Keeping his tone careful he said, “Tell me.”
She swallowed. Her eyes were distant, the hazel depths stormy as she looked into some place Falinset couldn’t see. “He was a neighbor when I lived on Earth. I was young, not quite a teenager. He was always so friendly, so good to all the kids on our block. He was handsome too, even though he was so much older. I had a silly school girl crush on him. I never for one moment thought he’d do anything to hurt us.”
It was as he’d suspected – Tasha, so ready to do battle for Noelle and the women Maf had abducted, had come to the rescue of someone else. “What did he do?”
“He took advantage of my infatuation. He cornered me away from all the others inside his house. He put his hands on me. Inside my bathing suit. He touched me and – and put his finger inside me.”
For a moment Falinset was caught in a quiet, unfeeling place, a void of perfect poise. Then wrath swept through him, making his ears roar and his blood rush like molten lava. Tasha had not gone to the rescue of someone wronged. She had been the one wronged.
She continued to speak, her voice far away, unknowing of his mounting rage against yet another enemy he could not save her from. “I was so scared. But he kept talking like I had a say in it. He told me, ‘You want this, don’t you? You like how it feels, right? You’ll keep our special secret forever, won’t you?’ Like I had a choice. He kept insisting I had a choice, that I was a willing part of it.”
She drew a shuddering breath before continuing. “I might as well have been. If the authorities had found out, I would have been held to be as guilty as my attacker.” Her sudden, shocking laugh was full of bitterness. “My biggest fear was for my twin, Cissy. I was afraid he’d go after her next and that she’d be found out.”
“What did you do?”
“I warned her and saw she was scared too. That she felt as helpless as I had. It made me angry. How was it girls as innocent as ourselves could be held responsible for that bastard’s actions? But we would be.”
Falinset felt the same helpless anger she described. But then, he’d been feeling that way for years now. Their circumstances may not have been the same, but the outcome was. They’d both been trapped and desperate to protect their loved ones.
Swallowing the incensed scream that tried to burst from his throat, he instead asked, “How did you do it? How did you kill him?”
“My sister – she’s always been the tough one, the one who doesn’t back down from a challenge. The hothead who acts first and repents later. After I told her what happened, I realized she might do something stupid. So I watched her like a hawk.”
Tasha’s hilarious stories of her twin had painted a picture of an impulsive Cissy who indeed reacted before thinking her actions out. He could well understand Tasha’s concerns.
“Sure enough, a couple days later she snuck out in the middle of the night and headed over to the neighbor’s house. She put lighter fluid on his doorframes and set them on fire. Then she ran back to our home.”
“He couldn’t get out,” Falinset guessed.
“Actually, he could have. We didn’t use vids for windows on Earth. We used the real thing.” Tasha glanced at the window vid again, but Falinset was sure she didn’t see Nur’s garden at that moment. “Also, the law mandated that he have a fire safety system in his home. As soon as the smoke detectors were alerted to the fire, they would open the windows automatically.”
“Did they?”
The darkness increased. “When I saw Cissy had left the bastard an out, I went to the house. I knew from our own home’s setup where I could find the system’s power box.” She took a breath and shuddered. “When I followed Cissy to his house, I was afraid she planned to confront him or something. I’d grabbed a big screwdriver to stab him with if I had to, to keep her safe. When I saw she was only trying to scare him, I used it to make a hole in the house’s thin wood veneer that overlay the storm-resistant outer shell. I’d miscalculated where the safety system’s box was, but the wiring was right there. I hacked at it until it was all torn up. I knew the windows would stay jammed shut because they’d never get a signal to open, even if he used the inside control panel. Then I went back a safe distance to watch the house burn.”
“So that’s how he died?”
Tasha made an abrupt sound that might have been a laugh or a sob. “Heaven forbid it be that easy. The smoke alarm finally went off and woke him up. I heard the sound of glass breaking at the back of the house. I knew he’d smashed through a window when he couldn’t get it open. I ran over to see him starting to crawl out.”
