His to Conquer (Alien Masters Book 3)

by Kallista Dane

  He spun her around, pinned her against the stone wall with his body and yanked off her hood. The golden brown tresses she’d tucked away spilled out around her face.

  Talia stared into a pair of deep blue eyes that looked as startled as she was, set in a face with a firm square jaw and cheekbones that could have been chiseled from stone. He too wore a hooded traveling cloak, this one a dull gray, that hid the rest of his head and body. He stared at her for a moment, as though trying to decide what to do with her.

  “I swear I’m not going to hurt you. Will you be silent?”

  She nodded.

  Slowly, he took his hand away from her mouth. “I thought we’d gotten all of you safely into the fortress. How did you manage to get left behind?”

  He stood a full head taller than her. Dark circles around his eyes and a rough dark stubble on his jawline said he hadn’t taken the time for grooming or even sleep in several days. Whoever he was, he dressed and spoke like one of the locals. Adrenaline pouring through her veins flipped fear into blazing anger.

  “I wasn’t left behind. I just got here,” she snapped. “And whoever you are, you didn’t get ‘all of us.’ I saw a woman a few streets back held at knifepoint, being forced to do unspeakable things. I’m heading for the palace and I have no need of your help. Why don’t you let go of me and rescue her instead—if she hasn’t already had her throat slit.”

  She saw a flash of pain in his eyes and knew the image her words invoked had hit him hard. Talia finished her tirade by shoving the man backward with all her might. It was like trying to dislodge a tree trunk still anchored in the ground. He never even rocked back on his heels. The oaf had the audacity to respond by deliberately pressing his muscular body even closer to hers. He leaned forward, his lips almost brushing her ear as he spoke.

  “I wish I could. Unfortunately I dare not take that risk. Besides, you’ve just demonstrated how able you are to fend off an attacker all by yourself. Maybe you’d be willing to take over leading one of our teams?”

  He had a point. For all her bravado, she’d be unable to defend herself if every adversary she met was as large and strong as this man. Stung by the truth in his sarcastic remark, Talia lifted her chin and glared at him. “Making a jest in the face of adversity? I’m sure you fancy yourself as quite the witty conversationalist,” she replied, her tone as frosty as the night air. One part of her mind registered the fact that she’d finally stopped shivering. Despite her anger, she found herself grateful for the warmth of his hard body against hers.

  “‘Tis true, I’ve been told I have a way with words.” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “It’s but one of my many talents.”

  He shifted slightly and Talia froze as she became aware of the bulge in his trousers pressing between her legs. How could any civilized person respond sexually in the midst of this carnage? The man was a savage, no different than those who had attacked his city. She thought about the assault she’d witnessed earlier, that rigid penis jutting out of the attacker’s loincloth. It was the first one she’d ever seen, shockingly large.

  The stranger’s dark eyes bore into hers. The heat emanating from the bulge between his legs seemed to grow even hotter. She wondered if his member was as long, as thick as the one she’d seen. From the feel of it pressing against her, she imagined it must be even bigger. She’d never touched a real penis, never before felt the heat of one. Suddenly, a bolt of raw lust shot through her, so powerful that she closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, the stranger’s face held the ghost of an arrogant grin. For a moment she felt as though he’d read her mind.

  He backed away. “Much as I’m enjoying this little interlude, I fear I must call an end to it for now.” His hand reached up. She though he was about to caress her cheek and closed her eyes again, anticipating how it might feel to have this man’s palm stroking her skin. But instead, he drew the hood of her cloak back over her head. Her eyes flew open and she swallowed a sharp pang of disappointment.

  “Follow me.”

  There it was again, that faint tone of arrogance. Apparently whoever this man was, he was accustomed to people doing his bidding without question.

  “Exactly where are you going? And why should I go with you?”

  He bit off another muffled oath. “I don’t have time to submit to an interrogation right now. It’s not safe for either of us out here. It’s only by the favor of the gods that we haven’t been discovered. Come along. I’ll answer all your questions later.”

