“You wouldn’t dare,” she sputtered, but her eyes were frightened, and she backed up.
“Do not test me,” he growled.
“Fine.” B’mbi tossed her hair and moved away.
S’rah stared after her with a worried frown before turning back to him. “When you come tomorrow—I assume you’re coming tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Talk to Rachel. Ask her to tell you what I told her.”
“Why don’t you tell me now?”
“I’m not sure I trust you,” she said.
“And R’chel does?” he asked, warmed by the thought, despite his annoyance at S’rah’s refusal to answer.
“No,” S’rah said frankly. “But I… I think she can.”
He studied the female, then nodded. He would wait for R’chel to speak to him.
Rachel woke slowly, contentment flowing through her. Her stomach was still full, but more than that, T’chok’s attention had nourished a hunger which she hadn’t even realized that she suffered. She stretched luxuriously before jumping up, unexpectedly ready to resume the day. Her clothes had been returned, clean once more, but she decided to stay in the white pajamas. They were comfortable and made her less obvious amongst the other women.
In the main room, she joined Sarah and Lizabet who were sitting on the floor in front of the enormous window with the view of Earth below.
“Good morning, ladies.”
“Don’t you mean afternoon? They’ve already brought the second meal.”
“I didn’t realize that I had been asleep that long.”
“Do you want me to get you some food?” Lizabet offered. “Your warrior said you need to eat, and you are pretty thin.”
“He’s not my warrior.” Rachel looked at the meal table to disguise her blush. “I’m still full. I’ll get something later.” She glanced back again. “Why is Bambi glaring at me?”
“She came on to T’chok. Fucking bitch.”
“She did what?” Anger, and an emotion she didn't want to acknowledge as jealousy, swept through her.
“Not your warrior, huh?” Sarah asked. “Don’t worry. He shot her down hard.”
“What did she say?”
Sarah hesitated so Lizabet jumped in. “That he wore you out, but she could handle his needs.” The girl looked disgusted. “Can’t make up her fucking mind. One minute the aliens are horrible, the next she’s trying to jump their bones.”
“My guess is that she really does find them repellent, but she’s willing to hide it if she can get something out of it,” Sarah said.
“Fucking hypocrite,” Lizabet muttered.
“Actually, it’s kind of sad. You have to wonder what kind of life she’s had where the only thing she thinks is valuable about her is her body,” the older woman said gently.
Lizabet and Rachel looked at each other, then over at Bambi who was preening to her court. Bambi saw them looking at her and flipped them the bird.
“I don’t feel sorry for her,” Rachel said.
“Me either.”
Sarah laughed. “Fair enough. I told T’chok to talk to you, Rachel. I think you should tell him about her nighttime excursions.”
“I might not even see him again,” she protested, and tried to hide how desolate that made her feel.
“He said he’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t quite fast enough to hide her smile. “Why should I tell him about Bambi anyway?”
“Based on what you’ve told us, I think that whatever was going on was against the Yehrin’s rules. Maybe it’s over now that Commander T’ngorzul is gone… but I would feel safer if we knew for sure.”
Rachel agreed and then the three of them sat by the window, talking idly about their previous lives. This was the longest amount of time she had spent in the main room since her capture, but she found it surprisingly enjoyable. Lizabet was profane and often unintentionally funny, whereas Sarah had a quiet dry wit. Between the two of them, they managed to keep her mind off of T’chok and she realized how starved she had been for companionship.
When the guards changed mid-afternoon, Sarah and Rachel groaned when they saw that Officer T’judin had the evening shift. Both of them instinctively moved in front of Lizabet.
“What’s going on?” the girl asked.
“That guard is an asshole,” Rachel said bluntly. “Stay away from him if you can.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy. As soon as the morning guard left, Bambi sashayed over to T’judin. She didn’t make any attempt to be secretive, clinging to his arm as she whispered urgently at him while she gestured toward the three of them. He eventually shook her off but came sauntering over to the window. He glanced at Rachel, but his attention immediately focused on Lizabet. His eyes slid over her, lingering on her breasts.
“I hear we have a new prisoner. Stand up, female, so I can inspect you.”
“Fuck off,” she said, her chin raised, but Rachel could see her hands shake.
He scowled. “You do not have a choice. Stand up.”
“She’s here by mistake.” Sarah tried to intervene. “She’s only fifteen. Commander T’chok is going to have her transferred.”
“Sure he is. Her record says she is eighteen and she looks old enough to fuck to me, especially with those big tits.”
Lizabet shrank back and crossed her arms over her chest.
“It’s true,” Rachel insisted. “T’chok is having her transferred.”
“I heard all about the games you have been playing with him, smelly.” He finally looked away from Lizabet to check out Rachel. Just his eyes running over her body made her feel slimy but at least it kept his attention away from the girl. “You cleaned up okay. Tits are too small, though. I prefer them big and bouncy.”
He turned back to Lizabet. “If you are not old enough to be here, maybe those things are fake. Are you trying to smuggle something in? Now, stand up so I can inspect them.”
