by Renee Rose
Riya’s back heaves with her quickened breath. Tarren captures her wrists and pulls them over her head, not that she was trying to use them, just to exert his dominance.
I pull out and slam back in. Riya lets out a keening cry. “Jax,” she pants. “Please?”
“No.” I make my voice hard. “What did I say?” I pump harder. Faster. “Do you get to come, naughty girl?”
“No,” she whimpers.
Oh veck she feels so good.
“That’s right.” Somehow, I’m able to keep up my monologue. “When you’re being punished you don’t get to come. You’ll have to sleep all night with your pussy and nipples throbbing because we’re not giving you satisfaction.
She moans. Her muscles tighten around my cock.
“Are you coming?” I snap.
They tighten more. “Uh…”
“Bad. Girl.” I slam in so hard she has to brace her arms against Tarren so she doesn’t shoot across the mattress.
My words don’t matter, though, because we’re both coming. The chamber blurs for me, stars dot my vision. I give an enormous shudder at the end of my release and work to slow my breath.
“Don’t ever leave us again, Riya,” I croak.
I mean it this time. I’m not playing at punishment.
If she ever left us, I don’t know how we’d recover.
A shiver runs through Riya and something pricks my conscious. Something I should pay attention to, but I can’t quite figure out what it is.
All I know is that Riya requires something more from us, and not in the sleeping chamber. We’re missing some important piece to making her happy.
I need to solve it. Soon.
10
Riya
I step out to my lab, a small workdome where I start my seedlings and work on projects. The males set it up for me not long after we arrived, as a favor, not sure what I’d do with it. But their smiles, once indulgent, soon turned to looks of pride as I became adept at creating things. They enter with respect now, and nod with approval when I tell them of my successes. This is no longer just a hobby, but my mission, and every time I provide something new for the homesteaders, our whole team is proud. Lately I devote more time than ever to my efforts.
When they gently scold me for my late nights in here, trace the tired shadows under my eyes with concerned fingers, I laugh and look away, stating that I want to work as hard as they do and help our planet succeed. And if I don’t hide my mania completely, I hope they attribute my frantic need to succeed as my nature. After all, they are competitive at core, and understand ambition.
This planet rotation my mates occupy all my thoughts.
Thank our long-lost Mother Earth they showed me mercy in their punishments last night.
When Tarren first picked me up, I experienced genuine fear. My mates love me, yes, but I hadn’t tested them before.
Now I’m absolutely certain of their love.
Which only twists up my gut all the more. Every planet rotation that passes draws me closer to the day I’ll have to leave them. Closer to the day they figure out I’m not a suitable mate, because they deserve someone who can give them honesty… and young. In such a short time, they’ve become my entire universe. I seriously don’t know how I’ll survive without them.
But, on the bright side, my troublesome trip is yielding information fit for a king. I exclaim to myself as I tap the fine, white powder from my separation cloth, letting it fall in a chalky stream into a clean container.
“Mother Earth.” It’s a prayer, although I don’t pray, and a sign of gratitude to life for granting me this bounty.
I’ve figured out the Agrax and separated out the precious acid into a soluble salt. When added to a lotion, it will provide pain relief to wounds and aching muscles. When taken internally, it can cure pain. Dr. Daneth has so many amazing things from around the galaxy, but I’m sure that my concoction can stand alongside them. After all, it’s from nature, and it’s free from side effects. And it will scale nicely into mass production, if we choose, to be readily available to all Zandians.
I pored over Dr. Daneth’s holo file of known medicines, and this one is not in the log. It used to be used on Earth long ago, with only mild success listed, so it was never proliferated around the galaxy. But knowing what I do about how Zandian skin is far more sensitive to certain Earth botanicals than humans, I believe it will be ten times more effective than it was for human bodies. Maybe more!
Tired now, even in my exuberance, I stow away my equipment for later use.
“Riya?” Ronan knocks at the door, then enters. “You’re always in here. I miss you in the evenings.” He gives me a mock sad gaze. “You’re much prettier than my two cousins, and you know I would never want to veck them.”
I burst out laughing. “Yes, thankfully.”
“Did you hear the news?” His face lights up as he pulls me into an embrace, his strong arms pulling me close to his strong chest.
I snuggle up to him and kiss his collarbone. “What news? Did you do the impression of Tarren on the job site this planet rotation and make everyone collapse with mirth?”
“No.” He taps my ass. “Your smart mouth will get you into trouble, little human.”
“Maybe I like your kind of trouble.” I push my body into his.
He growls, and then, as if unable to focus until he gets the words, out, he pulls back to look at my face. “Riya, three more human women have announced their pregnancies. That makes six already. And by the way Zorra’s mate was smiling, I am nearly positive that she is growing a young, too, but he didn’t want to say.” His smile is wide, and he is nearly dancing with glee. “I just know we’ll be next. I can feel it.”
My fingers twitch. Every one of the early teams is now expecting a child… except ours. My stomach churns and I feel bile in my throat and swallow it back down with some difficulty. “That’s a blessing,” I choke. “How wonderful for Zandia.”
