Enticed by The Alien Outlaw (An Alien Erotica Collection )

SOMETIMES I CAN’T QUITE BELIEVE how beautiful space really is.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d see it. That I’d be in it, much less floating through on a massive ship populated by an alien species. Looking up at the constellations in the night sky was the closest I ever thought I’d get to being among the stars.

I was so, so very wrong.

But despite how overwhelming it is sometimes, it doesn’t frighten me. Space is inky, cold, and seemingly endless, but it’s lovely in a way, especially knowing what I do now. There are so many possibilities out there, more than I could ever imagine, entire systems and worlds and galaxies beyond what I’ve seen already. I feel less alone, somehow, knowing how much is out there. Knowing that I was wrong when I thought we humans were all alone in the universe.

I linger at the window in my room a moment longer, taking in the view outside, and then I pull myself away a little reluctantly. I was in the middle of getting dressed for the day when I got distracted, and now I need to hurry or I’ll miss breakfast.

It’s been weeks since I arrived—well, crashed—on The Oasis, but seeing the view outside my window every “morning” when the lights come up to mimic sunrise still occasionally catches me off guard. Sometimes when I first wake up, I forget where I am. My first thought is that I’m back in my apartment, surrounded by my own clean sheets and the scents of San Francisco wafting in through the air-conditioning unit in my window, a new day ahead of me.

And then I shake off the fog of sleep and remember I’m not on Earth anymore, and that I almost certainly never will be again. Most days, I’m okay with that. But occasionally, it hits me a little harder than usual.

I finish getting dressed, pulling one of the two outfits that the Zivonians supplied me with from the drawer near my bed. Back on Earth, I opted for long sleeves more often than not, but the Zivonians are originally from a planet that was mostly tropical. They don’t have very much in the way of clothing that isn’t light or short-sleeved, which means that neither the shirt I was given nor the dress that’s folded next to it cover my arms past the shoulders.

The result is that the scars that run the length of my arms, the result of a shattered windshield, are bare to anyone who might see.

After the ship that the other human women and I were being held captive on crashed into The Oasis and we were rescued by the Zivonians, I remember being horribly self-conscious at first in my borrowed clothes. I didn’t like how much of my dark skin they left bare, making it impossible to hide my scars. Fortunately, I quickly realized that none of the Zivonians really noticed, or if they did, they assumed that my scars were the result of some battle, and thus a badge of honor.

They’re right about that, in a way—it just wasn’t the kind of battle they probably imagine.

Despite their strangeness, the Zivonians seem to be good and honorable people. Not only did they save us from the smugglers who intended to sell us at auction on some faraway planet, but they gave us a home. Their commander, Ryven, told us we were welcome to stay on The Oasis for as long as we liked, offering us safety and community among his people on their massive ship.

And now that he’s seeking a new planet for the Zivonians to settle on, it’s been made clear to us that we’ll also be welcome there.

How incredible is that? I shake my head, grinning to myself. To make a home on an entirely new planet? I wonder what it will be like.

This all still feels a little unbelievable, like a weird dream that I might wake up from at any time. But I feel lucky to have ended up where I did, considering what would’ve likely happened to me if the smugglers’ ship hadn’t crashed. I still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, covered in a cold sweat from dreams about my abduction and the time I

spent shoved into the cargo hold of the smugglers’ ship with the other human women.

But you don’t have to be afraid of that now, I remind myself. The Zivonians aren’t like that.

After slipping on the dress, I wrap a sash around the waist to help hold it in place, trying not to look at my scars as I do. Ever since the accident, I’ve done my best to go about my life as if they’re not there, but enough people—guys in particular—have made a point of commenting on them that I can’t help but want to hide them if I can.

Before I leave the room, I glance toward the mirror one last time, pressing my fingers against the locket that hangs down in the V-shaped neckline of my dress. It was my mother’s, oval and gold and etched with tiny flowers, and now it contains pictures of both of my parents. They passed away long before I was taken from Earth, and I started wearing the locket as a way to keep a part of them with me all the time.

