Bride Games

By Yamila Abraham

Ex-soldier Lenora Winquest is determined to escape the alien slave colony no matter what the cost. Her disobedience angers her predominantly male alien overseers, who are trying to breed humans so they can intermarry with them. Lenora, and willful women like her, are sent to the Bride Games. If they win they will be granted their freedom. If they lose they must willingly and graciously accept marriage to an alien nobleman.

Alien Viceroy Lysanter wants no part of these hideous games. Their lack of females caused them to wage a brutal war with Earth that ended horribly for both races. He knows the humans despise his kind, and the females are particularly fearful. When the games organizer offers him a slave named Lenora as a bride he’s initially repulsed by the idea. Then he realizes that her military programming has left her with an irrational fear of his kind that causes her to take dangerous risks. Lenora has suffered in her desperation to escape them.

Perhaps, if he can convince her to accept him, he can give her a better life?

Lysanter becomes determined to court Lenora throughout the games with the goal of persuading her to forfeit.

A riveting erotic one-shot novella by the author of Alien’s Bride!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yamila Abraham
• Release date: Aug 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311686060

Yamila Abraham

Yamila Abraham founded the publishing company Yaoi Press in 2004. Over the last decade she's overseen the publication 50 Boy's Love titles including graphic novels, comic books, novels, and art books. Abraham has successfully licensed Yaoi Press titles into several foreign languages.Abraham is a prolific writer with over a dozen graphic novel and novels in print with four different publishers. She wrote two of Yaoi Press' best selling series: Winter Demon and Dark Prince. She's written hundreds of novels, both yaoi and science fiction romance, that have been translated into foreign languages. Her first scholarly article on the topic of international BL was published by McFarland Press in 2010. Abraham currently works diligently on numerous illustrated ebooks through Yaoi Press' newest imprint, Yaoi Prose. Abraham has been a speaker or guest of honor at 150 anime fan conventions.

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Bride Games

by

Yamila Abraham

Cover by Archie the Redcat, Edited by Michelle Henson

Copyright © 2014 Yamila Abraham. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

***

DEAR FRIENDS, please don’t share this ebook online. Piracy has absolutely devastated my ability to make a living. I beg you to please not post this or any of my works online. Thanks so much to everyone who has supporting me with a legal purchase.

***

Viceroy Lysanter exited his palace bedroom and headed for the broad stairs that led down to the ministerial offices. His long dark hair, encircling two vertical horns, was still damp from his shower. He wore the simplest version of his uniform: a close-fitting dark mesh with attached armor. His slave Hester, a six-limbed Dornovonian, scampered from a side corridor to greet him.

Good morning, master, the cheerful being said.

Ah, Hester. Lysanter descended the stairs. What’s up first for today?

The Bride Games, master. The organizer is waiting for you.

Lysanter felt a stitch in his diaphragm. Oh. That. He expelled a deep breath and entered his office.

The games organizer rose to greet him. The man was a Dak-Hiliah, the same as Lysanter, with blue skin decorated by noble red markings. He had less of Lysanter’s muscular bulk since his position did not require the measure of intimidation Lysanter’s traditionally did.

Minister Danfet, Lysanter said, simultaneously clearing his throat and dropping into his chair behind a massive polished stone desk.

Good morning, good morning! I trust you’re excited. The games are set to begin tomorrow.

Lysanter picked up his tablet and scrolled through a list of headlines in the Dornovonian language. I was tolerant, but now I’m annoyed. Why have you come to see me?

Danfet formed a patient smile. We’ve completely rehabilitated the derelict arena. There’s even a new commerce area at the front entrance. You should come see.

This got him too look up from his tablet. Having the arena useful again would be a boon to the Dornovonians. Still…

I’ll have a tour after these…games.

They’re not so terrible, are they?

Lysanter tapped a headline on his tablet while attempting to maintain an even tone. You’re making sport out of a deplorable situation.

That’s not how I see it. He crossed his legs. We’re giving self-destructive slaves a way to become resigned to their fates.

