Alien Captain's Prisoner

by Corin Cain

  Fortunately, there’s no argument from my sated lovers. Wordlessly, all three Aurelians move away from me and step towards the doorway, walking out. As they leave the room, I can’t help but watch their powerful bodies in motion. They’re shamelessly naked – there’s little embarrassment about nudity on board this ship – and I get to see how their tight buttocks and strong backs appear cut from stone.

  Then, the door hisses shut. They’ve left me alone.

  The huge room is suddenly empty – empty except for me and my thoughts, which fill it entirely.

  I’m physically alone – but now my mind will never be completely solitary again. I have their auras, ever-present in my consciousness.

  I flop back onto the bed. I can’t believe what I’ve just done.

  I wanted to know if they were Bonded to me. I was curious, and I was greedy. I wanted thousands of years of life – and the universe had conspired to give it to me…

  …but now, I realize that the Bond is more serious than I’d thought.

  Out in the darkness of space? When you’re not being chased down by people who want to kill you? When you’re not in the middle of a life or death maneuver? At least then, you have time to think.

  But when you think – out there in the cold loneliness of space – you realize just how empty everything feels. Even with my crew around me on board the Wayward Scythe, there were times when I couldn’t sleep just because of the empty, existential void of it all. In space, night and day merged into each other and blended into the meaningless stretches of time between jobs.

  Now, I’ll never be alone again.

  I’ll always be able to feel the arrogance of Aelon, the primal beastliness of Vinicus, and the haughty aloofness of Iunia. Their nature only dissipates when they fuck me. Between those encounters, they’ll be imprinted in my consciousness forever. There’s no going back.

  And yet…

  …I can feel them, but only vaguely. I couldn’t tell you if they were in the mess hall right now, or in Captain Aelon’s chambers. I feel them, but only as intangible entities inside my mind. We can share feelings – we can broadcast messages – but we can’t read each other’s thoughts.

  And that means the escape plan that Theme, Sawoot and I came up with can still work.

  “They won’t be able to catch me,” I speak out loud – since the room is so empty, but my head feels so occupied with their presence. “They’ll know roughly which direction I’m in – but not my exact location.”

  But if I leave tomorrow – if I abandon the triad I’m Bonded to – it means the rest of my now-thousands of years of life will be spent running. Slowly, but surely, those three Aurelians will catch up to me.

  Well, that’s okay. I’m used to running.

  I pull myself out of bed and nearly fall as my legs give out from under me. I catch myself before I crash to the ground. My legs are trembling from the force of my orgasms. My body is sore, my jaw aching.

  I never knew anything could feel this good, though. The elation of being seeded feels better than the relief you get from hydro-morphine when you’re healing up in a hospital. I feel freer than after guzzling a bottle of whisky. Sex with the Aurelians lets me turn off my mind as I submitted to them – and that was so liberating that it’s addictive.

  I sigh. I realize now that my relationship with those three gorgeous, towering warriors is destined to be…

  …complex.

  I think of Captain Aelon – the man who dragged me into all this.

  I hate Aelon’s arrogance, but I love his confidence. I can understand him now. He’s a bright ball of anger – because something happened to him during his hundred years of service. He didn’t tell me everything, and there must be more. It wasn’t just a diplomatic incident that gave him this pure hatred of Toads. He’s a warrior – a soldier who’s been in too many battles. Now, all he knows is war.

  He told me while he fucked me that I’d bear his sons. He told me he’d be the father of my children.

  But how could I ever bring children into the world with men like those Aurelians as their fathers?

  My sons would be strong – that is assured. But could I teach them compassion? Respect? Or would the aggression and warlike nature of their fathers be the dominant facet of them?

  That’s what the Aurelians demand of me. If I don’t get away from them, I’ll be their breeding stock – used only to create an army of sons for them over the course of thousands of years. I’ll stay young and fertile for far longer than I would if I was a natural, unBonded human female – but they’ll use my years for their own needs.

