by Lily Thomas
“She was.”
He wondered if he would have the same luck with his mate. Would her soft skin tremble as his black claws traced up and down her skin, would she moan his name, wanting him to enter her?
His hands tightened around the bars, and he squeezed until his dark azure hands turned to a lighter shade.
The scientists had been overly interested in him for the past few days, and he had to wonder if they had his mate in this very facility. To think he was so close to her yet so far away. He really hoped they didn’t have her. Then he’d have to face the fact that he wasn’t able to break them out of this facility. It pained him that he was a strong fighter yet he was being held here by female scientists. It irked him to no end.
“Having a bit of a problem?” Strux pointed to Dryke’s hands that were still firmly wrapped around the cage bars.
“Just wishing these bars were some scientist necks.”
Strux nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. If only I could get my hands on a couple of them and scare the shit out of them.”
“I want to do more than scare them,” Dryke grumbled. He wanted to rip some throats out with his claws and feel blood splatter up against him. What could he say? He didn’t handle being a captive easily and spilling blood was calming for him. “I still fear they might steal my seed from me. Just because they found your mate doesn’t mean they’ll do the same for me.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it until it happens. Your future mate would understand it wasn’t your decision.”
“I can only hope so.” He released his death grip on the cage bars and went back to sit on his cot.
He sat there on his bed scowling at nothing in particular but it did make him feel a tad happier, which was better than nothing.
A whoosh sound from above him had him craning his neck to get a look at what had caused it. A panel above him had popped opened.
He rose from the bed cautiously and glared at it. Maybe the scientists had heard him grumping about their trials and were about to show him who the boss really was around here. He growled at it. It was only large enough for a hand to come through so it wouldn’t be possible to use it as an opportunity for escape.
A piece of clothing was tossed in, but he didn’t take his eyes off the panel until it closed. Slowly his eyes dropped to the shred of clothing. He wasn’t sure what it meant.
“What is it?” Strux asked from across the hall.
“A scrap of clothing.”
“Interesting.” Strux sounded a little too excited about it. Then again anything happening in one of their cells was something new to keep them from boring to death. “Are you going to check it out?”
“I’m not sure.” His onyx eyes waited for the piece of clothing to come flying at him. He wasn’t too sure what to expect from it, since he didn’t know what it meant.
“You’re killing me with anticipation.”
Dryke frowned but he found himself drawn to the piece. Bending over he grabbed it cautiously with two claws and held it up to his face as he straightened back up.
“And?”
A scent wafted off the clothing. It was feminine, sweet, and alluring. His lip raised in a growl as he threw it away.
“And?!”
“Nothing interesting. Just them being stupid.”
“Maybe they’re testing your ability to smell.”
Dryke sighed. “Then I’m in for a long boring captivity.”
He glanced over at where the piece of clothing had fallen when he tossed it. The scent still drew him in. They were testing the scent of a woman on him to see if it was his mate, but they were a bit stupid. Most Vrak’rir needed not only the scent but the sight of their mate. It was a bit of a combination. It wasn’t until both needs were met that instinct would kick in and demand that they mate, but he feared they might be on the right track because he couldn’t stop thinking of that delicate scent.
Chapter 4
Natalie groaned. Those damn scientists had shot her with a tranquilizer dart, and now she was waking up to find herself in another room. She tried to move her arms and legs, but they went nowhere. She lifted her head and gazed stupidly at the bindings that held her down.
“What the hell?!” She screamed. “What are you sick fucks up to? This is no way to treat a human being!”
She was strapped to a metal examination table, and she feared what this might mean for her. Just because they got Veronica pregnant didn’t mean that had to be their plan for her. Maybe they had something else in store for her.
Her heart began thundering against her ribcage, as she continued to struggle against her metal bindings. She really didn’t want to be in this situation. It was overwhelming and disturbing to be at the mercy of someone else.
“Am I being punished?” She asked the empty room. She couldn’t think of any reason for being punished, but it wasn’t like she knew the rules. “Helloooo? Anyone there? Or am I just talking to myself?” Maybe they were trying to see how long it would take her to go insane with fear… not long.
The room had a chill to it, and her skin prickled in an attempt to keep any warmth that it could. Thankfully she was fully clothed, so that helped a little, but not much.
Twisting her head in all sorts of directions she tried to see what was around her but found that there was nothing. It was just a cold sterile-looking room.
Suddenly a door burst open to her room, and her eyes eagerly latched onto the sight of the scientist who strode through.
“Can you let me out of these restraints?” She asked as politely as she could. There was some old phrase about attracting more bees with honey or something. She wasn’t too sure since bees were extinct. Earth had to bring in alien pollinators to keep their plants from dying out completely these days.
The scientist said nothing as she reached into a deep pocket on her white lab coat and pulled out a syringe with a super duper long needle.
“Please don’t stick me with that. Pretty please with everything you can think of on top.” She pleaded, but the scientist paid her no mind. She stuck it in Natalie’s arm, and she cringed as her blood was slowly drawn out of her arm.
Then the woman extracted the needle and left the room.
