Destined For The Alien King (Lords of Astria)
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Authors: Juno Wells
Destined For The Alien King
By
Juno Wells
© 2015 Juno Wells
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.
Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
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Table of Contents
She stood at the door expectantly. Not knowing if he was going to kiss her again. This time she knew that she really wanted him to kiss her. She wouldn't have expected it yesterday, but the more time they spent together, the more she was coming to understand why it was so important for her to go with him and become his wife.
"Would you like to come in?" she asked.
"Yes," he said in a husky voice. The look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. He wanted her badly and from his expression she didn't know if he would be able to keep his hands to himself.
War been brewing for over 1000 years, but never had it been so close…
If humans knew the danger lurking in the shadows of Outer Space above them, not one would be able to sleep at night. Fortunately for them, the guardians of the ancient peace—The Lords of Astria— protected their planetary home.
A new threat, the Dark Nebula, threatened the little spiral galaxy that had been neutral space since the Treaty of Elyria had ended the Great War.
Word had reached the High Council of atrocities being committed at the border of the Milky Way — the neutral territory between Astria and the Dark Nebula.
Just when things seemed at an impasse, a clever solution was proposed: to invoke the ancient rights
which stated that once two peoples were united by blood and marriage, they became, in effect, one people— and any treaties which bound one people, bound all of them.
A member of the ruling house of each planet would take an Earthling as a spouse, and so bring Earth under the protection — all with the utmost secrecy. If the Dark Nebula made further moves to encroach upon the Milky Way, the High Council would be able to protect its territory with lethal force.
A leader of each planet would have to wed and procreate with an Earthling in order to assure the continued survival and safety of the United Federation of Astria.
And so, while these cosmic decision played out in the heavens above them, the ignorant Earthlings slept blissfully, never knowing that the swiftly tilting planet they called home held the fate of the universe within its little solar system… unless they were called up to be the mother to an alien child, a wife to an alien lover...
These are their stories.
There he was again
—
tall, and strong, and brooding. His dark eyes smiled wistfully as he stood in the shifting sands. “Come to me,
setina
,” he said.
Jessie’s eyes shot open. The strange dreams of the tall, dark-eyed man had been interfering with her sleep for weeks now. Every time she dreamed of him, he beckoned her and called her
setina
—
a word she’d come to understand meant “soulmate”.
If only there were such a thing as soulmates in this world. Jessie had dated a string of total losers for years. The last one had run up all her credit cards and run over her cat. Jessie Ferris was completely done with men.
She pushed her long brown hair out of her face and swung her legs over the side of her bed, blinking away her fitful sleep. Another day, another dollar. She groaned and stood before trudging into the bathroom.
As she showered images of the dream flitted through her mind. She saw his face, handsomely chiseled and tanned as she rubbed shampoo into her hair. She thought of the way he called her
setina
and held her close to his massive, muscled body as she rubbed soap over her curvy flesh.
She bit her lip and moaned at the thought of how he kissed her. Her dream man was perfect. He turned her on and made her feel safe. But he was exactly that, a dream. She’d never meet a man like him in real life. Dudes like that just didn’t exist in her world.
When Jessie arrived to work at the bank that morning, she was already ready for the day to be over. Hours upon hours of counting out cash and taking deposits from cranky hurried customers was getting old.
She put her things in the break room and took her place at her station. Her manager, Tim, walked behind her, and she could actually feel his breath on her skin. She turned around and scowled but quickly forced her face into a pleasant smile.
“Good morning,” she said with fake pleasantness. “How was your weekend?”
“It was good. It would’ve been better with some company,” he said suggestively. Jessie shuddered at the thought. He’d been making these vague flirtations for months now, a situation that made her boring job even more obnoxious.
“You should get a pet,” she said. “I used to have a cat. She’s dead now.”
Tim made a shocked face and quickly walked away. Jessie giggled under her breath and moved her “closed” sign to “open” and waved forward the first customer. She went through the usual withdrawals and deposits until midday.
Just before she was ready to close her aisle and take her lunch break, the biggest man she’d ever seen in her life walked up to her counter. He wasn’t big like as in round. He was big as in tall and broad and gorgeously muscular.
When she craned her neck upward to get a good look at his face, she realized he looked exactly like the man in her dreams. She took a sharp breath, her heart suddenly doing a tap dance in her chest.
“How can I help you?” she squeaked. Her throat felt constricted and all her lady parts started to buzz.
