Centauri Captives Books 1-3: A Dark Sci-Fi Romance

by Kallista Dane

  Perfect. A storeroom. I’d find something to cover my light skin, so I could hide in the shadows. Make my way silently through the dimly lit corridors. Find the transport hub, wait for my chance, and escape.

  I know I was stupid and naïve. Thinking I could hide indefinitely on an alien spacecraft then figure out how to operate their transporting equipment to make my escape. But in my defense, I’d been teased and tormented sexually for hours, then fucked so thoroughly that my brain had checked out. Looking back, it was a wonder I’d been able to put one foot in front of the other. All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball on something soft and fall asleep purring.

  Right after you fuck him again.

  The thought popped unbidden into my mind. Rational Jess butting in where she wasn’t wanted. I shut her down, frantically digging through the stacks to find something I could wrap around my body. I’d begun shivering uncontrollably, and my head ached again. I’d forgotten all about it for a while. Getting royally fucked by an Arythian worked better than any pain reliever I’d ever used.

  “Too bad we can’t bottle that dick,” I muttered, grabbing the biggest piece of cloth I could find and wrapping it around my body. “Don’t bottle it, silly. You can start a new business when you get back home. Engineer a dildo that works like his cock. You’ll make a fortune.”

  I giggled then slapped a hand over my mouth. What was wrong with me? I felt giddy and lightheaded. My whole body was shaking, and I could swear I felt his hot cum coursing through my veins like a fever.

  I forced myself to focus. Escape. I had to hide then find a way to escape.

  In this gray world, my red hair and white skin would stand out like a sore thumb. The fabric I’d grabbed wasn’t a piece of clothing. Big and square, more of a bedsheet or curtain. I draped it over my head, pulling the edges down like a hood to hide as much of my face as possible, then swathed my body with the rest. Too thin to provide any real warmth, it didn’t do a thing to stop me from shaking.

  I crept to the doorway and risked a peek. No sounds, no sign of anyone.

  If I’d had my wits about me, that would have been enough to tip me off. This starship had an escaped alien prisoner on the loose. There should have been guards up and down the corridors, searching for me door to door.

  But like I said before, I’d had my brains fucked out.

  I scurried down the dim hallway, passing door after door, all shut tight. There didn’t seem to be any way of opening them. No knobs I could see, no hinges. The shaking grew worse, and my legs wobbled like they were made of Jell-O. Or cybellus. Dissolving into another fit of giggles, I crumpled to the floor and let the gray swallow me up.

  Strong arms lifted me, pulled me close. Warmth flowed through me, eased the trembling in my arms and legs. I didn’t struggle. I recognized his distinctive scent, raw testosterone with that hint of exotic spice.

  “Little fool.” His words were those of anger, but I sensed something more in his tone. “You can’t get up and run around after mating. Your body is in a weakened state, using all its energy to adapt.”

  Adapt to what? I wanted to ask, but I was so tired. Leaning my head against his chest, I let him carry me through the corridors like a babe in arms.

  “I’d hoped to let you have some freedom once you regained your strength, but now I’ll have to punish you for running away.”

  Chapter Eight

  Mantsk

  What I hadn’t told her was that my body was also recovering. Coitus with a female brought males close to dehydration, and, at home on Arythios, mates attempting to breed would remain in their home together for some time, several hours at least, while the male drank several decanters of ale and the female devoured a large meal of…

  A large meal. My female lay limp against my chest, her eyes half-lidded, skin even paler than before. “When did you last eat?” Not that it would be any better if she’d had a feast right before transporting. Hours had passed since then, and once I’d filled her with my cum, her body would have gone into a calorie-intense process that would have even a well fed Arythian female in distress.

  “I-I don’t know,” she muttered. “Not hungry.”

  No, probably past hungry. At the point where her system was so focused on the changes in her genetic code, it no longer sent her accurate messages like: eat, drink, breathe.