“Thanks for nothing.” Natalie grumped feeling a bit vandalized. That was her precious life force, not that scientist’s, and she had no right to take it.
Natalie didn’t have to wait too long until the door opened again. This time a couple of men came through and were armed to the teeth.
“I’m not that dangerous boys.” But none of them cracked a smile as they took position against the wall. “Oh, come on. That was pretty funny.” Still nothing. She was being weird because she was stressed. She wasn’t sure what to expect, and it was driving her crazy.
The men stood there, their faces straight as rocks, and she groaned inwardly. They obviously weren’t there for her, so who in the hell were they expecting to walk in?
Then a couple more guards walked in dragging in a Vrak’rir by the metal collar around his neck. He looked drugged by the way his head hung down against his chest. The guard in front yanked on the chain in his hands, which in turn yanked on the collar around the Vrak’rir’s neck. A couple of men followed behind them with plasma guns pointed at the Vrak’rir.
The only thing she could hear was the thundering of her own heart against her ribcage. She wasn’t sure who was more afraid, her or her heart, the damn thing wouldn’t stop hammering away.
Wait. Was that hulking Vrak’rir going to be her stud? Holy fucking shit! He was going to kill her if he ever got between her legs. She began struggling against the restraints as she whimpered.
“Keep her quiet!” The man with the chain told his men against the wall.
A man stepped forward and shocked her with a long black metal device.
A scream ripped out of her throat doing the exact opposite of what that man had been hoping.
The Vrak’rir’s head popped up, and his onyx eyes fixed on her. Her eyes
widened, and she struggled some more. Damn them for using metal restraints on her!
“Let me out of these!” She hollered at them. If she was going to be laid out on a platter for a Vrak’rir, then she wanted to be on her own two feet.
The Vrak’rir appeared shocked by her as his onyx eyes widened slightly and his nostrils flared. It was like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Oh no! Oh no! Please don’t be…
“Shut her up before she riles the Vrak’rir up!” The man with the chain barked spittle flying through the air with the force of his words.
“Let me out!”
The Vrak’rir muttered something before surging forward. The man with the chain backed up surprised by the suddenly lively blue beast.
“Inject him again!” He hollered at the men behind the Vrak’rir.
One of the men leaped forward with a syringe grasped in his hand. The Vrak’rir’s hands came up and grasped the chain. Whipping it around and forcing the man holding the chain around in a half circle causing the guy with the syringe to stick it in the man with the chain’s butt.
They both went down landing on top of each other. The other men in the room surged forward as one in an attempt to stop the Vrak’rir who had now started wailing on the men on the ground with his fists. The men pulled on his arms, but they weren’t about to stop a Vrak’rir in full rage.
Natalie stopped wiggling in the metal straps too enthralled by what she was seeing. It was both terrifying and riveting. It was such a great display of masculinity at its very best.
The Vrak’rir kept hammering into one guy’s face, and she was divided on her feelings. She didn’t want the Vrak’rir to win, but it wasn’t like she liked her captors any more than him. She both wanted to cheer him on and pray he was subdued.
A scientist walked in, huffed, dug into her lab coat, strode over and sank the needle of a syringe into the butt of the Vrak’rir, and then backed out of range of his fists until he slumped to the ground in a heap of muscle.
“And you call yourselves men.” The scientist shook her head with her shiny black hair pulled back into a tight bun. Her sapphire eyes glared at every man in the room. “Get the Vrak’rir back in his room and get rid of this.” She waved vaguely at the man who’d been beaten until he was unconscious.
Oh, thank god nothing was going to happen to her right now. She slumped against the metal table in relief.
The scientist turned her icy eyes on Natalie and shivers ran up and down her arms as the tiny hairs on her neck stood on end. It was then that Natalie decided she feared this scientist more than the Vrak’rir. Then the scientist turned and left the room.
Natalie let the back of her head smack into the metal headrest behind her. The pain felt good. It was the best thing that had happened to her today.
Dryke woke up in his cell again. Rising on an elbow, he glared at the room around him. Their power over him irked him to no end.
“Now that you’re awake, you can tell me all about what happened when they took you.” Strux’s voice called out.
He felt weird. He raised a hand to his head. He’d seen his mate and gotten a good whiff of her delectable scent. They’d managed to find her. Those irksome scientists had found her. It bewildered him, and he wanted to refute it but he’d seen her.
“So, what happened?” Strux called out.
“Don’t you have your own life to live?” Dryke grumbled as he threw his legs over the side of the cot and placed his feet firmly on the floor.
“Not while I’m trapped here.”
“They found her.” Dryke relented. There was no one else here that he’d want to talk with, so he was left with Strux.
“Your mate.” Strux filled in.
“Yep.” He placed his elbows on his knees and ran his blue hands through his thick head of black hair. “I can’t believe they found her.”
“It’s amazing.” Strux agreed. “Now if only we could escape with our mates.”
“I didn’t even get the chance to touch her.” He was talking to himself not really expecting any answers, but at least it made him look less crazy just sitting in a cell speaking to himself.
