The security commander actually laughed, his expression anticipatory. “No man should pass safe in his bed, like something old and useless. I’ll find our volunteers.”
Eager now that he had an actual enemy he could thwart, Oret moved away, hailing several other Nobeks. Zemos watched him. The captain agreed that to go down fighting was preferable to dying quietly. The only reason he had not done so on board his ship was because of Miragin.
The thought of his Imdiko and the woman Zemos would make their Matara quieted the surge of bloodlust pouring through the Dramok’s veins. After Oret’s earlier display of fury, Miragin had followed Elisa into an office off the main engineering area. Apparently, she’d wanted away from all that shouting. Zemos supposed seeing Oret undone by anger had been a bit much for her. It made him glad he’d held his own fury back.
By the ancestors, as badly as Zemos wanted to destroy those who would tear apart his Empire, the warrior’s death was not something he would choose for his gentle Imdiko or sweet Elisa. Yet with only four hours until the Earther crew came at them and no word anyone in the Kalquorian fleet had received their distress call, a violent end might very well be their fates.
Chapter 14
Elisa scowled at Miragin, who had followed her into the chief engineer’s office. She had hoped to get away from him, from all the Kalquorians. She needed time to think things through, especially when it looked like Oret was the brink of a murderous rampage. Zemos had seemed calm, but she could tell it was only an outward facade. His tension had been palpable to her even from across the room.
The Dramok captain had told Elisa one of his priorities was to find out the full truth on what Captain Walker had planned for him. Apparently, he’d found something bad. Worse than slavery even, because he’d had murder in his eyes. Elisa couldn’t imagine what nastier business Zemos had discovered going on, besides discovering the Holy Leader still lived.
Not knowing what was going on or what havoc Zemos planned to do about it put Elisa on edge. She wanted to get away from them all, to settle her nerves just a bit.
How different this was turning out from her crazy dreams of Zemos’ clan spiriting her away to Kalquor! Elisa’s fantasies had always entailed them finding a bloodless way of getting free and sneaking her to a shuttle. From there they would have flown her from the battlecruiser to their planet, giving her a happy life of safety and security. Instead, there had been killing with the promise of more. They could all die in the next few hours, and she with them.
Why had this turned so complicated and ugly? Why was all of life like that?
Feeling hurt and cheated, Elisa turned her back on Miragin, facing the desk before her. Its surface was cluttered with three computers, a couple of handhelds, a com, and various mechanical parts. The whole office was chaotic like that, making Elisa wonder how any work got done in Engineering. She preferred order in her workspace and couldn’t imagine anyone thinking straight in such an environment.
She still thought she could calm her overwhelmed senses if she sat in one of the four chairs in the room and closed her eyes for some deep breathing exercises. And if Miragin would go away.
Elisa told the Imdiko, “I’d like a moment alone.”
“I’m afraid I can’t allow that.”
Elisa turned around, looking at him with surprise. “Why not?”
Miragin’s expression, while kind, was firm. “There is far too much pain and anger in your eyes for me to leave you right now.”
His answer infuriated her. “I don’t need a babysitter. I have been on my own for a long time.”
The Imdiko drew close. Elisa tried to back away, to put distance between them. Her feet refused to obey her, even when he stroked her hair. Damn if she didn’t move into his caress, pressing her cheek into his palm. She hated herself for needing the contact.
Miragin gave her an appraising look. “You have indeed been alone, and for far too long. Even surrounded by siblings, even in a ship full of people, you have been alone.”
“I’m fine with that.”
He pulled her close, enfolding her in his arms. Elisa tried not to feel the safety of it and failed. Her only consolation was that she managed to remain stiff in his embrace.
Miragin told her, “That you are fine with your isolation troubles me more than if it had made you miserable. This is not how it should be, Elisa. Even when I am on Kalquor and my clanmates are far away, I do not feel alone. I know they are with me in heart, if not physically. If it was otherwise, I would be lost.”
“Our situations are much different,” Elisa said. She shook with the effort of not sinking against him. “I have not had your good fortune.”
