by Marie Dry
At least now she knew why the raiders were looking for her. Murdoch had to know about her father's formula. She remembered catching him going through her father's books once. At the time, she'd accepted his explanation that the paper books fascinated him. But something in his attitude that day had always nagged at her.
"It was long ago. I haven't even thought of him again until they showed his picture." No need to tell him about the lonely nights she'd cried her heart out. Or her despair at the realization no man wanted to live with her asthma. Although, at least back then she hadn't lived with the threat of a man killing her for it.
His breath tickled her nape when he bent lower. "Why did you leave him?"
Natalie turned around and smacked her fist against his chest, but immediately regretted it. She flexed her sore fingers. "Are you deaf? I said he left me." It was embarrassing enough to remember without talking about it.
"Why? You are a good breeder."
"Owww." She simply had to stop hitting him when he said things like that. It hurt too much.
He took her hand and massaged it. She glared at the doctor when he made to come and look at it.
"Not all men regard women as breeding machines," she snapped at Zacar.
"Earth men are weak. They cannot provide for breeders."
She pushed him back and, jumping up, stormed off to their bedroom, still shaking her sore hand. It galled her that she couldn't have left his lap if he didn't want her to go. Iron-skinned idiot! Was that the only worth a woman had to him?
"Doesn't he care about intelligence, or even something as superficial as looks?" she muttered. "Earth men are weak," she imitated furiously.
Loving a woman, respecting her, discussing things with her like her father used to do with her mother was not being weak.
"Why are you mad?" he said from directly behind her and she rushed into the tent, trying hard to ignore him.
She should've known he'd ignore her body language shouting the need to be alone. How many times did she have to explain to him that she objected to being called a breeder as if she was an animal? As if her only worth was in the amount of babies she conceived? She wanted what her parents had, the loving glances, laughter, and closeness.
"What am I to you?" If he said breeder, she'd find that harpoon and stick it through his cold heart.
A puzzled silence descended before she was lifted and turned. In the blink of an eye, she found herself face to face, with her straddling his lap while he sat on their bed. She stared up at him. The man really moved fast.
"Explain."
Being this close to him in almost exactly the same position she was last night when they made love distracted her. His thighs flexed beneath her, warm and seductive. The hollows in his cheeks and the crinkles around his eyes fascinated her. She moved, a slow sinuous seductive roll of her hips she couldn't control. She frowned up at him, trying to remember what they were arguing about.
"Do you feel anything at all for me?" She bit her lip. Exposing her feelings like this was like standing naked in front of a crowd of strangers, intent on criticizing her.
"I protect you." Clearly lost, he stared down at her as if waiting for her to explain the great mystery of emotions.
She wanted him to tell her he cared for her, at least without her having to prompt him. And she wanted reassurance that she mattered more to him than just as a breeding machine. She heard her voice ask the question she didn't want to know the answer to. "If I never had any children again, would you still protect me? Would you stay with me?"
"You refuse to have my little warriors because you want to breed for Murdoch?" His voice was soft, almost reasonable, which was worse than if he'd roared.
"No, that's not what I'm asking."
Now he bent down to hiss in her face. "You want to breed Murdoch's warriors?"
She should be frightened, placate him and get his mind off the subject before his jealousy made him do something she'd regret. Instead, she studied the roof of the tent while she counted to ten. "Of course that's why I asked." Her sarcasm went right over his head. Grabbing his cheeks, she lifted his face up a bit so she could stare straight into his eyes. "I would kill myself before I allowed him to ever touch me."
"No need. I kill him. Soon."
Oops. She didn't doubt for one moment that Zacar would walk into the raider camp and kill their vicious leader. She simply couldn't think of him as her ex fiancé anymore. That evil thing in the holograph wasn't even close to the man she thought he'd been.
Zacar bent his head and kissed her, the discussion over as far as he was concerned. He nibbled her lips and his fingers at her waist stroked over her hipbones in a caress fraught with danger. She moaned and rolled her hips again. Her alien did enjoy making love to her, and she enjoyed being made love to. His lips were as dangerous as his tongue, burning over hers and spreading a fire inside her body that made her moan and twist against him. Suddenly her clothes were too tight. She wanted them gone, wanted to be skin to skin with him.
He lifted his head and looked down at her with red eyes that, more and more, had come to represent the essence of passion to her. "Tell me you want me. That you want only me."
"I want only you, Zacar."
"And I want only Natlia." He bent his head and gently kissed her neck then, lifting her shirt over her head, moved down the slope of her breast. "Tell me you would never go back to Murdoch."
She giggled helplessly. Did he seriously think she would want to go to the leader of the raiders? "I want only you, Zacar," she repeated. "Forget about Murdoch. He will get his just desserts for being evil."
"I will not give him sweets. I will kill him," he said almost absently, as he moved lower.
She giggled harder and he kissed her rounded stomach.
He paused and stared down at her stomach for long seconds with a curiously intent look. She peered down, afraid she'd grown a wart, unsightly hair, or something. At that moment he lifted his head and speared her with a look so intense she cringed back a little.
"Now you show me how humans do breeding."
