- Title Page

- Chapter 1

- Chapter 2

- Chapter 3

- Chapter 4

- Chapter 5

- Chapter 6

- Chapter 7

- Chapter 8

- Chapter 9

- Chapter 10

- Chapter 11

- Chapter 12

- Chapter 13

- Chapter 14

- Chapter 15

- Chapter 16

- Chapter 17

- Chapter 18

- Chapter 19

Alien Slave

By

Tracy St. John

(C) Copyright Tracy St. John, February 2012

978-1-60394-678-0

Published by New Concepts Publishing

Smashwords Edition

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

CHAPTER 1

Reggie’s hypnotic trill lulled Dani as he slipped his penis into her. The swing that held her suspended in the air creaked as it moved back and forth in the middle of one of the brothel’s playrooms.

Dani barely felt the thin appendage as she floated in a calm sea of contentment. Sex with the Isetacian, one of her regulars since coming to Dantovon five months ago, was always pleasant. Reggie wasn’t much to look at, but that sweet warbling song that indicated his arousal made up for his lack of physical attractiveness. For all she knew, he was the handsomest man on Isetac. She’d found rating manly charm a futile exercise given the strange bodies and faces of the aliens who visited Dantovon.

Her large brown eyes half-lidded in trance, Dani traced the hard ridge of bone along Reggie’s back. It broke through his gray skin, a purplish-black lumpy crest. The first time she’d seen an Isetacian she’d thought the creature had been horrifically injured, its skin flayed to expose the skeleton along the spine and joints. When she’d discovered that was the norm for the six-legged race (or six-armed … with Isetacians, it was impossible to tell), she’d been both fascinated and repulsed.

Becoming a sex slave to get off the ruined hulk of Earth had been rife with surprises, good and bad alike.

For now, Dani was content to let Reggie sing to her while he plunged in and out, her long, lanky body suspended in the black straps of the swing. She’d gotten almost halfway through tonight’s shift at the brothel, and this was as good an intermission as she could hope to get. Isetacians didn’t require much from the sex slaves. Stroke their spines and the crowns of their bulbous heads, let them do their thing, and they were happy.

She let herself drift, Reggie’s trill taking her deeper still until her eyes closed, shutting out his face with its toothless mouth. She felt better not looking into the deep pits from which his tiny eyes peered. They circled his head in sets of two.

Dani’s closed eyes also shut out the small, dark playroom with its assortment of harnesses, restraints, and pleasure devices. She was grateful that Reggie was so easy to please. He had left it up to her as to whether she would hang in a suspension field or sit in the swing. For some reason the swing had appealed to her tonight.

A pair of Reggie’s hands/feet gripped her knees, holding her wide open. Another pair held the parts of her buttocks not covered by the swing’s straps. She possessed plenty of flesh for him to hang onto. For such a spindly woman, she thought she had a lot of backyard real estate. In contrast, her smallish breasts, while well-shaped, disappeared beneath the Isetacian’s three-fingered grasp. At almost six feet tall, Dani was an elongated pear when she didn’t think of herself as a big, galumphing horse.

Her customers didn’t seem to mind her awkward frame. Not that she cared about what they thought. As long as they paid her fee, lessening her contract in the too-small increments that meant she’d spend the next three to five years as a sex slave, they could regard her in any way they liked.

Dani sighed and made her mind contemplate things other than the contract that she’d signed impetuously, desperate to get off Earth. At the time, it had seemed a good idea. Guaranteed meals, safe shelter, and escape from being captured by the Kalquorian race that had destroyed her home world were a fair trade for sex, which she’d always been ambivalent about. Besides, Dani on Dantovon had a cute ring to it. How could it not be fated?

Reggie, whose real name was impossible for her to pronounce, deepened his voice, signaling he was close to climax. His scent intensified. He smelled like musty old books, the antique type with paper pages one turned. Dani sighed again. Her break was almost over, and she’d have to get back to real work soon. Like the Earther men she’d bedded, Reggie got done way too fast. She barely had time to enjoy herself.

Reggie’s hands tightened on her various body parts, and his tone deepened to a bass note, held for a good ten seconds as he spurted cold seed that ran down her thighs and dripped to the floor. The moment he was done, he scrambled down. Sitting back on four of his six limbs, he solicitously helped her from the swing. She stood, swaying from the aftereffects of his song. After a moment, the hypnotic trance he’d put her in faded. Dani shivered in the cool air. Putting on her smile with professionalism, she asked, “Did you have fun, Reggie?”

He gave her a gummy smile, peering up at her with two pairs of deep pitted eyes. “Ep, ep, you are always fun.”

“See you next week?” She wished the restful alien could visit more often.

Reggie shook his back end in affirmation. “I will book my appointment on my way out. Hopeful ship still run.”

Dani shook her head, her tousled red hair tumbling over her shoulders. “You have the most trouble with your transport.”

His rear shook more. “I fix all the time. Old ship, few parts.”

With a final goodbye, Reggie left. Dani washed her legs clean of his watery spend and yanked her clothes on. Like all humanoid sex slaves on Dantovon, her gray skirt, almost a color match for Reggie’s skin, was transparent from mid thigh down to its knee-length hem. The matching bra pushed her teacup breasts up. Dani thought it accentuated how small she was rather than enhancing her décolletage. Oh well. Big galumphing horses didn’t have boobs anyway. Clients were always more fascinated by the pert pink nipples than the size of her breasts.

Out of habit she tugged at the collar on her throat, the half-inch wide silvery metal that proclaimed her slave status. In actuality it weighed no more than any piece of jewelry Dani had owned on Earth. In her mind, it felt like an anvil hung from her neck.

She checked the chronometer. She was exactly halfway through her shift. It’s all downhill from here, she thought, trying to face the remainder of the night with optimism.

The door slid open, admitting Dani into the long hallway that ran the length of the brothel’s playroom area. Lights flickered here and there. They wouldn’t be changed by money-grubbing Pob until they went out entirely.

Dani kept to the center of the hall, mostly out of the reach of the guards positioned at regular intervals. Pob’s security wasn’t allowed to have sex with the prostitutes without paying for it, but they could grab the goods for a passing feel if they were so inclined. A side benefit of working in the house. Dani didn’t like to give anything away for free on principle.

As she absentmindedly dodged the gauntlet of hands, paws, claws, whatever the guards’ grabbing implements happened to be, the clamor of sex emitted from the closed doors, creating a web of sound. Sometimes the noises were happy, sometimes pained, but mostly it just sounded desperate to Dani.

She reached the lounge, her long legs covering the distance with quick efficiency. The light was brighter in here. Mirrored walls allowed the workers check their appearances before heading off to the next client. Couches of varying degrees of cleanliness and wellbeing scattered across the floor. Females of various species lounged on them; still others slept on the floor, grabbing rest between clients. Chatter was sparse, as if the air filled with colognes, perfumes, and the musk of alien sexual parts was too heavy to allow speech.

Dani checked the schedule, the red-lined vid suspended in the air near the door. A spark of anger made her snap at the attendant seated nearby.

“My next client is now?”

Husta, a native Dantovonian, rolled her lidless eye at Dani. The brothel owner’s sister’s segmented face didn’t allow much expression, but she managed to convey her dislike for Dani anyway. “We’re busy.”

Dani looked around the lounge where every available space was crowded with sex slaves. “Then why are so many lying around?”

“They’re not Earthers. You’re popular for whatever reason.” Husta’s long, cylindrical tongue flicked out of her tiny mouth. Dani knew the tongue scented the air, tasting the various aromas. Dantovonians looked like a science experiment gone terribly wrong, as if some mad laboratory had bred amphibians and insects with each other. Not pretty.

After testing the lounge’s questionable bouquet, Husta turned her head away dismissively. She knew as well as Dani did that Earthers as sex slaves were a rare commodity. Dani was the only Earther that worked in this brothel. For all she knew, she was the only Earther who worked on Dantovon. Most of the females of her race were far too repressed by their former home’s fanatical regime to sell their services.

Dani’s novelty kept her from having to work hard to please clients. Most were thrilled to have the opportunity to stick their stuff in the notoriously uptight Earther species just so they could brag to their peers.

Dani grumbled as she stared in a mirror, dragging her fingers through her wavy copper hair. “If he wants me bad enough, he can wait a few minutes.” Reggie’s song had left her loose-limbed and lazy.

“And here I thought you wanted to pay your contract off. That group paid extra.”

Dani glared at Husta. “Damn it, multiples? More than two?”

Husta radiated smug amusement. “Better get moving before they come looking for you.” She hop-crawled away on spindly stalks of limbs before Dani could ask who her clients were.

Bitch, Dani thought uncharitably. Even knowing extra money was involved couldn’t salve her irritation. Only three species she knew of tended to have sex in groups: Bi’isils, Solns, and Kalquorians. Bi’isils required intricate rituals with sexual intercourse and considered it within their rights to kill the brothel’s worker and owner if a mistake was made in those rites. The only reason anyone served them was because they might pay off a contract within half a dozen visits. Bi’isils paid obscene amounts to have sex with women not of their own species.

Dani wasn’t trained in their sex ceremonies, so unless Husta wanted her brother dead, she could scratch that option off the list.

And since Dani’s contract stipulated no Kalquorians that left the Solns. She sighed. Sex with the tiny Solns didn’t require she actually do anything, just stand still while they climbed all over her. Easy enough, but the cleanup afterward was rigorous. Soln seed stuck to the skin and hardened quickly. Damn straight they’d better have paid extra.

She consulted the room number and frowned. Husta had put them in a fully equipped playroom, which made no sense. Solns didn’t use restraints, disciplinary tools, or arousing toys. Unnecessarily tying up one of the grand playrooms might put Dani in dutch with another prostitute who could have used it to chop off a sizeable chunk of her contract. Husta wasted no opportunity to make Dani’s life more miserable than it already was.

Putting a lid on her simmering hostility, Dani yelled across the lounge. “Husta, I’ll need a full break after this one.” She added under her breath, “Bitch.”

With one final primp in the mirror, Dani stomped out of the lounge in full pout. At least she could wallow in her pique. The Solns wouldn’t care about her bad temper.

Dani headed back down the hall, absentmindedly sidestepping here and there to avoid the guards’ eager grabs. She wondered if she could get the Solns to relocate to a smaller room, one without all the bells and whistles.

She had to snort at herself. Bells and whistles indeed. The first time she’d seen the fully equipped playroom, she’d thought of a medieval dungeon. The props and furniture had seemed more like torture implements than pleasure devices to an Earther raised in the repressed environment of a religion-based government gone mad.

Fortunately, Dani had gotten away with a lot more decadence than the typical Earther. Privilege and a deep-pocketed father in politics had given her leeway most Earthers hadn’t enjoyed. She’d been no trembling virgin when she’d come to Dantovon. Once she’d gotten over the initial shock of blatant sex, sometimes committed in full view of an audience, Dani had been more curious than appalled by the strange apparatuses the brothel’s customers used on their playthings.

She’d even enjoyed a few of the toys. There was a table one could be strapped down on, a swing like the one she’d entertained Reggie in, manacles in the walls, manacles hanging from chains, a suspension field, straps, shock prods, spanking boards, gags, blindfolds, and stimulant dildos of various sizes and shapes to accommodate the anatomies of various species.

It still made no sense the Solns would choose that room. But who knew why aliens did what they did? Dani couldn’t make sense of her own species; never mind trying to figure the others out.

She reached the playroom door and punched her code in. The door whooshed open obligingly, and she stepped in.

The room’s walls were curtained. The dark blue fabric was easily swept aside to put in use any of the restraints that hung behind the drapes. Spotlights were trained at those areas, as well as over the equipment scattered about the floor: padded cuffs hanging from the ceiling, the table, and the podium that emitted the suspension field. Shadows pooled in the corners, making the lit areas so much more glaring for the surrounding darkness.

As the door closed behind Dani, movement came from the far corner. Instead of a dozen tiny Solns, three huge men stepped from the shadows. Kalquorians.

Dani had only an instant to register the dark-skinned, black haired aliens before turning on her heel and running for the door, a scream poised on her lips. She’d not gotten one step before a thick, muscled arm wrapped around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides and pulling her to a granite hard body, lifting her from her feet. The Kalquorian had her near six feet length dangling several inches above the floor. She kicked wildly.

“Let me go!”

Another man stepped in front of her, moving in a blur to grab hold of her flailing legs. He held her calves easily against one side of his body, rendering her helpless. “We have paid for your time, Earther.” His rolling bass of a voice thrummed through her body. He’d not ordered her to do anything, but the command in his tone stilled her struggles.

Terror made her own voice high and screamy. “Not you. Not Kalquorians. It’s in my contract!”

The third man stepped into view, peering at her over the shoulder of the one who held her legs. His tone was much milder, though still deep. “We were told the extra money would change your mind.”

Dani curled her upper lip. Damn Husta. Owner’s sister or not, she’d pay for this. “Well you were told wrong,” Dani loftily informed them. “So put me down and let me leave.”

“May I ask why you find us so distasteful?” His head cocked as if he was genuinely interested in her opinion.

She swallowed, taking a good look at the man who spoke. These were the first Kalquorians she’d seen up close, and they weren’t at all what she’d expected. She’d thought they’d look like evil incarnate. The Church had described them as devils, and that had always conjured images of dark fiends with horns on their heads and cloven hooves.

Well, they were dark. Dark brown skin like chocolate milk. Blue-black hair. Huge. The one who’d asked the question had at least seven inches on her, possibly more. The guy holding her legs was only a couple inches shorter. The one pinning her against his very wide, very muscular chest was the tallest of all. Dani had never felt dwarfed before, but she sure as hell did now.

Size aside, they didn’t look demonic. Darn if they weren’t handsome, in fact. Their blue-purple eyes were beautiful, once you got past the catlike slit pupils. The one who wasn’t touching Dani had tousled hair to his shoulders, softly rumpled like he’d forgotten to brush it. His face was lean, his nose slender and pointed. There was a bemused smile on his gentle features, and he looked at Dani as if he studied a particularly fascinating butterfly he’d swooped up in a net. He looked intense and friendly all at once.

Dani refused to acknowledge the fluttery feeling his interest elicited. Making herself attend to his question, she spluttered in outrage. “Why do I find you distasteful? Are you kidding? After what you did to Earth?”

A voice like brushed velvet slid against her ear. “Our ships never would have entered the portal if we’d known it was rigged to explode your major cities.”

Dani looked up and up at the face of the man holding her with arms of steel. His gaze on her was sharp too, but instead of clinical interest, he looked at her as if trying to decide how she would taste. More rugged than his companions, the fierce creature looked like a born hunter. His jaw couldn’t have been squarer, his high cheekbones lending him haughtiness like some kingly savage. His skull, most of it shaved so that a long Mohawk strip of hair hung down his back, was beautifully formed. He was as handsome as a tiger, and every bit as deadly. Icy chills raced down Dani’s spine to be caught in his gaze.

Don’t show this one fear. It will be very bad if you do. Every instinct told her this was a dangerous creature. Forcing her tone to hold steady, Dani snapped, “Rigged? What are you talking about? The way I heard it, Kalquor attacked us, blew everything up, and then began carting off all the women.”

The third man, the one holding her legs, spoke. Dani was grateful to look away from the beast-man holding her to the one with the deep, rumbling voice. “And where did you hear this? From trusted leaders? Reliable sources?”

He was the handsomest of the three, with chiseled features and a sly smile that both charmed and worried her. Except for the cornrows of tight braids that swung over his chest and shoulders, he looked like a sculpted bust of young Julius Caesar Dani had seen when she toured Italy. The confidence in his demeanor was almost smug, and it set her teeth on edge.

Unfortunately, he’d brought up a valid point. Grudgingly, Dani admitted, “Well, that’s what people were saying.”

Velvet Voice spoke in her ear once again. “Your leaders were religious fanatics. They determined it was better you all die than lose the war to us.”

She refused to look at the predatory owner of that voice. “Why should I believe you? You’re the enemy.”

Cornrows smirked. “Did you really trust your government so much? Few Earthers I’ve spoken to did.”

Dani gave him attitude for attitude. “My father was part of that government, so I think I should know a thing or two you might not.”

Cornrows exchanged a look with Scruffy, and Dani wished she had kept her mouth shut. The Galactic Council was convening trials against the few Earthers found that had been in power. She was only the daughter of a state official, but if they were on a witch hunt maybe any Earther would do. The lower and middle class of the destroyed world were clamoring for reparations. Dani had led a life more privileged than many.

Backpedaling, she hurriedly added, “He wasn’t an important official, only regional.”

“It is odder still that an Earther female so close to those in power would choose this life of sexual decadence.” Scruffy leaned closer to her, as if he could find secrets in her eyes.

She noticed his shirt stretched tight over his wide chest and shoulders, but where it hung loose and untucked, a jigsaw puzzle of wrinkles marred the ivory fabric. He was obviously not worried about appearances, but he was attractive enough to get away with it.

Scowling at him and her wandering eyes, Dani asked, “What are you, some kind of psychologist?”

He smiled, and the way his face lit up made her stop breathing for an instant. Heaven help her, the man was beautiful when he beamed. “As a matter of fact, I am. I’m what you Earthers would call a criminal psychologist.”

The situation just kept getting worse. Dani had experienced enough brushes with the law on Earth to be leery of police, and this one, while not an actual cop, was part of that authority. Her father wasn’t here to bail her out of trouble this time. And if he had been, George Watson no longer had a cushy job to protect from his children’s tendency to flaunt decency.

The war had removed all her father’s worries. She wondered how directly responsible for that these three men were. Only one way to find out.

“Were any of you involved in the war?”

Cornrows shook his head, his long braids whispering against his blue tunic. “We work as police on Kalquor. I am a negotiator, and he is an enforcer.” He nodded toward the velvet-voiced beast holding Dani.

Damn it, they were all law enforcement. And cops just loved to take down those in higher authority when they could. Except Dani wasn’t higher authority any more. She was no one. As a prostitute, she was lower than no one. These officers wouldn’t care too much about her.

And they hadn’t been involved in the actual war. Hadn’t destroyed her world. Hadn’t ended her empty but easy life.

Some of Dani’s enmity bled away. “Will you put me down? Please? I won’t run away, I promise.” She could be sweet when it suited her purposes.

Velvet Voice chuckled, his chest rumbling against her back. The sensation made things inside tumble in slow motion. Dani imagined them both naked, his warm skin pressed against hers as he pushed inside...

“I like you where you are, little fighter,” he said.

Cornrows gave him a grin, devastating with charm. Dani swallowed. Forget physical strength. The Kalquorians posed real danger with their smiles. “Put her down, Wynhod. She’s going to be a good girl, aren’t you?”

“Sure.” Dani was her most agreeable. What was it her nanny had told her time after time? You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Until the day Dani pertly informed Nanny she had no use for catching flies.

They set her on her feet, and Dani adjusted her clothing. It hadn’t actually shifted, but fussing with her skirt gave her something to do, a way to avoid meeting the probing stares. Cops. Her luck just never seemed to get better.

The sexily scruffy Kalquorian asked, “Why are you here? How does an Earther end up as a sex slave on Dantovon?”

Unlike the dangerous Wynhod, the psychologist was easy to look in the face. Even easier to tell the truth to. His gentle expression wasn’t guarded, wasn’t ready to judge. Dani warmed in the alien’s regard. He really did seem interested in her answer.

“I didn’t want to go with the enemy. Your people. But I was hungry and the Dantovon slave trader promised food and shelter in exchange for my services. If I didn’t go with him, I’d have died.”

Cornrows was no longer smiling. He folded his arms over his chest, but there was no threat in his attitude. A negotiator he’d said he was. Not an interrogator. “Our people offered food and shelter as well. The war was over, and your world was dying. Even though it was your leaders who set the bombs, we did feel responsible for detonating them, unintentional as it was.”

Dani shrugged. “I thought you were there to enslave us.”

“Now you are enslaved here instead.” Wynhod laughed at that, and she whirled around to confront him. It took a moment to realize he wasn’t laughing at her, just the irony of the situation.

And here was another Kalquorian who turned her insides to jelly just by the virtue of a too-handsome face when it smiled. He loomed over her, the coral shade of his tunic making his dark skin glow. It made her mad that they were so striking. They were not supposed to be attractive. They were not supposed to give her thoughts she had no business thinking about the enemy.

Dani pouted, not caring she was being childish. “I won’t be a slave for life, which is what would happen on Kalquor. What I thought would happen on Kalquor,” she amended. “I’m only stuck here until I pay my contract off. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

And that pretty much summed up her life. All the trouble Dani had found in her 29 years had come about because it had seemed like a good idea at the moment.

She’d found a lot of trouble.

Cornrows bowed deeply, surprising her with the genteel gesture. “To that end, allow us to help you then. We paid extra for your company tonight, and we will pay more. What is the rate for a full night with you?”

Dani looked at him with surprise. “But my shift is half over.”

The charming smile returned, making her insides all trembly, her brain sludgy. “Full night’s pay for your half shift. How much?”

No way cops made that much money to blow on one bratty Earther. But weren’t all Kalquorians supposed to be rich? Dani named the price, hoping against reason. As big as they were, the Kalquorians looked surprisingly Earther-like. She only now realized how much she missed her own kind. Besides, she counseled her flare of conscience, even though Kalquor had been Earth’s sworn enemy, this particular clan wasn’t directly responsible for the mess on her planet.

Instead of demurring the high number Dani named, Cornrows walked to an unobtrusive panel on the nearby wall and tapped a few commands into it. He turned back to her.

“Done. You will spend the rest of your shift in our company. What is your name, little fighter?”

“Danielle. Everyone calls me Dani.” The words fell out of her suddenly numb mouth. Dani was surprised by both his acceptance of her price and the request for her name. Since when did customers care about introductions?

Apparently these men did. Cornrows bowed yet again, as if she was a lady and not a whore. “I am Dramok Gelan.” He motioned to the psychologist, who duplicated the bow. “Imdiko Krijero. And Nobek Wynhod.” Another bow.

“Nice to meet you.” Dani felt a bit unreal as she stammered the age-old response.

They rewarded her with those smiles she wanted to hate. Darn Kalquorians. Gelan looked around the room. “Is there anything in here off limits for you?”

With effort, Dani shifted back into her role as sex slave. With her most businesslike tone, she pointed at the wall where the shock prod and several cutting instruments hung. “I don’t like extreme pain, and I won’t do anything that leaves permanent scarring. That’s in my contract, and unlike my agreement to spend time with you, completely non-negotiable. I don’t care if you pay off my whole contract. I won’t agree to that.”

Krijero made a face. “We aren’t into delivering that kind of punishment anyway. What intimate activities do you enjoy most?”

Dani shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. You’re paying for this.”

Wynhod skewered her with a look that made her want to run screaming from the room. He went from sexy to scary in half a second. “We prefer our partners have as good a time as we do. Answer his question.”

A sensation of being very small and helpless came over her. The Nobek terrified her. Something about him told Dani he brooked no nonsense. But to tell them what she wanted? The stuff that got her all squirmy inside? Her face heated with embarrassment. No way she could do that. They’d think she was a complete freak.

“We’re waiting, Danielle.” Wynhod stressed her name, his cold eyes telling her he wouldn’t tolerate even the defiance of silence.

Damn him. Dani shifted from foot to foot. “Well, um…”

Gelan saved her, somehow intuiting it wasn’t stubbornness keeping her tongue-tied. His arm wrapped around her waist in a comforting, steady grip. She had a moment of surprise that she felt so safe, so protected by his touch. She didn’t try to hang back as he tugged her into motion so they could walk about the room. “Let’s look at our options,” he invited.

They passed the table with its cushioned headrest and soft bindings. Dani remembered one occasion she’d been strapped down helpless. The customer had only been interested in his own pleasure, as they all were, but Dani had climaxed with him anyway. Twice.

Gelan drew her to a stop. “This. You like being restrained?”

Dani wanted to crawl into a shadowed corner. She pretended nonchalance but knew she wasn’t convincing in the least. “Yeah, well it can be fun.”

Gelan’s eyes twinkled. “Indeed. So hover cuffs? Manacles? The suspension field is also acceptable?”

Molten lava roiled Dani’s insides and her breath caught. Helpless with these three? The idea was terrifying and yet enticing all at once. The way one felt when being strapped into an insanely looping rollercoaster.

She didn’t miss how the men grinned at each other. They seemed delighted with her response. Okay, they didn’t think she was a total freak then. But the expressions of dark promise made her more nervous than ever.

Krijero murmured, “The suspension field offers the most options.”

Wynhod stepped close to the wall studded with straps, floggers, whips and paddles. “You said no extreme pain. What of light discipline?” He fingered a stiff strap about an inch and a half wide.

The thought of the massive Kalquorian strapping her ass, turning her flesh pink then red, stole Dani’s voice. She could only nod. She felt warm inside, no doubt a fear reaction. No way being punished would make her hot. “I can put up with a little pain.”

Gelan’s tone rumbled approval. “Very nice. Sensory deprivation?”

Dani swallowed and recovered her ability to speak. “Like blindfolds, gags, that kind of thing?”

“Yes.”

She licked her lips. “I’m good with that.” Was she ever. Her sex had gone slick with anticipation.

Gelan’s hand rubbed up and down her back, his touch both soothing and exciting all at once. “Excellent. I think we have enough to start with.”

Wynhod left the punishment tools to confront Dani. “We are used to being in command. Call it a consequence of our line of work. Can you be obedient?”

Dani bristled at his tone. “Of course. It’s my job after all.”

As if he didn’t quite believe her, Gelan added, “We insist on respect. You will not speak without permission except to acknowledge our orders.”

Wynhod continued, “In that case you will respond with ‘yes, Dramok Gelan’,” he nodded to the cornrowed Kalquorian then indicated Krijero, “Or ‘yes, Imdiko Krijero’ or ‘yes, Nobek Wynhod’.”

Dani shrugged. “Sure.” At a cold look from Wynhod she hastily amended, “I mean, yes, Nobek Wynhod.”

Gelan squeezed her shoulder. “Good. If you become too uncomfortable with anything we do, you will say sholt. That is Kalquorian for ‘stop’.” He paused expectantly.

“Yes, Dramok Gelan.”

“You may strip.”

Dani had been naked more often than not these last few months, but she’d never felt more exposed than right now as she removed her outfit in front of the Kalquorians. Her bra went first, and her already pert nipples tightened to pebbly nubs in the coolness

of the room. Curious to know what the Kalquorians thought of her teacup breasts, Dani was gratified by the enlarging of their catlike pupils and the bulging of their crotches. Okay, it was nice to know size wasn’t much of an issue with the aliens.

Dani’s thumbs hooked over the waistband of her skirt, and she tugged it down. The fabric slithered down her legs to puddle around her ankles. She stepped out of it and stood before them, completely nude.

It was a good thing the room was kept so cool, because she felt superheated under the Kalquorians’ stares. A scent that reminded her of breakfast rolls, coated liberally with cinnamon, wafted across her nostrils. The smell was that of Sunday morning, lazing in her canopied bed with 800-count sheets with a good book before the obligatory trip to the Church for two hours of haranguing that she couldn’t keep her attention on no matter how loud the priest became. The sweet, cinnamon waft was a good, safe aroma.

Dani hadn’t felt safe in a long time.

Gelan took her hand and led her to the suspension field’s base. She stepped up on it and waited their pleasure.

“Field, scan and enable on Earther only. Confirm Kalquorian non-influence.”

A robotic voice issued from the platform in Dantovonian. “Confirmed. Containment effective for Earther only.”

“Raise subject seven inches.”

The sensation of air thickening around her always made Dani tense, as if by its weight it would become impossible to breathe in. The illusion of solidness around her didn’t impede respiration however, and she relaxed after a moment. She could even move, if sluggishly. She elevated until she was at eye level with Gelan, who was the shortest of the oversized trio.

With grins of sheer lascivious deviltry, the three men arranged her suspended body to their satisfaction. They stretched her arms over her head and slightly back so that her breasts thrust up and outward. They pulled her legs wide, making her open and vulnerable. Maybe a bit too vulnerable. Dani couldn’t help but squeeze her thighs closer together again.

“No, little fighter. This is how we want you.” Wynhod’s voice contained warning, but humor danced in his eyes as he spread her open again. “Freeze subject in place,” he commanded.

The atmosphere solidified around Dani’s helpless body, holding her like a pinned bug. No matter how she pulled and strained, she couldn’t move. She was completely at the clan’s mercy.

“Very nice,” Gelan said, stepping back to view their handiwork.

Wynhod put his hand between her legs to cup her hairless mound and found her sloppy wet. He grinned hugely, erasing most of the menace he wore. “She does like this,” he reported to the others. As Dani trembled against the heat of his touch, he added, “Not repressed at all.”

The mostly silent Krijero drew close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body. He stroked Dani’s hair, his fingers gentle. “She’s nervous though, aren’t you?”

Who wouldn’t be? Dani swallowed and answered, “Yes, Imdiko Krijero.”

“Easily remedied,” he said, his voice soothing. Or at least it was until a pair of long, needle-thin fangs descended from the roof of his mouth to appear behind his more Earthlike square teeth. Dani shrieked and fought to free herself from the suspension field as Krijero’s head darted forward and he buried the fangs in her neck.

As she broke from her first scream to draw breath for the next, Gelan’s deep voice filled her ears. “Easy, little Earther. He’s injecting you with an intoxicant. It will make you feel very, very good.”

Dani screamed anyway. The damned thing was biting her. Tears streamed down her cheeks as he kept those terrible rattlesnake fangs buried in her flesh. She was going to die at the hands of a Kalquorian, as so many other Earthers had. And she’d put herself in this position, put herself at their mercy, screwing up yet again.

Wynhod’s soft voice pierced her panic. “Dani, you’re all right. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. You’re going to be just fine.”

Calm intruded on her senses, pushing the terror back. It sapped the fear away. Her body seemed to … sing. She stopped screaming to evaluate the warm surge of dreamlike pleasure. It was as if she’d drunk really good champagne, her mind going as bubbly and effervescent as the most expensive bottle. Oh, this was nice. And Wynhod was right. The fangs in her neck didn’t hurt at all anymore. She couldn’t even feel them. All she felt was the solid muscled frame of Krijero against her. The thick press of his iron sex against her mound was a heady aphrodisiac.

The Imdiko’s mouth left her throat, and he smiled at her. Gosh, he was gorgeous. Adorable even in his rumpledness, if you could call a nearly seven-feet tall behemoth adorable. “All better now,” he told her.

“Oh, a whole lot better,” she breathed. “Really, really good. Thanks.” She suddenly remembered their earlier orders. “Oops! Sorry. I forgot I’m not supposed to talk.”

The men chuckled indulgently. Gelan patted her rump, and his touch made her insides clench in pleasure. He said, “We’ll relax that stipulation while you’re under the influence. The intoxicant in our fangs might make it hard for you to remember to be silent. Are you nervous at all now?”

Dani tried to shake her head, remembered she couldn’t. “No. That stuff is pretty good. You should bottle and sell it.”

Krijero approached her with a blindfold. “I’ve heard of Earthers suggesting that before. It’s helped many of your race get past initial objections.”

He slid the stretchy material over her eyes, shutting her view of them behind a veil of black. Dani wasn’t sure if she should be disappointed about not seeing the hunky aliens anymore. But being reduced to sound and sensation and not knowing what was

coming next was exciting too. The nervous twist of anticipation made her insides tremble.

“Are you all right, Dani?”

“Yes, Imdiko Krijero.” She was proud she remembered how to answer him properly. It wasn’t easy when her brain was hazy with intoxication.

“What do you say if it becomes too intense? If you need us to stop?” Wynhod’s velvet voice seemed to rub her ears. Hell, it seemed to rub her whole body, bringing all her senses aware. Only the suspension field kept her from shivering in delight.

“Umm … was it sholt, Nobek Wynhod?”

“Very good, little fighter.”

She warmed at the praise. Coming from the demanding Nobek, it meant a lot that she’d pleased him.

A long, silent pause stretched out for a few moments. The Kalquorians fell so quiet that Dani couldn’t even hear them breathe. Her skin fairly strained from her flesh, anticipating being embraced. Still, nothing happened.

Well, they didn’t leave. I would have heard the door. What are they doing? Just looking at me? Why don’t they start already?

The longer the seconds spun out, the more antsy Dani became. The intoxicant sent tendrils of need throughout her body. She wanted to be touched. She wanted their hands and mouths on her. She wanted them in her. They were such big men. Would their sexes be in proportion with their bodies?

She hoped so.

The thought of their possession made her anxious with arousal. A whine escaped her throat.

“Someone sounds impatient.” Gelan’s voice, amused.

Krijero: “Rather demanding for a girl who doesn’t like Kalquorians.”

Wynhod only laughed.

Maybe politeness would get her somewhere. “Please? You didn’t pay just to hang me up here all night.”

Gelan: “But you’re so pretty to look at, Dani. Very lovely, indeed.”

She warmed anew at the appreciative tone he took. Next to the Kalquorians, she didn’t feel so much like a big, galumphing horse. She was positively dainty surrounded by the big men. Feminine. She liked the feeling.

If only they would touch her!

CHAPTER 2

Gelan watched Dani’s muscles strain as she fought the suspension field. Anticipation drove her to desire their touch. They’d been right to watch and wait silently. Simply taking what they wanted would have made her a good deal less eager, intoxicated or not.

Truth be told, his fingers twitched to run all over her long, supple body. The Earther was stunning from head to toe. Her thick waves of copper hair shone with golden highlights. It reminded him of sunrise over the mountain in which he lived. Her tiny upturned nose was a counterpoint to plump, luscious lips, lips he could all too easily imagine admitting his aching cocks into the warm cavern of her mouth. Her neck was a long column that even the twin streaks of drying blood from Krijero’s bite couldn’t mar. Her breasts were shaped perfectly with rosy tips that begged to be mouthed.

Gelan was sure he could wrap his hands around her trim waist and have fingertip meet fingertip, thumb meet thumb. Despite her long, lean frame, her hips flared out wide, a perfect cradle to hold his. And with ample rounded buttocks, he’d have plenty to grab onto as he rode her.

Her legs, like her arms, were long and graceful limbs, and he wanted to feel them wrapped around his body as he plunged into hers. Between them, her hairless sex beckoned. Moisture glistened on the parted lips, and he barely managed to restrain a groan. Gelan had every intention of playing with Dani, learning what made her respond the best, and teasing her until she begged for release. The heaviness in his groin told him he’d endure as much torture as he planned to inflict on her.

A whimper, high and pleading, rang through the room. Gelan exchanged a grin with his clanmates. She was primed all right.

The men hadn’t planned anything in particular when they’d booked the Earther. They’d been too astounded at their luck in finding one on Dantovon, one who actually engaged in sex without coercion. But they moved at the same exact time, simultaneously stroking Dani’s skin as if they’d choreographed the encounter.

Gelan went first to her cheek, his fingertips whisper-soft against the silk of her face. She sighed as he traced the line of that prettily tilted nose with his thumb. The warmth of her breath against his palm made him look again at those plump lips with longing. He vowed to himself that sometime tonight she would wrap them around his aching need.

He smoothed over her delicate jaw and chin. Gelan was vaguely aware of Wynhod and Krijero stroking her elsewhere, of her breath quickening under the clan’s combined attentions. He concentrated on learning all he could about her, unconcerned with what the others did.

The Dramok slid his hand around Dani’s throat, letting her feel his authoritative grip on the slender column. Her mouth went slack, her face softened. Was it fear or desire that greeted his control? Gelan leaned close to whisper in her ear. “You are mine. This body is mine. I will do with it as I please, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

She moaned gently, as lovely a sigh as a man could hope for. “Yes, Dramok Gelan.” No tremor marred the words, and he felt her pulse leap in her throat. Despite the coolness of the room, she had a light sheen of perspiration.

Definitely desire.

Gelan’s hand drifted down between her lovely little breasts. Wynhod gently circled the nipple of one with his thumb, making it tight and rigid. He smirked at Gelan, his enjoyment and arousal blatant. The Dramok returned the leer. The Earther girl was making their long overdue vacation one for the books.

Krijero drew slow circles with his fingertips over Dani’s stomach, his hand brushing the lower parts of her breasts at the top of its loop and just missing her slit when it descended. Gelan watched with fascination at how the slight roundness of her lower abdomen trembled, especially when the Imdiko ran the tip of his tongue over the cup of her belly button. Tiny whimpers tinged her breath.

Gelan stepped around, inhaling the clean, slightly salty scent of the Earther slave. He stopped behind her, admiring the long, lean look of her back, the sweet curve of her spine, and the lush pale orbs of her buttocks. That round backside begged to be spanked until it turned as pink as her nipples. His hand actually itched to make her flesh fiery hot. She had said no to severe pain only. The sting of a firm spanking might be to her liking. He knew he would enjoy giving it to her.

For now, he was content to keep exploring.

Starting at Dani’s wrists, he stroked down her raised arms, his calloused hands rasping softly against her smooth flesh. Farther down, his fingers brushed lightly over the concave dips of her armpits. She tightened with a breathless giggle. One corner of his mouth lifted, and he danced his fingers over her pits again. She squealed.

“That tickles!”

Krijero chuffed laughter in front of Dani. Gelan kissed the tender cup of her ear in apology and continued exploring what other delightful reactions he could discover.

Her stretched posture exposed the twin ladders of her ribs, and Gelan inspected them, musing at how fragile she seemed. He feared he could crush her without using even half his strength, and a sudden urge to protect the delicate Earther came over him. How was it her kind had proliferated before the war when the Kalquorians, so large and strong and technologically advanced, had waned until extinction loomed on the horizon?

Gelan took his mind from dark thoughts, determined to enjoy this sweet morsel until they both fell from exhaustion. He wasn’t much for philosophical rumination anyway. The Dramok dealt in cold, hard facts, a boon to his police work when he’d been an investigator.

The curve of Dani’s spine beckoned. Too delightful to resist, Gelan accepted the invitation and ran his tongue down from where it joined to her skull to the sweet crevice of her buttocks. Her drawn-out groan was a pleasure to his ears.

Kneeling behind her, Gelan spread his hands out over her mounds. He squeezed, feeling how pliable her flesh was, how easy to grip. Stifling a moan of hunger, he spread the cheeks apart, opening her as much as he could. The tight bud of her anus was revealed, and a spasm of want tightened his groin. He wondered if she’d been taken there yet. For Earthers, such pleasures were the ultimate taboo, one that even Dani might be reluctant to yield to.

He wet his thumb in his mouth and gently circled the aperture. Dani’s breath caught, and her most secret flesh tightened. Gelan continued the light touch, swirling around the orifice without attempting to breach its defenses. After a few moments of this play, the Earther relaxed a little. He was relieved at her acquiescence. She hadn’t called a halt to the clandestine exploration as he’d expected her to.

Dani was just full of pleasant surprises.

She warbled a cry, and Gelan leaned to see what the others were doing without pausing from teasing the girl’s flesh.

Wynhod had captured one swollen reddened nipple between his teeth and flicked the tip hard with his tongue while his hand worked her other peak. Krijero stroked her nether lips, spreading honeyed wetness over her distended clit. It was hard to say which of them had elicited the cry. Dani’s every breath now ended in a whimper, and the sounds were getting louder.

Gelan chuckled. She’d scream her throat raw before they were done with her.

• • •

In the darkness behind the blindfold, Dani’s world swirled with pleasure. Desire continuously threatened to bloom into explosion without quite making it. The bliss was agony, something she’d never experienced before.

A rough mouth and hands tormented her breasts with zings of sensation that alternated between slight twinges of pain and heated ecstasy. The teacup mounds fit perfectly in the devouring maw of the man torturing her.

Another mouth and pair of hands visited similar delights to her wide open aching sex. Fingers moved in and out of her core, using her roughly one moment, gently the next. Every now and then her clit received attention. She never knew whether the rough, rasping tongue would flick over the distended nub, or if teeth would carefully close over it in a heart stopping nip, or if lips would surround it to suck hard with pressure that threatened to drive her insane. Each time the swollen flesh was teased, she came right to the brink of climax, only to be denied with a cruelty that left her reeling.

The third pair of hands held her buttocks apart, and a calloused digit teased the rim of her anus. At first Dani had feared the Kalquorian back there intended to penetrate her, but he seemed content with stroking the tight entrance. After a few moments, she’d relaxed, amazed at the sensations she received from that part of her anatomy. She’d never realized how sensitive it was until now. Maybe it was the intoxicant that made every touch a taste of heaven?

She was a little horrified to find herself wondering what it would be like to have a man put his cock in her there. The rumors of how Kalquorian men were endowed had dismayed her before, but she’d dismissed them as religious poppycock, just another ruse to enslave the minds of the masses with fear. Too bad, because she was beginning to wonder what it would feel like.

She’d have to add no Kalquorians biting her to her list of no-no’s in her contract. Her brain was turning to jelly under the influence, making her contemplate things too abhorrent even for a free spirit such as herself.

But a ban on Kalquorians at all was already in her contract. God, this was confusing.

The warm mouth covered her clitoris again, and the tiny part of her mind still capable of thinking disappeared in a wash of elation. Gentle suction tore a cry from Dani’s throat. Bliss swelled in her belly, expanded, and here she was on the precipice, ready to tumble over…

The mouth disappeared, leaving her tottering on the edge, reaching, grasping, trying to find completion. But the sweet blooming receded, and she couldn’t claim it. A sob escaped. “Please…”

Before she could finish voicing her plea, the thumb that had been skirting her tight rosebud pressed in, slowly entering her taboo passage.

Dani gasped. Panic asserted itself, and she fought the suspension field, trying to get away from the intrusion. Her inability to move drove the terror higher, leaving her unable to remember the word they’d given her, the word that would stop everything.

Trapped. Unable to resist. Even her father’s money and influence wouldn’t save her if she got caught like this, allowing the most illegal of touches, the most profane of acts. She’d be mutilated, tortured, imprisoned, executed.

Teeth scraped one nipple then the other. Another set seized her clit, holding it imprisoned for the tongue that lashed it unmercifully. Heat suffused every cell of Dani’s body, erasing the horror that had sublimated the euphoria for a few hellish seconds. Her entire being seized, and she strained for the orgasm that galloped headlong towards her.

Then the mouths were gone, leaving her desolate with incredible longing once more.

“Nooo,” she cried, desperate to capture completion. She’d go mad if they didn’t let her climax!

Masculine chuckles answered, demonic laughter of the beasts that tormented her. Now it was all hands, clutching her breasts in meaty paws, fingers plunging in and out of her womanhood, the thick thumb drawing gently out of her anus and pressing in again.

As impending climax retreated, Dani realized how good the unwanted rear end penetration felt. How incredible the sensation was, the heady pleasure it gave. She’d never felt its like.

Supposedly, receiving pleasure like this would damn her to Hell. Dani had news for the vanished Church and government leaders. Hell felt a whole lot like paradise to her.

When the thumb disappeared, she whimpered a protest. Gelan’s rumbling bass spoke in guttural bursts for a moment, and the fingers in her front sheath also left her body. Before Dani could voice a complaint, other fingers took their place, wetting themselves in her honey. Then they were gone, replaced by the first set of fingers once more.

She had no idea why the Kalquorians were playing musical fingers with her pussy until a slick digit picked up where the thumb had left off. She sighed delight as her back passage was filled again.

Someone sucked her left breast into his mouth. The cat-scratchy tongue laved her soft flesh, curling around her areola with a dexterity that amazed. Her other nipple was pinched almost cruelly, mixing pain with the delight. The sensations sent a bolt of desire down to her now-abandoned clit. Dani was barely aware that she moaned nonstop now.

A low hum joined her sounds of bliss. It took a moment for her to recognize the sound as one of the vibrating toys the room was equipped with. The next instant, the buzzing surface pressed against her clit.

Ecstasy rocketed through her body for an instant, and then the vibrator fell away. Dani fought to thrust her hips after the retreating toy, but there was no give to the field that held her helpless. She wailed.

A second finger entered her backside, amping up the intense pleasure she felt there. Again orgasm threatened. The fingers simply stayed there, imbedded without moving anymore. The climax slid away, its promise unfulfilled.

Teeth nipped the peak of one breast. Dani shrieked with need.

The hum moved between her legs again, and fingers plunged in and out of both her entrances as the mouth at her breast sucked the mound in deep. The dark abyss behind the blindfold brightened, her body clenched, reached…

The fingers inside her stilled, and the mouth and vibrator disappeared. Her womb managed one tiny spasm that relieved none of the tension singing through her.

“Damn you!” she screamed. “Stop teasing me!”

“Wrong answer.” Wynhod’s silken tone, coming from in front of her, had an undercurrent of displeasure. A stinging slap cracked against one throbbing breast, and Dani’s insides clenched. Every single sensation invited the cataclysm they wouldn’t give her, even the punishing ones.

Gelan’s voice came from behind. “You are in no position to make demands. You may ask us very nicely, little Earther. We might consider giving you release if you behave like a good girl.”

The parental tone grated on her nerves despite the intoxicated arousal that screamed for her to give them what they wanted. Who the hell did that Dramok think he was anyway? “Good girl? I’m a prostitute, you big, stupid ape. If you want a good girl, go to a convent.”

As the words left her mouth, Dani regretted her impulsiveness. The silence that hung in the air told her she was in trouble.

“She needs discipline,” Wynhod growled.

Gelan: “Indeed. Let’s show her how gentle we’ve been up to now.”

They went at her hard then, and the next few minutes were an eternity of exquisite torture. Dani had never imagined sensual desire could be as terrible a weapon as pain, but the Kalquorians wielded it with precision. A beating might have been easier to bear.

She screamed into a hard mouth that sealed over hers, the tongue plunging in as if to rape her throat. Hands alternated between spanking her breasts and pleasuring them until the line between delight and agony disappeared, becoming intense sensation that barreled straight to her clit. Fingers slid in and out of her anus, evoking terrible bliss of the forbidden. Three fingers thrust in and out of her vagina, discovering the sensitive nest of nerves at the front of the channel and setting fire to her clutching sheath. The vibrator hummed against her nubbin, driving her mad with primitive want.

Every time Dani neared elation, just as it was within her grasp, the men withdrew, leaving her crying and helpless. After three rounds of torment, all her defenses fled, leaving her broken with need. Pride was only a memory, an unwanted virtue in the wake of such persecution.

“Please,” she sobbed. “Please.”

“What do you think?” Krijero’s voice was soft with contemplation.

Wynhod: “I don’t think she’s quite there yet.”

Gelan: “I agree. Let’s continue.”

They went at her again, ignoring her cries. Mouths, hands, and vibrator consumed her world, sending her effortlessly into the stratosphere, letting her feel the glorious dissolution that was hers. If. They’d. Only. Go. Just. One. Second. Longer…

They pulled away again.

Harsh, ugly noises ratcheted from Dani’s throat as she cried. Her body thrummed with painful need. It hurt. It actually hurt.

“Look at this.” Krijero’s voice drifted through her sobs.

Wynhod’s cruel chuckle rang in her ears. “Her losom is redder than her hair.”

“Swollen too.” Gelan’s tone was appreciative. “I think it’s time. Dani?”

She was crying too hard to answer him. Her mouth, tender from the bruising kisses, wouldn’t work.

But the Dramok wasn’t going to let her off the hook. “Dani. Answer me.”

The command he spoke with helped her remember how to talk. Her voice tiny and broken, she hiccupped, “Yes, Dramok Gelan?”

“Do you want us?”

“Yes, yes, Dramok Gelan. Please.”

“Say it.”

“I want you. Please, anything. It hurts. Please.”

The blindfold was pulled off. Dani blinked in the harsh light spotlighting her suspended body. The three Kalquorians stood before her, massive creatures, beautiful and terrible all at once.

Gelan smiled at her. “Then you shall have us.”

They stripped their shirts off, their muscular torsos a feast for Dani’s hungry eyes. She thought about asking them to free her arms so she might touch them, worship their wide shoulders, chests, and abdomens. But her mouth had already gotten her in so much trouble. If they decided to torture her again, she’d go insane.

Shoes and boots went next, flung uncaringly across the floor. Then the close-fitting black pants, revealing them in all their glory. Dani’s heart nearly stopped.

The rumors had been true.

Each man had two penises, one behind the other. The ones in front were large, the biggest she’d ever seen. About an inch or two behind were smaller, more regular-sized cocks of Earther males. The tapered, bullet-shaped organs gleamed in the light, as if wet.

Dani shuddered in fearful anticipation. Her mouth was definitely working again, chattering with a mind of its own. “Oh God, oh God, oh Jesus, Mohammed and Moses!”

Gelan stepped close, wrapping his big arms around her comfortingly. He gently kissed her and stroked her hair. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Have you never been possessed front and back before?”

Dani shook her head, feeling his twin lengths pressing against her. They were definitely wet, as if he’d already taken a dip inside her. “I’ve never had anything that big. And never, never back there.”

“Are you willing to try? You can say sholt at any time.” Gelan’s hands drifted over her body with a light touch, bringing her still overwrought senses tingling anew.

Dani needed release. They’d riled her body up to the point where she couldn’t think of anything but possession and climax. Even the sight of their double endowments and knowing what they would do to her with them hadn’t shut the need down. Perhaps it was the intoxicant still in her system that made her senses greedy with want, but she craved climax. The ache of emptiness knew no compromise.

Drawing a shaky breath, Dani said, “You promise you’ll stop if I say to? Really?”

“Look in my eyes, Dani.” Gelan’s face was serious, and she saw no hint of lie in his demeanor. She’d known a lot of liars, nothing but liars in fact, but if he was putting her on she couldn’t find any hint of it.

“All right.”

Gelan smiled, and Dani’s heart thumped painfully at the sight. Alien or not, enemy of her race or not, he was stunning to look at. The sight of that handsome face and the feel of his hands on her body brought her to full arousal once more.

