by Roxie Ray
Valkred telepathy can be a one-way process, when we're seeking specific information in the mind we're reaching out to. However, there's also a somewhat invasive quality to that method, which many find disconcerting.
So instead, I opened my mind to her, as well.
I told myself it was simply to put her more at ease, so I could find what I needed more efficiently. I told myself that since she herself was not a natural telepath, it didn't matter that I'd opened the door to my own thoughts – she wouldn't know how to walk through them, how to gather any information from my brain.
But…
“…but that's not really it, is it?” she asked breathlessly, her brown eyes never leaving mine. “You want to open your mind to me. You want me to know what you're thinking and feeling, so you won't have to say it out loud. Because…” She paused, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Because I'm not just a slave to you, am I? No, you see me as a… mate?”
I didn’t answer, only pushed a bit deeper into her thoughts – trying to find any evidence that she wasn't who she said she was, that Torqa might be right about her.
“That's right,” she whispered. “Go in as far as you need to.”
There was nothing there. According to her thoughts, her memories, Carly was exactly who she appeared to be.
And, it seemed that she desired me almost as much as I did her.
She touched my face lightly, stroking my cheek. “I had no idea how complicated your life is,” she said. “Or how lonely. But I’m here now, and I won’t betray you.”
I leaned in and our lips met – softly at first, our passion building swiftly, like a fire blazing out of control.
One that would consume us both.
9
Carly
Akzun took me in his arms, kissing me and holding me tight. As my tongue explored his, I could feel the pointed tips of his teeth. There was something sexy about having those dangerous fangs pressed against my mouth and knowing that he wasn't going to use them to hurt me.
Am I really going to do this? Make love to some alien ruler on a distant world, when he bought me as a slave? Christ, how bizarre has my life become?
I heard his voice in my brain: If you don't want to…
No, I do, I do! I insisted. It's just… wow, you know?
Yes. I know.
I reached around behind his back, touching his feathered wings and feeling him tremble with desire. He pressed himself closer to me, and his heartbeat thrummed next to mine – it was so powerful. I wondered if Valkred hearts were larger because of the blood they consumed.
Our minds were still connected. The sensation was unlike anything I'd ever experienced: an entirely different set of thoughts and feelings echoing just behind mine, whispering, reverberating. I could almost see his lust for me, expanding inside him like a snake uncoiling and preparing to strike.
“Are you going to bite me, Akzun?” I asked, with both my lips and my mind.
No, he intoned inside my head. Not tonight.
“Why not?”
For the first time since our minds joined, I felt him hastily withdraw a specific set of thoughts from me – as though he'd suddenly dropped a dark curtain over them, concerned by what I might see. Instead, he kissed me more fervently.
What are you afraid of? I wondered.
His response was a reflex, the words erased as quickly as they were spelled out, too fast for me to read.
I fear nothing. I want you. Give yourself to me, Carly. Now.
I didn't bother with thinking or speaking words – just an image of a door opening to signify that I was entirely his, that he was welcome to enter me on any level he wished.
He pulled my shirt up over my head in a single smooth motion and gently pushed me back down on the bed. I kicked my boots off, and then slid out of my pants, revealing my naked body to him.
You are utterly breathtaking, he sighed within my thoughts. His eyes made the air between us feel magnetic. I could practically hear it hum.
My anticipation was burning in my core. I wanted him on top of me, inside me.
And he knew it.
He shrugged his tunic off and undid his trousers, lowering himself over me. His cold fingers slipped between my legs, finding the folds of my wet pussy and making them tingle. I gasped at his touch, but the chill of his skin was oddly refreshing once I adjusted to it.
Do you like my touch? he asked.
“Oh, God, yes,” I whispered. “Please don't stop.”
The tip of his middle finger pressed against my clit – gently at first, then firmly, insistently. I arched my neck and moaned loudly. It felt like currents of electricity were traveling from the surface of my skin all the way into the base of my spine, the voltage increasing steadily, the jolts coming faster, faster, until I wasn't sure I could take it any more.
There were beads of sweat on my forehead, my upper lip, my chest. Droplets of my own moisture trickled down my inner thighs, pooling beneath my hips.
But Akzun was still calm and cool and dry. Once again, I thought of some gorgeous marble statue come to life.
“Take me, Akzun,” I begged. “I need to feel you.”
Then feel me you shall.
Akzun withdrew his hand and held my wrists down on the bedspread. He used a knee to spread my legs wider, and suddenly, I felt his cock; it was stiff against my labia, quivering gently, as icy and powerful as every other part of his body.
There was a push, my lips parted, and then he was deep inside of me. I cried out sharply, every muscle tensing from head to toe. I tried to lift my body to take him into me even more deeply, but he kept me pinned down. His thoughts told me that this was going to be on his terms… that he was going to have me his way, or not at all.
I took a deep breath and surrendered to him, body and soul.
His first thrusts were almost painfully slow. With my mind, I begged him to go faster, harder, knowing he could hear me, knowing that he wouldn't care – that he would do as he pleased with me, that he savored my want, my need for him.
The top of his shaft rubbed hard against my clit with every plunge into me, the tip pressing insistently against my innermost walls, my most private places.
