Claimed by the Alien King (3 page)

Chapter Four: Lir

"So, I assume there's nothing safe for human consumption on this ship?"

Lir looked away from his unfinished report to stare at the female. Maya Banks. That was the namesake she'd claimed earlier. On his planet, a newborn was given one name only, but familial associations were assumed under a House name. During one of his many extensive lessons on Earth and its occupants, he'd learnt that humans had a tendency for the extravagant. Sometimes claiming as many as four names for the purposes of individualism.

"There is," he said, rising to his feet.

"Hopefully a shower too?" she said. Then she gave him a doubtful look. "Do showers exist on spaceships? Or is it like a hygiene kit or something?"

"There is a shower, yes," he answered. "But I will show you to the dining area first."

"Thank God," she said as she followed him. "I can't wait to get out of these old clothes."

I can't wait to get you out of them either.

The thought raced across his mind, come and gone so quickly he had no chance to stop it. At least he had a better control on his emotions than the human. No chances of him projecting his less-than-appropriate thoughts.

Lir lengthened his stride. As soon as he'd shown the human to the dining area, he intended to leave her alone. Being in her company was dangerous. The thrall was steadily getting stronger, intensifying when the human was near. All he needed to do was resist it and its absurd demands until he got to Aqueloc. Then he'd send a claimed pilot to return the human to her planet.

He stalked across the short bridge connecting Sector A to Sector B where the dining area resided. Built for a small crew, most of the ship's interior wasn't large. However, though it lacked spaciousness, it had far more advanced technology than many of the other ships on the market. Retrieving a dish from the utensil storage, Lir placed it beneath the dispensary and watched with disgust the yellow-green lumpy mush filling the dish. Far more advanced technology indeed, but the food was still as horrible as any other ship.

He turned and found the human staring around the circular room. Her lips parted in awe, she moved around in slow steps, apprehensively touching things. Her fingers grazed the surface of the oblong dining table and one of the chairs beside it. The chair retracted itself from the table in preparation for her to sit and she jumped away with a startled gasp. When she realized he was watching her, she gave a nervous laugh.

"Wow, nothing stays in one place on this ship," she said. "I feel like I'm in a movie or something." Then a doubtful look came over her face. "Is this even real? Like…are
you
real? Am I dreaming? I kinda feel like I am."

Lir grabbed the dish from the dispensary and it on the table in front of the retracted chair.

"I assure you I am real and you are not dreaming," he said, and then indicated she sit down.

She eyed the chair with uncertainty before easing her body into it, and the chair slid her forward to her meal.

"I don't know if I'll ever get used to this," she said, shaking her head.

"Not a necessity," Lir said. "Soon, you will be on your planet, once more enduring its rigid, unimaginative customs."

She frowned at him. "You sure have a lot of contempt for Earth. What has it ever done to you?"

Moving away from the human, he headed toward the exit without response.

"Hey, wait a minute," she called after him. "What's this yellow stuff? It doesn't look safe for me to eat."

Lir turned to look at her, the revulsion evident on her face as she stared at the dish.

"It is safe," he said.

"Well, you got anything else that doesn't look like pee-filled oatmeal?"

"No."

He turned around and left.

As Lir continued his report, he thought that perhaps if the human were male or a child or of an advanced age, he wouldn't have minded it being on his ship as much as he did now. Unfortunately, the human—Maya—was young, seemed healthy, and able to bear offspring. It was all the thrall needed and the human met its simple criteria. Her attractiveness didn't help the matter either. Her dark hair and soft brown eyes appealed to him on a level he'd never encountered before and which had nothing to do with the thrall. He'd always known his tastes in females were fluid, but that it extended even to
humans
disturbed him somewhat.

After all, he was supposed to hate humans, especially for what they'd done to his people. Now to even entertain the thought of mating with one was to be a traitor. But Aqueloc was a week away and Lir wasn't convinced he had the power to resist the thrall for that long. Not when the human insisted on being near him most of the time.

