At first it was just a garble of rough sounds. Fortunately the Tellex chip implanted behind my left ear kicked in almost immediately.
“...invaded our Sacred Space. You have offended the gods, stolen their forbidden fruit. Now you must be punished.”
Maybe I was in shock. Maybe it was because I’d been watching everything those monkeys did with their tails, but all I could think at that moment was Oooh! What kind of punishment did you have in mind?
Chapter Two
“What kind of punishment did I have in mind?” He stared at me in surprise.
I’ve never known when to keep my mouth shut. I hadn’t just thought it. I’d inadvertently blurted it out and thanks to the Tellex chip, the words came out in his language. His native tongue was more guttural than English and the low throaty sounds coming out of me made my comment sound even more suggestive, with a challenging undertone.
Polite people describe me as ‘rather feisty.’ After a few drinks, my girlfriends tell me that on first impression I come across as too assertive and slightly foul-mouthed. They claim I scare guys off before they get a chance to meet the sweet tender-hearted female underneath.
Okay, I may have added the sweet part. But I think I’m capable of it. Being sweet, I mean. I know I’m strong. Underneath these generous curves I pack a lot of muscle along with a don’t-fuck-with-me attitude. I just never met a guy interested in me who I could really respect. One stronger than I am so I could relax and let my feminine side show.
He was still staring at me. I had to say something.
“So those monkeys are your gods?” I cringed, even as the words came out of my mouth. I sounded like a dumb tourist, the one who makes disparaging remarks about another world’s cultural icons.
He shook his head angrily. “Of course not. They are merely the guardians of the forbidden fruit, the only creatures allowed to partake of it—except for our ruler and his mate.”
“Forbidden fruit. Seriously? Growing on a tree in a tropical paradise. What’s the name of your planet? Eden?”
His brow wrinkled. “My world is called Naxos. I do not know this Eden of which you speak. What I do know is that I must take you to the High Priest. He alone decides what punishment is merited when someone offends the gods.”
With that, the gorgeous hunk grabbed my arm and started dragging me away. He’d taken the jacket full of fruit from me, perhaps as evidence of my crime, so all I had on were the gray pants from my work uniform and a plain white bra. I hadn’t been able to go braless comfortably since I was about thirteen. My girls needed support.
Sweat dripped down between my breasts as we slogged along and I caught Tarzan peeking at my cleavage. I couldn’t help glancing down at his loincloth. Sure enough, there was a bulge I hadn’t seen before. From the size of it, I could definitely overlook his tail.
I had time to take a good look at said tail as we hiked along. I was almost disappointed to see it wasn’t actually growing out of him.
“It’s a fake,” I muttered. “You attached it to the back of that wide leather belt girding your loins. Too bad.” I shook my head. “It could have been fun. You know, getting stroked all over by that soft fur.”
He stopped dead, staring at me again with an odd expression on his face. I didn’t blame him. I’d never used the phrase ‘girding loins’ before. I’m not sure anyone has since the eighteen hundreds. It sounded like something out of one of the stash of bodice-ripping old romance novels I loved to read when I was all alone in my quarters late at night. My secret vice.
I stared back at him, squinting. His face was a little out of focus and I felt lightheaded and giddy all of a sudden. And why was I obsessed with sexual thoughts?
Then it hit me. I’d been drugged. That’s probably why his people weren’t allowed to eat the forbidden fruit. Not only did it cause immediate intoxication, on me it seemed to have a powerful aphrodisiac effect.
“No wonder those fucking monkeys were all fucking.” I nodded my head sagely, then ruined the impersonation of a scholarly astrobiologist by clapping a hand over my mouth and giggling.
Tarzan took one look at me swaying on my feet and dropped the bundle of fruit in time to catch me as I pitched forward. The next thing I knew, he’d tossed me over one shoulder and was jogging through the jungle as though I weighed no more than the handful of fruit he’d been carrying.
My head bounced against his back and I closed my eyes, diving into fantasy. He’d take me back to his treehouse in the jungle, strip off my clothes, and tease me with that fake tail, rubbing it all over my...