“You can help me,
setina
. We can help each other,” he said confidently, placing his hands on the counter and leaning toward her. His face was right in front of hers, and she could smell the manly musk of his skin. It was so delicious her knees started to shake.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered. It was highly unusual for a customer to lean so close.
“Is everything all right over there?” Tim asked from the other end of the counter.
Breaking out of some kind of trance, Jessie blinked wildly and turned towards Tim. “Everything’s fine,” she stammered. She turned back to the massive man standing in front of her. It took every bit of her personal strength to keep herself from swooning and falling on her ass.
“I’m here to take you home,” he said matter-of-factly.
“This is crazy. Who are you? Why are you in my dreams?” she blurted out.
“I will explain everything. You must come with me now.”
“You have to fill out a deposit slip over there,” she said loudly, pointing towards the information counter at the center of the bank. Then she whispered, “I’m about to take my lunch break. I’ll meet you out front.”
The gorgeous stranger didn’t seem to want to leave the counter, but he finally turned to go and headed out the front door of the bank. Jessie heaved a deep sigh. “I’m taking my lunch break now,” she told Tim as she closed her line.
Jessie hurried to the break room and grabbed her purse and sweater before hurrying out the front door of the bank. She looked up and down the busy sidewalk but didn’t see her dream man. Had she been hallucinating? Was this another dream?
She went around the corner towards her favorite café to get herself a turkey sandwich and a massive coffee. Maybe she just needed to wake up and eat something. As she turned the corner she ran smack dab into a brick wall. When she looked up she realized it wasn’t a brick wall. It was a way too warm and way too delicious smelling to be a wall.
She took several steps backwards and looked up at the giant of a man staring down at her. It was him, dream guy.
“You must come with me, my
setina,
” he said, taking her by the hand. She was so dumbstruck by the inexplicable probability of a man looking exactly like the guy she’d been dreaming about for weeks to show up at work and want to take her somewhere that she just followed without a word.
After a few blocks, and passing her favorite café, she snapped out of her stupor and dug in her heels. “Where are we going?”
“We are going home,” he said, turning to her and enfolding her in his arms. The guy must’ve been seven feet tall. He was like some kind of huge basketball player crossed with a football player. He had dark cropped hair and shining black eyes that seem to shift colors in the light.
“Where is home? And why should I go there with you?” she said. She wanted her words to be more harsh, but instead they came out wistfully with a hint of longing. She really did want to go with him, even though it was crazy to go home with a strange guy who just showed up at work and demanded she go home with him. Seriously, that was crazy. Who did that? He could be a serial killer or an Amway salesman.
“I will explain everything. But, first we must go somewhere private so I can get you to my ship.”
“Ship? Are you like a pirate or something,” she said, snorting.
“No my sweet
setina
, I am not a pirate. I am the lord of my world, and you will be my queen. I have waited many years to find you. And now that I have, I will do everything in my power to fill your life with pleasure.”
Jessie giggled again, batting her almond-shaped blue eyes. She put her hand on her round hip and smiled. “Wow. That sounds nice. But really ‘the lord of my world,’ are you in some kind of cult? Am I being brainwashed?”
He looked at her, aghast. “I would never do such a thing to my
setina
. But we must hurry. The mating impulse is coming on strong. I will explain everything. Just come with me, now.”
He gripped her hand and walked quickly down the sidewalk. Jessie could barely keep up. She was almost at a run just keeping up with his walking strides. She was about to protest when he ducked into a dark alley and gathered her in his arms.
“Wait a minute,” she said, but by the time she knew what was happening, she didn’t even remember that she’d said it.
Blinking rapidly, Jessie took in her new surroundings. She was in a room, surrounded by what looked like floating holograms. The man still held her close to his chest as she craned her neck around to look over her shoulder. She gasped and pulled out of his embrace, turning to get a better look at what was behind her.
She looked out a tall, wide window that showed a massive picture of Earth spinning far below. WTF? She must be dreaming. She glanced back at dream guy and then looked out the window again.
“Are we in space?” she asked. This is what happened when she didn’t get enough coffee in the morning.
“We are in orbit above your planet.
“Why are we orbiting my planet?” she asked. That seemed like the most logical question.
“My ship is the quickest transportation home,” he said, as if that explained it all.
“Wait a minute. Who are you?”
“I am Ameer. Lord King of the desert planet Uthar, one of the 187 federated planets of Astria. And you will be my queen.”
“Wha, wha?” All she understood was “you will be my queen.” The rest of it might as well have been Greek. Come to think of it, he had a darn good American English accent for an alien.
