The Beast In The Castle

by Daniella Wright

  Kira cried out suddenly, a sharp pain shooting through her ankle, radiating up her leg. She fell to the ground, hitting it hard. Sharp points from rocks dug into her skin, and tears pricked in her eyes. She’d twisted her ankle – or broken it, all she knew was that it hurt – and she cradled it between her hands, rubbing her fingers over it in a futile attempt to soothe away the pain and perhaps get up and continue her run. Unfortunately for her, the aliens were on her before she even got a chance.

  There were about ten or so, and she eyed them from the ground where she’d fallen. They closed in around her quickly, all grabbing at her at once, yanking her from the ground. She let out a yelp when pressure was forced on her ankle, but the men who had hold of her didn’t seem to notice.

  She thought that they would take her back to the village, but that wasn’t the case. She was yanked, back and forth between them as they growled and snapped at each other in their foreign language. It didn’t take long for her to realize why: she hadn’t seen another woman in the village yet, and hadn’t her captor exchanged words with one of them before? Her eyes darted around, and settled on the one that she recognized as that one; he had the strongest hold on her and was the one that ended up yanking her away from the others, holding her close to him as she did.

  They were fighting over her.

  There was little more that she could manage after that realization, before she was drug back by the alien. Tears fell down her face at the pain in her ankle, and she drew in a shaky breath when the alien shoved her against the tree. She stood shakily, realizing for the first time that trying to run was probably the stupidest thing that she could have done. She should have stayed, she never should have shot her captor, and now where was he? Laying in his home as the one from earlier pressed himself against her and ripped her top open, exposing her.

  His hands were rough against her body, and she tried to shove him away despite how much stronger than her he was.

  “Stop!” she yelled at him, her throat hoarse from how loud she’d yelled. He merely clamped one of his large hands over her mouth as she struggled, silencing her. She looked up at him with her tear-streaked face, kicking and punching him wherever she could reach him, though it did nothing to deter him.

  Her heart beat in her chest. High ringing tingled loudly in her ears. The others did nothing to stop him – they seemed to be encourage him, in fact. She didn’t stop her struggle, though. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  And yet, her thoughts wondered to her captor, who she had left lying motionless in the middle of his own home.

  Perhaps it was a stroke of luck, or maybe it was the bond that he claimed they shared. She didn’t know. She didn’t really care, either. As the other’s hand went to her pants, his intentions clear, another person came barreling through the forest, and grabbed her attacker by the neck.

  She slid down the tree and watched with wide eyes as her captor took her attacker’s head in his hands. It was with a brutal, brutish ease that he squeezed, snarling angrily as he squashed the other’s head between his hands. Though it was horrifying, the sickening crack of skull and squelch as strange blue-black blood oozed out of the other’s head, she couldn’t bring herself to look away. Her attacker didn’t even have time nor opportunity to fight or get away, and her captor tossed his body to the ground where it twitched before finally laying still.

  All was silent as her captor breathed hard and rough. Blood dripped off his fingertips and onto the ground below. The others eyed him warily, their eyes darting back and forth between her and him. She didn’t know how he had gotten to her, or how he had recovered from her shooting him – he didn’t seem to have any serious injuries, but perhaps his species healed quickly?

  She pondered that when he spoke, but it wasn’t to her, it was to the others. Though she couldn’t understand what he said, the intention was clear; go away. They all did, looking at her reluctantly, as though they’d missed out on something, and one by one they headed back towards the village, leaving her and her captor alone.

  ~*~

  The next few days were solitary, though Kira learned a lot.

  After her attack, her captor brought her back to his home. He had nursed her, first taking care of her injured ankle, and then cleaning up the scrapes and cuts that she had sustained when she had run away. The whole time, she expected backlash; he had crushed another man’s skull for touching what he clearly saw as ‘his,’ so what would he do to her for shooting him and running?

  Nothing.

  Not a single thing.

  It baffled her more than anything. These people were clearly brutish warriors. She was a possession, that much was obvious. She expected that he would treat her worse, but she received treatment that she had not expected. His behavior in front of others was not his behavior with her, and it added to her curiosity.

  One thing that was at least sated, was knowing her captor’s name. She had asked it of him, after he wrapped and stabilized her ankle. It was Thrain, and she gave him her name, as well. She also learned that she had apparently only shot him with a temporary stunner; it was used in hunting to take down large prey. Thrain told her it was customary for all of them to hunt in the vast forests surrounding the village, and that often they fought over prey with neighboring villages of other Ka’thon.

  The interesting thing she learned, however, was why Thrain was not angry with her. When she asked, he merely looked at her, as if the question was a strange one.

  “You are mine,” he said. “Mine to have and protect.”

  ~*~

  Kira was not allowed to leave the home, and she was both grateful and annoyed by that fact. Thrain was willing to answer any questions that she had, and though she was not keen on experiencing another situation like the one in the forest, she was still curious about her surroundings. She would not be leaving anytime soon – that much was evident, and she was smart enough to accept that fact for now. At the very least, she wanted to get her bearings of the area, but that was not ideal. There were few warriors in the village, according to Thrain, who had earned their right to go out and seek their woman. Those who had not would have no issues taking her just because she was around – that was the nature of their culture.