Instead of looking up at him, I press my cheek to his bare chest, feeling the thump of his heart, steady and even. Strong. Powerful. His body is so compact and beautiful, so perfect to sire a child who could take up arms for this planet.
“Every human has their own schedule.” Ronan’s voice sounds sober now and strokes my shoulders. “It doesn’t matter who is first, or how long it takes.” He still seems confident, happy. I wonder how long it will take before the tone in his voice changes to a question, then to anxiety—weeks? Lunar cycles? “You will be soon.”
My stomach knots. “Of course.” My breath puffs against his skin. “Every being is unique.”
Some of us have been ruined.
“And,” he adds, tipping my chin up with his finger to smile into my face, “We should get in some more practice, just to ensure that we are doing everything we can.”
“You should practice licking me to orgasm,” I suggest.
Please. Distract me from this pain.
“And use your nice, thick Zandian cock to drive me insane with desire.” I cup him with one hand, relishing how he gets even harder under my touch. “You know I adore your malehood,” I whisper, biting his nipple.
He roars and slaps my ass, then orders, “Do it again. Harder.”
I smile and lick his skin, then bite down again, feeling him tense under my touch. Maybe my Zandian likes a rougher touch himself, sometimes? I smile. “Want me to spank you, Ronan? I don’t mind. Just bend over, and hand me that strap—”
I scream in delight as he scoops me up and tosses me over his shoulder, landing a flurry of slaps on my thighs. “Spanking is on the agenda, but it will be on your ass, not mine. And just for asking, I’ll use the strap on you, sweet human.”
“Oh, no, please, I’ll be good,” I beg, but we both know I love it when he straps me for pleasure.
Riya
Is something on your mind?” Tarren puts his hand across my shoulder and squeezes.
“No.” Yes. The same thing always circling my mind. I’m driving myself mad wi
th stress. “Just enjoying the sunset. Look at the sky, how the oranges and blues merge together.” I survey the distance. “As if they’re melting. And then sparkle on the horizon. I learned the dust in the air, crystal dust, is what gives the sky that special shimmer at dusk.”
“You are turning into a scholar lately.” There is no disapproval in his voice, at least none that I can hear, but I stiffen under his touch.
How can I explain that studying has become an obsession for me now? I have to prove my worth somehow.
“Does that bother you?” I keep my voice light, but focus on the distance, watching as the edges of the purple mountains glisten, their outlines a sparkly darker line.
“Riya?” He touches my chin. “You seem…” he hesitates, possibly searching for a word. “Troubled, lately.”
I blink fast and smile. “I’m just motivated to work hard.”
“You work hard enough for three beings,” he declares, the first sign of frustration breaking through his even tone. “I am concerned that you don’t get enough rest. I noticed that lately you rise far earlier than you ever did, sometimes well before the sun is risen. I’ve heard humans require more sleep than we do, and you’re not getting it.”
My stomach bunches up in knots. “I hope you’re not suggesting that I stop my work in the lab with plants.” I cross my arms.
A flicker of surprise gives way to a stubborn scowl. “Of course not! But something is making you restless, and I want to know what it is.”
I bite my lip and look away, unable to meet his eyes. There is a subtle tension in our dome now, and I can’t tell if it’s all caused by me and my worries about being the only first homestead human not to be pregnant or not. But my mates must have it on their mind; everyone talks constantly about who’s expecting young, and when, and by whom. It’s exhausting to keep smiling when I want to scream and toss myself onto the ground and weep with despair at the whole thing.
How did I possibly think I could do this? A wave of nausea hits me, and I put my hand to my mouth.
“You’re pale,” Tarren says, touching my cheek. “Are you eating enough?” I see him dart a quick glance down at my flat belly, and then back up to my eyes, as if he didn’t want me to see him looking.
“I’m eating fine. All the right nutrients for… that are recommended,” I stumble, not wanting to bring it up. I’m eating the right diet to prepare for pregnancy. One that cannot happen, though.
“Are you concerned about… not…” He touches my stomach, spreads out his fingers. The warmth makes me catch my breath, and I feel the usual surge of arousal, but the topic makes me unhappy.
“No,” I snap, and try to soften it by touching his face, tracing his scar. “You will be an amazing father someday, Tarren, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.” It won’t be with me, but it will happen. To my horror, tears well up in my eyes and I blink. “I’m just preoccupied with a class I’m putting together on stem grafts and propagation for the other dome humans,” I lie.
Tarren sighs. “You know you can trust me—all of us.”
“I do know that.” I lean into his arms.
“Then please trust me with what is troubling you.”
“I told you already. Just the classes, and some things I want to accomplish in my lab.”
“Is there something we’re not providing for you?” He looks into my eyes. “You are unhappy, Riya, I can see it. Are we not giving you what you need?” He pauses. “To be successful as a bonded team for the future, we need to be honest with each other. It’s what honorable beings do.”
Right. Because Zandians don’t lie. How will they feel about all my deceptions, then? Every day I dig myself deeper and deeper.
To my shock, I see uncertainty in his gaze. How is it possible that this strong, fierce Zandian, who has protected and served his planet with honor, defeated a thousand enemy warriors, can feel less than confident?