She turned to Falinset. Her eyes met his, the churning emotions roiling just beneath the surface. “He was going to escape. All he was going to lose was his house, his belongings. Things he could replace. I’d lost my innocence, my trust.”
“Things you couldn’t get back easily, if at all.” He knew the feeling all too well.
“I hated him, Falinset. He took the best parts of me, and it wasn’t fair. So I went to the window where he was trying to get out. It was a tight fit, but he would have made it. He looked up at me and held up one hand, as if asking me to help pull him free.”
“Did you use the screwdriver? Did you stab him?”
She shook her head. “It’s amazing how lucidly I could think at that moment. You’d think otherwise, right? But I could see everything crystal clear. I realized things were going to look hinky enough what with the lighter fluid being used. But arson leading to an accidental death was a possibility. I just had to do it right so outright murder wouldn’t be traced to me or Cissy.”
While rage and horror danced in her eyes, her voice went dead. She told him the end as if reporting on the weather. “So I picked up a sharp piece of glass lying around from him breaking the window. I picked it up and I cut his throat with it.”
Falinset watched her. This was the dark thing that lurked alongside her sweet nature. This was the cold steel that coexisted with the warm tenderness that made up Tasha Salter. The protectiveness that came so easily to her had led her to kill. Not for herself, no matter how horrifically she’d been injured, no matter how much she hated the man who’d stolen her innocence. But for her sister, to keep her from being targeted by the real monster of the tale.
If Falinset got his hands on Maf and carried out what had to happen to save them all, would it haunt him as it did Tasha? Would he wonder if he’d bowed to some inner bloodthirsty fiend, something beneath redemption?
Or would he recognize in himself, as he recognized in her, that he’d done what needed to be done to take care of the ones he loved?
“Then what?” he prodded. He needed to know all of it, for her as much for himself.
“He looked at me, his hand still reaching. It slowly drifted down to the ground. He made a strange gurgling noise. Then nothing. And that was all.”
“Was that truly all?”
Tasha shrugged. “Later the cops came around the neighborhood. They thought teenagers had set the fires as a prank, and the guy died when a piece of glass slashed his throat as he tried to escape. The hole I’d made in the wall was attributed to mice or rats. The authorities asked my parents questions, but never me or Cissy.”
“Does your sister know what happened?”
“I meant to tell her. I waited for the right time … but it never seemed to arrive. I mean, how was I supposed to say, ‘I cut the bastard’s throat so he wouldn’t get to you’?” Tasha shuddered. “I feel horrible that she thought it was her fault. I don’t think she ever intended him to die. For all her bluster, she’s softhearted. But I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that her sister was a coldblooded killer.”
“I doubt that’s true, Tasha. You’re not the type,” came Wekniz’s heavy voice.
Falinset and Tasha looked toward the door to see the Nobek and Nur there. Their faces were filled with concern.
“But I am,” she insisted. “Oh, there are nightmares from time to time. I can hear that awful wet noise in his throat
to this day. But I’m not sorry I killed him. Not one bit.”
The two men came to them. They gathered so that the clan surrounded Tasha, Nur sitting on the side opposite Falinset. Wekniz knelt at her feet and took her hands.
“Of course you’re not. He was a monster, someone who hurt you and would hurt others. Who knows how many you saved from what he would have done?”
She cocked her head to one side, gazing at him with frank curiosity. “You don’t think there is something wrong with me? That I murdered a man with so little conscience? That I know I could do it again if Ket or Maf show their ugly faces around here?”
Falinset answered her. “I think you are immensely practical. You know what has to be done to keep yourself and others safe. You waste no time on second-guessing that or hurting over it.” Like I have, he thought.
Wekniz regarded her with no hint of disdain. “It’s a gift. Most couldn’t do it. Many would hesitate. You did right. In training camp, we were taught that hesitation will get you killed.”
She didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know. I’ve always thought I might be a sociopath to be able to murder a man and continue to live my life like it never happened.”
