by Corin Cain
“I’m not interested,” I say, walking forward. I can’t help it. There’s nowhere safe on this damn ship!
Riff pats the co-pilot’s seat. I hesitate, but then sit down next to him. The chair practically engulfs me, but even as that realization crosses my mind the chair adapts to my body, reforming itself to fit my smaller frame.
Psionic interface… It’s a technology used across the Aurelian Empire. The tools and equipment so controlled can literally read your mind; and reform themselves to whatever desire you think.
With doors and even chairs, it’s a convenience…
On Aurelian worlds like Colossus, it’s also the technology behind their infamous ‘pleasure rooms’ – which shift and move to create a limitless range of accoutrements to enhance the… ahem… sexual experience.
Riff grins. “You’re really pretending not to be interested? I can practically taste your arousal.”
I curse the fact that the rumors about Aurelian’s enhanced sense of smell must be true. Maybe that was how he detected me behind him, even though my bare feet are silent on the metal floors.
My cheeks burn at the thought of Riff only sensing my presence from the smell of my turned-on cunt.
Although, maybe it’s fair play. I’d always thought it was a little unfair how women get to hide how they feel, while a turned-on guy can’t even stand up without advertising it to the world!
Now, though, I feel vulnerable and exposed. I can tell that my desperate need is turning Riff on. He’s talking cockily – as if this is nothing to him…
…but his fists tighten on the controls, and the outline of his cock hardens in his tight pants.
I snap my head up, and thankfully find Riff still staring out into the dead of space. I sneak a glance back downwards…
Big mistake.
Literally.
The clearly-defined outline of his huge dick is snaking down the right pant leg of his dress pants, growing and throbbing like it’s alive.
I tear my eyes away from the sight of it, and try to focus on studying the rest of him instead.
Riff is still dressed in his suit from the auction, and the lilac of his dress shirt complements both his personality and his skin tone. Focusing on his upper body is at least a little less distracting than staring at the thing between his legs.
Thing is right. That’s not a cock – it’s a fucking python!
I only saw the outline of it through Riff’s pants, and already I can’t imagine how that would ever fit inside a human woman. Maybe it’s true what the rumors say – the illicit confessions I’ve read from the women who are part of Aurelian harems, who claim that the species has a constantly-drooling pre-cum that’s slicker than any lubricant.
Oh, fuck! I shudder as I see a darker patch blossom on the fabric covering Riff’s thigh. Either my presence made him lose control instantly…
…or those rumors are true.
“You keep sitting this close to me and I might not be able to resist you,” Riff growls, and I notice the cocky arrogance disappear from his voice.
Oh, Gods… He’s desperate for me. I shudder, imagining grabbing Riff’s shoulder length hair and clinging on for dear life as he takes me, hard and fast and relentlessly.
“Riff, please. I… I need to let my parents know I’m alright.”
Riff’s eyes widen as he hears my words. He breathes out deeply, slowly regaining control of his senses. “You’re right, of course. They wouldn’t have even got the news of your capture yet – not for another couple of days, unless you were flying express...”
I nod. “I was. I was on my way to work for a trillionaire, and he flew me out express.”
Riff’s eyes widen. He’s clearly impressed. This is the first time I’ve seen any of these Aurelians look at me without anything other than lust…
…or disdain.
“A trillionaire? What do you do?” Riff is both curious, and I can also tell he’s trying to find a topic of conversation that will distract him from his dark need. He wants me, badly, and I feel a tiny tinge of guilt at denying him.
I know all about the mating instincts of Aurelians. When they’re in the presence of a woman that they think could possibly be their Bonded partner – their fated mate – they lose all semblance of control until they find out for sure.
And the only way to do that is by fucking them.
Riff is so fucking close to breaking – to losing his mind and just taking me, hard and fast, whether I want him to or not...
…and I’m ashamed at how much of me does want that.
Don’t think about it! Petra, don’t let yourself think about it!
