to ensure tonight goes smoothly,” Simo continued, unruffled.

The commander shook his head. “Who’s the commander of this unit?”

“You are, sir,” Simo said without blinking.

“Good. Remember that.” He turned away and nodded at Tyno and the other staff. My heart, already pounding hard, started to thump so fast I was sure I’d pass out. This was it. They were leaving me here.

“Actually, Commander Qeia, your guard makes an excellent point. He shall remain with us in case of any trouble,” Tyno said looking me up and down. “Though I expect Kefi won’t have any problems with this one.”

I risked a glance at Simo as the commander and the other guards filed out of the room. His face was twisted into a cruel leer. Suddenly I was filled with doubts. What if he wasn’t my savior at all?

Tyno interrupted my frantic, terrified thoughts.

“Come, woman. It is time to prepare you for mating.”

The other two stepped back and opened the double doors to the interior. I followed Tyno through, with Simo following close behind me.

I glanced back at him with a hundred questions on the tip of my tongue. He shook his head in warning.

I looked around in surprise. We were in a corridor, not the cavernous cathedral like I’d expected. It was over ten years since I’d last set foot inside, but that occasion was stamped in my memory as clear as a photo.

“What happened to the cathedral?” I whispered.

Tyno smiled, amused. “We have no need for your cathedral.”

“But the sign’s still outside.”

He shook his head and looked at me like I was an idiot. “Of course. Why change the outside of the building when it’s the inside that matters.”

We carried on walking. I watched the dull, grey concrete walls, wondering how much of the old cathedral interior was left behind them. In my mind, I imagined we were walking up the main aisle in the middle, with the sun shining through the stained glass windows that rose high into the ceiling.

The last time I walked that aisle it had been a beautiful, sunny summer’s day. A day for picnics and trips to the beach and playing in the ocean. Not a day for my parents’ funeral. But that’s how it had been. That was the last time I’d entered a church. It was the last time I’d done a lot of things.

Ever since then, with no other family, I’d been shunted around from foster home to foster home until I’d run away at the age of fifteen. After several months of squatting, I’d finally been getting on my feet – going to school during the day and waitressing at night – when the Erostrians took over.

The corridor stopped suddenly. I had been too busy daydreaming to pay attention to how far we had walked. There was a door on either side. Tyno opened the door on the left and we stepped inside. I felt Simo’s hand on the small of my back as we stepped in the narrow doorway.

But any comfort I felt from the gesture was quickly shattered when we followed Tyno through the long narrow grey room and into one of several rooms that lined the opposite wall.

“Your chamber,” Tyno said.

We were standing in a small grey room, bare except for a narrow single bed and a closet. A dusty full-length mirror was affixed to the wall. But what made my heart sink even more was what I saw hanging on the door of the closet.

Tyno saw me looking. “Yes,” he sneered. “Your gown for the mating.”

I admitted to myself that the commander had been right. My gaudy mating sash was nothing compared to this. The dress was bright red. Even from a few paces away I could tell the skirt was sheer. It had what looked like a bra attached to the top – the same brash red color in a shiny, plastic-like fabric.

“Well, go on. Time to get you ready.”

I took a couple steps forward past Tyno and stopped. “I can’t do this.”

“You have no choice. Guard, leave us.”

Simo shook his head. “No. I was ordered to stay and guard the mating.”

Tyno smirked cruelly. “By me. Leave us. I won’t touch her. Don’t worry. I know what would happen if I did.”

My heart sank as I realized Simo was obeying him. He stepped outside and stationed himself on the other side of the doorway. Tyno walked over and closed the door leaving us alone in the room together.

“Get dressed.”

I looked from him to the dress and back. Seeing it made the whole thing real. “I’m not wearing that. I’ll look like a hooker.”

Tyno took a couple steps closer to me. “That’s the idea.”

“What if I refuse?”

“No one’s ever refused Kefi. Not the strongest Erostrians. And certainly not a human whore.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” I said, stepping backward to get away from him.

He shook his head. I had backed up until I was inches from the closet. He towered over me.

“My orders are to deliver you to Kefi’s suite. You can dress yourself and walk there, or I can dress you and drag you there by the hair. Your choice.” He leaned in close. “I’d prefer the second option.”

Trapped between him and the closet, I brushed the tears from my eyes hoping he hadn’t seen them.

“Fuck you,” I hissed, pushing against him with all my strength.