He growled something in his guttural language, and the field around her lessened a little, became not so solid while still keeping her suspended in the air. Gelan was able to move her legs, and he did so, wrapping them around his waist and tilting her pelvis up. Now she was in position for his first thrust. He kept one arm wrapped around her while the other adjusted his sexes to home in on their intended orifices.

Dani tensed to feel him so big and eager, ready to plunge in. Gelan shook his head at her.

“Easy, little fighter. We will go gently this time.”

Dani closed her eyes against his intense stare and forced herself to relax. It was just sex. This was her job, no matter how unpleasant it might be. She could get through this.

Gelan pressed into her. The tips of his cocks slipped in easily, eased by her wetness and his. He took her slowly, letting her feel how he grew thicker and thicker, filling her swollen, sensitive tissues. The ache of her passion, ignited by the play they’d subjected her to only minutes before, returned with a vengeance. Feeling the massive Kalquorian’s penetration, the sensation of being taken front and back, the heady pleasure of his bigger cock in her womanhood and the unaccustomed but incredible delight of pressure in her anus took Dani back to that trembling edge of orgasm.

She tipped over.

A thunderclap of ecstasy seized her body, detonated her in a lightning flash of elation. Dani was suddenly caught in an epic storm of climax, her insides heaving mightily, threatening to burst out of the confines of her body. Any pleasure of intimate contact she’d ever known before was dwarfed, made miniscule by this gargantuan rapture. She shrieked in the maelstrom’s frenzy, tossed to and fro in its grip. And it went on and on, fed by the man opening her wide, working himself in and out. The friction fed the cataclysm, repeating it time and again until Dani dissolved into the tempest, torn apart by the gale.

At some point she heard an animal’s roar break through the raging storm, and another pulse joined with her convulsing insides. At last the tumult receded, and Dani discovered herself in Gelan’s arms once more. The alien gasped, as if he’d fought his way through the fury to rescue her from its beautiful clutches. She shuddered, lessening spasms licking through her as she returned to stable ground.

“What did you do to me?” Dani whispered, her voice ragged from screaming.

Gelan choked out breathless laughter. “I could ask you the same thing. I can die a happy man now.”

Wynhod’s voice came from behind him, sounding awed. “Perhaps you’ll untangle yourself from her before you expire? I don’t know about Krijero, but I’m in a great deal of need.”

Gelan snorted, but he managed to pull Dani’s legs apart, freeing himself from her desperate grip. He drew his deeply imbedded sexes from her body. Dani groaned as the friction of his leaving sent a flare of desire through her belly. Good heavens, there was no way she was going to climax again, not after that insane ride.

Gelan staggered back and sat heavily on the floor, and Wynhod stepped forward. His dark gaze and the sight of his readiness for her made Dani’s heart skip a beat and her insides flex with renewed eagerness.

No way. She could not possibly be ready for another round.

Ready or not, Wynhod was coming for her, and under that heated stare, Dani’s sex responded with a rush of wetness. She gasped in mingled arousal and surprise.

The Nobek wrapped her in his arms, and his prods were hot enough to burn her belly where they touched. She whimpered. He growled.

“Field, release subject,” Wynhod said.

Dani’s body went heavy as the suspension field disappeared. She sagged bonelessly in the Kalquorian’s arms, her head lolling back. Wynhod settled her cheek against his shoulder and carried her away from the platform.

Dani hoped the fierce alien would be gentle whatever his plans for her might be. Reacquainted with the weight of gravity and still trembling from the most intense orgasm of her life, she had no strength to resist him.

Wynhod brought her to the table and turned her so that she lay on her stomach. Much like the massage table she’d enjoyed at the secret spa back on Earth, it featured a padded headrest circling a hole for her face. Due to the intimate nature of massages, Earth’s Church-ruled government had outlawed them except when needed for medical rehabilitation.

Prestige allowed for pleasures not afforded the middle and lower classes, pleasures Dani had taken full advantage of with no sense of guilt.

The massage tables on Earth hadn’t been outfitted with restraining straps like this one. Once Wynhod had settled her face comfortably into the padded hole, he busied himself rendering her helpless once more. Silken bonds fixed her wrists and ankles to the table legs. The Kalquorian also strapped her to the table at the middle of her back. The table top ended at her waist, leaving her rear end suspended in midair, her legs spread open for his pleasure.

“Laxan?” Krijero asked.

“I think she’s stretched enough for it to not be too uncomfortable,” Wynhod said. “She could do with a little more relaxation, though.”

His big warm hands seized her shoulders and tightened. Then he loosened his grip, and tightened again, gently rubbing the muscles. Dani sighed and closed her eyes at the unexpected treat. It had been a long time since her last massage, and the Nobek was a master at it.

“I thought you were about to explode,” Gelan chuckled.

Wynhod’s voice was every bit as relaxing as his manipulations. “I intend to enjoy our little fighter, not lose control with the first thrust. This will calm us both down.”

Dani had no problem with that. Wynhod had magic hands, and she was sure no one had ever received a better rubdown than the one he treated her to now.

The Kalquorian was thorough. He massaged her from scalp to toes, untying knot after knot of stored tension. Dani floated along, euphoric despite the intoxicant wearing off. Her body became liquid beneath the knowledgeable fingers of the Nobek until she thought she might flow right off the table. She drowsed under the warm, strong hands, lulled by the comfort he gave. The hardships she’d endured the last year seemed far away.

When Wynhod finished, Dani was drifting on a sea of quiet bliss. She could lie here forever, she thought.

“Are you still awake?” The velvet voice seemed to drift as if on a lazy breeze. The big, lovely hands settled on her buttocks, parting them.

“Hmmf.” Dani didn’t want to expend the effort required to talk.

Deep laughter rolled over her. Even the hint of danger in the tone couldn’t rouse her. “You are ready, my little lovely. Hopefully you will enjoy this as much as I.”

Torpid, Dani thought, do whatever you want. As long as I don’t have to move, you can dance the watusi for all I care.

Something hard, slick, and hot touched her anus. Pressed against it. Began to slide in.

Mr. Magic Fingers. It’s okay. I found out I like that.

The intrusion expanded. A thrum of pleasure at the invasion awoke. He was using two fingers. No, make that three. Almost as wide as Gelan’s smaller cock. That was fine too.

A nudge at her womanhood. Wynhod’s fist was there, adjusting himself to enter her. The length pierced her petals as the pressure and girth in her tighter channel grew.

Thick, thick fingers. Anymore, and it might get uncomfortable. How long are his fingers, anyway?

Her rear sheath grudgingly expanded to accept what Wynhod eased into it. It wasn’t his fingers.

Dani’s eyes opened wide. She didn’t see the thin, dark carpet beneath the table. She saw how Wynhod had looked when his pants had been stripped away, the long, thick front organ she’d known would fill her pussy more than any man who’d had her before.

He was putting that thing in her ass.

“Wait,” she whimpered, her body tensing. The slight ache became painful.

The Nobek stopped immediately. “Relax, Dani.”

“It hurts. I can’t do this,” she said, her voice getting higher with panic.

“It only hurts because you tensed up. Calm down and ease your muscles.”

Motion surrounded her, and two more pairs of hands were stroking the back of her head and her shoulders. “You’re all right, little Earther,” Gelan’s voice soothed. “Just make yourself go limp again. If it’s still too much, he’ll stop.”

“I just want you to try, Danielle.” Wynhod encouraged her. “Try for me, sweetling. You can say sholt at any time and I won’t go any further.”

Dani shuddered. That word that would make everything stop was on the tip of her tongue, but this was a paying customer. She had to try. She tightened her hands into fists, willing all her tension into them, away from her tormented backside. For a wonder, the worst of the pain ebbed immediately, leaving a slight ache and a heat that almost felt good.

“Good girl. That’s much better. Are you all right?”

Did she really hear concern in the fierce Nobek’s voice? Was he actually interested in her comfort?

“Better,” she said, something inside her basking in that note of care in his tone. The ache had diminished, and warm arousal, much like when she’d accepted Gelan’s smaller member there, had replaced it for the most part. Heaven help her, it actually felt good.

“I’m okay now. I’m sorry I interrupted you, Nobek Wynhod.”

His hands caressed her back and ass. “Don’t apologize, Dani. Laxan for the first time can be frightening. I would have warned you what I was going to do, but I thought if you were relaxed and unaware at first, it would go easier.”

The usually silent Krijero spoke up. “You’re sure you’re all right now?”

The sensation of being taken in this most profane manner, of flaunting all the Church had said was right and decent, enhanced Dani’s growing passion. With stunned amusement, she realized she was more than all right. She was enjoying this.

Hand me that forbidden fruit, you poisonous serpent. I’ve never refused a bite before.

To the Kalquorians she said, “I’m good, thanks. I’m ready to continue.”

“She is.” Wynhod growled with unconcealed pleasure. “She’s extremely wet right now.”

“Then let’s leave them to it, Krijero.” Gelan sounded delighted with her, and Dani glowed in his approval.

She heard them move away, and Wynhod resumed pressing his rigid lengths into her warmth. As he went deeper and deeper, the ache of her anus returned, but as long as she stayed relaxed it wasn’t bad at all. The arousal Dani felt at giving herself up to the Nobek, at allowing the taboo possession and fulfilling his sinful urges increased, transmuting the slight discomfort into heady pleasure. A pleasure that expanded by leaps and bounds and left her gasping with eagerness.

Laxan felt pretty damned good, in fact. Dani’s body spasmed.

“Easy,” Wynhod sighed. “Not yet, my little fighter. You’ll take me with you.”

Dani forced herself to breathe evenly. She tried to ignore how wonderful the alien’s possession felt, tried to concentrate on the nap of the floor covering beneath her. That wasn’t easy when her eyes were practically rolling back in her skull with sensation.

I never imagined anything like this was possible.

Wynhod stopped, his groin pressed against her. His fingertips skated over her back, caressing, giving her that sweet illusion he cared for her more than as a temporary playmate.

“I’m all the way inside you, Dani,” he growled. “You are so tight around me. I have no words to tell you how good you feel. Thank you for giving me the pleasure of your body.”

Dani wanted to tell him the pleasure was all hers, but she’d lost the ability to speak again. All she could do was warble her agreement.

Wynhod reversed course, pulling free until only the bullet tips of his cocks remained inside. He set up a gentle, unhurried rhythm, moving in and out of her body with excruciating thoroughness.

Dani groaned at the myriad of sensations Wynhod’s lovemaking engendered. First and foremost was the enthralling friction of his backdoor invasion. Secondly, the fullness in both orifices was glorious, the pressure against every interior surface pure delight. That pressure bore down on the cluster of nerves in her intimate sleeve, making excitement balloon hugely within. When he circled her clit with wet fingertips, it galvanized her entire body, making her stiffen and strain against her bonds.

Not being able to move, feeling how helpless she was against the Nobek’s sweet assault, made everything in Dani’s core spiral tight. Her voice thin in a breathless scream, she managed to beg, “Please, please, I need to come.”

“Not yet,” the implacable Wynhod commanded. “I want you to hold off, Danielle.”

She wailed a small protest. Her hands clutched the table legs they were strapped to as she fought the climax that built higher and higher. Her body shuddered with the effort of struggling against ecstatic oblivion.

Wynhod moved a little faster, his thrusts growing stronger in small increments. The increased friction coiled her need ever more taut, the stress fraying her control until Dani hung on by only the thinnest thread. She wasn’t going to make it.

She sobbed unselfconsciously, tears dripping from her eyes to the floor below. Her entire world was a pinpoint now; concentrated on the burgeoning elation in her lower body and the herculean effort of keeping it contained. Her tenuous grasp on control slipped, and a tiny spasm licked through her belly. The rapture swelled, fighting to break loose.

Dani’s wail burst from her throat. “Oh, pleeeeese…”

Wynhod thumped hard against her and his fingers seized her throbbing pearl. “Now Dani!” he grated, the velvet-softness of his voice lost in effort.

Her lower regions ignited in an inferno, the explosion carrying all the way to her fingertips and toes. Had she been capable of coherent thought, Dani might have expected her hair to smoke from the conflagration. Every cell was alight. Her body pulsed with continued eruptions, fed by the now erratic thrusts of the roaring Wynhod.

Dani only regained a sense of reality once the Kalquorian drooped heavily over her, his gasps a windstorm in her ear. Her sex continued to convulse, as if determined to draw every last drop of seed the alien possessed, and Wynhod moaned with every squeeze.

At last she was able to stir a little under the warm blanket of male. The Nobek pushed himself off her with a grunt of effort. She felt him sway unsteadily behind her.

“Are you all right?” Krijero said, his voice choked with amusement.

“I can barely feel my legs.” If a voice could sound pale, that voice would be Wynhod’s. “How are you, my little fighter?”

“Wonderful,” Dani sighed.

He laughed and patted a buttock affectionately before gingerly disengaging from her still clinging body. Dani restrained a disappointed whimper to feel him go. She felt empty without Wynhod.

“Is there anything left for me?” Krijero was coming close.

Dani was strapped down tightly enough that she couldn’t raise her head to look at him, but the eagerness in his tone betrayed his arousal. She was tired after her exuberant responses to both Wynhod and Gelan, but the anticipation of being treated to more surprises and more astounding sex beat back the majority of the weariness.

“I will be happy to serve you as well, Imdiko Krijero,” she said.

“I’m glad to hear that, Dani,” he murmured. The loosening of her bonds let her know he was unstrapping her.

Once he’d freed her, Krijero helped Dani sit up on the table. His blue-purple eyes stared into hers. “How do you feel?” he asked.

“Okay.” She giggled. Okay was such an understatement. In the wake of the best sex of her life, okay was a flat out lie.

He smiled back at her. “Having fun?”

Dani couldn’t help but titter again. She was almost giddy from satisfaction. “A lot of fun.”

“I think my clanmates feel the same way. It was certainly enjoyable to watch.”

Dani realized her hands were loose, and she could finally touch one of the magnificent bodies. She ran her fingers over the alien’s throat, down to the expanse of his chest. “You’re all so beautiful. I wasn’t expecting you to look like this.”

Krijero cocked his head to one side. “No? I’m glad our appearance pleases you.”

“Very much.” Dani traced the tight circle of his nipples, delighted when they hardened under her fingertips. She leaned forward to capture one in her mouth, flicking her tongue over the tip. The alien caught his breath. His hands dove into her wavy hair to stroke her thick tresses.

Dani kissed her way across his chest to suckle gently on the other nipple. Krijero made a sound somewhere between a moan and a growl. His fists clenched in her hair.

The Kalquorian torso was proportionally longer in the waist than an Earther’s. Dani’s hands traveled down the two rows of abdominal muscles, fascinated by the blatant musculature. The aliens resembled her race in so many ways, enough to make her believe the rumors that the populations of Earth and Kalquor had descended from the same long-ago ancestors. Yet the differences were stark enough to render Krijero and his clanmates exotic. Dani’s love for novelty was being well fed tonight.

She slipped from her perch on the table so she could kiss her way down the splendid body before her. She’d had enough of not being able to run her hands and mouth all over the magnificent specimens who’d bought her time. Krijero stepped back, making room between himself and the table so that Dani could kneel before him.

She chose to ignore his turgid lengths for the moment, opting to concentrate on his thickly-muscled thighs instead. Good heavens, he could pull a full-size transport several miles cross country without flagging. Okay, that was probably an exaggeration, but he did have amazing legs.

Dani traced the granite inner thighs with fingertips and tongue, starting from one knee and working her way up until she was close enough to Krijero’s cocks to feel their heat. Then she switched to the other leg, repeating the delightful path up once more.

Dani leaned back to look over the Imdiko’s double endowment. Shaded slightly darker than the rest of his coffee-with-cream skin, they jutted straight out from his body. The cocks glistened wetly. In the spotlight that illuminated the table area, she easily saw a thick vein running the underside of each smooth organ, throbbing with Krijero’s pulse.

Her fingertips stroked the bottom of the smaller penis, enjoying the silky, slick feeling of the lubricated skin sheathing Krijero’s iron length. She caught the minute tremble her touch set off in the alien before her. Dani looked up to see him watching her, his lips parted and eyes dark.

“You’re amazing,” she said. The compliment wasn’t part of her service to him. She meant it.

Dani returned her attention to his sexes. Her hand closed over the smaller one. Its heat astounded her. All of his body seemed to run hotter than hers, and his cock was hottest of all. She pumped the organ in her fist, and Krijero shuddered from head to toe. His pulse thumped harder than ever.

Tilting her head to the side so the larger penis wouldn’t slide up her nose, Dani closed her mouth over the tip of the rear one. He had a spicy cinnamon-like flavor, which was a delightful surprise. Unlike its bigger twin, it had no opening. The Imdiko’s

breath caught, and his hands clutched her hair once more. His obvious excitement aroused Dani. Honey slid from her core to slicken her inner thighs.

Keeping the one hand wrapped around the base of the smaller cock, Dani grasped his front one with the other. Pressing it carefully upward and out of the way, she slid her mouth further down the alien’s second shaft, taking as much of him as she could. His groan rolled through the room. She whipped her tongue over the firm flesh before slipping most of it back out.

Dani worked her lips back and forth over Krijero for a few moments, listening to him moan a few words in his own language. He might have been speaking obscenities or calling to whatever pagan god his kind worshipped. Either way, she knew it was praise for her work. Her pussy warmed at the appreciation.

She released him from the prison of her mouth and leaned back again to consider the larger twin. A drop of whitish-pearlescent fluid depended from the opening at the tip. Dani wondered if Kalquorian seed tasted as good as the honey that exuded from their pores. Only one way to find out.

She extended her tongue to delicately accept Krijero’s offering. Catching the precious fluid, Dani rolled it around in her mouth. Cinnamon-spicy, sugar-sweet, and salty-savory all at once, it was a treat for the tastebuds. She wanted more.

Without any further preamble, Dani sucked the thick cock into her mouth, taking as much of Krijero as she could. He shouted and his whole body went rigid at the sudden assault, but she ignored him, greedily pumping him with hand and mouth.

The Imdiko seized either side of her head, forcing her to stop and withdrawing until only the tip of his penis remained in her grasping mouth. Dani whined a protest, working both lengths with her hands.

“Bind her wrists behind her back,” Krijero yelled. “I can’t hold off if she keeps this up.”

Masculine laughter answered him, but an instant later Dani’s hands were pulled free of the Imdiko. Soft cuffs wrapped around her wrists, then clipped together behind her back. She whined a protest.

A heavy hand smacked her rear, and she jumped at the sharp report and sting that suffused her buttocks with heat. “Behave yourself, little fighter,” Wynhod chuckled. “Don’t make us punish you.”

Instead of killing her arousal, the warmth from his chastisement only made desire grow. Dani wasn’t just wet with need now. She was soaked. Why would she react like that to punishment, she wondered? That was just weird.

She flicked her tongue over the tip of Krijero’s cock and rolled her eyes upward in supplication, hoping the gentle Imdiko would have mercy on her. What she saw on his face stopped her cold.

Krijero stared down at her, all traces of his sweet disposition gone. He looked every bit as dangerous as Wynhod. The cat pupils of his eyes had widened until the irises had all but disappeared in the blackness. His lips pulled back slightly, revealing his sharp fangs. The intensity of his gaze was that of an apex predator eyeing its next meal.

Terror and a swirl of unexpected craving mixed down low in Dani’s guts. She forgot to breathe.

One side of Krijero’s mouth lifted in a feral grin. “Now that’s the look of a scared but excited little girl. I like it.” His voice was a growl. “You will take what I offer, at the pace I dictate. You are mine to play with, not the other way around. Is that clear?”

Dani’s mouth formed the words, “Yes, Imdiko Krijero,” but under that black stare she had no voice. She trembled before him, helpless on her knees with her hands bound behind her back, her head caught in the clasp of his firm grip.

The suddenly fierce Kalquorian must have read her lips, because he acknowledged the answer with a jerk of a nod. “Open your mouth.”

Dani’s jaw dropped open for him without thought. No argument occurred to her, no protest. It was as if her ability to determine her own fate had been turned off with the flick of a switch.

• • •

Krijero stared at the pretty face of the Earther so close to his groin, at the amazing site of her lovely mouth waiting his pleasure. He couldn’t remember seeing anything so beautiful.

He’d almost given into the urge to give her what she’d obviously wanted moments before. The need to climax, to pump her mouth full of his juices, had been overwhelming. The heat and pressure of her sucking, the wicked joy of her silky tongue, the eager clutch of her hands on him had conspired to bring him close to submitting to her hunger. He ached fiercely from his self-denial.

But even the easygoing Imdiko breed didn’t hand over control to anyone who hadn’t proven dominance. Dani wasn’t alpha to him in any way, and Krijero’s natural Kalquorian instincts had forced him to call a halt to her demands.

His clan had bought and paid for her time. She belonged to him, not the other way around. His nature insisted he put her in her place.

The task promised to be very enjoyable, as long as he could hold out.

Krijero slowly inserted his turgid cock in the submissively waiting mouth, sliding it delicately over the velvet texture of Dani’s tongue. The sight and feel forced him to pause before he got very far. The sensation of warmth, the vision of the obedient female serving his needs threatened to undo him after all. His guts were a clenched fist, coiling tight at pleasure’s insistence on being achieved. He couldn’t do that. As much as his very being insisted he prove mastery over Dani, it also demanded he satisfy her as well. To suggest Krijero take pleasure without providing it in kind was akin to proposing he cut both his cocks off. Such a thing was simply unthinkable.

After a moment, he slid further in. His breath came harshly. Did this Earther have any idea of how beautiful she was? She must; no one could possibly miss it. With her expressive brown eyes rolled back to gaze at his face, her high cheekbones that made her facial structure so striking, and her plump berry-shaded lips clutched around his slowly disappearing length, she was a goddess to be worshipped.

Krijero vowed that even if it killed him, he would prove himself a worthy supplicant. It wouldn’t be easy given how well his clanmates had already served her, but he would somehow make it happen.

He’d filled her mouth with half of himself before drawing back. Her tongue pressed the underside of his cock. Somehow she knew it felt best there against that fiercely pounding vein that ran its length. He couldn’t suppress the groan her talent incited.

He pushed into Dani’s mouth again, pressing more in before pulling all but the tip back out. With each insertion he went a little farther, seeing how much she could take. He knew his species tended to be more endowed than Earther males, not that that was always an advantage with the tiny Earther women. Dani was the tallest of her race’s gender that he’d seen, but she was still delicate in comparison to the Kalquorians. He proceeded with every caution.

She managed all but three inches of him, taking him down into the upper part of her throat before gagging harshly. Krijero immediately pulled out, allowing her to recover. “Are you all right, little one?”

Dani nodded, her expression shamefaced. “I’m sorry. I’ve never had anyone so big this way.”

He gently rubbed her temples with his thumbs. “You’re doing fine. I’m enjoying this very much.”

She smiled up at him, like a child basking in a parent’s praise. By the ancestors, she made his heart ache when her face lit up like that. His voice husky, Krijero asked, “Are you ready to continue?”

“Yes, Imdiko.”

Krijero went back to fucking the luscious creature’s mouth, taking care to not push beyond her limits. His second cock rubbed up and down the outside of her throat, leaving a damp trail as his larger one dove in and out of the wet warmth. He’d never known such perfection as this Earther. More than ever he wanted to send his seed into her mouth and watch her throat work to swallow it. The urge to do so whispered seductively to him. But that would be ignoring her needs in favor of his own. Not acceptable.

They had her all night, however. At some point, perhaps while one of his clanmates satisfied her, he would revisit her mouth and experience that joy.

For now Krijero had made his point that he possessed control over Dani. She would think twice before exerting her own selfish demands on him again. It was time to reward her for acquiescing so well and to relieve the sweet agony of his desire.

Krijero reluctantly stepped back, pulling himself free of Dani’s gently clinging lips.

• • •

When the Imdiko abandoned his lovely assault on her mouth and throat, Dani keened with loss. She’d enjoyed the intimacy of the contact, adored watching the way his face worked with passion as she served him. She may have been rendered physically helpless, but Krijero had demonstrated the control she wielded over him. He gave her a sense of being both powerless and yet powerful all at once. It should have confused her, but instead it felt right somehow.

She knew it was a lie, but Dani basked in the sense of belonging with someone. There was no real harm in pretending for a few precious moments.

Krijero bent low to seize her around the waist. He lifted her up so they were face to face, and Dani instinctively wrapped her legs around him. His sexes nudged her bottom parts and she wiggled with delight. Having him make love to her would definitely make up for being denied the oral pleasure.

“I like the enthusiasm,” he chuckled. He supported her with one arm as he reached beneath to adjust himself for entrance.

“Service with a smile,” Dani grinned. Krijero was back to being sweet and agreeable, his previous aura of danger no longer in evidence. She wondered which aspect got her hotter. Both sides of the Imdiko had their points.

His sexes prodded hers. He put both arms around her, holding her tight to his chest. The Kalquorian looked into her eyes, his smile fading as he regarded her with more seriousness. Dani wondered at the sadness she thought she saw in that pretty blue-purple gaze that held her as strongly as his arms.

Krijero didn’t give her much time to contemplate the poignant expression. His mouth seized hers, kissing her with a thoroughness that managed to be tender as well. She lost herself in the sweetness of his mouth, thinking this must be how a man who loved a woman would kiss. The quiet passion of it curled her toes.

The alien’s thrust was sudden and unexpected, and Dani cried out into his mouth with surprise, then again as her body abruptly took flight, coming close to instantaneous orgasm. Her body opened to Krijero as if it had been made for his body’s specifications, and Dani galloped headlong towards climax.

His mouth clung to hers as if sealed permanently, his grunts swirling with her cries. His arms drove her up and down over his thick staves while his hips jackhammered against her. Dani clutched his buttocks with her legs, driving him even harder into her clutching passages.

She had a breath and a half before she detonated, shrieking and jerking in the grip of the powerful Imdiko. They drove mightily, as if determined to shatter themselves against each other. Dani’s elation rose, crested, fell, and rose again. She fought the cuffs

holding her arms bound behind her, desperate to clutch Krijero, to have the leverage to ride him harder still. She screamed her frustration and glee with her plight, maddened and ecstatic all at once.

Krijero finally tore his mouth from hers. Throwing his head back, he roared at the ceiling, climax ripping through his straining body. His cock jerked and throbbed inside Dani’s sheath, pouring liquid exhilaration into her womb. He thudded even more desperately into her and roared again.

The Imdiko staggered, and Gelan and Wynhod were there to catch them both, gently lowering the fused pair to the floor with good-natured laughter. The pulses flowing through Dani’s belly quieted gradually, and she leaned against Krijero, snuggling her cheek against the hollow of his shoulder. She closed her eyes, listening to his pants ease as he caught his breath.

The Kalquorians with their amazing bodies and carnal abilities had ruined everything, she thought ruefully. She was going to be spoiled for the rest of her customers from now on.

CHAPTER 3

Afternoon overtook morning in the city of Ler before Dani awoke the next day. A lovely cool breeze wafted into her room through the open window, along with the scents of food and the shouts of the open-air vendors. The whir of shuttle traffic and music from buskers of varying talents created the constant hum of activity Dani had grown used to hearing outside her room. She fingered the collar around her neck with its tracking device. Every slave wore one, preventing escape from their respective brothels. Should Dani be stupid enough to jump out her window and make a run for it, she’d be quickly caught, stripped bare in the market square, and beaten as an example to others contemplating such foolishness. Contracts were very serious business on Dantovon, religiously adhered to.

Only the brothel owner could unlock Dani’s collar. So the open window, more than large enough for her to wriggle out of, remained only a tease of the wide world outside her room.

Room? Try closet.

The tiny space wasn’t even the size of her walk-in closet at home in Wilmington, Delaware. The soft golden light filtering into the slave dorm couldn’t gentle the cramped space that afforded all the privacy Dani possessed. She slept on a thin bed mat on the stained nap of the flooring. Over her head hung four identical gray slave outfits in varying states of cleanliness. Laundry costs came out of Dani’s earnings, and she was careful to keep the clothing as unsullied as possible. She could usually stretch her outfits to last almost two weeks.

A small mirror and wash basin completed her lodgings. The showers and toilet facilities were shared amongst the slaves.

Dani stretched, noted slight aches and the aroma of cinnamon all over her body and sat up with a gasp. The night before returned, its hours and hours of pleasure with the Kalquorians replaying in detail in her mind.

Dani swallowed. Her body warmed with the memory of lovemaking beyond any she’d known before. With the enemy, no less. How far she had fallen to have entertained members of the race that had rendered Earth uninhabitable for who knew how many decades!

But they’d been so solicitous despite making no bones about being in absolute control over her. Kind, even. Her pleasure had seemed as important to them as their own. More important, perhaps.

“What strange men,” Dani whispered to herself. Where were the monsters, the evil demons they were reputed to be? She’d seen nothing of that, not even from the ferocious-seeming Wynhod. Had the Kalquorian invasion that ended in the nuclear

holocaust of Earth’s major cities really been as benign as they said? Had her own government been behind Armageddon, destroying the majority of the populace rather than accepting enemy occupation?

“Or is it just a story they told to gain sex?” Perhaps Earthers and Kalquorians weren’t so dissimilar after all. Scheming, lying, and throwing money around, just to get what they wanted. Dani snorted. Different planet, same song.

At least she knew the dance. She took comfort in that.

And the Kalquorians were great sex partners. The best she’d ever known. Dani shrugged off the guilt she felt at hoping they’d hire her again. She had to lay with clients anyway; they might as well be ones she enjoyed even if it made her a traitor to her people.

Hope got Dani to her feet, got her dressed. Maybe they’d already booked her for tonight. If they planned to see her again, they should have taken care of it before leaving at daybreak this morning. Her schedule filled fast. It was the blessing and curse of being such a rare commodity, a female Earther willing to have sex with anyone who paid her fee.

Dani left her cramped space, looking for breakfast, a shower, and to check tonight’s schedule. Like a child, the fingers on both her hands were crossed.

• • •

Wynhod traipsed the hot, humid jungle on the outskirts of the Dantovonian city of Ler, the current home of a very succulent Earther sex slave. Danielle Watson had not left his mind for a second since they’d departed the brothel that morning. He’d been amused at his body’s repeated response. The crotch of his black formsuit kept betraying the erections that swelled when he thought of the Earther’s scent, her warmth, her deliciously long body with those wide welcoming hips. Fucking her over and over had counted as one of the best nights of his life. Maybe the best night ever. He couldn’t wait to do it again.

As he trailed behind Gelan, Wynhod mentally shook his head. He’d never been so distracted. After one intoxicating night with Dani, he suspected Kalquor’s threatened extinction alone didn’t account for his race’s obsession to clan Earther women. He wondered if Dani was a typical example of her kind. If so, it was a wonder Kalquorian clans weren’t fighting to the death to gain Earther childbearers.

Wynhod made himself concentrate on making noise. Hunting down Dantovon’s monstrous sheclir demonstrated how silent he’d been trained to be. It took effort to not move noiselessly, even in the dense undergrowth. One of a Nobek’s first lessons was to stalk prey quietly. Capturing the brutal sheclir Gelan prized so highly was not like most big game in that you killed it as it came to kill you.

Wynhod looked at his Dramok’s wide back as Gelan stomped rhythmically through the jungle. He couldn’t see his leader’s face, but the Nobek knew the expression he wore; a vicious, fang-baring smile. One could almost feel sorry for the great burrowing creature the clan stalked. Gelan lived for the hunt, tracking and killing with a

ruthlessness that impressed and terrified all at once. Wynhod often wondered if his clanmate hadn’t been mis-classified. Gelan was a fine leader to be sure, but he certainly would have made a hell of a Nobek.

Krijero stomped behind them, his heavy tread not an attempt to lure in the sheclir. He stumbled occasionally, his muttered curses easily discernable to Wynhod’s sensitive hearing. The awkward Imdiko liked the outdoors as well as they did, but he preferred much quieter pursuits like fishing or hiking, which was on tomorrow’s itinerary. The vacation had been planned for all three to enjoy their hobbies of choice. Wynhod’s love for mountain climbing would be addressed later in the week. Dantovon’s Mount Trud was far steeper and a better challenge to his skills than the mountain the clan lived in back on Kalquor.

But first they had to catch and kill the sheclir, which swam the earth beneath them like a fish swam water. The sooner they accomplished that, the sooner they could return to the bright lights of Ler and the other delightful activities available.

A furred winged critter no bigger than his pinkie fluttered in front of his nose. As he batted it aside Wynhod griped to himself, “I hope this damned thing shows up soon. I’d like to get back to the city in a few hours.”

Gelan’s chuckle let him know the Dramok had overheard him. “Your impatience wouldn’t have anything to do with an Earther, would it?”

Wynhod couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face. Dani had been a revelation. He’d had the good fortune to bed one of the rare females of his own race, and even she hadn’t felt so good. Not so soft and clingy on the insides. “I admit, I’m reconsidering our decision to not clan a Matara.”

They reached a small clearing where the underbrush was only ankle-deep. Gelan halted forward progress, but he kept stomping in the monotonous rhythm that supposedly attracted the sheclir’s attention. Wynhod matched him.

Krijero’s attempts weren’t quite as precisely timed as his clanmates’ but Wynhod didn’t think the sheclir would mind. It would only care that a meal awaited it above ground. If there was a sheclir within twenty-five miles, it would find them, and the fight to kill or be killed would commence.

Krijero looked unhappy, and Wynhod knew it had nothing to do with the bloodthirsty beast that might be bearing down on them even now. The Imdiko’s protest proved him right. “There are too few Earther females to go around. I don’t see why we should drive ourselves crazy competing for such an unlikely prize.”

Wynhod found his most soothing tone. “No other clan is sniffing around our little fighter. It was only by accident that we found out she was here.”

“She doesn’t like us. What’s more, it would be prohibitively expensive to buy her contract.”

Gelan’s growly voice strove for gentleness. “We have the funds. It’s a thought, but let’s see what tonight brings us.”

Wynhod was secretly thrilled Gelan seemed agreeable about perhaps purchasing Dani from the brothel. But with Krijero looking unhappy, he kept his pleasure to himself.

He felt sorry for his Imdiko, clumsy not only physically but socially as well. It had taken over ten years of working with the psychologist to appreciate the man’s strong points, and even then it had been Gelan who recognized how perfect Krijero was for their clan. It took another three to prove themselves to the reluctant Imdiko, but it had been worth it.

Wynhod tried to find the right words to calm Krijero’s fears, to let him know potential rejection from Dani wouldn’t be the end of the universe. Before he could, a thrum of vibration traveled from the soles of his heavily booted feet to the top of his head. He froze, and so did the other two.

As one they resumed stomping, all slowly drawing their blades. A sheclir was coming fast to judge from the now shuddering ground. At Gelan’s nod, all three spread out in a triangle. The earth quaked, and a low roar announced the sheclir’s arrival within seconds. Wynhod trained his gaze on the ground in the space between the clan, but also made sure he could keep an eye on Krijero. He wouldn’t allow the Imdiko’s clumsiness to get him killed. No trophy was worth that.

The ground bucked and cracked, and suddenly the sheclir burst through the earth’s crust in an explosion of dirt and foliage. Its eyeless head blotted out the thick canopy of flora overhead. The maw of the monster stretched wide, capable of consuming all three Kalquorians in one bite. A ring of daggered teeth in its thinner throat gnashed in preparation of its meal. One claw, built more for tunneling than grasping, scrabbled at the edge of the hole it had created. Its soft, gray-green body was still buried out of sight.

As luck would have it, the sheclir scented Krijero first. Whipping its great head towards him with blinding speed, it homed in on the Imdiko with deadly accuracy. Wynhod yelled and launched himself at the creature.

As he landed on top of the thing’s head, it slammed into the ground where Krijero had stood. Fortunately, the Imdiko had been smart enough to run towards the sheclir, not away. The beast was used to prey trying to escape, not assault it. It had adjusted its attack to cover the ground it thought Krijero would flee towards. Instead of a mouthful of Kalquorian, the sheclir got a throatful of his knife. It shrieked loud enough to make Wynhod’s ears pop.

It took an hour for the clan to kill it. Sweating and cursing, the three were continuously bucked off the furious creature. Wynhod and his clanmates would spring back upon it, avoiding the hungry mouth by mere inches. They slashed at the meter-thick layer of fat that made up the sheclir’s skin to get at the vulnerable parts beneath. They were soon covered in greenish-yellow fluid that made hanging onto the monster even harder. Unused to being the prey and stupid beyond belief, the sheclir never tried to retreat into its tunnel. It battled them with mindless rage, its instincts as an unconquerable apex predator leading to its destruction.

At last it succumbed, mostly due to Gelan’s concentrated attacks on one spot midway down its throat. The massive head thudded to the ground, and a wheeze announced its final breath. The three men bellowed victory, their cries as animal as the sheclir’s had been. Gelan slapped a locator on the top of the thing’s head with a flourish. Dantovonian recovery crews would descend on the carcass, rendering the massive fat stores into needed fuel and butchering the meat to feed Ler’s inhabitants and tourists. The bones of the beast had too many uses to be catalogued. Nothing would go to waste.

Wynhod grinned at his clanmates, his heart still pounding from the glorious fight. It had been an amazing battle, one to be remembered for a long time. Before last night and Danielle Watson, he might have said it was as good as sex.

• • •

Dani couldn’t help but grin when she saw her schedule for the evening. Not only had Gelan’s clan scheduled a visit, they’d booked her entire shift. Her insides fluttered. The anticipation killed off the guilt of sleeping with the enemy. Well, mostly.

Pob’s irritating buzz interrupted happy thoughts. “I thought you didn’t like Kalquorians.”

Dani turned to face the owner of the brothel. With his skinny limbs and segmented face, he was no prettier to look at than his bitch of a sister. His lidless eye glared at her. She wasn’t impressed.

The Earther shrugged. “Husta booked them without my say-so, but I made the best of the situation. They paid a lot, so I’m letting it slide this time.”

Pob’s tongue flicked out. “I’m glad to hear you’re finally embracing practicality. They paid twice your rate for a whole night.” He buzzed, as if angry to be pleased with her for a change. “Make sure you prepare accordingly with pain inhibitors. I’m not losing your services for an entire day because those oversized beasts have worn your girl parts out.”

“Of course.” Dani had already treated herself for general soreness. She’d emerged from the night before uninjured, a testament to the care the clan had treated her with. She’d never been with such well-endowed men.

Switching subjects, she issued Pob his daily dose of complaints. “The last ration of fruits was spoiled.”

The Dantovonian jittered with irritation. “It’s always something, isn’t it? I was warned Earthers were more trouble than they’re worth.”

He’d found her to be high-maintenance, much more so than the other girls. Dani took pleasure in aggravating him with her needs. “What are you complaining about? It comes out of my earnings anyway.”

“It takes longer to get a return on my investment. Your needs are prohibitive.”

Dani clucked her tongue, shaking her head in mock disapproval. “I see. You’ve been betting on the Arena games again.” She fluffed her hair, dismissing Pob’s concerns. “Not my problem, boss. I’m not going to be much good to you when I’m down with a case of scurvy.”

She turned her back on him, sashaying out of the lounge before he could say something to wreck her good mood. She’d let him off easy today. There was so much more to whine about, but she preferred to spend her time getting ready for her clients. Dani had the urge to look her best for the Kalquorians.

Pob’s grumble followed her out of the room, brightening her day even further. “Damned needy female. Last Earther I put under contract.”

Dani smirked, happy to have put him out even just a little. If the men he owed for his bad wagers showed to rough him up, so much the better.

CHAPTER 4

Dani didn’t know whether to laugh or groan at herself for counting down the seconds until her shift began. Back on Earth, sex had been for rebellion’s sake, because she was bored, or to pretend she really mattered to someone else. Except for the first time, after which she was left feeling so that was it?, she’d never been so turned on.

Enemies or not, the Kalquorians had woke her body in ways Dani had never imagined. But the glorious climaxes had only been the icing on the cake. More than anything, with their focus on her pleasure, she’d felt cherished. Important. Cared for.

That more than anything brought her into the big playroom two minutes early. They were already waiting for her.

Dani made her smile casual, hiding how her pulse sped up to see the three men. “So here we are again. How is your vacation going?”

They bowed, as courtly as any Earther gentlemen she’d ever been introduced to. Gelan spoke first. “We are very well. You look beautiful, Matara Dani.”

“Matara?”

“That’s what we call women on our planet,” Krijero supplied. “The literal translation is ‘childbearer’. May I also offer my compliments on how lovely you are tonight?”

His praise sounded clumsy, but to Dani it seemed all the more sincere for its awkwardness. If a nearly seven-foot musclebound man could be a cutie-pie, Krijero fit the bill. His wavy hair was clean but rumpled, his eyes peeking through a cowlick that fell over them. He looked like he might trip over his own feet on occasion.

How sweet, Dani thought before remembering the firmer man the Imdiko had become last night when she’d tried to do things her way. He might be inept in the social niceties, but she’d be stupid to underestimate him.

Caution dampened her ardor for only a moment. Giving Krijero a genuine smile, Dani said, “Thank you for the kind words. What is your pleasure for this night, gentlemen?”

Wynhod’s velvet voice claimed her attention. “Let’s try this out.”

Dani saw he was fingering the harness hanging from the ceiling. It was a web of black straps and silver buckles, something akin to what a spider would catch a fly in. Dani’s mouth went dry and her heart sped up. She somehow managed to keep her voice light, points for her. “As you wish.”

The men crowded around her, pulling her bra and skirt off faster than she could comprehend. Dani gaped to see herself naked in a matter of moments. Before she could comment on their supernatural speed, they were lifting her into the harness and strapping her in.

She’d never been in the harness before, had never seen it used. It had seemed a confusing mass of hanging binds that she’d never hoped to figure out. However, the three aliens knew exactly what they were doing. They strapped and tied and wound until she really did feel like a fly in a spider’s web. Soon Dani lay horizontally in the network of leather-like straps, her wrists bound behind her neck, elbows outstretched and her thighs trussed wide with her knees bent almost to her shoulders. She pulled against the snare that held her trapped, testing as she always had to when tied up. She couldn’t move a muscle.

The men lowered her to the level of their groins. Dani shivered to see how ready they were. Their erections pushed hard at fitted pants as if the eager cocks would break through to get at her.

Gelan caressed her tiny breasts, lifted brazenly because of the way her arms were bound. He soon had the rosy tips erect and swollen tight, the calloused pads of his fingers rasping against the sensitive nubs. Occasionally he’d gently tweak them, making her jerk as sensation bolted from her nipples to her sex. He seemed to enjoy fitting the whole of her breasts in his palms, rubbing in slow circles. Dani liked how hot his hands were on her, the warmth spreading throughout her chest.

Wynhod traced her lips with one thumb as he stood over her head. He dipped the thick digit in her mouth occasionally, wetting it in the moist environs and spreading dampness over her lips. He growled softly when she sucked on his thumb, swirling her tongue sinuously over the invading appendage.

Krijero’s fingertips whispered over her inner thighs. He drew circles over her goosefleshed skin, coming close to but not quite touching her secret parts. Positioned between Dani’s wide-flung legs, his gaze drinking in her blatantly exposed womanhood, he murmured, “This harness definitely opens up possibilities.”

Dani couldn’t resist teasing him. “No pun intended, right?”

He glanced up at her face questioningly. She saw when he got the joke. His face lit in a grin, and he joined the other two men’s laughter.

“Very opened up. Very nice,” Wynhod agreed, pulling his shirt off.

The other two joined him in disrobing, and Dani greedily eyed the agreeable sight of three naked Kalquorians. They were magnificent in their blatant masculinity. Gelan was the bulkiest of the three, his shoulders and chest wide, his thighs thick with corded muscle. Krijero was the lankiest but still quite powerful. Wynhod’s build was somewhere between his clanmates’, looking both strong and streamlined. They were a feast for the eyes.

And I get to play with them all night, she reminded herself.

Wynhod stood behind her head once more, his hands busy with the harness. The straps holding her skull level with her body loosened, allowing the top of her head to slowly lower towards the floor. The Nobek’s twin prods were suddenly in her face at mouth level.

“Open, my pretty little fighter,” he said, lifting the larger organ out of the way.

Dani obeyed and closed her eyes in delight as the smaller cock slid into her mouth. That cinnamon-like flavor exploded in her mouth, prompting her to suck hard at his juices. The only thing that could be better is if Kalquorians tasted like chocolate, she thought. She moaned against his length as Wynhod thrust deep, using her in a most luscious fashion.

As lovely as having the delicious Kalquorian use her orally, it was nothing compared to feeling Krijero resume his place between her legs. His thumb dipped into her well, coming out slick. He rubbed her own wetness all around her clit, sending shocks of heat throughout her belly. They’d only just begun, and Dani was already tense with need.

Gelan played with her breasts, rubbing gently one moment, pinching her sensitive nipples hard the next. Pulses of warmth followed zings of pain. The sensations shot straight from the mounds to her clit, increasing the effects of Krijero’s teasing there. An open palm slapped one orb while the other was treated to a tender massage. Pleasure and ache mixed with each other, getting confused until Dani couldn’t separate the two.

Her vulnerability fed the arousal that swirled inside. The Kalquorians could do as they wished with her. She couldn’t even cry for help with Wynhod’s smaller cock working her mouth. Instead of frightening her, the helplessness excited her even more. Not prone to self-analysis, Dani simply accepted her desires without close examination. She dove into the wondrous possession without question.

“Open your mouth as wide as you can,” Wynhod said. His voice was breathy.

Dani followed his orders, eager for whatever he planned. The Nobek’s fist closed over both his shafts, holding them close together. The Earther thought, no way I can take both at once, but she yawned her mouth wide anyway. It was certainly worth the try.

Wynhod was indeed too thick to fit much more than the first few inches of his tapered penises between Dani’s stretched lips, but he seemed content with that amount, especially when she got her tongue involved. She wove the silky appendage all over the tips of his cocks, pausing from time to time to lash them with quick flicks. Her lover groaned in appreciation of her efforts.

Krijero continued to trace slow circles all around Dani’s clit with his thumb. He pressed his pelvis close, pushing slowly into her. Her pussy opened to him with ease, the pucker of her anus more reluctantly. Ache merged with arousal. The alien’s natural lubrication and tender pressure coaxed her less enthusiastic opening to be receptive to him. He was gentle but inflexible in the invasion of her tightest sleeve, making her accept what her body was so hesitant to offer. She trembled at the taking, both because of the discomfort and the fact she couldn’t deny him. Despite these issues, or perhaps because of them, arousal heightened until her belly was a molten pit of desire. Had Krijero’s thumb gifted the tip of her clit with the barest of touches, Dani would have climaxed in an instant.

And still the Imdiko drove steadily in, filling her with himself. The stretch to accommodate him swelled into intense pressure, making the pain secondary. Dani moaned around Wynhod’s cocks, caught up in a maelstrom of sensation too complex to categorize. Krijero made her take every sweet, tormenting inch of his double endowment. At last he encased himself fully within her secret flesh. Dani exulted in the possession.

Wynhod and Krijero rocked her back and forth between them, setting up a slow, constant rhythm that built her inner fires steadily higher. Meanwhile, Gelan added his mouth to the assault on her breasts, still alternating between torment and delight with lips, tongue and teeth. She thought he might devour her and welcomed it.

The men growled like animals as they took her. The bestial sounds increased the aura of danger and Dani’s excitement.

No wonder so many Earther women ran off to Kalquor before the war. These guys are amazing.

Her belly was curling into itself, twisting with agonized arousal. Tiny explosions of passion detonated, enhancing rather than relieving her need. Fucking her mouth, sucking and clutching her breasts, reaming her pussy and backside, the aliens drove her to the edge of cataclysm and held her there, not quite letting her realize the final apocalypse. Dani’s desperate cries joined their snarls.

Working in perfect choreography, Wynhod and Krijero increased their combined pace, pushing into her faster and harder. When one retreated from her body, the other imbedded himself as far as he could, shoving hard heat down her throat and into her womb. In her harness, Dani was tossed between them, a helpless receptacle for their lusts. She loved that she had no function but to accept their hunger for primal joining, to acquiesce to their basest needs. The knowledge that she could deny them nothing brought her ever closer to the brink of surrender. Still, she couldn’t quite find the release she desired above all else. If Krijero would just rub her clit with that ever-circling thumb, it would provide the shattering pleasure her body begged for. But he continued to tease, continued to torment. He wouldn’t give her what she might die for want of.

Dani wailed around her mouthful of Wynhod, trying to beg for that elusive contact that wouldn’t come. Her breasts and sex burned, feeling swollen beyond endurance. Surely the men wouldn’t deny her forever? They had to have their limits too. But still they tortured her, keeping her hovering just beyond the reach of sweet oblivion.

She wriggled desperately in her bonds, unable to stand another moment of anguished delight. She couldn’t move enough to find Krijero’s thumb, not with the straps holding her still and the Kalquorians controlling her every motion. Her eyes streamed agonized tears. To feel them moving in and out of her, touching her all over, climax lurking so close and yet maddingly out of reach … it was too much. She screamed her frustration.

Wynhod barked something in guttural bursts, and Krijero growled back. They worked her even faster, chorusing grunts. Dani’s insides quaked at the increased friction. She screamed again.

Krijero’s pressed her clit between thumb and finger. Orgasm tore through her, decimating her as the men howled.

Dani swallowed Wynhod’s explosive offering in reflex, the pulses of hot sweet-spicy-salty juice adding to her ecstasy. Her sheath convulsed around Krijero’s throbbing sex, milking him for every drop he had. Her ears rang with their groans as they filled her from both directions.

Her body didn’t calm until the two men stopped moving, and even then she still felt sensitive all over, as if the slightest provocation would renew the tremors. Her sex and breasts tingled yet despite everyone going still and Gelan halting his sweet assault.

