by Lil Gibson
Her disquieting scrutiny pooled into his unfaltering one for a moment and then she relaxed, equal parts wary and expectant. He went to the front of her slacks and released them expertly. She wondered at his expertise as he stripped her of her slacks and panties in one deft motion. He was pleased with the possessive thought.
"Don’t get too confident, cat man, I still have more weapons."
He looked at her incredulously for an instant; would she continue to fight him? As he studied her, reading the bravado behind her words. Though uncertain, she would trust him in this. Would she again trust him in anything else?
"I have unwrapped the best part first," he crooned softly. "The part that will take me inside you and make you mine beyond challenge." He gently brushed her hips, thighs, and abdomen with the back of his talented fingers. "You are perfectly formed; your legs are long and lithe, you thighs creamy but firm and I can circle your waist with my hands. Your belly is soft as a cloud and slightly rounded to remind me of how our babies will be cradled there; your hips, so small and compact that…" He grew silent and stared as if seeing her for the first time; the width of his one spread hand spanned her hips completely. With their many lessons on touching, why had he never considered her size?
Gattonians, as a race, were larger than earth humans though not so much so that mating constituted a problem; but she was tiny even by earth standards. What had her parents been thinking, and Helen and Marie as well. Would she be capable of carrying their children or, after everything…perish birthing his offspring. He had vowed protection and care, is this how he would repay her?
"I have recalled an obligation that can not be postponed; I must leave, no matter how much I wish to stay," he declared, hurriedly donning a clean uniform and spouting, simultaneously, a non-stop stream of platitudes. "You are exquisite Catarina, I will return as soon as I can. I will send your friends to keep you company." And with a last haunted glance toward nothing in particular, jettisoned through the retreating panel.
* * * *
"What'd you do to your poor Gattonian, Cat?" Angel asked. "Earlier, Carpov told me Zorroc had issued orders regulating our time together. He didn't want the two of us getting between the two of you. And he didn't trust the three of us not to get into mischief." Not that Angel minded overly much. That meant more time with Carpov. He had a serious nature like her own and their specialties in the fields of Biochemistry and Medicine blended surprisingly well. He’d filled her in on what had occurred on Ganz and she had promised to assist him in finding a vaccine to help his people.
Dee snorted, "What'd he think we were gonna do; blow up their ship and float home? Zorroc must be one autocratic alien, but hey, aren't they all," she complained, testing out a hand coordination game she had found in Prolinc's quarters.
Dee and Angel had been delivered to her fifteen minutes before and Dee hadn't stopped pacing and protesting. "I have been quarantined in Prolinc's quarters for hours; locked in, held prisoner—as in 'Most Wanted'," she charged, continuing to circle the room mumbling a constant stream of expletives.
Angel and Cat studied one another. Both acted quieter than usual, each wondering about the other; then as one, shifted their attention to Dee. She acted like a top spinning out of control; neither had seen such erratic behavior from their friend before, but since butting chest with finger on Prolinc, she hadn't been the same.
"And you," directing the telltale finger at Angel, "he told me you were staying with Carpov but had the run of the ship." She took a breath and began winding down to normal Dee mode as she concluded, "and did you know that there are seventy-three women sleeping somewhere on this vessel?"
"Seventy-five not including us," murmured Cat, effectively silencing the room, "the aunts are here too." Before she could explain, Angel interrupted.
"That makes no sense, Cat. Surely, they wouldn't have kidnapped your aunts. What possible use could they be; their reproductive organs probably dried up before any of us were born."
"I think I should be awarded first place for most clueless in the history of gullible dolts. Not only did he use me to kidnap seventy-three innocent women along with the two of you; Zorroc also informed me that Helen and Marie are not my aunts, but citizens of Gattonian. It appears I have Gattonian blood on both sides of my family and they were sent to discern my suitability as a receptacle for Zorroc's sperm." Putting it into that context further flattened Cat's already squished ego. Her two friends resembled twin snapshots of dawning speculation. No one moved for a few moments, taking in the import of the information.
