Anders: An Auxem Novel

by Lisa Lace

  “Are you afraid of heights?”

  “Um, I’m not sure. I guess there weren’t any high places where I grew up, it was all flat.”

  “Let’s see, then.”

  Klowix did something with the controls, and the pod rose sharply upwards. Bethany screamed and grabbed the sides, but the strap across her waist held her firmly in place.

  Klowix pointed. “Look.”

  Bethany looked, and it was beautiful. The city was just waking up, lights coming on, movement in the otherwise still streets. Her stomach flipped. “Um, Klowix? I think I am afraid of heights.”

  He just laughed and put an arm across her shoulder, pulling yet more essence out of her. Bethany wanted to protest, but her mouth didn’t seem to be working. She fell back against the seat.

  “You want to see what this thing can really do?” Klowix had a glint in his eyes that Bethany had never seen before. He didn’t wait for an answer. The pod plunged towards the ground, blowing Bethany’s hair back from her face.

  Bethany screamed and closed her eyes. At any moment, she imagined she would be meeting the hard ground that would be her end. Klowix laughed

  She couldn’t decide whether to scream or laugh. Klowix turned the pod sideways and they skimmed over the surface before rising again and shooting off across the city.

  An hour later, Bethany was carried home by Klowix. She was still shaking from the insane pod ride, but she wasn’t sure she hadn’t enjoyed it.

  “I thought for sure we were going to die. I never knew you could fly like that.”

  “It’s part of my training – no one gets through the army without a proficiency in aircraft piloting.”

  Bethany grinned. Klowix pulled her to him so that their bodies were pressed together and kissed her. He pulled back for a moment, but when Bethany made no noise of protest, he kissed her again, and this time, his lips were harder, more insistent. Bethany moaned into his mouth.

  She reached for his shirt, pulling it off and discarding it. Her fingers played across the muscles of his chest. Klowix broke off from the kiss, moving instead to kiss his way down her neck and to her chest. His mouth latched onto one of her nipples, sucking hard. Bethany wound her fingers in his hair, holding his head as he sucked her.

  His pants were still on and she didn’t like it. She moved to take them off, but Klowix grabbed her hands. “Getting a little too excited, are we?” The effect was somewhat ruined by the way he was panting. “If you want them off, ask nicely.”

  “Please, may I take your pants off?”

  Klowix leaned close and whispered in her ear. “Go ahead.”

  Bethany fumbled with the zipper, yanking it down to finally get to what she wanted, what she needed. Klowix’s cock was bulging out from his underpants. She reached for it, but then Klowix moved so fast that everything blurred, and the next moment she was on top of him.

  Klowix smiled. “That’s better.” He gestured for Bethany to continue. When she got her hand on his cock, he made an appreciative noise deep in his throat and closed his eyes. Bethany hadn’t done this before, but the girls had described it to her.

  Hesitantly, she enveloped Klowix’s cock between her lips. It was huge in her mouth, hard and weeping. She tickled the shaft with her tongue, enjoying the taste of him. Encouraged by the noises Klowix was making, Bethany took him deeper, feeling the tip of his cock bump against the back of her throat.

  He took her head and pulled her off him, his face flushed and his pupils blown wide. “Come here.”

  Bethany was only too happy to obey.

  She leaned into their kiss, letting her tongue slide around with his; it was a warm, wet, delicious dance. Klowix’s hands ran down her back and clasped her ass, squeezing tightly. She could feel his cock pushing against her panties and impatiently tried to pull them off, but Klowix held her tightly, not allowing her to move.

  “Allow me.”

  She didn’t know what he did; there was that heady sensation of movement, and suddenly her panties were on the floor.

  “That ability is growing on me.” She was a little surprised to admit that, but she wasn’t concentrating on talking. His cock was only inches from her pussy, and she wanted it. She tried to move onto it, but Klowix grabbed her hips, pulling her up on his chest, so that he could reach her clit with his tongue.

  Bethany’s head fell back as she reveled in the sensation. He circled her clit with his tongue, slipping it down inside her briefly before coming back up. When he finally turned his attention fully to her clit, she was so wet that she had already soaked his chest.

  She clutched his hair as his tongue took control of her, sending sensations roaring through her body, throbbing and humming. Bethany knew she was about to come and pulled back.

  “I need you inside of me.”

  He seemed to have been waiting for her to ask. “Turn around.”

  He let her do it, scrambling awkwardly onto her hands and knees, quivering in anticipation. He positioned himself behind her, then in one swift movement thrust inside her, down to the hilt.

  His cock filled her completely, and the new angle made her cry out in pleasure. Klowix took her waist firmly in his hands and started to move.

  Bethany waited, knowing it would be worth the wait.

  His hand settled on the back of her neck, and she could feel the essence being drawn out of her even as Klowix glided in and out of her, his Evion speed taking over. She wanted it to last, but she couldn’t help herself. She could already feel her muscles tensing. Klowix’s other hand came down and grabbed her breast, and that pushed her over the edge.

