Page 56 of Taken By The Alien Warrior Pirate

The lights from the city below twinkled like tiny stars. The energy was electric and was already rubbing off on me. My heart raced as I stared down at the earth below. Was my future mate somewhere down there? Would we fall in love easily? So many unanswered questions lingered, begging to be answered.

The artificial lights would fade soon as the planet’s rotation caused the city to be bathed in the life-giving rays of Earth’s sun. Somewhere, down below in the sparkling ether of the night, was the woman whom I would wed and share my life with. For a moment, I let myself feel the warmth of hope. If I embarked on this adventure with an open mind and a positive attitude, I was bound to succeed.

CHAPTER 2 - AMY

“Tell me something, Amy,” Darla said, her lean frame silhouetted in the wide doorway of the dark kitchen where I’d been working all day.

I looked up, the sick feeling of dread coiling in my stomach as I asked, “Yes, Darla?” I swallowed hard and willed myself not to allow any of my fears or trepidation to escape.

“How is it that you are so incompetent? Do you think you were just born a simpleton, or was it growing up as gutter skuzz that did it?” I looked down, avoiding her catty grey eyes and willing myself to be numb and remain silent. If I didn’t respond to the jabs, then I hoped this encounter wouldn’t last as long.

The other kitchen workers had the good sense to scurry away from the central prepping table I was working at, anticipating Darla’s tirade. If she was in the kitchens, it was to chew on someone. Luckily for the other workers, we all knew I was her preferred victim. I could hardly blame them for withdrawing, though just once, it would be nice to go a day without her abuse. I didn’t expect anyone to stick up for me, but it was just as well. I didn’t want to hold onto false hope.

Darla came forward, surveying the racks of delicate pastries and confections I’d been frantically churning out as quickly as I was physically able. She grabbed a plaited brioche, still warm from the oven, inspecting it. She scrutinized the treat as if she were just ready to pounce on any microscopic flaw. It seemed silly that she bothered with the pretense. We both knew it wouldn’t meet her standards, no matter how perfectly prepared the item was.

“By now, I should know better than to expect anything else,” she said, tossing the fluffy, buttery brioche in the waste shoot along with the rest of the tray. My heart dropped through my shoe at her hateful gesture, but I didn’t flinch. “Since your dim-witted goldfish brain is incapable of holding onto information for more than a few minutes, let me remind you that we are preparing a feast for royalty.Royalty!Do you understand what that means? That means that this has to beflawless!” Her voice carried through the room like a siren screeching through the night.

She knocked over several more trays, the metal clattering in a deafening clamor. “This is all shit!”

I held my breath and waited for her tantrum to end, if it ever would. Sometimes, it was better to ride out the storm than to avoid it.

My knuckles turned white as I forcefully kneaded the massive mound of dough, refusing to give in to the anger bubbling inside me. In the refugee camp, on the streets, I’d done what I had to survive, things that in a perfect world, I’d maybe regret. But violence wasn’t something I got to shy away from. Life isn’t sunshine and peaches for a homeless teenage girl with a baby. Hard times were a way of life for me.

It was different now, though. I had something to lose. I was on the way to getting Corinne and me out of that and into a better life, and the instincts that kept me alive before had no place here. I had to bite my tongue until I tasted the bitter, coppery taste of blood in order to prevent myself from spewing vile words at this terrible woman in front of me.

“You know what gets at me?” Darla said, coming up behind me, oblivious to the well of anger inside me. “I gave you every opportunity, took you out of the gutter, took you under my wing, and this is how you repay me? This is the most important event we’ve hosted. If it doesn’t go off perfectly, it reflects onme!” She yelled dramatically and waved her hands in the air as if she were swimming against the swell of a panic attack. “And isn’t it just my luck that I have little bitches like you down here, sabotaging everything I’ve worked so hard for! What is that wretched smell?” She turned toward the saucier and scowled. Her nose wrinkled with patronizing disapproval.

He was a bow-legged man with a deep scar that extended from his hairline to his chin. He’d seen his share of horror. All of us had our scars, though. Some were just better hidden than others. Mine were tucked away beneath the surface and I never wanted them to see the light of day.

She marched around the room, laying into the other staff members who were unfortunate enough to still be stuck at their stations, and I let my mind wander, letting go of my anger in favor of better thoughts. You learn little tricks like that as a refugee. When things get too rough, too hard to process, you shut it out. Little tactics for preserving your sanity. It was a survival instinct of sorts, and I did what I could in order to not implode on myself.

