Chapter 1

I'm tucked inside Bela's little sleeping nook, perched on the edge of her narrow bed with Skylar curled up beside me. Her skinny arms are wrapped around a decorative pillow that she hugs to her chest. Her gray eyes round with curiosity.

"I need to talk to you both," Bela whispers, pulling the thin curtain closed behind her to give us the appearance of privacy.

We've bonded through our mutual trauma after being taken from Earth by freaky mantis aliens called Xar'Ads, and auctioned off like livestock. There were six of us. All women, all twenty-something, except for Skylar, who is barely sixteen, and me in my thirties. Madame Althea bought Bela, Skylar and me for her pleasure station, Lux. The other three… who knows?

Everything happened so fast. By the time it really sank in, it was too late to do much about it.

Bela just came back from being sent to "entertain"her first customer. I'm not sure what I was expecting from her, but she doesn't seem to be too traumatized, which makes what she says next all the more believable.

"He's here to rescue us," she whispers excitedly.

"Wait. Who's here to rescue us?"

It's weird how Bela keeps hiding her smile and the way her cheeks blush. She's acting more like a giddy girl with a crush than someone who was sent to bang an alien stranger who paid for a good time as a punishment to keep us in line.

Her words come out in a rush.

He would be Treto, the lizard alien who has been following us after somehow discovering we'd been stolen from Earth. Now he's here to rescue us. Except, when he showed up on the pleasure station, he fell head over heels in love at first sight with Bela. Something about recognizing her as his fated mate or some such nonsense.

"And that doesn't sound crazy to you?" I ask.

Bela shrugs.

"What if he doesn't come back?" Skylar mutters in a small voice. "What if he can't help us, or he's lying about rescuing us?"

She is so young. Despite being sheltered and na?ve, she's already becoming embittered from everything she's had to endure—starting with being stolen from her bed by aliens who can't tell a teenager from a grown-ass adult. It pisses me off that she's here having to deal with this when she should be worrying about homework or whatever school gossip is going around.

"He'll be back," Bela assures her. Then she darts an apologetic look at me before looking pointedly back at Skylar. "I told Treto, if he has to choose one of us, he should take you."

I nod to Bela, letting her know I understand. More importantly, I approve of that decision. I'd do the same thing, although not for the reasons she might expect.

"Um, on that subject, I've been doing some thinking." I avert my eyes to pick at the pilling quilt I'm sitting on. "I–I'm going to stay here."

"You're what?" Bela and Skylar both exclaimed.

I expect their outburst and quickly shush them. "Don't look at me like that," I hiss. I don't owe them an explanation, but I'll give them one anyway because I know they'll demand it. "What's there to go back to Earth for? I'm leaving behind an abusive baby daddy who poisoned my kids against me, a dead-end job, and bills I'll never be able to pay off.

"I've been talking to the other girls here and …" I shrug and drop my eyes back to the quilt, "it doesn't really sound so bad. Alien dick sure sounds better than any human dick I've had. And if I'll be getting fucked, for once it'll be on my terms."

"Nita, no," Bela moans. "This isn't what you want. There's no freedom if you stay here. There's no choice. I'm not saying you have to go back to Earth, but anywhere has to be better than staying here."

I lift my chin and harden my expression, meeting the pained look Bela is giving me. I've never had much of a choice in anything in my life. Everything was either dictated to me or thrust at me. She may not think so, but making this decision is freeing. "This is my choice, and I'm making it. I'll stay here because I choose to."

Bela shakes her head, but she doesn't argue further, even though her sour expression tells me she doesn't like it.

"Look, don't think I'm going to the other side or anything," I add, needing them to know exactly where my loyalties fall. "I'll do what I can to make sure you two get out. I'm choosing this place, but that doesn't mean I want that for either of you, or that I'll go against you."

"Thank you, Nita." The relief on her face and in her voice is almost insulting. Like I would turn on these girls. But then I remind myself that we haven't known each other all that long, so I guess I shouldn't take offense.

When she reaches out to me, I take her hand and give her fingers a squeeze. She starts to smile, but then her brows furrow. She opens her mouth, but it's not her voice that comes out.

"Nita. Um, Nita?"

My eyes flutter open, and for a moment I'm confused because I'm no longer sitting with Bela and Skylar. I'm on my back staring up at the dark ceiling of my sleeping nook. Instead of a threadbare blanket, I'm surrounded by thick quilts. Walls that were bare a moment ago are now lined with colorful tapestries.

"Nita? Are you alright?"

My head snaps to the side where Cybele is leaning over me. The usually smooth skin between her eyes is puckered, and her luminous blue eyes are wide and filled with concern.

"Yeah." The word comes out a croak, and I swallow past the lump that's formed in my throat.After pushing myself up on an elbow, I rub at my eyes to find them wet.

"You sounded distressed again," Cybele says.

Again? My mouth is dry, and my throat is scratchy. Shit, was I crying in my sleep?

I've been having this dream more and more. And this isn't the first time I've woken up crying, although this is the first time I've had a witness. Or so I thought.