She was still wondering what was wrong with her stomach so it took a moment before his words penetrated. Cultural differences, it was just cultural differences. He didn't have the same associations she had with his words. She had to remember that.
"All right, but you can't get angry if you don't like what I do." She simply couldn't see him allowing her to take the lead and to lie still while she explored him. The last time she was on top he quickly took over. Her heartbeat sped up at the thought of touching him the way he touched her. Of being able to explore him as she wanted. "Please lie down on your back."
He froze in place and for a long time stared at her. Just when she thought he'd change his mind, he set her down on the bed and lay down on his back, his body tense and his eyes following her every move when she knelt next to him.
She lifted a hand and touched a vein following a bulging bicep. If she did it for the next hundred years she wouldn't tire of touching him--the pulsing veins and the warm skin covering his delicious muscles. Remembering the first time they made love, she started at his bald head, stroking, kissing, and licking her way down his body. His skin tasted salty and wild and she moaned with pleasure. He trembled and fisted his hands next to his hips but didn't stop her or try to take over.
"Humans like to explore each other. Human women want to enjoy their men." She did anyway and it wouldn't hurt to get a few rules into his dominant head. She pulled at his shirt and it opened in her hand. "I love the way your clothes unfasten. Revealing your beautiful skin." She looked up from caressing his stomach to find him staring at her, unblinking. She'd seen a program about tigers before they became extinct and his gaze reminded her of that fierce predator. Watching, waiting for the moment to strike.
It wasn't wise to tease a tiger, especially not one from the planet Zyrigrrn, but she smiled down at him and unfastened his pants with that same magical tug. He toed off his boots as she pulled the pants down his legs slowly, i
nch by inch.
He growled at her. She bit the inside of her cheek to hide her grin and slowed down the movement even more.
"Faster, Natlia."
She tugged the pants all the way off and sat back to admire his body. "You are beautiful, Zacar."
He scowled at her. "Earth women say such unseemly things to their men?"
"All the time."
She'd never said it to Andre but he did not possess the sheer male beauty that Zacar did. She reached out and touched his hip with her palm, stroking his prominent hipbone before moving to the other side and doing the same. Slowly smiling up at him, she traced a teasing finger down until she touched his erect penis. As she moved her finger up and down his length, he growled and surged up. He grabbed her hand and closed it around him. She couldn't close her fist. He was too big. He moved her hand with his and moaned through clenched teeth. He was warm in her hand, throbbing.
"It's amazing how similar you are to human men."
"Only bigger and better," he said very seriously.
Natalie laid her forehead on his thigh as her body shook with helpless laughter.
"Continue now," he ordered.
She swallowed her laughter and, still smiling, she looked down at his pulsing erection in her hand. He took his hand away but she couldn't miss the command in his eyes. She moved her hand up and down slowly, her thumb caressing the underside of his pulsing flesh. She broke his gaze and looked down at her hand. Since they first made love she'd wondered how it would be to kiss him there. Lick his skin. Would it taste as wonderful as the rest of his skin. Could she do it? Pleasure him as he did her? Doubtfully she looked at the size of him. There was no way that would fit in her mouth.
Natalie looked up at him with what she hoped was a wicked teasing smile and not a silly expression. Still holding his gaze, she leaned down, started at the base, and licked her way up. In the end, she got a nibbling action going that pleased him, judging by the way he moved his hips to get closer to her mouth.
"Natlia no tease."
She could barely make out his words. She reached the tip and, opening her mouth wide, sucked the head in. She swirled her tongue over the tip, wanted to take him deeper but her mouth just wouldn't take more. Before she could do anything else, he exploded and she was flat on her back with him leaning over her.
"When you learn?"
They were back to warrior speak she thought smugly. She'd made him unable to speak in complete sentences. She, Natalie Hanson, had done that.
"I never did--"
He surged into her and she forgot what she was about to say. He filled her to the hilt then stilled his movements to stare down at her. "When you learn?" he asked again, his voice guttural, his body tense against hers. She could feel him resisting the need to move.
"I never--oh, Zacar, please move."
He stayed tense and still, his body pulsing inside hers. Her stubborn warrior wanted an answer and she could barely think beyond wanting him to take her to that alien paradise where she lost herself to pleasure.
"I never wanted to do that before."
"That true?"
"Yes, please Zacar, move."
He pulled out, then slammed into her and set an almost savage rhythm. Surging in and pulling out, until she was helpless to do anything but cling to him and follow the pace he set.
The pleasure coiled, tightened until she fell over the edge. He roared and she was vaguely aware of him stiffening. When he collapsed, it felt as if a mountain had fallen on her, but he lifted his weight off her almost immediately. She saw him check her over before he lay down next to her.
She wanted to curl up against him and go to sleep. Bask in the aftermath of their lovemaking. But the devil on her shoulder wouldn't let her pass up on this opportunity. She swirled a finger over his chest.
"The important part to remember about how humans make love is that we don't bite each other afterward."
A narrow-eyed, suspicious stare greeted her words. "Never?"
"Never, ever under any circumstances. We cuddle like this."
