by Tana Stone
When she drained the glass, he took it from her, then took her other hand and pulled her up and started walking toward the bed.
“What are you…?” Her voice sounded high and shaky as she tried to pull away from him.
His gaze slid to the large bed. So much for him being too damaged. The booze must have given him liquid courage, or a boost of energy. After her body’s recent reaction to him, she did not trust herself on a bed.
“You haven’t told me anything about yourself,” she said, her words coming out in a desperate tumble.
“What do you mean?”
“On Earth, people get to know each other first,” Shreya said, pulling him to a stop. “We talk.”
“Talk?” Vox tilted his head at her.
She nodded. “Always. You tell me things about you, and I tell you things about me.”
“You do this before the…floor play?”
If she wasn’t so terrified, she would have laughed. “Foreplay. Yes, on Earth we always get to know each other before there’s any touching.” Not always, she thought, but he didn’t need to know that.
His bionic eye flashed. “Will it make you more willing if we get to know each other?”
“Definitely,” she lied, knowing that no amount of talking would make her do something she didn’t want to do. The real question was, what did her body want her to do?
“Okay.” He released her hand. “I am Vox, and I am a member of the Kronock empire.”
She walked back to the chair. “Is that your Kronock name?”
His head jerked, but he followed her, taking the chair next to hers. “No. It was from before.”
Interesting, Shreya thought. He kept his Drexian name. She wondered if that had been his choice, or the Kronock’s. “When you were Drexian?”
He nodded, his lips a firm line.
“How did you happen to join the Kronock?” she asked.
The red light in his cybernetic eye blinked faster. “I was in military intelligence, and was sent deep into Kronock territory to assess the danger.”
“You were captured?”
His head jerked again and his speech became more stilted. “I was liberated by General Krav, and became a member of the glorious Kronock empire. Now I exist to carry out his final mission.”
Shreya gulped, knowing his final mission was her.
He focused his green eye on her, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “Now it is my turn. Tell me why you are not a tribute bride.”
Anything to keep him talking. “I guess it just wasn’t my thing, marrying a total stranger and having alien babies.”
“You do not wish to have offspring?”
“It’s not my first priority,” she said, pulling her bare feet up under herself. “I was still in college—being educated—when I was taken from Earth. I was focused on my degree and career more than anything else. I guess I didn’t give kids much thought.”
“And now?”
“Since I’m what we like to call an ‘independent’ on the Drexian station, it hasn’t been an issue.”
He moved to the edge of the chair. “You have not mated with any Drexians?”
“No.” She shook her head firmly. “We aren’t encouraged to fraternize with the warriors. You can ask my friend Ella about that.”
“Then you have never…?” His gaze moved down her body.
“Oh, I have, but only with one guy,” she admitted. “I honestly don’t know what all the fuss is about. It wasn’t all that great.”
“How long ago was this ‘not so great’ guy?” Vox asked.
This was getting weird, Shreya thought. “Why do you care?”
He shifted. “I need to know there is no chance you are already carrying another warrior’s seed.”
She wrinkled her nose. “How romantic. First of all, he wasn’t a warrior. He was a neurobiology grad student. And I’m definitely not ‘carrying his seed.’” She made air quotes. “It was way before I was taken off Earth.”
“Good.” He stood and pulled her up. “That is enough talking for now.”
If he thought that was enough talking, then he wasn’t so different from human men, after all. Her heart hammered in her chest as he pulled her toward the bed, but before they reached it, there was a sharp rap on the door.
Vox stopped, and sighed before crossing to the door and opening it. The tiny woman from earlier pushed a wheeled cart into the room, her pink hair barely bobbing above the top. The clear cart was laden with plates of food and tiered towers of shimmering confections, the scent of both savory and sweet filling the air, and making Shreya’s stomach growl.
“Compliments of the house,” Cerise said in a cheery voice, seemingly unfazed by the fact that Vox was half-naked. She gave Shreya a sly wink once she’d passed him.
