It was two days before they came for me. The door crashed open, startling me out of the hazy dreamland I had been in and out of for hours. I felt weak. It had been too long since I’d eaten or drank anything, and I wasn’t surprised that the first thing Derrial did was force water down my throat.
“You need to do it slowly,” came a voice that I recognized as Corran’s.
“She hasn’t had anything for too long,” snapped Derrial, cursing as he continued to force me to drink water. Two days. I had no idea it had been that long. No wonder I felt so weak.
“Humans shouldn’t go without water this long,” chided Corran. “Were you trying to kill her?” he asked.
Derrial cursed again. “Would you fucking shut up and get an IV or something,” he snapped. “We’ve all been distracted with pressing shit.”
Corran’s footsteps sounded as he hurried out of the room. Derrial continued to have me sip water, a look that almost seemed concerned in his too blue to be human eyes. My stomach rolled, the water too much for my empty stomach. I began to heave, and he hurriedly turned me over on my side as I threw up the water he had just given me.
Corran appeared at that moment holding an IV kit. “Do you know how to do this?” he asked Derrial.
“Get Thane,” Derrial snapped, making Corran give him a curious look before he jogged out of the room.
I threw up some more water, soaking the beautiful bed. Derrial softly stroked my hair, pulling it back from my face. “I’m so sorry, beautiful,” he whispered, so softly that I could have imagined it.
Thane appeared in the room in what seemed like only a second later. “Is she okay?” he asked in a worried voice.
“I need you to give her this IV,” Derrial said in a terse voice that left no room for arguments.
I felt Thane fiddling with my arm, and then a quick prick of pain. “It’s in there.”
There was silence for a few minutes, then I jumped when there was a crash of glass against the wall.
“She’s not to be left alone,” cursed Derrial. He then stormed out of the room. I could hear the sound of other pieces of glass breaking somewhere else in the house.
“Stupid, stupid girl,” sighed Thane, taking a seat next to me on the bed and absentmindedly stroking my arm. He looked down at me with a pained expression. “Are we really that awful that you would rather give up on life than be with us?”
In all honesty, I didn’t know the answer to that because I’d felt so many emotions these past couple of days, I was struggling to wrangle and understand them. How I so easily fell under Darrial’s spell, how much I still craved him. I was their prisoner. None of that made sense.
When I didn’t answer, he pulled out what looked like a more high-tech version of the iPhone and started to fiddle with it. I already felt more energized from the IV, yet I struggled to sit up.
“Stay there until the IV is done,” Thane barked. “You look like you’ve somehow managed to lose ten pounds in just the few days you’ve been up here.”
Before I could respond, Corran appeared. He hovered by the door as if he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. I watched him for a moment before he seemed to come to a decision. He walked over to the bed and took out a small silver device out of his pocket. When he started to move it slowly along my body, I began to struggle to get away, not sure what alien technology he’d use on me.
“Please, no.” I found my voice.
“Calm down,” said Thane, putting a little pressure on my arm to still me. “It’s just a device that makes sure all of your insides are operating normally.”
“You should probably run it over her head too to make sure she doesn’t have brain damage,” he mused to Corran.
I made a sound of displeasure, and Thane grinned at me.
Corran stepped back after he had run the device all over my body. “She appears to be fine besides being starved and still dehydrated. I’ll go get her food,” he said, practically fleeing the room as if he couldn’t stand to be in my presence for any longer. For some absurd reason, my feelings were a bit hurt at his reaction.
Thane must have seen something on my face. “Don’t mind Corran,” he said in what I considered a soft voice for him. “He’s not that great with your kind, or our kind to think of it. He’s more of an observe kind of person. It’s actually been shocking at how interested he’s seemed in you.”
For one stupid moment my mind wandered down the path of how far Corran’s preference for watching went. I quickly shut down that thought when Darrial entered the room carrying the tray of food that I was certain Corran had gone downstairs to get.
Derrial sat on the bed next to me, the mattress dipping under me, and held out what looked like a grilled cheese sandwich. With the energy that the IV gave me, the full brunt of my hunger struck, and I grabbed the grilled cheese out of his hand, practically stuffing it into my mouth.
“Hey...slow down.” Derrial dragged the tray out of my reach since I was already reaching for the other half of the sandwich. “You’re going to get sick if you eat too fast.”
I nodded, forcing myself to slow down. To my disappointment, Derrial set the tray down where I still couldn’t reach it and turned to face me. I was suddenly very aware of just how close in proximity Derrial and Thane sat next to me. I’d never had one guy in my bed let alone two aliens. I was reminded as I watched Derrial’s eyes glow just who these two were. They may be sweetly taking care of me at the moment, but I couldn’t forget that in this situation they were the predators...and I remained the prey.
“We need to come to an understanding.” The glow in Derrial’s eyes faded as he spoke, seeming to tame whatever inside of him was causing such a reaction. “We’re not going to harm you, but you’re not going anywhere either. We’ve been around for too long not to know that there is something about you that’s special. And nothing is going to change until we figure out what that is.”
I studied him for a moment while he waited for me to answer. I believed him when he said that they weren’t going to harm me. I believed him that they believed that. But what they didn’t understand was that by taking away everything familiar in my life and forcing me to bend to their will...they were harming me.
