Koryn found that he was both relieved and eager to shift his focus to his vocation. He wasn’t accustomed to dealing with jealousy at all, let alone anything as stomach churningly intense as he’d experienced lately and he was almost as perturbed over the cracks that had developed in his friendship with Tariq. This was familiar ground and soothing because it was. Beyond that, the discovery of so many boosted his flagging spirits in regards to the success of their mission. He grinned at Tariq when he’d examined the remains of the bodies that had been recovered thus far. “These are far better preserved. I think we can count on extracting useable materials.”
Tariq’s expression was grim despite the satisfaction that flickered in his eyes. “I would like to find the bastards that did this and wipe them out,” he said tightly. “They were defenseless. They couldn’t have posed any threat to the bastards.”
Koryn felt his belly clench. With his mind redirected toward the tragedy itself rather than the scientific aspects of the situation, he turned to study the scene through new eyes and felt the same emotions he’d sensed in Tariq—fury at the mercilessness of those who’d killed so many. “Do you think there’s any chance of discovering who was responsible? I don’t imagine you would get much of an argument against launching a retaliation if we could find out. I think most everyone on Niribu will be livid over this when they were our wards.”
“Maybe,” Tariq said, his expression taut. “Most of them are far more interested in breeders than anything else. They’ll be appeased enough if we can produce them in sufficient numbers, but I’m sure the old ones, at least, would support a campaign.” He seemed to force himself to relax after a moment, rubbing at the tension in his neck. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure we have any chance of discovering who’s responsible. I’d put the chances somewhere around zero if we can accept what Emerald told us. These people were the castoffs of their own society or they wouldn’t have been left here to die. If they’d been important to the humans, they would’ve been evacuated.”
“Not necessarily,” Koryn countered. “It doesn’t look to me as if they had much time to prepare for the attack. Undoubtedly, the most powerful and important would’ve had the first seats, but we don’t know what they had available to facilitate an evacuation. Room might have been severely limited—must have been or everyone would’ve been evacuated.”
“I guess we’ll see what we see,” Tariq said coolly. “How much time are we looking at here?”
Koryn frowned thoughtfully, relieved to turn his focus to the task at hand. “We hadn’t expected to have to deal with anything like this. Our cloning facilities are extremely limited. If we contacted Niribu, we could get what we needed to process them in mass. If we’re to be limited to what’s available … I can grow a dozen at the time and have a dozen more ready for the pods when those are developed enough to take them out. Even allowing the first a few weeks to fully mature, we could go ahead and send two dozen. The second batch would be matured enough by the time they reach Niribu.”
“So we’re looking at months,” Tariq said with obvious disgust. “Do what you can for now. I’d rather hold off on contacting the council about the situation. We might still find survivors and that would appease the council members somewhat.” He was silent for several moments. “Process everything as it comes in and select the best for quickest processing. There’s no point in wasting time on the less than desirable—unless that’s all we find.”
“I see your point, but Emerald and the others were excellent specimens. I’m optimistic quality, at least, isn’t going to be an issue for us.”
Tariq wasn’t as convinced as he would’ve liked to be. He thought Emerald’s bloodlines were inarguably excellent, but he was inclined to consider her a rare gem. It remained to be seen whether he was right or Koryn.
He was rooting for Koryn.
Dismissing the headache for the time being, he made his way back to the ship. Emerald had defied him and he wasn’t as confident that he knew how to deal with her rebelliousness as he would’ve liked to be. He had no doubt that he could break her to his will, if that had been desirable, but it didn’t take much of a search to realize it wasn’t. A part of what had drawn him to Emerald, aside from her physical appearance, was her quiet strength. He didn’t want to break her spirit any more than he’d wanted to implant false memories that might subtly, or significantly, alter her personality.
Truthfully, the rebelliousness had come as a surprise—and not a particularly pleasant one. He’d been certain he was well on his way to taming her to hand and hadn’t anticipated any real difficulties in training her to please him in bed. Her withdrawal and distrust had shaken that conviction and he wasn’t pleased about that, either.
He would’ve been far more than displeased if they hadn’t discovered so many humans in the underground that it seemed to make her cooperation in giving them information a moot point. If not for that, he would’ve had no choice but to force her to give up the information they needed, whatever the consequences to her.
It still pissed him off that she’d refused.
And he couldn’t allow her to be openly defiant even if he did admire her spirit. It would be completely unacceptable once he got her back to Nibiru. He had to make her understand that his patience and indulgence of her would only go so far and no further.
By the time he reached the ship again, he realized exactly what he wanted to do to teach her the error of defying him.
* * * *
It startled Emerald when the door opened and the Android that had been set to guard her entered and approached her where she sat in one of the large chairs in the lounging area of Tariq’s quarters. He knelt in front of her and indicated that she was to extend her foot. Reluctance instantly slithered through her but riding it was the unwelcome certainty that wrestling for possession of her foot wouldn’t go well for her. That certainty increased to uneasiness when he lifted his head and met her gaze when she failed to comply immediately.
