She woke hours later to the sound of heavy breathing, almost a snuffling. Lexi froze. Something was definitely in the cave with her. The cloak covered her entire body, head and all, and she didn’t dare peek out from underneath it. Maybe if she didn’t move, the creature wouldn’t find her.
She heard the shout at the same instant her cover was ripped away. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, blinded by a flaming torch. She gave herself a moment to adjust, then opened her eyes again to a familiar face. Her heart sank. The one they called Eli had found her. Of all the men of the Tryb, she feared him most. The night they found her, he’d squeezed her breasts, pinching and twisting her nipples roughly until she’d had to bite her lip to keep from crying out at the pain. Yesterday at the feast, he’d been the first to grope at her, poking and pawing, enjoying the way she cringed away from him. She remembered all too well his rough fingers shoving up inside her last night.
She stifled a cry. She’d not give him that satisfaction.
Eli rammed the end of the torch into a crevice in the cave wall, then looked down at her, his eyes hungry. “You made it a long way. I’ll give you that. Stronger than you look. That’s good. The harder you fight when I take you, the stiffer my rod will get.”
As he spoke, Eli was unfastening the garment he wore slung around his hips. He tossed it aside and stood there proudly in front of her, naked, his manhood jutting out. He stroked himself with one hand as he talked.
“We’re going to have good times, you and me. I like the fact that you can’t talk. But you’ll learn to understand soon enough. You’ll open your mouth and your pussy and your ass to me whenever I want. Any time. Any place.” He smiled nastily. “I like playing in front of a crowd.”
He reached down to yank off the strip of cloth covering her breasts. Lexi shrank back, as though fearful, the shard of bone hidden in her hand. She’d have only one chance with him. She’d have to bide her time, wait till he was near enough for her to plunge it into his chest.
Eli sank to his knees and grabbed a fistful of her hair. “Open your mouth. I’m gonna train you right from the start.” He leaned forward, pressing his engorged member against her lips.
“I’ll bite it off!”
He fell back, stunned at her outcry.
Lexi took full advantage of the shock on Eli’s face. She lunged up with the dagger-like shard of bone, fully intending to ram it into his heart. But she’d never done anything like that before, never even witnessed one living creature do grave bodily harm to another. At the last second, she flinched.
Eli had been trained in combat with man and beast from the time he was a child. With lightning-quick reflexes, he twisted aside as she struck, taking the shard in his upper arm instead of his chest. To her horror, it didn’t even seem to faze him. He looked down at his arm, yanked the bloody fragment of bone out of his bicep, and threw it across the cave.
His eyes narrowed. “You’re going to be sorry you ever did that,” he snarled. Then, looking into her eyes the whole time, he pulled back his wounded arm and backhanded her across the face.
Lexi fell back, cracking her head against the cave wall.
“So, you could speak our language all along,” he went on. “Even better. Now you’ll understand me when I tell you everything in store for you when we get back. But first…” he grabbed his cock with one hand. “I’m gonna put this some place where you can’t bite it off. Ram it up your ass so deep and so hard, by the time I’m through, you’ll be begging me to let you suck it instead.”
He rolled her over roughly onto her stomach and straddled her body. Lexi struggled but he was twice her size, all dense muscle from a lifetime of fighting against the harsh pull of Iridia’s gravity. He ripped off her skirt and reached under her body with one hand, pulling her hips up. Then he forced her legs apart with his knees.
Lexi heard a roar. Suddenly Eli’s weight was off her. She felt the thud as his body hit the ground. Scrambling away on all fours, she risked a look behind her.
Ayron stood over Eli’s body, holding a long stone knife. Eli surged up, grabbing Ayron around the waist and wrestling him to the ground. The two men struggled silently, rolling around on the floor of the cave as they grappled for possession of the knife. Blood flowed, the sharp blade slashing into both men as they struggled.
Despite her training in hand-to-hand combat as part of her preparation for this mission, Lexi now saw how woefully unprepared she’d been for the real thing. There were no rules here. There was no mercy. They fought with a vicious intensity, locked in a battle to the death. With her as the prize to the victor.
She seized her chance and crawled away, grabbing the shard of bone and huddling in a corner with it held tight in her fist. Eli had the knife now, holding it against Ayron’s throat. Blood poured down his arm from where she’d stabbed him. Ayron had Eli’s wrist in an iron grip, the muscles in his shoulder and arm rigid as he tried to shove the knife away. A stream of red trickled from the tip buried in Ayron’s neck.
She didn’t stop to think. Picking up a large rock from the floor of the cave, she ran forward and swung it against the side of Eli’s head, hitting him square in the temple. He toppled over.
Ayron never hesitated. He yanked the knife out of Eli’s fist, swiped it across his throat, then fell onto his back, gasping for breath.
Lexi looked down at the bodies. One dead, one covered with blood from vicious knife wounds all over his body. She snatched up her pack, grabbed her cloak and ran, naked, out of the cave.
She made it only a few yards. Exposing her body to the rays of the sun was like running through a wall of flame. Pain. Excruciating pain. Fire seared her body. She tried to wrap the cloak around her, but her hands shook so badly she could barely hold it closed.
