Claimed by the Alien King (2 page)

Chapter Two: Lir

What a waste.

Lir scowled as he slammed the door shut and stalked over to the ship's control panel. Sitting, he turned on the display and began making preparations for departure. His fingers hit the keys a bit harder than necessary as he inputted the coordinates of his destination. The quicker he got off this ghastly rock, the better. The longer he stayed the more it reminded him how much he hated Earth.

Once he engaged the ship's invisibility core and inertia negation unit, its engines roared to life. Speaking the commands out loud in his language, he programmed the ship to separate itself from the Earth building it inhabited. Extraction was never a simple process. The rigidity of Earth's molecular structure multiplied the complications. The ship strained beneath the pressure of detaching itself while keeping its contents intact. For some reason, it was taking longer than usual. Lir eyed one of the monitors in confusion as the ship registered another life form on deck. That was impossible. He was the only one who had travelled to Earth.

When the extraction was complete, Lir gunned the ship for Earth's night skies. It shook violently as their altitude climbed and the engines protested against the effort. Forcing the ship against the extreme pressure bearing down on them, Lir tried not to worry about the declining levels in the fuel gauge. Soon, they were clear of Earth's atmosphere and Lir released a breath of relief.

Setting the ship to auto-pilot, Lir unbuckled his seatbelt and got to his feet. ETA to Aqueloc: 1 week. Lir looked at the fuel gauge. Just enough to get him three-quarters of the way home—at least to the jump site. He'd have to depend on the reserves to carry him the rest of the way.

Increasing the oxygen levels on par with Aqueloc's, Lir took a deep breath. Earth's oxygen had been limited and contaminated. During his short visit he'd often felt light-headed, unfocused and his skin too hot. Though his body had adapted to the decrease, all his other abilities had weakened.

And all that effort for nothing. He'd scoured countless Earth divisions—
countries
, they called them. He'd visited hundreds of its scientific and medical facilities in search of his uncle's body. In hindsight, he realized that the court was right. Going it alone had not been wise. He was the
Yar Ser
 and leaving his
asra
for a foreign land that had hurt one of his own was foolish. Furthermore, he'd underestimated the vastness of Earth. He needed help if he wanted to find Ser Varkon's body.

But he had to return to Aqueloc. He'd been gone for too long, much longer than the time he'd promised the court. The annual mating thrall had also begun. Even though he was not on Aqueloc, as an unclaimed male, its disruptive power still surged strong in his body. At home, he'd always endured the thrall in the willing arms of an Aqueloc female or many. On Earth, he had no options. Despite the fact that a human's physical makeup was almost similar to an Aquelocan, he had no desire to be with one. Unfortunately, the longer he resisted, the stronger the thrall's power got. He had to leave before the lust overcame him and made him do something foolish like claim an Earthling. He didn't need that kind of complication in his life.

What he needed right now, though, was a shower. Removing the Earth shirt he wore, he flung it in the chair. He looked on the monitors to make sure everything was in order before he left for his wash. His gaze fell on the reading that still claimed another life form was on deck and he frowned. Why was it saying that? More so, the ship claimed it was Human.

Had an Earthling gotten onto his ship? This was unlikely because only an Aquelocan could gain access. If a human had entered the doorway on Earth, they would have only seen the insides of an Earth establishment. Unless he'd accidentally forgotten to cloak the ship on his last journey to one of Earth's countries?

Searching the ships logs, it dismayed Lir to find that yes, indeed, he'd forgotten to cloak the ship. If any life form had entered the ship, the cloak would have reactivated itself.

What the hell was that? What's going on?

Lir spun around at the sound of the voice but there was nobody behind him. Then it dawned on him that what he'd just heard was a projection. Yet the language was from Earth. English.

The ship was right. A human was here.

Angered by this new and undesirable development, Lir read the location of the human and marched off in that direction.

I can't breathe. I feel sick. I can't breathe…I can't…

Lir hastened his steps until he got to the room and rushed inside. The overhead lights brightened upon his entry, allowing him a perfect view of the human female curled up on the floor.

He knew what the problem was right away. He'd suffered the reverse. Whereas Earth's air had felt limited, the oxygen levels on the ship were now too high for the human's body to withstand. Her eyes wide with terror as she gazed up at him, she clutched the material of her shirt just over her heart.