Panting, Wynhod stepped away. A moment later, Krijero also disengaged, his movements making her shudder with continued arousal. Dani groaned, wishing her libido had an off switch. She could imagine herself fucking the Kalquorians until they or she dropped dead of exhaustion.

Krijero’s warmth was replaced by another, and Dani lifted her head to see Gelan standing between her splayed legs now, his gaze running up and down her body like a starving man contemplating a feast. Her breath caught at the heat in his eyes. His erections pressed up against his chiseled abdomen.

“Little girl, you’re red and swollen,” he said, his voice more rumbling than ever. “And sensitive, I presume?” He prodded Dani’s engorged petals with one finger, and she jerked with a cry.

“I’ve never seen anyone so receptive. For an Earther to respond with such abandon is a surprise,” Gelan continued. He ran his wicked finger up and down her slit, and Dani writhed as much as the harness would allow. “I wonder…”

Instead of finishing his statement, the Dramok seized her distended clit as Krijero had, rubbing the flesh between finger and thumb. White-hot light blinded Dani as she exploded once more.

Masculine laughter greeted her when she returned to sanity. “Our little fighter is a wonder,” Wynhod said. He adjusted the harness to support Dani’s head at a more comfortable angle.

“Definitely overwrought. It’s a good thing we’re here to help her,” Gelan chuckled. “Don’t worry, my sweetling. I promise to take good care of you.”

He took himself in hand, positioning his cocks for the first thrust. Dani warbled a cry that was half-welcome, half-fearful denial.

Gelan shoved into her hard and fast, burying himself to the hilt. Pain and ecstasy exploded within her all at once, and Dani screamed, climax overwhelming her again. The Kalquorian held her still until her body’s rage was spent for the moment.

“Very nice,” he murmured. His approval sent a pleasurable warmth through her soul. “But if you keep this up, I won’t last as long as I’d like. I want you to get control of yourself, Dani.”

She groaned, her insides still spasming all around him. “I’ll try,” she whispered.

“Don’t try. You will not climax again until I tell you to.” Gelan’s tone told her he expected her to obey.

Tears stung her eyes. “I don’t know if I can keep from coming. It feels so good,” she protested.

The Dramok’s heavy hand swatted her backside hard, the sting profound where the straps didn’t cover her flash. Heat suffused her punished flesh, and a spasm clenched her hard around his iron length. A growl escaped Gelan’s lips. “Stop it right now.”

Dani sobbed, her senses a hurricane of aching need. “Please.” She wasn’t sure what she begged for.

“Mind me or be punished. We Kalquorians have no qualms when it comes to disciplining unruly little girls. You don’t want the humiliation of being put over my knees and being spanked like a child, do you?”

Dani forced herself to take deep, calming breaths. No, she didn’t want that. It would be shameful.

Then why did her guts clench again with anticipation?

Gelan’s eyebrows rose. “I felt that, little girl. You continue to surprise me.”

Panic quelled a little of her ardor. “No, don’t spank me. I don’t want that.”

He grinned. “If you say so.”

Before she could address the disbelief in his tone, Gelan slowly pulled out until only the tip of him was left inside her. Dani groaned at the friction, but managed to hold onto her self control. Barely.

The next few minutes were a terrible battle. The Dramok fucked her nice and slow, but even at that sedate pace every movement wanted to send her over the edge. She bit her lip hard with the effort of denying climax, prompting Krijero to fetch a rubbery ball gag for her to chew on. It helped. A little.

“So tight,” Gelan breathed. “And wet. I like how you clutch at me as I move in and out. I like you helpless and open for my use.”

Dani wanted him to shut up. His descriptions were turning her on worse than ever. She had the feeling he was pushing her to lose control. Maybe the sadistic bastard wanted to punish her the way he’d described.

“Your legs wide open, allowing me to do anything I want with you.”

Dani quaked with need. The idea of laying herself naked over his thighs for a spanking brought her closer to orgasm. She fought to shut the thought down.

What is wrong with me? I’ve never been punished that way, and I don’t want to be!

“I love watching my cocks work your pussy and ass, Dani. Feel how hard I am inside you.”

Like she could feel anything except the hot iron of him filling her over and over.

“Making you take me deep. You couldn’t fight if you wanted to. But you don’t want to, do you, little girl? You like a strong man taking what he wants from you. In fact, you love it.”

Shut up, damn you!

Dani concentrated on closing her ears off from Gelan’s whispered seduction and keeping her traitorous body in check. She would not give the alien the satisfaction of physically chastising her. No way.

She drew deep breaths, forcing herself to relax. Little by little, the sense of teetering on the edge of a cliff receded. The Kalquorian kept her incredibly aroused; there was no way she was denying the sharp pleasure of his continued lovemaking, but she wasn’t in danger of toppling headlong into orgasm now. She’d won.

“Very good, little girl.”

Dani’s sense of victory at Gelan’s praise was short lived. His hands tightened on her hips, and he abruptly commenced pounding in and out of her with speed and force. The friction inside her sleeves ignited elation, clawing desperate rapture into her being. Climax’s abyss yawned wide and rose to engulf her in its dark joyous embrace.

She bit hard into the ball, struggling for all she was worth to not fall into sweet oblivion. Her guts drew down in a taut spiral, coiling tighter and tighter until the breaking point threatened. She wasn’t going to make it. The talons of ecstasy closed around her.

Gelan slowed, returning to the sedate pace he’d started with. Dani still struggled against her clamoring body, wrestling to deny its eruption. At last the vicious need retreated, but it remained near to eye her hungrily.

That had been close. She didn’t think she’d survive another assault like that.

But once her breathing had eased to Category 1 hurricane strength, Gelan went at her again, hurtling her towards the point of no return once more. Dani hung on by a hair until he slowed, allowing her to muster her strength before the next assault.

She wanted to give in to the bliss more than anything. The fear of being spanked by the Kalquorian no longer mattered. Dani was willing to endure punishment to gain release.

A greater terror kept her from acquiescing to the brutal clamoring of her body. She hung onto that sustaining dread when all other arguments fell by the wayside.

“So stubborn,” Gelan chuckled breathlessly after he’d subjected her to another round of fast, hard thrusting and slowed again. “You really hate to lose, don’t you, little girl?”

Dani didn’t dare look at him for fear that the mere sight of the gorgeous Dramok standing over her would drive her past endurance. The smallest thing would undo her at this point.

“All right, my precious sweetling. We’ve both had enough, and you’ve been a very good, very obedient girl. You may claim your reward at any time.”

With that, Gelan hammered into her and Dani surrendered to the ravenous beast in her womb, letting it savage her until her throat was raw from screaming. The alien between her legs roared an accompaniment to her gag ball-muffled cries.

Orgasm rose and fell, rose and fell, and she rode the waves in mindless euphoria, delighting in the bucking upheavals of shattering elation. At last her body expended the pent up need that had left her still wanting even after the earlier climaxes. She was at last sated, Gelan’s long denial causing every mote of arousal to burst from her now that it was freed.

After the quakes settled into gentler aftershocks, Dani tried to spit the gag out of her mouth. She discovered she’d bitten down so hard that her teeth had become imbedded in the tough, rubbery exterior.

Wynhod carefully extricated it for her and laughingly presented it to the drunkenly swaying Gelan. “A trophy, my Dramok.”

His leader took it with a proud smile. “The best I’ve ever claimed. How are you, little girl?”

Dani flexed her jaw, noting its soreness. She floated in the aftermath of the wild sex, and she needed to take another pain inhibitor before the endorphins wore off. “I’ll let you know when I get back.”

He patted her thigh and pulled free of her. “That was amazing, pet. Thank you for making such an effort for my pleasure.”

Dani didn’t think Gelan needed to know the real reason she’d held out so furiously. The fear that she’d find punishment as arousing as pleasure had kept her from succumbing when nothing else could.

The clan undid the harness, setting her on her wobbling legs. “Can I have a few minutes? I’m sorry, but I’m out of it right now.” She really was. Her mind still floated seemingly apart from her body.

Krijero lifted her chin so he could peer into her eyes. “She’s burned a lot of energy. That was an intense session. Perhaps a meal and conversation would be nice?”

Dani appreciated his kindness, but she knew her place. “You didn’t pay to talk. I’ll be ready for whatever you’d like to do next in just a moment.”

Gelan crossed his arms over his chest, his attitude commanding. Dani wondered if he ever relaxed his take-charge persona. “What we paid for is our decision, little girl. I could do with food myself. Let’s get you dressed and find a decent dining option. Do you like Joshadan cuisine?”

Wynhod swept up her skirt from the floor and held it before her to step into. Too pleasantly surprised to protest, Dani let him and the others dress her.

No customer had ever taken her out to eat. The treat was wholly unexpected. Delighted like the little girl Gelan referred to her as, Dani found the energy to bounce with anticipation as the men pulled their clothes on.

CHAPTER 5

Dani skipped alongside the Kalquorians on the streets of Ler, the metal links of her leash jingling merrily as they went. Gelan loosely held the end in the ‘O’ formed by his fingers and thumb, letting it touch as little of his flesh as possible. His dislike of having her tethered like an animal in public was obvious. None of the Kalquorians liked the leash and had argued against using it.

Dani’s insistence and logic had prevailed. Should she become separated from the clan on the streets, as a sex slave she was anyone’s meat. No penalties existed for fucking even an unwilling sex slave left unattended in public. Dantovon’s laws gave the indentured yet another reason to not escape their contracts.

Properly escorted, Dani let the dazzle and noise of Ler captivate her. Rainbow arcs of lights illuminated the city streets, creating a festive mood. Cacophonous music from street performers backdropped shouts from vendors and store barkers hawking their wares. Adding to the din, collared hookers hung over balconies of the myriad brothels, inviting the crowds below to come in and sample their pleasures. The constant hum of shuttles flying overhead was almost lost in the swell of noises.

Many vendors offered food. Aromas both mouthwatering and stomach wrenching wafted into Dani’s nose. Beneath the myriad of olfactory offerings lay the fetid vegetable stench of the nearby jungle.

Everyone around them seemed to be in a holiday mood. It reminded Dani of the illegal debauchery of Earth’s New Year’s Eve parties she’d attended. Male and female sex slaves of all species hung on the visiting revelers, laughing and drinking and, in some cases, indulging in public intimacies.

It started out exhilarating, but after walking through the wildness for five minutes, the massive Kalquorians clearing a path like Moses parting the Red Sea, Dani’s head began to throb. “Sure is a lot to process out here, isn’t it?” she shouted to her companions.

Gelan leaned slightly towards her. “Are you overwhelmed?”

“A little, but it’s nice to get out once in awhile.” Broken shards of something metallic lay in her path. Wynhod swept her up and carried her past it before setting her down to walk again.

Krijero looked fascinated and uncomfortable all at once. “Was Earth anything like this?” he asked.

Dani laughed breathlessly. “No way, not with all the religious laws in place. You could be thrown in jail just for kissing a somebody.”

Wynhod scowled. “Did that happen to you?”

Dani shook her head with a naughty grin. “No, though I did much worse. I got caught for indecent behavior only once. My father used his connections to get me out of trouble.”

“Lucky girl,” the Nobek observed. “We’ve heard stories of how extreme the punishments could be for your people for supposedly lewd actions.”

She shrugged. “My dad had to cover my brother’s troubles up a lot. He was a real wild one.”

Dani noticed Earther men across the street. They were younger than her, wearing the military uniforms of the now non-existent Earth army. Their scruffy beards and unkempt hair were at odds with their clothing. They stood at loose attention in front of one brothel, apparently the hired muscle of choice there.

The skip went out of Dani’s step at seeing her own kind. She huddled behind Gelan’s bulk, trying to stay out of the Earthers’ view. Shame overcame her to be in the company of the enemy. Kalquorians had killed a lot of Earthers during the war, even more when they’d invaded her planet. No doubt fellow members of her species would be insulted to see her not only as someone who offered carnal sins but openly consorting with their former foes.

Dani saw the clan take notice of her shrinking posture. They followed her nervous gaze to the Earther men and exchanged looks among themselves. She had the sudden terror they would make her announce herself to the former soldiers, to show off they’d possessed her in lewd acts. She cringed in anticipation of being humiliated.

Instead, Wynhod took her arm and pulled her towards a side street, away from the Earthers. “Let’s go this way. I think it’s a shorter route to the restaurant.”

Dani relaxed as they joined another stream of happy tourists, taking her from the expected judgment of her own kind. Still, she wished with all her heart she was with anybody else than the Kalquorians right now.

• • •

The group entered the Joshadan eatery. Low lighting came from the glowballs centered on each communal table, their bluish light soothing after Ler’s hectic glare. Equally restful was the hum of low conversation and restrained laughter. Dani’s eardrums, abused by the cacophony outside, drank in the quiet.

Savory, sour, and sweet scents set her stomach to complaining. Servicing the Kalquorians had worked up quite an appetite. She looked forward to tasting the foods that emitted those heady aromas.

A Joshadan, half Dani’s height, greeted them with a welcoming smile. Stout and covered with forest-green hair all over, it waved its paws at the Kalquorians as all three bowed deeply to it. Dani couldn’t understand what it jabbered, but it seemed embarrassed by the respect her companions accorded it.

The Kalquorians straightened and followed the Joshadan to one of the long tables where many others gathered. Their fellow diners slid down the bench seats on either side, making room for them with good-natured hails. Dani sat between Gelan and Krijero with Wynhod on the opposite side facing them. A platter overflowing with a rainbow

selection of food landed on the table before them. The Kalquorians rose to bow to the sapphire-haired waiter who’d brought their dinner. Like the first Joshadan, it waved them off, discomfited. It left them to their communal meal.

“What’s with all the bowing?” Dani asked, bemused by the performance.

Gelan grimaced. “Our ancestors enslaved Joshada many years ago. Even though they have been free of us for millennia, the damage Kalquor did remains to this day. We offer our regret any time we encounter their people.”

“They seemed embarrassed by the gesture.”

Wynhod nodded in agreement. “The Joshadans are a tolerant race and have officially pardoned Kalquor. They are not people to take advantage of others’ shame.”

The Kalquorians had bowed as deeply to Dani when she’d first encountered them. She’d thought they’d been displaying old-fashioned Earther courtliness for her benefit, but now she wondered. Had it been an apology for Earth’s destruction?

Whatever. Bows didn’t make up for all she’d lost. Dani was nowhere near as forgiving as the Joshadans.

Despite the renewal of her anger, the feast before her demanded she swallow her pique. Dani peered at the assortment of bite-sized fare before her. “It smells good.”

Krijero plucked a purple and green tidbit from the platter and held it before her mouth. “Would you like to try this?”

Amused by his intention to feed her, Dani replied, “Sure.”

She accepted the morsel from his fingers and moaned as it fairly melted in her mouth. Creamy and rich, reminding her of goat cheese, it was a little bite of heaven. She decided not to ask what it was. If it was some gross part of an animal, Dani didn’t want to know.

Gelan offered her another delicacy, this one marbled pink and red. Dani snickered as he fed it to her. It crumbled in her mouth, a crusty, savory bite. Wynhod waited to serve her yet another bit of food.

Before she let him, Dani giggled, “Who’s going to fan me and rub my feet?”

Gelan smiled his puzzlement. “Pardon?”

“Nevermind.” They were the clients, yet they insisted on serving her the meal. Far be it for her to correct their mistake.

Gelan swallowed a mouthful of his own. “Tell us about your life on Earth,” he invited.

Dani shrugged, speaking between bites. “I worked for my dad after I got out of college. I wasn’t ready to be tied down as a wife though he pushed me to marry and be respectable. Then he ran into some legal trouble, and we all had to be really careful after that.”

Krijero offered her something that tasted like chocolate. “Trouble of the lewd variety?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You know, Earthers can find more kinds of trouble than just sex. Obviously that’s our biggie, but no, he had to resign his post over a fraud scandal. He was in Philadelphia on trial when Armageddon hit.”

Philadelphia had been one of the cities that went up in a poisonous mushroom cloud. No survivors.

Krijero brushed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. In a low voice, he said, “I am sorry for your loss. What of your mother?”

The mouthful Dani swallowed stuck in her throat for a moment. She forced it down. “The old lady was in Philly too. She was a long-time resident of the Psycho-Druggie Hilton there.”

Wynhod frowned. “I’m not familiar with those terms.”

Dani scowled. Why don’t I just pull off all my clothes and dance the Charleston on top of the table? It would be less humiliating than this conversation.

Dani tried to keep her tone flat, but anger managed to ooze in anyway. “My mother was institutionalized for mental illness and illegally self-medicating. I barely knew the woman. She was a drug addict for as far back as I can remember.” Before they could ask any further questions, she snapped, “All my family is dead, okay? All vaporized because your people invaded Earth.”

Gelan sat very still next to her, contemplating Dani with an expression she couldn’t read. Finally he said, “Even before the invasion, it sounds as if you had a hard life.”

She didn’t want their sympathy. Drawing herself up with stubborn pride, Dani informed them, “Not really. I had money and status, and most of the time when my brother and I got in trouble, my dad paid our way out of it.”

The Kalquorians looked at her, their eyes soft. Even Wynhod had an aura of compassion.

Forget it, you can’t fix my life. Your people took that opportunity away when they invaded.

Her voice tight, Dani deliberately closed the subject. She pointed at the platter. “Hey, can I have some more of that green and purple stuff? That’s the best.”

After a long silence, Krijero snagged the delicacy and fed it to her. “Of course, Dani.”

She was relieved when the conversation turned to the hunt they’d had that morning.

• • •

An hour later they were back on the riotous streets of Ler, the men well fed and at ease. Dani’s disquiet hadn’t ebbed however. The conversation about her parents kept coming back, tainting the delicious Joshadan food and the care the Kalquorians took of her.

They did take good care of her. Solicitous at every turn, they’d made sure she’d gotten her fill of her favorite edibles. They had looked to her needs, doting on her like a queen. But all Dani could think about were her parents, dead and forever out of reach because of the aliens. Earth, reduced to a lifeless rock that despite cleanup efforts, wouldn’t be habitable again for decades, perhaps even centuries. Her carefree life in which she slept with whoever she darn well pleased and wore pretty clothes was all gone. Like the hologram of the green and blue dress they now passed in the storefront that looked as light as a dream and would have flattered her coloring much better than the gray bra and skirts she’d been stuck with.

Life was so unfair.

Gelan said, “You’re very quiet, little girl.”

Dani tore her eyes from the dress, the one she’d have bought without minding the price tag in another life. “Sorry. Thinking about stuff,” she answered, her tone short.

She saw the men exchange glances. So they’d caught her change in attitude. She didn’t care. Their kind had ruined everything, leaving her to whore her body out in order to survive. Despite the fun she’d had with them and the mind-blowing sex, Dani was ready for the Kalquorians to leave.

Unfortunately, they’d paid for her whole shift tonight, and she was theirs for several hours yet. Dani repressed a sigh and plastered a smile on for her customers. She reminded herself that if she dwelled too much on the evils of the Kalquorians, she would have a long night ahead of her.

CHAPTER 6

Back in the brothel’s playroom, Dani steeled herself for the now unwanted romp, concentrating on sending her mind away from her body as she did with most customers. She pulled the straps of her bra down.

“Dani.” Krijero’s warm hand cupped a shoulder. He turned her slowly to face the clan.

“Yes, Imdiko Krijero?” Polite tone. Please the clients, get the job done. Afterwards, she would spend too long trying to wash the night away in the cold water of the brothel’s shower. Just another shift. It would end eventually, though not soon enough.

“Where are you right now?” He leaned down, propping his hands on his thighs as he brought his pretty purple eyes level with hers. Dani couldn’t figure out if she wanted to escape the intense stare or drown in it. Krijero looked self-assured for a change, not awkward at all.

“Here with you.” She frowned. His question didn’t make sense to her.

“Maybe physically, but you’ve gone somewhere else in your head.”

His tone sounded so concerned. As if her distance mattered.

“What do you care?” The words fell out of Dani’s mouth before she could stop them.

“I care because I’m worried you’re upset about something. What’s wrong, sweetling?” He continued to look at her with that patient interest, as if he had all night for her answer.

Dani swallowed. She knew her mental state didn’t worry him in the least, except what it might do to the rest of his night. “Nothing of importance, Imdiko. It won’t affect my performance. I promise you will be satisfied and get your money’s worth.”

“Perhaps if we were the kind of men you’re used to, but we’re not, Dani. Kalquorians are very protective of women. Not only are we committed to females’ physical wellbeing and sexual fulfillment, but emotional welfare must be addressed as well.” He stroked an errant lock of hair off her face.

Unexpected tears prickled Dani’s eyes. She blinked hard, holding them back. “You have no reason to worry about me. I’m just a whore.”

“Is that how you see yourself, sweetling?”

“What else would I be?”

Krijero smiled, the expression as warm as the hand he stroked her face with. Dani basked in it despite herself. “What about smart and fun? How about resourceful, brave, and loyal? Aren’t you those things?”

She clenched her fists at her sides. She would not let him in. Not an alien whom she’d only met the night before. “No one cares about that. All anyone cares about is what they can get from me, whether it’s sex, money, or staying quietly in the background and not causing a fuss.”

Damn it. Her stupid mouth had run off again, telling more than she wanted anyone to know.

“I’m sorry that’s what you’re used to. You’re worth a lot more than that.”

Dani jerked away, out of his reach. Screw this. She should have stuck to the terms of her contract. “Go away. Just leave. The brothel won’t refund your money, but I will.”

She stared hard at the floor, waiting for them to go. Holding back the tears that flooded her eyes, doubling her vision.

“Your parents were good at that, weren’t they? Pushing you away, leaving you on your own, and using money to make up for it?”

Dani didn’t remember launching herself at him. The next thing she knew, her fists were pounding Krijero’s chest as hard as she could hit while she cried, “Shut up! Shut up!” over and over in harsh sobs.

The huge alien took her abuse, standing still as her blows thudded against his body until her fury exhausted itself. Then he gathered her to himself, holding her, stroking her hair as she cried. Other compassionate hands joined in the soothing, petting her arms and back. Dani buried her face in the hollow of Krijero’s shoulder, needing any shelter. Even that of an enemy.

That’s why when he lifted her chin and pressed his lips to hers, she melted into the kiss. Clinging to the man she’d just attacked, Dani dove into the illusion of his concern, the lie that another person might care.

Her clothes fell away, tugged free by the surrounding Kalquorians. They lowered her to a cushioning mat on the floor, tender fingers and mouths caressing her grief away until she gasped with need.

But when Dani reached for Gelan’s crotch, his sexes straining the fabric of his pants, he drew her hands away. “No, little girl. This time is for you. Relax and let us show you how it should be between men and a woman.”

“You’re my customers.”

“Then serve us through letting us serve you.”

The Dramok made no sense to her. None of them did. Her storm of anger should have sent them stomping to Pob, demanding a more compliant playmate or their money back. Instead, Gelan’s kiss swept her away from care, his tongue lapping the whole of her mouth with thorough grace. Wynhod’s lips worked delicately on her breasts, suckling with a sweetness that brought fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. Krijero gently mouthed her womanhood, sipping her juices with reverence as if partaking of a rare elixir. They fed on her body, but it was her arousal that gorged on the feast, growing with every taste.

While Gelan kissed and Wynhod suckled, Krijero concentrated his warm, wet mouth on Dani’s clit, sucking and flicking his tongue over the sensitive nub. He slid two fingers into her sheath, curling the tips to press hard against the nest of nerves that felt best. In and out he pumped, hitting that sweet spot and rasping his rough raw-silk tongue over the distended nubbin of flesh. Her whole body electrified, racing towards orgasm. She writhed, her body bucking helplessly against the tide of sensation washing over her. The three men working her with such care never missed a beat, riding her jerks and jolts with ease.

Krijero sucked hard on her clit, and orgasm exploded over Dani. She shouted into Gelan’s mouth, her fingernails sinking into his and Wynhod’s skin. Her stomach seemed to twist in on itself with the force of the uproar. She heaved and convulsed, the men clinging to her thrashing body to continue their delectable assault.

Just as Dani’s throbbing sex began to calm, Krijero found her G-spot once more, simultaneously swirling his tongue forcefully over her clit again. She screamed with renewed cataclysm, her body shattering under the men’s ongoing attention.

There was no escape from the gentle onslaught of their mouths and hands. Again and again they brought Dani to shuddering completion until she begged for respite.

“Please, enough, don’t, I can’t, oh please, not again…” The words streamed from her lips as she shook her head, trying to evade Gelan’s kiss.

“Once more, my little girl,” he cajoled, his mouth pressing to her ear, his rough tongue tracing the whorls. “Come for us again.”

As if he held command over her body’s involuntary responses, she immediately ignited, her pussy spasming tight around Krijero’s tireless fingers. She strained against the men pinning her down, but there was no escaping the delicious torture.

Dani could only beg when she recovered her senses enough to talk again. “Please, stop. I’ll be good, I promise.”

“But you are good, Dani. You’re a good person. Say it.”

He had to be kidding. After all she’d done? The stupid decisions she’d made? The thoughtless way she gave into whims that always landed her in trouble?

If ‘good’ could be summed up in a person, it sure as hell wouldn’t be Danielle Watson.

Krijero’s tongue scraped over her clit in a barrage of hard rubs, and she went out of her skull with climax once more. The pleasure had crossed the line into exquisite torment until she could bear no more.

When she finished screaming this time, her ragged voice poured from her throat. “I’m a good person, I’m a great person, I’m the best Earther to ever be born, now stop for God’s sake!”

“I suppose that will do for now,” Gelan said. Wynhod and Krijero’s mouths left her overwrought flesh at last.

Dani sagged in their arms, let them arrange her so that she draped over their laps when they clustered around to cradle her, to stroke her still trembling body, to whisper kindnesses as if soothing a fussy baby. They treated her as if their lives centered on her, as if she was the only person that had ever mattered.

They confounded her, these men from the species that had destroyed her world and yet brought her such pleasure with little care for their own.

• • •

When the clan finally returned to their guest quarters about five miles outside of the wilder center of Ler, Gelan’s fatigue weighed his body down. It had been a taxing day, both physically and mentally. Somehow he thought the mental aspect, dealing with a delectable but obviously damaged Earther, had been more exhausting than physically battling the sheclir.

He considered the round bathing pool as his clanmates undressed. It was deep. The water that would flood it would be warm. Tempting. A good place to gather his roiling thoughts that threatened to hold off sleep no matter how tired he was. But as Krijero and Wynhod fell into the bed made to accommodate a Kalquorian clan, Wynhod spooning the smaller man and curling an arm and leg protectively over him, Gelan scented the mixed aromas of Kalquorian and Earther sex. A lovely bouquet to add to his dreams, he decided. Rejecting the bath, he pulled his clothes off and got into bed, sandwiching his Imdiko in the middle.

Stretching an arm across his clanmates’ waists, Gelan murmured into Krijero’s tousled hair, “I’d say it’s been a good vacation so far.”

He let the other two’s breathing lull him, inhaling their spicy scents and the ghostly remnants of Dani’s musk. Sweet dreams indeed, if he could shut his mind down to sleep. Dani’s pretty face, alternating between stubborn, euphoric, and heart wrenchingly sad, kept appearing before his mind’s eye. Most of the standoffishness she’d affected right after their dinner had disappeared by the time they’d left her. Her eyes had been warm again, her smile bright. Only the occasional guardedness in her eyes let him know the Earther still harbored doubts about sharing her body and thoughts with them. Gelan hated leaving her alone at the brothel that way. He wanted to hold her until her anger and pain vanished.

Who am I kidding? I want to hold her because she feels right.

Wynhod’s voice broke through the darkness. “Am I the only one wishing she was here?”

Krijero snickered, his voice sleepy but still alert. “Haven’t you had enough for one night?”

“If you mean sex, yes. I was thinking how nice it would be just to have another body to warm the bed.”

Gelan kept his tone careful. “For one night or more?”

Wynhod propped himself up to look at Gelan over Krijero’s shoulder. His eyes glittered in the dim light. “She won’t remain here. A clan will find her and buy her contract at some point. Why not us? We have the funds saved.”

Krijero stiffened between them. “I thought we agreed we weren’t going to fight the odds of gaining a Matara.”

Wynhod’s tone matched Gelan’s for caution. “No waiting for the lottery on Kalquor for this one. No vying for her attentions against hundreds of others.”

“She doesn’t want us.”

“Not yet,” the Nobek agreed. He grabbed his handheld off the bedside table and tapped. The green wash of illumination from the little computer showed Gelan Krijero’s tense face.

Rubbing his reluctant clanmate’s shoulder, Gelan said, “If we buy Dani’s contract, that means no worrying about rejection.”

Krijero stared into his eyes. He suddenly looked every bit as tormented as Dani. “Only until her contract runs out. She might not want us when it’s over, and the Imperial Clan has ordered no more forcing Mataras to clan for the next five years.”

Before Gelan could respond, Wynhod grunted at his readout. “At her present rate of payback, Dani has slightly more than three years left at that brothel. She’s expensive, but we can swing it.”

Gelan thought. They’d not only have to pay off her contract, but pay for the care of the Earther. Clothing, food, nice things to let her know she mattered.

Why not? The three of us are a long way from retirement anyway. Besides, it will set us back on all our plans only what, ten years? Maybe not even that.

His excitement at the notion surprised him. Even when Earther women proved compatible with his species he’d known the odds of clanning one had been steep. The cataclysmic end to the war had cut their numbers dramatically. The moratorium against forcibly clanning the repressed females had made his chances even less.

Gelan had thought he was okay with that. Having Wynhod and Krijero as lifelong companions seemed enough. He had looked to his future and found it satisfactory.

Now here was Dani. Spirited, sexually free, and adventurous. A woman who needed a strong leader. A woman who could provide children. A woman to warm their bed properly.

A woman he could perhaps fall in love with. Gelan had never acknowledged how he yearned for that until this moment.

To his clan he said, “Three years should be long enough to convince her to stay, if we do find her compatible.”

Krijero continued to fret. “She’s got problems with trust, and not just because she blames Kalquor for Earth’s destruction. Her family issues will be a factor.”

Gelan exchanged a look with Wynhod. The Nobek put his handheld down and wrapped himself around Krijero once more. His fierce nature was masked as he stroked the Imdiko’s tousled hair like a mother calming a nightmare-inflicted child.

Gelan also pulled closer to his clanmate. “She’ll be an interesting challenge for your skills,” he encouraged.

Krijero refused to look at him. “I’m a criminal psychologist. I analyze law breakers. I don’t fix traumatized Mataras.”

Of course Wynhod cut right to the chase. “And you’re afraid of getting your heart broken again. Admit that’s your biggest objection.” Despite his harsh words, his tone remained gentle, his touch soothing.

Krijero cringed anyway and didn’t answer. Gelan’s rage for the pain his Imdiko continued to feel over the past … over the way his trust had been trampled on … woke anew.

The Dramok growled, “I swear if I ever meet that man, I’ll pound him senseless for clanning another Imdiko. He was a fool to give you up.”

Krijero sighed. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“It shouldn’t, but you’re still hurting after all this time. There’s no reason to think you’re unworthy, Krijero. We didn’t reject you, did we?”

Wynhod snorted laughter. “Reject him? We were the ones chasing him for three years.”

Krijero finally found a smile. “Yes, you did.”

“You made us work for it too, damn reluctant Imdiko.” Wynhod hugged him close, and Krijero eased up.

Gelan took advantage of his clanmate’s calming nerves. “We know Dani will resist for a little while. It won’t be against you personally. And you did so well with her when she shut down tonight. I think you’re more than equal to the task of being her caregiver.”

Krijero licked his lips. “What if we want to keep her at the end, but she doesn’t want us?”

Gelan shrugged. “Then we still have each other. We’ll go back to the way we are now, the way we planned to be all along.”

He knew it wouldn’t be that easy. One only had to see the effect Krijero’s past had on him to learn that. But Gelan thought Dani might be worth the risk.

Wynhod added, “I know it’s tough for you, Krijero, but there’s something about that Earther that makes me want to watch over her. She’s got a tough exterior but I get the feeling there’s a softer girl in there, desperate to get the care she hasn’t had.”

Krijero took a deep breath. He stayed silent for a few seconds, then snorted. “Protective Nobek.”

“Exactly. She needs us all. Someone to lead her, someone to guard her, someone to nurture her.”

“And we need her,” Gelan added. “We need someone we can offer our strengths to. Life without someone like Dani suddenly seems … empty. She fits us, and it feels like a piece of ourselves would be missing if we walk away.”

His clanmates stared at him. He realized he’d said something more profound than they were used to. Gelan was not usually a philosophical man.

Krijero finally sighed and shook his head. “All right. I think it’s a mistake, but if you two really want to buy her contract out, I’ll go along with it.”

Gelan pressed his lips to his clanmate’s brow. “Thank you, Imdiko.” He shifted, got comfortable, and closed his eyes. “Let’s get some sleep, clan. I want to take care of a few things in the morning before we collect our property.”

Despite his words, he didn’t fall asleep right away. He waited for Krijero’s breath to deepen in slumber before allowing himself to drift off too.

CHAPTER 7

Dani’s scowl sat firmly upon her face as she dragged her feet down the hall towards Pob’s office. The brothel owner’s summons had pulled her out of bed long before she was ready to be sociable in the least. She barely snatched four hours of sleep, and soreness from playtime with the Kalquorians plagued her. She’d need a pain inhibitor to get through tonight’s shift, especially if the three men booked her again. Boy, they were endowed. And physical.

The rush of unwanted arousal made her mood worse. Pob had better come up with a damned good reason for waking her so damned early.

His door stood open, and she swept into his office like a force of nature, ready to storm all over the Dantovonian. The sight of Gelan’s clan waiting in the room made her inhale sharply, and Dani choked on the sour fumes of the rinheo Pob smoked.

Jeez, he could stay high for a year without lighting another bowl of that shit, she thought.

The clan surrounded her in an instant as she tried to hack up a lung. “Are you all right, Dani?” Gelan asked.

After a moment she caught her breath. Rubbing her streaming eyes dry, aware she hadn’t even combed her sleep-tousled hair, Dani gasped, “Sure. Damn it Pob, trying breathing normal air once in awhile. You’ll live longer.”

The Dantovonian laughed heartily, as if she’d told the funniest joke ever. Dani stared at him. What had put him in such a good mood?

Pob could wait. Dani focused her attention on the Kalquorians. Were they filing a complaint against her? “What are you doing here?”

Before anyone answered, Pob’s computer beeped, and Dani was treated to the very unlovely vision of him smiling so hard the segments of his face ground together. The brothel owner buzzed. “The funds are successfully transferred. I appreciate your business, Kalquorians.”

“We are done?” Wynhod asked.

Pob buzzed again. “She is yours. I wish you luck; you’ll need it.” With that, he pointed a black box at Dani and tapped a button. Her collar’s release clicked. The circlet flung wide open and fell with a meaty thump to the floor.

She clutched at her throat, amazed at how light her neck suddenly felt. She stared at the collar, its two half circles spread like the wings of a dead bird. Dani slowly looked up at Pob. “What is going on?”

The Dantovonian looked up at her as if surprised to see her still standing there. “They bought your contract. You belong to them now.”

Dani’s world came to a shuddering halt. Her brain didn’t whisper a thought, she was so taken aback. Krijero spoke, but she couldn’t hear him over the roar in her ears. Gelan offered her something, and her numbed hands took it from him. Some part of her recognized the dress she’d ogled in the storefront the night before, but other than that, it made no impression.

Somehow Gelan’s voice pierced the veil she’d been cloaked in. “Change into this and pack your belongings. We’ll take you shopping for whatever else you need.”

As if she’d turned into an automaton, Dani’s senseless legs turned her around, carried her out of the office door, and walked her to her room as she unfeelingly clutched the dress to her chest.

The instant the door to her dorm closed, Dani’s conscious mind flooded back. She stood in her little broom closet of a room as terror closed over her. The Kalquorians had bought her contract. They owned her.

Being rented for sex for a couple of days had been one thing. But now she was their property for … Dani did the calculations in her head.

More than three years. She was their slave to do with as they wished for the next three years plus a few months.

After all I did, all I sacrificed to avoid going to Kalquor and live among the enemy, and now it’s thrown out the window.

Damn them!

Dani had never hated anyone as much as she now hated Gelan, Wynhod, and Krijero. The bastards had taken advantage of her status. Once they had her on Kalquor, there was no doubt in her mind that they’d keep her for good, enslaving her for the rest of her life for breeding. Forget three years. The Earth-destroying beasts would never let her go.

Calm down, Dani. Think. There has to be a way out of this.

The breeze from the open window wafted against her skin where exposed by her slave clothing. She rubbed her neck where the collar used to be. She looked at the dress still clutched in her hand.

As excitement seized her, the little voice she too often ignored spoke up. Wait. Take a breath. You know how bad things get when you don’t think these things through, when you don’t consider all the stuff that can go horribly wrong.

“Like what?” she whispered. “Like being free to live my life as I want? What is there to consider other than getting the hell out of Dodge while the getting’s good?”

She yanked her bra and skirt off so savagely that something ripped. The dress the Kalquorians had bought for her, no doubt thinking she was shallow enough to trade her liberty for a pretty frock, went on. Dani didn’t even take the time to admire how the ruffles up top gave her pear shape a more hourglass appearance or how the skirt showed her long legs to advantage.

Dani paused for only a moment, realizing she had no funds to get on a transport and leave the Kalquorians as far behind as she could fly.

So use your body. It’ll pay the way off this rock.

And after that?

No time to think. Go before those freaks come looking for you!

The small voice, the one Dani almost never listened to, tried one last argument. Those Kalquorians have treated you well. They’ll abide by the agreement. Running off half-cocked is a mistake, one that could get you in serious trouble.

Dani tried to listen. She tried to make herself calm down enough to think over the ramifications of her actions, especially if the clan caught her. But in the end the opportunity to escape was too great to be denied.

Dani stepped on her bed, boosted herself up on the window, and swung a leg over. Moments later, walking quickly but trying not to draw attention to herself, she disappeared into the throng of aliens partying on the streets of Ler, collarless and free.

The spaceport lay only about a mile from the hub of Ler. Dani reached it quickly and tried to look like she knew what she was doing as she looked over her options.

Ships and vendors crowded the port, and Dani hoped she’d see an Earth vehicle among the multitudes. Hangar after hangar stretched as far as the eye could see. Ler was a popular destination for decadence-seeking tourists. It boasted more sex slaves than anywhere else on Dantovon. Surely she could find some man of her own kind enjoying freedom from the old regime. Someone who would have pity on a lost, frightened woman who’d ended up on this planet through no real fault of her own.

Her head ached from the mass roar of different engines as ships set down and took off. The chatter and buzz and shrieks of various alien speech added to the din. Adding in the burnt scents of rockets firing, the fetid stench of the nearby jungle, and alien body odors, made her senses reel.

Dani dodged milling tourists, busy dockhands, and hover carriers transporting visitors and their baggage to points unknown. Panic crept close on quiet feet as she saw no one she thought might shield an Earther female. Surely the Kalquorians looked for her already. They had to know this would be the first place she’d head for. They may already be in the spaceport if they’d taken a shuttle, watching for their property to show up.

A hum behind Dani eased her with a hypnotic trill. She recognized that relaxing sound and turned. She spied her favorite customer three people back. “Reggie!”

The Isetacian scuttled easily between those separating them to reach her. His many eyes widened in surprise. “Dani, why you here?”

He whistled to a Dantovonian escorting a hover carrier full of bundled cases. “Bay 7987.” The carrier whizzed off, scattering tourists and workers before it.

Dani nearly pranced with delight to see her client. “Check me out, Reggie. I’m sprung!” She indicated her collarless throat. “I guess Pob finally got sick of me.”

“He let you go?” Reggie looked around the crowd with concern. Harboring an escaped slave was punishable by public flogging, and even without her collar and slave clothing, he was obviously unconvinced of Dani’s legal liberty.

She shrugged, determined to persuade him through pretended lack of concern. She snuggled up to him like she didn’t have a care in the world, slipping her arm through one of his. “You know Pob is all about the money, and I was costing him more than I was worth. He didn’t foresee how expensive an Earther’s dietary needs can be in the long-term.”

Reggie relaxed, apparently taken in by Dani’s act. “This good for you. I sad. I miss visit you.”

“You’re so sweet. You know, you were always my favorite customer.” She sighed. “The only bad part of being free is the loss of food and board. I’m kind of hurting for funds. Where are you off to?”

Reggie rubbed up and down her thigh with one hand. Dani allowed it, hoping he’d get aroused, making him more open to helping her. He said, “Go to Joshada. Trade good there, bring raw materials, ep, ep, get finished products, make good markup on Ib-Sod.”

Dani thought out loud. “Joshada huh? Kind of close to Kalquor, and Ib-Sod is definitely not Earther-friendly.”

Reggie agreed. “Earth occupation during war make Ib-Sod not happy for Earthers. Kill on sight.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Dani sighed. “Joshada might be okay until I can find transport to somewhere else. Want some company for your trip?”

Reggie hummed his happiness, and another hand grasped her thigh. “You come with me, Dani? Ep, ep, have fun time.” His lascivious grin spoke of his joy to have struck such a bargain.

She grinned back. “That’s the idea.”

Reggie pulled her towards a small, dimly lit hangar. “Here ship. We go soon after load.”

Dani stared at the small, battered hulk he led her to. Maybe once it had been a nice ship … or part of two or three nice ships. Badly fit together, looking as if someone had simply dropped a ton of spare parts on the ground, it resembled something a very clumsy and untalented Tragoom might have put together. Her heart sank.

I’m supposed to ride in this?

To Reggie she said, “This is it, huh?”

“My ship.” He looked absurdly proud of the thing.

“Wow.” She thought about his last visit to her in the brothel, of how he’d talked about making repairs. “And you fixed it after last time?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “It fly okay. Trouble with land but it come down one way or other.”

He laughed, squeezing her thigh. Dani swallowed and made a weak attempt to share his humor. The breathless chuffing noises she made sounded suspiciously like sobs.

You have got to be kidding. You’re not actually getting on that, are you?

Gelan’s clan would show up at any second to reclaim her and probably publicly punish her for running out on the contract. Thinking about that, about being beaten by the massive Kalquorians in full view of hundreds of cheering spectators suddenly made dying in a crash not such a terrible alternative after all.

She’d have to trust in Reggie’s piloting skills; there was no turning back now.

CHAPTER 8

Dani boarded Reggie’s ship once all his cargo had been loaded. She stared around the dim interior, barely able to make out more than shapes of the bins. Wires and loose conduits hung haphazardly from the ceiling. The console in front of the pilot’s seat contained a plethora of lights. Some burned steadily, some blinked off and on. The vid showing his flight plan washed in and out.

She seriously reconsidered her escape. Maybe the Kalquorians would let her off with a warning if she surrendered to them and begged forgiveness?

Reggie shut the hatch behind her and motioned her to the co-pilot’s seat. “Sit, Dani. Take off now.”

She paused, her hand on the back of the seat. “How old is this ship?”

Reggie hopped in his chair, and a cloud of dust puffed up from it. “Old, old. Bought cheap.”

Her nose wrinkling in anticipation of another dust cloud, Dani sat gingerly on the musty-smelling seat. Reggie set to work punching buttons, sliding levers, and issuing commands in his indecipherable language. The engine started with a terrible ratcheting sound, and alarms shrieked. Dani shrieked a little with them. Reggie smashed the panel with two fists, and the claxons died off.

The Earther rose a little from her seat. “Um, maybe it needs more work.”

Reggie nodded, his face grim with concentration. “Maybe. See soon.”

The ship lurched upward with a screech then continued to rise slowly with a series of ominous creaks. Dani grabbed the restraining straps on her seat only to find they wouldn’t connect. The ship lurched again, and she frantically tied the straps in a knot over her waist.

God, I really screwed up this time.

Another alarm blared. Reggie, unconcerned, hit the panel to shut it off once more. He nodded at Dani. “You see? Ep, ep, we good.”

Dani gripped the armrests in white-knuckled fists as the ship shuddered its way into space. “Yeah. Real epping good.”

Too close to Kalquor or not, she was definitely getting off this scrap heap on Joshada.

• • •

Gelan pointedly ignored the noise a very unhappy Krijero made as the Imdiko packed their belongings away in the clan’s shuttle. The Imdiko was clumsy as a rule, but he was making extra noise so his irritation with the situation would be well known. Gelan concentrated on his pre-flight checklist and let Krijero have his tantrum. Perhaps he concentrated too hard because he jumped in surprise when Wynhod joined him in the small cockpit.

“That was fast,” he said to his Nobek when he recovered from his shock.

Wynhod gave him a feral grin, apparently enjoying catching the Dramok off guard. “Not too many Earther females are on Dantovon. People take notice.”

“So you found out where she went?”

Wynhod nodded. “The Isetacian she left with is well known.”

Krijero stuck his head into the cockpit. He frowned at the back of the Nobek’s head as Wynhod entered their flight plan into the computer. “Well known for what reasons?”

“He’s one of the few around here that deals fair. That stands out in this port.”

Gelan relaxed a little. “Then at least she’s not in bad hands.”

Wynhod’s fingers flew over the command controls. The shuttle was only two years old and had all the latest programs. The clan often argued over who would pilot their trips. “I’m inputting his flight plan. He left for Joshada an hour ago.”

“Are we locked down, Krijero?”

The tense Imdiko nodded. “Everything’s stored.”

“Flight plan’s ready. We can take off as soon as you want,” Wynhod said. His face erupted in a fierce grin. “This vacation is turning out to be more fun than I anticipated.”

Gelan laughed in shared delight. He only wished Krijero could appreciate the added entertainment. The rush of anticipation at the coming pursuit excited him. He hoped Dani was more resourceful than she looked, that she would give them a good hunt.

He licked his lips and shook his braids back. “Let’s track down an Earther.”

• • •

After a couple of hours of uneventful flight, Dani had started to relax. Later, she would superstitiously think that was what set off the chain of events that followed.

Reggie trilled his sweet tunes, and she let herself be lulled. When two of his hands moved over, tracing slow circles up her thighs, she sighed. Her legs fell apart. She drifted as he crawled over, crouching above, singing his song. He slid her skirt up, pushed her panties aside to expose her. Dani sat unmoving as he touched, stroked, entered.

A small price to pay for freedom, she thought.

Multiple alarms went off at once, shocking Dani into wakefulness. The ship shook all over like a frenzied horse trying to buck off a rider. Reggie sprang back to his seat. All his pounding on the wildly blinking console couldn’t shut the claxons off this time. As dispassionate as a weatherman commenting on the possibility of rain during the weekend, the Isetacian muttered, “Aug, aug, no good.”

Dani sat up straight, her fingers digging into the seat’s armrests. She was too frightened to straighten her clothing. “What do you mean ‘no good’? What’s happening?”

Six sets of fingers flew over the console as the whole ship shuddered again. “On fire. Parts blow off. Must land.”

Dani’s stomach threatened to jump out of her mouth. “On fire? Parts have blown off? Oh God, oh God, we’re going to die.”

Reggie’s voice remained bland. “Maybe. Hold on. We land on moon LXS-42. Control by Earth during war. Maybe help still there.”

The ship’s dampers screamed as it entered the moon’s atmosphere, the craft shaking and shuddering. Unsecured containers behind Dani bounced and flew about the compartment, one narrowly missing her head on its way to smashing the controls. Remembering safety instructions from shuttle flights before, Dani bent over, sticking her head between her knees and covering her head with her arms. She thought she might have been shrieking, but in the chaos she wasn’t sure.

The few dim lights they had went out, and an instant later a boom deafened Dani. The floor beneath her feet rose sharply, and then the world became a cacophony of thunder and earthquake. She felt bruising impacts all over her body as debris pelted down.

Then all went quiet and dark and Dani knew no more.

CHAPTER 9

Dani woke to a red-tinged clutter of small storage containers. She blinked her eyes slowly, trying to remember where she was. Bit by bit, it came back to her.

The Kalquorians. Escaping Dantovon in Reggie’s battered shuttle. Crashing.

The control panel before her, wires springing here and there like tufts of sparsely growing hair, had gone dark. The pulsing red light came from one panel on the ceiling. Tumbled cargo containers piled up around her seat, obscuring her vision of Reggie.

Dani evaluated herself. Her back and shoulders ached. She was sure she had been bruised by the flying cargo, and her head pounded. She carefully rubbed the back of her scalp and discovered a lump where something had bounced off her skull. She’d been knocked out, but her vision didn’t blur. Other than the thudding headache, she seemed fine.

“Reggie?” she croaked. When she got no answer, she shoved at the storage containers to see if her pilot remained in his seat. Maybe he’d gone for help.

But Reggie still sat in his seat, the upper part of his body crumpled on top of the control panel. Half his eyes, or at least half of the eyes she could see, were closed. The other half stared at nothing, glazed in death.

“Oh Reggie, I’m so sorry.” And she was. The Isetacian had been a good guy. Tears rose in Dani’s eyes, and she wiped them away.

After a moment of sorrow, she took stock of her situation, ignoring the nibble of panic. They’d crashed. She’d survived. Reggie had said he was setting down on some moon, something like LSF-52. The Earther military had kept a base here during the war, and so help might be available.

“Okay. Let’s see what we’ve got here,” Dani said to herself out loud.

She shoved containers aside, keeping them from falling on Reggie’s poor broken body. He couldn’t feel pain anymore, but for some reason she couldn’t bear to treat him like he hadn’t mattered. She even felt a pang of guilt like this had been her fault, though it had been his half-hearted maintenance that had sent the ship down to its death spiral. He would have crashed whether she’d come with him or not.

