“Ariel?”
“I’m here.”
“Are you alone? If I open the door will just you come in?”
“I promise.”
Sighing, Casey moved everything away from the door to unlock it. She peered into the hallway only to see Ariel, alone, smiling at her.
“No one is here but me. I sent everyone away. Can we talk?”
Casey let her in but she locked the door behind them. “I’m sorry. I took this really bad.”
“I don’t blame you.” Ariel sat down in a chair. She massaged her belly absently. “I’d be upset too. Argernon really fucked up.”
“He should have told me.”
“Yes. He should have sent them away. He knew that if he bound to one of us that he’d have to give up other women. I told him how our kind of women are.”
“It hurts. I thought he cared about me and I thought I was special to him. I fell for the asshole,” Casey admitted softly. “At first I was pissed when I realized he wasn’t returning me home. When he first kidnapped me I—”
“He what?”
Casey slowly explained how she met Argernon and how she ended up aboard the jumper. She blinked at Ariel. “Then we were attacked and I thought he was going to die. I stayed at his side on that damn small bed for three days praying he’d live so I could tell him that I love him. I was such a damn idiot. I should have known. We were two different worlds apart, literally, and it’s not like I really got to know him. How in the hell could I have fallen for someone so damn hard and so damn fast anyway?”
“I understand. I fell for Ral like that. I fell in love with him the first time he made love to me, I swear. He was amazing. He was so protective and masculine and he comforted me. I was kidnapped by a race of these lizard people and Ral fought a bunch of other Zorn men to win me.”
“Wow.”
Ariel smiled. “Not that we haven’t had our ups and downs, we have, but I love him. He’s like breathing air to me. He will do anything to make me happy and he makes sure I know how much he loves me.”
Sadness settled in Casey. “Argernon said he’d make me happy.”
“They are different from human guys but with Ral I find that’s a wonderful thing. I’m so sorry, Casey. Maybe he was going to send them to another household. You could talk to him.”
She shook her head. “Let him talk to Bara or Din or Valle. He’s got three of them.”
“They have a high sex drive. I can attest to that. Zorn men are a walking hard-on.” A grin split Ariel’s lips. “This has its advantages. Trust me. My sex life is over the top and it never gets boring or old or slows down.” She rubbed her stomach. “I was afraid Ral would lose interest in me when I got a big belly, but he thinks I’m sexier the bigger I get. The man has me totally addicted to having sex every few hours every day.” Ariel eyed Casey. “It’s a culture thing here as to why Argernon would have three women in his household.”
“He’s just a male slut.”
“He’s second in line to rule this entire planet. He’s like a prince. I’ve learned a lot since coming to Zorn. I thought women were mistreated and kind of had slave status when I came here but that’s not true. Women have a hell of a lot more say and control over their lives than you’d think. They are raised without jealousy of other Zorn women sharing a household. Their bodies can’t handle sex as much as the men need it, so according to the Zorn women I’ve spoken to, they like having other women to take that burden.” Ariel snorted. “They call being oversexed a burden. I don’t think they enjoy it as much as we can.”
“That bites for them.”
Ariel chuckled. “Totally. Zorn women only get jealous of bound women because they are allowed to have children and are in charge of the households. Most women though are willing to give that up to be house helpers because being in a good home means power and prestige to them.”
“How is cleaning someone’s house and being a bed warmer amounting to powerful and prestigious?”
“I’m with you there, but think about all the women who marry rich guys for their money. It’s the same here in that way. Zorn women actually could all bound to Zorn men if they wanted to but the truth is that most of them would rather live in a house with one or two other women if the man has the equivalent of money here. They get the best houses, the best food, the best of everything, and they like sharing the duties with other women.”
Casey eyed Ariel with a frown. “Do you have house helpers at your house? Do you let him touch other women? I won’t judge or anything. I hope I’m not being too nosy. I just can’t see myself ever living that way and being happy. Are you?”
