Chapter 2
1436 Words
Chapter Two
Still shivering from the cool evening air, Sasha stood a few feet inside the banquet doors, feeling more and more like bailing on her best friend’s wedding the longer she stood there alone. Binding ceremony, not wedding, she reminded herself for the hundredth time. Stand straight and smile and no one will notice you’re a scared little rabbit on the inside.
Sasha took a calming breath and squared her shoulders. She’d sent Rachel a message that she had arrived. All she had to do was wait for her to come and get her by the entrance as they’d planned the previous week. What had Rachel said? “Feign confidence and avoid making eye contact with the males until I get there.” Great. She’d already failed both tasks before she’d made it through the doors. Sasha tried not to fidget. She was afraid she looked as scared as she felt.
Leave it to her best friend, mused Sasha, to hook up with one of the gigantic alien warriors from Caldor. Rachel had always been the type to snag the hottest guys around. Caldorian men were amplified specimens of chiseled perfection. They oozed s*x appeal. They were bigger, taller, stronger, and faster than human men. Always confident. Always in control. Sasha shivered again, this time unsure if it was from the cold, or because she couldn’t stop thinking about the big, scalding hot Caldorian she’d seen outside. He was so gorgeous; she hadn’t been able to stop staring. Then he’d seen her in return, and she panicked and ran. Typical, she chided herself. He was upstairs now, but she was pretty sure he hadn’t seen her staring this time. She lowered her head to look at her phone, desperately trying to hide her embarrassment.
Sasha mentally reviewed what she knew about Caldorians, absently running her fingers through her long hair as she typed in another message for Rachel. She’d been standing there for nearly fifteen minutes. She looked around at the relaxed warriors. They were beyond impressive. She had yet to see an adult male under 6’2”. As if bulging muscles weren’t enough to make a girl drool, they had otherworldly, beautiful markings, with swirls and whorls that covered various parts of their bodies. Sasha tried to unobtrusively study some of the Caldorian men and women near the entrance to take her mind off of her nervousness and the big warrior upstairs. Their markings appeared to have grown into the skin, and were slightly raised. There was a variety of colors, but all had opalescent properties. Some were covered from head to toe, and others had almost none. Every marking was unique. Oh, I wish I had my paints here with me. I wonder if I could get one of them to do a sitting for me before my next gallery showing? When they’re not ripping things apart, their attractiveness goes from a ten to a twenty. I’m totally out of my depth here.
Sasha had never actually met anyone from the mysterious planet of Caldor. She lived on the other side of the world, and they tended to stay near their Earth base, but she’d seen them fighting plenty of times. All she had to do was turn on a news stream and they’d be front and center, all drool-worthy and gorgeous while they ripped apart the enemy. Literally. Just last week there was an incident involving a creepy reptilian-like man from Vilitos trying to break into Earth security to steal defense plans. One of the Caldorian warriors ripped its creepy crawly head right off and then made a statement about Earth being theirs to protect and not to mess with the humans. No due process. No trial. Just. Ripped. It. Off. Sasha shuddered as she recalled the spurting blood and spinal fluid. The sound of muscles and bones ripping and popping. Good thing they’re on our side. I can even forgive them for claiming Earth if they keep those disgusting, creepy reptilians from Vilitos out.
With constant news feeds, one would think Caldorian traditions and customs were common knowledge, but they weren’t. I’m not an i***t, there’s hardly anything in the news feeds about their personal lives, just hours and hours of boring speculation from every political and social group across the globe for the past two years. I even did a search before coming out here. There’s nothing about them socially, other than formal dinners with a bunch of uptight dignitaries. They’re all business. Sasha looked around the room at the Caldorians nearest her and realized her mistake. Everywhere she looked, Caldorians were relaxed, smiling, and talking together. I should have asked Rachel more questions. A lot more questions.
Rachel had vaguely warned her before coming out to the wedding that not only were Caldorian warriors big, fierce predators, but they were also extremely possessive. In fact, Rachel was already pregnant by one of those giant, f**k with me and I’ll kill you, bad-ass alien warriors, who had informed Rachel in no uncertain terms that they would be bound. As in, married for all eternity. Immediately. Like yesterday. The baby was his, she was his. Not that there was anything wrong with a man who knew what he wanted. Before she could stop herself, Sasha looked around unobtrusively. I bet the big warrior is possessive like that, too. Big. Strong. Dominant. In control. Possessive. Alpha. Sasha felt goosebumps all up and down her arms and shivered, her n*****s clearly delineated beneath her form-fitting dress. Sasha shook her head and mentally chastised herself. I’m only here for a week; how much do I really need to know? I’ll stick to the plan. Stay close to Rachel and Ashlyn and avoid making any more eye contact.
Hooking up with one of the big warriors wasn’t in her plans. Ever. No matter how sexy they are. “So, get it together, Sasha,” she whispered aloud to herself. “Focus on finding Rachel.” She looked at her phone again and checked for any messages. Nothing. She looked around again. Were people starting to stare at her? Maybe I should try to find Rachel instead of waiting for her down here? Maybe she forgot her phone or lost it? There are tons of people here. I could be waiting for hours.
The banquet hall was seriously packed and the place was enormous, with multiple rooms, and a grand staircase leading to the second and third floors. It looked like a greenhouse, there were so many plants. In the center of the main banquet area, the architect had created a small raised rock pond complete with a three-tiered waterfall. It was gorgeous. Low lighting and comfortable seating. Banquet tables piled high with plenty of food created by the food synthesizers. The smells were both familiar and exotic. Her mouth began to water. Sasha swallowed and looked around again. She felt tiny and weak surrounded by so many of them. Just stay out of their way. All of them. Especially the males. Rachel said the only thing they like more than fighting is f*****g and showing off their markings. Sasha shifted in place, her cheeks flushing as her mind circled back once again to the big alien. I wonder what the big Caldorian’s markings look like? Too bad he hasn’t taken off his shirt like most of the other warriors here.
Sasha peeked up at the top floor where she’d glimpsed him a few minutes earlier. He was standing with his back to the balcony railing, talking to someone out of her line of sight. She visually followed his broad, muscular shoulders down to a trim waist in the perfect v-shape. He could probably carry me around all day without breaking a sweat. Or do other naughty things. Sasha blushed as a zing of desire shot straight to her core.
Feeling self-conscious, Sasha smoothed her hand over her dress, thankful Rachel had sent it to her. It was electric blue and fit like a glove, crisscrossing over her ample breasts and leaving her back entirely bare. She would have spent hours agonizing over what to wear tonight. It wasn’t every day a girl got to meet real live aliens. They were becoming so popular she wouldn’t be surprised if some of them were getting regular fan mail from tall, super-hot models. Or s*x. Or both.
“Definitely both,” she murmured. Sasha scrunched her pert little nose. She knew she’d missed out on beautiful by about a foot. Everyone she knew described her as cute. She hated cute. Cute was for kittens and baby pandas.
“Come on, Rachel. Pick up the phone,” Sasha grumbled and texted Rachel again when another call went straight to voicemail. “Where are you?”
- Writer
