I frowned. “Followed us? We’re always careful. How can you be sure?”
“The same vehicle has flown overhead every thirty minutes for the past couple of hours. At first, we thought it might just be a coincidence, but now we’re thinking not.”
“You think it’s surveillance?”
Aleksy pressed his lips together and nodded. “That’s what it looks like.”
“Borys’s men?”
“Possibly. Or else they’re from the facility, searching for you and Nadeusz. I said it was a bad idea you bringing the girl here.”
“She’s helping us now,” I pointed out. “She’s putting herself at far more risk than the rest of us.”
I hated having to defend Tara, especially when she’d put herself in such a vulnerable position. I understood that she was doing this to help her own kind more than it was to help us, but we were both on the same side. None of us rebel Trads wanted the Trad legacy to be one of rape and abduction. All those future generations about to be born knowing the women who carried them never wanted them. Our planet was fucked-up enough as it was, without that being our future. There were other ways to do things, ways in which women weren’t forced to participate. I knew from my time with Tara there was a possibility of nurturing real, caring relationships between human women and Trads. Sure, it might be hard initially, because of our appearance, and maybe it was easier to get in front of human women when we looked like the handsome human males they were attracted to, but I didn’t think it was a total barrier. Our appearances might be frightening at first—and I probably didn’t help things with the piercings and mohawk—but once they got used to us, I thought they’d find we offered things human men didn’t.
“What are we going to do about it?” I asked, pulling my thoughts away from Tara and the future of our planet, and focusing on the possible surveillance of the rebel headquarters.
Aleksy folded his arms across his chest. “Keep it between us for the moment. I don’t want any knee-jerk reactions. But we need to keep our guard up, too. I’ve set up a couple of the others around the perimeter, and Geharz is in the shop front, keeping an eye on things from the street.”
I nodded, agreeing with his plan. “Have you told Nadeusz?”
“Yeah, he’s watching the surveillance footage.”
I got to my feet. “Okay. I’ll go and join him.”
I didn’t like the sound of this. What if something happened and we weren’t able to get Tara back?
I left the room and moved past Aleksy to head down to the observation room. Our leader didn’t have the same motivation as we did, and I had to admit that it worried me. The rebels were Aleksy’s main focus, not one human woman among thousands. He would argue that it was more important for us to protect ourselves than risk everything for one woman. If we were arrested and most likely killed by our government, the Rzad, we would no longer be able to put a stop to the facilities and the human breeding.
I understood where he was coming from, but I couldn’t even comprehend leaving Tara in the hands of Borys, no matter the consequences.
Chapter Twelve
A few hours passed before one of Borys’s men arrived with a tray of food. Just like previously, he knocked. The Trad guard didn’t bother speaking but entered the room to place the tray on the table, leaving the door ajar.
The open doorway called to me, and I couldn’t help myself. I darted my gaze toward the guard, and seized my moment, and ran for it. I had no intention of escaping, I only wanted to know if Zoe was somewhere close by.
“Zoe!” I shouted into the corridor beyond. “Can you hear me?”
I didn’t want to get into trouble with Borys, not when I was trying to get on his good side, but I wanted her to know that I was thinking about her, and that she wasn’t alone.
The guard spun around. “Stop that!”
His tail whipped out, catching me around the waist and yanking me back into the room. The movement snatched my breath, not even giving me time to scream, but mercifully, he released me again and stalked back to the door. I remembered what Borys had said about the guards not being allowed to touch me. I guessed yanking me back with his tail had been the most he was allowed to do.
“Hey, wait,” I called to him before he shut me in again. “Do you have to take food to the other woman I was brought here with? Did you see her? Is she all right?”
He shot me a look and shook his head before retreating, the panel sliding shut again.
What did that mean? That he wasn’t allowed to answer, or that he didn’t take meals to any other women?
I wasn’t hungry, but I needed to keep my strength up. I had no idea if Borys had the same rules about eating as we’d been under back at the facility. I guessed it didn’t matter so much if we didn’t eat our meals when we weren’t pregnant. It had been the growth of the babies inside us that Kaja and the others had been protecting, rather than our own health, though the two things went hand in hand.
There was no way I was going to starve myself in this place. I needed my mind and body to stay strong an alert, even though I was terrified about my future and what lay ahead of me. But ever since waking up to discover myself on a different planet and with an alien child inside me, fear had become a part of who I was, and the fear I experienced now at least had purpose. I was doing this for myself and for all the other human women who’d been used and brought to Tradrych, and all those still on Earth who might have this waiting in their futures.
I picked up the tray and carried it over to the bed. The bowl contained a type of grain—yellow and fluffy—and a meat I couldn’t identify, but knew I’d eaten before, and a star-shaped fruit. I forked up a mouthful and then looked down at the utensil. Could I get away with hiding it? It might make a weapon. One of the problems with the clothing they made us wear was that there was nowhere to hide anything. Any strange-shaped bulge beneath our clothing would be spotted immediately. Perhaps that was part of the reason we were made to wear these clothes, and no underwear beneath. I’d always assumed it was because they were a bunch of sex-starved perverts, but perhaps there were more practical reasons.