I don’t have it in me to give him any further lies, so I turn away. “Everything is fine,” I tell him, my voice low. “I just want to be alone to think about my projects.”
He is silent, and then he touches my arm once and walks away, leaving me to the sunset. Now I let the tears fall, and the colors refract like a thousand shards of glass through the droplets, as the sun hovers and then sinks fast over the edge of the world.
11
Jax
You want what?” But King Zander turns aside and holds up a hand for me to wait. He is down at the loading dock, giving orders. “Did you optimize the genetics for the next teams?” He’s speaking to Dr. Daneth via holo-chat. “This round will be more sensitive, because although we wish to have mates set up for ideal genetic matches, we don’t want to force humans or Zandians into life-long situations they despise.” He runs a hand across his mouth.
I step away because I’m sure I’m not supposed to overhear this sensitive information.
After some short discussion with the doctor, he closes the holo and turns to me. “Jax.”
“My lord.” I bow.
“How is your repopulation effort going?” He raises one eyebrow, and not for the first time, I get a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach at the question. At first, it was a fun thing to discuss, the idea of young. Now, I force myself not to snarl.
I shake my head. “No news yet, but I’m sure it will happen soon.” I force a smile. “There is no lack of… coupling, in our dome.” We’re insatiable, all of us. I cannot even count the times.
But something makes me blurt, “King Zander… weren’t you going to send us Riya’s slave records? So we’d have her history?”
She doesn’t wish to talk about her past, and we never force her—I don’t wish to trigger her past memories. But I feel that if we learned more about her, we could be better mates to her.
I can’t describe the feeling I get from Riya lately. We’re all wound up, eager to work hard, anticipation and anxiety filling our chests by turn, but there’s something about her that seems melancholy. When she stares out a window, her hand propped on her chin, seeing something a million miles distant inside her mind. I think there is something she needs from us that we are not providing. Is she unhappy with us? Are we not enough for her? When I ask her if anything is wrong, she is quick to say no and distract me with a comment or a kiss. Maybe the documentation holds a clue.
“Oh, did the data never get sent?” Zander turns and voice commands another holo to open. “I’ll have them bring it now and pack it with your things. I fear my assistant was busy with settlement planning.”
“It’s not a rush,” I say, and flex my fingers, although if I had it my way, he’d go fetch it immediately.
Zander’s mouth quirks into a small smile, as if he can read my mind. “Everything is a rush,” he corrects. “But some things need more of a rush than others.” He hands me a box. “Here are more heirloom Earth seeds for Riya. These arrived last planet rotation—rare ones I obtained from Midraxx. Lamira’s already growing starts in the palace. Riya can consult with her if she needs to, but I imagine she’ll know what to do with them.”
Pride at my mate swells in my chest, as if I have anything to do with her concoctions. “Before you arrived, Dr. Daneth was raving, as much as he does, about her salicylic acid preparation. He says it’s the most novel thing he’s seen in years. He offered her this.”
He adds a holo reader to the box. I open it and see strange symbols, numbers. “Math?” I tilt my head.
“And chemistry. She understands it, apparently—and has already done things on her own, without training, that experienced chemists struggle to do. Dr. Daneth said she could have been a scholar, a real doctor, if she wasn’t born a human. I mean, a slave. Maybe she still can be. She’s smart. Take good care of her.”
“I do. We do. Always.”
Riya
So I’ll see you on the EM holo call this week?” Lily’s smile brightens her entire face. I’m visiting her in the capital because Jax had to come and pick up some equipment. He figur
ed I’d like to come along and see my human friends.
I shake my head. “I’m not… expecting. So I wasn’t planning on it. I have a lot of work to do, anyway.”
“Are your mates working you too hard?” Lily’s delicate features turn to a frown. “I wouldn’t have thought it of them, because they have a reputation for being fair, but if it’s too much you can always—”
“It’s me. I have set difficult goals for myself.” I touch her arm. “My mates have been nothing but kind and supportive.” A flush stains my cheeks as I think about just how supportive in the sleeping chamber.
“Oh, that’s a relief.” She smiles, but looks at me with tilted head when I don’t join in. “Is there something wrong?”
“No. I just don’t want to join the holo meeting if I have nothing to add.”
“But you will be an Expectant Mother soon, Riya! Even I may be able to conceive. When I was sterilized to become a sex slave, they made the procedure reversible. So Dr. Daneth performed a surgery and now… we’re trying.”
She blushes.
“I didn’t know you wanted to have babies. But I suppose it’s required of all of us now?”
Lily frowns. “I don’t know if it’s required. But I guess I do feel like I should do my part. Rok would make a great father, and every baby born will be a step to prevent their species from becoming extinct.
“But the meeting isn’t just about pregnancy, of course, everyone will share ideas, knowledge, tips. You know Zorra is having terrible morning sickness and your ginger preparation helped. She, and you, can talk about that.”
“Oh.” I take a careful breath. “Then, yes, of course I could attend and share information. I wasn’t aware it was required.”
