“Why don’t your people live here?”
“The grotto is too small to house all of us and we’d soon run out of clean water.”
“Then why not harvest the crystals, build houses, and put them in the walls and ceilings? You could have this incredible light every day.”
He picked up a water flask and filled it from the pool. Then he held out his hand for the herbs. He crushed a few stalks in the palm of his hand and carefully dropped the pieces into the flask. Then he did the same with a second flask.
“Come. Sit. The herbs need to steep in the water for a little while before we drink.” He lowered himself onto a large flat rock, patting the spot next to him.
Lexi shuddered at the thought of putting her burning bottom onto the hard surface. “I’m fine right here,” she replied, leaning against a boulder.
His eyes narrowed. “I said come here and sit. I am your master now and you will do what I say. Without argument. Without question. Or suffer the consequences.”
She tamped down a spark of anger and held her tongue. She couldn’t handle another harsh spanking right now. She took a few steps and perched on the edge of the rock, as far away from him as possible. He saw her wince as her bottom made contact.
“Come here. Let me see it.”
She started to shake her head, then caught herself. She stood and turned her back to him.
“There’s just a little redness. It will soon fade. And in the meantime, the sting will remind you not to disobey me in the future. Now sit. Here.” He pointed to a spot beside him.
Suddenly conscious of the fact that she was still naked, Lexi sat down and made herself as small as possible, wrapping her arms around her chest and hunching forward. Her hair had dried but the humidity in the cave made it fan out around her head in a riot of tangled curls hanging down to brush the tips of her breasts.
He had both flasks, one in each hand, and he shook them gently as he spoke. “You asked me why we don’t use the crystals in our homes. We did that. Many years ago, after the Great War. But people discovered over time even the crystals couldn’t filter the sunlight enough to keep it from doing harm to us. We’ll be fine here. For days, weeks, even months. But if we stayed, eventually the effects would build. We’d start to die and even the salisis wouldn’t be able to save us. Thousands of people who survived the initial blasts died before we discovered what was killing them.”
He uncorked one of the flasks and handed it to her. “Drink slowly at first. Just a sip or two.”
She took the flask gratefully and brought it to her lips. The taste was still horridly bitter but by now she didn’t care. She swallowed, sighing at the blessed relief to her parched throat. For a while, they sat silent, sipping water from the flasks. Then he turned to her.
“It’s clear you’re not a member of any Tryb on Iridia. I want to know where you came from and why you’re here.” His voice grew stern. “Start talking. Now. And if you lie to me even once, I’ll put you back over my knees and spank you so hard you won’t sit down for a week.”
Chapter Eight
Lexi took another swallow, stalling for time. She’d been expecting this, planning what she’d say. If she admitted she’d been transported here by accident, he would realize she truly was his property now and he could do anything he wanted to her. There would be no one coming to her rescue. But if she said she’d been sent to Iridia on purpose, the Tryb might decide she was a spy and execute her.
“I come from another planet, far away. Earth.”
He nodded. “I suspected as much. My people came from Earth too, so long ago our origins are lost in the mists of time. But no one has arrived here from that planet in centuries. The Portal no longer works. How did you do it?”
“The federation sealed the other side of your Portal back on Earth after war destroyed your planet. It was done so long ago, they decided to reopen it and send a scout to explore, see if any life form had managed to survive. I’m a scientist, a genetic biologist. I study other worlds and how life has evolved on them. I volunteered for the mission.”
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and decided to risk another lie. “If I don’t reappear on Earth in three weeks, they’ll send a search party to find me and bring me home.”
“And how did you learn our language so quickly?”
She swept back her hair to show him a small incision behind one ear. “An implant. It’s called a Tellex chip. It gives me the ability to speak and understand any language within about four to eight hours of exposure to it.”
“You let them cut into your head?” He looked incredulous.
“It was a minor procedure. Local…” She stopped short. Their language didn’t seem to have a word for anesthetic. “The doctor gave me medicine so I wouldn’t feel the pain.”
He processed that silently while finishing off his flask of water. “And what of your Earthly mate? Surely she knew this mission would be dangerous. She did not try to stop you?”
Lexi stared at him, confused. Maybe the Tellex chip wasn’t working properly. “I have no mate. And if I did, it wouldn’t be a female.”
Now it was his turn to look confused. “Earlier. When we were in the water. You said you’d never had a man pleasure you. But Eva told me your body showed signs that you’ve mated before. I know some women prefer the touch of a female, even though it means settling for a hand and a mouth instead of a cock. So if you’ve never been with a man and you have no female mate, then how…” He stopped suddenly. “Oh. We have such things here too. Stone phalluses, mostly. Some crystal. But those are very rare—handed down from mother to mother to be used in mystical ceremonies. They pretend the men don’t know about them and we allow them their illusion.”
Lexi bristled. “I don’t have a mate because I have a…” She had no word for holographic either. “A sort of imaginary lover. I achieve gratification when he stimulates my core of pleasure with a probe.”
Ayron raised one eyebrow. “An imaginary lover. With a—probe. So that’s what it’s called on Earth. And just how big is his ‘probe’?’