I finished eating, scraped the bowl clean then got up to place the tray on the table where I’d taken it from.
With a full belly, I turned my attention back to the task at hand. I had a main mission here, but I was worried about Zoe, and I couldn’t just forget about her. If there was only a way of getting word to her, to let her know everything was going to be all right, at least she wouldn’t feel completely alone and abandoned.
Was there any way to get out of this room that didn’t involve the door? I hadn’t thought to check the ceiling. There surely must be some kind of piping and ventilation in the bathroom. How else would the shower work? Something to blast the hot air and water, and to remove steam from the room as well, otherwise the space would fill with moisture. Vents ran along the ceiling above me, but they were hidden with panels.
Could I risk it?
I chewed my lower lip and glanced over my shoulder toward the door. How often would I be visited, either by Borys, or one of his men bringing me meals? I hadn’t been here long enough yet to figure out a pattern. How long would I need? And could I even fit?
If I was caught, it would ruin everything. Borys would know I couldn’t be trusted, and my chance of him taking me out of here and allowing me access to the rest of the property would be ruined. He’d know he couldn’t trust me and that everything I’d done and said so far had been an act.
What if I got stuck, or I ended up injured, getting a blast of hot hair or boiling water in my face? My heart tripped with nerves, my pulse sending blood pounding at high pressure through my ears. I didn’t want to make the wrong decision.
No, I needed to stick with the plan for the moment. It was still early days yet, and I had people relying on me. I couldn’t risk messing things up, not this soon. It was going to have to be a last resort, but definitely not one I was putting out of my mind.
With noth
ing else to do, I lay back down on the bed and tried to imagine I was anywhere but here.
I WAS AWAKE BEFORE the door opened the following morning. At least, I assumed it was morning. I felt as though I’d slept a full night, but with no windows, or even a clock in the room, it was impossible to tell if it was night or day. At least back at the facility, we’d been taken outside and allowed fresh air. It had seemed harsh at the time, but I imagined many of us would have lost our minds far quicker if we’d not been given that small sense of freedom.
I sat up hurriedly, making sure my dress was pulled down far enough to cover my thighs. It was the Trad guard, and he scowled, positioning his body so I couldn’t make a break for freedom again, before sliding the tray of food across the floor.
“Get ready,” he snapped. “Borys will want you soon.”
Want me soon. Not want to see me soon.
I swallowed hard, what little appetite I had vanishing. Was this going to be it?
I wondered what had happened to Diarus. I hadn’t seen or heard anything of him since we’d left the transporter. I’d imagined things would have been like they’d been back at the facility, with him flitting around the place, doing the job the Trad guard was doing now, but I’d clearly been wrong on that front. If Borys didn’t have him doing menial tasks, what did he want Diarus for? Worry for the Athion wound into a tight knot inside me. What if he’d been more badly hurt than it had looked back at the marketplace? He might have sustained internal injuries and be suffering somewhere or might even be dead. The thought alone brought tears to my eyes.
With the threat of Borys visiting soon, I forced the breakfast down me and then used the bathroom to wash up and make myself presentable. I had to do whatever it took to get out of this room, and I wasn’t going to do it by brute force. I had one thing Borys wanted, which I could use to my advantage, even if it turned my stomach.
The growingly familiar knock came at the door, and I sucked in a breath and froze, every muscle in my body going rigid. My gaze darted around the room, and I wondered what position I should put myself in. I spotted the bed and dismissed it instantly. I wanted him to believe I was interested in him, but I certainly wasn’t going to hand myself to him on a platter.
I didn’t have the chance to move. The lock clicked, and the door pushed open. Borys stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Had the guard told him about what he had probably taken to be an escape attempt? I hoped it wasn’t going to get me in trouble.
Borys’s gaze flitted up and down my body. “Good morning, Tara.”
I forced a smile. “I was starting to think you might have forgotten about me.” I did my best to add a flirtatious tone to my voice.
He pouted slightly, his heavy brow drawing down into a frown. “Forget about you, Tara? Impossible.”
“Glad to hear it. You brought me for a reason, after all, and I’m bored and lonely locked up in this room all day. I’d imagined being owned by the powerful Polityk Borys would have been a little more... glamorous.”
He gestured around the room. “Is this not glamorous enough for you? I had images from Earth beamed directly here for my people to copy to make you feel more at home.”
I shrugged. “I was never that attached to home anyway.” I looked up at him from under my eyelashes. “Tradrych seems far more exciting.”
A hint of a smile touched his lips, and the flames around his irises sparkled. “Is that right?”
“And I’m jealous of the other woman you bought. Are you spending more time with her than me?”
He took a step closer, reducing the space between us. Air swelled my lungs, and I fought every instinct within me not to step away again.
“Not at all, Tara. I’m very busy. I can’t spend all my time enjoying my purchases.”
Did that mean he’d left Zoe alone? I hoped it did. The other woman seemed fragile, and I didn’t want him anywhere near her. I’d do everything it took to make sure he stayed away, including sacrificing myself.
