Alien's Bride Book One by Yamila Abraham Page A

were in might have been the military alternative for women.”
    I tried not to be insulted.   “Um…are Dak-Hiliah women pretty…um…dainty?”
    “I should say not.”   He smirked.   “But Earth women are.”
    I raised my brow at him.   “Okay, anyway, as you know I ended up joining the Peace Corps.   That’s pretty much it.”
    “Why did you move to a city when you returned?”
    “Oh, some girl I served with got me all goo-goo eyed about Manhattan.   I’d gotten all this administrative experience in Botswana, so my job options were a little broader.   I guess I just latched on to the first idea that sounded good.   There wasn’t any reason for me to go back to Nebraska.”  
    “Maritza.”  
    Elentinus put his hand on mine.   My heart rate leapt up again.
    “Who do you grieve for from your home?”
    My brow furrowed.
    “Who did you leave behind?   Who missed you when you were gone?”
    I got the point, and didn’t like it.   “I might not have had many strong connections, but my life still had meaning.”
    “You misunderstand me.”   He cupped his other hand under mine.   “You were in the perfect position to begin a new life somewhere else.   What have you really lost by coming here?”
    “Huh.”   I accepted his logic.
    “Of course your life had meaning, my dear.   Although you’d have found you couldn’t have children due to a problem we corrected—“
    That explains my monster periods.    
    “You were an intelligent, resourceful, and vital woman.   You would have contributed a great deal to your society.”
    This gave me a pang in my middle.
    “But by no means could you have ever been as indispensable as you are here.   We need you far more desperately than where you came from.”
    A Domestic came to take our plates away.   Another followed behind him to reveal two new ones.   They looked like my fish donut but smelled different.   I had to pause for another euphoric whiff.
    Elentinus caressed my hand before moving his own away.   “I have many more treats for you to savor.”
    I dug into the pastry with my crescent spoon thing.   “I get that.   And I understand why you guys need me so badly, too.”
    Elentinus eyed me.   I paused to choose my words carefully.
    “But, I’m, what did you call me? ‘An intelligent, resourceful, vital woman.’   I need some purpose in my life, and not just having 24 babies a year.”
    “This is one of those circumstances I mentioned to you before.”   His voice had gotten sterner.   “You have to breed for us, even if you don’t wish it.   You have no choice.”
    I looked at him with plaintive eyes.   Did he really think I was being defiant?   “I understand that, Lord Elentinus.   It…it’s fine.   I mean it’s…well, from what Hor-Denay described…I think it should be fine.   I’m not trying to get out of breeding.”
    Elentinus looked at me.   “Aren’t you?”
    “Of course not.”
    He closed his eyes.   I saw an intense look of relief wash over him.   He put his face in his hand and sighed.
    “Then you’ll be happy here.”
    I blinked a few times.   “Wait, was that it?   That was the thing you were talking about me compromising on yesterday?”
    “That’s your only mandatory obligation, Maritza.   If you’ve made your peace with that then I doubt any other aspect of your confinement should distress you that terribly.”
    My shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath.   “Well that’s a relief.”
    Elentinus cut into his pastry.   “You realize, of course, that breeding requires sexual intercourse.”
    I set my utensil down.   “Yeah, I…I know how babies are made.”
    “And you’ve made your peace with that, also?”
    No.   Not really. “Just…just with you, right?”
    Elentinus made a wry laugh.   “If anyone else touches you, I’ll kill them.”
    I kind of knew he meant that literally.   I also wondered if it was a good time to mention Whore had done my hair.