by Renee Rose
Met with blank stares, she tried another language. Then a third. Still nothing. Apparently, this planet was so far off the trade routes the inhabitants hadn’t learned to communicate with beings from other worlds. Either that or she’d run into a couple of low-class, uneducated swamp-dwellers.
One of them moved closer. She caught a whiff of some unknown scent. Not unpleasant, like the foul odor stirred up every time she took a step. Subtle yet potent, it reminded her of the exotic spices in a bazaar she’d visited once in the Consolis Sector. His twin took a few steps toward her, and the scent became stronger.
Her heart started thudding against her ribs and she became acutely aware of her nakedness. They were both so…big. She found her gaze wandering to those broad chests then the short garments they wore, wondering if their similarity to human males extended to their genitalia.
They glanced at each other as though they’d read her mind. Then both of them adjusted their …skirts? kilts?... to ride lower on their hips. She didn’t know the word for what they had on, nor could she identify the material it was made of, but apparently they wore it without underwear. Before they rearranged their clothing, she’d caught a glimpse of what looked like the head of a cock peeking out underneath the garment of the one on her left. That answered her question about genitalia.
Her eyes widened. The half-tunic he wore hung down to the middle of his thighs, so his penis...
Cass stopped herself, appalled. You must have brain damage. You’re fantasizing about the size of his dick while this alien has a weapon trained on you. She shook her head, trying to clear it of the graphic images. She’d been celibate for months, ever since the Luna’s deployment. That was nothing new. Even back on Earth, she seldom engaged in sex. She’d had a few partners over the years, but, in her experience, the actual act never lived up to the hype. Now, with her life in danger, all she could think about was that she’d never seen a cock that long. And how it would feel sliding into her pussy, inch by inch.
The twins glanced at each other again, never exchanging a word, then split up and rushed at her from both sides just as the giant predators did. She barely had time to scream before she found herself tossed over the shoulder of one, bare bottom high in the air, with her uniform still bunched around her knees.
He headed through the swamp at a dead run, his twin by his side, keeping her in place with an arm around her thighs while his other hand held the weapon. Cass started shrieking, beating on his bare back with her fists, slamming her boots into his stomach. He stopped suddenly, shifted his weapon to the hand holding her, and brought a huge palm down on her backside. A shocking burst of heat singed her bottom, followed by a sting worse than what the brown slugs delivered.
She froze, more stunned than hurt. Then she screamed at the top of her lungs, arms and legs flailing away at him.
“Stop it! Put me down, you idiot! I’m a commander in the Interstellar Federation. I came here to warn your people…”
The rest of her words disappeared, swallowed up in a sharp gasp. He whacked her three more times, one right after the other. Each one harder than the last. Then he jiggled the arm holding her, shaking her body a little as he repeated something several times. He finished with another harsh smack.
Cass didn’t need a Tellex chip to interpret. Shut up, quit fighting me, or you’ll get more. She slumped over his back. A combination of fury and embarrassment made her bite her tongue. Satisfied that his method worked, the alien took off again, jarring her injured ribcage painfully every time his feet hit the ground.
She was shocked at how much her bottom hurt. She’d been kicked, punched, thrown halfway across a room onto a thin floor mat in sparring matches. She had never been spanked. Humans didn’t do that anymore. She’d heard of it, though. An archaic method of asserting one’s control over beings of a lesser status, used by primitive humans who lacked the intelligence to make their point with reason and logic.
These Cephaians hadn’t evolved beyond the level of Neanderthals on Earth. Unable to communicate with more intelligent beings, frustrated at their limitations, they resorted to physical force to express themselves.
Analyzing the shortcomings of her captors kept her from dwelling on how much her butt burned, although not for long. Why the hell did his hand have to be so big? He lit a fire on both cheeks at once with every harsh whack. She took a deep breath as another wave of heat poured through her, then moaned when her pussy spasmed, sending a bolt of raw lust straight to her core.