Shreya smiled back as relief flooded her body. Unless she was mistaken, Cerise had interrupted on purpose. As Shreya looked at the creature’s mischievous expression, she wondered how easy it would be to convince Cerise to help her escape.
Chapter Seven
Vox felt a flash of irritation as he watched the Perogling wheel the food into the room. Had he requested it when he’d arranged things? Maybe, but he didn’t remember. His memories were becoming muddled as the pains in his head grew more frequent.
The pink-haired creature pushed the cart toward the sitting area between the door and the bed, unloading the food onto the gilt-legged coffee table as she hummed. “Madam sent up food she thought a human might like.”
Shreya came to stand by the small alien in the belled-out gown. “It smells wonderful.”
“I hope you like it.” The Perogling peered up at Shreya. “We’ve never had one of your kind here before, so I wasn’t sure what you might like.”
Vox cleared his throat and strode over to the women. Had a look just passed between them? It wasn’t possible that they knew each other, but he could have sworn the little one had winked at his mate. “That’s enough for now, Perogling. You may go.”
The creature dipped into a curtsy before backing the now-empty cart out of the room. Vox watched her go with her head lowered. She did not make eye contact with Shreya again, closing the door behind her without looking up. He must have imagined the look between them. There was no way a human could know anyone on Lymora III, much less an alien pleasurer in the most notorious and tightly controlled pleasure house on the planet.
“Are there Peroglings on the Boat?” he asked, turning his attention back to the human.
Shreya glanced up, wiping stray sugar crystals off her lips. “Peroglings?”
Vox gestured at the door. “The alien who brought the food is a Perogling, a species of tiny creatures whose planet was destroyed millennia ago.”
Shreya paused with a purple cream puff halfway to her mouth. “Her planet was destroyed?”
“Enough of her species escaped or were off-planet so her kind survived, but they were scattered throughout the galaxy. Many were sold into slavery, as the females are highly prized as pleasurers. I’m sure that is how this one ended up in the most exclusive pleasure house on Lymora III.”
Shreya dropped the purple puff. “She’s a slave?”
“I do not know for sure,” he said, watching as the human’s skin paled. “Most females here are paying off their debt to Zylia.”
“Do they ever get free?”
“If they do, I doubt they would leave. Here they are safe and protected.”
“But not free,” Shreya said, her eyes narrowed.
“So you have never seen one of her kind before?” Vox asked, ignoring her pointed look.
She shook her head. “As far as I know, there aren’t any… Peroglings on the Boat.”
He picked up the puff she’d discarded. “Is this not good?”
She turned away. “I lost my appetite.”
Vox scanned the table, inspecting the food and finding no traditional Kronock dishes, not that he’d ever grown used to Kronock food. Even as his body had become more
Kronock and his mind had learned to regurgitate Kronock words, his taste buds had never adapted to the bitter, earthy flavors favored by the scaled race. He also saw little Drexian food, and tried to push aside his craving for cheedi berries. The only thing that looked familiar was a few pieces of fried padwump on a small plate, so he picked one up and took a bite.
“How do you know so much about this place?” Shreya asked.
He glanced up and saw that her arms were folded tightly across her chest. “From before.”
“When you were a Drex—?”
“Yes.” He cut her off as a pain shot through his implant. “I came here to gather intelligence and learned that Zylia had a price. Her girls see and hear a great deal from the aliens who pass through the house, and that information is always for sale.”
“The fairy madam is a spy?”
Vox touched a hand to one throbbing temple. “Not a loyal one.”
“So you didn’t come here to…?”
“Sample the pleasures?” He finished her sentence for her, as he swallowed a bite of salty padwump. “I have been to pleasure houses before, but my visits here were always business. Drexians do not come here, because it is lawless and corrupt, and Kronock do not come here, because they do not need pleasure planets.”