A chuckle escaped Ariel. “We have a house helper. I’m thrilled she’s there. She’s an older woman, much older, and she treats me like the daughter she always wanted. As far as loyalty, well, if Ral touched another woman I’d castrate him.” She winked. “Not that he would. I can’t get enough of him. He’s got no reason to stray.”
“Did he have house helpers when you came here?”
“He’d sent them to one of his brothers’ houses. His father sent one to our house after I arrived though. She actually stripped naked and went on her hands and knees, shoving her ass in the air, waiting for my husband to mount her. I was so upset. We couldn’t communicate because the damn translators couldn’t read English yet. It was so damn frustrating. Try telling a guy if he mounts the bitch on the floor shoving her ass at him that you’d never let him touch you again with hand signals.” Ariel snorted. “It was hell and I stormed out. He chased me down and he never touched her.”
“I’m having his baby. My life is so fucked up.”
Ariel sighed. “Talk to him. Put your foot down by telling him what you need. He could have returned you to Earth. Hell, he didn’t have to take you with him. He carried you through the woods and kidnapped you. If his father finds out he took you against your will he’s in deep shit. He broke the law to bring you here.”
Shock hit Casey. “What?”
“All human women bound have to do so willingly. It’s against the law to kidnap an unwilling woman and bring them to Zorn. He took you and bound you without giving you a choice, Casey. If you want to hang him by his balls, you could tell his father what he did.”
“Would his father send me back to Earth?”
Ariel’s gaze dropped to Casey’s stomach. “No. I won’t lie to you.” Ariel looked up. “I can’t see their father letting you take off with his grandchild and hell, your baby wouldn’t be safe on Earth. You know that. When I realized I was pregnant I knew that no matter whatever happens with Ral that I couldn’t ever go home again. My child would be a freak. Can you say media frenzy, everyone trying to use my kid as a step to fame, and pure hell for my child?” She rubbed her stomach. “Here on Zorn my child is just like everyone else’s children. They don’t care that I’m human or that my child will be part human. They know about other races on other planets and accept them. Just being part Zorn makes them fully Zorn in their culture.”
“So what am I supposed to do? Go home with Argernon and watch him fuck those three women? Maybe we can draw straws on who gets him in what time slot.” Casey hated the bitter bite in her voice. “I hear since I’m the bound one I get to sleep in the bed and not on the floor. Whoo Hooo. Lucky me.”
Ariel shook her head. “No. You set that son of a bitch straight. It’s just you or you’ll find another man. Let me clue you in here. We’re the hottest damn commodity on this planet. There are thousands of good men on Zorn who’d jump through every hoop you put up if you agreed to bound to one of them. They’d be loyal and never mistreat you.”
“Bara did something to him to wake him up.”
Ariel sighed. “I know. I was the one who had to relay your message to Ahhu after I sent her to stop that from happening.”
“I can’t forget that. I’m sorry I let her, but I can’t forget it.”
Ariel nodded. “Let me talk to Ral. He knows a lot of good men. You need to find one on this planet to pr
otect you. I’ll make Ral let you come home with us and we’ll introduce you to every man my husband knows until you meet one you can fall for. We’ll get you bound to someone who can make you happy and safe. You need that now. Think of your baby.”
Casey looked down at her stomach. “Will Argernon let his child go?”
Ariel rose to her feet. “You were forced to leave Earth, and he bound you without consent, since you were clueless what it meant when he came inside you. He broke the law. If push comes to shove he won’t have a damn choice. As long as the baby is on Zorn and is safe I don’t see how the father can protest. Hyvin Berrr can see his grandchild no matter what man raises him. There are a lot of good Zorn men, Casey. You could be happy here.”
It broke her heart but Casey nodded. “I can’t be with Argernon again. I can’t let him hurt me more than he already has.”
“I’ll speak to Ral, and we’ll take you home with us. I’m damn sorry, Casey. Argernon was a real asshole, and I hope he suffers for what he’s done to you.”
