Femme Metal

by Nathalie Gray

  His hands. That’s how Annabelle was able to tell he was a bounty hunter. Black tattoos covered both hands and, though she couldn’t see past his wrists, Alex knew ink work covered his whole arms and torso. She hadn’t even noticed if he’d had gloves on when she’d seen him in the club. Too busy coming all over myself.

  One design for each prey they caught. Some Hunters had their whole bodies covered in ink. She’d seen one during the war. A dead Hunter stripped naked for weapons had revealed just how productive he’d been. Ink covered his whole body, except for his face. Even his dick had been tattooed. She’d always wondered if it’d been a male or female prey who’d generated such a personal tattoo.

  Alex sighed. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

  The Yithian presently occupying her brig looked like nothing bothered him in the least. He cocked his head toward the door, that sardonic grin tugging his lips again. Smug jerk! The inhibitor gleamed softly in the dim light. It had adjusted to him by now, which was good. She didn’t want a Yithian Hunter loose on her ship. She took a deep breath and pressed the intercom.

  “You going to give me trouble, Hunter?”

  He smiled and shook his head. His pearly eyes narrowed to slits.

  Against her better judgment, she deactivated the lock and opened the hatch. His smell permeated the tiny place. Lemons and pepper.

  “You wanted to see me. I’m here.”

  “I wanted to see you yesterday, but you left.” His milky baritone would have rattled her mother’s good china.

  “All the same,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. Good thing she wore her jacket, for he surely would have seen her rock-hard nipples through the shirt. Damn, he could probably see them through all three layers of fabric! This alien just oozed raw masculinity. It’d just been too damn long since her last tumble with a guy. She wondered how it would feel to bite such skin. Control yourself, girl.

  He closed his eyes for a few seconds. “I prefer your other outfit.”

  She felt her cheeks flush. The one he’d made her come into? “You like outfits? Count yourself lucky, the other guy we picked up before you had no outfit.” There, put that where you want.

  “Then perhaps I should comply with house rules,” he said, standing. His head hovered a good foot above hers. With supple fingers, he pinched the fastening of his shirt and slid it slowly down his chest.

  As much as she thought he was being an ass, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. The shirt separated at the bottom. Pale blue skin glowed underneath. He shrugged the garment off, revealing shoulders artists could have sculpted. Tattoos covered the entire length of his sinewy arms. His skin was silk stretched over sharp bones. Now that she could see it clearly, she remembered there were no pores or body hair of any type on Yithians, save for their heads and eyebrows, which weren’t arched like humans, but straight across over each eye. He took a step closer.

  “Now, now, remember the inhibitor,” Alex said, fighting against the urge to take a step back. Muscles rippled over his shoulders and pectorals.

  “Please, call me Sekmeth. Our species are allies now.” His chest swelled with a deep sigh. “Why did you leave the club so quickly?”

  “Not that I owe you something, but my girls were getting unruly. Had to take them home. And you’re the one who left first.” Don’t stare at his body, just his face. Don’t stare at his body, just his face.

  She chanted the mantra in her head. To no avail. The sheer magnetism of him quickened her heartbeat. And that’s when her body decided to betray her. To her complete shock and self-disgust, she felt moisture seep out from between her thighs. It was probably remembering the good time of the night before when the Yithian had made her come sitting in a chair with her clothes on. That took skill, though, honestly. She would’ve groaned in shame had she been alone. Then again, had she been alone, she wouldn’t be wetting herself looking at this half-naked Yithian.

  His gaze traveled the length of her, from boots to zippered jacket. “Do you know why I am here?”

  “Ah!” Alex laughed. Some nerve. “Because we conked your pretty head and dragged you back here. That’s why.”

  Now it was his turn to laugh, which showed a row of regular, somewhat pointed teeth. Yithians always looked like predators to her. And this one was a gorgeous, blue-skinned predator with silver hair down to his elbows. One with fingers too damn skilled for his own good. Control.

  Alex took a breath in. “Enlighten me.”

  He shook his head. “Hunters enjoy playing games. It is not pleasurable if things go too quickly.”

