“Yes,” I said.
“My mom had a hysterectomy after Esther was born so she couldn’t even try the breeding program for the Draax to get some juice. But even if she hadn’t had one, the Draax won’t accept married women into the breeding program.”
She glanced up at me as if waiting for my confirmation. I nodded. “That’s right.”
“Because you always hope to convince the woman to stay and be your mate and have more babies, right?”
“Yes.”
She took another large swallow of juice. “Anyway, they sold a bunch of stuff to try and raise enough money to buy some juice on the black market.”
She glanced at me again, but I kept my face neutral. The black market for juice was becoming a large problem, but neither the Draax nor the humans had figured out a way to stop it from happening. But I couldn’t blame Ellis’s parents for trying whatever they could to save their child.
“They were not able to get enough?” I said.
“No. They even tried taking out a second mortgage on the house, but the bank denied them. Esther was receiving chemo, but it was obvious that it wasn’t working. The doctors told us she had maybe another month.”
“I am sorry, sadora.” I took her hand and squeezed it.
Her fingers were cold and clammy, and she clung to my hand in a tight grip. “One night, after Esther was in bed, my parents came to my room and told me they had found another way to get the juice. I was ecstatic.”
She was near tears again and the little colour the juice had given her already leached away. “My dad had found a guy, I don’t know how, and he never said, who was willing to help trade with the Draax for the juice we needed. He was like a broker. Do you know what that word means?”
“Yes,” I said. “he receives money or juice in exchange for arranging the deal.”
“Right,” she said. “My mom said that I could save Esther. She said that I would be working with the Draax for a couple of nights and I just needed to be brave and strong. I said I would do whatever they wanted me to do.”
The laugh that spilled out of her throat was jagged and bitter. “I was so naïve. I had no idea what she meant by working but I figured it out when my mom… when she…”
“When she what?” I was starting to feel sick to my stomach but what I was thinking could not be true. No parent would do that to their child.
“She dressed me up in her prettiest dress and she did my makeup and hair and then she and my dad drove me to a hotel. The guy was waiting for us in the lobby and he…”
She swallowed hard and I could hear the click of her throat. “He looked me over and said that my mom had done a good job, that I looked real pretty and… older.”
I reached out and pulled her into my lap, looping my arms and my tail around her waist and kissing her throat. “My sweet sadora, I am so sorry.”
She stared across the room, her throat working and a tear sliding down her cheek. I wiped it away as she said, “We went up to the room and I think I must have been in some kind of denial before this because I suddenly knew for certain what they wanted me to do as we stepped out of the elevator. I was so scared, Galan. I started to cry and I…”
Shame practically radiated from her. “In the hallway outside of the room, I lost my nerve and I tried to run. But my dad caught me before I even made it to the elevator. I begged him not to make me do this and he said… he said that if I didn’t, Esther would die.”
Rage made my tail squeeze around Ellis’s waist, and I forced myself to relax. Being angry and wishing to gut Ellis’s father with my sword would not help my sadora now.
“My mom told me that all I had to do was smile at the Draax and be friendly and just… just close my eyes and try to relax. She said it would hurt less if I didn’t tense up.”
I pulled her even closer, my chest aching as I imagined how afraid and alone my sadora must have felt.
She rested her head on my chest and I stroked her soft hair. “I was scared, but I went into the room with my parents. There were two Draax in the room and they were huge and scary looking, and I was so afraid I thought I might wet my pants. But I didn’t want my sister to die so I tried to smile at them and tried to look pretty and happy. We couldn’t understand the Draax, but the man had translators, so he spoke with them for us.”
She paused and I kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back as my tail thumped against her hip. She took a deep breath. “The Draax looked at me and they – they got really angry. They started arguing with the man, I think, and he just kept saying that I was in perfect health and was willing to spend the night with them.”
“Asshole,” I said. I rarely used Earth’s insults, but my anger couldn’t be contained.
“The Draax kept saying one word over and over… ukana. They argued for only a few minutes and then the Draax walked out of the room. When my dad asked what happened, the guy said that the Draax didn’t want me. My mom asked what ukana meant and the man said it meant ugly. The Draax thought I was too ugly to sleep with.”
“It does not mean ugly,” I said immediately.
“I felt so ashamed,” Ellis said. “But the man said he would find different Draax.”
“Krono, how many times did they try?”
“Three more times,” Ellis said. “Each time there were two Draax, and each time they got really angry as soon as they saw me and started yelling ukana at the guy before they stormed out.”
She took a deep and shuddering breath. “After the fourth set of Draax wouldn’t trade juice for me, the guy got pissed and said it was pointless to keep trying. Said that all the Draax would find me too skinny and ugly. My parents begged him to keep looking for more, but he refused. He said it was a waste of his time.”
Her small body curled into mine and I held her tight, wishing I could take away the pain I could hear in her voice. “My parents were so upset with me. I said I was sorry and that I had tried but they…”
“They what?” I said.
“They knew that Esther was going to die, and they were devastated. They couldn’t even look at me. I’d failed them and I’d failed my sister. She died two weeks later. She died because of me. Six months after she died, I ran away from home. My parents were barely talking to me, they were consumed by grief, and every time they looked at me, they didn’t see their daughter anymore. They saw the person who had killed their child.”