  Talia glared at him. “How do I know I’m any better off with you than taking my chances out there?” She waved a hand at the empty street.

  “Well, for one thing, I haven’t ravaged you.” He gave her an insolent head-to-toe inspection, as though he could see right through the shapeless cloak. “Yet.”

  She shivered again, but this time it wasn’t from the cold. In a few short minutes, this stranger had aroused feelings in her she’d never before experienced—wild thoughts, images of long-forbidden erotic acts between a man and a woman. She’d been warned before coming here to avoid close physical contact with the Gadolineans. Told that intimate exposure to this ancient race of humans could reawaken long-dormant, crude sexual cravings.

  For centuries, Earth dwellers had been controlling their base animalistic urges from puberty on with regularly spaced, minimal doses of synthetic hormones that suppressed the production of natural ones. Life was calm and rational, not disturbed by the uncontrolled surges of estrogen and testosterone that caused humans to behave shamefully in the past. Modern marriages were based not on sexual attraction but on companionship, mutual respect, and shared goals. It was unthinkable for a husband or wife to intrude on their spouse’s private gratification sessions.

  But the opening of the Portal to Neodyma a few years ago had reintroduced the concept of physical love between humans to Earth. Recently, the federation had been cracking down on rebellious young people who kissed and hugged publicly in defiance of the law. Talia had seen several couples locked in embraces while fully clothed. But she’d never experienced such contact until now. And though she’d heard of the ancient practice of fellatio, she’d certainly never seen a man requiring a woman to perform it before today, not even in the most explicit gratification holograms.

  Her head reeled from the sudden exposure to raw violence and sexual stimulation. She needed to get to a place where she could be alone, to regain calm and rationality. This man claimed she’d be safe with him. But being around him frightened her on a much more primal level. Talia decided she’d go along with the stranger for now. Then she’d seize the first opportunity to get away from him and make her way alone to the palace as she originally planned.

  He watched her impatiently as she processed all those thoughts at lightning speed. “Let’s go,” he finally snapped, not waiting for her assent.

  Talia bit off a retort. Let him think she was acquiescing. He’d be less likely to watch her every move and she might have a better chance of sneaking away.

  He motioned for her to fall in behind him, creeping down the dark passage between two tall stone buildings. At the intersection of the next street, he paused, watching and listening intently for any sign of the invaders before taking her hand.

  His fingers wrapped around her cold ones. Warm. Firm. Uncomfortable with yet another physical contact, she tried to pull her hand away. But he tightened his grip. Not a crushing hold. But enough to let her know he was in control, that she could just as easily be pinned up against another wall if she didn’t cooperate.

  She didn’t have time to object any further to being touched. He met her eyes, nodded toward the street, and dashed across the open expanse to take cover in another narrow passageway with her in tow. Once there, he kept going, his long legs covering the ground in an easy lope.

  She lengthened her stride, keeping up with him. He shot her a grin and picked up the pace. Talia silently thanked her trainer Nico for the grueling six-month regimen he’d put her through in prepa
ration for deployment to a planet lacking any sort of modern conveniences. She’d been told that she would find the primitive lifestyle here hard on her body. So she’d suffered through the intensive workouts without complaint. Well, not too much complaint, she admitted to herself.

  She felt heat rising in her as they ran. Whether from the exertion of the run or the warmth of his body flowing through his hand into hers, she couldn’t say. Or might it have been from the warmth of his eyes—and that smile?

  They were traveling away from the palace, toward the foothills of the mountains that lay to the north of the city. They’d made it about half a mile when it happened. Three brutish, stocky intruders appeared out of the darkness, grabbing both of them.

  The tallest reached barely to her chin but their bodies were powerful. She struggled with the one holding her, watching in awe as her companion effortlessly shook off the other two, tossing them against the stone wall of the nearest building.

  He sprang forward and wrapped an arm around the neck of the man holding her. The man loosed his grip for a moment, long enough for her to break free.