Still, conscience nagged at Dani. She’d been present, the ship had gone down, and Reggie was dead. She couldn’t quite shake the feeling she’d brought bad luck on board with her.

She managed to clear a spot so she could stand up, once she’d untied the knotted restraining straps. No doubt they’d saved her life by keeping her from bouncing around the ship like the cargo. The top of her head brushed the ceiling, and she remembered the sensation of the floor rising up beneath her feet before she’d lost consciousness. They’d landed hard, all right. It was a wonder the whole damned shuttle hadn’t disintegrated.

It seemed most of the unsecured cargo had slid into the cockpit. Once Dani cleared a path she moved into the small storage area, also lit by pulsing red light. A large part of it had open space in the back now that the cargo was forward. Unfortunately, the hatch to escape the downed transport was at the end near the cockpit. It took her several minutes to clear the area of containers.

Breathing hard from effort, Dani pushed the switch that should have opened the hatch. It emitted a weak beep and slid back only three inches.

“Damn it,” she swore. Her arms trembled from the workout she’d had just getting to this point, but she would have no choice but to shove the reluctant hatch open.

First she pressed her face to the tiny slit, trying to see what was outside. Nothing but blackness greeted her eyes. She couldn’t see a thing.

She could hear, smell and feel, though. An eye-watering layer of buzzing like that of a million insects carpeted the world beyond the shuttle. Over that, bestial far-off screams rose that made Dani’s hair stand on end. Images of fantastical beasts ran before her mind’s eye, monsters possessing sharp fangs and claws. She knew the screams probably came from prey, not predators, and that freaked her out even more.

The scents weren’t much better. The air that wafted in smelled dank and fetid, similar to the jungle stench that drifted into Ler, but more rotted. The added tang of saltiness made Dani think of soup left out on the kitchen counter to mold for a month.

Ler had been on the brink of autumn, with cool breezes to refresh. Here, it was warm and humid, the odors of rotting vegetation made worse by the muggy air. LFN-22, or whatever the darn moon’s designation was, didn’t feel welcoming in the least.

The only comfort came from the star-strewn sky overhead. The tiny points of light didn’t show Dani her surroundings though. She worried the moon might not rotate, that she’d crashed on a permanent dark side.

That would suck big time.

But she smelled vegetation. Things didn’t grow without a light source, right? So daylight was bound to come. She hoped. Dani crossed her fingers like a child wishing for a pony.

She retreated into the ship and tried to close the hatch once more. It didn’t budge no matter her efforts, and she was forced to concede defeat.

“I sure hope nothing dangerous can get in,” she muttered. Three inches of space. Did this moon have venomous things like snakes? Spiders? After a moment’s consideration, Dani shoved containers back in front of the hatch, closing off the opening against small but lethal predators.

Once that was done, she stood before the blocked hatch, her head down, shoulders sagging. “Damn, I really did it this time. This is the biggest cluster fuck I’ve ever pulled.”

At least when Earth fell apart, there’d been resources to loot for a little while. She’d known most of the dangers surrounding her on her home planet. She knew nothing about this environment, none of its hazards.

Dani went back to the cockpit and gently lifted Reggie off the console. She groaned to see how broken his body was. It felt like his bones had all snapped like matchsticks. He hadn’t been strapped in, and no doubt he’d been dashed against every surface until he’d come back to rest in his chair.

“Please, let it have been quick. Please Reggie, please have died fast.” She didn’t want to think he’d suffered the pain that would have come with his injuries.

A stained cloth heaped under the darkened console near his chair, and Dani took the time to cover Reggie’s poor battered frame. She wondered if she should bury him in the morning. She knew nothing of Isetacian funeral customs. She wanted to have him rest in dignity, but couldn’t even begin to fathom how it would be accomplished.

At a loss, Dani turned her attention to the helm’s console. It looked intact, but pressing her fingers over it, trying to bring it to life so she could get information about the moon, yielded no results. Like Reggie, it was lifeless.

Dani sank into the other seat and bawled. It was Earth after Armageddon all over again; on her own, and all Dad’s money couldn’t bail her out this time. No police. No military. No friends either. When the bombs went off as the Kalquorians invaded, emergency services had buckled under the strain, disappearing within days. The survivors had gone into ‘every man for himself’ mode, clustering into gangs that fought not only against each other but amongst themselves as well. And Dani had been left to find her own way, starving more often than not.

But she had survived nine months before the Dantovonian slave ship pulled her off the broken planet. She’d made it through. That had to stand for something.

Dani ground her tears out with her fists, hiccups replacing her sobs. “Okay, stupid mistake number one million two hundred thousand and three. Time to get back into survival mode.”

She had shelter, so problem number one was solved. Dani opened up containers, seeing what else she had going in her favor. She managed a little cheer when a small refrigerated cooler offered a few meager bits of frozen meat, perhaps enough to sustain her for three or four days if she ate very little.

“Fire. I’ll have to build a fire to cook the meat and boil water.” Water was even more important than food. She hoped when the sun came up she’d find herself near a source.

“What will I do if there’s no water?” she fretted, despair threatening once more. She swallowed it down and punched herself in the thigh for going wimpy again. “Well, just fold up and die then, Danielle. That’s what being impulsive and stupid gets you. It had to happen sooner or later. Damn it, you never think!”

There was nothing left to do until daylight showed up. She prayed it would be soon. She prayed she would find help, that some Earthers remained on the moon and that they were nearby. She prayed to a God she’d never really believed in, because she was well and truly fucked and she knew it.

• • •

“Uh oh. Looks like debris.” Wynhod’s enjoyment of the hunt sputtered and died as he brought up the vid of their surroundings. The glare of the nearby gas giant reflected off shards of metal. Definitely not natural.

Krijero peered at the rubble floating within their route. He sounded anxious as he looked at the obvious pieces of a ship. “You can’t tell if it’s the shuttle Dani boarded?”

Wynhod’s fingers flew over the panel before him, bringing up analytical readouts. “No, but this is fairly recent and it starts on the flight path. See how fast it’s drifting? And it’s concentrated in almost a straight line to that moon.”

Gelan already worked to change their course. He’d also lost all thrill of the chase, to judge from his grim expression. “What’s the intel on this moon?”

Wynhod brought up yet another vid. He read it out loud to the other two. “Designated LXS-42. It was occupied by Earth during the war because of its proximity to Dantovon. The Earthers used it as a base of operations to harass our people when our ships came through.”

“They abandoned it?”

Wynhod scrolled through the information quickly. “Except for a few buildings, it’s emptied out. It’s thought either the Earther insurgents or Tragooms stripped the base of all equipment.”

Gelan piloted their shuttle after the trail of spinning fragments. “Containment based, or is there an atmosphere?”

“The atmosphere’s good. It’s listed as a potential colony for the Earth refugees who don’t want to come to Kalquor, but it’s too far away for anyone to properly defend them from attack.”

Krijero relaxed a little. “If they made an emergency landing, Dani’s okay for the short term then.”

Wynhod scanned the larger pieces of wreckage that appeared just outside the moon’s gravitational pull. Gelan entered the atmosphere, carefully piloting around the remains. The Dramok’s lips were tight.

Wynhod ignored the sick feeling in his stomach. “Unless that Isetacian was transporting ship parts, I’d guess it was more a crash than a landing. That’s a piece of a booster engine right there.” He pointed the fragment out to his clanmates.

Krijero’s sharp intake of breath filled the cockpit. Wynhod hated telling his Imdiko bad news, but better he hear it now and brace himself for the worst.

A hint of a growl trickled from Gelan’s lips before he spoke. “Let’s go in and hope for the best.”

The thrill of the hunt was most definitely gone.

• • •

The third time Dani moved the topmost container blocking the door, orange-gray light drifted into the red-tinged cave of the downed shuttle. She thought she’d never seen a more beautiful sight in her life. The dismal bit of illumination was sweeter than any sun-drenched day at the beach.

She rushed to push the other containers aside, eager for daylight. The instant she could, she shoved against the reluctant hatch, pressing it far enough open to let her escape. She stood in the doorway, looking at her surroundings and inhaling the scent of rotted vegetation and the burnt, oily stench of the craft.

The ship had come to rest in a small clearing, surrounded by blue-barked trees with leaves that resembled gray scales. Dani could see the path the shuttle had taken by the sheered tops of the nearby wooded area. The ground beneath the trees looked darker than where the crashed ship lay, as if it was wet. That didn’t bode well for needed fire, though there were plenty of broken branches at hand.

“I’m on high ground. I can bring the branches up, and they’ll dry,” she consoled herself. But she needed boiled water sooner rather than later. The air was muggy, leeching moisture from her. Thirst made her throat click when she tried to swallow.

An iridescent-winged creature that resembled a dragonfly whirred past Dani’s head. She stared after it. It was at least the length of her forearm. Edible, she wondered?

Several more darted through the air, coming close enough to catch easily. Dani wasn’t squeamish at all at the thought of eating them. She’d downed squadrons of insects back on Earth to survive after the war. Her only concern was that the flying beasties might be poisonous.

Her little bit of food wouldn’t last long, and if she didn’t find help soon, she’d have to consider taking the risk. At least she had good shelter in the downed craft. She’d have to remove Reggie’s body though. She couldn’t share the cramped space with a corpse.

First things first: fire and water. She’d look for a water source and dry kindling.

Priorities set, Dani slipped back into the ship to find a container worthy of carrying water. She looked at the covered body of her dead companion before starting her search.

“Sorry Reggie. I don’t know the funeral customs of your people. I’ll bury you with as much dignity as I can when I get back. I hope it won’t offend you.”

She located a cylinder with a sealing lid, perfect for storing two gallons of water. She decided once she found a source, she could use it to bring manageable amounts of water back to the ship and fill up one of the larger storage containers.

Hope burning bright with the rising tangerine-stained sun, Dani started down the slope towards the woods. With dry wood and a reflective surface, fire was almost guaranteed. She allowed herself a little smile.

The ground squelched beneath her soft-soled slippers the lower she went. Well, that at least meant water wouldn’t be too hard to find, she reasoned. Her smile grew bigger.

She paused at the tree line and looked at the dense foliage ahead of her. It would be too damned easy to get lost and unable to retrace her steps to the ship. Listening to the strange cries of unknown beasts deep in the woods, Dani knew she needed the protection of the shuttle.

It took only a moment’s consideration before she bent to grasp the hem of her dress, pulling hard to rip a scrap of it away. She felt a kind of mean thrill in doing it, as if getting a measure of revenge on the Kalquorians who’d gotten her into this mess.

Here’s what I think of your ‘gift’, you big Earth-killing jerks.

She snagged the scrap on some brush. Its brilliant emerald color shone like a beacon. Better than breadcrumbs, Dani thought with an even bigger smile than before. If she grinned any harder, the top of her head would fall off.

Dani wandered into the woods, leaving bits of her dress along the way while looking at the straight lengths of broken branches. She could make spears for hunting and protecting herself. Maybe she’d chance across the Earther base that had been here, and there would be help there. She’d at least find abandoned supplies, she was sure.

Things weren’t great, but they were certainly looking up. She’d survived Armageddon on Earth. She’d outsmarted Kalquorians and escaped Dantovon. She’d survived a crash.

Dani felt good enough to hum a little tune as she traipsed deeper into the woods, mucky ground squelching under her feet with the promise of water somewhere.

• • •

The instant Gelan saw the crashed ship, his heart plummeted to his stomach. His first instinct told him no way anyone could still be alive in that wreck. But as his clan drew near and he got past the blinding dazzle of the sun reflecting off the bent metal, the Dramok realized it looked worse than it really was. Before it had crashed, the haphazardly constructed vehicle would have already looked like a wreck, like something mentally deficient Tragooms on a drunken spree might have built.

The clan tore the hatch completely away from the craft and squeezed inside. When the covered body revealed itself to be an Isetacian and not Dani, the men sighed in unison.

“No sign of her.” Gelan almost shook with relief. “No blood. If she was hurt, it wasn’t badly.”

Wynhod checked the craft’s registration. “This is definitely the ship witnesses said she boarded.”

Krijero re-covered the dead pilot. “It must be her. The Isetacian didn’t cover his own body.”

“Stupid move to leave shelter.” Gelan shook his head. The Earther’s lack of survival skills was appalling. They had to find her fast. “What kind of predators are there around here?”

Wynhod checked his handheld computer. “Some pretty nasty ones. Big reptiles and mammals that could definitely take an Earther down.”

“We’d better get tracking then.”

They stepped outside. Gelan armed sweat off his forehead. It was only morning, and the temperature was rising quickly. By afternoon, this marshland climate would be uncomfortably stifling. The slight breeze only stirred the fetid air, rendering little relief. The scraping sounds of the scale-like leaves rubbing against each other high in the trees served as a backdrop for the constant drone of large insect-like creatures flitting here and there.

Gelan wondered what Dani thought of her surroundings. She’d probably blundered off in a panic, screaming for help.

Almost immediately, Wynhod’s sharp eyes spied a bright green spot on a silver-hued bush just within the treeline of the surrounding woods.

“What do we have here?” He sped to the splash of color, the other two right behind him. He held up the scrap of fabric for their attention.

Krijero shook his head. “So much for her pretty dress.”

“That’s no accidental tear.” Gelan spied another piece of the dress Dani had looked at with such yearning on Dantovon. His estimation of her coping abilities rose a touch. “She plans to return here. She’s marking her trail.”

Wynhod held the bit of material to his nose, inhaling Dani’s scent. “Do we wait or pursue?”

Gelan grinned, his enjoyment of the situation restored now that he knew his Earther hadn’t been killed. “Oh, hunting is always so much more fun than trapping.”

Wynhod laughed, and even Krijero’s face brightened in a ghost of a smile. “I knew you’d say that.”

• • •

Dani exulted despite the tortuous thirst driving her crazy. The muggy air sapped all the moisture from her body, leaving her as dry as a desert. Fortunately, she’d found a small stream of moving water in the boggy surroundings and had filled her container. Her well-marked path led her unerringly back to the crashed ship, where she would build a fire, boil the water, and drink until her belly ached and her throat stopped screaming dryness.

She also planned to catch the teeming insects and small wildlife she’d come across. She’d cook them and hope like hell they’d agree with her stomach. The spears she planned to make were also paramount. She’d seen the paw prints of something insanely huge and judging by how deeply they sank into the soft ground, heavy as well.

The prints had been twice the size of her big, galumphing size-ten feet. With telltale claws at the tips of the three toes on each print. Dani knew she was not at the top of the food chain on this marshy moon.

She caught a flash of sunlight on metal through the trees and almost gave a little cheer to have reached the clearing where the downed ship waited. Movement within the trees closed her throat before the sound could leave it.

Dani spotted Gelan’s face for an instant between the curtains of thick foliage. She froze. The Kalquorians were here? Hunting her?

A million thoughts flashed into her head all at once as the small break in the brush revealed Wynhod, then Krijero following in Gelan’s wake. They were so intent on her trail that they didn’t spy her standing there for the split second they had of a clear sightline.

Dani’s brain jabbered wildly. Rescue!Caught!Prisoner!Saved!Run!Beg forgiveness!

As soon as the Kalquorians were out of sight, Dani quietly, carefully stepped away from the path she’d followed, simultaneously heading towards Reggie’s ship while ducking low to avoid being seen by her pursuers. She crouched behind a dense stand of growth, trying to slow the harsh panting her breath had become.

To the jabbering cacophony in her head, she ordered, Shut up and let me think.

Except for a few chirps of panic, the madness abated so she could do just that. Dani listened hard for the oncoming Kalquorians. She thought she heard a soft pair of footfalls, just one man walking through the woods. Had they split up? Had the clan seen her and now attempted to flush her out?

You have to give yourself up to them. You don’t want to be here alone, starving like you did on Earth. For God’s sake, think about those paw prints. There’s big shit out here, things that would find Danielle Watson a delicious snack.

Surrendering was obvious. But her stomach curled in on itself to think of the repercussions she’d face when those huge aliens got their hands on her. She couldn’t even imagine the tortures the brutes would subject her to. They might even do it publicly, in front of their fellow Kalquorians on their planet.

Dani had a vision of the public punishment stage on Dantovon, of recalcitrant slaves cuffed and suspended naked in the air as their owners’ hired disciplinarians lashed them with electrical shock whips. The captured slaves always lost control of their elimination on the first blow, adding to the humiliation.

Dani saw herself there, hanging helplessly while Gelan, Wynhod and Krijero whipped her skin raw, her body jerking with every pulse of electricity. Surrounding the stage would be a sea of Kalquorians, their dark faces alight as they jeered at her screams.

It might be better to die on this horrid moon.

And God knows what they’d do to her before they even reached Kalquor. It was what, a three day journey, even with two wormholes to hurry their passage? Dani’s overactive imagination conjured a dungeon-like brig, in which she’d be manacled to the wall, beaten and tortured and raped the entire time. Trapped like one of the heretics of the Spanish Inquisition on an alien ship…

“Their ship.” Dani clamped her mouth shut against the escaped whisper and listened for that set of footfalls to run towards her.

But all had gone silent, save for the ever-present buzz of the insectile creatures that flew around. While she’d lived horrible thoughts of torture in her mind, her pursuers had apparently passed her by.

A jolt of excitement raced through Dani’s body. She could escape in the Kalquorians’ ship. No doubt they had set down near Reggie’s crashed shuttle. It would be easy to find. All she had to do was circle the clearing until she discovered where they’d landed.

A much better vision than the ones she’d been torturing herself with emerged. In this one, a gleam of metal through the trees alerted her to a streamlined bullet of a Kalquorian shuttle, one so modern it practically flew itself. The Kalquorians would still be following the shreds of her dress, probably not even as far as the sluggish stream she’d gotten water from, when she lifted off for destinations friendly to Earthers.

Thinking about water brought her thirst raging back. Dani looked at her container of water, her parched throat clicking as she swallowed. And she remembered the conversation at the Joshadan eatery, in which Gelan’s clan shared the story of their hunt with her.

Krijero asked his clanmates, “Did you take your bacteria-inhibitors?”

At the nods from the other two men, Dani asked, “What’s that for?”

Gelan answered. “We carry bottles that filter and purify water, but it can take a little while for it to be potable. Rather than load ourselves down, it’s easier to drink the water we find on the hunt and take medication later that kills off any harmful bacteria we might have ingested. Most responsible people keep a supply of such medication on hand in case they have to make an emergency landing on an unpopulated planet.”

There had been no sign of medicine on Reggie’s ship when she’d investigated the supplies on board. Not a surprise, as he’d not been the most responsible creature; his ship’s condition was a testament to that.

But the Kalquorians no doubt had it on their ship. The ship she was going to take.

Dani drank deeply from her water cache. It was cool and sweet, the best water she’d ever drunk. Just as she had promised herself, she drank it until her stomach strained. Wonderful.

Refreshed at last, Dani slowly stood up, searching her surroundings for the Kalquorians. They were nowhere in sight, and no shouts of discovery rang out. They’d walked by without knowing she’d been mere yards away. She grinned and shook her hips in a little victory dance.

So long, suckers. Dani is outta here.

Congratulating herself on such a brilliant plan, Dani hurried away, keeping the clearing with Reggie’s crashed ship in sight to her left. She imagined the look on the Kalquorians’ faces when they discovered they’d been outsmarted by an Earther prostitute.

Priceless.

CHAPTER 10

The morning had turned to afternoon by the time Gelan thought they might be catching up to Dani. She’d proven herself better quarry than he’d anticipated, giving him a newfound respect for the girl.

She’d searched out water. She’d managed to evade them. She wasn’t too good at covering her tracks, but having come from privilege, he hadn’t expected her to know how to do that. That she’d been able to lead them on a merry chase at all impressed him greatly.

The ground was turning progressively muckier, giving way to swampland. Dani’s trail had skirted several deep stands of water, taking her farther and farther from the crash site. Wynhod still managed to move almost silently, his Nobek skills of sneaking up on prey as effective as ever. Krijero squelched along, his heavy tread making sucking sounds every time he lifted his feet.

The Imdiko rubbed a sweat-sheened forearm across his brow. “We must be at least ten miles from the ship. Where is she going?”

Gelan wrenched one booted foot out of the muck. “We’ll ask when we catch her. Watch yourselves. I think some of this stuff could pull a man under.”

Wynhod looked at the tiny footprints that became more and more visible as they progressed. “We can’t be far behind her now. This will definitely slow her down.” He gave Gelan an evil grin. “Have you given any thought to her punishment once we catch her?”

Gelan returned the grin as his pants stiffened a little. “That’s about all I’ve thought of. She’s going to be a very sorry little girl.”

He wasn’t into hurting innocents, especially women. But like most Kalquorian men, dominating others, especially in sexual situations, tantalized. Spanking a naughty girl who’d put herself in danger, bending the rebellious little Earther to his will aroused him terribly. The thought of Dani’s lovely round buttocks reddening under his heavy hand tightened his crotch even more. Now that was going to be a fine trophy.

• • •

Dani cursed under her breath as she skirted yet another deep pool of water. She’d never seen a swamp on Earth except on vid shows, but she thought this must be how they looked and smelled. Nasty. Incredibly nasty and dirty. Blackish muck covered her feet and coated halfway up her calves. She’d lost one of her slippers in the sticky mess half a mile ago.

Worst of all, she fretted about getting farther away from the shelter of the crashed ship and her escape ship. She couldn’t turn back, knowing the Kalquorians might very well be on her trail. She couldn’t have retraced her steps anyway, not after what she’d

spied. In one of the pools she’d encountered, she’d seen the scaled back of some huge creature breach the gray-slimed water’s surface. The bit of it she’d seen conjured visions of skyscraper-sized dinosaurs, something she’d be only a nibble to should it catch her.

No, she couldn’t go back that way.

Dani squelched through ever stickier mud, sinking more with every step as she trudged around the pond that might hide yet another scaled horror in its unfathomable depths. She lost the other shoe as she heaved a step forward. She paused, looking with mingled despair, exhaustion, and fury as the hole she’d left in the ground quickly filled with water.

This really sucked. Literally.

Keep moving. That’s all you can do.

In the brief seconds she’d stood still, she’d sunk nearly to her knees in the black sludge. When Dani tried to yank her leg up and forward, she could only raise it an inch. She tried the other one. Same result.

Dani grabbed one leg with both hands, trying to pull herself free. The ground retained its hold on her, pulling her even deeper. She was in up over her knees now, and she panicked, struggling mightily to get out of the swallowing muck. Despite her frantic efforts, she continued to sink even faster. Within seconds, she was buried to the waist.

Terror overcame her and Dani screamed. “Help! Help me!”

Within the stand of trees she’d left minutes ago, something crashed towards her. With visions of hungry, fanged monsters in her head, Dani twisted the upper part of her body not encased in mud to see her approaching doom.

She sobbed with relief when the three Kalquorians cleared the woods, running towards her. Being beaten within an inch of her life didn’t seem such a terrible fate compared to being buried alive in mud or chomped on by dinosaurs.

Gelan and Wynhod stopped short a few feet away, and they grabbed Krijero to keep him from coming any closer either. Wynhod warned the Imdiko, “Stop here, Krijero. You’ll sink a lot faster than she is.”

Terrified they’d just stand there and watch her be buried in muck, Dani cried, “Get me out of here!” She was now up to her armpits, and the heavy mud holding her prisoner made it hard to catch her breath.

Gelan eyed the ground surrounding her. “Don’t move, Dani. Moving will make you sink faster. Hold absolutely still.”

Wynhod turned away, facing the woods. He suddenly disappeared in a blur of speed, moving faster than Dani’s eyes could follow. She gasped as he returned in a matter of seconds, dragging a long, thick branch. She’d never seen anyone run so fast.

Gelan seized the branch’s thickest part, helping Wynhod swing the thinner end towards Dani. “Good idea, Wynhod. Grab on, Krijero, and we’ll pull her out.”

Krijero joined his clanmates at one end of the branch, pushing the length across the mire. Dani reached, stretching her arms over the thick surface to grasp the opposite end. She was up to her chin now.

“Hang on as hard as you can, little fighter,” Wynhod said.

The men pulled on their end, and Dani’s body reluctantly dragged towards them a couple of inches. She gasped as mud slid up to her lower lip.

“Hold for a moment.” The men paused in their efforts as Wynhod coaxed Dani gently. “As we pull, lie as much on your stomach as possible. Try to make yourself flat on the surface.”

Dani looked at him in horror. She lifted her chin to keep the mud out of her mouth. “Lay down? No way! I’ll sink.”

Gelan’s tone was calm and reasonable, as if they were conversing about the weather. “You won’t sink, I promise. Trust us, Dani. We didn’t come after you to see you die.”

Dani couldn’t respond. The muck was over her mouth. In seconds, it would cover her nose.

She stared upward, at the pinkish-blue sky overhead, keeping her face as free for as long as she could. She felt the pull of the branch in her hands. She hung on grimly, convinced that at any moment the mud would close in over her head. When she slid through it, the muck losing its cement grip on her a little, she concentrated on becoming horizontal, which meant putting her face into the sludge.

Darkness enveloped her. Her arms ached with the tug of war the Kalquorians played with the muck, but she moved. The slime relinquished its grip a little at a time, so slowly that Dani knew she’d suffocate before she was pulled free.

“Pick your head up, Dani. You’re almost out.”

At Krijero’s call, she lifted her face and opened her eyes. The sunlight dazzled her and she inhaled a grateful breath. As her sight adjusted, she saw the men only three feet away, muscles straining as they yanked her loose. She suddenly skated across the surface of the bog, and the Kalquorians dropped the branch to grab her by the arms and lift her from what should have been her grave.

Dani was covered in the muck, weighed down by it so heavily that she could barely stand. She didn’t care. She lived.

She looked up at her rescuers. Three pairs of blue-purple eyes regarded her with interest, as if curious to see what she’d do next. Dani took a deep breath, the thick, fetid air the sweetest she’d ever breathed. “Thanks for saving me.”

Gelan answered for the clan. “You’re welcome.” He nodded towards a rock by the clearer water of the pond. “You can wash the mud off there.”

Dani swallowed. “What if there’s a — something dangerous in the water?”

“We’ll keep an eye out. Clean up.”

Keeping an eye on the ground before her, stepping carefully and anticipating another battle with the moon’s version of quicksand, Dani made her way to the bank. She was aware of the Kalquorians right behind her. She wondered if they were guarding

her from the hostile surprises of this world, or making sure she didn’t run again. She didn’t care. After her close call, she just wanted to be safe, and the aliens represented safety.

Shaking like a leaf, she knelt on the large rock and scooped water to wash her face. Her hair hung in ropey strands, similar to dreadlocks. She’d be rinsing for hours to get the mess off.

“You might as well just jump in,” Wynhod said.

She thought of the monster she’d seen in the other pool and shook her head. “No way. There’s no telling what’s in there.”

An enormous hand seized her by the back of the neck. The next instant, the Kalquorian picked her up and dunked her into the water. Another hand seized her by the arm, and yet another hand gripped her beneath the armpit. She was hefted up and dunked, hefted up and dunked, and hefted up and dunked again. When she came up the last time, she spluttered and struggled against the men who roughly washed the mud from her.

Wynhod spoke. “The dress is ruined. We might as well get rid of it.”

The sodden, heavy material tore from her body, leaving Dani naked. Clean at last, the clan pulled her from the water to stand on the sun-warmed rock.

“Hey! I can’t tromp around naked!” She covered herself with her arms as best she could. It didn’t matter they’d already seen her nude. She felt way too vulnerable without the dress.

Gelan’s cold, angry voice brought her protests to a screeching halt. “You certainly will, slave. We can do any damned thing we want with our property.”

Dani stared at him. Under the Dramok’s glare and the equally stony-faced expressions of the other two, she suddenly felt very small and helpless.

Oh shit. She was in big trouble.

Gelan spoke, his gaze drilling into her without one ounce of kindness. “Turn around, Dani. Wynhod and Krijero will hold you still for punishment.”

Dani’s insides turned to water. If she hadn’t already lost control of her bladder during her battle with the quick-mud, she’d have wet herself right there. “Wait. Don’t you think nearly dying was punishment enough?”

“No, I don’t. You put yourself in danger far too often, little girl.” Gelan’s voice was almost gentle as he bent to look her in the eye. “By your own account, you put yourself in harm’s way on Earth repeatedly. You indentured yourself on Dantovon without thinking through the consequences. Then to escape us, you got on a ship that no one with sense would have boarded. It crashed, killing the pilot and no doubt nearly taking your life as well. When we showed up to rescue you, you ran until you were nearly killed. You need discipline, Dani. You need it every time you commit an infraction, for your own good.”

“You’ve been lucky so far,” Wynhod added. “Sooner or later, your luck will run out, and no one will be around to save you. You only get so many passes before death finally accepts your invitation.”

“I’ll be good. I won’t run away ever again. Honest,” Dani implored. Surely they’d let her off this time if she seemed really contrite. They’d liked her enough to buy her, to come after her when she’d run away. They wouldn’t punish her, not for a first offense against them.

“Let’s make sure you don’t.” Gelan smiled, and Dani relaxed. She’d known he’d let her off with a warning.

“Now?” Wynhod said.

Gelan nodded. Dani found herself spun around, putting her back to Gelan and facing the pond. Wynhod’s hand clamped around the back of her neck again. On the other side, Krijero grabbed her hands, pinning her wrists over her head.

“Next time you think about doing something that can get you hurt, remember this,” Gelan said.

Before she could utter a sound, Gelan’s palm cracked hard on her backside. The sharp report of the blow rang in her ears a second before the pain registered. Then with crystalline clarity, agony pulsed through her right ass cheek, making her cry out.

“What the hell?” she shrieked.

“This is called dulma, a spanking. It will continue until you apologize and promise to behave.”

Pride erupted despite the shame and pain of the discipline he administered. She’d never been spanked before, had never known the harshness of corporeal punishment. Gelan’s blows came hard and fast, giving her no chance to brace herself against the blistering torment.

“Stop! Stop it, damn you! You’re not my father!”

“That doesn’t sound much like an apology to me,” Wynhod commented. The bastard sounded amused. “And we’re old enough to be your fathers. So accept the correction and express your regret for being such a bad little girl.”

Dani danced and twisted on her tiptoes, unable to escape the grip the other two had on her. Despite her desperate attempts, Gelan landed each open-handed slap on the rounded expanse of her buttocks with brutal accuracy. Dani shrieked curses, but the spanking went on and on, roasting her skin until she thought it might burst into flame.

Finally her pride crumbled under the hard hand, and Dani blubbered, “Please, I’m sorry. Please stop. I’ll be good.”

Gelan ceased immediately. Krijero let her hands go, and her arms flopped bonelessly to her sides as she sobbed, as much from humiliation as pain. Wynhod kept his grip on the back of her neck.

Gelan’s voice was still gentle, as if the brute had never even considered laying a hand on a helpless girl. “That will do for a first offense.”

The pressure of Wynhod’s hold on her made Dani turn to face Gelan. The Dramok cupped her chin in his palm, making her look at him. His face blurred through her tears, but she saw the firm expression anyway.

“You do not want to disobey us again, Dani,” he warned.

When she simply stood there weeping, Wynhod’s grip tightened slightly. “Your response is, yes my Dramok.”

Between sobs, Dani choked out, “Yes, my Dramok.”

Gelan nodded approval. “Good girl. Let’s head back to the ship, clan.”

Gelan took the lead. Her neck still gripped in Wynhod’s firm grasp, Dani followed, with Krijero bringing up the rear. The strong hand kept her from stumbling, steering her around obstacles in the path, which was just as well. Dani couldn’t see for the tears that continued to flow and distort her vision.

God, her ass hurt. She didn’t think she’d be able to sit down for a week.

• • •

Gelan had never felt so turned off his entire life. His cocks felt shrunken and small.

He’d discovered a huge difference between spanking a female within sexual play and spanking one in order to punish. Chastising Dani had made him physically ill. That she needed to be taught a forceful lesson hadn’t made it any more palatable. Hearing her cry tore at his guts. His senses tumbled in a knotted mess: one moment he felt anger at her for putting him in this position. The next instant, he found fury at himself for having made her cry so piteously, like a frightened child. Then the memory of her almost disappearing beneath the mire, nearly dying right there in front of him and his sense of helplessness made him sick all over again.

Had Dani gone down, Gelan wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from plunging in after her, most assuredly to his own death. That this willful, self-absorbed Earther sparked such strong feelings, feelings he’d only experienced for his parents and clan, frightened him. How had she gotten under his skin so fast?

Gelan stomped over the mucky trail, not caring how loud his passage was through the tall marsh grasses. Yes, he wanted a Matara for his clan. Yes, he wanted to breed and produce offspring. And yes, Dani was pretty and alluring. But that didn’t explain how much it hurt him to see her in danger, to hear her cry out in pain when he’d disciplined her.

She brought out a fierce protectiveness, a sense that he needed to right all the wrongs done to her. Gelan hated she’d not received the consideration and love she deserved from her parents. It had made her a selfish creature, possibly unable to take others’ needs seriously. He didn’t need Krijero’s psychological education to know her thoughtless actions were probably a subconscious plea for attention.

They passed from open land into a wooded area. Blessed shade took the heat off the top of Gelan’s head, but his thoughts still burned, especially as Dani’s hiccupping sobs continued behind him. Damn it, he hated hearing her cry like that. Hated even more that he was the one who’d made her cry. The thought that he would probably have to take her to task again made him want to howl.

Dani might not be repressed sexually like most her kind, but she was a broken Earther just the same. Gelan had doubts he was the man to heal her wounds. Especially when giving her the discipline she so sorely needed shriveled something inside his soul.

Krijero won’t be able to punish her. It would devastate him.

It would be up to him and Wynhod to guide her then. Gelan grimaced. He hoped his Nobek was up for the task. Dani’s next infraction, and he had no doubt there would be a next infraction, would be corrected by Wynhod. Knowing his clanmate the way he did, Gelan had no doubt he’d find it just as distasteful.

Knowing the impetuous Earther couldn’t help but to test them, Gelan nevertheless sent her a silent plea as they slogged on through the marshy land. Please, my little Dani, by all you hold holy, please behave yourself.

• • •

About an hour after pulling Dani from the mire, Wynhod realized his grip on the back of her neck was about all that kept her on her feet. It was no wonder after hours of flight and the massive struggle to get free of the sucking mud.

He fought off a stab of sympathy. He’d seen how punishing her for her stupidity had affected Gelan. His Dramok’s head hung down, his shoulders hunched as he led them back towards their ship. Gelan was tough, Nobek tough, but dealing harsh discipline to someone so much smaller and weaker had to be a terrible burden.

Still, it would do no good to remain angry at the Earther. She’d been punished for her willfulness. And he admired the stubborn pride she exhibited in not whining how tired she was from her forced march.

Or maybe she remained quiet out of fear they’d hurt her more? The thought she might be that terrified of them curdled Wynhod’s stomach. He wanted her respect, not fear.

He stopped in his tracks right then and there. “I have to carry her,” he said.

Gelan halted and turned, his gaze settling on the exhausted Dani. Krijero also drew abreast of them, leaning down to look into her pale face. Her eyes, almost closed as if she was more asleep than awake, fluttered the least bit. Wynhod noticed for the first time how dark and long her lashes were, outlining her brown eyes. Despite the tear streaks on her cheeks and the drawn expression, she was still a very pretty girl.

Gelan brushed a gentle hand against her cheek. Dani leaned a little into his touch, and Wynhod saw his leader swallow.

“I think the ground gets higher about a mile away in those woods. That will be a good place to stop and rest for a bit,” Gelan said.

Wynhod nodded. He picked up Dani, cradling her in his arms like a baby. She sighed, snuggled her face into his chest, and immediately went to sleep. Feeling her warm, sweet body cuddled up to him shook something inside. It was his turn to gulp.

Gelan snorted un-amused laughter. “We’re in trouble, aren’t we?” he asked in their language.

Wynhod sighed.

Krijero looked from one to the other of his clanmates and shook his head, his expression going tight. “I knew buying her would be a mistake.”

Wynhod quirked a wry smile at his Imdiko. “Perhaps. But the deed is done, so let’s do the best we can with her.”

Krijero humphed but said nothing else. They continued their journey without another word. Wynhod kept looking at the precious creature in his arms as they walked, wondering how they would convince her to stay with them forever.

• • •

A gentle kiss coaxed Dani out of her slumber. The lips tasting hers were soft. A warm wet tongue prodded her mouth open to slip delicately inside. The raw silk surface of it twined with the brushed velvet of her tongue, making her insides warm goo.

The mouth left hers, and she moaned with loss. She opened her eyes.

The three Kalquorians bent over her, all intently staring into her face. She sensed they sat on the ground under the shade of many trees, and she lay draped over their legs. Dani froze, all the good feelings fleeing immediately.

“Collar,” Gelan said, holding his hand out to Wynhod.

The Nobek fiddled with a pouch on his belt, drawing out a thin, gold hoop. A slave collar, Dani recognized. Her heart sank to see the locator attached to it.

There was no point in fighting them. She lay unprotesting as Gelan placed the hated weight around her neck.

Three years enslaved to these men if they adhered to the contract and didn’t keep her forever. She blinked back tears.

Damn them.

Gelan spoke in his language to the other two men, who nodded and moved back, leaving her draped across the Dramok’s lap. He looked into her eyes. Dani stared back, stone-faced. He probably wanted her to beg him for mercy. Well, he could wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which filled up first. She’d give him nothing.

After a moment, Gelan said, “Lay down on the ground.”

Dani looked at her surroundings. The ground here wasn’t wet from the looks of things, so they had left the swamp behind. The ground cover didn’t look much like the grass on Earth. The vegetation grew in lavender swirled tufts. It would be pretty if she was in the company of anyone else.

“Why do you want me to lie on the ground?”

Gelan’s tone was no-nonsense. “Because you are going to serve your masters.”

Dani’s stomach curled in on itself. Her thighs pressed hard together instinctively.

Standing over her and Gelan, Wynhod glared down at her when she didn’t move. “From now on, if you question our orders or delay in obeying them you will be punished. Now obey your Dramok.”

His words reminded Dani of the terrible spanking Gelan had given her. She became aware of the low ache still pulsing in her buttocks as the last dredges of sleep fled her body. Oh no. She couldn’t bear the humiliation of that again.

She rolled off Gelan’s lap to the surprisingly springy ground. At Gelan’s order, she lay on her back, hissing when her still sore buttocks came in contact with the soft curls of grass.

Dani cringed as Gelan crouched between her legs. “Hold yourself open,” he told her, bending her knees up towards her shoulders and placing her hands behind them.

Feeling terribly vulnerable, she nevertheless obeyed, holding herself splayed wide for him. Once more she had to fight tears of angry despair at bay.

Dani expected Gelan to open his pants and take her with ruthlessness to demonstrate his dominance over her. Instead, he surprised her by stroking his fingertips up and down her body. His touch was as gentle as the kiss he’d wakened her with.

“You are beautiful, Dani,” he said, his voice hushed with feeling as he looked into her face.

She didn’t know how to respond. Why was he being so nice to her now? She’d have thought he’d continue to punish her for what she’d done, treat her like the slave she was. Instead, he looked at her with a lover’s gaze, caressed her with a lover’s touch. Like she mattered.

Dani didn’t want to respond to Gelan’s seduction, but when he bent over her to kiss her, his hands cupping her ribcage, her insides melted. The tenderness with which his mouth worked hers only punctuated the powerful body that brushed against her. It was as if compassion only underlined the brute’s strength.

He made her feel helpless and protected all at once, which made no sense given this was the bastard who’d wore her ass out like a strict father reproving a wayward ten-year old. He’d hurt and shamed her.

Yet as Gelan kissed his way down her chin and throat, pausing at the hollow to lick delicately, Dani’s body responded to him. She’d have gladly staked him out in the sun on top of a fire ant hill and watched him scream right now, but her lower regions bubbled with ardor as he continued down to mouth her breasts.

Damn him to hell, he had the most educated hands and mouth she’d ever known. Those mighty paws of his curled around the bottoms of her small mounds, pushing them up to his mouth. He fed on one as if famished, sucking it all in his maw while his raspy tongue swirled all around her eager nipple. Pleasure zinged from the peak to her clit, and Dani couldn’t help but writhe beneath him, showing him her enjoyment.

“So very sensitive,” he growled as he drew his mouth away. “These are perfection, my little Dani.”

He bent to the other breast, making Dani cry out with sensation as he nipped and sucked it into a hard peak to match the other. Then he went back to the first, capturing the pebbled tip between his teeth and lashing it with his tongue.

Back and forth he went, until Dani thought she might go mad from the blissful torment. Her breasts had always been an embarrassment to her, so small and insubstantial. But Gelan praised them in between maulings, commenting on their perfect shape, on their eager response to his touches.

He finally lifted his mouth from the now reddened orbs, and Dani shuddered with a mixture of arousal and dread to see his fangs distended. His gaze met hers for an instant before his head darted down again with the speed of a rattlesnake strike. Dani shrieked as the needle-sharp teeth speared the upper part of her left breast.

Gelan seemed oblivious to her fists peppering his shoulders with furious blows. After a moment, the pain faded, and bliss poured through her being as the intoxicant he sent into her system worked its magic. Her battering turned to caressing as she hummed happy moans.

She’d heard of the strange chemical Kalquorian bites sent into their victims. If they bit an enemy, it left them helpless to fight. Same for the women they wished to bed.

Feeling like an angel drifting on a cloud, Dani watched through half-lidded eyes as Gelan withdrew. His fangs folded to the roof of his mouth, and he slowly licked the blood from the small puncture wounds he’d made. Each languorous lap from his tongue resonated throughout her body.

To her delight, Gelan kissed his way down her torso, taking his wonderful tongue ever closer to her clamoring sex. Her stomach trembled as his lips traveled down it, pausing to lick the delicate cup of her navel. Then he sat back on his knees, cutting short the lovely journey to where she wanted him most.

She whimpered, pulling her legs farther apart in invitation. Gelan grinned at her, the heat in his cat-slitted eyes warming her lower parts. She thought she might melt as the massive alien loomed over her. The Dramok exuded brute masculinity, all hungry, aroused man. Just kneeling there, his presence awed. His crotch bulged with twin erections, thick lengths of iron he would eventually thrust into her open, vulnerable flesh. Dani felt very small, very feminine, very turned on as he eyed her with assured possessiveness. And why not? He owned her, after all. She belonged utterly to him, and under the influence of the intoxicant she welcomed it.

Gelan stroked her mound, rendered permanently hairless as part of her indenture on Dantovon. The naked flesh tingled at his touch, and Dani caught her breath.

“This is mine,” he told her. His fingers moved down to her outer lips, a butterfly’s kiss on dewy flesh.

Dani trembled all over. Her voice piped several octaves higher than usual. “Yes.”

“It belongs to me.” He traced the sensitive crevice separating outer and inner lips. His other hand went lower, brushing her anus. Her nether parts clenched.

“Yes.” A hiss of breath, no sound left.

“Mine to do with as I wish.” The statement came out in a low, animal growl as he ran a finger up and down her slit.

Yes, her lips mouthed. The trembling had turned to outright shaking.

With a satisfied smile, Gelan lowered his face to her womanhood. Starting at the bottom of her rift, his tongue flattened against her quivering flesh. He licked up and up, ending at the distended nub of her clit. Dani arched and wailed with delight. She gushed honey.

He did it again, his rough-textured tongue working slowly to capture every precious drop. As he finished up at her most sensitive flesh, Dani felt herself quiver at the edge of crescendo. A bright spike of sensation took her right to the brink. Then Gelan was back at the start, leaving the orgasm unrealized.

He paused to dip two fingers into her wetness. He pressed one of the slick digits into her anus, stretching her gently before adding the second finger. The taboo penetration lit every nerve. Forbidden fruit had always been her weakness, and nothing on Earth had been as forbidden as anal play.

While Gelan stimulated her most secret entrance, he laved her avid pussy over and over, keeping her at the peak without allowing release. Dani sobbed with delight and need. What he did felt so good; on one hand she wanted this glorious teasing to never end, on the other her body clamored for release. She’d never known such gorgeous torture.

Her tissues swelled and reddened. Her clitoris emerged from its hood, blatant with excitement as it greeted every sweep of Gelan’s tongue. Dani’s stomach still appeared flat, but that was a lie. She felt how it distended from the inner pressure, excruciatingly tight as it bloated towards the inevitable explosion.

And still the Kalquorian lapped the tormented flesh, building the delicious agony beyond what Dani had thought possible. Her sobs had become little screams, and she writhed on the ground like a wounded snake. Her head tossed from side to side. God, she needed to come, needed it like a man in the desert needed water.

“Please,” she wailed. “Oh please, I want to come, please let me come.”

Gelan chuffed laughter as he made another pass up her slit. But instead of flicking her straining clit this time, he drew a circle around it with the tip of his tongue, refusing to touch the needy nub. Dani screamed in frustration and let go of her legs to grab the back of his head, trying to force him onto the demanding flesh.

The Dramok’s reaction was immediate. He reared up with a roar, lunging forward so his face was only inches from hers. Snarling like an animal, he bared his fangs at her with an expression of feral rage.

Fear somehow both increased her arousal and brought it under control. Dani went very still beneath Gelan, not even daring to breathe.

Between the growls that trickled from his pulled back lips, Gelan muttered, “This is not your body to command. It is mine, and I will pleasure it if and when I want.”

Afraid to provoke the muscled beast crouched over her, Dani kept silent. She slid her hands slowly from Gelan’s head. She gripped the backs of her knees once more and spread herself as wide as she could.

With a final snarl, Gelan eased back on his haunches. He stared at her for several seconds that felt like an eternity. In the midst of her petrified, intoxicated arousal, Dani thought him the most deadly, beautiful creature she’d ever seen. Like a sleek panther, the alien was pure danger that enthralled even as he terrified.

His gaze travelled down her body, ending with her offered pussy, open and vulnerable to him. Gelan shuddered all over. He pulled at the top of his formsuit, yanking it down to his thighs. His glistening cocks sprang free, thick with hunger.

It didn’t matter she’d had him in her body before. Looking at the alien’s huge sexes, Dani’s heart skipped a beat with fear. He would drive them into her body, and she couldn’t deny him. He owned her.

Powerless against the dark, dangerous Kalquorian, Dani could only watch as he gathered himself in one hand, positioning himself for the first thrust into her body. She warbled a cry that was half welcome, half fearful. He pressed against her, the tips of him slipping into her pussy and anus.

Gelan suddenly thrust hard, burying himself to the hilt. Dani shrieked. Intoxicant, pain, fear, arousal … the mixture was pure combustion, and she exploded in orgasm.

The Dramok rutted with her violently, gasping great whoops of air as her passage clutched him in fervent spasms. Veins in his neck stood out as he drove into her squeezing sleeve, fighting to maintain control. With a guttural exclamation, he lost the battle, unleashing a roar as her clutching pussy yanked climax from him. The hard jerks of his larger cock surrendering its seed set off Dani anew, and she screamed with rekindled sensation.

Gelan fell over her, still pounding his hips into her. His weight held her helpless, making her take every violent push. Dani detonated again, her body ecstatic from the merciless lovemaking.

At last the Kalquorian slowed, his thrusts growing erratic. His gasps sobbed in Dani’s ear. She realized she had let go of her legs again only when her arms fell bonelessly from their grip of the wide expanse of Gelan’s back. Limp as overcooked spaghetti, she lay beneath the alien’s shuddering body. She thought she might never move again.

With a final groan, Gelan rolled off of her. His body splayed across the ground beside her, every bit as wasted as she was.

“You’d think they’d never had sex before,” someone growled.

Dani gathered enough strength to turn her head to one side. Wynhod and Krijero crouched on the ground, watching from only a few feet away. Their eyes were nearly black, their fangs extended, and their excitement strained the crotches of their pants. Dani nearly wept to see their excitement. No way could she take the two of them on. She’d die of exhaustion.

“Let’s see your back, Gelan,” Krijero said. His voice wasn’t quite as bestial as Wynhod’s, but it still rumbled threateningly, like far off thunder announcing a coming storm.

With a breathless chuckle, the Dramok managed to lift his bulk from the springy ground. He turned around, displaying the ragged scratches Dani had clawed into his flesh. Blood beaded the stripes.

“Nice,” Wynhod snarled in appreciation.

“I won’t even ask if you want those treated,” Krijero added.

Gelan laughed, looking down at the still-spent Dani. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself so much, my tiny savage.”

Wynhod yanked his boots off. His formsuit followed, and then he slowly eased towards her, crawling on all fours like a wolf approaching wounded prey. “My turn,” he said.

Oh no. Dani couldn’t even twitch, she was so worn. “Please,” she whispered. “I can’t.”

“You will.” Wynhod crept over her, his big, muscular body blocking out the brutal glare of the sun.

Weak as a newborn kitten, Dani could only lie there as he looked down on her. His hand cupped her jaw, the calloused pad of his thumb rough on her lips as he outlined her mouth.

“I want this,” he said.

Wynhod moved up, his body sliding over her vision as he crawled forward. His handsome face, tense with predatory intent, slid from her view to be replaced by his thick neck, wide shoulders and sculpted chest. Next came the defined ridges of his abdomen, longer in proportion than an Earther’s with eight bumps in place of her own kind’s six. Then his cocks were there, hovering over her face. A shade darker than the rest of his mocha skin, the iron appendages pointed at right angles to his body, eager to be serviced. A pearlescent drop beaded at the tip of the larger one.

“Open your mouth.”

The irrefutable command in his voice triggered her immediate compliance. Dani parted her lips without sparing a thought as to whether or not she should obey. Wynhod’s bigger organ descended. Her nostrils were filled with a cinnamon-y sweet smell. As soon as it was within reach, Dani’s tongue flicked out, nabbing the droplet.

