by Lisa Lace
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
I jumped off the ground immediately. My hands fell to my sides. Laz was standing by the cave entrance. The daylight struck him at an angle that made his upper body appear cloaked in shadows.
"I was just fixing my hair."
My teeth were chattering, and I was stuttering uncontrollably. Laz moved toward me and stopped next to his open toolbox. He whipped around and scowled at me expectantly, waiting for an explanation.
Why was he so angry? He was acting like I had disrespected his mother. I knew I shouldn't have been poking around in his tool box in the first place, but this was too much. I was starting to get ticked off by his cocky attitude. I hadn't signed up to live in a cave.
I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. "I'm sorry," I started, beginning to reconstruct my braid.
"No, you're not," snarled Laz from behind me. "But you will be."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Laz descended on me from behind, putting a hand over my nose and mouth. I clawed at his arms with weak fingers that slipped off him. That wasn't going to work. I stomped on the toes of his boots with the heels of my bare feet with all my might, but all that did was hurt my foot. I tried to demand that he move. My howling disappeared in the suffocating curve of his arm.
I shoved the back of my head against his chest and dug my nails into his arm. Feeling his grip loosen, I slid my head out the gap of his elbow.
"Get off me, Laz! What do you think you're doing? This isn't funny."
"Do you think I find it amusing that you came in here and disrespected me and my property?"
"I'm not disrespecting anybody! Are you crazy? I'm sorry! Please. Let me go. I'll do anything."
Laz released me from his hold. I slid to the ground, landing on my hands and feet. My braids had unraveled in the commotion. I had struggled with him so much that I could see little jewels of blood in my fingertips.
"What are you going to do for me?" asked Laz matter-of-factly. He roughly stroked the bristles of his beard.
"I don't know. I'm already down here. Do you want me to drop and give you twenty push-ups?"
Laz's low, dry chuckle sent an icy blast through the pit of my gut. "Almost funny, but not quite, Earthling."
"What do you want?"
I gulped back the rest of my words. Laz's smoldering green eyes were looking at my face, but they lingered on my mouth. I gaped at him, staring at the bulge visible through his pants. His gaze was fixated on my mouth as he unfastened his pants and kicked them aside.
A tight black loincloth barely covered his full-blown erection.
My panties were moist. Shame and embarrassment smacked me in the face, but I couldn't help it. The thickness of his cock prominently protruded through the stretchy material of his loincloth. I peeled my eyes away from the swollen package between his legs and pushed all the shamefully dirty thoughts to the back of my mind.
What was wrong with me? I shouldn't like this or get turned on by it.
"Take off your clothes."
"What? But I..."
"Did I fucking stutter?" Laz spat at me. He bent down on one knee and looked into my face. I knew he was strikingly handsome, but from this angle and distance, I realized he was frightening as well. "That was an order."
He didn't shout, but for some reason, his lowered voice was more terrifying. I got to my feet, and I realized I was shaking like I never had before. I unzipped the back of my stained pastel dress. My shoulders emerged one at a time. A blast of cold open air embraced me as my dress fell around my navel.
I had to wiggle to pull it down over my hips. Instinctively, I moved my hands to cover my exposed boobs and my wet pussy lips. I nervously twiddled with the smooth ends of my light blonde pubes, feeling vulnerable and nude in the middle of a strange cave.
"At ease."
I lifted my arms slowly and tucked them behind my back.
"Feet apart. Straighten your back," Laz commanded scathingly. "I should let you have it right now for that shit stance you're giving me."
I obeyed immediately and placed my feet shoulder-length apart. Laz circled me repeatedly holding his arms behind his back. He made soft grunts of approval as he inspected me from head to toe. I could feel his burning eyes looking over every inch of my body. It was taking every ounce of self-control I had not to move a muscle or make the smallest sound.
Laz slapped a hand on my left breast and gave it an abrasive, hearty squeeze. I bit down on my tongue and curled my toes as his fingers clamped down on my puffy nipples. He leaned in close to me, watching my reaction as he jerked them back and twisted them. His lips opened as he watched me struggle to contain all my sounds and reactions. My glazed eyes looked straight ahead. Something told me he was genuinely enjoying my discomfort.
