We left the Tragoom in his cage, though Oses did inform him he and the others would be left unharmed on a planet or space station friendly to their kind ... as long as they behaved themselves. The big critter simply shrugged his boulder shoulders and turned away.
We knew there were other containment areas on the ship. Since none of those prisoners knew their good fortune, Oses made the decision to not tell them until the destroyer reached them.
“For one thing, we don’t know their mental states,” he told the rest of us. “It could be they’ve become dangerous from insanity. Let them learn the happy news when we can take them off this cursed ship for good.”
The rest who were capable of doing so agreed. I was the most hesitant of the group to go along with the plan, though I could understand Oses’ point. It made sense to wait.
We trooped back to the bridge, where all continued to be well. Our companions were greeted by the crew with more cheers. Two of the Joshadans immediately began to comfort and fuss over the Plasian, making soothing cooing noises. She even smiled through her tears at them.
I noted Oses immediately confirmed our heading and checked in with the captain of the oncoming destroyer, a Dramok named Zemos. Nothing had gone wrong in our absence, and I started to breathe easier. It seemed we were going to make it.
I wanted to join in on the happiness of the rest, but with rescue on the horizon I was too tired. All that adrenaline left me in a hurry. After a couple of hours of the others trading stories, which Oses translated for me, I felt like I might pass out.
“I need to sleep,” I told him. “I’m out on my feet.”
He looked me over and pulled me close. “Are you sure that’s all it is?” he asked worriedly. “You seem paler than usual.”
I smiled at him, my protector and hero. “Too much excitement and I’m crashing hard from it. I just want to find a nice soft bed and snooze for a few hours.”
Oses nodded. He told the rest of the crew that we were going to sleep. One of the Joshadans kindly directed us to a guest room. He said he would place security buffers around it, much like the ones that kept the Tragooms off the bridge. With many thanks, we left our fellow escapees to continue their celebration.
With that unerring instinct of his, Oses found the safeguarded room, which appeared to be clean though not recently used. All the floating trays were bare but for one single vase with a dark purple bloom. There were no control desks like in Finiuld’s quarters. I didn’t notice much else except that the bed was small for a human. I didn’t care. It would be fine for me to curl up in a little ball, which was my preferred way to sleep anyway.
I climbed into the bed and Oses snuggled up against me, spooning me against his strong body. I had the last thought that his ass was probably hanging off the edge of the bed, and then I was asleep.
February 27
When I woke from my nap, Oses was still there. It was as if we’d never moved an inch from when we’d come in.
For a few seconds I was confused as to my surroundings. We weren’t in our cave, which was what I expected. The tangerine walls, not too obnoxious in the soft glow of an overhead light, were foreign to me. I didn’t even remember them from when we came into the room. Man, I had been tired.
I looked over my shoulder to see Oses regarding me with a funny smile that seemed more sad than happy. He welcomed me back with a kiss to the tip of my nose. “I wondered when you’d wake.”
“Why? How long was I out?” I asked.
“Long enough that we’ll be meeting Zemos’ ship in three hours.”
That was a shock. I’d slept longer than a full night’s worth. “Everything is still all right? No trouble?” I asked. “When was the last time you checked in with the bridge?”
“I just got back from verifying our status ten minutes ago.” Oses chuckled. “You weren’t kidding when you said you were exhausted. You never budged at all. Here, I brought you some food.”
He helped me sit up and brought a floating tray close. I wrinkled my nose at the Ofetuchan fare, already anticipating eating some ronka and pilchok. I couldn’t wait to get off this damned ship.
Oses fed me, as Kalquorian men prefer to do for us women. Usually it seems weird to me, but I felt it was right for some reason this time. It felt like it was especially meaningful to Oses. There was an intimacy to the act that I’d never felt before.
After a little while, I understood why. Oses said, “I will be beyond glad to quit this hellhole of a ship, but I am already missing having a Matara of my own.”
I looked into his beautiful cat-pupiled eyes with concern. “We’ll still be together on the transport. We can go back to what we had there, right?”
He nodded. “Of course. I am glad to hear you have not tired of me yet.”
I punched him on the shoulder. “You goof. How can you say such a thing? You don’t really think I’m done with you, do you?” I arched a brow at him. “In fact, you’d better keep your door locked when you want some rest. I’m definitely a fan of Nobek Oses after all this.”
He chuckled. “I look forward to having my privacy breached, hopefully often.” Oses turned serious again. “Still, here you were my mate. I was your Nobek. That is about to end.”
