by Iona Strom
Nodding sadly, I sit back. Everything I’ve wanted to ask doesn’t seem important anymore. Natu looks so forlorn, I feel the need to distract him. Looking around, my eyes land on the bowl of nuts set aside during Nulis’ visit.
“The tristiu, are they plant protein?”
“Yes,” Natu slowly eases forward again. “Why do you not eat meat, Avay?”
“I can’t bring myself to consume an animal’s flesh.”
“Truly?” he chuckles in disbelief.
“It’s disgusting,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
“It is delicious.”
“Eww. Not to me.”
“Then we shall endeavor to find foods rich in protein,” he concludes with a quick bob of his head. “That is, if I can convince you to remain with us, the young you will carry will need this nourishment if they are to grow and thrive.”
I blink stupidly from my place on the warm floor.
“You planned to get me pregnant?”
“Yes. The three of us, your clov,” Natu casually answers. “My kind are nearing extinction. You will help replenish our numbers and pioneer a settle on a new world once we find a suitable planet.”
Cue the screeching brakes.
The weight of what was just laid in my lap renders me speechless. I had guessed correctly about the wedding ceremony, but never, not once, did I ever think I would be part of a campaign to increase the numbers of a dying alien species.
“Natu, I—”
“Is the translator working as it should?” Xuel walks in, interrupting.
“It is.” Natu stands and hands over his earpiece and the slim device.
Xuel does something to the device, and I’m cut off, left in the dark as they converse in their language I don’t understand.
With a quick nod for Xuel and a hug for me as I stand, Natu leaves me with Xuel. I’m sad to see him go, especially after our feelings for each other were just revealed, the exchange still fresh and unexplored.
Alone with Xuel, the harsh expression he lands on me shrinks me inside my own skin. Fiddling with the device, I interpret Xuel’s words for the first time.
“What has Natu told you regarding your new role?”
Fitted with the earpiece, there’s no small talk for Xuel. Nope, this male goes right for the heart of the subject.
“He mentioned a mating and… pregnancy.” I’m not brave enough to bring up the subject of having them return me to Earth.
His head tilts at a cocky angle. Narrowed eyes glare before he lazily sweeps them down my front. I should be frightened, but what makes me tremble isn’t fear. Shifting my stance, I rub my thighs together to squelch my rising desire as I measure the width of his shoulders.
Striding toward me, I brace myself for rough sex. Coming toe-to-toe, I’m forced to crane my neck to look Xuel in the eye. Towering above me, he’s immense.
He doesn’t reach for me, only dips his head to my throat. His chest swells, brushing over the sensitive tips of my breasts with his deep inhale as he breathes in my scent. His throaty growl sends tremors through my soul.
So close, I bask in the spice of his sultry musk—a heady perfume so thick, it bears substance. I want nothing more than to clothe myself in his presence.
To my utter dismay, he steps to the side and walks away, taking with him the prickly excitement that comes with his nearness. The loss of his heat leaves a cold void in the air that chills my heated skin.
Stopping inside the door he dissolved, Xuel keeps his back to me as he orders, “Follow me.”
Chapter 5
On shaky legs, I do as I’m told. Following in Xuel’s turbulent wake, I don’t dare complain about the elevator ride or make an issue about possibly being locked back inside my prison. Xuel is not a male who gives the impression that an argument would be in my best interest.
I’m relieved the door we enter leads inside Xuel’s room until his striped beast comes barreling down on us, the overzealous creature jumping and romping around Xuel’s legs as he crosses the room to a counter. With the markings of a giant red tabby cat, the creature has the mannerisms of a dog, that slobbering tongue lapping at Xuel’s hand, encouraging a petting.
Watching from my place just inside the room, words of praise are uttered as Xuel stoops and rubs at the beast’s head. Glancing at me as I move forward, puts an end to his play.
Xuel fishes around the cabinets, pulling out several items, one a container to fill a dish he places on the floor. The creature grunts before devouring the brownish pellets.
