Alien's Bride Book One Read Free Page A

and who reveled in the small amount of power he had now.
    “What if I offer you a bargain?   If you are sweet and humble before Lord Elentinus then I won’t demonstrate the collar.   But if you offend him in any way…”
    I put my face in my hand.   “Got it.   It…it’s a deal.”
    That son of a bitch tugged the collar again.   I stumbled but then caught my stride.   He led me out of the white room into a corridor that had the same rounded walls.  
    “Don’t ask Lord Elentinus any questions.   I’m the one to educate you about your situation.   My master is far too busy.”
    I followed close enough behind him to give my leash some slack.   “I’ve got a question right now.   How can I understand what you’re saying?”
    “The language centers of your brain were enhanced with the additional neurons and synaptic connections required for you to understand all the languages you may encounter.”
    That horrifying answer gave me an itch inside my skull.   I wanted to drop on the floor and go into a fetal position.   The fact that I still had to meet my ‘husband’ kept my adrenaline pumping and my feet moving.  
    The corridor opened up into something like a huge lobby with a high round ceiling.   We’re talking a room the size of a warehouse here, so if we were really on a spaceship I was just now getting an idea of the scope of it.   I focused on the concave glass panels in the ceiling first.   It was a kind of skylight showing lots of the sparkly stars outside.   Something moved in my peripheral vision.   That’s when I noticed them .
    Robots.
    I would have stopped dead in my tracks and just gaped at them if it hadn’t been for that fricking leash.   They were actually pretty ugly.   One white unit with black seams was watering a plant that looked like a withered fern.   (It turned green and the leaves perked up when the water hit it).   The thing was rectangular and had big round bolts attaching its joints.   Its head was shaped like a cylinder with one long horizontal eye that wrapped all the way around.   When it finished watering the plant and moved across the floor on its robot roller skates (or whatever they were) it didn’t turn around.   The things didn’t seem to have backs, just two fronts.
    If I hadn’t been so shell-shocked I might have enjoyed seeing such a pathetic excuse for a robot.
    Hor-Denay brought me into a new corridor that was wider and higher than the first one we went through.   He stopped at the big imposing door at the end and knocked.
    “Yes?”
    If that was Lord Elentinus, then his voice sounded deep and placid.     
    “I have the girl with me, master.”
    There were three or four seconds of silence.   Then he said, “Come in.”
    Hor-Denay pressed the button on his black rectangle to make my leash and collar disappear.   Then he hid the control unit back in his satchel.   His sneakiness made my brow twitch.
    The door slid open.   Hor-Denay and I stood side by side to face Lord Elentinus.   He was seated at a sleek black desk that had a lot of equipment and doodads on it.   I took in the room before looking at my ‘husband.’   It was definitely an office.   A fancy one, with a big window showing outer space, a nice couch type thing to one side, and weird receptacles embedded in the walls.  
    No bed.   I expelled a big puff of air in relief.
    When my eyes finally rested on Elentinus I realized he’d been staring at me.   I couldn’t help but stare at him in return.   He was obviously the same species as Hor-Denay but he was so much more regal.   I realized that the Dak-Hiliah weren’t ugly.   Just Hor-Denay was ugly.   Elentinus was so much nicer to look at.   His serene face framed by wispy white hair just oozed coolness.
    “Hello, Maritza.”
    He said this in English.   I thought that was kind of him, but then I had to lower my eyes and accept a big stab of dread in my middle.   Was I really buying all of this?
    Hor-Denay