“I wouldn’t ask you to. Perhaps the threat alone will be enough.” Tranis spoke to Hamilton in English again. “I will let you think about our next session, General. When I come back, I expect some answers. I will not deny Lidon his pleasures if you aren’t more forthcoming.”
With relief, Lidon took his hands off Hamilton and followed Tranis out of the cell. He clenched his fists and felt the need to get to a wash basin. The sooner, the better.
Chapter 10
Degorsk led Cassidy by the hand into the spyship’s crew dining room. The walls and ceiling emitted soft light. The illumination showed a few small groups seated on thick floor cushions around low tables. Only three of the twenty tables were occupied.
The groups were spaced far apart, but the scene was the same at each. Three Kalquorian men fed a huddled Earther female with their fingers. Low voices coaxed and praised the women, who were all clad in the same type of white sleeveless underdress that Cassidy wore. She recognized her fellow captives at once. Gentle Tina, the redhead aspirant she’d watched succumb to temptation in her cell. Mary Anderson, who’d argued with her as she’d warned everyone to hide. Sister Katherine, Cassidy’s mentor who’d prayed as the aliens took her prisoner. They glanced at her as Degorsk ushered her to a table in a corner, then quickly dropped their eyes. Every face was a study of quiet shame. Without speaking a word, the other women told Cassidy she’d not been the only one to surrender to sin. It was no surprise to her the others had fallen to temptation. After all they were all women, sharing the same evil tendencies that plagued their gender.
Still, seeing Sister Katherine quietly accepting small morsels of food from the fingers of the men crowded around her startled Cassidy. The young aspirant wouldn’t have expected violent opposition from the kind nun who always spoke in hushed, peaceful tones, but she thought Katherine would at least offer quiet resistance. It shocked Cassidy to watch her mentor submissively take every bite offered her. Katherine did not pull away from the big dark hands stroking her arms, hair, and back.
“Sit here.” Degorsk tugged Cassidy down to a seating cushion at a table as far away from the others as possible. Once they were settled, he rapped his knuckles on the table top.
Almost immediately, two Kalquorians hurried in from a brightly lit doorway across the room. They carried huge trays of food that they set on the table. The men bowed and disappeared as fast as they’d shown up.
“This is nice isn’t it? It’s good to get out of our quarters for a little while.” Degorsk smiled brightly at Cassidy, his lean face so jarringly handsome she had to look away.
How dare such a beast seem attractive, she thought, fighting a wave of desire. The Kalquorian devils exploited her every weakness, and she was growing tired of fighting them off. What was the point? She’d already damned herself, hadn’t she?
Plus there was the promise of a better life on Kalquor, one Cassidy couldn’t possibly contemplate on Earth. Books and science and math … even a tutor, Tranis had promised. Cassidy craved such an opportunity like a miner craved gold. It was all she could ever dream of.
Accepting such a gift meant being a traitor to her own kind, however. How could she do so with an easy conscience? How could she not when every fiber of her being screamed for it?
God, I’m so confused. Isn’t there some way I can have the life I want without hurting my own people?
“What would you like to try first?” Degorsk prodded, and Cassidy looked at the trays of food before her. Delicious scents assaulted her, and her stomach growled.
“I don’t want any of it,” she lied.
“You are going to eat, Cassidy.” The Imdiko’s voice was still gentle, but his eyes had gone hard.
“No.” She refused to give in so easily.
Degorsk grasped her chin, making her look him in the face. His tone remained kind. Loving, even. “You will eat or I will lay you on this table and have sex with you until you climax. Everyone here will see you give into your desires. They will see how much you enjoy what you keep insisting is a sin.”
Cassidy stared at him. Would he really do such a terrible thing? Right in front of an audience?
Degorsk leaned back slightly to show her the bulge of his erection. “Though I despise making such threats, my body is more than willing to overcome my heart’s objections. Earther Mataras have tried hunger strikes on us before, and my superiors have told me how to handle the matter.”
“By having sex?” Cassidy couldn’t keep the whimper out of her voice … or stop the shiver of nervous want that coursed down her spine.
“By whatever means I think will get you to give up such a course of action. Having others know you like lovemaking is the one thing I have to bargain with. You are too strong to yield for any other reason.”
“I can go for days without food. Probably weeks,” Cassidy scowled. She stroked a soft fold of her belly. “I’m in no danger of starvation, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Maybe not, but trying to get your way by resisting food is not a precedent I’m going to allow you to set. I am not letting you harm yourself by not eating. Your blood sugar is low and you need sustenance, my little love. If I have to, I’ll fuck you into shameful orgasms in front of your entire convent until you agree to eat.”
The Imdiko’s jaw was set. He looked upset to be saying such things, but Cassidy could tell he meant every word. Degorsk wasn’t playing games with her.
Cassidy jerked her head free of his grasp. She pointed at a small pile of what looked like golden chunks of meat. “That.”
“Oh, you’ll enjoy this. It’s the meat of an avian from Kalquor.”
Degorsk looked relieved. He became perfectly agreeable as he plucked a morsel with his fingers and pressed it to her lips. It was as if he’d never uttered the vicious threat to make her climax in front of the others.
Cassidy accepted the food without further resistance. She kept her eyes downcast to avoid the other women’s should they be watching.
She forgot all about the rest of the room once she got a taste of what Degorsk had fed her. The food in her mouth was meltingly tender and sweet, prompting her to glance up at the Imdiko with surprise. “This is meat? It’s like a pastry.” Boy, had she missed sweets since her capture.
“I knew you’d like it.” Looking delighted, he fed her another piece and selected what looked like a fiery red lump of rock for himself. “You don’t want this grul. It’s much too spicy for Earthers. There’s not enough water on board the ship to cool your mouth off if you were to try it.”
