Captivating the Doctor: SciFi Alien Romance (Galactic Courtship Series Book 3) Read online

  Je’lak inhaled deeper as his loins stirred, making him shift his stance. He’d never been drawn to a human woman like this, but she was intriguing. Maybe once he’d secured her assistance for his medical bay, he’d make a move. Je’lak grinned. It wasn’t hard to convince women to share his bed.

  Je’lak turned. It was time to get her back to his ship, and he’d have to remember to stick to the shadows. This planet might have an exponentially rising crime level and a government that was beyond useless, but he didn’t need to risk the chance that someone would miraculously decide to come to the doctor’s aid.

  “This is the doctor?” Je’lak’s pilot, Kynt, sauntered into the shuttle bay and peered through the hatch at the unconscious woman.

  “Yes.”

  “Kind of dainty, isn’t she?”

  Je’lak looked at the small form strapped into the shuttle seat. He wasn’t used to dealing with human women. He had no idea how tall a human woman should be. Was her height normal?

  “They all look small, compared to the Daen’su.”

  Kynt nodded thoughtfully. “Think she can help us?”

  “She’s a doctor.”

  “Uh huh. And you know that for sure?”

  Je’lak gave Kynt a glare. “Her name tag says doctor.”

  “Does it also say she knows how to treat trauma wounds? What if she’s one of those human doctors that deals with their emotions or something?”

  “Did you come down here to piss me off?” Je’lak didn’t need Kynt causing problems. He was on thin ice as it was. “Listen, if you had been ready to pick us up on time, we wouldn’t need a doctor. After we finish this job, I think my next one might be finding a new pilot.”

  Kynt stepped back from the shuttle’s hatch, rubbing his neck and glancing at the ground. “Je’lak, I’m really sorry about that. I had to ditch a security detail…”

  Je’lak cut him off. “I’m not interested in excuses, Kynt. Ji’hun and I almost died back there. Tell Ji’hun we’re on board and prepare to take off. I don’t want to remain on Guit’re any longer than we have to.”

  Kynt stepped out of the shuttle bay, deflated. Je’lak shook his head. Getting rid of Kynt was an empty threat, but he needed the young Daen’su to focus.

  When Je’lak’s last pilot had left, several Daen’su had offered to fill the position, but Je’lak had been amused by the youngest among them, Kynt. He’d been bold, betting that he could finish one of the Daen’su test flight runs in Je’lak’s ship faster than Je’lak himself.

  Je’lak was no lazy captain, and he knew his ship better than anyone, but he’d seen the desperation in Kynt’s eyes to prove himself and get placed on a Daen’su ship. He took the bet, figuring it would at least give the boy a chance to show off to his friends.

  Two hours later, Je’lak was trying hard not to fall down in amazement. With Kynt at the controls, his ship had completely avoided taking any enemy fire. Of course, Je’lak’s balance might also have been to blame for his weak legs – Kynt had pushed the ship past the stabilizer parameters for most of the flight.

  Je’lak shook his head. Kynt was a fine pilot, but maybe he wasn’t ready for this kind of work yet.

  Reaching down, Je’lak released the safety straps around the human woman and scooped her up. As he made his way through the ship to his room, he came across the final member of his team. Ji’hun glanced up from the open panel and gave Je’lak a nod. Fitting the wires into place, he replaced the panel cover and wiped his hands on his pants.

  “Ji’hun, I just sent Kynt up to the bridge. We have what we came for.” Je’lak adjusted the woman resting in his arms, and her head lolled to the side.

  Ji’hun eyed his prize dubiously. “You sure she isn’t dead?”

  “She’s drugged.”

  Ji’hun frowned. “How much did you give her?”

  Now it was Je’lak’s turn to frown. “I wasn’t sure how much to give to a human woman.”

  “So, she could be dead.”

  Je’lak clenched his jaw. Was everyone on his crew going to second-guess him today? “Ji’hun, go to the bridge and make sure Kynt gets us off this planet without attracting the authorities.”

  “Right!”