Dee whistled softly. "And you passed."
"Well, that answers the provocative question of why you," Angel summarized.
"Yeah, my model parents set me up. Hell, I don't think they even sold me, they just delivered me to the Gattonians and said "boink yourselves out". I don't care about me, so much, but condemning the two of you on top of it all is beyond forgivable. I've ruined your futures and possibly your lives." She pressed her hands over her eyes to keep the tears from falling.
"It was a plot, Cat, well laid out, and cannily executed. If there is one person blameless in all this, it's you. The fact that they took advantage of your guileless nature is the part I find reprehensible. The lying sneaks," Angel hissed. Just wait until she got Carpov alone, she would hit him where it hurt most both verbally and physically. When her thoughts proceeded to Zorroc, her lips twitched menacingly.
"But that's just it, he didn't lie; I just didn't ask the right questions. If I hadn't been so starry-eyed over his exotic appearance and caught up in his touching lessons this whole thing could probably have been avoided."
"The king of creeps would still have taken you, questions or no and I would’ve shot them out of the sky if they'd left us behind. Actually, they've fallen right into our trap; they might have been able to defeat one of us but not all three together." Dee's light humor in the face of their current disastrous situation made Cat hurt even worse. "Ah, come on Cat lighten up," she coaxed. "It's always been all for one and one for all, what makes you think we'd let you off the hook now. One thing is for sure; I doubt this will be a boring adventure. And look on the bright side, you're starring in you own science fiction movie. Think of the money you'll save on DVDs."
"Humph, if this were a movie, it’d carry a rating of B- on content and an X for adult situations," Cat grumbled morosely.
* * * *
"How do we proceed from here?" Carpov moaned as the three studied the COM in Zorroc's quarters. He had been working hard to gain Angel's trust, but how could he compete with her friends? The three formed an impenetrable force. He glanced at his friends and thought of ways to accomplish the divide and conquer strategy. He would take her tonight and make her acknowledge the bond between them; it was the only way to secure her against her friends' erratic behavior and then he would keep her very, very busy. Carpov grew hard at the prospect.
"She is impossibly tiny, why did I not notice it before? Even her friends dwarf her," Zorroc commented to no one in particular. He would confer with the aunts to get some explanations. Someone should have told him she would be unsuitable because of her size. He wanted in her and the High Council depended on him to impregnate her with all haste. A deed that could not be faked.
"Do you comprehend the hell I will face with my fireball when she is returned to my quarters? I will be up the entire night with her finger in my chest," Prolinc finished, resigned to his fate.
The three Gattonians commiserated while their women plotted. Focused on the COM, they realized the truth; they would be plagued for eternity by these three earth females.
* * * *
"Zorroc has handled this poorly, if he'd been honest with Cat, she would have understood. Instead she's feeling betrayed, threatened, used, and little more than a pawn in someone else's game." Angel had just returned to Carpov's quarters and was clearly shaken. "I told them nothing per our agreement, but I feel like I'm deceiving them, as well as myself, by keeping silent."
&n
bsp; Carpov, after his first glimpse of Angel, had known she belonged with him. As a result, he had revealed their entire dilemma and asked for her assistance. With her intelligence and expertise in germ warfare and biochemistry, he hoped to pool their knowledge and come up with an antidote or even a cure for the virus that had been blanketed onto Gattonia twenty-some months previously.
"Angel, I want to mate with you," he blurted, unexpectedly. "It would be a lifemating, I warn you. Afterward there would be no other female for me and no other male for you. I could take you and make it so, but I would prefer honesty and trust between us." Carpov studied her trying to divine the palatable wariness behind her eyes. He sensed something amiss; he read panic in her suddenly haunted countenance. He had been sure that the feelings he had for her were mutually shared.
