by V. K. Ludwig
Even after an entire day trying to process what had happened, I still wasn’t any closer to a possible solution.
There were… what? Four million Vetusians on this ship? And among all of them, I had to run into Commander what’s-his-name? Fuck my luck!
Under normal circumstances, I would have said that trusting him was a bad idea. But my circumstances weren’t normal — they were desperate. Was it stupid of me to believe his story? It was consistent with those few snippets Melek gave me after all!
Anxiety billowed through my guts.
I had two options.
One. Spread my legs until the Commander knocked me up and raise a hybrid child from a man I abhorred while indulging in my freedom, as he so eloquently phrased it.
Two. Return to my little prison for two years, entertaining myself and Melek by throwing meal trays against the wall. Except that… Melek wasn’t even my healer anymore.
Was that supposed to make me sad? At least my healer never had any expectations of me, other than not running away and eating my food.
What an impossible situation.
I gave an internal shrug. The Commander wasn’t all that hard to look at. That thought was fucked up with a capital F, but I quickly justified it by telling myself it could have been worse. He had no horns. No tentacles. Wasn’t a six-legged insect.
We had already established he had a penis.
If he gave me freedom, wouldn’t it be okay to agree? Would that make me a traitor? I preferred the word martyr.
But a child…
Who wanted to raise a child in this new world, occupied by the Vetusians? Could I even love that child? But that child would be one of many — the existence of hybrids inevitable.
Footsteps!
They sliced through my pondering, and I quickly hurried over to the couch to lie down. I rolled myself up fetal-style. Face toward the backrest. Slowing my breath into something even.
I had no nerves for another confrontation.
The footsteps turned heavier, closer, leaving absolutely no doubt it was him. My muscles tensed at each thomp echoing from the white-tiled floor. His scent climbed into my nostrils before his boots came to a stop.
I felt his gaze slithering up and down my side, literally sprouting goosebumps wherever I sensed it. Calm and even, his breath tickled along my cheek and drifted down to my collarbone, turning me dizzy and disgusted.
I wanted him to disappear so badly.
Hated him so much, I was tempted to lash out.
Thomp… thomp…
Two more steps and a set of fingers trailing over my hair in a not-so-gentle caress. Then his feet shuffled on and slowly, so slowly, faded away into the hallway.
I couldn’t move. Stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, my body too terrified to flinch, my mind too wrecked to manage a coherent thought.
Eventually, I unrolled myself and got up, sneaking over to the archway. The hall was dark, the black gap to his office telling me he had gone upstairs. I grabbed the metal rail and put one step tentatively in front of the other, my toes curling each time they made contact with the cold marble.
Black silence loomed over the Commander's quarters.
Except for the faint white noise coming from upstairs. Like a rushing of water mixed with static, and a thin line of light pushing through from underneath the door.
Was he still awake?
I sneaked back into the living area, cursing each crack occasionally sounding from my toes and ankles. This place was breathtaking really, and it was hard not to be impressed. Gentle gulps splashed from the pool where the surface of the pinkish-gray water broke against the stone-lined edge.
I sat down by the edge instead, lowering my legs into the water until it reached halfway up my calves.
Hissing in a strangled breath, I stared at the liquid.
The water clung to my skin. Which is what water usually did, but not like this! It stuck to me like molten metal, pulling me into the pool. My hands slipped on the wet tile.
Tk! Head met floor, sending a stabbing pain deep into my brain.
Water came next, all surrounding, dragging me down.
Swim!
I kicked my legs and paddled my arms.
My muscles seared from the strain of fighting something that could just as well have been tar. Within seconds, the fight singed my lungs, and each breath I struggled in all but burst my nostrils.
“Hel…phl…phl…” The surface of the water quickly caught up with my upper lip.
The bitter end loomed before me.
I was drowning.
Weird what kind of thoughts zigzag through your mind while you make peace with the fact.
At least I won’t have to decide the impossible.
I closed my eyes as my head submerged. And then I just let go, allowing the lagoon to pull me lower and lower. My lungs struggled for air. How long until I would breathe in?
My mind turned dizzy, dark.
I barely noticed the tug on my waist.
A set of muscular arms wrapped around me and the water quickly pooled away from my face. I rasped in a sharp breath, followed by coughing.
“Sert,” came in Vetusian. “This is my fault…”
My back shoved along the edge of the pool.
Spine met the cold, unforgiving tiles.
Then the strong arms picked me up and cradled me against an even stronger chest, the voice which spoke to me barely able to hide the panicky undertone. “Look at me, Eden!”
And I did.
I opened my heavy eyes, only to have them lock with the green gaze of the Commander.
“You could have died,” he snarled, his fingertips brushing wisps of wet hair from my face. “Whoever claims I’m a danger to myself should be forced to spend three hours in your presence.”
“The w-water…”
“Imitates the gravity of Cultum, my home planet. As I am certain you have noticed, it is much too strong for your body. I should have told you before I left, but I am not accustomed to sharing my quarters.”
