Stolen: Blue Barbarian, #5

By Rena Marks

I was known as the responsible one in my country. So responsible, I was rewarded with a paid vacation, where I was one of a dozen abducted females, with one difference. I didn't understand.   (Book 5 in the Blue Barbarian series. This is NOT your Ice Planet Barbarians. ?)

 

Abducted by aliens and taken to a barbaric new planet is hard enough. It's even more difficult when you don't speak anyone's language—not that of the strange, blue barbarians native to the land, nor that of the other humans stolen from Earth.

 

But this is my chance to make a different life for myself. A life where no one knows I delivered babies for a living—the responsibility I gladly took on until stolen by gray aliens during an abduction with a dozen other females. To know in my country, I alone was the village midwife, solely responsible for life and death situations. No, this is my time for a career change.

 

Until the first hybrid baby is born, and my destiny suddenly smacks me in the face.

 

More in the Blue Barbarian Series:

Book 1 - Abducted
Book 2 - Stranded
Book 3 - Taken
Book 4 - Captive
Book 5 - Stolen
Book 6 - Betrayed

If you like blue barbarians, try my Xeno Sapiens in the Genetically Altered Humans Series!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rena Marks
• Release date: Jan 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781540151506

Rena Marks

Welcome to my Worlds! Rena Marks is a bestselling author with over eighty-five novels under her belt. She combines her love of science fiction with paranormal romance because no matter what happens in real life, a happy-ever-after never disappoints. Come get lost in my worlds for a few hours!

Book preview

Chapter One

Valencia

QUICK NOTE: If you enjoy Stolen, be sure to check out Betrayed, the next in the Blue Barbarian series at the end of Valencia’s read. Enjoy!

Strong blue arms hold me close while I sleep. I’m spooned against my favorite warm, hard body and it is truly the best place in the world. While I may miss my family and friends, it seems like such a lifetime ago. That lifetime may be over, but it molded me for this new one.

Here I have a new family and friends. If truth be known, these friends are my family. They’re true friends, not the friends I was used to. The users. The ones who called me a bruja behind my back, yet begged me to deliver their babies when the time came.

This planet makes me happy. I’m in it for the long haul and with Atareek by my side, a sexy blue alien man native to this barbaric planet, I feel invincible. It wasn’t always that way, though.

I was terrified when I first woke up on the Drurian spacecraft of little gray aliens. I thought I was dreaming, but as time went on, a niggling terror told me this wasn’t a dream. It had been my first visit to the United States, and I didn’t know a lick of English. It was just by chance that I was even given the opportunity to travel there.

I lived in a tiny village near the Mayan ruins. Women were brought to me from all sorts of unsafe distances just to have their babies delivered by me. Not everyone in our country can afford hospitals, and even if they could, the vast majority would still prefer my services. But my life was changed forever by an American woman.

Her husband’s job had transferred him to Mexico to oversee a building project, but it was taking longer than he expected. His pregnant wife wasn’t due yet, but the longer the project took, the closer it was getting to her time. She’d come to see me because she was preparing for a just-in-case scenario.

She’d brought her housekeeper, who translated for us.

"Curandera, she is willing to pay you well to come live on the resort for the next couple of months. There is no guarantee that she will have her child, but you will be paid for vacationing by her side," Socorro said.

I’d smiled gently. Please tell her that is impossible. I have way too many clients to leave for a couple of months. I have never taken a vacation, and I do not see the need.

She is terrified of hospitals, especially those in strange countries.

I am sorry, but labor takes a great while. If she would like, she is welcome to send for me when she feels her first pain. I cannot promise that I can drop everything and leave, but I will do my best.

She really wants you, Socorro whispered. She is a nice lady. She has heard the story of the baby Hector, where the cord was wrapped around his neck. And how you saved him from the brain damage that was sure to occur.

I hate rumors, I confided. They grow bigger and better and make me out to be some sort of magical goddess that I simply cannot live up to.

