by L P Peace
Almost incomprehensible with need, Daris slipped his hand inside his pants and gripped his shaft. He groaned aloud at the sensations that flooded him. Mind, groin, cock, and balls. He stroked his thumb over the ridges along the top of his cock and felt the tendrils wrapped around it come alive, unfurling and wrapping around his hand. He stared, fascinated, and when he stopped, his cock pulsed in protest.
A gasp forced him from the developments in his body and reminded him about what it meant. What it signalled.
Turning, Daris smelt the berry notes as the sweet musk underneath increased. That animalistic undertone was what caused his mouth to water. Whatever that scent was, he needed it. Needed to taste it.
He sniffed the air, his feet following the scent past crates and barrels. He saw a flash of shoes disappear around a stack of crates.
New instincts flared to life and combined with ancient ones; he was a hunter, and she was his prey.
A surge of anticipation flooded him, and his cock hardened further as his steps quickened in response. He felt something warm and wet bead at the end of his cock, then trail down his shaft. The sensation was maddening, and Daris groaned again, squeezing his pulsing, demanding erection. He turned the corner and, finding it empty, grinned.
He would have been disappointed if he’d found her that easily.
He broke into a jog and rounded the next corner. He heard a yelp of panic and blond Amaran-like hair streaked out of view.
Daris went back the way he had come and moved around the crate to intercept her. When he rounded the corner, she wasn’t there.
His cock was pulsing a beat across his consciousness. When he sniffed at the air, her scent blazed across his brain like lightning, striking something deep inside him. Another smear of wet trailed down his too-sensitive cock. He hissed, gripping himself tight to stop himself from spilling in his pants.
His feet followed the trail her smell had laid for him. He moved past the crates and barrels, into shelf stacks and far into the back of the room. When he turned down the final row, he saw her standing in the corner.
She was human. Her golden hair, which had been pinned up, was falling out and hanging in clumps around her shoulders. She was so small. Shorter than Rhona by at least half a fenth. Her skin was like the nectar of an ahdali flower, warm and rich in tone, and it looked so soft that he desperately wanted to reach out and touch it. Stroke it.
He walked down the aisle, fixated on her.
She was here.
She was real.
She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. And she was terrified.
Her wide grey tear-filled eyes stared at him with a look of dawning horror, her full lips partially open, short breaths gasped in between white teeth.
He stopped breathing. He was such an idiot. He was so caught up in the awakening of his instincts, in the knowledge that he’d found his mate at last, that he’d completely forgotten the circumstance that brought them together. Even now, her people were being rounded up, assaulted, and enslaved.
Still, he was spurred on by an instinct that could not be denied—his head spinning, dizzy, and disoriented. Something deep inside of him unlocked. Daris took a step towards her, but she stepped away and sucked in a hissing breath between her soft, pink lips.
Against his better judgement, Daris surged forward. He grabbed her, pushing her hard against the wall, his arms cradled her, protected her from harm even as he caged her. Trapped her. He saw her pupils expand as she looked up at him, taking him in before he buried his face in her hair and took in a deep breath of her musk.
‘My mate,’ he whispered. It was those words that were his undoing. His cock pulsed hard, sending a shock of pleasure back to his balls, which promptly emptied. It was only through sheer desperation that he was able to keep himself from grinding against her as he groaned his release into her hair.
Here.
Vrok.
Turning his thoughts away from everything but his mate, Daris stepped back, still keeping hold of her, and examined her.
She looked as though she was waiting for him to do to her what the Orthali had tried to do to the redhead. Fear and horror were mixed on her face; tears tracked down her cheeks. The sight broke Daris in two. The first sight of her mate was supposed to induce joy, not fear.
Daris pulled her back into his arms and held her close. ‘Shhhh. I’m sorry, my mate.’ He stroked her hair. Every instinct was demanding he soothe her. She was shaking against him, her breathing shallow and erratic. He pulled her tighter against him and waited for her trembling to subside.
