Harden My Heart (Club Release 3) Science Fiction Abduction Romance (2 page)

A blur of motion zips through my vision and then pressure and pain whip through my chest. I fall to the ground and look up to see what knocked me on my ass.

A female is staring down at me. She’s a stocky one. How the hell did she get enough food to make her so large?

She reaches down and grabs a handful of my hair. I cringe when she pulls me to my feet.

The dirty female’s dark gaze roams over me. “She’ll do nicely. Those beasts are going to love her.” She looks over her broad shoulder and yells, “Tie her up and let’s head out. We have a meeting to arrange.”

“No flipping fucking way.” I shift and punch her in the face. Her head snaps back and then she tightens her grip on my hair as she laughs merrily. I raise my fist and swing. This time she catches it with ease.

“Oh yes, they are going to love her,” she says as she looks over my shoulder.

I gasp when my hands are pulled behind my back. I execute a back kick, a pained yelp comes from the male as he releases my wrists. A rush of victory goes through me.

I turn my focus on the female holding my hair. Just after I raise my fist both of my hands are pulled behind me. Flipping fuck.

Rough rope is circled around my wrists and then tied. I try to break it which makes all three of them laugh. They are some cruel motherfuckers. Looks like my luck is worse than ever. I should have chosen a different path through the woods.

Fear slithers up my spine. “Where are you taking me? Who are the beasts you were talking about?” My heart is likely to give out long before we arrive at their planned destination. Right now, I’m thinking that might not be such a bad thing.

The nasty mean female releases my hair and starts walking. I’m shoved from behind and almost fall. I see my bag on the ground and watch as one of the men pick it up and open it. I’m shoved again. I start walking but not before I see the male pull out a loaf of bread and start eating.

Flipping fuck. I hate making this bastards happy and healthy. Healthier than they are. Sure, they are dirty but they are thicker and stronger than most people. Where are they getting that amount of food? Most people I know are slim. Global Warming normally does that to a person.

What is their secret?

After a few more steps, I realize that she didn’t answer me. “Are you going to answer me?”

The female doesn’t stop walking as she says, “You’ll see who the beasts are soon enough. Now keep up or you’ll be sorry.”

When the shorter male steps closer to me, my stomach tries to leap into my throat.

When he places a hand on my breast, I jump and cry out. Fear and disgust whip through me. My body trembles and tears spring to my eyes.

He leans in and his dark eyes narrow. “Yeah, you’ll be sorry. Please cause us trouble so I can straighten you out.” His fingers tighten on my breast for a brief second and then he removes his hand.

Although he didn’t hurt me, my skin crawls at the thought of him straightening me out. My heart hurts. No humans can be trusted. Flipping fuck them all.

I have to try to be more cold hearted. I wish I’d been born that way.

We walk and walk. When the sun gets low on the horizon, we arrive at a clearing. There is a small shack made of lashed together branches. My breathing starts to speed up as I wonder what is going to happen to me now.

I look over at the males but they aren’t paying any attention to me. The shorter male is looking up at the sky. The taller one goes into the shack and comes out with a strange black and gold device.

He aims the device upward. A brightass flash blazes through the afternoon sky. I blink as spots dance before my eyes and then jump back when two shirtless creatures appear.

“What the flipping hell?” The beings are humanoid but their red skin and yellow eyes give them away.

The female chuckles and smirks at me before her gaze moves to the creatures. “She should be to your liking.”

White hair moves over their red shoulders as the two creatures approach me. I take a step back but my taller male captor stops me.

I look at him in horror. “You have to help me.”

His lips curl in a sneer. “All I have to do is survive.”

When the red beings step closer and look me over, fear sprints through my blood. I look down and notice that the creatures have strange weapons strapped to the sides of their dark pants and their brown boots look sturdy enough to do lots of ass kicking. Why did I choose to come this stinking way? I’ve doomed myself.

“She is acceptable,” one of the aliens says.

Another flash of light blinds me. My human captors moving has me looking around. A large crate has appeared. All three of my captors open it and smile as they pull out strange packs of something. When one of the males opens a pack and starts eating a strange stringy noodle looking thing, I know I’ve been sold for food. Now I know why they are so healthy.

Their happiness makes me sick. I’m nothing to them. Tears threaten. I blink them away. There is no remorse on their faces. My heart grows heavy, like a frozen stone. The cold hardening feels good. I was too soft. Luck is not on my side. It never has been. It’s time I learned that.

Red hands grip me. I shake my head as another flash of light bursts through the sky. I close my eyes and my stomach flips. When the ground feels funny I open my eyes and gasp. I’m in some sort of metal room. Birds take flight in my stomach. I cannot be on a spacecraft.

“This is not real.” My words echo off the walls.

“It is.” My new captor’s voice comes crashing down on me.

My hands are freed and I’m turned around and pushed into a cage. No!

“What are you? Why are you doing this?” I look at the heavy metal frame of my cage. This is a new level of cruel for me.

“We are barpolians and we are doing this because you will bring us lots of money.” His yellow eyes are as cold as I wish I could be.