“I’m a sculptor,” I explain. “I was travelling to work for… Well, an eccentric trillionaire who wanted hand-made marble sculptures… in bulk.”
Riff laughs: “An eccentric, you say? Did he look like me?”
I can’t help but blush. “No… not like you. He… He has a pot-belly, and he’s pushing seventy. It’s not exactly a dream job – but he was going to pay extremely well.”
Riff laughs hard. I quickly glance down at his crotch, and I’m relieved to see his thick, swollen python has softened… slightly.
I have to press my thighs together. Even soft – even just seeing the outline of Riff’s immense cock – he’s still way bigger than any guy I’ve been with.
Well, not that I have a wealth of experience to draw from. I’ve only been with two other men, and neither of them was anything compared to the sculpted, marble perfection of this alien species.
Riff can’t hear my inner dialogue. He just chuckles: “Not a dream job, eh? Your dream isn’t sculpting naked, old, wrinkly men?”
I snort. “Well, when you put it like that…”
Okay. This is too weird. Am I flirting with an alien gangster who just bought me at a slave auction? Does he flirt with all the women of his harem?
Of course he does. Stop thinking you’re special, Petra. Daran very clearly proved you weren’t.
But I can’t help look at this alien in a new light.
There’s a relaxed quality to Riff that puts me at ease, compared to the brooding intensity of his two battle-brothers.
“You don’t exactly seem like a gangster to me.”
Riff laughs. “I wasn’t. I was just a two-bit crook before I met Daran. He gave me purpose.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Purpose? Going from a two-bit crook to a mob-boss?”
Riff leans back. He pilots the vessel with one hand, while from nowhere a gold coin suddenly appears in the other. I watch as the glinting gold sovereign dances across his knuckles, manipulated with incredible dexterity by his large fingers.
“I used to be a hustler back on Perita 3 – that shithole planet we picked you up from. My father was a disgrace. Got himself kicked out of the Aurelian Army for drug addiction. I’m shocked he even had the wherewithal to clone himself when he was dying. If I was that pitiful, I’d have let my lineage die out.”
Riff shakes his head, filled with a seriousness I’d not seen in the laconic warrior before.
“Do you know how fucked up it is? Knowing you share the exact same brain as a failure?”
The information hits me like a slap. I know how Aurelians reproduce without a mate: In the last moments before death, an Aurelian can clone himself – killing himself in the process to create a younger version. Aurelians typically live thousands of years anyway, barring death by injury or war, and this is a further was to allow their genetic lineage to travel the universe, always looking for that near-mystical fated mate.
“Maybe… Maybe he saw something in the wars… Something that broke him.”
It was common enough in war, and I want to say something to give Riff some comfort. He has an outward appearance of cocky confidence, but already I can see the cracks in his veneer.
He closes up instantly. I can tell it by his body language. Riff inadvertently told me more than he was expecting to – and it scared him.
“I’m not a fuck-
up like my father. We don’t have much on Taton, but when we walk, people move out of our way.” Riff is dismissing my sympathy, and I feel the distance between us increasing. We might be sitting next to each other, but we’re no longer sharing the same space.
I shake my head. “No, you’re not a fuck-up. But… You scare me, Riff. All three of you do.”
He shrugs. “Well, once the week is over, you can take a shuttle to Caladina. It’s a neutral planet, not under Aurelian rule, but it might as well be with all their laws. You’ll be safe there, until that trillionaire can take care of you.” There’s a trace of scorn in his voice, and I don’t appreciate it.
It hits me hard. I don’t need anyone to take care of me. Before I can respond, though, Riff pockets his coin and presses buttons in front of him; his movements dismissive and abrupt.
A holographic AI interface appears.
“Who do you wish to contact?” The AI – the ship-wide artificial intelligence – is rendered as a female, with a soft, calming voice.
I rattle off the unique identifier of numbers and letters that identifies my parents.
