The Alien King's Mate part 6

VIVIAN

I kept my head down during the entire flight, staring at my lap. I’ve never flown on a plane before, but I had been saving up for it. I wanted to take Harper to Disney world because she practically raised her four siblings, babysitting them for days at a time. She never had much time to have her own childhood.

Now all of those plans seem like a distant dream. And the massive, dark, King has become my reality.

He sits across from me on the private jet, thighs so massive in my peripheral vision. We have been flying for hours, and he hasn’t said a word.

I feel out of place. A smudge on this million-dollar, state-of the art jet. I don’t know what an alien king is

doing with all these human vehicles, but I assume no businessman would turn away his gold. Nothing is unreachable for him. Even me.

I don’t belong in this expensive jet. And to think those reporters called me his queen. That he declared I would be his yuri.

God, if only I had listened to Harper as she rambled about their culture. She read the few books that have been written about them, because they’re so mysterious. She mentioned what yuris are, but I barely listened.

Now I’m the so-called soulmate of one of the most powerful men in the universe. Me. The woman who reaches the peak of excitement by clipping coupons from the newspaper.

I look at the wall and I notice how much leather surrounds me. There are so many details engraved in this machine. But there’s another machine sitting across from me. One that’s made of bone and muscle, not metal and leather.

I keep my eyes low, studying anything but the unnerving male. His bodyguards are in another section of the plane. Unseen, so it’s just the two of us.

When avoiding his gaze becomes painfully awkward—exactly one hour into the flight, I pull out my phone and turn it on. I fuss with the settings, turning on the in-flight wifi. Instantly, my phone vibrates with dozens of emails, social media requests, and calls from unknown numbers.

The world found me already. Within one hour, I went from the wallflower cleaning lady to the internet's latest obsession.

26 Missed calls from mom

1 Missed call from dad

My mom found out the news already, and that makes me panic more than the thousands of other notifications. Because she’s seeing dollar signs. Seeing a piggy bank she can bleed out in her favorite casino.

Her gambling addiction is the reason I have to hide my achievements. Make her think I’m failing at everything I do, because although she sees me as a failure, she also sees me as a daughter. I stop being her daughter when money appears. And this alien king with golden horns atop his head might as well have fallen to his knee for me on National television.

Oh, god. How quickly everything is unfolding.

My phone becomes hot from all the notifications and I turn it off just to stop the endless vibrations.

“I don’t understand your human’s obsession with those small square tables. Cellphones?”

I look up at the king and then at the dead phone in my hands.

His voice is calm. Like it’s another day for him. I wonder if he has ever felt the panic that I’m feeling right now as the world I know crumbles.

“You seem to have had no problems with cameras and televisions,” I grumble.

My breath hitches when I hear him shift. Finally, after an hour, he’s making a move. He rises and bends at the waist, setting his hands on my armrests.

“Animosity will do you no good, mate.”

He’s so close. I press my back into the seat, trying to escape the heat he emits. My eyes return to the window, which seems to have darkened with his shadow.

“I’m not your mate yet, king.”

“And when you are? When your people hand you over to me, will you respect me then?”

I dig my nails into my thighs. “If I must go, I can’t promise anything other than I will not play into your delusions.”

“You call this a delusion?” His hand sets over my palm resting on my lap. So giant that he dwarfs my thigh.

Heat flashes through me. A sensation I can’t explain. It makes me rip my hand away in fear, and stand up. He straightens, his horns nearly scraping the top of the plane.

I rush to the bathroom, dragging the door shut and turning the faucet on to scrub the hand he touched. I’m frustrated, afraid. I want to stop the parasite inside of my body that’s changing things.

If it were gone, fireworks would stop cracking between us and the alien king would forget about me. He would turn his efforts to the billions of other women on Earth much more beautiful and willing to be called his queen.

I grip onto the sink, breathing heavily. If only I hadn’t taken that cleaning job. I would have never met him. I would be safe at home, in my little world.

After a few minutes, I step out of the bathroom and return to my seat. The king is gone, having moved to another section in the jet. For that, I’m grateful.

I close my eyes, struggling to sleep. I don’t want to think anymore. I want to forget these past two days.

— —

The sound of the speakers awakens me. I rub my eyes and stiff neck, barely registering the captain’s announcement.

The king is back. He’s sitting across from me, and I worry that he watched me sleep this entire time.

I fiddle with my phone, considering turning it on to send Harper a text. She must have heard the news by now. It wouldn’t surprise me if she has been getting harassed, too.

My finger hovers over the power button, but I hesitate. I look out the window and see that’s we’re quickly descending. We’re landing. The nightmare has reached its next chapter.

I look at the ocean in the distance, and I wonder if this king has oceans on his planet, too. That’s how little I know about him and his world.

I’m deep in thought when the plane touches down, and I barely manage a gasp before I jolt forward. Right into the alien king’s arms.

My seatbelt had been undone the whole time as I slept!

I scramble to get off his lap and free from his arms. But he holds on. Grips me to his chest as he looks out the window.

“I—I’m alright! Please let me go.”

“Patience,” he replies.

The next minute that it takes the plane to slow down and come to a stop is endless. I’m insecure of my clothes, which are still dirty from yesterday. Aware of how uncomed my hair is. All my flaws become gnawingly obvious as I’m pressed against this perfect man.

I push against him again, but he only holds me tighter.

“Vulcan,” I whisper. Trying to become smaller. To disappear. “You need to let me go.”

“You cannot command me.” He looks down, gripping my chin and lifting my face. “Especially with matters that concern your safety.”

After another minute, he releases me, and I jump back to my seat, my skin sizzling. There is a strange power dynamic between this king and I.

I want to rebel, to argue, but I won’t do any of those things. Because once the embassy takes me in under their protection, I will be separated from the delusional king. Nothing that has happened between us will matter because we'll go our separate ways.

We have to.

The embassy is my last chance to escape this powerful, crazy male.

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