The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: No More Lies (Book 3)

by Thomas Wright

“Are you finished?” Taz asked.

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “Would you like to walk with me while I continue?”

  “Benjamin, you have them excited and agitated,” she said. “That is not good for the feeders.”

  “They will calm down, Taz,” I said. “The feeders will need to be more careful and keep their distance. I understand they have been eating their own dead, so please explain the issue to me.”

  “When the queen speaks to you, you will turn and face her,” an unknown voice said. The speaker placed his hand on my shoulder and pulled.

  I grabbed the wrist and twisted, and felt the body moving in the same direction. A groan escaped their lips and I pulled hard to see just who it was I was holding onto.

  “Colonel, even if I didn’t know any of you I would never put up with being grabbed like that,” I growled. My other hand shot up and had him around the throat. He was pulling on my wrist, trying to break my hold. I pushed him back against the bars and it took just a second for him to grasp his situation.

  “Benjamin! Release him at once,” Taz ordered.

  “Guess who’s behind you, Colonel? She hasn’t eaten anything as stupid as you in quite a while.”

  “Benjamin, please,” Taz said. “It is hard to find officers I can trust, and the colonel is loyal and trustworthy.”

  “It seems we are still establishing a pecking order, Your Sexiness, so I am obligated to participate until it is established. Are you satisfied that I will kill you, Colonel, if you touch me like that again?” He gave no answer.

  “He cannot answer you, Benjamin, let him go!” Taz pleaded.

  There was a hum in the air, as well as the sounds I had heard when I first came down, but everything seemed to be more rapid, more excited. I felt a hand on my arm and let the colonel go. He quickly stepped away from the bars and straightened his uniform. The imprints from my fingers decorated the pale skin on his neck.

  I turned into Taz and looked at everyone spread out behind her. The girls were ready to jump me on her command. I wasn’t sure why Romoc stood back at 12 o’clock, unless she need some extra steps to get airborne. I would have thought she had learned her lesson about that. The others were just guards, by the look of them. The pistol I had taken from the guard earlier was in my waistband and I rested my hand on it.

  “Stop whatever you are thinking,” Taz told me. “There is no need to shoot any of them.”

  “I’m really not thinking anything, it’s just natural to be ready when facing six assailants,” I answered. “I’m coming back down here tomorrow, and anytime I damn well please.”

  I heard the colonel start to say something and my arm shot up before he could. I pointed my index finger at him. “Not a word unless you want to pick up where we left off.,” I told him.

  “As you wish. I am not going to argue with you about it, but I do wish to talk to you about it before you return,” Taz said.

  “Sure, sounds good.”

  “Can we go now, Benjamin?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I’m sure this has been more excitement than your people are used to.”

  “My people follow my orders and commands, unlike you, and take exception to those who do not.”

  “I see. I do believe we should talk later. What time will you be home, honey?”

  “You are just not right, Benjamin. Expect me at meal time.”

  “I know,” I chuckled, “a human who goes away with an alien queen who can clone anything and has an army of giant bugs.”

  “You forgot sexy,” Taz added. “Sexy alien queen.”

  Chapter 40

  “Lorelei, we still have three days of travel and we are going out of our way. We should make straight for the Warhammer,” Angel said.

  “If the circumstances were different we would,” Lorelei answered with irritation, “but we have three ships pursuing us. and they are not in a hurry, which tells me they know our end game. I don’t mind waiting on backup and letting Benjamin handle this.”

  “What makes you think he can?” Angel asked.

  “He always does, although not to everyone’s liking, especially those who are on the opposing side. I believe he likes the Trillond people, and he loves their regent. They are not on the same page at the moment, but E’Aria can’t be on the same page as us and rule her empire at the same time. It’s a little thing called politics, Angel, and she was sucked away from us into the thick of it,” Lorelei explained.

  “Captain O’Shaughnessy, what is your take on the situation?” Angel asked.

