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Danger lurked behind every corner. Here and there. Now, here I was, not knowing whether I’d survive the night. Not much had changed, galaxies away from where I’d begun. But on Zunator, I knew that their King wasn’t trying to murder his own people. When I got here, the Zunatorian claimed that they helped the resistance group a time or too gain entry to the sector, to weaken it’s hold over the innocent people. Of course, while they were there, they took it upon themselves to abduct a couple, well, a few…probably even over a dozen human women to take back with them to Earth. It is said that the Crown Prince of Zunator, Anik, is mated to a human woman—one of the earlier abductees. Soon, she will be a Queen—the first human queen of Zunator. For some girls, that was a fairy tale come true. But for me, that was only dream. I’d never have a happy ending.

Yet, when I’d woken up from a cryo pod, I had been promised a new and meaningful life in exchange for breeding with a male Zunatorian. Of course, I’d had my doubts, but I didn’t really have a lot of options left on Earth, either.

I had been a junior tech in the lab. I’d later found out that a new vaccine would do the human race more harm than good. I’d participated in the research because I wanted to help others survive and heal the sick—but I’d left all that behind, and now I was stuck in a cave with an alien—riding out a fatal dust storm.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel like the Zunatorian’s were more civilized than some of the people I knew back on Earth. The leaders on Earth were chaotic and vengeful.

After I’d been sold to Roult, he had lived up to his promises and shown me nothing but kindness. Although, he planned for me to have his heir, he later changed his mind and told me he had gotten a different interpretation of the vision that led him to the auction in the first place. He claimed that I was never meant for him to mate, and he had somehow even convinced King Crencik to allow me to stay with him so that he may tutor me in his metal working business. Now he was gone, and I had no one to trust, no one to teach me how to survive on this planet, and no one to speak for me before the King.

The Zunatorian who claimed to be his nephew was brooding and handsome, but he seemed radical and unpredictable. The tension was magnified by the fact that he thought I was responsible for his uncle’s death. He didn’t seem remotely interested in allowing me to prove my innocence.

“Turn around,” he ordered in a scathing voice.

I did as I was told, albeit cautiously.

He was giving me an unforgiving scowl. “Come with me,” he said.

“Where are we going now?”

“To the back of the cave.” He beckoned me with a roll of his wrist.

I stayed rooted where I stood.

He gave me an annoyed frown. “Come. Now.”

“Why do you want to take me to the back of the cave?” Was he going to kill me there and wash all of his sins away? Was this damp dark cave going to me my grave?

“You’ll see. Come.”

I wished he wouldn’t speak so encrypted and would just spit it out, already.

“Alright…” I said warily and began to follow a few steps behind him.

He stopped in front of the water.

I took a step back and cut him an apprehensive glance. “What are we doing here?”

My heart hammered in my throat. I was so nervous, I worried I might pass out. I was lightheaded and my gut twisted in angst.

“You should take off your clothes.”

“What?” I stammered, putting my hand up to cover my chest. “No.”

“The mud pit is toxic. Your clothes will dry in a couple hours,” he said.

There was an opening near the back of the waterfall that looked like it led downward to a rocky basin. I didn’t want to plummet to my death over the edge of the cliff.

“I’m not going that close,” I said. There was only a small margin of water stream before the overhang emptied out to the pond several stories below us.

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged.

He stripped off his armor, loin cloth, and pants and stepped into the water. My attention went to the obvious. His massive manhood. His cock hung like a thick eggplant between his muscular thighs. It was even shipped like a huge purple eggplant. He was huge and firm. My nipples tightened, but it wasn’t the only part of my body that reacted to his sex appeal.

He began washing himself off. While he cleaned his body, my eyes trailed him head to toe, peeking at him as subtly as I could. I’d never seen a naked Zunatorian warrior. I drew in a sharp breath, looking at his perfect skin. He was battle-hardened. A fighter. With many scars. My eyes wandered to his bare backside as he turned about under the water stream, and my heart flipped. When he was done, he replaced his under garments, washed off his armor and weapons and then left them to dry near the water.

I reminded myself to keep my dirty mind out of the gutter. He could attack me at any moment. I didn’t need to be harboring private fantasies of him ravaging me under that water. Why was I even thinking about this?

He brushed past me without so much as a glance in my direction. He began gathering a few clusters of heavy rocks and started stacking them up against the entrance to the cave, thus blocking our exit.

Panic sizzled inside my bones again. “Why are you trapping me in here with you?”

He tossed me an indifferent glance over his shoulder and laughed, mockingly. “Your scent smells like nectar from the gods despite all the mud caked to your skin. It can easily be tracked. Unless you want another ravenous beast coming after you to make you their supper, I suggest you stay put and thank me for the rock shield between you and them.”

I didn’t say anything. I just slowly turned around and began pacing toward the waterfall. I stood in front of it for several seconds, willing myself to step in. I didn’t want to be naked in front of this Zunatorian, so I kept myself clothed in my tunic. I needed to wash away the dirt and mud from it anyway.

I put one foot in, and then slowly, moved toward the water until my body collided with it completely. It drummed down on me, drenching me from head to toe in seconds, washing away the damage of the night. I didn’t turn around to see if the Zunatorian was watching me.

I heard the sounds of his grunts and of rocks being piled up. I allowed my shoulders to relax for a few seconds while he was preoccupied, but I knew I had a long road ahead of me.