By the time he was finished, he was roaring and Lizabet was openly crying. Rachel and Sarah exchanged a desperate glance. No guard had ever been this aggressive before. The other women were huddled against the walls, except for Bambi’s group who were watching avidly. Rachel knew T’chok would put an end to it, but she didn’t know how to contact him. He had indicated that there were cameras, but would someone be alert enough to realize what was happening?
Determined to get T’judin’s focus off of Lizabet, she stood up. He glared at her and she gave him her best sultry smile. Hiding her revulsion, she copied Bambi and put a hand on his arm.
“She’s just a child. You’re not really interested in her, are you? Wouldn’t you prefer a woman who knew what she was doing?”
At least she had his attention. Keeping her hand on his arm, she managed to draw him away from the other two women.
“T’chok has been training you, I see.” T’judin laughed and her skin crawled, but she managed to keep the smile on his face. “Maybe some things are more important than a big pair of tits. That one is not good for much.” He gestured toward Bambi derisively and Rachel couldn’t help a flash of compassion.
By the time they reached the middle of the room, he was leading her. They were heading for the door, which was good, but she didn’t like the way he was steering her to a corner. Her wrist ached from where he gripped it as he pulled her along. When they finally stopped, his big body blocked the rest of the room.
“No camera here, smelly,” he whispered. “You going to show me what T’chok has been teaching you?”
T’chok’s name strengthened her resolve. Forcing a smile on her face, she trailed a hand down his chest and along the top of his belt. He pushed against her and she felt the sickening thrust of his erection, but she also felt the top of the blast tube he wore on his belt. She was almost positive it was the same device that her original captor had used to render her unconscious. Fighting back nausea, she stroked one hand across his erection to distract him while the other hand withdrew the blast
tube. He groaned and thrust against her hand while she searched desperately for a trigger. She finally found a small depression and, praying she was right, turned the tube into his stomach and pressed her finger into the small hollow. He collapsed at her feet.
Chapter Seven
A stunned silence filled the room as the women stared at the huge guard crumpled on the floor and Rachel standing there with the tube in her hand.
“Are you crazy?” Bambi screeched. “You’re going to get us all killed.”
Even the women that weren’t part of Bambi’s group began to look nervous. Rachel was feeling panicky herself as what she had done began to sink in. She looked at Sarah, who had her arms around Lizabet.
“T’chok,” she mouthed at Rachel.
Of course. He would know how to help her. She had to find him. Slapping the panel next to the door, she was stunned when it actually opened, but apparently, they had never expected anyone to bypass the guards and get to it. She cast one quick glance over her shoulder at Sarah before she took off running. The long white corridor was completely empty but as she turned a corner, two aliens were coming toward her. They stopped and stared when they saw her. One of them spoke to her but he was speaking Yehrin and she had no idea what he was saying. He advanced toward her and she raised the blast tube in a shaking hand. He stopped moving.
“Commander T’chok. I need to see Commander T’chok.”
“Female?” At least it sounded like a question.
“Yes, I’m a female. I’m Commander T’chok’s female. I need Commander T’chok. Please.”
More warriors were starting to appear, and she backed against the wall, still holding the weapon in front of her. They were all at least a foot taller than her and their horns reached even higher. Terror spiked through her veins as they continued to surround her. Most of them simply stared at her, looking fascinated rather than aggressive, but then heated words were exchanged between a few of them. When one of the new males snapped at another one, she thought they were going to fight.
“T’chok,” she repeated, but her voice was quivering so badly that she wasn’t sure they even heard her. “I need T’chok.”
An enormous male appeared. Even amongst this crowd of huge warriors, he stood out both from his size and his air of authority.
“I am Commander T’lan. Why are you here?”
“You understand English?”
“Of course.” He glanced at the tube in her hands. “You should lower the weapon.”
“You won’t hurt me?”
“We do not hurt women.”
She raised her wrist, the bruise from T’judin’s grip clearly visible, even against her darker skin. “I beg to differ.”
His eyes blazed and she shrank back further against the wall. “Please, can you just get Commander T’chok. I need him.”
“You want T’chok?”
“Yes. Please.”
The Commander raised his wrist com and pressed a few buttons. With a single sharp command, he dispersed the crowd of warriors, although she saw more than one take a last look in her direction as they departed.
“T’chok is on the surface. He is returning immediately. You have two choices. If you give me the weapon, I will escort you to my quarters where you may wait with my L’chka—my female. If you do not, I will take you to a cell where you may wait for him. Whichever choice you make, you will not be harmed.” His eyes dropped to her wrist. “That was a mistake. Whoever did that will be punished.”
“Um. I kind of did that already. I used this thing on him.” Rachel cringed as she remembered why she was in this situation. “How long will he be unconscious? You have to get back there before he wakes up, in case he harms anyone else.”
“Do you know which breeder pod you were in?’
The name hit her like a blow, and she scowled at him, but right now it was more important to take care of the other women. “No. How many of the damn things do you have, anyway? Officer T’judin was the guard and he was going after a girl—an underage girl—and I had to stop him.”