“Why not?”
He could hear the words in his head before he repeated them. “Kronock are superior. We do not to procreate organically anymore. It is done in the lab to create superior beings.”
“So what are you doing here with me?”
“The lab cannot do everything.” He did not meet her eyes. “This mission is different, and it is crucial to Krav’s plan to invade Earth and destroy the enemy.”
“You mean the Drexians?” she asked, her voice quavering. “Destroy the Drexians?”
Another pain and his head jerked. “I must fulfill Krav’s mission.” He finally looked up at her face, which was flushed pink. “You should eat.”
She shook her head.
“I can force you to eat,” he said.
Her eyes flared and she stomped over to the table, snatching up a brown, flaky ball and taking a bite. “Happy?”
“Why would that make me happy? I am glad you will not be weak from hunger, but Kronock do not get happy.”
She rolled her eyes and flopped onto one of the nearby chairs. “Yeah, well, you’re not going to be Kronock for long.”
Vox did not ask what she meant, since he did not understand much of what the human said. He finished the padwump, but did not try another, as the traditional Drexian food tasted bitter to him now. Picking up a white, stick-shaped item, he took a bite. It was crunchy and cold, sending a burst of sweet juice down his throat. He jumped a bit, surprised that the food had exploded in his mouth.
He looked up when he heard Shreya giggle and saw her holding a hand over her mouth and fighting to keep her scowl in place.
“The same thing happened to me when I tried that,” she said, dropping her hand and relaxing her face.
He frowned and dropped it. “Very strange.”
“If you think that’s weird, it’s a good thing you’ve never had Pop Rocks.”
“Pop Rocks?” He tilted his head at her. “They sound dangerous. Is this an Earth weapon?”
She laughed again. “An Earth candy. They’re supposed to be fun. Little colorful pebbles that pop and sizzle when you put them in your mouth.”
He stared at her. “Humans find this fun?”
“Yeah, I guess we do.”
Vox shook his head. “I remember hearing that Earthlings are fond of sugar. Is everything you eat on your planet sweet?”
“Not everything,” Shreya said, standing and walking to the table. “But we do eat a lot of sugar, especially compared to Drexians. I don’t think you guys even have dessert.”
“Dessert?”
Shreya gestured to the tiered stand filled with colorful confections glistening with sugar crystals and dusted with copious amounts of powdered sugar. “Something sweet you eat at the end of every meal.”
Vox bent closer to the sweets and inhaled. “Every meal?”
Shreya picked up an orange, diamond-shaped sweet dotted with gold flecks. “Try it before you knock it. This isn’t as good as gulab jamun, but it’s not bad.”
Vox took it from her gingerly and nibbled the edge. Even from the small bite, he got a burst of flavor that reminded him faintly of cheedi berries. He took another bite, enjoying both the sweetness and the comfort of familiarity.
“See?” Shreya said. “Not bad, right?”
“Not bad,” he admitted, sitting down on one of the upholstered chairs and jerking his head toward the table. “You should eat, and more than just…” he hesitated as he searched for the word, “dessert.”
She picked up one of the exploding white sticks, using it to point at his face. “You have some gold stuff on you.”
“Gold stuff?” He touched his fingers to his cheek.
She gave a shake of her head. “Lower. Near your lips.”
Dropping his hand, he rubbed his mouth.
“Still no.” She hesitated, then walked over and swiped a finger across his lower lip.
He caught her wrist before she could pull it back, holding her hand out and inspecting the flake of gold she’d wiped off his face. “Is this gold bad to eat?”
“No.” She tried to tug her hand away. “I’m sure it’s edible.”
He put her finger in his mouth and sucked the gold off, hearing her gasp and feeling her hand go stiff. “You are right. It does not taste bad.”
“Can you let me go?”
He noticed that a vein on the side of her neck pulsed. He glanced down at her finger. “Maybe what I liked tasting was not the gold. Maybe what tasted so good was you.”