“No you haven’t, but things have changed. Zemos has made the offer to clan you. You don’t have to be alone ever again.”
“Maybe I don’t know how to be anything else.”
“That would make your life a real tragedy.”
Miragin kissed her. Instead of doing so with the gentleness Elisa assumed he would act with, the kiss was fierce in its bold intensity. He kissed her like a conqueror might, his fist clutching a handful of her hair, holding her face up to his. His lips were hard on hers, and his tongue stabbed at where her gasping mouth parted open. The Imdiko didn’t simply taste her, he devoured.
The power of his insistence, the complete lack of tenderness, ignited Elisa’s senses. She melted into the burning desire, tasting brute masculinity, feeling a strength from Miragin that she must surrender to. The strength he exhibited underscored her fragility. She could do nothing to resist him, mostly because nothing within her wanted to.
That sharp scent that reminded her of cinnamon rose in the air, almost chokingly thick. Miragin was aroused. She could feel him swelling hard and insistent against her stomach. Her body reacted in kind, awakening with an almost desperate need. The ache in her gut made her entire body quake with the force of it.
The Imdiko broke the kiss and stared into her eyes, holding her as much a captive with his feral gaze as his arms did. Elisa’s only defense came in the form of weak words.
“I’m nothing but a prisoner to you. You’ll take what you want no matter what I do.”
Miragin’s eyes narrowed. “I take what I’m given. Nothing more.”
He drove her backwards, forcing her up against the wall. He pinned her arms over her head with one hand, the other busying itself roughly with her breasts. His thumb rubbed against a nipple until it poked blatantly against the thin fabric of her bra and blouse. Elisa moaned and writhed in his grip as electric jolts flashed down into her core. Wetness seeped steadily from her crotch.
Miragin plucked at the hard nub, making Elisa emit tiny cries. “Tell me to stop. Tell me no, and it ends right now.”
She moaned. She twisted. She couldn’t get away. Miragin opened the buttons of her blouse, parting the fabric to reveal her chest, bra, and stomach. He shoved the bra up, letting her breasts spill out. He pinched the nipples, bringing Elisa up on her toes as excitement rocketed through her guts. She opened her mouth and strained to rebuke him. The words wouldn’t come.
The Imdiko yanked her skirt down so hard Elisa thought he would tear it right off. Instead it fell to her ankles, puddling around her slippered feet. The power display undid her, and any thought of resistance was gone in a wash of excruciating ardor.
Since Miragin’s clan had already torn her panties into shreds, she wore nothing from the waist down. The Imdiko growled to see her pussy exposed, and his hand dove between her legs to find her wet and ready for him. Elisa arched to feel his touch there and then cried out when he shoved two fingers inside. He pumped, fucking her hard like that.
“Shall I leave you alone now, Elisa?” he asked. “Do you still want that?”
She sobbed denial at the thought. Her pussy clamped down hard on the driving digits, as if in protest. If he left her like this, she would come apart. Elisa did not want Miragin to abandon her. Not now, not ever.
Ticklish heat flickered through her sleeve as the Imdiko con
tinued to finger fuck her. Elisa moved her hips to greet each demanding thrust, opening herself to his use. Tiny convulsions shuddered through her abdomen as she gave herself over to her captor. Now there was no right or wrong, no thoughts of being a traitor. In this moment, there was only the building tension, the coiling of excitement as Miragin ushered her towards rapture. Nothing mattered but the man holding her, making her feel good and safe and not alone.
Even as Elisa surrendered everything to him, Miragin pulled free of her clutching sheath. He pulled open the crotch seam of his trousers, freeing his engorged cocks. They were thick and wet, eager to invade her, ready to claim her as their prize.
She groaned. “Miragin. Miragin, please.”
The Imdiko released her wrists. He bent a little, scooping her legs into the crooks of his arms, lifting her up against the wall, angling her for the first thrust. As if guided by an unseen hand, his cocks zeroed in on their intended openings. The tips settled right where Elisa needed them to be.
