Ecstasy From the Deep

by Octavia Kore

  Amanda dipped the cloth, ringing it out again, before she turned back, wiping his lower stomach.

  “I was working on a project here that would implement something like that for Earth, but I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get back out there.” Distracted, her hand swiped along the waistband of his black pants. “We could do that here, you know? The ocean is so big.”

  A soft growl rumbled within his chest. “Quite big, actually.”

  The tone of his voice had her eyes jerking up to his face as she quirked a curious brow. When his hips jerked beneath her hand, she followed his gaze down to the large bulge that pressed up against the fabric of his pants.

  “Oh… Oh!” Averting her eyes, Amanda felt her cheeks blaze red with embarrassment. “That’s not what I meant!” Water sloshed in the basin as she tossed the cloth into it before patting his wet skin dry with the towel.

  “Wait!” he said as she stood. “I don’t understand what I said. I thought you were—”

  “Thought I was talking about your dick?” When he opened his mouth to speak, she continued over him. “I was talking about the ocean. The salt water that I assume you crawled out of before you saved me?”

  Oshen was quiet for a moment before clearing his throat. “On Venora, we call it the okeanos. I apologize if I offended you in any way.”

  “It’s fine. I just got flustered.” Her head was starting to pound, and she knew she needed to get some rest. “I’ll get you a blanket.” Grabbing a couple of her spare comforters, Amanda headed to the couch to make herself a bed only to see that it was smeared with Oshen’s blood. She sighed and turned back toward her room.

  I guess we’re sharing tonight.

  When she walked back in, she saw that Hades had jumped up on the end of the bed and was staring daggers at her alien. “What is it doing?” Oshen whispered.

  “Probably trying to figure out why you’re in his spot.” She laughed. “Make some room, big guy. We’re having a sleepover.” When he shifted as far as he could to one side of the bed, Amanda tossed a blanket over his body before settling down and curling into her own.

  When she tried to angle herself away from Oshen, Hades yowled and pushed himself into her front so that she was forced to lean against the firm, muscled body behind her. Jerk. Arousal was still gnawing at her, but she squeezed her eyes shut and firmly ignored the ache. She was not going to fantasize about the attractive alien handcuffed to her bed.

  Something had a hold of her. She could feel its claws digging into her arms as she struggled. The Grutex. The fear of being taken by him made her fight harder, thrashing from side to side as she kicked out against him. Warm breath fanned the skin of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine.

  “Leave me alone!” she screamed, but the only response she got was a series of growls and clicks near her ear.

  Her stomach clenched with dread as the massive arms circled around her body.

  “Wake up! Amanda!” a voice called out to her, but she couldn’t focus.

  The grumbled language played again at her ear and she heard what sounded like her name among the unfamiliar words.

  “Gynaika, please!”

  When she was finally able to jerk her head back, she stared up into a face that had at one point been a comforting part of her childhood. Zar. Four violet eyes peered down at her from a face so similar to the ones she had seen abducting people that it had become hard to look at over the last few years without sending a jolt of panic racing through her.

  “My heart!”

  Heart pounding wildly in her chest, Amanda watched as her not so imaginary friend from childhood began to speak, his hand coming up to brush the side of her face. No, please. Don’t touch me.

  Amanda’s eyes shot open as a scream was torn from her throat.

  Chapter 6

  Gulzar

  Gulzar woke with a strangled gasp, his whole body jerking as the room swam around him. A dark figure hovered above him and he felt himself flinch, instinctually shielding his body from the sharp sting of the elder’s whip. They had roused him so many times in this manner that it had become more common than not for him to wake, even from the rare good dreams, in a panic.

  “Hush now,” a gentle, familiar voice whispered as slender hands slid softly over his xines. The soothing vibrations of a rattle filled the air, and he felt his tension immediately dissipate. “I am right here.”

  “Mitera,” Gulzar mumbled, reaching out toward the figure as everything came into focus. The moment he saw the light blue pulsing of the fushori instead of the violet, he knew this wasn’t his dam.