Lexi flushed. “That’s a rather personal question. I’ll tell you only that it’s of a length and girth adequate for me to achieve gratification swiftly and efficiently.”
“Swiftly and efficiently? What of the hours of pleasure to be found in the arms of a real lover?”
Lexi responded by rote, as though reading from the manual she’d been given when she reach age thirty. “On Earth we’ve learned to regulate and control our base, animalistic needs. We satisfy our physical desires through regularly scheduled sessions with a…” She was about to say ‘holographic’ but she caught herself just in time. “An imaginary partner, one we design to fit our personal preferences. He or she comes with a mechanical device programmed to simulate the act of intercourse and provide total gratification at each session, without the emotional complications found in intimate human relationships.”
“So when we were in the water and you ‘achieved gratification,’ it was truly your first time with another person? Male or female?”
She’d had clinical discussions of the process, both in classrooms and with her colleagues after hours. But having to answer his frank questions while she sat there beside him, stark naked, made her blush.
“Yes.” Her voice barely a whisper.
His eyes darkened. “You’re lying to me. You touched my cock when I was asleep, stroked it until I shot my seed. If you’ve never been with a man, how did you know what to do?”
Her head shot up and she glared at him. “You did that! You were awake enough to grab my hand, put it around your… your… You wrapped my fingers around it and made me stroke up and down.”
Now he had the grace to look embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I was dreaming and thought you were…” He stopped. “It doesn’t matter. I swear to you it will not happen again. When we are both strong enough to travel, I will take you back to the Tryb and present you as a tribute to Mother Eva.” He went on, his vo
ice cold now. “You will serve her until your people come for you. Until then, you will obey me in all things.”
He rose, signaling the conversation was ended. “Take these flasks to the pool and refill them. Then make another batch of the drink. I’m going back to get the food and the rest of our things. And to see to Eli before the wild huracas come for him.”
Lexi looked around nervously. “Huracas?”
“They’re descended from wolves, only smaller and faster. They live in underground burrows, coming out at night in packs to prey on the youngest and weakest of the other creatures. But you need not worry. I’ll leave a line of piss across the mouth of the cave. They’ll pick up the scent of a healthy grown male and keep away.”
He picked up a torch and lit it from the one still burning in the sand. “Stay here. Drink the herbal brew and try to get some rest. The sooner your body heals, the sooner we can leave.” He headed for the passageway. “I trust your ass is still stinging enough to remind you not to do anything foolish while I’m gone.” He disappeared without even a backward glance.
Lexi drained her flask, picked up the one he’d left, and headed for the pool. She waded in, then sank to her knees, gasping as the cool water hit her sore bottom. The water grazed her nipples, making them stand out again in hard little peaks. She touched one as if she’d never seen it before, marveling at the way the colors from the crystals played over it.
Being on Iridia had made all her senses come alive as never before. Sight. Sound. She cupped some water in her hand and tossed it up into the rays of colored light. Watching and listening, fascinated, as it splashed back down in rainbow-colored droplets.
And touch. Even the drops of water hitting her skin awakened erotic fantasies. She flashed back to the spray of Ayron’s creamy white semen landing on her breasts and stomach. How hard his penis had become when he wrapped her hand around it. How the veins stood out as his breathing quickened and he made her stroke faster and faster.
He was so confusing. He’d stepped in twice to protect her from the other men. No, three times, she realized. Not only did he protect her, he’d taken another man’s life rather than see her violated. She blushed as she remembered throwing herself at him earlier, practically begging him to run his finger further up into her ass. Not only did he oblige, he captured her mouth at the same time in a feverish kiss that left her heart racing and her body aching for more.
Sometimes she caught him looking at her with hunger in his eyes. Other times he seemed cold and withdrawn. He hadn’t mentioned having a mate of his own. But surely a man in his Tryb didn’t get to his age without being partnered with a woman. He’d almost said something about it earlier, when he mentioned the dream. But he stopped before revealing anything. She found herself drawn to this mysterious stranger with his aloof manner, so at odds with his firm but sensuous hands.
When the water had cooled her body enough to soothe her stinging bottom, she waded back to shore. Laying a handful of the herbs on a flat stone, she used another to crush them into powder. Then she swept the bits up with her fingers and dumped half the mixture into each flask, setting them near the torch to steep.
Although she was exhausted, Lexi’s curiosity led her to the edge of the waterfall. She plucked one of the purple-blue leaves, running it between her fingers. It was thick, with a smooth texture like the fine leather cover of an ancient book. Before they left here, she’d pick a few of these leaves to take back with her through the Portal. She couldn’t wait to study them in the lab, find out how they managed to grow in such an unlikely place.
Over her head, she spied what looked like a flower bud. Surely that was impossible. She scrambled for a foothold, managing to get part way up the rock wall. But the constant mist from the waterfall made the surface slippery.
She reached up, on her toes—and nearly lost her balance when a hand clamped around her ankle.
“You cursed female! I can’t leave you alone for five minutes. Come down from there before you fall and kill yourself.”