They pick up on the first ring.
“Petra! By the Gods, you’re alive!” I see my father appear on the screen, and his expression is one of pure joy. I can understand his jubilation. When you get picked up by slavers, you generally never call home again.
“Where are you?” My mother’s worried face appears on screen.
“It’s… It’s a long story. My ship got captured.”
“We know,” says my father. “We…”
“Shut up and let her talk!” My mother pushes my dad out of screen view. When he reappears, he grumbles but quiets his statement.
I love you two so much.
“Look, it’s not going to sound great – but I was sold at a fucking slave-auction.”
I can see my dad’s eyes grow wide. For a second, I’m thinking he’s going to tell me to watch my mouth.
My mom nearly falls off her chair in shock. “A slave-auction? A gosh-darned slave auction? Who bought you?”
I wince. Riff grins next to me. He’s enjoying me explaining my predicament to them, and the anger in his face has softened. I know that I hit a nerve when our conversation turned to his father, but now he’s relaxed again.
Riff is off camera, but I turn to him as I answer my mother’s question:
“Well, it’s going to sound bad, but Aurelians.”
“Aurelians! Aurelians taking slaves? By the Gods! I’ve never heard of such a horrid thing. How did you escape those bastards?”.
Riff chuckles, and leans into view of the camera. “Now I see where she got her foul mouth from!”
My parents recoil from the screen as Riff’s face appears.
He laughs: “Bastard One reporting in.”
My mom has literally fallen from her chair.
She was just told that her only daughter – who she’d already been skeptical about letting go to work for an eccentric trillionaire with a fetish for statues of himself – was just bought and sold at a slave auction… And the ‘slaver’ in question was grinning right in front of her!
“No, no, it’s not like that!” I try desperately to reassure her. “I can leave whenever I want.”
My dad harumphs. “So, leave then!”
“Okay, well, in seven days I can leave...”
I pray that they aren’t going to ask why I can’t leave until seven days have passed. I don’t want to tell them that there are seven other women that the Aurelians have bought, and that they’d dictated it will take seven nights to discover if one of them is their fabled ‘fated mate’.
I’ve put my parents through enough worry.
My mom picks herself up, dusts herself down, and pulls herself back into her chair.
“Seven days?”
Riff grins that cocky smile of his – the one that makes me want to punch him. I swear. I look at him and swear to myself that if Riff says what I think he’s going to say, I’ll box his ears – and damn the consequences.
“We’re in unsafe space right now. In seven days, we can land your little lady safe and sound down on Caladina. We won’t touch a… hair on her head in the meantime.”
Riff’s voice is reassuring, but a little shudder runs down my spine at the thought of being…
…touched.
“Mom, Dad, I have to go,” I say quickly.
“Wait!” My Dad opens his mouth to speak, but I quickly hang up the call before Riff can say anything else mortifying. At least they know I’m alive now. I’m a grown-ass woman, and I don’t need to tell them everything.
“Smooth.” Riff laughs, back to his laconic self. I glance over at him and study the blond-haired Aurelian. He’s the most human of the three aliens. The other two have that weird Aurelian coldness, like there’s some barrier between you and them at all times.
Riff is… approachable.
“Shut up,” I try to suppress my laugh as I retort. Talking with my parents might not have gone great, but at least it tempered my… my need.
Nothing like talking to your mother to quell the fire between your thighs.
In fact, I feel like I’m finally back in control of my own body.
With rationality restored, I begin to plan. If I’m going to be stuck on a ship with three gorgeous aliens, and six other women, I need to figure out exactly what I’m dealing with.
“So, Riff. What exactly do you guys… do?”
Riff pauses for a moment. He stares out into space, working the question over in his mind. Finally, he replies: “We run businesses. We offer protection. We give out loans when no one else will. That’s the… surface of it.”
Surface. What a concept.
