Alien Conquest: (The Warrior's Prize) An Alien SciFi Romance Read Online Free Page A

would be unable to grapple with the reality of it all. Aliens, space, this was nuts. But it was Alaina’s life, and she was going to survive it all. However she had to.
    After the soap, the attendants scrubbed her with a harsher sponge until her skin was pink and raw, and she ached all over. They didn’t seem satisfied until she was wincing away from them, making little pained noises every time the stroke of the sponge slid over her back or arm or shoulder. Then, finally, they relented, walking her up and out of the pool. They patted her dry with soft towels and ran some kind of comb through her hair that dried even as it de-tangled it, until her pale blond hair fell soft and clean down her back. Then finally they lifted a dress to spill over her head.
    The fabric was soft and sheer and white, and Alaina couldn’t decide if she felt more or less naked with it on than without. It didn’t really cover anything, just gave the impression of trying, but when Alaina looked around she saw all the other slaves were dressed in the same manner. At least it was something, a fragile, barely-there veil between her dignity and all these alien eyes.
    Her body was not like the other aliens, even slightly obscured beneath the dress. The Jiayi were all tall and thin like Yfia. The Ankaa were either shorter and squatter, or big and hulking, with seemingly no form in between. Alaina had full breasts and round hips, and that delicate gown illuminated every dip and lift and curve. But Yfia had said she was exotic, and so she hoped that would be enough to get her purchased by someone who would be gullible enough to believe she wanted to be theirs.
    When all the slaves were dressed, they were lined up again. Alaina saw Yfia far ahead of her in the line, but she couldn’t get to her. She was disappointed; Yfia was the closest thing to a friend she had in this world, and she’d hoped to hold onto her for a little longer. But Alaina was used to being on her own, and she wouldn’t let the lack of allies stop her. Then the line started moving, and the attendants herded them out of the baths through a huge, open portcullis that started to lower as soon as the last of them had passed through. The line of slaves snaked along, led around corners and down another corridor, and then finally up a set of stairs.
    At the top of the stairs the attendant took Alaina’s arm, and it was for the best because Alaina tripped over the hem of her gauzy dress when she saw what awaited them: the Market. Through the pillars of the bathhouse — and Alaina realized this must have been the rear of the bathhouse itself — a bustling business center sprawled. A veritable city within the space station itself, and rising up in the distance a set of four towers Alaina figured must be the Arena.
    Throngs of people crowded the market, all the way up to the steps of the bathhouse, and Alaina saw slaves, dressed as she was, being led up onto a dais, then onto blocks, and people were just shouting out amounts. Then the slaves were dragged off the blocks, and they disappeared into the crowd. Alaina felt her heart rate kick up towards panic at the idea of being put onto one of those blocks. But the attendant didn’t turn her towards the dais. Instead, she led her down another corridor.
    And there was Yfia, right ahead of her.
    Relived, Alaina made a little hissing noise at the Jiayi woman’s back. “Yfia. Where are they taking us?”
    Yfia’s white antlers turned as her head did, and she smiled when she saw Alaina. “Ah, as I thought. We are being taken to silent auction, for the high families. They do not sully themselves in the common crowd at the blocks.”
    “So this is good?”
    “It means we will go to a high family. And we will be sold at a much higher price. If we are sold, of course.”
    Right. If they were sold. If they weren’t, Alaina imagined she’d be scrubbing the bathhouse pools or maybe she’d even end up scrubbing new slaves herself. That appealed to