  Je’lak watched with relief as Ji’hun made his way back to the bridge. He glanced down at the human doctor. “You better not die.”

  Opening the door to his room, Je’lak plopped the still unconscious doctor on his bed. He watched her chest lightly rise and fall. She wasn’t dead, but he must have given her the wrong amount of serum, because she should’ve been coming around by now.

  Lying across his bed, her blonde hair flowing over his pillow, the doctor looked absolutely peaceful – and sexy.

  Je’lak felt his cock shift again. It’d been a long time since he’d had the opportunity to pursue a woman. His life was too busy, one job to the next.

  Je’lak reached down and stroked the doctor’s hair back behind her ear, sending her sweet scent wafting up from the bed. Je’lak smiled. Maybe this job would bring some side benefits along with it.

  Shaking his head, Je’lak left the room and made his way to the bridge. He didn’t have time to wait for her to wake. Too many things had been going wrong today, and he was going to make sure they got off this planet smoothly.

  Chapter 2

  Zoe let out a groan. Her head was throbbing painfully, and there was a dry feeling in her mouth. Zoe tried to reach up to rub her temple, where the pounding was the worst, but her hand didn’t move. She let out another groan and tried turning her head into the pillow, away from the light. Again, nothing. She kept thinking about moving, but her body wasn’t getting with the program. What the hell was going on?

  Suddenly Zoe’s eyes flew open and darted wildly around the room. She remembered now. That jerk, the guy she thought had been trying to help her when she’d been attacked, had injected her with something when she let her guard down. Whatever it was, it seemed to be wearing off slightly. She was awake now, at least.

  Zoe squinted into the light coming down from the ceiling and craned out of the corners of her eyes to see around the room.

  She was in some sort of bedroom, and she could hear a low humming coming from the walls and the floor. It definitely wasn’t her apartment. And there also definitely wasn’t anyone else in here with her.

  Zoe let out the breath she’d been holding. She didn’t know where her captor was, but at least she had some time to try to figure out what she was going to do. And maybe she’d regain control of her body before he returned.

  As she began thinking through her predicament, Zoe tried moving different parts of her body. Perhaps her captor had mistaken her for someone of significance, and once she straightened everything out, he’d release her.

  Zoe tried moving her right hand.

  Or maybe he would think it was easier to just kill her.

  Zoe tried moving her left hand.

  It was possible that her would-be rescuer had intended to kidnap her, Zoe Anderson, but if so, why? She didn’t make enough money or come from a family that would warrant a kidnapping.

  Zoe tried moving her right foot.

  More likely he wanted to sell her on the black market for a few quick credits.

  Zoe tried moving her left foot.

  Walking home alone along the streets of Guit’re had been a stupid idea. Now she’d been kidnapped by some common criminal, and no one was even going to realize she was gone. Her coworkers would think she’d simply taken off on a short vacation. Even John wouldn’t be too surprised if he didn’t hear from her. It wasn’t like they had made definite plans.

  Zoe tried moving her right hand angrily and was surprised by a small twitch. The drug was wearing off! Zoe focused on her right hand and was rewarded after a couple minutes of struggling by being able to move it clumsily. It was similar to trying to move your hand after your arm had fallen asleep. It didn’t move so much as flop, and little pins of pain stabbed all along it.

  After a few more mi
nutes, Zoe was able to bring her hand up to her face, and then to her neck, which was a little sore. Whoever had stuck her with that needle had been in a rush, but at least they hadn’t accidently killed her with the drug they’d used.

  Now all she had to do was get her legs moving. She wouldn’t be able to escape with just her arms, unless she wanted to crawl out of here like a legless zombie.

  Zoe flexed her toes, grimacing in pain as her legs tingled, and then slowly swung her legs over the edge of the bed. No matter what, she was going to get her legs moving, because people with good intentions did not stick other people with needles and then bring them back to their lair.

  Zoe took a deep breath. Her legs were over the edge of the bed, but she wasn’t sitting up yet. It was time to go for it.

