Taken (Warriors of Karal Book 3) Read online

  “No, well, at least I’ve never tried,” she said. “The water on Earth is too polluted, and the weather too unpredictable. Travel is never a good idea with the acid-rain showers.”

  “Then when we return I will take you out on the ocean, I have taught myself to navigate by the stars,” he said, his body softening as he began to talk, and flashes of colour, reds and golds, swept across his face like ripples of water.

  “I would like that.” She wanted to add how happy it made her to think that their child, when born, would be lucky enough to live in a world filled with wonder, but she didn’t. She didn’t want to remind herself, or him, that the son they would share had to be conceived first.

  And when he opened the door to his room, which was a small suite of rooms, consisting of a bed-sitting room, a kitchen diner, and a bathroom, she wondered whether by the time she left here in the morning, she would already be pregnant.

  “Food,” he said. “You must be starving.”

  “Yes, I am,” she said. “I’d also like to try to dry my clothes too.”

  “There is a dryer in the bathroom. It is meant for drying your body, but the warm air it blows will be equally good for drying your clothes.” He opened the door to the small bathroom, and showed her how it worked.

  “And is this a shower?” she asked.

  “Yes, it works in the same way as the decon’, or you can use water.”

  “Would you mind?” she asked, “if I had a hot shower, and washed my hair, the decon’ has left me feeling … dirty.”

  “Of course.” He stood still and then realised she was waiting for him to leave. “I’ll go and prepare our food. Is there anything particular you like to eat?”

  “Everything here is different to Earth, so surprise me,” she said.

  Malik smiled. “OK, I will cook something, and you can tell me if you like it.” He looked pleased with the idea, and Chrissi was reminded that this was what it would be like if they were on a real date. They would go out for dinner, and then—well, a lot of women had one-night stands, that’s how she needed to look at this.

  But first, she wanted to be clean, and dry. Stripping off the overalls, she placed them on the floor, and then stepped into the shower. The water began to spray down on her, and she tilted her head back to let it wash over her face. Next, she shampooed her hair, taking her time to smell the tangy, orange-like scent of the soap. If the food tasted half as good as this smelt, it would be wonderful.

  By the time she had got out of the shower and let the warm air dry her, just as it had dried off her clothes, she felt happier, more relaxed. And starving!

  Opening the bathroom door, she headed along the small corridor, keeping her eyes averted from the bed as she entered the sitting area. His food certainly smelt as good as she hoped, and her mouth watered. For most of her life she had lived on sim food, never able to afford the real thing; even in Saviour, they were rarely given proper food. It was all reconstituted muck that all looked and tasted the same, but had all the nutrients and calories needed to survive.

  “I feel human again,” she said, and was pleased when he looked up and a green shadow crept across his face. Yes, she could imagine this was just a date, and they were a normal couple. Malik took a leisurely look at her body, his face showing his approval of her generous curves, while she took in an approving glance at his toned body encased in casual clothes that made him look as if he was from a hippy commune.

  But man, did he carry off natural cotton fibres in a way that made every piece of fabric flow with his muscles. She could see his abs rippling as he reached up for plates, and his biceps bulge when he pulled the cork out of a bottle, which she hoped might be wine, or anything vaguely alcoholic that might give her some courage.

  “Sit, please,” he said, and she did as he asked, while he placed a plate in front of her, filled with what looked like root vegetables and some kind of meat. Leaning forward, she inhaled. “Oh my goodness, that smells so good I hate to eat it.”

  “But that is the point of food,” he said sagely.

  Her smiled widened. “Yes, it is. But sometime the anticipation can be better than the actual event. And I want to spend a long time anticipating this.”

  “It will get cold,” he said.

  He was right, and anyway, her taste buds were about to explode. So she picked up her fork and scooped up a small amount of vegetables, aiming to make the meal last as long as possible, just so she could savour it.

