by Maree Dry
They both wanted Sarah away from Marcie. It might be that their negative reaction was just to the woman’s harsh way of speaking. Who knew what kind of defense mechanisms she had to create to survive?
“She will stay here until I have built a dwelling and then she will stay with me,” Larz said from behind them.
Natalie appeared as surprised as the rest of them. She looked at Zacar. “You deal with this.” She turned to Julia. “Let’s wait inside.”
Julia and Natalie sat on one of the couches to wait for Sarah and Marcie. Julia could hear Larz and Zacar talking outside, speaking in even harsher tones than normal.
“Are they arguing?” Julia asked Natalie.
Natalie shrugged. “Who knows? After all this time, I still read them wrong sometimes.”
Marcie came out, dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and boots. Her hair was still wet and clung to her scalp. Larz walked in, followed by Zurian and Zacar. None of them wore a human disguise.
“What are they?” Marcie’s voice was flat, her eyes cold, as she addressed the question to Natalie.
“This is my husband Zacar.” Natalie motioned to Zacar who didn’t acknowledge the woman with even a look. “These are Zyrgin warriors from another planet. You are quite safe with them. In many ways, you will be much better off here.”
“Oh, yeah? How do you figure that? Just because you’re so desperate for a man, you’d even take a weird green one, doesn’t mean we all feel the same way.”
Larz stepped forward and Julia instinctively shrank back. He looked like he meant business. Natalie frowned at him and shook her head. Zacar fixed him with a red stare. “Stay back,” he grated in English.
Larz stood, his shoulders drawn back and his feet planted apart, arms crossed. He looked like a miniature Zacar.
“What would they expect from us?” This came from Sarah who stood in the doorway leading to the bedrooms, small and vulnerable, and very beautiful, in an ethereal way.
Julia couldn’t help wondering why Larz would fixate on someone like Marcie with Sarah around.
“Nothing for now. All you need to do is rest and get well.” Natalie turned to Marcie and Julia could see her stiffen slightly, her face a smooth mask. “Don’t worry about my son. He’s quite friendly once you get to know him.”
“You gave birth to aliens,” the redhead gasped. “That’s disgusting.”
Natalie immediately bristled at the other women’s tone. “Marcie, it might seem strange to you, but I love my sons dearly and would not change anything.”
The woman got to her feet with an aggressive movement. “You’re damn right, it seems strange. I want out of here. You will take me to a town where I will be safe.”
Zacar stepped in front of Natalie and Zurian drew Julia and Mirabelle to his side.
“She is mine,” Larz said.
Larz swayed but, before Marcie could say anything, Zacar casually stepped next to him and clasped his shoulders. In the next moment, Larz was standing upright, away from his father, and Julia wondered if she’d imagined it. Then she saw the worry on Natalie’s face when she looked at her son.
“Well, little boy, I don’t want you,” Marcie said. “I’m going to a town right this minute and a little runt like you will not stop me.”
Julia thought the woman had to be remarkably stupid to taunt Larz like that. He might be little but she would not want to meet him in a dark ally. And anyone looking at the other Zyrgins should realize he’d grow to massive proportions.
Larz drew himself up and, instead of acting hurt, he bared his teeth at her in what Julia supposed to be either a smile or a smirk. Whatever it was it, was scary to behold. Marcie drew back slightly and Julia could see Larz cataloguing the woman’s reactions.
“Try it, woman, and see how far you get.”
Natalie gasped at Larz’s words but Zacar showed no reaction.
“We told you before you came up here that we won’t ever let you go again,” Zacar said. “You won’t be given the chance to tell the humans about us. Warrior in training Larz has expressed a wish to have you as his breeder and that is final.”
Marcie paled, clearly not expecting that. She balled her fists and stepped forward.
“Er...alien warrior...I mean Mr. Zacar...” Sarah’s voice trailed away. She swallowed and looked down at her hands, which Julia saw were clamped in her lap.