  Did he mean in bed as well? Oh, hell, girl, get a grip!

  Sekmeth took a step forward, which brought him dangerously close. This time, Alex stepped back and went for her stunner. “One more and that inhibitor will kick in. It’s had time to adjust its settings to your species by now.”

  “Inhibitors only pick up sharp points of aggression but not any other internal changes.” He took another step, though a small one. “And I do not mean to aggress you.”

  “I feel so much better.” She did, as shameful as it was to admit. What the hell did he want, then? All that male essence standing four feet in front of her and she couldn’t even touch. Two hundred thousand credits. That’s it, focus on that.

  “Next time you come see me, would you wear the other outfit?” he asked with a rakish lift of his thin lips.

  He was trying to make her lose her cool. Good old Yithian ploy. Two could play this game.

  “Do you know where I’m taking you, Hunter Sekmeth? No? Straight to Celestia. No middleman for you. Right to the brothel-ship. I’m betting they’ll be happy to get their hands on you. All those ladies—and gents—drooling over you. Mmm.” Alex grinned and crossed her arms.

  “You will not make it there.”

  Now there definitely was a note of danger. His eyes darkened from pearly iridescence to slate gray. Then they brightened again. Had she seen the change at all? “You humans are so… What is the word…adorable. You think you know everything when you know nothing.”

  Alex felt like popping the guy with a few stuns. See if it made her any more adorable. She’d lost half her platoon once, during a border skirmish with a Yithian unit. “Look, you asked for me. So what do you want?”

  He cocked his head as though she’d said something unbelievably funny. “I already have what I want.” Sekmeth reached out slowly, his fingers slightly curled in.

  Though she wanted to pop him a few, Alex couldn’t move and the stunner remained where it was, hanging uselessly by her leg. His fingers touched her cheek so gently it could have been a breeze playing with the fine hair on her skin. It’d been so long since she’d felt a real breeze and not some interior air distributor acting up. A shiver prickled up her spine.

  “Did we do this, us Yithians?” Sekmeth asked as he ran a finger down the length of her scar.

  “Yeah. Took a round right in the command post. Killed everyone there but me. The armor plating never did protect us from cloaked Yithian shells.”

  Was that sadness she saw in his iris-less, pupil-less eyes? He shook his head. “Nor did our armor plating protect us from human bioweapons.”

  Yes, well. There was that small matter. Alex stared stubbornly into his opalescent eyes. “War is war. But it’s over. We’re more mature now. The Interworld’s wise guidance has been good for us.”

  A grin stretched his mouth. “You humans are very good at sarcasm, saying the opposite of what you mean. There is nothing similar to it in any other culture.”

  Alex laughed a mirthless laugh. “We’re funny like that.”

  “Yes. Other things are funny, as you say. Take your males, for example. They are fools. They favor emaciated young females devoid of character, of any substance and experience. Did you know on Yith, females who enter the second half of their cycles become so prized we had to make laws?” He cocked his head and lowered his chin. “To keep them safe.”

  Alex’s brain felt as though cold slush filled h
er skull. His face, slightly bent down, absorbed everything else until she could see nothing but him. Silver strands of hair spilled from behind his shoulders. She yearned to touch it, rub her face in it. The stunner felt awkward and dumb in her hand. Juices now slicked her whole crotch, right through the fabric of her old military-issue trousers.

  As if he knew what he did to her, he ran his tongue along his thin lips, a tongue dark blue and tapered to a narrow point. Not as a snake, nothing so gross, but just enough to make her take one big breath. That tongue, it could do miracles, she had no doubt about it. In fact, she’d already tasted its skill the other night. She’d never be able to look at her latex suit the same way again.

  “I have to leave,” she managed to croak.

  “You do not want to. I can feel it. I can smell it.” His feather-light fingers went down her cheek and under her jaw, then down her neck. The ring was dull black.