“Oh Akzun,” I cried out, “Oh God, you feel so good…”
His face was inches away from mine; his eyes were locked on the side of my neck, his mouth open, his fangs shining in the gloom of the chamber. He was panting hard, and as he licked his lips, I could see the hunger raging inside him. For an insane moment, I almost wanted him to give in to his urges and bite me. I shrank away from the thought immediately, hoping he wouldn't hear it and act on it. I wanted to feed him, to nourish him, but I didn't want to bleed, I didn't want to die…
Instead of puncturing me with his fangs, he climaxed inside me, and it was like a glacier, a shifting avalanche of cold ecstasy tumbling through me. I came hard, my back lifting off the bed in rapid spasms as I screamed his name over and over.
He hissed, his lips brushing against my throat for the barest instant…
… And then he withdrew sharply, standing up and buttoning his trousers with shaking fingers. There was a look in his eyes that was somewhere between starvation and regret. I tried to reach out to him with my mind again, but his thoughts clanged shut like iron gates, barring me from entry.
“Hey, what's wrong?” I asked, my voice trembling. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I am fine. I must leave now. I have… other matters to attend to.” It sounded like his accent was suddenly thicker somehow. “Please make yourself as comfortable as possible during my absence.”
“Sure,” I answered in a small voice.
He folded his wings tightly, pulled his tunic back on, and left abruptly.
I didn't need to read his mind to figure out that he was ashamed of what had just happened between us. Guess Valkred males aren't much different from human ones. They're all passion and flattery until about two seconds after they come, and then they can't wait to put as much dista
nce as possible between themselves and the girls they've carelessly seduced. In his case, he's probably embarrassed that he slipped up for a moment and thought of a blood slave as a “mate.” Now he's going to cover it up by acting like a heartless asshole.
Well, that was nothing new. I'd had plenty of horny shitheads flip that same switch on me, back on Earth.
Still, this time, it hurt more.
I supposed that based on the time I'd spent with Akzun, I'd managed to forget that he and Nos were the same species. I'd wanted to believe that the Valkred were better somehow, more advanced, more evolved than humans were.
I'd clearly been wrong about that. Fine.
So what now?
Would I stay in my bedchamber, staring at the walls and just waiting for him to decide to come back? When he did, would he drink my blood this time? Would he kill me just to shut the door on his own humiliation, to deny his feelings for me? To prove to Torqa and the other members of his race that he wasn't in my thrall, that I was just his property?
The creeping anxiety I'd felt when he first brought me to the palace was starting to return. Maybe I should go back to exploring the place and seeing if there might be some way to escape.
Maybe I'd succeed, and maybe I wouldn't.
But it was better than doing nothing.
I left the room, not bothering to skulk around this time. I figured I'd look a lot more suspicious to any guards who found me if I was creeping around in the shadows, but if I just walked normally with my head held high, they'd probably assume I'd accepted my fate was just displaying natural curiosity about my new surroundings.
I walked past Akzun's chamber and headed for the narrow, winding staircase made of vivid red marble. It was like walking down a waterfall of blood that had somehow been frozen in time. Sure enough, several armed guards passed me, barely glancing in my direction.
As I reached one of the lower levels, I heard a friendly voice call out from a nearby sitting room, “Taking some time to wander around a bit, are we?”
I turned and saw a tall, lanky Valkred leaning against the doorway with a smile on his face. He had long, curly purple hair that cascaded around his shoulders, and his green eyes glimmered with amusement.
“Not that I can blame you,” he went on, stepping forward and extending his hand. “The Ruby Stronghold is full of fascinating artifacts and works of art, dating all the way back to the first Blood Ruler. It's a pleasure to formally meet you… Carly, is it?”
I shook his hand. “Yes. And you are…?”
“Zark.”
The name was familiar to me, but it took me a few seconds to place it. “You're Akzun's brother, aren't you?”
“Indeed I am!” he replied, clapping his hands together happily. “I'm so pleased that you've heard of me. Now: Were you seeking out something specific? Perhaps I can help you… as long as it's not a way to escape, of course.” His voice was cheerful, but there was something behind his eyes that made me think that he wasn't joking – that he knew exactly what I'd been looking for, and was doing his best to defuse the situation peacefully, rather than reporting me.
Well, that’s nicer than he could have been.
“Actually, there is something you might be able to help me with,” I began hesitantly. “Akzun left, and he didn't say when he'd be coming back. I don't know if you've, um, seen the bedroom he put me in…”
“I have,” he said cannily, “and I believe I understand the problem. Your quarters are rather Spartan, aren't they? Nothing much to do or see. You would like some games to occupy your mind? Some books, perhaps? Are you a reader?”
“I am, and yes, that would be lovely,” I said. “Particularly the books. Since I'm new to your world, I'd welcome the chance to familiarize myself with your classic literature. It might help me gain a firmer understanding of your history, your culture…”
Zark laughed heartily. “My, but you're a sharp one! You're absolutely right – that's a splendid idea, and there are many engaging novels I can recommend to you for that very purpose, if you'd like to follow me to the leisure suite. It's located at the edge of the palace grounds. First, though, I'm afraid you'll have to accompany me on a brief and rather boring errand along the way.”
