Forget about yourself. Concentrate on him. He’s been badly traumatized, awakening in a strange place with a strange woman touching his private parts. I did something unforgivable to this man. Now I need to make it right.
“My name is Selena,” she began, keeping her voice soft, her words simple. She had no idea of the level of intelligence of such a primitive being. “You’re on Earth. Ambassador Anderson sent you here. You were badly wounded. We’ve been nursing you back to health.”
He looked down at his penis, still engorged. “Apparently you succeeded—at least with part of me.”
Selena blushed. Even though he’d just been jerked out of sleep mode, he had intelligence enough to skewer her with dry wit. “I-I apologize for touching you inappropriately,” she stammered, caught off balance. “It was wrong of me. If you wish, you can make a formal complaint to Minister Symon at the federation. I will accept whatever sanctions he chooses to impose.”
“You will not,” he growled. “I don’t know who he is, but if there’s punishing due for what you did, I’ll be the one to hand it out. I may have been wounded, but as long as I’m alive I don’t need some other man disciplining my woman.”
“I’m not your…” she began, then stopped herself. She was hardly in a position to argue with him. She should be grateful that he seemed willing to keep this incident between the two of them.
He was looking around the room. “What manner of place is this?”
“It’s the East Metropolis Medical Center.”
“So you’re a healer?”
“Yes. I’m a doctor, a trained medical professional. I’ve been seeing to your care—”
He broke in, as though suddenly remembering. “The king. He is well? And Kylar and Talia and the others?”
Selena nodded. “They are all fine. Your rescue mission succeeded. I’ve been keeping in touch with Ambassador Anderson, advising her of your progress. She sent word that the king is anxiously awaiting your return. All of Gadolinium is ready to welcome you home as a hero.”
He frowned. “How long have I been here?”
“You’ve been in sleep mode for nearly two moons.” She found herself automatically using the Gadolinean term. The Tellex chip had kicked in immediately, allowing her to speak his language fluently as well as understanding it.
His eyes widened. “Two moons? The other warriors will never let me live it down. Slumbering like a newborn babe while the kingdom is in turmoil.”
He struggled to get out of bed and she rushed forward, pushing his shoulders against the pillow. “It’s all right. The intruders have been defeated. Ambassador Anderson says your warriors drove them back through the Star Portal. The king ordered it sealed from your side so they can never return.”
He put a hand over his eyes, groaning. “This light. It’s blinding—like staring up at Phalyx and Zalyx when they’re overhead at midday.”
Selena swiped a hand in the air and the lights dimmed.
“Better,” he said. Then he stopped, staring as if finally seeing her. “Nicely done. Are you a sorcerer as well as a healer?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s merely a mechanical device. I control all the basic functions of the room—temperature, lighting, even the window coverings—by a combination of my thoughts and a few simple gestures.”
“Talia told me of the marvels of her world,” he replied. “But I never thought to see them for myself. Truth be told, the last thing I can remember is thinking the next time I open my eyes, I’ll be getting my reward in Valhalla for a battle well-fought.” His eyes raked up and down her body, then went to his erection. “So far, I like it here better.”
Selena found herself blushing again. She’d never been subjected to such a frank appraisal. His gaze made her feel as though she’d been stripped as naked as he. Without thinking, she followed his eyes down to his male organ and gasped. It jutted straight out from his body now, long and thick.
He raised an eyebrow and gave her a little grin. “Didn’t know you were such a good healer, eh?”
“Yes. I mean no. I didn’t do that. Well, maybe I did, but…”
He leaned back against the pillow, reached down and stroked himself. “Come here, wench, and I’ll show you how well you’ve healed me.”
She backed away so fast she bumped into the chair she’d been sitting in earlier. “No! I can’t! I don’t… we don’t do that here. Besides, you’re in no condition to achieve gratification. You’re still much too weak.”
“Weak? I’ll show you how weak!” He threw himself off the bed and started toward her, then crumbled to his knees.
