Kyro: A Sci-fi Alien Abduction Romance (Captured by Aliens Book 5) Page 3

  Glancing down at his hand, he turned it and moved his fingers.

  Five fingers instead of his native three. It was a constant sacrifice he had to keep.

  He had to hide. Not only from the Tasqals, who would hunt him but also from the general population of known worlds.

  It had been years, but he still could never be sure if the Tasqals’ lies about his people’s aggression, deceit, and untrustworthiness were known as lies. Many worlds were still loyal to the Tasqals.

  For that reason, he only indulged in his one Vorti trait that he could use without giving away his truth—his attraction to data.

  Still, regardless of him being Vorti, he had to admit that there was something else constantly drawing him to the human female.

  It was not just down to his love for data or his interest in studying other species.

  He wasn’t following her now because he was doing any research.

  Watching her weaving her way through the crowd, Kyro tilted his head slightly, trying to figure out what it was that pulled him from his quarters to walk through the market with no true purpose.

  The human was walking some meters ahead of him, and even with the many aliens weaving in and out between them, his eyes were locked on her and her only.

  She had a way of walking that made her hips sway with such ease, her entire body looked like it moved with the ease of fluid. Even underneath the unbecoming brown thing the Restitution had provided as clothing, he could see that there were curves. Soft, round curves everywhere.

  He could imagine those curves were like how a calm river moved and twisted gently.

  This was why his brothers had been bewitched by humans.

  Human females were soft everywhere. Soft and inviting.

  It made a male want to...

  He had to stop walking as his cock throbbed in his trousers. He hadn’t even realized he had become aroused.

  Qrak.

  He should head back to his quarters.

  He really, really should.

  Yet, his eyes still sought her out amid the throng.

  Every now and again, she’d pause and look around as if unsure of what she was doing, her neck arching a little as she lifted her head and tried to see over the crowd.

  Even that neck had a smooth curve and he wondered what it would feel like running his fingers down it, following the line from her chin straight down to that little indentation at the base of her throat.

  Whenever she stopped walking to look around, there was a look in her eyes, a sort of confusion that told him that she felt lost.

  He could understand that.

  He had experienced something similar when a squadron from the Restitution had raided the slave ship on which he’d been and had taken him to the base.

  That had been many orbits ago.

  Yet, the feeling was as fresh as day.

  That was another reason why he should turn around and head back to his quarters. Such memories were being triggered by his current occupation—trailing the human through the exchange.

  He had to admit, though, he’d rather follow behind her, even if she was just walking aimlessly and doing nothing else, than go back to his residence and spend time with Rokan.

  Whatever the reason for that, he would probably determine later.

  His interest was piqued by this human.

  He wanted to follow her.

  His eyes were locked on her like a predator would lock on to its prey and even though logic was telling him what he was doing was stupid, he couldn’t force his eyes away.

  4

  As she passed through the gates and into the marketplace, the noise hit her immediately.

  Inside the market was much louder than out on the street and it took a few seconds for her ears to adjust to the loudness. How they were managing to keep most of the sound inside the market, she didn’t know. It was technology she couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

  There were aliens everywhere. Some loading large bags on wheel-less carts that hovered above the ground, some looking at weapons and even testing them out, sellers calling out their wares to grab the attention of passers’ by...it all seemed so normal, it reminded her of Hong Kong’s Ladies Market.

  If she’d felt out of place before, it was certainly underlined now. How would she ever find what she needed in this?

  The stalls looked like large metal squares with a single window in the front. Some of the windows were open, and she could see the wares being sold clearly. Others had the windows closed and set to an opaque shield, showing nothing within.

  Taking a few steps into the throng, aliens moved around her, hardly seeming to be aware of her presence as they went about their shopping.

  She couldn’t help it though. Regardless that nobody seemed to notice her, she felt as if all eyes were on her.

  She was one lone human in what felt like the entire universe.

  For a few seconds, as she stood clutching the small shopping basket, she reconsidered her idea of leaving her apartment to go shopping.

  She should have probably given herself some more time to get used to everything that’s happened, let her brain settle and understand things, before she tried to go about life-as-usual.

  So much had happened since she’d last felt...normal. Her brain felt like it had frayed and was hanging only by the strings of her consciousness as she fought to keep a semblance of the Evren she once knew.

  Now, standing in the middle of the market, the world of aliens bustling around her, she felt...alone...and a slight sliver of fear made the hair on the back of her neck prickle.

  She could feel her heart rate increase even without concentrating on the organ beating wildly in her chest.

  Her hands suddenly felt clammy even though the air was warm and dry, and everything was confusing—the sounds, the movement, the people...it was all too much.

  She recognized the signs of what was happening to her and it helped to calm her somewhat.

  She was having an anxiety attack.

  Swallowing hard, she forced herself to breathe.

  Taking a moment to close her eyes for a second, Evren reminded herself that everything was fine.

