Worlds Away Snippet #3
Alright, Snippet 3 is here! Are you as excited as I am for Worlds Away to launch on your Kindle device this Thursday? Extreme excitement would not be an exaggeration, not at all! LOL If you haven’t read any of the snippets yet, you can head to my blog page: http://jlhendricksauthor.com/blog/ where you can find the other 2 snippets from Worlds Away!
Worlds Away Snippet #3 is from Chapter 2:
“Oh stink, this is real isn’t it?” I started to slink down on the floor as my body began to register the movement in space and my eyes confirmed what I was feeling. All of my senses were on overdrive, I could even taste the oxygen that had been pumped into the room. It almost felt like I was drowning.
Venay reached down and picked me up. He held me to his side while walking me back to the couch. “Are you ok? Is the oxygen mixture too high for you?” He was looking me over and paying close attention to my chest, but in this case I believed he was watching me take shallow breaths.
“Why can I taste the air? I shouldn’t be able to do that.” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow while breathing in deep.
“We have an increased level of oxygen when we first leave the planet. Over the years we have discovered that humans tend to pass out easily unless we do this. Your bodies have a difficult time processing oxygen while in shock as we are leaving your solar system. But once we get moving your bodies adjust. They really are quite adaptable to most environments. Another reason our ancestors chose your people to integrate with us.” He puffed up his chest and sat up straighter. It looked like he took great pride in the fact that his ancestors abducted and experimented on humans.
That just made me angry. “How could you take pride in the fact that your species has been kidnapping my people for two centuries? What do you do with my people? Do you force yourselves on the women? Force the men to be your slaves and do your hard labor?” I fisted my hands at my side and debated if I should hit him or try to run again. Although, I knew running wasn’t an option at this point. It was at this point that I truly believed he was an alien and I was in space. Not sure how this all happened, but there it was.
He didn’t answer me at first, he looked back towards the porthole and watched space as we hurtled through it. I had to admit, it was quite beautiful and oddly enough, calming. I felt myself relaxing and let go of my fisted hands and my shoulders started to loosen up as well.
“Paris, I will admit, our ancestors were not the most civilized. But we are very different now. We never force a woman to mate with us. If we take a human mate, she is very willing…” He looked at me and his eyes dilated while he gave me a smoldering smile.
“Hey now, don’t go getting any ideas about me. I am NOT to be used as a breeding mare. No one who abducts me will be using me as a slave either. Stockholm Syndrome won’t be my downfall.” I got up and walked over to the open porthole and sighed as I watched the stars zoom past. I put my arm on the side of the porthole and leaned into it and whispered, “I will find my way home again.”
“I chose you because you are my mate. I could feel it across the field when our eyes met. You felt it too, I know you did. The connection was visible on your face and when I touched you a moment ago as well.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘mate’?”
“You would call it marriage. When we mate, it is with our one true love. The universe has created someone for all of us to love and join with. When we meet that one, we feel an instant sense of right, of belonging to each other. It is how my species have chosen their true mates since the beginning of time. There are exceptions, there are always those who can’t wait and will sometimes mate with someone they were never meant to mate with and that always causes problems.”
“You might as well lock me up with the other slaves, because no one is going to mate with me.” I locked eyes with him and stared at him until he spoke again.
“If that is what you wish, but I must warn you. Without my protection, any of the males on this ship have the right to try and persuade you to become their mate.” I tried to interrupt but he held up his hands, “They will not force themselves upon you or any other female, but they will try to get your attention in other ways… Most of the males who volunteer for this mission are looking for their mates. About half of the women will become mated to the men on this ship before we even reach our home planet.” He stood up and walked to the door but stopped before opening it.
“Are you certain you would not reconsider and become my mate? I hold a very high rank and your life would be quite comfortable. You would be well taken care of and would want for nothing in life.” He looked me over slowly as I thought on his words.
“I am positive. There is no way on God’s green Earth I would choose to give myself to anyone who kidnapped me. I want to go home and forget about this entire experience.” I huffed out and put my arms around myself in an effort to comfort me. It didn’t help…
“Paris, this is the last time I will offer you my protection. You are intended to be my mate, I feel it. Life as a slave is not one you will enjoy. While we do treat our slaves better than we used to, it is still a very difficult life. One you will experience on this voyage home if you turn me down.” He reached over and took a strand of my hair into his hands and slowly drew it between his thumb and forefinger.
I pulled my hair back, what he was doing was sending small shivers down my spine. That was too intimate of a gesture to accept from my abductor. “I am positive. It would be preferable to rot away as a slave than to be used up as someone’s mate.”
He sighed and lowered his head for a moment, then stood up tall. Man was he tall, and imposing when he put his warrior mask back on. “Very well, but don’t come to me when you find that you don’t have enough food or warmth on this trip.” He proceeded to open the door and he grabbed my arm rather forcefully and hauled me over to one of the cages in the other room.
“Open cage A-1, process this slave but make sure she gets extra in her evening meal.” He took one last look at me and then walked away as another alien took me by the arm. I heard Venay say something about putting his uniform on and then he would be on the bridge.
Don’t forget to you grab your copy for only .99c before it goes up this weekend! Worlds Away on Amazon
