Island Girls 2 Page 19

  "Jayla," I addressed the only woman that could possibly recognize the place. "This pathway might not have received much use until recently. Is it possible that your people started opening this gate after you were taken?"

  "I guess," she replied, still confused by the scene. "If so, something unprecedented must have happened. Maybe I wasn't the only one taken from my community that day."

  I turned to see Delilah's reaction to the statement. "Don't look to me for answers, Joah," she said, still appearing to be in too good of a mood. She must really hate that boat.

  "Should we knock?" Lin suggested.

  The looming doors had no heavy knockers, or any other way of announcing our presence like a bell on a rope. I borrowed Nevenah's spear, which she was happy to part with, and tapped against wooden barrier. Hopefully, someone on the inside would hear it.

  After thirty seconds with no response, I tapped again and shouted a greeting. I planned to try for a couple minutes before giving the okay to retreat to our seafaring craft. It would be disappointing to get this close to civilization just to turn back around. Unless this place was Jayla's town and we were simply knocking on the wrong door. But that still wouldn't explain the traveled path and the two boats.

  Delilah had indicated that the other three populated islands were of similar construction as Jayla's place. I was beginning to think it was more likely that we had stumbled across one of them. Perhaps the other two land masses could be seen from the far side of the island. We just didn't row far enough around to see. The boat dock and path to the structure had been especially inviting, I didn't even consider it.

  This conundrum was throwing me off more than it should. Lack of quality sleep may have been part of the problem. It may also have been because I cared so much for some of the people that I was protecting. Nancy was like a piece of my own heart. The two of us would always be together, I believed. Lin was still the most desirable woman I had ever known. I loved her just as much as Nancy. Shira was playing hard to get due to her modesty. According to my two wives, though, she would soon be on board with rounding out my harem.

  Sex with Jayla two nights ago was amazing, and I liked her a lot. If this was not her town, she would likely still stick close to me. If so, she was easier to claim than Shira. Would she be satisfied with only me as a lover? Maybe not, considering that she would have to share me with the others. If this town was full of single men, Jayla should have her pick of them. She was a sexy, youthful piece of lovely DNA.

  Nevenah? Yeah, I didn't know her too well yet. And her personality so far did not really appeal to me. But she might just be scared and tired. In normal living conditions she could open up and turn out to be a wonderful and loving individual. At this point she was decidedly too selfish for my tastes. Was she pretty? Oh yeah! In a ghostly angelic kind of way. If I could break through that frightened little girl exterior, I might find something very lovable underneath.

  That left only Delilah. I was ready to get rid of her, honestly. For a scrawny ass alien, she was all kinds of alluring. At least to me. I dug the slender hips, the elegant gait, even the pouty queen vibe. It was all the deception that I couldn't take. Did I want to see her executed in front of me? No, definitely not. That was not in my nature to begin with, but Delilah may have been correct in claiming that I was growing fond of her. Maybe in her world, no one liked her as much as I did.

  That thought brought the memory of two nights ago rushing back to me. The way she stared at me as she purred out her alien orgasm. In that moment, I was almost ready to invite her into my bed. Maybe not just then. We had both climaxed sexually already, but an hour later. If my sexual fascination with her had not faded by then.

  After giving it some thought, I agreed with her prediction. I would protect her in many situations. Most of her lies were crafted for her own survival. Her people relied on her to direct us a certain way on the ship. She probably had to follow through with that to keep her position. Once here on the planet with the rest of us, she mostly refrained from telling us stuff that would only make us angrier with her. Again, self-preservation. The only problem with cozying up to her was a certain incompatibility sexually. I was too big for her tiny holes.

  "Joah?" Lin gained my attention, dragging my mind back to the moment. I then realized that I had been staring at Delilah. Her expression changed a bit as she may have been confused why I was looking her way. I had no interest in revealing my thoughts at that moment, especially not in front of the others.

  "It has been more than a couple minutes," Nancy said. "As much as I hate getting back in that boat, it doesn't look like we're going to get in this way."

  I agreed. Handing Nevenah back her spear, I led as we put the unopened gate behind us. Delilah was the last one to turn and join us. I couldn't blame her. I also had visions of a nice comfortable nap in a secure location, maybe something warm to eat or drink. But we had no choice. We weren't going to climb the wall. It was too high and would put us in a vulnerable position should we face adversity.

  We were nearly a hundred feet from the gate when I heard it, just entering one of the bends in the path. The cracking of wood, the creaking of an old hinge. The gate was opening behind us.

  I eagerly turned and placed myself in front of our group, then slowly led the way to the open door. No one stepped out of it to greet us. Only one side opened, and just enough for us to slide through one at a time. I waved Jayla to join me at the opening. Peering inside I saw a town courtyard like she had described, but no people. Perhaps the gate had been opened remotely. Maybe someone finally saw us on a hidden camera as we were walking away. Or they were waiting to judge our hostility before allowing entrance. We were after all armed to the teeth.

  After I assessed no immediate threats, I allowed Jayla to look through the opening. Though she said nothing, she slid her body through once she caught sight of the town. It must have looked like home.

  I gestured for Lin to guard the rear so I could slip inside the gate as well. Still no visible activity. "Where is everybody?" I asked my dark-skinned friend.

  "Working probably," she replied. "There are only so many people. During the day we all have jobs to do. Early evening, we often get together for a meal in the community center."

  "Where is that?"

