by Roxie Ray
My eyes grew wider every time Leonix announced another amenity. A machine that could make me whatever food I wanted on command? An entire bedroom of my own and a bathroom that—here’s hoping—contained a toothbrush and some mouthwash, maybe even some deodorant if I was lucky?
This was a lot better than I’d expected. So much so that I almost didn’t believe it could be real.
“And all of this is…mine?” Compared to how I’d lived the rest of my life, I was so grateful that I had to ask. Surely there was some kind of catch.
“All yours.” She produced a little black piece of metal and offered it to me. “This keycard will grant you access to the room, as well as to the viewing room—where you fainted yesterday—and to the lounge rooms where the others on the ship sometimes congregate to socialize. There is a canteen as well, though I would suggest that you stick to your food articulator. As I said, our diet is quite unlike yours.”
“Thank you, Leonix,” I said genuinely. My own space. The promise of a ride home. I knew it wasn’t much to ask for, but in the moment, it all seemed like too much. “Um. Can I ask…why the upgrade?”
Leonix’s eyes faded to the same dull, cloudy color that General Kloran’s had earlier.
“We had no idea that you were taken against your will, Bree-yuh. We Lunarians are a civilized people, despite what you may think of us given the treatment you have experienced since you arrived here. You are not a slave. We will not have you living as one.” Her jaw clenched for a moment, then she continued. “All I ask of you now is that you be patient as we work to find you adequate transport back to your home.”
With a nod, Leonix moved to leave. But something about being alone in this new suite of rooms sent my heart racing immediately. I felt nauseated, almost dizzy as I stared around my new space.
At first, I thought maybe it was just excitement. I’d have this place all to myself to hole up in until they could send me home. I didn’t even have to leave it if I didn’t want it. I’d have food, water, a bed to sleep in—everything I needed.
But then, the crushing sensation in my chest returned. The room was spinning all around me, the same way the viewing room had when I’d realized I was staring at my own galaxy from so far away.
I was going home—but I had nothing to return to. I’d married Michael to escape the first home I had. I’d been an orphan in Sector Six, or as good as one when my parents were sent to their respective Sector Five work camps over failure to make rent. I had no family there anymore. No friends. No anything. The home my husband had taken me to in Sector One, I’d run away from. He was no doubt ripping the entire sector apart to find me so he could beat me half to death for daring to leave him.
If I was returned to Earth, would he find me? Just the thought made my chest feel like it was being crushed in a vice.
Being beaten half to death would mean I was lucky if Michael was able to track me down back on Earth. More likely, if he found me, he’d actually make good on all his threats and kill me this time.
My vision was starting to blur, and I felt my knees give out from beneath me.
Here we go again.
But then I felt a pair of warm hands against my face as a soothing voice washed over me. Not Leonix’s voice—this one was deep and rumbling, soothing as it purred out to me.
“Breathe, Bree-ah. Breathe.”
I opened my mouth to gasp for air. As my lungs filled, my vision started to return.
The first thing I realized was that I was on the floor.
The next thing I saw was a set of deep purple eyes staring down at me. Not Leonix’s, either.
It was him.
“Are you hurt, vringna? Why do you continue to insist on losing consciousness on us?” General Kloran’s voice was a little gruffer now, but it was still filled with concern.
“I’m…not trying to…” I grumbled, blinking as I tried to clear my head. I’d been worrying about Michael finding me, and then…
As soon as Michael’s name came to my mind, my heart was racing all over again. But the general’s hands on my face helped keep me grounded this time, even though I knew I was still too terrified for my body to bear.
“What causes you so much fear, Bree-ah? You may speak freely with me. You are safe from it here.”
“Not what,” I breathed. My chest was still rising and falling irregularly, but when I focused on the heat of General Kloran’s hands, I was able to keep my head clear. “Who.”
A deep, feral growl emanated from his throat. But his thumbs stroked across my cheekbones, gentle and kind.
“Whomever scares you so, they will not hurt you, Bree-ah. I will make sure of it.” He turned his head to where Leonix stood near us. “Leave us. I will handle this from here.”
“Of course, General.” There was a strange tone to her voice, leaving me feeling like I’d missed something, but there was no time for me to figure out what it might have been.
Kloran’s eyes were taking up all of my attention now. He was staring down at me so intensely, it was like his gaze was burning into my skin. But it wasn’t just my face he was interested in. His eyes trailed down my neck, pausing at my breasts for a moment before the continued down the curve of my waist to my hips.
My fantasy from earlier was finally coming true, apparently. He had my face in his hands and his full concentration directed toward me. I just, ah…
I hadn’t expected my body to react to it so much.
Okay. No. I didn’t have the hots for General Kloran, but he was undeniably attractive, no matter what species he was. The only other man who had ever looked at me this closely, in that way, was Michael, and there hadn’t been that same sense of protectiveness in his eyes when he’d done it, either. If anything, he’d looked at me like he was just searching for what exciting new part of me he might want to inflict pain to next.
I’d never been with a man before Michael. I hadn’t been with one since. But Kloran wasn’t exactly a man, was he? Maybe that was why my body was filling with heat beneath his gaze. I wasn’t blushing—it wasn’t anything so adorably disgusting as that.