He came to an abrupt stop and dumped me unceremoniously back onto my feet. My eyes flew open. We stood at the base of a long flight of stairs in front of a massive stone structure rising up out of the jungle like some kind of Mayan ruin. Since he’d said he was taking me to the High Priest, I guessed it was a temple.
I heard chanting coming from a room inside the stone building high above me. A young man who must have been standing watch charged down the stairs toward us. He had the same deep bronze skin tone as Tarzan. His head was shaved and he wore sandals and a bright orange robe with one end tossed over his shoulder. He looked like a Buddhist monk in training or a college kid heading for a toga party.
When he got to us, the toga-clad monk fell to his knees and bowed his head. Cool. Maybe I’d be worshipped on this planet as a golden-haired goddess dropped from the heavens.
That fantasy evaporated as soon as he opened his mouth. “My lord,” he stammered.
“Tell the High Priest to meet me in his private quarters. And do not speak of what you have seen.”
The young man’s eyes immediately darted to me, coming to rest on my chest. I glanced down, following his gaze. I could see the dark outline of my nipples clearly through the thin sweat-soaked fabric of my bra—and apparently, so could he. Maybe he didn’t regard me as a goddess, but by the look on his face, I’d be a contender in an interstellar wet t-shirt contest on this planet.
“Yes, my lord.” The young man got to his feet, bowed, and dashed back up the stairs. It seemed my Tarzan was a person of importance around here.
Tarzan studied my face and must have decided I could make it the rest of the way under my own power, because he wrapped one huge hand around my upper arm and ushered me around the side of the building to a dark passageway cut into the stone. Lit by glowing crystals imbedded here and there in the walls, it led deep into the heart of the pyramid-shaped structure. The chanting was muted here, a deep rhythmic humming that seemed to emanate from the very walls around me.
The passage ended abruptly in front of a pair of enormous bronze doors, easily twice my height. They were covered with lines and squiggles, along with reliefs of tall, lithe males and females. Row after row of them in a procession heading upward, males on one door and females on the other. The males carried long thick staffs and each of the females bore a bowl brimming with orbs that looked like the fruit I’d eaten. The females had on floor-length gowns and the males were all dressed just like my captor, down to the flowing tails attached to wide belts.
The uppermost row bowed in front of a huge tree that extended across both doors. A tree with a pair of fucking monkeys perched in the branches. I turned to my escort-slash-captor. “I thought you said the monkeys weren’t gods. Why are your people bowing before them and bringing them offerings?”
“The shimba are not our gods. Their species was here before my people came to Naxos. They built the first temple on this site and taught us much about survival on this world when we arrived here. The inscription on these doors is in their language, not ours. They are a gentle race, valuing love over all else. We honor all that we learned from them on the Feast of the Rana.”
He went on, like a professor repeating his lecture for a particularly slow pupil. “My people are not worshipping the shimba. Look again.”
Slightly insulted at his superior tone, I turned back to the tree. On closer inspection, the couple going at it in the branches was obv
iously the same species as the alien in front of me, except the female was wearing a tail too. The male had the end of it wrapped around his hand, tugging on it as he fucked her. Only hers wasn’t held on by a belt. It seemed to be coming directly out of... I gasped. These aliens were pervs. There was no way that tail could stay on unless it was attached to a butt plug in her ass.
I’m no prude but I could feel myself blushing. I shot a glance at my companion and caught the ghost of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he looked down at me. I could tell I was still suffering from the intoxicating effects of the fruit because in my mind the forbidding look in his eyes morphed into one of dark domination. I wondered how it would feel to have his big cock sliding in and out of me while he held me in place by my tail. Then I pictured him bending me over a tree branch to slide the plug into place first. Those big hands holding me down, spreading me apart. Sliding it in my ass inch by inch, giving little tugs on the tail every now and then... My pussy clenched, then flooded. These aliens were into some kinky foreplay.