He was taken completely by surprise. I managed to knock him off balance and bolt for the door. I flung it open. Simo was still standing there, blocking my exit.

“Move,” I hissed frantically.

He stared down at me and I felt a strange twist in the pit of my stomach. Simo grabbed my elbows and forced me back into the room just as Tyno was steading himself against the closet.

“Thank you guard.”

“Not a problem,” he said, pushing me back into Tyno’s arms.

I stared at the ceiling as Tyno used what looked like a pocket knife to slice my sweater off. He bent and started to cut my jeans with surprising gentleness. I exhaled with relief.

He looked up at me, his amber eyes still blazing with anger. “Know that there’s only one reason I’m taking care not to cut you. It’s because I’d fear for my life if Kefi saw that I’d marked his property.”

I turned my head back to the ceiling, completely ignoring Simo.

“I don’t know why you turn away, brother,” Tyno said to him as he sliced through the thick denim.

Simo shrugged.

“I’ve heard about you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tyno said, pulling my jeans away and leaving me standing there in my bra and panties. “Is it true what they say? Is that why you’re showing the Zeepa respect?”

I pushed Tyno away as he came at me again.

Cursing, he pushed me against the closet and used his blade to slice through my bra straps. “Well?”

Simo grunted. “You think too much. If it wasn’t for me she’d have gotten away.”

I cried out as Tyno cut away my panties, but it was Simo’s words and not my nakedness that hurt the most.

“True. Thank you brother,” Tyno said, throwing my ragged clothing on the ground and taking a step back to ogle at me. I had crossed my arms across my chest but it didn’t seem to matter to him.

I glanced at Simo, still with his back turned.

“You know what I like most about this post, brother?”

Simo’s huge shoulders shrugged.

“Watching the matings. Seeing him take and break these human whores.” Tyno’s spindly hands reached forward, trying to prize my arms away from my chest. I yelped and backed against the wall.

Simo’s eyes burned like fire. “Leave her. I’ve saved your life once today. I won’t do it again.”

Tyno pulled his hands back to his sides. “You’re right, I suppose. I envy your self-control, guard.”

Simo’s eyes were on me now, burning into me. I looked away. I was done trying to figure out where his allegiances lay. I wished for the thousandth time that it was him I had been mated to, not Kefi.

Tyno lifted the awful gown off its hanger and held it up over my head. My arms didn’t budge.

“Lift your arms,” he ordered.

I shook my head.

“Lift your arms,” Simo ordered.

I glared at him. “No.”

“Clementine.”

I shuddered at the warning in his voice. He stepped forward and stood behind me, holding me firmly by the waist. Tyno reached forward to grab my wrists and paused, hands hovered over my chest.

“Her arms, Tyno.”

Tyno snorted with frustration but he obeyed Simo and touched only my wrists to lift my arms above my head and through the spaghetti straps of the dress.

“I’m going to enjoy this mating,” he muttered.

He pulled the fabric over my body and smoothed down the skirts. As they led me out of the room I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. My heart sank. I looked like a whore. My breasts spilled out of the deep, scooped neckline. And the skirt was as transparent as I’d feared. I could see my legs clearly underneath.

They pushed me out of the room like a lamb to the slaughter.

We walked the length of the long, narrow room to another door at the end. I gasped when I saw what was inside. This room couldn’t have been more different to the others I’d seen in the old cathedral. I had so many questions about Kefi, about this place, about what was about to happen to me. But I didn’t want to look at the bastards, never mind speak to them.

The room was large and bright and opulent. I realized it was the old bishop’s quarters, barely changed since before the takeover – unlike the rest of the building. It was obviously being used as Kefi’s chamber now. Much of the room was taken up by a huge four-poster bed on the opposite side beside the window. There was a free-standing claw foot bath in the corner. The walls were lined with tapestries and paintings. Afghan carpets lined the hardwood floors. I hadn’t seen anything like it since the takeover. I gasped at the beauty of the room, forgetting what was about to happen there.

Tyno tutted, obviously irritated by my reaction. I marveled in silence as they led me to the center of the room and made me turn around so that I was facing the door. Then Tyno retreated to one side of the door, gesturing for Simo to do the same.

It was only when Tyno pushed a buzzer on the wall that it really dawned on me. Maybe it was a blessing that I’d been distracted by the gorgeous room in this otherwise ruined old building. It was time for my mating.