Chapter One

Chapter One

Tallie

Looking over her shoulder, Tallie ducked behind a large crate and scurried to the other side of the space dock. Her heart pounded, and she was sweating. She took slow, even breaths to calm down.

Carefully, she slipped off her pack and pulled out a water tube. She took just a few sips and put it back, making sure it wouldn't drip on the lengths of expensive silk that were wrapped and buried in the bottom. She looked at her long-fingered hands. They were shaking. Patting her head, she made sure the hood of her cloak hid the tufts of bright pink hair. That trace of Pfanctle nobility would be memorable. She had to keep her identity hidden.

Pulling out a weapon, she debated if she could kill someone to simply escape her fate? This blaster was lethal. There wasn't a setting for stun, or back the hell up . If she used it, she would kill whoever she shot. Yes, she had killed before, so she knew she could do it—but these people wouldn't be trying to kill her.

Tallie sighed and pushed the blaster into the weapons belt she fastened around her waist. She wasn't that desperate. Not yet. She took another weapon out of the pack and grinned. This one would work for now. The silver cane was used by the Siloth.

The first time the alien race kidnapped her, they zapped Tallie several times. It hurt like holy hell —as Kaitlyn, one of her Earth friends, noted—but it wouldn't kill anyone.

She sighed and slipped further behind the crates. She was out of sight and could rest for a moment. It had been difficult sneaking out of her parents' home. Waiting in the garden until the guards changed and then going over the wall. She'd been running for hours, hiding in the city from what were probably imaginary pursuers. Tallie needed to take a moment and rest. She needed to go over her plan. There would be no going back this time. She was severing ties to her parents and their lives.

The first time she ran from the arranged marriage her parents had planned, she was captured by the Siloth. She winced. She'd run from a marriage she didn't want, right into the hands of slavers. Her parents forgave what they considered her bad luck. They also warned her to curb her impetuous nature.

When she escaped her captors, Tallie believed her parents would be so relieved to have her back—that they would let her out of the marriage contract. But nothing she said changed their minds. Last night, they informed Tallie she was expected to honor the contract. And the marriage was to be consummated within just a few days. Her life—as she knew it—would end.

Tallie refused the fate they arranged for her. As soon as they went to bed, she slipped out into the garden. When the guards changed at two in the morning, there were just a few seconds when the back gate was clear. As soon as that happened, she bolted.

There was no way in hell that she could marry the ambassador's son they'd chosen for her. She wasn't ambivalent to the man. She outright hated him. He was mean and obnoxious. And everything she didn't like in a person.

On the Siloth spaceship, Tallie discovered she had a medical condition that would prevent pregnancy. Not only would she never have children, but the condition put her at risk. Since the aliens couldn't sell her as a breeder, the guards were allowed to use and abuse her. It didn't matter if they hurt or killed her. Her captors already considered her to be damaged goods.

Tallie sucked in a breath and redirected her thoughts, refusing to think about that time in her life.

Now, she was glad she couldn't have children. Not as a breeder for the slavers and not to continue her family line. No matter what her parents and the ambassador's son wanted, Tallie refused to comply.

Tallie figured that since she couldn't have children or be called upon to breed the next generation of Pft nobles, she should be free to do what she wanted. Marriage contracts on her planet were solely used to ensure that the next generation of nobility came from the "proper" bloodlines.

But no one listened to her. They believed she used her lack of breeding ability to get out of the contract. She was . That was the entire point of the contract, after all. If she couldn't breed, why the hell did she have to marry someone she didn't like?

Right before she left, she tried one last time to make her parents understand. She detailed everything in a note. They would find it in the morning and by then she'd be out in space. She told them that since they wouldn't listen to her or consider her needs; she had left again. Tallie explained in simple terms that she didn't want the marriage. She clarified why she couldn't, wouldn't, marry Bashad under any circumstances. In fact, she didn't plan to marry anyone.

She explained, again , that the Siloth doctor had run tests on her, not once—but several times. The test results confirmed Tallie was sterile. She had even gone to her parents' doctor right after they brought her home and had the results confirmed.