  “Oh my goodness,” she said as the perfectly cooked vegetables filled her mouth.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t have anything more adventurous to try. Palao are our staple food, so they become a bit boring.”

  “There is nothing boring about this,” she said, scooping up another, larger forkful.

  “Would you like some fetu?” he asked, holding up the bottle he had uncorked.

  “Yes, please, what is it?” she asked, eager to try everything at least once.

  “It is a drink made from fetualla, a delicate flower that grows in abundance over in the east. The fetualla is mixed with fruit and fermented to give this liquor.” He offered her a glass. “It might make you dizzy.”

  “Dizzy?” she asked, laughing. “This I have to try.”

  Chrissi took a sip, and felt nothing, so she took another bigger gulp, and then let the warmth of the fetu thread its way through her veins. “That is nice. So smooth.”

  And no dizziness. Malik sipped his fetu slowly while he ate, and she decided it was wise to do the same. Just in case the dizziness was more of an after-effect. As they ate, and drank and talked, they both began to relax. She smiled, and he laughed. For a species she had thought so hard, so uptight, Malik was something more than she had expected: intelligent, fun, with a love of the outdoors and space. She could almost believe he was her perfect match, her perfect man.

  But was this all a dream, all unreal, a mixture of her first journey into space and good food in her stomach, plus the fetu, which made her brain buzz.

  “That was amazing,” she said at last, as he got up and cleared the plates away. “I’ll help you.”

  However, as she got up from her seat, the room did indeed spin, as did the floor, and Malik seemed to be doing a dance around and around on the inside of her brain.

  Then the world tilted, and she began to slip towards the floor. Malik placed the plates back down and reached out to catch her. She looped her arms around his neck, and he lifted her up, cradling her against his warm, hard chest.

  Now he would kiss her and then take her to his bed. She had fallen into his trap, and under the influence of the fetu, she would be his to do with as he pleased. Poor, stupid human, she thought as he scooped her up and carried her to his bed.

  Gently he laid her down, and then to her surprise he pulled the covers over her body, and said quietly, “Goodnight, Chrissi.”

  “Goodnight, Malik,” she said and as he moved away she caught hold of his hand and added, “Thank you.”

  And then he was gone. All she heard as she fell asleep was him humming to himself while he cleared the table and washed the dishes.

  Oh my goodness, he would make a perfect husband.

  Chapter Twelve – Malik

  Did he know the fetu would put her to sleep? Yes, he probably did. It had seemed like the best solution. Neither of them were ready to consummate their relationship. They were tired, and the day had been long, and he still wanted to know the truth about the bruise on her face.

  He could ask her now, while she was half awake and half asleep. She might have told him, but that was a little dishonest. Washing the dishes and putting them away in the small kitchen, he thought about his house away to the south, and how the fushkil would be jumping right now as the suns warmed the ocean. He longed to be there, to walk on the beach, feeling the sand between his toes and her hand in his.

  Washing all the surfaces down, he kept himself busy until he could tell by the steady rise and fall of her body that she was fast asleep. Now s
he was definitely out of his reach. And only then did he dare remove his clothes and slide under the covers next to her.

  Trying not to touch her, in case he woke her, he made himself comfortable, and then closed his eyes, the heat of her body and the rise and fall of her chest comforting in some ways, and oh so disturbing in others.

  Lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, he pictured what their life would be like when they returned. He could see them together, children at their feet, and he was amazed at how his view of how his life was going to be had changed. Of course he knew he would have a mate, a female to breed with, but he had never expected to feel anything towards her other than physical attraction.

  He began to understand Okil and Darl; he could see how their lives were being shaped by this outside force. In so many ways the females were a threat to the Karal, not just with their bodies and their sexual attraction, but in the way they would turn back time for the Karal, make their species whole again.

  ***

  He woke to find her staring at him.

  “The colours flow over your skin when you sleep. It’s like you let all your barriers down and become free,” she said, reaching out and touching his cheek.