He commanded the ship to drop the oxygen to Earth levels. "Breathe slower," he said in his natural tongue, then repeated the command again in English. The human gasped, disobeying his orders by taking huge inhalations through her mouth. Frowning, he got to his knees and clapped a large hand over her mouth. She made a sound of alarm and tried to jerk away but Lir settled his hand on her back and held her still.

"Your heart needs to regulate," he said. "Breathe slower."

Her gaze held his as she quietly followed his instruction and Lir was unable to look away. On his home planet, everyone's eyes were a varying shade of blue, but the human's soft brown eyes pleased him. The thrall stirred awake, burning in the pit of his belly. When she raised her hand to gently push his away from her face, her touch electrified him, strengthening the thrall.

Claim her.

Lir got to his feet and glared down at her.

This was going to be a problem.

Chapter Three: Maya

Maya didn't know which fate was worse: to almost die of suffocation or to be found by a glaring, half-naked guy in a strange building that moved.

Maya's mouth opened and shut as her brain struggled to pick the right question out of the many floating around in her head. Sitting up, she stared at the shirtless man and decided she should at least thank him for saving her life.

"Thank you," she said. Her gaze held his for a moment, marvelling at the deep blueness of his eyes, before they wandered down the rest of him bared to her. His shoulders were broad and strong, his upper arms thick and muscular. Though he crossed his arms over his chest, Maya could see the defined flesh around his abdomen.

Wow, he's hot
. Never had she been near to such a visibly superior male specimen. Guys like him existed only in gym commercials and women's magazines with inane lists like Top 10 Hottest Guy or something. Not in real life. At least, not in her life. All thoughts of knocking at Death's door a short moment ago fled from Maya's mind. She'd never had such an instant and intense attraction for someone. Yet her body warmed and her thoughts progressed toward the filthy the more she stared at him.

"Why are you on my ship, human?"

Her growing arousal dissipated instantly, replaced by confusion. She got to her feet, but she was still forced to incline her head to speak to him.

"Ship? What ship?"

"This ship." His glare deepened into a scowl and he took a threatening step forward. "Who are you? What is your purpose?"

Crap
. She had run from the frying pan into the fire. She had escaped a scumbag intent on violating her, yet she now found herself in company with a crazy guy with a strange accent who looked ready to murder her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said. Terrified, she edged away from the man as her eyes darted at the exit just behind him. If she got past him, she'd run straight for the door she came through. The creep outside was probably gone by now. She would grab her handbag and be homebound in no time.

"I do not believe you," he said, coming closer, backing her towards the wall. "You humans are deceitful and self-serving. You maim others purely for the pleasure of doing so. If your intent is to hurt more of my kind, I will not hesitate to annihilate you and every other being on your hateful planet."

Maya was speechless, stunned by the fury in his eyes. Clearly he believed the gibberish he was spouting, which only meant he was a legitimate psycho. Sweet Jesus, what was she going to do now? Outrunning and battling the creep had been hard enough, but there was no way she could take on this guy. Her only option left was to beg for mercy.

"Please don't hurt me," Maya pleaded, breathing fast. "Please. I just want to leave. I just want to go home."

"You cannot leave."

Why does he want to hurt me? I just want to go home.

Tears welled in her eyes and her voice quavered. "Please, I just want to go home."

The man remained silent as he stared at her. The fury in his gaze dimmed and the tenseness in his body eased. Without saying another word, he turned and left the room.

Maya took a deep, shuddery breath as she forced herself to marshal her thoughts. She had to leave this place and she had to do it now before the man returned. Her pleas may have delayed his horrible intent, but who knew how long she had before he snapped and killed her anyway?

Maya left the room. She followed the path she'd walked earlier. She vaguely wondered at the gentle vibrations she felt beneath her feet. The ground didn't feel as still as it did when she'd first came in. She had this weird sensation of movement. But that was ridiculous because a building didn't move.

Exiting the last hallway into the circular room, Maya's steps froze and her mouth hung open at the sight before her.

Holy shit.