He smacked an open hand against my left butt cheek. He gripped it so hard I imagined his fingertips disappearing into my flesh. I gasped at the sting, but made the mistake of lifting my eyes off the ground and taking a peek at him.
"What the hell do you think you're looking at? Get down on your knees."
I slunk back down to the ground. A coat of dirt from the cave floors covered my kneecaps. I found my mouth stretching open without prompting - I didn't want to get yelled at again. Laz laughed darkly as he began to remove his loincloth.
"Good, good. It looks like someone's finally learning."
My open lips began to tremble at the girth of his cock, but I didn't have time think about what I was doing. Before I knew it, I felt a hand grab my head by the hair. I felt him pulling me forward.
His thick, veined muscle forced its way between my lips. I gagged and swirled my tongue around the pole pumping in and out of my mouth. His balls knocked against my chin as he rammed his cock into the constricting passage of my throat. I reached up to slow him down, wrapping my fist around the base of his erection.
I didn't realize cock could taste this good.
Moans floated out of me, sounding like a stranger's to my ears. Laz lifted one of his feet and pried open my legs so he could get a better view of me. He traced his toe against the stream trickling down my thighs.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you? Why don't you come over here so I can take care of you."
"Wait! Stop."
I pulled away from him and started crawling off in the opposite direction. Laz grabbed me by the ankles and yanked me toward him. He overpowered me, sliding my thighs open and positioning my ass cheeks in midair.
"Laz!"
My body jolted awake. I scanned my surroundings with an intense, wide-eyed gaze. My heartbeat was racing through my body, and it only started to slow down when I began to make sense of everything around me.
The cave walls glowed faintly from the emergency light stick. The only sound was the soft crackling of the dying fire next to me. I exhaled slowly and tossed the thin blanket off me as I sat up against the wall.
I had been dreaming, but somehow I felt disappointed. I didn't want Laz to take me like that. Did I?
As I tried to analyze my Freudian dream, my tired eyes fell to a pair of yellow objects on the ground to my right. I felt a pulse through my body as I scooped up the crudely made winoa pelt slippers from the ground. The insides were even lined with a soft insole for my sore feet. I wondered where Laz had found the new shoes.
I looked at Laz's sleeping figure on the opposite side of the fizzling fire. He had one arm casually swung over his eyes. His mouth was slightly ajar in deep slumber. I fingered the furry yellow pelt of my slippers. What a thoughtful gift.
Even though I was still exhausted, I couldn't go back to sleep.
Chapter Nine
LAZ
"Let's go! We haven't got all day!"
I needed to find a way to repair my communicator, and we were running out of daylight on Xylox. Either Gabriella was taking her sweet time or humans were naturally slower than Maztek. Either way, we were taking too long.
"I'm doing the best I can over here," Ga
briella grumbled sourly from behind me. "Maybe you could remember that my legs are half your size."
"That's no excuse. Wyla's only four feet ten inches, and she outruns all my men. I thought Earth women liberated themselves and were men's equals."
"Oh yeah? Well, good for her," Gabriella shot back, putting a hand on her chest. She paused. "I stand by what I said. If I'm slowing you down so much, why don't you sweep me off my feet again and carry me there? While you're at it, why don't you wipe my ass?"
I squatted into position in front of her and flexed my back muscles.
"What are you doing?" asked Gabriella. I could feel her penetrating gaze boring into my back.
"You need a ride? Get on."
"No way. You can get up now. I was being facetious, damn it. I know how to walk. You lead the way and only start worrying if I'm not within a hundred feet of you."
"Suit yourself." With a shrug, I got up off the ground and swung my satchel over my back. I had spent a few hours staking out the terrain yesterday, and my efforts were paying off now. The trail leading to the underbelly of the Xylo city was due west from our cave's water source. Gabriella and I had figured out the shortest route to the city that would minimize the chances of any Xylo contact.