  He sensed the immediate response of his body. It sent a flush of blues and greens to the exact point her fingers touched his skin, and beneath the sheets, his cock hardened. She smiled, and he wanted to lean forward and kiss her, to taste her lips and let her consume his senses. But that would break the spell, and he wasn’t eager to do that. There was plenty of time.

  But not today!

  “I have to go and check everything is ready for the launch,” Malik said, reluctantly breaking away from her, covering his erection as he got out of bed.

  “Can I come?” she asked, sitting up in bed looking all sleepy and tousle-haired. He longed to go back to her, to lie beside her and thread his fingers though her auburn curls.

  “No. It would be too distracting.” He pulled on his pants and then saw her downturned face. “Too distracting in a good way. We don’t hate you.”

  “Well, that’s good to know,” she said coolly.

  “What I mean is, for our safety, I need the others to be fully concentrating on their job. We don’t want to go into space and find out we have no tole,” he said.

  “What is tole?” she asked, pulling on a sweater and getting out of bed.

  “I will make some for you. It is much better to taste tole than to explain what it is and where it comes from,” he said going to the kitchen and warming some water.

  Then he spooned some red grains into two cups, and for a moment she wondered if it was something horrendous like ground-up blood. Surely they didn’t drink blood? Her stomach churned as the water came to the boil and he removed it, pouring it into the cups. The moment she smelt the same burnt smell of coffee beans, relief swept over her.

  “Try it,” he said, handing her a cup.

  First she sniffed it, taking in the aroma. This was like real coffee, and she sipped it tentatively, feeling the buzz of caffeine hit her brain. “You’re right,” she said. “We would not want to go into space without tole.”

  He drank his coffee quickly and then said, “Help yourself to anything you need. I’ll try to see Darl, or Okil, and remind them about clothes for you. But right now I have to go.”

  He knew she didn’t want him to leave and that pleased him more than it should. Malik allowed himself a brief smile, and allowed his colours to cover his face, which was an interesting sensation and one he hadn’t experienced since he was five when his father began the process of teaching him to become a warrior, which meant hiding your feelings and keeping your colours firmly under control at all times.

  Their trip into space was going to be an interesting test for his self-control.

  Chapter Thirteen – Chrissi

  What was a girl to do? Stuck on an alien planet, in a small apartment, she didn’t have too many choices. It was obvious there was no Stream, and if he had books, she couldn’t find them and doubted they would be in English anyway.

  So she went through the kitchen, looking at the different implements and trying to guess what they were for. Then she tried all the different foods, using a sharp knife to cut pieces off fruit, trying to figure out if she was supposed to cook them or not. This game lasted for half an hour, until she tried something that looked like a mango, and tasted like a chili pepper.

  A large cup of water, followed by using her finger to scrub her tongue clean, was the only way to get rid of the burning sensation. Foods might be better tried under the guidance of Malik, because, as she should have figured out before, she might try something poisonous that was alright eaten cooked but deadly eaten raw.

  What now? Going through the rest of his rooms was out of the question; she didn’t like to pry. In the same way she hoped he would respect her privacy; not that she had anything to hide, but it was just how she wanted their relationship to be. Trusting.

  Finding herself sitting on the sofa and totally bored, she was relieved and a little nervous when someone knocked on the door.

  Feeling stupid, she asked, “Who is it?” Because whoever it was, she wouldn’t know them; she was on a planet filled with strangers.

  “Hi, Chrissi, it’s Reja and Tikki. We have some clothes for you,” a female voice said.

  Who cares if she didn’t know them, they were from Earth and they were women. Chrissi flung the door open and tried not to look too excited. “Oh my goodness!” Chrissi exclaimed. “Is every woman on Karal pregnant?”

  “It feels that way,” Reja said, her hand going to smooth over her baby bump. “Which is good for you, because between us we have plenty of clothes that don’t fit us, so we brought them over for you to try.”

