My 1000-years love

Chapter 4

"Archon’s woman? Me? No!” I answered impulsively, then remembered my memory lapse and added, “I don’t think so.”

"Though I’ve known him for five thousand years and don’t recall him staking any claims on women. When he had fleeting girlfriends, he could share them with friends, during the relationship and even more so after. Sgannar is indifferent that way." Laor gave me an inviting look again. I shrugged. No way. There would be no group antics with aliens. I’d already done the most scandalous and reckless thing of my life. Though my memory was foggy, I could vouch for my uneventful s*x life.

"And yet we traveled 65 megaparsecs specifically to retrieve her from Earth," the Gravinid interjected.

"So your two-year mission isn’t to patrol the borders of the Third Universe? It’s for her?"

"Yep,” T-GInArA chirped suddenly.

"And this was kept a secret?”

"Yep,” came the cheerful reply again.

"T-GInArA, do you think the Archon found his…" Laor’s fist crashed down on the sarcophagus lid, cracking the thick glass like ice. But within seconds, the cracks began to heal, as if alive. ”Tig, you should have stopped me! This affects all of us, don’t you understand?"

Although, he’s definitely in for some trouble, hence the anxiety. And speaking of hormonal surges, so I needed s*x because I had been in those glass tubes? And he took advantage of that? Alright, I won’t play the prude. Besides, I did enjoy it. And I think I might want a bit more. Plus, I already managed to thwart this Sgan-whatever’s plan a bit — if he had specific plans for me. Let him know I won’t be an obedient little captive.

Oh... a cold sweat broke out over me again. So, he took me for himself? For some kind of union? My chances of persuading him to return me were bursting like soap bubbles. How far did she say? 65 megaparsecs? I don’t know exactly how far that is, but I know it’s a lot. It would take what seems like forever to travel that distance on an Earth ship. And they took a year to get to Earth and another year back. During that time, I’d have to make Sgan completely disinterested in me, realizing this was a dumb idea. But without angering him to the point where he’d just want to kill me.

"Sgannar! I am Sgannar!" A thunderous roar echoed as the closed door shattered into millions of metallic fragments. The explosion radius was somehow controlled, hitting no one.

He appeared from the cloud of metallic dust. My abductor.

Slowly and theatrically, he entered, glaring down at me. Then he directed the same menacing look at Laor, who was shorter by about four to six inches.

"She is mine," he growled. ”She. Is. My. Lleiro!"

"Oh no..." Laor looked fearfully at the towering figure above him and lowered his eyes. Within seconds, his flawless skin began to take on a greyish, earthy hue, and steam started to emanate from it. It seemed Laor himself was shrinking. Realizing what was happening, I stepped forward.

"Stop! Don’t you dare kill someone in front of me! What kind of a..." He directed his murderous gaze at me, and I couldn’t continue, mentally calling him all the names that came to mind. Besides, it wouldn’t do any good for my future. Clearly, this guy wasn’t known for his magnanimity and forgiveness. However, it seemed to give Laor some relief.

"Death or exile?" Sgan snarled, glaring at my recent lover.

"Exile,” Laor croaked. ”As per the United Galactic Fleet’s regulations."

It seemed Sgan gnawed his teeth.

"As you wish, nephew. Two hours," he spat out.

"Come with me," he said to me in a colorless tone. He turned towards the doors, stopped without looking back, and just as indifferently said to Laor, ”You will be dropped on the nearest habitable planetoid. Some patrol will pick you up in a few years. And may the Almighty help you if you ever cross my path again. Return to patrolling the Anaiya borders. I doubt I’ll be there again."

"Wait, Sgan, I didn’t know!" But the giant had already stormed out. I stood frozen, looking plaintively at Laor. My knees were shaking with fear. I couldn’t bring myself to follow him into the unknown.

Although one thing was certain: the other guy wouldn’t be as friendly as Laor.

My eyes pleaded, and I barely whispered, ”Don’t give me to him. I’m terrified."

Laor jerked towards me and whispered heatedly in my ear, ”I’ll think of something."

In that instant, his jaw, along with the rest of him, slammed into the nearest wall. I was grabbed from behind and thrown over a shoulder.