  As in the club the night before, sights and sounds dimmed to a dull felt-like rustling. He bent close to her, until his chin rested against her shoulder. His hair spilled down over his face and grazed her neck. She shivered. Why wasn’t she giving him a good stunner jolt right now? What the hell was she doing? Nothing good would come out of this. Shit.

  Without her meaning to, she angled her face to meet his. His lips brushed against hers, his breath a warm ribbon of silk across her mouth. Reaching out, he pinched the zipper of her jacket and slid it slowly, very slowly, down to her waist. Heat gushed out in a great puff. Alex gritted her teeth when he used his index finger to part the lapels of her jacket and the shirt underneath until a shoulder emerged from the garment. The stunner nearly slipped from her hand when the Yithian bent and kissed her throat.

  She should do something. Now!

  But he stole the option when he slipped his other hand down below her waist and over her mons. The simple touch electrified her—made her insides quiver with excitement and dread. Here was a seven-foot Yithian, in her brig, trying to get inside her clothes. And what was she doing? Standing there. Like a fool.

  Through sheer grit, she brought her stunner up and pressed it against his forehead. The Yithian only looked at it before resuming his feasting on her shoulder. Gently but firmly, he pushed her back until her shoulders touched the bulkhead. There, he parted her feet with his and wedged a thigh between hers. Despite the stunner hovering over his head, he opened her jacket and shirt all the way, revealing rivet-hard nipples underneath her tank top.

  She thought she was going to explode when his mouth left her neck and concentrated on her breasts. Through the fabric, he suckled and nibbled, painfully teasing each aching breast with his lips and teeth. While she let him do this, she kept the stunner poised over his head, like she ever intended to use it. Ha!

  In the back of her mind, she wanted, needed, to have him in her. Yet all kinds of warning bells tolled. If only she could listen to them.

  While he reduced her nipples to throbbing buttons, his thigh pressed hard up and down then back again over her mons, which pulsed happily with every upward motion. Snaking a hand down over her shaking belly, he bunched a fistful of her pants and pulled her up against the wall. Liquid fire surged out of her pulsating pussy. Jesus, couldn’t she even control her own body?

  Apparently not.

  In her mind’s eye, the ring began to glow. A tiny speck of golden light at its core pulsated while he hoisted her up by the fistful of pants he still held. A spasm tightened her belly. Twisting his ring so it faced in, he rubbed it hard against her, heat seeping through the fabric of her pants. He was good.

  Moaning deep under his breath, the Yithian clicked her belt and deftly opened her cargo pants, which barely hung on her hips. His own followed suit. It was when his member bobbed out of its restraints that Alex’s brain kicked in. Despite the near-orgasm he was giving her, the sheer exhilaration electrifying her whole body, she just couldn’t give in to this guy. He was dangerous. He was the enemy.

  He was her ticket to retirement and two hundred thousand credits.

  A split second later, the image was gone. Sounds and sights returned. Alex reeled back and knocked her head against the bulkhead. Her clothes were intact, as were his. Another mental screw. The stunner nearly slipped from her fingers.

  “What the hell was that? You fucking with my mind again!”

  The Yithian looked almost contrite. Almost. “I am a Hunter, not some rock. I could not help my response.”

  “My ass.”

  Sekmeth’s eyes flicked for a split second to the stunner then returned to her face. “You never answered me earlier. Do you know why I am here?”

  His smell was overpowering her. Her heart beat a mad cadence against her ribs. She rubbed sweat from her palms and slid away from him to stand with her back to the hatch. “Like I told you, Hunter. Bonked pretty head. Dragged you here. End of story.”

  Sekmeth shook his head slowly. He took a step back and pointed to a spot on his pectoral, which was bare of tattoos. “I have a special place right here, just for you, Alexandra Novona.”

  She just looked at him as though her brain couldn’t come up with anything other than “ain’t he gorgeous?”. He’d just told her he was after her. Finally, cerebral activity picked up a notch. Alex swore under her breath.

  Someone had hired a bounty hunter, him, to get her? Her legs nearly buckled. She braced a hand behind her. “You’re after me? Why?”

  He nodded. “I already told you.”

