Precious Starlight (Quads of Galafrax Book 3) Read online

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 Angela Castle

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-037-3

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: JC Chute

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  For the fans who kept the whip cracking to get his book finished. Thank you to my friends who help me flesh out some of the more difficult plot points.

  PRECIOUS STARLIGHT

  Quads of Galafrax, 3

  Angela Castle

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  No matter how Daisy Putter looked at it, there was no win-win scenario. In fact, it appeared to be all lose-lose. She didn’t know what was worse: that she’d been kidnapped by aliens, along with a group of other women, or that the two remaining women in the cages either side of her were complete and utter twits.

  Sure, she had sympathy for them. Who in their right mind enjoyed being abducted by aliens, or put ‘on sale’ in space, millions of light-years from home? Right now, all they could hope for was to be bought by someone kind enough not to hurt them.

  The prospect of ever being rescued? Zero to none.

  “I still don’t understand,” said Stacy, the leggy blonde with the perky fake breasts. In fact, Daisy doubted there was much on the woman’s body that wasn’t artificial. The woman whined in Daisy’s right ear, sounding like nails scraping down a chalkboard. No doubt, back on Earth all she had to do was bat her eyelids, pucker her collagen-enhanced lips, and men would fall at her feet.

  “It’s clear I’m beautiful. I’m not short or fat, like some people.” Her gaze slid to Daisy who rolled her eyes, ignoring the direct insult. “Perfect people are always higher targets for kidnapping. So, why did they take her?”

  The brunette on Daisy’s left, Peta, had an ass you could bounce a coin off, her skin a lovely shade of ebony. Her teeth were gleaming examples, like those seen in dental care ads. Daisy slid another glance at her perfectly perky tits and heaved a heavy sigh.

  Talk about the daisy among the thorny roses.

  “Stacy, we talked about this before. It’s our colours. It has to be why they chose us, not just because we’re more attractive than others, or they wouldn’t have abducted her,” Peta said, motioning to Daisy. “We can’t all be perfect. You have lovely golden hair. I have rich chocolate brown. The others had black and red coloured hair. But I have no idea what to call her colour.”

  “Albino,” Daisy added to the conversation, more for her own benefit. Daisy shrugged. It was true: her long white hair had no colour at all. Her parents had named her Daisy when she’d been born with stark white hair and pale skin. Attempting to get a tan, besides one in a spray bottle, always left her blotchy and red. She simply had to accept the fact she was colourless, plain and overweight.

  Stacy snorted in an un-ladylike way. “Still, fat people have no business being─”

  “Abducted? Oh, trust me, Blondie. I’d love for you to have all the fun. I’ll just head back to Earth, put my feet up and have a cuppa and a hot doughnut.”

  Daisy’s empty stomach chose at the same time to make its protest at not being fed known, with a loud growl.

  Stacy screwed up her face at Daisy. “You are disgusting.”

  “Better than trying to find a single brain cell in your head,” Daisy muttered under her breath, rubbing her stomach.

  “I heard that. You fat, ugly pig.”

  Oh dear, Stacy was in full, PMS bitch-mode again. Mind you, she’d been bitching on and off for what seemed like an eternity since they’d been abducted.

  Daisy had connected with one of the women, Ruby. She was about the same size, not to mention one of the more sensible women among them. The kinship helped them both through the trauma of their situation. Sadly, Ruby had been sold off to some creepy fish-like creature.

  Rather than give in and verbally spar with a brainless halfwit, Daisy just sighed again, resting her head against the back bars of the cage and trying to imagine herself back at home, her feet tucked into her Garfield slippers, sipping hot chocolate.

  Daisy owned a bakery in a small country town in South Australia. She’d been on her way to work, a short seven-minute walk from her house to the shop, at two in the morning when out of the blue she’d been paralysed by some weird, blindingly bright white light. She’d passed out, only to wake up naked, with a heap of crying and completely freaked-out women surrounding her.

  For what seemed like days, they’d been left with only water until, one by one, they’d had collars snapped around their necks and been dragged from their cages, only to be put on sale.

  Buyers had come and gone, and it whittled down to only Daisy, Stacy and Peta, the bottom of the slave barrel.

  “What I wouldn’t give for a hot bath and a massage at a salon.” Stacy started up again. “My nails are completely ruined.”

  Daisy didn’t know what she had to do to get sold, but she was willing to try anything if it got her away from Stacy, the spoilt salon queen.

  BOOM! Daisy’s head snapped as the ground under them shook violently. Her eyes widened as the door, which led out to the auction room, exploded in a spectacular fireball. She flinched as burning debris flung outwards and rained down on their cages.

  “Clear!” A deep voice boomed. In raced a dozen huge red men with black hair, in black uniforms, holding some kind of glowing blue weapons, which they briefly aimed at the women before lowering them.

  Daisy winced, covering her ears as Peta and Stacy screamed at a pitch that could shatter glass and liquefy internal organs.

  The big red men backed off. Daisy was more curious than afraid, and she tilted her head and blinked. Was she seeing double, triple even? Why did so many of the men look alike? Were they clones or something?