  “Going to feed you anyway, female.” I changed direction, heading for the small galley on this level. The sheet fell away at some point, but I needed her fed more than clothed. Nothing amazing would be available, but after so much time in space with few chances to resupply, the main dining area wouldn’t be much better.

  I adjusted her in my arms and waved at the door. Once it dissolved, I moved inside and set her on a bench, letting her head settle on the small table, then scanned the offerings, hoping for something nourishing for a mother-to-be. Of course, the ship would not have any of the special dishes they prized, but she was also weaker than most would be. And her empty stomach might be sensitive, so I chose a soup of pureed vegetables, as well as three bottles of ale for myself, before sitting next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Her bare skin was cold against mine.

  “Open your mouth, female.” I drank my first ale while waiting for her response.

  She slowly swung her head back and forth in weak protest. “No. I don’t want to.”

  I held a spoonful of the warm soup to her lips. “You must. Your body will shut down if you do not give it the nutrients it needs to continue adapting.”

  “What are you talking about? And how do I know you aren’t trying to drug me?”

  Good. Even if her body showed no spirit, her voice did.

  “You don’t. But you are surely intelligent enough to understand that if you do not consume something, you will eventually die. Even without the process you currently undergo.”

  She tried to shrug my arm off, but I tightened my hold, poking the spoon at her lips. “Stop it. It shmells weird,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

  It probably did, since it was made of vegetables that grew far from the soil of her planet. “Just eat it to stay alive. We can discuss seasonings when you aren’t slurring your words. Eat!”

  Head shaking back and forth, my female earned more punishment for disobedience, but I didn’t like the glazed look in her eyes. Settling the spoon in the bowl, I considered how best to ensure I kept her alive long to bear my young. She shivered, teeth chattering now, and I shoved the table away, soup splashing onto its gleaming surface, and yanked her facedown over my lap.

  “Fine, female, you will eat, I promise.” Pressing an elbow into her back, I gulped down two more ales.

  “N-no, I…ohhh, I ache.” Her shivers grew more intense. “What did you do to me?”

  “I will go over it again when you are not in shock.” Lifting my hand, I brought it down on her rounded bottom cheeks. They were still purplish red from earlier, and the first smack brought forth a loud wail.

  “Stop! You’re hurting me!” No slurring. Progress.

  I landed two more on each cheek, watching them flush deeper red, my fingerprints sharply outlined on her skin. “And will continue to hurt you until you agree to eat every bite of this meal.”

  She was stubborn, but I was counting on her also being weakened, and, to my great relief, less than ten spanks in, she was weeping and offering to do anything to make me stop.

  Rubbing circles over her glowing bottom cheeks, I said, “You will eat the food.”

  “Yes, yes, whatever disgusting alien food you want. I just don’t want to hurt anymore.”

  “Then ask me properly.”

  “Please stop…Master.” She spat the word, but I would reward her effort, despite the lack of respect in her tone. She would learn, in time.

  I dipped my fingers between her legs and brought them away glistening with her juices. “Your body is ready for me yet again.” As was mine for her. My pants, which I’d slipped on before chasing her, were once again tight, but duty—m
y constant nemesis—forced me to sit her up on my lap and spoon the thick soup into her mouth until the bowl was empty. Then I opened the front flap on my uniform pants and lifted her enough for my tips to find their way inside her tight, wet haven.

  Her hips were full handfuls, and my fingers sank into the softness, raising and lowering her, my appendages finding the spots inside her that had her eyes rolling back and soft gasps coming from her lips. Her nipples were still extended from the clamps, which I would employ again, but for now my lips closed over one, applying a different kind of suction. She already tasted spicier, as I’d expect from a female preparing to carry young, and as I tickled the firm peak, she squirmed, carrying me deeper into her hot core.

  Wanting deeper penetration, and a view, I lifted her from my lap and laid her belly down on the table. She was again rosy-pink and a trickle of her arousal rolled down her thigh. “You protest, female, but you already ripen. Your body craves my attention.” I trailed a finger through her wetness and brought it up to her other opening, one I would explore later. “The Evelians have two cocks, and could fill both of these at once, not that you will ever find that out,” I mused, toying with the rosette of muscle.