She made a small noise as he put her finger back in his mouth, savoring both the softness of her skin and the sound of her rapid breathing. He held tight as she tried to wrench her hand away from him, her struggle making his cock twitch. His gaze drifted to the swell of her breasts so evident through the fabric of the dress.
He knew he’d promised not to force her, but he found her resistance arousing. Even tasting such a small part of her—the soft tip of one finger—made him want more, and her futile movements to get away from him made Vox want to feel her entire body struggling beneath him.
He felt a surge of desire followed by a bolt of pain in his cybernetic eye so sharp it made him drop her wrist and clutch his implant. He heard her move away from him, her footsteps heading toward the entry.
As the pain subsided, he glanced over to where she stood at the handleless door, running her palms over the surface. “It is biometrically linked to me. You cannot open it, no matter how hard you try.”
He stood and crossed to her as she sagged against the door, taking her by the hand. “Bed.”
She pulled back as he walked toward the large bed, clawing at his arm. “You promised you wouldn’t….”
His head ached, and he did not have time for this. He reached the bed and tossed her on it, watching her bounce and then scuttle toward the back. Vox reached up and found the straps above the bed. Pulling one strap taut, he grabbed for one of her arms.
She kicked out at him, screaming about him being a wanker, as he pulled one wrist toward him and strapped it down.
He dodged another hard kick as he clasped her other wrist and quickly fastened the fabric strap around it. She was now lying face up on the bed, her hands tied down over her head as she pulled against them.
Straddling her waist, he put a hand over her mouth to stop her screams. Her eyes were wild and she moved her head violently, trying to bite him.
“I have no intention of taking you right now, human,” he said, his voice loud and echoing through the room. She stopped struggling, and he let out a breath. “I mean, Shreya.”
She blinked up at him, and he slowly removed his hand from her mouth. Her dark hair spilled across the sheets and her face, and her cheeks flamed pink. If
he didn’t need to rest so badly, it would have been difficult not to touch her while she was tied up. The thought of running his fingers over the bare skin exposed by the low-cut dress was intoxicating, but he pushed the thought from his pounding head.
He smoothed a strand of hair off her forehead. “I need to sleep, and I can’t have you trying to kill me while I do.” Moving off her, he rolled onto his back, hearing nothing but her ragged breath as sleep overtook him.
Chapter Eight
“So I’m supposed to lie here with my hands strapped to the bed while you sleep?” Shreya asked, when she’d finally found her voice.
The only answer was the sound of rhythmic snoring. Had he actually fallen asleep so quickly?
Great. Just great. She tugged at the restraints, but they held fast. She hadn’t held out much hope, since the straps looked like they’d been made for the express purpose of tying someone up. Black and padded around her wrists, the straps were thick and heavy duty. No silk scarves here. She arched her head back to see where they originated from and spotted a heavy, metal bolt on the wall. No surprise there. She guessed restraints weren’t an unusual request in a place like this.
Sagging back down on the bed, Shreya let her arms relax. At least he hadn’t tried anything yet. Not anything too terrifying. She supposed she should be glad about that. She twisted her neck so she could get a better look at the sleeping giant, a shudder passing through her as she studied his altered face.
The gray scales that grew on his arms had not extended to his face, which still looked very Drexian. At least half of it, anyway. Bronze skin, a square jaw, and only the slightest trace of stubble on his cheeks reminded her of the other warriors she’d grown accustomed to seeing on the space station. Until he rolled over, and she got a closeup of the metal implant that curved from above one eye, around his temple, and to the middle of his cheek. The cybernetic implant covered his eye socket, and she wondered if the other eye was underneath, or if it had been removed and replaced with the flashing red one that now faced her.
Shreya looked away, the implant and blinking light making her cringe. Had it hurt when they’d attached that to him? Idiot, she told herself. Of course it had. Especially if they’d removed his real eye.