“You are either very courageous or very stupid.”
She choked back a hysterical giggle. “A little of both, probably.”
“Look at the top of the blast tube. There is a small light. What color is it?”
Unwilling to take her eyes off him, she raised the weapon until she could see the light. “It’s light green.”
“Then you have probably not killed him.”
“Killed him?” She swayed and put a hand against the wall. “This is what they used when they took me. It only made me pass out. I didn’t realize that it could kill anyone.”
“If the light had been red, it would have been fatal.” He growled, teeth flashing white and sharp. “Not that it would have been a great loss, but it would have deprived T’chok the opportunity of avenging the damage to his female.”
T’chok’s female? She wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that. While Commander T’lan had been talking to her, his claws had been tapping rapidly at his wrist device.
“T’judin has been retrieved, still unconscious. Your friends are safe, and I have assigned two new guards.”
“Can you trust them?”
“I would trust them with my female. Have you made a decision?”
So far, the commander had behaved well. He had gotten rid of the crowd of aliens and he hadn’t attempted to remove her weapon. If she could believe him, he had also removed T’judin and assigned new guards to their dormitory. Most of all, she really didn’t want to be put in a cell. With a sigh, she lowered the blast tube and handed it to him.
“Very well. I will escort you to my female.”
To her relief, he didn’t make any attempt to touch her. He simply gestured for her to precede him and then followed to her left. Several times, she saw someone whisk out of sight as they approached an intersection, but they didn’t encounter anyone else. When he told her to pause outside a door, her stomach lurched. What if this was just a trick?
He opened the door and gestured her inside. Praying that she wasn’t making a horrible mistake, she entered. The small living area was amazingly cozy and… human. Colorful pillows and throws covered the couch, along with a flowered rug on the floor and a number of decorative objects scattered around. She hadn’t realized until that minute how starved she was for color after the never-ending white, black, and grey of the alien ship. She cast a startled glance at Commander T’lan, who had shut the door behind her. What did this huge warrior have to do with all this rather girly decoration?
“M’lee,” he called.
“T’lan? You’re back awfully soon—couldn’t stay away from me?” A soft female voice came from the back room, followed by a pretty human woman. Rachel’s startled glance took in a mop of blond curls, big grey eyes, and a sweet face with an expression of innocence that contrasted with a very lush—and very pregnant—body. Outrage filled her.
“You lied to me, you asshole! All of you did, even T’chok.” Despite her anger, her throat stung at his betrayal. “Forbidden Cycle, my ass. This is all some type of sick game, isn’t it?”
Keeping an eye on the bastard who’d brought her here and was currently smiling at the poor human who he’d probably deceived as well, she backed to the door. Pressing the door release panel didn't work. She bitterly regretted giving up her weapon and started frantically searching for an alternative.
“No, no. It isn’t like that, I promise,” the woman cried. Obviously distressed, she tried to push aside the commander who had stepped in front of her at the first sign of Rachel’s anger. “Get out of the way, big guy. She’s not going to hurt me, are you?” Her head kept popping around the male’s arm and he kept blocking her. It would have been funny if she hadn’t been so angry.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Rachel said. “I know you’re another victim of these lying alien bastards.”
“I’m not a victim. Well, not really. T’lan, move,” the small blonde demanded with another ineff
ective attempt to move in front of him. She sighed. “Does she have a weapon?”
“No,” he conceded. Rachel almost snorted. He’d taken her blast tube but that ugly glass lamp should still make an impact on his big skull. She started edging toward it.
“Do you think she can defeat you in combat?”
“Of course not.”
“Then move aside and let me talk to her.”
To Rachel’s astonishment, he did move to one side although he kept an arm around the woman. The blonde gave her an encouraging smile.
“What’s your name, honey?”
“R’chel,” Commander T’lan said.
“I didn’t ask you, big guy.” The blonde elbowed him, with no effect other than to make her clutch her elbow. “Ow.”
He smiled down at her with an astonishingly tender look on his face, before scowling at Rachel. “My L’chka wishes to talk to you. You will be polite and not attempt to harm her.”
“I’m not going to harm her; I feel sorry for her. You, on the other hand…” She gave him her best glare and he actually laughed, displaying an inordinate amount of sharp white teeth.
“Such a fierce human. No wonder T’chok has chosen you.”
The blonde squealed, and both T’lan and Rachel winced. “You’re T’chok’s L’chka? That’s so exciting. Oh, you’re just perfect for him.”
Rachel swayed. The events of the afternoon, on top of the weeks of poor nutrition, were catching up with her and her legs threatened to give out on her.
“What’s the matter? Do you need a doctor?” M’lee asked.
“No, I’m fine.”
“She has not been eating properly,” T’lan said.
“Oh, no. Sit down, please. Let me make you something to eat. I’ve become quite a wiz with the replicator. I’m Emily, by the way.” She gestured to the couch before trying to turn to the wall of built in cabinets. Commander T’lan finally let her go and gave Rachel a narrow-eyed look.
“Sit down, R’chel, before you fall down. T’chok will not be pleased if you are damaged.”
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