  “We will speak tomorrow.”

  I jump at the crisp, clear voice inside my head. I’m still not used to the direct thought being transmitted from the head of an Aurelian directly into my brain. It’s just one more brand new thing to get used to – something even Sawoot didn’t warn me about.

  The mental communication – it’s not like a spoken voice, and yet I recognize it as if it was. I know the thought originates from Iunia – even if I can’t hear a difference in tone.

  “Okay,” I say out loud. It didn’t work. Okay, I think, but that doesn’t seem like it’s leaving my mind.

  I focus on the three men. I force their images into my mind. I remember every detail of their bodies, their faces, and their features.

  Even though I’ve had enough of the three men for tonight, I concentrate on them and try to project my thoughts to them.

  “Okay.”

  It worked! I can feel the thought differently – like the difference between thinking something and saying it out loud.

  I smile. Just a few minutes in and I’m getting the hang of the Bond.

  Then I hear a dripping sound – like water falling from the trees after a rainstorm. I glance down and see the seed of the three Aurelians slowly coming out of me. I walk as quickly as I can on my sore legs to the bathroom and stumble into the shower right before my legs give out.

  The AI turns the water on for me, adjusting it instantly to suit my body temperature. I sit down on the floor of the oversized cubicle and let the water wash over me. Beneath the deluge, I try to get my thoughts in order.

  I know what I’ve done – the commitment I’ve made and the unbreakable nature of the Bond.

  But some relationships are as strong as that otherworldly force.

  This changes nothing, even as it changes everything.

  I’m still going to get my crew out of here.

  I’m going to get Theme and Sawoot to safety. That’s the only thing I can focus on right now. Everything else is a distraction.

  But will I have the strength to leave the Aurelians forever? I can feel their possessiveness, even as they’re on the other side of the ship. If I don’t get away from them quickly, I sense they’ll sink their hooks deeper into me and never let me go.

  I know, deep in my heart, that I’ll now never be able to take another lover. It wouldn’t be fair to him. All I’d be thinking about during the act would be how disappointing it is in comparison to my experience with the three men I’m Bond to – the ones who gave me pleasure beyond my wildest imagining.

  No matter where I went, or who I bedded – they’d still be in my head. Literally.

  I’d be able to feel their auras even as I took another lover.

  In fact, the only way to get them out of my head now is if they die.

  “What did I get myself into?” I whisper the words out loud. They’d normally have been inaudible over the steady stream of water, but with my newly enhanced hearing I can make out sounds I couldn’t even detect before.

  The water is washing away the sweat and traces of my coupling with the three warriors, but the imprint of their being in my mind will never end.

  Then, I feel a different emotion welling up inside of me.

  Joy. Incomprehensible joy. It’s so pure that I laugh as the magnitude of the Bond sinks in.

  I’m going to live for thousands of years!

  The cold,
skeleton grip of my own mortality lessens on my shoulders. I’d been so used to it – as all humans are – that I didn’t even feel it until now. Not until it’s relaxed its hold on me. The bony hand of death lets go – for now.

  I’ll now have thousands of years to experience the universe – as long as I don’t get killed in a firefight or a freak accident. My entire life has always been about survival up until this point. All I’ve wanted was one big heist that would set me free from a life of constantly hustling and barely scraping by.

  I thought the brazen theft of all those Orbs – while they were barely guarded in transfer – was going to be that heist. The profits from fencing those stolen Orbs would have financed a small fleet of transport ships. I could have gone legit – offering high-speed transportation of goods through the untamed sectors of space where I’ve made my home.

  But now… Now, time is stretching out in front of me. I have so much time. I can travel the universe. I can build a business empire far more grand than the one I had planned.

