Afterwards she’d lie there in the dark, trying not to relive every shameful moment, until she couldn’t bear it any longer. Then she’d open her thighs, slide both hands between her legs and surrender to her darkest desires.
Cass
As the days turned into weeks, the brothers found more and more reasons to keep her near them. Reports to study, logs sent from other planets of ships that passed near them.
Two months into the voyage they arrived on Euxcelon only a few days after the pirates decimated a small town not far from the capital city. The inhabitants of Euxcelon were a peaceful race, without an army or a fleet of warships. The planet’s enormous deposits of euxenite ore provided them with a valuable commodity to trade, so the Euxcelians were among the richest beings in their galaxy. They could afford to indulge themselves. Their homes were decorated with objects made from precious metals. They wore jewelry studded with rare gems.
Rhom and Rhynn met with Euxcelon’s Chancellor and heard first-hand about the devastation. The pirates had stormed the town, looted stores and homes. They slaughtered every male, from the Elder to a newborn babe, along with the old and young females. The others were taken captive. According to the Chancellor, the sole survivor was a boy who hid in a tree near the town square.
They were given permission to speak with him, but the lad was terrified of the seven foot aliens with their deep voices and purple-tinged skin. Out of sheer desperation Rhom and Rhynn decided to have Cass meet with the boy. They came back to the ship laden with garments worn by Euxcelian females and called her to the bridge.
“We have need of your services,” Rhom announced. “If you perform this task to our satisfaction, we will grant you privileges.” He told her about the boy. “The child may have heard something that will give us a clue as to where they went. With your Tellex chip you can speak with him. An android will accompany you at all times, to see that you do not try to escape.”
Rhynn handed her the pile of clothing. “We thought he would be more comfortable if you dressed as a female from his world.”
Cass fingered the delicate fabrics in a rainbow of shimmering colors, trying not to look excited. She’d never seen anything so beautiful. Back home, garments like these had been banned centuries ago. They were looked upon as markers of class distinction that fostered unrest among the population.
“What privileges?” She made her tone confrontational. If the twins knew how badly she wanted to put on one of these gowns, they’d consider it reward enough. She figured she might as well get as much mileage out of the situation as she could.
“You may spend your days here on the bridge. And we will allow you to have items in your quarters with which you can occupy the rest of your time.”
Thank heaven. She had grown weary of trying to relieve the boredom by creating new martial arts routines to perform in such a small space. “Books? Holograms?”
“Yes.”
She decided to press her advantage. “I want one more thing.”
Rhom’s face darkened. “Be careful, Earther. Do not try my patience.”
“It’s a matter of comfort. We Earthers do not have the same ability to withstand changes in temperature as you do. Sometimes it gets very chilly in here for me. I want different clothing to wear when I’m on the bridge.”
“Different clothing? Impossible.” He sounded annoyed. “We have no seamstresses on board.”
She glanced down at the armful of gowns and shrugged. “Since you already have them, these will do. Whatever it takes to keep my body heat regulated.” She was confident they had no idea she’d undergone bio-modification before leaving Earth which allowed her body to adapt to the extremes of temperature on different worlds.
Before he could respond, Rhynn broke in. “That is acceptable. Now go and prepare yourself.”
She was allowed a few minutes every day in a cubicle that sprayed green jets of Tharan mineral water all over her. The first time he accompanied her there, she asked the android for soap. He said he did not know the word. When she tried to explain, he told her they had no need of such a substance because the minerals in the water cleansed the body naturally. Since Tharans had no trace of body hair, he didn’t understand the concept of shampoo either. Fortunately, the mineral water worked just as well on her hair, leaving it soft and gleaming.
She stood in front of the air jets that came on automatically after her shower, running her fingers through her long blonde locks to dry them. Normally she twisted her hair into a knot at the back of her head. Today, seeing those gowns, she decided to leave it hanging down her back in soft waves, like the ancient portraits she’d seen of women fabled for their beauty. Helen of Troy, Venus rising from the sea, the females of the kardashian tribe.
