Read Her Alien Commander for Free Online

and resume this discussion at a later time, I could allow that.”
    Caria sighed and shook her head. “No. I, I don’t mind telling you about what happened on the planet. Not that there’s much to say.”
    “Very well. How long were you there?”
    “I’m not sure. I was underground for most of the time so I lost track of the days. The weeks. Months?” She looked to Phahlen as though he might be able to assist.
    “Do you remember the date when your craft was attacked?”
    “Yes, it was ninety-seven, four one point six.”Caria resorted to the interplanetary standard system of recording time.
    Phahlen nodded. “We are now at ninety-eight, five three point zero. In Earth time that would amount to… seven months?”
    Caria nodded, hardly able to credit it had been so long. She had managed to block out great swathes of her time in captivity; the monotony had been so mind-numbing. “Toward the end I was kept in the dark, chained as you first saw me…”
    He nodded, encouraging her to continue.
    “They only came down there to feed me, and that wasn’t every day. I don’t know, it’s hard to judge.” She looked straight at him. “They had no idea what humans should eat. They fed me grass. Grass! ” She glared at him, demanding some sort of response.
    “I take it you are not fond of grass?”
    “Do I look like a fucking rabbit?”
    He cocked his head to one side. “I am not familiar with that particular Earth mammal though I understand it to bear some similarity to the krevehris common on Vahle. Now you mention it, I must concur that you do not bear so much as a passing resemblance to that creature either. I shall issue instructions that our housekeeping data systems should be updated to ensure that there is no grass on the menu.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Did they ill-treat you in any other ways? Were they violent?”
    Caria nodded, and tried not to twist her hands together. She hated to think of herself as feeble, but the frequent beatings by her Galeian captors had worn down her resolve, especially in the early days. “When I was first taken prisoner they were very interested in me. I was a novelty, I think, something unusual to play with. They used to drag me along the underground passages, and sometimes they would release me, force me to run from them so they could chase me. I did it a few times, believing I might escape…”
    “But it was just a game? Am I right?”
    “Yes, their idea of sport. I stopped running after a while, and after that they got bored of me and left me chained up.” Tears had started to stream from her eyes, and Caria was shaking now as the reality of her situation began to properly sink in. She had escaped, but to a fate very probably no better than the one she left behind.
    The tall alien moved to sit beside her, and slung an arm across her shoulders. Caria stiffened and attempted to move away but he tightened his grip and pulled her in to his body. “It’s all right, Caria. That is over and you are safe here on the Empyrean . No one will hurt you now that you belong to me.”
    Except you. When you learn that I’m no use to you.
    Caria gave up fighting him. It was futile in any case. She allowed herself to be drawn into his embrace, then turned and pressed her nose against the tunic covering his muscular chest. At last she gave in to the urge to sob.
    Phahlen hauled her onto his lap and cradled her there. Neither spoke as she clung to him and wept.

Chapter Three
     
     
    Phahlen gave himself a hard mental shake. He needed to get a grip. This little human might be pretty enough, in a fragile, delicate sort of way, but her appearance was deceptive. He had done his homework, his due diligence, before contacting his home world to register his claim. The Luminaire , the pirate vessel shot down by the Galeians, had been wanted throughout three galaxies, suspected of raids on a host of small, defenceless worlds. Caria and her comrades were a gang of ruthless killers, and if the