“Do you want to tell us something?” Natalie asked gently.
Sarah nodded.
“Please, go ahead, don’t be scared.”
“I don’t--I can’t be near her.” She vaguely gestured toward Marcie and Julia noticed that, while she sat as far away from the warriors as she could get, she was even farther back from Marcie. “She helped them.”
Julia sucked in such a deep breath she choked on it for a few seconds. She’d grown up in a criminal organization where betrayal was considered the worst crime.
“If you are so unwilling to be in my company, why did you get into that shuttle with me in it?” Marcia mocked, no hint of shame or alarm on her face.
“I only recognized her after we took off.” Sarah looked at Natalie while she spoke, as if she couldn’t stomach looking at Marcie. “She helped the Raiders, gave them names and places where they could find women to kidnap.”
“I was just as much a prisoner as you.”
“Not like us,” Sarah said. “You had food.” She looked down at her clasped hands. “And the men left you alone,” she whispered.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you’re quite finished making baseless accusations, I would like to have some food before I go.”
Julia suppressed the urge to slap the woman silly.
Marcie pointed to Larz. “And what’s wrong with the little creep?”
His small body jerked as if someone had repeatedly hit him.
Natalie rushed forward.” “Larz!”
“What’s wrong with you?” Marcie smirked. “Late night with the alien pretties?”
Larz said something in Zyrgin and Zacar answered in English. Julia suspected it was so that Marcie could understand.
“You cannot claim her before your third change,” Zacar said.
For a moment, Julia saw uncertainty on Marcie’s face.
Larz snarled at him and Julia couldn’t fault him for his courage. He still moved as if an invisible force had struck him.
“How long before he goes through his third change?” Marcie demanded.
“Not long after he goes through his second change. The third could come within months or two years.”
“What are we going to do about her?” Natalie didn’t try to hide her words from Marcie. “She’s dangerous. If she betrayed her people once, she will do it again.”
“Don’t want your son sniffing around me, huh?” Marcie smirked at Natalie. “Maybe, I’ll keep him around.”
“I will get the doctor to tag her.”
“What? Nobody’s tagging me like an animal,” Marcie said. She jumped up but quickly sat down again when Larz took a step toward her.
Larz convulsed again and chaos erupted. Natalie screamed. Zacar clipped out orders.
A moment later Julia looked around and realized Marcia was gone. “Zurian, she’s gone.”
To her surprise, Larz staggered through the door and none of the other aliens followed.
“You have to help him,” Natalie said.
“He is a warrior. I would be acting as if I thought he had no honor if I helped him,” Zacar said.
After a few minutes, Larz appeared in the door, looking sick and convulsing every few moments, but he clasped Marcie’s arm and forced her back into the room.
“Please do not be alarmed,” Natalie said.
“Why should I be alarmed?” Marcie asked in a mocking voice that scraped over Julia’s nerves. She suddenly longed to be back in their dwelling with Mirabelle. “Just because I’m surrounded by freaks and their bitches?”
“The doctor here will inject you with somethin
g like the microchips people used to inject their pets and kids with,” Natalie explained.
Viglar stepped forward, a silver tool in his hand.
Julia winced, remembering the headaches she got from being implanted with their technology.
“I am not a pet, lady,” Marcie said through clenched teeth.
Natalie ignored her and continued. “You won’t be able to leave without the warriors being alerted.”
“You mean I was free to go all this time?” Marcie gasped, using exaggerated hand movements. She looked Natalie up and down in a way calculated to infuriate her.
“Are you tagged like an animal, too? Do they keep you for their little pet?”
“I care for my breeder.” Zacar said.
“I suggest you stay away from Sarah and I strongly suggest you stay away from my son,” Natalie said and walked away from Marcie, clearly tempted to slap the insolent woman as well.
“She does not stay away from me,” a harsh voice said from the doorway. Larz stood there, weakened, leaning against the doorjamb. Every bit of his attention was fixed on Marcie with an intensity that had to sear her.