He swooped me into his arms and set into motion, carrying me through the hall and up the stairs into his bedroom, his heart drumming against my ear.
“What are you doing?”
“The water contains metals. We have to wash them off. Did you swallow any of it?”
I ripped my eyes off his and let them trail down, realizing how his bare chest expanded against my soaked dress.
“Eden!”
“Huh?” A flinch rattled through my body, bringing my gaze back up. “No, I don’t think so.”
From his bedroom, he carried me through a door into what must have been the bathroom, the command of his voice letting water rain down from the center of the milky-white ceiling.
He lowered me down, warm water drumming against my scalp. His hands rested on my waist, only slowly easing away once I stood without swaying.
Drenched and heavy, the fabric of the dress shoved over my skin. It went over my hips and along my ribcage. Before I realized what was going on, the Commander had pulled it over my head, leaving me naked, exposed.
What was happening?
I should have done something.
Kick him in the shins.
Put up a fight.
But all I could do was breathe and replenish those oxygen-deprived lungs.
“I asked you not to touch things you have no knowledge of,” he said, fingers working through my wet strands.
His hands slid down my chest, kneading into my breasts before I swung my arms up to cover them. Unease gripped me with the same tightness as the pool.
“That’s a bit generic, don’t you agree? All I did was hang my leg into the water and…” I forced my voice to trail off. I didn’t owe him an explanation. “I think I can take care of myself from here.”
Even from my lowered head, ashamed and embarrassed, I could tell how he observed my naked body. His gaze left my skin pebbled wherever it trailed, his little pants of breath concerning. So was h
is arousal, which was so obvious now that his black shorts were soaked. The glistening fabric clung so tightly to him I could see the outline of his long shaft.
“What is your decision?”
I must have imagined that.
Must have been in shock, my mind conjuring up all sorts of illusions. Surely, he wouldn’t ask me that after I almost drowned? But then his hand settled against my chin.
With one tug, he raised my eyes to meet his. “You will tell me what you have decided.”
My heart beat fast and frantic.
I wasn’t ready to make a decision.
Probably would never be.
“You said I have until tomorrow.”
“The healer was correct. Your sense of time is indeed compromised.” His thumb pressed underneath my chin while his fingers caressed my cheeks, his eyes dark with hunger. “It’s three in the morning local Earth time, which makes this tomorrow. I demand you inform me of your decision.”
He released my face, but only to let his hand trail to the back of my head. He shoved it against the crook underneath his bulging pectoral, giving me a good look at the thick, jagged scar which trailed down the muscle. It thinned over his stacked abs, where another one started and trailed back up. He looked every bit the warrior he was, his body well-conditioned, his muscles defined.
The more I tried to pull away from him, the harder he held me. “I need more time. I… I can’t —”
“You’ll tell me your decision, Eden.” His deep voice verged on a predatory growl. “Or I will personally carry you back to your room right now before I do something I couldn’t possibly justify.”
His body coiled around mine while he let his other hand roam between us, the tremble of his hand seeping into my skin. I wasn’t ready to decide. Or perhaps that’s what I told myself because I knew I didn’t want to be locked up for two years. Not even one year. Not even another day.
Without warning, his fingers climbed into my panties, stroking through a fluff of hair while he lost a groan to the crook of my neck. “Tell me what it is you want of me, anything, and I give you my word of honor I’ll deliver it to you.”
His words contained another demand, yet the desperate undertone of it lingered. If I negotiated well for myself, would it then be okay to agree?
“Anything?”
“Anything in my power.” He gripped my hip and pressed me against his cock, his breath turning more labored as his lust built. “Whatever it takes to give your body to me. Here. Now.”
I took one final, deep breath, my lips trembling against his chest. “I want to leave your quarters a-and Ardev Five as s-soon as possible.”
“You shall have it.”
“That’s not all.” I swallowed desperately, panic threatening to make me stammer whatever followed. “I want you to find my family. In addition to that, I want you to allow every female on this ship at least one hour a day during which she can leave her room.”
“Not possible. The infrastructural challenges alone —”
“No deal then,” I said, faking as much conviction as my vocal cords let me.
His hand quickly fisted my hair, pulling and straining until he forced me to look up at him. “Don’t mistake my effort to negotiate with weakness, Eden, mocking me with demands outside the realm of what’s reasonable.”
He watched me from narrowed eyes, as if searching for vulnerability, terror rushing through my veins. And yet I noticed how, now and then, his gaze slipped to my lips.
“You said you’d give me everything in your power.” My throat jumped as I swallowed, my neck strained with the way he held it. “I have no idea who or what you are, but I know you can pull some strings.”
He let out a grunt. “Why would you concern yourself with the other females?”
I stared up at him, sensing how my lips peeled back from my teeth, letting my words come out a mean snarl. “One hour each day.”
“Thirty minutes.”
“Okay… thirty minutes.”
His hand remained with strands of my hair fisted between his fingers, while the other fumbled between us. Smooth and hard, something that can only have been the crown of his cock trailed over my stomach.
