Kara opened her eyes and she was again sitting in Joran’s lap and he was looking down at her with pure adoration. “Hi,” she whispered.
“You, my darling bonded, are a dream come true. Never have I ever had a woman respond so well to a spanking.”
* * * *
Kara woke up the next morning with her head cradled in the crook of his shoulder. When he noticed she was awake, he smiled. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes,” Kara told him, stretching. The sheets were soft like the Modal weave at home. She moved her legs, loving the softness of the pale white sheet and bedspread. She felt slightly sore from her rough sex and spanking, but it was a good kind of soreness. When Joran came back with a tray of food, she lay across the bed while Joran fed her. Joran put a pink fruit that looked like an apple on her tongue. The flavor blossomed over her tongue, and it was sweet and crunchy. Then he gave her a forkful of some sort of pie-looking dish. She chewed. The crust was flaky like puff pastry, but the meat was savory with a hint of spice. He alternated between savory meat dishes and sweet fruits. Kara could not remember such a delicious breakfast. Kara took a steaming mug from him that held a red fluid, but it tasted close to the tea she was used to.
Kara cleared her throat. “Why are there no women on the ship?” She was half-scared he would say they had none or they were second-class citizens and forced to stay locked away.
Joran paused. “Women are taken care of by warriors on our planet. They are precious to us.”
“So you do not let them work?” she asked after she swallowed a mouthful of that delicious fruit.
“Oh, we allow them whatever they want to feel fulfilled, but we also treasure them. War is no place for our females.”
“You’re at war? With who?” she asked.
“The Shara,” he answered, plopping a savory piece of the breakfast pie into her mouth. “They invaded several of our peaceful colonies where we grow food. Many, many died.” His voice sounded so lost, so devastated.
“Who did you lose?” Kara asked in a whisper, almost scared to hear the answer.
Joran’s voice shook with emotion. “My brother and his children were murdered, and his bonded will probably always be like your friend, Laura.” Kara stared wide-eyed at him, too stunned for words. At her shock, he nodded. “She was beaten and raped by them like your friend, only she carried a child in her womb, but it did not survive the attack. When she delivered a child that had already passed, she lost the will to live.”
Her eyes closed as pain seized her. She knew the pain of sudden loss, but to lose children and to have someone he loved a living shell, it was almost the same as if she died. Kara bet she wanted to. “I am so very sorry, Joran.” Her hand reached out to stroke his face. “That is a devastating loss.” Tears fell down her cheeks as she remembered the pain of losing her father.
He returned the gesture and cupped her chin in his hands. Once again, she saw pure love in his eyes. “That means so much more to me, coming from you.” He leaned down and took her mouth gently, lovingly. “You are everything to me,” he told her as he pushed her on her back. He raised her legs to the crook of his arms and shoved his cock into her in one slow thrust.
Kara groaned at the feeling. He hit nerves every single time, making it impossible for her to fake moaning in pleasure as he thrust in and out of her. He stared into her eyes as he took her. His thrusts became harder and more frantic as Kara moaned louder.
“Come for me,” Joran ordered, just as Kara felt herself on the edge. Her head dug into the mattress as her mouth opened in a loud, long, panting moan as her pussy clenched his shaft.
Joran tensed and once again she felt his cum jet into her, filling her while every muscle tensed and he gripped the bedding in a vise grip.
They both sighed in contentment as their bodies calmed. He held her, stroking her back lightly. He sighed in resignation. “I have duty today,” he told her with regret in his tone.
“What do you do?” she asked with genuine curiosity.
“I am the head of security and defense, it is my job to defend this ship and track down the last of the Shara on your planet.”
“There are more down there?” She shivered in real fear. She still remembered the feelings of terror at seeing those monstrous aliens.
“Yes, my lieutenant is a very good interrogator and has done an excellent job at making the captured Shara tell us everything they know.” The look of pure hatred on Joran’s face made her shiver, but after what he told her of what his family suffered at their hands, she could understand. She almost was a victim herself and her best friend may never recover from their attack.
“Does he beat them?” she asked. “I would not mind if he did. I would probably be happy.”
Joran sighed as he stared at her, trying to decide what to tell her. “Sometimes we do, but not this time. Sunter is like me. When he concentrates on whoever he is interrogating, he can tell if they are telling the truth. He can also sense emotions. As he talks with them, he can sense if they become afraid. He can prey on that fear and make it grow. We also have drugs, but the Shara do not respond very well to our truth-inducing drugs. It sometimes makes it easier for them to lie to us, so we use our senses.”
Kara stared at him. “Do all of you have these senses?”
Joran shook his head. “No, Varnis has a small amount of empathy and truth seeking but his main sense in tracking. Tracking is my weakest sense, and that was why I did not chase your scent back on Earth. Varnis can track a scent I can’t even detect anymore.”
Kara looked up at him with a creased forehead as she thought. “Tracking?”
“Yeah, Varnis has excellent eyesight to pick up miniscule clues left by whatever he is chasing. Then, he also has a very strong sense of smell.” Joran smiled at Kara’s astonished look.
