ROMANCE: HIGHLANDER ROMANCE: Seduced by highlander (Historical Mail Order Bride Time Travel Romance) (Military Fantasy Romance Short Stories) (102 page)

I wasn’t sure how to respond so I remained quiet.

“So why did you leave Earth?”

I felt a pain shoot through my heart. Normally this sort of personal question would send me running but for some reason I felt compelled to tell the truth. Xam had been nothing but kind to me and I had no reason to lie. In all honesty, I thought I might really like Xam. He was kind and from what I could gather he seemed intelligent, unlike the vast majority of the male population remaining on Earth.

“I’m sorry, you don’t have to tell me.” He retracted.

“It’s alright.” I placed my hand over his it was soft and warm. “I want to tell you.”

“I wasn’t trying to pry—“ He started.

“You weren’t.” I smiled at him reassuringly. “A week ago I received a phone call telling me that my parents had been killed in a motorcycle accident.” This was the first time I spoke these words aloud. My parents had been killed.

Xam remained silent.

“I hadn’t seen them in more than four years.” Sadness crept its weary hand over my eyes and I began to cry. Sudden thoughts about my parents flooded my mind. It was the first time since I received the call that I allowed myself to mourn the loss of Mom and Dad.

Xam laced his fingers through mine and squeezed my hand reassuringly. For some reason, I let him do it. I think I kind of liked it.

He cleared his throat. “Why had it been four years?”

“Thinking back, I can’t come up with an appropriate answer to that question. My entire life I was settled on the goal of falling below the radar. I never went out of my way to make friends. I was scared I couldn’t possibly be good enough for anyone. So instead of risking the let down, I avoided hope at all cost. Mom and Dad wanted me to go to college and get a job but I knew I could never fit that mold. Rather than let them down by dropping out of college or getting fired from a crappy job, as soon as I walked the stage for graduation, I took off and never went back.”

Xam took a moment to think about this. “I can understand where you are coming from.” He offered. “I lost my parents a few weeks after my graduation but unlike your situation my life was spent under the pressure of them wanting me to go above and beyond. I tried so hard but nothing I ever did seemed to be good enough for them. The morning before their death, I received a letter in the mail regarding my college application. I was so nervous to open it. I thought if I didn’t get in, my dad would be so disappointed in me. I couldn’t bare it so I packed my bag, wrote a note and left my parents behind. A few hours later I got the call about the fire.”

“I’m so sorry.” I genuinely meant it.

“After that, I couldn’t bare to open the letter. At that point it didn’t matter anymore.” He reached up and grasped a locket that hung around his neck.

Through my own tears, I noticed Xam was also crying.

“This was my mother’s necklace. She was wearing it at the time of the fire. It is the only thing I have left of my old life.”

              For reasons I cannot explain, I felt compelled to hug the man beside me. Not only for my own comfort but also for his. Sadly enough, this was the first time I had ever felt compassion.

I leaned over and wrapped my arms around him. In turn, he held me back. His muscular arms cast an unfamiliar but welcomed feeling of safety over me. I breathed in his musk and decided I would be happy it I never had to let go. Is this what love was supposed to feel like?

“Kate,” Xam’s voice was quiet.

“Mhmm?”

“I didn’t fully tell you the truth when you asked me why I had followed you into the park.”

“How so?”

“When I first saw you, I was struck by your beauty. From your long blonde hair to your azure blue eyes.” Xam tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

This time, I welcomed the touch. I felt my heart pounding freely in my chest. No one had ever made me feel so out of control like this before.

“I had never seen anyone with such color in their cheeks.” He placed his hands gently on my either side of my face.

I looked deep into his eyes. They were so bright I could almost see my own reflection looking back at me. I could feel myself blushing. What was happening to me?

“Kate?” He whispered, leaning in closer to me.

“Yes?” I exhaled, drinking him in.

“Would it be alright if I kissed you right now?”

“Yes.” I felt my mind soar as Xam brought his lips to mine.

He pulled me in closer and I wrapped my arms around his neck kissing him back. Xam’s hands fell to my shoulders. Tracing gently past my shoulders, down to my breasts and waist before dropping them to my hips. Without breaking the kiss, he pulled my hips forward so I was sitting on his lap. He leaned forward and got up from the couch, I linked my legs around his back as he carried me toward the bedroom.

Gently he laid me down on the red silk sheets. I unbuttoned my dress before reaching forward and pulling his t-shirt up his strong back and over his head. His skin was warm and soft against mine, every nerve spiked under his temperate touch. As I kissed his neck, I could feel his breath heavy on mine.