“Wait,” I screamed, my mind racing. “There are two more things.” His mouth twisted and his nostrils flared, but I kept on talking. “This doesn’t allow you to fuck me whenever you feel like it. No more than once a day. Not at all if I’m sick or injured, or if I have my period.”
“And the second thing?” he asked. “The very last thing you’re asking of me?”
“I want freedom… from you. As soon as I am pregnant, I want you out of my life. You will provide for the child and me like you said you would, but other than that, you’ll leave me alone.”
His eyes narrowed for long seconds, the way his pupils jumped over my face giving him a wary expression. As if he had to carefully consider this last demand, his internal conflict playing out all over his hard features.
“I agree to your terms,” he finally said, pushing me out from underneath the water before he grabbed a towel from the wall and haphazardly dried my hair. “And now you will tell me that you agree as well and stand by your word like I’ll stand by mine.”
My body turned acutely aware of everything. The way water ran down my back in slow rivulets. How my nipples hardened at the chill settling all around me. And then I said it.
“I agree.”
I had sold myself out.
Without another second wasted, he lost his pants to the ground and picked me up once more. He carried me out of the bathroom and lowered me onto his bed, the blanket clinging to my damp skin as if it tried to tie me down.
“Spread your legs,” he demanded, prying his hips between my thighs with such force, my lungs seized all function.
I stared back at him, whimpering as he grabbed his cock at the base. He lowered himself down on me. The tip nudging on my pussy. With one rough thrust, it seared along my dry walls as he entered me. My wail sounded through the room, quickly turning into labored breathing, my muscles aching to adjust to his girth.
He hesitated for a moment, his brows furrowed, and his head tilted as if he tried to make sense of my reaction. Then he began pumping. As if on instinct, my hands fell onto his shoulders, trying to push him away from me or at least slow his pace.
Tsk!
The way he slapped my hands away, seared against my knuckles. “Do not touch me.”
But my hands refused to listen and climbed back up, shoving against his chest, feeling his rubbery scars at my fingertips.
The Commander let out a grunt and pulled out, grabbing me by the hips and tossing me onto my stomach as he snarled, “I told you not to touch me.”
Pinned between the mattress and his heavy palm sitting between my shoulder blades, my breasts ached underneath me. He invaded me once more in the same way he had invaded my planet: hard, relentless, and violent.
His moans were subtle as if he pressed his lips together as not to let them pass. But his strokes were deep and unforgiving.
What had I agreed to?
Whatever I had negotiated held no measure to this, and the realization of it made tears roll onto the silky blanket as he rutted behind me.
It didn’t take him long. Another four thrusts maybe before his movements turned jerky and eventually stalled altogether.
He spurted inside me, shuttling back a little before he pushed deep once more. It was all over in less than two minutes, yet every second had felt like an eternity.
Shaken and used, I lay on the bed motionless as he pulled out of me, wiping his cock with the corner of the blanket before he slipped underneath it.
He left me there, my body too shocked to move, as I only said one thing. “At least you were fast.”
Chapter 9
Torin
Mating Eden hadn’t been the most conscious of choices.
But holding her naked body against mine, touching those breasts which would soon feed my child, devastated all
control. I had to have her no matter the cost.
And the cost proved high indeed.
In the end, the experience hadn’t quite lived up to my fantasy. Where droids self-lubricated, Eden hadn’t. Entering her had required significant force. The way she had reacted to my every move, every shift of my balance was… confusing. It brought an unexpected dimension I hadn’t been prepared to explore. Not that I would have had the time.
A shiver went down my spine, remembering how her mating cleft had wrapped around my shaft. The friction had been too much to bear, and I had emptied myself at the mouth of her womb quickly.
At least you were fast.
Her words still floated over me, their meaning obscure.
No matter how many Earth languages mentor Nifal had taught me since my childhood, the way her body answered mine eluded me. But was that of any importance?
Technically, the mating had been a success.
There was nothing else to want.
Now it was time for me to stand by my word.
“Don’t move,” I said, placing Eden’s hand onto the molecular coding panel of my office. “You will feel a prick against each fingertip.”
Of course, she moved.
Whatever I commanded, she did the opposite.
But by the time Eden pulled her hand off the unit sucking in a sharp breath, tiny droplets of blood already pooled on her fingertips.
“You can now access all of Ardev Five as long as we don’t restrict the area.” Grabbing a tissue from my pocket, I wiped the blood off her hand. “Airlocks require an additional code, which I’ll teach you once you can handle that much freedom without doing something stupid.”
She answered with a shrug, but not just any. No, it was the seventh one I’d counted ever since she came downstairs. My mate’s demeanor appeared quiet on the outside, but a rage simmered in the depths of her eyes I had never witnessed before. It poured out of her in cold glances and cutting glares, making my chest bulge with unease.
“You didn’t sleep well?”
Eyes downcast, she gave shrug number eight. “It’s kinda hard with the lights on all night, and that white noise rushing.”
“I dislike sleeping in silence.”
As I did sleeping in darkness.
