Indentured Bride (6 page)

By the time it happens he might consider it a blessing.

She placed her face in her hand to cry once more.

Diplomo unplugged himself from the terminal.  “Very good.  The matter has been settled.”

Tabitha lifted her face from her hand with a sigh.  “I don’t want to know where I’m going.  It doesn’t matter.  I don’t care about what happens to me anymore.”

Diplomo stood.  “Ms. Riley, you will not be removed from here.  I’ve made arrangements for the shield fortifications to be sent from the nearest Alliance soldier world.”

Her lips parted.

“This will ensure your safety.  Not even a jii’tox twice the size of an adult would be able to breach it.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No Ms. Riley.  I’ve seen to your continued well-being, as is my duty.”

She dove into the robot’s rigid body and hugged it.  Tears of joy replaced those of anguish.  “Oh thank you!  You wonderful hunk of metal!”

Diplomo patted her lightly with one hand.  “You are very welcome, Ms. Riley.”

She rushed from him to the bedroom, opening the door without knocking.  Jaxil was face down on his bed. 

“I can stay!  Jaxil!  Diplomo fixed everything.”

He turned back to expose a face reddened with tears.  She jumped on him.

“Forget your asshole commander!  He’s getting the shield fortifiers from the Alliance.”

Jaxil’s yellow eyes grew wide.  “He’s what?”

Tabitha squeezed him.  “I’ll be with you forever.”

He seized her in his arms so fiercely her back cricked.   

“Deearka…” 

He leaned back and locked their mouths together.

*

*  *

*  *  *

*  *  *

*  *

*

Jaxil refused to leave the vicinity of the base until the fortifiers arrived.  Three more beasts ventured near for him to kill.  Tabitha saw one up close, a black furred horror with six red eyes and scaly wings.

They celebrated when the alliance shuttle finally came.  The smaller dome remained vulnerable, but the main one was fortified with six gleaming shield boosters.  Diplomo boarded the shuttle to leave with it.  This caused Tabitha a pang of sadness.  She felt the robot had become her friend.

Jaxil resumed his daily hunts once he knew she was safe.  He refused to patrol the hemisphere where the other Hex-lord used to be.  The jii’tox’s there could go ahead and launch themselves to Kitra, the planet they orbited.  He wasn’t going to work every waking hour to try and keep up with them.  He had a reason to want to be home now.

One night the old alarm was set off and a jii’tox was found pasted to the side of the dome trying to claw its way in.  Jaxil aimed his cannon at the vulnerable spot on its throat, set the shield to open there, and dispatched it without even leaving the base.  Tabitha ran to him, cheering his success.  He merely stared at the beast’s carcass with a look of awe.

“I don’t have to leave this place to hunt them.  If I let them come to me I can kill them without even trying.”

Tabitha gasped.  She remembered what his commander said.  The beasts were attracted to them, and now that the base was fortified it was fine to let them come.

After that Jaxil stayed with her for three blissful days, making love, playing in the gardens, and listening to Hax-Rah music from his terminal. 

The beasts began to come to them.  Four at once, all gnawing to get through their shield.  Jaxil killed them one after the other.  Then he laughed and spun her in his arms.  His theory was right.  He no longer needed to hunt.  He let the beasts hunt him.

His commander called after a month.  The man was furious.  A beast from the other hemisphere had gotten to Kitra.  They had to send soldiers to kill it.  Jaxil gleam with a smile as he listened. 

“What do you expect?” he said in their language (and translated to Tabitha afterwards).  “I’m one Hex-lord doing the work of ten.”

He hung up before he could finish cursing him.

“I hope the next jii’tox eats him,” Jaxil said.

Tabitha slipped onto his lap.  She smiled gently, but had a touch of fear.  “You’re not worried that he’ll punish you?”

Jaxil traced his fingers softly over her cheek.  “The only punishment for a soldier is death.  Then he’d have no one here.”