  She was safe.

  She wasn’t lost.

  She could do this.

  Her apartment was just a few minutes’ walk away if she needed to return to it.

  All she had to do was take her time, go through the market, find what she needed, and head back to her place.

  She wasn’t lost.

  She wasn’t lost.

  Images of a small Evren, just about four years old, flashed in her mind.

  She’d been in her backyard when she’d seen the little rabbit. It had been white, like her. White fur all over. White nose. White paws. Blue eyes.

  It was her if she had been born a rabbit.

  It was a ghost too—at least, that’s what she’d thought at the time. It was the name the other kids used to call her.

  She’d followed the little creature as it bound into the woods and before she knew it, she couldn’t see it anymore. It had hopped away, out of her sight, and no matter how she’d looked to find it, it never reappeared.

  When she’d turned around to head back home, she couldn’t see the trail.

  She’d gone farther than she’d intended.

  Three days.

  For three days she was alone in that forest.

  Scared. Hungry. Dirty.

  Lost.

  Her cries were never heard. Her mother never came, even when she wailed and said she was sorry for running off. When she fell over fallen trees or tripped over protruding roots, there was no sound of her father’s heavy boots rushing her way to make sure she was okay.

  She’d been alone.

  It had been terrifying. But it had been a turning point in her life.

  Those three days in the forest was what had planted the seed for her interest in ecology.

  Three days alone in raw nature had forced her to study every little thing aro
und her.

  It had altered her path forever. She had survived.

  And, if she could survive such an experience as a four-year-old, she could survive a simple shopping trip in a foreign market.

  For that was all it was—a foreign market like the countless other foreign markets she’d visited while traveling abroad.

  Opening her eyes, she took in a deep breath.

  She hadn’t had a panic attack since she’d been abducted and now it was happening here, while she was standing in a market of all places.

  She supposed the week she’d had of complete safety had allowed her mind to finally let down its protective wall, leaving her open and vulnerable again but also allowing her to feel once more.

  That’s where the depressing thoughts were coming from—it was why this memory of the forest was resurfacing.

  Regardless, as she watched the aliens about her shopping, she could admit that this wasn’t the usual culture shock.

  Back on Earth, culture shock had been temporary. She’d always eventually leave the country she visited to return home with her findings.

  But this was permanent.

  There was no home to go back to.

  She and the other women hadn’t talked about it yet, but they all knew deep down that they were never returning to Earth.

  That meant she didn’t have a choice.

  Evolve or die.

  She had to adapt.

  If it turned out she had to leave to go live at the intergalactic port city, things were bound to be more chaotic than what she was seeing in this market.

  So, this would be her test run. Phase 1 of adapting.

  Mind set, she began walking through the throng, no longer standing in the middle like a rock that could not be moved.

  It took her a few minutes, but soon she found herself moving through the marketplace with interest.

  There was so much to see, so many strange products, most of which she had no idea of their purpose.

  She passed a vendor selling what looked like tall vases with strange colorful smoke coming from the top. The vendor had his too large of a mouth stretched into a silly smile as he inhaled the smoke from one of the vases. A few of his customers were leaning idly on the stall, identical smiles on their faces.

  Yep. That was the weed shop.

  Or whatever was the equivalent of marijuana in this place.

  Another vendor she passed was selling what looked like...

  Evren’s eyes widened and she tried not to let her mouth fall open when she realized what she was looking at.

  Various sizes of large dildos were on display. And it wasn’t just any normal dildos. No. These were dragon dildos.

  Ridged ones, long ones, thick ones, curved ones, straight ones, twisted ones...horned ones?

  There was no way some of those were not a product of someone’s imagination.

  Try as she might, her mouth still fell open as she stared.

  She wasn’t a prude but...dang. Those dildos were...

  As her gaze moved over the wares, they fell on two eyes that were focused on her with dull amusement.

  The vendor was looking at her and the skin of his head moved upward, almost as if he was...raising his eyebrows?

  She would have stopped staring immediately and walked off if the vendor himself didn’t look like an uncircumcised dick.

  The coincidence was unreal.

  He had no neck; his head and face joined onto what she could see of his body and the top of his head rose into soft, wrinkled flesh.

  He tilted his dick—erm, head to her and Evren gave him a tight smile before walking hurriedly in the opposite direction.

  Weed and dicks.

  Unaware, she must have walked into alien sex city.

  As she searched for a store selling cloth she’d need if she was going to make her clothes, she passed aliens with horns on their heads, aliens with tails, aliens that looked like elves, aliens with multiple eyes, heads, arms, even a set of identical aliens that walked and spoke together as if they were one unit.

  It was chaos, but it was beautiful—like a whole ecosystem that she’d discovered and could study.

  She was walking for a good ten minutes, looking into every open stall, but she could not find what she needed.

  She’d seen some fruit that looked like apples and she’d spent some of the credits she’d been allotted on a few of them but that had been all she’d bought.

