Stolen and Seduced

by Christine Pope

  It was practiced in his kind.

  Now, however, with such time passed, he did not think the wound would heal so seamlessly.

  Rex heard her breathing quicken. She held herself tense, preparing for the pain she had experienced the first time he fed from her. A deep ache blossomed in his chest. A pain unrelated to the cracked ribs or the injuries he sustained from the Skarn's punishment.

  This pain came from deep in his two hearts.

  "Lena..." He whispered, knowing she could still hear him, pressed as she was so close to the wall. "I regret you experienced agony the first time. I could not hold back. It is meant to be a pleasant sensation."

  "Pleasant?" Lena laughed, harshly. "You're sucking my blood. That's not supposed to be pleasant."

  "I will be gentle," he said, wishing to ease her fears. "This will not pain you as before."

  "Yeah, okay. Just do it and get it over with so we can get out of here. Please."

  Her voice was strained, filled with anxiety and apprehension. She did not believe him, yet her arm remained in place.

  "I promise you, Lena. Even if I devour every drop of your blood, you will enjoy the pleasure it brings as you die in my arms."

  "Let's try not to let that happen," she said, nervous laughter echoing in the cell. "You know, the dying part."

  Rex's thumb strayed from her hand to the tender skin of her wrist. He caressed the rapid flutter of her pulse. Her fingers tightened into a fist.

  He needed to calm her. Relax her. He couldn't simply bite and feed. That wouldn't bring her the pleasure he desired for her to experience.

  He removed his thumb and gently replaced it with his lips. He kissed the inside of her wrist, lightly placing his mouth over the pulsing vein. A tremble shook her arm. He wasn't sure if it was fear or a flash of the desire he promised, but he continued to press soft kisses along her wrist and onto her clenched fist.

  One by one, he used his thumb to release her fist, opening her fingers until her palm spread open. Slowly, he massaged her palm with his thumb, pressing gentle circles into the muscles. Then he worked each digit, soothing the tension he felt there. His kisses followed, his tongue flicking to taste the saltiness of her skin.

  He took one digit into his mouth, wrapping his tongue around her fingertips, caressing her, licking, suckling.

  She shivered again but didn't pull away.

  When he finished with her fingers, he trailed soft kisses back to her forearm. As his mouth neared her wound, her fingers drew closed, expecting pain once again. He cupped the back of her hand with his palm, intertwining their fingers together to prevent her from closing hers into a fist. The blood would flow more freely with her fingers outstretched.

  Once his attention was on her wound, he held back the urge to pierce her skin with his sharpened fangs. His hunger was great, the madness had not passed, but he fought to contain his composure. He would not let the madness consume him. He would give Lena pleasure as she gave him her life's blood.

  He licked the swollen flesh of her wound, letting the enzymes of his saliva soak into her skin, numbing it to prepare for his feeding.

  She gasped. It wasn't a sound of pain, rather surprise.

  With tender gentleness, he touched her with tongue and lips. His saliva would also help to heal her ravaged skin, although because of the delay, he knew she would forever bear the mark of her turmoil. He could only hope that she would forgive him in time.

  He took his time. They were in no hurry so long as the Skarn did not discover the missing device. Rex gambled their chance at freedom, but he would not proceed if it meant hurting Lena again.

  At last, he felt the tension within the muscles of her arm ease. She relaxed into him, her hand going lax in his palm. He nuzzled his mouth to her wound, pressing his lengthened fanged eyeteeth into her flesh, piercing her skin to gain access to the blood pulsing beneath.

  Unlike their previous encounter, Lena did not scream or pass out from the savagery of his feeding. This time, when she inhaled sharply as he sank his teeth into her, the sound was more pleasure-filled than pained. Her fingers opened wide in his palm, his still intertwining her digits, clasping her to him.

  He drank eagerly as the hot liquid pooled within his mouth. He lapped gently, reverently, grateful to Lena for the sensations her blood provided. His belly filled, the warmth spreading throughout his body with a deep glow. He grew heady from it. Inebriated by the blood that spilled into his body.

