Alien undone, p.1
Alien Undone, page 1
ALIEN UNDONE
Forbidden Bonds 3
Cara Bristol
Alien Undone (Forbidden Bonds 3)
Copyright ©November 2023 by Cara Bristol
All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
eISBN: 978-1-947203-67-9
Editor: Kate Richards
Copy Editor: Laura Garland
Proofreader: Celeste Jones
Cover Artist: Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs
Formatting by Wizards in Publishing
Published in the United States of America
Cara Bristol Website: https://carabristol.com
This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
Other Titles by Cara Bristol
About Cara Bristol
Acknowledgements
Getting abducted by aliens is the not worst thing to ever happen to Millie Rogers. The lowest point in her life comes after the rescue when she’s forced to deal with him—Nadir, the alien man tasked with ensuring the abducted humans get home to New Terra. He’s made his contempt of humans blatantly obvious—so why does he keep dogging her? The caped, horned, furry alien is the most supercilious, fascinating, obnoxious, handsome, condescending, rugged jerk she’s ever met. She can’t wait to see the last of his muscular backside.
As advisor to the king of Araset, Nadir faces some difficult assignments, but none so challenging as shepherding the human female, Millie Rogers, back to New Terra. The smart-mouthed spitfire with the lush body seems to go out of her way to bedevil—and beguile—him. Despite her rudeness, he can’t seem to stay away from her. Luckily, she’ll soon be home where she belongs—and away from temptation.
Just as it seems they’ll get their wish to never see each other again, Millie’s repatriation is put on hold. The king’s son goes missing, and Nadir leaves in search of him. What he doesn’t count on is Millie accidentally stowing away on the shuttle pod and the craft crashing in a war zone. Forced to trust one another, they set aside their differences to battle insurgents and unexpected threats in a dash for safety.
But as desire flares, will their forbidden bond prove to be the biggest danger of all?
Alien Undone is a snarky, sassy enemies-to-lovers alien abduction romance in the Forbidden Bonds sci-fi romance series.
Chapter One
Millie
With mixed emotions, I watched Nomoru shrink as the spaceship blasted into outer space. While I bid a hearty good riddance to a planet where humans were regarded with contempt, I already missed my bestie. Holly Winter was my partner in crime, my BFF, my sister by another mister.
Holly was remaining on Nomoru. She’d bond-mated with Aeon, the former crown prince of Araset. Kat Whalen, Jessie Sayles, and I were returning to New Terra. The king of Araset hadn’t wasted any time getting rid of us. The bonding ceremony had occurred yesterday, and bright and early this morning, the League of Planets ship had arrived to take us home. There’d been scarcely enough time to say goodbye before being hustled aboard.
That Aeon, the king’s eldest son, had taken a human as a mate had done little to soften the king’s negative opinion of humans, so Holly wasn’t starting off on the best of terms with her alien-in-law. However, Aeon adored her, and his mother, the queen, had become fond of her. She would be okay.
But, we’ll never see each other again. I sighed.
“You don’t sound happy to be returning home,” said Nadir, the one individual who singlehandedly could make a bad situation worse. The king’s chief aide had been tasked with escorting us humans to New Terra—probably to ensure we left for good.
“Maybe I would be happier if you weren’t here.” The best defense was a good offense. Like the king he served, Nadir hadn’t hidden his contempt for us.
Few did. The disdain could be traced to one single event a couple of centuries ago. One little habitable planet was destroyed, and now the galaxy hates us. The Great Nuclear War that had annihilated life on Earth was no joke, but a horrific, dark catastrophe, all the more tragic because it could have been avoided. Two hundred years later, the descendants of the original colonists on New Terra were still dealing with the fallout—in a manner of speaking.
Nadir’s lip curled around a tusk. “I will endeavor to stay out of your way as much as possible.”
That would be a welcome first. I never knew when or where the jerk would pop up. The hulking, furry brute with ram-like horns moved like a cat. Our paths crossed way too often, and he seemed to go out of his way to annoy me.
“I would appreciate it,” I said. “How long is the trip to New Terra going to take?”
“About four days.”
Four days stuck with him? Hopefully, he would hold to his promise to stay away from me. “Don’t we go through the wormhole?” The space-time passage functioned like an express highway through outer space, allowing a ship to jump light-years ahead. Why weren’t we taking the shortcut?
“Yes, but we are stopping on Aurelia first.” He flicked an invisible speck off his cape. Intricately embroidered, the garment dropped from epaulets on his shoulders to dust the ankles of his polished boots. His cape had a lot to do with my impression of him as an overdressed, supercilious asshole. I mean, who wore such a formal garment all the time? Inside, outside. Morning, night. Palace, spaceship. I’d never seen him without it.
“Why?”
If he stuck his haughty nose into the air any higher, he’d fall over backward. “That matter is of no concern to you.”
