Page 12 of Alien Abduction for Professionals
The male who'd been carrying her had simply dropped her on the floor to defend himself. Idiot. I ran to her side and scooped her into my arms before running away from the battle.
"Are you alright?" I demanded more harshly than I'd intended. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, thanks to you. They didn't hurt me. Said their employer didn't want me harmed."
I growled. As soon as she was safe, we'd go after that employer. One of the Tarpartians had said that it was a female. That made it even more mysterious. A male may have wanted Trish as his human sex slave, but it was unlikely that a female would desire the same. Of course, some females preferred their own sex, but why choose a human?
We reached the closest elevator and the doors slid open. As soon as we were inside, I pushed the button, locking us in. No warden waited for us; the spot in the centre where they usually hovered was empty. Maybe this elevator shaft wasn't used anymore. I didn't care. We were safe now.
I set Trish down to inspect her, just in case she was injured after all. They'd bound her hands with wire, but it didn't take me long to get it off her. As soon as her arms were free, she clung to me. I held her tight, breathing in her scent, feeling her press against my body. Only now did the shock of almost losing her sink in.
"Trish," I whispered, but then there was no more time for words. I captured her lips and kissed her like I was starving. She cupped my face and locked me in place, returning the kiss just as passionately. She tasted sweet and spicy at once, even better than piki cakes. Her tongue swiped against my fangs, and I realised they were still more extended than they should be. I concentrated and slowly retracted them until just the tips poked out between my normal teeth. I didn't want to hurt her.
I held her, vowing to never let her go again. I was going to get a leash and keep her by my side, not letting her out of my sight. She was too precious to endanger. We should never have left her alone. From now on, one of us would always be with her. Especially until we knew who'd wanted to abduct her.
My communicator beeped. It had to be the others. I realised they wouldn't know where we'd disappeared to. Without breaking the kiss, I pushed the button to take the call.
But it wasn't my friends who spoke.
"Congratulations, you've passed the test."
I was going to kill her.
Trish
Iglared at the Professor, still not quite able to believe it had all been her doing. We were back on the Jade's bridge, all huddled together. I was on Xil's lap, but Havel had his hand on my thigh, and Matar leaned against me, his head on my shoulder. They'd not let go of me on the way here. Even while I'd showered and changed clothes, Xil had been with me. If Professor Katila hadn't been waiting for our call, I knew we'd be in bed now, all of us, claiming each other.
The shock still sat deep in my bones. Even now that I knew it hadn't been real, I was still on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. While I'd been carried off by that alien, I'd not allowed my fear to take hold of me.Now, it was close to overwhelming me. Only the guys' touch kept me from falling apart.
"You have done extremely well," Professor Katila said, giving us a smile. Bitch. "Top marks for all of you. Of course, you need to write a full report for our case study, but there's no doubt about your grade. You didn't hesitate once you found out your abductee had disappeared. You wasted no time in following her. I expected you to contact security or find some weapons, but I liked your method of disabling the Tarpartians' guns even more. Very effective. I also appreciate that you didn't kill them. I'd planned for that possibility, of course, but it does save me some paperwork."
"Why did you do that?" I accused her. "Do you have any idea how scary that was?"
She ignored me and looked at Xil instead. "You have proven excellent leadership. I might invite you to record a presentation on how you trained your team."
"I didn't train them," he said in a quiet, dangerous tone. "We grew up together. We had the same teachers. And if you were here right now, I'd show you some of the techniques they taught us."
Professor Katila didn't react to the threat. "As I said, I require a full report. That was your first practical assessment of this course, a second will follow soon. You'll have some time to prepare for that one."
"How generous," Matar huffed.
"Next, I'd like you to look after your female. She's been through quite a lot and needs to be reassured that she's safe with you. I've uploaded some presentations and readings on nest building for you."
I stared at her. "Nest building? Humans don't build nests."
Her third eye looked straight at me, making a shiver run down my spine. Her normal eyes were fixed on the guys, looking at each one of them in turn.
"You might want to get some building supplies from the space station while you're still there. Turn your bedroom into the ideal breeding environment. You'll want soft, warm colours, lights that can be dimmed, lots of pillows and soft furnishings. You already have a large enough bed, but maybe invest in a better mattress. You-"
"I don't need a nest and I don't breed," I hissed. I wanted to throw something at her, something sharp and dangerous.
"You may change your mind," she said, completely ignoring my protest. "Besides, Kardarians build nests, and we wouldn't want to deprive your males of that."
I looked at the guys. All three had murderous expressions painted across their faces. If Katila had been on the ship with us, she'd be dead by now.
Somehow, I doubted this arrangement would last much longer. How desperate were the guys to get their qualification? Now that they had me, they weren't' going to abduct anyone else. I was their one and only abductee. They were planning to go back to being traders again once they'd completed this course. Maybe I could convince them to do it sooner rather than later. Professor Katila gave me the creeps. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had more plans for my guys. And me.
"You have two days to complete this lesson," she continued. "Then we will have a debrief. I'll send you the time once I've squeezed you into my calendar."