Nur smiled comfortingly. “A sociopath wouldn’t love Noelle the way you do. She wouldn’t continue to fret over the other women Ket is holding hostage. She wouldn’t be beside herself with rage over what everyone else is suffering.”
Her face registered surprise. She stared at him for a long moment as she turned the matter over in her mind. Bit by bit, her shoulders began to relax. Relief crept over her face, and then she smiled.
It was a real smile, one that reached all the way into her eyes. All the darkness there had disappeared. There was the hint of a chuckle in her voice as she said to Falinset, “I’m just practical, huh?”
He laughed, mostly at the openness that had dawned on her face. It was a glimpse into an undamaged Tasha, one who hadn’t had her trust in others shaken so badly.
He told her, “Maybe there’s a little disassociation with your actions as well.”
Wekniz added, “That would be a survival mechanism. Not mental illness.”
“I’m not a homicidal maniac then, ready to kill if the right triggers are pulled?” Her relieved smile remained. “Just ready to run if the wrong things are said.”
“Like a lover telling you that what’s going on is what you want. Or pretending to ask for your compliance rather than ordering you straight out.” Nur looked as if he’d had an epiphany.
“Look at me,” she said with exaggerated exuberance. “I’m not a monster after all.”
“No more than me,” Falinset assured her. “I’ll kill Maf or Ket if I get the chance. And I feel no worse about it than you do.”
“None of you could be monsters,” Nur insisted. “I don’t want to make love to monsters.”
Tasha glanced at the chronometer on the wall. The men did as well. Falinset realized they had maybe half an hour before Noelle would wake from her afternoon nap. They exchanged grins all around.
“Shall we have Nur prove that statement?” Tasha asked.
The men chuckled. She beamed, apparently taking it as their assent that there would be fun.
Noting how little time was available for all three men to enjoy her, Falinset decided to act quickly. He moved like a flash of dark lightning, getting behind her and grabbing her by the nape of her neck. Controlling her. Letting her know unquestionably who was in charge.
* * * *
The firm grip on her neck relaxed Tasha. Falinset’s authority was established in an instant. Her belly warmed.
Wekniz and Nur smiled down on her. She couldn’t see Falinset, but she could feel him just fine. Pleasure licked through her to be surrounded by the three big males. They always gave her what she needed.
The Nobek told his clanmates, “I enjoy how she goes so soft with surrender when she’s supposed to. You’d think we’d trained her ourselves.”
Nur sighed. “If only. Putting her through her paces would have been a delight too.”
Tasha wondered if he’d like a little resistance to have to break through. She’d have to consider the matter carefully.
There was a tug at the bottom of her blouse from behind. “You may take this off.”
Tasha obeyed, pulling at the resealable seam in front before she’d even thought about it. Submitting to the members of Clan Falinset always felt natural. Even now, with the three of them staring at her, making her feel deliciously vulnerable, her soul said it was right to do as they told her.
The blouse slipped down her arms, falling to the floor to puddle at her heels. “Bra too,” Falinset said.
The air felt cool, the manufactured breeze from the vid-window wafting against her bared breasts. An eager shiver ran down her spine.
“Lovely,” Wekniz declared. His calloused hand swept over one breast, sending a stab of pleasure from chest to pussy.
“Extremely,” Nur agreed. He tugged on the nipple of the other breast. There was a brief burst of pain that warmed the growing arousal.
“You may thank them for their compliments,” Falinset said from behind. The soft sound of his voice with that unmistakable commanding edge lit her body as much as the men’s touches.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Good girl.” His approval felt like a caress all over her body. Then he said, “Skirt off now.”
She stripped it off, letting it puddle to the floor with the rest of her clothing. The men looked her over, evaluating her as if considering whether or not to buy a piece of merchandise. Tasha wasn’t sure why being inspected in such a way made her pulse quicken or brought wet warmth between her thighs.
“We have not all three had you at once yet,” Falinset said at length. “We don’t have time for it now, either. I suggest we play a little, give ourselves something to whet our appetites for later.”
