by Zara Zenia
“I have many skills to exchange for lodging and safe harbor,” he said instead of acknowledging Melody’s protests.
The lizard regarded Devron for a long moment before he nodded. “Very well. We will see about these skills of yours. Are you armed?”
By the time the leader—Melody didn’t know if he was actually the leader, or just the voice of the group—asked that question, other Selithi were boarding the boat, surrounding Melody and Devron separately.
“Only with my mining gear,” Devron said, patting his pants leg.
Melody shook her head, her arms tightening around herself as the lizards circled on six feet. It took everything in her not to kick out at them, but she was sure that wouldn’t go over too well with the people who were so far being pretty nice to them.
No one had shot at them, at least.
“Come,” the Selithi leader ordered, waving for them to follow as he retreated down the dock.
Melody shot a look to Devron.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“We’re just going to go with them?” she asked, her voice cracking at the absurdity of it all. Alligator aliens were the good guys?
“You got a better plan, Omega?”
“Stop calling me that,” she spat, clambering to follow him over the railing of the boat. She was grateful to be back on dry land, on white sandy beaches fit for a travel brochure for Maui, but there was still the cadre of giant lizard folk standing around menacingly.
“Well, do you, Melody?” he asked, the sound of her name coming from his lips even worse than the derogatory pet name. It sent shivers down her spine, through her limbs, and all the way to her fingers and her toes. She tried to hide the shudder that rippled through her, but it didn’t matter because he wasn’t looking at her anyway.
“What about Nor?” she asked, jogging up to be right next to him. The Selithi who’d boarded the boat to make sure they weren’t armed didn’t keep close to them once they were on land. They were surrounded, but not in a threatening way. Still, Melody didn’t know much about these aliens or what Devron was getting at, so she kept her voice down.
“What about him?” Devron asked.
“Won’t they turn us in? Won’t he have some kind of bounty or reward posted?”
Devron shrugged. “Not likely, and likely.”
Her frown deepened, and Devron smirked.
“The Selithi prefer to stay neutral in the affairs of Canians. We share a planet but not much else. And before recently, they stayed near the equator—”
“Before recently?” Melody asked.
“They’ve begun to branch out,” Devron said simply, shrugging. “Point is, they’ll need my labor, and they have very little incentive to sell us out to Nor.”
“And you’re sure of that?” Melody asked, the memory of being sold out still way too fresh after Brandy’s betrayal.
“As sure as I can be,” he said with another casual shrug. She wasn’t very reassured by that, but what say did she ever have in any of this?
At least the island they’d landed on was gorgeous, filled with the same kind of lush vegetation, but warmer, with bright flowers exploding through the endless expanses of green. It was mountainous, too. Though the Selithi had a well-carved path that wound through a river valley, steep mountains rose up on either side of the valley, the sound of birdsong and waterfalls trickling down from above.
Melody kept a sharp eye out for giant frogs looking to perch.
The muddy valley road twisted deeper into the mountains until the rock walls were closing in on either side, and Melody started to feel panicked about being trapped by a rock slide or an earthquake suddenly shifting the mountain on top of her. Suddenly, they were stopped, and it seemed like they’d been fooled. The path went nowhere, the mountain shot up straight in front of them with a sheer rock face, and Melody and Devron were surrounded.
The rocks began to tremble and shake, pebbles raining down the slick hillside. Melody clutched at Devron, clinging close to him, sure this was the end for her.
Then the wall in front of the group shifted, sliding slowly to one side, opening a massive cave mouth for them. Their Selithi escorts led them into the cave, which served as the entryway for their little village. Though they walked through a cave entrance and stepped into a huge domed room carved from the planet and filled with hot steam, the opposite end of the massive room was open to the world again. This was nothing but the gate. An atrium, Melody realized.
But even this place was enough to keep her head swiveling, trying to take it all in. There were pools of steaming hot water all over the place, the room a curvy, organic structure with many secluded pockets and private places where Selithi could enjoy solace and the warm waters. Steam from the thermal pools filled the entry cave with the fragrant perfume of herbs and flowers used in bathing oils and ointments. Melody hardly had time to even understand everything around her before she was following the crowd out to the cliffside perch of the Selithi village.
It was a cutout in the mountain, probably big enough to fit all of Memphis in, jungle and mountain growing up around three sides of the village while the cliff dropped off into more jungle and then the ocean below. The Selithi were well-protected in this area, and it showed. Everything had a well-established feel to it. Things weren’t having to be frequently rebuilt here because of disasters.
And it was quickly clear to Melody that she’d been very wrong in thinking these aliens were animal-like just because they mostly didn’t wear clothes. Their technology was everywhere, personal transport vehicles that zipped around and little bots that scurried around, delivering goods and performing menial tasks. Melody was gaping and trying to make sense of it all when she ran into Devron’s solid back.
He turned and arched an eyebrow at her.
“Should I carry you everywhere?” he asked, the words more a threat, given their history.
Melody bit back her sharp remark, more curious about why they’d just stopped.