Sweet-salty-spiciness teased her senses. She suddenly looked forward to orally pleasuring the Nobek. She hoped he would let her fellate him to orgasm, flooding her mouth with his delicious fluids. She was momentarily shocked to find herself newly aroused.

The tip of his bullet-shaped penis passed her lips, and he slowly invaded the warmth of her mouth. The careful entrance was at odds with Wynhod’s nearly continuous growls. Dani fully expected him to go animal at any moment, shoving his need all the way into her throat until she choked on his length. Instead, the Nobek stopped well before inciting the gag reflex.

“Can you move your arms, little fighter?” he asked.

His posture with his legs bent at her sides kept Dani’s upper arms pinned against her ribcage. She was able to bend her elbows though, and she reached up to squeeze his thighs. His muscles were like concrete under the smooth skin. She loved the feel of him.

“Good. Squeeze again when you feel like you can’t take anymore of me.”

Wynhod pressed deeper into her mouth, taking his time. Dani relaxed her throat, enjoying every nuance of how he felt. The vein on the underside of his cock pulsed against her tongue. The organ was hot, like coffee at the perfect temperature. The flesh was pure velvet softness, stretched over the unbending steel of his arousal. And the cinnamon taste of his natural lubricant delighted her. She rubbed her tongue up and down his length, swallowing as much of his precious fluids as she could.

Wynhod groaned low in his throat. “Dani,” he whispered, her name like a prayer on his lips.

She took more of him than even she thought possible before giving his legs the warning squeeze. The Nobek immediately halted. “Good girl,” he rumbled and reversed his course.

He fucked her mouth slowly, taking great care with her. His smaller cock slid beneath her chin, leaving a trail of wetness down the length of her throat. The joy of taking him so intimately, along with his obvious consideration, aroused Dani beyond belief. She reached to finger her avid flesh. She moaned as her insides melted at her touch.

Krijero’s voice came from far away. “With my Nobek’s permission if you have no need for this lovely pussy?”

“Take her, my friend. Her mouth is too delightful to leave.”

A strong grip pulled her hand from her softest flesh. Her fingers were enveloped in another wet warmth. Krijero sucked her juices from her fingers before wedging his hips between her legs, lifting her thighs to drape over his.

The heat that had been building in her belly surged. Both of them at once. Oh, this was going to be wonderful. She gushed fresh honey, and Krijero chuckled.

“Such an eager little Earther, so ready for pleasure. I will do my best to not disappoint.”

As if you could, Dani thought. Her few experiences with the Kalquorians had convinced her sex with them could never frustrate. At least the Earth-killing bastards had that going for them.

Krijero pushed his sexes into her, filling her so delightfully she thought she might climax right away. Her hands clenched, digging nails into Wynhod’s thigh and Krijero’s forearm. Two growling chuckles greeted her reaction.

“Feel good?” Wynhod asked, fingers stroking through her scalp. “Perhaps we will earn a few marks of honor to match Gelan’s.”

Krijero matched his easy rhythm, keeping the fire in Dani’s guts stoked without engulfing her in the greatest pleasure. The bliss of the two men’s lovemaking held her in a sweet embrace. Just when she thought the aliens couldn’t possibly match earlier delights, they managed to somehow exceed their previous endeavors.

Would three years of this really be so terrible? Or a lifetime, should they decide to keep her prisoner? God, it felt so good!

Wynhod caressed her face as he used her mouth, the brute’s touch tender. Dani twined her tongue all around the driving length of him, making his breaths come in pants. Krijero drove in and out of her pussy and anus with long, sure strokes, moving his hips in slow circles as he did so, hitting every sensitive spot she possessed. In response, she rewarded his efforts by clenching inner muscles rhythmically, tightening around him to make him groan with delight.

They became more demanding, working her body faster, harder. Their growing excitement was contagious, making Dani’s insides roil with heightened zeal. A slow, hard spasm rippled through her, a precursor to the quakes that would soon shudder her to pieces. Her tongue zealously worked Wynhod.

Dani usually selfishly concentrated on her own pleasure, just as her past lovers and customers had. But for some reason, gaining that gorgeous peak of shattering exaltation wasn’t enough this time. She wanted to take the two men with her, to make them come hard until they felt they turned inside out. She needed them to explode, to flood womb and mouth with their precious juices. Never had others’ gratification been so essential to her own wellbeing.

She sucked hard on Wynhod and clutched strong muscles around Krijero’s cocks with all the force she could muster. Twin growls, almost roars, rang in the air. Close. They were so close. She almost had them…

Wynhod’s tempo faltered, became erratic as Krijero pistoned against her, driving into her like a madman. Dani moaned loudly, sending vibrations through the thick cock that jerked with its own life in her mouth.

With an earsplitting bellow, Wynhod climaxed. Hot fluid inundated Dani’s mouth. His pulsing cock poured spicy-salty-sweetness down her throat, and she drank down the wondrous flow.

Her own orgasm barreled towards her, and her sleeves seized on Krijero, coaxing him to relinquish his pleasure too. He did so, his howls joining his clanmate’s. His cock throbbed like a heartbeat in her core, filling her in pulses with his seed.

Hearing, feeling, and tasting their satisfaction took Dani to the tipping point. Climax crashed like cymbals in its lustful symphony, reverberating throughout her body with shivering brightness. She screamed around Wynhod’s still jolting cock as a series of crescendos tore through her senses.

Beyond the wild gratification was a pleasure that warmed her to the soul. She’d satisfied the men, had given them the delight they’d craved. Somehow, it increased her own fulfillment. Perhaps she’d consider this odd occurrence later. For now, it was enough to ride the waves of bliss.

The Kalquorians gently disengaged a few moments after their sighs ended. The two men kneeled beside her, and Gelan joined them.

“That makes up for a bit,” Wynhod grinned.

The last spasms faded from Dani’s loins. With the passing of orgasm’s heady drunkenness, she discovered the euphoria from the alien’s bite had also waned. She looked up at the men, ugly reality reasserting itself once more.

These were not tender lovers, men committed to her happiness. These were her masters. Her owners. Nevermind the way they stroked her body right now, as if touching a found treasure. She was nothing more to them but a collection of warm orifices, existing only for their carnal pleasures. The tenderness was only temporary, soon to be followed by indifference.

Enemies or not, she wanted them to care for real. It made no sense she would wish such a thing, not from Kalquorians, but there it was, just the same. It made her sad.

The wave of depression colored everything drab. She lay still, pouting. Her captors dressed quickly, not quite hiding their magnificent bodies in formfitting clothes. Still, they had something on, where she, a lowly slave, must remain naked but for the humiliating collar.

As the Kalquorians helped her to her feet, preparing to continue the march to their ship, Dani became aware of the layer of sweat left on her skin from fucking in the humid marsh. And her throat and thighs were sticky with her masters’ dried fluids. Where the sheen of perspiration made the clan look more masculine, enhancing their desirability, she knew she only looked gross. Her hair hung in sweaty drabs down her back and insubstantial chest. She wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d decided to leave her here after all.

Wynhod’s hand gripped the back of her neck again, guiding her in Gelan’s wake as they set off once more. A small pool of water, too small to contain one of those monstrous creatures who might find her tasty, was along their path.

Looking at it with hope and careful to be respectful, Dani asked, “May I wash again?”

One corner of Wynhod’s mouth quirked up. The handsome alien looked very pleased for some reason. “I prefer you carry our scent. You may bathe when we reach the ship.”

Feeling nasty and ugly, Dani swallowed a sigh and wished for rain. The cloudless sky mocked her.

CHAPTER 11

Wynhod enjoyed the walk, especially since he held Dani so that she trudged along in front of him. The view of her delectable backside had aroused him once more within minutes of climax. Even sweaty with bits of fuzzy grass clinging to her skin and hair, she remained a beautiful woman. Those long, trim legs, her slender torso, the perfect little breasts that filled his mouth just right … his loins clenched with admiration.

But the Nobek’s delight with the Earther went far beyond appreciation of her physical attributes. Perhaps she indulged in impulsiveness too often, but that didn’t negate her intelligence. With guidance she’d develop common sense. It was simply a matter of pushing past her stubborn nature.

Not that brattiness was such a detraction where Wynhod was concerned. He adored Dani’s little flashes of temper and the obstinate fashion she tried to get her way. Well, to a point, anyway. That spirited streak of hers had nearly gotten her killed twice; first with the crash of her ship then getting caught in the quickmud. His grip on her neck tightened for an instant, and she rolled her eyes back at him to see what she’d done wrong. Wynhod loosened his hold again and gave her the slightest twitch of a smile to let her know she was in no trouble.

Wynhod loved a challenge, and gaining Dani’s respect looked to be a good one. Keeping that spirit intact while getting her to be more reflective of her actions … tough, but not impossible, he felt sure.

Getting her to see them as protectors and not enemies might be an even bigger obstacle. And beyond that? Wynhod frowned. He was not a man who lied, especially not to himself. Dani entranced him. He was infatuated with the little Earther, his thoughts whirling around her almost nonstop. Nobeks didn’t get giddy, but he was as close to it as the wiring in his warrior brain allowed.

A familiar sour smell drifted to him on the breeze, interrupting his happy ruminations. With a low grunt he froze, yanking Dani close to him protectively. Krijero and Gelan halted in their tracks, and they also pointed their faces into the wind, nostrils flaring.

Dani looked from one man to another, her body stiffening in alarm. A small part of Wynhod’s mind approved her instincts as he strained to listen for the threat that edged closer.

She pressed up against him, seeking the shelter of his larger body. Her voice was a faint breath, but he heard her perfectly well. “What is it?”

Gelan stepped back, coming close to them. His sharp eyes scanned the trees around them as he whispered back. “Be absolutely quiet. There is danger.”

Wynhod pushed Dani towards him. “Stay here.”

The Nobek took off, running fast but silently through the trees, avoiding the deep pools of water where possible. He covered a lot of ground quickly. He paused here and there to listen and sniff the air. The sweetish-rancid stench grew until it filled his senses, sparking an instinctive rage that his training kept in check. Few things incited real bloodlust, the blinding urge to kill without remorse. This was one of those things however, and Wynhod’s fangs unhinged. He kept his senses nonetheless, the need to protect his clan and Dani leashing the primal beast inside him.

The next time he stopped to gain his bearings, the sour tang of his enemy was so rich he could taste it on his tongue. Wynhod heard them this time, snorting and snuffling as they tracked his clan. He raced to the tallest tree in his immediate vicinity and scrambled up, as perfectly silent as ever.

Through the scaly growths that sprang from his perch, he had a perfect view of the Tragoom trackers hurrying towards him. He didn’t worry about being seen. Tragooms had terrible eyesight. Their sense of smell and hearing was exceptional, however. Triangular ears perched on top of their blocky heads and swiveled this way and that, searching for the slightest indication of their prey. Tusks bracketed mucus-covered rounded snouts. The beasts’ nostrils flared wide, drinking in the aromas of their surroundings. Built like boulders with short muscular arms and legs, the nasty creatures still moved quickly. Their armored hides left few points of weakness for a blade to stab into, and Wynhod’s hand ached for his blaster. He could have taken half of them out from a distance before the rest could react. Unfortunately, he’d left his shooting weapons on board the ship. No large animals had appeared on the scan for several miles when they’d landed, and he’d expected to find Dani dead or injured on the crashed shuttle. Firepower hadn’t seemed an issue at the time. Wynhod cursed himself for his shortsightedness.

Wynhod and Gelan had left little sign of their passage, an automatic habit of theirs, but Krijero and Dani were not trained to do so. Even if the Tragooms not been so sensitive to scent, the clumsy passage of Wynhod’s Imdiko and woman would have led them easily to the party. A blind lusgo worm could have followed their trail.

Wynhod raced down the tree, gaining the ground without making a single leaf tremble. He hurried back to his waiting clan. He noted with approval how Gelan and Krijero sandwiched Dani between themselves, keeping her shielded from possible blaster fire.

The breeze luckily wafted from the direction of the Tragoom party towards the Kalquorians. Wynhod was sure the nasty bastards wouldn’t hear him speaking in a normal voice. “Party of Tragooms coming fast. We’ll never make the ship before they catch us.”

Gelan’s slitted pupils dilated with excitement. His fangs descended. “Can we take them?”

Wynhod shook his head. “There are about twenty, a scouting crew for a larger group if I judge correctly. They’re all armed with percussion blasters. We don’t have a chance in an ambush, nevermind a stand-up fight.”

Gelan growled, and Wynhod noticed how Dani cringed a little at the ferocity in the Dramok’s face. They’d been speaking in Kalquorian, and she had no idea what was going on, poor girl.

“Tragooms,” the Nobek told her in a calm voice. “We’re outnumbered and they’re following our trail, so you need to do everything we tell you.”

Her eyes widened, and she acknowledged his explanation with an affirmative jerk of her head. “I hate those warty pigfaces,” she muttered with disgust. Wynhod’s estimation of her soared.

In English, Gelan said, “They probably followed the trail of wreckage down to LXS-42 the same as we did. We’ll have to go on the assumption they didn’t find our ship.”

Krijero looked wary but not upset. “You were smart to camouflage it after all.”

Wynhod snorted. “I was more worried about Earthers that might have remained here than Tragooms.”

Gelan was checking his handheld, working out their best route. After a moment, he nodded to himself. “I guess you’ll get your dunk after all, little Dani,” he said, indicating a route knee-deep in murky water at its shallowest. “We’ll wade for a bit, try to throw them off our scent.”

Dani swallowed as she eyed where he indicated. A large pool of water lay in the distance. “There’s big stuff swimming in spots like that. I saw some of them.”

Wynhod unsheathed his biggest knife. If not for the danger to her and Krijero, he’d have enjoyed their predicament. He loved a good fight, especially one with such bad odds. “Then we’ll have a nice dinner if we find one. Let’s go. Those Tragooms are coming hard and fast.”

Moments later they entered the sludgy water, Gelan taking the lead, Krijero pacing Dani, and Wynhod at the rear to keep an eye out for pursuit. The Nobek watched Dani tread gingerly, her arms crossed protectively over her torso. She looked all around, as if expecting some swamp going monster to burst out of the calf-deep water at any moment. When she glanced back in his direction, he saw how her face twisted in disgust.

Danger and his building rage at the Tragooms hunting them couldn’t keep Wynhod from grinning. Even with her lip curled in repugnance, Dani was the cutest little thing.

• • •

Wading through the murky water for miles on end, sometimes up to Dani’s waist, wore her out in a hurry. When she couldn’t move fast enough to suit the fleeing Kalquorians, Krijero picked her up and carried her.

The sun beat down on her when the tree cover became sparse. Even when shade cut out the glare, the muggy, fetid air exhausted Dani as much as her long day of flight. She dozed fitfully in Krijero’s arms, her cheek resting on one broad shoulder.

When the man carrying her halted, the cessation of movement woke her fully. She straightened to look into the gentle yet watchful eyes of the Imdiko. “We’re stopping for a rest,” he said.

Dani looked around their surroundings as he placed her on her feet. They’d made higher ground, no standing water in sight though it still smelled of rotting vegetation. A thick copse of trees sheltered them from the sky. Through a break in the thick stand of trunks, the sun was a bleeding eye halfway down the horizon.

One of the giant bugs buzzed past Wynhod’s nose as he looked around at their surroundings. The Nobek’s hand moved too fast to be seen. The next instant he was holding the creature, and he yanked the wings off. He waved the now flightless creature in Dani’s face, and without flinching she opened her mouth for the morsel. Her stomach gurgled uneasily as she chewed, but she ignored it along with the oozing texture of the meal. She concentrated on the not-unpleasant flavor, similar to peanut butter with a hint of sourness. She’d eaten much worse.

She swallowed. “Thanks.” She was starved.

Gelan stared at the darkening horizon and pointed towards a cluster of strange formations that resembled fingers pointed at the sky. “That’s the way we’ll head in the morning.”

Wynhod peered in the direction he indicated, his slitted pupils narrowing to a hairs-width in the scarlet glare of the setting sun. “I remember the bearing to get back to the ship from there. And if we get separated for any reason, the tallest of those peaks is where we’ll meet.”

Out of the dozens of long, thin structures, one stretched higher than the rest, seeming to poke the dimming sky. Dani studied it, thinking what a great point of reference it made. She wished it had been visible from the crash site. She wouldn’t have gotten so off course when she’d run from the Kalquorians.

The cries of nearby wildlife grew louder as night encroached. Dani shuddered, afraid of what might be out there, what might consider Earther a tasty snack. The growing shadows stole closer, ready to wrap their dark shrouds about her.

Trying not to sound as scared as she felt, she said, “It’s getting dark. Are we going to have a fire?”

Gelan gave her a pat on the head, but the shake of his braided head dispelled any comfort she took from his touch. “We’re not halting long enough to warrant building a shelter that would screen a fire from sight. The Tragooms are still no doubt following us, though wading for so many miles downstream will have confused them a bit. Their eyesight isn’t very good, but a fire in the open will be obvious nonetheless.”

Wynhod cocked an eyebrow at her. “I hope you have the good sense to not attempt escape, Dani. You do know if those gurlucks catch you, they’ll rape you then eat you alive?”

She scowled, ready to pout over the lack of a fire’s comforting light and his rebuke. “You’re just trying to scare me.”

He didn’t answer. Snorting, he stalked the perimeter of their copse of trees, having a good look around. Gelan bent over his handheld, muttering instructions to it in his incomprehensible language. Krijero remained at her side, sniffing the air like a watchdog scenting for danger.

Dani was left with her thoughts. She’d heard bad things about Tragooms, including the information Wynhod had shared. She had no reason to doubt what the Nobek said. She just resented his condescending tone, as if she didn’t have the sense to stick with their protection with peril snapping at her heels.

Big jerk. You’re not my father.

True. Her father wouldn’t have taken the time to caution her. Too busy with his own concerns, he would have left her to her own devices.

Krijero caught another one of the big peanut-buttery bugs. Once he divested it of its wings, he fed it to her. Then he unslung a small water flask from his belt and gave her a drink. He’d refilled it over and over with the clearest water he could find during their trek, but there was still a little grit. Dani didn’t complain. She felt continually thirsty, and the Imdiko fortunately had several anti-bacterial tabs left in a pouch from their hunt on Dantovon. She could drink to her heart’s content, and sludgy water was better than none.

Wynhod rejoined them and Gelan snapped his handheld off. The Dramok looked at his little group and said, “Clan, we’ll sleep in shifts, one hour for each of us. You first, Wynhod. Then we’ll start again.”

Dani’s stomach churned at his words. Her system had always been sensitive to sleep deprivation, and she knew even if the Kalquorians carried her the rest of the way, she wouldn’t rest well. Not walking in the pitch black of night with animals growling and screaming all around. “You don’t think the Tragooms will stop for the night?”

Wynhod’s eyes gleamed in the dying light. “Not for longer than a couple of hours. They follow their noses, and their sense of smell is acute. Once they pick our trail up again, they’ll be coming fast.”

He lay down on the ground, his long strip of dark hair spreading out to pillow his head. His arms crossed over his stomach, and he closed his eyes. Almost immediately, his chest rose and fell rhythmically.

Dani gaped. “No way he’s already asleep.”

The growing gloom made Krijero’s dark face almost impossible to see, but his white teeth flashed in a grin. “He’s trained to rest in a high-danger situation when he can. If anything happens, he’ll be on his feet and fighting before any of us who are still wide awake.”

Gelan’s voice rolled from the shadows. “Enjoy her if you like, Krijero. I have this watch covered. Just stay quiet, both of you.”

Dani sensed, rather than heard him creep away. She’d noticed how silent he and Wynhod could move. In comparison, she and Krijero clomped around like a herd of elephants wherever they went.

She waited for Krijero to manhandle her. She didn’t really want to have sex right now. She was sweaty, her head ached a little, and her stomach continued to voice small complaints. Eating bugs no doubt had her breath less than minty fresh too. But she had no choice, so she wished for the next best thing: that he’d hurry up and get it over with.

He stood right next to her, close enough that his arm brushed against hers. She could hear him breathing, and she had the feeling he watched her. Still, he made no move. She wondered if he found her as gross as she found herself.

The thought made her grumpy. She snapped, “Well, you heard the man. What are you waiting for?”

Instead of throwing her on the ground or walking away, Krijero’s voice cautiously asked, “Why did you run from us? Did you prefer the brothel?”

His unexpected question startled Dani enough that she admitted the truth. “Not really. The brothel was awful, and you – your clan treated me well back on Dantovon.”

She stopped there, hoping that would be enough for him. He didn’t prod her for more, just stood as if waiting. The silence spun out until Dani needed to fill it. “Look Krijero, it’s nothing personal against your clan. It’s just – you’re Kalquorians. You demolished my planet.”

Still he said nothing. His stillness stretched out, as if he had all night for her to answer his question to completion. Dani stared into the darkness, wishing she could see his face. Was he really that interested in what she had to say? It couldn’t be. Yet he remained quiet, his aura of patient curiosity enveloping her in warm regard.

Dani sighed. “I know my people had a lot to do with Earth’s destruction, what with setting up Armageddon rather than letting us be taken prisoner. But come on, you have to admit your race had a hand in that too.”

“To our eternal shame.” His gentle tone did hold a note of regret, the same repentant tenor which his clan had expressed for the Joshadans.

Dani’s heart resonated with sorrow, fed by Krijero’s remorse. “Billions died, including my family and friends. You may not have intended genocide, but that’s what your people did to mine. After that, do you really expect me to go skipping happily at your side? To say, ‘sure, I’d love to be your sex slave; jump on and ride me silly’?”

His fingers stroked through her hair. His hand was so warm, and Dani couldn’t help but lean her head into the comfort of his touch.

His pleasant, rumbling voice was just as consoling. “I suppose that’s reason enough to be unwilling to be our property. You didn’t anticipate ending up on a hostile world with Tragooms chasing you though.”

Dani snorted, a thoroughly unattractive sound. She winced, both at her lack of grace and her stupidity, which Krijero had pointed out. “That’s the trouble with me. I never anticipate anything.”

His fingers continued to comb her matted hair. The gentleness of Krijero’s touch and the kindness in his voice made her feel soft all over. “Do you have a history of not thinking things through before you do them?”

His tone’s lack of reprimand made it easy to confess her shortcomings. Dani shook her head at herself and edged closer to the dimly-seen shape. “Do I ever. I saw a movie as a child on Earth, a cartoon called ‘Alice in Wonderland’. The main character said something like ‘I often give myself very good advice, but I very rarely take it.’ That’s me in a nutshell.”

The fingers moved to stroke her arms. “Why do you do that, Dani?”

She suddenly wanted his arms around her, giving her the fantasy of a safe refuge. “I don’t know. It always seems like a good idea when I do it, but it kicks me in the ass later.”

Then his arms did wrap around her and Dani sighed, resting her cheek against his chest. His voice rumbled soothingly against her ear. “We’ll have to work on that.”

“Are you doing your psychologist thing on me?”

“Does it upset you?”

She thought about it and couldn’t decide if being analyzed bothered her or not. “You sound like a parent, or at least what I always imagined one should sound like. Wynhod said you three were probably old enough to be my fathers. How old are you?”

“In Earther years? Let me think.” He was quiet for a few seconds. At last he answered, “Fifty-five. Gelan and Wynhod are just a couple years younger.”

“Wow.”

He chuckled. “That’s not so old for Kalquorians. We live an average of about 250 years.”

“No wonder you all treat me like a baby.” She sighed. “It would help if I didn’t act like one so much. You must think I’m stupid.”

His hold on her tightened, molding her against his very hard body. “Not stupid. Impetuous, perhaps. Maybe desperate for attention, even if it means getting into trouble?”

“Yeah well, I got into plenty of trouble with Gelan. My ass still hurts.” He’d wore her out all right. She’d probably have to sleep on her stomach.

“He didn’t enjoy that, you know. Punishing you upset him very much.”

“Do you think so?” Dani tried to peer into Krijero’s face, but she could discern only the slightest suggestion of it in the darkness.

“I know it. None of us wants to see you hurt in any way. You’re funny, smart, and very pretty.” The Imdiko’s voice took on a hesitant quality, as if he thought she might laugh at his compliments.

That defensive tone touched her. Dani reached up to stroke his face. She lightly rubbed her thumbs over his eyebrows and ran caressing fingertips over his nose, cheekbones and stubbled chin. Last she traced his lips, feeling the warmth of his shaky breath on her hands. He held absolutely still for her investigation, and she felt how strongly his heart drummed. His cocks had come to hard life inside his pants, pressing against the barrier. Yet the man who had spoken with such quiet confidence only moments before suddenly projected an aura of vulnerability.

I wonder who hurt him?

She didn’t want Krijero to act like this. She wanted him self-assured and strong. Did the man not realize how handsome he was, how mouthwatering desirable? Jeez, and she thought she had body issues.

Well, she knew a thing or two about making men, even the ones she found unattractive, feel wanted. At least with Krijero she wouldn’t have to pretend he got her hot. Despite her fatigue, hunger, and growing headache, mashing herself up against the chiseled body of the alien got her juices flowing, literally.

As tall as she was, Dani’s lips only reached to Krijero’s rough chin when she stood on her toes. She nibbled the scruffy flesh as her arms circled his neck. “You don’t have to be nice to me. You can just take what you want. I belong to you.”

He sounded strained. “Yes, but it’s not nearly as enjoyable to me that way. Do you like anything about me, Dani?”

She heard it again, that poignant wistfulness in his voice that seemed to ask, am I good enough? She couldn’t understand it, not having seen Gelan and Wynhod’s devotion to their clanmate.

But it was there, and she knew the kind of pain that made that sound. Putting every ounce of conviction in her voice she could muster, Dani stated, “You’re handsome, Krijero. Your body is gorgeous, and I love how it feels when you’re inside me. Honest to God, Earther men have nothing on you.”

He grew harder but didn’t speak. Maybe he needed more than just affirmation of physical attractiveness? Dani searched for the right words to shore up his seemingly shaky self esteem. “Our differences aside, you don’t seem like a bad person. I had fun when you and the others took me out for dinner. And—”

She stopped, afraid to say anymore. Who was she kidding? He was a Kalquorian, and the brute couldn’t possibly think like she did. If she didn’t watch herself, she’d get punished again.

His voice, soft and wondering, drifted on the night air. “What? I won’t get mad.”

Dani swallowed. The note of hope his voice held needed addressing. With a deep breath, she forced the words out. “There’s something sad about you. Like you’re afraid of being too vulnerable. Maybe someone hurt you who you trusted?”

A long silence reigned, long enough for Dani to think she’d better get ready to defend herself. But instead of angry blows, Krijero managed a shaky laugh.

“See?” he said. “You’re not stupid at all. You like that I’ve been hurt?”

She shook her head, relief making her almost dizzy. “Knowing you’re capable of that sorrow appeals to me, not the fact you actually feel it. Will you tell me about it?”

Another long silence ensued. At last Krijero sighed. “Maybe one day if we form a bond of trust. It won’t happen overnight.”

It probably won’t ever happen, she thought. All she said was, “That’s fair. I don’t trust you either.”

He chuckled ruefully and hugged her tight to his body. Knowing Krijero had experienced the same kind of pain she’d known made Dani want to be close to him despite her reservations. But she wasn’t about to bare her soul either. Her pain was her own, and she wouldn’t put it on display for a Kalquorian.

Still, his body called to her in a way different from his hurt, and she decided a romp would be nice. “If you want me, I won’t fight,” she told him.

His crotch stiffened harder against her belly. “I do want you” he said, his voice deepening to a growl. “But do you want me?”

Dani didn’t want to admit her attraction out loud, not when they’d bought her like a loaf of bread at the grocery store. So instead she moved sinuously against the big alien, nibbling at his chin once more. “What do you think?” she said in her breathiest voice.

His mouth tilted down to possess hers, his kiss deep yet somehow cautious. Dani responded to the tentative invasion with ardor she didn’t have to fake. Krijero really was delicious, and her body liked his quite well.

The Kalquorian drew back from their kiss and pushed her back just far enough to allow him to strip his boots and formsuit off. The darkness of his form crouched down to the ground, and his fingers tugged at hers. “Come down here with me.”

Dani went willingly, her urges in no way reluctant to serve the alien. She found he kneeled on the springy ground, and he arranged her so that she straddled his muscular thighs, sandwiching his cocks between their bellies. She squirmed eagerly against the hot, hard lengths.

“I’m so glad your libido wasn’t stunted by the repressive government that ruled you,” Krijero whispered.

“I bet you are,” she smarted off.

He chuckled at her sally and engulfed her in one of those stomach-warming kisses again. Dani ran her hands all over him, delighting in the lithe, well-defined physique while sucking on his rough textured tongue. She rubbed against his cocks, making him groan.

Krijero let her explore his smooth body for a few blissful minutes, his breathing growing louder and faster as she moved against him. Dani felt compelled to memorize him with tongue, hands, her entire body. The Imdiko’s thighs became wet with her juices as she slid over them.

He might have been the gentlest of his clan, but Krijero still had the Kalquorian alpha mindset, which he finally gave in to. Dani suddenly found her wrists pinned behind her back by one big hand, and he leaned back to separate their torsos, which she’d been trying to meld together.

“Krijero,” she whined. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t answer. Instead he spread his thighs a little. She straddled him, so his move opened her wide. She caught her breath when his fingers began stroking her nether lips. A low groan seemed to come from the depths of her soul.

“Remember we must be quiet,” Krijero warned. He then went to work tormenting her, his fingers dancing over her tender flesh. He spread her honey all over, wetting her anus and clit.

Dani writhed as he touched her, biting her lips against the pleased little cries that wanted to come out. His clever touch drew sparks from her body so bright she thought it might light up the night.

Much like how she’d mapped his body by touch, he did the same with her womanhood. As if committing her to memory, Krijero explored the folds of her sacred flesh, starting from her outer lips and working in until he circled the rim of her orifice. The almost ticklish sensations of his minute investigation had Dani squirming uncontrollably.

Two fingers entered her. Dani shuddered violently at the penetration. Krijero thrust in and out slowly, searching the walls of her sheath with gentle pressure as he worked her. Suddenly he found the nest of nerves that felt best. Quivering heat blasted through Dani’s belly, and her jaws snapped shut with an audible click to keep a cry from ringing into the night. Her body went rigid.

“That’s a good spot,” Krijero chuckled, his voice low with satisfaction. His fingers withdrew to the tips then thrust in again, pressing harder against that eager flesh.

Dani moaned deep in her throat as her sex swelled with pleasure. Her sheath flexed in a slow roll.

She whimpered a protest when the Imdiko pulled free of her clutching sleeve. He didn’t acknowledge her, his fingers slipping back to tease her anus instead.

Dani made herself relax so Krijero could easily penetrate the tight orifice. He was gentle with her, taking the time to stretch the reluctant flesh, readying her for his dual invasion. Truth be told, anal play with the Kalquorians felt good. The pleasure started as a quiet echo of the G-spot stimulation, building gradually as he spread her wider. Dani let the growing arousal take her over. She made little movements up and down over the questing digit, making it feel better and better. She thought she might actually be able to climax from anal penetration alone. The realization excited her.

Krijero pressed a second finger into her, and glorious bliss suffused her. It did feel as good as G-spot stimulation, bringing that swelling feeling into her lower parts again, growing from easy pleasure to heady arousal to excruciating need. Dani fought to

drive herself over those talented fingers, to bring the explosion that wanted to come. Her legs splayed so wide apart, she could only twitch and grind the least little bit.

She keened between clenched teeth. “Please, Krijero?”

“Faster or harder?”

“Both.”

“Can you come quietly?”

“I promise … please…”

His fingers dove in and out, his palm thudding quietly against her pussy as he worked her. The pressure in her loins burgeoned, expanding beyond her ability to hold together. Ecstasy burst through her, turning the black night into the blinding center of the sun. Climax poured through her, a molten river of bliss. She jerked in Krijero’s firm grip, tears streaming down her cheeks as she fought not to scream.

The pulses gentled and slowed until Dani could think again. Just when I think these aliens can’t surprise me anymore, they do.

“Good, Dani?”

“You couldn’t tell?”

Krijero snorted laughter. His fingers exited her, the emptiness leaving her bereft for a moment. He shifted her on his lap, homing his sexes on their intended targets, and Dani eagerly grasped them, wanting to be doubly filled, the way only a Kalquorian could fill her.

The Imdiko pulled her down while driving his hips up, the entry forceful. Dani grunted at the sudden impaling. Only now did she realize how generous Krijero had been to give her pleasure while his own needs had become torment.

Slight growls punctuated each thrust. His cock bumped her cervix with every plunge, sending heady sparks of agonized pleasure through her body. Dani dug her fingers into the alien’s shoulders as she re-awoke to implacable desire.

Krijero suddenly shifted, bearing her down so that she lay on her back with him covering her with his weight. Dani was pinned beneath the huge Kalquorian, helpless against him driving harder and faster into her. The rough use and her vulnerability only made her wetter, hotter. Climax rushed at her again, a speeding freight train that would crush her beneath its force. A high, thin cry escaped her.

The Imdiko’s hand clapped over her mouth. The added subduing heightened the thrill of his possession. She was cresting … going over …

Her insides seized. Hot, sharp, excruciating elation lit her from the inside out, bursting her into a hundred thousand fireworks. Dani cried out against the muffling hand, the orgasm’s voice refusing to be silenced. Krijero grunted, his rhythm failing as her pussy clenched at him, fighting to draw him in deeper, as if her body could consume his in its entirety. Suddenly his face was burrowed in her neck, his fangs biting down. A brief shiver of pain brought her again, and the Kalquorian snarled around his mouthful of her skin as his cock jerked in her sheath.

He rutted hard against her as he poured his rapture into her womb. A part of Dani’s mind knew she would be sore later, but as the intoxicant injected by Krijero’s fangs sent euphoria through her, she didn’t care. She loved this rough taking, loved how he dominated her and left her helpless against his passion. Feeling her vulnerability so keenly brought her anew, and she sobbed in gorgeous surrender.

My enemy, one part of her mind whispered.

My master. My lover, another part said, besotted with intoxicant and orgasm.

The second voice was the one she went with. It felt too good not to.

Sated, Krijero rolled over, bringing her with him so that she lay on top of his warm body. His arms wrapped around her, cradling her in his strength. Dani snuggled against him, wallowing in his warmth as if no Tragooms tracked them. As if she wasn’t merely a slave, bought for his sexual pleasure. As if she mattered to him the way a woman should matter to a man.

Dani fell asleep with a smile, Krijero’s heart’s bass boom lulling her.

CHAPTER 12

Krijero’s voice, whispering in staccato bursts of his own language, woke Dani some time later. She blinked at the tangerine-tinted sky as Gelan jumped up from his position of spooning with her on the mushy ground. She’d slept through the changing of the watch and switching of the Kalquorians.

Alarm coursed through Dani as Gelan and Wynhod disappeared from their tiny clearing, dark blurs zigzagging silently through the surrounding trees. She was on her feet in an instant, her mouth opening to question Krijero. The Imdiko immediately covered it with his hand, reminding her of their lovemaking the night before.

His hushed words drove all thoughts of carnal pleasure away. “Quiet, sweetness. Tragoom scouts are nearby.”

Dani stepped close to the shelter of his body and froze there, lest the least bit of noise alert their trackers to their location. Seeing Krijero carefully scan the trees around them, she did the same, her ears straining for the slightest sound.

Apparently Kalquorian hearing was much better than hers, because Krijero suddenly stiffened. His nostrils flared, and his pupils widened until only the barest sliver of blue-purple irises remained. He bared his teeth, fangs descending in a feral display as he put himself between Dani and the woods in front of them. The Earther’s heart galloped like a runaway horse as Krijero pulled a long, gleaming knife out of his boot. She tensed to run from whatever danger was poised to burst from the trees.

A few yards away, the underbrush rustled. Dani thought she heard a muffled squeal, followed by a thump. Then a long silence spun out. Her breath sounded like a hurricane to her own ears, accompanied by the booms of her horse-hoofed heart.

Something blurred through the trees, coming right at them. Before Dani was halfway through her turn to run in the opposite direction, the running smears registered as Gelan and Wynhod.

She had only a moment to see the splashes of blood on their faces, chests and arms and the percussion blasters they’d snagged off their enemies before Gelan swung her into his arms. “We go. Now,” he said and took off.

The landscape blurred around her with the speed of Gelan’s running, and Dani shut her eyes against a sudden rush of nausea.

• • •

The Kalquorians raced across the landscape, getting deeper and deeper into the thickening forest and leaving marshlands behind. Dani only parted her lids from time to time to note their progress. Gelan’s unbelievable speed smudged her surroundings, rocking her queasy stomach.

Had the Kalquorians known how she struggled against increasingly wobbly guts the next two hours, they would have been impressed. Dani was well aware of the danger of dehydration in the humid atmosphere and how getting sick would sap her of needed resources. The chasing Tragooms were another consideration. She had no way of knowing how close they followed, so she fought with grim determination. Her internal battle was herculean in scope.

She finally realized she couldn’t fend it off any longer. Her stomach was angry, roiling soup, and it was ready to spill over in every way it could.

“Stop. Gelan, I’m going to be sick!” she cried between clenched teeth.

Gelan halted, the other two coming to a stop beside him as he set Dani down. She immediately crouched and waved her arms around wildly to keep them back out of the line of fire. Then she lost it, her stomach and bowels straining to empty her out of what little they contained.

Even after nothing was left, Dani had difficulty getting her stomach to unclench. She shuddered all over, chilled despite the climbing heat. Her fingers had dug into the soft dirt. It took a moment to realize someone held her hair back; more hands stroked gently up and down her back.

Krijero sounded concerned. “She’s clammy all over. What did you eat yesterday besides the bugs, sweet girl?”

Dani blinked back tears. Her eyes always spouted when she puked, and her nose always ran when she cried. Leaking from everywhere, she thought. Only her ears remained dry. She would have been utterly humiliated by her grossness if she didn’t feel so bad.

She answered Krijero’s question. “Nothing. It was probably the water I drank when I first ran from you. I didn’t get a chance to boil it.”

There was a moment of strained silence. They knew as well as Dani how dangerous bacteria running loose in the body could be.

“You gave her bacterial medication,” Wynhod said.

Krijero’s voice was strained. “So many hours later that the effects would have been negligible.”

A small bottle of water appeared before her face. “This is purified,” Gelan said.

“I’m afraid I’ll just sick it up again.” Dani’s voice was thick with the sobs that announced how weak and worthless she felt.

“Drink it, little fighter,” Wynhod coaxed. “Even if you vomit, a little will stay in your system.”

Dani nodded. She sipped cautiously while the men set about cleaning her up. She cried harder still from both the kindness they treated her with and the humiliation of her condition.

“Try to calm down, sweet girl,” Krijero soothed as they wiped her off with fabric torn from their formsuits. “Take deep breaths. You’re using up energy and losing more fluids this way.”

Dani made herself settle down. Once they cleansed her as best they could, Krijero lifted her shaking body in his arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Wynhod glanced back the way they’d come. His brow furrowed deep. “We really need to get to the ship as fast as we can. Not only is her health in danger, but the main Tragoom party would have found their scouts by now. They’ll be coming as fast as they can.”

Gelan looked at Dani. He caressed her cheek with the back of one hand. “She can’t handle the journey. We have to find a place to hide for her to recover.”

Dani expected Wynhod to argue. Instead, he pulled his handheld off his belt and tapped commands. “Give me a moment to sync up with the ship’s computer.”

Gelan nodded and took a few steps away, watching and listening for pursuit. Krijero murmured to Dani in his own language, his words soothing nonsense in her ears. God, her guts hurt. She felt a fresh wave of nausea and tamped it down. She had to keep the water down.

Wynhod spoke up. “There are a couple of caves eight miles to the west.”

Gelan went to the Nobek’s side to study the handheld. “It will have to do.”

Wynhod re-attached the mini-computer to his belt. “I’ll stay behind to throw our pursuers off your trail and meet up with you tonight.”

“Be careful.”

They were leaving him? Dani protested, “No, the Tragooms will kill you. Go with us.”

Wynhod’s fierce face softened at her weak cry. He stepped close, gathering her hands in his, bending down to kiss them. “I will be all right, little fighter. They won’t catch me, and I’ll rejoin you in a few hours. Be a good girl for Gelan and Krijero. Do what they tell you so you can regain your strength.”

Dani squeezed her eyes shut against a fresh flood of tears. She couldn’t cry, and she couldn’t puke. She also couldn’t watch Wynhod not come with them.

He kissed her forehead. His voice was gruff as he said, “You’d better get moving. Take care of her. I’ll see you soon.”

Krijero hugged Dani close, and she buried her face against his chest. She concentrated on the thumping of his heart, ignoring the pains in her stomach, the chills that made her shake, and most of all, trying not to think of Wynhod on his own against a platoon of Tragooms.

• • •

Nearing where the caves should be, Gelan led Krijero through the sun-dappled forest. In these higher elevations, the scents were growing earthier, less rotted as they moved farther from the marshland.

And farther from the ship. He worried about that, but there was no help for it. They had to get Dani to a safe spot to treat her, out of the reach of the Tragooms hunting them.

Gelan also worried for his Nobek. As smart and able as Wynhod was, Tragooms were clever fiends and brutal adversaries. If a group of them caught up to him, he didn’t stand a chance.

Worry only about the things you can help, he reminded himself. That’s what the Book of Life counseled, and it was sound advice. If he could just take it, he’d be in good shape.

His biggest concern was that he couldn’t help what mattered most of all: Dani’s health. She faded in and out of consciousness now, whimpering from time to time as Krijero carried her in Gelan’s wake. She continued to puke up the water they gave her. There was a sweetish-sick odor coming off her in waves. Her too-pale face scared the Dramok the most, and from his clanmate’s expression, Krijero was frightened too.

Gelan couldn’t help but ask the question he already knew the answer to. “How is she doing?”

The strain in Krijero’s voice had nothing to do with carrying the feather-light Earther. “She must get hydrated. I think she’s got heatstroke on top of the effects of the bad water.”

The situation just kept getting worse. “We have to come up with something.”

“I noticed the vines growing around here are hollow. Once we stop, I’m going to try giving her an enema. It’ll get some liquid in her that she can’t vomit up.”

Gelan knew Krijero’s suggestion for what it was. A last ditch effort to save Dani’s life.

The ground wasn’t as soft, and outcroppings of rocks dotted the landscape. In one more mile, they should be on the caves. Then what, Gelan wondered? If his Imdiko’s idea failed, they had no medicine for the bacteria that had taken hold of Dani’s system, no way to make her keep down the water she needed to live.

One obstacle at a time. Find those caves first.

“We’re almost there. Hold on, little Dani,” Gelan muttered. He tried not to think grim thoughts as they continued on.

• • •

Dani drifted in a haze. Sometimes she found herself on Earth, both the whole version and the post-Armageddon nightmare. Sometimes she was back in the Dantovonian brothel. The strangest place she woke to was a rocky cave near a fire, like some prehistoric Neanderthal.

The worst place she emerged in by far was her mother’s room at the drug treatment center. Dani wasn’t sure how she came to be sitting on the bed next to Emily Sturn-Watson, renowned psycho-junkie socialite and absentee parent. It was probably her father’s doing. Sometimes he sent Dani to visit her mother during an election year, to gauge whether or not Emily could manage public appearances for his latest campaign.

The room was a nightmare of overbearing good cheer. Sunshine yellow walls competed with the meadow green bedspread, curtains, and carpet. Sky blue painted furniture scattered the room: bed, nightstand, and armoire. It was a room that looked like the innocence of Little House on the Prairie had exploded all over it.

And seated in the midst of all this happy crappy was Dani’s mother, perched like an exotic bird on the edge of the bed in a fuchsia robe. She was a scream of vibrancy in pastel hell.

“I see they got you too,” Emily chortled. “Don’t worry kid, the worst part is group therapy, and you can get out of that by throwing a screaming fit. Then you’ll get a nice hit of sedative, and they’ll leave you alone for the rest of the day.”

“Good to know,” Dani muttered. Her mom was the queen of finding ways to get her chemicals.

“Just don’t attack anyone. That’ll get you in restraints, and I can tell you that’s no thrill ride.”

Jeez, the place was a sauna. Was the air conditioning broken? “Hey Mom, what’s with all the makeup?”

You could tell what kind of day Emily was having by her makeup. If she wore none, she was depressed and it was time to hide all the pointy, sharp objects. If she’d layered it on, looking like a Happy Mom Clown, she was in high spirits. This was also when she made her worst decisions, like showing up unannounced at a random elementary school with cartons of ice cream and boxes of cookies for the kids. Besides the face full of makeup, she’d worn only a feather-trimmed bathrobe. In October, a damned cold month in Delaware. The press had had a field day with that one, after which Dani’s father’s publicists had spent two weeks dealing with the fallout.

Days that found Emily with her makeup applied carefully like she was due at a photo shoot were good days. She was on her game then, making phone calls, meeting with community leaders, floating through the day with assuredness that Dani envied. And if she seemed distant even on these occasions, at least she spared a moment to greet her children, comment on their clothing choices that day, and even ask about school with a tinge of motherly concern.

Those lucid days had grown fewer and fewer as the years went by until Emily could go months without experiencing any.

Today was a Happy Mom Clown day. Sparkling fuchsia eyeshadow to match Emily’s robe competed with turquoise eyeliner. Peach blush applied unevenly gave her face an off-kilter look, as if one cheek had been jerked up by a fish hook. Her screaming fire-engine red lipstick smeared on her teeth, like she’d taken a bite of raw meat. Frizzing copper-penny hair, a match to Dani’s, had been twined in improbable little-girl braids.

Looking at her made Dani feel ill. Her stomach hurt, and she looked down at her own bare feet.

Why don’t I have shoes on, she wondered?

Her mother chattered happily, discordant thoughts streaming from her mouth with no rhyme or reason. “I remember your father taking me on a Ferris wheel on one of our first dates, and I laughed at how all the people below us became ants. The last time I used Westgate Caterers, two pieces of the silver service went missing. Did you try the crab bisque? I thought the way Hattie Sullivan dressed at the party was an abomination, but I just went on and on about how adorable she was. Her husband contributed to your father’s campaign.”

“I think I’m sick, Mom.” Dani’s stomach cramped painfully.

“Of course you are, dear! Everyone is.” Dani glanced up to see Emily beaming at her approvingly. “That’s the secret, you know. It’s the well ones that are unhappy.”

“Drink some water, little fighter.”

Dani blinked at the deep voice. Something pressed against her lips, and liquid splashed into her mouth. A very big, very dark man loomed over her, his purple eyes peering into hers. She thought she knew him, but couldn’t quite place his name.

She swallowed a mouthful of water, and her stomach cramped again. “Just a little at a time,” the dark man said.

Dani’s father peered over the man’s shoulder. “In trouble again, Dani?” he sighed. “One of these days you’ll do something I can’t buy your way out of.”

“Like me,” her brother Alan smirked. He crouched on the floor of the cave on the other side of the fire. He wore the uniform of the military school he’d been kicked out of after the incident with the thirteen-year old girl. Had they let him keep it in prison?

Dani’s head swirled. What was she doing in a cave with her father and brother?

Another dark man, his hair tidily braided into tight cornrows, knelt beside her. “Can you hear me, Dani?”

She tried to answer him, but her head buzzed nastily, and darkness was swallowing the men, the cave, and her self-absorbed family members. She melted into the black void.

When she found light again, it was on the outdoor stage of Dantovon’s central market square. Heat beat down on her, making it hard to breathe. Dani stood naked, the eyes of hundreds of people on her, aliens of all civilizations. They waited breathlessly for her to be punished, their avid gazes eager to witness her humiliation.

Alan stood off to one side, a shockwhip clenched in one hand. “You stand accused of running away from home. The punishment is ten lashes.”

“Please,” Dani croaked. Her voice was a dry, rattling wheeze. “I’m sorry.”

Emily suddenly stood at Alan’s side, her crazy clown makeup garish in the burning sunlight. “My daughter’s a star!” she shrieked, waving wildly at Dani as if miles separated them. “Look, Danielle! You’re the center of attention! Everyone is watching you now!”

“Don’t,” Dani said, terror and regret filling her in equal measures. “Don’t hurt me. I’ll be good.”

Alan laughed. “How many times have we heard that one?” he asked. He flicked his wrist, and the whip cracked in the air, sending a wave of tingling energy over Dani’s skin. She flinched, and he laughed again.

“Someone help me,” she whispered.

Cool wetness wiped over her face, relieving a smidgen of the glaring sun’s heat. A third dark man blotted her cheeks with a damp cloth.

“Hush, sweet girl,” he soothed. “It’s going to be okay.”

He tipped a container onto a cloth, rewetting it before pressing it over her chest and belly. Dani was relieved to find herself in the dark cave again, away from her punishment. The fire crackled pleasantly, unlike the shockwhip’s brutal air-fracturing sizzle.

“Krijero. Your name is Krijero,” she said, her voice too weak to really be called a voice.

“That’s right.” He smiled, but his gentle eyes didn’t smile with his lips.

“I’m sick,” Dani guessed. She didn’t really remember how she’d gotten here or what had happened to her.

“Yes, but you’ll be fine. You’re keeping the water down now. You just need to rest for a bit.” Krijero jerked his head to send a heavy lock of hair out of his pretty purple cat eyes.

“Okay.” She did feel tired. Exhausted, as if she’d been wrung out as hard as the cloth the dark alien used to cool her sweating body. She closed her eyes.

A dark eternity later when Dani opened them again, Krijero still hovered over her. Light spilled onto his face from the fire and sunshine streaming in the mouth of the cave.

Everything came back to her: the crash, running from the Kalquorians, being chased by Tragooms, and getting sick.

The Imdiko smiled down on her. His face was no longer tense. “Are you back?”