“Larz,” Natalie began and then sighed. With a last look at Marcie, she turned and left the dome.
Viglar approached Marcie with something that looked like a syringe. Larz growled and Julia could swear the doctor rolled his eyes. They briefly growled something at each other and then Larz came forward and held Marcie in a firm grip. “You need to hold still, my breeder,” he said.
“Hey, let me go. I won’t stand for this. I’m not some old fashioned pet. Get off me,” she screamed the last.
Julia noticed how easily Larz held the struggling woman. She’d known Zyrgins were strong but seeing a small one, sick, and swaying on his feet, hold Marcie effortlessly really brought it home.
The other alien injected her. Marcie gave a loud yell and went for his eyes.
Larz shook her softly then held her tight against him. “Calm, my breeder.”
“If you think I will allow you to touch me, your brains are scrambled in that ugly alien head of yours.”
“You will be my breeder. You have until my third change to accustom yourself.”
“You’re all crazy and I’m getting away the first chance I get,” she screamed.
“We will go to our dwelling,” Zurian said.
Julia nodded and went to Sarah who sat curled up in a corner of the couch. Carefully holding Mirabelle, she crouched in front of her friend.
“I’ll see you soon Sarah,” Julia said gently and turned to Zurian when Sarah didn’t react. “Can she call me from here if she needs me?”
He nodded and showed them how to call. Julia said a hasty good bye to Natalie as he led her out of the door.
She settled into the transport, holding Mirabelle who was smiling and waving her short arms at Zurian. “I don’t like leaving Sarah with that woman.”
“Bringing her to the cave or our dwelling would endanger everyone.”
Julia sighed and rubbed Mirabelle’s back. “I suppose. I just hate leaving her with that redheaded witch.” Every instinct screamed that something was very wrong with Marcie.
Mirabelle fell asleep on the trip back and when they got to their dwelling Julia laid her down in the cot in Mirabelle’s room. She looked at the soft pink walls, the toys arranged on a shelf. Would it be fair to take the baby away from such safety? Taking a deep breath she went to find Zurian.
He was busy with the alien gadget he made coffee with. Julia had not managed to figure out how it worked yet but it made the best coffee she’d ever tasted. And it came out with milk and sugar, exactly as she liked it. To date, she hadn’t seen him insert beans or milk and couldn’t find a way to open it up to figure out how it worked. Something else she would miss if she left him. She could live without coffee and Zyrgin gadgets but she didn’t know if she wanted to wake up every morning without Zurian beside her.
“We’ve got to talk,” she told him.
He turned with two cups in his hands. ‘What do you want to talk about?”
She took the coffee from him and curled up on the couch. They acted like a normal couple. If he wasn’t copper green with a ridge on his head, they could’ve been any man and woman living together. He sat down next to her and she hid a smile at the way he sat upright, feet slightly apart. She always thought of it as his soldier pose.
“We have to talk about us, where we are going from here.”
His head turned in that vaguely reptilian way. It should’ve repulsed her, but strangely it didn’t. “Why would we go anywhere? This will be our dwelling.”
Julia closed her eyes and rested her head on her knees for a moment. She looked up at him. “I was talking about us.” She took a sip of the coffee and savored the taste before she continued. “Ever since we came here things have been so crazy, with my searching for Sarah, family calling, my operation, and the raiders attacking.” She took another sip to gain courage--tempted to just let it go. To enjoy a life with him and Mirabelle and look the other way when he killed someone. “But I can’t continue like this,” she said softly.
“Like what?”
“I left my family because my own father killed the president of my country.”
He turned slightly, almost relaxing his military posture to face her. “Your father’s actions do not concern us.”
She knew her smile was bitter. “The family kidnapped him and my father beat him to death because his vision for the future would’ve meant problems for the family.” She motioned to the couch and the room around them. “And here I am, living with a man who would follow orders and beat a man to death.”