Tabitha’s stomach clenched.  A harrowing thought struck her.  “What if he takes me away from you?”

Jaxil continued smiling.  “I’ve thought of that, deearka.”

She blinked at him.  If it was a possibility then why was he smiling?

“I think you’ve been indentured to me long enough.  It’s time for you to become my bride.”

Happy tears seized her.  She’d forgotten all about that arrangement.  She grasped him around the shoulders and kissed him. 

Jaxil stood while holding her aloft in his arms.  He headed towards their bedroom.

“How is it done?  How fast can we do it?”

“We’ll sneak to Kitra and have a magistrate seal us before my commander can think to take you.  I’ve a right to take a bride.  He can’t stop me from a three day respite to do so.”  He placed her on his bed.

“Really?  We can be there three days?”

Jaxil climbed over her and placed a kiss on her neck.  “It’s a pathetic world, but there’s one island in a tropical climate with a beach and resort that raises
canta-nules
, sweet animals that let you ride them.”

Tabitha became giddy.  “Oh!”

Jaxil lifted her shirt and bra and gave a kiss to her nipple.  “Let me share what little joy the Hax-Rah Empire has to offer.”

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. 

“Not a little joy.”  A tear of happiness dripped down her cheek.  “You’re the greatest joy of my life.” 

END

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About the Author

My stories tell me how long they want to be, and this one turned out to be a short novella.  I have a lot of text that was cut away, her space flight to the planet, a prior scene between her and her foreman Merit, because none of that added anything to the story.  Indentured Bride, while compact, was as long as it needed to be to tell the story that I wanted. 

The last sci-fi romance novel I wrote was a sci-fi ménage called
Bride of the Keil Warriors
.  This story was an attempt to redeem myself from a past screw-up, while also getting back into the sci-fi romance arena.

Aliens Bride
was my other sci-fi romance ménage prior to
Bride of the Keil Warrors
.  It starred the slave-turned-bride Selena.  I still say this was a good book, with an original storyline, compelling characters, immersive world, and great sex scenes.  The problem, however, is that
it wasn't the ménage readers wanted to read.
  It fell off the rails in a big way. 

I didn't know where that story was going when I started writing it.  Sometimes I do what us writing-types call 'pantsing' and I just make it up as I go along. 

Well...that's what I
say
I do.  The truth is I start out with these characters and they just hijack the story and do whatever the heck they want.  That's what happened in
Aliens Bride
.  I just screwed up. 

Boy did readers let me have it!  This was my first ménage and I flew into it blind.  I didn't understand the contract I was making with readers when I put a woman and two hot alien guys on my cover.  Just
check out the reviews
...they ripped me a new one.

And I deserved it.  I know I did.  I should have done better.  I should have lived up to the promise I made readers.  I'm not some big-name literary author who can write fancy-pants stuff that is allowed to have sad endings.  I write romance.  It's a very strict genre.  Expectations have been established by readers and I had a duty to deliver.  This was a failure and it ultimately led to the downfall of the whole
Alien's Bride
series.

Bride of the Keil Warriors
ended up being the greatest seller of my writing career thus far.  I feel I successfully reentered the sci-fi romance arena.

I've written a lot of stuff.  It accumulates fast when you're putting out one or more books a month.  I'm mainly known for my male/male romance, but I have plenty of really good sci-fi romance novels I hope you'll check out.  The
Android's Bride
was my most recent one before
Bride of the Keil Warrors
.  The
Alien's Bride
series has six other ebooks besides that ménage one I was talking about up there.  These books have historically been best-sellers for me.  Most have really great reviews and fan response.  These are the 'Mars Needs Moms' type of books where women are scarce and the aliens are grabbing themselves some brides.  In the
first book
they go 2,000 years in the past to kidnap the first bride the need.  That bride Maritza goes on to appear in all the later installments...
as a villain!
  It's really kind of cool!