“Can’t we work something out? Maybe I could lead you to something on Earth that is more valuable. Just tell me what you’re after.”

One of my captors says something in a language I can’t understand and then leaves the room.

The other one looks me over and then inhales. A hungry look enters his cold eyes. “The only thing you can offer me, is yourself.”

I frown and my stomach flips and then sinks. “Like in sex?”

A smile curls his dark red lips. “No, human. Barpolians like to
eat
humans. You’re flesh is most delicious.”

I jump back and he laughs. “Flipping fuck.” I look around and my eyes widen when I see a huge light purplish skinned being in the cage next to mine. He’s chained and staring daggers through the barpolian.

I gesture toward the being. “What is he? Do his kind eat humans too?”

“No, you have nothing to fear from him. He is a kepslian from the planet Kepsly,” the red being says and then turns to leave.

“Wait. How do you speak English? What is going to happen to me?” I glance at the kepslian and then back at my captor. “To us?”

“I speak many languages. Most of my kind do.” He looks at the male in the cage next to mine and then back at me. “You two will be sold.”

CHAPTER

2

~ Kinsey Lea ~

♥

I watch in horror as my captor walks out of the room.

After circling my cage several times and finding no weaknesses, I plop down on the metal floor. At least it’s clean.

I look over at the male in the next cage. “Do you speak English?”

He shakes his head. His eyes draw me in. The irises are black and ringed with dark purple. Thick purple eyelashes match his short purple hair. When he picks at his dark shirt I notice that he has three prong like fingers.

A headaches starts pounding behind my eyes. What kind of crazy world have I been forced into? I should be at home eating a meal with David. A meal I cooked. Will I ever see a kitchen again? Minus a bastard male.

At the remembered words of my captor, I shiver in horror. I don’t want to be cooked in someone’s kitchen. My stomach lurches. I slap my hand over my mouth and will myself not to throw up.

I take a few deep breaths but it doesn’t help. Why is my luck so terrible? Did I do something horrible in a previous life? Do I have bad karma? Bad body odor that nobody had told me about?

What is wrong with me?

♥ ♥ ♥

Hours have passed.

The rumble of my stomach is a blatant reminder of the passage of time. My throat is dry. Do they plan to starve us to death? Don’t they know you can’t make money off of dead bodies?

Or can they?

I shiver at the thought of my corpse being tossed onto a table or something and then sold to whatever alien wants it. He just said we would be sold, he didn’t say what shape we’d be in.

Tears slip down my cheeks. I don’t have the will to brush them away. When I look into the next cage and see that the male is staring at me with pitying eyes, I drop my head in shame. He’s not crying.

When a tear runs over my lip, I automatically lick it away. On autopilot my parched tongue gladly laps up as many tears as it can.

The horror of my actions dries up my tears. Will I start eating my own arm before this is over? A shudder runs through me. I can’t take this.

Something in me snaps. I jump up and start screaming.

When one of my red captors enters the room, I snarl at him. “Do you plan on starving us? How about some water? Are you planning on selling our dead bodies? Isn’t fresh better?”

His white hair floats about his bare shoulders as he shakes his head. “If you don’t want to be someone’s meal you had better not act like this when you are put up for sell. The good buyers are looking for calm submissive beings.”

When the craft shudders, I squeak and drop to the hard floor.

A light enters my captor’s yellow eyes. “That’s better. If you want to live and have a chance at happiness you need to be submissive. Many warriors pay well for a submissive female.”

Is he for real? “Why would I care if you make good money selling me? I hope nobody wants me. That would serve you right.” Alien bastard.

His eyes narrow and he licks his lips. “If you don’t sell you will be a very tasty meal for me and my crew.”

“Flipping fuck. How can you be so mean?”

He shrugs. “It’s just business. If you want to live you will be calm and act submissive. Let them touch you and smell you.” He takes a step closer to my cage. “Fight and you will become someone’s meal.”

A shiver races through my body. The look in his eyes says he’s telling the truth.

I watch him turn to the kepslian and listen as he talks to the male in a language I can’t understand. I can’t help but wonder when this is going to be over.

I jump when two more of the red aliens enter the room.

The look in their scary yellow eyes is freaking me out. One of them opens my cage door. I step back.

“What’s going on? What are you going to do to us?” I cringe when my high pitched voice rings off the walls.

“Calm yourself, human.” My captor lunges at me and within a second I’m caught and drug from the cage. One of the others quickly chains my hands behind my back. I barely stop myself from kicking him.

“Please don’t chain me. I promise to be good.” Not likely, but they don’t know that.

I’m ignored as the other two handle the light purplish alien. He seems okay. Calm even. But as the barpolians are tugging his chain to get him out of his cage their posture screams that the red aliens are on high alert.

When the kepslian goes quietly, I wonder what the big deal is. My heart races as we are led out of the room and down a long corridor. I notice that it is clean. But I know for a fact that clean does not mean good.