  One of the non-clones handed his weapon to one of the four clones standing just behind him, before approaching the cages and kneeling down.

  “It will be all right, pretty human females. We are not here to harm you, but rescue you.”

  His gaze swept from Stacy, to her, to Peta before coming back to Daisy. She guessed it was because she was the only non-hysterical one of the three.

  “Who the hell are you?” Daisy blurted out.

  “I am Commander Loz Stormstrong, and we,” he motioned to the men standing behind him, “…are Demos, from the planet Galafrax.”

  She fixed him with an 'are-you-stupid' stare. “As if I have a clue what any of that means.”

  His grin widened.

  “Shut up, Daisy!” hissed Stacy, no longer hysterical.

  The commander, for a big red alien with big bulging muscles, was rather handsome and all the clones, in one way or another, appeared clean-cut with good looks.

  “We have human females living on our planet, and human women are now a protected species under our laws. Let’s get you all out of these.” Loz went to work on the lock on Daisy's cage while two others, accompanying Loz, worked on Stacy’s and Peta’s.

  They yanked open the doors and Loz held out his hand to Daisy.

  “You have the colour of starlight in the vastness of space. So beautiful!”

  Less than impressed with his flatter
y, she snorted, but was happy to get the hell out of the cage. She didn’t miss the way the Demos men’s gazes slid over their bodies before they were covered with blankets, seemingly appearing from nowhere.

  “Take them to the ship and the medical bay. Make sure they are unharmed.”

  She watched as Peta and Stacy were swept off their feet by the big red guys and carried back through the still smouldering hole in the wall.

  She could see it in his eyes, he was going to try and lift her too. Daisy quickly yanked back, almost stumbling, but Commander Loz caught her by the arm.

  “Don’t you dare try to lift me. I can walk by myself.”

  “All Demos soldiers are strong. You are so small. I have been ordered to keep you safe, and there is burning debris on the floor. I will not allow your feet to be hurt.”

  With the lack of food making her light-headed, and his little speech making sense, she conceded, nodding her consent. The commander puffed out his chest for a moment before bending slightly, hoisting her up into his arms.

  Oh boy, is he trying to impress me? Daisy shifted awkwardly, hooking her hands around his neck, frowning in puzzlement.

  “Why do your, ah, soldiers look the same?”

  “You are seeing my quad soldier teams. My brothers are still on the ship, as they have different duties. Understand, every male Demos is born in sets of identical quads.”

  Now, there was something to blow her mind. “Every Demos male?”

  “Every single one.”

  “What about your women?”

  He carried her through the doorway, and she glanced about to see Demos soldiers in all directions. Their gazes turned, falling on her as Commander Loz passed them.

  “They are born singular.”

  She giggled, feeling rather ridiculous. In fact, everything she’d been through was utterly ludicrous.

  “Four brothers and one girl? That seems a little uneven. How do your women choose one of the brothers from the others?”

  “They don’t. On Galafrax, it is one set of quads to one female. It is the way it has always been.”

  “Oh, wow! Four to one.”

  Commander Loz gave her a bright smile.

  “So are you taking us, uh, human women back to Earth?”

  “I am sorry, my lovely lady––we’ve been able to free you, but we will be taking you back to Galafrax to live on our planet. Take heart: our planet treasures females, as soon you will see for yourself. Many Demos quads will vie for your hand, wanting you as their sheraz, as you are beyond beautiful.”

  Okay, now she knew she was hallucinating. Daisy burst out in full-fledged hysterical laughter, as she realized: one woman, four men.

  “Crap.” The reality set in and her head spun. “I can’t marry four men!” she screeched, before passing clean out.

  * * * *

  “Holy ice plains, we’ve got them!”

  Bex burst into the room, his gaze skimming over the interior of the healing bay to land on the women lying on the beds. His excitement rose. “Three! We get to choose, right?”

  “Bex.”

  He heard the warning growl of his older brother Cir, but Bex simply ignored him, moving in closer to inspect the beauties laid out.

  The first one had light golden hair with tanned skin. He cocked his head at the way her bones seemed to protrude way through her skin. Odd how gaunt she appeared, even with full, ripe chest mounds. Bex's nose wrinkled and he shook his head. She seemed far too much like a Demos female for his liking.

  Another had dark hair with darker brown skin. He liked the gleam of her long curly brown hair, but she was also small, narrow-waisted with smaller chest mounds.

  His gaze fell on the last one, and his heart rate sped up. Oh yeah … He drank in her lush, full figure, pale skin and white hair, like the snow-caps of the ice plains: utterly mesmerizing. Lush, full chest mounds and equally full hips, thighs, and shapely legs. Bex sighed, drinking her in. She was perfect.

  His gaze darted back to her face, her lips full and pale pink, and he licked his own in anticipation of how sweet they would taste when he kissed her.

  “Whoa up there, little brother.” Cir gripped his shoulder, shoving him back.

  He glared at his third-eldest brother, the healer and, well, pretty much the softie of the family. Healers were always weak-hearted.