  About to give up on the cloth and head back to her apartment, she turned around only to find someone standing in her way.

  “Sorry.” She made to sidestep the person, but they thwarted her efforts by moving in the same direction.

  “You’re new here.” It was a male voice she didn’t recognize.

  Raising her eyes to look at the being that was in her way, Evren put on her best polite face. The alien in front of her was just a little taller than she was. He had dark, hard material over his entire body, like a fighter beetle.

  Ah, chitin, she mused to herself. This was the first alien she’d seen with chitin covering his entire frame.

  And he was naked.

  Well, she assumed he was, for she didn’t see an item of clothing on him whatsoever.

  Possibly, he belonged to the pleasure section of the market?

  It was good that she could see no private parts. They seemed hidden behind the chitin plates and she thanked God for that. She’d seen enough dicks at the dick stall, the memory of which would serve her for the rest of the day.

  Not that she hated seeing dicks. But a girl liked to invite the dicks into her life, not have them thrust randomly into her face.

  She’d come back tomorrow if she needed more intrusive dicks in front of her eyes.

  And alien dicks...well, she would have to get used to that.

  The male before her had a tail as well, and she only noticed because he swished it absently behind him before it curved around to brush against her arm.

  The movement pulled her from her musing immediately, the hairs along her spine standing on end.

  Jerking backward, Evren kept her facial features neutral, but she was squeezing the basket in her hand so hard she was sure she was damaging whatever fibers it was composed of.

  “You’re one of the humans unit Reku5 rescued, aren’t you?”

  “Reku5?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Xul’s team.” His voice deepened and she wasn’t sure if that was because of disdain or attraction. No. It was disdain. Definitely disdain.

  Xul was the commander of the ship that had rescued her and the other women. From what she’d gathered, he was respected by all members of his team.

  But the way this chitinous nudist spoke made his words sound dirty and slimy, as if he had some kind of malicious intent. And maybe it was just her imagination and anxiety making her think that, but she was sure he took a step toward her even though she’d jerked back to put space between them.

  Thoughts flew wildly in her head and Evren sorted through them in record time with practiced skill.

  She couldn’t make a scene.

  One, she was new here.

  And two, she didn’t know if he was being a creep or if creepiness was just a part of his culture.

  “The name is Shive. It is a great gift to meet you.”

  “Hello, Shive.” She wouldn’t return his sentiments. It was not a pleasure meeting him. As a matter of fact, it felt absolutely unpleasant.

  On purpose, she refrained to tell him her name. Something told her she should cut this conversation short and make her way back home.

  “Well, I must get going.” She used her free arm to motion with her basket. “Shopping.” She forced a smile. “Bye now.”

  She made to step around the male once more and again he stepped in front of her, cutting off her movement.

  “You’re here alone.”

  Evren noted it wasn’t a question. Had he been watching her? Following her?

  “Didn’t expect you humans to venture ou
t so quickly.”

  His tail stroked against her and before she could move away, it shot down her arm and wrapped around her wrist. He was right next to her then, closing the distance between them in a second.

  Close.

  Too close.

  “Let me go.” Her voice was cold and hard as she jerked her hand, but his tail tightened its grasp of her.

  “Or what?” he asked, his voice dropping low as he leaned over her.

  She only realized then that he had four eyes: two smaller ones to the sides of his head and two large ones forward. His head was shaped like that of a roach, his mouth opening right at the bottom. He only needed antennae to make him look more like an insect.

  “Let go of my wrist.” This time, her words came through gritted teeth and Evren swallowed hard, jerking her hand once more to get him to release her. He wasn’t reducing the pressure on her wrist and he wasn’t letting her go.

  Should she scream for help?

  She’d thought this settlement, the entire base, was a safe place. For a week, she hadn’t had any problems with anyone. And the first time she ventured out by herself, this happened?

  This wasn’t a matter of misinterpreted social customs. This alien was being purposely threatening.

  “I quite like holding on to your weak little hand.” He leaned closer. “Imagine the fun we could have.”

  You know what, fuck this.

  In one movement and as fast as she could muster, Evren dropped her basket and aimed her index finger straight for the male’s eye.

  “I said, LET GO!”

  He didn’t see it coming.

  Her finger went straight into his eye and he reared back with a shout, his face contorting in pain and then anger.

  “Now why did you go and do that?” The eye she’d wounded was closed but the other three blinked at her.

  To her horror, the male wasn’t derailed. His anger melted away into a wicked grin, the plates at the edge of his mouth moving to the sides. “Soft things like you shouldn’t be out here alone. Come back to my quarters. We could—”

  His words were cut off and it took a moment before Evren realized why.

  A large, gray hand was closed around the alien’s neck, cutting off his airway.

  For a second, the chitinous male just blinked at her before all three of his open eyes looked back to see who was threatening his life.