Miragin stared into her eyes. His fangs were down, showing behind the front square teeth as he spoke in a thick, almost animal snarl. “If you don’t want me, say so. Say stop and it ends right now. Otherwise, I am going to fuck you until you scream for me.”
Elisa shook all over. She thought he might hurt her in his bestial lust. Something in her wanted him to. That part howled against the idea of making him stop, drowning out the sensible terror that should have made her fight him off. She said nothing, only keened with desperate want and anticipation of agony.
Miragin answered the call. He sheathed himself within her in one smooth, quick thrust. The act drove all the air from Elisa’s lungs as her body seized around the intruders. It did hurt, the blast of torment wondrous for the beauty of it. She’d been overcome, claimed, and possessed. In that moment, she belonged to him without reservation.
He rode her hard, plunging deep with every jerk of his hips, moving her up and down against the wall. Miragin fucked her mercilessly, taking her with a power she’d not guessed one of his gentle nature could possess. The fullness of the double penetration and the hot friction of his driving lengths against her G-spot had Elisa’s guts twisting and tumbling and churning, as if a violent storm had been unleashed within her. In a matter of minutes, orgasm broke through her, dazzling flashes of brightness blasting in quick succession.
The headiest of these convulsions had only passed when Miragin panted, “Again.”
As if his will had sublimated hers, Elisa’s body responded to his command seconds later. It started with a tremendous gathering sensation in her gut. All the brutal heat and ecstasy coalesced in one spot deep within, tightening down so hard Elisa felt doubled up. Then it blew apart, unfurling so that she felt the rawness of carnal fury expand into her chest and head. For several seconds, the world went blinding white.
“Again.”
Elisa sobbed, begging incoherently for a respite. Her body was as limp as a dishrag but for the violent trembling running through her. Yet Miragin showed no sign of giving her peace, still grinding into her with ceaseless demand. Passion, raw and ravening, once more rose at his demand.
This time Elisa felt the climax in every cell of her being. The high notes of its shrill song vibrated in her fingers and toes. She thought she felt her hair stand on end as her body fought to release the violent bliss. Release crescendoed with a deafening thunder. Screams poured from her throat as completion blasted its way free.
At last Miragin’s frenzied bucking stuttered and stalled. He moaned, sounding more like a damned soul in hell than in a man achieving nirvana. Then he thrust once more and his cocks pulsed, relieving him of his misery and delight.
When he’d spent himself, his legs went out from beneath him in slow motion. Elisa found herself sliding down the wall. It felt as if minutes passed before Miragin slumped in a kneeling position on the floor, still somehow cradling her in his arms. They sat there in a crumpled heap for some time, catching their breath.
Elisa burrowed her face against the Imdiko’s shoulder, trying to hold on to the wonderfulness of not being able to think. She much preferred behaving like an animal, with only primitive need capable of being expressed. Unfortunately, lucidity intruded and realization reared its ugly head once more. She was still trapped on the battlecruiser, still caught in the middle of a fight for survival.
To the warm, strong body holding hers, she moaned. “I want to be with you and your clan. I’ve wanted to run away with you for weeks now. But it wasn’t supposed to be like this. It’s not supposed to be ugly, with blood and killing. When you’re in love, everything is supposed to be beautiful.”
Miragin leaned back and captured her face between his hands so she had to look at him. His face was gentle again, the Imdiko she’d gotten used to. With a jolt, Elisa realized she liked both versions of Miragin: the tender and the bestial.
He smiled at her with that considerate and concerned look only he could offer. “Our situation is ugly because you’re looking through your eyes at everything around us. Stop seeing with your eyes, Elisa, and you’ll find the beauty.”
She blinked at him. “I don’t understand. How can you see anything but this nightmare? We’re probably going to die rather than escape!”
“That is true.” Miragin’s peaceful, somehow happy expression didn’t change despite his words. “However, I can still see the beauty before me. That’s because I’m looking with my heart, and I’m looking at you.”