“Kate,” he exhaled.

“Yeah?” I tried to steady my own breathing.

“I don’t know if we should do this.”

“Yes, we should.” I continued to kiss him down to his chest.

“Kate, please. Wait.” His voice housed a strange feeling of fear or nerves.

Admittedly, I was nervous too. I had never met an alien before and now I was on the verge of sleeping with one.

On the other hand, I had never felt this way about anyone in my life. I didn’t even know feelings like these existed until this exact moment. I think I was on the brink of falling in love with Xam.             

“Is everything alright?” I suddenly felt worried.

“I don’t know if we should do this.”

I felt my heart drop.

Xam rolled onto his side. I reach for the covers and pulled them up to my chin. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I felt vulnerable and heartbroken, feelings I had never experienced.

Tonight was certainly a night of firsts for me.

“In Moal it is against the law to frequent with anyone outside of your race. I am only to fall in love with Cyans.”

He used the word love. My heart fluttered in its broken state.

“Cyans?” I was afraid of the answer.

“Yes, Cyans like myself. We are the race of Moalites that have blue skin. Cyan men are to mate with Cyan women. Yellow men with Yellow women. Magenta men with Magenta women. It’s the rules.”

“What happens if the law is broken?”

“The offender would be thrown in prison or abolished.”

I remained silent.

I could tell his mind was wandering. He chewed incessantly on his lower lip. I wanted to cry.

His hand found my cheek in the darkness. “But I can’t help who I fall in love with.”

With that, he kissed me more passionately than he had before. He ran his hands through my hair as I pulled him into me.

I am not certain, but I think fireworks erupted and showered over us tonight. With every touch I fell deeper and more intensely in love with Xam.

***

I yawned and blinked my eyes against the brightness of the morning sun. Stretching, I kicked my legs out from under the red sheets and reached my arms above my head.

“Morning, Xam.” I rolled onto my left side.

He wasn’t there.

I got to my feet and tugged the sheet off the bed. I draped it over my shoulder and trudged my way into the kitchen in search of Xam.

“Where are you?” I called out.

My voice rang empty.

“Xam?” I searched each room with no response.

Maybe he had to leave for work, I thought. It was strange that he hadn’t left a note but he could have been in a rush.

I rounded the corner toward the front door and saw the Moroccan vase on the floor. It was smashed into a thousand pieces along with the table it had been sitting on. Wooden splinters littered the rug.

Across the room in front of the door, I saw an object glimmer catching the sun. I walked toward the object on the floor and bent down to pick it up. It was Xam’s locket.

My stomach dropped. Something was wrong.

Xam was gone.

Chapter 3

“Next.” The Leadership agent called out summoning the next person in line. This time it was my turn.

I slapped the locket down on the counter and fought back the tears building heavily behind my eyes.

“My friend has been taken. I need to know where he is.”

“I am so sorry to hear that darling. Can you provide your friend’s name and address?”

“Xam. He lives at 767 Nexiun Street.” I chewed on my lip, impatiently waiting while she typed this information into the computer in front of her.

The agent scanned the screen in search of any information that might help me out. As she reached the bottom of the report her yellow eyes widened.

“Excuse me, miss. I will be right back.” She flashed me a nervous smile before disappearing through a door behind the counter.

I picked up Xam’s locket and closely examined it in my hand. It wasn’t hard to tell that it had endured a fire. The edges were charred and the clasp had melted forcing the locket to remain closed for the remainder of its days. A tear escaped my eye and ran down my cheek. Eerily, it landed directly on face of the locket. I scooped it up and placed it back into my pocket for safekeeping.

My attention returned to the closed door that the agent had disappeared into. I could see the knob turning and my heart raced. Maybe she had an answer for me as to where I could find Xam.

The look on her face told me otherwise.

Two brawny men followed in tow, their eyes stared straight at me.

“That’s the Earthling. Arrest her.”

“Me? What are you talking about?” I screeched.

“You were the motive of temptation for a Cyan. Such illegalities do not slip by The Leadership unnoticed. You are to be punished for your crime against Moality.”

“How is falling in love with someone a crime? Where I come from, interracial relationships are celebrated not criminalized!”

It was no use. The decision was made.

Each man grabbed one of my arms and started to pull me away from the counter.

“Tell me where he is!” I shouted trying to wiggle out of their grasps. “Let me go!”

No matter how violently I thrashed around, I wasn’t about to be set free.