Casey watched the woman walk away. Her head slumped. For all she knew Bara was fucking Argernon right now. It really hurt.
Chapter Eleven
Casey’s ears no longer bothered her. Before she’d left the medical building Ahhu had given her a shot so she could painlessly put two implants in them. Casey could understand anyone talking to her now, but she’d been warned that not all Zorn could understand her. The English program was new and unless a Zorn thought they would be dealing with humans they didn’t take the time to upgrade their implant programs for translation.
It was late at night and Casey was exhausted. It had taken hours for Ahhu to find the time to implant the translators into her ears. Ariel’s husband had begged Ariel to go home with him because she was pregnant. He’d argued that she needed her rest and Ariel had given in to the big man after making it clear that Casey would be transported to their home when Ahhu was done with the procedure.
The three large Zorn males had escorted Casey from the medical building to a waiting vehicle. They’d driven her to a large, beautiful house on a hill. Zorn homes weren’t like Earth houses. They were more rounded, single story, but large. They were made out of some material Casey had never seen before that looked like stone sheets. The men had escorted her to the door. One of them had placed his palm on a scanner while smiling down at Casey.
“You are home. I am to escort you inside to your room. Would you like me to wake someone to bring you food?”
“I just want to sleep. It’s late, so I don’t want to disturb Ariel or her husband.”
The man blinked. He nodded as he opened the door. “This way.”
The other two men stayed outside. Casey walked into a large living room with an open floor plan. Two couches, some tables and some rugs decorated the room. The lights were dim, but bright enough to see by. She swallowed. The furniture looked like wood but it was a dark red that starkly contrasted to the utter whiteness of the floor and walls. It was a nice home.
The man led her down a hallway. Doors were all shut except for the room on the end. He walked in and waved his hand along the wall to turn on the lights in the bedroom.
“There is a sensor here. Wave your hand to turn the light on or off.” He indicated to an open door across the room. “This room is for your personal needs. Wave your hand high to turn on the water. There are motion sensors that control the water flow.” He backed out of the room. “Good living, human.” He strode away.
Casey sighed as she softly shut the door. She didn’t want to disturb her hosts. Ariel had been exhausted when her husband had led her away. Casey felt guilty about that, but she’d been damn grateful for Ariel’s friendship. The woman was just as outraged as Casey had been at what Argernon had done. It had really made her feel better to be understood. Her attention turned on the room.
The bed was a massive four-poster and high off the floor. All the Zorn men were over six feet tall while the women she’d seen were five-foot-eight to about a six-foot-one range, making them taller than the average human. Even their bodies were larger than most humans with their muscularity and bigger bone structures. Casey felt small for once in her life, almost fragile compared to the people she now lived with.
Next to the bed were tables with drawers. A dresser-like piece of furniture took up one wall under a large window. She walked over to the window. Nothing covered it so she stared out into utter darkness that gave her the creeps. Someone could be out there watching her back and she wouldn’t know it. She looked up above the window. No marks on the wall indicated anything had ever hung there to cover it. Maybe Zorn people didn’t believe in curtains. It made her feel like a fish in a bowl.
She was curious about the bathroom, but she ignored it. She’d used the bathroom at the medical center before she’d left. They’d even given her a weird-looking toothbrush. She placed the bag down by the bed. It had some personal items the medical center had given her including medication she was supposed to take every day. Since she was pregnant, Ahhu had warned her that her body temperature would rise without the medication, since Zorns ran hotter than humans. The medication would also help her avoid swelling from her body thinking it needed more fluids, another symptom she’d face as a human pregnant by a Zorn.
Casey kicked off the boots they’d given her, reaching for her waist. She unfastened her pants and walked toward the door after kicking them off. She decided to just sleep in a shirt. She wished that the Zorn had bras and underwear but Ariel had said they didn’t make them for women. Zorn women rarely wore clothing at home. They hated anything tight against their bodies.