  She tasted provocatively sweet, unlike any creature he'd ever known. Full of wildness, freedom, exhilaration. Untamed breezes on hot summer days. Luscious mountain water rushing into a lifeless desert.

  As he relished her flavor, he gathered the energy her blood provided to focus on healing the injuries done to his leg. Using his newfound strength, he concentrated on knitting the bone together, stitching the torn muscle and flesh.

  Ever mindful of the amount he consumed, he knew he'd need to stop soon. Otherwise, she'd lose it all. He'd devour her, filling himself with her warmth, her essence, her life.

  With the madness still deeply entrenched within him, Rex fought to control himself. Now that he had her arm clasped in his hands, he could think of nothing more than her blood.

  Still he fought, aware that every drop he took from Lena would need to be replenished. He couldn't take her life. Not when she put her trust in him.

  His fingers tightened around her arm, keeping her close to him even as he licked the wound closed. He swallowed hard, the desire to press his fangs back into her skin nearly too much to bear.

  He wanted to keep feeding, but he had to let her go.

  Still, he kept her arm clasped in his tightening grip.

  "Rex?" Lena's voice broke through his self-induced torment.

  He swallowed with immense difficulty as he attempted to force himself to release his fingers from her arm. He couldn't let go.

  "Lena..." His voice was hoarse with hunger and need. His body tight, hardened with wanting more than blood.

  This was new.

  He'd never become aroused while feeding. Never in all the years since his youth had he ever desired a woman in the way he felt for this little human. If she were in the same cell with him, he feared he'd do more than simply drink her blood.

  His reetho twitched, reminding him how long he'd been without a female companion.

  "Rex? Are you in pain? Is something wrong?"

  He grimaced, his heart pounding with hunger, desire and need.

  "I don't want to stop." His confession frightened her as he knew it would. The muscles in her arm clenched, but only for a moment. He'd hoped she would fight him. But what could she do? He had her arm in his grasp. She was most vulnerable in this position.

  "Rex..." A forced calm filled Lena's voice as it carried to his ears. "You can do this. We can get out of here. You want off this ship as much as I do. Maybe even more. You can let me go."

  No screaming. No begging. Not from Lena.

  He'd hoped she would. He'd bargained that if he heard her tears, the guilt would eat at him and he'd release her.

  Instead, she reminded him in the most subtle of ways why he admired her so. She remained calm, determined, unbreakable even in the face of possible death.

  Release her! Release her now before you destroy the most beautiful creature you've ever encountered.

  He could kill her now. Drain her dry. Use every drop of her blood to restore his vitality.

  And then she'd be gone forever.

  Chapter 5

  Lena's heart pounded until she felt his grip ease. One by one, his fingers loosened around her arm, then he gently, yet urgently pushed her hand toward the wall. She yanked her arm back to her chest, amazed there was no pain.

  She stared at the wound, expecting to see it worse than before, but it wasn't. She identified the slash the Skarn had made with the dagger. That part would require stitches. The area where Rex had widened the gash was still there. She thought it would throb, heat lancing up her arm as i
t had the first time.

  But she felt nothing.

  Only the lingering tingle from where he fed.

  Quickly, she re-wrapped the makeshift cloth bandage around the wound as she sat on the floor, remembering what occurred when Rex began kissing her wrist.

  Lena had masked her terror as bravely as she could. This had to be done. She needed Rex's help to escape. More so, after what she'd seen the Skarn put him through and the things she pieced together from their conversations, Rex needed his freedom, too.

  Seeing the things done to him, the cruelty he withstood because of his refusal to touch her. He'd saved her life.

  The Skarn had wanted him to feed from her, drain her completely with her father watching. Rex hadn't let them.

  If she had doubted him, that act alone had erased it.

  And then he had kissed her wrist...

