I halted and glared at him. I said, “I bet those things have water in their bladders, Hastor. I’ll catch them and even share them with you.”
“If you don’t stop moving we’re both going to die!”
I gave him a dismissive wave of my hand. “Those are just Mari’ Ki, like New Earth toads.”
Hastor snapped, “Look more closely, Xolian. They are not creatures at all!”
“Well what the heck are they?” I asked, looking a little harder at one. The eyes were just dark spots on blobs and the red mouths were stripes. They moved around more like balloons on strings. “Some sort of fake appendages?”
“Yes, Xolian, to lure you closer.”
The little toads ‘hopped’ towards me and seemed to spit something green at me. I leapt away from them with a loud sound of disgust.
“Do. Not. Move.”
I pointed out the obvious. “But they’re spitting at me!”
Hastor’s tone was blood chillingly serious as he told me, “They are not the dangerous part of this creature!”
“Then what is, Hastor?”
He pointed behind me. I turned my head just in time to see a large coiled tail tipped with a stinger rise through the sand and wave over me. A grumbling growl could be heard far beneath us.
Hastor called out to me, “Quick before it raises its eyestalks to locate us. We can fight it if we move together…now!”
He moved to his left and I dashed to my right. We nearly collided. Hastor shoved me backwards a step out of his way. “Idiot, I didn’t mean to the same spot, I meant at the same time!” he sniped.
“Does that matter right now?” I asked.
“Stay behind me, Xolian!” Hastor ordered as he unsheathed a long, dark arrow and notched it. He stepped in front of me, taking a defensive position.
In front of us four long, thick eyestalks rose through the ground and zeroed in on us. Below the eyes, in the center of the bulbous head was the huge maw filled with needle like teeth, row up row of them. A serpentine tongue wriggled over the jagged edges and I was amazed the damn creature didn’t bite its own tongue off.
It howled. The ungodly sound sent rivulets of sand sliding beneath my feet. Nearly losing my balance, I crouched. Hastor was apparently a bit more agile than me. He remained upright and undaunted by the shifting ground. Just as the stinger lashed towards Hastor’s head he ducked just in time to avoid losing an eye.
With a swift pull and release, Hastor let lose an arrow. It flew straight into the creature’s mouth and was simply swallowed.
Hastor responded, “Xolian get out of here! Make for the caves in the mountains!”
“You fight this beast however you want but I’m not some pretty boy toy to push around! I can defend myself,” I told him, stepping around him to face my certain death.
“Although there is glory in dying in battle you are being foolish!” he replied. “Back off before you get us both killed!”
“No”, I retorted angrily. I sank my broken dagger into the tail as it whizzed past me. As it pulled back again it ripped my weapon right out of my hand. I cursed.
The tail continued its arc and from where I stood I realized it would strike Hastor as he fought off the snapping mouth of the beast. I leapt forward, shoving him out of harm’s way. The side of the tail delivered a hard wallop to the back of my head and the ground started to spin beneath me. As I collapsed I saw Hastor take advantage of the creature’s distraction with me. He released arrow after arrow into its head but when they only sank a fraction beneath the tough hide he surged forward, grasping one by the shaft. With his full weight he dropped upon it and drove it in deep. The creature cried out, sinking back into the sand in retreat.
Hastor gave me a glare. “You alive, Xolian?”
“Hit my head,” I said. My voice seemed far away. Darkness descended.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hastor:
The Gai Do Rai’ Ka or ‘Gateway to Hell’ was a formation of caves hidden within the barren desert mountains. No Rathian in his right mind would traverse them and yet there I was, hoisting the unconscious body of the Xolian over my shoulder as I sought shelter from the intense heat and blowing sand. I dropped my burden into a darkened recess, set my hunting bow to the side and considered what to do next. Perhaps I should have left his carcass to rot out there in the dunes but now I felt responsible for him. He had been enough of a distraction for me to kill the creature. Having bundled him tightly in my robe to ensure an easier carry, I leaned forward to loosen it. Beneath the layer of cloth covering his head protecting his nose and mouth from sand I caught the sound of quick inhalation. The sneaky bastard had pretended to be unconscious on my shoulder and now was waiting quietly for me to free him.