Regardless of what they’d told her, there was intelligence in his eyes and determination, not the dead look of a thing that had no life of its own beyond the mechanics that powered it.
Swallowing against the sudden dryness in her mouth, she shifted her weight from her legs and held out the foot he’d tapped with his hand.
His gaze skimmed the length of her leg and focused for a handful of seconds at the juncture of her thighs, just long enough to increase the sense that he was far more than a machine but not long enough to solidly confirm that suspicion. Her heart fluttered, but she couldn’t decide if it was from anxiety, a flare of hope, or a combination of both and a purely physical reaction to his interest—or what appeared to be interest.
“You aren’t Koryn’s assistant, Roth,” she murmured when he settled her heel on his hard knee and began to unwind the bandaging on her foot. “What’s your name?”
As closely as she watched him she couldn’t see that he’d heard her let alone understood, and yet she still felt like he had.
With calm deliberation, he completely removed the bandage, dropped it to the floor and examined her foot with his gaze.
“They said you weren’t … real, that you were a machine and that you hadn’t been programmed to understand my language,” she said tentatively when he lifted her foot to study the bright pink new skin where here blisters had been. “Your hands feel real to me.”
He flicked a brief look at her face at that. His dark, tawny brows drew together over the bridge of his nose as he returned his gaze to her foot. He hesitated. After a long moment, he stroked the new skin lightly with the ball of his thumb, as if he was testing it, though it almost seemed more like he was trying to soothe the angry color.
There was nothing detached or unfeeling about his touch. Emerald refused to believe that she could react the way she had if it was. “It isn’t as if they talk to me or would listen to me, you know. We’re lower life forms as far they’re concerned.”
He curled his fingers around her ankle
and lifted her foot. Instead of settling it on the chair, however, he moved her leg to one side before he released it. She might have thought there was no motive behind it except that his gaze once more traveled her thigh to the lips of her sex—which he’d exposed very deliberately to his view by that move—lingering a second longer than before. Again, she felt an uncomfortable flutter, this time in both her chest and her lower belly.
He flicked a look upward at her face. “I am Aeon,” he said, his voice sounding rusty, almost harsh. “Tariq’s man. You will not fare well among the Anunnaki if you cannot learn to accept your place.”
Anger flickered through her as he took her other foot and guided it to rest on his knee. “You didn’t have to, though, did you? They created you as a … machine, so you have no feelings.”
His face hardened, but he focused on unwrapping the bandages on her foot.
“It’s curious to me, though …. If you’re nothing but a machine and have no feelings I can’t help but wonder why you have any interest in studying my pussy.”
Dark color tinged his cheeks, but there was grim amusement in his eyes when he flicked a look at her. “I have an interest in keeping my dick. I have no need for one to serve Tariq.”
Chapter Six
Emerald eyed Tariq warily when he entered the room some time later. She couldn’t see any sign of the anger from earlier, but his expression and his manner were purposeful enough that she felt a flicker of uneasiness as he crossed the cabin and disappeared inside the small compartment beside the facilities where he’d gotten the clothing he’d allowed her to wear before. When he reappeared, he was carrying a strap-like object that looked like a belt and Emerald felt her uneasiness deepen even though he hadn’t once glanced in her direction since he’d returned. Maybe because he seemed intent on behaving as if she was invisible?
He sat down on the edge of his bunk. “Come here, Emerald.”
Emerald sent him a startled look. He was focused on removing his boots, though, and she almost managed to convince herself she hadn’t heard him summon her.
She knew when he looked up and met her gaze with a look of hard determination that she hadn’t misheard him. He hadn’t ‘forgotten’ her refusal to answer his questions earlier or decided to overlook it.
Her eyes widened as he stood up. Contrary to her expectations, however, he didn’t stride across the room to fetch her. He turned his attention to removing his clothing.
Realizing his intent instantly, Emerald’s heart slammed against her chest wall so hard it knocked the breath from her. She threw a glance toward the door, wondering if she could reach it and escape before he could catch her. When she dragged her gaze from the door, however, she discovered that Tariq had seen her glance at the door.
“You wouldn’t like the consequences if you tried that,” he murmured pleasantly. “I might, but I’m convinced you wouldn’t.”
A shiver skated down her spine.
“I’m fairly certain you also won’t like it if I’m forced to repeat myself.”
Emerald swallowed with an effort, so panicked by that time it took her a moment to realize what he was referring to and several moments more to convince herself to respond to the summons rather than try to flee. She chastised herself for the impulse, which she knew would be futile and would almost certainly result in discovering what he’d meant by his veiled promise. She was a soldier, she reminded herself. Any woman knew rape was almost inevitable if she was captured by the enemy. She’d been trained to deal with it.
All she had to do was to make like a dead fish, focus her mind away from whatever he did to her, and endure with a pretense of indifference. If it didn’t completely wreck his ‘mood’ it would certainly spare her a great deal of pain and humiliation.
It still took all she could do to get up from the chair and cross the room obediently. She didn’t think she could’ve managed it then except that he sent her an impatient look that she was afraid was her last warning.