I glanced down nervously. Sure enough, my nipples had tightened into hard little buds, poking out of the sheer fabric of my bra. He didn’t have to be a mind reader to figure out what was going on in my head. No wonder he was smiling.
The doors opened, creaking like something out of a horror movie, and I caught my first glimpse of the inner chamber. Not what I’d expected.
Plush rugs in a riot of colors layered the stone floor. Tapestries depicting strange animals and exotic plants and flowers covered the walls. A carved wooden chair sat in the place of honor, centered under a surprisingly high curved ceiling studded with translucent stones and more of the glowing crystals. The effect was like a stained glass dome when the sun hits it, sending brilliant gem-colored rays shooting across the room.
I was so transfixed by the sight I missed the figure sitting in the chair. It wasn’t until Tarzan took a knee before him that I realized this must be the High Priest.
He was bald, like the young monk in training, wearing the same toga-like garment. His was a rich fabric in a deep shade of royal blue. His bronze face was unlined, his body looked strong and powerful, but gnarled veins stood out in the hands resting on the arms of the chair. It was impossible to guess his age, though I had the sensation that a very old soul was behind the shrewd eyes calmly appraising me. I squelched the urge to bow.
“Holy One, I found this intruder in the Sacred Grove. She speaks our language, though strangely. From the pale color of her skin and hair, I’d guess she hails from another world.” He glanced back at me, as though expecting me to deny it.
I didn’t speak and he went on. “She has eaten a fruit from the forbidden tree and I caught her stealing many more. I deliver her to you for punishment, as our law commands.”
The old man was silent for a very long time, looking at the sweat-soaked pants and sheer bra clinging to my curves, then at the figure kneeling before him. When he spoke his voice was low. I didn’t know anything about their species, but I could have sworn it held a hint of amusement.
“Found her, did you? Dressed like that, eating a rana fruit. And you brought her straight to me?”
“Yes, Holy One.”
The High Priest shook his head. “Some day, my boy, you’re going to have to ignore your overblown sense of responsibility and let yourself have a little fun. Look at her. You know what rana fruit does to females. She’s obviously lusting for you. If you were really being responsible you’d have satisfied her raging fever first.”
“Excuse me.”
They both looked at me with their mouths open, as though one of the tapestries on the wall had decided to join the conversation.
“I do understand your language—even if I speak it strangely,” I added, glaring at Tarzan. “So you can stop talking about me and start talking to me.”
I took a couple of steps toward the old man, lifting my hand and ticking off points as I came near him. “First of all, I’m not lusting for anyone. I don’t know where you came up with that raging fever thing. I happen to be a little sweaty because it’s hot and humid here.” I straightened my shoulders and assumed a military bearing, trying to ignore my still-prominent nipples.
“Second, Tarzan here is right,” I went on. “I do come from another world. I am captain of a spacecraft that crash-landed on your planet after it was damaged in an asteroid storm.”
I realized I sounded awfully confrontational and decided to dial it down a notch. After all, I was completely outnumbered here and the aliens were a lot bigger than me. Maybe it was time for a little diplomacy. I put both hands out, palms up.
“I come in peace, Holy One. I apologize for invading your Sacred Space and partaking of the fruit. I meant no disrespect. My people will owe your world a debt of gratitude for providing me with life-giving nourishment as I made my way through the vast jungle, seeking help for my crew.”
Okay, maybe I was laying it on a bit thick with that whole ‘life-giving nourishment’ thing. I hadn’t exactly been crawling along on the brink of starvation when I ate it.
His eyes bore into me and he didn’t say a word for so long I wondered if the Tellex chip had malfunctioned during my speech. Maybe I’d just insulted his mother—or those fucking monkeys.
Finally he waved a hand. “You have done your duty, Jalen, guarding the rana tree and protecting our sacred shimba from harm. I will see that this alien is properly punished.”
Jalen. So that was my Tarzan’s name. He took the High Priest’s remark as a dismissal, rising to his feet, then bowing his head slightly. I watched that long tail swish back and forth as he stalked out of the room. He never once looked back at me. I stifled a sigh. Too bad. The idea of punishment was a lot more appealing when I thought he’d be the one administering it.