  Pushing with her arms, Zoe swayed into a sitting position on the side of the bed. Her head buzzed, and she nearly threw up over her shoes.

  Zoe let her head fall into her hands and breathed deeply for several minutes. She didn’t know where her captor was, but he must not have any cameras in this room. She couldn’t imagine that she could move around like this and not draw attention to herself.

  Glancing down, Zoe was relieved to find her clothes still on her body. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to do her escape butt naked. That would have been embarrassing.

  Zoe heaved herself off the bed and stumbled over to a wall. With a hand braced against it, she allowed her body some time to get used to being in an upright position. As the throbbing in her head dissipated, she gradually made her way to the only door in the room. She was going to escape.

  Provided the door wasn’t locked.

  Zoe pressed a button to the side of the door and was shocked when it actually opened. For the first time since waking up, she could feel some hope creeping in. Maybe she really would be able to escape from the jerk who had taken her.

  Poking her head out of the opening cautiously, Zoe glanced up and down a corridor. The humming that she had noticed in the bedroom was present out here, as well. It reminded her of the sound of the Guit’re transports, or of the shuttle that she had taken across space when she first came to Guit’re.

  Zoe felt her stomach drop. Was she on a space ship?

  Zoe felt some of her hope drain away. If her captor had her on a ship, there was no telling how far he’d taken her from Guit’re.

  Zoe noticed a console not too far away from the cabin door, and she stumbled over to it. Sure enough, the console had a schematic of a ship covering its black surface. The symbols were unfamiliar, but there was a chance it had a verbal interface.

  Zoe cleared her dry throat. “Where am I?” She asked.

  A dot lit up on a section of the ship, and she released the breath she’d been holding. At least she knew where she was on the vessel. Now she just had to hope there was a way off the blasted thing.

  She wished there was time to try to find a medical bay. No serious side effects seemed to be plaguing her, but knowing what she had in her system would relieve some of her stress. Of course, there was no guarantee that this ship had a medical scanner, which she would need for a blood analysis.

  Zoe shook her head. What was she thinking? Searching for the medical bay would delay her escape and increase her chances of getting caught. The drug was definitely still affecting her ability to think straight.

  “Okay, where are the escape pods?” Zoe said to herself. After all, every ship had escape pods.

  Another light lit up on the screen, and Zoe traced a finger across the surface as she figured out the fastest route from her current location. She’d been extremely lucky that no one had come by to check on her yet, but her captor could return at any moment.

  Sucking in a deep breath, Zoe gave each leg a shake. She wasn’t at one hundred percent yet, but she hoped she could handle some quick maneuvering if she ran into anyone. Taking one last look at her route, Zoe headed down the corridor.

  As she made her way across the ship, Zoe peered carefully around corners but didn’t run across anyone. Based on the size of the ship, she had to assume that there were more people on board than just her captor. Where were they?

  Well, if they were too stupid to tie her up, she wasn’t going to waste her opportunity. She was going to get out of here!

  Rounding the last corner, Zoe saw the escape pods right in front of her, as promised by the ship’s map. Her luck couldn’t have been any better!

  Forcing her legs to move quickly, Zoe sprinted over to the pods, smacked her palm against a promising button, and beamed as the door to her escape hissed open. On shaky legs, Zoe tumbled into the pod, and then sighed in relief as the door closed shut behind her.

  A light beeping caught her attention, and she turned to face the mass of alien buttons blinking in different colors on the pod’s panel.

  Which one would send her flying deep into space?

  Zoe cleared her throat.

  “Pod, release.”

  Zoe waited to feel the force of boosters as the pod separated from the ship, but the pod remained stubbornly in place. Apparently the escape pod didn’t have a voice interface. Zoe covered her face with her hands. Who would make an escape pod with such an obvious defect?

  Zoe pressed her fingers to her temples. Her head and her body were throbbing after her sprint, and she didn’t have time to think about what button would send her pod safely into space. Smacking her hands across the board in desperation, Zoe just hoped one of them would eject her correctly without venting her body out of the pod and into space accidentally.