Dani felt as if she was glued to the ground. Her body didn’t want to move at all, but her stomach had subsided, and her head was clear. “I guess I am.”

Krijero lifted her to sit on his crossed legs. Cradling her head and shoulders in the crook of his arm, he lifted a canteen to her lips. “Drink this.”

The water was delicious and cold, and after her first gulp, the alien pulled the canteen away. “Slowly, little girl.” He gave it to her again, and Dani sipped delicately. “That’s it,” he said approvingly.

After another sip, Dani asked, “How long was I out?”

Krijero grimaced. “Two days.”

Dani stared at him as she tried to absorb that information. “Really? The Tragooms didn’t find us? Where are Gelan and Wynhod?”

Krijero gave her more water. “They’re scouting to make sure our enemies haven’t caught on to Wynhod’s trick yet. He left a false trail for them to follow. It seems to have worked, but we can’t let down our guard.”

The smell of roasting meat wafted into Dani’s nostrils, and she turned her head to see the haunch of some unknown animal browning over the fire. She felt hollow inside, as if she’d been gutted and left with only skin and skeleton. “Can I have something to eat?”

He nodded. “As soon as it’s finished cooking, but just a little to start with. You’ve been through a lot, and I don’t want you vomiting and dehydrating again.” Krijero took a deep breath. “We thought we would lose you, Dani.”

A curl of warmth lit in her breast to see the concern in his face. “Thanks for not abandoning me.”

Krijero’s expression registered horror. “We would never do that. We plan to take good care of you.” His arms tightened around her.

She rubbed her cheek against his bicep. His skin was velvet over the steel of his muscle. “Still, I know you’re pretty mad at me for putting everyone in this position. You could have left me and gotten away from the Tragooms easily.”

Krijero scowled. “Unthinkable. Has that been your experience in the past? People leaving you behind when things got rough?”

Before Dani could answer, the sunlight coming into the cave was blocked. Gelan and Wynhod entered, looking big and bad and beautiful. Dani’s heart glowed to see the Kalquorians, and she felt a smile stretch across her face.

Better them than my family, came the unexpected thought. Shock to realize she was actually glad to see the alien men dampened her spirits a little.

They knelt next to her and Krijero, identical pleased expressions on their faces. Gelan stroked her face with a feather touch. “You’re awake. I am so thankful. How do you feel?”

“Not much like dancing, I’m afraid.”

Wynhod took one of her hands and pressed her fingers to his lips. His chuckle vibrated pleasantly. “I would think not. Welcome back.”

The warmth in their gazes, the caresses they touched her with made something hard in Dani’s heart crumble a little. She could almost believe they liked her. She could almost like them back.

She felt a maelstrom of emotions as they tended her needs: confusion, hope, and fear.

CHAPTER 13

Another day passed, and Dani’s strength began to return with food and clean water. As her second day of lucidity waned towards night, the clan hunkered down around her. She sat upright on her own, and Dani almost laughed at her pride simply because she was able to be vertical again.

“We’ll head for the ship tomorrow,” Gelan informed her as Wynhod brought out his handheld. “Let’s go over our route so you know what to expect.”

Wynhod showed her a map winding in a roundabout circuit through the forest, leading into a swampy section, which emerged in a rocky flat before descending into marshland again. “We’re not taking a straightforward route simply because we don’t want to trip over the Tragoom party. Remember the rock formation we decided to meet at should we become separated?”

“Yes. The tallest of the group.” The formations had looked like fingers pointed accusingly at the sky.

He tapped the part of the map that showed the plain. “That’s this section. Even if the Tragooms pick up our trail again, this area will leave less traces of our passage.”

He spoke to her as if she wasn’t a slave to be hauled around simply because they’d spent a lot of money on her. As the Nobek pointed out natural signposts to look for that would mark their trail, Dani wondered at the respect he seemed to accord her. It was nice to be treated like an intelligent person, someone deserving of an explanation rather than just told what to do. It made her wish she was more to him and his clanmates than just a slave. She liked being included, something her father had never bothered to do.

As he put his handheld away, Wynhod’s sharp gaze examined her face. “Where is that sad look coming from, little fighter?”

Oh darn. She needed to guard her thoughts better. “Just thinking,” she replied, keeping her voice light.

Gelan’s firm grip closed around the back of her neck, turning her head so she was forced to look him in the eye. “What are you thinking about? I want to know.”

Dani scowled at him. “Can’t I have private thoughts?”

“We can’t properly care for you if we don’t know what makes you look so unhappy. Now, Dani.” Despite the command in his voice, concern bled into the Dramok’s tone. Both emotions kept her from arguing for her right to her own ruminations.

She blew an exasperated breath at him. “Fine. I was thinking how pathetic it is that my enemies include me in what’s going on with my life when my own father never did.”

Krijero cocked his head, like an inquisitive puppy. “Do you think he didn’t love you?”

“Of course he loved me. I mean, he had to, right? He was my father.” Dani’s brows pinched together. She’d had a better relationship with Perry Watson than anyone else in her family, distant as it had been. If one could call being moved around like a chess piece a relationship.

Maybe her father hadn’t loved her. He’d never said so. Hugs and kisses were doled out during photo ops on the campaign trail. The realization was like a hit of cold water in her face.

Her voice was small and hurt. “I don’t know if he loved me. He bailed me and my brother out when we got into trouble until Alan did something so bad no bribe would work. That counts for something, right?”

Wynhod brushed away the single tear tickling its way down her cheek. “Maybe you and your brother wouldn’t have found so much trouble if your father had made you more a part of his life. If he’d given you the attention you needed and deserved.”

“Maybe.” She grimly fought the urge to give in to more tears.

Krijero rubbed his chin, contemplating her situation. “And your mother wasn’t around either because of her illness. How much did you and your brother lean on each other?”

Dani snorted. “We didn’t. Alan was older than me by several years. We had nothing in common.”

The Imdiko sighed, his expression as unhappy as her emotions. “That’s a very lonely life to have, pet.”

Her eyes flooded, and Dani angrily ground her fists against her eyes. A sob trembled her words. “There, now I’m crying. Nobody loved me, and I don’t matter to anyone. Are you happy?”

Gelan released her neck to gather her in his arms. “You matter to us. No one here wants to see you in pain, little girl.”

He kissed her, muffling her weeping. The other two stroked her hair and body, murmuring sweet words to comfort her. It only made her cry harder.

“Stop being nice to me!”

Krijero’s breath was warm in her ear. “I’m afraid we can’t do that. You need men who will be nice to you.”

Gelan agreed. “You’ll just have to get used to it, Dani. You’ve got three years to get through being cared for.”

They petted her, giving her the tender affection her family had denied her. A part of Dani wanted to rebel, to deny the warm feelings. That part kicked and screamed like a child in the throes of a tantrum.

How dare they bestow such kindness, kindness that should have been given in her parents’ home! It was her mother and father who owed her love and respect, not these strangers. Perry and Emily should have been the ones to wipe her tears, to tell her how beautiful and sweet and wonderful she was. Instead, she had to hear it from aliens. From Kalquorians who no doubt lied!

But even as the blighted part of her raged, another part took refuge in the warm concern Gelan’s clan gifted her with. This aspect of Dani basked in the tender words and touches they gave her. It recognized that as her captors, they had no need to treat her so kindly. She was property. But they made her feel as if she was so much more to them.

The men caressed her like a troubled child needing comfort. Nothing about their manner hinted even remotely at sexual seduction. Yet Dani woke to them in that way, her body softening to them, growing wet and aroused. As they filled one need, others clamored to be satisfied. She was drunk on being the center of attention, wanting more, wanting it all. And wanting it to last forever.

The gentle press of Gelan’s lips on hers was too much temptation for Dani. Her tongue peeked out to taste him, and his breath caught. He pulled back to look at her.

“You’re still very weak, sweet girl,” he warned, but his eyes had taken on an intensity she’d seen before.

“You can be careful. Please, Gelan? This feels so nice. You make me feel wanted.”

“You are wanted, little fighter,” Wynhod rumbled. His eyes seemed overly bright.

“You will exercise caution,” Gelan said to the Nobek. “She’s been through a lot.”

Wynhod nodded slowly, his gaze never leaving Dani’s face. “I will handle her as if I was an Imdiko.”

“All right then. You go first. I don’t want your natural bestiality taking hold because you had to wait too long.”

Wynhod gave Dani a smirk. “Do you hear how little faith our Dramok has in me? You’d think I was an animal, not a man.”

Krijero grinned at him. “You’re a Nobek. Forcefulness is part of your nature.”

Gelan laid Dani on the soft dirt floor of the cave. He and Krijero arranged themselves on either side of her, and Wynhod knelt between her legs. “I will be careful with you, my little fighter,” he whispered, his hand rubbing up and down her inner thighs. “And the moment any one of us thinks it’s too much, I will stop.”

“Thank you,” she whispered back. But she hoped she would be all right. Wynhod was too gorgeous to deny herself the contact. She needed to be touched.

He stroked her sweetest flesh, finding her slippery with need. Dani moaned as his big hand fondled her, heating her insides. Meanwhile Gelan and Krijero bent to kissing her face, breasts and belly, their mouths balmy on her skin. Rough, catlike tongues lapped here and there, the flesh like coarse velvet. Dani closed her eyes and floated on the sensations.

A mouth closed over one nipple, suckling it to a peak. Another trailed kisses from her sternum to her navel and back up again. Fingers gently parted her nether lips open to allow other fingers to swirl in the pooled moisture of her core. They spread the slick honey all over her secret flesh, including her clitoris. She sighed at the swell of pleasure that lapped through her body.

The mouth left her breast to trail kisses to her lips. A tongue swept into her mouth, possessing her with tender force. At the same time another tongue whirled around her untasted nipple, bringing it to the same stark attention as its neighbor.

The soft touch of hair on her belly and thighs alerted Dani to Wynhod’s next action. As his talented fingers continued to explore the petals of her sex, his mouth closed on her clit. His tongue slid over it as he sucked. Dani moaned into the mouth covering hers, her senses igniting.

The wicked tongue played with her most sensitive flesh, delighting her with different levels of pressure. Her hips bucked helplessly in reaction as he twirled and rubbed and flicked and laved. One finger slid into her wet warmth. In and out it moved, taking her higher with every tender intrusion.

Nibbled. Nuzzled. Devoured. Dani moaned under the men’s delicious attention. Diamond bright flashes of arousal stabbed through her belly. Her hands swept over the two bodies she could reach: Gelan and Krijero. The thick muscled bodies over hers made her feel small, dainty, and soft. The careful way they handled her gave her a sense of safety. She basked in the glow of being loved like a woman should be.

The moist sounds of Wynhod’s finger moving in and out so slowly, of his lips and tongue’s carnal kiss on her delicate nub made things below go tighter. Dani had never known mere sound could add to sensual excitement. Her hips moved up and down of their own accord, a hypnotized dance under the Kalquorians’ spell.

The mouth kissing her moved to her ear, the warm breath bringing gooseflesh out all over her body. Gelan’s voice rumbled. “You have no idea of how beautiful you are, do you? How stunning your body is, how wonderful you taste?”

“I’m small up top,” she protested. “I’m tall for a woman, I have a big butt, wide hips, and I’m awkward.”

“Your breasts are perfect,” Krijero growled, releasing the mound he’d been teasing unmercifully. “Flawlessly formed and sensitive. There’s not one damned thing wrong with these.” His mouth covered the other breast, sucking hard either to underscore his words or to punish her for hers. Dani groaned in reaction to the darts of pleasure coursing from his mouth to her clit, still adoringly tongued by Wynhod.

Gelan paused nibbling her earlobe to add, “Tall is good. So many of your kind are tiny, insubstantial creatures. I couldn’t touch any of them for fear of breaking one.” He looked into her eyes. “I love your round buttocks because I can fill my hands with them. These hips are perfect for cradling my big body. You have nothing – nothing – to dislike about yourself.”

Dani heard more of the praise in his tone than his words, because Wynhod was doing things to her that claimed the majority of her attention. He pressed a second finger into her core, and his hard teeth scraped over her clit, setting off firecrackers of sensation stuttering through her body. She arched against the solid bulk of the men on top of her, the heels of her feet digging into the soft dirt of the cave floor. She ground out a cry between clenched teeth.

“How close, little Dani?” Gelan whispered. His hand circled the column of her throat.

Wynhod scuffed his teeth against her straining nub again, and everything below her waist seized. Dani wailed a little, orgasm sidling close before easing back a half step. She trembled all over, a tiny antelope within a hairsbreadth of the jaws of a hungry lion.

Panting, every cell of her being on the verge of cataclysm, she managed to answer. “Close. Almost – almost.” She couldn’t say anymore. Words were beyond her as she waited for the final strike.

Gelan’s other hand cradled the top of her head, holding it still as he peered into her face. “I’m going to watch your face as you come. I want to see every single spasm that you feel.”

He didn’t have long to wait. A second later Wynhod’s teeth closed over her clit, trapping it for his rasping tongue to rub intimately.

The climax sprang, overwhelming her with its ferocity, consuming her in its scorching maw. Dani jerked and screamed, torn asunder with ecstasy that fed and fed and fed on her. Gelan’s blue-purple gaze riveted on her face as she shrieked against the beast gorging itself on her agonized bliss.

It pulled her inside out, feasting on her most delicate parts with frenzied bites. There was nowhere to retreat to, no way to defend herself from the ravaging. She could only surrender herself to it as it consumed her utterly.

After awhile the savage feast slowed, the climax taking more delicate bites as its appetite found satiety. As it took its last relishing licks, Dani found herself looking into Gelan’s dark face. His cat’s pupils had widened, almost swallowing the irises. He breathed fast through parted lips.

“Beautiful,” he whispered to her. “Don’t ever think you’re not.”

Her heart skipped a beat. He looked so sincere. She thought he might really mean his words.

The men leaned back, all kneeling around her. “How are you doing?” Krijero asked.

Dani stared at him. Was he kidding?

Apparently he read and interpreted her expression. The Imdiko burst out laughing. “I mean, how are you as far as exhaustion and healthwise? Can you continue, or do we need to let you rest?”

Oh. Dani gave him a rueful grin as the other two men chuckled. “I’m okay. Not too tired. Just really, really relaxed.”

That earned more laughter from the Kalquorians. Gelan thumped a fist against Wynhod’s chest, no doubt congratulating the Nobek on a job well done.

Wynhod’s grin stretched wide. “I’m glad to hear that. Both the part about you being satisfied by my efforts, and the part about not being too tired, because—” he indicated his livid groin area that strained the formsuit to its stretchy limits.

Good heavens, was that really a spark of passion she felt zinging through her nether regions in response to seeing how ready he was for her? Dani could scarcely believe her libido’s resurgence in the wake of the amazing orgasm.

“I’d be glad to help you with that,” she told Wynhod, her voice husky.

His eyes widened a touch, and a low growl trickled from his throat.

“Easy, Nobek,” Gelan reminded him.

Wynhod swallowed hard. “I know. I will be very gentle,” he vowed, opening the formsuit to set his swollen cocks free.

And he was. The care with which he pressed into Dani made her feel as if she was made of glass. The Nobek eased in and out in small increments, watching her closely all the while. The other two lay next to her, stroking her body as they watched his cocks disappear into her a bit at a time. From time to time Wynhod growled, but he held onto his control.

Dani looked down her body, enjoying the sight of the Kalquorian’s dark flesh piercing her. Seeing the glistening lengths parting her folds was every bit as enticing as the feel of him inside her. And those gorgeous wet sounds of lovemaking had returned, making her guts tremble.

Wynhod grasped her ankles, propping them on his shoulders. The position made her tighter around him. His body at last met hers as he embedded himself fully within her hearth. Dani moaned at the intense sensations, but he wasn’t done delighting her. The Nobek, still moving oh so slowly, ground himself against her in slow circles, hitting the most sensitive spots in her sleeves. She warbled a high cry.

In and out, around and around. Her insides heated until Dani thought they must glow. Wynhod’s occasional bumps against her cervix sent bladed shards of pleasure stabbing throughout. Every exhalation came out with a note of pleasure.

Krijero and Gelan added to the symphony of delight. The Dramok teased her nipples, his hand darting between the two to rub, pinch, and pull gently. They swelled in response, growing rosy and pebbly under his attentions. Darts of brightness zinged from her breasts to her clit in lightning flashes.

Krijero’s palm warmed her mound as he rubbed the flesh in slow circles to match Wynhod’s movements. With each downstroke he brushed fingertips against her throbbing nub, making Dani clench hard around the Nobek. Her continuous sighs grew into moans, the pressure in her loins building steadily towards crescendo.

Wynhod shifted her legs again, moving her feet so they rested side by side against his chest, bending and closing her legs together. Dani’s breath caught as the position tightened her sheaths around him. She felt she might burst from the increased sensation of fullness and shuddered in helpless reaction. Her insides somersaulted, edging ever closer to fulfillment but not quite able to reach.

“Please,” she whispered.

Wynhod growled again, quickening his pace just a bit. His muscles stood out in stark relief as tension built. His pelvis thudded softly against her. Dani’s passion climbed another notch in response, the warm cascade of arousal growing into a torrent.

The three men held her in a thrall with their touches. Gelan continued to tease her jutting nipples, bending over her to occasionally lick the aching tips. Krijero’s rubbing hand kept pace with Wynhod’s thrusts, his fingers circling her clit continuously and intermittently tapping the engorged peak to make her cry out. And Wynhod…

The Nobek drew in and out, working her sheaths with his thick cocks, still grinding circles each time he buried his full lengths inside her womb and anus. He hit the sweet spot deep within more often than not, spiraling her ever higher, ever closer to climax. Her womb had gone molten lava, seething and bubbling, burning ever hotter.

“How does your Nobek feel to you, little girl?” Gelan asked.

“Amazing,” Dani sobbed. “I want to come.”

“Do you? Do you wish to come for Wynhod? To show him how wonderful it is to have him inside your body, making love to you?”

“Oh yes. So wonderful,” she gasped. Her insides churned, readying for explosion.

“Are you close?”

“Almost there.” Even as she spoke the words, a spasm tightened her muscles. A bright flash warned Dani she was on the brink of cataclysm. Another spasm. Wynhod snarled and jerked hard.

“Aaaaaah…” Dani’s drawn out groan came all the way from her belly where he thrust into her, igniting the fuse. “Wynhod!” she screamed.

Gelan bent, his braids falling over her chest and throat as he sucked a breast deep into his mouth. Krijero seized her clit between finger and thumb, rubbing the wet flesh quickly. Wynhod’s rhythm quickened, pounding his iron into her sheaths.

Dani’s body yawned wide as they carried her over the precipice. Crushing ecstasy swept over her as Wynhod’s cock pulsed, sending his juices to bathe her clutching channel. Her inner muscles seized him, yanking every precious drop of seed from his body as she thrashed beneath the men. The Nobek howled as he succumbed to her, his animal cry rebounding off the cave walls.

Their gasps mingled as their bodies spent themselves in jerks and spasms. It went on for a glorious second of eternity, and they quieted only bit by bit. Even when the last pulsed eased, Wynhod remained kneeling against her buttocks, reluctant to leave her warmth.

“Nobek—” Gelan started, only to be cut off by his clanmate’s snarl.

“Mine,” Wynhod said in a thick voice.

“Ours,” the Dramok firmly reproved him. “Give her over.”

Wynhod showed Gelan his fangs. The clan leader simply stared at him, his expression unmoving. Dani stared at the two men, frightened they might fight. How could she and Krijero hope to keep Wynhod from tearing Gelan apart?

Neither Gelan nor Krijero seemed to be worried. They watched Wynhod with quiet patience. After a breathless moment, the Nobek calmed. His hinged fangs disappeared as they folded to the roof of his mouth. “Apologies, my Dramok.”

“None are needed.” Gelan smiled. “I’m not surprised this happened. Your need to claim your mate was aroused because of us being hunted and your fear for Dani’s life.”

Wynhod blew out a breath. “These have been trying days. It was only a matter of time before it brought out the worst in me.”

Krijero kissed Dani’s cheek, no doubt noticing her concern. “If Wynhod could enjoy a standup fight with his enemies, he’d have better control over himself,” he told her.

Dani snorted. “He’d also be dead. You’re badly outnumbered,” she told the alien.

Wynhod sniffed his disdain for the odds as he finally withdrew from her. “Better dead in glorious battle than running from Tragooms.” He spat the name like it was vile poison.

Dani felt hollow with the loss of Wynhod’s body. Fatigue crept up on stealthy feet to lay heavily on her, but the emptiness had her snuggling almost desperately against Gelan and Krijero. She hated to admit it, but the absence of physical joining made her feel … incomplete. Lost. Alone.

Gelan and Krijero responded immediately to her needy cuddling. Already aroused, they burrowed hard crotches against her thighs on either side.

“Are you sure you’re up for more?” Gelan asked. Anticipation warred with concern on his expression.

“I’m tired,” she admitted. “Maybe if you do all the work?”

“I don’t know, Gelan,” Krijero worried.

“Please,” Dani whispered. “I want to. I don’t even want an orgasm. Having sex with you makes me feel safe and–” She caught herself. She’d almost said loved. “—and good,” she finished lamely. “Please?”

Gelan considered her for a long moment. He flicked his gaze to his Imdiko. “If we can be quick and gentle, perhaps?”

Krijero chuckled. “After watching her with Wynhod, I can be very quick. All right, then.”

“Towards me, little girl,” Gelan said. The men turned Dani so that she lay on her side facing the Dramok. “And no matter what, if you can’t handle it, you tell us. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Gelan.” She drew her leg up so that it rested on his hip and thigh. “Will you bite me?”

“No, sweetling. I want you perfectly aware of how you’re doing. The intoxicant might make you incapable of stopping us if you become weak or sick.”

Dani sighed. She liked the euphoria of the Kalquorians’ bite. Watching the two men shed their formsuits and press naked bodies against her helped quell her disappointment. Feeling each aliens’ larger cock pressing into her pussy and anus made it disappear entirely.

They moved inside her, the double penetration bringing that luscious fullness she adored. Dani relaxed into their embrace, letting them find a rhythm that worked for both. As their tender lovemaking brought fresh waves of desire lapping her womb, she sank gratefully into the sense of being made whole.

Soft kisses lit on her face and shoulders. Fingertips traced over her arms, breasts, ribs and thighs. Hips glided against hers, moving them all in a sinuous dance. Male organs slipped in and out like liquid silk. Their muscled bodies enfolded her, shielding her in their warm center. Dani’s sighs trembled in the air.

Three years isn’t so bad. If they would make me feel like this all the time, a lifetime wouldn’t be bad either.

But it had always been temporary, these ephemeral moments of sharing. Belonging was a fleeting joy, and the disappointment that hit after it ended had crushed her more times than she cared to remember.

I don’t want this to end. So their people ruined everything for me. I want them anyway. I want them to want me back.

Gelan and Krijero grunted softly, and their movements strengthened. The lengths driving into her stroked delightfully within, and Gelan’s groin rubbed hard against her clit. Dani caught her breath as darts of delight peppered the ballooning rapture within her loins.

I couldn’t make my own parents like me. Why would my enemies?

They didn’t treat her like an enemy though. They didn’t even treat her like property, which she was.

Dani trembled as the determined thrusts brought her closer to another orgasm. Joined to Gelan and Krijero, being one with them like this let her fall into the illusion that they might choose to keep her. What she had once contemplated with horror, that they wouldn’t free her when the contract ran out, she saw now as a beacon of hope.

Damn it, she had to be important to somebody.

Heat suffused her lower body in a flash fire of sensation, and she tensed as the swollen bubble of ecstasy ignited to fill her entire body with bliss. Krijero’s rhythm stuttered, and as quiet surges of gratification waxed and waned for Dani, he came with a drawn-out groan. Gelan followed suit moments later, gasping like a man desperate for air.

As soon as she was capable of speech, Dani whispered to the two men, “Please don’t go yet. Hold me until I go to sleep?”

“Of course, little Dani.” Gelan clutched her tight to himself.

Behind her, Krijero pressed as close to her as their bodies would allow. “Are you well? Any pain or sickness?”

“No.” She snuggled into the wondrous refuge of their embrace, her eyes shutting as fatigue refused to be denied any longer. “I’m so good right now.”

Deeper and deeper she descended into sweet, restful oblivion. The soft breath of the Kalquorians and the bass thuds of their hearts followed her down. Sleep cradled her in gentle arms. All was well…

A snarled exclamation dragged her from the sticky molasses of slumber, and she blinked as the bodies around her jerked away. Gelan was on his feet in an instant, a knife in his hand. Krijero fumbled with his discarded formsuit for a moment before his own blade appeared. He crouched next to Dani, his and Gelan’s gaze trained at the cave’s entrance. They softly growled, and a rush of adrenaline spiked through the Earther at the sight of their fangs bared.

She yelped when Wynhod suddenly appeared, sweeping her into his arms and rushing to the back of the cave. He set her high up on a ledge over his head.

Dani stared into the shadows beyond the fire, trying to see the cave opening. She whispered, “What is it? Did the Tragooms find us?”

Wynhod yanked a knife from his boot and pressed its handle into her palm. The blade was as long as her arm and incredibly heavy. She hefted it in both hands, still waiting for Wynhod to answer her.

A snarl erupted from the entrance of the cave. Wynhod whipped around, a shorter knife from his belt at the ready. With one voice, he and the other two men roared back.

Something furred bounded into the firelight. Dani had a moment to register that Gelan and Krijero were still naked, that Wynhod sped to their sides in a blurred rush, that the massive animal, as tall on its six legs as the men were on two, had a mouthful of dagger fangs. The next instant it sprang at Krijero, claws that looked a mile long reaching for the still crouched Imdiko.

Dani screamed, sure she was about to see the gorgeous body torn to shreds. Suddenly Krijero wasn’t there, and the beast landed on nothing. Quills spiked from the monster’s neck ruff as it swung at Gelan next, who also disappeared.

Krijero arrived below her ledge, and she had a second to feel grateful he wasn’t injured. He took a protective stance between her and the creature, which was now snapping at the circling Wynhod and Gelan.

Gelan’s face wreathed in a ferocious grin. Dani was shocked to see all three men looked like they were enjoying themselves as they faced down the lethal creature that screamed and swiped at the Dramok and Nobek. The men evaded its attacks just barely.

Gelan chortled. “Look at it! I didn’t realize there were apex predators like this here.”

Wynhod ducked as brutal claws nearly took off his head. “We’ll have to hunt here more often. Quite the trophy.”

Dani thought she might lose her bladder in fear. “Be careful! God, why don’t you use those percussion blasters you got off the Tragooms?”

Gelan darted close enough to the beast to slash a rear leg. He danced back just in time to avoid being disemboweled by the shrieking animal. “Percussion blasters? That wouldn’t be any fun. No sport at all.”

They were insane. Dani wanted to smack every last man upside his head. If they lived, she vowed she would. “Sport? Are you crazy? Look at that thing!”

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” Wynhod executed a last-second backflip as the beast hurled itself at him. The monster thudded to the ground, empty-pawed once more. It howled its rage. “But it must be sick with something to come so close to a fire. Most animals won’t do that.”

“You definitely don’t want to be scratched or bitten by it,” Gelan agreed. He and the beast jabbed and feinted with each other, almost as if performing an intricately choreographed dance.

Anger joined Dani’s terror. “I’ve heard of testosterone gone overboard, but you idiots are taking it to a whole new level. Stop playing with it!”

Gelan snorted. “She sure doesn’t have much appetite for adventure, does she?”

Krijero glanced up at Dani. His laughter was a bizarre counterpoint to the animal’s enraged screams. “Maybe we could take her fishing. Swimming among a school of razor-teethed rihpas with a spear might be more to her liking.”

The other two laughed hard as they continued to harry the bleeding monster. The Kalquorians had scored quite a few blows with their knives on the animal. Despite its continued attempts to claw and bite Gelan and Wynhod, it hadn’t landed the first injury on them yet. There were plenty of near misses however, and Dani shrieked at each one.

She’d had enough of the men being … well, men. “Kill that thing already!” she yelled.

The creature squalled at the sound of her voice and abruptly left off trying to catch the Dramok and Nobek. It pivoted and barreled straight at her and Krijero.

Dani held the ridiculously huge knife straight out, as if the beast would do her the favor of skewering itself in its madness. Krijero never wavered an inch, standing stock still and tense for the attack as it bore down on him. In a flash, both Wynhod and Gelan were on either side of the creature, staying clear of its quills as their knives flashed, disemboweling the animal. It happened so fast the monster bounded twice more before crumpling dead at Krijero’s bare feet.

Dani’s scream dwindled as the men pounded fists against each others’ chests. She noticed every single one of them sported erections.

Standing over their kill, Gelan grinned happily, like a kid who’d hit the game-winning homerun. “That was fun.”

Dani scowled. She tossed Wynhod’s oversized blade onto the ground and tried to make her hands not shake. “You guys are such freaks. I’ve never seen anyone court death like you fools.”

Krijero reached up to grasp her about the waist. He carried her to the fire, where the other two were already washing blood from their hands and knives in the water from their jugs. They jabbered at each other in their own language, no doubt reliving every jab and parry and congratulating themselves on being such masterful monster killers.

Men.

She couldn’t help admire how sweat gleamed on their muscles, how stunning they were pumped up with the glory of victory. How handsome they were with their faces alight. How very masculine they were with their primal power. Damn it, was she getting aroused again?

I’m every bit as weird as they are.

Dani shook her head as much at herself as at them.

CHAPTER 14

They set off first thing in the morning, Gelan instructing Dani to let them know the moment she felt weak or dizzy.

“You’re still going to feel the effects of that bacterial infection,” he said, stroking her hair. “I don’t want you in trouble again, so if you have to be carried, tell us.”

Dani felt she could have jogged all the way to their ship, but she knew he was right. The energy she had would probably be temporary. Besides, having the Kalquorians care for her was addicting. She fought not to wallow in their concern.

Clouds scudded the morning sky, turning the surroundings a strange but beautiful tangerine color. In spite of all the trouble this little moon had caused her, Dani had to admit the forest surrounding them looked ethereal with beauty. Even the odd chirps and cries of the critters inhabiting the woods sounded musical.

Funny how being healthy and in the company of people who take care of me changes my perspective on things.

As she plodded through the trees with her companions, Dani asked, “What does Kalquor look like?”

“Similar to Earth is my understanding,” Gelan replied. “We have oceans, beaches, deserts, and wetlands. Our clan lives in a cave in the mountains.”

Dani was a little dismayed. It had been her understanding that Kalquorians shared equally in the precious ores mined from their home planet and other moons and planets within their empire. She thought all Kalquorians were at least well off enough to afford decent housing. “You live in a cave? Boy, you do like it primitive.”

Krijero squeezed her shoulder as if he discerned her apprehension. “Not like the one we camped in these last few days. Our home has power, running water, technology … all the latest amenities. It doesn’t look like a cave system on the inside.”

Wynhod added, “Our people choose not to disturb the natural landscape when possible. I assure you, you’ll find it quite comfortable.”

Dani snorted her disbelief. “Yeah, and killing rabid monsters is fun entertainment for the whole family. I do like rock climbing though. Being around mountains would be an advantage.”

The Nobek looked at her in surprise. “Really? I am fond of that myself, and we have excellent opportunities for it.”

She felt a small swell of excitement. The thrill of taking on a near vertical wall of stone, creeping up its implacable face, defeating all the obstacles in order to gain the roof of the world was a high nearly impossible to match. She’d even belonged to a climbing club. It had been the one thing in her old life that guaranteed the dependable aid of others.

The thought of returning to that adventure with Wynhod’s capable strength to trust in delighted Dani. “You’ll take me?”

His smile gentled his fierce face. “Of course.”

She warmed at his encouraging expression. She had to admit, she enjoyed getting along with this clan. It certainly beat being at odds with them. Dani saw possibilities for her servitude. The more time she spent with the Kalquorians, the less she found to dislike.

It’s nice not to be pissed off with someone for a change.

She almost laughed out loud at the thought.

The morning passed pleasantly enough, with gentle teasing from her companions, questions regarding how she was holding up, and long stretches of friendly silence that allowed her to think. She found herself contemplating the positive qualities of the alien men: Gelan’s almost childlike enthusiasm when he came across the tracks of some large creature (“I am definitely coming back here to hunt,” he declared more than once), Wynhod’s never ceasing alertness as he hovered protectively near her and Krijero, and Krijero’s adorable clumsiness that matched her own awkward progress.

“I swear if one more vine trips me, I’m going to stop and someone will have to carry me!” he finally yelled in frustration.

The trees thinned as they continued into the afternoon. Dani saw the fingerlike protrusions of the rock formations in the distance. She wondered if she could climb those with the proper gear. The gentle earth scents were overcome by the salt tang and richer aromas of damp sludge. The soft soil Dani tread on grew wet, and she grimaced when it squelched between her toes.

“I’m squishing,” she told the others.

Gelan peered up at the still cloudy sky. The light had turned grayish-orange. “We’re getting into the marshland. I believe we’re making good time. We should be at the ship by tomorrow evening.”

Dani smiled up at the clouds that had kept the worst of the day’s heat from beating down on her. Sarcastically she said, “Yay. In two days I get to trade the swamps and caves for mountains and caves.”

Wynhod swatted her bottom with an affectionate grin. Dani yelped at the slight sting and laughed at his playfulness.

“You’re a very bratty girl,” he told her.

She stuck out her tongue. “Yes, I am. Get used to it.”

“Correcting a brat can be much fun,” Gelan observed, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Dani gave him wide eyes. “Are you flirting with me, Gelan?”

That earned a grin from the big Dramok. He patted her rump, and her insides tumbled with desire at the warm touch.

A sense of peace with her situation made Dani glow inside. Where she’d seen only frustration for the next three years, she now saw promise. And after that? She looked at the men surrounding her. Maybe there were possibilities for further on.

The marsh became thicker, sludgier. Dani’s feet pattered through it, Krijero’s heavy tread squelched, and even Gelan and Wynhod made slight sounds as they passed through waist-high reeds. The slower going began to wear on the Earther, and she opened her mouth to ask for one of the men to carry her.

At that moment Wynhod’s hand shot into the air, fingers splayed wide. The group halted as one, and the three Kalquorians’ scented the air, their nostrils flaring.

“Tragooms!” the Nobek shouted. He yanked his blaster from his belt in a motion so fast the metal casing flashed like lightning in the strange orange-gray light. He leapt behind the rest of them, crouching in a defensive posture facing the way they’d come. Gelan was at his side in an instant, and Krijero pulled his knife, shoving Dani behind his big body.

She heard the enemy coming, booming thuds of heavy feet heading quickly their way. Gelan and Wynhod sank low to the mucky ground, the blasters pointed.

“Protect Dani!” Gelan told Krijero. It was the last thing he said before the Tragooms hove into view and all hell broke loose.

Looking like bastard children of a pig and rhinoceros, four Tragooms fired percussion blasters in a tremendous volley, the shwack-shwack boom of their attack shaking the very air. Wynhod and Gelan shot back as Krijero turned and fell on Dani, knocking her to the ground. At first she cried out in horror, thinking he’d been hit, but as his body wrapped around hers, shielding her from the blasts, she realized he was shielding her.

Inhuman snorts, squeals, howling, and screaming added to the din, and Dani clapped her hands over her ears as firing continued. Somehow over the bedlam she heard Wynhod yell, “More are coming!”

Gelan’s roar rang out. “Krijero, get her out of here! Run!”

Krijero was on his feet in an instant, all his usual clumsiness gone in a surge of adrenaline. Hunched in a crouch, he yanked Dani to his chest and took off as more blaster fire shivered the air around them. The Imdiko put on a dizzying burst of speed, and the sounds of the blasters quickly faded from her ringing ears.

CHAPTER 15

As fights went, it was a bit of a disappointment for Gelan and Wynhod.

They were outnumbered but these were young Tragooms, unseasoned in battle. No doubt they’d been sent ahead by their leader to be destroyed, ‘cannon fodder’ as an Earther might term them. It was no surprise to either Kalquorian for this to have happened. The leader of the Tragoom party might have sent these young ones ahead as punishment. He might have sent them ahead in order to cut the numbers so he didn’t have to share as much of the Kalquorians’ belongings with his crew. Maybe he hoped the sacrifice would result in hurting one or more of his enemy, making them easier to kill later. Or maybe he actually thought the young ones would get lucky and take a mature Kalquorian clan out, saving his own cowardly hide from danger.

No matter the reason, Gelan and Wynhod killed all their attackers without suffering a single injury themselves. Triumph was shortlived, because they knew the larger party was still coming for them.

Gelan dragged the last of the Tragooms he and Wynhod had killed to a deep pool of water, where the Nobek was heaving a bloody mess into the depths. The Dramok hefted his bulky burden and tossed it in after Wynhod’s offering. An explosion of water drenched him anew, but he welcomed the impromptu shower. The rancid stench of Tragoom clung to him as tenaciously as the disgusting race’s blood. The damned things had a bad habit of evacuating their bowels when they died.

He and Wynhod returned to the site of their fight, strapping the fallen enemies’ blasters to their belts. Most were still at least half-full of power. In all, the Kalquorians had killed eight. Gelan felt as high on bloodshed as he had after the fight with the beast in the cave. He knew better than to give into the thrill of battle and forced himself to sober contemplation of their situation.

He told Wynhod, “We may not have much time before the main phalanx of the Tragoom party arrives here, but I’d like to cover Krijero and Dani’s trail as best we can.”

Wynhod nodded. “After that we’ll give the gurlucks a more obvious but false trail to follow, like I did before.”

They set to work, quickly camouflaging Krijero’s fleeing footprints. Then they both went in different directions to roll around on the ground here and there, leaving concentrations of their scents in misleading routes to confuse the enemy. All the while, Gelan listened and scented the air, expecting the main party of the Tragooms to fall upon them at any moment.

The light was reddening beyond the clouds, warning the pair that day approached its end by the time they met back up at the battleground.

Gelan jerked his head in the direction he wanted to take. “Let’s head north for a few miles then we’ll make for the rock formation and meet up with the rest of our clan.”

Wynhod’s eyebrows rose even as a slight smile warmed his face. “Are you including Dani in that?”

Gelan started on their new route, and his Nobek fell in step with him. “I suppose I am. What do you think?”

“You know me. I’ve never been one to turn down a challenge. I just hope our little fighter isn’t giving Krijero a hard time, since he’ll be the most difficult to convince.”

“To that end, let’s move. She’s impulsive enough to try escaping him if the notion hits her. Plus I don’t like having my Matara and Imdiko on their own with Tragooms trying to find them.”

Wynhod growled, and they broke into a run.

• • •

Because Krijero carried her for the most part that day, Dani had the energy to help him build a small shelter when they stopped for the night. They both wanted a fire and with Tragooms trying to catch them, construction to shield the light from enemy eyes was imperative.

While Dani laid fallen branches side by side to allow them to lie above the wet ground, Krijero tied a thick vine so that it stretched between two trees. Using more branches, he propped them against the taut line to form an A-frame roof. Foliage covered the timber, providing light-proof walls. More fibrous plants laid on Dani’s platform gave them a soft place to rest. Finding wood dry enough to light into a fire took some doing, but the pair managed. With sighs of contentment, they sat on the platform, sharing the meat the Kalquorians had smoked back in the cave where Dani had recuperated.

Reflecting on the long stretches of silence in which they’d traveled that day, Dani told Krijero, “You sure are quiet compared to the other two. Is that an Imdiko trait?”

He shrugged. “There are talkative Imdikos too.”

Dani considered him as he stared into the dancing flames. She found Krijero hard to read. He was gentle, compassionate, and looked after her carefully. He’d thrown himself on her when percussion blaster fire raged around them. He’d even opened up to her a little the one time when they’d made love. His occasional clumsiness endeared him to her, made her feel better about her own awkwardness, and made him more approachable than the rest of his self-assured species. Yet he was mostly silent around her. He rarely looked her in the face. He often seemed ill at ease when she spoke to him.

Dani remembered the vulnerability he’d shown that one night, how it had made her want to make him happy. Such a fascinating dichotomy, this man who demonstrated both courage and a sense of having been hurt. It bothered her that he continued to keep her at arm’s length.

“You don’t like me much, do you?” She kept her tone nonchalant.

He looked at her then, his eyes wide with surprise. “On the contrary. I like you more than I’m comfortable with.”

Well, that was interesting. “Why do you say that?”

He laughed, the sound embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to admit that. Your question shocked the answer out of me.”

“You don’t want to like me?”

Krijero shrugged. “I hate putting myself on the line with another person. Like you, I was hurt by someone I loved. I have a mortal terror of rejection now.”

Dani nodded. Rejection was hard. Every rebuff she’d ever suffered had humiliated her, made her feel small and unimportant. And there had been so many.

She swallowed. “Who pushed you away?”

The Imdiko stared into the fire once more. “A Dramok I had a long relationship with when I was young. We were companions from childhood, and then when we were of age he clanned another Imdiko. I never saw it coming.”

No wonder he came off so much like a kicked puppy sometimes. He’d been dumped for someone else. “Wow,” Dani breathed. “What a jerk.”

Krijero laughed hard at that. “I suppose he was. I’ve called him much worse.”

Dani scooted to sit closer to him, to give a show of support. To her delight, he circled her waist with one arm. “So how did you end up trusting Gelan and Wynhod enough to clan with them?”

He admitted, “It took a long time. I thought it had to be some kind of joke they were playing on me, asking me to be their Imdiko. I mean, I trip over my own feet, I never remember to brush my hair, I have the worst time talking to people I don’t know. Why would they pick me?”

“Nothing plays hell with your self-confidence like someone telling you you’re not good enough.” Dani sighed.

“Believe me, I know that for a fact.” Krijero smiled and shook his head. “I was so scared it would happen again. I can’t believe Gelan and Wynhod didn’t give up on me, but they finally convinced me they really wanted me to join them.”

“You’re lucky to have found them. I’m jealous.” She leaned back to consider him. “We’re a lot alike, maybe.”

He nodded. A lock of hair fell over her face, and he gently smoothed it back for her. “I think we are. I like you, Dani. But I don’t want to get attached and have you leave when your contract is up.”

She blinked hard against the sting of tears. “I like you too. But no one has ever stuck around, so I’m waiting for your clan to disappear on me too. You may end up thrilled to see me go when the three years are done.”

He studied her in silence for a few moments, his face working as he seemed about to say something several times and stopped himself. At last he did speak, his tone so faint she had to strain to hear him. “I don’t think so. I think despite all my attempts to not fall in love, I might fail.”

Dani bit her lips together. He liked her that much? Enough to think he might want to keep her? Tears escaped despite her best efforts, and she knuckled them away. She wondered how long it would take before her usual impulsive stupidity changed his mind. “We’re a mess, Krijero.”

He nodded. “I suppose we are.”

“Want to have sex?”

Another burst of laughter, and he pulled her close, his face dipping down for the first kiss. “I do. I think we can trust each other for that, at least.”

His tongue invaded her mouth as he lowered her to the platform. He felt so amazing against her body, so warm and strong. Dani opened her legs to him, letting his searching hand dive into her damp folds.

“I guess we’ll have to be quiet again, just in case those stupid gurlucks are close by,” Krijero whispered in her ear.

“I hate being quiet. You Kalquorians make me want to scream my head off.”

“But you will be quiet,” Krijero said.

He covered her mouth with his free hand. She gasped against his palm as he thrust two fingers into her pussy. He stared down into her face as he finger fucked her hard, making her lower parts throb with arousal.

“Everyone thinks Imdikos are so easygoing, especially with sex. We can be just as demanding as any Dramok or Nobek though,” he told her, his weight pinning her down. She sobbed as his thumb flicked her clit and lightning flashed through her belly. “Would you like me to show you?”

His dark eyes and the firelight flickering over his face made Krijero look very dangerous suddenly. Dani’s heart pounded at his intense expression. She nodded.

Yes, she wanted to see the more ruthless side of Krijero. Absolutely.

He grinned, and her stomach executed a flip flop. Her sex pulsed out honey. She was in for it, and the anticipation made her giddy.

“Lock your fingers behind your neck. Spread your arms wide. If you move them from that spot without my permission, I will punish you with a spanking.”

Dani did as he told her, twining her fingers together, her palms against the hated collar. Krijero’s words brought up the memory of Gelan’s discipline when they’d caught her. That had not been a pleasant incident, but the way Krijero looked at her, the way he spoke the words as if promising her a bucketful of diamonds, made her pussy clench around his steadily driving fingers.

He grinned, the expression full of evil intent. “There are spankings, and then there are spankings, my lovely little Dani. I’m not talking about the kind where you are brought to task for dangerous behavior. I’m talking the kind where you acknowledge my power over you and offer yourself to please me, even if it means laying your sweet, round ass over my thighs and accepting my hand turning it as red as your hair.”

The thought of giving herself so completely to the Kalquorian made her gush around his talented fingers, a warm waterfall of excitement. He chuckled as the sounds his intrusion made in her pussy grew more liquid. Dani almost moaned, and then remembered Krijero’s insistence on her silence just in time.

The threat of discipline, given as a part of sexual play, was as enticing as the serpent’s fruit in the Garden of Eden. She couldn’t deny the excitement that accompanied the fantasy, but she wasn’t sure the reality would prove to be so thrilling. It was an idea to be considered at a later time, perhaps. Right now, she enjoyed the less painful dominance Krijero subjected her to. With his hand still clapped over her mouth, her body trapped beneath his, and his fingers pounding into her open pussy, she felt gloriously imprisoned.

She lay still only with the greatest of efforts and waited to see what he would do next.

• • •

Krijero wasn’t worried anymore about falling in love with Dani. He was already there, and just as he’d told her, it scared him. She could trample his heart to pieces so easily and she knew it.

But looking down on her right now, he couldn’t berate himself for putting his hopes on the line. Not when she lay beneath him so submissively, giving her body over to whatever his demands may be, not because she was his slave but because she wanted him.

Her red hair fanned out, a fire-lit pillow beneath her head. Above his hand that kept her quiet, her expressive eyes watched him, looking both soft with need and sharp with unease as she waited for his next move. Her arms, bent and splayed to the sides from the position he’d commanded her to take, lifted her pretty little breasts high into the air. Her chest rose and fell in quick breaths, and he growled a little to see the stiff points of her nipples stab into the space between them. Her stomach trembled in minute spasms in time with the clutching of her pussy, which drew hard on his soaked fingers.

“Spread your legs as wide as you can,” he rumbled, and she obeyed without a moment’s hesitation. Now she was totally open to him, her wet folds parted like a tropical flower in full bloom. He watched his fingers dive in and out of the velvet softness of her and added a third to the assault. A shudder overtook her body, and she caught her breath. Still, she managed to make no sound.

He knew his playful threat to spank her had excited Dani. Yet it was obvious she wasn’t ready to take that step, to offer herself to the pleasures of discipline. Krijero thought about ordering her to give herself over for it anyway, to test her service to him. Would she resist if he did?

Somehow he thought she would not. He thought perhaps she would acquiesce to such a demand as readily as she gave herself now. There would be that twinge of fear of the unknown, but something in those wide eyes told him he indeed owned her at this moment. Not just her body, but her mind as well. She’d gone to a place where defying him would never occur.

He looked at the tender folds of her pussy, now accepting his fingers, soon to accept his cock. She was his to do with as he wished. The thought had him straining the crotch of his formsuit painfully as his body demanded he exercise his dominance right away. But he wanted more than to thrust into her like a mindless animal, fucking her helpless body until his seed filled her belly. He wanted to claim her thoroughly, so that she ached for his control.

Krijero pulled his fingers free of her warm sleeve, smiling with satisfaction as her thick honey depended from his fingertips back to her core in a long strand. She shook her head slightly, her eyes silently pleading with him to fill her once more.

“You will give your ass to me,” he said, one slick finger pressing against the puckered rosette. There was a moment of tightening as her body instinctively tried to refuse him entrance, then Dani was pliant again, her conscious mind overruling primal fears.

Mine, the animal part of him announced, and he was more than happy to claim that part so many Earthers considered the ultimate taboo.

My bigger cock will fill that too, and there’s nothing she can do to stop me. The thought gave him a thrill that raced from the top of his head, down the passage of his spine, and straight through that eager appendage.

His power over her titillated, but Krijero had no interest in abusing that power. It was enough to feel it, to know it was his. If at any point she showed distress, whether physically or emotionally, he would stop.

I love her.

His finger pushed into her depths, readying her for the ultimate taking. Her eyes closed, and he felt her sigh against his hand. Her obvious pleasure made him harder than ever, and Krijero wondered if any man had ever died from resisting climax. His cocks hurt, the need for her was so great.

He bowed his head to her chest, his mouth seizing on one pebbled nipple. He rolled his tongue over the tip, feeling her minute reactions as she fought to remain still. Krijero laved Dani’s breasts in turn, making the peaks tighter still until they flushed with color. All the while he continued to plumb her anus, delicately stretching the taut flesh to accept two fingers, then a third.

The Earther’s heart hammered as if to escape her rapidly rising and falling chest as he played with her. Occasionally she jerked in helpless reaction as a touch or nibble taxed her abilities to lie still for him. Otherwise she lay immobile and open for him, so he opted to not punish those sudden quakes.

Krijero scraped his teeth against one reddened nipple, and a slight moan escaped Dani’s throat. A small spasm shivered her rear channel, tightening the grip on his thrusting fingers. She was closing in on her glorious surrender, and the thought he’d pleasured her well made him feel a sense of pride.

I will make her a good mate. I will show her, and maybe she’ll stay.

His groin was pounding a steady ache, but he was still reluctant to raise his mouth from her delectable flesh, to withdraw his fingers from their tight prison. He made himself do so. Dani’s hips twitched upward in silent dispute.