Two arms wrapped around her like steel bands, dragging her back into the blessed darkness. She collapsed onto the floor of the cave, his weight pinning her down.
“You little fool!” He shook her, spluttering with rage. “I didn’t risk my life to save you from that monster just to see you die of sun poisoning.”
“I’m sorry!” She blurted it out without thinking. The look of shock on his face disappeared in an instant, followed by a blank expression.
“You speak our language.” Though she barely knew him, she was instantly wary. His cold flat tone frightened her more than his anger.
“I didn’t at first. I… learned it.” Some instinct made her stop just before blurting out the truth.
“You learned it. In a day.” He stared her down, the disbelief on his face evident.
She shoved him off and he gave way easily, landing on his side with a harsh groan. Heedless of her nakedness, she was up on her knees over him in an instant. “How badly are you hurt?”
“I’ll live. But you won’t—not unless we get you into the water.”
She looked around the bone-dry cave. “Water?”
“We need to move quickly.” He struggled to his feet and looked down at Eli’s body lying nearby. “Get his pack. Over there.” He pointed to a spot near the mouth of the cave. She hadn’t noticed it before. Eli had dropped his cloak and a bulky pack twice the size of the one she carried at the cave’s entrance before creeping to where she slept.
Lexi reached for her skirt.
“Leave it. There’s no time. You won’t care if you’re covered up once you’re dead. Wait—hand me your breast cloth.”
Blushing, she handed it to him, then ran over and grabbed Eli’s pack. It was too heavy for her to shoulder, so she dragged it back, careful to avert her eyes as she passed the dead body.
Ayron used the knife to slice the long cloth she’d worn into several smaller strips, wrapping them tightly around the worst of his wounds. Then he rummaged in his own pack, pulling out several torches and a smaller packet similar to hers. From the smell, she guessed it held more of the noxious leaves the Tryb used to treat sun poisoning. He waved it in the air.
“Get the rest of the salisis and the bundle of he
rbs out of Eli’s pack and let’s go.”
She stopped in front of Eli’s remains, rooted to the spot.
“We’ll come back when we can for the rest—and to bury him,” he added.
He grabbed the flickering torch from the crack in the cave wall and took off into the darkness. Lexi struggled to keep up with him, marveling that he could even walk in his condition. She’d had a little medical training during her prep for the mission. But even a novice could see that besides the superficial wounds, he’d been cut deeply in places. With every step, he lost more blood and she knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up the grueling pace much longer.
They passed a number of side passages. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, bypassing some and turning left or right down others. Lexi was hopelessly lost. Without him, she’d never survive long enough to find her way out of this warren of tunnels and back to the entrance. She’d die here. Alone. In the darkness. Forcing back a wave of panic, she hurried along behind him.
She heard it long before she felt the change in the air. Water. Rushing water. The closer they got to the sound, the heavier, more humid the air became. By the time they rounded a curve and came in sight of the grotto, Lexi’s skin burned so badly she could barely put one foot in front of the other. With his last burst of strength, Ayron pulled her with him into the waist-deep water at the edge of the pool. He untied his own garment, tore open both packets of leaves, dumped them into the water and began slathering them all over both their bodies. First hers, then his own.
The relief was instantaneous. Until now, she hadn’t realized how much protection her cylerian provided when she arrived on the planet. Just from a few seconds of exposure, the tender skin on her breasts had blistered in places. Ayron’s body tolerated it much better, probably because his ancestors had had centuries to adapt.
His hands were gentle as he patted the goop onto the worst spots. The pain subsided enough that when he spread it over her nipples, she felt a delicious little shiver work its way down to her belly. He took hold of her shoulders, turned her around, and coated her back all the way down to the waist, fingers gliding sensuously over her skin.
Lost in waves of erotic sensation, Lexi hardly realized what he was doing when he led her into the shallows. But his hand between her legs snapped her back into focus.
She tried to push it away.
“Stop it. I have to get some of this up inside you, let it work through your body. Remember what happened last time you tried to resist? If you keep fighting me, I swear I’ll drag you to that rock, turn you over my knee, and spank you good and hard. Then I’ll take my finger and work some of this up into your ass. I guarantee you’ll like that a whole lot less.”
Even wounded, he was so much bigger and stronger it would be pointless to resist. She bent her head, blinking away tears of embarrassment as he parted her legs. Scooping a handful of the green slime from the water, he spread it around the soft folds surrounding her vaginal opening, then ran one of his long fingers up inside her. Coated with the slippery substance, it slid in easily. He took his time, working more of the healing substance up into her, stroking back and forth until she shivered again.
Lexi gasped as waves of heat and cold began pouring through her body. That’s when he moved his hand farther back, spreading it around her puckered anal opening. Before she could protest, he squeezed his finger inside it. She whipped her head up and glared at him. Then her eyes widened in shock. Already the effects were beginning—bursts of heat running up deep inside her anal passage, followed by a sensation of intense cold.
His finger slid deeper. She gasped, automatically tightening her muscles around it. The waves got stronger. Her clitoris, blanketed by the damp leaves, throbbed at the intense heat, followed by blasts of cold that left her shivering. Her pussy clenched, the waves tearing through her there at the same time.