  Reja was so pretty: her hair was long, her skin tanned, so unlike the white faces of the people on Earth, and she glowed; they both glowed. Impending motherhood suited them.

  “Thank you,” Chrissi said. “This is so kind of you.”

  “Nonsense, it makes up for you having to go straight back out into space. You haven’t even had time to see the sights,” Tikki said.

  “Malik said he would show me around when we got back,” Chrissi said. Seeing Tikki and Reja looking so happy and relaxed was amazing. It gave her hope, made her believe that there could be a happy ever after for her on Karal, with Malik.

  “How is he?” Reja asked. “Darl came home all in a panic a couple of days ago because the other warrior’s match was ill. Her tag showed she had a terribly high temperature. So he had to do a quick scan for a match for any of the other warriors. He couldn’t believe his luck when you had entered.”

  “It was a last-minute decision, chance really. I never wanted this,” Chrissi said, looking at the dresses Tikki had placed on the bed for her to look over.

  “But now you’re here?” Reja asked. “I know Darl thinks he has got it exactly right, but Darl always gets carried away by his own plans. He didn’t give you that bruise, did he?”

  “No. That was from when I was on Earth.” Chrissi said, putting her hand to her chin. Then she said, “I love it. Everything, the air, the food, the animals…”

  “The aliens,” Tikki said and laughed, sensing Chrissi didn’t want to discuss the bruise. “I am so happy Okil brought me here.”

  “Oh, so you are with Okil?” Chrissi asked.

  “Yes, and that is why I am so pleased you are here, because we need the missions to go ahead. Okil wants to give humans a fighting chance at survival. This one, I think,” Tikki said, holding up a blue dress against Chrissi. “Try it on.”

  “Are you sure? It’s so pretty,” Chrissi said, admiring the small flowers that had been embroidered on the blue fabric.

  “Yes, of course. Celia did the flowers; she never knew she had a gift for sewing until we came here. There’s so much we can do, so many opportunities we never had on Earth,” Reja said.

  “If they ever let us out without a chaperone,” Tikki said, then saw Chrissi’s fa
ce. “Oh, don’t worry, it will get easier. Each time a new woman arrives, there is less talk and fuss from those who oppose us walking amongst them. There are still so few of us, but everyday there are more and more.”

  “What do you think?” Chrissi asked, twirling around in the sky-blue dress, which hugged her figure in all the right places.

  “I think Malik will find you irresistible,” Reja said. “Or has he already … found you irresistible?”

  “No, not yet,” Chrissi said, catching her meaning and trying not to blush. “We were so tired last night. It was a quite a journey.”

  “And then tomorrow you go out into space again. So tonight is the night. Get it over with, you won’t regret it,” Tikki said and then giggled.

  Chrissi didn’t want to know any more; she didn’t want to think of what would happen after Malik came home. She simply wanted to enjoy having a pretty new dress. And she was supposed to be a trained astronaut! Well, inside she felt like any other woman, feminine and soft, and why couldn’t she be both?

  Tikki and Reja stayed for an hour or more. They furnished Chrissi with more clothes, and would have left even more, but when she looked inside Malik’s closet she realised there was nowhere to hang them.

  “Oh well, you won’t need too much until you come back, so why don’t we keep hold of them until then,” Reja said, gathering up all the remaining clothes.

  “Thank you both so much,” Chrissi said.

  “Good luck, Chrissi, us humans must stick together.” There was a knock on the door. “That will be Okil. He will escort us back home. Darl is busy checking Elissa over, he is so anxious about her baby, more anxious than he is about ours.” Reja patted her swollen stomach.

  “Is it because it’s the first child to be born? Of this generation, I mean. Until a baby is born healthy, they don’t know if the two DNA strands are compatible?” Chrissi said.

  “Yes,” Tikki said, casting a glance at Reja that gave Chrissi the impression something was being left unsaid. “The first child is always going to be the one that gives Darl most concern.”