The prison was dark and damp, much worse than anything I had ever seen on the television when I was a kid.

I was thrown into a holding cell with three native Moalites: a Cyan, a Magenta, and a Yellow. At first they didn’t say much rather they eyed me up as I crossed the cell toward my bunk. I laid down in hopes of sleeping away this nightmare only to find the mattress was composed of recycled card board. I sat back up and stared down at my feet dangling over the edge of the bunk.

“Hey rookie, what’s got you down?” Magenta whistled.

I ignored her.

“What? Are you too good for us?” Yellow balked.

“Leave her alone.” Cyan barked back. “Give her a minute to settle in.”

She made her way toward my bunk with an outstretched hand.

“Xra.” Cyan grabbed my hand and shook it.

I fixed my eyes on my feet.

“Do you have a name?” Xra questioned, picking my chin up between her fingers.

“Kate.” I muttered. I was getting bored with this question.

“Welcome, Kate.” She smiled. “The Yellow is Zici and the Magenta is Qoo.” Xra motioned behind her to the other girls. “I’ll give you some peace but we’re here if you need us.” She patted my leg and turned to walk away.

“I slept with a Cyan.” I blurted.

I heard gasps across the cell.

“It’s all my fault. He told me it was against the rules but we fell in love anyway.” I bowed my head and let the tears flow freely.

“They took him too?” Qoo sounded genuinely concerned for me.

I nodded.

“They didn’t pardon you? You shouldn’t even be here.” Zici stepped forward and threw her arm across my shoulder.

Across the cell, I could tell Xra was thinking of something. “Seeing as you are clearly not from around here I am surprised they didn’t give you a pass to go back home.”

There was that word again. Home.

“We need to get you out of here.” Qoo piped up.

“But how?” I sniffed.

“We bring forward your rights from your home planet. They are required to exercise proper legal disciplines according to the laws held by your home. They will be certain to send you back. Where are you from? We will help you.” I could almost hear the clicking of the gears turning in Xra’s head.

Truthfully, I didn’t care if I ever got out. I just wanted to know that Xam was safe. But in the off chance that I would be granted release, I would spend every minute fighting for his freedom even if it meant sacrificing my own.

I had to get out. For Xam.

“Earth.”

Xra’s eyes shot wide open. “Earth?”

I nodded. “You’ve heard of it?”

“Of course I have heard of Earth! Before I was arrested and locked away, I was a student at Qien College. I studied linguistics and agriculture. The majority of content in my studies revolved around Earth. But as far as I was aware, I thought the barriers between our galaxies had been barred for a thousand years now. How did you get in?” Xra grabbed my hands into hers.

“I met a Yellow boy during my travels to Neptune who had a personal portal device. It malfunctioned and that’s why he ended up on Neptune. He invited me to come with him to Moal.”

“Amazing.” Xra’s drooled. “Does The Leadership know that you are an Earthling?”

“Not that I am aware of.” I hadn’t exactly gone out of my way to tell them so I would have to assume that they didn’t know.

“We have to tell them! They will free you for sure.” Xra ran over to the bars and started hammered on them with her fists in attempt to attract the prison guard’s attention.

I jumped down from my bunk and walked toward Xra.

“Why would that guarantee my release?” I asked.

Xra stopped and looked at me. “You really don’t know, do you?”

“I don’t know what?” She was staring at me so intently I was starting to feel uncomfortable.

“You are an Earthling. Any Moalite along with many other beings in our galaxy who know anything about history, worship Earthlings like they are gods.” Xra stressed. “Our entire culture has been based off achieving natural living like you do on Earth.”

“Clearly it has been a long time since anyone around here visited Earth.” I mumbled under my breath.

“As soon as we tell The Leadership that you are an Earthling they will grant you all of your wishes. You’ll be treated better than royalty.”

Xra went back to flailing her arms about to track down the guard. Down the aisle I could hear the clinking of keys as he came closer.

“Qinto!” Xra called out. “I need to talk to you.”

The guard pressed his face against the bars so that Xra would hear him whisper.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Qinto while I’m on duty? It’s Officer Yru.”

“Fine then, Officer Yru. I need to talk to you.”

He rolled his eyes. She already had his attention. “Go on.” He rolled his arm through the air telling her to advance the conversation.

“My friend Kate here, she is an Earthling.”

His eyes widened. I didn’t know what else to do so I settled for smiling stupidly at him.

“Impossible.” Qinto scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“I thought so too. But it’s the truth Qinto.” Xra prodded.