  The tingling, the pleasant warmth that spread with the contact of his mouth on her skin. The sensations he provoked, the tenderness he displayed as he prepared to feed from her had been unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Who knew massaging a hand could feel so erotic?

  Lena had tried to view the experience as a bargain. She gives him her blood to heal. He helps her escape. But it felt more than that. More intimate than she had imagined.

  She'd been prepared to feel disgusted by the act, especially since she remembered his earlier feeding so keenly.

  This time... this time, he hadn't lied that it had been one of the most pleasurable experiences in her life. The tingling sensation he created with his lips, tongue and mouth sent straight from the tips of her fingers to the tips of her toes, bringing a heady warmth to everywhere in between.

  Was he using some kind of aphrodisiac? Some chemical in his saliva that not only numbed the pain in her arm but aroused her as well?

  And Lena couldn't deny it. Rex's tongue and mouth had turned her on. In a big way. Heat had pooled between her thighs. Several times, she thought she might orgasm from the way he nibbled at her skin, biting, sucking, licking. She wished this wall weren’t between them so he could move his tongue to other areas of her body.

  She wondered if humans and Rhan were compatible. They appeared humanoid. Did they procreate in the same ways as humans?

  After she thought it the first time, she couldn't get it out of her head. She barely knew him, but the way he treated her, the tenderness in which he held her arm, had been heartachingly beautiful.

  And when he'd had his fill, when he knew if he took any more of her blood it would harm her, he let her go. Even though he confessed he couldn't, he did.

  She knew then that Rex would never harm her. No matter what happened, her faith in him grew substantially at that moment. After they got off this ship together, she planned to take a closer look at what occurred between them. Take an account of these emotions swirling within her. Were they her own or produced by this alien?

  After Lena finished wrapping her arm, she slipped her arm back into the jacket Rex had given, then knelt on her knees to press her face back to the crack in the wall to check on Rex.

  While he had slept, she widened the crack as far as possible until she discovered the metal bars hidden beneath the plaster. The sight of those bars reinforced the fact that she and Rex were prisoners. Now, she gripped a bar with one hand, pressing her forehead against it to investigate the other room.

  "Rex?"

  Again, she couldn't view him completely. He had collapsed back to the floor after releasing her arm. His body spasmed, but he didn't speak.

  "Rex!" She tightened her fingers around the bar, wishing she could pull it apart to get to him. "What's happening? Are you okay?"

  He said nothing, only groaned.

  Worry and fear collided in her heart as the many possibilities of what might be occurring flew through her brain. Did this always happen after a Rhan fed? She didn't know. She'd fainted the first time. Had he convulsed in his room while she'd slept on that metal bench?

  "Rex, tell me you're okay."

  If he could give her some sign, some indication that he was all right, she wouldn't worry. If this was part of the process…

  But what if it wasn't?

  What if her blood was poison? The thought flashed into her mind. Horror filled her.

  Rex had never fed from a human. What if her blood wasn't compatible? Humans had learned during their early days of space travel that they needed to beware of alien plants and animals on other planets. Just as on Earth, some were poisonous and deadly.

  Was her blood poisonous to him? Had she just killed him?

  She'd wanted to help, not hurt him.

  Panic spread, chasing away any lingering effects of the euphoria she'd experienced during the feeding. She grabbed the device she had tucked inside Rex's jacket. She stood, facing the door to her room. She fumbled with the device, nearly dropping it as her hands shook.

  Previously, she hadn't pushed any of the buttons on the device, for fear of alerting her captors. She had wanted Rex to look at it first, see if he could figure it out. He'd been here far longer. He knew more about the Skarn and this ship.

  But now, Rex maybe dying in the room next to her and she couldn't just sit and watch. She had to do something. She had to help him. Something. Anything.

  Lena started pushing buttons. She didn't know if it was a combination or what. The first few did nothing. Well... nothing that she saw. Who knew what actions these buttons may have started elsewhere on the ship? Eventually, she kept pushing until she found the one that opened her door.