Her heart leapt up to her throat and nausea roiled in her stomach at the large expanse of black stretched ahead. What she'd thought to be a humongous TV earlier was actually a viewport. From the far right, she could see the curve of a planet growing further away, a luminescent blue glow around its edge. Without thinking, her feet carried her closer. She did not even register that the man was standing nearby looking at her. Agape, she recognized the colouring from the science books and TV shows she'd encountered in life.

Earth.

She was looking at Earth.

Which meant these three things:

1. That she was not on Earth.

2. That she was on a spaceship heading away from Earth.

That she had been abducted—unwittingly, it seemed—by an alien.

Her brain couldn't deal. It refused to deal. So like any computer that had encountered a large problem it could not handle, it temporarily shut down.

Fainting, Maya crumpled to the floor.

When Maya awoke next, she was back in the room again. Swinging her legs off the bed, panic set in the instant her memories returned.

She was not on Earth. She was on a spaceship. An alien spaceship.

Ignoring the astonishing discovery that aliens existed, Maya concentrated instead on how she was going to get home. Bewildered, she realized that 'home' no longer just meant her apartment but her planet too.

She left the room intent on demanding the man…the alien…to return her to Earth. She marched toward the area she assumed was the control station but the alien was not there.

Who's flying this thing?

She wandered over to the window, amazed all over again by the vast nothingness of space. Despite her terror, she couldn't dampen the quiet thrill of the experience of being in space. When she returned to Earth, would she tell anyone about this? She didn't think so. Even if she did, they wouldn't believe her. They'd roll their eyes and tell her to throw away her tin-foil hat.

Besides, she didn't even know if she would ever return. The alien had seemed highly displeased when he'd discovered her, yet he'd not turned the ship around and dumped her back on Earth. Maybe he thought she'd tell the world about him if he returned her to Earth. Maybe he thought to silence her before she ever could.

He's going to kill me.

"I have no intention of killing you, human."

Startled by his voice and by his knowledge of her thoughts, Maya spun to face him. He was dressed in all black. A long-sleeved, futuristic-looking jacket with upturned collars, combat-type trousers, and boots. The jacket was fitted to his body, the shoulders had clips on them, and there was a cerulean gem affixed to it over his left breast. For some reason, it both amazed and annoyed Maya that this alien would look sexy in just about anything he decided to wear. It disturbed her further that she was attracted to an alien in the first place. He didn't even look like an alien. He looked incredibly human.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" she asked, and then her voice turned accusatory. "Can you read my mind or something?"

"You are projecting," he said in bored tones as he moved toward the control panel. "No human should have this ability." He looked at her. "No human should be on this ship."

Maya grew defensive. "Look, I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here, buddy."

"I am not buddy, I am Liramel," he said. "The Yar Ser of the asra of Aqueloc."

Maya fidgeted beneath his steady gaze. It was unnerving, especially when she knew he could hear her thoughts because she had some useless ability to 'project' them.

Just don't think then. Stop thinking. Stop thinking about stop thinking!

"That is impossible," he said, and Maya's hand ached to slap the tiny smirk from his lips. "No being is absent of thought unless they are devoid of intelligence."

"Alright, Liramel," she said in snippy tones. "I am Maya Banks, overworked and underpaid cashier of Earth. Please return me to my home planet before I lose the only full-time gig I could get in this hideous economy."

"Yes, I will return you to Earth," he said and Maya's spirits lifted.

"Really?" Maya sighed with relief. "Thank you so—"

"But first we must go to Aqueloc," he interjected. "The ship's fuel is low."

Maya bit her bottom lip in concern. "And how long will the journey to…err…Ackalock take?"

"One week."

"One week!" Maya parroted in surprise. "And another week coming back, I guess. That's two weeks…" Two weeks of absence from her job. Would she even have a job by the time she returned? In the year she'd worked at the store she'd developed a good relationship with her manager. Maybe if she begged forgiveness hard enough, her manager would let the incident go and keep her on.

Two weeks is really pushing it but I should be fine.

"You misunderstand, human," said Lir as he leaned a hip against the edge of the control panel. Folding his arms, he gave her a condescending smile. "This ship is calibrated to Aquelocan time. One standard Aqueloc week is 26 weeks on Earth."

Shocked horror gripped her and left her immobile.

Over six months?

"Yes," he said. His voice was low and almost sensual as though he were telling her something nice when, in fact, it was horrible. "By the time you return to your planet, human, an entire year would have passed."