 Today's First Chapter Friday is from HIS ALIEN VIRGIN, the seventh story I wrote for Decadent Publishing's 1Night Stand line. While the hero and heroine have known each other for a long time, it takes an escape from a space pirate and an arranged date far from their home to get these two together. But are they meant to be?  Enjoy the beginning of HIS ALIEN VIRGIN...Skylar shoved a shirt and a pair of pants—the only non-revealing clothes she owned—into her bag. She didn’t bother to zip it up, worried the sound of metal teeth grinding against each other would arouse her roommates. The last thing she needed to happen. They would only cause more delays. And she refused to live in the complex a moment longer. Or on the planet. With a quiet breath, she tiptoed across the cold steel floor, weaving around the rays of light reflecting off the two moons into the dormitory. A soft sigh echoed through the room and Skylar froze, biting her bottom lip to keep her panic from boiling over. She gazed around and noticed one of her roommates smiling, her eyes closed. “Oh, Hay’den, you’ve come to rescue me.” How they all wished for their heroes to come. Only, none ever did. The girl rolled onto her side. If she opened her eyes, she’d find Skylar standing in front of her. Please, don’t wake up. As much as she’d love to take them all with her, she didn’t have time to tell anyone of her plan. Plus, more bodies meant more noise and a greater risk of alerting her keeper of their purpose. She glanced at the door. Her path to freedom lay only a few feet away. After thirty seconds of no movement or sound from the other bunks, she continued her trek, daring to take the chance of being caught. Finally reaching the exit, she twisted the handle, but her sweaty palms did nothing to ease her escape. She wiped her hands on her barely there nightdress and twisted again, releasing a heavy breath at the satisfying click. Peeking up and down the hallway, she saw no one to stop her, no one who would crush her dreams of getting off Rebed. Without a space pirate, that was. A shudder ran through her, and she swallowed down her unease. Once she got away, she no longer had to worry about the monster coming to claim her in the morning. Time to go. Run! She dashed around a corner and down the empty corridor, toward the dark-as-space shipyard. Her heart pounded like a fist against her ribs. She’d never stolen anything in her life, but she had to leave, refused to remain in the hellhole a second longer. She peeked outside, searching for a lookout, anyone who could stop her from reaching her destination. All clear. Though she wouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief until she’d left the atmosphere, landed on a new planet. For only then would she be free. If her brothers ever found out she’d escaped and broken her contract, they’d hunt her down, tie her up, and drag her back to Rebed—soil she never wanted to set foot on again. Yet, if she made it to the other side of the galaxy, she could blend in and never look back. Spying her target, a star cruiser belonging to her brothers, she raced across the tarmac. After deserting her on the planet star cycles ago, Galan and Volan had finally come to visit, bringing their new wife, Danyka, to meet her. Skylar’s mother had married a blue-skinned humanoid with two sons. But when their parents died in a shuttle crash, she’d been left in the care of her teenage stepbrothers. She understood they weren’t mature enough to care for a child, but she’d been old enough to take care of herself. It hadn’t been necessary to drop her off on Rebed. She slapped her palm on the scanner, shaking in anticipation. Please, let my print still be on file. So much time had passed since she’d flown in the vessel. Had her brothers changed the codes or erased her data once they’d abandoned her? Tapping her foot, she waited for a green light, for the door to open. Something. She glanced behind her. Come on. Hurry! Seconds, maybe minutes passed without a response. Sweat washed over her. She fought to catch her breath and tears stung the backs of her eyes. Please! Once the sun rose, she’d be twenty-one star cycles, legal to be presented to the disgusting creep who’d bought her contract, the exact person she wanted to escape. A whoosh echoed to her left. With a startled jump, she stared in the direction of the sound. The door. She placed her hand over her chest. Thank the gods. Ducking inside, she slid onto the captain’s chair. The ship now lay at her mercy. Finally, she had a chance to get off of the planet, an opportunity to live a new life. To be happy like she used to be when her parents were still alive, instead of dreading every second until her twenty-first birthday. It was time to live on her own terms, find her own love, rather than be chosen by a wealthy old space pirate with twelve arms and just as many wives. Or, maybe take a chance like her brothers—stepbrothers—and leave her fate in the hands of the mysterious Earth woman, Madame Evangeline. If Eve could find a Terran female to handle both Galan and Volan, surely she could locate a man for Skylar. Maybe someone from Earth, too. No matter, she refused to become another consort to the beast, another womb to carry his tentacle alien babies. Skylar brushed her hands across the console. How on earth do I start this thing? Was there a key card? A special code? No one had bothered to teach her. Damn! She slammed her palms on the dash, tears splashing onto the console. I’m never going to get away from here. Not on my own. “Engine started.” She gasped, panels and lights coming to life around her. A sharp buzz filled the air. Yes! The cabin shook. The engine roared. Too loud. Someone would hear. “Please enter your destination.” Destination? Her fingers tingled, her throat suddenly dry. Did she really want to go to Earth? She knew nothing about the planet, only what her brothers and their wife, Danyka, had told her only hours earlier. How would she live? She had few Space Service credits to spend anywhere. How would she survive when she had no one to help her? Didn’t matter. She had to go. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Scrolling through the tap-down menu, she located Earth. If her brothers could find happiness there, why couldn’t she? She deserved pleasure and joy as much as they did. With a slight lift, the ship hovered above the ground. Gripping the handles of the chair, she braced for takeoff. Vibrations shook the cabin, as if a comet passed within the atmosphere. Her stomach churned. The ship lunged forward, inertia shoving her back in her seat. She couldn’t move. But, at least, she was leaving Rebed. I’m finally free!
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AuthorJessica E. Subject is a USA Today bestselling author of Sci-Fi and Paranormal Romance. Please note: Some links contain affiliate links.
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