  "Near the front of the town," she said pointing. "On the other side."

  I was about to ask Jayla if she was sure that this was her home when I felt the others push in behind me. I moved to let them in. Even if it wasn't her town, we still wanted to be here and greet these people. I wasn't comfortable leaving my friends outside while we did that.

  Directly in front of us was a small wooden table and two benches wide enough for human butts. A cup and a bowl sat there empty like they were displayed in a model home. To each side a building had been erected against the perimeter wall, possibly a residence based on the design and size. The roof was pitched steeply. The bedrooms might be upstairs, Cape Cod style. There was no place up there for a guard to stand and see over the wall.

  The building on the other side of the table blocked much of our view of the center of town, despite its open-air design. It put me in mind of a blacksmith's shop from an old western or medieval movie. A walkway between the shop and the houses appeared to circle the building. We would have to go left or right to gain better visibility of the town. There was still no greeting party.

  I heard the gate close behind us and turned around abruptly. A quick head count told me that everyone was inside. No one looked to be responsible for sealing our exit. I was not terribly alarmed, though. If they could open the gate remotely, they could close it the same way. We shouldn't expect them to leave it open for just anything to wander in.

  I gestured for my well-armed group to go left as I slowly moved to the right. Two vantage points were better than one. Unfortunately, there was nothing to see except an abandoned community. The ground was flat stone with a light layer of dust covering much of it. Only the center of the walkways seemed to be u
sed recently. Much of the tracks I saw were made by wheels instead of feet. Probably carts passed through there regularly.

  I had planned to rejoin my group before proceeding until Jayla walked over to me. "Let me go with you," she said. "If this is my town, you'll look like the biggest threat. A strong man with two rifles."

  It made sense, but I didn't want to be separated from my wives, even by just one building. They, however, seemed to be fine with it and were already moving along cautiously. When Delilah scurried over to join me as well, I thought nothing of it. Self-preservation again. Jayla and I were the two most likely to keep her alive in this scenario.

  Movement then caught my eye in the distance, but I couldn't recognize it. It could have been an archer trying to get a better sniping spot, or a child running around with a toy. I didn't get a clear look.

  Jayla and I were about eight feet apart, the distance that I felt was good tactically for the situation. Side by side with the gap, we would be hard to shoot at the same time by a single foe. Delilah walked up between us, possibly for protection or simply out of curiosity. I didn't bother to look at her since I was keeping my eyes open for hazards.

  It wasn't until her hand reached forward and grabbed Jayla's arm that I paid her any attention. The grip was not demobilizing or even violent in manner. I looked up at Jayla's face to see a very relaxed expression. Delilah was using her gift on the hometown hottie. But why? Why her, and why now?

  In the two seconds that it took me to figure it out, it was too late. Delilah had come to my side only after Jayla did. She wanted to control her for some reason. What made Jayla different? She was from this planet. We were not. She never participated in any activity on the alien space station like the rest of us. She was the only one without the implants in her arm.

  Intense pain shot through my body as I realized the trap that I had fallen into. Delilah's grin had nothing to do with getting off the boat. Her people were here, waiting for us. Maybe they were in multiple places and we just happened to stumble across this one.

  This was decidedly not Jayla's town. It was not even a human colony. It had been constructed to look like one to draw us in. The Thesphilians were so much more powerful than us, it was completely unnecessary except for one reason. It made for good television.

  I could hear my friends cry out in pain over the sound of my own voice. They were incapacitating all of us except for Jayla. I dropped to my knees, unable to maintain a grip on my pulse rifle as several droids approached from the other side of the blacksmith's shop.

  Despite the hold that Delilah had on my newest lover, she was not succumbing to the pleasure like Lin had done in the simulation weeks ago. A different chemical make-up might be the reason, just as Delilah had told us.

  When Jayla raised her pistol, it was toward the approaching robots. She managed to fire off one shot before a thin blue energy beam erupted from one of them and pierced Jayla's chest, instantly continuing out her back. Delilah let go of her immediately and stepped behind me. Another shot was fired, and it also went straight through my friend at my side. She fell face first onto the stone floor, potentially dead before she made contact.

  The droids hurried forward on their square frame, ball wheel system to scoop up our weapons. I felt the harness of my assault rifle pulled over my shoulder and head. A moment later Delilah stepped around for me to see her holding it, facing me.

  “Kill me already,” I grunted through the pain. How can this be happening again?

  She had not raised the weapon as she turned to face me with that evil grin that I had somehow managed to misread. Instead, she leaned forward slightly. Due to her lesser height it placed her face very close to mine, though I was on my knees.

  "Thank you, Joah," she said to me sounding surprisingly sincere. "You have helped me become a god among my people. I will never forget what you have done. I could never allow them kill you. You mean too much to me. Your friends? I'm not so sure."

  That was worse than death. Not only did I fail the women that I loved, I inadvertently assisted my enemy with her evil plot, and entertained millions of aliens while doing so.

  Thank you for reading Island Girls 2. A sequel is planned to be released in 2020.

  Current and upcoming works by Rodzil LaBraun:

  Harem Adventure (for mature readers only)

  Dystopian Girls series (2019- )

  Island Girls series (2019- )

  Dirty Girls series (2020- )

  Science Fiction

  New Earth series (2019-2020)

  Forgotten Colony series (2020- )

  Urban Fantasy

  Swift series (2017- )

  Silver Silhouette (2015)