It wasn’t easy to hang on to the locket after being taken prisoner by greedy alien pirates, but I managed it. Honestly, it’s possible they took one look at it and decided it wasn’t valuable enough to bother taking it from me, and if that’s the case, I’m grateful they saw it as “trash.” Because that meant I got to keep it, and there’s nothing I own that’s more important to me.

Having it close makes me feel as if I’m carrying their spirits with me, and every day, I promise them that I’ll make sure to live my life to the fullest.

Because I’m still alive, despite everything that’s happened.

I’ll make the fact that I survived worth it.

Turning away from the mirror, I walk out into the hallway. My cabin door closes behind me with a hiss as I hurry to catch up with the other women who are also headed to the commissary for breakfast. All the human women have been given cabins in the same area of the ship, allowing us to be near one another. It was another thoughtful act by a group of aliens who have proven themselves to be kinder and more generous than I ever thought they could be—especially after my initial experience of finding out that aliens are real.

There are about a dozen women who were rescued from the smugglers’ ship with me, and I’ve gotten close to a lot of them. I was always friendly and extroverted back on Earth, and I’ve done my best to maintain that here,

making a point of getting to know both the Zivonians and the people who are probably the last fellow humans I’ll ever meet.

“Morning, Zoey.” A pretty, soft-spoken woman greets me with a wave. “Hey, Callie. What’s up?”

She chuckles. “My dad always used to say ‘the sky’ whenever I asked that. But I guess that’s not really true here.”

I laugh, and we fall into step beside one another, chatting easily as we make our way down the now familiar corridors.

Every time I walk through the hallways of the huge ship, I can’t help but be a little awed by it. I learned quickly that the Zivonians are a race of aliens deeply in tune with nature, with complex cultural rituals involving plants and the ability to camouflage themselves by changing their skin tone to match their surroundings—like very attractive, humanoid chameleons. As a result, they’ve cultivated The Oasis to reflect that.

This ship has been their home for the past five years, ever since their home world was destroyed by their oldest enemies, the Kruul. In that time, they’ve managed to cultivate a variety of plants, vines, and flowers throughout the ship, turning the huge vessel into a strange and beautiful mixture of nature and technology. There are vines and flowers growing across the walls in some places, and even a room that’s been completely overtaken by plants. If I step inside that room and close my eyes, I can almost imagine I’m in a lush forest instead of floating in the depths of space.

As we enter the commissary, I catch sight of Tara and Kate sitting at one of the long tables, and they wave me and Callie over. Despite the fact they’re both mated to Zivonian warriors and spend a lot of time with their mates, they often eat breakfast with the rest of the women.

Mates.

That entire concept is still so hard for me to fathom.

Back on Earth, I dated a little bit, but it seemed more like a waste of time than anything else. Men always wanted to play games, to jump into bed but not commit, to fuck me in the dark but not want to be seen with me in the daylight, or to make excuses about how they just weren’t ready yet to be in a relationship. It all seemed so childish to me, so pointless.

I went through a terrible accident that left me with lingering scars, both inside and out, and I still did my best to open up my heart in the aftermath.

All I wanted was to find a person who could be my partner, my friend, my other half.

But on Earth, apparently that was too much to ask for. Here, though? It’s very different.

Because the Zivonians don’t date, and they definitely don’t play games. Instead, they find their perfect match through a mate bond—a connection that binds them with the other person at a soul deep level.

The whole thing sounded absolutely insane when I first heard about it. How can there be some force out there in the universe that just knows someone is the perfect match for you? But it’s hard to argue with the truth of it now. Four human women on the ship are mated to Zivonians, so I’ve seen it happen too many times to consider it a myth or an exaggeration.

It’s one of those things I think about at night, when I’m all alone and in the quiet, still darkness.

Will it happen to me? What will I do if it does? Do I even want it?

As much as I’ve longed for a partner in life, the idea of having one chosen for me sounds both incredible and terrifying at the same time.

“Hey, Tara,” I say as Callie and I sit down at the long table with our friends. “How are you feeling?”

“Not too bad. Although I’m hardly even that pregnant yet, and my back already hurts a bit,” she complains with a light chuckle, rubbing the small of her back. “I can’t imagine how it’s going to be in a few months.”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure your back isn’t sore because of the baby,” Kate pipes in with a snort.