I planted my hands on my hips and shook my head. “See? This is why people don’t like you. I was minding my own business, watching the blastoff, when you invaded my solitude. Being a polite person, I attempted to make conversation, and in response, you were snippy and rude.”
He wiped a four-fingered hand over his smirk.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“No,” he lied.
What nerve. If this guy cracked a genuine friendly smile, his face would shatter, but he had the gall to make fun of me? Even worse, his mocking grin imbued his stern alien features with handsomeness and ersatz congeniality. Something was out of kilter in the universe when someone so unpleasant could be so attractive. Assholes ought to be ugly.
I turned my back. Planet Nomoru had vanished into the blackness of outer space like it had been swallowed up. How fast were we traveling, I wondered. Speed of light? Faster than the speed of light? Nadir probably knew, but Earth would regenerate with life before I would ask him.
“Representing the king, Prince Lomax is attending a League of Planets Summit on alien trafficking,” he said.
“What?” I spun around.
“You asked why we were stopping. Since the summit will be held on Aurelia, which is not far off our travel route, we will drop off the prince before continuing on to New Terra.”
Prince Lomax was Aeon’s brother. I’d met all four brothers at the bond-mate ceremony.
“Aeon should have been the one to attend the LOP Summit, except he bond-mated with your friend. Rather than perform his duty, he is leaving for a honeymoon.”
There it was—the dig. This was why we couldn’t have a civil conversation.
“On New Terra, it is traditional for a couple to celebrate their marriage with a honeymoon,” I explained.
The newlymates were headed for Star Planet, a luxury vacation resort recommended by our friend Giselle Cartier. Giselle wasn’t returning to New Terra with Kat, Jessie, and me, either. She’d been recruited by the LOP for its anti-trafficking task force. Stars knew the galaxy needed human representation to clear up the misconceptions.
“Aeon is not a New Terran,” he said stiffly.
“Holly is, though.”
He shook his head. “She will always be human, but she is no longer a New Terran. She is Arasetan now.”
The only human Arasetan in the kingdom. On the entire planet of Nomoru.
A year older than Holly, I’d always tried to watch out for her since we met in foster care as teenagers. Some people might say I’d caused Holly more problems than I’d saved her from. My reputation as “Millie the Mouth” had gotten me into trouble in school, and occasionally, Holly had been found guilty by association.
“It sticks in your craw that we humans have invaded your world, doesn’t it?” I taunted him.
He stiffened. “A handful of humans does not qualify as an invasion. First and foremo st, my duty is to serve my king and queen and execute their will. I have no opinion about humans one way or another.”
What a load of space junk. “Don’t lie. Your pecker will shrink.”
“You need not concern yourself with my sexual organs,” he said.
Ew. He was right about that. Eyes up! Idea planted, I had to force myself not to check what he had packed away in those thigh-hugging leggings. So I focused on his rack—the spiral horns curving from forehead to nape. Huge and polished, his light-bronze horns sat atop his skull like a majestic headdress, more impressive than the king’s bejeweled ones. Nadir’s horns had to be as heavy as an iron meteorite—but his excellent posture never slouched. Because he has a stick up his ass.
I wonder if horn size and penis size are related?
Hrrcck. Hrrcck. Snickering at my private, silent joke, I sounded like a cat hacking up a hairball.
“Is something wrong? Are you all right?”
“You don’t need to worry yourself about me,” I replied.
“Until you land on New Terra, your safety is my concern.”
“Hopefully, that time will be short.” The last thing I needed was Nadir interfering in my life. Why had he sought me out, anyway? He never did say.
“It will be four days,” he reiterated.
“You are so literal.” I jutted my chin out and met his gaze.
“If you need anything during the journey, let me know,” he said.
“All I need is for you to leave me alone.” I waved in dismissal.
“As you wish.” In a swirl of cape, he vacated the lounge.
Chapter Two
Nadir
Millie Rogers had dismissed me! She’d acted like I was the lowly scorned human, and she was the chief advisor to the king. Fury burned in my gut, yet I had a strange urge to laugh at her audacious arrogance. The other humans were polite and gracious for what I’d done for them, but not her. She went out of her way to annoy me. From the moment I’d encountered her smirking, taunting personage, I’d found her disagreeable, contrary, infuriating, and frustrating.
And, stars help me, irresistible.
Her humanness should have disqualified her from any consideration beyond duty. Her people were like a foreign invasive species. Once they dug in a toehold, there was no controlling them. And Millie exemplified the worst traits of her kind—aggression, rudeness, self-centeredness.
And the inexplicable power to undermine my resolve and good sense.
How many times had I manufactured an excuse to seek her out? No pleasure or purpose could be gained by charging horns-first into a stone wall, so why did I keep doing it? How many times would I need to get knocked on my ishta before I stopped this foolishness?
I must be stronger.
