Page 5 of Vikingr
"There you are."
His voice was dark, growly and - he wasn't speaking English. My implant, courtesy of the Albyans, was translating for me. It was always a strange experience, seeing someone's lips move, hearing the sound as if from a distance, but understanding their words in perfect English in my head. It had taken some time getting used to. Some Albyans had done their best to try and learn our language, but most relied on implants. In the beginning, it had given me a headache, but I'd interacted enough with Albyans to get used to the weird feeling.
An alien. Was he an Albyan? Maybe a disgruntled male who we'd been unable to find a match for? I couldn't tell from down here.His voice certainly didn't sound familiar.
"I didn't double-check the transportation beam's destination. It was still set to the cargo hold. Took me ages to find which crate it had deposited you in. Give me a moment and I'll have you transported to my quarters."
Without waiting for a response, the hatch closed again, shutting out all light.
I was left alone, in the dark, and speechless. He'd sounded apologetic for transporting me to the wrong place, but not about abducting me in the first place. Aye, he was most certainly an alien. They didn't always follow the same moral compass as us. I was almost relieved that I hadn't been abducted by humans. For some reason, I trusted aliens more than my own kind.
I had to wait for another ten minutes before my skin began to tingle.Before I could even scratch the itch that covered me from head to toe, Imelted. I’d never felt anything like it. I became hot, but not uncomfortably so, and my body seemed to turn into a puddle.
The darkness dissolved into light, no, into an entire room. This one was brightly lit and it took my eyes a moment to adjust, even after the melting feeling and tingling had disappeared. I was in a bedroom. And it wasn't on Earth. This was alien. Quite different from the cabins on the Starlight, the main passenger cruiser that travelled between Earth and Albya, yet alien nonetheless. The bed, if it could be called that, was a smooth platform that seemed to grow out of one of the walls. There was no mattress, no blanket, not even a pillow. A huge screen took up most of the opposite walls, currently showing Earth from space. It wasn't the first time I saw my planet from this perspective, but it was just as breathtaking as I remembered. Even though this was a screen, not a window - the slight flicker gave it away - I assumed that this was our current view. Which meant I was on a spaceship. Abducted by aliens.
Funnily enough, I was probably the most suitable abductee on the entire planet. I'd dealt with aliens before, I had a translator implant and I had the might of the Albyans behind me. I may not have an Albyan mate, but they'd become almost family. If I disappeared, they'd fight to get me back.
I couldn't help but grin. The aliens had no idea who they were dealing with.
The door slid open without a sound, revealing a huge - blue. He was blue, so very blue.
I'd taken a watercolour class once where the teacher had introduced us to all the different shades of blue on a painter's palette. His long hair was almost white, with a cobalt tinge, framing his angular face. A beard hid his chin, wild and untamed like the male himself. His chest was bare, showcasing the tattoos gracing his muscular upper arms. Were those runes? I didn't want to ogle too much, but they reminded me of Viking runes. A necklace with similarly Scandinavian-style pendants hugged his neck. His abs were the colour of fresh blueberries, so chiselled and perfect that it didn’t seem natural. He only wore a pair of loose black trousers that sat too low on his hips, as if to tease any woman he encountered. If he jumped just a little, those trousers might slip down, exposing more of that tantalising V.
He wore heavy combat boots, black as the night, the style completely at odds with his shirtless chest.As if he’d been in battle and forgotten to put on his armour. Or used his naked torso to distract his enemies.
"Like what you see?" He grinned wolfishly. His lips were midnight blue, but the teeth flashing between were a pale pink. His incisors were too sharp for human standards. Did his species bite?
I looked him straight into his cobalt eyes, refusing to feel guilty for checking him out. A, don't walk around half-naked if you don't want to be stared at, and B, he'd abducted me and I had every right to observe who'd kidnapped me. Plus C, I had ovaries. No straight woman could look at this guy without feeling a slight flutter in her nether regions. He oozed masculinity.
"Who are you and why did you abduct me?" I demanded. "This planet is under the IGU's protection."
He seemed taken aback. "You know about the IGU? I thought Peritans didn't know about life beyond their planet."
I grinned at him, hoping to unsettle him with my display of confidence. I hoped he couldn't see the slight tremble of my hands as I faced off my abductor.
"I deal with Albyans and the IGU on a daily basis. You chose the wrong woman to abduct. I repeat, why did you kidnap me and who the fuck are you?"
He pushed back his shoulders, all pride and bravado. "I am Njal the Bloodthirsty, captain of the Valkyr. I am a Vikingr - if you've heard of Albyans, I'm sure you'll know of the great Vikingr race. We are feared and admired across the galaxy."
Arrogant much? What an arse.
"Well, I've never heard of you. And if you have to give yourself a scary title, that's only proof that you're not as fearsome as you think. Now answer my bloody question before I get angry."
My drama teacher would have been proud of my performance. Inside, I was scared shitless, but he didn't have to know that. Once I was back home, I'd send my alma mater's drama department some flowers.
Njal continued to grin at me, but his gaze had turned from curious to appreciative.
"Peritan females really are as strong as I'd hoped. That's excellent news. The IGU scientists were sure that we're compatible on a physical level, but a true Vikingr would never accept a soft female as their mate, even if he could breed her."
Breed. The word echoed in my mind and I suddenly felt very cold. This wasn't an alien like the Albyans - honourable, decent, kind. Albyans didn't use words like breeding. They conducted sacred rituals as their version of marriage, which gave a human woman the same rights as her alien husband. Women weren't seen as walking wombs like I'd heard other alien species treated their females.
Why couldn't I have been abducted by a nice alien?
"You're not going tobreedme," I hissed.
The door behind him was still ajar. I could try and run. But where to?
"Perfect," Njal muttered, his gaze still roaming my body. "My crew will be pleased."