No, this heat seeped through his hands into my skin, pooling and bubbling in my chest and warming my core clear through. And it didn’t stop at my core, either. It traveled all the way through my abdomen, spreading out through my hips then sinking searingly between my thighs, so deep and luscious and addictive that—
Oh, no.
I wanted him. I wanted him bad—and my pussy was not afraid to let me know it.
My breath hitched in my throat as I sat up and scrambled backward away from him. I didn’t know what to do with that…that desire I felt for him. That insane, hot, deep, aching need.
Sensing my panic, Kloran cleared his throat and picked himself up off the floor. He didn’t flush like Leonix had, but for a second, I could have sworn that his eyes had flashed red before they settled back into their normal purple color.
“You should eat something, Bree-ah.” He offered me his hand. “You have fainted too much for your short time on this ship. We must ensure that you can regain your strength before your journey home.”
I glanced warily at the claws at his fingertips for a moment, then gingerly placed my hand in his palm. His hands were practically the size of catcher’s mitts compared to my own tiny fingers. When he closed his hand around mine, it encapsulated mine completely. He pulled me to my feet like it was no effort at all, leaving me stumbling against him.
With another gentle hand on my shoulder, he caught me and held me steady until I had regained my balance.
“You’re uh…a little pushy, you know,” I said with a tiny laugh.
“Push-ee?”
“Um. Demanding. Insistent.”
There was a beat, then he laughed too. A deep, booming noise just like before, but this time he was laughing with me for a change, instead of at me.
“I am your captain, Bree-ah. Commanding you is my job.”
Oh, no. There it was again—a flicker of heat betwe
en my thighs. This man—alien—General Kloran, he was getting to me.
And worst of all…I think I might have liked it, too.
9
Kloran
“So I just…tell it what I want?” Bree-ah ran her hands around the food articulator’s frame, staring at it with fascination.
“Whatever you wish for,” I confirmed, smiling slightly at her awe.
“Oh, wow. Um… Okay. Let me think for a minute.” She scrunched her eyes shut adorably. Her tongue slipped out between her lips, wet and soft pink.
I drew in a slow, deep breath. Fascinating. Bree-ah’s tongue was not forked like mine, an incredibly exotic discovery. Erotic, too. It was far too simple to imagine the way it might slip between my lips instead, tangling with mine. Or perhaps, delving a little lower, to my collarbone, my chest, and lower still…
“A hamburghur,” Bree-ah breathed into the articulator. Her voice was smoky, steamy. Full of longing. “A hamburghur and…a side salad. Please.”
Ah. I loved that sound. I knew how that longing felt—though it was not the human hamburghurs I hungered for. It was her.
The articulator whirred to life instantly, and Bree-ah squealed with delight. She clapped her tiny, clawless hands together and turned to grin at me, eyes all asparkle.
“You have no idea how kuhl this is,” she professed.
I chuckled. “Kuhl?” Her human words fascinated me almost as much as her tongue had.
“Um. Neat? Awesome. Uh…interesting and exciting.”
“Ah.” I nodded in understanding. “I do have some idea, actually. Before I achieved the rank of general, I helped innovate this technology myself.”
“No! You’re kidding!”
I shook my head, my gaze stern. “I would not joke about my accomplishments. It would seem disingenuous. I assure you I had a part in the articulator’s creation.”
The food articulator dinged, stealing Bree-ah’s attention away from me once more as its antibacterial shield lifted and a tray with Bree-ah’s meal was dispensed.
I eagerly awaited another influx of her delight as she received her hamburghur and salad. It pleased me to see her happy and pleased me even more to know that Haelian’s research had correctly determined the ideal human diet. But instead, when she saw the charred meat, crisped flour-slurry loaf, and greens on her tray, she frowned.
“This is the same thing you guys were feeding me in that prison cell.” Disappointment bubbled off of her, smelling of stale dust. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Is this not the hamburghur of your people?”
“No. Unfortunately…not even close.”
I sighed. I did not understand what the issue was, but I sought to correct it for her. Moving behind her, I spoke into the food articulator myself. “Cancel.”
At that, the articulator’s shield closed once more, and the tray was taken away.
“Oh. Did I just waste a bunch of food?” Bree-ah turned to me, brow furrowed in concern. “I would have eaten it anyway, you know. I’m not really one to turn down an edible meal.”
“You have wasted nothing. If you order something accidentally, or something that is not to your liking—or if you order too much, even—you may simply return any uneaten food to the articulator. It will break down the ingredients and start anew.” It relieved me to see her relax at that. Perhaps Leonix had been incorrect. Bree-ah cared and understood scarcity of resources—there was a chance that these humans were not as frivolous as she had thought. “Would you like to try again?”
“Yes. Definitely. Um…maybe something simpler then. How about…” She leaned toward the articulator, speaking to it clearly and directly. “A steak.”
This time, I was sure that the articulator would deliver what she wished. Steak was a staple of the Lunarian diet. We must have misunderstood the human diet. It was a shame that this had caused Bree-ah to eat burned meat during her time in her bio-cell, but at least she would not have to any longer now.