Any male who has a cat-dog-thing as a pet shouldn’t be all that scary, but he is a frightening male... in the most erotic way possible. Massive in form, his solid frame is loaded with dense muscle, sexy in the way of something dangerous.
I’m a slave to my body’s reaction to him.
Watching him pour two cups with a whiskey hued liquid, Xuel sets the carafe aside and turns to hand me one. Leaning back against the counter, he takes a long pull off his cup and resumes that cocky head tilt.
I’m more cautious with the amber liquid, taking a tentative sip. The dark complexity of the drink burns its way down my throat. My muscles loosen instantly, and I’m glad for the intoxicating effect. Even as attracted as I am to Xuel, his presence is intense.
“You are agreeable to being bred by Nomadican males?” he abruptly questions.
My body responds with a gush of wetness before I can even open my mouth to reply. As lewd and unexpected as Xuel’s inquiry is, at this moment, I want nothing more than to be bred by my males—especially one in particular. The one who keeps me at arm’s length but stands only a few feet away.
The craving I’ve developed for their musk, their touch, their bodies is barely controllable. Intoxicated with every facet of these males, I have found purpose beneath their rutting bodies. Earth may be where I belong, but underneath hard planes of rolling muscles as I’m fucked to completion is where I crave to be.
“I am agreeable.” I don’t recognize the huskiness of my own voice.
Xuel’s pupils explode black with arousal. I sway with need at the guttural vibration that rumbles from deep inside his chest.
Tossing back the drink in his hand, Xuel turns his back to me for a refill. Keeping his eyes averted, he moves to the seating area and claims a chair, motioning for me to join him.
I take the seat across from him while he leans his head back and rubs his eyes. When his gaze lands on me again, he’s regained some control, his pupils no longer bottomless pits of desire, but an accusing emerald as if it is all my fault that he finds me attractive.
Sipping my drink, the sedating effect eases the knife-edge of my arousal. The weight of his vibrant scrutiny is heavy as I try to relax back into the seat.
Designed like club chairs, the furnishings are cushy and comfortable, but I might as well be perched on a rock with all the uncomfortable eyeballing Xuel is doing.
Finished with its meal, the beast joins us, and I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect distraction. Xuel holds a soft spot for the creature. Giving his thigh a pat is all the invitation the hairy animal needs to leap up and make itself at home.
“Does he have a name?” I ask, needing to break the excruciating silence.
“She,” Xuel glances at me with soft eyes. “Neyteria is a female.”
“Neyteria. That’s a beautiful name. How did you come by it?”
“It’s just a name,” he snaps.
Xuel’s eyes dart away from me, but not before they darken in pain. Rubbing Neyteria’s thick coat, Xuel ignores me. I look away, giving him the privacy he needs to relive whatever painful memory I’m not to be privy to.
I was mistaken to think he’d taken a step closer to being mine the night of the ceremony. Intoxicated or not, Xuel was of a mind to have sex before he’d lost consciousness. Now here I sit as his past pulls him farther away from me.
I catch the deliberate movements of Xuel’s fingers burrowing into Neyteria’s fur, and I’m suddenly stric
ken with a spike of jealousy—not over the petting, but the female he’s named his beloved pet after. A memory deserving of a legacy or a reminder of a past not to be repeated?
I pull deeply from my cup to wash back the unwanted envy. The fiery liquid travels down the wrong pipe, and I choke in a coughing fit that springs tears from my eyes as I try to regain control of my spasming esophagus.
Sobering, I find two sets of eyes on me. One set looking on with a mixture of mirth and concern, the other from a shaggy head titled in question.
“I’m alright,” I sputter. “Just a stronger drink than what I’m used to.”
Xuel resumes petting Neyteria, his eyes never far from mine.
“So, the tattoos you guys have.” I wave a hand across my chest. “Do they indicate rank or something? You seem to be the most decorated.”
Xuel considers my words before answering.
