Tamed By The Alien Barbarian by Celeste King
Jaxil
It was a big day for Consolidated Mining. It was the day we were going to claim our destiny. It was the day I’d worked my whole life to reach.
After years of development, we were finally going to unveil a new machine prototype that could mine ore with ten times the efficiency of our old machines. This was the development that would make all the difference.
When I first realized I was in love with Candi, I thought about abandoning the prototype altogether; I thought that maybe it gave me an unfair advantage. Then I thought, I wouldn’t be attracted to Candi if she just rolled over and gave up—maybe she felt the same way. Maybe Candi wanted me to hold my own, even if that meant beating her at this game.
“Are you ready, sir?” My lead engineer asked, standing in the door of my operation’s control room. “The entire outfit gathered to watch the inaugural extraction.”
“Whew,” I whistled, feeling somewhat nervous for the first time that day. “It’s a lot of pressure, isn’t it?”
He nodded seriously. I realized that he likely felt as much weight on his shoulders at this moment as I did. I clasped my hand on his small shoulder and we walked outside together.
There was a large crowd gathered around the prototype; it was a massive, chrome machine that had been lowered halfway into the ground.
I bounded forward and addressed the crowd, “Thank you all for being here on this momentous day for Consolidated Mining!” The operation cheered in response, and I felt a familiar sense of pride swell in my chest.
I gestured toward the machine at my side and said, “With any luck, this prototype will massively improve our ore output, making us the most efficient mining operation on Mars. You’re all about to witness history unfolding.”
I stepped away from the machine and nodded at my lead engineer, who was poised to begin the dig. The machine screeched to life, its metallic pieces scraping together with spectacular force.
We all watched as the extraction began flawlessly, and I started to unclench my jaw. I was almost ready to claim success.
Then I heard another screech, and I smelled smoke. Another deafening screech followed; half of the outfit was covering their ears with cupped palms.
The next thing I knew, a loud boom sent me rocking back on my heels. I shook my head, dizzy and trying to make sense of what had just happened. When I regained my bearings, I realized part of the prototype had exploded. It had stopped working.
I ran toward the machine, waving away the smoke and red dust that surrounded it. I couldn’t tell precisely what had gone wrong, but it was clear that I’d failed. My stomach sank.
“What happened?” I asked the engineer. “Where did we go wrong?”
He was looking down at a screen, inspecting the digital twin of the prototype in front of us. “We didn’t,” he said. “It was sabotaged.” He zoomed in on a specific section that appeared damaged, but his eyebrows were knit together in confusion.
Through gritted teeth I repeated, “Sabotaged?”
Then a familiar voice rang out from the rattled crowd, “You heard him.” Candi stepped forward, as hot as ever, wearing a gauzy white skirt that I could practically see through. The wind whipped her hair around her face.
“You?” I asked, half-shocked and half-impressed.
She held up a manicured finger to make me pause, then approached me with her comms system, holding the screen out for my view. I saw Dae’ish’s face right away.
Candi pressed play on the message, exposing my assistant for the opportunistic traitor that he really was. I shook my head in disbelief and asked, “So how much did you pay him to take me down?”
She held the screen behind her back to push her bust further in my direction and gave me a pouty smile. “I didn’t,” she said.
I shook my head again, still confused. “You heard my engineer. He said we were sabotaged,” I said.
“We were,” the engineer confirmed.
Candi clicked her tongue and scolded, “You think everything is so black and white. There’s always another way to play the game.”
I took a step back, looking her up and down. “Care to enlighten me?” I finally asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dae’ish glowering; he was clearly plotting an escape route, so I kept a mental note of his whereabouts.
“I made poor, little Dae’ish think I was going to pay him to sabotage your prototype,” Candi began. She strolled over to Dae’ish and ran her fingers down his chest, which made my face feel hot. I clenched my fists. “I convinced him to send me his sabotage plans, so I could be certain my investment would pay off. I told him I’d pay him once it was done.”
I tried to put the pieces together, but I still wasn’t following. Candi sensed my confusion, so she continued, “Since I knew how he planned to sabotage the machine, I had time to show my engineers. They know how to fix what he did.” She was smiling then; she went on, “They found other minor flaws with the design, too—ways they can improve the prototype. If you take my help, it can be fixed in a day and working better than ever.”
By now, I was actively preventing my mouth from hanging open. I knew Candi was smart, but I didn’t realize the level of mastermind calculation she could execute so flawlessly.
I took a deep breath. “Okay,” I said. “Let me see if I’ve got this right. Dae’ish offered to sabotage me if you paid him. You pretended to take the bait, but took his sabotage plans and used them to improve my prototype instead?”
Candi nodded silently, a small smile planted on her lips. I exhaled sharply and called out, “Arrest him!” I pointed in Dae’ish’s direction just as he was trying to make a run for it. When I could see my assistant was in custody, I turned back to Candi. “Thank you,” I said earnestly.
I supposed that maybe she felt indebted to me for saving her life. Perhaps this was her way of repaying me. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more going on here. Even if we weren’t a genetic match, we were clearly drawn to each other.
She started to turn away, but I hooked her by the arm and swung her back around. “Candi,” I said with steady intensity. “Thank you.”
She didn’t say anything, but she gave me a smile like she knew everything there possibly was to know about me. It was like she could see all the way to my core—deeper than even I could see—and she was smiling to let me know it.
I wanted to ask her what all these sidelong glances and knowing stares meant. I needed to know what was next for us, but I couldn’t bring myself to break the silence, and next thing I knew she was turning away once more.
Without consciously deciding to, I threw my arm around her waist to stop her and pulled her close. I could smell the sweet scent of her I’d been missing, and I couldn’t help myself: I pressed my lips against hers. I kissed her with more passion than I knew I was feeling in that moment.
Candi responded with the same intensity. Her body moved against mine—that barely-there skirt sliding against her silky skin so I could feel every crevice. Our lips moved in synchrony and our tongues danced together. I completely lost awareness of everyone else around us.
After a few more moments, I decided I couldn’t take another second of being anywhere but alone with Candi. I laced the fingers of one of my hands through Candi’s blonde hair; I wrapped my other arm around her hips. Then I began to flap my wings, and she giggled against my neck as we glided through the air.