“This should suit your needs. We will assess your usefulness tomorrow,” the Selithi leader said, opening the door as he dismissed most of his entourage.
“Perfect. Thanks a ton,” Devron said, shaking one of the lizard’s hand-claws.
Melody was finally able to get in and found a pretty standard little apartment. It wasn’t anything crazy or alien. It was different enough from what she was used to that she’d have to figure some stuff out, for sure—but it seemed pretty livable, to be honest.
“Not too bad, huh?” Devron said, closing the door, obviously rather pleased with himself. “Does your Master provide, or what?”
Melody rolled her eyes. “Dunno. I don’t have a master,” she spat. Yes, the argument was getting old, but if he wouldn’t drop it, she wasn’t going to be the first to crack.
“Oh, come on,” he said with a plaintive sigh, turning to face her. “Surely, you’ve realized by now that I’m not all that bad. I’m just—”
“I know, you’ve got this terrible sickness that’s making you do bad things. But you’re such a nice guy. You wouldn’t normally kidnap a girl and keep her as a sex slave,” Melody snapped, sarcasm dripping from every word as she folded her arms and turned her back on him, chin held high.
“And I’ve forced you to have sex with me how many times, Melody?” he asked, the use of her real name startling her, but not nearly as much as the sound of hurt in his voice did. He sounded offended that she’d called him out like that.
“Not yet,” she said.
He sighed, dragging his fingers through his hair, looking as upset about it as Melody felt. For the first time, she wondered how he actually felt about this whole thing. Before now, she hadn’t cared at all.
“I didn’t ask for this either, you know. Some selfish prick nobleman screwed my mom and saddled me with his fucking curse for the rest of my life.”
“Yeah, once a month,” Melody shot back, anger replacing any shred of sympathy that had started to bloom. “Once a month, you hav
e a really shitty period if you don’t get laid. I’ve been . . . altered. Chemicals and shit. I can’t even leave your sight without feeling panicked, and you did that to me.”
“Nor—”
“Yeah, fine,” Melody conceded with a huff. “He’s the one who gave me the treatments and planned to do the imprint, but you made me imprint on you. You don’t get absolution for that.”
Devron frowned, looking her over, that same warmth building deep in her belly as he did. She hated that her body responded to him like that now. She hated that she had no control over the way she itched to jump at him whenever they were close like this. She wanted to throw her arms around him, press her lips to his, and spread her legs, welcoming him into her.
“What should I have done?” he asked, surprising the hell out of her. “If Nor had imprinted on you, he would have . . .” Devron looked away, hand and jaw clenched as he grunted, squeezing his eyes shut like he was trying to force an image from his head.
Melody didn’t really have to wonder what image that was because she was trying to rid herself of it too.
She didn’t doubt that he was right. If Nor had been the one to take off her blindfold, he would’ve finished the whole thing right there, and remembering how horny the whole treatment had made her, Melody wasn’t even sure she’d have tried to fight him off. That part turned her stomach most of all.
She was glad Devron had stopped that, but it just meant that whatever feelings she might have been able to develop for him could never be trusted, could never be real.
“How would you feel in my situation?” she asked instead. “If you were drugged and forced to follow someone around like a lovesick puppy, with no freedom or will of your own?”
Unsurprisingly, Devron didn’t have an answer to offer her. His mouth opened like he thought he had something to say, but then he snapped his jaw shut with an audible sound and the conversation dropped.
What a hollow victory.
10
It was soon established that neither of the thieves had skills particularly useful in a society that didn’t value personal goods. The Selithi existed as a whole. What belonged to one of them belonged to them all, so concepts like locks and safes, the kinds of things Melody actually knew something about, were all foreign to them.
They had jobs for the newcomers nevertheless—or at least for Devron. Melody just had to go along with him when he went off to his post. No one asked her. No one informed her of anything. She was just expected to follow without question.
Bitterly, she held her silence for a couple of days. She’s said what she wanted to Devron about her situation. She’d made it clear to him how distasteful the whole thing was to her, and he hadn’t tried to bring it up again.
He hadn’t tried to press the issue at all, though she still caught him looking at her out of the corner of his eye when he thought she wasn’t looking. She still felt his gaze lingering, felt the nearness of him the moment he entered a room, because it dried her mouth without fail. She had no idea how long it was until his ‘time of the month’, but a month was only so long, and each passing day was a day closer to . . . whatever was going to happen.
She didn’t want to think about it.
For a few reasons.
She didn’t want to think about that day because she was scared. By all accounts, the Frenzy was kind of a violent thing, not a pleasant experience, and the way Devron’s eyes went hollow and distant when he talked about it only made it worse. But it wasn’t just the Frenzy that scared her. It was that Melody knew Devron would come for her, and she knew the imprint would kick in, and she didn’t know how she’d react to it.
What scared her the most was that she thought she’d probably give in to him.
Even without any outside forces propelling her, Melody wanted him. She found herself returning those lingering gazes and admiring the firm, solid lines of his lean, muscular body. She found herself daydreaming about running her fingers through his silky silver-gold hair, staring deep into those glacial eyes, pressing her lips to his . . .