But truth be known, I do have a magical touch with childbirth. And I have saved many newborns from an inescapable fate they would have faced at a hospital.

She is terrified beyond belief. This is her third pregnancy. She carried the other two infants to full term and lost them due to labor complications.

Just then the American woman babbles something out, and Socorro’s eyes widen. She is offering more money than you will ever see in your lifetime. And says that if you wish, she will pay for your education to become a doctor.

I live simply and I enjoy my life, so I shook my head. I do not need money. And I am accomplishing safe child birthing without medical certification now. I believe we have lost the way with modern medicine. My mothers and babies are healthier and happier by doing things the old way, without the bright lights and sterile rooms of hospitals. The births are less stressful and things do not go as wrong as they do under a doctor’s care.

Socorro repeated my refusal, and the American looked dejected. I felt sorry for her, but I couldn’t forego all the village women for just one. Even if they do whisper about me when I walk by.

Tell her I am sorry, and my best offer is that she can send for me when her time comes.

Socorro nodded, but before she could begin repeating the translation, the woman gasped. She clutched her belly, and fluid ran down the expensive pink fabric of her pants.

It appears she will get her wish, I’d said, matter-of-factly. You will need to stay and translate.

The infant was small but healthy as he wailed. I had dispatched village youths back to the resort to notify her husband about what had happened.

The mother was beyond ecstatic. Tears covered her face as she rubbed the newborn’s back, pressing his tiny naked body closer to her warmth.

She wants to know why he is not eating, Socorro said.

Tell her he still carries nutrients from the umbilical cord. He will not feel hunger right away. He has enough nourishment for a long while. My lips tightened. That was another hospital misguidance, making women feel as though they are inadequate because an infant does not latch onto the breast immediately after birth. Hunger is what brings out the newborn’s latching instinct, not a mother’s adequacy or lack thereof. Still, so many mothers are chastised by the educated doctors that they feel guilt, and when forced, the child does latch. But frustration grows because the wan sucking does not release the beginning milk immediately. Then the mother’s stress hormones kick in, preventing more release of milk. It is a vicious cycle.

I continued with my instructions. He is small due to being born so early. He needs constant warmth and cuddling. But he is healthy. Tell her not to worry about that.

A hospital would have incubated the infant, providing the warmth, but changing his sleeping pattern with bright lights and lack of human touch. Eventually, the interrupted sleep cycles would cause other issues, nervous disorders and chemical imbalances in the brain. The child would be diagnosed as hyperactive and would be medicated. A waste of a normal delivery. However, doctors were convinced they knew more than me, a backwoods midwife.

Her husband is brought into the hut, and he never had time to change from the expensive three-piece business suit he wore to work that morning. Someone provided him with suitable shoes, however. My roads were not paved, and I imagine his dress shoes would have been slippery against the mud and gravel. With tears in his eyes, he kissed his wife, and they jabbered back and forth. Socorro moved closer to me.

He cannot believe this child is healthy. He was sure they were going to lose another. Especially as she was not due for another four weeks. He is telling her that they need to hurry for the hospital. She is refusing because she says she is not exposing the baby to all those sick germs when there is no need. Socorro smiled. She has listened to your instructions well. The baby is perfectly healthy but small.

Her husband calmed down as he continued playing with the baby, putting his pinky finger in the little one’s tiny fist.

I imagine they will stay a couple of days, I said.

They did more than that. They sent for food from the resort and fed the entire village where I lived. People had never eaten so well. I’d imagined the whispers behind my back would lessen after this birth.

I kept in contact with the American, Lori—Socorro always present—for the next several months while her husband finished his project. Together, we watched her baby grow fatter and bigger. Finally, on the last day, Lori pressed an envelope of papers into my hands.

She knows you do not wish medical training, Socorro said. But she says this is a passport and plane ticket and plenty of cash. She wishes for you to visit her in the States whenever you would like. An all-expense paid trip.

