3. Amanda

Chapter 3

Amanda

I stumbled across a grassy meadow, my jaw unhinging as I took in the world around me. Lavender trees peppered the golden meadow, and while I'd seen golden grasses before, those were dead, not thriving like the thick strands of the ones I kept tripping over.

"Wait," the blue-skinned, seven-foot-tall naked alien dude shouted behind me.

Ha ha. No way.

I ran faster, my slipper-covered feet pounding on the ground and the stupid white nightie the robocops dressed me in fluttering too high across my thighs and butt. The rest of it clung to my boobs, my belly, and my ass. Talk about a wet t-shirt contest gone wrong.

What kind of alien abduction was this, anyway? Shouldn't I be dressed in a space suit with a helmet to keep me from sucking alien germs into my lungs?

When I reached the edge of the meadow, I paused to figure out where I should run to next. Into the dense purple forest ahead full of trees with trunks the size of a small house? Or to the right, where the lighter purple lake looped around the edge of the woods?

"Come back, mate," the alien growled. He was halfway across the meadow already with something long and purple flopping back and forth in his hand. "The gods have spoken. You're mine."

I didn't know what was going on or why he'd suddenly decided I was his mate when he'd spent our introductory period dripping water, scowling, and pinning my arms to my sides, but I wasn't having anything to do with him. I read sci-fi romance. I knew very well what an alien meant when he called a woman like me his mate.

Me being seduced by an alien. He'd talk me into lying on the ground, and the next thing I knew, we'd be humping.

He was an enormous guy, and his cock was proportional to the rest of him.

I wasn't going to lay in the grass and let him try to stuff that inside me even if he did chase after me bearing a purple gift—assuming that's what it was.

Turning to the right, I bolted. His breathing echoed too close behind me.

Why was he grinning?

His hand stretched out, landing on my shoulder. Using one of the defensive moves I'd learned at the Y, I dislodged his arm and turned left, racing into the purple forest. My lungs wheezed, and I couldn't catch my breath, but I kept going, weaving around low vegetation and big tree trunks.

I wasn't sure why I understood what he was saying now when I hadn't when we stood on the shore, but it hardly mattered. The only reason I clung to the rock he'd given me was to fling it at him if he grabbed me again.

Words from one of the classes echoed in my mind. Even a small item can be leveraged to your advantage. A pen. A set of keys. The hard edge of a credit card. None of which were lying around nearby, but still. Everyday objects can increase the effectiveness of defensive maneuvers and potentially provide you with a crucial moment to escape.

That was now.

The alien followed me into the woods. "Run, pretty bride! I am going to catch you."

Though I almost admired his persistence, I was determined to escape his clutches.

I fled down a wide path with him hot on my heels. Frankly, I was surprised he hadn't caught me already. With his long legs, he could've raced past me by now.

That grin.

Did he think this was some sort of game? I'd heard about primal play. Fantasized about it, if I was being honest. The thought of a hot guy hunting me in the woods, dragging me to the forest floor, then—

Flashes of blue on the right were followed by heavy thuds shaking the ground. If I kept going on this path, there was a good chance the big blue things and I would collide .

I veered to the left, leaving the trail, stumbling through a thick mesh of brush.

Six shiny blue triceratops the size of campers bellowed and rushed at an angle beside me, whipping their long horns through the air. Their glossy blue ears flopped, and they shrieked as if they were scared of me, but how could that be true? I was a puny thing racing by their side.

One gouged its horns my way.

I had a dilemma. Should I say I do to the alien calling out behind me or be impaled and trampled by a pack of blue triceratops?

Choosing door number three, I veered left again, the alien following me with irritating ease. Why wasn't he winded when my rough breathing echoed in my ears?

I only tossed a glance over my shoulder, but it was too long when considering the herd of triceratops galloping to my right. They veered toward me. I twisted away, smacking into a fallen tree the size of a sofa. I belly flopped onto the rough bark. With a groan of pain, I pushed myself up, toppled off, and slammed onto my back on the ground. My arms and legs splayed wide, I stared at the vegetation swishing above, wondering if I'd ever be able to breathe again.

How in the world had I ended up in this mess?

The alien dove, landing on top of me, driving the wind from my lungs before I'd had a chance to suck it back in. The purple thing he was holding flopped forward, smacking me in the face, releasing . . . pollen? That couldn't be right. While I gasped and sneezed, he wrapped his arm around me and rolled us into the narrow space beneath the log.

The triceratops thundered toward our hidden location. Some jumped over the tree while the rest ran around it. The heavy thud of their hooves faded as they disappeared among the enormous trees.

I laid there a second to catch my breath, not liking how the alien's warm arm snug around me gave me a feeling of comfort I couldn't deny.

His cock shifted against my thigh.

Fuck that.

I was nearly naked. He'd just declared I was his bride.

Consummation of this odd arrangement was about to commence.

I ripped free of his hold and dragged myself out from beneath the tree. My nightie caught on something and ripped. As I straightened, it flopped forward, dangling across my belly, exposing my right boob.

Clutching the wet fabric, I yanked it back up over my chest and bolted after the triceratops.

I only made it a few feet before the alien tackled me again. In the tussle, I lost the rock.

He rolled us across sticks and downed brush, and when we came to a stop, I was sitting on his lap, straddling his waist, with his arms locked on my hips and mine on his shoulders.

My right boob hung out again, the nipple much too perky for the current situation. His eyes widened as he stared at it, his fingers twitching on my hips. When he licked his tusks the size of my thumbs and hunger filled his eyes, I yanked the fabric back up over my boob.

"Don't look at me like that," I growled. "I'm not on the menu any day of the week that ends in AY."

He snarled out a string of words I couldn't understand.