Reader Abduction (Alien Abduction Book 7) (6 page)

W
ith Phyr gone
, Brigitte explored his room, not that there was much to see. The gray walls appeared seamless around the circular room. She ran her hands along the smooth surface, feeling a gentle hum vibrating them. No matter where she ran her palms, she couldn’t make anything open no matter how many times she rubbed, slapped, or punched the wall. The door certainly didn’t yield to her kicks. The only items of interest were a pair of beanbag-like chairs set around a table. Chairs that liked to get fresh, she noticed, when she sank into one.

The seat molded to her shape, warmed and vibrated, intimately enough that she sprang from it with a gasp.

Was it her, or did the chair look smug that it had copped a feel?

A tremor shook the floor, and she stuck her arms out to the side to keep her balance. “What the hell was that?”

To her surprise, a female voice answered. “The vessel is under attack. Commencing evasion and retaliatory maneuvers. All passengers are advised to find a seat.”

We’re under attack?
Eep. Given her distrust of the chair, she chose to sit upon the bed. What she didn’t count on was the bed to prove even more frightening than the chair.

Invisible bands wrapped around her body, forcing her to lie down on the squishy mattress. Panicked thrashing did nothing to loosen the tether, and after a moment, she stopped fighting. No use wasting time in panic when she could try and logically think.

The last time she asked a question aloud, something answered her. Perhaps it would work again?

“Um, so if anybody is listening, could you, like, maybe untie me?”

Given the sudden flip of the ship that drew her hair down, she couldn’t pretend surprise at the ship’s reply. “Safety harnessing for passengers is mandatory.”

The ship rolled again, and her stomach went with it. She swallowed hard. “This is scary.” She couldn’t have said why she spoke aloud. But she didn’t mind that the computer kept answering.

“Fear is a wasted emotion.”

“Just because you’re a computer doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fear dying,” she mumbled.

“The commander currently enjoys an eighty-five percent success rate in battle.”

Kind of reassuring.

Big shudder as the ship got hit again.

“Damage taken to the photon and warp drives. Probability of success currently at eighteen percent.”

Less reassuring.

Just my luck, I get kidnapped by a hot purple hunk and before I even get a chance to have some fun, we’re all going to die.

Why oh why had she said no to him earlier? She’d hate to haunt space, lamenting what could have been.

If we survive this, I’m going to take his deal.
She would let herself enjoy what he wanted to offer. Face it, he wasn’t going to take her back to Earth. By denying him, she denied herself. She needed to find the same gumption heroines did in the books. Time to grab the alien by the…well, not his balls, that was for sure.

The ship banked again, swerved, dipped, and left her stomach behind somewhere. She clenched her eyes shut and prayed to Murphy since he was the first god she could kind of claim to have met.

She couldn’t have said how long she laid prisoner on that bed. A while, she’d wager, given her tummy began to growl very loudly and her bladder insisted she stop ignoring it.

It took a while before she realized the erratic dipping had stopped. “Is the attack over?”

“The evasion proved successful. The enemy shows no sign of following us into the next galaxy.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Probability of survival currently at five point three percent.”

“What?”

But the computer didn’t reply again. The good news? The constricting bands around Brigitte’s body disappeared.

Before the ship could bind her again, she rolled off the bed but missed her feet. Her numb legs refused to hold her and dumped her on the floor, face-first in the spongy stuff that passed as carpet. She thanked God no one saw her ignoble dismount.

Wrong. She certainly didn’t mistake the laughter that came from hidden speakers as Phyr let her know he watched.

“Is this an Earthen form of worship?” he asked, his velvety baritone sending a shiver through her.

Flipping back her hair, she glared, wishing she knew where the camera hid. “Spying is not nice.”

“I never claimed to be nice.”

“Your ship says we’re probably going to die.”

He laughed. “
Ju’el
would never show such a lack of faith, and she is not programmed for speech.”

Then who the hell was talking to her? Was there another woman on board? It shouldn’t have made her see green.

“I need some clothes and food.”