Joran chuckled. “I keep forgetting you are not used to all of this. I did not mean to stun you like this. To us, it is normal.”
“Do all of you have these extra senses? How many are there?”
“No, not everyone. Just like you humans have different talents, we Dareen have different senses.”
All this talk of senses and talents was making her head spin. She sighed and changed the subject. “What will I do while you are gone at work?” she asked, pouting at being left alone.
“I thought you could visit Laura and then Varnis could bring you to meet me for lunch.”
Kara brightened. “Yes.” In the back of her mind, she thought about escape again. She thought of the ways she could get away, but what would she be running to? Even if she got away and went back to her old life, what was there? Laura was here and needed her. Ryan was an ass that seemed bent on ruining her life. A good paying job? It seemed she married a man who had a pretty high rank on this ship, so she would not hurt for money. If she was honest with herself, the sex was amazing, better than she ever dreamed she could have. Maybe I should just forget escaping. Kara could get used to that idea. That should scare her, but it didn’t. She felt a more than a little amount of anxiety at the thought of returning to Kansas.
Chapter 11
Joran walked back into the sitting room in his uniform. He looked stunning in the dark-blue cotton-looking fabric. It was cut to fit his muscular body perfectly. Kara had always thought men in uniform looked hot, and instantly felt herself moisten. The man looked hot already, but put him in his uniform and he was irresistible. Joran stared at her for a moment. “Promise me you will stay in the infirmary. No wandering around alone. No trying to escape.”
Kara shrank at the knowing look he gave her. He had known of her thoughts. “I won’t,” she replied weakly. Another part of the wall she built to protect herself weakened. He knew all along she had plans of escape. He had not yelled or imprisoned her. This was getting a lot more complicated for her heart.
“If you get it in your head, remember what I told you. Varnis can track you easily. Even if you did manage to get down to the planet, he would just follow your scent. That is how
we found you before the Shara could murder you and Laura.”
“They were going to murder us?” she asked in horror. So much of what happened was blurry still. Even when she remembered bits, it was almost as if she was a third person watching a movie. She could see the events without feeling the terror or pain. Or rather, that was how it had been. Now she was beginning to feel some fear. It started like a stream of emotion, like water streaming out of a faucet.
His eyes again turned hard, but it was not directed at her. “Yes, we walked in as one of the Shara was slicing your friend’s throat. If we had been any later, it would have been too late. The Shara are merciless, they will kill anyone they find no use for. Their tongues taste emotions and their favorite is pain and fear. The Shara find that rape and torture taste the best.”
Kara thought about that night and remembered looking over, and felt sick as the memory came at her slowly. Like turning the water up on a tap, the memories came and the pain and terror hit her with them. “I remember.” Her hands shook and a sob shook her. “Oh god, they were…they were…Joran,” she cried, at the horror of the memory of watching her best friend being raped and beaten over and over as she begged them to stop, screaming in pain and terror. Kara remembered pulling on the chains as hard as she could, the horrible pain as the metal cuffs dug into her flesh so she could try to help Laura, then to watch them slide a knife over her throat. “I couldn’t help her,” Kara sobbed. She barely felt Joran pick her up and hold her close to him. She knew there were strong arms around her. She heard Joran speak into something, then he went back to soothing her. “I have you. Both of you are safe now. Nothing and no one can hurt you here in my arms. I came for you, remember? I would come for you a thousand times, “ he soothed while he rocked.
The door hissed open. Doctor Legav was there with another syringe. Kara looked up in time to catch his expression. Maybe it was her imagination, or maybe all the talking Joran had done made her look for things that weren’t there. Doctor Legav looked at her and his face grimaced as if he was suddenly in the same pain as Kara, before his controlled look came back over his features. “It wore off sooner than I expected,” he mused as he walked toward them. Kara cringed away from him. She didn’t want to be touched. She felt the aliens hand on her, biting and beating her. “Ssshhh, it will be better after a nap. I know how much it hurts right now, but you will feel much better in just a moment,” he told her in a soothing tone.
Joran held her still while Legav put the syringe at her neck then pulled the trigger. Instantly, her vision went gray, then faded to darkness. It was peaceful here and she relaxed, at peace again.
* * * *
Doctor Legav gave Joran a relieved look. “Her emotions broke through the medications stronger than I thought. That was painful. I thought the serum would have lasted longer,” Doctor Legav told Joran.
“I am afraid talking about her friend may have helped,” Joran told him apologetically. “I felt them breaking through and sent you the message. I am sorry if I made things worse by talking to her about the attack.”
The doctor shrugged. “It may have had a small effect, but not by much. As time goes by and the drugs have more time to work, each time they wear off will be less traumatic on her until she no longer even needs them. Sadly, we cannot erase the trauma, but we can make it easier.”
“Why didn’t it work for Laura or Karrina?” Joran demanded. He was overjoyed his bonded was responding so well but frustrated other women had to suffer.