We had been on the road for a while now, but I thought we were close to the checkpoint. It was only another couple of miles. I narrowed my eyes when I saw a blue ribbon tied around a tree trunk on my right. The sight of my trail marker energized me, and I moved toward the stump quickly, making a flurry of dead leaves. When I reached the tree, I untied the knot and slipped the ribbon into my pocket, adding it to the other scraps of fabric.
"Make sure I notice you if you start to lose me."
"Of course. I wouldn't want you abandoning me in an alien wasteland."
I moved on, eagerly searching for the next ribbon. Soon I heard a squawk of pain behind me. I turned around on my heel just in time to see Gabriella's feet start sinking into the earth. She tripped and tumbled forward but caught herself before she crashed into the ground. Her gas mask fell over her head and rolled to a stop next to her.
"Shit!"
I jogged back to Gabriella at once to help her ease her foot out from the hole. Her handmade shoes weren't the best for hiking, of course. Her feet were cushioned but the fall made her ankle turn pink. It was swelling already. I checked her face.
Gabriella looked nervous. I wrapped my fingers around her ankle and gingerly felt around it.
"Hold still and try to relax," I crooned. "This is going to hurt, but I'll make it as quick as possible."
"It's okay. I can do it myself."
Gabriella pulled my fingers off her leg. Before I could stop her, she carefully grabbed onto her swollen ankle. She squeezed her eyes shut, grunting as she twisted her ankle sharply to her right. A loud pop sounded in the air as her sprained fibula twisted back into place. A single tear leaked out from the corner of her eye and clung to her lashes, but I didn't hear a noise. Her eyelids fluttered like she was blinking away the pain.
I reached into my satchel and took out a flat square packet. A rectangular chunk solidified in the sealed package when I twisted off the nozzle. I tore off the top and allowed bursts of cold smoke to steam out from the opening.
"That's amazing!"
"It's just a cold compress." I took the ice and pressed it against her ankle. "Hold this here to stop the swelling."
"Thanks," said Gabriella. She let out a moan of contentment as she stretched her leg. "That feels so much better than before."
"The pain should subside in less than an hour," I told her as I wrapped her ankle. "Do you think you can still walk?"
"We'll just have to see, won't we?" Gabriella chirped with fake optimism. She hoisted herself up to her feet and started to fall. "Nope, going down...whoa!"
I moved behind her and caught her by the shoulders. "You're in no shape to go anywhere right now," I said, shaking my head. I tried to keep a lecturing tone of accusation out of my voice. "I suppose taking some time off to rest wouldn't hurt. I've got another light to last us the rest of the way, but we'll have to stay close together."
"Sounds like a plan. I'm starving."
I eased the gas mask back on Gabriella's head. Slinging her arm over my shoulder, I lifted her off the ground and moved away from the path to the city. I loaded my belongings on top of her and carried everything to the far side of the hill. I unloaded my equipment. She cried out as I dumped her onto my pile of stuff.
"Ow! Thanks for the heads up," said Gabriella sarcastically. She patted the ground before sitting back.
I reached my hand into the satchel and pulled out some rations.
"Karbachi or mandala?"
"Excuse me?"
"Spicy or sweet?"
"Sweet, I guess. I don't care. I'm so hungry that I think I'd eat anything right now."
I unwrapped the mandala bar and passed it to her.
She took a careful bite. "Not too shabby." The wrapper crinkled noisily in her hand as she hungrily chewed the flaky bar. "I don't know what the purple shell on the outside is, but the filling tastes like fudge and caramel apple."
"It's made from mandala fruit," I explained. I took a bite of my peppery karbachi meat. I had often seen Marshall eating mandala bars. Personally, I didn't care for it, but humans seemed to enjoy the overwhelming sweetness. "It's tropical. Maztek is full of them."
"That's music to my ears," said Gabriella flatly. She wrinkled her nose and looked around her. "It will be the first thing I try when we get out of here. If we ever get out of here."