“You know my language pretty well,” she said, almost tripping over her feet as she took a step backward as her current reality came crashing around her. Dream dude was an alien named Ameer from some alien planet that was part of some alien federation.
“I have a language chip. I understand all languages flawlessly.”
Jessie stepped back, put her hand to her chin and tried to get a handle on what he’d told her. There had to be a rational explanation for all this.
“Okay. Supposedly, you have a language implant, you’re an alien, and you expect me to be your queen.” She made air quotes around the words implant, alien, and queen. Using air quotes made it all seem hypothetical.
“My dearest
setina
, please have a seat. You are in shock. It is understandable,” Ameer directed her to a cushy couch at the back of the room. “I will show you to your quarters soon. This is just the teleportation bay. Not very comfortable for my new bride.”
“Bride?” she said, raising an eyebrow.
Ameer bent down on one knee in front of her. On his knees, he was still almost as tall as she was standing. He scooped her hand in his and brought it to his lips, kissing the sensitive skin on the back of her hand. “Blessed
setina
,” he whispered. The smell coming off of him made Jessie lightheaded. She almost felt for the guy. He was clearly in love with her. The look in his dark eyes convinced her she was a little in love with him, too.
“You’re sweet,” she finally stated. “But please, for the love of God, could you explain to me why I’m here?”
“You are my
setina
. My soulmate.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. It sent a thrill through her lady parts.
“I appreciate that,” she said, leaning back. “But how is my soulmate an alien? Shouldn’t my soulmate be, like, human? I didn’t even know aliens existed. I mean, there’s all those shows on cable, but no one really believes that stuff.”
“Listen well. The Lords of Astria are here to protect humanity from a deadly scourge. The Dark Nebula seek to claim Earth as their own. Only through the mating of Asrian houses and Earth humans can we protect you according to our treaties.”
“So this is a political thing?”
“I have waited decades for my
setina
. It wasn’t until the agreement was settled that I sensed you on Earth.”
“I see.”
She didn’t.
“We will be bonded as soon as we arrive on Uthar.” He kissed her hand again and rubbed it against his cheek.
“And what if I don’t want to get married? I’m a little young. And I have things back on Earth that are important to me.”
There weren’t. Her cat, in fact, was dead.
“Nonsense. Once a
setina
is identified, bonding is eminent. I have little time before the mating thrall overtakes me. You must prepare yourself, my beloved.”
“I need to lie down,” she said.
Mating thrall? Bonding?
None of this sounded promising.
“Of course, I will take you to your quarters.” Before she could protest, he scooped her up in his arms and lifted her effortlessly. As he stepped forward, a panel in the wall slid open, revealing a long hallway, lit by glowing blue lights.
When they stepped out into the hallway, she saw crowds of other men who looked just as big as Ameer rushing from one room to the next through a matrix of corridors.
The men looked up at Ameer as he carried Jessie through a second sliding door. The door slid shut behind them, and he set her on a cushy white mattress in a brightly lit room. This chamber was more comfortable than the last. There was only one small computer screen, but a large window looked out into space. She could see Earth, slowly moving away.
She laid back on the couch and closed her eyes tightly. Maybe when she opened them again, she’d be back in her bed at home. She tried it.
Nope.
Ameer stared at her expectantly from his seat next to the bed.
“Are you hungry,
setina
?” he asked.
“I was going for a turkey sandwich when you abducted me,” she said, putting her hand to her forehead. She was getting a stress headache.
“Abducted!” he said, aghast. “I did not abduct my
setina
! No. Never!”
“You didn’t exactly ask my permission, bro,” she corrected.
“Bro? I am not your brother,
setina
. You need a medic.”
“It’s just a figure of speech. I know you aren’t my brother.” She was starting to get angry now. This was definitely an abduction. Even if he thought she was somehow his soulmate, he never asked her to go with him. He just took her.
“Please,
setina
…”
“My name is Jessie Ferris. Please call me Jessie.’
“Jessie. All I want is what you want. I would never harm you or do anything against your will.”
“Well you did.”
“Jessie… I am sorry. I didn’t realize.” He gazed down at the floor. The giant, chiseled man looked crestfallen.
“You need to learn about consent,” she said, closing her eyes again. “No means no, and all that.”
“I’ve made a terrible mistake. How can I make this right?”
“You can take me back to Earth and do that Men in Black mind erase thing on me.” Her life on Earth might not have been perfect, but it was what she knew, and it was hers. She had an apartment, books, a half-dead houseplant. That was a lot to live for.