“So, what’s next?” I finally asked, watching as something that almost looked like relief flashed across his features, softening them.
“Next, you’re going to get better,” Darrial said, getting up off the bed and handing me the other half of my sandwich. “We’re going to the World Summit, and you’ll need to be your best as my date.”
With that pronouncement he left the room, leaving Thane shaking with laughter next to me.
What the hell was so funny?
Three days later, Corran pronounced me fully recovered and ready to go. Over those last few days there had been an unspoken truce between the four of us. No talking about the Vepar, or my kidnapping. Nothing about why humans went missing apparently either. And no orgasms... Instead we stuck to safe topics like my favorite foods. I found out Derrial loved to cook human food and after he heard that my favorite dishes were Thai, he cooked up a storm and made the most delicious Pad Thai I’d ever tasted in my entire life. We all ate dinner together that night, and I caught their stolen glances my way like they wanted to each steal me away and carry me alone to a room, so they had me all for themselves. The air grew heavy with their need, but I said nothing and enjoyed my food, admiring their self-control. Maybe it was mean of me, but after they turned my life upside down, I bathed in a bit of payback, anyway I could get it.
The whole set up seemed almost normal...Almost...if having dinner with three of the most gorgeous men in the world constituted as normal.
I stood in front of my walk-in closet, looking through the clothes that continued to appear in there. I wasn’t sure how the men were getting access to outfits in the middle of nowhere and how they fitted me perfectly, but at least it had confirmed I wasn’t being given clothes from another kidnapped victim since the tags were on every item. Brands that I hadn’t imagined I would ever see in real life, let alone get to wear.
Considering I’d been housebound since arriving here I wasn’t sure when to wear the ten pairs of Christian Louboutins that were now sitting in my closet. Maybe this trip? Part of me wished I had my phone for the simple reason that I wanted to send a photo of them to Cherry. And that thought made me wonder where she was at. Had she even tried to contact me, and if she had, was she worried at all? What about my new boss? He would have considered me unreliable now and I’m sure my job was long gone. I couldn’t go back to working for Greg since I had simply messaged him I was quitting and never showed up again. And I hadn’t paid my landlord in weeks, so I’m sure he had started the eviction process for my loft and had probably sold all my belongings. My stomach sunk at the thought, not for my few belongings I had, but for the photos that I had left of my parents that were still at my loft.
Not that I’d accepted my fate here… far from it. But since the Vepar were playing nice, I’d use the opportunity to uncover their real intentions and figure out how to leave in a smarter way.
A knock sounded on my door. After the guys had continued to appear unannounced, I had put my foot down that they had to knock before entering. I was surprised when they actually listened.
“Come in,” I called out. It was Derrial, looking so good that it should be a crime in his perfectly fitted grey suit with a black button up and black tie underneath it. His blonde hair had been brushed off his face, falling behind his ears, and I could sit there and stare at him for hours.
“Do you need help packing?” he asked, eyeing the floor with no sign of my bag. I blushed at the thought of this Vepar helping me pack my underwear.
“Maybe just tell me what kind of clothes I’ll need, and I can pick them out?” I responded.
“No offense. But I think it’s best I select your outfits.” He smirked. “In the weeks that we watched you, I don’t think I saw you in anything that didn’t look like a paper sack. I can tell when a woman is trying to hide herself from the world.”
I opened my mouth to object, to say something about my lack of funds, but he was already in my closet tossing things behind him so that they landed on the bed. My eyes widened at the skirt suits and fancy cocktail dresses he picked out.
“What kind of conference did you say this was?” I asked, absentmindedly smoothing out a black, silky dress that I knew was more expensive than six months of the rent for my loft.
“The World Summit,” he answered casually, apparently unaware of what effect such an announcement would have on me. When I had heard about the event on the news, I had always imagined the most powerful men in the world sitting around a table in their tailored suits, talking about things I didn’t understand. I sighed a heavy exhale at the thought of actually attending the World Summit. Someone like me didn’t belong at such a place.
“I can’t go with you to that,” I squeaked, balling up the aforementioned dress in my hands in distress.
I knew the World Summit was an annual conference held every year in which the leaders of the Vepar and the leaders of various countries in the world met to go over policy and changes that the Vepar wished to implement. Only the most powerful of the Vepar went, making me wonder why Derrial was going to attend. Why would a Vepar powerful enough to represent them at the World Summit have kidnapped a lowly human girl?
When he turned around, holding a glittering gold gown, I took a step back. “What’s wrong?” He grinned at me, strolling closer.
“Who exactly are you?” I asked, eyeing him through skeptical lenses. Despite playing happy roommates for the past few days, they hardly revealed anything about themselves, why they were on Earth, why they really took me… nothing to give me some background.
“I guess you’ll find out soon.” He tossed another blue dress with a flowing skirt onto the bed. “You should have enough clothes right there for the week. Be ready in an hour,” he ordered, marching out of the room and closing the door behind him.
I sank to my bed unsteadily. A few days ago, I’d been waiting tables at a small cafe, just trying to make ends meet. Now I was apparently going to wear $20,000 dresses and hobnob with world leaders.
What was happening?