Selena rushed toward him. “Easy! Take it easy.” She knelt by his side. “We’ve been working your muscles the entire time you were in the pod. But there’s a big difference between hooking up to electro-stimulation and actual physical movement. You can’t just jump up and start walking around. Your body needs to adjust.”
Haldor shook his head, looking confused at the technical terms. “Dizzy. So dizzy.” He struggled to his knees, leaning heavily on Selena.
She stifled a groan. He was even heavier than he looked. She managed to lever him back into bed while refraining from accidentally touching his male organ.
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to offend you.” She fussed with the sheet, covering his nakedness, not trusting herself to meet his glance. Though she’d only been interacting with him for a short time, he seemed to have a knack for catching her off-guard.
“Hunger. That’s what it is.” He acted as if she hadn’t spoken, ignoring her apology. “It’s no wonder I’m weak. If I’ve been asleep I haven’t had a decent meal in weeks.”
Haldor allowed her to bustle around him for a moment longer, then snatched the edge of the sheet from her hand. He let it fall just below his waist. “Leave off swaddling me like a babe and bring me a platter of roast boar.”
She tried not to stare at the line of dark hair running down between the twin rows of muscle on his abdomen and disappearing under the sheet. “Roast boar? I can’t do that. I’ll get you a liquid meal. It will provide all the nutrients your body needs right now.”
“I don’t need any more of your honey mead, woman. My head is spinning enough already. Bring me meat. And turnips. And gravy. Plenty of gravy. I’ll wash it down with a mug of ale for now.”
She let out an audible sigh. “We don’t eat animal flesh on Earth. Boar have been extinct for hundreds of years. The only animals left on the planet live in protected enclosures, where they can be viewed and studied by everyone. Except for our pets. A few cats. Roaches mostly.”
He stared at her in horror. “You keep roaches as pets?”
“I don’t. Can’t stand the sight of them, personally. But they’re quite popular. We had dogs too, at first. But they were so needy. All that petting. And wanting to sit with you and sleep next to you. We did away with them around the same time we did away with sex. Roaches are so much more practical, from a purely scientific point of view. Take up much less room. Amazing, really. They’re one of the few creatures that managed to survive outside the dome. They can go for incredibly long periods without eating.”
“Yes. Back to eating. Please tell me you’re not going to feed me roaches.”
She laughed. “Nothing that drastic! We eat balanced meals, manufactured in the nutrition center. Synthetic protein at lunch and dinner, with a serving of vegetables grown in one of the hydroponic gardens. Spinach, kale, sea kelp. For breakfast we have a liquid meal. Our personally tailored nutrition plans include an occasional treat—a serving of fresh fruit or the rare fish fillet. They’re harvested when the hydroponic apparatus is dismantled for cleaning. We raise fish in the water that nourishes our gardens.”
“Sea kelp? Back home we use it to wrap our cod and salmon before we lay them on the cooking fire, then toss it away. I’ve eaten a mouthful or two—purely by accident. Nasty stuff. Forget the meal. I’ll make do with a mug of ale.”
She shook her head. “Strong spirits have be
en done away with too. They artificially alter one’s brain chemistry. I can bring you a nice cup of herbal tea.”
“No ale either? By all the gods, I wish you’d let me die. I would have awakened in Valhalla. Instead, you’ve starved me to death in my sleep and now I’m in hell.”
Selena laughed. “Most people consider modern Earth to be a wonderful place. The climate is always perfect here under the dome. No more illness, no wars. No stress. People live for nearly two hundred years, lives of peace and harmony.”
“That’s because they’re too weak from hunger to rebel,” he muttered. “Bring me one of your cursed plates of spinach and kelp then—and a big mug of hot tea. With plenty of honey. I can’t abide tea without honey.” He gave her a worried look. “You do have honey here, don’t you?”
“In limited amounts. We use it for rare medical procedures. But I can spare some for you,” she hurried on, seeing his brow begin to wrinkle in frustration.