I had grown attached to the chubby little imp who suckled at her breast, so I agreed. Two months later, I spent two weeks in the States. It was on that return trip home when I was abducted by monsters.

The limousine dropped me off at the hotel, where I was supposed to relax before my return flight. There were several hours until takeoff, so I decided to walk the gardens.

There were herbs in the hotel garden—rosemary, thyme, and sage. Even a bit of mint. It was a hybrid plant, and I couldn’t tell if it was peppermint or spearmint. But for some reason, my stomach had been anxious all day. I was more than ready to return home, no doubt about that. As I sat and tried to relax, the acids in my stomach churned. An uncomfortable tingle burned the back of my neck.

I decided to meditate—to pray—to the Mayan gods for protection. I reached for a piece of mint to chew and settle my stomach. Then I closed my eyes.

A whoosh swept through my stomach. I opened my mouth to gasp, and was surprised when I did not hear the influx of air. Slowly I opened my eyes.

The air all around me was a deep, dark red, and I hovered about ten feet over the bench in the herb garden. I remembered thinking I must have been having a vision during my meditation, though I didn’t recall slipping into the meditative state yet.

The protective qualities of the mint in my mouth calmed me, despite the vision seeming so real. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

It was the last thing I remembered.

Atareek—the love of my life—senses my racing heartbeat, and he stirs. His large hand moves up from my waist to cup my breast, and he kisses the top of my head. There is a rattling at the doorway before a head juts in through the curtain we use as doors.

Valencia. The throaty female voice is a low whisper. Niki is in labor.

The only one who knows of my past is Tessa. She and I became friends and were originally going to share a cave together, but I moved in with Atareek instead. She was left with Miranda and Cammie, but now has mated and moved in with Tijar and Jeroc.

I open an eye, turning in Atareek’s strong arms even as he turns to see who is at our door.

She’s having difficulty? I ask.

She nods. It’s her nerves mostly. Being the first one to have a hybrid baby. And she thinks the gestation is too early, which has sent her into a panic. Reverent mother thinks the baby’s breach. And—Tessa breathes deep— Miranda suspects the cord may be twisting around the baby’s neck.

That is enough reason for Tessa to break her promise about not revealing my past. While I had never forced the promise from her, it was understood between us that only a priority would extract that.

I’m sorry, she says.

I smile to reassure her. It’s all right. Part of me knew it had to come out eventually. I guess I just wanted to have a longer reprieve. But that was selfish of me. I’ve had over a year off from delivering babies.

Come in and wait, Tessa, Atareek says, slipping from the furs without a qualm. Nudity is a way of life for Blaedonians, but Tessa averts her eyes. I know why—she has a heightened sex drive and tries hard to be respectful of others.

I kiss Atareek. He is the sweetest man on the planet. He kisses me back before dressing and brings me my clothes. I dress quickly, tying a leather band around my breasts to act as a bra. My breasts are larger than most, even though we all have less body fat after living on this planet for a year. But heredity follows me, and I am shaped like Tessa. We both have large breasts, tiny waists, and curvy hips, good for birthing. Like Tessa, I may never choose to have children. Niki, on the other hand, is smaller. Athletic. And this will be a large baby if the size of his father means anything.

I turn so Tessa can tie my leather band at my back. Normally Atareek does it and when he’s off hunting, I tie it in front. But I prefer it tied in back, it’s more comfortable.

I wondered how you kept the girls in line, she murmurs, looking down at her own large breasts.

I will give you one of my bras, I laugh. Atareek will make me more.

Anything you wish, he confirms, bringing me a flask of water and a toothbrush branch. It’s a small, hand-sized branch with stiffened outgrowth like bristles on one end. It’s not toothbrush shaped, more like a large cotton swab. But it foams nicely, and during the summer months, we chew a leaf that tastes like mint. I brush my mouth quickly, and he brings me a bowl to spit in. I tie my long hair up in a ponytail on top my head and kiss my man. I really don’t know what I’d do without him.

I’m as ready as I’ll