  I stare at my hands as the water washes down across them. Everything is clearer now. I can see all the minute lines on my skin in incredible detail – detail I couldn’t see just an hour earlier. For example, I spot a tiny scar I’d never noticed before – a mark I’d received when I was a kid, hurtling through the industrial sector with Sawoot like two little monkeys. Everything is suddenly in crisp, perfect focus. The water washing over me invigorates me.

  Even my muscles feel stronger.

  My body is tired and aching from the rough coupling, but as I put my hands down against the wet floor of the shower cubicle I can feel the strength coursing through them.

  I flatten my palms across the wet plastic and push upwards. I’ve never been a gymnast – but even on the slippery, wet floor, I’m suddenly able to lift my entire body up with only my hands. My heart is pounding with exhilaration of my new-found mastery over gravity.

  My muscles tense and flex as I push myself up higher – into a perfect handstand. The water courses down my body as I achieve a feat I’d never dreamed of even attempting before. My strength, balance and focus have become like superpowers.

  I laugh, even as I hang upside down, enjoying the potential of my new body.

  The Bond has demands. Oh, yes – it demands a heavy price…

  …and yet, I sense it gives more than it takes. I’ve already reaped such great benefits. Are there more to be gained from each coupling? Will staying with the Aurelians open up even more incredible possibilities?

  I descend from the handstand, jumping onto my feet and standing in the shower. I can still taste Iunia’s cum in my mouth. It tastes… right.

  When I remember our coupling, my feet want to walk themselves back to Captain Aelon’s quarters – even while I’m wearing nothing more than a towel. Even sore, I know the Bond will turn all my pain into deep pleasure if I mate with them again. It’s only been one time, but it’s addictive – and I sense that every time I indulge in the Aurelians, I know I’ll be left craving them even more.

  I’m drawn to Aelon. I’m drawn to all of them. Even though Aelon’s a cocky bastard, his confidence turns me on, whether I wanted to admit it or not. The Bond is enhancing that attraction – but I didn’t let myself like his arrogance. Now, I have no choice in the matter.

  Likewise, I’m drawn to Vinicus’s brutal strength, and Iunia’s tempered steel mind, but I didn’t choose it.

  I push those thoughts to the back of my mind. I need to learn how to control my new, enhanced desires and abilities if I’m ever going to escape the Aurelians and never look back.

  Why not give them a shot? Why not stay with them?

  It’s my own thought – not through the Bond. I can tell when something I think or feel is being artificially enhanced, and I can allow myself to feel it… or I can fight against it.

  But that thought? About giving them a shot? That’s all Tasha.

  “Water off,” I say, and the water instantly turns off. I grab a thick towel and dry myself. It’s sad that I won’t be able to give the Aurelians what they need. They want to keep me safe, yes – but they also view me as belonging to them because I’m Bonded to them.

  They view our connection as proof that I am theirs. I’m not just a woman to them – I’m something sacred in their eyes.

  As for me? Well, I won’t ever be able to love a man again – not with the three of them forever in my mind. Yet, despite everything drawing me to the three warriors, I can’t let them become the father of my children. Iunia is the only one I’d feel comfortable having as a role model for an impressionable child. Someone once told me that you should never choose a father for your children that you wouldn’t want your sons to grow up just like. It’s scary to think of my sons growing up to have a death wish like Vinicus, or a penchant for raw violence like Aelon.

  How could I allow them to be like that?

  How could I let Captain Aelon, with all his anger and hatred, put a son inside me? How could I let Vinicus’s brute aggression be passed down to my children?

  I towel my hair off, sadness growing inside my heart.

  I cannot have human children.

  How could I do that to myself? I’d have to watch them grow old and die – their lifespans just a fraction of mine now.

  I’d have to watch my babies grow into adults, and then old folks, and then die. I’d have to watch my grandchildren undergo the same. Even my great grandchildren. I’d age so slowly that I’d watch each generation bloom like flowers and then wilt before my eyes. Every human that I dare to love is going to grow old and leave while I barely change.

  My thoughts are convoluted. They torture me. I’m split.