Selena headed for the staff break room. She guessed his appetite would be as huge as his size so she prepared a tray with triple meal portions, adding a flask of hot tea. Then she took several vials of honey from the locked drug storage cabinet. She’d had the lock installed last year after she caught a patient trying to smuggle drugs out of the lab.
Assigned to duty on a starship, the criminal planned to sell the stolen drugs off-planet. No Earth dweller would dare take unprescribed medications. They’d show up in the routine full-body scans performed during monthly hormone injection. Any reading showing the presence of mind- or body-altering substances meant immediate and permanent exile to a primitive mining colony on one of the asteroids. For modern Earthers, it was a death sentence. If the harsh physical labor didn’t kill them, a hostile fellow prisoner from some other planet would, if only to steal the day’s food ration.
When she returned, Haldor had stuffed the pillow behind his back and was sitting up in bed staring out the window.
“Earth is a strange place. All I see are buildings reaching to the heavens. Where are your forests, your fields?”
She laid the tray on his lap and poured a cup of tea from the flask. “We don’t have any forests. Or fields. Everything outside the dome died nearly six hundred years ago. Our planet was all but destroyed by superweapons in the last Great War. The few survivors built the first dome after they emerged from the shelters. Scientists managed to save some animal species as well as a number of plants. But as the population grew, we were forced to whittle down plant life forms to those that took up the least amount of space in the dome and provided the best yield. Unfortunately, most trees didn’t make the cut.”
“No forests?”
“We still have some trees, lining the main plaza,” she offered. “Later, when you’re feeling stronger, we’ll go for a walk there. It’s lovely. We even have holographic birds flitting from branch to branch.”
Haldor poked his fork into the brownish-gray substance on his plate and took a bite. He grimaced. “Tasteless as the porridge we feed to babes. Have modern Earthers done away with their teeth, too? There’s nothing to chew.”
“Actually our teeth stay in pristine condition, now that they’re not being worn down masticating tough plant and animal fibers.”
“No forests to roam. No game to hunt. No ale. Not even a fat turnip to roast. How soon can I go home?”
“The sooner the better,” she muttered under her breath. He’d been much less trouble when he was asleep. Selena sat down, wincing as her sore bottom came in contact with the seat of the chair.
Haldor shot her a wry grin. “You deserved that spanking and you know it. I doubt your ass is aching as much as my balls right now. I haven’t spent my seed in two months. Though I’ve had plenty of dreams.” He gave her a suspicious look. “Were those your doing too?”
She could feel her face turning red. “It was necessary to… have intimate contact with every part of your body as part of your care. My actions may have triggered automatic responses in you, even though you were in sleep mode.”
He smiled at her. A slow sexy grin than made her feel like she was sitting there in front of him as naked as he was under the sheet. Men didn’t look at women like that on Earth. Not anymore. She felt her heart racing. Damn, he was gorgeous when he smiled.
He patted the edge of the bed. “Come here. It’s high time I returned the favor.”
A wild thrill poured through her body. She swore her nipples hardened right then. “Thank you for the… offer,” she replied primly, hoping he couldn’t see how much he’d affected her. “But I couldn’t possibly do that.”
“Do you belong to another?”
“Belong? Oh, you mean do I have a spouse? No, I haven’t entered into a marriage contract yet. But that doesn’t matter. Physical contact is forbidden, even between life partners.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Your command of my language is impressive. But I fear we have a misunderstanding. I did not mean to suggest that we become… life partners, I believe you called it. Only that we engage in a little dalliance. After all, you’re already well acquainted with my rod. It’s only fair that I have an opportunity to meet your sweet pussy and give her a kiss or two.”
Selena gasped. He was so brazen. “We don’t do that here! It’s forbidden.”
“Kissing a pussy is forbidden?” He looked around the room. “And who’s going to enforce that law? Never mind. I’ll happily pleasure you with my hands—and then my cock.”