“I am not sure why one responds as well as Kara, but another does not. It seems random. All our research has never found anything one woman has that another doesn’t. Women from the same family homes responded differently when their parents were murdered in front of them. One was healed while the other was forced to learn to live with the trauma. I have a theory that I plan to bring up in my next communication.”
Joran raised his eyebrows at him.
“Females who were sexually assaulted are not responding to treatment, while women who were not respond to the medication.”
Joran sighed, wishing he could stay and discuss the doctor’s theories, but for now the medical advances discussion would have to take a backseat. He had Shara to hunt down, and it seemed they had found the mountains in a state called New Mexico. At least there was little population to worry about.
Joran picked up Kara. “Take her with you. Let her sleep, then she can sit with her friend. I hope you are right and that will bring about a way to treat them. The women deserve some peace.”
Chapter 12
Joran sighed as he walked through the mountainside, tracking the last group of Shara hiding on this planet. It had been weeks of searching, but the Shara were desperate. They knew how to hide their scent from the trackers, and these mountains were perfect hiding terrain for them. He was tired of leaving his bonded every day to search for the moontars, as were many of his men. Most of the warriors were struggling to obey the Alliance’s rules of not interfering with another planet’s society. The women here were not cherished like women on his planet. He reminded himself that, like the women on his planet, these women were used to it. This was normal life for them. Kara struggled with the sudden culture change. He felt he was very lenient with her, considering the firm punishments he could hand out. A little orgasm denial was nothing. She was strong-headed and denied her submissive side, so he dreaded that one day he would be forced to give her harsher punishments. Despite the minor culture barrier she suffered, he was thankful she was safe with him. He hated what his dear Kara had gone through, but part of him was so thankful he got to keep her. Working in that sheriff’s office, watching her flounder all alone without a warrior or even a protector eroded his control.
Once they completed their mission here, he could take her home. He grinned, then was shocked at his grin. He was pleased with the thought of going home instead of dreading it. His mother nagged him about bonding, his father wanted him to settle down and take up the enforcer post on Dareen. He knew his father wanted him to take the position. The position Brakol was offering him was a coveted rank, third in command for the planetary enforcers. It could lead to him one day being the head of Dareen enforcers. He had put it off for the last year. He had to see his brother’s murderers caught. Now he had a bonded, and flying through space or sitting home alone were not an option for her. Perhaps it was time to contact them, accept the offer, and help his parents care for Karrina. It was past time his family healed.
He sighed again at the thought of Karrina. She was his father’s responsibility to protect, and as the oldest, he also had to share some of that responsibility. But she had never been well enough to leave the hospital. He prayed, yet again, that her mind would heal and she could take a new warrior for a mate. He hoped Doctor Legav’s theory was correct and they would discover a way to treat her. She had been good to his brother and she deserved to be happy.
His communicator sparked to life, pulling him from his thoughts. “Commander, they were here in this cave, but their scent is days old.” Joran took a deep calming breath. “I will call Varnis down here to pick up their scent.”
He kicked a rock in frustration. He had hoped to leave Varnis up on their warship, protecting Kara and Laura. He did not like having his bonded up there knowing the captured Shara were up there. He wanted them terminated, but they were under orders from their own military that the captured Shara caught alive would be brought back for trial. He ground his teeth in frustration. Weeks of space travel with the inktas made him want to scream his frustration to the universe.
* * * *
Kara woke up in the infirmary. True to the doctor’s promise, she woke up feeling much better. More of the memories were coming back, but she did not feel the pain and fear associated with them. It allowed her to process what had happened to her without the pain.
Kara got to spend the day with Laura. She had helped her eat a snack Doctor Legav had brought in. The drugs they used kept her calm, but awake. Doctor Legav liked
to keep her in bed or her chair due to the drugs, but she was still able to be fed and led to the washrooms. Later, Kutair had helped Kara take Laura to the shower. They sat her on the bench and washed her. Kutair was much more like a mother hen then a Dareen man. He did not have the slightest amount of sexual desire in his features. He concentrated on getting her clean and redressed in a gown much like a hospital gown on Earth. It was easy to put on and had Velcro-like seams that came apart easily, should they need quick access to her body. Kutair and Kara walked her back to her bed, where an orderly had changed the bedding.
After they had her settled on the bed, Kara took out a brush to get the snarls out of her hair. She talked as she pulled the brush through her hair. “I think you will like Dareen. It is full of sexy men you always go on about.” Laura blinked but did little else to acknowledge she heard her. “They are controlling, though. Let me tell you what. If you thought those sheriff deputies were bad, just wait. When you are up and around, these warriors will start trying to impress you and boss you around. I have to say, I can’t wait to hear you tell them to fuck off.” Kara giggled at the sight of Laura telling Varnis that. Varnis looked like a man that loved dishing out discipline.
Kara’s stomach rumbled, reminding her it had been hours since the snack. “I bet you would like something to eat. I know I would. How about I step out and send someone for us to have some lunch?” Kara continued, making sure her hair was just how she liked it.
Starlight [Warriors of Dareen] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 10