Ever so carefully she picked up one of the gowns. Sheer fabric in a shade of turquoise, it reminded her of a tropical sea back home. Two long, filmy strips were attached to the waist of the full-length skirt. After several tries, she finally figured out they were meant to cross over her breasts and tie in back at the neckline. The cut of the gown left her upper body nearly bare. She fussed with the strips, trying to get them to cover her adequately since her breasts were apparently larger than those of the average Euxcelian female.
They remembered to include footwear, meager though it was. Narrow strips of bronze leather to secure her foot to a sole attached to a thin spike at the heel. She’d seen pictures of similar shoes worn by females in ancient times back home. Impossible to run in or perform a roundhouse kick without losing balance. How impractical. She slipped them on and took a few hesitant steps. She teetered wildly at first, nearly turning an ankle. Cass gritted her teeth and concentrated on learning to keep her balance. She couldn’t very well wander around on Euxcelon barefoot.
The gown had a slit in one side, something she hadn’t noticed when she chose it. The skirt hugged the curves of her hips and bottom and the slit gaped open with the slightest movement, exposing one leg all the way to mid-thigh. She took a few more steps and the silky fabric strips hanging down from her neck fluttered against her bare back.
Cass caught sight of her reflection in the glass wall of the cubicle and gasped. She didn’t look like Commander C. B. Randall of the Class IV Nebula Cruiser Luna any more. She looked - softer. Feminine.
Sexy.
The android had been waiting in the corridor outside and he escorted her back to the bridge. Rhynn glanced up from his console when she walked in. She sensed the surge in his pheromones immediately and reveled in the delicious shiver that rocked her as she breathed them in.
Rhom took a heartbeat longer. The length of time necessary for Rhynn’s reaction to hit his brother’s consciousness. When he turned and looked at her, she could swear she felt the heat radiating from his gaze.
Suddenly all she could think of was how massive their bodies were. How it had felt to be slung over their shoulders, skin to skin with those broad expanses of rippling muscle. How thick and hot their cocks felt when she took them in her mouth. How she ached to feel them sliding deep inside her.
Rhom’s eyes narrowed and for a moment she was afraid he could read her mind as clearly as he read his brother’s.
“You will not leave this ship dressed like that. Go and find something else to put on.”
She flinched as though he’d slapped her. Turned without a word and went back to her cell. When she came back, she had on the most demure gown she could find. Calf length in pale pink, with a high neckline and cap sleeves.
Rhom barely glanced at her. “Come,” he snapped.
She resisted the urge to bark like a dog and followed him off the ship.
A representative of the Euxcelian Chancellor led her and the android to a stark room, furnished with only a wooden table and chairs. The young boy waiting there was around ten or eleven. An unruly mop of dark hair crowned an angelic face. But his deep brown eyes were dull. Lifeless. Cass could empathize. She’d been sickened when she stumbled onto the carnage the pirates wrought on Tharon. How
much worse had it been for him, watching as friends and loved ones were slaughtered?
She took one look around and pulled the representative aside.
“This will not do. Take us to one of the Chancellor’s private rooms. A place with pictures on the wall and comfortable chairs. And bring us food.”
“Food?” He looked at her as though she’d asked for a cache of jewels.
“Yes, food. What was your favorite thing to eat when you were his age?”
“Pala. It’s a sweet cake studded with fruit and nuts. My mother made it every year on my natal day.”
“Fine. Bring us one, with something hot to drink.”
She spent hours with the boy. He huddled in the corner of a plush settee, his body rigid. Two Euxcelian officials watched over the child, out of sight behind him in a corner of the room, while her android stood silently at the door.
“Hello, Leno. My name is Cass. This is my first visit to Euxcelon. It’s very warm here. Much warmer than on Earth, where I grew up.”
