“I…I guess so.” Her voice broke and she looked away. A silver tear slid down her cheek.
Kane frowned. He had the sudden urge to gather her up and comfort her, but that was dangerous territory. Once a Kru’ell One allowed himself to have emotions for his concubine, he was halfway to bonding. And that was an unacceptable risk.
Resolutely, he faced forward and started the ship. He would take her back to his palace and feed on her—feast as he had never feasted before on her need and lust. Then he would let her go and never think of her again.
Such was the life of a Kru’ell One.
It was the only life he knew.
Seven
Alli gasped in surprise as the ship rose up into the air and a blue, swirling vortex appeared in front of them. What was that?
“A trans-dimensional wormhole,” the man with mirror eyes said, answering her unspoken question. “To take us back to my universe.”
Alli’s eyes grew wide as they flew directly into the center of the swirling blue hole. It was like one of those carnival rides where the platform you’re walking on is steady but the circular tube around you is rotating so you constantly feel like you’re losing your balance.
“Close your eyes if it bothers you,” the man said but Alli chose to keep them open. She needed to see where they were going so she could get back.
Then they were through and out into the black void of space. Floating in the viewscreen in front of them, she saw the Earth—at least it looked like the Earth. But the greenish-blue globe was covered in a thick layer of clouds. Also, it was being orbited by many, many space craft—some large and some small.
Having flown back and forth from Earth to the Mother Ship in her own shuttle many, many times, Alli knew this wasn’t right. Where had all these ships come from?
“What is this?” she blurted, frowning. “What are all these ships? And why is the Earth all covered in clouds?”
“We terraformed it when we took over.” The man spoke casually, as though this was no big deal. “We also stopped the pollution and halted the climate change your species was causing. The cloud cover is easier on our eyes—and it also blocks many of the sun’s rays and cools down the planet’s surface. Carbon emissions on Earth have been reduced by seventy-five percent since we took over.”
“By ‘we’ do you mean…the Kru’ell Ones?” Alli asked, uncertain if her question would anger him or not.
But her abductor simply nodded.
“Yes.”
“So in your universe, instead of protecting the Earth from the Scourge, you just took it over completely?” Alli asked.
He nodded.
“Essentially. We eliminated the Scourge threat right away and then annexed the planet.”
“Annexed the planet?” Alli looked at him with wide eyes. “You can’t just take a whole planet that way!”
“The way I took you, do you mean?” His lips curved into a cruel smirk. “Oh yes we can, baby.”
“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. “I am not your ‘baby.’”
Suddenly his face was so close to hers she could once again see herself reflected in his eyes.
“I’ll call you whatever I see fit.” His voice was a deep, menacing growl. “And you’ll answer like a good girl, Allisandra. Or I swear I’ll make you pay.”
Her heart seemed to catch in her throat but Alli refused to show the fear that was nearly overwhelming her.
“You…you promised not to hurt me,” she reminded him in a tight voice.
“Not any more than you want to be hurt.” He raised an eyebrow. “Do you want a spanking when we get to my palace? Even before your bath?”
“No!” Alli denied, her heart pounding. How could he think she wanted that? How could he believe that she wanted to be put over his knee and spanked?
“I’m only acting on what I find in your mind,” he reminded her. “And yes, Allisandra, you want to be dominated. You’ve always wanted it—you just buried the need deep down, where no one can see it but me.”
“You…you’re lying,” she whispered.
“We’ll see about that, won’t we? We’ll see if you get wet when I discipline you.” He shrugged, his broad, muscular shoulders rolling with the movement.
He wore all black, she noted, from the sleeveless vest that covered his muscular torso to the black leather trousers and the tall black boots that completed his monochrome look. His outfit looked especially severe next to her own silky nightshirt.
“You can’t just…” Alli couldn’t go on. She shook her head.
“We’ll see,” he repeated and gave her another cruel smile.
He was maneuvering the small ship they were in towards a much larger one—a floating fortress circling the Earth like a dark asteroid.
For a moment, the little ship looked like it was going to crash against the side of the vast structure. But just as Alli felt her heart jump up into her throat, a silver fissure opened in the side of the fortress and they flew right into it.