Elisa’s heart warmed at his words, but dread remained. “It’s different for me. You are doing what you must; trying to escape. There is nothing to trouble your conscience over. You don’t feel the guilt I do.”
“Don’t I? There is always enough guilt lying around for anyone to pick up. My mere presence has put my clanmates’ lives on the line because they would die to protect me. Taking you with us has put you in danger. If I want to feel guilty, I have plenty of material in supply.”
Elisa looked at him, at his peaceful countenance. “You’re saying this is a choice? To feel the ugliness and yet still see something good?”
Miragin nodded. “I can feel the pain of our situation and still appreciate the good that has happened. You can too, if you want to.” He smiled encouragingly. “I can love you and enjoy it for however long I’m allowed, whether it be seconds or decades. I refuse to let any of this horror darken that part because you are too precious to me.”
Elisa stared at him in amazement, astounded that he could do such a thing. Surely it couldn’t be so easy? And yet there was warmth and quiet joy present on Miragin’s expression right now.
Her thoughts suddenly seized on something else. Wait. Did he just say he loves me?
* * * *
The half dozen pilots Oret chose were sent out through the service tunnels as soon as they had their orders. They would crawl and climb their way to one of the fighter bays to steal those one-man ships. They were to head towards the closest space station, which would have been two weeks’ flight for Zemos’ destroyer. In the fighters, had they possessed the ability to re-fuel, the trip would take five days.
A fully fueled Earther fighter would run for approximately twenty-seven hours. The pilots were on a suicide mission to share the information Zemos had gathered unless they happened to come across a patrol. The chances of that were incredibly slim, though by keeping to known patrol paths, the fighters would eventually be found.
For all the hopelessness of the situation, the Nobeks now inching their way to the fighter bay had been thrilled to go. Their heroism would be the pride of their parent clans and other relatives, their names recorded for future generations to revere. It was a good way to die.
Having sent them off, Zemos looked towards the closed door of the office Elisa and Miragin had disappeared into. Oret followed his gaze. His grim face eased with a smile.
Zemos asked him, “Should I suppose our Imdiko is distracting our guest again?”
Oret chuckled. “Maybe he’s trying to convince her to c
lan.”
“He can be quite persuasive when he wants something. I don’t think there has ever been anything he hasn’t been able to ‘talk’ me into when he sets his mind and body to it.”
The two men shared a lecherous grin over their Imdiko’s bargaining abilities. It lasted for a second before Oret’s expression turned serious once more.
He told Zemos, “I am all for glorious death as any Nobek, but I hope we can escape this situation alive and that Elisa will come with us willingly.”
“As do I.”
Oret looked around to make sure no one listened in on their conversation. Satisfied, he pitched his voice low. “Tell me what I can do to make her our Matara, my Dramok. I have no experience with attracting a female lifemate. What will win her?”
Zemos shrugged. “I have no more experience than you, Oret. Possessing strong Nobek characteristics, I am as little prepared to offer her tenderness as you are.” He sighed. Giving love advice was definitely not his province.
He tried anyway, knowing Oret needed some sort of guidance. “You spoke well of your feelings towards her earlier. I was impressed with how you expressed yourself. You were almost as eloquent as Miragin.”
Oret’s brows rose. “Was I? I have no memory of it at all.”
“No? A pity, because your words were amazing. If I remember correctly, you told her you wanted her because she was beautiful in heart, mind, and body. You swore you would always keep her safe.”
Oret looked at Zemos in disbelief. “I have never spoken of my emotions that I recall. Are you sure I said such things?”
“Positive. Perhaps you did so well because you had no time to think it over and worry how to speak.”
The Nobek scowled. “I am worried about it now. I am at a loss as to how to approach Elisa and make her want to be ours. I fear anything I say could push her away.”
Zemos considered. In the end, he could only shrug. “If I had to guess, I would say be her Nobek. Now that you have proclaimed it, show Elisa how you will protect her. Show her she is worth more to you than your own life.”
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