“Get on all fours.” Krijero was impressed that he kept trembling out of his tone. He was verging on desperation to claim her now.

Dani obeyed with an alacrity that betrayed her eagerness. She crouched on knees and elbows, her delightful, perfectly round ass tilted up, begging to be taken.

He homed in on that sweet orifice, pressing his larger cock in with steady smoothness that might have been too quick for Dani’s comfort, but was much slower than his body wanted. His smaller cock buried itself in her pussy, submerging into the hot pool of her juices. Her ass closed over his larger member, a tight grasping passage that left him gasping for air.

Dani warbled a little tune in the midst of her pleasure. She convulsed all around him. The sensation made everything below tighten, grow heavier as his control threatened to slip away.

“Quiet,” he growled in a low voice, his palm flicking across one fleshy butt cheek in a light slap.

Dani’s breath caught, and she clenched down on him harder than ever. Her fingers dug into the soft fronds of foliage beneath her. Pleasure that she responded positively to the momentary discipline and animal need spurred by her reaction collided in Krijero’s fevered emotional state.

The brutal need to take her, to fuck her until the pressure in his loins was relieved, rose like a black madness over Krijero. He held onto a small portion of self control with the most tenuous of grips. His hands closed over Dani’s shoulders, and he pulled her back onto his shafts as he thrust forward, filling her full of himself, making her take all of him.

Her head fell back, her mouth wide open, but she did not scream. As Krijero moved their bodies until the barest tips of his cocks remained within only to drive them together again, Dani’s face suffused with pleasure. Her breath came in harsh gasps as he yanked her forward and back, the muffled sounds speaking of ecstasy better than words.

Then Krijero lost sight of his woman’s enjoyment. His body was in full riot, begging him to take her harder and faster, the bright glare of fulfillment beckoning at the end of the dark tunnel. It rushed headlong at him, his belly filling, his sexes tensing, the raging need intensifying in monumental surges. He fought for the control that kept him from hurting his beloved, his mate, his Matara, fought for it with his last vestiges of sanity as climax broke over him.

Pain from holding off for so long, burning elation, a vast storm of sensation swept Krijero as semen burst from the deepest pit of his body. It shattered like glass, tearing pulses of liquid pleasure from his cock, pouring rivers into the sweet well of the woman shuddering beneath him.

Possessiveness, as instinctive as any Nobek’s, joined the rush of climax. Mine, Krijero thought, and he continued to thrust into Dani, asserting his right to have her. She mewled in his grasp, her sleeves clenching around his staves as her own orgasm rampaged.

“Mine,” he growled, in an echo of Wynhod’s declaration the day before. The waves of climax were quieting, but the urge to stake his territory did not.

Dani’s voice, as ephemeral as breath’s mist on a cold day, acknowledge his rights over her. “Yours.”

Had the threat of Tragooms not hung over him, Krijero would have howled his victory to the stars. He had claimed his mate, and she had accepted his entitlement to her.

After a few minutes, he regained his more civilized side. Still, Krijero was loathe to extricate himself from Dani’s warmth, so he shifted them to lay on the platform, his body spooning hers, his cocks still nestled within her warmth. He held her tight and she sighed a happy sound.

“Sleep now,” he whispered in the delicate cup of her ear. “I’ll keep watch over you.”

“What about you?” Her voice was already heavy with contented weariness.

“Kalquorians can go days with no sleep without harmful effects. No need to worry.”

“Okay. ‘Night, Krijero.”

“Goodnight, sweet Dani.”

He listened to her breath deepen, her face warm with a gentle smile as she passed into slumber. She felt so right in his arms, but Krijero knew how quick such a feeling could turn into a lie. Still, he had been drawn into love just as strongly as the quickmud had nearly sucked Dani into LXS-42’s ground.

• • •

Dani woke when a cold, wet drop splashed her nose. She jerked, and Krijero flicked the offending moisture from her face. Her eyes were wide as the heavens outside their shelter opened up, spilling oceans of rain. Within moments, the shelter was leaking all over the place. The downpour pounded it so hard she thought it might fall down on them.

Krijero sat up, taking her with him so that she rested on his lap. He slid to a spot where they could avoid getting wet.

Dani peered at the sheets of rain cascaded outside the shelter’s opening. The world outside was silvery gray. “Tell me we’re not going out in this?”

The Imdiko pressed a kiss to her ear. “Sorry, little Dani. We have to get to the ship before the Tragooms get to us. Rain won’t stop them.”

She scowled at the weather. In full pout, she grumbled, “Don’t expect me to like it.”

He chuckled indulgently and tilted her so that her head rested on his shoulder. His mouth found hers, kissing her without demand. Despite the almost chaste flavor of his embrace, Dani warmed all over.

When the kiss ended, she regarded him with half-closed eyes. “When you put it like that, traveling in the rain isn’t such a bad thing.”

He grinned. “Let me know anytime I can offer comfort.”

“I wouldn’t mind being comforted for the next half hour or so.”

That earned a burst of laughter. “I’d be glad to offer it, but we really do need to get moving.”

“Then give me another kiss to sustain me.”

He did so, and then they had a quick breakfast of smoked meat before crawling out of the shelter into the rain. The weather gods saw fit to cut them a little slack, and while they dismantled their shelter and hid the evidence of their overnight stay, the sheeting torrent slowed to a steady shower.

The marshy area became a sludge pile, and Krijero and Dani were soon slathered in mud up to their thighs. “Let me walk ahead of you,” the Imdiko said. “I don’t want you finding anymore quickmud.”

“Don’t be silly,” Dani panted, trying to pull ahead of him. “It’ll be a lot easier for you to pull me out than the other way around. What do you weigh, 250 pounds?”

“I don’t know what the conversion from Earther pounds to my weight in Kalquorian measurements is.”

“Definitely around the 250 mark, and you’re all muscle. What a moose.” She splashed as she tried to jump a large stand of water.

“Thanks to Gelan’s love for hunting, I’ve got plenty of experience seeing obstacles. I’m better prepared than you to deal with the terrain. So get behind me before I turn that cute butt of yours red enough for the Tragooms to see for miles.”

Dani blew a raspberry at him but fell behind. At least she had a nice view of his rear.

It was warm enough that the continuing rain wasn’t too miserable. Slopping along in the muck left a lot to be desired however. There was less vegetation for their feet to grab onto, leaving the ground slimy and slippery. Dani fell on her ass once when her feet went out from under her. She cursed colorfully as Krijero helped her up.

“I can’t believe I used to pay top dollar for illegal mud baths,” she fumed.

“The rain will wash it away,” the Imdiko told her gently.

Since he was trying to make her feel better, Dani held her sarcastic tongue from thanking him for his brilliant input.

Minutes later, Krijero suffered his own fall. Rain couldn’t fix the damage it did to him.

He came to an abrupt stop so suddenly that Dani nearly ran into him. They stood at the top of a slope that angled down steeply towards a small stand of woods. Dani was cheered by the trees. At least they wouldn’t be rained on so much down there.

Backing up a couple of steps after nearly colliding with the Imdiko, she asked, “What’s up?”

He frowned at the muddy slope. “We’ll need to be careful going down. It looks—”

The ground beneath his booted feet gave out. An instant later, Krijero was somersaulting down the incline, falling hard all the way to the bottom.

“Krijero!”

As his body bounced one last time, the Kalquorian loosed a pain-filled howl. When his fall finally halted, he flopped about like a landed fish, holding his right ankle.

Dani went after him, wanting to hurry but forcing herself to descend carefully. By the time she had gotten halfway down, Krijero had forced himself to sit up. He watched her come, his face drawn with pain and concern.

“Slowly, Dani. Don’t get hurt!”

“How bad are you?” she called, navigating around an exposed tangle of roots that wanted to trip her up.

Krijero shifted, wiggled his foot a little, and hissed in agony. A stream of Kalquorian left his lips in staccato bursts. Dani had a feeling he wasn’t reciting poetry.

When he’d recovered enough to remember to speak in English, he reported, “Not too good. I don’t know if my leg will hold me. Typical clumsy me.”

Dani reached the bottom and ran to him. Poor Krijero looked bedraggled and miserable. “Let’s get you under some shelter. I’ll help,” she said.

He huffed with disgust at himself. “All right.”

Keeping his injured foot off the ground, Krijero levered himself up with Dani’s help. As she supported the heavy man’s effort to limp to the stand of trees, she remembered calling him a moose.

Moose, hell. This guy weighs a ton.

She could only feel sorry for him as every step he took on the injured leg made his face scrunch in pain. He made no complaints, however, and they finally gained the edge of the woods. A few more steps and they entered beneath the cover of the trees. Raindrops fell lazily down, rather than pelting them.

Dani helped him sit down, his back using a large trunk for support. “Let’s pull your boot off and see what the damage is,” she suggested.

“All right.”

She ended up doing most of the tugging while Krijero did all of the groaning from pain. Dani tried to be careful, but it was impossible to take the knee high boot off without hurting the damaged limb. She peered at the Imdiko’s ankle.

“It’s swelling up like a balloon. No way you should be walking on this. I wish we had something to wrap it.”

“Use this.” Krijero tugged at one of his long sleeves, and it separated from his formsuit with a purring sound.

Dani wound the black stretchy fabric tightly around his foot and ankle, tying it off at the end. “I hate to do this to you, but we should get your boot back on.”

“I’ll do it in a little while,” he gasped. “It hurts too much right now.”

“What else can I do?” Dani’s first aid expertise was at its end. She was at a loss as to how to make him more comfortable. And how would the rest of the clan ever find them? Fear stabbed her heart.

Krijero’s next statement drew panic even closer. “You’ll have to go on ahead to that rock formation. Get to Gelan and Wynhod.”

She stared at him. “I can’t leave you here for the Tragooms to find. They’ll kill you!”

Dani grabbed his boot and crouched by his injured leg. She would get it back on him, find some straight, sturdy branches to use as splints, tie them on with his other sleeve. She jabbered, “You can lean on me and we’ll both go. We’ll take it slow and you’ll rest when you need to.”

Krijero leaned forward, pulling the boot from her rain-pruned hands. “It will be faster for you to get the others, sweetness. I’ll follow as I’m able.”

She fought the tremble of her lower lip. Dani couldn’t leave him. “But Tragooms— ”

He stroked her cheek, managing an encouraging smile despite his obvious pain. “You can’t fight those monsters and I’d never forgive myself if you were hurt because of me. Trust me Dani, like I am trusting you right now.”

He trusts me? Well, he had no choice about that, not with his ankle turning into a fat tube of sausage. Even through the sudden swell of tears, Dani could see it wouldn’t hold him up, not even with her as a crutch.

She wiped rain and tears away. “Okay. It sucks, but okay.” She gave him a kiss, her lips cold against his warm ones. He started then returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her for a moment.

He gave her his handheld, which displayed her route. “Keep northwest until you find that rock plain,” he reminded.

“I will. Be safe, Krijero. I—” she broke off, startled at what she’d almost said.

“You be careful too, little Dani.” His purple eyes held her for an instant. Then he prodded her to her feet. “Go as fast as you can.”

It took herculean effort to leave him there, alone and helpless. Dani felt something inside slowly ripping with every backwards step she took from him, as if she was physically joined heart to heart with the Imdiko. The pain was wrenching.

“Turn around and go,” Krijero coaxed her. “You have to hurry. Run, Dani.”

She nodded, but it was another half dozen steps before she was able to turn her back on Krijero. Then her feet took off, and she raced away, choking down tears.

Please God, if you’re really there, please let him be okay.

• • •

Dani’s legs burned as the ground rose steadily upward, taking her out of the marshland. The trees began to be sparse again, and she finally saw the rock formations, drifting into view like mirages, far ahead of her. The tallest one, where she would hopefully find Gelan and Wynhod, shimmered behind the gauzy veil of rain.

She paused to catch her breath. The flat, rocky plain wasn’t far now, and the vegetation was already petering out. Rain rat-a-tat-tatted on the firmer ground. The distance to the protuberances of rock was impossible to gauge. Besides bits of brush dotting here and there, she could see nothing else on the puddle-strewn landscape to reference between her and the strange jutting formations. They might be half an hour’s walk or five hours. She hoped for the shorter. Krijero was back there, defenseless.

So what? Why are you so worried about a man who doesn’t care about you?

The thought froze her. Out loud she said, “That’s not true. He likes me. He thinks he might fall in love with me.”

So he says. Maybe he just wants your cooperation. It wouldn’t be the first time someone told you what you wanted to hear to get you to do what they want.

Dani wanted to argue with the voice of experience. But she couldn’t. What it said was all too true.

I know the route from here. I could run ahead, take their ship and be free. Gelan and Wynhod will probably find Krijero in time to save him from the Tragooms. They’re excellent survivors, much better at it than I am.

“More rash impulses, Dani?” she asked herself. Anger at having such a selfish notion bubbled within her, challenging the fear that she was no more to the Kalquorians than a piece of property to be used and discarded. “They cared for me when I was sick. They’ve done their damnedest to keep me safe from the Tragooms rather than leaving me behind and saving their own hides.”

But do they really care? Do you really matter to them? The thought was an insidious whisper, refusing to be silenced.

She thought about Krijero, injured and vulnerable. Trust me Dani, like I’m trusting you right now, he’d said.

Her chin lifted. “It’s not important if I matter to them. They matter to me. I’m not leaving them to rot on this stupid moon. That’s all I have to say on the subject, so shut the hell up!”

For a wonder, that part of her mind did.

Dani set her sights on the tallest formation and started running again, forcing her burning legs to hurry, hurry.

CHAPTER 16

Red streaks from the setting sun clawed vicious tears in the sky. The bloody light turned the rocky plain and its stark formations to rust. The clouds were slowly dissipating, sending down halfhearted spats of rain. The deafening torrent of before had become a tired patter on the plain, as if the sky had worn itself out.

Gelan and Wynhod paced around the tallest spire of rock in the forest of the strange formations. They’d been here for hours, but there was still no sign of Krijero and Dani.

Wynhod’s mood was a pendulum, swinging from worried to angry every few seconds. As he passed Gelan he muttered, “I hope she didn’t give Krijero any trouble. She must have. They should have been here long before now.”

Gelan blew out a breath. It relieved none of his tension. “Our only option besides waiting and hoping is to retrace our steps and probably run into the full Tragoom party.”

Neither choice made him a happy man. At least searching would allow them to do something. He was no more suited to inaction than his Nobek.

Wynhod’s disposition arced in the other direction, and he stopped pacing for a moment. “Maybe our ploy didn’t work. Maybe the Tragooms followed them instead. We should try to find them.”

Gelan itched to do just that. But night was coming on, and while Kalquorian eyes saw well in the dark, it would still be difficult to pick up the Imdiko and Earther’s trail. And if they found the full party of Tragooms instead of their clanmates, he and Wynhod would be killed.

Death didn’t bother him so much as leaving Krijero and Dani unprotected. But they were that way already, wherever they were.

Wynhod went completely still as Gelan struggled to make a decision. “Wait. Someone’s out there.”

Gelan peered in the direction Wynhod faced, his eyes, ears and nose searching the dimming plain. A tiny, far-off figure moved slowly. The jerk of its limbs showed it worked with great effort to cross the rock-strewn landscape. A breeze carried the scent of things decomposing in the distant marsh, of Wynhod’s spicy aroma, and the salt-tinged musk he’d grown familiar with in a very short time.

“Dani,” he breathed and took off racing towards her, Wynhod hard on his heels.

He tried not to think too hard about why she would be alone, why Krijero was nowhere to be seen. Dread knotted the pit of his stomach however. As he neared the bedraggled Earther, her stumbling efforts to run betraying her exhausted desperation, he knew something bad had happened. She clutched Krijero’s handheld and was pushing herself beyond her limits to reach them, to find help for the Imdiko.

Wynhod put on a burst of speed, reaching her seconds ahead of Gelan. “Where is Krijero?”

Dani halted and folded over, bent double as she gasped for air. “Fell. Hurt his leg. Can’t walk.” She burst into tears. “Hurry so Tragooms don’t find him.”

Wynhod took only a moment to tell Gelan, “You take her. I’ll go for Krijero.” Then he was gone, backtracking Dani’s trail as Gelan caught her up in his arms.

She sobbed, shaking all over from emotion and fatigue. It was hard to understand her speech for all the crying, but as Gelan carried her back to the tallest rock formation, he managed to decipher most of it.

“I came as fast as I could, but it took so long. What if Wynhod is too late? What if they got Krijero?”

Gelan kissed her forehead, his worry for his Imdiko offset a little by his pride in Dani’s efforts. “It won’t be for your lack of trying. Thank you, Dani, for coming so quickly. You may have saved his life.”

She wept more, her poor body limp in his arms but for the tremors. He didn’t fault her for her plunge into weakness. Naked and alone, she’d battled the lingering effects from her recent illness to find them, to save Krijero. The bottoms of her bare feet mixed mud with blood from cuts and scrapes, showing the rigors of her journey.

Gelan realized something else. Dani hadn’t tried to run away, even knowing through Krijero’s handheld where their ship was hidden. That meant she cared, at least for the Imdiko. Hope flared strong in his chest, along with a greater emotion. He hugged her closer. When her face tilted up to look into his, he kissed her with feeling.

“I’ll start a fire and then we’ll get you cleaned off and fed. Don’t cry, my little love. You did very well.”

She managed a ghost of a smile at his heartfelt praise. “I did? You really think I did?”

The childlike plea for approval moved him. He answered her with another kiss. The way her body seemed to melt against his as she responded sent a surge of emotions through him: protectiveness, reverence, and a desire to be the man she turned to for everything.

Call it what it is, Dramok. Don’t be a coward.

Fine. This self-absorbed, impulsive, childish creature had caught him as surely as he’d captured a number of criminals in his police work. As crazy as she drove him, he’d seen the giving, sweet nature that lay beneath the protective barriers she’d erected after a lifetime of betrayal. He loved her.

It was scary feeling this way for Dani. It probably meant a lot of pain in the future. But even given the trouble she had brought and the trouble she would no doubt continue to bring, he couldn’t deny how right she felt in his arms and in his heart.

• • •

Night fell like a bat’s wing over the rock plain, shutting out Dani’s sight beyond the circle of fire Gelan had built. The wood was wet from the rain, and there was plenty of smoke, but Dani didn’t mind. Fire and shelter in any form was a boon as far as she was concerned.

She’d been thrilled when Gelan had brought her into the shelter. In the first hours of waiting for her and Krijero’s arrival, he and Wynhod had made a lean-to much like the A-frame Krijero had constructed the night before. The biggest difference was that one side of the shelter was the rock formation. A thick webbing of branches and leaves leaned against the protuberance, and they’d put a mat of more leaves on the ground around the fire. It was a cozy shelter, and Dani fought off sleep despite her aching exhaustion. She wanted to know Krijero was okay.

Gelan stood just outside the shelter, looking out into the inky blackness. Dani knew his eyes saw better than hers after dark, but she couldn’t imagine his gaze piercing the pitch well of LXS-42’s night. There were stars in the sky, but they were unimportant sparkles, a scattering of glitter in thick velvet. They offered no light to see by.

Animal sounds were not so prevalent on this barren land, and silence spun out as heavy as the night. Dani knew Gelan listened for his clanmates, but the oppression of unmitigated quiet wore on her nerves. Desperate for the companionable rumble of the Dramok’s voice, she said, “It is so nice to finally be dry. Any sign of them yet?”

He seemed not to be irritated by her distraction. “Not yet. I hope — hold on, I see movement. It’s them. Stay here, Dani.”

The big man vanished into the night, as if oblivion had swallowed him. Dani pouted simply to pretend to herself she wasn’t afraid in her sudden unwanted solitude. “Oh gee, Gelan, and here I was about to step out to see if I could get my nails done. Big goofball.”

She stood on her swollen feet, now clean and gently wrapped in the sleeves of Gelan’s formsuit. Those sleeves were coming in mighty handy, she thought as she limped to the shelter’s opening. At the rate they were tearing pieces off the men’s formsuits, they’d be as naked as her in a couple of days.

Dani stood just outside the shelter, listening for the returning men. Her heart skipped lightly, and she realized she was almost happy. Wynhod wouldn’t have returned without Krijero, so now they were all safe and reunited. They would soon be on board the Kalquorians’ shuttle, leaving this craphole of a moon behind, along with those stupid Tragooms.

Gelan’s voice carried through the Stygian night. “Dani, get inside and off your feet.”

“Is Krijero okay?” She squinted, as if squishing her eyelids together would afford her night vision.

“I’ll live,” came the Imdiko’s weary voice.

Despite her aching feet, Dani almost jumped for joy. Instead, she went with good sense and returned to her spot in the shelter. A moment later Gelan entered with Krijero draped in his arms. Wynhod, looking tired but at ease, followed.

The Dramok and Nobek immediately set about tending their injured clanmate, working to settle him on the ground as comfortably as possible. Dani wanted to throw her arms around the Imdiko to welcome him, but the strain on his face told her of his pain. She kept back, though it was hard.

“How was your day?” she asked with Pollyanna brightness.

Krijero laughed at her deliberate silliness. “Long, painful, and boring.”

Dani glowed in the warmth of his gaze. She blew him a kiss. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Thank you, sweetling.”

Gelan was busy unwrapping the haphazard splint of branches and vines that circled his booted foot. “Let me have a look at that leg.”

That was accomplished with a lot of pained gasps and fist clenching from Krijero. Wynhod helped Gelan get the boot off, and Dani moved close to see how bad off the ankle was.

“Good wrap,” Wynhod said as he unwound the cloth she’d put on. “You’ve had experience with field dressings?”

She shrugged, pleased she’d done well. “My first.” She followed that modest admission with a glare at Krijero. “Let’s make it my last, okay?”

His ankle still looked like it wanted to be a sausage, she thought. Gelan gently probed it, making Krijero hiss with pain. “Wiggle your toes.”

The Imdiko complied with a growl. His misery was obvious, and Dani felt sorry for him.

“No break that I can find,” Gelan reported. “Though it’s hard to tell for all the swelling. Possibly a fracture, but I’m betting on a bad sprain. You’ll have to let us help you to the ship.”

“Someone else has problems,” Wynhod commented, his gaze taking in Dani’s wrapped feet. “I guess we’re lugging both of them on our backs tomorrow.”

Krijero blinked at the sight of Dani’s black-garbed feet. “What happened?”

“Nothing too bad. If there was a rock on the ground, my big feet found it.” Dani grimaced at her awkwardness.

He sighed. “I’m sorry. My clumsiness has made the situation worse on everybody.”

Gelan rewrapped his ankle. “Try not to worry about it. I wish we had a pain inhibitor to give you.”

Krijero laid back, his eyes closing heavily. “I’ll be all right. I wouldn’t mind getting some sleep though.”

Wynhod scowled at his clanmate. “He dragged himself about five miles from where Dani left him.”

She was horrified. “Krijero! You should have stayed put.”

His voice was a thick mumble. “I kept thinking about you running into Tragooms. I’ve never been so scared in my entire life.”

Gelan gave her a look she couldn’t quite read. “She ran the whole way here to get help.”

Krijero pried his eyes open for a moment to look at her. His hand crept up to touch her face. “Thank you, Dani. I knew I could trust you.”

Wynhod stared at her for a moment before turning his attention back to Krijero. “Get some sleep, if you can. I’m going to see if I can hunt up something bigger than a bug for dinner. Dani deserves a hero’s feast.”

Hero? Me?

Before Dani could properly react, the Nobek had disappeared into the night once more. Gelan continued to wrap Krijero’s ankle, his brow creased in concentration. As for the Imdiko, despite his face being pinched with pain, he closed his eyes and almost immediately began to snore lightly.

The clan was safe. Dani finally relaxed.

She wallowed in wellbeing for a few minutes, watching the exhausted Imdiko escape his pain in the refuge of slumber. Gelan finished wrapping his foot and slid over to sit next to Dani. She didn’t protest him pulling her into his lap.

His voice was quiet and gentle, but his words made her freeze. “How close did you come to attempting escape instead of finding us?”

Her temper flared bright in an instant, fed by ugly shame. “What makes you think—?”

Gelan’s frown shut her up in an instant. She scowled and looked away from his face. “Okay, so it crossed my mind for a moment. But only for a moment.”

“You didn’t obey your impulses this time.”

“Yeah well, it hasn’t worked out so well for me in the past.”

“So what made you decide it was a good idea to save Krijero rather than take the opportunity to get away?”

Dani shifted uncomfortably, wishing she could walk away from the interrogation. Gelan had to have an answer for everything, it seemed. Darn cop. Her tone grudging, she muttered, “He’s a nice guy. For a Kalquorian. And I owed you guys for saving me from that quickmud stuff and not abandoning me when I got sick.”

Gelan cupped her chin and tilted her face upward, forcing her to look him in the eye. His expression was a strange mix of compassion and intent. The look said, I won’t hurt you but I won’t let you get away with anything either. She didn’t know whether to feel comforted or afraid.

“Truth, Dani. The whole truth.”

She didn’t want to tell him. She tried to jerk her head out of his grip, but he held her easily. She spoke in a childish whine. “Look, a girl has to have some secrets, okay?”

“No. You will tell me exactly what is going on in that pretty head of yours. You keep nothing from me.”

His gaze held her as much prisoner as his hand on her chin. She couldn’t get away.

“I don’t want to.”

“I’m not giving you a choice.” He showed her his fangs.

“What, you’ll drug me to make me tell? That’s not fair.”

He smiled, his fangs folding away. He suddenly looked for all the world like a doting parent dealing with an irritable child. “This isn’t about fair. This is about knowing what’s going on so I can take care of you. Why didn’t you run away when you had the chance?”

Dani huffed to let him know she didn’t like giving in to his demands, but she didn’t want to be at the kind of mercy his bite would place her in. “I want to stay with you. I like being with your clan, even if your people did blow up Earth in that stupid war.”

She waited for him to laugh or worse still, reject her. He did neither, his face softening while his hand left her chin. His arms tightened around her, holding her close to his big, wonderful body.

When he did smile, it was with quiet joy, not amusement. “Thank you for that. I know it wasn’t easy to expose yourself.”

“Yeah, so what?” She was going to have her pout no matter how gorgeous he was or how good his body felt against hers.

“So I want you to stay with us too. All of us do, but it will only work if I know what’s going on with you at all times.”

Dani’s heart fluttered. “What if I screw up? Then what?”

He kissed her forehead and rubbed his lips along her skin as if to erase the lines of worry there. “Then we find out why you did what you did and see what has to happen to keep you from ‘screwing up’ again.” He regarded her with seriousness. “People make mistakes, Dani. You won’t be discarded simply because of a flub here and there.”

“You won’t sell my contract to someone else no matter what I do?”

“Is that what you’re afraid of?” He shook his head. “You’re ours, Dani. It might not always be easy on any of us, but people worth having rarely are.”

She swallowed against the ball of tears that rose in her throat. “You think I’m worth having?” To be important to someone else…

“I thought so even before you put yourself on the line for Krijero. Your actions today only prove how right I was. You’re not going anywhere. We’re keeping you.”

He punctuated that statement with a kiss. Despite the parental tone of his conversation, there was nothing fatherly about the way his mouth moved on hers, his tongue slipping past her lips to stroke its twin. Dani melted against him, her body pliant to his desires. Gelan’s growl let her know he felt her surrender.

He lowered her to the leaf-covered ground. He continued to kiss her with demanding passion as he stripped his formsuit down to his boots. Dani shivered with delight to feel his silky skin against hers.

He raised himself up to look down on her, his smile wicked with hunger. “Now that you’ve revealed your secrets, would you like me to bite you just for fun’s sake?”

Dani thought how the euphoric intoxicant made her feel so soft and happy. “I’d love for you to.”

“Then I will. But you’ll have to retain enough control to be quiet while we make love. Krijero needs his rest.” A slight frown marred his perfect features for an instant. “I’ll be so glad to have you somewhere safe, where I can make you scream while you come for me.”

The heat in his eyes as he spoke turned Dani’s insides liquid. “That day won’t come soon enough,” she agreed.

He bent to her breast, his mouth hovering over the rosy nipple as his fangs descended. Dani shuddered, feeling his breath hot there, seeing the needle-sharp teeth ready to pierce her skin. Gelan’s tongue licked the tip, pebbling it in an instant. His fangs touched just above the areola, slow pressure dimpling her skin before they slid slowly into her soft flesh. The pain of penetration made her exhale with a tiny sob, but the bright stab numbed almost immediately. Gelan’s mouth closed over her nipple as his fangs injected the intoxicant. She moaned, and his Velcro-raspy tongue rubbed over the tightening peak while his teeth remained imbedded.

When he released the bite, dots of blood appeared at the tiny puncture wounds. Gelan sucked at the pinpricks, and Dani writhed at the enthralling sensation of being fed on as wellbeing cascaded through her body. Her senses hummed with delight as the intoxicant took hold. She allowed herself a happy sigh.

Gelan lifted his face, giving her upper breast on last lick as he smiled. “How’s that, my little Dani?”

“Lovely,” she whispered, coasting on bliss.

“Good.” He regarded her seriously for a moment. “I’d like to see that expression on your face more often. You look happy much too rarely.”

“I guess you could just bite me until I’m a pincushion.”

Gelan chuckled. “That would hardly be a satisfactory solution. We’ll have to find other ways.”

“I know what would make me happy right now.” She ran her hands over his beautifully molded chest and shoulders.

One hand went between her legs to find her wet. “Maybe a little of this?” He rubbed her folds and she wriggled with the clutch of arousal.

“A lot of that.”

He slid down, kissing his way from her throat to her mound. “And a little of this?” His tongue ran up her slit, and Dani arched as bright pleasure stabbed through her.

“Oh please, a ton of that.”

“Well, since you said please.”

Dani buried her fingers in Gelan’s braids as he licked slowly, taking his time to sample every soft petal of her womanhood, to collect every precious drop of her honey. He lifted her thighs to drape over his shoulders, giving himself complete access to her secret flesh. She undulated beneath his deft tongue, biting her lips together to keep from crying out her delight.

His tongue was raw silk, rough-textured like a cat’s. It scraped the tender satin of her womanhood, bringing arousal to a peak in short order. Dani’s head lolled from side to side, shaking as if to deny such excruciating enchantment. Her hips jerked upward in spontaneous reaction to every sweet stroke.

Gelan left off the long, measured licking to thrust his tongue deep into her pussy. The feeling of him inside made her groan as a whole new set of nerves ignited. In and out his tongue plunged, the talented appendage fucking her.

Then it was back to a measured lick up her slit, pausing just shy of her clit. She watched breathlessly as the tip of Gelan’s tongue approached the erect nub. He flicked with the lightest of pressure. A burst of heat seized her insides, melting her lower parts. A slow convulsion tightened her sex for an instant, a prelude to exaltation. Dani shuddered.

Gelan slid two fingers into her well, wetting them thoroughly before pressing them into her anus. She sighed as he filled her back passage, sending waves of pleasure lapping through her. His tongue took up its deliberate tasting once more.

Gelan tasted her like a gourmand before an exceptional delicacy. He took his time, pausing from time to time to roll her flavor around on his tongue, his eyes hooded with contentment. Dani hovered between wanting to beg him for release and wanting this sweet devouring to never end.

His fingers matched the slow feast, pressing unhurriedly in and out her tightest sleeve. Her hips rose to meet his deepest plunges. Tiny cries escaped her lips as he took her higher and higher. Gelan’s open mouth occasionally engulfed as much of her straining pussy as it could to suck hard on the tender, trembling flesh. The muscular sound of him swallowing the fluids pouring from her font made Dani gasp.

He released her and flicked his gaze to her face. “Quietly now, Dani,” he whispered, his voice low, almost a growl. He bent back to her rioting flesh. His mouth closed over her clitoris. He sucked on it, his tongue whipping over it, lashing it from side to side with rapid force.

Dani’s lower body clenched hard. Her back bowed off the ground with the force of the climax that thundered from the base of her spine to the top of her head. Her mouth gaped open but her throat locked tight around the scream that wanted out. The swell of elation that ballooned then burst over her was too intense to allow conscious thought. It was as if an atomic bomb had gone off within her body, the climax a mushroom cloud of mind numbing exhilaration.

She hung there like that for exquisite eternity.

The pulse slid from stratospheric heights, allowing for a sobbing breath before another cataclysm erupted. Again she was suspended forever on that blinding point of brilliance before descending once more.

Smaller detonations shivered her world, dwindling down in force until at last her body settled into tiny aftershocks. Gelan left her quivering flesh with one last gentle suck on her swollen clit.

“I hope that was satisfactory,” he said with a smug leer.

Dani didn’t answer. She couldn’t remember how to talk.

Gelan’s chuckle had more than a hint of animal growl in it. He gently lowered her legs to the ground and crawled up so that he crouched over her. He looked like a wolf, ready to assert his rights over the alpha female of the pack. His front cock curled to his belly, thick with arousal.

“My lovely little Dani,” he breathed, staring down at her.

She could only twitch, her body still stunned motionless by the climax he’d given her. He chuckled again, and arranged her legs so that she was spread wide for him. The Dramok took his slick cocks in one hand and arranged himself to enter her.

He did so in one smooth stroke, sighing deeply as he filled her. Gelan’s thrust found her still sensitive, still swollen, still convulsing slightly. A high-pitched cry left Dani’s throat as passion flamed with new life.

“Easy,” Gelan whispered, his pupils growing to turn his eyes nearly black. “Relax, my sweetling. You will take me with you, and I want to enjoy your warmth for a bit.”

“So good,” Dani said, the medium of speech available to her once more. “Feels so good.”

“I’m glad, little Matara. We’ll go slowly so that I may have all the pleasure I wish.”

• • •

Gelan rocked his hips with deliberate, leisurely thrusts, bringing Dani back to arousal without knocking her over the precipice. He stretched his body over her, as if doing a pushup, allowing his greedy gaze to drink in the sight of filling her over and over. Seeing his front cock parting her pussy, dark mocha skin slipping in and out of rosy pink flesh, was delightful. The wet sounds of their joining composed the sweetest tune ever played.

How he loved the sight of her lying beneath him! Her pale body shimmered in the firelight like an ethereal dream, and her face worked with need and pleasure. Her delicate fingers ran over him with the lightest of touches, tracing muscles as if in worship.

And the warmth of her intimate flesh, so tight and yet giving, were perfect sheaths for his dual manhood. The snug velvet contours wrapped him in bliss, gently convulsing from time to time to give him heartstopping tugs.

“Ooh,” she sighed as he hit the sweet spot, her lower body jerking in reaction. Uttering the sound made her lips purse prettily, and he lowered to capture that luscious mouth with his.

Her arms wrapped around his neck as she kissed him back, her silky tongue twining with his. If she continued to have reservations about belonging to his clan, they had been left behind for the moment. Dani showed no reluctance at all as her legs crept up to circle his buttocks. She tightened her long, sinuous limbs, seeking to drive him harder into her.

Gelan could see interesting possibilities in Dani’s enthusiasm. Before she knew what was happening, he rolled them both over, putting her on top.

Dani blinked in surprise to find herself straddling him. A slow, naughty smile spread over her face, and she sat up straight. “I think I like this.”

Gelan grinned at her. “Show me how much you like it,” he invited.

A mischievous light in her eyes warned him he might be in for more than he expected. To his delight, he was right.

Dani propped her hands against his chest, leaning forward. Her body slid wetly back and forth, swaying over him with slow grace. Her breasts enticed him, and Gelan covered the delicious little mounds, squeezing gently to make her shudder. They fit neatly into his palms, as if made just for such activity. He alternated enjoying this perfection with flicking his thumbs over the pert tips, inciting small moans of pleasure from his Earther.

She added slow, grinding circles to the up and down motion, clenching educated muscles inside her sheath to increase the friction. Gelan went very still, a low growl trickling out between clenched teeth.

“You like that?” Dani asked. Her tone turned teasing. “Remember, you have to be quiet. Your Imdiko is sleeping.”

She was making his lower parts heavy and tight. Gelan could feel his guts coiling in on themselves as her flesh worked his with less and less mercy. It was heady stuff, letting her direct the lovemaking, but he was having to fight the urge to take control and fuck her senseless. His sexes were definitely starting to do his thinking for him.

Dani leaned back, never missing a beat as she propped herself up with her hands on his thighs. Her head fell back, her eyes fluttered, and she gusted a sound that was half-moan, half-sigh. “Oh yes. Right there,” she told him, her face suffusing with euphoric pleasure. “That’s exactly where I need you.”

She was moving a little faster now, riding him a little rougher as she stimulated the sweet spot in her sheath. The change in angle stretched her body back, giving Gelan an unimpeded view of her gorgeous body. Her breasts bounced as she drove herself over his avid flesh. His cocks disappeared and reappeared as she used him for her own eager need.

Gelan growled almost continually as he watched and felt the luscious Earther work him so delightfully. Only with the barest control did he keep the volume low. She was bringing the primitive part to the fore, working him into a frenzy that demanded not just his climax, but hers as well.

He reached for her. His forefinger and thumb closed over the slippery nub of her clitoris, capturing it. Dani gasped and fucked him faster, her buttocks slapping against his thighs, her mouth opened in a soundless scream. Gelan rubbed the taut flesh, rolling it within his grip, insisting it make her do what he wanted.

Dani’s entire body stiffened, and her insides convulsed around him in glorious seizure. And here it was, the wrenching ecstasy that roared from the depths of his body, rushing through his larger cock, blasting out to fill her womb with a flood of juices.

Her sheath clutched at him, milking him of every drop his body contained, wringing him out from the inside. His universe shrank to a pinpoint of heat and spasm and release. He had a very dim sense of Dani writhing over him, whisper-sobbing his name as she drove one last time against his flesh, swallowing all of his jerking cock. Then she wilted like a flower battered by a storm, her light frame drooping limp over his torso.

As the last spasms trembled through Gelan’s loins, he tucked Dani’s head beneath his chin, wrapping his arms around her fragile body. She snuggled against him, murmuring something he couldn’t quite make out in a wan voice. Gelan didn’t ask her to repeat it. The laxness of her limbs, her deepening breath told him that the long day of running for help, ending in exuberant lovemaking, was sending her straight to sleep. He let her sink into slumber, one hand stroking her hair, the other tracing the line of her spine.

He’d pushed to make her his slave, with the hope Dani would be compatible enough to make a lifetime mate. Gelan hadn’t hoped for more than an agreeable woman to give his clan children. Had Dani turned out just tolerable, that would have been fine too.

She’d become so much more.

Not a slave. Not a possession for sexual pleasure or breeding. He couldn’t accept her as that anymore.

My heart is gone, stolen by a feisty, unpredictable Earther. But will she ever love me in return?

That was for the future to decide. For now, Gelan would treasure the present. Even with Tragooms and vicious predators threatening at every turn, this moment was incredibly sweet. He kissed the top of Dani’s head, feeling her heart beat against his. He could have spent all night just listening to her soft breath.

• • •

When Dani woke, curled alone on the leaf-covered ground, it was still full dark. Gelan sat next to her head. Wynhod crouched on the other side of the fire, close to Krijero who propped up on one elbow. The scent of meat cooking over the fire set off a series of rumbles in Dani’s stomach. Apparently Wynhod’s hunt had been successful.

He smiled at her. “We were debating whether to wake you for a meal or let you sleep.”

“I’m all about eating right now.” She started to sit up, but Gelan’s arms closed around her. He drew her to his lap and pressed a chunk of meat to her lips. Dani devoured it in an instant.

“Hungry, little fighter?” Wynhod looked amused.

“Starved.”

“Try chewing this time,” Gelan said, feeding her another morsel.

The next few minutes consisted of Dani filling the yawning void of her gut. When her stomach’s clamor dulled to where she could think again, she asked, “Any sign of Tragooms?”

Wynhod shook his head. “I saw no sign of pursuit. Maybe they finally got tired of being killed.” He passed a chunk of meat to Krijero, who was eating with far more grace than Dani.

Dani accepted a sip of water from Gelan’s container. She looked Wynhod over, thinking how primitive he looked. “Does it bother you to kill?” she asked.

He cocked his head, taking the time to consider her question. “It depends on the situation. Sometimes it’s my job to stop dangerous men from hurting others, and I have to shoot my own kind. It’s the right thing to do, but it’s hard. Taking the life of another Kalquorian is never easy.”

He pursed his lips, staring into the fire for a few moments. Dani sensed he had more to say and was trying to think how to phrase it. Finally his gaze flicked back up to hers. “You may not like hearing this, but I feel nothing when it comes to killing Tragooms. I find no redeeming qualities in them at all. Tragooms are like a disease to me, a tumor to be cut out of universe.”

The tone of Wynhod’s voice chilled Dani. His eyes were as flat and uncaring as a snake’s as he talked about ruthlessly murdering. She swallowed. Was it really that easy for him? “But they’re intelligent beings, right?”

He shrugged. “They have intelligence. They are self-aware. But they also brutalize others without conscience, killing and raping without care. The weaker the victims, the better they like it. I have never lost sleep over ridding the universe of their kind.”

Gelan added, “Tragooms are opportunistic. In a crowd surrounded by others who can defend themselves, they conduct themselves with some restraint. However, their code is to take what they want when circumstances allow. Whether it be weapons, spaceships, or people, they steal and use for their own gain. Their constant predations

made the Galactic Council decide long ago no punishment would fall on those who kill Tragooms, so long as their planet itself wasn’t attacked. And no member planet can trade with them.”

Dani thought about ending the lives of other beings, even ones as grotesque as the Tragoom race. To be the reason someone else died – she shuddered. “Wow. I’m not sure I could kill anyone without completely freaking out over it. Even if they were to threaten my life, I think it would bother me.”

Wynhod smiled at her, the chilling expression on his face wiped clean. Dani’s shoulders relaxed tension she didn’t realize she’d been holding. He told her, “You value life. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Dani shook her head at Gelan’s offer of another chunk of meat. Her stomach groaned, over full now. She was content anyway. Being stuffed was miles better than being hungry. She snuggled back against his chest, still watching Wynhod.

“More questions?” He didn’t seem disturbed by her curiosity.

“Just one, I guess. I mean, I’ve never met anyone who has killed someone else. I suppose if it’s part of your job, I’d better get my head around it.”

“Ask away.”

Wynhod’s face was blandly pleasant, and Dani had the sudden insight that he was working very hard to keep his demeanor from being frightening to her. He knew he was intimidating to the nth degree, and she thought perhaps he wanted her to feel safe, not threatened by him.

Taking courage from her instincts, Dani asked, “Does feeling okay about killing make it hard for you to love others?”

Wynhod blinked. Krijero looked at him, his attention avid on the Nobek.

Gelan’s voice, rumbling over her head, was thoughtful. “Now that’s a very interesting question. I’d like to hear this answer.”

Wynhod crooked a half-smile at the group. “It is a good question. No one has ever asked me that before.” His brow furrowed, and Dani could tell he was thinking hard again.

Finally he said, “In my work as law enforcement, I see the worst of people. I suppose it may have made me a bit jaded. I have built walls emotionally, because it does take a toll. But when I have someone I trust enough to love, it seems to be with more passion than most people I know.”

“Really?”

Krijero nodded, his gaze on the Nobek warm. “He is very protective and caring about those he’s close to.”

Dani saw how Wynhod’s face softened when he glanced at his Imdiko. She said, “You feel that way about Gelan and Krijero.”

Wynhod nodded. “They are my clan. They are my life.”

The way he said it was simple, but there were volumes of meaning in his words. It was an honest declaration of devotion for the other two men.

Dani couldn’t help the wistful envy that crept into her tone. “You’re all very lucky to have one another. To know you can depend on each other no matter what.”

Gelan’s arms tightened around her. His voice rumbled soothingly in her ear. “You can have that too, Dani. You just have to open your heart to the right people.”

She sighed, hating to throw herself a pity party but not able to stop it. “I’ve never been that important to anyone. Even if I was, I doubt I’d trust them enough to know they care to such an extent.”

Krijero sounded encouraging. “I once felt that way too. Trust is earned, and if someone loves you, they’ll do all they can to win it from you, no matter how long it takes.”

CHAPTER 17

Wynhod stood guard in the black night as Dani peed behind a rock outcropping. Nothing stirred over the rock plain, but she couldn’t see in the dark and he had no idea how stealthy and quick the moon’s predators might be. He was glad to be on hand to protect her. It was what he was made for.

The soft beat of urine hitting the hard ground ended. A moment later came the sound of splashing as Dani rinsed herself with water from a hollowed-out rock they’d found and filled for her. They’d also provided her with leaves to wipe herself. The Earther liked to be clean. More than once she’d vowed to spend hours showering the moment she got the chance.

He heard next the careful pad of her wrapped feet and the slide of her hands against the rock as she cautiously returned to him. She came into view, and Wynhod admired her. Even with her hair wild and uncombed, a copper cloud around her head, she was a beauty.

Mine, he’d declared a few days ago. He again felt the need to claim her, felt it so keenly that it almost hurt his gut. No one had inspired such an ache to possess before. No one, not even Krijero, had ever made his insides twist with terror at the thought of not being able to take care of them.

Despite Gelan not yet officially declaring her Matara, Dani was clan to Wynhod. The very center of his world.

Wynhod had told her he was more passionate than most in terms of devotion when it was aroused. Dani had more than aroused his dedication. She’d swamped him with it until she owned his thoughts. He didn’t fight this unforeseen attachment. There was no point; he adored her and such fervor would not be denied.

The biggest worry for him was that he was naturally fierce. Dani’s questions about his ability to kill without remorse had warned him that he needed to be very careful how he presented himself to her. She required delicate handling, something he had little experience with. Convincing her of his ability to care for her could be a battle, one he wasn’t exactly sure he could win.

He wondered if he’d already damaged his chances to gain her trust.

“Wynhod?” She’d reached the end of the outcropping and stared blindly into the night. Poor little Earther with her weak, light-dependent eyes.

“Right here, little one.” He was in front of her in an instant, gathering her in his arms, picking her up and settling her on his hip.

Her long, slender arms wrapped around his neck. “It’s black as pitch out here. I wish I could see.”

An animal screamed in the distance. It was far away, the dying shriek of some unlucky prey, but a trick of the air made it sound much closer. Dani’s arms tightened and she trembled as she stared desperately, trying to see what danger lay around her.

Wynhod whispered, “I have you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Her night blind gaze drifted over his face, guided by his voice. “I’m more work than I’m worth, aren’t I?”

“Not in the least. You’re worth far more than I’ve expended on you.”

“But I got us in this mess. My stupidity put us all in danger.”

She seemed genuinely remorseful. Was she trying to apologize? Wynhod wished he had the instant psychological tools to wipe the self-disgust from her face. He was forced to think hard before speaking, fighting to find the words that would tell her how precious he thought she was. “You’re not stupid, Dani. Hurt and fear can make us do unreasonable things sometimes.”

“I guess. Are we going back to the shelter now?”

They were about thirty yards away from their camp. Wynhod saw his chance to connect with the Earther, to somehow assert his feelings for her if he could just find the right words.

He took a deep breath. “We’ll go back in a moment. Before we do, I want to tell you what I see in you, Dani. I see a beautiful girl who’s never known the safety of unconditional love. I see someone deserving of that protection, of that love.”

Her voice was sad enough to make Wynhod wish he was less Nobek so he might weep. “There’s no such thing as unconditional love. Everyone always wants something from you. When you fail to give it; and you must fail because sooner or later you’re going to screw up; it’s over. And then you’re all alone again, with no one to care.”

She leaned her forehead to his shoulder and started to cry quietly. The sound made him angry at her past, much as he became furious when he thought of the Dramok who’d broken Krijero’s heart. Unfortunately, there was no one to take his fury out on.

Again, he was forced to choose his words carefully, to modulate his tone so as to be a comfort. “That’s not true, my little fighter. Sometimes we disappoint the ones we love, but because they love us, they get over it. They don’t have to like our actions to love us.”

She said nothing, continuing to cry. Wynhod wasn’t even sure she’d heard him. He took a deep breath and tried again. “When a Nobek swears to something, it is a vow you can take to your grave. And I promise I will not leave you alone or push you away, no matter what you do or say. I may become angry with you, but you will always have my protection. Do you believe me, Dani?”

She sniffled. “I want to. But I’m not sure I can.”

“Then I will prove it to you, over and over, for as long as it takes.”

• • •

Dani wished she could see Wynhod, wished she knew what expression he wore. She wanted nothing more than to wallow in his promise, to wrap herself up in the commitment in his voice. All three men were tempting her to declare lifelong dedication to them. But they couldn’t possibly want her, not galumphing, impetuous Danielle Watson.

If only she had something to offer besides sex! Something they could appreciate, something that would make them want to keep her forever.

The irony that she’d done a complete one-eighty from fearing the clan wouldn’t release her once her contract was up wasn’t lost on Dani. God, she had issues.

“You’re being very kind to me, Wynhod. Thank you.”

His laugh was a bark. “I’m telling you the truth, little fighter.”

“Do you want sex?” Might as well use what little advantage she had.

He gave her one of those long, thoughtful silences. “I would enjoy making love. But only if you want me in that way too. Sex, as wonderful as it is, isn’t what makes me want to be with you.”

God, she wanted to believe him.

Dani nuzzled her way from his shoulder, up his neck, across his strong jaw, over his chin, finally finding his lips ready for her kiss. Wynhod moved her from his hip so that he held her chest to chest. Dani wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling his cocks pressing hard against his formsuit.

He pushed her up against a column of rock that she hadn’t known was there. Slight protrusions poked her back, but it was mostly smooth. Dani liked being trapped between the ungiving stone and the almost as stoic Nobek.

Between a rock and a hard place, she thought and almost giggled. But feeling Wynhod’s hand between them, unleashing his maleness from the formsuit replaced hilarity with a surge of lust. A hard place, indeed.