“Officer Yru.” Qinto corrected.

“Help me out here, Qinto.” Xra begged. “She truly is from Earth. It is a miracle that she was able to pass the bars into our galaxy. If that doesn’t tell you she is special, I don’t know what else would.”

Qinto glanced down the hallway.

“I’ll be back.” He started whistling and disappeared around the corner.

“Now what?” I asked.

A smile crept over Xra’s blue face. In the dim lighting, it made her look crazy.

“We wait.”

Qinto reappeared whistling the same out of tune jingle. Without as much as a hint of eye contact, he slid a key into the barred door and turned it effortlessly. The click of the latch released echoed sweetly in my ears.

“You.” Qinto motioned toward me. “Come with me.”

I hopped over to him excitedly. I was finally free!

“You owe me, big time.” He pointed at Xra.

She danced her way toward him and pulled him in for a quick kiss.

This time my eyes widened. Xra was a Cyan, Qinto was a Magenta. No wonder Xra was so eager to help me, she knew the pain of forbidden love.

“You go get your man.” She winked at me.

I followed Qinto down a long narrow corridor. After about fifteen minutes of walking, I wasn’t sure if the corridor would ever end or if it spanned the divide to Earth and they were simply making me walk home.

My feet ached and the corridor showed no end in sight.

“Where are we going?” I quizzed Qinto.

“You’ll see.” His voice was shrill.

“Are they going to release me?” I had to know what was going on. I was going out of my mind with worry.

He restrained, holding back his answer.

Whatever hope I had been clinging to suddenly fell flat on its face. My heartbeat echoed empty in my chest and my stomach fell to my knees. My entire being was deflated. This was the prime reason I never hoped for or expected anything.

I trudged along numbly until we reached an unmarked door at the end of the corridor. Qinto held it open for me and I reluctantly entered.

This room was unusually dry compared to the damp cell I had spent that past hour in. Every section of the room was painted glossy white, including the floor. In the center of the room there was a metal table with two plastic chairs on either side of it. The fluorescents messed with my vision casting blue hazy dots along the shiny walls.

I jumped at the sound of Qinto closing the door. In such a small room, the sound lingered longer than I had wanted it to.

What good was this escape? I was an outsider. I am nothing to The Leadership. What did they care if I was dead or alive?

With no indication on what might happen next, I took a seat at the metal table and laid my head down.

The table was alarmingly cold as I pressed my cheek against it. I could feel my nerves screaming under the extreme sensation. But agreeably any sensation was better than the numbness that I had succumbed to. I held my cheek there and let the nerves sing out in agony.

I closed my eyes, uncertain that I would ever want to reopen them again. The blinding white of this room would be the last sight in my memory.

How unfortunate.

The doorknob rattled but I held my eyes closed shut. I was uninterested in what was on the other side of it.

“Kate.” A man’s voice boomed filling the emptiness surrounding me.

“What?” I snapped. Eyes remained shut.

I heard the screeching of the chair as he hauled it out from the table and took a seat.

“I am Leadership Officer Zed and I am here to discuss the recent charges against you.”

Zed. He must be a Yellow. Not that it even mattered to me at all anymore. I just wanted this all to be over with.

“I. Don’t. Care.” I annunciated.

“Well we do. I do.” He stressed. “Kate listen, between you and me, you being here is a miracle in itself. My ancestors were among the few Moalites that ever touched down on the surface of the Earth. Their teachings have rang true to so many generations including my own. We worship your people and your effortless ways of life. I am personally going to assist you on your mission to find Xam. It is our way of thanking you and all Earthlings for your teachings. The Leadership wants to express our sincerest apologies for the distress we have caused you. Under rule 67209-A, you are to be released immediately.”

At this I sat up in my seat and opened my eyes. I studied the man in front of me. He was gigantic. His yellow eyes were much to small for his pumpkin sized head and they seemed to stare right through me. His black hair had been buzzed off leaving only a dark shadow of what used to be. His leather suit squeaked under his heavy breaths. He looked uncomfortable in his own skin as he shifted in his chair.

“Where is he?”

“I have been able to track him down at a prison on a neighboring planet called Ceban. I have fueled a portal and I have taken it with me if you are willing to go there right away.” He removed the device from his pocket and engaged it. “Are you ready?” He outstretched the portal in my direction, his large yellow hand nearly encasing the entire device.

“Let’s go.” I reached my hand out and grabbed it. Within a matter of seconds, we were no longer in the white room.