Even now he could hear her footsteps approaching. His body tense in preparation for her appearance, he pretended to be consumed by his work. He knew she was standing some distance behind him and he could sense her apprehension. A part of him grew ashamed by his intentional coldness, but he ignored it.

"I'm sorry to bother you," she said after a moment, her tone soft and uncertain, "but I'd like to take that shower now." Lir got his feet, heading toward her and she raised a hand as she continued. "Wait, if you just tell me where to go, I'll figure it out on my own."

"You will get lost," he said in bored tones, continuing on toward the hallway.

"You don't know that," she replied, following him. "I found that room on my own earlier today even though I couldn't read your weird alien language on the signs."

At the end of the hallway, Lir turned right. Deciding that the human's idea made sense, he began explaining the ship's general structure as well as pertinent locations she would likely wish to utilize.

"There are two hygiene stations," he said. "This is the first." He pointed at a nearby door with large alien text scrawled across it. "The second located in the lower level to serve Sector C and Sector D."

"Right. Got it." She nodded, her features stoic, but Lir knew better. He could hear her frantic thoughts of confusion.

Holy shit. He's right. I'm so gonna get lost on this huge ass tin can. It even has a gym! Why would they need a gym on a spaceship?

Amused, Lir continued. "During long space journeys, exercise is a necessity to ensure optimal health."

She scowled. "Why is it that you can read my thoughts but I can't read yours?"

I am far more skilled at controlling my emotions than you, human.

She stared up at him wide-eyed with awe. "Oh my god! You were…your voice was just in my head! You can
send
your thoughts to anyone too?"

Lir pointed at the door again, ignoring her question. Though her amazement pleased him, he forced himself to uphold his earlier promise of being reticent. Wilful projection was an intimate act and it bothered him he'd committed it with her.

"Once you have undressed, place your clothing in the bin to your left. Straight ahead is the shower. There are two cycles: the cleaning cycle and the drying cycle. You will not be able to leave until the drying cycle is complete."

She nodded. "OK."

Lir pressed a button to unlock the door and she walked inside, surveying the new room. She turned and gave him a small smile as the door began to close and Lir disregard the ridiculous thought that wished to see her smile again.

Back at the control panel, he returned to his report. He had an Earth year's worth of shorthand notes to transform into something that would make sense to the court. As the
Yar Ser
, it galled him he had to justify his actions, but he appreciated the work than the alternative: thinking about the human. Thinking about her taking off her clothing, revealing her naked body to the ship's walls, water streaming down her flesh, caressing her in ways his hands ached to touch as well.

Conflicted, he stared at his monitor where his report sat unfinished but his brain didn't register the text. Anger and arousal warred within Lir, and he suppressed the quiet, unpleasant thought of throwing her off his ship into the nothingness of space. As he began contemplating locking her up in a room somewhere, his attention was drawn to the distress signal being sent from the hygiene station.

He launched from his seat, running to the station. Slamming his fist on the button, the door slid apart and Lir raced inside before stopping short at the sight before him.

The human.

One hand across her full breasts, a palm covering between her thighs.

Completely naked.

Her brown eyes wide, her cheeks pink, her lips slightly parted, Lir couldn't recall a moment in his life when he'd been as hard as he was now.

Lir clenched his fists. "What do you want?"

"The bin took my clothes!" she said. "I've got nothing to wear."

Chapter Five: Maya

He didn't look happy. He never did, anyway. His angry scowl was constant, his contempt more so. At first she'd thought he just hated humans, but she got the sense it was more than that. If he hated her kind her so much, no doubt she'd be deader than dead. Her conclusion: he just hated
her.

But then…why was he looking at her like that?

Maya squeezed her hands against her bare breasts tighter as she stared at the alien—Liramel. He didn't move and neither did she. Her embarrassment was tempered by her curiosity. His gaze raked over her exposed flesh and Maya realized what was happening. Human or not, that look never changed.

She was being checked out.

No. Wait. She was being checked out by an
alien
.

