Of course, no one stayed long. The brides and soldiers were processed in different sections of the building. So, there might be a whole squadron of soldiers on the other side of the wall listening to me have an orgasm all over some alien cock. Who heard me scream? Probably everyone in the building. The tingling after-effects of the orgasm still pulsed in my body. My core clenched, eager for the man’s hard cock to fill me once more. My nipples were hard and my skin was soaked in sweat.
I was supposed to be matched to the perfect alien mate with some high-tech program. But that hadn’t exactly been a test. No, that was more like being tossed into a live-stream adult film.
“Was that the test, the matching protocol I read about?”
Warden Egara raised both brows, a slight grin lifting the right side of her mouth. “Yes.”
“What kind of test was that?” I asked.
She looked over me critically, as if still worried about my health. But my question appeared to ease her worry and the intense crease between her brows relaxed. “Intense, isn’t it?”
That wasn’t the only word I’d use. Incredible. Exhilarating. Overwhelming.
I nodded as I licked my lips. My hands were restrained in the testing chair and I wore the ugliest hospital gown ever to grace the female form. Dark gray with little Interstellar Bride Program insignia all over it, I felt like I was in a psych ward, not an alien dating service.
My nose chose that moment to itch and I sighed, resigning myself to twitching my face to relieve the sensation. I wasn’t surprised by the thick restraints on my wrists and ankles. In fact, I’d grown quite used to them, for I’d been in handcuffs enough over the past few months.
Leaning back in the curved chair, I stared at the ceiling and tried to get my bearings. That dream, God, it had to have been a dream, had been the most amazing thing ever. It was the best dream I’d had since I’d been arrested. In fact, it had been the only dream. Nightmares, on the other hand, haunted me every time I dared close my eyes and try to rest.
“Is the testing over?” I asked. If she needed to do that again, I wouldn’t object.
I rolled my head to the side to watch as she ran her fingers over the small tablet she held. “Yes, the testing is finished.”
“So I’ve been matched?”
She looked up, offered me a quick smile, then glanced at the tablet again. “Yes. To Viken.”
Viken. I’d heard of the small planet that was part of the Interstellar Coalition, but that was all. Earth hadn’t been involved for long and I’d been too busy with legal proceedings and survival to waste time reading about alien civilizations.
She walked to a small desk against the wall on the opposite side of the testing room and sat down. “I need to ask some additional questions to continue your processing. For the record, please state your name.”
“Sophia Antonelli.”
“And the crime for which you were convicted?”
“Fraud. Money Laundering. Forgery. Illegal transport of goods across state lines. Smuggling.” There were a couple more, smaller offenses, but that about covered the laundry list. “Is that sufficient?”
“Yes, that will do.” Warden Egara’s fingers flew across her tablet as she continued. “Are you currently, or have you ever been married?”
“No.” I’d been married to my job, not a man. I'd been an art dealer, nothing exotic. Hell, what could be so harmless about a degree in Art History? Look where that got me. In prison, where the only chance to avoid long, miserable years of confinement meant volunteering to be an alien’s bride.
“Have you produced biological offspring?”
“No.” You had to have sex to get pregnant, and I was living a two-year dry spell.
“For the record, Miss Antonelli, as an eligible, fertile female in your prime, you had two options available to you to serve out your sentence, twenty-five years in the Carswell Penitentiary located in Fort Worth, Texas.”
“No, thank you.” Prison orange was not my color.
Warden Egara smiled patiently and continued on in a monotone voice, as if reading the words. “Or volunteer service in the Interstellar Bride Program. I am pleased to tell you that the system has made a successful match and you will be sent to a member planet. As a bride, you might never return to Earth, as all travel will be determined and controlled by your new planet’s laws and customs. You will surrender your citizenship of Earth and become an official citizen of your new world.”
I hadn’t really thought about that. How could I not be a citizen of Earth? Was that even possible?
My belly clenched as the full impact of my decision settled in my bones. There was a small amount of time each day, seconds really, when I had yet to fully awaken, that I forgot what I’d become. Forgot what the Corellis had done to me and just how far I’d fallen.
“Your convictions carry a twenty-five-year sentence, yet you’ve elected to serve out your sentence under the direction of the Interstellar Bride Program. You have been assigned to a mate per testing protocols and will be transported off-planet, never to return to Earth. Do you understand what this alternative entails?”
“Yes.” I wouldn’t survive a year in prison, let alone two decades. I’d been incarcerated for six months awaiting trial, and that had felt like six years. Any alternative was better than a prison cell. One man. Three. Whatever. The true price was a one-way ticket to outer space. I was going to be just like the brides I’d read about in history books, the mail-order brides sent to the Wild West. I was going on a grand adventure and hoping for the best.