  She cried out as she came, pushing back onto his cock, her back arched, every nerve ending in her body screaming with release. So great was her pleasure that she didn’t even notice Klowix coming with her. After a few eternal moments, he collapsed sideways on the bed, pulling her with him. Snuggled in his arms, catching her breath, Bethany felt like there was nowhere she’d rather be.

  She was still catching her breath. A flare of panic lit up inside her as she gasped for air.

  No, not again!

  Klowix had her turned around and facing him in a second. “Ah, the doctor said this might happen. There’s nothing wrong with you. You are letting your fear get away with you.”

  Slowly, Bethany’s breathing began to ease. She realized he was right; this was not the tight obstruction in her throat that she so feared. This was just her fear tricking her. Relief washed through her. “I’m sorry.”

  “It happens to soldiers all the time, if you have one bad experience, your mind and body almost expect to have it again. It takes effort to shut down the panic. This is good; it is a good skill to have.”

  “Will… will this happen every time?”

  He shook his head. “I doubt it. Now that you know what to expect, if you feel like you can’t breathe, you can remind yourself that it’s just your mind playing a trick on you.”

  Bethany closed her eyes. “Just a trick. Just a stupid trick.”

  She lay back, stretching out, sneaking glances at Klowix out of the corner of her eye. “Commander, will you tell me more about the sharing?”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Well, what made people think to do it? What made them realize it could even be done?”

  “Surprisingly, it wasn’t originally an act of pleasure, but one of necessity.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It originated many millennia ago, in a time of war. This was before women were allowed in the army; the men would go to fight, leaving their wives at home. Before they left, they would take some of their wife’s essence to give them strength.

  “Women have a unique kind of strength. Added to the strength of a warrior, it made the fighters virtually unstoppable. They were faster, stronger, more resistant to damage, better in every way. They even fought smarter, rather than just by brawn – definitely a woman’s brain in there somewhere.”

  “It was a two-way thing, though. Sometimes, forc
es would get past them. If that happened, they would kill every living soul they could find. Soldiers would come home to find their wives murdered. If they had partaken in the sharing, they would be able to use a bit of her essence to put back into her, to help heal her, at least enough to get her to a doctor.

  “But it didn’t always work; it all depended on how long they’d been dead, and how badly they were wounded. It saved a lot of lives, though.”

  “You can – bring back the dead?”

  “Not really. That’s what they thought back then, but we know better now. Even when someone has stopped breathing and their heart has stopped beating, they are still alive for a short time, and can still be saved.

  “With their essence dwelling in someone else, that stage was extended; the woman could still be saved hours later, when without the sharing, that tiny portion of time would only have been a few minutes.”

  Bethany’s eyes grew wide. “That’s incredible. So you’re a lot stronger now?”

  Klowix shrugged. “I guess, but it’s not really relevant now. In a time of war, it would be, but the sharing hasn’t been needed in over twenty years. Of course, somewhere along the way, someone realized that they could use it for pleasure rather than necessity.”

  “If it was a time of war, would the army do it often?”

  He nodded. “They’d have to. In times like that, women volunteer to partake in sharings, not only to help their soldiers, but to get protection for themselves, should things go wrong.”

  “That seems weird.”

  “Necessity sometimes is.”

  Almost absent-mindedly, Klowix put his hand on her breast. Bethany watched as a silvery substance began to flow outward to his hand – her essence. She gasped and felt her nipples tingle. She could feel the strength leaving her body. With every breath, it got harder to take another.

  She gasped. “Please stop.”

  Klowix’s eyes were closed, and he shook his head. “You are fine.”

  Bethany wanted to panic, but she felt too good. When Klowix finally took his hand away, she sighed both in relief and disappointment.

  Klowix called to the next room. “Trili!”

  Bethany blushed as Trili, Beoli and Lizzy came in. They took no notice of her nakedness and quickly transferred some of their essence to her, then left without speaking.

  Klowix sat up. “We should go and spend some time with your friends. I need to make sure they are happy here. I feel like I have been neglecting them of late.”

  Bethany tried to reassure him. “They don’t mind.”

  “Still, I should do more to entertain them.”

  “You could leave the levaitor on for them.” Her friends had been begging her to ask Klowix to do this for some time.

  “The levaitor may look fun, but it can be a complex and dangerous piece of equipment if you don’t know what you’re doing. I had to go on a three-month training course before I could purchase one, all potential buyers do.”

  That certainly explained it; usually he gave the girls anything they wanted without question.

  “I didn’t know that. I’m sure Culip would love to take that course. Then she could supervise, once she’s passed, of course.”

  Klowix seemed to consider this. “I will ask her, and if she is eager to do this, I will arrange it for her so that they may use the levaitor when I am busy.”

  Bethany smiled began collecting her clothes. “Thank you.”

  “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

  Klowix had a dark expression on his face, and Bethany pitied whomever was calling him away when he didn’t want to be called. She hoped everything was all right; the other girls knew very well he didn’t like to be disturbed when he was with Bethany, and wouldn’t call him unless it was urgent.

  He popped his head back in, suddenly looking much more like a military commander than he had a few minutes ago. “I need to go deal with something. I will be back soon.”

  Bethany blew him a kiss and then applied herself to the tray of pancakes on the bed next to her. She supposed it was only fair he was called away on a weekend, considering he had skipped work on Monday.