"We will," I assured her, tossing my empty wrapper back into the satchel. I pulled the rag over my nose and mouth again. "It's a question of when. I've never failed a mission, and I'm not about to start now," I mumbled.
"I believe you."
There was a pause in the conversation before I felt comfortable enough to ask a question that had been bothering me.
"Where did you learn to do that?"
"Do what?"
A dark shadow passed briefly over her face when she realized what I meant, but it faded quickly and her lips curled into a tight smile.
"I've had a lot of practice, I guess," said Gabriella slowly. She raised a hand to her ear and began playing with the back of her earring. "I once had to pop both my shoulder and my knee back into place when I fell from the second-floor landing. I might be related to a double-jointed superhero or something."
"Why is that? Don't humans have doctors for that kind of thing?"
"We do." Gabriella stared into space as she carefully selected her words. "You could say I've become an expert at disguising my 'accidents' over the years."
I was taking a drink of water when the implications of her words finally sunk in. Gabriella polished off the rest of her bar and crumpled the wrapper in her fists. She stopped playing with her hands and folded her fingers over her good knee. I lowered the water to my side.
"Was it your father?"
"Of course not." Gabriella's eyes were flashing. "My dad was a great man. He was a frequent visitor to Maztek. He did a lot of work there before he died in a passenger shuttle crash on his way back home. No, it was Richard. He was a drunk asshole my mother eventually married."
"And this grown man threw you out of a building?" I whispered. I kept my face blank, but I was seething inside.
"I ruined his favorite shirt when I accidentally threw my red sweater in the wash along with the whites. We were taking school pictures the next day, and I had nothing new to wear. I tossed it into the machine at the last minute without looking. Richard wasn't amused, to say the least."
I felt like an ass for assuming her life had been problem-free because she came from Earth. Like me, Gabriella was forced to mature at an early age. I realized there was an ugly side to humanity, just like everywhere else in the galaxy.
"It feels weird talking about him," Gabriella continued. She picked at the dirt under her fingernails. "I think this is the first time I've ever admitted
this to anyone. I don't want people to start feeling sorry for me."
"I do not. Seeing that you've made it, and you're sitting here in front of me right now...that speaks for itself."
"Thanks."
"If it counts for anything, your father sounds like a wonderful man."
"He was. I miss him every day." The corners of her eyes drooped as she smiled sadly. She blinked and turned her gaze to me. "That's enough about me. What about you? Are you a high-up commander of the Maztek army, or something?"
I grabbed the sturdiest branch in the vicinity and took out some tools.
"My actual title is long, complicated and doesn't mean anything. My men refer to me as the General. It's the most senior position in the Maztek forces. I have a particular team. They're the ones who accompanied me on this mission. I don't like to talk about it, but I'm ultimately responsible for the thousands of troops under my command."
"No way. Are you serious?" Gabriella stammered. Her jaw dropped open. She narrowed her eyes and studied me carefully. "Well, you don't seem to be much of a prankster. Don't get me wrong, that is very impressive, but I feel ashamed right now. I was just going to brag about managing a group of five people."
"Don't sell yourself short. It isn't about the number of people. It's about being able to think about something other than your interests. Not everyone's cut out to lead."
"When you put it that way, I think you might be right," said Gabriella thoughtfully. She flattened the sides of her shiny hair and placed the gas mask back over her head. "But why the military?"
"What do you mean? What else is there?"
"Why not start a business or go into something sports-related? You don't have to kill people for a living."
"Ah," I nodded, understanding. "Well, my father, and my Upa – that's my grandfather – were both high-ranking officers. They were in the army all their lives. They were the roughest pair of individuals you could ever meet. They raised me as best they could when my mother disappeared, but died twenty years ago in the worst Xylo attack in history. It was an unprovoked strike on Fallgold, the Maztek capital. Nearly two thousand innocent children and civilians died that day. We don't even have a name for it. We just call it the Fallgold incident. Upa and my father were some of the casualties. I suppose you could say I've felt compelled to fill in their shoes since then."