“I know not what a tattewoo is, but if you are referring to our chevreons, the answer would be yes, they do, in fact, delineate all males as to who has proven to be the more fierce.”
“Given all the markings you have, I’m guessing you’re the head male in charge.”
Nodding, Xuel clarifies, “I am the Dominoss aboard the ship.”
“What was with the cutting off of the tatt… chev-re-ones,” I try out the new word, “when Natu won against Agris? Why not mark Natu’s skin with ink or whatever pigment it is you all use for those?”
“Pigment?” Xuel recoils. “We are born with these markings. As a male grows, he can either earn the chevreons of others or lose them. Depends upon his skills in battle.”
“That’s brutal.”
“It is our way.”
“It was very horrifying to watch.”
“I know of species that are a great deal worse.” Xuel’s remark sends shivers down my spine.
I swallow the lump in my throat. I can’t even imagine what Xuel has seen or who he’s fought, given the plethora of markings covering his chest and arms—markings that were taken from another’s flesh. I let my shudder run through me.
“What became on Agris and Orius? You know, after they…”
“They were fitted with restraining cuffs that will keep them confined to select areas of the ship. I still need them as part of the crew. Once we find a new planet to settle, I assure you they will serve time in a penatorium once one can be established.” My ashen expression must have prompted the rest. “You have nothing to fear from them. Neither one can access this floor or the one below. Even if they were in the vicinity, the genetic marker that makes you human would render them unconscious.”
“How’s that?”
“The restraining cuffs around their ankles are calibrated to detect when you are near and will send a phasopulse throughout their bodies that will interrupt their neural pathways.”
I blink fast at the geeky jargon that just flowed out of Xuel’s mouth. Of course, he would be smart, he has his own spaceship and knows how to fly it. It just never occurred to me, until this moment, my males were more intelligent than any Earth men. They would have to be to, literally, navigate the stars. Which, I suppose, makes me the dumb blonde in this scenario.
My thoughts shift to the woman Natu got the translator from. He said she was alone, somewhere out there, but she’s making it and even made a device that would translate Nomadican to English. That can’t be a small feat.
I always considered myself intelligent, minus some stupid decisions I’d made in the past, but if this Earth woman can hold her own out here, so can I.
Sitting up a little straighter, I ask, “Why are you looking for a new planet? What’s wrong with the planet where you’re from?”
Xuel’s verdant gaze flashes angrily. “Our planet no longer exists.”
When my lips part to ask for further explanation, Xuel slashes his hand through the air, dismissing what I want to ask, so I move on to a safer subject.
“After Natu won against Agris, did he also move up in rank on the ship?”
“Yes.” Xuel’s answer is laced with pride, his anger ebbing. “My sibling is proving to be a formidable opponent.”
“Your sibling?” My eyes widen. “Natu is your brother? As in the same mother and father?”
“Your language is difficult. The translator cannot identify all of your words.” Xuel scratches his head. I keep quiet, giving him time to decipher my question. “We were birthed from the same female.”
Holy shit! Here I thought being married to multiple partners was the ultimate taboo. I’ve definitely crossed the line with brothers.
“And Nulis?” I ask.
“He was produced from a different mating.”
I don’t know why I sink in relief. My parents will never accept my current arrangement. Then again, they’ve never been accepting of anything I’ve ever done or who I am, for that matter, so why should I give a shit? I’m in outer-fucking-space, on my way to who knows where with a bunch of aliens I’m now married to who are determined to impregnate me to help save their dying race.
No pressure there.
And here I sit, worried about what my parents will think if I ever make it back home.
Shaking away my rampant thoughts, I tilt my head back and drain the remainder of my drink in a single swig, the burn of the contents stealing my breath.
Xuel cocks a brow.
“Would you like more?” He tips his head at my cup.
“No, I think I’m good.”
The burning in my esophagus subsides, and I glide into a fluid calm on a floaty cloud as all my troubles drift away. Sighing deeply, my bones settle into the cushy softness of my chair. Once again, I’m shocked at how fast acting this alien alcohol is. Even though Xuel appears to be perfectly lucid, my eyelids are already beginning to droop, blurring, and distorting my vision.