It's been years since Bela and Skylar escaped from Lux. True to his word, Treto returned and rescued them. I can only hope they made it back to Earth, or at least somewhere safe where they are happy. Despite the recurring dreams I've been having, I still don't regret my decision to stay. For the most part, I've been happy here. I've made friends with the other girls, and as one of Madam Althea's most popular girls, I've accumulated a small fortune in credits. Which reminds me…

"I'm alright now," I tell her, swiping my palm across my eyes and pushing myself so I'm sitting up. Taking a shaky breath, I paste a smile on my lips. "Madame took me off the schedule today. Do you want to do some shopping with me later?"

The concern on my friends face quickly melts away into a bright grin. "I would love to."

* * *

It's much laterwhen I meet up with Cybele in between her clients, and we make our way along the row of shops in the station's main concourse. We've already stopped by our favorite lingerie shop, and now we're heading for the sweets store, when I get the strangest feeling of being watched.

I've become something of a celebrity here on Lux, so I should be used to feeling eyes on me, but something about this feels different. It's not the usual creepy feeling but rather an alertness.

"Do you think they'll ever get some of that Earth chocolate in that you've told me about?" Cybele asks, tucking her blond and pink hair behind one of her pointed ears. She's been letting it grow so it finally reaches past her shoulders. Turns out, my friend has a sweet tooth, and I have a feeling if she ever got ahold of chocolates from back home, it would be game over for her. She'd be an addict after a single bite.

"I can't even hope," I sigh wistfully. "The disappointment would be too much."

We both laugh, and the odd feeling grows stronger. To the point my head snaps to the side, searching for whatever, or whoever, might… be…

My feet slow when my eyes latch on to a male who's staring back at me from the other side of the concourse. He's tall and lean, with long limbs and an athletic swimmer's type of build. Dear God, he's striking, with dark gray skin mostly hidden by a pair of tight black pants and a billowy dark gray shirt. White hair falls around his shoulders to halfway down his back, contrasting against his dark skin and clothes.

He's handsome in an almost pretty way, with sharp cheekbones and an angular jaw. His eyes are wide-set and larger than a human's, but not in a comical or anime way like some of the creatures I've encountered on the pleasure station.

In fact, I've never seen whatever his species is before.

Our eyes meet across the vast distance, and I'm taken aback by how striking they are. Black, perhaps, with no hint of sclera, like sharks' eyes.

"Nita? Are you coming?"

I drag my attention away from the male, to where Cybele is holding the door to the sweets shop open for me. When I glance back, he's gone. Vanished. I scan up and down the concourse, scouring the crowds for any sign of him, but it's like he disappeared into thin air. Did I imagine him?

"Weird," I mutter to myself as I slip through the frosted glass door after Cybele.

It doesn't take long before I'm distracted by the display cases filled with mouthwatering confections and my friend's company, so I forget all about the strange male.

Two shops later and the comm in my pocket buzzes.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I groan as I pull the small tablet from my pocket and then curse loudly after I read the message. "Damnit! It's my one night off. This isn't fair!"

I should know by now that there is really no such thing as a night off. Not for me. One night a cycle, the Madame takes me off the rotation by raising my already extravagant fee to an astronomical rate, which usually gives me a reprieve. If not… then I'm compensated well for it. Not that I ever get to spend any of that compensation, being stuck on the pleasure station and all. The madam's generosity is for appearances only. I have no disillusions that it's not ruled by greed.

"Have you been summoned?" Cybele sighs sympathetically.

"Seems so." I try to hide the worst of my disappointment as I shove the comm back into my pocket. I remind myself that this was my choice. I had the opportunity to escape with Bela and Skylar, but I chose to stay behind.

"How long before she wants you back?" Cybele tucks her arm through mine and steers me toward the next shop.

"I have a little bit of time." Even if I didn't, I still wouldn't be in a hurry. After all, if I've learned anything since becoming an alien call girl, it's that alien men aren't so different from human men after all. The more money a male has, the less it matters to him if he pleases you, as long as he gets off.

"Good. There's just one more place I want to stop in before we go. It's almost time for my next client anyway."

The store is dark, and it takes my eyes a moment to adjust before I realize where we are.

"Seriously, Cybele?" When I roll my eyes, she giggles and then pulls me over to a display of vibrators and dildos in all sizes, shapes, and colors.

"Hear me out," she says and then picks up a lipstick-sized bullet. "You can use this to help yourself along if your client ends up being… less than desirable."

It's not like I haven't thought about using something like that to help with… difficult situations. The Madame isn't fond of her girls using toys or enhancers though, unless the clients specifically request them. But this would be small enough to conceal.

I pull my lower lip between my teeth, then snatch the bullet out of her hand. "If I get caught, I'm blaming you!" I warn her as I stomp across the shop to the counter.

Cybele lets out a soft snort as she follows behind me. "How do you think I get through half of my clients?" she whispers into my ear. "The best part of this," she taps the bullet with a long finger, "is that it's practically silent. He'll never know you have it."

"You are either a genius," I tell her, "or completely evil."

When I turn to glance over my shoulder at her, she's got the biggest grin I've ever seen on her face that shows off her sharp teeth.

Evil. She's definitely evil, I decide.