  Bethany called out to the girls in down the hall. “Come on, come in!”

  Trili was the first to leap on the bed and snatch a pancake, followed by all the others.

  Ruth even looked excited. “Tell!”

  “You know Klowix wouldn’t like that.”

  “Come on, Bethany, give us something here.”

  “Fine, I guess I can tell you a little.”

  The pancakes were soon gone, and the eight of them were talking animatedly about the upcoming levaitor course for Culip.

  “I’ve been reading some extra books, just to make sure I’m properly prepared.”

  “Culip, you’re already going to embarrass the rest of the class, why make it worse for them?”

  She stuck her tongue out at Lizzy and swiped the last bit of chocolate sauce from the plate.

  “Bethany, your hair is awful, come here.”

  Bethany surrendered her tangled mess to Snia, who was soon expertly unknotting and smoothing her hair down. They were just thinking of watching a movie when a sudden bang and splintering sound made them all jump. It sounded like someone had slammed the door so hard it had come off its hinges.

  Klowix came storming in. Bethany had seen him angry before, but never before had that anger been directed at her. For the first time in a while, she was scared of him.

  “OUT!”

  It came out in a roar, and the others scurried away, shooting worried glances behind them.

  He roared at Bethany now. “Why would you do this!” His face was bright red and his hands were clenched into fists.

  “W-what, Klowix? What are you talking about?”

  “THIS!” He brandished a piece of paper at Bethany, but she couldn’t see what it said.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Oh, YOU don’t understand! Well, that makes two of us, Bethany. Why would you not tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  “That you were brought here by slavers! Slavers, Bethany, the most despicable creatures in the galaxy. They kidnapped you and brought you here and you SAID NOTHING!”

  Bethany gulped. Her throat had gone too dry to speak.

  “Was I perhaps not clear with you? Did I give you the impression that I was tolerant of the slave trade? Did I? What were you thinking! You’ve made me complicit in slavery, and I abhor slavery! How could you?”

  He moved towards her and Bethany flinched back, but he merely kicked the bedside table over. It shattered under the force of his blow.

  Bethany looked at him earnestly. “I couldn’t tell you, Klowix. They would have killed my family. I wanted to say something, but how could I ease my guilt at the expense of my parents’ lives?”

  “Well perhaps you haven’t noticed, Bethany, but I am a military commander! Did you think I wouldn’t be able to protect them? Or that I’d be unwilling to? How could you do this to me? I thought you chose to be here, and now I find out you’ve been here against your will to protect your family all along!”

  Bethany gasped. “No! Klowix, I swear –”

  “It’s Commander! Get out of here! Now, get out!”

  Bethany wanted to stay, to explain herself, but Klowix was terrifying her. She ran from the room, trying to hide her tears.

  The others were right outside the door, and Bethany blew past them to the privacy of her room and locked the door.

  Snia pounded on the door. “Bethany! Bethany, open up! Talk to us.”

  “Go away!” Bethan didn’t wait to see if they’d do as she asked, but flicked the sound proofing switch on the side of the door. All noise from outside of the room ceased. Bethany crawled woodenly into bed, shivering violently.

  She should have told him. He was a military commander, of course he was going to find out eventually. Now he thought that she’d been lying to him about her feelings. How was she ever going to explain
herself so that he would believe her? Would he ever forgive her?

  She vaguely wondered whether Klowix had an override key to her room. She doubted it. He considered giving his girls space and privacy to be very important, that’s why they were allowed locks on their doors in the first place. Bethany wondered how long she could stay in here before going out to face him.

  She tried to fall asleep to forget her anguish, and eventually she succeeded.

  When she opened her eyes again, it was dark outside. She hesitantly turned the sound proofing off and listened. She could hear the faint sound of the girls talking in the lounge, but she couldn’t hear Klowix at all.

  Bethany was starving. There was always food in the dining room. She wondered if she could sneak in and out without anyone noticing. Her stomach grumbled; she’d have to try.

  Lizzy was sitting so close to the door that Bethany almost tripped over her on her way out.

  “Bethany, finally! Are you all right?”

  So much for that plan.

  “What are you doing there?” Bethany kept her voice low, hoping not to alert the others to her escape attempt.

  “Klowix ordered one of us to wait by the door until you came out. He wanted to us to give you a message.”

  Bethany wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the message, but Lizzy gave it to her anyway.

  “He says he’s gone to the king to sort all this out. He’s going to arrange transport home for you when he gets back on Thursday.”

  “Thursday?”

  “The king lives two cities over, Klowix will have to take an overnight hover to get there.”

  “He’s – he’s gone?”

  Lizzy’s voice was suddenly very soft. “Why didn’t you tell us? I thought we were your friends.”

  Tears began to escape Bethany’s eyes again. “You are, I swear you are. I couldn’t tell anyone, they would have killed my parents.”

  “The slavers?”

  Bethany nodded.

  “Oh Bethany, you could have gone home. Didn’t you know that? You never had to be here against your will. You could have just asked to go home, you didn’t even need to mention the slavers.”

  Bethany choked on a hiccup and Lizzy patted her on the back.