  That being said, it also meant that Kira spent a lot of time with Thrain. She shared his space, which wasn’t very large. Her shirt had been ruined, so she was left to walk around in a pair of pants that Thrain had given her, ones that strangely fit her perfectly despite their vast difference in size (which she later came to realize were made out of a material that adjusted to the size of the wearer) and her bra. Thrain’s wondering eyes did not go unnoticed, but she didn’t stop herself from looking at his often-bare chest, either. What’s more, they shared a bed, and Thrain made no fuss about kissing her deeply every night, nor did he stop his hands from wondering.

  She remembered the first night, following her attack. He had let her sleep alone the night of, for which she was thankful. The next night, however, he had made himself comfortable beside her as they settled in for the night. She slept in her clothing, unsure of the custom of sleep for the Ka’thon, but Thrain was not shy and slept completely naked. She hadn’t been sure what to make of it when he’d come to her that way – she thought perhaps he meant to sleep with her, and she didn’t know if that was something she was ready for, all things considered.

  But he had laid behind her, pressed against her. He was warm, inviting. His scent relaxed her. Even when she felt how well-endowed he was from the way his member poked against her back. All things considered, it should have frightened her that he was so open with his physical affections of her, but as with their first kiss, she didn’t stop it, and she didn’t stop it when his hand went to her front, touching and feeling over her with a practiced curiosity.

  He had cupped her breasts over her bra before moving it out of the way, as if it had been a hindrance. She’d drawn in a breath, but allowed him to continue. Her body, warmed by his presence, wasn’t opposed to
his fingers, rough, circling over her pert nipples. His lips went to her neck, kissing and biting as his fingers made their way from her nipples downward, over her flat stomach, to the hem of her pants.

  She’d not realized how in need she was of him until his fingers slipped into her pants, spread her thighs as much as they’d go in the confines of them. Her thighs were slick with her want, and it surprised her. She had thought that maybe she should stop him – this was too much, too far, but she wanted it so bad, even if she couldn’t explain why. And despite his brutish demeanor otherwise, he was gentle enough with her as his fingers circled and moved over the pleasurable bud between the lips of her sex, as they slid between her folds and brought her to a sweet ecstasy.

  This happened every night. For a week or so. He never slept with her, though he did rock against her, giving himself his own completion as hers washed over her time and time again. That was, possibly, the thing that jarred her curiosity even more. He had been clear that her purpose was to give him children. That she was his to own. And yet… he treated her as a lover. He took care of her. She didn’t know what to make of it, but she was certain of one thing.

  She wanted more of it. No matter how insane or deadly that was, she wanted. It was only a matter of time before she would get it.

  ~*~

  “Thrain?”

  Her ankle had finally healed, and she was back to walking properly. Kira and Thrain had settled into a routine. He would wake early, before even she had. He would go and hunt with the others – something she surmised after she learned how to work the windows of Thrain’s home and was able to watch him leave and see when he came back, usually carrying a strange, antlered creature as big as a male moose, if a male moose also had leathery tentacles growing from its spine. He would then spend time in the center of the cluster of home in which his was, and the men would clean and gut their kills, and then they would bring them home.

  Sometimes, a fight would break out, and Kira would watch with wide eyes the brutality with which the Ka’thon fought each other. They were not opposed to killing, even their brethren, and she saw many deaths over the course of her time with Thrain. None of them seemed to bat an eye at this. When the fights were over, the others would go back to what they were doing, or disperse. Then, from another cluster of homes, older Ka’thon would come, and carry away the remains of the body. She learned they were elders, revered among the Ka’thon for living so far into old age, and it wasn’t hard to see why they would be; it was a miracle to live long as a Ka’thon, then murder was a daily activity and one’s value was placed in how well they fought and hunted.

  In this daily routine, which Kira began to find less and less barbaric and more and more normal, she noticed she wasn’t actually the only woman in the village. She would see them watching from the windows, too, from time to time, and once or twice she had seen one accompanying one of the Ka’thon. They were never Earth women, but she didn’t imagine they were Ka’thon, either. One had been tall, and thin, with blue skin wispy wings growing from her back. She was also impossibly round with child.

  It was seeing that, that reminded her what Thrain had said to her before. What her purpose was. But he had never gone farther than touching her, slipping his fingers inside her and allowing his completion to come by rocking his body against her. She couldn’t imagine that that’s how they reproduced. Often, with a blush on her cheeks, she would wonder that she’d likely already have one inside her if that was the case, with how many times they came to that peak together without actually having sex.

  It was this thought that had her leaning against Thrain’s bedroom door that evening, what had to be several weeks after her arrival. Her own wants confused her; she didn’t want to be bred like some common brood mare, but she did… want to explore this attraction more. Even taking into consideration how she had gotten here, it hadn’t been all bad. Thrain had protected her. He had looked after her. He looked at her as his – as a possession – but surely the fact he had not forced himself on her like the other had tried, meant something? At any rate, she figured it was a trait that she could work with, perhaps sate her own curiosities, understand this strange man more, maybe even find her way.

