I tried to sneak glimpses through the small, square windows embedded in each of the doors we passed, but the glass was frosted and impossible to see through. Was it possible the women who’d already given birth were behind these doors? I strained my ears for the thin wail of a newborn baby crying, but there was nothing.
We reached an elevator and stepped inside. I had no idea how many floors this building had, but I knew from when we went outside that we were on the ground floor. Rhett hit a button that had a minus symbol next to it, and as the doors slid shut and we started to move, I could feel that I was being taken down. I told myself that it didn’t matter where they were taking me. I should have known that the hole would be beneath ground. Every time the other women had whispered about it, they’d talked about it being ‘down there.’
We passed through more corridors, turning left and right, and left again. I was losing track of my bearings, trying to figure out where I was in relation to the birthing ring.
How big was this place, anyway? The rooms and corridors seemed endless. I didn’t think there were anything like enough women here to fill them all.
But then I realized we were only the start. The ship that had brought us here must have been among the first, but the Trads certainly didn’t intend for it to be the last. They would keep taking us from Earth and bringing us here until they eventually decided they had enough. But perhaps that day would never come and we’d constantly need to be repopulated because we’d die or become infertile. Was that Earth’s future now? It wasn’t often I thought of how they’d be coping with all of this back home, but if they’d figured out the Trad’s motives, I wondered what the president would be doing to try to stop them?
We reached the end of the corridor and came to a halt. I was faced with a heavy door, a panel at about waist height, but without the frosted glass window.
“This is going to be your home for the next two days,” Rhett told me. “Enjoy the peace and quiet.”
Zymunt released my arm and stepped forward to open the door. Beyond it was no more than a closet-shaped box. There was barely room to lie down. Only the hard floor. No windows.
“Wait,” I said, suddenly regretting what I’d done. “I’m sorry I got all the women shouting.”
But Rhett only laughed. “Too late now.”
He gave me a small shove and sent me stumbling forward. It wasn’t hard enough to fall, but enough to get me through the door. The heavy door slammed shut behind me, encasing me in total darkness. I spun back around, slamming my palms against it. “Hey, wait. I’m sorry! I’ll do whatever you want me to!”
An infuriating chuckle came from Rhett on the other side. “Now that’s a promise I might hold you to.”
Chapter Nine
The footsteps from outside the door grew fainter. I was alone again.
Turning in a circle in my confined space, like a dog settling herself down to sleep, I sank to the floor. What had I done?
I was shaking violently, adrenaline and the cold having seeped right down to my bones.
The baby moved inside me, and I wrapped my arm around my bump. I couldn’t decide if I felt comforted by having the baby, and so not feeling as though I was completely alone, or if I was freaked out about being locked in the dark with only an alien in my belly for company.
There was nothing I could do. I didn’t even bother attempting to bang on the door or shout to be let out. Nothing would make a difference, and I’d only be wasting my energy.
Hours passed, and I shifted from one position to another, trying to get comfortable, which was never easy at the best of times, considering my current size. I closed my eyes against the dark and waited.
Finally, the footsteps of someone approaching filtered through to me.
The hatch in the front of the door opened, and I jumped at Kaja’s stern voice. “Wake up!”
There was no point protesting that I hadn’t been asleep. She shoved something at me—I was able to make out the shape of a tray and a plate through the light from the corridor.
“You might be down here,” she continued, “but that doesn’t mean I’m going to allow you to harm the baby like your friend did. Make sure you eat, and if you try to refuse your meal, another third of a day will be added on to the time you’ll spend down here. Is that understood?”
Sullenly, I took the tray. I couldn’t believe she actually thought Jennifer was responsible for the baby dying.
She left the hatch open so I was able to see what I was doing. The light wasn’t much, but it was something.
I looked down at the meal and let out a sigh. I scooped up the white mush—which seemed to be something between mashed potatoes and salted grits—and shoved the spoonful into my mouth. I didn’t want to eat but I forced myself to swallow, and it slid painfully down my throat. Next was a kind of stringy fruit or vegetable, I wasn’t sure they even had the two distinctions here, which reminded me of pulled pork. I ate that, too, chewing slowly while barely tasting what I was eating.
Kaja waited outside for me to finish. I could hear her heavy breaths of boredom, her foot tapping against the floor, her tail flicking like that of an irritated cat.
“I learned my lesson,” I tried, when I slid the tray back through the slot. “I promise I won’t cause any more problems.”
“Good,” she said and then snapped the hatch back into position, shutting me into darkness once more. Clearly, apologizing wasn’t going to be good enough for her. She wanted me to serve my full sentence.
With nowhere else to sit or lie, I slid back to the floor. It wasn’t going to be easy getting any rest in here. The space was barely big enough to lie down in, and the floor was hard and cold. Even so, I huddled in, curling myself into as much of a ball as I was able to in my condition. I squeezed my eyes shut against the pressing darkness, but immediately images from my nightmare from a few nights ago burst back into my brain, sending my heart racing.