  “I want her.” Bex’s whole body throbbed to feel her under him, his rod lengthening to almost overwhelming, painful hardness.

  Oh yes, she’s our one.

  Cir glanced over his shoulder at the pale-haired human female. No doubt his brother wasn’t unaffected by her radiant beauty. He heaved a heavy sigh.

  “No one’s having anyone. They're still recovering from their ordeal. The Jorval have not treated them with proper care. They are malnourished, suffering from exhaustion and shock.”

  “But we can have her, can’t we, after she’s recovered?” Bex stared at his brother expectantly, giving his best 'I’m-the-youngest-so-spoil-me' look.

  “No, Bex––we can’t have her.”

  Damn fire demons. Bex winced at his older brother’s barked-out order, clear as the windows on the temple Qui.

  He turned to face Commander Loz, the oldest and most annoying. Bex straightened, giving his brother the due respect of his rank.

  “Commander, I assumed because we rescued them we could—”

  “The human females are under our protection and have the same rights as Demos females. You will respect them in every manner. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Very. I never meant any disrespect, brother. But after––well, Ruby––I thought maybe given the chance, we could persuade a human female to be ours. And this one is most beautiful.”

  Bex moved a fraction to his left to allow his brother to gaze down on the sleeping human female while blocking the others from view.

  Having three older quad brothers, Bex had learned early on how to manipulate a situation to his, and their, best advantage.

  “You carried her in here, so what did she feel like in your arms? She looks so soft. Her skin: smooth, was it?” Bex moved to stand beside Loz. All three of them gazed down on her.

  Loz drew in a shuddering breath before stiffening and shaking his head. Bex felt his hold slipping.

  “I’m under orders. Leave now, Bex. I won’t put up with any of your games. When they are recovered, they will be free to choose who they want.”

  “I do care, brother, for their health, their well-being. I’ll even take a shift as guard with Tos.”

  Loz’s black eyebrow quirked, but Cir snorted. “What he wants is to get into her pants.”

  “You have no point, Cir. She has no pants to get into.”

  Loz’s lips quirked up. “Very well, prove yourself a capable guard, even if it’s menial duties.”

  “What? You don’t think me capable of being a serious guard?” Bex knew he should feel offended, but shrugged it off.

  “I think he is extremely capable of guarding from others, something he wants,” Cir put in, turning back to check all the monitors over the sleeping females. “You have to admit, this one will be much desired. She is unique.”

  Loz let out a frustrated sigh and Bex hid his grin, knowing his brother was relenting.

  “Very well. Guard them––all three. You’ll take shifts with Roy and Bra, Hep and Non. We’re limiting their contact with crew. There’s been too much grumbling in the ruling over soldiers taking the human females as their sheraz before they even reach Galafrax. Once we’ve rescued the other human females, I am determined to deliver most of them unmated to Galafrax.”

  In his mind, Bex rubbed his hands with utter glee. ‘Most of them’ didn’t mean he couldn’t try to persuade her, this one little moonbeam, and his brothers they could have their own sheraz.

  Bex saluted. Loz just rolled his eyes, turned on his heel and marched out the door.

  Cir glanced over his shoulder at him. “You’re a sneak, Bex.”

  Bex shrugged, allowing
his grin freedom. “Yeah, but you know this time it’ll be worth it, considering the prize at stake.”

  “You know, just this once,” Cir held up his middle finger, a small smile on his lips, “you may be right.”

  Bex stared down at the peacefully sleeping female. “So, do you know her name?”

  Chapter Two

  Daisy licked her dry lips, groaning as she rolled over, and grabbed the lovely scented pillow, trying to snuggle deeper under the warm blankets. On her days off from the bakery, she liked to sleep late and hang about in her flat, wearing her fuzzy slippers. Also, she loved reading spicy erotic romance on her Kindle while sipping hot chocolate.

  Yeah, so she had no life, and had given up on dating. With her short plump figure, nearly every man glanced over her white hair at the taller, more attractive women. Hell, one of her dates had even called her a pale freak. To which she’d tossed a drink in his face and taken her fat arse home.

  Mmmm, hot chocolate. Was it her day off? She couldn’t remember past the nightmares of being kidnapped by aliens and then rescued by big, sexy, human-like aliens with toffee apple red skin. Mmmm, toffee apples. Damn, she was hungry.

  Prying her eyelids apart, she stared into the strange, dimly lit room. Red tones lined the walls, criss-crossed with sleek sliver lines.

  Ooh-kay, so she wasn’t in her bedroom. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, the silky sheet slipping down her naked torso. She glanced down at her pale naked flesh. Ah crap, it wasn’t just a nightmare after all.

  A sudden high-pitched scream to her right made her wince and turn her head to see Stacy sitting up, her white blonde hair half-sticking up, mussed in sleep.

  Daisy blinked as two red men, taller than six feet, barrelled into the room, cooing at and trying to placate the freaked-out woman.

  They were Demos, she recalled from the brief conversation she’d had with Commander Loz, who’d been suspiciously eager to carry her.