“Go to bed, Avay.” Xuel’s deep voice seems to come from far away. “You need to rest. We will be in orbit around Letrutose within the next cycle.”
“Where?” My piqued interest fights against my lethargy.
“A trading planet in the Tijerian galaxy.”
Galaxy.
I’m on my way to another galaxy. I should feel nervous, a little excited, but all I’ve got going on is a deep nod and a strong desire to curl up on Xuel’s gigantic bed and sleep for a hundred years.
Xuel stands, setting Neyteria aside, moving toward me in powerful strides, his gait sure and commanding as any formidable leaders would be. His sleek black horns gleam in the soft illumination from the walls and ceiling. Colossal and fierce, every muscle rolls and bunches with his movements, a dazzling display of animalistic virility.
A gorgeous specimen of a male. To have him rut between my thighs would be the ultimate bliss if only he would take his turn. What holds him back is a female named Neyteria. Now that I have some idea of what’s keeping him from taking me, I can formulate a plan to change that.
He drops into a crouch before me, and I fight to keep my eyes open, so I can admire his handsome face. My vision has gone wavy from weighty eyelids that are slow to blink.
Xuel takes the cup from my loose grasp and sets it on the floor. Neyteria rushes over to investigate. One sniff inside the cup, and she snorts and sneezes before settling on her haunches next to her master.
If Xuel would only master me.
Chapter 6
The scent of something warm and sweet tickles me awake. A tendril of steam licks up from the cup being placed on the table next to my bed.
I assume the male’s hand doing the placing belongs to Natu as he is the most thoughtful of my males. Imagine my surprise when I look up to find it’s Xuel.
Having fallen asleep with the translator still stuck in my ear, Xuel’s words are defined.
“The leelia will be here with the first meal of the cycle. You will eat all the tristiu,” he directs. “Cleanse yourself and don fresh attire. Natu will arrive to escort you to the shuttle.”
“What shuttle?”
Xuel doesn’t answer my q
uestion, he simply gives me his back as he heads toward the door.
“Where are you off to?”
His next step falters, and he looks at me from over one broad shoulder. His brow is slow to crease into a hard line, but the twitch of a grin that plays across his upper lip shows amusement.
“To the command deck, shoulsis.” He bends slightly at the waist, a mocking bow. “Where I belong.”
“Why am I being escorted to a shuttle? Am I going somewhere?” The insolent tilt of his head is affirmation Xuel isn’t accustomed to being questioned.
“You will accompany Nulis and Natu to the trading post on Letrutose,” Xuel gives as an explanation. “It will do you good to get off the ship and be in fresh surroundings.”
“Is it safe for me there?”
“Why would it not be?” he quirks a brow.
“Seriously, Xuel?” I rise to the bait. “Did you see the freaks on that red planet where you found me?”
“I saw nothing of concern.”
“Nothing of concern!” I huff. “Maybe you’re used to seeing crazy beasts like that, but where I’m from, everyone looks normal.”
“What makes you think your perception of normal is correct, Mannock?” Xuel challenges. “Perhaps you were the one who appeared beastly to those at that trading posts. Not all were lining up to sample your cunt.”
I’m not much of a morning person, and his impudent attitude is pushing me close to the edge. What propels me off the bed is the rise of one thick eyebrow and the twitch of his lip as he eyes the red splotches staining my cheeks.
Challenge accepted!
“Why are you taunting me?”
“Am I?” Xuel’s laugh is wicked. “I wasn’t aware.”
“Weren’t you?” I counter. Standing up straighter with my arms crossed does nothing to make me more of a match for him. “Are you spoiling for a fight? Is that what you’re after?”
Striking the same pose, Xuel appears to grow by feet and swell to twice his original size. Intimidation to get me to back down from something he started?
Not a chance.
Standing my ground, he takes a step closer to tower above me. My neck cramps to maintain eye contact.