  “Run!” her rescuer shouted.

  Talia hesitated for a moment. She couldn’t just leave him here, one man alone against three. He called out again, sternly.

  “Damn you, woman! Do as you’re told or first chance I get I’ll yank off Orion’s belt and warm your stubborn ass with it!” As he spoke, he threw the man who’d been holding her onto the ground.

  Talia needed no more assurances. The arrogant stranger seemed perfectly capable of defending himself. Without a backward glance, she picked up the hem of her cloak and turned to run.

  His hand shot out, grabbing her wrist again. “I’ll take my reward for rescuing you first.” He pulled her in close, dipped his head, and captured her mouth in a fiery kiss before propelling her forward with a firm smack of his palm on her bottom.

  “Now go.”

  Mind and body both reeling from her first kiss coupled with the sting of his palm on her bottom, she took off at a dead run. Her hood fell back, exposing the flowing locks that reached halfway to her waist. The man on the ground shouted something in a guttural language. She’d never heard anything like it before and would need several hours of exposure to it for the Tellex chip to begin its flawless translation in her brain.

  But his meaning became clear when a horde of other savages appeared from a nearby building and took up the chase, all yelling in that harsh tone. There was no time to think about the stranger—or the taste of his mouth on hers. She darted down endless narrow alleyways, zigzagging through the city until she was hopelessly lost. Panting heavily, she risked a look behind.

  Her pursuers were gaining on her. No sign of the stranger. She spied a dark opening to her right and turned into it.

  She tried to run faster, but transport through the Portal had taken a toll on her body. Even so, she might have evaded them, if not for a new squad that appeared ahead of her, blocking the exit to the narrow passageway. Apparently the calls her pursuers uttered had summoned reinforcements. Talia stopped dead. There were at least twenty of them now, surrounding her front and rear. She could never fight her way through them all.

  She drew herself to her full height, squared her shoulders, and called upon her training at the academy. Show no fear. Do not let them see even a glimpse of weakness.

  A member of the new squad stepped forward. He wore some sort of elaborate stone symbol on a leather thong around his neck. She decided it must be a sign of leadership. His deep-set eyes narrowed under thick brows as he looked her over, a slow head-to-toe appraisal that made her want to cringe. Reaching up, he stroked her hair, calling out something over his shoulder that was received with catcalls and lewd grins.

  Talia didn’t need a Tellex chip to figure out he’d made some sort of crude sexual remark. She glared at him and slapped his hand away. The man’s eyes darkened. He smiled, a cold smile. Then his hand shot out, striking her across the face.

  Her head snapped sideways and she gasped. The blow had been so swift, so unexpected, she’d not had time to block it in any way. Shock gave way to a wave of pain she vowed not to show. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her chin and stared back. She towered over him, so he was forced to look up at her. She caught the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes when he came face to face with the fury burning in hers.

  He growled a command and three more men stepped forward. They tied her wrists together with a length of rope and tied two more ropes around her waist. One of the men took the opportunity to grope her through the cloak, squeezing her breast with a vise-like grip. Unable to stop him, she tried her best to ignore it. He seemed disappointed not to have gotten a reaction out of her.

  Another harsh command had them on the move, with her in the middle of the group. One man marched ahead of her, leading her with the rope that bound her wrists. Two others walked on either side, keeping the ropes around her waist taut. The others brought up the rear. There was no way she could escape, no chance to run. Captive, helpless, Talia had no choice but to let them lead her through the dark streets.

  A flicker of hope arose when she recognized a few landmarks and realized they were nearing King Sigrun’s palace. She’d be among allies there. Even if the king’s guards were prisoners as well, there was strength in numbers.

  But that hope died when they passed through the gates. By the light of torches, a team of invaders dragged bodies from the interior of the palace into the courtyard. She watched in horror as they placed one on a makeshift altar built of huge flat stones. A figure stepped forward, shrouded in what looked like the skin of a tiger, its head over his head, the mouth gaping open with its huge fangs exposed. He shouted a triumphant cry, slit open the body with a huge stone knife, and cut out the heart. She thought she saw the bloody mass still beating as he held it aloft in his hand.