Tara blushes, a grin spreading across her face as her gray eyes twinkle. “Okay, maybe Rok and I had a bit of extra fun last night,” she admits, tucking a piece of brown hair behind her ear. Then she rolls her shoulders a little. “Still, I could use some way to work out the kinks in my muscles. I wish there was a massage parlor on The Oasis.”

“Oh, I heard there’s something sort of like a sauna,” Callie comments, her delicate features lighting up. “They don’t call it that, but it’s basically the same thing. I just don’t know where it is.” She purses her lips, then looks at Kate. “You’re mated to the commander. Surely you know where everything is here.”

Kate shrugs. “I actually didn’t know that was a thing. But we don’t spend a lot of time talking about the layout of the ship,” she adds, flushing a little as she clears her throat.

“Watch it,” Tara comments wryly. “You’re going to get pregnant next if the two of you keep it up.”

I shift in my seat, my own cheeks growing a bit hot as they banter.

It’s no secret that the mated couples can barely keep their hands off each other. I’ve seen the way Rok looks at Tara, and the way Ryven looks at Kate, as if the entire rest of the universe ceases to exist when they focus on the women they love. The mated women tease each other about it good- naturedly, and I can’t blame them. All of their mates are some of the most gorgeous men I’ve ever seen, just like pretty much every single Zivonian male.

But thinking about the mate bonds and everything that comes with them just makes me question all over again if the bond will happen for me, and what I’ll do if it does.

“I know where it is,” I blurt out. “The sauna, I mean. I’ve been all over the ship, and I’m pretty sure I saw it once.”

“Really?” Cassidy cocks her head, her eyebrows rising in excitement. “I know certain parts of it pretty well, from the time I spent hiding out on the ship before Nyx found me, but you seem to know it even better than I do.”

“Yeah, I’ve gotten to know the layout pretty well, since I do a lap around the ship every day. Staying active helps with the aches from the accident.” I clear my throat, not wanting to linger on the subject of the car crash that nearly ended my life back on Earth. “It’s just past the garden room, after you take a left. You have to walk a little way to get there, though.”

“Cool.” Cassidy rests her elbows on the table, propping her chin in her hands as she fiddles with a few loose strands of her blonde hair. “I’ll definitely have to check it out.”

The mention of exploring the ship makes me think of the walk I took a few days ago, and how I found one spot that has stuck with me more than others. A part of the ship I didn’t know existed, and one I definitely didn’t mean to stumble upon.

“I accidentally found the brig the other day, too,” I say hesitantly. “And… there was a man down there. One of the Zivonians.”

Kate nods. “Yeah. I’ve seen him too. When I was dragged down there after I was accused of stealing.”

“Has he been down there the whole time the Zivonians have been living on this ship?” I look around at the other women, drawing my bottom lip between my teeth. “Does anyone know?”

Tara and Kate both shake their heads, and the other women shrug. “No,” Kate says finally, her green eyes serious. “And I’ve never asked Ryven. I don’t really like to think about that whole period of time.”

“He must have done something bad,” Callie murmurs quietly. “The Zivonians are so kind and honorable. They wouldn’t lock up one of their own without cause. Whatever he did, it must have been really awful.”

There’s a general murmur of agreement, and the conversation slowly shifts to other things—Tara and Callie wanting to look for the sauna, Kate’s concerns about how stressful Ryven’s search for a new planet is, and of course, the return of Rok’s and Nyx’s brother, Akos.

But even as I talk with the other women, I can’t stop thinking about the man in the brig and the way he looked at me. His expression was closed-off, and the few words he spoke to me were blunt and clipped, but there was something else burning in the depths of his gold-rimmed eyes too. I couldn’t give it a name even if I tried, but it drew me in and sparked my curiosity.

As much as I try to push the thoughts of him away, I can’t quite banish him from my mind. So without saying anything about it to the others, I finish my breakfast and excuse myself, promising to find them later after my walk.

It might be a bad idea, but I know exactly what part of the ship I want to visit today.

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