  “We hope she is making a show of it and is going to do nothing. She has let the Warhammer remain, when she could have let the Alliance come and take her and my crew. I think E’Aria is jealous of the new girl, so to speak, and taking it out on Benjamin.”

  “Benjamin saved her life on a rescue mission. He jumped off a moving shuttle, scooped her up and ran, hiding her in the woods while he went back into an Allith-infested city, took food and blankets, and rescued a family from the Allith. Then they commandeered two ships and rescued 40 more hostages, and escaped with just the two of them. They made a stop and rescued some miners trapped in a walkway tube with no food, water or heat. You can say they went through a lot together, so it’s not surprising she has feelings for him,” Lorelei said. “He is unpredictable and fast to violence, but if he likes or loves you, he won’t let anything get in his way. Just ask Aisling.”

  “I am not going into detail, but there are plenty of examples of what he has done to protect us. We may get really pissed off at him from time to time, but when we need him he is there, and not in a small way,” Aisling said. “Angel, why the questions?”

  “I need a place to live,” Angel replied, “and I’m hoping it’s the Warhammer or the Claymore. I don’t want to be deposited on some alien planet with no means and a lack of human population.”

  “Benjamin has already helped you out, has he not? He faked your death and took you with us. He may have offered to leave you somewhere, but he wouldn’t force you. He just gave you an option, is all,” Lorelei said. “It’s a good option; some of his options are a lot harder on you.”

  zzz

  “Do you have a plan?” Taz asked. “We will be there tomorrow morning.”

  “I need my team and the shuttle, as well as a few of my friends from down below.”

  “No!” Taz said emphatically. “You will not use the soldiers.”

  “Yes I will,” I replied, “and you will give the order.”

  “I just gave the order, and it was a no.”

  “Come on, baby, why do you have to be like that? I just need them for a little while. They’ll mostly be there to scare them, and maybe we won’t even have to kill any of the crew.”

  “Do baby and honey work on human women? That is a terrible attempt to woo me into doing what you want. Benjamin, I have been courted and wooed by nobles, princes, and dukes. They gave me priceless gifts from their home worlds, and here I sit listening to you fumble a few words that mean nothing in my culture,” Taz said haughtily.

  I leaned over and kissed her neck, moving up next to nibble on her ear. “You like slumming with me,” I said softly. “I give you priceless excitement, nonstop craziness, and trouble, lots of trouble. They don’t have nothing on me.” I whispered into the ear I was kissing.

  “That is true, except about the slumming. You are a far better man than you give yourself credit for, and the females in your life know it.”

  “But I am so far beneath your station, Taz, I have nothing to offer you. I have no home and my family is almost extinct. Not to beat a dead horse, but what I did have, you already took.”

  “Just keep kissing me and stop worrying about what has been taken and what you don’t have.”

  “I can do that, but we will need to talk about it sometime.”

  “Why, Benjamin? I need nothing and am happy when we are together, most of the time. Unless you are assaulting my people, in which case I have to address that with you.”

/>   “Sure, I guess,” I said. “Should I stop kissing you so you can address it?”

  Three voices yelled “No!” Not one was Taz, though. The girls were sitting around the room, watching us very intently it would seem.

  “I guess the people have spoken,” I joked and put my face back into the curve of her neck. “Do they have to be here? You just spent weeks without them facing danger and risking your life, and now we’re here, on your flagship, where you’re safe — and yet they are constant shadows.”

  “They don’t trust you,” she answered. “They don’t know you that well or your people, so even though you think I’m safe, they do not.”

  “You could reassure them, you know. Order them to trust me, if needed.”

  “I don’t think so, Benjamin. They will get to know and trust you on their own terms. Now continue what you were doing, your queen commands it.”

  I laughed at her and continued. I didn’t think there were many times I had initiated kissing and cuddling with her. It was pretty amazing she had even hung around for this long. I couldn’t keep my hands off Andrea during those months we were together, and now I had an equally beautiful female that I wanted to be with but just couldn’t give over to the idea.