  “Please, please, please…Master,” she moaned, and I chuckled and gave a friendly smack to her bottom.

  “What do you need, female?” I asked as if my own appendages were not already reaching for her creamy opening.

  “I need you to fuck me, Master, please.”

  The word, fuck, in her language, was not translating, but she parted her legs wider, and her meaning was clear.

  “You are learning.” I tugged her closer and gave her what she needed, what we both needed. With the passage door open, anyone could walk by and see and envy me my conquest. The performance of my duty, to save my race, had many positive aspects. But after I emptied my cum into her body, I acknowledged the need to retreat, to keep her in my quarters lest my good fortune create a climate where those who did not have access to one of the slaves might be angry enough to forget himself and take unfortunate action.

  For the next several days, I divided my time between the bridge and my quarters, duty bound to both, but our travels through nearly empty space were not nearly as riveting as what lay between the legs of my female.

  Chapter Nine

  Jess

  Mantsk pulled me against his body, draping an arm across my waist. “Sleep now, little human. You need rest as your body adapts to prepare it to carry Arythian offspring.”

  He was obsessed with procreation, claimed every time we had sex his cum was gradually changing my body chemistry. I did feel tired all the time, but I chalked it up to the stress of being transported halfway across the galaxy then discovering that in fear of being attacked, my world’s leaders had given me away to aliens as a fuck toy. I guess it was their take on the old saying “Make love, not war.”

  I was willing to go along with his theory if it meant I’d get better treatment. Maybe even freedom to explore the ship and find a way to escape. “Sleep? Where?”

  “Right here on the bed.”

  I thumped a fist on the cold metal surface he insisted we fuck on. “This isn’t a bed. Where’d you get it anyway, a cast-off sale from the Arythian county morgue?”

  He gave me that puzzled look again. “I do not know what a cats-off sale is, but this bed is standard equipment on a starship.”

  “Maybe you can sleep on a meat slab from the deli, but I need something a whole lot warmer and softer.”

  The usual grim expression on his face changed to one I’d almost describe as pleasant. “Of course. How thoughtless of me. You’re feeling the urge to nest.”

  Nest? Exactly what did Arythian offspring look like when they were born? I’d have to ask him to see those images he projected on the walls again.

  “Come with me. You can have your choice of nesting materials.”

  He pulled on his pants and headed for the door, shirtless, then stopped.

  “You’ll be needing garments, too.” He gave my naked body a once-over. “Male attire will never fit. Far too large. And you have more padding than our females. We’ll have to generate suitable body coverings.”

  He waved a hand, and a panel in the wall slid open to reveal a sparsely filled closet. Mantsk considered his options and tossed me a shirt made of shiny gray fabric. “Put this on for now.”

  I was so damned tired of that color.

  I pulled it over my head. I might be curvier than the average female of his species, but my body didn’t fill out the shirt the way his massive chest did. The bottom hem reached my knees and my hands were lost somewhere inside the sleeves. I rolled them up and pushed the wads of fabric up to my elbows. I wasn’t about to complain. I’d been running around with my bare ass waving in the breeze ever since I arrived and having something to cover it was a relief.

  He took my arm and led me through a maze of corridors, all lined with doors that had no visible way to open them. All the same dull gray. All lit barely enough to keep from bumping into the walls.

  “What is it with you people and darkness?” I muttered. The pictures I’d seen on Earth showed Arythians living a beautiful world, full of sunlight and dazzling color. Obviously meant to sucker in the tourists.

  “It keeps my men focused on their mission,” he replied.

  We stepped into a tiny alcove. My stomach lurched as the floor dropped out from under my feet. I clutched Mantsk’s arm then tried to make light of my terror when I realized we were in an elevator. “Feeling a little dizzy,” I stammered.