“They didn’t want you two to do anything?” Strux sounded just as bewildered.
“They brought me into a room where she was strapped down to a table. It was like they wanted to see if she was my mate since I didn’t react to the scrap of clothing.”
“Your experience was a lot different than mine.” After a brief pause. “Anything else interesting?”
Dryke raised a black eyebrow and looked over at the other Vrak’rir.
“What?” Strux raised his blue hands in a shrug. “This is the only entertainment I get.”
“I’m glad to hear that I’m here to amuse you.”
“Talking about it might make you feel better.”
“I don’t see how.”
“What species was your mate?” Strux persisted.
“Human.”
“So was mine.” A thoughtful look overcame his face. “Most of us have received humans.” He banged on one of his walls. “Hey! Jeir, what species did they pair you up with?”
“A damn human.” An annoyed voice answered from a nearby cell.
“So they are doing human to alien breedings rather than just random breeding,” Dryke confirmed.
“I can only speculate,” Strux stated simply.
“Any guesses?”
“Yours would be as good as mine. There are so many choices, but all of them are too weird for me to choose wisely. Anything else interesting happen?”
“I beat some of the men to a pulp before they drugged me and dragged me out of the room.” Dryke tossed a pleased smile over at Strux. It was information he knew would please his fellow Vrak’rir.
“Good for you!” A smile stretched over Strux’s azure face. “They deserve a good pounding.”
“They zapped my mate with a plasma stick.” Dryke shook his head sadly, almost pitying them for their stupidity. “When she let out a pained scream, well… I couldn’t rein in my instincts.”
Strux grimaced. “That was stupid of them. Didn’t they realize that if you were her mate, you’d have no choice but to come to her aide?”
“There’s humans for you.”
“Leave my mate out of your assessment of humanity,” Strux grumbled.
Dryke let it drop. Strux could think whatever he wanted to about his mate, and Dryke would think how he wanted, but those men had been stupid. He would reserve judgment on his own mate though.
He would never forget the way she screamed when the plasma had shocked her delicate skin. Just the thought of it had him itching to punch someone in the face. He was going to break them out of this damn facility even if it was the last thing he did.
Natalie paced around in her cell. After being strapped to a metal table and used to tease a Vrak’rir beyond his senses they’d returned her to her cell. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to wipe his handsome face from her memory.
Sure, he’d been blue and massive, but the rage in his eyes when he’d heard her cry out… it’d been almost touching. He’d wanted to come to her rescue.
“I think I might need some advice.” She strode over to the bars of her cage and looked over at Veronica who was sitting on her bed, her stomach protruding about five feet in front of her. Okay, that was an exaggeration, it was only like a foot or so.
“What about?” Veronica glanced over at her.
Natalie gulped. “I want to know more about being the mate of a Vrak’rir.”
“Why?”
“Because,” she sighed a feeling of despair overwhelming her, “I think they’re going to match me up with a Vrak’rir.”
“It’s not so bad.” Veronica placed her hands behind her on her bed and shoved herself off the bed, looking like her stomach was just getting in her way. “At least they’re pairing you up with a mated species.”
“I don’t see how that is good. It means if we ever do escape I’ll be stuck with him
for the rest of my life.”
Veronica quirked an eyebrow.
Natalie continued, “With a mated species he’ll expect something more if we ever get out of here.” She emphasized if. “With a non-mated species, I wouldn’t have to worry about a continued relationship.”
“What’s so wrong with a continued relationship?”
“Aliens might be for some, but I’d always dreamed of a normal family.”
“Define normal these days. We live in space.” Veronica scoffed. “Nothing’s normal.”
True. She just hadn’t thought of marrying a man who was blue, tattooed, and clawed. “I’ll have blue babies.”
“I think it will be adorable.” Veronica caressed her stomach in small loving circles. “Just imagine those pinchable blue cheeks.” She sighed in delight.
“Maybe yours will be a bouncing blue baby boy.” Natalie chuckled. It was fun to say out loud, and it’d finally brought a smile to her face.
“Maybe!” Veronica chuckled.
“Oh, shut up!” Someone hollered from another cage.
“Can you blame us for having a bit of a laugh?” Natalie ground out.
“I can when there isn’t anything to be happy about!” The person hollered back.
Veronica rolled her eyes, and Natalie smothered another laugh. Someone in here was a grumpalumpagus. Why not have a laugh when they could. There wasn’t much else for them to do in here except rip out their hair and fret away their lives.
“Anyways,” Veronica waved her hand in the air dismissing the other person’s interruption, “before we were so rudely interrupted,” a snort sounded somewhere in the corridor, “you might enjoy sex with a Vrak’rir. I can tell you from first person experience that they know what they are doing.” Her cheeks heated, and she waved a hand in front of her face.
Natalie shook her head. “I’m not in search of whoopee. I’ve met plenty of men who know how to please me between the sheets.”
“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
“He’d more likely tear me into pieces. You didn’t see the brute of a man they wanted to pair me up with.” Natalie shivered. “He lost control and beat the guards to a pulp. Not that they didn’t deserve it, but it was still terrifying.”