Since her body wouldn't produce children, a forced marriage based on procreation was unacceptable. There was no need for the marriage. She clarified that even if she could have children, or if Bashad said children were unnecessary to their union, those circumstances wouldn't change her mind. She still wouldn't marry Bashad. The man they'd picked for her proved to be mean and cruel. She discovered that before her parents accepted the marriage contract. During the last few days, she had plenty of time to confirm he hadn't changed. She refused to spend her life with an asshole.

Lauren, another of the Earth women Tallie had become friends with, was studying to become a doctor of the mind and emotions before the Siloth kidnapped her. A psychologist, she called it. One time when they were discussing the Siloth, Lauren said that their captors had made several major mistakes when dealing with the women—and those mistakes made it possible for them all to escape. She said they didn't have a clear plan, and they kept trying the same thing over and over and failing each time. Her friend said there was a saying on Earth. That, ‘The definition of insanity is to repeat the same action and expect different results.'

She didn't doubt that the Siloth creatures who captured Tallie and the other women were insane.

She snorted. She was doing the same thing, escaping her intended marriage, and expecting different results this time. She knew she was insane, but she couldn't help herself. The last time she ran from her parents and the arranged marriage, she didn't have anywhere to go. She didn't have a plan. She just jumped out her window, went over the embassy fence, and ran out into the night. She hadn't taken any weapons, or clothes, or anything to sustain her life.

This time was different.

She knew exactly where she was headed. She knew she needed to borrow a spaceship to get off this planet and complete the other part of her plan. But she was prepared for that. She'd even checked the published maintenance schedule to find a recently serviced ship that was fueled and stocked for the owners to pick up in three days.

Tallie would take it tonight.

She had already arranged payment for the ship. It was to come out of her marriage fund. She snorted. That was a much better use of the credits she'd saved since her birth. With the additional bonus that if Bashad was marrying her for her money, it would all be gone.

This time, she also had weapons and enough water for several days.

She didn't have extra clothing. But that was because there was only so much room in her pack, and she needed that room for wedding presents. Besides, she didn't like the crap her parents made her wear. She looked down at the one pair of pants she owned. She'd ripped apart several of the long flowing dresses her parents pushed into her closet and created these. Tallie liked them. The pants were loose, covered her ass and ankles, and she could move in them. She could run and jump and roll about on the floor if she needed to.

The dresses were created to ensure the females of their planet moved sedately. Carefully taking small steps and remaining decorous at all times.

She rolled her eyes. Her stately and decorous days were behind her.

Tallie was running from her parents, from the asshole man they wanted her to marry, and the life everyone thought she should lead. She was headed right to her friends' wedding. Kaitlyn and her sister Makayla, along with their cousin Lauren—were all getting married in a few weeks.

Tallie was supposed to be a bridesmaid in the Earth ceremony, and she wouldn't miss it for the world. Bashad had dismissed the invitation as nonsense. He told her that she had postponed their joining ceremony long enough. Her parents shocked her when they agreed with him.

The wedding of her friends from Earth was important to Tallie. But she dropped the discussion, refusing to argue about something she intended to do anyway. The invitation came several weeks ago, so she hoped no one would remember it. She'd been careful to shrug off the disappointment and never brought it up again.

If she couldn't escape, she considered taking the poison—ackley—rather than join her life to the man she hated. It was fast-acting, and death would permanently keep her out of Bashad's clutches.

She shuddered, thinking of last night.

The male her parents wanted to tie her to had been drinking, and he cornered her alone. Told her that even though she was spoiled goods, he'd take her and mold her into something he could be proud of, or she'd rue the day.

She'd laughed and when he stepped in and tried to choke her, she brought her knee up fast and hard in a move Kaitlyn had shown her.

Bashad let her go, falling to the ground, weeping. He gasped out a threat that he'd make her pay for this. And she believed him.

She put that little confrontation in the note to her parents, too. Surely, they would see what kind of man he was. Well, it didn't matter to her. She was done worrying about it. She was leaving. Just as soon as she could sneak into the spaceship.

The first step in her plan was to go to the triple wedding. When it was over, she would either work on Megoth with one of the Earth girls or go help at the alien zoo. There were still ex-prisoners there who either weren't healthy enough to leave, or they had no place to go. Some of the men and women had been prisoners for so long, they didn't know how to be free. Some of them didn't understand any of the languages the rescuers used. Being outside of the cage scared them, and they didn't know how to take care of themselves. Those still at the zoo needed a lot of help.

