He was tempted to go to NASA HQ, but what was the point or purpose when Throm would not communicate unless they chose?
He signaled at least 20 times on the communicator, begging Wrexel to advise what Amber was doing, but no reply was forthcoming.
A Thromian female met Amber onboard the quiet ship and led her to a meeting room down a narrow and dimly lit passage. She left her alone without a word except for her initial greeting. Amber sat waiting at the table, rubbing her arms for warmth in the cold until he finally entered minutes later. Amber watched anxiously as he moved slowly toward her. He seemed larger than normal in the small room; his eyes glowed like dying embers in a stone hearth. He appeared unrushed and mildly curious as he dropped the cloak from his shoulders and rolled up his sleeves. She bit down on her lip when the muscles on his forearms rippled as he lowered his large frame into the chair closest to her.
“Amber,” he said in greeting, his voice mocking as he swung his seat toward her, so that their knees almost touched. There was a hint of a smile on his handsome face.
He raised his eyebrows quizzically and waited for her to speak.
“Wrexel.” Her voice sounded small and incredibly soft to her own ears as she remained nervously perched on the end of her chair.
“Would you like something to drink?”
Amber shook her head and got directly to the point. “Please, give us one more chance.”
Wrexel had been wondering how he was going to repair the damage caused by Travis overhearing their true plans. Not because he cared at all for the humans but because it had put a large obstacle in his way to winning Amber. When he received her call, he became so elated he was giddy. Watching her in front of him so out of her depth and yet so determined to fight for her people gave him some more insight into the strength she kept under wraps, the fire within her that he wanted to release. She was flushed but resolute – a vision of beauty when she acted naturally, without the idiot she thought herself in love with directing her like traffic.
“Does Travis know you are here?”
“No,” she said breathlessly.
“And this idea to meet me?”
“Was my own.” He saw the wash of doubt. She ran her shaking hands over her thighs and continued her plea.
“Please reconsider your decision. Travis was understandably upset and may have said things that are disrespectful, but you have done so much already to evacuate us. Why not finish the task? When you spoke to the Yimmyrd, you mentioned that you were doing the evacuations for your brother. Will he not be aggrieved that you are not following his wishes?”
Wrexel laughed. “I believe Shihlo is misled, Amber. The death of his wife softened him and he does not always think as he should. I don’t care enough to placate Shihlo right now. I care only for the resources that I need, those that I will now be taking.”
He moved forward then, bridging the distance between them. “Surely you didn’t come here to offer me nothing but Yimmyrd wisdom… or plead on behalf of my brother… whom you don’t really know?”
* * *
Wrexel gauged her reaction carefully and saw that his words had the desired effect. Her bravery was running out. She was pondering the end of her life from a hopeless stance. Her eyes were wide with fright. He didn’t like that he caused this, but the overriding feeling that seemed to be slowly entering his mind was the way she needed him. It was wildly exhilarating. He wanted her to look at him with the same need but not for her life. He wanted to see that desperation for him. For her to be weak with desire, demanding pleasure only he could provide. But he required her to be around long enough to bring that about.
“Returning your evacuees frees up more space for me to take what I need for the sustainability of my planet. Right now I am in a pleasing position, no longer plagued with incessant ramblings and requests that make no sense to me.”
He leaned forward even closer. “Truthfully, Amber, I’m back to my original plan. The one that I wanted to follow from the start. If it weren’t for my brother and his insipid plea, I would have taken what I need and left long ago.”
He saw her throat convulse.
It was a beautiful, smooth throat.
He had seen Travis nuzzling her neck on the way home in the transporter one night.
The runt would never do that again.
The fierce glow in his eyes made her sway in fear as she mistook its meaning.
“My brother will be angry, but he will get over it when Throm begins to flourish again.”
Desperation rose within her. “Can you take what you need and then destroy the asteroid?” she asked.
“Once I take what I need, your planet will be thankful when the asteroid finally hits. Suffering will be brief; Thromians prefer not to torture… without good reason.”
Her eyes widened in horror.
“That… that angel Yimmyrd said this asteroid was meant to be destroyed; if your brother isn’t angry, then I am sure the Yimmyrd will be. Where is the warrior? What does he think of all of this?”
“He crashed on Earth and is no longer with us.”
Amber’s eyes fluttered in shock and she looked at him with hopelessness.
Her mind grappled for new ideas, different things to say, but she came up with nothing. She was a weak idiot so hell-bent on earning respect that she believed herself brave enough to take on a terrorist. Travis would not be welcoming her home with a look of admiration in his gaze; he would spend their last hours on Earth regretting that he had wasted time on a useless female instead of finding one he truly deserved. She moaned and lowered her eyes in anguish when Lilith appeared behind Wrexel, moving closer to him until the green glow washed over and surrounded him. Her arrival confirmed the insanity of Amber’s decision to meet with him. She fought the urge to cry.