Naked now, he sat down on the edge of the bed as she approached with lagging feet and picked up the strap he’d dropped on the bed when he undressed. She stopped when she was just beyond his reach. She knew it was mistake, but she didn’t think she could take another step without her knees buckling.
He was far more magnificent that she’d dreamed possible, too beautifully perfect even for his nakedness to seem obscene—and he seemed twice as big as he had before, which was saying something when she almost felt as if she was in the presence of giants any time she was close to either him or Koryn.
He lifted his free hand and summoned her closer with the crook of a finger, pointing to floor between his splayed legs. Trying not to notice the mammoth cock that went with the mammoth everything else, Emerald locked her knees, lifted her chin with as much defiance as she could muster, and obeyed.
His eyes narrowed, his expression growing harder. “Drop the sheet.”
Emerald had to command her fingers to obey. The urge to clutch the sheet tighter was so strong she almost thought he would have to peel her fingers loose if he wanted to strip the sheet from her.
“I’m not a very patient man,” he said grimly.
Swallowing against a knot in her throat that felt like her fist, Emerald released her hold on the sheet, allowing it to drop to the floor. When it fell, he reached for her. She might have fled in spite of her efforts to cling to her training if she could’ve commanded her legs to move. She couldn’t and she stumbled slightly when he grasped her hips and drew her closer, flinching when he released the catch on the belt and it fell open. To her surprise, rather than striking her with it, he looped it around her and fastened it snuggly at her waist. She stared at the belt and then met his gaze with utter confusion. “What is it?” she asked, her voice emerging as a hoarse croak.
“It’s to prevent you from achieving orgasm.”
Emerald stared at him blankly, trying to ignore the muscles low in her belly that clenched in response.
He brought his knees together, caught her waist and lifted her, settling her astride his knees. She grabbed instinctively for his shoulders to keep from falling when he spread his knees again, parting her thighs with the movement. She almost lost her balance again when he lifted his hands to her breasts, releasing her grip on his shoulders to cover them with her hands.
His hands curled around her wrists. She fought the tug of his hands until they tightened around her wrists hard enough to make her flinch. To her surprise, the moment she did, he released her wrists.
“Move your hands … now.”
She might have defied him if not for the tone of his voice. It was so eloquent of repressed violence that she knew she’d pushed him as far as he was willing to be pushed. Reminding herself that she was supposed to pretend indifference, not resist, she forced her hands down and settled them on her thighs. With the best will in the world, she discovered she absolutely couldn’t keep her hands down when he cupped her breasts.
He stared at her hands as they gripped his wrists and then lifted his head to look at her speculatively for a long moment. Uttering an irritated breath, he dropped his hands to her waist, turned and dropped her onto the bed. Before she could react, he followed her down. Catching both wrists and lifting her arms above her head, he crossed her wrists and manacled them with one hand and then pinned the lower part of her body by planting one leg across her hips.
She looked up at him, wide eyed with fear despite her best effort to calm herself, in spite of the chant ‘Dead fish! Dead fish!’ reverberating through her mind.
Satisfied that she couldn’t resist any longer if she wanted to, he used his free hand to explore her breasts. Emerald squeezed her eyes closed, trying to ignore the feel of his hand on her breasts. No amount of chanting to herself seemed to help. Her awareness of the sheer size of the man was so acute she almost felt as if she was drowning in sensation. Her mind swam with the explosion of synapses firing in her brain. Every hair follicle on her body had leapt to attention and she could feel th
e faintest of movements, even air currents stirred by his breaths.
His hand engulfed one breast and then the other, squeezing lightly. He stroked his long fingers over them and then downward across her ribs and then her belly. Her belly quivered at his touch, the muscles in her sex spasming frantically. When he returned his attention to her breasts, he ran a finger lightly over each nipple until it stood erect and then plucked at them over and over until she could feel them tighten to hard knots and then the blood begin to pulse in them with jarring hardness. Her eyelids flew open when she sensed him leaning closer, felt the heat of his breath against her breasts.
Mesmerized, she watched his lips part as he neared one tight peak, watched as he closed his lips around it. Heated sensation flooded her on the instant, making her belly quiver again, thawing the coldness that had invaded her with the fear. He sucked the tight nub with a leisure that began to send a steady stream of warmth through her, flicking at it with the tip of his tongue. He lifted his head after a few moments, just enough to allow him to trace the circumference of her nipple with the point of his tongue and then sucked it into his mouth again, pulling on it with the suction of his mouth.
Slowly, insidiously, her fear melted away, replaced with utter confusion and leaving her defenseless. The heat began to climb inside her far more rapidly the moment her defenses began to crumble. The belated reminder to herself that she should focus her mind on something else was useless to her by that time. Her body had responded to his touch and no effort to ignore it helped in the least. Pleasure had already given way to a lethargic delirium by the time he decided to move to her other breast and tease that nipple as he had the first.
The jolt that went through her the moment he closed his mouth around it and sucked seared a path straight to her womb. It clenched in a hard spasm but even the brief pain barely slowed the tide of heat building inside of her to an inferno.
Deep Penetration; Alien Breeders I Page 9