  A beeping noise sounded from above, and then a loud piercing alarm went off in her right ear as the pod began shaking violently. At the last second, Zoe belted herself into a safety harness, and then the pod detached from the ship.

  After the initial force of the ejection, it was surprisingly quiet in the pod. For a moment, Zoe felt a brief spurt of panic. How was she going to get this thing back to Guit’re? Her translator only worked on verbal communication, and she was lucky to have detached from the ship without killing herself. If she pushed any more buttons, she might just open the pod hatch unwittingly and die.

  Zoe leaned back into the seat and closed her eyes. For now, she’d let herself drift through the darkness. She could think through her next steps after the drug wore off some more.

  Je’lak had expected the human doctor to wake quite some time ago. Maybe he’d injected her with the wrong dose of the sleeping serum. He just hoped he hadn’t accidently killed the woman with an overdose. Then he’d have to find another doctor and have a body to get rid of as well.

  “You might want to take a look at this, Je’lak.”

  “What is it?” Je’lak tossed a look over his shoulder to see his companion pointing to a screen.

  “An unauthorized launch of one of our escape pods.”

  It took Je’lak a second to process what Kynt was telling him. “Who’s on it?” He demanded, as he stood to his full height.

  “Give you one guess.” Kynt swiveled in his seat and gave him a grin.

  At Je’lak’s thunderous look, Kynt informed him, “Looks like your kidnapped doctor doesn’t want to be our ship’s physician.” Kynt’s silver eyes continued to dance with amusement, but at least he had stopped grinning like a fool.

  Je’lak found it unbelievable. With the amount of drug he’d given her, and based on her recovery so far, he had thought she’d be knocked out for a lot longer. He definitely hadn’t expected her to go traipsing through his vessel, not when it looked like he might have accidentally killed her. At the very least, he thought she’d be scared out of her wits to find herself on a spaceship and stay in the room after she woke up.

  She was clearly a lot stronger psychically – and mentally – than he gave her credit for.

  “Bring the pod into the shuttle bay, and I’ll go to meet our reluctant doctor.”

  “Have fun,” Ji’hun called out before Je’lak left the bridge.

  Je’lak shook his head. Why couldn’t he hav
e found a regular doctor? He should have waited for someone to exit the hospital in a white coat, maybe a man with a bald spot, or a woman with thick glasses. But no, he saw a woman with a nice body and blond hair who conveniently happened to be a doctor, and now he was going to have to deal with one who didn’t play by the rules.

  As he came up on the shuttle bay, he watched through a view screen as the bay doors opened and scooped up the escape pod his human doctor had stolen.

  Je’lak waited until the large doors of the shuttle bay closed, and then he slammed his hand against the door pad to enter the room.

  The escape pod looked tiny in such a large space, which was normally used to carry large cargo for their clients. Their current cargo, however, was small and lying unconscious in the medical bay, hence their need for a skilled human physician.

  If his human doctor was well enough to try an escape attempt, it was time he got her working on their patient. If her hands and mind were occupied, she might not try escaping again.

  The pod’s door popped open, and he watched as Doctor Anderson threw herself out, nearly tripping over the door hatch.

  Catching herself, the doctor swiveled on a heel to face in his direction, and her blonde hair swirled lightly around her shoulders. Je’lak watched as his captive realized she was right back where she had started. Her face fell briefly, but he gave her credit as she stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. Even at a disadvantage, his brave little doctor didn’t quit, it seemed.

  Zoe should have known that her short flight couldn’t have gotten her very far from the ship. She couldn’t help her disappointment, though. Nor could she ignore the tingle of fear that hit her when she stumbled out of the pod and nearly fell over at the feet of her kidnapper.

  He towered over her, probably six and a half feet tall at least. As she looked up – and up – she forgave herself for being so easily overcome on Guit’re. The figure before her wasn’t bulky, but she could tell that every inch of him was muscle, hidden behind a thin and narrow frame. His stance suggested excellent balance and a sense of preparedness, as if ready to defend himself at any moment, and Zoe could tell he was an experienced fighter.