She titled her head back to look at him. “You need me?”
He glided his hand down to her stomach, resting his palm close to her pussy. “Your body is fertile. You can conceive my child.”
Ella tensed up. “Dhiro?”
“It’s why I brought you here, Ella. You’re my little human. You will be the vessel of my children, and in return, you will want for nothing.”
His words scared her.
Children.
Vessel.
There was nothing romantic about any of this. Dhiro didn’t let her go.
“You came to our planet for a woman,” she said.
“Yes. I know you can help my lineage. You are perfect. Your body is built to take a man like me, and we will make beautiful children.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she felt so stupid. Dhiro wasn’t attracted to her. She was a means to an end. He only wanted what he could get—her body, or more importantly, her womb. As quickly as she’d been aroused, she was no longer feeling it.
After pulling out of his arms, she grabbed her shirt, but he’d somehow torn that from her body, too. All she had left were scraps.
“Ella?”
“I don’t know how you treat your women here, but telling a woman you only want her for her ability to have children is cruel and unfair.”
“Why are you upset?” he asked. “You agreed.”
She thought back to the deal he’d made on his ship. Great, just great. “The deal is off. I want to go back home. To Earth.” She was done with this.
Once home, she was never going to go and look for other civilizations again. No more looking to the stars.
“No,” Dhiro said. “You will never go home. You are mine.”
Chapter Three
He was confused by her wild range of emotions.
She enjoyed his touch yet pushed him away.
Ella craved to learn about alien civilizations yet was eager to return to Earth without learning a thing. Where had he gone wrong? He hadn’t planned on these variables. He should have researched more thoroughly.
“I never asked to be brought here. You drugged and kidnapped me,” she said.
“I had to make some quick decisions,” said Dhiro. “And I couldn’t have risked leaving you behind. You’re very valuable. You have no idea how much.”
“Because you need me to breed your children.”
“Yes.”
She huffed and whirled around, gathering as many scraps of her outfit as she could to cover her nudity. “Did you ever think about what I wanted? Maybe I don’t want to be some breeding experiment for an alien.”
“It’s more than that, I promise,” he said. “You’re to be my mate.”
“Your mate. That’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
His mother had warned him about this. Love should be part of the equation, but he assumed the Earthlings would be too savage. Ella was a mate he was proud to have, even if she was another species.
“We are unlike humans. Trenuians are a monogamous race. Once we choose a mate, our match is for life. Our males will do anything to protect their females, even die for them.” Then he continued. “As I would do for you.”
“You consider me your lifemate? We don’t even know each other.”
“Tell me your mating customs, and I’ll do what I can to fulfill them. I don’t want you unhappy, Ella. I will learn in order to please you.”
She exhaled. “This is just too much. I don’t even know where I am.”
He partially dressed and beckoned her to follow him through his home. His study was in upheaval as he’d been deep into research on Earth for months before his voyage. There were star maps and printouts about human culture.
What he wanted her to see was the large map of space on his wall. It would help her understand where they were in relation to her planet.
“Here. This is Trunu Zel.” He drew a finger along the map. “This is Earth.”
She narrowed her eyes, leaning over his desk to get a better look. “That’s not possible. This is a completely different solar system.”
“Our technology is far superior.”
“Have you known about us? Have your people ever visited Earth before?”
He shook his head. “I was a pioneer. None of my colleagues supported my expedition, but now that I have returned successful, they will feel differently.”
“I just can’t believe all this is happening. You look human. Are you human?”
She was endearing. And curious. Curiosity was better than fear.
“We’re humanoid, the same as you. But we are more advanced than human beings in numerous aspects.”
“How so?” She began walking around the room, touching everything with her dainty fingers.
“Stronger, for one. Faster. Our eyesight, hearing, and neural perception are all far more developed.”
“But you can’t have children?”
“Not for a long time now. It’s been a worldwide emergency for decades. Nothing we have researched has helped, and if it continues, we’ll eventually go extinct.”
“But we’re from different planets. I mean, cats and dogs can’t have babies.”