Riff looks over at me and his eyes are probing. He might be all laughs and smiles on the surface, but I can tell he’s not someone to play around with.
“I get it,” I respond. “I can’t handle what’s going on under the surface.” Although I should know better, my voice is dripping with sarcasm.
“Watch yourself,” Riff warns, not-so-playfully. “I don’t make idle threats.” His eyes don’t move from mine until I lower my gaze. I remember his earlier threat very clearly…
To spank me for disrespecting him.
I sigh and try to force the image of being thrown over his lap out of my mind – of the sweet pain of his huge palm landing on my bottom.
Get a grip, Petra!
Instead, I decide to ask about more innocuous subjects. I begin with the questions I have about Aurelians in general – having never interacted with one before.
“So, what’s the deal with this ‘Bond’ anyways? Can you guys really read each other’s minds?”
Riff stares out into dead space, gently touching the controls. He has a calm expertise in the way he pilots.
“The Bond…” He muses. “It’s like I can feel the presence of Kreos and Daran in my mind. I can feel the… frustration you put those two through. Likewise, they can feel what you’re doing to me right now.”
As he says that, Riff’s huge hand silently reaches out, gently resting on my thigh.
It takes every impulse in my body to resist from moaning when I feel it.
I know I should tell Riff to move his huge hand, but the heavy weight just feels so right. I shift in my seat, tantalized by this gorgeous, handsome alien.
“I’m sure Daran’s getting over it now,” I say bitterly, “with Brandy. So, rejecting him can’t have hurt that bad.”
Riff pauses. He looks like he’s about to say something…
…but then he doesn’t. Instead, he gently moves his hand higher up my thigh, and then under the hem of my dress.
I stiffen in my seat, feeling the heat of his bare fingers against my skin.
Riff’s fingers are oh-so-softly walking their way closer and closer to the heat between my legs.
I know I shouldn’t let him. I know I should tell him to stop...
But would he?
“You don’t know w
hat you do to me, Petra,” Riff growls, and that’s when I dart away, pulling myself free from his grasp. I can tell that the mating frenzy is building up inside him, and if I stay, I’ll have no one to blame but myself when Riff finally succumbs to temptation and rips off my dress - pinning me against the wall to make me his.
I rise from the co-pilot’s seat on shaky knees, and stagger from the cockpit.
I’m soaking wet as I stagger into the hallway.
“W-Where do I sleep?” I hate that I have to turn back and ask that question, and I hate even more how Riff’s cocky grin is back in place as I stand there, clearly aroused.
“There are rooms for you at the end of the hallway… Mine’s the last one on the left, just before it, in case you want to take advantage.
Riff winks at me, and I scurry away before I’m tempted to take him up on that invitation.
These guys are going to be the death of me!
I feel as small as a mouse as I walk down the hallway, back towards the bedrooms. The hallway is huge enough for all three Aurelians to walk comfortably side by side, making me feel tiny in comparison.
Ha! But if Kreos or Daran appeared at the other end of this hallway, I don’t know if they’d let me squeeze past them. They might pin me there, until my resolve finally cracks…
Thinking of Daran helps distract me from my temptation, though. In fact, my cheeks redden with anger as I imagine what’s going on in Daran’s room right now.
If Riff was telling the truth, I made Daran extremely frustrated when I refused to accompany him to his bed chamber, and no doubt he’s letting out all that frustration out on Brandy even as I think. It makes me sick that I drove him between her thighs.
There are giggles and shrieks coming from the lounge room as I approach it. I put my hands over my ears and rush down the hallway, opening the final door to the chambers that Riff had told me were for sleeping in.
I gasp as I see the set-up.
There are bedrooms for us, alright! This door led to five more; all lined up on one wall and hanging open to reveal the bunkbeds within…
Five rooms, with two bunkbeds in each. I do the math in my head.
That means the Aurelians can travel with twenty women accompanying them, plus however many they stuff into their own bedrooms.