by Corin Cain
It’s ironic. All my life I’ve had an attraction to Aurelians. What woman could say she didn’t?
Physically, their species is utter perfection. They’re so much more than mere human men. They’re something… above us…
…and yet they know it.
But that haughty arrogance… Dammit, that’s one of the things that makes them so alluring. Like so many other human women, I’ve always ached for them…
…but now, my attraction is more than an ache. It’s infinitely more intense – more insistent.
I pull myself up from the bed. My entire body is sore and aching. I can still feel those huge cocks inside of me. I can still feel their seed dribbling down my thighs. My legs shake as I force myself to stand and walk to the side door of the bedroom. I press the button and the door hisses open, rewarding me with access to a shower. I step forward, slumping down onto the floor and wrapping my arms around myself as I try to process this new reality.
“AI, hot water,” I demand, my voice shaking.
The hot water deluges down on me. I snort bitterly. No matter what has changed, nothing can take away the simple pleasure of a hot, relaxing shower – especially when you have muscles as sore as mine are. Beneath the deliciously scalding water I breathe in and out, slowly trying to get my mental bearings.
Everything has changed.
At the same time – nothing has changed.
My situation is the same. I’m still the captive of these three Aurelians. Now I’m just a different sort of captive.
The only thing that’s really changed is that now they won’t be able to take me back to Colossus. Yet, I know they still won’t let me go free, either. Not now they know I’m the human they were destined to spend their lives searching for – their Fated Mate.
I need to learn more about the Bond. Right now, I can feel the three warriors in my mind. They’re in the cockpit right now. Their location is hazy, but I can get a general sense of their proximity to me.
I need to find a way to force them out of my mind so they can’t track me the way I can currently track them – otherwise, any attempt at escape will only be temporary.
Yet there’s a twinge of nervous energy – one that rebels against my decision to flee.
What would life be life if I stayed? What would it be like, to be with these three Aurelians?
When I was in that Aurelian harem, they treated me like a toy. That sounds bad – but I loved it. It’s something I had a tough time admitting, especially to myself.
But then, there was nothing other than a sexual attraction for those three Aurelians. I was just one of thirty women they mated. A favorite, certainly – but only in the short term, while I had the value of novelty. Sooner or later, another new arrival would come along, and then I’d be relegated like the other women in the harem.
But I seduced them. I made those haughty, arrogant Aurelian Elites trust me. I got under their skin, until they made themselves vulnerable to me…
…and then I made them regret that foolishness for the rest of their lives.
But they brought it on themselves. I don’t trust men. I’ve seen the horrible things they do first-hand – especially to women they view as weak.
I still weep to think of what the pirates must have done to my little sister, Lilac. Poor, poor Lilac. Sometimes, in my darkest moments, I think she might have been better off dead than whatever fate she’d face alive.
But while I don’t trust men…
…these Aurelians are not like normal men.
I’ve never felt such a… devotion before. As the hot water deluges down over my trembling body, I reach into the Bond and taste the auras of my newly Bonded partners.
Daccia’s aura is that of pride – but now he feels shame, deep into his core. He suffers a shame that he tries to hide. He’s led his battle-brothers, Hadrian and Kitos, for hundreds of years. He’s being strong for them. He’s a man who’d rather hide his own pain – who’d shoulder the sorrows of others rather than face his own.
Hadrian, in comparison, is a beast. He’s a beast who’d already do anything for me. Yet, at the same time, there’s a pent-up violence inside of him, ready to burst out at the slightest threat. He’s dangerously protective of me; but I’d never be the one in danger. Only those that threaten me would.
Kitos… Now, he’s the one that shocks me. His aura is sharp and intelligent, which I already knew – but I’d also thought he was the most sensitive of the three; the strategic brains of the operation. Instead, I can sense a deliciously cruel streak inside of him. It excites me to feel it, almost as much as it intimidates me.
What do they feel, when they focus on my aura?
Do they share the arrogance of the rest of their species? Looking down on me as just another human female – a weak little being, to be played with and dominated?
I don’t get that sense. I don’t feel they believe they’re superior to me. Even in the heat of mating, when they called me those filthy, dirty names, I could still feel their devotion to me.
I wash myself in the scalding water, trying to make sense of it all. Shocking myself, I suddenly start to laugh. In fact, I break out into hysterics – and one thread of genuine joy suddenly wells up inside of me.
“I’m going to live for thousands of years!”
I gasp out at the realization. All my life, I’ve been a survivor. All my life, I’ve stared down death and fought for my life and my freedom. Now, I’ll have thousands of years to enjoy it – stretching out in front of me like a blank slate. With the thought of all that time comes a sense of grandiose freedom. I’d never realized before how much thoughts of my own mortality had constrained my thinking – limiting the things I believed I could do, and the people I could help…
But I have a very serious question to answer:
Which part of me wants to be with these three men? And which part is the power of the Bond, driving me to desire these things?
I’ve been running for years. I’ve always run alone.
Now, I face a choice.
“Freedom is everything,” I whisper to myself, and my choice is clear.
