Page 21 of Bought and Shared
I’m not sure what my answer is, but I don’t think it matters. Whatever is about to happen doesn’t require my approval. This all-powerful male is quite literally in the driver’s seat. I’m only along for the ride.
Strapping himself in next, Oren adjusts a few levers and dials and presses a few buttons and we smoothly rise into the air. My stomach does a little flip—like the one time I’d ridden a roller coaster when I was ten—but quickly levels out as we advance forward.
Oren glances at me and holds my gaze. “First time flying?”
“Yeah,” I confess, my fingers gripping the arms of my seat like my life depends on it. “Is it that obvious?” I think I’m wheezing.
“Based on where you’re from, and how pale your face got upon liftoff, it wasn’t a hard fact to deduce,” he says with another handsome grin, his blue eyes sparkling.
Oren fiddles with the controls for a short time before unbuckling his seatbelt and telling me I can do the same. When I’m free of the safety device, he leans back in his chair and gives me a stern look. “I want to hear what happened on the bus today. Spare no detail, no matter how insignificant you may think it is.”
I will my hands not to shake as I tell Oren all about the SUVs that ran us off the road, as well as everything they said to us when attempting to break into the bus. He never interrupted, only listened intently as I relayed as many details as I could recall.
“And the rest of the trip was uneventful?” He presses when I’m finally done.
I was about to nod in agreement when I remember what happened at the fast-food restaurant earlier in the day.
My thoughts must have openly played across my face because Oren accurately reads my expression. “What is it?”
“I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but something happened at lunch,” I reluctantly begin.
Shifting forward in his seat, Oren’s head tilts to the side with interest. “Tell me about it.”
I do. All the embarrassing things the rude boy said clumsily trip out of my mouth. When I’m done, I’m beet red and angry all over again at the injustice of his cruel words.
“You say his father was a senator?” Oren queries, his voice so chilly it could have frosted the air surrounding us.
“Yes,” I squeak out. “But I don’t know what his name is.”
Quinn, if I recall his name correctly, had interrupted him before he could throw the name in our faces.
Oren’s full lips thin to an angry line. “I’ll find out. After what the boy revealed, it won’t take much investigation to figure out which family he’s from.”
“Please don’t do that,” I blurt out, hating the idea of dragging out this ugly encounter any further than it’s already gone. “It doesn’tmatter. The two situations don’t have anything to do with each other. To be honest, I’d rather forget everything that took place today.”
“Not a chance, Kitten,” he says as he gently strokes my cheek. “Anybody who thinks to touch what is mine will pay for it in blood. This disgusting show of cowardice and cruelty from a human male is no exception.”
In blood? That was crazy! Oren couldn’t mean that he’d physically harm the boy at the fast-food restaurant over what he’d said to Cadence and me. As terrible as it was, his behavior didn’t require anything as harsh as that.
“What do you mean, ‘in blood’?” I inquire, needing some clarification on the matter.
“Don’t worry about it,” Oren says dismissively, his finger trailing between the hollow of my breasts.
His touch immediately hijacks my senses and turns my thoughts to other things. More intimate things. Inappropriate, naughty, dirty things my parents and my church have been warning me about since early childhood.
In order to distract him, and maybe myself, I begin to pepper Oren with questions. “How do you speak English so well?”
Smirking, as though he knows exactly what I’m doing and finds it adorable, he answers the query I’ve been pondering for quite some time. “The Voltan can learn languages rather quickly. We have software that can break down any language and translate it into our native tongue within seconds. The whole process, from start to finish, takes about a week of intense study to memorize.”
“That’s impressive,” I admit, intrigued by such a feat.
Oren bobs his chin in appreciation of my saying so. “All Voltan warriors who wish to live on Earth are required to learn the native tongue of the region they’re serving in before being stationed there. After all, an uneducated military that doesn’t understand the people they are living amongst is an ineffective and disadvantaged one.”
I couldn’t disagree with his logic. Culture counts. Part of why my community remained so closed off was because they didn’t want the influence of the secular world to creep in.
The problem was that since the Voltan had taken over Earth, humanity’s place in the world had become considerably diminished. Our alien colonizers had complete control now, and that reality did not sit well with many humans. Myself included, honestly.
Oren’s adroit fingers begin to venture lower then, skimming over the silken bodice of my gown. In response to his touch, my nipples pebble and instantly become visible through the sheer fabric of my dress.