And some of them stayed for other reasons. She wouldn't say they were afraid of anything. They were big, muscle-bound males who hadn't said a word to anyone. Or moved more than a few inches. So, if fear wasn't keeping them in their cages… what was?

Tallie could not get one of them out of her mind. There was something about him. He didn't speak to her or anyone. She didn't even know what color his eyes were because he kept them shut when anyone was nearby. As if afraid to see… anything.

But she looked at him and felt… as if everything in her world would be okay if he'd just open his damn eyes and look at her.

Shit. She might stop at the zoo first, anyway. As far as a flight plan went, it made sense. The zoo was on the planet Dorvan and was about halfway between her home planet and Megoth. She had plenty of time before the wedding and maybe she could help with the other captives for a few days. She rolled her eyes at her inner musings. She knew exactly why she was stopping at Dorvan. She had to poke and prod the beast, who wouldn't leave his cage and see what the hell was going on. She should probably run fast and furious in the opposite direction, but she wasn't going to. She needed to know why he made her feel this way.

Tallie looked back over the city she'd pushed and skulked her way through tonight. It was so crowded. So overbuilt and noisy. She missed the quiet and the space on Megoth, the planet where her friends lived. She didn't think she could live in an overpopulated city again. She knew she couldn't be the dutiful daughter her parents wanted.

She laughed silently to herself. No, that ship sailed when she met Kaitlyn and Lauren. The Earth girls had helped Tallie realize she had worth. And that worth didn't have anything to do with her defective womb or an asshole man, or who her parents were. She was valuable as an individual. Even if the only one who recognized that worth was Tallie. Well, Tallie and her friends.

Settling back in her hiding spot to wait for an opportunity, Tallie kept her eyes on the comings and goings of the late shift to get a feel for how this place worked. It would be another hour or so before the spaceport was quiet enough for her to make her way to the small ship.

She watched as a variety of humanoid creatures went about their business. Her Earth friends had been surprised to find they weren't alone in the universe. On Earth, the people believed they were the only humanoids in existence. But space was full of beings who had many of the same body parts as the earthlings. Even if they were put together a little differently.

Listening to her heart pound with eagerness to escape, she grinned. Most sentient beings from any of the planets had one heart. And it was typically located on the left side of the chest area. Although not always.

Taking a deep breath, she also realized that most of the beings she'd met had two lungs and breathed air that had some oxygen. Most had two legs and arms, although creatures like the Siloth had more. She shuddered, thinking of the four-armed alien assholes while she watched a tentacled being walk by her hiding place.

Okay. Point taken—some had a lot more than two arms. And many of them also had a tail.

She smirked. One asshole per body. She didn't know of any creatures who walked upright that had more or less.

The males had cocks. Yet there seemed to be a bit of variety in the size and shape—and location. And the females of any humanoid species had a vagina and produced live young. Well, some laid eggs. When most of the cocks and cunts met, babies might be the outcome.

Although some species seemed to be more fertile than others.

Most aliens prized Earth humanoids as universal breeders because of their fertility ratings. The people of Pft… including Tallie… not so much.

Hiding behind the crate, she again made sure that her body was covered. That her light gray skin didn't peek out of her dark cloak, or her pink hair slip out and draw attention. That hair alerted the Siloth to her hiding place the last time.

Her breathing sped up, and she began to panic. She closed her pale gray eyes for a moment and thought of her friends. They tried to tell her several times that if you lived through the bad things, there was always hope. Or something like that.

Tallie reached in her pack and fingered the small vial of poison. She didn't think she could go through that again. Capture, rape, beatings. No.

If that happened, she would either try to kill them all or die trying.

She had to believe she'd make it out of here and get to her friends.

Kaitlyn was worried about her. Tallie couldn't say much the last time they'd talked. Just that she was on the way and might be coming in hot.

Tallie thought about the zoo and all the big, strong aliens who wouldn't come out of their cages. She would try to give them a reason to join her. Then she'd have time to figure out why one of them was so ridiculously hard to forget.