Emma's Heart (Brides of Theron 3) (5 page)

At that moment, Emma snapped out of whatever daze she had fallen into. Looking at the player then up at her new friend she said in a small voice, “Thank you”. She went to sit back in her spot on the sofa and put the earphones in her ears. She searched through the music and finally found one of her favorite songs,
I Can Only Imagine
by MercyMe. Closing her eyes she leaned her head back on the cushions and listened to the music.

The next couple of hours crawled by. Two women had been brought into the holding room.  The last one to arrive looked like she had some sort of injury because she was carried in. She couldn’t leave Emma.  Right now, Emma remained under Laura’s watchful eyes on the sofa alternating between listening to the music and dozing. Laura knew that if Emma were to lose control again she would scare the other women, and everyone would panic.  It was hard enough to calm the rest of the room after Emma’s last outburst.  It looked like she was completely out of any form of energy as Emma had drifted off to sleep again and was sound asleep.  Laura watched as one of the large men entered without a woman.  She had to wake Emma up now.  She put her hand on Emma’s shoulder and started to shake her.  When Emma opened one eye she said, “Emma, Emma, wake up! Emma! Emma, damn it, wake up! Someone is here to tell us what is going on.” That got Emma’s attention because she was up on her feet in an instant.

Emma held Laura’s hands while the warrior, Aten, had informed them of everything that was going to happen to the women in the room. After he left, they returned to sit on the sofa in total shock. They were each being put up for auction! How could this be? What was going to happen to them after they were sold? Emma had so many questions running through her head and wasn’t paying much attention when two warriors walked up to where she and Laura were sitting holding each other’s hands.

“Earth female, please come with us.” The warriors stepped to either side of her and waited for her to rise. She moved closer to Laura and held on to her hands even tighter.  “I don’t want to go with them,” she said softly to anyone who would listen to her.

“Can’t you take someone else first?  This woman is clearly terrified.”  Laura stood to speak up for her.

“Earth female, you must come with us now.” The warrior said as they each bent down to grab one of Emma’s arms.  They pulled her to standing, and her knees were shaking so badly she was scared she would fall flat on her face when she stood up.

She looked at Laura holding on to her hands desperately. In her last attempt to free herself from the warriors’ grasp, Emma screamed out “Let me go! I don’t want to go with you! Leave me alone! Why can’t you leave me alone?”  

Emma could see that the
warriors were trying to pry her hands from Laura’s. She fought and kicked at the warriors that tried to drag her away. It didn’t matter what she did, she knew that she was going to go with them whether she liked it or not.  It seemed that Laura eventually realized that she had to let Emma go as well.  Emma could see how Laura tried in vain to help calm her down, and must have realized that her interference was just causing Emma more grief.  As Laura’s grip loosened, the warriors picked Emma up, one grabbing her feet and the other grabbing under her arms.  They left the room right after with Emma screaming out for help.

They zigzagged through the corridors with her fighting and clenching her teeth, kicking and screaming, until they came to an open archway that led down a narrow walkway. The warriors continued hold her tightly along their path until they came to a brightly lit room that was filled to overflowing with the alien men.

Her stomach became queasy, and she almost vomited right there on the spot. The room went completely silent when they entered, and all the men’s eyes turned to her as she was led to a stool that was placed in the middle of a platform. She was instructed to sit, which she did reluctantly. Knowing how hard she fought them on the journey here, she knew they would not leave her side.  She felt the pressure of their grip on both of her shoulders to keep her in place. This couldn’t be good, she thought to herself, as she looked out into the crowd of alien men that were watching her as if she was a piece a meat. Her song came to her just then, “
I can only imagine
…”

****

After scouting on the planet for two days, Brylon was exhausted. Sixteen women had been taken and were now waiting to be auctioned off. Zeb, the commander, had decided to go ahead with the auction even though they had only managed to find sixteen of the women they were looking for. They couldn’t keep the women they brought on board waiting much longer. It wouldn’t be fair to them to stay in that room any longer than they already had. The women needed a chance to get settled into their new lives with their new mates.

Brylon had gotten back to the ship and had gone immediately to take a shower and a quick nap. He wanted to be fresh and ready for the auction because he was determined to win the first female they captured in the rain storm. The whole time he was out scouting other earth females, his thoughts had continuously ventured back to her. He wanted to run his fingers through her long black hair and he wanted to see it falling down around her face instead of pulled back. He also wanted to explore the curves that he saw when her wet clothes were clinging to her body. Yes, he had to win her!

He went to the bar where the auction was to be held. Zeb was already there and finishing off a drink when he walked up with Zane. They talked about what female each of them planned to bid on.  Eventually, the topic of their conversation had turned to Lars.  Lars was the warrior that one of females had injured badly during one of the scouting missions. Zeb had it in his mind that he was going to win this woman, and as a result, would have his hands full with keeping tabs on Lars.  Zeb would have to take extra measures to ensure for her safety.  In Brylon’s opinion, Lars should be shown to his cell in the ship’s prison.  Zeb was explaining to them how the council was making his every attempt to deal with Lars impossible.  They were interrupted when the first earth female was brought into the bar.

Brylon turned to face the platform when the bar became silent. The first female was being carried out to the stool on the center of the stage.  She looked totally petrified and, not to mention, a little green. His heart tugged at the sight of her and how pitiful she looked. Hopefully he could get this auction over with quickly and take her back to his quarters where he could put her at ease.

“Warriors, may I have your attention. May I present to you all the first Earth female. Do I have an opening bid?”