  She leaned into me enough that I could get my arms around her waist. I felt her chest moving in time with the change in her breath. She held my head with both hands, not letting me move from the spot I was kissing.

  “You are an evil villain, my love. Are you only going to treat me this way when you want something from me?”

  “Yes,” I answered, hoping she didn’t feel me smile as I kissed her.

  “Then I hope your list of wants is very long,” Taz softly spoke.

  My hands slipped under her shirt. I stroked her back with my fingertips, gliding gently over her smooth skin. Biting her shoulder softly, I felt her shudder as if a cold wind had blown across her body. She nuzzled my face with hers, kissing me in random places. In a matter of seconds, she was in my lap, clutching my head in her hands and moving it where she wanted me to kiss her next.

  I felt so relaxed, when I should have been hyped up with sexual tension. I realized it was because of her; as her excitement increased, the pheromone levels did the same. To my recollection, I had only spent one time with her where I didn’t fall fast asleep before I could do anything.

  “Taz, it’s becoming overpowering. I’m going to fall asleep,” I told her. It was a second later I felt her lips on my shoulder, then she bit me, and not softly. I snapped out of my stupor, the pain overpowering my brain.

  “Are you awake now, my love?” she asked without emotion.

  “Yes, damn,” I said, rubbing my shoulder. “How could I not be,”

  “Good, then come with me.”

  She slid back off my lap and walked towards our bedroom, dropping clothing as she went. The girls were on me a second later, pulling at my clothes as I walked. They had effectively stripped me down by the time I was at the door. I gave them all a look just as Crnana pushed me into the bedroom and pulled the door closed. Taz had not turned on any lighting, but I saw her laying naked on the bed by ambient light before they shut the door.

  “Come, Benjamin,” she said. “It is time we consummated our relationship, although it won’t be without a little pain.”

  She was lying on her side, elbow on the mattress, head in hand, and smiling. I laid down in the same manner facing her, our faces a few inches apart.

  “Be gentle with me,” I whispered.

  “I’m afraid that will be impossible. But you can be equally as gentle with me as I am with you,” she said.

  “Can we do anything about this so it doesn’t happen in the future?”

  “It is possible, but not right now,” she said, her tone giving away her desire. She pushed me onto my back and eased herself on top of me. I wasn’t expecting the slap in the face when it came.

  “What was that for?”

  “For wanting to manipulate me to get what you want.”

  The second slap from the other direction brought tears to my eyes.

  “And that one?”

  “That was for making me wait so long, treating my affections as if they were from some space station whore. Are you awake?” she asked.

  “Yes, damnit. I’m awake!”

  “Good,” she said. “The minute I sense you relaxing, there will be more of the same.”

  For someone who had not had a lot of sex, Taz knew exactly how to tune me up. She took me all the way and stopped just at the right moment to kiss me, pull my hair or slap the shit out of me, then start again. It kept me awake, and also worked on my head a little after the third round.

  I wasn’t sure how long we had been at it, but at this point I had had enough of being slapped. I decided it was time to make things more how I liked, where both sides were equal in the giving and taking. She leaned down to kiss me again, and I grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled, none too gently, while rolling her onto her back at the same time.

  I was on a mission, one that ended in her understanding just who was in charge. I started slowly and gradually increased in pace and forcefulness. It was clear she liked my approach to pleasing her. It was something I had never done before, so I wasn’t stopping until I did. Sometime later, we orgasmed with our teeth in the bases of each other’s necks at the shoulder, drenched in sweat. Taz was the first to let go, and even with my weight on top of her, she arched her back and yelled as her body shook in involuntary muscle spasms. They ran through her legs and up her back. I could feel them against my thighs. I held her tight as she lay back down, flat on the mattress.

  We were kissing passionately when the door opened. I sensed it, but it stayed far away in the back of my mind. I also thought I was bleeding where her nails had dug into the flesh of my back, and that too stayed in the back of my mind. I could feel the blood as it ran into the small of my back; the sweat burned in the wounds from her nails. Soon I felt a cool wet cloth as one of Taz’s girls began wiping down my back, while another wiped down my legs.