The massive spacecraft door opens and bright sunlight pours into the craft. I blink as I’m led down a metal ramp. I hear a commotion behind me and look over my shoulder to see the kepslian slam his body into one of our captors. The red male falls off the ramp. When the kepslian jumps off the ramp on the other side one of our red captors pulls out some type of laser gun and shoots the large kepslian in the back. He stumbles and goes down to his knees. I cry out in horror.

“You killed him.” I can’t believe it. Fear races through me. Am I next?

“No, he is just stunned and will remain that way long enough to get him to the sell-block,” says the red alien holding my chain.

“How can you do this? He’s going to be too wounded to sell. You should let us go. This isn’t right.”

“Human, there is no right or wrong. Only survival.”

I’m stunned by his cold assessment of life. But deep down I know from experience that he’s telling the awful truth.

The other two barpolians get the kepslian to his feet. I can tell that he’s dazed and confused. I don’t know what they shot him with but it was bad. He’s at least six feet of muscle. I shudder at the thought of them shooting me with that gun.

When I’m prodded forward, I go along easily. I look to the left and right. I’m amazed when I get a glimpse of several spacecrafts. I don’t get a good look at them though because the crowd I’m led through quickly swallows up my view.

The new view is scarier than hell. I look around at all of the aliens. Most of them are six to seven feet tall. Some have scales while others appear to have skin like mine but the colors vary widely. I freak out when I see a four-eyed being with dark brown skin that has red spots. What the hell is that?

My captor tugs on my chain and I realize that I’ve stopped to stare at all of the colorful beings. I glance over my shoulder and see that the kepslian is still looking dazed and confused but he is still moving. Will he be okay? Or did that gun mess him up for life? Our captors are horrible.

I’m tugged again. This time I’m pulled along at a faster pace. Through the crowd we are brought to a raised platform. I don’t like the looks of this at all.

In stunned silence, I follow my captor up some solid steps and onto the horrible stage. The air is sucked out of my lungs when I see how many beings are wandering around. Some are looking me over and others are just talking or shopping at vendors that are all over the place.

My captor moves me across the stage. I look over and see that the kepslian is being placed on a spot not far from me. When our gazes meet, I can see that he’s not too dazed anymore. That makes me feel better. But the sad look in his eyes makes my stomach do a rough flip. If a big guy like him is depressed, we are in a flipping shitload of trouble.

There goes any hope of help. The future for us is bleak. I look out at the crowd hoping to see a kind face. The crowd is as indifferent as ever. I tremble when a few dark green scaly beings lick their lips as they look me over.

I’m glad they are down on ground level. A barpolian female comes onto the stage wearing a long yellow dress that drifts around her as she walks. Her long white hair is pulled up into a high ponytail. Her yellow eyes look me over and then look the kepslian over.

She nods at out captors and then goes to the edge of the platform and says something that I can’t understand. Then she waves her arms delicately like a graceful dancer. All kinds of hell breaks loose as beings start yelling to her. She answers back and then points to the stairs.

I cringe when some dark blue aliens with white dots on their skin comes onto the stage and starts circling me. They talk to my captor and then shake their fat heads and walk off the platform.

A relieved breath escapes me. Too bad that emotion doesn’t last long. When I see a group of big mouthed golden skinned aliens come my way, I cringe. Their red eyes glow and saliva starts to drip from their huge mouths as they circle the kepslian and then me. When saliva lands near my foot, I take a small step back. They make a loud sound that I guess is laughter. When one of them touches me, I shudder at his rough hand on my arm. His fingers squeeze causing me to cry out in pain. My captor says something to them and then they leave the platform.

I can’t take much more of this. I look down at the wooden floor. I just can’t keep on watching these aliens circle me. If only the floor would open up and swallow me whole, I’d be happy.

Soft material flutters before my eyes. I look up to see the red female. Her yellow eyes are serious.

Her white hair bounces as she leans in close to me. “There are a couple of zaphinians walking through the market. I’m going to get their attention. If they choose to come over and look at you, you need to do exactly what they say. The warriors like submissive beings. Zaphinians are known for being good to their sexual playthings.” She looks out at the crowd and then back at me. “You can find happiness with them.”

I watch her whirl around and move to the edge of the stage. Happiness! My heart sings with hope. I’ve never had that before. What do the zaphinians look like? Is she telling me the truth? My heart slows its excited beat. I’d like her to be honest but that doesn’t mean she is. Can I even be submissive?

I remember wanting to be better for that piece of shit and know I can if necessary. Being submissive just means following orders without question, right? Flipping fuck. I can do it if the zaphinians aren’t too bad looking or smelling.

I remember the drooling beings and shudder. Old man Smithson pops into my mind. Smelly breath, thick patches of grey hair on his shoulders, pot gut. The lecher needed a mint and a shirt and respect for women. I couldn’t be his sex toy.

Doubt fills me. I hate myself for feeling this way but I don’t think I can do it.

I hear the barpolian female calling out to the zaphinians. I look out into the crowd expecting to see some scary fucking being.

Instead, my gaze locks with beautiful gold and dark purple eyes. My pulse quickens like never before. He’s mesmerizing.