The door closed behind him with an ominous thud and I turned my attention back to the High Priest.
“You—and your crew—are fortunate. The Naxian people have been observing the Feast of the Rana. Fasting and praying, giving thanks. Even our military participate in the festival. Your vessel must have crashed last night, on the Eve of Stillness. The one time when our defense systems are monitored by a skeleton crew. Otherwise your ship would have been blown out of the sky the moment it entered our orbit.”
I stared at him, open-mouthed. He’d gone from primitive High Priest sitting in a stone pyramid in the jungle to calmly making reference to his planet’s interstellar defense system. Maybe this civilization wasn’t as backward as I’d first thought.
Chapter Three
“How many alien beings are on your ship?”
I took a moment to assess my situation before answering. If I told him the truth, that we were a crew of seven scientists gathering preliminary data about an unexplored quadrant of Vector Seven, I could assure him we posed no threat to his world. But then he’d have no compulsion about annihilating us, the way you’d squash a weird-looking bug that crawled into your house.
On the other hand, if I made it sound like we were a large, well-armed crew separated from our fighter squadron by the asteroid storm, fear might make him decide to attack the ship before I could get back to warn the crew. Either way, we’d be screwed.
I sized him up. That comment about blowing us out of the sky was out of character with his otherwise calm demeanor. I went with my gut and told him the truth.
“We are a crew of seven, Holy One.” I figured it wouldn’t hurt to suck up a little and keep on addressing him the way Jalen had. “We are on a mission to find and gather data about worlds in this part of the galaxy, worlds our planet knows nothing about.”
He started grilling me on specifics. Exactly where was my planet located, how many beings resided there. Then he wanted information about every member of my crew.
I hesitated again, but he’d find out sooner or later. “I am accompanied by six female scientists, each of whom specializes in a different area of study. Geology, climatology, biodiversity, botany, oceanography, and ethnology. Our p
lanet is Earth and we call ourselves humans.”
He absorbed that without a response, then went on to peppering me with questions that got increasingly invasive.
“I’m thirty-six years old. My species has a current lifespan of approximately one hundred and fifty years, so I am in early adulthood... I’m in excellent health, otherwise I would not have been chosen to lead a mission into unknown territory. Yes, you heard me correctly. I’m a scientist and the leader of this mission. In my world females are educated along with the males. Positions of authority are earned, based on skill and knowledge rather than gender. No, I do not have a mate and I’ve never borne young, though that is by choice, not biological inability to do so... Yes, I did find the rana fruit to have an intoxicating effect... Okay, yeah, it did stimulate my sex drive...”
“Turn around.”
I tried not to shiver. The chamber was much cooler than the jungle had been and the sweat was drying on my body. All the while I could feel his eyes on me. I’ve been told by Earth guys that I have a nice ass, but I’d never been ogled by an alien before. It creeped me out.
“Face me.”
He had a strange expression on his face. Not the lust-driven one I had expected. This was more thoughtful, as though he was weighing a major decision.
“You look to be a sturdy female. Healthy, good breeding stock. The king is reaching the end of his lifespan and it would give him great comfort to know his bloodline will go on. I will suspend your punishment for defiling our Sacred Grove on one condition. You will mate with...”
I interrupted him mid-sentence. “Oh, no! I’m not screwing some decrepit old man on his deathbed and getting knocked up with an alien baby! I’ll take the punishment instead.”
“Silence!” The High Priest’s voice echoed off the stone walls of the chamber. “If you do not agree, I will impose the maximum punishment—not only on you but on your entire crew. The sentence for invading the Sacred Grove and stealing rana fruit is death to the defiler. I will have your crew executed one by one in front of you. You can listen to them pleading for their lives as we slaughter them—or you can agree to willingly become the mate of our prince.”
Alien Alphas: Twenty-Three Naughty Sci-Fi Romance Novellas Page 42