Angel thought furiously about how to respond. She used sex as a tool for manipulation and gratification in that order. It sounded as if Carpov offered the equivalent to marriage in her culture. How could she tell him that she was soiled goods; not worth his time or attention; let alone his name and protection, and perhaps love?
Angel had loved him from the moment he appeared, looking fierce yet not frightening. She'd felt an invisible force field of protection envelop her the moment his gaze settled on her. She’d been a victim of sexual harassment by the president of her company recently, and had felt threatened and isolated—a feeling very similar to the one she’d experienced at the ed-center. The job that had begun as a challenge and refuge had become a nightmare. Being kidnapped by the Gattonians, in truth, had felt more like a rescue. She and Carpov had spent hour's together working on a solution for the virus plaguing his planet, and conversing on all manner of subjects. He had not tried to approach her in a sexual manner even though his every move sparked sexual awareness. She felt flushed and breathless whenever they shared the same workspace and wanted to explore the chemistry between them to discern the truth behind the pull she encountered whenever he drew near. The chances of that, however, emerged slight. He deserved someone better…cleaner.
She closed her eyes and took a breath. "I can't lifemate with you, Carpov, it wouldn't be fair to you. I’ve been used by men and used them in return. I’m ruined and certainly not good enough for you." There that should do it; for once she’d done the right thing.
Carpov smiled gently. "Angel, in my culture we become sexually active at a very young age. Until we choose a mate, we are free with our bodies to whoever is handy. I seriously doubt you could have more experience than I, and I would expect fidelity only after our mating. Anything before means nothing to us now. Do you desire me Angel, do you want me inside you hard and pulsing until you know you belong to me? Do you want me to make love to you until neither of us can stand?" He started toward her. "Answer me now or it will be too late."
"Carpov, a man at the school I attended, raped me repeatedly from the age of thirteen until I was seventeen. I don't make love, I have sex; and I never enjoy it, not like a normal person. Is that what you want in a mate?" she proposed, horrified by her own admission. She’d never told anyone of her ordeal and now that she had, her life sounded even more sordid. She couldn't meet his eyes to see the disgust and pity she knew would be there. She turned to leave with her head high and quiet pride intact.
"Who is the bug-dropping that did this to you?" he thundered. "You have to know it was not of your making. The shame lies with him, Angel, never with you. I cannot believe your friends would let you feel this way," he hissed, gently bending down to lift and carry her to his platmat then follow her down, holding her as one would a wounded child.
She cried. She cried with all the shame, anguish, hopelessness, and rage that she’d kept bottled in her soul for more than ten years and Carpov cried, as well, feeling every emotion along with her. His Angel had been misused and he would die before anyone but him touched her again. He could not change the past but he could do something about her future and vowed that her future would also be his.
He began gently, by kissing her tears away, then moved to her forehead, earlobe, and pulse-point on her neck that increased in rhythm. He worked her clothes off her, first her shirt and bra, next her leggings and panties. He paused to look his fill. She surpassed everything lovely. Her breasts, while not large, distended firm and high, her waist proved small enough to eclipse with his hands, and her hips flared proportionately to the most beautiful legs he'd ever seen on a female. He rose quickly to shed his uniform and returned to her side. She, in turn, perused him. Her eyes, which only moments before had looked defeated and desperate, had begun to smolder with hot anticipation.
He was bigger, better and more potent than any space pirate or bandit in one of Cat's old DVDs. He was black all over; his hair, skin, eyes, and even his shaft, as it jutted larger and thicker than any she had known, and she had known a lot. Angel looked up to realize she'd been caught licking her lips.
"Does it meet with your approval?" he drawled with mixed expressions of arousal and amusement clear in his onyx eyes.
"I think I could get used to it, but you need to show me how it works." She flashed him a wry grin.
