Page 23 of Her Alien Beast
“I didn’t really get lost in the woods,” I blurt, feeling more desperate than ever. I cling to my desperation. If I can’t reject Gregory out of bravery, then I’ll do it out of desperation.
Gregory pulls away, his thick eyebrows narrowing together. “What?”
“I don’t want to marry you. I never have. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. It was so selfish of me to leave and make everyone worry, and I do apologize for not leaving a note.” I’ll confess this much to him, but I won’t dare speak of the days spent at Vlann D’Zorr’s house. I won’t tell him about my deal with a handsome but strict Kaxxoralan bounty hunter. The deal… the arguments… the spankings… the sex… He doesn’t need to know the full truth. It’s too personal, a secret I want to conceal and hold close to my heart forever.
He digs his fingers into my thigh. “Who else knows about this?” he hisses, his expression one of black fury.
“No one. I was too scared to tell my parents the truth.” That, and I can’t bear their disappointment. Oh God, but now that I’ve told Gregory, surely, they’re going to find out soon. They’ll realize I’m not the good, obedient daughter they think I am.
He digs his fingers deeper, and I try to squirm away. “Both our families have flown important clients, business partners, and friends into the La’tkk settlement for this wedding. Some of them are still here. I will not have you make a fool of me, Amira. If you refuse to marry me, I’ll force you. I’ll have my father’s men drug you, put your wedding gown on, and drag you into the church.”
“My parents would never—”
“We can drug your parents, too. Make them forget the events of the last few days and implant any specific memories we wish. They’ll only remember your wedding, that they had a wonderful time at both our ceremony and the reception.”
I’m horrified. But I believe him. His father has connections, dark ones. While my father operates entirely within the law in his business ventures, I’ve heard rumors that Gregory’s father deals in illegal weapons and drug trade, using his interplanetary shipping business as a front. Given both Gregory and his father’s frequent trips to faraway outposts, it makes sense.
“Please don’t do this,” I say, but he only squeezes my leg harder. It’s a good thing my wedding gown is long, because his grip is going to leave a wicked bruise.
“We will be married in two days, Amira. We have a picture-perfect life waiting for us. Don’t be stupid.” He releases my thigh and brushes his knuckles against my cheek in a sickeningly tender gesture. I hate him, but in two days, I will marry him.
“All right,” I whisper, tired and defeated.
Gregory lingers long after dinner, dazzling my parents with the details of our honeymoon plans to Alon’kata Island. My mother goes on and on about our rescheduled wedding and how it’ll be perfect. She says some of the guests who already left the Ta’kkt human settlement are already on their way back to witness the joyous event. I smile and nod so often, my face starts to hurt, and I feel like the biggest fucking fraud in the world.
Just after nightfall, Gregory finally goes home, and I breathe a sigh of relief at finally having him out of the house. I still can’t believe he’s threatening to drug me into compliance. His family is powerful. I was stupid to think I could escape.
My parents insist we retire in the evening room with drinks and I join them, despite my growing fatigue. Unfortunately, my father uses this time as an opportunity to once more ask questions about my time in the forest and my rescuer’s identity. He seems not to believe that I don’t know the man’s full name, his eyes constantly gleaming with suspicion. “He’s a human named Nick,” I keep telling him, “but he never told me his last name.”
When I eventually crawl into bed, I’m exhausted and heartsick. As I drift to sleep, I think of Vlann D’Zorr. I miss him terribly. He appears in my dreams, staring at me with his arms crossed, a displeased look on his face. In other dreams, he’s making love to me, as tenderly as ever, and yet in others he’s punishing me and then claiming me roughly. I awake frequently and reach for him in the bed, only to realize he’s not here and I’m no longer in his house. I’m all alone and he doesn’t want me. If he wanted me, he would have told me.
The next morning, Gregory is waiting downstairs, looking as smug as ever.
“Your parents went into to the warehouse for a few hours,” he says, pouring me a cup of coffee.
I nod and bury my face behind the large cup, wishing I could disappear. If only I’d never accepted Gregory’s marriage proposal in the first place. Why hadn’t I been strong enough to sayno? With dozens of people watching, guests at my college graduation party, I’d been compelled to say yes, though now that I think about it, those spectators would’ve been the perfect witnesses. Maybe he wouldn’t have been able to compel me into marrying him after such a public rejection. Of course, it’s too late for that now. I think of Vlann. It’s too late for a lot of things.
“I was thinking we could head up to Tressik Lake today,” he says, crossing his legs.
“All right, sounds good.” Our parents own cabins on the lake there, built side by side ten years ago after a particularly lucrative business deal.
“We can take the boat out all day,” he says, and I nod, wishing I were anywhere but here.
“I’ll go get ready,” I say, my heart pounding. Vlann doesn’t live far from the Tressik Lake area. I had been blindfolded on the way there, but not on the way back. We’d passed the exit to the cabins as he drove me home. The impending proximity to Vlann’s residence is a knife through my heart. I’ll be so close, yet I won’t be able to see him. I’ll probably never see him again, I realize, with a painful start.
I force myself to walk upstairs and get ready.