“No!” She took a deep breath, lowered her voice, and forced herself to remain calm. “You are not familiar with our customs and our laws here on Earth. Touching another person is frowned upon. And the type of… contact you are suggesting is no longer permitted between humans.”
He looked incredulous. “You mean there’s no fucking on Earth?”
Chapter Three
She nodded, unable to even say the word.
He sagged against the pillow. “By all the gods, I hope I’m still asleep. I can’t be in hell. Even there, we’re allowed to fuck. This is no dream. It’s a nightmare.”
“I’m sorry. I know all of this is a shock. It must be very difficult—thinking you were about to die, then waking up on a strange planet with strange customs. But I assure you, this is no dream. Soon you’ll be well enough to return to Gadolinium. Stronger and healthier than you’ve ever been. Ready to take up your old life.”
He shoved away his half-eaten dinner. “I find I’ve no appetite after all.”
She jumped up to remove it but he grabbed her wrist. “Leave it. I need more than a serving wench right now. I need someone to answer questions, explain all of this to me.”
She froze, staring down at his hand pinning her in place.
He followed her gaze. Comprehension dawned and he let go abruptly. “You’re serious. You really don’t touch each other at all? For any reason?”
“No, we don’t. It’s considered an invasion of our private space. A crime. If a citizen is convicted of first degree personal space invasion, he or she is exiled to one of the mining colonies on an asteroid, just like with any other crime. The federation has begun cracking down hard recently, ever since trade routes through the Portals opened up. Some of our citizens were being corrupted by exposure to beings from other planets, where such behavior runs rampant.”
“But you’ve been touching me. Everywhere.” He saw a flash of guilt in her eyes. “Have you been breaking the law?”
“There are some exceptions,” she answered, her voice prim. “I have a medical degree. I’m allowed to provide care in case of emergencies. But routine medical procedures are performed only when patients are in sleep mode, to avoid personal invasion trauma.”
“Talia said something about it once, back on Gadolinium, but I didn’t believe her. I thought she was teasing. How long has this been going on?”
“You mean the ban on coitus?”
She must have seen his wrinkled brow. He watched her face turn red as she forced herself to use a word he’d understand.
“You mean how long has it been since we stopped… fucking each other on Earth? Around three hundred years.”
He laughed. Chuckling a little first, then howling. “By Odin’s beard, you are a naughty wench! You almost had me at that. No touching? No fucking? Come here.”
He shot out his arm, wrapped it around her waist and pulled her close, then captured her mouth in a kiss.
* * *
Selena froze. She couldn’t breathe. His lips fastened over hers, his arms crushed her against that massive body. She beat against his chest with her fists, desperate to get away.
He drew his head back. “What’s wrong?”
She fought back tears. “Don’t! Please, don’t.”
“Don’t kiss you?” He still held her against him, arms circling her like a steel band.
“Don’t—touch me!” she cried, her voice shrill.
His face fell and he took his arms away. “You were serious. You don’t kiss, you don’t… Wait—that can’t be. How does your species go on if there’s no fucking?”
Legs shaking, Selena backed away from the bed and sank down in the chair. She pulled herself together, retreating to her clinical, scientific persona. The place where she felt safe.
She began speaking as though she were back in the lecture hall with first-year students. “If marriage partners choose to procreate, they design and conceive a child artificially, in a sterile lab. The resulting fetuses are brought to term in the lab. Then they’re raised in groups by trained nursemaids, closely monitored all the while by the latest equipment. Child caring is the other profession exempt from the law prohibiting physical contact. But even then we try to limit it as much as possible, to prepare our offspring for their place in society.”
She went on. “After two years, the parents are presented with a healthy toddler free of genetic defects, one trained to perform all the tasks necessary to care for itself. We find this is a far better system than leaving a child’s fate to the old-fashioned rolling of DNA-laden dice known as intercourse.” She met his eyes then. “Or fucking, as you put it.”
His to Tame (Alien Masters Book 4) Page 3