Wisely, His Majesty had expedited the repatriation of the humans before they could cause trouble on Nomoru. Their selfish, short-sighted, suicidal warring had destroyed millions of species and rendered one of the most habitable planets in the universe uninhabitable. The radiation from the Great Nuclear War still rendered Earth unsafe.
If not for the colony established on New Terra prior to the war, they would have wiped out their own species. So the LOP issued an embargo on New Terra, barring contact with the planet and quarantining their species.
Unfortunately, rampant alien species trafficking had resulted in their release into the rest of the galaxy.
And, in the most unfortunate situation, the king’s eldest son, the former crown prince, had chosen to bond-mate with a human female, throwing the lineage of the monarchy into jeopardy and creating a rift between the king and queen. Her Majesty wished for Aeon to be reinstated. She usually got her way, but, with the royal bloodline at stake, the king was holding fast to his decision.
How had these humans beguiled rational people? Aeon. The queen. Me.
No, not me. I am curious, that’s all. Millie will be gone in four days. I would never do what Aeon has done and renounce my title for a human.
I’d worked too hard and too long to give up my position for anybody or anything. A commoner could achieve no higher status than to serve as the Advisor Most Loyal to His Majesty the King of Araset. For a half-breed, it was unheard of. I owed a huge debt of gratitude to the king and queen for the trust they had placed in me.
A giggle shook me from my reverie. Around the corner, Prince Lomax huddled with the New Terran known as Kat Whalen. Of all the females, she was the most unassuming, but also the youngest and most immature. She leaned against the wall, a flirtatious smile playing on her lips.
One hand resting on the wall on either side of her body, the prince smiled down at her.
What is the royal fool doing? Isn’t one scandal enough?
I cleared my throat, and they broke apart but continued to smile at each other.
“Did you need to speak to me?” Lomax asked.
“As a matter of fact I did.”
The prince stroked Kat’s cheek. “So, lunch?”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“I’ll pick you up at your cabin and escort you.”
“How do you know which one I’m in?”
“I’ll find it.” He winked, a gesture adopted from the humans.
They separated, but her gaze lingered on Lomax. “Bye, Your Highness.”
“Lomax,” he corrected.
“Lomax.” She peered up at him through her lashes.
He waited until she vanished down the passage before turning to me. “What’s up?”
“What’s up?” I asked, horrified at his choice of words.
“That means what do you need to tell me? Kat has been teaching me Terran Universal slang.”
“I’m aware of what it means. With all due respect Your Highness...have you lost your mind? After what happened with Aeon, you would risk a dalliance with a human? You are second in line to the throne. If Aeon is not reinstated, you will become king. You cannot march in your brother’s boots. Are you trying to kill His Majesty?” In choosing Holly, Aeon had rejected his title and responsibility. If the second son, and next in line to the throne did the same, the king would bust a horn.
Prince Lomax dismissed my concerns with a desultory wave. “As usual, you are overreacting. First of all, Father will not know of my flirtation with the ovwet unless you tell him.”
I flinched at the use of the derogatory word despite the seriousness of the situation.
“Second, Aeon will regain his title. It is the will of the queen, and what Mother wants, Mother gets.”
“That has been the case in the past, but it is different now. In twenty years of service, I have never seen His Majesty so adamant—”
“Mother will prevail. Aeon will become crown prince again and then king. Third, circumstances prevent anything more than a brief rendezvous anyway. After I disembark tomorrow, I’ll never see the ovwet again. One lunch with her will not alter the political landscape of Araset.”
“Kat is human,” I corrected.
“Human—ovwet same thing.”
I’d worried for naught. The fact he saw little difference indicated the flirtation meant nothing. Ovwet did mean human in Ara-Cope, but it came loaded with negative associations. It was an insult. One would never refer to someone one cared about in such a manner.
Like Lomax, I’d given little consideration to the connotation until overseeing the care of the five human guests at the palace and diplomacy had forced me to guard my tongue. The word now caused me to cringe.
Millie’s influence again. I could not think of the feisty, brazen, outspoken female as an ovwet. Above all else, I valued honesty. She was the most forthright, unfiltered person I’d ever encountered. I could always count on her for the truth.
My duties took me to the politically nuanced chambers of the League of Planets, the duplicitous palace of the Kingdom of Copa, and the precarious mediation court within the palace of Araset. Circling the nucleus of the king, queen, and five royal sons were scores of aunts, uncles, and cousins and hundreds of nobles vying for favor and influence. My duties included arbitrating their sensitive, often explosive, requests and disagreements.
In the royal milieu, appearance trumped virtue, perception counted more than action, etiquette outranked honesty, and title prevailed over all.
My duty to execute the wishes of His Majesty did not grant the latitude to alter decrees, and, in fact, part of my role involved serving as a scapegoat, deflecting unpopular opinion away from the king and queen and onto myself.