Wekniz and Nur nodded, dangerous half-smiles pulling at their lips. Tasha’s nerves notched up. They looked up to no good. And what did Falinset mean by ‘whet our appetites for later’? They weren’t going to have sex?
He let go of the back of her neck. His hands closed over her wrists, and he moved her hands to where he’d been gripping her all this time. “Lace your fingers and keep them there unless we say otherwise. You’re to make yourself available to us. For now, just stand there.”
She obeyed, clutching her hands together behind her neck. The position was one of her favorites. It lifted her heavy breasts, making them appear perkier.
Meanwhile, the men ran their hands over her body. Wekniz’s rough calloused paws rasped against her skin. Nur’s soft touch smoothed her body as if made of silk. The sensation from Falinset’s hands was somewhere in between.
Wekniz’s hand circled her throat, an act of power. Tasha’s breath caught, but not in fear. It was excitement coursing through her, making her skeleton feel like it might melt and leave her with no support. From there, the Nobek’s hand swept down, moving between her breasts and then cupping one of the weighty orbs.
Nur’s tender fingertips traced down her stomach, pausing to outline her belly button. The sensation would have normally been ticklish. This time Tasha found it making her insides feeling funny, but not in a laughing sort of way. Corralled by the three men, the Imdiko’s questing touch made her insides squirm in an elated dance. His fingers drifted lower to trace the line where her pubic hair began. Her skin prickled all over.
Falinset’s firm hands rubbed down her hips. Then he cupped her buttocks, giving them a squeeze before massaging them in an almost punishing grip. One hand left its cheek and delivered a slap from beneath, making that side bounce. Tasha jumped with a startled, “Oh!” She groaned as the Dramok rubbed the offended flesh, shoving the hurt deeper into the tissues. Then his other hand repeated the swat on her opposite buttock, making it bounce and hurt too.
Wekniz pinched her nipples, applying growing pressure until she rose up on her toes with a moan. He released th
em and leaned down to soothe first one, then the other with his wet lips. Her inner thighs were painted with her juices now, a fact Nur discovered as he ran his fingers in the folds between thighs and pussy. The Imdiko smiled and stroked her pubic curls. “I’m going to remove this hair. Next time I enjoy her body, I want her pussy bare to the skin.”
Tasha had shaved her sex before. It shouldn’t have been a big deal to hear Nur wanted her shaved again. Yet the way he said it, as if he had every right to expect her compliance – plus the fact he planned to do it himself – made her insides tremble. She’d never been shaved by a man before. It sounded incredibly intimate.
His fingers slid along her slit as she considered the idea. All at once her arousal was burning hot, making her gasp. “So wet for us. That pleases me.” His thumb dragged across the tip of her clit, and she damned near jogged in place as she shifted from foot to foot in reaction. How could a mere touch be so incredibly profound? A touch that was still there, still pressed against her nub, making the room rock like a ship at sea. She started to move against the enticing pressure.
“Stay still.”
With that stern command, she froze. Her body clamored to rub against his touch, to bring climax sweeping over her and relieving her of the demanding heat that had built up inside. But Tasha knew her place. She was to do as she was told. If not, there were three men, three demanding men, who would not scruple to discipline her for disobedience. Worse still, she would disappoint them. That awful thought kept her motionless as the long, aching seconds ticked by.
“Good girl,” Nur murmured, taking his thumb off her clit. He stroked the soft curls of her pubic hair yet again. His tone easy, he said, “Spread your legs.”
Recalling how he’d spoken of wishing he’d gotten the chance to train her to obedience, Tasha decided to test his patience. “But you said stay still.”
The man behind her whacked each ass cheek like before, the slaps coming hard and fast to make the flesh jiggle. As the same time, Wekniz delivered similar swats to her breasts, bringing bee sting hurt to the mounds. She felt every vibration through her core, the pain more aphrodisiac than punishment. “Apologize to my Imdiko and do as you’re told,” he growled in her ear.
Alien Hostage Page 27