Something was seriously wrong. She couldn’t seem to concentrate, couldn’t even hold onto her anger. It had disappeared as though she’d vaporized it with her Blazar, leaving her with the desperate craving to stick out her tongue and lick the beads of sweat off the rippling muscles on his back. Maybe hanging upside down like this had an adverse effect on the blood flow to her brain. It definitely made her dizzy. She closed her eyes and settled for laying her cheek on his bare skin, breathing in his virile aroma.
Aroma? The realization hit her. She should be smelling sweat and swamp water, not this seductive fragrance. The aliens must be exuding potent male pheromones stimulating the amygdala in the primal center of her brain. She wasn’t going mad after all.
She vaguely recalled a lecture by a visiting professor back at the Academy about research he’d done using the primordial brain of an enemy to control him or her. According to him, stimulating the amygdala triggered sexual arousal, sensations of extreme pleasure, erections in males, and even orgasm in females. Triggering arousal by scent was a method of insuring the survival of the species that became dormant over the course of human evolution on Earth. Inhaling the pheromones produced by this lower life form must have awakened her primitive biological responses. Being skin to skin with him magnified the effect, turning her into a bitch in heat.
Knowing why it was happening may have relieved her mind but it didn’t lessen the frantic hunger she’d begun to feel. Since she couldn’t overcome a biological process so strong it had survived for a million years in the human brain, she decided to quit fighting it. Once they arrived at their destination, he’d have to put her down. Putting distance between them physically would reduce the intensity of these feelings and let her gain back some control. Besides, the endorphins flooding her system now blocked the pain from her aching ribs and battered body.
She took advantage of his pounding gait. Let her lips brush against the sheen of pheromone-laden sweat glistening on his skin with every step he took. Inhaling deeply, she felt a rush as they poured through her body. Cass closed her eyes and opened her mind to a flood of erotic images.
ROM
You have to take her, Brother.
Ryn’s voice in his head came as a shout. He’d been so lost in guilt and anger, he hadn’t been paying attention to his twin’s essence.
Is she too heavy for you? She doesn’t look very big. Maybe Earthers had a more dense skeletal system. For all he knew, the female could weigh as much as a cube of syturbium.
It’s not her size. It’s being so close to her. Their females must give off some kind of aphrodisiac. My cock has been rock hard ever since I picked her up, and my balls are so swollen they’re slapping against my thighs with every step.
Rom slammed down the barrier in his mind, blocking his brother from picking up his thoughts. Thank the Sacred Ones! Ryn felt it, too. He’d been suffering with guilt ever since they came upon the female Earther. She was one of them, one of the invaders who’d killed Zara. His Mate’s body wasn’t even cold. It wasn’t right that his cock responded to this female like a rutting stag picking up the scent of a doe.is
He sent back a taunt.
If you want me to feel sorry for you, quit bragging about the size of your jewels.
Offspring of a jambora! Ryn came back with an insult that would have landed him facedown in the foul swamp water if it had been uttered by any other man.
Fine. I’ll take her, if only to stop your whining
Ryn halted in his tracks. Lifting
the female off his body, he handed her over as gingerly as if she were a poisonous snake that had dropped on him from the tree canopy above. Rom gave his brother a skeptical look. Surely it couldn’t be that bad.
Ryn flashed him the mischievous grin he hadn’t seen since they were children. Luckily you’re the cold, rational one, Brother. I’m sure you’ll feel no effects.
Whatever effect this female had, it must be strong for his brother to forget his grief long enough to smile. Rom laid her over his shoulder the same way Ryn had carried her. The female’s body was warmer than he’d expected. Heavier, too, considering her diminutive size. She had to be all muscle.
Except for the soft breasts pressing against his back as she began wiggling. Those were surprisingly full, with dark nipples that stood out against her pale skin. His eyes had been drawn to them when they first caught sight of her in the swamp. Shrieking at the top of her lungs as she frantically rubbed her hands over her wet, smooth body, all the way to that patch of dark hair between her legs. What an odd place for the creature to have hair, he remembered thinking, almost as though her species was trying to draw attention to her pleasure portal.