Holy. Shit.

She didn't know whether to be flattered or horrified or maybe even outraged. She supposed the latter. Instead of helping her or being a gentleman—did aliens even have the concept of politeness and gentlemanliness?—by fetching her something to cover herself, he stood there watching her like a starving man who'd just encountered a plate topped with the tastiest looking meat. What would happen if she decided to let her hands fall away from her body? Let him enjoy the full view?

His hands were clenched like if the action was all he could do to restrain himself. From what? Their gazes met and Maya let out a soft gasp. She knew what would happen. She could see it in the way he looked at her. His rough, demanding hands all over her body, he'd take her hard against the nearest available surface. Warmth spread throughout her body and Maya could feel herself growing wet at the thought, the very real possibility of this powerful alien man spreading her thighs and—

He turned away abruptly and moved to where the clothing bins were located. She'd already searched there, pressed as many buttons as she could, looking for anything passable to cover her important bits to no avail. She'd been shocked to see him suddenly turn up. Perhaps one of the buttons she'd pressed had paged him.

When he retrieved fresh clothing from a bin she was sure she'd already searched in before, he shoved them toward her. She began to lift her hand away from her breasts when she caught herself. Her face redder than ever, she shook her head.

"You can put them on the ground."

Silently, he placed the clothes on the ground then left the room.

Maya breathed a sigh of relief as she set about putting on the clothes Liramel found for her. The jacket consisted of the same leathery material that he wore, only in a looser fit. Smoothing her hands over the new clothing, Maya got the impression she looked like a new army recruit. There were no mirrors to confirm this, nor any combs or brushes for her to manage her hair. Resolved to do the best she could with her fingers, Maya left the hygiene station.

What would sex with an alien be like anyway?

The instant the thought crossed her mind Maya looked around wildly, hoping Liramel wasn't nearby. Did she have to be in the same room for him to hear her thoughts? Could he hear them from a distance? She desperately hoped the latter wasn't true because she'd endured enough embarrassment for the day.

Though she told herself it was better to be safe than sorry by no longer entertaining her perverse thoughts, Maya's mind kept returning to that moment when Liramel caught her naked. She remembered that look of want in his gaze and the way he seemed as though he was just barely withholding himself from jumping her.

Was sex with an alien any different than with a human? Was the…err…
equipment
the same as a human's? She recalled a few sci-fi shows that featured tentacles in alien sexual reproduction and Maya felt disturbed by that idea. Surely Liramel didn’t have a bunch of tentacles squirming around in his pants? She'd never seen any movement in that area. Not that she'd ever really paid attention. What if the tentacles weren't even in the same place as would a human male's organ? Where then would they be?

These were all stupid and unnecessary questions, she realized. The pertinent question was what she would do when she finally returned to Earth. A year would have passed. She'd have no job and her mother and anybody else who marginally cared about her would assume she was dead. What would they say about her just suddenly turning up a year later? What would she say to them? Nobody would ever believe the truth. Nobody ever believed a person that claimed they were 'abducted by aliens'.

Sighing, Maya entered her room and lay on the bed. She'd claimed the room she'd wandered into the first time she got on the ship as hers, even though Liramel had mentioned there were other rooms with more improved features. In that room, she could pretend life hadn't changed so drastically. She could pretend she was in some random room in a science center still grounded on Earth.

She wondered how long had passed since she'd been gone. If a week on this Aqueloc planet was six months on Earth, how many days…weeks had flown by during her short stay on the ship? It boggled Maya's mind that perhaps a month had already gone by even though she'd only been on the ship for what felt like a day.

As she drifted asleep, a quiet thought came to her.

It doesn't matter. Nobody on Earth needs me anyway.

If she remembered correctly from what Liramel mentioned, there was an 'entertainment room' on this ship. She didn't know exactly where it was located, but it was somewhere in Sector B.

She thought about asking Liramel but immediately disregarded that thought. He didn't like being in her presence it seemed, and she didn't mind the adventure of a search. There was a sense of safety in getting lost because she knew that somehow Liramel would come rescue her.