“Sadora, no.” I cupped her face and made her look up at me. “You did not kill your sister. The Draax rejected you because you were too young. No Draax would ever sleep with a female so young. There was nothing you could do.”
“I could have tried harder,” she said. “I could have tried to look and act older. I could have tried not to be so afraid.”
“No,” I said. “Ellis, what happened is not your fault. Your parents should never have asked you to do this.”
“Esther was dying. They were desperate, and I don’t blame them for -”
“No,” I repeated. “Do not make excuses for your parents, my sadora. What they did was despicable and wrong and to use you in such a manner to save your sister is beyond comprehension. They should never have put this burden on you. Your mother could have easily bargained herself to the Draax, but she chose not to. She chose to send her child in her place.”
She stared at me, the shock in her gaze made it evident she’d never thought of that. “I don’t… why didn’t she do that?”
“I do not know,” I said.
“All this time,” she whispered, “I believed it was my fault because I was ugly. I believed I killed Esther because I wasn’t pretty enough or smart enough to trick the Draax into being attracted to me.”
I kissed her cold lips and said, “You were only a child yourself and too young for what they asked of you. Your parents were supposed to protect you, not trade your body and your innocence for a cure for your sister. Esther’s death was not your fault, Ellis.”
She stared blankly at me before bursting into loud sob
s. Her thin body shook, and I cradled her to my chest, kissing the top of her head and murmuring soft words of comfort as she buried her face in my neck and cried.
* * *
Galan
I woke to the feel of Ellis’s soft lips kissing a path across my chest. I reached down to smooth her hair back from her face. “Sadora, what are you doing?”
The pet name Draax gave their mates had just slipped out. I blamed it on only being half-awake.
“You were so sweet to me earlier,” Ellis said. “I want to be sweet to you now.”
She licked my flat nipple and I groaned, my hand cupping the back of her head. “You do not have to do this. It is late and I know your evening was difficult and -”
“Galan?” She kissed my sternum and moved lower down the bed. Her bed was too small for the two of us and she was mostly lying on top of me, her perfect tits rubbing against my stomach, her thighs spread around one of mine.
“Yes, sadora?”
“Shut up and let me suck your dick.”
I laughed and she grinned up at me. Krono, she was so beautiful.
I arched when her stiff nipple brushed against the head of my cock. She wiggled down and kneeled between my open thighs, her soft hands stroking my inner thighs and her mouth hovering over my aching dick.
“Your cock is so beautiful.” Her warm breath was both torture and pleasure on my cock.
“Ellis, please,” I said. Begging wasn’t something I normally did in bed, but the little female’s mouth was so close to my cock and I couldn’t stop thinking about how good it felt the last time she’d sucked me.
“Do you want my mouth, Galan?”
“Yes, sadora,” I said. “So much.”
A smile crossed her face and I cried out, my hands gripping the sheets in ecstasy when her wet mouth slid over my cock and she sucked in a hard rhythm. Krono, she was so good at that.
I pulled her hair away from her face in a loose ponytail. Her hair was like silk against my palms and I watched as she sucked at my cock. She cupped my balls and tugged gently, swallowing quickly when precum spurted from my dick in response.
“God, I love the taste of you,” she said before licking up and down my shaft.
I gripped her skull and guided her mouth back over my dick, watching with feverish need as her lips slid down my shaft. She gripped the base with one tiny hand, stroking firmly as she sucked. I thrust into her mouth, trying to stay gentle, trying not to overwhelm her, but the suction of her mouth and the low moans she made that vibrated around my cock were too much for me.
Holding her head tight, I fucked her mouth with hard long strokes. She stared up at me, her lovely blue eyes filled with trust and warmth and another emotion that made my chest tight.
My sadora didn’t love me, we barely knew each other, but it was easy to fool myself into thinking that she did. Easy to pretend that she was my mate and we would spend every night together for the rest of our lives.
“Krono, little female,” I moaned when she hollowed her cheeks and sucked hard, “you are so good at sucking my cock.”
She pulled against my grip and I released her immediately, despite how close to cumming I was. I groaned at the loss of her warm mouth as she smiled up at me. “I like sucking your cock, Galan. I like the way you look and the sounds you make when you’re in my mouth.”
“Then perhaps you should keep sucking.” I sounded almost pathetically eager, but I wasn’t even the least bit ashamed. No Draax would be able to resist the hot wetness of Ellis’s mouth or the tightness of her pussy.
Just the thought of her being with another Draax instead of me, filled me with jealousy. She squeaked in surprise when I gripped her arms and lifted her up until she was straddling my hips.
“You are not to do this to another Draax,” I told her. “It is only my cock you suck.”
She blinked at me. “I don’t want to do this to another Draax. Only you, Galan.”
“Good.” I cupped her tits, pulling lightly at her stiff nipples. “Fuck me, sadora.”
She stared at me for a few seconds before reaching between us and gripping my cock. I groaned and moved my hands to her narrow hips, lifting her until she could press the head of my cock against her narrow opening.