* * *
Wrexel watched her and wrestled with his internal response to her angst. Part of him wanted her to keep fighting, while the other liked that she was at his mercy. Amber had played havoc with his mind and loins for days. He had been out of sorts since her shy, curious glances from underneath soft lashes beckoned him out of his mundane routine.
He wanted to see her again, and when he did, it still didn’t satisfy him. He found reasons to bring about another meeting, planning many in the future until he could get her in private and show her that her current fiancé would never be man enough to fulfill her. She warped his highly functioning, militant mind in a way he never thought possible.
Throm did not need their armies led by an overly aroused irritable heir who struggled to focus when his thoughts lingered on her. He wondered how she would react if he struck an illicit deal with her. I will give you Earth; you give me your body.
Perhaps here?
He would put her on the table of negotiation and bury himself so deeply within her that he would explode with pleasure. He wanted to end the torment. Sate his flesh and be done with it.
But this idea left him wanting.
He didn’t want Amber on the desk; a hurried encounter was not what he desired. He wanted to change Amber’s entire way of being. They didn’t have to be of the same species for Wrexel to recognize that Amber denied the potential for so much more by settling for the safety and security that Travis offered. He couldn’t see her responding fully to a man like Travis. Couldn’t imagine her being satisfied and fulfilled in her life, but she was too downtrodden to see it.
He wanted all of her.
He wanted her to face him as an equal, owning her own power, knowing that only she could have roused him from his bed to meet that night.
He wanted her wet, begging, thrashing about after he induced climax after climax. He wanted Amber in so many ways, both devious and direct, and they all rained down on him as he sat watching her.
He wanted her.
He had to have her.
“What made you think I would listen to you tonight?” he asked cruelly when the desire for her began to overwhelm him again. He watched her give a nervous start, her eyes wide as she c
onfronted a truth she preferred denying.
“I… thought you may listen to me, I had to try…”
“Why don’t you own the truth, Amber? You knew I would meet with you because I desire you. Did you stop to consider that this could factor into a deal? Isn’t it empowering to know that your fiancé and his team have nothing to offer me, nothing at all, but you… you definitely do.”
* * *
Amber’s gaze flared with horror. His words were true; she did subconsciously know that part of her ability to negotiate with him was because he found her attractive? She just hadn’t thought it through.
Naïve and crazy, she thought as he continued to glow in her mother’s green haze.
“Look at me,” he demanded when she dropped her eyes.
“Your innocence is charming, but is growing tiresome. You’ve seen the way I’ve been looking at you. You know I want you, Amber. Did you stop to contemplate that this negotiation would come down to me asking for your body? Did you consider agreeing?”
She shook her head in denial but it was only half-true. She hadn’t come to offer her body and yet in between her plans to talk to him, in between her dreams of getting it right and winning respect from her family, there had been moments when she wondered. Moments when she considered what it would be like if he did ask her. Moments roughly pushed aside because she was secretly thrilled by it. She craved to know what it felt like to be touched by someone like him. She wanted to experience insane desire that made her lose her mind as she had seen at her neighbor’s pool. Those secret nights when she saw raw passion and naked lust that would never be her own.
Amber was confronted with the darkest part of herself that she refused to acknowledge and her entire being rebelled against yet another slur against her being perfect. Rage for herself was redirected at him as he stood basking in the green glow of her insanity.
“You’re right… I knew it would come to this… so go ahead, have it right now?” She scrambled up, opening her arms as her mind teetered out of control.
“Here on the table, or perhaps on the floor? You’ll forgive my innocence but I have never been with an alien before; how do you prefer it?”
Wrexel’s eyes narrowed.
“Do it,” she sobbed, and tore at her dress when he made no move, ripping and shredding the buttons, which shot off and spun across the floor.
She flinched when Wrexel rose and stilled her tearing hands against her now-shredded dress.
“Stop.”
She stood transfixed by his angry gaze, unsure of what he would do next as tears of anger and dismay coursed down her cheeks. Fear crawled up her spine, and she shuddered in front of him. She had clearly lost her mind.
Her dress lay open; the black lace and silk of her bra glinted in the ship’s lighting as she waited for his touch but he stepped away.
“No thank you, Amber.” His voice was cold and angry.
She blushed and stepped back in horror, trying to piece together her torn dress with trembling hands as shame coursed through her.
What did he want?
* * *
Confusion ripped through her mind.
She sought his eyes in panic, at a total loss on how to proceed. “What do you want, then?”
Wrexel moved a little closer now that she was calm and tilted her head up to his with a firm finger on her chin. He spoke in a whisper and it emphasized her terror. “Oh, fear not, it’s you whom I want Amber… and since you have offered yourself so willingly, it’s you I will have. But not like this.”
He let go of her chin and his eyes raked over her as a satisfied smile settled upon his lips.
“I will have all of you when you are not shredding your clothes and throwing yourself at me in anger. Anger because you finally acknowledge that you want me too. I’ll have you when you shred your clothes in mutual lust and zero regret.”