I traced his jaw. “I know what you mean. I hated being a prisoner, but if it had to happen, I couldn’t have asked for a better protector. You kept me safe and sane, Oses. Of all Nobeks, I think you must be the best of your breed.”
He smiled at that. “I made mistakes. I had moments of weakness. For those times, I am sorry, my Matara.”
I shook my head. “We both crumbled at certain times. I think it’s a testament to our strength that we came back. We’re badasses.”
Oses laughed for real that time. I grinned up at him as he pushed the now-empty food tray away.
“So, should I send off my temporary Nobek-mate with proper thanks?”
That earned me a growl and a show of fangs. Oses was suddenly a long way from sad.
That hideous yellow toga thing Finiuld had dressed me in was gone in an instant. So was the animal hide Oses had been forced to wear, in favor of his naked hide. You can guess which I preferred.
Perhaps because of being a captive, a most awful fate for a Nobek, Oses was the most domineering I’d ever seen him. He didn’t even bother to order me around. Instead, he put me in the positions he wanted and took what he wanted. Am I complaining? Oh fuck no. I enjoyed every second of my controlling lover.
First I was facedown on the bed. Oses held my wrists at the small of my back while he ate my pussy. I screamed into the soft mattress while he sucked my clit and stabbed his tongue into me. When I couldn’t take any more, I writhed and bucked. That got my ass warmed beautifully with a spanking. Then Oses gobbled me some more. I came for him like that. Still holding me down, he finger fucked me next. I climaxed again with three fingers pounding inside me and his thumb rubbing my clit. I screamed fit to shake the ship. Oses decided to spank me again before making me kneel on the bed surface.
He used a sheet to tie my hands behind my back. Standing before me, he lifted his larger cock out of the way and fucked my mouth with the secondary one. He held a handful of my hair in one fist as he plunged in and out, occasionally pulling as if to remind me who was in charge. My pussy ached with renewed enthusiasm after a few minutes of that. Damn, he was amazing.
Then he pumped my face with his larger cock. He was like Betra with the Imdiko’s love for gagging me. Every time I coughed, Oses groaned and backed out to hold still. I think he came close to climax several times. I was more than willing to let him do so, but the Nobek wanted more. After all, this was going to be our last time with me as his own Matara. He was determined to make it count.
He practically threw me on the bed, this time on my back. Then he was on me. Then he was in me. Oses fucked me every way a man can: slow, fast, hard, gentle, rough, tender, in every conceivable position and then a few more I’d never thought of. Hey, a century and a half meant a lot of expe
rience. That man should write a how-to book.
It finally ended with me nearly doing a handstand on the floor while Oses stood on trembling legs, holding my ass in the air and pounding hard. Every magnificent muscle in his body was clenched, tendons and veins standing out. He let go with a roar that sounded like every emotion in the world: relief, release, agony, ecstasy, joy, and loss.
Can a moment be both enthralling and heartbreaking? I suppose the answer is yes, because that was how it felt as we said goodbye to our temporary ‘clanship’. No, I’ve never seen Oses as the lifelong partner for me, perhaps because I know it can’t happen as far as the Empire is concerned. I’ve done my best to keep him out of my heart. However, he has taken up residence there, as a lover and friend. I love him in that way and will never be able to repay him for keeping us alive. Of all the men I’ve been with, he is the one I know I can rely on for whatever comes at me.
We took our time collecting ourselves and cleaning up. We bathed together with barely two words spoken the entire time. It was enough to simply be, signaling the end of our terrible captivity.
We made our way back to the bridge an hour before Captain Zemos’ destroyer rendezvoused with our hell ship. The Kalquorian ship was able to fit the much smaller Ofetuchan vessel into a bay. The instant we got the word that a breathable atmosphere had been established in the hold, everyone spilled out of the hatch. There we were, a menagerie of beings from all over the known worlds, laughing, cheering, and crying. We were surrounded by beautiful Kalquorian men, who watched us and stared in fascination at the mirror-finished rectangular alien vessel no one had ever seen the likes of before.
We had made it. We were safe.
March 21
So I’ve finished my story about being a prisoner on the Little Creep’s ship. We were rescued by Captain Zemos’ ship three weeks ago. It took us a week to reunite with the transport, which had remained at the Xniktix space station until Captain Zemos sent word that we’d been found. Then it flew with its two remaining destroyer escorts to fetch us. I’ve been home for two weeks.