She took a seat in a soft chair by his side. He refused to speak, or even look at her. Though he eyed the cake when she offered it, he wouldn’t eat either. Cass smiled, took a piece of the gooey treat herself, and spoke to him between bites as though he was a distant relative she’d been looking forward to meeting. She told him funny stories about her childhood. Described bizarre animals on other worlds she’d visited. Chatting with him, winning his trust. Racking her brain for subjects she could bring up safely. He glanced at her a few times out of the corner of his eye but never moved.
As time went on, she began to think her mission was fruitless. He’d retreated too far into his shell. She won a small victory in the middle of a story about her first encounter with the mischievous monkeys on Arraba. A tiny smile played at his lips. He glanced at her again and reached for a piece of pala. She kept talking casually, pretending not to notice.
He took a bite and his face crumpled. “Mama…mama always made this for me.”
The taste of home unlocked his frozen feelings. He burst into tears and she moved to the settee, holding out her arms. He threw himself at her, clinging to her neck and sobbing out his grief. She held him close until the storm passed.
Gradually she calmed him down and got him talking about what he’d seen while he polished off a chunk of the gooey cake.
“I’m here with a band of warriors from Tharon.” She nodded toward the android. “You met some of them earlier. We’re after the pirates. We’ve been tracking them through the galaxy. I was Commander of a military vessel from Earth, the Luna. They stole my ship, took it to Tharon, and attacked a village there. Like you, I managed to escape but they’ve taken my crew as their prisoners. The way they took your mother and sister. I swore I’d rescue my friends. Take back my ship and free all the hostages.” She took both his hands in hers. “You can help me, Leno. Help me save them all. I know it’s hard, but think back to that night. Did you hear anything about where they might be headed next? Anything at all?”
He started to shake his head, then his eyes lit up. “Yes! I remember! The one with only one hand said something to my sister about getting an excellent price for her. On someplace called Boltron or Belzone.” The boy wrinkled his brow. “There were some letters after the name, but my sister was crying so hard I couldn’t hear him too good.”
“Botryl XR?”
“Maybe.” His chin quivered. “Those warriors.” He pointed to the android, indistinguishable to him from the twins. “Him and the other one. Are they going to get Lina back – and mama?”
“We’ll do everything we can to bring her and your sister home to you. You’ve been a very big help to us, Leno. Your mama will be so proud of you when she hears about it.”
Her confident tone seemed to reassure him. He swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand and eyed the platter on the small table in front of him.
“Can I have another piece of cake now?”
She smiled. “Yes. You can have the rest too, if you promise to save it until after your dinner.”
The twins were in a room nearby, out of sight. Rhynn waited until they were all back on the ship to question her. She repeated her conversation with the child. Rhom glanced at the android for confirmation.
“Her report is accurate, Sir. Nearly word for word.”
He addressed the android. “Escort the pr…” He stopped himself short, just before referring to her again as the prisoner. “Escort the Commander back to her quarters. Then return to the bridge. We leave for Botryl XR as soon as we have clearance from the Euxcelian space port.”
He turned to the twins seated at the control panel. “Dagon. Dru. Engage emergency acceleration. They have a three-day head start on us, but we may be able to catch up with them before our reserves are exhausted.”
One twin buried his face in his hands, while the other surged to his feet, fists clenched at his sides. “The auctions of Botryl XR. I’ve heard the tales. Female slaves sold to harems, to Rapture Domes. To trainers who pit them against each other in the great Arena of Tanis. They make a fortune taking bets on who will live and who will die. Our Aura would be lucky to survive a day at the hands of some of the bidders.”
Rhynn went to him, put a hand on his shoulder. “Hold fast, Dru. We could not save our Zara, but I swear to you, we will not allow any other Tharan brothers to lose their Mate because of these monsters. With the blessings of the Sacred Ones, we’ll get there in time.”