The next forty-eight hours were going to be hell.
Chapter Ten
Mikotaj
“THEY’VE PUT HER DOWN in the hole.”
I glared at the back of Nadeusz’s head. He was always fucking working and always so serious about everything. Then again, it had been a long time since I’d been able to party. Having some fun definitely fell low on the order of priorities lately.
Nad twisted around to face me. “What? Put who down in the hole?”
“You heard me. And you know exactly who I’m talking about.”
“Velos! How did you let that happen?”
“I didn’t let it happen, it just did. There was an in utero death, and she was trying to support the other woman. Sounds like it all got out of hand, and she ended up down there.”
Nad shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”
I clenched my fists. “There must be something. We could go to Kaja and plead her case.”
“No. We can’t appear to sympathize with them. We’ll get ourselves noticed.”
“Maybe we need to try something different anyway,” I insisted. “We haven’t gotten any further, so perhaps it’s time to bail.”
“Not until we get the order.”
I slammed my balled fist against the nearest wall. “Fuck the order! Do you ever question that sometimes he doesn’t know best?”
Nadeusz twisted around, presenting his back to me. “We have to trust in the cause, Miko. Going rogue just because of one girl isn’t worth risking everything for.”
“It is if we’ve already learned everything we can from our positions. How long have we been here for? Months? And still there’s nothing. We’re searching in the wrong place, I’m sure of it. We need to go deeper, and he needs to know that.”
Nad shook his head. “You wouldn’t be saying all of this if it wasn’t for her. I’ve seen the way you look at her—like you’re picturing her mouth wrapped around your cock.”
I snorted to hide my true reaction. There had been many, many times where I’d imagined how hot and wet
her mouth would be. I’d thought about every inch of her.
“Don’t act like you don’t function in exactly the same way, Nad. It’s not like we’ve been surrounded in female company over the past few years, and now they’re everywhere, but we’re not allowed to touch. That’s going to drive any red-blooded male crazy. It’s all right for those who got to go to Earth—they had at least a few fuck-filled days.”
He spun back around on his stool. “But it’s not all the other women, is it? It’s only her?”
I held his gaze, determined not to be the first to look away.
I hated it when Nad was right.
Chapter Eleven
Time passed slowly.
I was brought some water to drink, and another tray of the same food, which I ate in silence. I begged to be let out, but the Trad who brought me the meal ignored me, waiting outside until I’d finished and then taking the tray away again.
I cried in silence at my discomfort at lying and sitting on the hard floor, but I only had myself to blame.
I overanalyzed every ache and twinge I experienced, wondering if this would be the place I’d go into labor. My heart ached with longing for the other women, wishing I had them around me. I still wanted to remain strong, however. I’d witnessed women returning from the hole, how subservient they’d been—broken and silent, and doing everything Kaja and the other Trads had told them—when they’d been like me when they’d gone down, defiant and outspoken. I wanted to be stronger than that, but I’d only been down here for a matter of hours, and the thought of two days stretched ahead of me endlessly, and I thought I might think differently by the end of my time here.
Movement came outside the door, and the hatch opened. I prepared myself to receive another tray of food, but instead a familiar voice spoke.
“Hello, Tara.”
My skin prickled, my heartrate picking up. Rhett. What the fuck did he want? I’d been sitting on the floor, but at hearing his voice, I hauled myself to my feet. Even though there was a closed, locked door between us, he still made me feel vulnerable, and stupidly I felt safer standing up.
“What are you doing, Rhett?”
“I came to see you, of course.”
I didn’t like this. Was there anyone else out there? Normally they kept someone on watch just in case I went into labor.
“I don’t want to see you. Is the other guard out there?”
“No, I told him I’d take over.”
I narrowed my eyes at the still closed door. Just knowing he was on the other side filled me with hatred. “Why did you do that?”
“So we could spend some quality time together, of course. After all, that is my child you’re carrying inside you.”
“You didn’t give me much choice about that.”
“Of course not. It’s not as though you’d have ever said yes, is it?”
I gritted my teeth. There was no point arguing with this asshole. I was in this situation because of him and all those other fucking Trads just like him.
There was a click, and to my surprise, the door opened. Rhett’s massive body filled the space, his shoulders almost reaching from one side of the doorframe to the other. He hadn’t been so large when he’d been in his human form. I would have run a mile if he had. His tail curled in from behind him, reaching into the small space I was in like a third arm, and I cowered back, not wanting the appendage to touch me.
Frustratingly, Rhett laughed.
“What are you doing, Rhett?” I demanded, trying to sound brave, even though I didn’t feel it.
“Taking what’s mine.”
Fear stabbed through me. “I’m not yours, I never have been.”