  “No, Gulzar. It is only me.”

  Kyra’s sad rattle swarmed around him and he sat up, shaking his head to dispel the last remnants of the nightmare. “There was never anything ‘only’ about you, Kyra.” Despite his words, Gulzar couldn’t bring himself to look the woman who had raised him in the eye.

  For someone who had never actually met her, Gulzar missed his dam more than he could ever properly explain. The only things he knew about her were from the stories Kyra had shared with him over the years, but it tore him apart to know that he would never get to experience all those things for himself. So many nights he had spent sprawled across his bed imagining what it would have been like to know her, to hear her laugh with his own ears, to know the softness of her touch on his cheek, to see the look in her eyes when he wrapped his arms around her.

  When he was young, he could vaguely recall her face from the first and only time she had held him in her arms, but now the memory was little more than a shade. He liked to imagine she looked a little bit like Kyra, tall and slender, with cheerful eyes and a quick, genuine smile, but that was all just fantasy. Kyra had taken him in after the tragedy of his dam’s death, nursing him and Kythea, who was born a few days before him. He knew the subject of her death was just as hard on her as it was on him.

  Silence stretched between them, and he wondered for the millionth time if she knew about what the elders had done to him under the guise of reeducation. The sad looks she had given him as she helped him bandage his wounds each time he came home from one of their sessions told him that she had at least suspected it, but she had never asked and he would never offer the information. If the elders had gotten wind that he had told anyone about the beatings he received, he was sure his punishment would have been far greater. Even worse than the threat of harm to himself was the threat to Kyra and her family. No, he would never speak of it to them. The only person responsible for his status in life was himself. Hadn’t that been beaten into him enough times to stick?

  Her death is your burden. Their deaths are your burden. The aged voice of the elder echoed within his mind, but he shook his head again, silencing the memory.

  “So?”

  Gulzar’s eyes jerked up to Kyra’s face. She was watching him expectantly, the ridge of her brow raised in a question that he had obviously missed. “I apologize. I did not hear you.”

  Kyra shook her head. “Did reaching out to the goddess work?”

  “No,” He blew a frustrated breath through his crest, causing it to rattle loudly. “I believe I only made things worse.”

  “How is that?”

  “She was so… terrified.”

  “Of who, Gulzar?” He felt Kyra’s gentle hand on his shoulder.

  “Of me.” The look on her face when she pulled back from him would forever be etched into his mind. It had torn at his heart. “I tried to ask her what had happened, what was wrong, but she only fought me harder. It seemed like she did not even recognize me, like she thought I was someone else.” Doubt and fear swirled within him and he whispered, “Or perhaps she did and finally realized I was cursed, that I am unworthy to even look upon her.”

  “Stop that!”

  A loud crack echoed through the room just as he felt Kyra’s hand come into contact with the back of his head. “Hey!” Gulzar exclaimed, rubbing a hand over the spot. She might not look very strong, but her swats sure did sting. “Wh
at was that for?”

  “You act like such a youngling sometimes!”

  “I do not!” Gulzar said, dodging her next swat. “Stop!”

  “I do not know what those males told you when you went to the temple all those times, but they were wrong. You are not damned or cursed, or what it is you believe yourself to be.”

  “I am—” He began to growl, but Kyra’s angry rattle drowned him out.

  “For the sake of the goddess, Gulzar! You are not any of those things!”

  “If I am not cursed, if I am safe to be around, then why did you lose every single one of the young you carried after you took me in and nursed me?” The regret he felt at his words was instant, and he wished he could take them back. “Kyra…” He reached for her hand in an attempt to soothe her, to lessen the hurt he saw in her eyes, but she stepped away from him.

  “I do not know how to make you see that my losses were not your fault. Unfortunate and upsetting things happen to all of us. It is simply how life is, Gulzar.” She turned her back to him but stopped in the doorway, looking over her shoulder last time. “You may not believe me, but none of the things that happened were your fault. None of them. You are not damned, and you do not deserve the curse other people have put on you.”