No one said anything at first, and then, out from the front of the bar came a bid, “I bid twenty kryins.” Brylon instantly stiffened when he heard the bid. He was going to have some competition. He stood and moved closer to the platform so that he could see her closely. He wanted her to know that he would try to win her.

“I bid thirty kryins!” He countered back and looked to the other bidding warrior with a smile. His competition shifted his eyes to him then back to the platform.

“I bid fifty kryins.”

Brylon stiffened again at the jump in the bid so he thought he might as well make it jump too, “How about one hundred kryins!” It was funny to see the warrior’s eyes grow wide with disbelief. Hopefully that would deter him from bidding anymore.

“I bid…one hundred and fifty!” Shit, Brylon thought, this guy wasn’t going to back down.

Brylon glanced at the female on the platform and saw the tears that were running down her face. That did it for him; he was going to end this now.

“Five hundred kryins,” Brylon shouted. Whistles came from the crowd. The announcer and the other bidding warrior just stared at him. The sweat was dripping down his temples with the fear that he would to lose her so he decided to have a bit of fun with the warrior with the hopes of scaring him off permanently.  He would try to psych him out, “We can do this all night if you would like. I got the time, and the money, do you?” He raised his right eyebrow, mocking the other man.

“Do you wish to place another bid?” The announcer directed his question to the opposing bidder and waited. “Going once.” All eyes were now on the warrior waiting to bid or withdraw. Even Emma was watching closely, though she had no idea what was going on.

Seconds ticked by with no response. The crowd was growing impatient with the standoff and wanted a reply. “Come on man!” was heard in the room, then another call “Bid already or back down.” The calls were coming one after the other and the bidding warrior could feel the pressure building in the room. “Going twice.” Finally, he shook his head then sat down, defeated.

The announcer shouted, “Sold to Brylon, for five hundred kryins!”

Brylon smiled, “Thanks.” Then walked up to the announcer and handed him a handful of kryins. “I believe I owe you five hundred kryins.”

The announcer took the money from his outstretched hand then said, “The Earth female is yours. Have a happy life!” Brylon could see the female trying to look around to the announcer to see what was going on. It was the only time she had actually moved her body since coming up to the platform. Her eyes were big and wide with uncertainty as she watched Brylon move to stand in front of her. He knew that she would not understand a word that he said to her so he just smiled at her and reached out to her for her hand.

She looked at the strong tanned hand that was being held out to her. What choice did she have, but to take it? She put her much smaller hand into his then jumped down off the stool. This was the same strange man who stole her from her home and now she had just been bought by him. What the heck was going to happen to her? Was she going to be a sex slave or something? That thought scared the crap out her since she had never been with a man before, much less a man that stood close to seven feet tall and was built like a freight train. So she could only imagine how big his equipment was.

Once he had hold of her hand, he pulled her behind him, leading the way out of the bar area. When they went through the crowd of all males, she could see that all eyes were still on her. She saw heads lean together in whispers as she went by, but no one tried to speak to her directly.

Out in the corridor were a few warriors who lingered around talking, but other than that it was quiet. Brylon still had hold of her hand as they made their way down the corridor and he would glance down at her every few feet. She was so tiny compared to him. The top of her head only came about midway up his chest and her hand felt so small in his. The skin on her hand was so soft and smooth that he rubbed his thumb across the top of her hand as they continued to walk to his quarters. He couldn’t understand why this tiny Earth female was having such an effect on him. An effect he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Approaching the transportation tubes, he became a bit nervous on how he was going to get her into one. The tubes themselves were designed for one warrior at a time, but there was no way in hell that he was going to put her in one alone. He pressed his palm on the panel that called for a tube. Within seconds a tube came into view behind the glass door which slid open with a hiss.

He stepped into the tube and tugged on the female’s hand to let her know that he wanted her to step in also. There was some resistance from her, but nothing that he wouldn’t be able to handle if it came down to it. He watched amused by her reaction as she cautiously stepped into the tube while looking around in it. He gave a chuckle as he looked down into the face that he would be looking at for the rest of his life. Her green eyes were wide with fear as they came to rest upon his face. He was smiling at her when she happened to look up him.

“Do not be afraid little female,” he smiled knowing that she couldn’t understand him yet. He would have to give her one of the translation devices he had in his quarters until he could get her fitted with a permanent one.  She would have to go to the infirmary and the disks would have to be implanted by Zane or one of his staff.

Emma nodded her head as if she could understand what the big guy was saying. She swallowed hard as the door to the tube slid shut. Her stranger said something again in the unknown language and seconds later the tube shot off without warning. Her head felt as if it were being shoved down to her feet, as her hands clenched onto his shirt as he stood in front of her. Never in her life had she felt a force like that on her body and she never wanted to again. His strong hands held her close to him as the tube traveled so very fast along its path, and then began to slow as it reached its destination. By this time, she was shaking uncontrollably as the door slid open. It didn’t take a second thought for her to get herself the hell out of the tube.

“I never, EVER want to go in that thing again. Do you hear me?” Her face had lost some its color and her hands were shaking as she brushed back a piece of hair that had fallen over her face during the ride.

Brylon couldn’t help but let out a deep laugh as he watched his mate’s reaction to the transportation tubes. He had had the same reaction years ago when he had first been assigned to a star ship. Shooting through the tubes took some getting used to, but they were the fastest way to travel aboard a ship of this size.

The alien man took hold of her hand again as they moved away from the tubes. He led her down a corridor.  They passed a few doors then came to a stop in front of a green door. Next to the door was a panel that was lit up with the image of a green hand print. Once he placed his right hand on the panel, the door slid open with a soft swish. Immediately lights began to flicker on in the room, as Brylon guided her inside. When the door swished closed behind her, she felt like a trapped animal.