Even as her mind tried to process what was happening, her body took over. All the physical stimulation she’d received since she arrived on Iridia had thrown her carefully regulated hormones out of balance. Lexi panted heavily. Long dormant, raw desire burst into flame, fanned by the erotic sensations rocking her body. His hands were everywhere. His stiff cock rubbed against her wet skin. His finger probed in a place she’d never been touched before, flooding her mind with wicked thoughts. She was suddenly desperate to have him quench the fire, bury that thick cock deep inside her. Young and healthy, she reacted instinctively, the way women had reacted for thousands of years.
Lexi threw herself against him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
* * *
Ayron rocked back on his heels. The finger buried in her ass slid out part way. The woman in his arms gave a little moan, pumping her hips back against his hand to draw it back in. He didn’t think. He reacted.
His hand moved, sliding his finger in deeper. Cupping her ass in his palm as his mouth covered hers. It wasn’t so much a kiss as a capture. He grabbed a fistful of her hair with his other hand, tilted her head back, and crushed her lips with his.
She moaned again. The sound drove him. He coaxed her lips open, sliding his tongue between them. Her body writhed against his, grinding the silken curls covering her mound against his cock as he fingered her ass. In and out. Deeper each time. Her tight little passage squeezed his finger in rhythmic pulses.
Her whole body tensed. Quivered. And then she exploded. He held her close, all through the tremors rocking her. Finally, when she went limp in his arms, he gently withdrew his finger. He drew her head down to nestle it against his chest.
He could tell the instant consciousness returned. Her breathing slowed. First she froze in his arms, then she gasped and began struggling to pull away.
“Shhh. It’s all right.”
She wasn’t even listening to him. “What did you do to me? You… I never…”
Her eyes were wide with shock and fear, leaving him even more certain this female had little experience with the ways of a man.
“Did you like it?”
His frank question stopped her cold.
“I… I reached gratification.” She sounded surprised.
“That’s the point, isn’t it?”
She wrapped her arms around her chest, as though suddenly becoming aware of her nakedness. “But I’ve never… I mean I didn’t know I could…”
“No man has brought you pleasure that way.” It wasn’t a question. He thought he knew the answer. But her response shocked him.
“No man has brought me pleasure in any way.”
He took a step back. Her eyes traveled down his naked body to the erection jutting out, stiff and proud. She flushed and turned away, grabbing a handful of leaves.
“Let me see to your back.”
He turned around, happy to have a moment to regain his composure. She patted wet leaves across his shoulders and down his back, being careful to touch him as little as possible.
This female was full of surprises. First of all, he still didn’t know where she came from. There were other cities on Iridia, but only the hardiest souls made the long journey, and then only during the season when nights were the longest. But clearly she wasn’t from one of them.
There was something odd about the way she spoke. He couldn’t put his finger on it. He would have sworn she didn’t understand a word he said when he first found her. But despite her claim, he didn’t believe she could have learned their language in a day. No legend spoke of another Tryb hidden away on Iridia. So who was she and how had she come to be wandering alone in the outlands?
Then there was the bombshell she’d laid on him, about never being with a man before. He’d told Eva all along she wasn’t experienced, even though her examination showed she wasn’t a virgin. What then? Did she prefer women? She hadn’t shied away from him a few minutes ago, but maybe that was why she seemed so uncomfortable now. Perhaps she had a partner, another female, and now she felt guilty about what she’d done—throwing her arms around him, wiggling her hips to take his finger
further into her ass.
He tried to reason away a stab of guilt. She’d caught him by surprise. Flooded with testosterone after his battle, he’d reacted instinctively. A soft warm body rubbing up against his, the wet velvet heat of her pussy and then her tight little ass clenching around his finger, those purrs of arousal that awoke his manhood. If she hadn’t rejected him so abruptly afterwards, he’d probably have tossed her down in the shallows and plunged his cock into her. Forgetting Naia. Forgetting his vow to be done with women. Forgetting his grief.
Reality hit him like an icy wind. Until he learned more about her, he needed to stay on guard at all times. This woman might be a new enemy.
As he came to that decision, the last of the adrenaline that had kept him going pumped through his body and dissipated. The salisis she was applying to his bare skin began to take effect and he started shaking from the powerful waves of heat and cold. Weakened from loss of blood, muscles trembling with fatigue, his legs turned to rubber.
Darkness closed in and he collapsed.
Chapter Seven
Lexi watched in shock as the big man fell face-down into the water. Panicked, she rolled him over and dragged him into the shallows. His breathing was labored, his body racked with tremors. She hoped it was from the salisis leaves. When she’d been shaking like that the first night, he said her reaction was normal. He’d held her in his arms until it stopped.
She looked him over. The leaves seemed to have other healing properties. They’d staunched the flow of blood from his wounds. But there were still large patches of his body uncovered. No wonder, since he’d seen to it she was cared for first. She waded out deeper, gathering the remainder floating on the surface. Then, arms laden with the gooey mess, she fell to her knees by his body and began applying a thick coat all over the remaining bare patches on his skin.
His to Claim (Alien Masters Book 2) Page 8