She moved until she was lying in his arms with her leg intertwined with his. Although she made sure his was beneath hers. He was scarily solid.
"I like this cuddle."
"So no more biting?"
"Maybe," he said and closed his eyes.
She wanted to pummel him into agreeing but she was deliciously relaxed and, instead, cuddled closer to him. His arm tightened around her.
Later, after he fell asleep, she lay awake. He never answered her question. What would he do if she couldn't give him children? In spite of his passionate lovemaking and the way he fed her and cared for her, she knew he kept her at a distance emotionally.
***
Three days later, she rose and smiled at the aches and pains in her intimate places. Maybe she should do the sword exercises with Zacar and his warriors every morning to firm up her body. These days she had the kind of sex life she'd only fantasized about before but it played havoc with her muscles.
At breakfast, Zacar fed her as usual and, for the first time, she didn't feel irritation at being treated like a baby. She was coming to see his feeding her as his way of showing her he cared. Her earlier fears now seemed overly dramatic.
By now, Azagor had managed to make a deep tunnel in the side of the cave, but so far she hadn't managed to get in there to see where it led. Every time she tried, one of them would appear. And shortly after Zacar would be there. He did it with the utmost politeness, but in the end, it meant she wasn't really part of their plans for the future. She wavered between despair that Zacar didn't trust her and being convinced he cared for her but didn't know how to say it. She really wanted to believe he cared for her and his refusal to allow her into the tunnel was simply part of some warrior secrets they didn't share with non-warriors.
But, today she had a plan. They would practice with their swords outside every day like clockwork. And that would be when she'd act.
The moment the four disappeared through the front entrance of the cave, she hurried over to the tunnel. It stretched dark and mysterious into the mountain. She hesitated a moment, glanced over her shoulder, then stepped inside. A light came on and she froze. She'd read in books how the extinct gazelles would do the same thing when they scented a predator.
When no one appeared to stop her, she hurried forward. More lights came on as she moved. She'd heard that there was a time when most homes had sensor activated lights. These days you were lucky to have any artificial light during the day.
The walls of the new passage were cut smooth and precise enough that she was sure if she measured it she would find it perfectly square. After she'd been walking for at least five minutes, she came to a sudden stop.
How on earth did they manage to carve such a huge cavern into the mountain? It was even bigger than the one they lived in, except one part of it was cut like the room of a house, with straight smooth walls and even a flat ceiling in place of jagged rocks. Toward the back, she noticed another large cavern with rough walls that they'd started to smooth out. They must've carved the tunnel until they reached an existing cave she hadn't known was even there, forming one huge cavern. But who knew what they wanted to do with such a space? Everything was measured with mathematical precision. She shook her head. The size of it was beyond comprehension.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up and she turned in resignation, expecting to find Zacar behind her. The blood froze in her veins when she looked straight into Zurian's glaring eyes. Great. It had to be the one alien who hated her. Why was he always the one to find her when she was trying to sneak around?
"Your woman is spying," he spat into her face, reminding her of a snake.
She stumbled back and nearly fainted with relief when Zacar walked up behind him.
"I--I was just c--curious," she stammered, hating the defensive sound of her voice. She drew her shoulders back and glared up at Zacar. "This is my cave. I own the land and the mountain for miles around, s
o you have no right to keep me out of any part of it."
"I will walk you out," he said.
She hated him for the expressionless way he humiliated her in front of that horrible alien.
"Zacar."
They both stopped and turned back when Zurian spoke. Looking at her pocket where she kept her inhaler, he grated something to Zacar. Of course, her translator chose that moment to not work again.
Zacar grunted back then gently pushed her forward. She walked through the passage with her heart in her throat. Her knees shook terribly and she was sure the inhaler in her pocket would burn her through her clothes.
Once they reached the main cave, she forced herself to smile at him. "Please excuse me. I need to uh...use the bathroom." She drew away from him and gestured vaguely in the direction of the showers.
He looked down at her for a moment. She thought he would touch her but he stepped back. "I need to return. Do not go in there again."
She hesitated but couldn't resist asking, "What would you do if I did?" She shouldn't waste time and give him the opportunity to think about searching her for the inhaler. But it galled her that he would refuse her access to her own mountain.
"Take you out."
Her blood froze in her veins then she relaxed. His matter of fact tone said he meant take her out of the cave, like he just had.
She couldn't give Zacar the opportunity to search her. "Uh, I better go. The bathroom, you know."
He nodded and she rushed to away on shaking legs. Once there, she turned around, frantic for a place to hide her inhaler. At last, she put it inside an empty bottle she used to keep the soap slivers for recycling. Now that she'd been caught carrying an inhaler in her pocket, she'd have to stash them around the cave and hope she got to them in time when she needed them. Remembering the way that damn Zurian had pointed to where she hid the inhaler in her pocket, she grabbed a tube of toothpaste and put that in it. Maybe she was over-reacting, but she wasn't about to take any chances with a race that killed weak babies.
When she returned from the bathroom, Zacar simply insisted on feeding her lunch then disappeared into the tunnel again. Curiosity drove her crazy. In the end, she couldn't help herself.