He shook his head, trying to rid it of the unwelcome thoughts. She twisted sharply, nearly sliding out of his grasp.
“You will behave properly, female, or I’ll whack you twice as hard as my brother did.”
He spoke sternly, even though she didn’t seem to understand their language. To emphasize his point, he gave her ass a harsh smack. Harder than necessary, perhaps. Punishing her for the way his body was responding. Then he took off, running full-on to punish himself.
Ryn was right. She did have a powerful effect. As soon as her bare skin had touched his, he felt his manhood growing. They needed to get her home quickly, interrogate her as to the whereabouts of the rest of the invaders, and then...
“And then what? Kill her?”
His brother’s voice echoed in the silence of the swamp as they raced along side by side. Ryn seldom sounded so disapproving. Damn this troublesome wench! He’d been so surprised at what was happening, he’d left himself open, allowing his thoughts to flow to his brother. Ryn was more emotional, the one who’d go on a hunt, stare into the big brown eyes of a norendaal doe and then not be able to let the arrow fly. He had to be strong for both of them.
“Yes. We’ll find out what we need to know then we’ll kill her. Maybe we’ll wait and do it right in front of them. Make them suffer as we have.” Rom forced the words out. His cock may have been tempted, but his throat was still tight with unshed tears. “She’s one of them, Ryn. Unless you’re going to try to convince me that two separate alien ships landed on Cephaia tonight. She looks just like the pirates we saw through Zara’s eyes. Small and hairy, with that strange pale skin. I don’t care how hot and tight her pussy might be. If she’s with them, her heart is cold.”
He slammed down the barrier between them. Forced his mind to ignore the signals his body was sending. Concentrated on the gut-wrenching pain, instead, as they raced back home.
CASS
The Tellex chip didn’t kick in all at once. It was more like an interstellar transmission filled with static and an occasional intelligible word here and there, so she had no idea what they were saying. Besides, it was nearly impossible to concentrate on their conversation. This twin had an equally potent effect on her.
His scent was the same as his brother’s, only stronger. Slung over his shoulder, held tight against his chest, she could feel his heart thudding against her mound with every stride. Making her clit throb in time.
When they finally stopped, she opened her eyes and was shocked to see they’d left the swamp far behind. There was no sign of the lake or the smoldering ruins of the settlement on its shores. They were in a clearing with trees all around, like a meadow at the edge of a forest. It was hard to make out much upside down, but it looked as though they’d come to a structure built of stone and rough-hewn timbers. His brother opened a door, and they went along a wide passageway inside. All she could see from her position was the gleaming wood floor. He turned a corner, went through another doorway and down a flight of stone steps.
The one carrying her dumped her onto a wooden bench in the center of the room and yanked her boots off. He grabbed the uniform bunched around her knees and stripped it away as well, leaving her completely naked. She swayed dizzily. The other twin took her arm and helped her to a sitting position. She slumped over with her head in her hands until the room stopped spinning, then risked a look around.
She was in a fairly large space, roughly thirty feet square. Stone walls and floor, with heavy wooden beams overhead. Floor to ceiling shelves along one wall held an assortment of large containers, mostly woven baskets, with a few clay jars and wooden crates. No windows, but the room was lit with a pale blue-white glow coming from some of the stones in the wall.
“Oh, great. They light their buildings using radioactive rock. Now my skin will probably turn purple, too.”
“It’s not like iridium. Zyfex is harmless.”
She whipped her head around then groaned as the knife of pain stabbed her forehead. Definitely brain damage, probably due to a concussion suffered when Magnus knocked her into the Luna’s command console. She was hallucinating for sure this time, imagining that she and the alien were carrying on a conversation.
“Tell us where they’ve gone.”
Her mouth dropped open. The twin to her right had spoken. She’d seen his mouth move.