Lysanter eyed him. What if they win? Or am I to assume the game is rigged in our favor.

Absolutely not. Our engineers designed the games to be difficult but achievable. A rigged game would defeat the purpose. The women need to know they had a fair chance at freedom.

Are you really going to let them free?

If they win? Of course. Danfet looked affronted by the insinuation. That solves the problem they’re causing in its own way. We get to remove these rebellious slaves from the breeding colony so they can no longer stir up trouble.

Lysanter fumed. Remove them to where? The wilds of planet Earth?

Worse than that. Wilds suggest viable flora and fauna. The forests these slaves keep running to are practically devoid of resources. Danfet threw up his hands. But that’s what they choose. That’s the freedom they’re demanding.

He grimaced and picked up his tablet again. I want nothing to do with this. Now kindly excuse me. I’ve a great deal of work to see to.

Danfet wet his lips. Actually, Lord Lysanter, there’s a matter I need to broach with you.

He made a low grumble. What matter?

Danfet pulled a tablet out of the satchel he’d set on the floor. He thumbed through it quickly. The matter of Lenora Winquist. He set the tablet before Lysanter.

On the screen was the picture of a female human well past the minimum breeding age. She had thick tendrils of blonde hair and bangs splayed over part of her sun-ravaged face. The woman’s youth was markedly visible from her grey, fawn-like eyes. Lysanter was struck by the beauty of the woman—this, despite how her jaw was set hard in defiance.

Her grey eyes were perhaps once blue. Lysanter saw in them a level of hardship she could have likely spared herself. He found himself touched by this. Indeed, all his annoyance at the games organizer evaporated. He was mesmerized by the story in the woman’s face.

Lovely, isn’t she? Danfet said.

Lysanter closed his gaping mouth. I…haven’t seen many humans.

They always catch us off guard with their beauty. You’d think one of our rare Dak-Hiliah females are as beautiful as it can get, then you see a human.

Lysanter’s annoyance returned. What about her?

She’s unclaimed.

Meaning?

Meaning she agreed to take part in the games but doesn’t have a husband in line to claim her if she loses.

Lysanter’s brow grew furrowed with anger. He managed to hide the irritating glimmer of hope that swelled in his chest. The viceroy of Dornovonia was not so easily manipulated.

Danfet made the patient smile again, but this time struggled to produce it. Lord Lysanter, why haven’t you taken a human wife? Your status gave you the right to marry and breed during the first two human collections.

Lysanter’s lips parted yet again. Outrageous! Danfet risked having his wretched games canceled and getting exiled from Dornovonia for daring to pry into his personal life. The small man was too confident in his audacity, however. He was withholding something—something which no doubt allowed him the privilege of such boldness. Lysanter considered his words carefully.

All right. He leaned back and tipped up his nose. I’ll humor you. I have no interest in sharing my life with an unwilling slave who despises me.

Of course. You’re compassionate, just like your predecessor Lord Elentinus was. That’s why the High Council picked you to govern this obedient slave world. They knew you wouldn’t be cruel to them.

Lysanter resumed glaring at him and waited.

And that’s why…that’s why I think you’d be the perfect mate to this Lenora human. She’s not a bad person, just misinformed. She needs someone to convince her that we’re not monsters. Someone to teach her that she doesn’t have to fight us anymore. It’s going to take a compassionate man like you to get through to her.

I see. So I’ll be this woman’s hero and savior, and we’ll live happily from then, right? That’s such unmitigated dross. It never works that way in reality. This woman doesn’t want my help. She doesn’t want a damned thing to do with any of us.

But she’s still overcoming her programming.

For Pakpo’s sake—what’s that supposed to mean?

She’s ex-military.

Lysanter groaned.

"She was programmed to fruitlessly resist us during the war, and now that it’s over she can’t make herself stop resisting. She’s obsessed with getting free, just as they taught her. The slave colony on Earth is a most civilized place. They have near complete autonomy, yet she still thinks it’s better to live like an animal in the woods. If she hasn’t escaped then she’s plotting to, and