  He laid the heart to one side on the stone table. Two other men grabbed the corpse after he finished, tossing it onto a fire blazing nearby. Talia gagged as she inhaled the odor of burning flesh.

  A rising wave of panic poured over her as her captors marched her toward the entrance to the Great Hall, past the line of men hauling bodies of the fallen toward the sacrificial altar. Frantically she tried to pull herself together, relying on decades of scholarly training to restore her calm, rational nature. She forced herself to ignore the horrors around her and turned to the puzzle of who these invaders might be. They didn’t resemble any of the civilized beings from other planets that she’d met in the InterStellar Federation. Their language was like none she’d ever encountered in her studies.

  She’d had a little education in prehistoric cultures, only the basics. But she’d studied her captors carefully as they led her through the city and had come up with a theory as to who the invaders might be. Descendants of yet another Earthly tribe whose members mysteriously vanished long ago. A handful of scholars, looked upon as crackpots for their theories, thought these people too might have traveled to another world thousands of years ago through one of the Star Portals.

  Talia was sure of it now. The powerful squat bodies, the ape-like faces with deep-set eyes below prominent brow ridges. These men before her were descendants of Neanderthals, one branch on the tree of human evolution long ago thought to have died out or been slaughtered by the more advanced Homo sapiens. Yet here before her were undeniable examples of the race. Far from extinct, brutal warriors still practicing their ancient rituals. Celebrating their victory as they’d no doubt done for thousands upon thousands of years, by cutting the still-beating hearts from the bodies of their vanquished foes. Perhaps the ancient Aztecs had adopted the hideous practice from myths passed down through the ages about these primitive beings.

  The warriors escorting her didn’t stop. They led her through the courtyard and into the Great Hall of King Sigrun’s palace. Inside, there was no sign of the king or any of his entourage. Instead, another short, squat man with a flat wide nose sat on Sigrun’s throne.

  An i
mposing structure, the front of the carved wooden throne was overlaid with gold. A pair of enormous curved antlers served as the armrests. Talia couldn’t even begin to imagine how massive the beast must have been that had been slain to build it.

  Fires burned in iron biers on either side of the throne. The heat they gave off did little to dispel the chill in the rest of the room. Her teeth chattered and Talia wondered how the men around her could stand the cold. Dressed in low boots, loincloths, and short capes of animal fur, their arms and legs and chests were bare. But their predecessors had roamed the earth during the ice age, so perhaps their metabolism had evolved to withstand frigid temperatures.

  The men dragged her forward, stopping to bow low before the throne. They released their hold on her and stepped back, but left the ropes in place around her wrists and waist. Talia strained to make out the words as the leader stepped in front of her to face the throne.

  He rattled off a few sentences in that guttural language and she thought she heard a word that translated as female. But it could just as easily have been slave. She guessed that their culture, like many ancient ones, hadn’t bothered to make much of a distinction between the two terms. He finished with something that sounded like “…Lord Balam.” Then he bowed low again while backing away, leaving her standing there alone.

  Lord Balam made an imposing figure. His body was thick, powerful muscles bulging in his bare chest and arms. He had a full head of hair that hung in a tangled mass down to his shoulders, jet black shot with a few strands of gray at the temples. A wicked triple scar ran all across one side of his chest, as though it had been swiped by a massive paw. Around his neck he wore a string of what looked like claws on a gold chain. Talia wondered which of them belonged to the beast that had left its mark on him.

  Like the others, he had eyes black as midnight set deep in his face below a prominent brow line. Wild bushy eyebrows made it stand out even more. Those eyes locked on hers. Talia swallowed, trying not to let her nerves get the best of her. She felt like a helpless doe caught in the sights of a ruthless hunter.