His instinct burned a fire through his mind. It demanded he wrap his mate's legs around him and bury his cock inside her to seal his claim. It also demanded he get her off the ship, far away from the threats that were, even now, surrounding them.
Caught in the conflicting instructions, he forced himself to simply stand there and focus on taking in every part of this moment.
Daris had met two human females before this. Rhona and Arabelle. Both had gotten close to tripping his instinct, so he had suspected it would be a human in the end. Now that he was holding her, he still couldn’t quite believe it.
He looked down at her, taking her in. Her brow was furrowed as she returned his gaze. Her skin was golden, darker than both the pale Arabelle and even paler Rhona. There was a smattering of darker pigment across her nose. Her grey eyes looked up at him in confusion; her soft golden yellow hair was still falling from pins. He reached to her hair and slowly, pin by pin, let her hair fall, gently raking his fingers through it until it was cascading down her back and over her shoulders. She was taller than Arabelle, though shorter than Rhona. She didn’t even come up to his shoulder. Along with confusion, there was the unmistakable look of fear in her eyes.
‘What’s your name?’ he whispered.
She stared at him, her brow furrowing further.
‘Please don’t hurt me,’ she begged. Her voice trembled.
Daris let his concern show. ‘Never,’ he said, brushing a finger against her cheek and shaking his head. ‘You can’t understand me, can you?’ he frowned.
Her hands went to his chest, her palms pressed against him, her skin making contact through his open collar. Electricity shot through Daris, straight to his cock. He groaned, unable to hold it back and his cock was suddenly erect again. He had been asexual until his nose detected the scent of his mate. All of this, every sensation, every touch, was new to his body. He leaned his head against hers and took in several deep, steadying breaths.
‘Please, don’t hurt me.’ Her voice was wavering.
‘I’m sorry, my mate. I’m doing a terrible job of this.’ Daris stood, resolved to take control of his rampant hormones.
He took a step away, releasing her small body from his, and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.
‘I won’t hurt you,’ he said, knowing his tone was more important than his words. ‘I’m going to keep you safe. I’m going to hide you. But I’ll come back for you, once I get off that accursed ship.’
In the distance, he heard the doors open.
His mate’s eyes went wider still, and she turned towards the door, taking a step back.
His mind went back five years, to when he had first met Rhona. He put a finger to his lips. ‘Shhhh.’
She stood a little straighter, recognition battling for surprise in her eyes as she looked from him to the door and back again.
Daris backed up towards the end of the stacks. ‘Shhhh.’ He repeated the action and smiled to reassure her.
Turning, Daris walked from the stacks, moving lazily. He saw something and grabbed it. Tossing it into the air and catching it to give the appearance of ease.
‘Daris?’
Heflik walked into view. The Qoni would be easy to overcome, though Daris’s earlier anger had turned now to an almost sort of gratitude. He had to acknowledge that if Heflik hadn’t recruited him, his mate would have been lost to him forever.
‘What are y
ou doing in here?’
Daris looked pointedly at the thing in his hand. It was a packet of something, and when he looked at the wrapper, the interface in his head translated it.
Chocolate.
‘Exploring.’ He shrugged, pocketing the item.
‘No humans in here?’
Daris shook his head. ‘No.’
‘Shame we can’t take all of this with us.’ The Qoni looked around the room with covetous eyes. ‘Imagine how much we’d get for it on the black market. Genuine Earth goods.’
Daris appraised the room with the eyes of a smuggler. Whenever a slaver invaded the Earth system and took ships, its goods, invariably, ended up on the black market. It always cost an absolute fortune. Of all of the slave races, the humans and the Zavi were the ones with still existing cultures. People degraded and devalued them at the same time as prizing the rare goods. It turned Daris’s stomach, yet he could retire on just one crate from this store.
From the darkness, he could see the golden hair of his mate looking out. He took several steps back, deliberately bumping into Qoni and forcing the male’s attention onto himself. Heflik pushed him off. Daris jumped around him, towards the door.
‘Watch where you’re going,’ Heflik snarled.