Amber squirmed with shame that he could know so much about the inner workings of her fevered mind. She moaned when he scooped her up into his arms, lay her on the cold table, and hovered over her in a way that had her heart racing and her breath escaping her mouth in small pants.
“When we finally do this, you’re not going to be staring up at me in fear or anger. You will be aching for me to be inside of you, you will beg me to fuck you.”
She jerked at his crude words, hating the way her body responded in opposition to her brain. His warm fingers ran down her chest as she stared up at him in mute horror and confusion. He spread his palm over one of her breasts and ran his thumb across her nipple.
Amber moaned in a mixture of both desire and fear, shocked that she responded despite the circumstances.
As the sound escaped her lips, he smiled knowingly. “You like my touch.”
“I don’t,” she whimpered, but he merely laughed. Then he surprised her again when he slid off the table and pulled her to her feet. He reached for his cloak and wrapped it about her shoulders.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t take you now, Amber, not until you are really willing. Besides, once will never be enough with you.”
“What do you mean?” Her voice broke.
“If you want to save your people, I will give you that, but in return you come to Throm with me, you stay with me for the duration of this affair, forsaking all of your family and your friends while we’re together… most especially Travis.”
His voice lowered meaningfully. “Then one day, when this has run its course, I will return you to your people… unharmed but not untouched.”
“But I don’t want you.”
He smiled knowingly but then he frowned when she continued to look outraged.
“There will be no other offer or compromise; you will be mine until this affair runs its course and I will be the one to tell you when that is. Time isn’t on my side, but ultimately, you ending up as my lover was always going to be the end result."
She stared at him in bewilderment. The insanity of his deal floored her and yet she knew he would offer no other compromise.
“So do we have an agreement?” His mouth was nearly on hers; they were breathing the same air and she could feel the heat of his body against hers.
“Do we have an agreement?” he repeated when she continued to stare at him in stunned dismay.
How could she say no? She had come there to find a resolution, and he had given her one. The price was much higher than she expected, however.
She was numb and in shock, but not enough to decline.
There was no other way.
“Yes.”
“How does your kind agree?” He held out a hand.
She put her small, cold hand in his.
The sacrifice was done.
16
Deal With The Devil
Since his arrival at the NASA grounds, Travis had done nothing but pace and question the guard at the empty field. The only communication and instruction issued to all monitors after Amber’s disappearance was brief and simple. Both he and his senior team were instructed to report for a new meeting with Wrexel.
His terrified calls to all the leaders in the last couple of hours had most of them arriving to calm him down, discuss probabilities that had them excited at the prospect of a second chance at life. Many tried to insinuate that Amber and the alien leader had something going on that Travis wasn’t aware of; perhaps because of this they would be given another chance.
She would not be the first human to bed down with a Thromian in the last month. Upon the ship, the mutual attraction between humans and Thromians was rife.
Concern of this kind had never crossed Travis’s mind, and he denied their claims vehemently.
When the ship slowly lowered, the group of 15 senior negotiators, including Travis, moved forward quickly and filtered into the vessel without a word. A few Thromians eventually entered. Despite agreeing to do the opposite, Travis pounced on Inndra as soon as he walked into the room.
“Where is Amber?” he demanded.
Inndra looked genuinely confused. “You’re asking me?” He was rather indignant. “Where your wife is?”
“She came here earlier… alone, to meet with Wrexel,” Travis said desperately.
Inndra began to shake his head, denying the possibility but his eyes caught those of another Thromian who stood near the door of the meeting room. He stopped when he saw her slowly nod.
“Excuse me.” He brushed Travis aside.
* * *
Finally the doors opened and they were permitted to enter the next room where the gathering would take place. Travis recoiled with horror and shock. Wrexel sat at the head of the table. Huddled in a large chair beside him, looking small and frail with a large Thromian cloak about her shoulders, was Amber, her face tear-streaked and pale, her eyes lowered.
“Amber!” Travis darted forward, but he was seized and held back by one of the Thromian guards placed all around the room.
“Sit down,” Wrexel commanded, and they all obeyed, Travis struggled against the guard and was forced to take a seat even farther away from her.
“I just want to go to my fiancé,” he begged, but was kept at bay.
“Amber… are you okay?” he asked across the table. His anguish caused her indescribable pain; she nodded but couldn’t meet his eyes and hung her head in shame.
The news of her agreement was going to devastate and embarrass him.
Wrexel waited until they were all silently sitting and Travis was convinced to quiet down and stop his shouting.
All eyes focused on Wrexel. “I’ll be brief.”
“Amber?” he looked at her but she kept her head lowered
“I don’t want to speak,” she whispered.
He nodded.
“Amber has asked me to give you a second chance and, in short, we have come to an agreement.”
All eyes settled on Amber and gasps of shock were clearly audible, but they were all ones of joy. Some even clapped.
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