“I want to know you better,” I purred, lifting my hand to trail a finger down his chest. “Surely you won’t want to keep me locked up all this time. Don’t you have other guests you’d want to show us off to?”
I caught a glimmer of something in his eyes. I’d touched a nerve. He was a vain Trad, and he wanted to show off his acquisitions.
“It’s easier if you stay in your room.”
I pouted and shrugged, as though it was no bother to me either way. “Easier, perhaps, but not so much fun. I can tell you’re someone who likes to have fun.”
I couldn’t tell that at all. He seemed like a complete cold fish to me, but I was playing with his ego. I felt like I was wearing a costume of someone else entirely, but he seemed to be buying it.
“Fun, huh?” His smile widened. “Yes, I like to have fun, but what about you, Tara? What kind of fun do you like to have?”
I bit my lower lip and gazed up at him. “I thought that was what you were here to find out.”
His tail whipped around from behind him and traveled up the inside of my leg. I did my best not to recoil or cry out. When Nad had done the same to me, I’d been turned on, but right now I felt nothing but fear and revulsion, though I couldn’t let him see that.
“Have you ever had a Trad cock in its real form, Tara?” he said. “Ever had to spread your legs wide enough to take its girth?”
“No, never,” I gasped, truthfully. When I’d been with Rhett, it had only ever been with him in human form, and I hadn’t had enough time with Nad or Miko for things to have gotten that far.
The tip of his tail reached the juncture of my thighs. I wasn’t wearing any underwear, and there was nothing stopping the tip from stroking my folds. I groaned, but it was more from horror than anything else—not that Borys was aware of that.
The thought of enduring being with him in Trad form terrified me. If it was what it took to help other human women, however, I would do it. It was no different to what they were being put through.
His tail rubbed back and forth between my thighs, and I hated myself for the tingling of arousal and pooling wetness. Involuntarily, I stepped my legs apart, giving him space. The tips of these Trad tails seemed to have even more dexterity than a man’s cock or fingers, and I knew when it pushed inside me, it could do crazy things to my body. The tip curled and twisted, circling my clit then slipped back down and darted inside me.
I moaned again, pressing my hips forward, not wanting it, and yet needing more.
“You’re so beautiful like this,” he growled. “There’s nothing more I’d like now that to throw you on the bed and penetrate you with my cock, but once you fall pregnant, the fun will stop, and I have been without a female for far too long to want this to end so soon. Yes, I can buy as many women as I like, but most of them are curled up in a ball, crying and begging to go home. Some males might like their women like that, but I prefer mine with a little more fire.”
Oh, if only he knew how much fire I had inside me.
The tip of his tail thrust deeper into my channel. I was so wet, my body preparing itself for this invasion, even if my head knew it wasn’t what I wanted. His gaze remained locked on my face. He was watching my every reaction, and I couldn’t mess up.
I let my eyes slip shut, blocking out the sight of his hated face. My lower belly and thighs tremored, everything winding tighter and tighter. I didn’t want to think about what was inside me—about who was inside me—but I couldn’t help it.
He penetrated me, stretching my pussy around him... Deep...almost too deep. Then he pulled out again, slowly and sensually, before ramming back in. I was starting to lose it, giving myself over to the sensation of the ridged scales stimulating my channel. Some sick, twisted little part of my brain was turned on by getting fucked by a tail.
“That’s right, woman. Take me deeper.”
His movements grew faster, more forceful. I threw back my head, no longer caring that I was pushing my body toward him. He hit my G-spot, catapultin
g my arousal to a whole new level. I bucked, my back arching, my hips thrusting forward. A cry escaped my lips, and my eyes rolled as the orgasm took hold. My inner muscles gripped tight around his tail, pulsing around him even as he drove deeper.
I fell slack, panting hard, my skin damp with sweat. My legs were weak, and I was barely staying upright. Borys tail slithered from my pussy, unraveling from my body.
He lifted the tip to his mouth and licked off my cream. He appeared inordinately pleased with himself.
“Keep offering me things like that,” he said, “and I might even consider allowing you out of your room.”
With that, he spun away and let himself out, leaving me trembling with shock and exertion, my body wrung dry.
Chapter Thirteen
I curled up on the bed, sickened and ashamed of what I’d let Borys do to me. Even though it was all part of the plan, I still felt as though I’d betrayed Nad, Miko, and Diarus. They knew exactly what I’d had to do, and though they’d approved it, the thought of Borys touching me would have hurt them. I was still wet and swollen between my thighs, and I tried not to think about what would come next. Borys had made this all about me, but he’d want something in return the next time.
I wanted to shrivel and hide and pretend everything was going to be all right. The temptation to pull the bedcovers over my head was overwhelming, but I needed to be stronger. I’d done what I had to. I was a woman at war. There was no room for sentimentality or emotion in my mission. Lying on the bed feeling sorry for myself wasn’t going to move anything forward.
Tears had dampened my cheeks, but I sniffed and sat up, and wiped them away. I remembered what I’d thought about the vents leading from the bathroom. My legs still felt shaky, but I stood and crossed to the bathroom.
I looked up at the vents. Would the same vent serve each of the rooms? If so, would noise travel through them?
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