I stood and kicked him instead, “Hoped you had left me, Xolian! Now I’ll be sure to make you wish you had!”
Xolians were strong willed and this one demonstrated this trait with a low snarl. I wasn’t worried about him breaking free. I lashed out with my foot and caught him squarely in the crotch. He barked out a coughing cry and drew up into a fetal position as best he could. The caves resounded with Xolian curse words.
“Hastor, you asshole, I saved you earlier! You owe me!” He shouted angrily.
I laughed. “I owe you? Hardly. I was dumped out here in this desert because of you!”
The Xolian shook his head. “They would have killed you for your treason had you not already been promised to mate with a Xolian. No one breaks a pact with us, not even you crazy Rathians.”
He grunted when I kicked him again. I shouted, “Yes, I would have had a glorious execution! Hunted to my death! I could have taken a few dozen of their best soldiers with me! But now, they send me to my slow, dishonorable, miserable death in the desert or choose to be mated with a disgusting alien. Same thing really, in my opinion!”
After a few more hard blows the Xolian stopped struggling against me. He lay quietly at my feet and withstood everything I dealt him. Rathians were trained to be submissive and accepting of such treatment by their betters but Xolians? I cocked my head, listening to him breathing deeply, trying to calm himself. I knelt and ripped the cloth free of his head. His green eyes shone brightly in the dim space as he stared at me.
“What are you up to, Xolian, with this strange behavior? Why are you not fighting me?” I asked.
The Xolian tipped his head back to regard me, his sharp incisors displayed. He snorted in derision, “I’m tangled up in your cloak. It’s always easier to be a dominant asshole when someone can’t do anything back to you, isn’t it, Rathian? But fine, be cowardly. Keep kicking me but if I do break free I’m going to kill you.”
“We are to be mated. Legally I can’t kill you and certainly your fathers would frown upon it if you killed me,” I remarked with a shrug. “I was just enjoying hurting you, Xolian. It’s what I take pleasure in.”
The Xolian nodded. “I am unfortunately to be your mate, Hastor. You don’t even remember my name do you? I told you a few hours ago.”
“That was earlier,” I remarked with a dismissive shrug.
“It hasn’t changed in half a day,” he countered dryly. “Or don’t you remember it?”
“Your name doesn’t matter to me,” I growled as I hoisted him to an upright position. I marched him over to a wall of the cave and used my body to keep him against it. I grabbed his crotch and felt his cock straining beneath the dark trousers. I grinned into his face. “But this, little thing, is interesting. You are hard, Xolian.”
“That,” he remarked, “has a mind of it’s own. My name is Braxx, Rathian. Use it.”
“You like it rough, Brat?” I chuckled. I squeezed harder and his breath deepened in response. “I can be very rough.”
“Not Brat, Braxx. Oh for… I just want you to let me go! Take your hands off me, you slimy, barb tailed Gora! I will not be your mate. Even if I have to face my damned fathers, I won’t do it!”
I raised m
y hand to strike his face. The Xolian was pushing every button and instead of cowering he glared, snarling. I grasped the back of his head, pulled him in close, and stared into his frosty green eyes. I growled, “I don’t care what you want! This isn’t about you at all! This is about me using that tight hole of yours until I bust a nut deep inside! Go ahead and beg for me! I find it immensely arousing!”
He tried to twist away, wincing in pain as I wound my fingers into his hair, securing my grip. He grunted and thrashed his body against the entanglement of cloth. With a sneer marring his sexy face he replied gruffly, “You can go to hell! You’re a damn Hai’ Tal and you’ll never have what you really want!”
Amused, I asked, “And what is it that I really want?”
“You think you just want my obedience.”
“I’ll have that soon enough! I’m going to break you!” I snorted as I stroked his hard length again, relishing in the short hitch in his breathing my action caused. “But I’m game. What is it I really desire?”
“My love as a bonded mate, Hastor. That is something you’ll never have!”