To my dismay, though, when Bria’s steak arrived, it also caused her confusion.
“It’s…raw.” She scrunched her nose at it adorably, but turned to me with continued disappointment. “Do I have to cook it myself? If you give me a stove, I know how.”
“You do eat burned meat then.” This was frustrating, but I was certain that if we kept at it, we would find something suitable for her to eat.
“Not exactly. Humans eat, um…cooked meat. Not burned, but not raw, either.”
“Ah.” I did not understand the complexities of Bree-ah’s diet, but this was at least something we could remedy. “Let us be more specific, then.”
After several tries, we were finally able to compile a meal that was to Bree-ah’s liking. She took her steak scorched a deep, golden brown on either side, caramelized with added processed milk fats, but nearly raw in the center. With some additional tinkering, we were able to create a starch dish she called mashed poh-tay-tohs as well. Though she was not accustomed to their soft pink color, when she sampled a bite, she closed her eyes and hummed with pleasure.
“Oh, those are perfect.” She filled her mouth with another spoonful of the starch dish and all but purred.
I cleared my throat as my body reacted to that sound, as well as the sweet scent of her pleasure. It was not as deep as the musk of sexual pleasure, no—but I was a desperate man, and I could imagine the deeper scent if I tried.
We stored the specifications of her meal in the articulator’s database as steak, medium-rare and mashed poh-tay-tohs. I ordered myself a steak from the articulator as well, this time raw, and we sat down to the table to share our first meal together.
If I had my way, it would be far from our last.
With every happy purr Bree-ah unleashed over the taste of her meal, I found myself more enraptured by her. Blood—she had no right to be so desirable. The little sounds she was expelling, coupled with the arousal I smelled on her earlier, before she had scrambled away from me, were making it difficult for me to concentrate on my own meal.
I could not shake the thought of Leonix and Haelian’s sly little plan from my mind. If Bree-ah was already attracted to me, then it was settled, as far as I was concerned. I should be the one to seduce her and fill her with my seed. I wanted to be, more than I had ever wanted anything in all my life.
And princes of the Lunarian High Houses were not well-accustomed to being denied the things they wanted.
But, I reminded myself, this was a fool’s errand. A fool’s game. I had an oath to my betrothed back on Lunaria. An oath I knew that I must keep.
An oath, I realized, I had never wanted to break so badly.
“So you guys eat…raw meat, then. Huh.” She raised an eyebrow as I took my own steak between my fingers and lifted it to my lips. “No forks or knives for it, either. On Earth, you know, we’d call that very uncivilized.”
Perhaps she meant for me to be offended, but I could only smile as I tore into my steak. I wanted to show her how sharp my teeth were—perfect for defending her from any harm she might come across.
“We are warrior people,” I explained to her when I had chewed and swallowed. “When we consume protein, on Lunaria it would be considered uncivilized to dishonor the steak’s source by refusing to touch it.”
“Oh, yeah?” I smelled a faint scent of fear as she eyed my teeth—perhaps they were not so reassuring to her after all—but it faded as she put down her eating utensils and took her steak into her own hands. “Well, I guess, when in Roam…”
I did not understand her saying, but it delighted me to see her eating her steak as I was eating mine. Bree-ah’s diet differed form ours, but she was eager to adopt our customs. Perhaps she would not be so unwilling to adopt them further, given the correct encouragement.
Unfortunately, this new style of eating seemed to give her even more pleasure than before. Generally, this would not have been a problem. But with every soft little moan and lick of her lips, Bree-ah was beginning to make it difficult to focus on my own
meal.
Incredibly difficult, in fact.
Her mouth was exquisite. Every little flash of her tongue I caught a glimpse of made me yearn for another. I could envision her full, dark pink lips slipping against the tip of my cock, then around it. I could almost feel the heat of her tongue, pink-hot and slick as it smoothed over my length, teasing out pre-lubrication so that I might mate with her more easily, the scent of her desire swirling all around…
Blood. As Bree-ah sucked her fingers into her mouth and delicately licked the steak juices from them, it was all becoming far too much.
“Enough!” I roared, thumping my fist against the metal table between us.
Bree-ah’s eyes grew wide immediately. She jumped back a little in her chair. Sourness was in the air—fear.
“What?” Her voice was quiet and small. “What did I do wrong this time?”
“Stop—” I paused. Stop what? Stop being so irresistibly desirable? Stop showing off her perfect pink tongue, moaning so sensually, being so incredibly, irrefutably…her? “Stop making so much cursed noise. I can hardly concentrate,” I finished with a grumble.
Her hands were shaking. The scent of her fear of me, undeniable in the air.
But this time, Bree-ah did not faint. Instead, she closed her eyes and drew a deep breath in. When she opened them again, the pale brown of her irises was hardened and chilled.
“I’m doing my best to exist here with your people while you return me to my home, General. If I’ve made a mistake somehow, then I apologize. Deeply.” Her voice was ice, the kind so cold it could burn. She placed her steak back on her plate. The spice of anger radiated off of her now. Her fear had dissipated. Now, she was furious with me.
And cursed thing I was, her rage only made me want her more.