When she'd arrived in the dining area of Sector B, she continued forward, selecting one of the two available doorways. The first led to a room filled with varying exercise-based equipment. The second doorway led to a circular area with six small, round tables placed at different locations. Wandering over to one of the tables, Maya stared with interest as a holographic image of a white canvas appeared above the table's surface. The canvas was divided into rows and columns that created individual square boxes. In some of the boxes contained alien text.

Smiling, Maya thought it looked like a Sudoku puzzle. She'd never been a huge fan of the game but she'd played before and knew the rules. She touched the hologram on a blank box and a marking appeared where she touched it then vanished. A message appeared across the hologram but she couldn't understand what it said.

When the message disappeared, Maya studied the other symbols on the canvas before making another attempt at the game. Though she had no clue what each symbol meant and her accuracy at drawing them wasn't exact, the game accepted her answers. So engrossed by the novelty of the game, she did not hear when Liramel entered the room.

"You should eat."

Startled, Maya jumped a little before looking up at him.

"What?" she said. "I'm not—" Her stomach's grumbling cut her off.

"The diagnostics has detected your body's need for food," he said, coming closer. "It is unwise to go prolonged periods without nourishment in space."

Maya rolled her eyes. "There's no privacy for me here, is there? You can read my thoughts and the ship can tell when I'm hungry…and God knows what else."

"That is incorrect," he said.

Maya opened her mouth to challenge him when she noticed his gaze was directed at the hologram. He pointed at a spot in the top right corner of the almost completed canvas and at another spot near the middle.

"These two are the same and have violated the integrity of the rest of your puzzle," he said. Then his gaze met hers. "Nevertheless, your progress and aptitude so far are impressive."

Pleased by his compliment yet growing shy beneath his steady gaze, Maya looked away. The memories from the last time she'd seen him—or when he'd seen her…
naked
—seeped back into her mind. Horrified he'd read her thoughts, she moved away from the table to head toward the exit.

In the dining area, he showed her where to find the dishes and how to use the yellow-goop dispenser. Sitting at the oblong table, Maya force-fed herself the unappetizing meal while Liramel did the same. She was amused by the fact that he clearly hated the yellow stuff too. After washing down the bland taste of the meal with water, Maya fidgeted in the ensuing silence.

"What's a Yar Ser, anyway?" said Maya after a while. "You said you were 'Liramel, the Yar Ser of the…err…something of Aqueloc.'"

Liramel got to his feet, collecting the used dishes. "I am the Yar Ser of the
asra
of Aqueloc. I am the ruler of Aqueloc."

Maya gave him a doubtful look. "Isn't Aqueloc a planet? You mean like you're the president of a
part
of Aqueloc? You don't really mean you run the entire—"

"I am the ruler of all of Aqueloc, human," he said in bored tones, watching her. "Everything within it is beneath my dominion. I do not own part of it. I own all of it."

Maya stared at Liramel, dumbfounded by this new discovery. Not only would nobody on Earth believe she was abducted by an alien, they would definitely laugh in her face if she told them he was the ruler…
king
of an entire planet, too.

"Wait a minute, why would a king of one planet visit another?" she asked, and then she looked suspicious. "Why were you there? Are you planning on conquering Earth?"

Liramel said nothing for a while, his gaze serious. Maya bit her lip, wondering if she'd hit the nail on the head or offended him.

"I went to retrieve the body of Ser Varkon, my uncle," he said. "He was not happy with my ascension and sought to undermine me by currying favour with the court. He went to Earth with plans to conduct business relations to strengthen his image as a greater leader to the court, but your planet considered him a hostile agent to their environment. He was killed."

Maya covered her mouth in shock, feeling genuine sorrow. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry, Liramel."

"'Lir' is fine," he said. "You have no reason to apologize, human. My uncle was warned of his fate. Nevertheless, I find myself disinclined to forgive the callous actions of your planet."