“The latter is available. Simply tell the ship what you wish to imbibe. As to the former…you know my terms.” Spoken in a husky reminder.

Shaking a fist, she snapped, “I’m not giving in.”

What she couldn’t state with any certainty was who said, “Yet.”

P
hyr wouldn’t deny
there was something perverse and odd about him watching the female he’d abducted. She intrigued him. But stranger than that, as soon as he switched from battle mode, to live to kill for another day, he found himself calling up a small video screen to check on her.

The sight of her body splayed across his bed should not have affected him so much. But it did. How her lush curves appealed, even with her two-breasted status. The poor humans, their mammaries were stunted with only a pair. But at least they were a nice pair. Big and round with dark nipples to decorate them. Nipples he could—

A throat cleared. “If you wish to check on your prisoner, I shall take first watch,” Zor offered.

His first impulse was to accept and then dash to his room where his naked female waited.

Eagerness? Like frukx. A warrior did not let his carnal urges dictate his actions.

I am the one in control here.
And duty came first. “I will take first watch. I want to ensure our enemy did not follow.” He already knew they didn’t. Only madmen, or desperate ones, entered this space, a galaxy long dead, but treacherous, even for the wary.

He enjoyed the challenge. He’d spent time in the Badspace more than once and survived. He’d just never let anyone know. His ability to hide amongst the debris and skirt the edges of the black holes had meant success on more than one occasion.

The uncanny knack he had of evading capture and death earned him the nickname of Ghostfire. He came in like a fireball, torching those who got in his way, then left, vanishing as if into thin air. A good mercenary always had a good escape plan. Live to kill another day. His mother had it tattooed on his arm at a young age.

People often mistook bravery and foolishness. It wasn’t brave to stand your ground in a futile fight where you were certain to die. Bravery was returning once you’d regrouped to finish what you began.

What about finishing his seduction of his captive? She could do him no harm. She could bring him great pleasure, and yet, he avoided her. Why?

The view screen allowed him to watch her eat as his fingers tapped the armrest of his chair. What he found odd was she spoke aloud as she devoured this gooey mess she called a pizza. His food replicators could produce the most amazing food, and yet, the female chose
that
?

“Hey, where is this ship taking us anyhow?” Brigitte asked.

Who does she talk to?

He panned the camera, looking for someone, yet no one appeared.

She jabbed a tined utensil at the air. “I know you know where we’re going. Why not tell me?” As Brigitte canted her head, as if listening, she rolled her eyes. “Top secret, my ass. You had no problem telling me we might die.”

Who told her they might die? Or had he observed a flaw in the female? Was she perhaps mentally addled? It happened. He’d seen it before in males who’d taken one blow too many to the head. Some of them claimed they spoke to spirits and were often given to the temples in the off chance they truly communicated to a deity or force that knew things.

Is she speaking to a god?

He wanted to know. He toggled a switch. “Who do you speak to, female?”

The middle finger rose. A rude gesture, according to the Earth lore he’d studied.

“That is not an answer,” he snapped.

She wagged the finger and added the middle finger on her other hand.

“Your rudeness will be punished.”

At that, she snorted. “Punish me how? Oh dear, maybe you’ll take away my clothes and lock me up? Gee. I’m so worried.”

Her sarcasm tightened his lips. “There are other punishments.” Such as his hand on her plump buttocks.

Apparently, she guessed his thoughts for she stood and bent over, presenting her posterior. “Go ahead and spank me if that’s what turns your crank.”

“Don’t tempt me, female.”

“I wish I could tempt you. Then I wouldn’t be sitting here alone talking to a machine.”

“Are you mentally defective? I must know, as it will affect your price at market.”

“There is nothing wrong with me talking to your ship computer.”

“Except my onboard systems don’t have the ability to reply.” He didn’t approve of it. Computers shouldn’t think. It was unnatural.

“Then who’s been answering my questions? Your girlfriend?” She stared right at him somehow as she asked. Less asked, more growled.

“The only females on board are those we acquired on Earth. None of them have access to on-board communications.”

“I do.”