Was he serious? He couldn’t be that stupid! Rathians wanted nothing to do with that emotion! We only valued pleasure, power and riches. And if he wouldn't give me the first, I'd take it from him!
But as I pressed against him and pushed his body harder into the wall, sliding him upwards and off his feet, I felt a slight flutter inside my chest. His words resonated within me, and Captain Quinn’s mocking laugh from so long ago returned to ring in my head. I closed my eyes to get a grip on myself.
“Oh, I could have that too,” I whispered. “If I wanted it!"
“No,” he denied me.
Ha! It was settled then, I was going to win this Xolian’s love and respect or I was going to kill him trying! After I was finished ravaging his body of course. Rathians had priorities. But I knew this type of Har’ Ki, he desired me and the best plan was to let him come to me after stewing in his own juices.
Interested in what he would do I unwound the robe and freed him. At first he lay quietly observing me then rose to a squatting position. He remained wary and ready to fight me. Shrugging, I withdrew busying myself cleaning my weapons.
With his back to the wall he finally stood and explored the small cave I had made into my shelter. He lifted a few container lids that housed the meager rations my parents had left me, glanced into the tiny alcove where I kept the pot for pissing in and finally stood a few meters away watching me polishing my pistol.
“Why did you bring your bow and arrows out there? Wouldn’t that have been a better choice of weapons?” He pointed out.
“You are a warrior, Xolian. Figure it out.”
He replied, “Sand within the delicate parts would make it unreliable.”
“Mmm, not as stupid as he looks,” I grumbled sarcastically.
“You know that not all Xolians are warriors, right?”
“You know that I don’t really care,” I told him. I lifted my Da’ Shari and placed my pistol in my thigh holster. In doing so I gave the Xolian a good long look at my hardened cock. I nearly laughed to see his eyes widen and his tongue lick his lower lip. Even in the darkness I could see the distinct outline of his desire under the black cloth of his trousers.
I turned to the fire near the entrance to the cave, bending over to stoke it back up. Knowing I was lit by moonlight and giving him a nice view I continued to ignore his obvious signs of arousal. The Xolian stepped closer, pretending to look outside at the desert.
“Night is falling already?” He asked.
“You insist on stating the obvious, Xolian. They didn’t send an idiot to mate with me, did they?”
“No,” He snarked. “But obviously the Rathians picked their biggest asshole.”
I reached into a bucket, captured a handful of slimy grubs then one at a time I skewered them on a piece of long metal. Resting the meal over the flames I stood and regarded the green-eyed alien. He wasn’t bad looking even without a tail and long, thin ears. His dark hair was mussed from rolling around on the dirt floor of the cave and his shirt had gotten torn. Though not as tall as his elder brother he still had the lean, fighting fit body of a Charon. Without facial markings I couldn’t tell if he was ready to submit or not. It didn’t matter really. I was nearly ready to take what I wanted.
“Stay here, I need to get us water”, I told him. “I’ll provide us sustenance. Then you will pleasure me with that pretty mouth.”
I grabbed my empty water pouch and walked away ignoring his sounds of denial.
---------------
“You have to eat, Brat,” I reminded the Xolian. “It’s perfectly good protein.”
“Braxx, with two X’s. Can’t you say it correctly?” he grumbled. He turned up his royal nose at my offering. “It’s a grub. I’m not eating it. I’ll be rescued in a couple of days by my brother’s ship. I’ll manage till then.”
When I abruptly leaned forward, grabbed his chin and tried to push the charred corpse of the tiny creature into his bitching mouth he spat at me and slapped my hand away.
“I’ll just call you slave,” I stated. “Since you are obviously incapable of being my mate.”
I dropped the food onto the ground by his side. He glared at it as though I had tried to poison him. Though the thought had crossed my mind, I hadn’t carried it out.
“What do you mean, Hastor? Incapable? How am I incapable of being your mate?” He asked.
I smirked. “Rathian mates must be cunning and strong. They must be prepared to serve and to survive nearly anything. Rathia is a violent, difficult planet, Xolian. Not pampering like your own. I’m simply stating the truth. You’d never survive being my mate, spoiled prince.”