  He sat in silence as he stared at the spot she had vacated, letting her words sink in.

  Chapter 7

  Oshen

  The bed shook beneath him just before the shadow of the big cat arched beside him, hissing in displeasure. Amanda thrashed, her arms and legs flailing as if she were fighting off some unseen assailant. Oshen growled, his fushori beginning to glow as it flared to life with his concern. “Leave me alone!” came her panicked scream. With a strange garble, Hades fled from the bed, his feet sliding against the wooden floor as he dashed into the hallway.

  “Wake up! Amanda!” Oshen pulled at the cuffs around his wrists and heard the wood groan. Brax! He was going to have to tear this apart just to get free. When she screamed again, he didn’t even stop to think about it. Wood splintered around them as he yanked himself free, sitting up to check on his female. Mine. “Gynaika, please!”

  “Zar…” She gasped, her hands clutching at his arms as he took hold of her shoulders.

  “My heart!” he pleaded, shaking her gently before stroking her face.

  “No, please! Don’t touch me!” she cried. A scream burst free from her throat as her eyes shot open.

  The terror he saw reflected in the blue depths broke his heart and he pulled her into his arms, crooning softly into her hair as he pressed his face close. “You’re all right. It’s over now.” His tail lashed anxiously against the bed beside him.

  Amanda sagged against his body, her forehead falling down to rest on his chest as her hands clutched at his arms like she was trying to anchor herself. After a moment, she lifted her head and her tear-filled eyes locked with his. It was almost like he was seeing her for the first time, really, truly seeing her, and he was stunned by the rush of emotions that flooded him.

  Breath seizing in his chest, heart pounding, Oshen struggled to form words, but she closed the meager space between them, pressing her lips to his gently. His hands stilled where they had come to rest on her hips and she moaned quietly as his fingers flexed against the fabric of her clothing.

  “Please,” she moaned when he made no move to return her affection, “I don’t want to remember. Help me forget.”

  When she crawled into his lap, her legs straddling his hips, Oshen had to squeeze his eyes shut and fight the urge to do as she asked. The scent of her arousal permeated the air, and for the first time in his life, he felt his mating glands at the base of his kokoras swell.

  This was a moment all Venium males waited for. He had been dreaming of this since the moment he was old enough to understand its meaning and yet he couldn’t pull her more against his body, couldn’t press his lips to hers, or claim her the way his entire being screamed at him to do. Even with her arousal coating his senses, Oshen could detect the underlying scent of her fear and pain. She was vulnerable right now, and he would never take advantage of that.

  Instead, Oshen rested his forehead against Amanda’s and drew in a deep, calming breath as he moved his hands up to her waist. When he slid her from his thighs back onto the bed she whimpered softly. A tear rolled down her cheek, and he felt his throat tighten.

  “Amanda,” he cooed to her, cupping her face in his hands and running his thumbs along her cheeks. “I cannot, gynaika. Not like this.”

  Oshen watched as her bottom lip began to tremble and more tears spilled from her eyes. “I’m sorry!” She sobbed, covering her face with shaking hands.

  With a soft tsk, he pulled her back into his arms, resting his cheek on the top of her head and whispering, “Please don’t cry.” Her small body shook against his and he ran a hand up and down her back in an attempt to calm her. “No more tears, my heart.” The name she screamed echoed in his mind, and he couldn’t help the pang of jealousy that passed through him. “Who is Zar?”

  Amanda stilled, going completely quiet before finally looking up into his face. “Did I say his name?”

  With his hand, Oshen gently dried her tear-streaked cheeks and nodded. “In your sleep you did. Is he your mate?”

  This drew a soft chuckle from her, and she shook her head. “No. Humans don’t have mates. He was a friend of mine when I was little, but now I’m not sure what he is. I’m not even sure if he actually exists outside of my head.”