“I was doing just fine until you came along,” she snapped. She reached down with one leg, groping for a foothold and caught him staring up at her with a look of raw hunger in his eyes. No wonder. She’d been naked for so long now she didn’t even think about the sight she must present—one leg stretched out, the other cocked at a wide angle, her bare pussy and ass and bottom hole practically in front of his face.
Lexi flushed with embarrassment. Scrambling to get down quickly, she grabbed hold of one of the vines. It broke away in her hand. She lost her footing and toppled backward.
Ayron caught her. But he was thrown off balance and they both ended up in the sand, her body on top of his. He laid there for a moment, as though stunned. Then, with a low groan, he rolled over, pinning her beneath him. His hands fisted in her hair and he lowered his mouth over hers.
Ever since his first kiss, Lexi hadn’t been able to get the memory of it out of her mind. Then she’d simply stood there, not knowing how to respond, allowing him to crush her lips with his. She remembered how he’d coaxed her mouth open with the tip of his tongue. How the taste and the feel of it had sent shivers of desire through her.
This time Lexi met his kiss, lips already parted. His tongue plunged inside her mouth, filling her. Shock waves of raw lust ran all the way down to her pussy. She dug her heels into the sand and ground her body up against his.
Ayron tore off his garment and tossed it aside. He grabbed both her wrists in one hand, pulled them up over her head, and urged her legs apart with his knee. She felt the head of his cock parting the folds of her vulva, hot and insistent.
Lexi froze, then began struggling beneath him. She tore her mouth away from his. “No! You can’t. I’m not like your women. It’s too big!”
He pulled back to rise up over her on his knees. “You are a virgin! And I’m a cur,” he muttered, getting to his feet. He turned away, as if in disgust. “I brought your skirt,” he said, still not looking at her. He bent down and rummaged in the load he’d dropped when he ran to her aid, tossing it at her. “Put it on. Then come and eat. It will be dark soon and I want to put out the torch. I don’t want to use them any more than necessary. We need to save them for our trip back.” Grabbing his sarong-like garment, he wrapped it around his hips, picked up the rest of the supplies, and strode away.
Lexi laid there in the sand, her skin still tingling from the heat of his body. Her lips felt swollen and bruised from being crushed against his. She ran a finger over them, tracing the path his tongue had taken. She hadn’t meant to anger him. She’d spoken out of fear and panic. His cock was so thick and so hard and so hot. But now he’d turned away, leaving her pussy aching with need.
He was finished with her. Instead of being relieved, she felt hurt and disappointed. His kisses thrilled her. His body touching hers lit a fire deep inside hotter than the one his hand ignited on her bottom. She hadn’t wanted him to stop everything. Only to… Only to what? she asked herself. You wanted to know what lovemaking was like. You’ve been fantasizing about it. Dreaming about it ever since you saw that couple back on Earth and heard about what they do on Neodyma. You had your chance. Now you’ve made him angry and he doesn’t want anything more to do with you. And you have only yourself to blame.
She picked up her skirt from where he’d dropped it, put it on, and headed slowly back to where he’d set up a makeshift camp. Two cloaks lay spread out on the ground, one on top of the other, with the third rolled up like a pillow. He’d brought all their packs, even the one that must have belonged to Eli.
Ayron was busy digging through them, the contents spread out in front of him. “We need to eat the fresh meat right away, before it spoils. There’s dried narliphant too, enough for a week if we’re careful. And we have plenty of fresh water here.” His tone was matter-of-fact, as if nothing had just happened between them.
“A week? It only took one night to get here. Surely we don’t need a week to recuperate for the journey. I feel stronger alrea
dy.”
“There’s a sandstorm brewing outside. I saw the signs at the entrance to the cave when I went back. Sometimes they last for days. We can’t risk traveling until it passes. We’ll die if we’re caught in it out there.”
She said nothing. The idea of spending days alone in this grotto with a man who wouldn’t even look at her made her cringe inside. She longed to be held again, kissed and touched. She wanted to go to him, put her arms around his neck and say she was sorry. But for what? For having a body that couldn’t possibly fit with his? Better to follow his lead. Pretend there’d been no moments of wild passion between them. She’d spend the time studying the plant life in the grotto, learn all she could about this planet. Then, once they were back in the city, she’d escape from him, make her way back to where she’d arrived, and find somewhere to hide while waiting for rescue.
* * *
Ayron watched her out of the corner of his eye. She sat down on the cloak as far away from him as possible, took the hunk of meat he handed her without a word, and began eating. Good. They’d both tacitly agree to ignore what just happened.
He only wished his cock could ignore it too. Seeing her sitting there, those creamy white breasts bare, the tips still puckered, begging to be sucked… He tried to will away his erection, cursing Eva silently. She’d been wanting to find a way to pull him out of the bottomless pit of grief he’d been in for over a year now. Well, this female had done it. Turned him from a bereaved man who lost his family into a beast who nearly ravaged a virgin when she was frightened and vulnerable. He was no better than Eli.
If they were to be marooned here, he needed to establish some rules of conduct. For both of them.
“What is your name?” She looked up, startled, when he broke the silence.
“My name?”
His to Claim (Alien Masters Book 2) Page 10