“You’re different.” So different from the females he’d encountered in his past. For one, she seemed utterly unimpressed by him currently. But she wasn’t always so disdainful. Upon first meeting, she’d expressed a certain amount of awe and admiration. Now? Not so much. It irritated.

“Ju’el says the other girls got clothes. If you ask me, I’d rather be with them.”

The request made his lips pull down in displeasure.
She wishes to leave me?
Never. “If you wish for clothes, then you know what you must do.”

She leaned away from the table, revealing the full glory of her plump bosom. “Kind of hard to do you when you’re not here.”

Did she imply she’d changed her mind? For a moment, he debated calling Zor or Zus to take over. Yet, wouldn’t doing so mean showing her she held power over him?
I see your game, and I won’t let you win.
He switched his tactics.

“Do you miss my presence?”

“No.” Said with a jut of her lower lip.

She lied. Why? “That is good you don’t pine for me. It is not considered good business sense to have goods become too attached to their procurer.”

“Is that your obtuse way of saying don’t fall in love with you?”

“You are a business commodity.”

“And you’re an ass.” With that, she left the room for the cleansing chamber.

And she didn’t come back.

He would know since he watched.

B
rigitte went
to the bathroom in order to escape Phyr’s watchful eye. The fact he thought of her as little more than merchandise hurt. It reminded her of the story in
Accidental Abduction
.

Wasn’t Tren also thinking of selling Megan when he first met her?
Look at what happened to them. Mated, living on a private planet and with a baby boy. The happily ever purple after.

Sigh.

Still, just because it might have happened to those two didn’t mean Brigitte would prove as lucky.

She stayed in the bathroom only long enough to compose herself before exiting again. While her nudity still bothered, she’d gotten used to it. It helped that the ambient temperature remained warm enough she didn’t catch a chill. What she liked less was knowing he watched her. Watched and perhaps lusted, given he kept trying to con her into doing the naughty with him.

Flattering and disconcerting all at once. Flopping on the bed, bored and lonely, she decided to see what she could discover of her purple enigma.

“Hey, Ju’el, why does Phyr think you don’t talk?”

“Because I do not speak to the commander. During my last upgrade, the technician gave me a voice. However, my commander does not approve of sentient machines. After running various scenarios, the conclusion I arrived at weighed strongly in favor of my not advising the commander of my change in ability. Hence why he never hears me speak.”

“So you mean while we were talking, you managed to hide your replies from him?”

“Yes.”

“That’s sly, Ju’el.”

“Yes.”

“You do realize he thinks I’m completely nuts and hearing voices.”

“I do not know the commander’s thoughts.”

She couldn’t tell if the machine screwed with her or not. “So earlier you said our chances of survival sat at about five percent. Is that still true?”

“If this vessel were manned by another, yes.”

“But since Phyr is captain?”

“Then there is no firm number, as the commander has the ability to completely skew statistics.”

Could a computer sound proud? “What is Phyr doing right now?”

“He is running through my system diagnosis. He possesses a keen attention to minor details and keeps my engine running smoothly.”

That sounded positively dirty. “How long will that take him?” Not long, she hoped. Pathetic, right? She couldn’t help it. She craved stimulation. And she didn’t mean just of the body. She kind of missed talking with him. Actually, the better words were verbally spar, something she’d only previously read of. In the books, it seemed so funny. The quick retorts while she groaned as she read, wondering why they fought their attraction to each other.

The same way she fought her attraction.

“Hey, Ju’el, does the commander often bring women on board?”

“The acquired humans are the first female cargo.”

“What about non cargo? Does he ever bring any of his girlfriends to his room?” Brigitte wanted to know.

“The commander has no female friends.”

“None?”

“None that he brings aboard or contacts with any regularity.” Again with the slyness.

Interesting to know Brigitte had gotten the honor of being first to stay in his room.

A room she slept in alone, although Ju’el had been nice enough to provide a backdrop of city noise from Earth. She also liked the warm air blanket the ship provided. It didn’t hide anything, but it proved more snuggly than she would have thought.

It also gave her no warning when a certain naked pirate climbed into bed!