  So when she called to him softly, and he looked up from polishing one of the shiny blasters on his bed, she smiled a little at him. Kira walked towards him with small steps, coming to stand in front of him. He watched her, with his head tilted. She found that that was a look that he gave her often, that curious tilted head. Gently, she pried his fingers from the blaster, moved it aside, and slid herself into his lap.

  “You never explained this bond to me,” she said, giving him time to elaborate for himself without prompting. When he merely looked at her, she went on. “I’d like to know what it is. What do you mean by that?”

  He looked for a moment as if he would not answer her. His brows furrowed, in that way that they did on the occasion that he took her out of the home, and she said or did something she was coming to learn was out of place for her. Though his treatment was lax within the home, it had been made clear that outside of it, there ways that she was and was not to behave. She almost thought that pressing that issue even within his home was forbidden, then, until his hands came to settle on her waist.

  “The bond,” he said, “is sacred. All Ka’thon have one who is theirs. We can take many women, but there is one that will give us strong sons.”

  That was another thing she had learned while with Thrain – all Ka’thon were men, and all Ka’thon men needed women of another race with which to breed. That’s just how it was.

  He went on.

  “When we are boys, and the elders decide we are ready for the great search, we go to the sacred place, and give a drop of blood,” he explained. “The Great Pool shows us our one – and it is we who must seek them out, wherever they are, and bring them here to breed.”

  “But you haven’t bred me yet,” she pointed out. “You said that was my duty.”

  Again, he stared at her, as if conflicted with her observation. Finally, he gave a shrug.

  “I want for you to want it. The elders say the strongest sons are born from mothers willing – I am strong and young. I will wait.”

  The admission puzzled her, she had to admit, and left her with more questions. She shifted in his lap, and tried to ignore the stirring between her legs that she felt from him in doing so.

  “But I’m yours?” she asked for clarification.

  “You are mine.”

  “I belong to you?”

  “Yes.”

  She frowned.

  “You want my consent, but I’m a possession to you?”

  She was happy that, at least she wasn’t the only one that was confused. His brow furrowed, and he huffed.

  “Yes. That is the way of all on Ka’thon. You are mine; the bond says so.” He brought his hand to her, brushing his thumbs over her cheek. The whole time she had had his scent in her nose; now, with his touch, she couldn’t help but lean into it, even with her confusion – her apprehension.

  “See?” he said. “You respond to my scent. Your body heats when I touch you.” He brought his hand down to her neck, and then lower, as he skimmed over one of her breasts. She took in a breath, unable to help how her body responded to him, unable to deny that he was right – her reactions were honest, even with her reservations. That was perhaps the most jarring thing of this whole situation.

  “But the others – the way they act with theirs. The way you act when we’re out –” She was trying to rationalize things out, trying to figure out where on the spectrum of lover verses possession she rested with him.

  He silenced her questions with a kiss, and for the life of her she couldn’t bring herself to push him away.

  “The others keep theirs the way they want; I will keep you the way I want. I do not need to be like them. I am a warrior, not a follower. But I must uphold our customs; out there, you must be as they are. That is the way.”

  Their lips
stayed close as they fell into silence. Forehead to forehead, and Kira let her eyes fall shut as she contemplated what that meant. Would he be willing to come to understand her, then…?

  “You want to wait until I want it, then, even with the way it is?” she murmured.

  “Yes.”

  ~*~

  Kira didn’t know how long it would take her to want to carry Thrain’s young, but it didn’t take as long for her to decide that she wanted to take their nightly routine further after their talk.

  She felt comfortable around Thrain. It was an insane thing, she was certain. The intelligent half of her brain knew that she should be seeking a way back home, but the part of her that held mundane curiosity kept pushing her more and more to explore this new path laid before her. It had been months, after all, since she had arrived on Ka’thon with Thrain. No other Ka’thon had dared touch her or try, either, since the incident in the forest. She lived in relative peace, all things considered.

  That comfort only got stronger with the lust that mounted and mounted each night Thrain had his hands on her.

  It started like any other night. Thrain and Kira had eaten together, and over the time that she had been on Ka’thon, Thrain had opened up to the point of having proper conversations with her. It got to the point that they even spoke of Earth – he asked her many questions of her family, her friends. Having been gone so long, it was strange to speak of them, but his interest made her happy. So after dinner, and cleaning up, they settled down into bed. She had taken to sleeping in the nude, like Thrain, though that had not prompted him to do more than what he had, and that was part of the reason she was as comfortable with him as she was – he kept to his word when he said that he would wait.

  His lips found her well-marked neck, suckling on her flesh as he took his time with her body. His hands roamed firmly, having learned where she liked to be squeezed, and where she preferred to be caressed. Her wetness was prominent, even before his hand made his way down between her legs, but she parted her thighs easily for his wondering fingers, sighing when they entered her two at a time.