  Part of me wants to be foolish and stay with the Aurelians. A small part, yes – but it’s a real part of me. The Bond can take that part and enhance it and draw it out, until it takes all my efforts to resist that urge.

  I climb into bed, still wet and naked. “Lights off,” I command, and the AI turns off the lights.

  I’m alone with my thoughts. Well, as alone as I’ll ever be again.

  I turn my thoughts to Sawoot and Theme. They don’t deserve to be trapped on this ship. They’re relying on me to get them out of here – before those Toads come for their vengeance.

  I have to get them free. That’s my only priority.

  Once that’s done, I can figure out what I need to do about…

  …them.

  9

  Vinicus

  I force the barbell up with a grunt. It’s 300 pounds heavier than anything I’ve ever lifted before, and yet it rises like we’re killing Scorp on a low-g planet. I’ve seen the severed heads of Scorp flying forty feet after I’ve sliced them off. You’re stronger on a low-g planet because things act like they weigh less – except now I’m experiencing that all the time.

  But it’s not because things weigh less. It’s because I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. I rack the weight and throw another hundred pounds on each side of the bar. The bar bends beneath the weight, but I throw it up like the huge iron plates are made of plastic.

  She gives me strength. She gives me power.

  I’ll use that power to rip the heads off countless Scorp – to kill any who stand in our way. No one will ever harm Tasha. Not if I’m alive to stop them.

  I’m eager to test my new strength out in a fight. This waiting infuriates me. I was sated as I claimed my Fated Mate for the first time, but I won’t be satisfied until she has a baby in her belly. Mine, Aelon’s or Iunia’s – it doesn’t matter. We have a responsibility to continue our species.

  I close my eyes and let myself feel Tasha’s aura in my mind, exulted in her femininity.

  Iunia and I won’t be killing Scorp tomorrow. We’ll be brought down to the mining camps. There, I’ll command three triads on the anti-air batteries we’ve hidden in the forests.

  The waiting will be hell. I prefer a fair fight, rushing into a Scorp nest head on – but when you’re dealing with Toads, there’s no s
uch thing as a fair fight. It’s a battle of who can strike first, and hardest.

  I’m just glad their cowardly species is too scared to Orb-Shift right now. Orb-Shifting is the fastest way of travelling – shifting out of space at one point and then blinking back to reality at another.

  Lately, though, more and more reports of Aurelians not shifting back have been circulating – of vessels simply winking out of existence never to return. I don’t know what’s causing it. Iunia told me he thinks it’s something to do with the new era of the Bond – as if the universe is preparing for some great upset.

  I don’t bother with such thoughts. I bother with keeping my triad safe, especially now that we have a threat on the horizon.

  Toads.

  I push the bar up and down, thinking of that cursed species. My battle brother Aelon hates them far more than I do. He was the one who’d seen the horrors on that Toad ship, when he’d led the so-called diplomatic mission to find those missing humans.

  Iunia and I had remained back on our Reaver. When Aelon had teleported back, he’d thrown up – and that man does not have a sensitive stomach. Hell, I’d seen Aelon stay strong after holding a dying man’s hand. I’d seen him gut Scorp and kill space pirates with his bare hands. Yet that day, I’d never seen him so hurt – so utterly disgusted and distraught.

  Scorp are simple. They live to kill and be killed – and I’m a specialist in the latter part of that equation. In fact, I even hope a few of them make their way down to the mining camps where we’ll be protecting the humans who’ve hired us. I’ll use my bare hands to kill the Scorp. I might even let them get close to me with their claws and stinger. A new scar or two would center me. Pain calms the mind – and I want to test out the limits of my new body, push myself to the extreme to learn what the Bond has gifted me with.

  Gods.

  Nothing could have prepared me for the absolute ecstasy – the primal satisfaction – of seeding Tasha. She completes me. I ache to barge into her room and fuck her again, until she screams out my name and begs for me to cum deep inside her again.