There will be no freedom possible – not with those Aurelians. There’ll be no freedom because of the Bond. Daccia, Kitos, and Hadrian would protect me, cherish me, and kill for me...
…but they’d never let me go.
Suddenly I sense Daccia approaching. I sense him even before the door to the bedroom hisses open. I stiffen – thinking that whatever happens, I can’t let him suspect that I’ve made my decision to escape them. I know he can feel my emotions though the Bond – but he can’t directly read my thoughts.
I lick my lips, imagining him – knowing that the towering, sexy Aurelian is just feet away from me, on the other side of the shower room door. The feeling is intense. I’d be lying if I said it was only the Bond that made me desire him so strongly.
“Water off,” I whisper quietly to the AI, and the shower instantly stops. Moments later, warm air gushes from the vents, drying me quicker than any towel could.
I look around, but there’s no bathrobe. I need something to cover my nakedness – because, right now, I don’t want Daccia to succumb to the mating frenzy once again.
Aurelians are insatiable – and I don’t think I could even handle a finger of the huge, dominant alien inside of me right now.
I take a deep breath. The alien warrior, linked to me forever, is on the other side of the door. Through the Bond, I feel his devotion – as if he’d die for me…
…the least he can do is pass me some clothes, right?
“Daccia?” I call through the door. “Can you hand me something to cover myself?”
The door hisses open an inch – and Daccia’s huge hand slides through, passing me a fluffy towel through the gap. It’s clearly designed for an Aurelian, as it’s big enough to cover three of me.
I wrap the towel around myself. The cotton is deliciously soft and caresses my body as I arrange it into a makeshift dress. When I
’m finally covered up, I open the door to the shower and step into the bedroom – dry, warm, and ready to face my adversary.
Daccia is standing across the bedroom from me. The Aurelian looms over me – tall, noble, and dignified. He’s staring at me with his intense eyes.
I wonder: How smart is Daccia?
If he's survived this long in the universe, he can't be stupid – not unless he's got enough brutal combat experience that he’s learned to survive on his strength alone.
I need to know who I'm dealing with. I remember one of the unusual quotes I’d read in all those Aurelian Law documents – a quote from a human; the general Sun Tzu. While most humans are regarded as little more than children by Aurelians, a few have proven worthy of respect and acknowledgement. For example, Sun Tzu’s The Art of the War is required reading for Aurelians prior to entering their hundred years of service.
Know your enemy, and you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles.
I need to know Daccia.
Fortunately, manipulating Aurelians is something I’ve apparently demonstrated an aptitude for – which, ironically enough, has resulted in my current predicament.
I think strategically. Daccia might be able to sense my emotions, but I can also sense his. Even though the door, I could feel his wounded pride and the shame he bears for violating his people’s law.
Daccia stands like a statue across the bed from me. He’s standing ‘military still’ – like the guards I read about in the Old-Earth texts, who guarded a place called ‘Buckingham Palace’ and weren’t allowed to move despite whatever visitors and tourists did to distract them.
Daccia’s poise reminds me that every adult Aurelian spends one hundred years in military service for their Empire – thrown into near-constant battle against the worst threats that exist in the universe. Smugglers, crime-lords, Toad insurgents…
…and the Scorp.
I shudder just at the word.
Scorp are huge, half-reptile, half-mammalian things that prey on humanity. If Daccia and his triad have faced Scorp in battle – and survived the experience – I’m surprised if there’s anything that could scare them.
After our rough mating, Daccia has changed back into his workout clothes. I’d actually been half-expecting him to be in the armor-plating of his official Law Enforcement uniform. The fact that he’s not wearing that gear while on duty – speaking to a prisoner, no less – is another clue that he’s feeling the shame of betraying his duty.
I can’t help but admire Daccia as he stands there in his workout clothes. His tight t-shirt showcases those huge biceps and his strong, bulging chest muscles, while his thin shorts end just above his tree-trunk thighs.
Daccia’s holding bland, grey clothing in his hands. I recognize them as a prisoner’s uniform.
Matching the color of the clothes he carries, Daccia’s eyes have almost returned to their usual slate-grey – although they still have the slightest glint of diamond beneath the dullness.
The physical changes triggered by the Bond must weaken between couplings – but I somehow sense they’ll never completely disappear. What occurred between us – the Bond we’ve forged – is permanent.
“Allie,” Daccia says coolly. “Please sit. We have a lot to talk about.”
I look at the bed, but don’t sit on it. Nervousness is creeping up inside of me. Instead, I favor Daccia with a smile.
Inside, I have fear and stress bubbling up like a hot spring – and I know he can sense it in my aura – but there’s no reason not to give him a smile, to make Daccia think I’m on his side.
“Are those for me?” I ask, motioning to the drab clothes. “Am I still a prisoner?”
Daccia tosses the clothes to me, and I deftly grab them in mid-air. They’re stiff and thick in my hands, unlike the soft towel I have wrapped around me.
Prisoners can’t expect to get too comfortable, I guess.
“Could you turn around?”
I’m not shy – and I understand the irony of hiding my nakedness from a man who spurted his cum deep inside me just an hour earlier.