"You won’t think of anything," Sgan snarled through gritted teeth. ”One more move towards her, and I’ll throw you into open space without any regulations." With that, we swiftly flew down the corridor.

From the speed at which he was carrying me, I couldn’t even lift myself up slightly, hanging upside down over his shoulder. The rapid flickering of the upside-down images quickly made me nauseous. Just as I was about to scream at this evil Raat, I was unceremoniously dropped onto a soft and wide bed. It was placed headboard against one of the walls of a spacious room with a high ceiling. A huge panoramic window curved across almost the entire wall, offering a view of the endless cosmos. We were again passing through a breathtaking green nebula. In front of the window stood a long table with a couple of chairs. Such spacious rooms on a spaceship? He certainly wasn’t economizing on space. There were several more doors. Ordinary furniture in an extraordinary setting. I felt his heavy gaze. And once again, the fear I felt upon first seeing him turned into anger. Well, he wouldn’t kill me now, would he?

I defiantly lifted my eyes. “Why? I have two sons. Return me.”

He looked at me for a while and then began pacing around the huge cabin like a tiger in a cage. On another round, he smashed his fist into the doorframe, turning it into iron dust, just like the door a few minutes ago. I shook with fear.

“Return?” he roared. He grabbed me off the bed. In the next second, before I could even comprehend and scream, I found myself sprawled belly-down on the table. I didn’t even hit it. He laid me on it incredibly quickly but carefully. I heard the sound of my pants tearing, and my butt felt the cool air. Of course, I resisted. With all my newly acquired strength. But no amount of thrashing could stand up to this mountain of bones and muscles. That’s it, I thought, squeezing my eyes shut – he’s going to r**e me now. But instead, I heard a sharp slap on my own butt. Then another. And another. Three in total. Then he turned and walked away. I immediately jumped up, covering myself with the intact front part of my pants. My butt started to burn as if I had sat on hot coals. But much more than my butt, my soul burned: a horrid knot of anger grew in the center of my solar plexus from the indignation.

“You...” I gasped, unable to think of what else to say. For some reason, none of the insults seemed degrading enough.

The damn alien seemed to have let off some steam and calmed down. The cold-blooded part of my mind whispered, “At least he didn’t kill you. This is the mildest of all possible physical punishments.” He almost flew to the window and froze for several long minutes. I couldn’t hold out first.

“I don’t understand what I did? I am a free woman and I don’t recall taking any vows of abstinence.”

"Remember this once and for all," his sinister, multidimensional voice interrupted me, sending shivers down my spine. ”From now on, you are not a free woman. You are my woman and you will only be mine. Willingly or not."

"What kind of barbaric nonsense is this? I’m not afraid of you! Take me back to my children!"

With a speed no ordinary human could possess, he flew out of the cabin, leaving me in the ringing silence. I sank onto the bed and started to cry. What is this? When I was standing in the darkness of my apartment a while ago, I thought it couldn’t get any worse. I believed I had hit rock bottom and would start to rise. But no: there’s always a deeper pit, a bigger pile of s**t your life can fall into. God, please, take me back. I will never pity myself again, I will always appreciate what I have, and I will never, ever whine, complain, or cry again!

Instead of an answer, a panel with some clothes extended from the wall, and T-GInArA announced resignedly, ”Archon Sgannar has ordered you to wear this and attend the farewell ceremony for one of our team members.”

I didn’t respond. I turned the pearl-white dress over in my hands and just sat back down on the bed, staring at the wall.

"T-GInArA, can I get another pair of pants?"

"As you wish, Archaite."

Archaite? Whatever that meant, I didn’t care to find out.

I changed into the new jeans and stared at the wall again. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but the door hissed open, and the space barbarian himself flew into the cabin. His blazing gaze fixed on me, he hissed, “Get dressed. You’re coming to say goodbye to your lover. You need to see with your own eyes what happens when you disobey me.”

"And I won’t obey. You can throw me out with him right now. You didn’t travel 65 megaparsecs just to kill me. You would have done that on Earth," I realized that I had already lost everything dear to me. If he could only be like this, I would probably never get home again.

"And take these tacky clothes," I threw the most beautiful dress I had ever seen at him. ”I’m comfortable in these jeans."

He kicked the dress aside, grabbed me roughly by the shoulder, and dragged me down the corridor. What a brute!