“Certainly,” I said, letting him lead me along a passageway that took us to the rear grounds of the palace. “What's the errand?”
“That,” he replied, gesturing ahead of us.
It was still dark outside, but as my eyes adjusted, I could see an aerodynamic shape the size of a small house. There were numerous workers crawling all over it, using what looked like high-tech laser welding torches and other tools on its surface.
“I think I recognize that ship.” I squinted at it, stepping a bit closer. “I've been on it before. It's Akzun's private shuttle, right?”
“Precisely,” he nodded.
“And a fine shuttle it is.” One of the workers stepped out from under the craft, wiping his pale hands on his overalls. He had sunken, bloodshot eyes and thin lips, but his demeanor seemed friendly enough. “Greetings. My name is Lun, and I'm the Blood Ruler's chief engineer.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said. “So, if it's such a fine shuttle, why are you guys tinkering with it?”
“Ah, well you may ask,” Lun said with a grin that was more like a grimace. “When he used it to transport you to the planet's surface recently, Akzun noticed that it wasn’t flying as smoothly as it’s supposed to when he entered sub-orbital airspace. He ordered our ground crews to examine it. Sadly, though, our automated diagnostic programs don't appear to be functioning properly, forcing us to take a closer look.”
“That's probably for the best. I've worked with auto-diagnostics before, and they can be finicky. When you come right down to it, the most reliable diagnostic software is right here.” I pointed to my own eyes.
Lun seemed surprised. “Do you mean to tell me that you're familiar with advanced propulsion systems?”
“In a manner of speaking. I used to repair airplanes back on Earth. They're not built for off-world travel, of course, but when it comes to flying machines built to operate within a planet's atmosphere, a lot of the basic principles are the same. Mind if I take a closer look?”
He shrugged. “By all means. I'm sure I don't have to tell you the steep penalty for sabotaging a Valkred ship, especially the Blood Ruler's personal transport vessel?”
“Nah, I think I can guess.”
I walked a slow circle around the shuttle, ignoring the startled looks from the Valkred who were working on it. Most of the alien tech was utterly beyond my comprehension – but there was one element that I definitely recognized and understood.
“It's the wings,” I said quietly.
“What about them?” Lun inquired curiously. “They're largely decorative. Meant to represent the wings of the Valkred. To mimic their shape.”
“Uh-huh, I'm sure they are,” I replied. “And I'm betting that even with a functioning diagnostic program to plug this sucker into, your people would be focused on the engine drives, the stabilizers, the energy sources, and a hundred other pieces of hardware and software that are way over my head… all the stuff that's built in to get you from one planet or ship to another out in space, right?”
Lun nodded, silently encouraging me to continue.
“But once you're within a planetary atmosphere, the wings will affect how the craft moves,” I continued. “They'll catch currents, updrafts, pressure changes. And if there are any flaws in the wings, even small ones, they might catch the air the wrong way and shake things up a bit. Maybe even pull you to one side or the other – or flip you upside down, if the flaws are deep enough. No, if I were you, I'd save myself a whole lot of time by checking to make sure you don't have any dents or dings going on there that are knocking you around during re-entry.”
Lun climbed up the side of the shuttle with the grace and speed of a monkey scaling a tree, hopping over to one of the wings. He flung himself down on all fours, nosing around the win
g as though he were literally trying to sniff out the problem. Finally, he called out triumphantly, standing up with a big smile.
“By the Succubi,” he exclaimed, “you're right! There's a deep divot at the rear of the wing, near the bulkhead! That must be the source of the problem!”
He called down to the other workers in their native language and they sprang into action, eagerly crawling all over the wing like ants over a dropped piece of food.
Zark burst into applause. “Bravo, my dear! Bravo! A truly astounding display, to be sure! You're certainly proving more useful than most blood slaves. Now, if you'd like to browse our library?”
“Actually,” I said, clearing my throat, “would it be okay if I stayed here for a while and watched them work on the shuttle? It's been so long since I've been around these kinds of machines, and I'd really love to take a closer look, maybe get my hands dirty.”
Zark frowned. “You… want to make your hands unclean? I don't understand. I thought hygiene was important to Earthlings.”
I giggled. “No, it's just an expression! It means I'd like to get involved, root around in the machinery, see what makes it work.”
He looked to Lun, eyebrows raised. “Well, if Lun doesn't feel you'll be in his way…”
“Not at all!” Lun assured him. “I'd be fascinated to hear an off-worlder's perspective on our way of doing things. Who knows? She might even surprise us with more insights.”
“Fair enough,” Zark laughed. “Have fun, human! Get as dirty as you like! We'll have a laser-shower ready for you inside whenever you're done.” He walked off, shaking his head in wonderment.
Lun turned to me. “So, tell me more about these flying machines you repaired! What sorts of weapons systems were they equipped with?”
10
Akzun
The moment after I'd climaxed with Carly, I was filled with a frustrated hunger that felt like it would drive me insane. Her neck, her blood, had been so close, flowing just beneath her flesh, begging to be drained…