His tongue plundered her mouth, searching out all the softest, most sensitive spots. Meanwhile, his cocks moved unerringly to her orifices, as if drawn by an irresistible force. The tips of his cocks slipped just inside, igniting her senses.

Dani only now realized Wynhod hadn’t prepared her for anal penetration as the men usually did. Was she still stretched from sex with Gelan hours ago?

She had no time to wonder as the Nobek pressed into her. Her ass gave a little more grudgingly than before, aching just a bit, but she took him with little trouble. The bit of hurt only seemed to enhance the deep welling of pleasure coming from both passages. She made herself soft with surrender as Wynhod filled her utterly.

When his mouth released hers, Dani sighed. No men had ever possessed her as wonderfully as the Kalquorians. Sweet bliss, unaided by an intoxicating bite, pervaded every cell.

She heard the smile in Wynhod’s voice. “You were made for us, little fighter.”

Dani didn’t know if he meant Kalquorians in general or his clan specifically. As Wynhod began his steady, powerful thrusts, she decided it wasn’t important right now to ask.

His driving hips moved her up and down the rock face for an instant, then he circled her with his arms, saving her hide from abrasion. Wynhod’s big hand cradled the back of her head.

“How does it feel?” he growled in her ear. “Tell me what it’s like to have me inside you.”

“Like liquid starlight pouring into my body,” she gasped. “Like it’s bubbling at full boil and going to overflow at any moment and pour out of me.”

Dani had never considered herself a poet, but the description of the delicious friction of his lengths driving in and out of her sounded inspired to her own ears. Wynhod filled her to bursting, stroking all the bits of her that sparkled and fizzed with effervescent delight.

“Do I please you, Dani?”

“Oh my God. It’s wonderful what you’re doing.”

“I’m not hurting you?”

“No. You can go harder.”

He obliged her, quickening his pace until he pounded her like a jackhammer. Dani’s head lolled in his hand, animal-like cries fleeing her throat. His groin, smashed up against her mound, stimulated her clit. A slow, rolling pulse of exquisite sensation spooled in her nether parts. She drew heaving breaths as her insides tightened.

“Are you going to come for me?”

“Yes. Yes.”

“Good.” He panted. “I am close as well. I can feel you constricting all around me.”

“Getting … close.”

“So wet. So warm.”

“Uh huh. Hard … harder.”

“Fuck you harder?”

“Yes.”

Pounding. Heaving. Coiling up inside. Electric shocks of desire.

“Almost.”

“Let it happen, little fighter. Let yourself go.”

“Almost … oh … oh.”

“There it is. Here you come.”

“Oh … oh … please.”

“Show me, Dani. Give yourself to me.”

“Yes … oh … Wynhod … oh-oh-oh-OH-OH-OH!”

The orgasm clenched her belly tight like a fist, then flung her wide open, stretching her for eternity. Sweetness and glory poured forth, bursting in a tidal wave from her to engulf Wynhod too, and his cries joined hers as they were overcome. She felt him rippling within her, sending liquid ecstasy deep inside.

Dani clung to Wynhod even after they calmed, even after he slipped from inside her to reluctantly conceal himself inside his formsuit, even as he carried her back to the shelter where Krijero had gone back to sleep and Gelan waited. With every step the Nobek took, Dani’s mind chanted a mantra, as if she might weave a spell with thought alone.

Keep me. Keep me. Keep me.

If only they would. If only she could make them want her. If only she could trust in these men to not break her already abused heart.

CHAPTER 18

Late morning found the little group back in marshland. Dani had a hard time containing her excitement as they got closer to the Kalquorians’ ship, only a few miles away now. Despite her sore, cut feet she kept skipping ahead of the men. Gelan and Wynhod helped the limping Krijero along, their shoulders supporting the injured Imdiko’s arms, their arms slung around his waist. He thudded along in obvious pain, but not one word of complaint passed his lips.

“Slow down, Dani,” Wynhod called for the millionth time. Fortunately, no one seemed to mind warning her over and over not to get too far ahead. Their smiles were indulgent when she looked back to apologize and let them catch back up.

“Sorry.” She looked ahead into the heavily wooded bog where the bright sun sent jigsaw puzzle pieces of sunlight through the leaves. “Lots of standing water,” she reported.

“Probably from yesterday’s storms,” Gelan answered. “I don’t remember the maps saying this is a very low-lying area. Wynhod?”

“Spots here and there, worse as we get closer.”

They had nearly caught up. Dani turned from them, stepping up on log, crossed it, stepped into a long stretch of smooth, glassy water. She plunged down to her waist.

“Damn it.”

The men paused at the edge. Gelan blew out a breath. “I cannot wait to be back in the mountains. I’ve had enough of this lowland stuff to last me awhile. Hold still, Dani. Who knows how deep this gets?”

He released Krijero and vaulted the log. The Dramok waded out to Dani and picked her up, cradling her against his chest. Dani would have preferred he help Krijero, but she knew her protests would fall on deaf ears. It made her feel good that they placed her welfare in such high esteem, but she felt guilty nonetheless. She wasn’t badly injured, after all.

Wynhod supported Krijero as they carefully navigated their way to join them. Neither man seemed to mind Gelan’s election to carry her.

Dani was in perfect agreement with Gelan’s disgust over the wetland. “If I never see another swamp, I’ll be grateful. What’s your home like?”

They slogged through the water, the water climbing the men’s thighs as they went deeper. Krijero grinned at her, the expression easing some of the tightness on his face. “Curious to know about where you’ll live?”

Wynhod said, “You’ll like it, little fighter. Plenty of mountains to climb. You’ll have a couple of rooms of your own. You can decorate them however you like.”

Gelan added, “We’ll have to make a trip to Joshada. They have the best craftsmen. There’s no better place to buy furnishings.”

Krijero ticked off items as the water rose to his buttocks. “A desk, vid, tables, seating. Shelves and decorative items. Whatever else depending on your hobbies and interests. I’m thinking the rooms between mine and yours, Gelan. We can build a nice balcony for her off the exterior.”

“The view from there is spectacular,” the Dramok agreed.

Hope warred with mistrust. Dani looked at the three men. “That sure is a lot of trouble for someone who’s only going to be around for three years.”

They exchanged looks and slight nods with each other. Gelan turned his attention to her. In a careful voice, he said, “We’ve been talking, Dani. We’d like you to stay on beyond your contract as our Matara.”

Joy rose for an instant as she thought they want me! It crashed the next moment as a little voice asked, then why don’t they make me their Matara now?

They were giving themselves an out in case she proved too much trouble during her servitude.

I’ll screw it up. I always do. They won’t keep me past the contract.

Unable to keep the pain from her voice, Dani shook her head. “It’ll never work. You’ll see. We’re not right for each other.”

Wynhod scowled. Krijero lowered his head to study the water, now nearly to his waist.

Gelan sounded disappointed, but he shrugged his shoulders. “We disagree with you. No matter. We have three years to change your mind.”

It’s not my mind that will change. I’ll always want to be your Matara. You won’t. She knew that as sure as LXS-42 was the worst rock she’d ever had the displeasure of visiting. “You shouldn’t bother. You’re planning to spend all that money and do a bunch of work for nothing.”

Wynhod growled, ferocity making his face hard. “You will be our Matara, Dani. Be scared of it all you like, but the decision is made.”

She said nothing, only laid in Gelan’s arms thinking sad thoughts.

• • •

Gelan hadn’t expected Dani to be thrilled with their plans to make her their lifelong mate, but he still experienced a twinge of disappointment at her reluctance. The letdown was mitigated by the struggle on her expression, the flashes of fear and pain.

Give her time. She’ll come around. She already shows signs of wanting to be around us despite her inability to trust.

It was Krijero all over again, except in greater measures. Perhaps fate had given him his Imdiko as training to win over Dani.

He was still thinking of all the ways the clan would charm Dani into loving them when they finally reached a rise of higher ground, taking them out of the fetid pool of water they’d been wading in. No sooner had the men’s boots cleared the swamp when Wynhod suddenly froze.

“Down, Krijero!” he shouted, and the Imdiko released his hold on him, crouching on the ground. As Wynhod drew both blaster and knife, putting himself in front of Krijero, Gelan put Dani on the ground next to him and drew his own weapons.

Tragooms burst out of cover, squealing and blasting as they heaved their blocky, armored bodies towards the clan. With Dani’s screams ringing in his ears, Gelan returned fire. Then the Tragooms were on top of them, and all was sweat and blood, pain and fighting.

The clan was outnumbered, and the bloodthirsty Tragooms seemed to be everywhere. Gelan was dimly aware of Wynhod fighting, a savage grin eating up the Nobek’s face as he took his enemies down. The thrill of destruction was on Gelan, and elation burst with every tusked foe that took him on, sometimes four at a time. Krijero rose and fell as his ankle failed him, but his howls of delighted rage told Gelan he was holding his own.

Gelan didn’t know why the typically opportunistic Tragooms didn’t simply finish them off with blasters rather than fighting hand to hand combat. He didn’t care. The glory of battle filled his veins, and he killed the hated enemy, gleeful as blackish Tragoom blood arced from well-placed stabs to chests and groins, the most vulnerable parts in the armor-like Tragoom hides.

Grunts and squeals and shrieks filled the air. Blades flashed silver lightning in the dappled sunlight. Blows thudded off thick Tragoom hides, honed knives found the softer fleshy parts. The rancid stench of unwashed Tragoom and rotted swamp vegetation blanketed the battleground.

Gelan saw Krijero go down yet again, but this time a lucky Tragoom leapt upon the Imdiko, a triple-bladed dagger rushing down to impale his heart. Without thought, Gelan pulled a thin-bladed knife from his boot and plunged it into the Tragoom’s eye, instantly killing the misbegotten beast. Its dagger fell from its hand, the handle bouncing harmlessly off Krijero’s chest.

Gelan pushed the carcass off his clanmate and stood over Krijero, ready to fight on. But the Tragooms had all suddenly disappeared, save the one Wynhod was happily beheading. Seven corpses lay around their little group.

The attacking force had seemed huge, numbering at least two dozen. Where had they gone?

Krijero shoved him aside as he sat up. Gelan joined Wynhod in scanning the trees surrounding them, sure another offensive was going to be launched at any moment. But Krijero’s horrified cry stole his attention.

Gelan’s blood ran cold at as the Imdiko screamed, “Where’s Dani?”

• • •

Dani ran blindly, her mind gibbering panic, her vision still filled with the sight of hordes of Tragooms with hog-like faces, curved tusks, and glittering knives. Of the Kalquorians taking on two, three, four of the foul beasts at a time. Of Krijero stumbling and falling. Of monsters reaching for her only to be knocked back by the Kalquorians.

She didn’t remember racing off. Animal instinct had taken over, sending her into flight the moment an opening in the wall of fighting opened up. Even now, she wasn’t bothered with coherent thought. There was only the need to run, to escape, to hide.

Dani didn’t notice the branches slapping her face and body as she dashed through the bog. The splash of her passage made no impression. She felt no pain when she stumbled and fell. She was on her feet again without thought, running, running, running, not daring to look back.

Even as hard as her legs pumped, the trees crawled past with nightmarish slowness. She might as well have crawled for all the progress she seemed to make. Her feet were blocks of concrete, her legs as sludgy as the muck that dragged at her. The air she hauled into her burning lungs wasn’t nearly enough, a mere drop of oxygen when she needed barrels to fuel her flight.

Snarls and grunts chased after her, growing louder as her pursuers gained on her. Their footsteps quaked the ground beneath her. The snap of branches, the explosions of trunks broken as they chased her down filled her ears and fed her terror.

The stench of death, rancid like a mountain of rotting corpses, invaded her nostrils. They were gaining on her. They would catch her and add her to the pile of broken, bloody bodies to putrefy in the hot, sweltering tomb of LXS-42.

She saw the cloven-hooflike hand descending from the corner of her eye and put on a desperate, last-ditch burst of speed. It wasn’t enough. The grayish-armored appendage clapped down on her shoulder, closed painfully on it, and jerked her around to face the Tragoom that had caught her.

She screamed, a long trail of audible terror. Then they tossed her amongst themselves, a rag doll for their amusement. The world whirled around her in nauseating turns: pinkish sky glimpsed through tree branches, brown sludgy ground trampled by heavy feet, thick gray rhinoceros-like hides, yellowed tusks. And the rank stench that seemed to spell her doom more succinctly than the grasping hoof-hands.

One of the fiends caught her, ending the game of toss. It held her close to its hard, unforgiving body, filling her gaze with its monstrous face. It leered and laughed, rubbing itself against her. She screamed at the sight of sharp teeth and the feel of a massive erection the size of her thigh.

• • •

“Go!” Flailing impotently on his injured ankle, Krijero shouted at the sound of Dani’s scream unraveling thinly in the air. “I’ll be fine. Help her!”

He hadn’t finished urging them on before Wynhod and Gelan set off, easily tracking the wide swath of the Tragooms’ passage. A second scream, one filled with absolute terror that made Wynhod’s guts curdle, followed.

They were badly outnumbered. They were leaving a lame Krijero behind. But the vicious brutes that had killed many a Kalquorian, including members of the Nobek’s own birth family, had Dani. Wynhod had seen firsthand what Tragooms did to females.

He and Gelan had paused only long enough to snatch extra percussion blasters from the fallen enemy. If they died, it wouldn’t be for a lack of firepower.

They swept through the heavily wooded swamp, their passage eased by the knocked over trees the Tragooms had left in their haste. Gelan paused where the destruction ended, where the footprints indicated the beasts had stopped running. Had they paused here to do something to Dani? Neither sight nor smell indicated any trace of spilled Earther blood.

Yet.

A less destructive path swept towards the northwest, showing the Tragooms had re-organized before continuing on. The bastards, despite their clumsy looking bulks, could move fast. They were no doubt heading straight to their ship with their prize. Kalquorians weren’t the only race enthralled with the sweet, soft flesh of Earther women. Now he knew why their attackers hadn’t simply blown the clan away with blasters. They’d wanted Dani alive. With barely a glance exchanged, Wynhod and Gelan shot after their quarry.

Over a dozen Tragooms, armed to their yellowed tusks, versus two Kalquorians, desperate to regain their Matara. If not for Dani’s endangerment, Wynhod would find the odds exhilarating. Even with the Earther’s life on the line, he looked forward to the coming encounter. He couldn’t help himself; he was a Nobek after all.

Half a step behind Gelan, he plunged on through the swamp.

• • •

As the Tragooms ran through the marshy woods, the splash of their heavy treads turned to sucking sounds as higher elevations took them to mucky ground. They huffed in bestial grunts as they went, but they showed no sign of slowing.

Slung over a Tragoom’s shoulder, Dani pounded its back. Its rancid, rotten egg smell made her gag and her eyes water. She’d never known anything that possessed a more noxious stench. She fought as much to escape the odor as the creature that emitted it. The Tragoom wore ill-fitting armor that hurt her fists much more than she could hope to hurt the beast wearing it. Still, she couldn’t just surrender to her fate, so she kicked and hit and squirmed and fought.

Dani had no doubt these monstrous bastards had killed Gelan’s clan. They’d been so badly outnumbered, there was no way the Kalquorians had survived. The despair that came with that realization made her choke. She had told them she didn’t think she could take another life, not even to save her own. But if she’d been able to grab the percussion blaster slung on the Tragoom’s hip, just inches away from her reach, she thought she might prove herself wrong. Vengeance had its own power when it came to quelling conscience.

Dani managed to grab a thick branch as they passed a tree, partially broken off. She finished the limb’s amputation and used it to whale enthusiastically on the Tragoom carrying her. “Put me down you nasty hog-faced bastard!”

With a mighty heave, the Tragoom threw her to the ground. Her body hit with a meaty thud, knocking the breath from her lungs and the branch from her hand. She lay there stunned as the beast loomed over her. With a grunt that sounded full of cruel laughter, it peeled back the scrap of cloth at its groin, exposing a warty male sex as big around and long as Dani’s thigh. It kneeled down, grasping her ankles and spreading her legs wide.

Dani shrieked, knowing the horrible thing would disembowel her with the first thrust. “No!”

She struggled to no avail as other Tragooms crowded around, squealing their companion on. It yanked her hard, pulling her sex into position.

Suddenly another Tragoom, one wearing a bandoleer full of knives, yanked her would-be rapist away. There was a lot of loud snorting as the other one jumped to its feet and confronted it. While they got into each others’ faces, screeching threateningly one snout to another, a third Tragoom dragged Dani across the ground and crouched over her, simultaneously holding her struggling body down and freeing his horrid cock as he prepared to take advantage of the dust up. A fourth Tragoom dragged him off before he could do any damage.

Suddenly most of the group was fighting, pounding each other with mighty booms of cloven fists on armored skin. Dani leapt up to run, but another Tragoom, one not engaged in combat, slung her over his shoulder and stepped back from the battle. It watched, snuffling as its fellows beat the hell out of one another, unmindful of Dani’s desperate punches as she tried to get free.

Screams of pain and anger blasted the woods as the fight raged. Suddenly, two percussion blasts rang out, making Dani’s ears pop. She managed to twist in her captor’s grip enough to see what was going on.

The Tragoom party had frozen, all their tiny eyes directed at the bandoleer-wearing Tragoom. The creature glared around at them, a blaster in each hand. Two of its fellows lay unmoving at its feet.

It snorted and snuffed at everyone, obviously issuing orders and threats. Everyone got to their feet and fell in line. Then Bandoleer eyed Dani and grinned. It stroked itself and nodded before grunting at the Tragoom holding Dani. It also got into line, and they resumed running on as if the fight had never taken place, leaving the fallen behind.

Hopelessness took Dani’s will to struggle away. She knew her rape and death had only been delayed. Her lone hope of escaping the horror lay in getting hold of a blaster and keeping it long enough to kill herself. The chances of that mercy were incredibly slim.

It can’t end this way. But Dani knew it might.

• • •

Gelan scowled at the two dead Tragooms. “Damn it. They’re fighting over her already.”

Wynhod was prancing with impatience in spirit, though not in body. Only minute twinges gave away his desperate need to hurry after Dani. “She stopped screaming two minutes ago.”

Both their heads went up at the sound of faraway splashing back the way they’d come. Gelan blew out a breath of tolerant frustration. “I wish Krijero would stay behind. He’s in no condition to fight.”

Wynhod had already brought his attention back to the task at hand. He bent to sniff at the ground. “He’s in love with her, the same as we are. He’ll die trying to save her.” He paused at a patch of ground, picked up a large branch, and inhaled deeply. “Her scent. But no sign of Earther blood.”

“Only Tragooms were hurt then. She’s still alive. Let’s go.”

They chased after, neither discussing the terrible end Dani would come to if they didn’t get to her in time. She wouldn’t survive a Tragoom rape, not even if they arrived to stop it midway through.

Gelan fought off a surge of panic, but he did encourage his Nobek to run faster. “Hurry, Wynhod. They’re not hiding their trail, which means their ship is near. They could take off at any moment.”

Wynhod growled in response, and they raced as hard as they could go.

• • •

Dani ached all over from bouncing on the Tragoom’s shoulder and back. But when the group slowed, sick terror bloomed. They were nearing the end of the journey, and what waited for her would be a billion times worse than jolting across the uneven terrain.

The trees ended in a clearing much like the one Reggie had crashed his ship in. Another ship waited there, so haphazardly constructed that at first Dani thought it too had crashed on LXS-42.

But her mind was on much more terrible things as the Tragooms began squealing their fingernails-on-chalkboard speech at each other. Their headache of a spaceship was the last thing on her mind.

Some Tragooms moved towards the ship. Others stood in loose groups, staring at her and poking one another as they planned … God, she didn’t want to think about what they were planning. Bandoleer Tragoom stalked up to the one that held her and began to screechy-squeal.

The Tragoom whose shoulder she draped across returned the squeals. Its hold loosened just a bit. Seizing the opportunity, Dani lunged for the blaster attached to its belt.

The Tragoom grabbed to secure her, possibly thinking she was trying to escape. At any rate, it didn’t attempt to block her from grabbing its sidearm. The weapon was huge, built for hands much larger than Dani’s, but she wrapped both hands around it. As the Tragoom yanked her upwards, trying to get her back into position over its shoulder, she used the additional momentum to rear up vertical into the air.

Running on pure instinct, she shoved the blaster into the Tragoom’s face and fired. With an ear-ringing shoo-wup the beast’s head disintegrated. As it collapsed, leaving her to fall too, she twisted and shot the bandoleered Tragoom as well, cutting it down in a pounding crescendo. Then she hit the ground.

Lips skinned back from her teeth in an unknowing snarl, Dani balled herself into a crouch and fired at the other Tragooms, who shrieked as they dove for cover. After a space of five seconds, they recovered their senses enough to fire back, and she was forced to hug the ground, using the now headless Tragoom as a shield. The air shuddered, and the blasts deafened her. Her arms howled agony at the kick of the blaster that she continued to fire.

Dani had no illusions about her living through this. All she could do was take as many of the bastards that had killed her clan with her, a hollow victory at best. It sucked that her greatest option lay in dying by blaster fire than being raped to death.

But I’ll make my boys proud. This is for you, Gelan, Wynhod, and Krijero.

She grinned through her tears and kept firing.

• • •

Wynhod worried as they dashed through the already trampled foliage that they may fall into an ambush, but he wasn’t about to slow. Dani was alive. Still alive. He had to make sure she remained that way, or if there was no way to get her away from the Tragooms, he must at least deliver her a merciful end.

The air-trembling report of a percussion blaster being fired made his heart pound fit to burst through his chest. Wynhod exchanged a wide-eyed look with Gelan. They were close, and the Tragooms were fighting amongst themselves again. Now was their best chance of saving Dani.

They made no attempt to sneak up on the enemy. The Kalquorians traveled at breakneck speed, crashing through underbrush as fast as possible towards the sounds of pitched battle.

Wynhod’s fangs had fully descended, and his hands were full of blasters. His being screamed for blood, oceans of hot, spurting blood. The killing frenzy was upon him.

• • •

One thing about being under fire; Dani barely noticed the stench of the dead Tragooms she hid behind.

Percussion blaster shots rained down all around her. A love for vid games back on Earth had served her well. Once she had figured out how to compensate for her blaster’s recoil, she was taking out Tragooms with deadly accuracy. Any conscience she might have possessed about killing other sentient beings before had been swallowed in the desperate fight for survival.

And I doubt I’ll live to feel guilt later. Or grief.

A lull in the firing allowed Dani to pop up, squeeze off a few shots, and duck back down before a shrieking squeal let her know she’d at least injured one of the nasty aliens. She thought maybe ten were left. Too many, and they’d eventually overrun her. Dani’s hope wasn’t for survival so much as to take out as many of her clan’s killers as possible. She thought she was doing pretty well on that front.

Remember the Alamo, she thought crazily.

She popped up again and had a Tragoom’s big pig head in her sights. She shot and snarled delight when the bastard’s face disappeared. The next instant, pain exploded in her shoulder.

Dani was too surprised to scream. Warmth cascaded down her arm as blood began to flow. She ducked back down as fire shivered the air overhead.

The pain from the percussion blaster’s hit was phenomenal, and she blinked back tears and swallowed nausea. God it hurt! But she made herself go over the injury, noting that she’d been more grazed than anything. She made her fingers move. But raising her arm was nearly impossible, and she was bleeding like a bitch.

She wouldn’t be able to fire the blaster effectively with just one hand. It was too big and heavy for Earther hands.

“Time to exit the party, Dani.” That made her remember a conversation with her mother. It had been during one of the lucid periods when Dani was young, back when her mother’s good periods still numbered in months rather than hours.

“You don’t want to be among the last to leave,” Emily had coached her daughter as she readied for a party that Dani’s parents were attending in an official capacity. “Especially if you have social standing. It makes you look unimportant. Always leave while the party is in full swing, as if you have far too many engagements to waste an entire evening on one.”

“Definitely not going to be the last to leave this one,” Dani confirmed. She wedged the blaster against the dead Tragoom she hid behind, pointing the barrel skyward. She thought she’d be able to fire it fine with one hand from that position.

She’d gone several seconds since her last barrage on her enemies, cluing the Tragooms in on her injury. They exploded out of surrounding trees, racing towards her but not firing. Dani thought perhaps they were still hoping to take her alive, take the worst revenge on her possible.

“No lovin’ for you, you fucking pigfaces,” she muttered, resting her chin against the opening of the blaster’s firing tube. “Not with a head attached, anyway. See how hot you find me now.” Her fingers caressed the firing mechanism.

The Tragooms were closing the distance, almost on top of her when blaster fire erupted from the trees, cutting three down. The Tragooms turned with furious squalling cries and returned fire as Dani jerked her hand away from the blaster.

Howling like rabid wolves, Gelan and Wynhod burst into the clearing, firing at the Tragooms scattering for cover once more. Dani shrieked disbelieving laughter as the age-old enemies exchanged heavy fire.

They were alive, and they’d come for her. Damn it, she loved those guys.

The blurred speed of the howling Kalquorians seemed to be their best defense. The Tragooms simply couldn’t get a bead on Gelan and Wynhod as they dashed here and there, weaving in and out of the surrounding trees. One by one, the Tragooms fell as percussion blasts found their mark.

One finally realized the weak link of the group, and he charged out of cover at Dani, still crouched between the two Tragooms she’d killed. He didn’t shoot, and she guessed he was looking for a hostage. She struggled to raise her blaster with one hand, but it wobbled wildly in her grip and her two shots went wild.

The alien was only half a dozen steps away when Krijero staggered out of the woods. He brought the Tragoom down, adding to the pile of bodies around Dani.

The Imdiko called, “Stay there, Dani. I’m coming.”

Crouched to avoid the blaster shots ripping through the air around him, Krijero limped towards her. She propped her blaster on the Tragoom carcass in front of her and provided cover fire for him. Halfway across the clearing, his leg went out from under him. He went down hard, face first.

Dani’s eyes widened with horror as another Tragoom, this one improbably unarmed with a blaster but brandishing a knife, braved the battle to come after Krijero. She screamed.

“Krijero! Look out!”

Krijero twisted onto his back in time to hold off the blade flashing down at him. His blaster went flying through the air, and the Tragoom landed on his stomach, trying to stab the Kalquorian. Krijero was holding him off barely, his fangs extended in a fierce grimace of effort.

Dani frantically aimed her blaster, but the desperate struggle the two combatants were engaged in made it impossible to get a clear shot at the Tragoom. She scrabbled over the corpse in front of her and found the headless Tragoom’s blade. In an instant, she was running towards the fighting pair in a crouch. As she neared them, she unleashed a banshee scream.

The Tragoom trying to stab Krijero looked up at her approach. Krijero took immediate advantage of its distraction and grabbed the blade from the Tragoom. He stabbed it, but the knife didn’t penetrate far into the tough hide.

The Tragoom shrieked in fury and fought Krijero for the blade, getting it back. Krijero held the thing by its wrists as it tried to bring the knife down on him. As he battled for his life, the Imdiko cried, “Its eye, Dani. Stab it in the eye if you can!”

Dani reached the pair and slashed at the Tragoom’s face. It flung itself back out of reach, and she stood over Krijero to protect him, holding the knife in attack position. With a shrieking squeal, the Tragoom came at her, his blade aiming for her heart.

The air shivered and a blaster shot rang out, nearly cutting the Tragoom in half. Gelan was suddenly there, his dark face fierce with excitement. “Stay down, both of you!”

Dani obeyed without hesitation, crouching next to Krijero who dragged her beneath his body, shielding her from the fire as he had before. Wynhod also joined them, facing the opposite direction from Gelan as they continued to fight the much reduced Tragoom force.

After a few moments, the blasts ended. Dani shuddered against Krijero.

“We got them!”

“Now that was a fight. This is the best damned vacation of my life.”

Krijero barked laughter at his exultant clanmates before pressing his lips to Dani’s hair. “Are you all right, my Dani?”

“I thought you were dead. I thought they killed you all.” She burst into tears as the terror and grief she’d warded off for so long took hold. Using her one good arm, she clung to the Imdiko with a grip fit to hold him close forever.

CHAPTER 19

They made it to the clan’s shuttle less than an hour from full dark. Dani jumped with surprise when Wynhod deactivated the camouflage field, revealing the clean lines and luster of the oblong-shaped ship. She had to shake her head at her own stupidity. She’d have never found the shuttle on her own.

Gelan carried her and Wynhod carried Krijero on board. Incredibly grubby and bloody from her adventures, Dani didn’t want to touch the clean interior, all done up in shades of green and tan. There was even a small kitchen with cooking elements and cold storage. At their entrance, a soft glow emanated from the walls to light the interior, and Wynhod’s guttural command made it even brighter.

“Nice ride,” she said as Gelan settled her on a seat in the main cabin. The area was spacious enough for the entire clan to lounge around, watch a vid, and eat a meal. The surfaces of the seats, tables, and floor were all materials that were easy to clean, she noted. Good thing. Everyone was a bloody, filthy mess from their battle with the Tragooms. Gelan and Wynhod had received their share of scrapes and cuts too.

“We bought it not too long ago. As much as we like to travel when we get the opportunity, it seemed a reasonable purchase. We might have spent a little too much, but—” Gelan shrugged then straightened and went to a wall where he pushed a button. A panel slid out, revealing a cupboard.

Was I a reasonable purchase, Dani wondered? Probably not.

Wynhod lowered Krijero onto a seat next to Dani’s. “Who first?”

“Dani,” the Imdiko announced firmly. “Open wound trumps busted ankle.”

“You work on him and I’ll take care of her,” Gelan counter ordered, bringing a first aid kit to the round table anchored to the floor before Dani and Krijero. “She’s only winged, so I think I can handle this.”

First they dosed both injured parties with pain inhibitors. Then while Wynhod used a hand scanner to determine if Krijero had broken a bone or simply sprained it, Gelan unwound yet another strip of formsuit material from Dani’s shoulder.

“We sure made a mess of your wardrobes,” she noted, wincing as her wound came into view. The skin looked crispy-fried around the open gash. At least it didn’t hurt anymore.

Wynhod snorted. “Gelan never picks anything easy to hunt. We go through formsuits faster on vacation than we do at work.”

“This looks worse than it is,” Gelan noted as he applied a coagulant cream to the gouge on Dani’s shoulder. “No muscles were damaged from what I can tell.”

“Will it scar?”

“It might, because I’ll have to cut away the burned dead skin. All we have is flesh sealant to close the wound. Cellular regeneration is definitely beyond first aid. But we can have a doctor on Kalquor remove any scarring.” Gelan glanced over at Wynhod and Krijero. “How is my Imdiko?”

Wynhod had propped the injured foot on another seat and from Dani’s point of view, seemed to be sliding a sock over it. “No break. A very bad sprain, so I’m putting a cold sleeve over it for the swelling. You’ll have to stay off it for the duration of our return home, Krijero.”

The Imdiko grumbled under his breath in response.

Dani averted her eyes while Gelan took off the worst of the damaged skin. Then he sealed the wound and wrapped a proper bandage over it while it set. “That should hold you both until we get to Kalquor. Krijero, you will stay off that leg and not argue about it. Dani, don’t use your arm if you can help it.”

“What a couple of mother hens,” Dani teased. She nudged Krijero. “I thought you were the Imdiko of this clan.”

He smirked as the other two men mock-glared at her. “Indeed. They do seem awfully good at nurturing, don’t they?”

“Keep it up, you two,” Wynhod growled. “I’ll remind you both of my disciplinarian side.”

Dani sighed. She was safe. She wasn’t hurting. Her men – well, the men she wished were hers – were alive and mostly well. The next thing on her agenda to recovery clamored to be dealt with. “You said you have bathing facilities on this thing.”

Finished with Krijero, Wynhod stood. “I’ll show you.”

Gelan was repacking the first aid kit, putting everything neatly away. “Get it set up for her and rejoin us, please.”

Wynhod glanced at him, his body clearly stating it wanted to help Dani with her shower. But at the look Gelan gave him, he nodded. He helped Dani to her feet and led her to another cabin.

The grass green of the main cabin deepened to emerald in this room, with accents of maroon. A huge sleeping mat, tall enough to reach above Dani’s knees and wide enough to accommodate the entire clan plus her, took up most of the space. After days of sleeping on the hard ground, cushioned only by fronds, grasses and leaves, it looked like a cloud. Dani wanted to sink into it and sleep for weeks.

Wynhod ushered her to the large shower. It had more than enough space to hold both of them, and Dani was disappointed Gelan had insisted Wynhod return to the main cabin. She could think of many enticing possibilities the shower presented.

Wynhod showed her the temperature controls, the cleansing agent dispenser, and how to adjust the spray intensity. Then he left her alone to clean up.

Dani had a little bit of a hard time washing with her non-dominant left hand, but the warmth of the gently falling water more than made up for that difficulty. She washed her hair, grimacing to find twigs and leaves tangled in it. She lathered the long red

tresses twice, and then washed herself over and over until the water sluicing off her finally ran clean. Then she simply stood under the spray for awhile, letting it sluice away the tension and fear and pain of the last few days.

It’s over and we’re safe. And I have this clan for at least the next three years. Yep, life just got a lot better for Ms. Danielle Watson. I’m not going to take it for granted either.

Dani finally switched the water off and engaged the drying jets. She finger-combed her hair, knowing it was going to turn into a frizzy cloud. Oh well. At least she was clean. A definite improvement.

She stepped out of the shower stall and looked at that sumptuous bed again. Boy, the fun she hoped to have on that with the three men! Grinning wickedly, she returned to the main cabin.

The Kalquorians were clustered together, their dark heads bent near one another as they muttered in their staccato language. Dani stared in surprise.

“We haven’t taken off? I have to tell you guys, I can’t wait to be a million miles away from this planet.”

All three men looked at her. Gelan and Wynhod stood, their faces pleasant but sharp. Krijero looked worried.

Now what?

Gelan said, “We’re leaving soon, Dani. We have some business to attend to first.”

He held out his hand to her. After a worried moment, Dani stepped forward to take it. He drew her close to the clan and nodded to Wynhod. The Nobek held up his handheld, letting her see what was on the screen. She stared at the document displayed. She recognized the language written as Dantovonian, but she’d never learned to read the language.

Dani looked from the handheld to the men, ending with Gelan. “What’s that?”

Gelan took a moment before he answered. “Your contract making you our slave.” He pressed a button on the handheld, and the document disappeared.

Dani stared in confusion. “Okay. Now it’s gone. So what?”

“We’ve decided to void it. I just destroyed the contract.”

Wynhod added, “You fought bravely and even put your life at risk to defend Krijero. You’ve earned your freedom, Danielle. You are not our slave any longer.”

Gelan’s fingers played over the collar they’d put around her neck for an instant, and it dropped away, thunking with a metallic clang to the floor. Dani stared at the open ring, feeling the absence of the weight.

They’re done with me. I won’t even get to spend the three years with them. Rejected. Thrown aside again. Oh God no. I love them. I want to stay!

Hurt stabbed into her heart, her gut, her head. Dani fought the tears that sprang to her eyes and the anguished scream building in her throat. She’d let herself hope when she knew better. She’d allowed herself to care. She should have known better. Nobody loved her. She would be forever on her own, with only herself to rely on.

No. A thousand times no, a small childish voice inside her cried.

Dani tore her eyes from the collar. She looked at the men staring at her. Even Krijero’s emotions were hidden behind a mask of stoic patience. Of all of them, she’d thought he might want her. But he didn’t. None of them did.

Dani gathered her shredded pride. She’d rebuild the wall between herself and the rest of the universe. She’d make it thicker and higher this time, and she’d never, ever let another soul in.

Most of all, she wouldn’t show them it hurt. “You don’t want me.” She cringed inside as her voice betrayed her pain after all.

Krijero’s hands captured the one Gelan wasn’t holding. His expression gently beseeched her. “We don’t want you as a slave. We want you as an equal. As our Matara.”

Gelan added, “It’s your choice, little fighter. Will you join my clan?”

She stared. Tried to make sense of what they were saying. They weren’t getting rid of her? They were – they were—

They were asking her to stay. Forever.

She lost her fight to keep from crying, but Dani didn’t care. These were happy tears, tears stolen from devastating desolation. “You really want me?”

Three pairs of arms circled around her, brought her into the center of the clan. Her clan.

Gelan smiled down at her, his face full of warmth and caring. “Absolutely, and if it takes forever, we’ll convince you of that. We love you.”

She cried and laughed, her heart so full she thought she might burst. “Thank you. Thank you. Oh! Yes, I will join your clan. And I love you too.”

They laughed at her delayed acceptance, and Dani shook her head at herself. She was awkward and goofy at times. She was a big, galumphing clod who screwed up royally on a regular basis.

She was also wanted and loved.

The men held her until she was cried out, Krijero awkwardly because he was sitting. Once she’d gotten control over herself, Dani asked, “So if I understand your clanning practices correctly, simply saying yes does the deed?”

The three men nodded. “You are our Matara now,” Wynhod said, and a huge grin broke over his strong features as he said it. He went from ferocious to stunning in an instant. “You do understand clanning is for life?”

Dani nodded, pretending concern. “Yeah. Looks like you’ve sentenced yourselves pretty harshly. Don’t think you’re getting out of it, Nobek.”

He was smiling so hard she thought his face might break with the force of his gladness. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he affirmed, and her heart grew brighter at the conviction in his voice.

They really wanted her.

Krijero stroked her back, his face shining with delight as he looked up at her. “I think we should make love to seal the deal, but I stink of Tragoom.”

Gelan chuckled. “We’ll help you, Krijero.”

Cradling the Imdiko’s body between them, Gelan and Wynhod carried Krijero into the bedroom cabin and readied the shower for him. At a command, a seat slid out of the shower stall wall for Krijero to sit on. Gelan and Wynhod stripped themselves and their injured clanmate. The sight of all that muscular man flesh gave Dani the shivers, and she sank onto the bed to watch them tend Krijero.

The bed was as soft as a dream, and she looked forward to wallowing on it with her clanmates. She luxuriated in the downy linens as Gelan and Wynhod gently shampooed Krijero’s hair and bathed him.

He fussed at the two. “My hands are perfectly fine. I can wash myself. Besides, Earthers are weird about men touching other men.”

Gelan gave Dani a wink. “We’re preparing you for your Matara. Besides, she doesn’t look upset in the least. Are we bothering you, my love?”

Dani had seen too much on Dantovon to mind the intimacy with which Wynhod and Gelan washed Krijero. In fact, it was kind of hot watching the three men, in all their nude, wet glory. And seeing the Imdiko being cleansed for her, as if he was the sex slave being readied for his mistress … well, that was pretty damned titillating.

“Not one trace of Tragoom left on him,” she said in her most demanding tone. “I want every inch of him scrubbed.”

Her command was greeted by shouts of laughter from Gelan and Wynhod, and they obeyed her with delight. Krijero’s yelps of dissent went unheeded, though they were very careful to not jar his injured ankle.

“I’m clean, damn it!” he shouted when his clanmates went over him a very thorough second time. “Call them off, Dani!”

She giggled. “Okay. You can bring me my Imdiko now.”

As Wynhod got to work taking his own shower, Gelan helped Krijero hop to the bed. Once the Imdiko was settled next to Dani, Gelan eyed him severely. “You will not strain yourself, Krijero.”

Dani traced soft fingertips over the injured man’s chest. “You mean I get to be on top for a change?”

Krijero gave her a leer. “Enjoy it while you can, my Matara. I fully intend on having you my way as soon as I’m able.”

Gelan withdrew with a grin, leaning against the wall as Dani straddled the lanky Imdiko.

“Watch that arm,” Krijero warned. He supported her with hands around her waist as she leaned over to kiss him.

“I think you should worry about other body parts,” she giggled before her lips brushed over his. He growled as his tongue invaded her mouth.

He tasted her for a long time, and Dani reveled in the feel of him beneath her. He lowered her so that she lay on him, chest to chest, belly to belly. His cocks curved beneath her sex, hot and hard and wet. She added her own moisture to them as she caught fire.

One of his hands tangled in her hair, holding her head so that he could plunder her mouth thoroughly. The other hand roamed up and down her spine for awhile before cupping one buttock. Long fingers probed and wet themselves in her font. His thumb pressed into her anus and two fingers reached into her pussy.

Dani moaned as he worked in and out of her, finding all the most sensitive places. The man described himself as awkward, but his fingers proved to be amazingly dexterous. Even as he thrust into her with three digits, the other two stroked her clit. Dani cried out into his mouth more than once as he played with her nether parts.

At last Krijero released the kiss. Lost in the rapture of what he did to her down below, Dani was unable to do anything but gasp as she lay heavily on him. Some small part of her mind thought perhaps she should be returning the favor of such pleasure, but she couldn’t make herself move. Bliss rumbled through her, sapping all her strength as well as her ability to think clearly.

“I bet I could make you climax like this,” Krijero whispered.

“Uh huh.” Her agreement came out in a sob. Waves of warmth lapped through her belly.

“Do you love me, Dani?”

“I do … I love … you.” Something inside seized for an instant, a brightened spot of delight that made her whole body tremble.

“I love you too.”

Despite the riot her body was in, Dani had the presence of mind to look at Krijero’s face. He smiled at her, really smiled for perhaps the first time, all tension missing from his expression. Like her, he felt safe to love now.

“Thank you, Krijero.”

“Thank you, Dani.”

His magical fingers left her, and she felt the loss keenly, wanted to wail with the absence of him. Only the knowledge that better things would happen kept her voice still.

“Up you go,” he said, boosting her so she sat upright on his well-muscled abdomen. Then, as if she weighed no more than a feather, he lifted her so that her sex hovered over his.

One handed, she tried to get both cocks in position, but Dani was nowhere near as adroit as Krijero. She fumbled around, getting one sex in place only to have the second one off target. Within moments, both of them were laughing uproariously at her clumsy attempts.

“Some help here, please?” Dani snorted at Wynhod, who had handed over the shower to Gelan and watched their efforts to couple with a big grin.

“My pleasure,” he snickered, coming over. He reached beneath Dani and put Krijero where he needed to be.

The next instant, the Imdiko’s strong grip pulled her down, sheathing his cocks in one merciless yank. Dani shrieked, all humor gone as catastrophic orgasm burst through her in mind-numbing abruptness. She’d been aroused, but the sudden climax caught her by surprise.

Sonic booms of elation reverberated throughout her being. Pleasure suffused everything, sending electric shocks to her fingers and toes, seeming to stream right through the top of her head, making her hair stand on end. She knew nothing but the crash and roll of ecstasy as it tore through her, making her mindless.

When Dani came back to herself, aftershocks still tingling through her extremities, she heard her last scream echoing in the room. Wynhod was holding her, one arm wrapped about her waist, the other pinning her injured arm just below her breasts. Krijero lay still beneath her, panting.

“Were you able to hold off?” Wynhod asked.

“Barely,” Krijero gasped. “She really lost control.”

“Are you back with us, Dani?” The Nobek could barely talk around his laughter.

She warbled a wordless cry in response, and then forced herself to speak coherently. “Yeah … okay … I think.”

“Give me a moment yet,” Krijero begged.

Wynhod kissed Dani, nipping her lower lip gently as he did. He leaned back to look her over, dark promises in his eyes. “I think I can keep our little fighter occupied while you recover.”

Wynhod stood on the bed, bringing his most eager flesh at face level. As the last little shudders of the amazing climax tickled their way through her, fresh warmth lit in her belly. Kalquorians tasted good, and the thrill of having a man at each end was its own reward.

While the heavily breathing Krijero lay still beneath her, Dani’s tongue darted out to lick each of Wynhod’s cock tips. His cinnamon-y spicy lubricant danced on her tongue, and she moaned with pleasure. Better still, a pearlescent drop formed at the end of his larger cock. She took it into her mouth with reverence, letting its spicy-sweet-saltiness dissolve on her tongue. Delicious.

Wynhod sighed and stroked her hair as she took her time licking his lengths, laving him for every lovely molecule of moisture she could get. With her good hand, she gripped his larger penis at the base and began stroking him hard but slow. She sucked his

smaller cock into her mouth, taking all of it in by relaxing her throat against the gag reflex. His answering groans were a symphony to her ears.

As she worked both cocks, Krijero began stirring again. She adjusted her work on Wynhod as the Imdiko moved her up and down, his grip firm around her hips. Dani found it a little complicated to service her Nobek while she rose and fell over Krijero, but she happily managed.

Sated by orgasm and only just starting to experience the eager darts of arousal again, Dani took the opportunity to appreciate the rightness of her companions’ flesh piercing hers. She took quieter pleasure in feeling them inside her, making her a part of themselves. The fullness inside her anus, the perfect interlocking of Krijero’s larger cock filling her pussy, his fingertips digging into her fleshy buttocks as he controlled his penetration deep within her – it gave her the fantasy that whatever controlled the universe had constructed him just for her.

And Wynhod was no less ideal. From his rough hands caressing and squeezing her breasts to the gentle rocking of his hips filling her mouth with pulsing heat, he was the ideal partner as well.

Had she really once believed the clan to be enemies? She’d been mad.

Dani’s mouth left Wynhod’s smaller cock to envelop its larger twin. She couldn’t take all of the longer organ into her mouth, but she made up for her shortcoming with enthusiastic sucking, her tongue rubbing hard on the underside. The Nobek groan-growled his pleasure as she worked.

The mat beneath her shins sank down, warning her of Gelan’s presence a moment before he knelt behind her. His chest and stomach, as hot as lava and hard as stone, pressed up against her back.

“Do you mind if I make adjustments, Krijero?” his voice rumbled.

“If my Dramok wishes to join us, I have no objections,” came the response. “Do you have something to clean with?”

“I’m always prepared.”

Just like a boy scout, Dani wanted to say, but her mouth was much too busy on Wynhod.

Krijero lifted Dani high enough that his smaller cock slipped free of her tight confines. She felt Gelan doing something beneath her and it took a moment for her to realize he was wiping a cloth over Krijero’s smaller cock.

I bet I know where that’s going next, she thought.

She was right. Freshly washed, it joined the larger appendage in her pussy, stretching her delightfully. A flash of pure, brute lust joined his invasion.

Oh. My. God.

And now Gelan was pushing his bigger member into her anus, making her full enough to burst. She warbled a welcome around Wynhod’s cock as desire surged, making her shudder all over.

The men paused in their use of her to adjust their positions for everyone’s comfort. Krijero remained lying on his back, his hands wrapped around her hips, holding her aloft as Gelan seated himself fully in her. The Dramok knelt over Krijero’s thighs, lowering himself as far down as he could so Dani could take as much of them both as possible. He clasped her about her waist, though Krijero showed no signs of needing help bearing her weight. Meanwhile, Wynhod held her head between his hands, stroking in and out of her mouth as their gyrations would allow.

Dani let them adjust her to their wont, every movement they made bringing cascades of sensation through her body. Gone was the quiet enjoyment of being filled. Electricity zinged, and she was well on her way towards another crescendo.

At last they seemed done with shifting her. Gelan’s voice was hot in her ear. “Your clan is inside you, my Matara. We possess you in every way possible.”

His voice, so growly and deep, made her shiver all over. And his words made her inner parts melt. The clan had renounced their ownership of her, had made her a person and not property. Nevertheless, she was theirs in every way that counted.

And they belong to me.

With this amazing realization the last subtle bits of reserve, the final pieces of the walls Dani had erected around her heart to keep herself safe, crumbled. Had the clan not elected at that moment to resume eager lovemaking, she would have descended into tears and laughter at her great fortune.

But before rapturous joy could claim her, the clan did. Krijero and Gelan lifted her up and pressed her down, making her willing body ride them. Wynhod matched their pounding rhythm as he fucked her mouth, his smaller cock rubbing wetly down her chin and throat. And just like that, she was sweeping towards climax, climbing higher and higher towards that waiting cliff from which she would be flung down.

Dani closed her eyes to let other senses take hold. Mouth, tight against the velvet smoothness of skin over steel, the tang of cinnamon burrowing into her tongue, the aroma wafting into her nostrils. Animal growls filling her ears. Uncompromising iron thickness thrusting into her tightest passage, setting off a storm of thunderous pressure. An even greater bulk crowding her pussy, finding that most sensitive spot inside the sheath that throbbed with indescribable longing. And the touch of fingers on her clitoris, first lightly teasing, then seizing onto the swollen nub firmly, rubbing to make sparks fly.

Dani glutted on the myriad of pleasures they gave her as they took their delight with her. She served as they served her, and she took gratification in being their slave and mistress.

The first twinge of orgasm came gently, a polite questing tremor, as if to make sure it was welcome. Dani opened herself to it, greeting it with an open heart. Taking courage from her glad reception, it rolled in, announcing itself with strong spasms that made the men moan in accompaniment.

Dani arched against Gelan, and Krijero arched beneath her with a roar. His cock pulsed hard, sending his seed deep within her. Another, harder orgasm echoed throughout her chamber, and she wailed with sweet torment. Wynhod flooded her mouth with his juices, groaning when she swallowed all he gave her.

With a long, drawn-out moan, Gelan at last joined them, making the four people one great heaving beast that undulated in the throes of its combined bliss. At the center of it all was Dani, the heart of their completeness.

Only after the last luscious drop had been offered and accepted did the beast quiet. After a moment, it broke into its four distinct parts. But despite its division, every component knew it remained whole. And no piece would ever be alone again.

It was Gelan who spoke first. Reluctantly rousing himself from the snake’s nest of bodies, he smiled at the rest of his group. Dani thought he looked like the happiest man alive. And his words made her the happiest woman alive, she was sure.

“My clanmates, let’s take our Matara home.”

The End

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Unholy Union

THE CLANS OF KALQUOR SERIES:

Alien Embrace

Alien Rule

Alien Conquest

Alien Salvation

THE NETHERWORLD SERIES:

Drop Dead Sexy

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19