She shuddered at the memory of their kiss, the memory of his body pressed against hers. They hadn’t been that close since before he’d stolen the boat, and she was having some kind of strange withdrawal reaction.
“Time for your shift, Canian,” came a Selithi call through the door with a heavy knock. Devron was already at the door, ready to leave, and Melody was seated on the couch in their little studio apartment. Devron opened the door and bright sunlight spilled into their place, dust motes floating in the shaft of light.
“How is it, Gaddis?” Devron asked the Selithi on the other side.
“Can’t complain. Sina’s just about ready to come back to duty, so you’ll get to meet her soon.”
“Already?” Devron asked. “Didn’t she just deliver?”
There was a strange hissing sound that Melody knew was the Selithis’ way of laughing.
“Our women aren’t soft like yours,” Gaddis said, the hissing laughter following. “Good shift, my friend!”
“Thank you,” Devron said. “Have a good night.” He left without a look back at Melody.
“One, two, thr—” Melody started to count, but before she got to three, there was an awful pang in her stomach, a spike of panic rushing through her bloodstream. All at once, she broke into a cold sweat and her heart thumped so hard and insistently that she couldn’t form a single thought.
Go, her brain screamed at her, her body trembling as she tried to get to her feet, but her knees buckled and she went sprawling to the ground.
The door opened again, and Devron was there looking down at her sternly, like she was a naughty dog improperly housebroken.
“What are you doing? Come on,” he said, frowning down at her. He sighed as he shook his head and stooped to offer his hand. “Come on, let me help you up.”
“I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth, ignoring the magnetic pull of his outstretched hand. She couldn’t even go three seconds with him out of the building before she was a trembling, quaking, panicking mess.
Devron’s look hardened. “You’re not. The bond still isn’t completed, and it’s wearing on you.”
Melody scoffed. “You think that’s going to get me to sleep with you? You need to get more creative if you wanna get into my pants, Mister,” she said, her words way more assertive than her voice. Her voice told the truth. Her voice was halting, breathy, and on the verge of a moan should he say the word.
To Devron’s credit, he didn’t comment on it. He didn’t challenge her.
“It’s time for my shift,” he said instead.
“Yeah, your shift,” Melody said.
“You’re my Omega. You’re an extension of me,” he said, taking her hand whether she liked it or not and pulling her to her wobbly feet. She steadied herself with a hand on his chest and sucked in a breath at the heat of the connection.
She wanted to melt into a puddle right then and there, but his words wouldn’t stop playing in her head.
“I’m my own person, Devron,” she said, pulling away from him.
His arms tightened around her and she couldn’t escape. The flash of fear that stuck in her throat was quickly overshadowed by anticipation, a hot fizzle in her veins that made her pant when he looked at her like that through his pale lashes.
“You are mine,” he growled, low and deep, his fingers digging into her hips as he dragged her against him. She could feel his thick need for her nestled between her legs, pressing against her, and Melody groaned, dragging her teeth over her bottom lip as she did.
She didn’t want to want him, but God, she did. She wanted to hook her leg around his waist and grind against him like an animal in heat. She wanted to rip off every scrap of fabric she wore and bear herself to him, to offer herself to him like a fucking buffet.
Devron growled something that sounded a lot like a curse and pulled himself away from her, yanking the door open once again and heading out into the open village beyond. Mel
ody didn’t waste time following him again. She’d been testing the limits of this bond the best she could, trying to find a loophole somewhere, but so far, she’d only discovered the depths of the hole she was in.
Outside, she felt like she could breathe again, though. The Selithis’ houses were modest, built up into the mountain and the cliff like the ancient southwestern Natives did back on Earth, but on a much grander scale. The jungle hugged the village from all sides, and the cloud cover that seemed so dense elsewhere on the planet was clearer here, giving way to a sky that was a deep, rich cobalt blue.
He stopped just outside the door, and Melody ran into him, too busy looking at her surroundings as she usually did whenever they left their apartment. How could she not? It was an alien village! Everything about it was fascinating, and the mixture of things being so high-tech while also being so old baffled her. How long had these creatures had this level of technology? It was mind-blowing.
When she stumbled into him, though, Devron turned to face her, his brow furrowed with a conflicted look. If she didn’t know better, she might think he was about to apologize for all that. No way, though. Not him. She wasn’t sure Canians understood the concept of apologizing.
“What?” she finally asked, his strange look making her more uncomfortable the longer it went on.
Devron sighed and shook his head. “Nothing. It is not your concern.”
“What?” Melody asked again, sharper this time. “Clearly it is, or you wouldn’t have started to say something.”
Devron’s lips twitched subtly at the corners, trying to fight off a smile. “You’re too clever, little Omega,” he said.
Melody glared, hands going to her hips.
“I know it probably won’t work, but I will still try to hit you,” she threatened, getting a full grin out of him momentarily before he sobered, shook his head, and sighed.
“I suppose you do deserve a warning. The time for my Frenzy grows near, and that means—”
“Look, you don’t need to spell it out for me,” Melody said, cutting him off. “I know what it means.”