She stared from one to the other. “You… you speak English?” Maybe these aliens weren’t as stupid as she thought.
“Is that what you call it?” the one who carried her into the structure answered. “Yes. We are capable of analyzing your method of communication and adapting to it. Now tell us where they’ve gone.”
Cass felt vulnerable being naked while they had clothes on. She knew that was exactly what they wanted, so she did her best to ignore her embarrassment.
“I don’t know. I tracked them to the village and saw… what they did.” Her voice broke. She took a moment to compose herself, then went on. “I panicked and started running. Got lost in the swamp. Almost got eaten by the horrible gator things. Then I dropped my Blazar and while I was down in the muck feeling around for it, one of those leech pods attached itself to my hand. They started stinging me.” She shuddered and ran her hands over her body. “It feels like they’re still crawling all over.”
“Wuzzers. Their secretions have a lingering effect. It will pass,” the twin who explained the glowing rocks responded.
“Enough!” His brother’s voice was hard. “Your ship is gone. They abandoned you here, left you to die in the swamp. They don’t care about your welfare. Why be loyal to them? Tell us where they’re headed.”
“The Luna is gone?” For a moment, the words didn’t sink in. Then her shoulders slumped. I don’t know where they went. I entered the landing protocol, but that’s all. I have no idea what course heading they took from here.”
“You see. She admits it.” The brother who carried her last turned to his twin, switching to Cephaian. “I … one of them, Ryn.” Fortunately, the Tellex chip translation program was functioning. Although words and even whole phrases were missing, she could understand much of what he said.
When he went on, she almost wished she couldn’t.
Chapter Five
CASS
“Make her tell us. If she… kill her slowly.”
“Rom, wait!” The one called Ryn was shaking his head. “She needs… If we lock… time to…”
They were arguing, right in front of her. Although it took everything she had not to react, Cass decided to play dumb. If they didn’t know she could understand them, they’d speak freely around her and she might learn something that would help her escape. She groaned again and cradled her head, as though suffering another stab of pain. The one called Rom grabbed her by the hair and tilted her head up.
“Think hard, female,” he ordered in E
nglish. His other hand closed around her bare breast, trapping her nipple between finger and thumb. Squeezing painfully. “Be ready to tell us everything when we return. Or you will regret it.”
They headed up the stairs, and she heard the heavy wooden door shut behind them. Though she suspected it would be futile, she dashed up after them. Waiting till the sound of their footsteps on the wooden floor died away, she pushed against the door. It didn’t budge. She examined the frame. No hinges, no fittings. Whatever mechanism they used to hold it in place was on the outside. From within, the wood fit so tight that even if she had a sharp tool, she doubted that she could slide it between the door and the casing.
Unsure of how much time she’d have before they returned, she made a swift survey of the room, searching for a way to escape. Then she began examining it slowly. She spent hours going over the entire space inch by inch, looking for a chink in the rock wall or a stone she could pry out of the floor. She even dragged several of the wooden crates down off a shelf and piled them on top of each other to inspect the wooden ceiling for a crack or a loose board.
The painkilling effect of the arousal they stirred in her had worn off within an hour or two after they left, and all she wanted was to curl up in a ball on the hard stone floor and rest her aching head and body. She forced herself to keep going. If she couldn’t escape, she’d have to fight her way out. Cass inspected the contents of the containers for something she could use as a weapon.
Inside the wooden crates she found woven fabrics and animal skins. Rifling through them, she picked out a length of cloth and wrapped it around her like a sari. With her body covered again, Cass felt a burst of confidence. She inspected the crates, tried to pry boards loose from them. It was no use.
The other containers held household staples. Several kinds of grain. Baskets of odd-shaped organic substances, some of them nasty-smelling things that made her want to retch. Liquids filled the clay jars. Oils, mostly, except for the two largest ones. She took a sniff. Sweet. And definitely alcoholic. Some sort of fermented drink.
