Page 1 of Master
Chapter 1
Clara
My first few weeks as an alien abductee hadn't been all that bad—all things considered.
They’d fed me well, decked me out in grandeur, and the best part was the machine that de-aged my body a good thirty-plus years. I didn’t even mind the copious amounts of alien porn always available on the holographic projector in my private room.
Of course, when you take into consideration, I now lived aboard an alien whorehouse, and the "porn" served as training videos to teach me how to please any manner of alien species. My situation turned from "not so bad" to "downright terrifying."
Still, if someone had to end up on an alien bordello, out of all my friends, I’m glad it was me. While I didn’t relish what awaited beyond the carved wooden door to my room, I couldn’t imagine my friend Daisy… or any of them, for that matter, handling life on a spaceship bordello all that well.
A spasm clutched my chest as it always did when I thought of the girls of the Tuesday Night Outlander Book Club. The six of us had been best friends for over twenty years. Godonly knows how I would have survived my husband’s illness and death without them. We'd beenon one of our regular monthly excursions, hiking along the Appalachian trail, chatting about our favorite subject—Jamie Fraser—when the proverbial white light appeared in the sky. After that, everything went fuzzy until I woke up on this hedonism ship with my youthful body and a weird implant in my head that made every bizarre grunt and hiss translate into English. I asked anyone who would talk to me, but there no one knew anything about my friends. Apparently, being the only human on this ship made me a hot commodity—one my newownertreated very dearly.
Honestly, I'd enjoyed exploring parts of the seven-floor bastion of hedonism. Especially the first floor, where an army of chefs turned out the most delicious dishes imaginable. Granted, it's not Earth food, but I'd gained a pound or two since arriving a couple of weeks ago. The second floor devoted to gambling was fun to explore, especially watching what stood in for horse racing in this section of the universe. I'd even won a few credits. The money system for aliens reminded me of thin, metallic poker chips. The third floor, where the addicts reveled in the copious amounts of drugs and alcohol, provided—I stayed away from there. It wasn't my cup of tea.
I’d rather stay away from level four, home to twenty-four-hour strippers, sex shows, and porn. Unfortunately, the alien, who thinks of herself as my new owner, insisted I visit the level for training purposes. Granted, I learned a new move or two, but my time on the pole was long over.
I knew the fifth level well since it was home to girls like me. Pleasurers—just a nicer word than prostitute, although I wasunder no misconception about what my owner expected from me. The sixth level devoted itself to fighting. Thankfully, I wasn’t required to visit, which left the seventh level.
I wasn’t exactly sure what happened on the ship's lowest level, only what the other girls whispered. Which was that nobody ever returned from the seventh level.
Ever.
The creature calling herself my owner seemed relatively nice for an alien brothel madam. She belonged to a species called Ntavian, and rumors said the species genetically modified themselves to give and receive pleasure. I’d heard rumors she possessed two vaginas, but I couldn’t get past the six breasts she always shoved in my face to worry about her undercarriage. Luarian ensured I felt comfortable in my good-sized, albeit gaudily decorated room, dressed and fed well. She allowed me time to acclimate to my new life aboard her ship, the Hartouk Lenaii.
But that time was up.
Tonight.
When she visited my room this morning, it was to relay that I needed to entertain my first client within the next twenty-four hours or risk being sold.
There was no telling what kind of alien would pay for an hour of my time, but I knew exactly which alien would buy me.
He’d already offered—several times.
The first time I saw the creature, he made me think of a walking, talking teddy bear. If that teddy bear was the star of a psycho horror movie. He smacked his lips and ran his long, thick tongue over 3-inch fangs as he gazed at me, making my stomachclench with fear. And this was before I'd learned that his species, the Kerzak, enjoyed the taste of human flesh.
I had little choice.
Tonight, for the first time in three years since my husband Curtis died, I would have sex... with a stranger… an alien stranger.
I wasn't a prude like my friend Daisy, but I hadn't touched another man since Curtis died. I’d gone on dates with the handful of men my friends set me up with, but when it came time for intimacy... I balked.
Curtis was the love of my life. My hero. Being intimate with anyone other than him just felt wrong.
But tonight, I had to put those feelings aside. Maybe just sex for the sake of sex alone would be easier to get through. There would be nocamaraderie, no getting to know one another. Just pure carnal action. Slam, bam, thank you, ma'am, pay the cashier, and goodbye.
I just needed to deal with being completely grossed out by whoever darkened my doorway.
Maybe I’d get lucky, and it would be him.
I’d only seen him once, but it left a lasting impression.
Tall, muscular, and dressed head to toe in black leather with thick, dark brown hair pulled into a sexy man bun. His skin was golden suede, highlighted at his shoulders with black tattoos resembling Nike swooshes. His eyes were his most stunning feature, like nuggets of gold floating in a cobalt sea. Those eyes tickled my skin when I’d caught him watching as Luarian led me and a few other girls from dinner one night.
At first, I thought he was eyeing my companions, exotic alien beauties, all of them. But then our eyes met, and he’d given a slow nod, his golden gaze traveling over my body. I may not have six boobs, but I was no slouch. From the smile that curved his broad, full mouth—he didn’t think so either.
That moment was four days ago, and I hadn't seen him since. However, the sight of him stayed with me, especially when the fear of what type of hideous creature I might have to sell my body to taunted. It was him on my mind when I sent up a silent prayer for what loomed on my horizon.