‘Shall we get back?’ he said, moving towards the door. ‘Ships’ll be leaving soon.’
The Qoni grunted in acknowledgement and followed him.
When the door opened behind him, Daris thought it was because he had reached it.
‘Maruzen.’
Daris turned to see the Orthali entering the room. He saw the moment the Orthali spotted his mate and, still acting on instinct, Daris growled. The Orthali hissed back.
Daris suppressed a hundred curses. He could kill the Qoni, or the Orthali, but not both.
‘Did you miss that one?’ The Orthali indicated the human.
Daris heard her yelp, and the urge to kill both males almost overwhelmed him. He couldn’t guarantee the outcome of a fight, and while there was a chance he could lose and leave his mate vulnerable and alone, he wouldn’t risk it.
‘I saw her,’ Daris said. ‘I have plans for her.’
‘After stopping me,’ the Orthali hissed.
‘Not to force myself on her,’ Daris growled, letting his disgust for the act show. ‘What are Maruzen known for?’
The Orthali shook his head. He was creeping, moving towards Daris’s mate. Daris growled, allowing his fangs to show. The Orthali crouched and hissed at him.
‘Sexual domination,’ Heflik supplied.
‘And what are Fedhith known for?’ Daris asked Heflik without taking his eyes off his quarry. ‘Particularly the males?’
‘Their paternal instinct.’ Heflik narrowed his eyes. ‘But everyone knows Tolomus doesn’t touch any of the females.’
Daris forced a smile onto his face. ‘Because his natural instinct is to submit to a female. But if I train a female to submit to him...’ Daris couldn’t finish the sentence. The thought of using his mate so cruelly, even just for this conversation, turned his stomach.
‘Then Tolomus will be very grateful,’ Heflik chuckled. ‘You are diabolical, Daris.’
Daris forced his grimace into a smile.
The Orthali had stopped moving. He looked from the shadows, where the human was failing at hiding, to Daris.
‘I think I kill you, then I train the female and Tolomus rewards me.’
The roar burst from Daris at the same time as he jumped across the space, separating him from the Orthali. His fingers flexed on both hands, and he felt his claws extend. He swiped at him, but the Orthali dodged.
Daris was grabbed from behind by Heflik and pulled away.
‘It’s just a human, Daris,’ the Qoni said.
Daris’s mind filled with rage.
Just a human? She was the most important human who had ever been born. How dare he say she was just a human. She was his mate.
When the Orthali closed the space, Daris was thrown aside. He turned back and watched Heflik land a hit to the Orthali’s face that laid him out.
Daris jumped to his feet, hissing. But when he tried to walk to the Orthali, Heflik stood between them.
‘I get it. It was your idea. We won’t let him take it,’ Heflik said. His voice was hard and full of warning. ‘As long as I get a cut of your reward.’
Daris looked up at the male. He thought about killing him here and now, then cutting the Orthali’s throat while he was unconscious. When the Orthali stirred, Daris knew it was already too late.
For his mate’s sake, he couldn’t fight them. He forced himself to calm down. ‘Of course.’ He forced a smile onto his face. ‘I’m not a greedy Maruzen.’
Heflik watched him with a calculating look in his eyes. ‘Well, we both know that ain’t true,’ he said after a moment.
The Qoni knew he was lying. His body had gone still, yet he vibrated with energy. Daris was about to lose control of this situation.
‘Orthali don’t train their females,’ Daris said. ‘They brutalise them. This female will give Tolomus the offspring he desires as a Fedhith male. He will want her submissive. Compliant. Not broken.’ Daris stood tall, projecting all of his pride and arrogance into his stance, into the way he held his body, into his expression. ‘I am dominant by nature, and we train our females to be willing. That is a gift no Orthali could ever give Tolomus.’
Heflik watched Daris for a moment longer. ‘I’ll be watching you,’ the Qoni said. ‘Betray me, and I’ll space you.’
‘I’d expect nothing less.’ He looked down at the Orthali, who was slowly staggering to his feet. ‘Get that back to the ship, will you?’