  She poked her head into the corridor, looking up and down, but finding no warriors standing guard. She didn't think there would be. The Skarn were assured that she and Rex were tucked safely away, secure in their locked rooms.

  Lena hurried into the corridor to the door leading to Rex, pausing when a wave of dizziness assailed her. She placed her hand on the wall next to the door until the sensation passed. Could be she moved too fast. A side-effect of blood loss, perhaps?

  Once she knew she would not pass out, she kept pushing buttons on the device. Farther down the corridor, two other doors opened. She'd jumped, her heart racing, thinking the Skarn had found her. After a moment, she realized the doors must belong to other cells that she inadvertently activated. She didn't wait to see if the Skarn had any other prisoners locked away. Her only concern was for Rex. She kept pushing buttons until his door slid open.

  He was still on the floor, convulsing.

  "Rex!" Lena rushed into the room, dropping to the floor beside him. "Rex, please don't die."

  His eyes squeezed shut. His left hand clasping his leg. He appeared in great pain.

  "Rex..." Now that she was here, she didn't know what to do to help him. "What can I do? Tell me what to do to help you."

  Lightly, she touched his arm. He flinched, his eyes opening to find her hovering over him.

  "Lena..." The way he spoke her name, in relief and horror, sent a flash of warning through her. She reminded herself that although he was an alien... a Rhan... he would not hurt her. "You shouldn't be here. Go."

  "What's happening? You're in pain."

  He grunted as if resigned to the fact that she wasn't leaving.

  "My leg is healing rapidly." He groaned again. "The experience is quite painful."

  His body trembled as if chilled. She placed her hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. He was warm, not too hot. Not that it mattered. She had no idea what the ideal body temperature for a Rhan should be.

  "What can I do to help?"

  "Go." He grimaced. "I still hunger... It's not safe for you."

  "I'm not going anywhere." It was probably the stupidest thing she'd ever said. Here was a Rhan who had recently fed from her, who admitted he still hungered for her blood, and she sat next to him, a willing victim.

  Yet, there was something deep inside her, a firm conviction that she knew he wouldn't harm her.

  She felt there was a deep connection between them now. Maybe because she shar
ed her blood with him? A resonance filled her with thoughts of him, something stronger than friendship, greater than desire. A completeness she’d never felt. As if he represented a part of her that had been missing her whole life.

  She had second thoughts when he growled, grabbing her left hand. She feared, at first, he would bite her savagely as he had the first time, but he didn't. He pulled her closer, so she sprawled atop him.

  "Why do you stay, human?" His eyes were open, staring with wonder, curiosity and a healthy dose of confusion. He didn't understand her, she realized. He didn't understand why she chose to stay, to come to his room to help him.

  "I... I..." She swallowed hard as she gazed into his ice-blue eyes. Now that she could see him up close, she saw clearly what she'd glimpsed before. He was an alien. There was no denying that fact. His long, silvery-blond hair tangled into what could only be compared to dreadlocks. There was a small bony ridge on his brow that extended down the bridge of his nose.

  His skin wasn't merely blue. It was opalescent. Shades of blue, like marble, swirled throughout his skin upon closer inspection. She'd thought before his eyes were icy blue, but as she rested her arm lightly on his chest, she realized there were flecks of green mingled in the iris of his eyes.

  He was beautiful.

  Not only that, but her hand spread over his chest, feeling the firm muscle there. Beneath the rags left over from whatever uniform he wore upon capture, she felt a firm physique. Despite the length of time he'd been held prisoner, he must have exercised sufficiently to keep in shape. Or maybe his species were naturally gifted with strong muscles that didn’t diminish.

  Who knew?

  Lena blushed as she realized she was ogling Rex. Here he was, maybe dying, and she was admiring his body like a piece of candy she wanted to devour.

  What was wrong with her?

  "I..." She fought to find words to answer his question. Why did she stay? He deserved to know. "I care about you, Rex."