  “He frightened you?”

  Amanda sighed, frowning down at her hands where they fidgeted in her lap. “Not him exactly. He just has the misfortune of looking eerily similar to the Grutex—those are the aliens that are trying to invade Earth. When this all started a few years ago, Jun and I saw one of them take a woman in broad daylight, and ever since then it’s been hard to see Zar without remembering the way that one looked at me.”

  “How did he look at you?”

  “Like I was next,” she whispered, running her hands through her hair.

  Never, he promised silently. She was his and he would protect her with his life if he needed to. “You see this alien, Zar, in your dreams?”

  “Not always. Sometimes I see him when I’m doing things, like a daydream, and other times I just get this feeling, almost like I’m experiencing his emotions.” A giggle burst from between her lips. “I know it sounds crazy.”

  Whether it was in fact crazy or not, Oshen found her description to be similar to something he had read as a child. It had come from a book of old lore, something that had only existed in ancient times among the Venium. Perhaps this was just coincidence, though.

  “Let’s just forget it, okay?” He watched as her eyes skimmed over the bedding that was littered with splintered pieces of the wooden frame she had bound him to.

  “I apologize for the mess.” An awkward prickle danced across his skin and he felt like a pup waiting to be scolded, but instead of the anger he was expecting, Amanda threw her head back and laughed.

  “You could have broken out this entire time?” Shaking her head when he shrugged, Amanda wiped at the lingering tears. “Why didn’t you?”

  “I was hoping you would find the key so I wouldn’t have to destroy your furniture.” The light from his fushori dimmed as he relaxed.

  Hades yowled from the floor, jumping up onto the bed and butting his head against Amanda’s arm in a bid for her attention before wedging his large, fluffy body between them. The beast turned to rub his face along Oshen’s hand in what he assumed was a show of friendship. When Oshen turned to run his finger along Hades’s head, the creature had the audacity to bite him. It seemed like everyone he met here was out to hurt him.

  “You are an ornery little creature.”

  Amanda laughed, pulling the cat close to her chest and pressing her lips to his head. “He’s a bit of a grouch, but I love him.”

  The cat emitted a rumbling purr as it rubbed its head against Amanda. The little beast’s t
ail curled around her arm before it gave one more pathetic grumble and jumped from the bed, looking back at him as it slipped out of the room once again as if it had won some battle. Oshen would keep an eye on that one.

  “Do you think you can break out of the other pair?” Amanda asked, drawing his attention.

  Oshen barely managed to stifle the self-assured snort before he reached down and snapped the links between the cuffs, doing the same for the ones still attached to his wrists so he could move more freely.

  “If I hadn’t been the one to put those on you, I’d think they were fake. I’ve never seen someone just bust out of them like that.” She watched him from the corner of her eye as he stretched his stiff muscles.

  Maybe he flexed a little more than he needed to when he saw the tip of her pink tongue swipe across her bottom lip, but who would blame him? She was his mate, after all. Every inch of his body tingled in excitement as he took a deep breath, drawing her scent into his lungs.

  Mine.

  His entire being vibrated with the knowledge that he had found her, that his instincts hadn’t been wrong. The fact that she was not Venium didn’t bother him, but it did perplex him. As far as he knew, the Venium had never mated outside of their species before. The council might find this interesting considering their current predicament. His mating may be an important step in saving his people.

  “Son of a biscuit!” The strange curse was followed by a series of “Ouch, ouch, ouch!” as his female hopped on one foot, grabbing the other one in her hands as she struggled to balance.

  “What happened?” Oshen jumped up from the bed and swept her up into his arms. “You’re hurt?”

  Her eyes went wide as he hurried from the room. “No—I mean, yeah, a little, but it’s fine.”

  “It’s not fine.” He set her down on the couch, frowning at the blue stains on the fabric. “Let me see your injury.”

  “I’m pretty sure there’s nothing there.”