The android escorted her to her quarters where Cass spent a sleepless night, for once free of wicked dreams of the twins. The slave auctions on Botryl XR were infamous for the bidders they drew. She knew nothing about the Arena on Tanis, but she’d heard of harem owners with over a thousand female slaves on distant worlds. So many they were given like trinkets or peace offerings to visitors, including hideous beasts from faraway galaxies. And the Rapture Domes? The worst of them drew their clientele from among the most depraved creatures in the Universe. The only females the proprietors could get to satisfy the perverted desires of their customers were slaves who either did as they were commanded or faced harsh punishment, even death.
She tossed and turned for hours, worrying about Delta and Sage and the rest of her crew. When she did fall asleep it was to nightmares of her comrades in the clutches of tentacled aliens and faceless demonic creatures, their cocks studded with wicked barbs.
Cass
The next morning, she was summoned to the bridge. She put on a modest gown with long sleeves and a full skirt, this one a soft green. Rhom looked her up and down, frowning.
“That is unacceptable.”
“You said I had permission to wear clothing from now on!”
“You do. But that does not mean you may choose what clothing you don.”
Rhynn piped up before his brother could go on. “Put on the gown you were going to wear yesterday. The blue one. We will be spending most of our time here on the bridge from now on. It allows us easier access to your ass so we can punish you here if we need to without taking you back to your quarters and stripping you naked.”
“Punish me? But I thought…”
She flushed, glancing at the other Tharan twins in the room. The thought of being commanded to bend over the console while Rhynn or Rhom ran a hand up the slit in her skirt, then bared her bottom and spanked her in full view of the crew was embarrassing enough. To make it worse, she thought she’d earned their trust by now, especially after how hard she worked to coax information out of Leno.
“You thought performing one task successfully meant you were no longer subject to our discipline? Tharan males expect obedience from females, especially from their Mates,” Rhynn replied. She saw other heads nodding around the room. “We no longer treat you as a hostile captive. You have performed your duties well and earned a seat here on the bridge.”
He jerked his head toward his twin. “But you are still under our protection. Rhom’s and mine. When we brought you into our house, we took on that responsibility. E
very female on Tharon is cared for by twin males. Fathers and brothers when they’re children, then their Mates. It is the way of every species on our planet. If one twin falls ill or loses his life in battle, the females, whether old or young, still have a strong male to feed and shelter them and keep them safe from harm. As part of our responsibility, we discipline our females. Spank them or punish them in other ways whenever they break a rule we’ve set for their own good, disobey a command, or fail to show us the proper respect.”
Punish them in other ways? What other ways? Her pussy clenched and she could barely concentrate on the rest of what he said. Despite being painful, the spankings they delivered awakened savage hungers in her. Would their other forms of punishment be as wickedly arousing? Cass was torn. Half of her feared she’d find out. The other half desperately wanted to.
Both twins were staring at her, as though waiting for some response. She played back Rhynn’s last remarks in her head. What had he said? Oh, yes. Go change my clothes. Now.
She’d been dying to put on the blue gown again. The moment she first saw herself in it, she understood why women on Earth once wore such garments. In it, she’d felt a surge of feminine power. No longer the cool, emotionless military officer, she became a different person. A voluptuous female, confident in her sexuality. Even a little reckless, ready to shed her inhibitions. Ready to discover the thrill of giving up control to an even more powerful male.
Or two.
Cass had been in a few relationships. One with a fellow student at the Academy, another with a squadron leader she met during a routine training mission. And a short-lived one that hardly counted, with an officer she outranked. The men were attractive and treated her well. Sex with them was nice, but left her wondering why people made such a big deal out of it. Personally, she could take it or leave it. Until she came to Tharon.
She’d never met males like Rhynn and Rhom back on Earth. Tough. Arrogant. Informing her she was now under their protection and giving her no say in the matter. Demanding obedience and doling out stern punishment if they didn’t get it. Arousing her with their dominance as no tender lover had ever done.
Their Captive Mate: A Sci-Fi Alien Dark Romance: Tharan Warrior Menage Book 1 Page 8