‘Why don’t you get him back to the ship?’ the Qoni sneered. ‘I’ll take the female.’
Daris bristled at the suggestion. ‘Because I must establish a relationship of trust with her, or this will never work. Handing her over to a Qoni with wandering hands will break that bond of trust before it can be formed.’
Heflik scowled, but finally, he nodded.
‘Korval, we’re going back to the ship,’ Heflik called.
‘The female, I will train—’
‘Don’t make me hit you again,’ Heflik growled. He put his shoulder under the Orthali’s arms. ‘And keep your vrokking cocks off me.’
Daris looked at Heflik. ‘Are they really his cocks?’
Heflik smirked. ‘They wrestle with them, to prove their dominance.’
‘Vrok me, that’s disgusting.’ Despite himself, Daris was grinning.
Daris waited until Heflik was dragging the semi-conscious Orthali through the door, before returning to the corner where his mate had watched the entire exchange.
The force of her grey eyes stopped him in his tracks. His hearts stilled in his chest and he was helpless before her.
‘You are spectacular, my mate,’ he gasped. ‘But my plans are undone. I must take you with me.’
He could already tell she wasn’t going to like this. As he approached her, she watched him warily, telegraphing her intent to run around him with her eyes.
When she ran, he grabbed her easily, pulling her back to his front. He grabbed her hands and held them in one hand, marvelling at the size of her delicate wrists. He pressed her to him with one arm and wrapped his tail around her, using the tip to stroke her face gently while he crooned soothing noises to her. At least, he hoped she found them soothing.
‘I’m sorry. I have to take you to the ship. But as soon as we’re on, we’ll go to my ship and escape. I promise.’
With that, Daris lifted her in his arms, cradling her. She stared up at him, a look of defeat on her face. It tore at him. Before long, that look would disappear. That was another promise he made to her.
The humans were packed into the cage at the back of the boarding ship. Daris ignored it. Taking his seat, he kept his mate in his arms. The eyes of forty aliens glared at him, and Daris glared back, sneering. Some of these males thought that he was weak because his muscle mass
wasn’t as obviously bulky as them. Many had learned the hard way that this wasn’t true. Now, when he turned his eyes on them, they looked away.
The ship landed, and the doors opened. Without a word, Daris stood and walked out, letting the other males deal with the humans in the cage. His ship was in a bay on the other side of The Crucible. Once he and his mate had safely jumped, he would contact Makios.
Daris crossed the flight deck of the old Amaran aircraft carrier, heading towards the lift where the humans were being injected with a drug to quell them. Ignoring everything, Daris walked past them to the elevator.
‘You can’t take that,’ a voice called after him.
Gritting his teeth to quench the angry replay, Daris ignored him. He was almost at the lift when a hand grabbed his arm. Daris rounded on the hissing alien and felt his mate flinch in his arms.
‘You don’t just get to take one,’ the Walian said, reaching for the small human.
‘I’m not taking it.’ Daris smiled, stepping back. ‘I have a plan for this one, for Tolomus.’ He repeated the lie that had worked so well on the human ship.
‘You must be new. Tolomus doesn’t mess with the stock.’ The Walian growled, stepping closer. ‘Now hand it over.’
She was neither ‘it’, nor ‘that’. She had a name, and just as soon as Daris knew what that was, he’d yell it into this Walian’s dark red face as he beat him into unconsciousness.
Daris sucked in a deep, steadying breath. ‘What are Maruzen known for?’
‘Being vrokking vashni?’
This time when the Walian snatched at the human Daris bared his teeth. ‘Do that again and lose a limb.’
‘You’re either really stupid, or you have a death wish.’ The Walian stepped up to Daris.
Over his shoulder, Daris saw several of Tolomus’s permanent staff walking up behind him. They were all different races, but they had one thing in common: they were all just as big as Daris, and at least one of them was venomous. All of them looked like they could be regulars at the Alidai fight pit.
Daris smiled. ‘I’ll take it to the cells,’ he said, glad his mate couldn’t understand him referring to her as an ‘it’.