Free Alien's Bride: Lisette by Yamila Abraham

loved
him.
    The revelation made her tremble even
further. She thought of them as boyfriend and girlfriend until an
outsider showed up. Sure, Prax-Denay talked about a marriage ritual
and so forth, but this was the Dak-Hiliah’s customs, not hers.
She’d happily gone along with things as Prax-Denay defined them
because she was direly smitten with him. Then the sex—the sex
turned her happy world to a paradise. She felt at the peak of her
womanly powers, and Prax-Denay showed her such great respect that
she had no trouble getting dirty with him. In truth, she’d been
playing a game of marriage with him. Today it turned real. He
became her family, whom she needed to protect.
    She went to her husband and hugged him
from behind. He stood to pull her into a tighter embrace. She let
the sobs rise up and shudder through her chest.
    “ Don’t let that oaf bring
you to tears.”
    He caressed her hair, but she couldn’t
stop herself. She was overwhelmed, not just by the fight, but the
prospect of more strife in their future. Their wonderful world had
just been invaded by monsters.
    “ He has no proof we’ve been
intimate. The worst he can do is complain to the High Council that
Jorenkis left us alone together. That would be an asinine waste of
council time, and he’d make an enemy of Jorenkis. There are too few
Dak-Hiliah left for him to have an aristocrat as an enemy on his
home planet.”
    She pulled back so she could look at
him through her steamed-up glasses. “He won’t…cause more
trouble?”
    Prax-Denay wiped a tear from her cheek.
“Not unless I get you pregnant.”
    She squeezed him again.
    “ Forget about Lord Drathek.
Forget about Jorenkis. This is our domain, Lisette. They’re but
temporary nuisances.” He soothed her back. “Don’t let them ruin our
happiness.”
    Lisette closed her eyes and focused on
the warmth of his embrace. He’d said just what she needed to
hear.
    ***
    Late the next morning they heard the
chimes of the door. Lisette’s stomach clenched. Prax-Denay headed
out of the lab, giving her shoulder a little squeeze as he passed.
She followed a few steps behind.
    Prax-Denay went to the doorway of
Jorenkis’ office. “Oh. So you’re not dead.”
    “ Fuck off.”
    He took a small bow. “As you
wish.”
    “ No. Wait. Go get that girl
in here.”
    Prax-Denay looked at her. She stepped
into the office with her head lowered.
    “ Hey, beautiful,” Jorenkis
said with his car salesman smile. “You finally got some decent
clothes. Have a seat.”
    She looked at the chair but didn’t move
toward it.
    “ Sit.” Jorenkis barked the
word this time. She took the chair.
    “ Leave, Prax.”
    Prax-Denay sneered at him.
“No.”
    Jorenkis gave him a look of disgust,
then he leaned in toward Lisette. “How are you getting
on?”
    “ Good,” she said. She
concentrated on neither nodding nor shaking her head.
    “ How are you getting along
with Prax?”
    “ Fine.”
    “ How fine?”
    “ We’re…getting a lot of work
done.”
    “ Yeah, I heard. A friend of
mine thinks you and Prax-Denay have gotten romantic. That’s not
true, right?”
    “ Right.” She cleared her
throat.
    “ Good. I still see you and
me getting together. I had a lot of time to think things over. I
think the best way to take care of your problems is if
you—“
    “ No.”
    Jorenkis blinked. “What?”
    Lisette forced her eyes to meet his.
Her lower lip trembled. “I don’t…want to be with you.”
    Jorenkis glowered at her with the
beginnings of a sneer. Then he leaned back in his large chair and
propped his arms behind his head.
    “ Is that so?”
    Lisette swallowed. She realized
Jorenkis’ glare had moved to Prax-Denay.
    “ Yeah. I see why my friend
was concerned. So you’ve been fucking her, huh Prax? Did she want
it or are you torturing her?”
    Lisette’s face flushed. She wanted to
deny his accusation, but she’d already gone as far as she could.
The imbecile’s challenge made her words get stuck in