The destroyer had searched high and low for us since we disappeared. I am impressed that they did so for one pregnant Earther woman and a Nobek. More than ever, I am reminded of how much importance the Kalquorians hold those of their kind and mine. After all, Oses and I had been missing for almost two weeks. The fact that Finiuld’s ship was phased invisible should have knocked the search party off the scent after a couple of days.
Yet the Ofetuchan vessel had left a trace of its passage, some kind of energy disturbance trail. Since Captain Zemos’ crew couldn’t find a good reason for its existence, they thought it might be worth following. They didn’t have anything else to go on, so it was as good a clue as any, Zemos told Oses. That’s why they were only two days behind us.
I’ve been told that once we got back to the transport, we returned to Xniktix Space Station, where our fellow prisoners were let off. The Adrafs will take care of them until arrangements can be made for their various worlds to reclaim them.
They had to tell me about it later, because ... well, I went a little crazy. Not bouncing off walls and straitjacket crazy, but more like a really quiet and huddled kind of crazy. I kept hiding in corners and inside closets and under furniture. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I cried a lot. I had nightmares that made me scream my throat raw.
I saw things that weren’t there. Usually it was a movement at the corner of my eye that looked just like something small with spiky orange hair and a fluorescent green coat. My room in Medical had to be kept lit at all times. Otherwise I would see things in the shadows; maybe a tombstone-toothed smile like some monstrous Cheshire cat. Those waking nightmares are fading at last. The last time I saw something that wasn’t there was three days ago.
Dr. Tep says the baby is fine, thank goodness. My dads have commed to say they’re glad I’m safely back on the transport and to send them a message as soon as I’m able. No doubt worried he’d upset me, Nayun didn’t cry ... but his voice kept getting choked up. Their Matara Joelle also left a message, saying she was sorry for what I’d been through. She seems nice. I don’t know why I kept putting off talking to her. I’ll have to do that soon.
Betra, Candy, and Katrina come to spend time with me every day. It is so good to see my friends again. They cried over me when I first got back, but since then it’s been all jokes and funny stories and ‘let’s make Shalia happy again’. I think they’ve had a lot more to do with me pulling myself back together than the psychologist Dr. Feru ... who is a pretty decent fellow, incidentally. He’s talking about letting me loose from Medical in a few days. Maybe a week. We’ll see how it goes.
Then there is the man who held me together through the worst time of my life. Oses is back at work, which Betra assures me is the best possible therapy for a Nobek. Betra also says Oses is much quieter than he was before and keeps to himself for the most part. I think my liaison is worried for his friend. Betra may not want to have sex with Oses, but I think he does love his would-be suitor, at least as a brother might. When they happen to encounter each other in my room, Betra is not standoffish at all anymore. He smiles at Oses and looks him in the eye as they converse. It’s Oses who has become a little hard to reach. Not because he desires Betra any less ... I can tell that yearning is still there from the way he looks at the Imdiko when Betra’s back is turned. I think Oses is simply trying to put the pieces of his life back together, though in a much less dramatic fashion than I am.
Oses doesn’t keep to himself where I am concerned. He stops by every day, even if it’s just a few minutes before he pulls a double shift. We never discuss our captivity with each other. We don’t talk much about anything. Both of us are perfectly content just to be in the other’s presence. When you know someone will do anything and everything to keep you alive, all the rest is just noise. I have that in Oses. I hope he knows he has that in me ... I think he does, anyway.
He and I may not be clan anymore, but we are family in our hearts. To me, that is more precious than any legal binding.
The End
Other books by Tracy St. John available at Amazon:
Unholy Union
The Font
To Protect and Service: Ravenous Virtue
THE CLANS OF KALQUOR SERIES:
Alien Embrace
Alien Rule
Alien Conquest
Alien Salvation
Alien Slave
Alien Interludes: Clans of Kalquor Short Stories
Alien Redemption
Alien Refuge
Alien Caged
CLAN BEGINNINGS
To Clan and Conquer
Clan and Conviction
Clan, Honor, and Empire
OTHER CLANS OF KALQUOR BOOKS
Sister Katherine
Shalia’s Diary Book 1
Shalia’s Diary Book 2
Shalia’s Diary Book 3
THE NETHERWORLD SERIES:
Drop Dead Sexy
Blood Potion No. 9
Once Bitten Twice Dead
Please visit Tracy’s website at http://www.tracystjohn.com/
and Tracy’s blog at http://tracystjohn.blogspot.com
Follow on Twitter http://twitter.com/@TracySaintJohn
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Shalia's Diary Book 4 Page 20