  Just as Alex was going to give him a juicy piece of her mind, another image exploded in her brain, created havoc between her legs. Sekmeth again, this time he was ravishing her face with kisses as he held her against the wall, pumping his member into her. Pleasure waves raced up from between her thighs and fanned out inside her belly. Her breath caught in her throat.

  Through teary eyes, she saw the real Sekmeth take a step forward. His hand reached for the stunner.

  He was just too damned close. A Hunter, after her, right there in her face. Why didn’t that stupid inhibitor work? It glowed faintly at his neck. Useless piece of junk. No aggression, that’s why it wasn’t doing anything. He was suppressing his emotions, turning his body off. Twisted, conniving alien scum!

  Alex bit her lip hard and shook the vivid image away. Leaping out of his reach, she fired three times.

  Sekmeth took them all in the chest. He bent in half with a loud “humph” then sank to his knees. If she hadn’t been staring at two hundred and fifty pounds of Yithian Hunter, she would’ve laughed at his expression. The surprise. The shock.

  She was about to pump another one into him when he collapsed on his belly and lay still. Only one or two arcs of electricity showed on him. Any human would have been dancing bacon in a pan by now but not him. The sheer size nearly rendered her stunner absurd. Alex cursed and snapped him a vicious kick in the side.

  So he had a special place just for her, huh? So did she—in her brig. Alex stormed out of the compartment and was about to slam the hatch closed when something jammed it.

  A boot appeared in the embrasure—a big, black, steel-clipped boot.

  Before Alex could cram her stunner in the opening and empty it in the alien scumbag, the whole hatch came off its hinges. She yelped in pain as the force sent her crashing back against the bulkhead. Stars exploded around her vision. Blood seeped under her tongue.

  The Yithian’s tall silhouette appeared in the gaping hatch. As he grew even larger, Alex’s vision began to fade. She fought against the unconsciousness but knew it was too late. Her limbs had already begun to paralyze. She could do nothing when the Yithian crouched beside her and brushed his fingers against her forehead. Was it her numb brain seeing things or was the ring glowing?

  “Yithians have brothel-ships too, Alexandra Novona.”

  Alex tried to turn her head away but couldn’t move a single muscle in her neck. Damn, it hurt. Her whole back radiated with fire. “Fuck you, Yithian,” she hissed.

  A wide toothy grin answered her. “That is the ide
a.”

  Panic rose in waves through her. Then everything went black.

  Chapter Four

  “Damn it.”

  Alex rubbed her temples. The compartment spun around her. As when she’d been drinking too much, she let one leg dangle over the edge of her cot. What the hell happened? Then it came back to her.

  “Sneaky scumbag.”

  A bump the size of a goddamn egg throbbed on her head. Rubbing it, she leaned over the edge and rolled onto the floor. Confined to her own brig. That was rich.

  “What now?”

  “Do humans talk to themselves a lot?”

  “Fuck you.”

  The Yithian laughed in the intercom. “We have already settled that matter.”

  “Just in case you didn’t hear me the first time.” Alex crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the far side of the compartment. “You going to keep me here the whole way?”

  “Yes.”

  A click and the hatch opened. Sekmeth stepped in. She swore he looked even more stunning with all his clothes on. The black jacket hugged his tall and lean frame in all the right places and hung almost down to the floor. Now that she could take a good look, his pants strained in all the right places, too. Jesus. So he was proportional. Alex snapped her gaze back to his face. The mocking grin again. She’d enjoy kicking it off his pretty face. Then something caught her eye, or more exactly, something didn’t.

  His inhibitor was gone.

  Sweat prickled the skin between her shoulder blades. She swallowed. What the…?

  She had it around her own neck!

  “It picks up points of aggression, Alexandra Novona, remember this.” He stepped into the brig and closed the hatch behind him.

  She’d never had one around the neck. Not a real one anyway. She’d tried watered-down versions a couple of time in a drunken game. Slip it on and pretend. It was particularly fun in bed. Once, she’d even activated a real one around her wrist to see what kind of jolt it gave. She’d ended up on her ass.