She eyed the room again before waving off the lights. Casey found the bed and had to climb into it, literally, since it was so high. She was exhausted. She hated that she thought about Argernon, but she couldn’t stop. He was awake and he was going to be fine.
He’d wanted to talk to her. He’d asked Ahhu to give her a message. He’d wanted her to know that he’d never meant to keep other women after he’d bound to Casey and asked if she would please see him. She didn’t want to talk to him. She sure didn’t want to see him. She was done being hurt. What kind of man just tossed aside three women who depended on him anyway? Her opinion of Argernon was in the toilet.
She wondered as she curled on her side on the comfortable bed if Argernon was still at the medical building or if he was currently snuggled up in a bed with his three lovers. It hurt to picture that. She hated the jealousy that caused her so much pain. She kept telling herself that she was better off without him. Her hand reached down to curl over her stomach through the thin shirt she wore to bed. Argernon’s baby rested inside her. The shock hadn’t worn off yet.
Casey couldn’t deny that kids had always been a dream of hers. She’d always pictured a wedding first, some nice guy who worked a nine-to-five job as her husband, and the excitement of painting a baby’s room. She would have cried, but she was out of tears. Instead she was having an alien’s baby, one who had too many damn women in his life, and she was on a planet where she’d have to hook up with a stranger to even have a room to put her baby in when it was born. She didn’t even want to think about that scenario.
Of course her mind wasn’t listening to her. She’d have to find a Zorn man to marry. They called it bound to. It would be like a job interview in Casey’s mind. She’d interview men for the position, telling them what she wanted in a man, what she needed, and then have to go through the candidates to see who best could fill the role. It bit the big one. Depression hit her. She couldn’t return to Earth with a Zorn baby and no way in hell was she not having the baby. She wanted it even if the baby’s father was a lying asshole.
Rolling over, Casey blindly stared upward at a ceiling she couldn’t see in the dark room. Her head turned to the large window. It was still too dark out there to see anything, even after her eyes had adjusted to lights off. Zorn had three moons but it was a very cloudy night, so they weren’t visible. Ariel had promised her a terrific view when
the weather was better. It didn’t matter. Casey shut her eyes. She needed rest. Tomorrow she’d deal with all of this shit when she wasn’t so wrung out.
A door slammed somewhere in the house. Guilt hit Casey. She must have woken someone when she’d come in, no matter how quiet she and the guard had been. She listened to the silent house before relaxing again. She took slow, shallow breaths trying to relax enough to drift to off to sleep. It was the best thing for her. Tomorrow she wouldn’t be so exhausted, and her brain might function right.
Something outside the bedroom door made a noise. Casey tensed but then forced her body to relax. It was probably Ariel’s husband getting his pregnant mate something from the kitchen. Maybe he was making sure the doors were locked. A gasp escaped her as the bedroom door was suddenly opened. Light from the hallway blinded her as she jerked upright. Argernon stood braced in the wide-open doorway with the lights on behind him. Shock slammed into her at the site of him.
“Welcome home, beautiful,” he growled softly to her. His voice was husky. “I’m sorry for the measures I went through to get you here. I know you don’t want to see me, but I want to see you.”
A shirtless Argernon was staring at her. Casey was speechless as she stared back at him. His hair was loose, running down his chest and arms. He gripped the doorway for long seconds, before he slowly walked into the room. He waved his hand along the wall to trigger the lights on. He moved his hand again so they dimmed enough that the room was almost shadowed but she could still see him really well. His glowing blue eyes were fixed on her.
“Did you really think I’d let you go, Casey? Did you really think that I would keep other women when I had you? I was going to make arrangements for the three of them to go elsewhere to another home. I thought I had time to do it, so they would be gone by the time we reached Zorn.” He took another step closer. “You are the only woman who is in my bed and you are the only one who will be there from now on. You look perfect in it.”