Ignoring my urge to just slam my dick deep inside of her, I helped her ease slowly onto my dick, the tightness of her pussy making me grit my teeth. I’d never fucked a pussy as tight as Ellis’s. Although I had downplayed her initial nervousness about fucking me, truthfully, every time we fucked, I was surprised all over again that she could take all of me.
She moaned quietly as she settled fully on my dick, her knees squeezing my hips and her hands resting on my chest as she leaned over me.
“So full,” she breathed as I stroked her thighs.
I reached up and cupped the back of her neck, staring intently at her as she started to ride me. Already I was close, the combination of first her wet mouth and now her tight pussy, had me aching to cum deep inside of her.
I moved my other hand to her pussy, stroking the soft curls before I rubbed at her swollen clit.
“Oh!” Her body shivered on mine, her pussy squeezing so tight I feared I would cum right then and there.
I groaned and rubbed her clit harder. I needed her to cum before I made a froden of myself and came before she did. “You feel so good, sweet Ellis.”
“You too,” she panted as she ground her pussy against my fingers and cock. “Really good. So… really good.”
I squeezed the back of her neck until she looked at me. “You are not to fuck another Draax, sadora. Only me. Do you understand?”
My earlier assurances that I would do whatever pleased her, including finding another to join us in bed, had completely disappeared under a wave of intense jealousy.
“Yes,” she said. “I won’t. I don’t want to. I only want you, Galan.”
I pulled her against my chest, one hand rubbing her clit furiously as I fucked her with hard deep strokes. She cried out, her small body tensing as she came against my fingers, her pussy tightening with exquisite pleasure around my throbbing dick.
I shouted her name, my hips pumping hard as I came deep inside of her. She collapsed against my chest and I stroked her smooth back as she pressed kisses against my skin.
Her voice muffled, her hand smoothing up and down my ribs, she said, “I don’t want you fucking anyone else either.”
I kissed the top of her head. “I will not, my sadora. You are the only one for me.”
She kissed my chest and I held her soft body even closer to mine. “Only you, sadora,” I murmured into her hair. “Only you.”
* * *
Ellis
“I seriously cannot get over how different you are now,” Inara said. “Candy, she’s different, right?”
“Yes.” Candy sat down on one of the couches in the common room the Draax had provided for the women working in the castle. “You’re happy, Ellis.” She paused. “Wait, that didn’t come out right.”
I laughed and lightly poked Roden who was sitting on my lap. “Your mama looks cute with her foot in her mouth.”
Roden looked up from the game he was playing on his vertex. “Mama has her foot in her mouth?”
He studied her before giving me a you’re a weirdo look. “Hey, do you want to come over to our apartment tonight and play with the flight simulator?”
“I can’t, big guy. Not tonight.”
He pouted at me. “You haven’t come by once this week.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I will definitely come by tomorrow night, okay?” I said.
“All right.” We were sitting near the door of the common room and Roden jumped off my lap when he saw Luka walk by the open doorway. “Luka! Hey, Luka!”
Luka stuck his head into the room. “Hello, young human.”
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Going to the garden. Would you like to join me?”
“Yeah! Mama, can I?” Roden said.
; Candy smiled. “It’s may I, and yes, you may.”
“Thanks!” He stuck the vertex in his pocket and bounced toward the door, taking Luka’s hand when he offered it to him. We could hear him chattering to Luka as they walked down the hall and Inara smiled at Candy.
“Roden really likes Luka, huh?”
“He does.”
“I bet he’d make a great step-dad.”
Candy rolled her eyes. “I’m not interested in Luka and besides, he wants children.”
“Oh. Damn,” Inara said.
“Stop trying to set me up with a Draax, butthead,” Candy said. “I’m not trying to set you up with every Draax who looks twice at you.”
“That’s because you know I’m leaving as soon as my work term is done. Besides, I can’t help it – I’m a romantic at heart,” Inara said. “I want everyone to be in love and happy.”
“Speaking of which…” Candy turned toward me, “why have you been so extraordinarily happy as of late?”
“I haven’t been,” I said. “I’m my normal grumpy self.”
“Okay, I wouldn’t call you grumpy,” Inara said, “but you are kind of glowing and have been the last few days. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were in love.”
I scoffed. “Who would I be in love with? None of the Draax look twice at me.”
My voice stayed steady and my gaze didn’t waver from Inara. I had to admit, my history of being an excellent lying liar who lied, came in handy from time to time. If they even suspected that I was so happy because I’d been banging Galan every night for the last week, it could lead to a major problem.
It's not just sex with Galan. You’re also happy because you have a job and friends and a place where you actually seem to fit in. And more importantly, you finally believe it’s not your fault your sister died.
A little rush of giddiness went through me. While I still grieved for Esther and would always miss her, I had no idea the weight I carried over my guilt about her death until it was gone. That aching pit in my stomach, the sorrow and the regret that I couldn’t do what my parents needed me to do, was gone. I had tried my best to save Esther and it wasn’t my fault I was too young.
Rebel (The Draax Series Book 3) Page 22