“Do you know how long it had been since I’d taken a female?” he continued. “Fucking you was like spinning through the stars. And I’ve been thinking about it ever since, remembering how your tight little pussy felt when I was jamming my cock deep into it. It seems so unfair that now you’re pregnant, I’m not allowed to touch you.”
I wasn’t liking the way this conversation was going.
“It’s in case you hurt the baby,” I blurted. He didn’t give a fuck about me, but surely he cared about the child.
“But you’ve got more than one hole, Tara.” His tongue flicked out to wet his lips. “That’s not going to hurt the baby.”
“Please, leave me alone.”
“Get on your knees,” he commanded.
“No!”
He stepped forward and grabbed my shoulders, shoving me to the floor. He was far stronger than I was, and even as I tried to get to my feet again, he pushed me back down.
“Don’t do this, Rhett,” I cried, close to tears. “I’ll tell Kaja if you lay a finger on me. She won’t be happy.”
“You want this. That’s why you were causing trouble for yourself. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you’ve been looking at me.”
I shook my head, baffled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, bullshit. All that pouting and eyelash batting. You forget that I knew you from before, Tara. All the others see you as some fragile creature, somehow special now you’re carrying a Trad baby, but I got to know you when you were just another human girl, ready and willing to get her clothes off and fuck the first attractive guy who came along.”
My mouth dropped open in disbelief. “That’s not how it was at all. You tricked me, just like all you other Trad bastards tricked all the other women here.”
He snorted. “It didn’t take much tricking. There always was a rumor that Earth girls were easy. I guess you lived up to that reputation.”
My vision blurred with tears of anger and frustration. That wasn’t fair at all. While I’d had boyfriends, I had never been easy. The fact that he could throw that at me and somehow make me feel bad about it was ludicrous considering he’d impregnated me against my will and then kidnapped me to another planet.
“I might not be able to fuck you in case it hurts the baby, but there’s sure as hell nothing wrong with your mouth.”
His hands went to the catch of his pants.
“What are you doing?” Alarm spiked through me.
“Oh, come on now, Tara. It’s not like you haven’t had your mouth around my cock before.”
“I thought you were human then!”
“So, now you know what I am. Honestly, you haven’t had cock until you’ve had a Tradrych cock.” He lifted his eyebrows and jerked his chin down toward my belly. “But I guess you know that already.”
I was backed up against the wall, with only walls either side of me, and no room to even jerk to one side. It was like being in a closet, and Rhett’s massive form was blocking the only way out.
He fisted his huge erection and gave it a couple of strokes. “Aah, that feels good. And it’ll feel even better with your lips around it. I remember how that felt, Tara. It had been a long time since I’d been with a female. Too long. I don’t want to have to wait that long again.”
He’d been in human form then, and yes, I remembered, too, though it sickened me now.
“If you put that near my mouth, I’ll bite it off, I swear I will,” I said from between clenched teeth.
I could smell him now, that salty musk. He hadn’t bothered to use the pheromones that made Trads irresistible to human women, and I wondered why. Was it because he was enjoying this part? He wanted to torment me, perhaps he even wanted to force me. I didn’t know.
He pushed his cock closer, holding it in his fist. I tried to twist my face away, but he caught my jaw with his other hand. He was too strong, no matter how much I tried to jerk my face away, he kept me in one spot. The head of his cock pressed against my lips, and I tried not to gag.
“Come on, stick out that pretty pink tongue. Lick me real good.”
Suddenly, something slammed into Rhett from the side, throwing him away from me. I fell back, into the wall behind me, shocked. I rubbed at my jaw, still feeling the imprint of his fingers on my skin.
A skir
mish was coming from outside. I pushed myself forward, trying to see what was happening.
Nadeusz was on top of Rhett, straddling him. From my position, I could see that Nad’s tail was hooked around Rhett’s throat.
“What the fuck are you doing to her?” Nadeusz demanded of his fellow Trad.
“Nothing,” Rhett choked. “Just having a little fun.”
“She’s not here for you to play around with.”
“What the fuck do you care? That’s my baby she’s carrying inside her, and it’s not like she hasn’t done it all before. She loved my cock. Couldn’t get enough!”
Nadeusz pulled back his fist and punched Rhett directly in the face.
He cried out. “Fuck!”
“Stay away from her, Rhetarz. I mean it.”
Nad released him and got to his feet. Rhett clambered up as well, his hand clutched to his face, blood—a darker red than ours—pouring through his fingers.
“Polityk Borys will hear of this,” Rhett threatened.
“Then he’ll also hear that you were trying to rape an already pregnant breeder,” Nadeusz threw back.
Rhett scowled but didn’t say anything more. Instead, he turned and stalked away, his tail sweeping back and forth across the floor.
Nadeusz turned to me. I moved farther back, pressing my shoulder blades against the wall behind.
“Are you all right?”
I nodded, unsure what was happening. “Yes. I think so.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
He extended his hand to me. “Come on.”
I eyed it mistrustfully. “Where are we going?”
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