I felt sorry for the ones currently receiving the brunt of her fury, but I’d endured my fair share in the process along the way. I blocked Darla’s shrill screeching out and let my thoughts drift to that secret place in my mind. The place I escaped to withhim.In reality, my existence wasn’t even a speck on Prince Gardax’s radar, but in my mind, he wasmine.

And in my mind, he made me his. Just the way I wanted it to be. The private seclusion of my mind was my oasis in a desert of chaos.

If I closed my eyes, I could almost feel the warmth of his skin, pretend that he was holding me to him. He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen, and he wasn’t even a man—not a human one, anyway. It didn’t matter, though, because he made me feel more like a woman than I had ever felt. Shivers and trembles of pleasure ran up and down my spine. There was no euphoria that could ever match the depth of passion that I felt toward him.

He would kiss me gently, drawing all the stress and aches from my body as he murmured softly, assuring me that I was safe, that Corinne would be safe, that everything was going to get better. His hands were so strong as they stroked my back, my shoulders, massaging my tired muscles... not that princes probably gave massages, but it was my fantasy, so why not? There were no rules in the cobwebs of my lust-clouded mind.

It would have been the ultimate humiliation if anyone knew what went through my mind in moments like that. The heat of desire and shame flushed my cheeks and sprinkled them a rosy red color.

How ridiculous that I, a lowly, pathetic cook and maid, dreamed of Prince Gardax’s lips curving in a secret smile meant just for me. It was pitiful, no doubt, but when you live most of your life in either a warzone or a refugee camp, you don’t exactly have a lot of happy memories to pull from.

So naturally, I created my own pleasurable world where I was in charge of my fate and blissful serenity accompanied me from all sides. I created little stories in my mind, dreamy, romantic scenes that were about as far removed from reality as I could get. It helped me get through the grueling, insufferable days. I tried not to stay locked in the daydreams for long. I reserved those times mainly for sleep or when Darla was yelling at me and everyone else in her tornadic path.

Sometimes, when I was there well before dawn, baking pastries for his breakfast in the dark, warm kitchens, I’d imagine him coming in, taking the rolling pin out of my hands, and carrying me to his private chamber. Maybe we’d curl up together and talk for hours or maybe we’d sleep. Maybe we would do a combination of both. I yearned for the touch of another. I craved conversation and someone who would be interested in me and would want to get to know me.

Was it sad that my fantasies with a gorgeous alien prince involved sleep? Definitely, but when you only get an average of four to five hours of sleep a night, that deprivation seeps into everything. Of course, there were plenty of daydreams where we did more than sleep.

Whatever we did, it was far, far away from this awful, crowded, heated room. I’d never seen the private wing of his ship, if ‘ship’ was even the right term for it, but anything had to be better than the sweltering kitchens. It was like a sweat lodge in here, and I was layered in chef’s clothing that didn’t do my perspiration any favors. I wanted to sweat in other ways. Other ways that involved Gardax.

Cloaked as the structure was with stealth technology, all but the main hull was invisible from the exterior. From the ground, it was almost imperceptible, just a small aircraft among the clouds. But if the chatter among the staff was to be believed, there was much, much more to it. The shuttle that carried us to work dropped us at the service port and we exchanged stories of the glimpses we caught.

Few knew how large the place really was, and I certainly was never given leave to go exploring, but it sounded massive, a maze of finely furnished chambers and passages that I would have loved to wander. In my deepest fantasies, I’d be waltzing through those doors with elegance and grace, adorned with the finest jewelry that money could buy. I wasn’t materialistic in reality, but like I said before, a girl can dream.

I’d only seen the prince a few times. There was my first day, when I came to work with a group of new recruits aboard his vessel, two months prior. It was brief, and I was so nervous I’m not sure I remembered to breathe. That whole time was a bit of a fuzzy blur in my mind. I naturally blocked out trauma in my life.

He was the first alien I’d ever seen. Before the Trilyns arrived seeking a treaty, the only other alien life-forms humans had encountered were little more than single-celled organisms on one of Jupiter’s moons. It was utterly shocking to discover that there was a sentient, intelligent, and frankly, gorgeous race out there. I wasn’t ever afraid of them, especially if they were here seeking peace and unity. I was more infatuated and curious of them than anything.

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