It proved all the invitation he needed. His kiss was open, moist, and hot and it seared her to her toes. He started running his tongue along her neck and shoulders, working his way down. Almost as if he were cleaning her, freeing her of her past nightmares. He suckled her nipples until they budded tightly then moved on to her rib cage and stomach; he discovered every erogenous zone she possessed leaving not one square inch ignored. He moved between her legs and holding her buttocks in his hands, spread her legs wide and began to feast. She had become so sensitized with his ministrations; she almost came straight off the mat as he then proceeded to purr into the soft folds of her womanhood. Never had she felt anything so intoxicating. She climaxed almost immediately and when he moved up her body to meet her eyes, her expression shouted disbelief and amazement. She had just experienced her first orgasm.
"What are you people, some new sort of pleasure weapon?" She pulled him to her and launched her own counter assault. She rolled him over and attacked his manhood with her luscious mouth licking and sucking him while kneading his inner thighs, abdomen, and chest with her talented hands.
"Enough!" he croaked finally, and grabbed her upper arms, rolling until he covered her from shoulder to thigh. He buried himself inside her with one hard deep thrust. He did not try to control the tempo of their mating; he just gloried in the sensation of finally getting her right where he wanted. He pumped with sure hard strokes until she begged; then he lowered his hand between them and placed his thumb on the swollen nub nestled there. She shot off, crying his name repeatedly as he followed with equal enthusiasm. He bit into the place between her neck and shoulder hard enough to draw blood. The sensation of pain and pleasure warred within.
It was done; she was his mate. Zorroc had but to witness the bite and it would be official. He left her sleeping peacefully and headed toward the late night meeting with Zorroc and Prolinc.
* * * *
Zorroc paced like a tiger in a cage. Back and forth, back and forth, he made the aunts positively dizzy. It was most Un-Gattonian of him. Usually, when one of their race became agitated they stilled to immobility; Zorroc flew in the face of this behavior, clearly off the charts with frustration. His aunts remained perfectly still, observing him. What an incredible relief to be with their own people once again; it had been difficult to maintain a human demeanor for so long and at such close range, while residing with Cat. They had grown to love her as a daughter and knew her adjustment to this new situation would prove a difficult one; they only hoped she would choose to forgive their deception and let them assist her in navigating the coming changes. Spock and Scotty observed Zorroc with equal interest, both sets of button eyes following his every movement as he fumed. The kittens had been near death when dropped at the Habi-Cat several weeks before. Cat had taken them home to be cared for and they had simply remained as a part of the family.
"Why did you not tell me this mating would be impossible," Zorroc accused. "Your entire purpose was to evaluate her suitability; what were you thinking to let this taking go forward?" he demanded ferociously.
The aunts were not intimidated; they had raised Zorroc since his birth. "Whatever do you mean? You have received our reports; she is entirely suitable. She is intelligent, warm, kind, loyal, attractive, maybe a little fluff-headed from time to time but you can't expect everything, my dear," Helen explained.
"But she is too small!" he informed them with quiet rage. "If I don't tear her apart in her taking; my offspring surely will. I want her but cannot have her and she is a temptation I am not sure I can resist. How do you propose I get around this? I trusted you and you have placed me in an untenable position," he hissed with vengeance.
"She is a carbon copy of her mother, Zorroc, you knew exactly what you would be getting when we planned this," Marie snapped, having heard enough of her nephew's ravings. "She will take you and your offspring just fine. She is small but sturdy with a strong spirit. She is beyond suitable, if you would just do the deed as Zazu intended," she finished.
Zorroc stilled. It took him a few moments to grasp the gist of her declaration. They were right of course; Rowan was every bit his size and Nancia could not be much larger than Cat. She must be muddling his brain, it was the only explanation; he would take her when he saw her next and that would set his mind and body to rights.
"I have a meeting to attend, thank you for your time," he muttered politely, slightly chagrined as he bent to kiss his aunts on their cheeks. Maybe everything would be all right after all; he would take Catarina tonight and proceed from there. Zorroc headed to the meeting room feeling lighter with each step.
Chapter Seven