  He put his arm around my back. “Would you like me to carry you?”

  “No. It passed. I’m fine now. Really.”

  The elevator continued to plummet, leading me to wonder just how large this starship was. When it finally stopped, I fought a wave of nausea.

  This level of the ship was bustling, compared to the other areas I’d been in. We passed three other Arythians in the hallways. All of them snapped to attention when they saw Mantsk, carefully focusing their eyes on him alone. I figured the word must have gotten out that I was his property and staring at the alien female was a no-no.

  I had no such prohibition, so I studied the crew members with great interest. Other than Mantsk, I hadn’t seen any live Arythians.

  They were all huge by Earth standards. Taller, more muscular. All in varying shades of gray, though I did notice a pinkish tint appear on the face of one after I caught him sneaking a peek at my ass as we walked past. I smiled and winked. Sure enough, the pink grew brighter.

  They moved swiftly and silently despite their bulk and, except for the one I caught gawking at me, gave off a palpable sense of tightly coiled rage. I found myself grateful to have Mantsk accompanying me. His men looked ready to vent their fury on any alien being they encountered.

  He stopped in front of a set of double doors, waved a hand, and they…disintegrated. Just disappeared. The same thing must have happened every time he entered our room but I was usually so focused on getting fucked when he walked in that I’d never paid much attention. I always thought the door just slid into the wall or something.

  I was so surprised it took a moment for the sight that met my eyes to register.

  The vast chamber beyond was piled with riches that put Aladdin’s cave to shame. Stacks of textiles in vivid hues, mountains of furry textures. Thick rugs in intricate jewel-toned patterns were layered on the floor, strewn with velvety soft pillows in mouthwatering shades of apricot and butterscotch and kiwi. I saw dishes and bowls, containers of every shape and style in silver and gold and iridescent shades of purple and blue.

  In the distance, I caught a glimmer of light. Before Mantsk could stop me, I dashed through the cavernous space.

  “Oh!”

  The far section of the ship’s hold had been turned into a greenhouse. Row upon row of plants and flowers flourished under artificial sunlight so dazzling I had to squint. Tall trees, varieties I’d never seen before, fought for space with bushes
and vines. Leaves of cobalt-blue, bubble-gum-pink, lime-green—I’d never seen foliage in such amazing colors. And the flowers.

  Mantsk caught up with me.

  “It’s…it’s all so beautiful!” I twirled around with my arms out, trying to see everything at once.

  His mouth held the ghost of a smile. “Take anything you like. For your nest.”

  “Anything?” My jaw dropped open. I’d been to hundreds of exclusive shops, designed and furnished lavish homes for some of the richest citizens on Earth. But I’d never been turned loose with an unlimited bank account to indulge my own desires. I could spend days here, shopping at the biggest bazaar in the galaxy.

  I put out a hand to stroke a delicate creamy-white blossom, buried my nose in its sweet scent, then turned to him. “Why?”

  “Because I want you to build the perfect nest.”

  “No, I don’t want to know why you’re telling me to choose whatever I like. I want to know why you choose to live in such a grim environment when you could surround yourself with so much beauty.”

  He sank down onto a pile of furs, idly stroked one as he pondered his response. I was used to that by now. He always weighed his words before speaking. The mark of a good leader. One who would never order his men into battle until he’d considered all his options.

  “We did live with all this,” he said, waving a hand around the room. “I took it away. This…” He grabbed a handful of fur, shook it at me. “This is what once covered the hard metal surface we sleep on. Soft bedding. Soft pillows. Lush thick carpets underfoot. Works of art on the walls depicting scenes of peace and harmony.

  “We’d grown soft, too,” he went on. “Complacent. My people let down our guard, thought every being in the galaxy was gentle and kind.” He turned away from me and brushed a hand over his eyes.

  “We were wrong. The Universe holds many dark places, full of evil. My world was destroyed by that evil. Kind, gentle beings slaughtered without mercy.”