I’m not asking him to turn around because I’m embarrassed about my body. In fact, even the most self-conscious woman would feel beautiful if they’d experienced the raw, insistent lust that pours through the Bond from Daccia.
But I need Daccia to turn around, because I know what might happen when an Aurelians sees a naked human woman – especially the one he’s Bonded to. I know first-hand now the intensity of the passion that overwhelms Aurelians when they find their Fated Mate.
Daccia turns slowly – reluctantly – to give me privacy; but I still feel the hot surge of lust that floods his aura. He’s craving the sight of my naked body when this towel drops.
I throw the towel on the bed, and suddenly I find myself naked – standing in a room with an incredibly attractive man.
A man who I’m not sure is my most-trusted ally…
…or my greatest enemy.
While Daccia still has his back to me, I pull on the undergarments – which are mercifully softer than the harsh, wooly material of the pants and shirts, which go on next. The rough material scratches at my arms, but it’s better than nothing.
If nothing else, these clothes serve as a good reminder that I shouldn’t get too comfortable around these men. Every move matters. My decisions now will change my fate for the rest of my life – my now massively extended life.
“I’m decent,” I finally say, and the warrior turns to face me.
Daccia makes even this big room feel small. He might be all the way on the other side of the bed, but he’s got such long, powerful arms I feel like could reach forward and reach me with those big hands of his. I’ve seen how inhumanely fast these alien warriors move…
…when they want to.
Daccia could jump forward right now. He could throw me against the wall and kiss me deeply and passionately. There’d be nothing I could do to stop him as he claimed my mouth with his, then ran those huge hands all over my body. I shudder as I realize that some part of me wants exactly that…
Don’t think about that now, Allie! You are beating these men! All because they can’t control their lust. Don’t let your own lust defeat you now!
Suddenly, I feel the Bond thrum inside my mind.
I gasp out loud. A dark, insistent need has suddenly started to strum inside me – like a harp string being twanged throughout my body.
Suddenly, I ache to get on my knees – to open my eager mouth and please Daccia. It’s just so hard to tell which are my own heated desires, and what’s driven by the Bond.
Because of my confusion, I fight back the need. I won’t let it win. I can’t let it win.
Daccia speaks – and his voice is such a low, deep growl that I feel it. That doesn’t help my heated desire for him.
“You must have questions,” the Aurelian murmurs.
I wince, squeezing my eyes tightly shut.
It’s so unfair that Daccia can feel how fucking turned on I am. Suddenly, all I can imagine is the alien’s strong, powerful body beneath those tight clothes he wears.
I gasp in frustration: “Does this so-called Bond give me any fucking relief?”
The laughs that comes out of Daccia’s mouth surprises me.
I open my eyes in shock. I didn’t expect the serious, proud alien to have a light-hearted bone in his body – and yet now he’s laughing.
“You’re not going to like the answer to that question,” Daccia smiles.
Fuck. What the hell does that mean? What have I gotten myself into?
“I think I deserve to know what the hell you three did to me.”
Daccia shakes his head slowly. “We didn’t do anything to you. We discovered something – something that already existed between us.”
He takes a deep breath.
“We’ve been Bonded from the day you were born, Allie. You’ve been fated to be with us from the first breath you drew – from the first beat of your heart. My t
riad – we were fated to be with you, too – hundreds of years before your parents were even born.”
My mind reels as he continues:
“All the bloodshed my triad has been through – our years of service to the Empire, and our career with Law Enforcement. It’s all been fate – drawing us to this moment for one purpose, and one purpose only.” His eyes widen. “To find you.”
Gods! That’s a big responsibility.
I didn’t ask to be the raison d’être for these three towering aliens. I didn’t ask to be their ‘purpose’…
…and I sure as hell don’t owe them anything!
“You didn’t answer my question,” I snap.
Daccia breathes in deeply. “The Bond will continue to grow, Allie. It will continue to fill you with the urge to be with us, until you’re finally pregnant with one of our sons.”
I gulp.
Now, that’s bad news. Bad news…
…and yet, good news.
The bad news is that – as pissed as I am with these three gorgeous aliens – I can’t deny my attraction to them. I can’t pretend that I don’t want Daccia to reach across the bed right now – to throw me down across the sheets and just fuck me – deep, and hard, and relentlessly.
I might still be sore – but even now I want him. At some instinctual level – one that’s being magnified to some incredible extreme – I crave him.
Gods! It’s been less than hour since these Aurelian warriors claimed me – driving me to the most intense orgasms of my life – and already I want them again. This Bond – it’s like talking a hit of the most potent drug in creation. Fuck, I’m already in withdrawal from it – and that’s even without the Bond urging me forward.
But there is good news.
The good news is that I’m not pregnant. That much I know, from what Daccia was telling me.
If I was pregnant – if one of those gorgeous, well-hung bastards had knocked me up earlier – I’d already feel it. I’d already have some Gods-damned relief by now.
Daccia sees the torment on my face, and he feels it through our Bond.
“Allie,” he murmurs. “Sit down. There’s still so much for you to learn.”