He stared at her for a long time and she wished she knew what he was thinking. “I am Zyrgin and without my honor I cannot exist.”
“So if you refuse to beat an innocent man to death you would not have honor?” she challenged him.
“No. Zacar or our leader would never instruct me to kill an innocent man.”
“Yeah right.”
He moved closer to her, cupped her cheek. “Mention one innocent person I have killed.”
“John, Jack’s bodyguard.”
“They were criminals who brought violence to innocent people.”
“Oh, no, you’re not going to get around me that way. I can accept fighting in a battle, being at war, but killing man in cold blood no matter how bad he is, is wrong.”
Zurian stroked a finger over her head where fine stubble grew at last. “This I cannot change for you. You will remain with me and accept that I am a warrior. A warrior on a planet we conquered.”
“Oh will I? And you haven’t conquered us yet.”
“This planet is conquered. We will help the women such as Sarah escape the Raider camps and you will be grateful and accept your life as my breeder.”
Anger and despair battled for supremacy over her emotions. “If I was the accepting sort, I would never have run away from my family.” She could’ve gone into the fold. Helped her father dispose of the body. That would’ve proved her loyalty and willingness to help the family. Instead, she’d decided to live her life with a different set of morals, even if it meant being on the run from her family for the rest of her life.
“You will accept me,” he said and his hand moved to cradle her neck.
Julia frowned at him. She wanted desperately to hurt him for being perfect for her, for being willing to still care for her even if she ended up brain damaged. For being the one thing she couldn’t accept. She crawled toward him and straddled him. As large as he was, her knees did not rest on the couch. “You have to listen to me, to hear me,” she said and grabbed his shoulders. It frustrated her even more that he was so big and solid she couldn’t even shake him.
“I am hearing you.”
“No you are not. As usual you are just trying to lay down the law and it makes me want to hit you.” Instead, she bit his lip, a short savage bite that hurt her teeth more than his lip and did not even draw blood. “I want to ma
ke you bleed,” she screamed in frustration and then stilled and closed her eyes. Wanted to cry when she realized what she was doing. She looked up at him, loathing herself. “I am acting like my father,” she whispered.
He produced a wicked looking dagger. “Use this.”
Julia moaned and, ignoring the dagger, leaned on his shoulder. Did he smell like coffee because he just had some or was that what aliens smelled like? And what the hell did it matter anyway? “What are we going to do?”
“We will make sex and you will appreciate what a good fucker I am.” He hesitated a moment and then continued. “I will even make love here to show you how much I can change for you.”
Julia bumped her head against his hard shoulder. “Typical male. The same in every known universe,” she mumbled and bumped her head on his shoulder again.
He kissed her and that delicious tingly feeling spread over her lips, over her jaw and neck when he moved down, kissing and licking as he went.
“It’s not fair that you can do that to me.” She pulled his shirt apart and kneaded his muscled chest with her nails. “I’m going to find a place on your hide that I can bite.”
“You can bite me anywhere, my breeder.”
She should protest being called that but, ever since her operation, she had associated the word breeder with caring and honor. Should she deny herself a life with him over a principle? Lately, she’d been wondering if she shouldn’t try to have some kind of relationship with her parents. Julia hastily moved away from that thought. She really didn’t want to think about her parents while she did this with Zurian.
While she debated their future, he took off her clothes so fast that she was naked from one moment to the next.
“How do you do that?”
“Superior Zyrgin skills.”
“I wouldn’t remind me of your Zyrgin skills right now if I were you.” She grasped the waist of his pants and, lifting her lips slightly, pulled them off him. “I never get tired of seeing your clothes do that.” She touched his chest and then pinched the flecks that looked like nipples. “What do you feel when I do this?”
“Pleasure.”
She frowned at him. “Really? I thought your skin was so tough you couldn’t feel as much pleasure as I do.”