  “Roll over, Benjamin, so we may attend our queen.”

  I started to do as I was asked, but then Taz grabbed me and held me, and more kissing ensued. When we stopped I eased over and off of her, touching her side, but she didn’t want any space between us and kept our bodies still touching.

  “I have started a bath, my queen. It should be ready shortly.”

  I realized I would need to learn their voices if they were going to be lurking in the dark. I knew one of the girls was wiping down Taz’s chest and I grabbed her arm. Removing the cloth from her hand, I began wiping down Taz’s face, shoulders and chest. I kissed her in different places as I continued. She moaned softly each time in conjunction with the spasms that were still moving through her body.

  “Your bath is ready, my queen. Come, Benjamin.”

  The girls had gone all out with candles and a tray of drinks. Maybe not all out, considering who I was with; it was likely like this at every bath, but by my standards, it was all out. We walked holding hands into the tub and sat down. This time she sat with her back to me between my legs. She leaned into me and rested her head on my shoulder.

  I saw Romoc pouring something onto a cloth and I held out my hand. She smiled and handed it to me. I began washing Taz’s arms and chest. I turned her head to the left then the right, washing her face. Crnana poured a pitcher of hot water over us, rinsing Taz off. Lemra sat behind me and washed my shoulders, neck, face, and hair while Romoc stood in front and washed Taz’s hair. I found myself lying back against Lemra when she had finished with my eyes closed.

  Taz kissing me woke me u., I think this time I had fallen asleep because I was tired and so totally relaxed. I knew at that moment I couldn’t stay long on this ship, or I would be fat and slow before I knew it. This was like the siren’s call, luring me in to my doom. A beautiful queen and her beautiful attendants taking off my clothes, feeding me, bathing me, having sex with me? Yeah, it was time to go.
I knew that something like a once a year a cannibalistic ritual was down the road to ruin this fantasy. With me being the main course, it was too good to be true.

  “What’s wrong, love? You seem tense,” Taz said.

  “It’s nothing, just an overactive imagination.” I walked to the bed and lay down. “Is there anything on the agenda for the morning for me? Can I have a meeting with my team first thing?”

  “Yes, we should meet with your team and discuss the assault on the Warhammer,” she said. I remembered my past and a similar conversation, and wanted to say ‘what’s this we shit?’ but maybe not doing the things I had done then would make for better karma. I kept silent.

  She laid next to me, her head on my chest and her arm and leg draped over me. Like the previous night, I felt the mattress depress as bodies surrounded us. I let a few minutes go by, and then reached over Taz past her back to the body lying next to her. I felt bare skin and moved my hand in an upwards direction until I encountered a bare breast, then an in the opposite direction and close to her side. I heard a giggle and pulled my hand away. That was all I needed to know.

  “Are you groping my attendants, Benjamin?” Taz asked. I could hear the humor in her tone.

  “Yes, but only to satisfy a curiosity, and I’m satisfied.”

  “Yes, they sleep naked, as do I on my own ship and in my own bed.”

  “Haven’t you ever heard of blankets, like I have on my bed?” I asked.

  She grabbed my face and kissed me. “Sleep now, there will be plenty of time to discuss our differences later.”

  Chapter 41

  We assembled in Taz’s room, she had thought it would be more comfortable, and that my people would be more relaxed. She had some extra furniture brought in so everyone would have a place to sit. We sat on what I would call a loveseat, facing everyone. Lemra, Romoc and Crnana stood behind us.

  “This may seem a little more formal than what you’re used to, but we actually have the time to sit and discuss our plan of action,” I told everyone. “It will be reasonably obvious what our roles are; some of us have worked together for so long that it’s second nature. For the rest, your job will be relatively easy — providing support for the team member you are assigned to. Any questions so far?”