“Shove off, you Rathian scumbag,“ he growled. “I can get my own food and water if you’d let me try!”
“What are you planning to eat, Brat? Sand does not have much nutrition,” I joked, observing him as he made a face at the grubs next to him. “And you may have noticed there’s no water fountain.”
Petulantly he shrugged, “I can go a few days without food.”
I took a long sip of water then tossed him the pouch. “Without food, yes. Without water you will perish quickly in the desert. Drink.”
For a moment there was rebellion and anger in his eyes. Then he uncapped the pouch and did as he was told. Sensing victory I asked, “If you won’t eat then we can get on with the consummation, shall we? That is still a part of the Xolian mating tradition?”
“I told you I don’t want to be your mate, you lunatic rat,” he snarled.
“Sex gives pleasure and passes the time,” I reminded him.
“No,” he repeated.
I’d been amazingly patient with this whiny bitch but he was getting on my nerves now. I considered slitting his throat then disappearing further into the mountains. I stood and approached him and as I did so I noted that his eyes flicked briefly away from mine to the ground.
“You don’t fool me, Brat. You are hard for me,” I replied growling huskily, amusing myself with his dramatic look of disgust.
He grumbled, “I swear you call me brat one more time I’m going to lose it and kill you when I get the chance!”
“Are you through whining, Har’ Ki? It means helpless whelp in Rathian if you don’t know. That’s what I think you are. You look tough and brave but you really are a helpless whelp looking for someone to guide you,” I stated to the Xolian, ignoring his headshakes. “You’re addicted, aren’t you, to excitement and to submission? You’d make a great slave. Think about it. Safer to be owned by me than to be my mate.”
The Xolian closed his lantern-lit eyes, bashing his head on the stone behind him. “Should have let Quinn take me back to Xolia.”
I asked him, “You do like rough sex, don’t you, Xolian? I find that interesting. I think I’ll keep you around to find out how far you’ll go.”
“Hastor,” he answered. “Go. To. High. Hell.”
“Mmmm, a
snarky response,” I told him. “Likely to result in punishment and rougher treatment. See, Brat, I was right.”
“You are impossible…”
“I bet you can’t keep your alien hands off of me, Xolian.”
“As a matter of fact, I’d like to get my hands on you right now, around your neck, Hastor!”
I snatched him by the hair and hauled him to his feet. He snarled and growled wildly yet did not raise a hand to defend himself. Pulling his shirt further apart at a tear I exposed his armored chest and chuckled to myself. His nipples were perked and ready for my mouth. As I latched onto one he bucked his hips towards me. I sidestepped his motion and he rubbed against nothing but air. A low whine escaped his mouth.
“Mmm,” I said, glancing into his face. “Thought your didn’t want me, Brat. Yet here you are responding beautifully to my attention.”
I slapped my hand over the bulge in his trousers and watched him come completely undone. He moaned and tried meekly to twist away when I raised my hand again. “No, Brat, don’t turn your body away. Stay still.”
I tapped him, harder this time, enjoying the jump and flinch. Casually I released the cloth covering his cock and it sprang free as if waving for my attention. I collected the drop of dew at its tip, sucked my finger and tasted him for the first time. “Gods, Xolian! You are sweet on the tongue.”
I collected another taste but this time rammed my finger into his unsuspecting mouth. At first when he gagged I was afraid he’d bite me but after a moment I found he was simply holding his mouth open for me.
“You are unafraid,” I stated. “That’s foolish of you, Xolian. I could break your jaw or rip your tongue out if I wanted. We are not mated yet. ”
He thrust his tongue forward, removing my finger. He spat on the ground before answering, “I’m not afraid of you.”
“But you desire to submit to me,” I said. He did not reply, only licked his lips again, obviously considering my words. I added, “Then I have a proposal. I don’t wish to be mated to you either but stay here the three months. I could use the company and our fathers would be sufficiently pleased that we’d made an effort so that we could both go home.”
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