Degorsk chewed the grul with obvious enjoyment. Cassidy wondered if he’d warned her just to keep it all to himself. Or maybe he employed reverse psychology to get her to continue to eat.
Her stomach growled lustily, finding the small bit of pastry-bird she’d eaten more a tease than satiating. Cassidy suddenly felt starved. Degorsk wouldn’t have to play any psychological games to get her to eat. She started to reach for the rock-like grul.
A scream split the air. Cassidy jerked and stared as Mary flailed against her group of Kalquorians, sobbing as if her heart might break. Two of the men with her held her still, murmuring comfort while the third sank long, thin fangs in her throat. His face remained buried against her neck until she quieted and her eyes slid closed.
“It’s all right, my Matara. She’s fine now. I know those men and they’re taking good care of h
er,” Degorsk soothed. He fed Cassidy a minty sprig of greenery.
Cassidy chewed without paying much attention to what she ate. She was too busy watching Mary’s clan carry the other aspirant out. Cassidy was surprised to see not angry embarrassment on the three men’s faces, but indulgent smiles. It was as if they tended a temperamental but well-loved child. The man who hefted Mary in his arms kissed her forehead before they swept out of the room.
Cassidy rounded on Degorsk. She pretended she hadn’t seen compassion on the faces of Mary’s clan. She made herself focus on her fellow aspirant’s tears instead. “She’s not fine. You torture us with your wicked lusts. You shouldn’t make us do sinful acts.”
“You were made for pleasure, sweetling. Your god designed you to enjoy making babes. How can it be a sin?” Degorsk continued to feed her.
Cassidy ate, hunger overriding resistance. She knew better than to argue with Degorsk on the subject of sin. The alien bastard had an answer for everything. The worst part was he sounded so damned reasonable and his points made sense. It drove her crazy.
When she remained silent, he tried a different tact. “Did your mother enjoy sex?”
Disgust momentarily stole Cassidy’s appetite. “She was a Jezebel. She gave herself to a man right in front of me. She begged him to have sexual relations, knowing if I didn’t report her, I’d be every bit as guilty as her!”
“Why would she do that?”
“My grandfather said she was always evil. He knew what she was the moment my father brought her home for his blessing, which the general refused to give.”
“Yet they still managed to be married.”
“They eloped. That woman drove every thought of morality out of Daddy’s head. He refused to annul the marriage no matter what.”
“That must have made General Hamilton angry.”
Cassidy nodded. “My grandfather told Daddy he would have him posted in the areas most prone to uprisings, where soldiers died by the dozens every day. Eventually, it happened.”
“Your father must have sincerely loved your mother to defy General Hamilton.”
Cassidy thought about that. “He did. Daddy called her his ‘forever love’. They seemed very happy while he was alive.”
Degorsk offered her more of the sweet golden meat, and she accepted it. “How exactly did your father die?”
“There was an uprising on the Asian continent. Two insurgent groups called the Sikhs and Hindus had banded together to fight the government. My grandfather arranged for Daddy’s division to go in to put the rebellion down. I was young when it happened. It took a long time to understand my father wouldn’t be coming home like he had before.”
Degorsk stroked her hair. The comforting touch felt good. I’m evil to like this, Cassidy thought, but she didn’t resist. She was a lost soul by now anyway. She was no better than her mother.
“I’m sorry for your losses, precious girl.” The Imdiko leaned over to press warm lips to her cheek. She suppressed a shiver at the gentle caress. “What was your mother’s fate?”
“She was convicted for her crime of inciting lust and sent to the work camp where she died.” Cassidy looked up at Degorsk, unable to deny the desire his nearness sparked. “You’ve made me like her.”
“I’m trying to show you how beautiful and good you are.”
“If I was good, I wouldn’t like what we do.”
There, she’d admitted her enjoyment of the sins Degorsk and the others had forced on her. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know it already. Cassidy’s eager responses to all they’d done had informed him of her wickedness time and time again.
Before he could press Cassidy with more questions she didn’t want to answer she asked, “Where is my grandfather, Degorsk?”
His easy expression remained open. “In a detention cell. We’ve questioned him but he hasn’t been harmed.”
She studied his face, finding no subterfuge or guilt. Did his kind feel shame for what they were? If he lied to her, would she even detect it? “Does he know what I’ve done with your clan?”
“We haven’t told him. We know how important his approval is for your state of mind. He would judge you harshly even though you’ve resisted as best you can.”
The gentle acknowledgement of her attempts to defy their lusts softened Cassidy to Degorsk more than all his false assurances of her continued decency. She couldn’t fathom why it meant so much. Yet it did. The little resistance she had left diminished even more at his understanding.
Cassidy suddenly realized that barring a miracle rescue, it was inevitable she would surrender to Clan Tranis. She would be theirs for the rest of her life. She would be their mate, their childbearer, their Matara. She couldn’t continue to hold out, not when returning to Earth meant execution, a fate she could not resign herself to. And especially not when her body thrilled at the clan’s every touch. Not when her heart lifted at the men’s every kind word.
I don’t really want to be saved anymore. The thought of returning to Earth, even without being condemned for her crimes, put suffocating dread in Cassidy’s heart. To be married to her grandfather’s elderly friend? To be fated to a life of quiet obedience with no schooling, no career, no life-affirming work before her? To never be touched by Tranis, Lidon, or Degorsk again? No. No. A thousand times, no.
She was damned for sure. She had nothing left to fight for. To Cassidy’s weary shock, she felt immeasurable relief in giving up the battle for her soul.
* * * *
Cassidy submitted to Tranis’ bite on her inner thigh without a whimper. She wasn’t sure why he thought it necessary to intoxicate her. She’d offered no resistance when he’d started kissing and caressing moments ago.
As euphoria coursed through her veins, she wasn’t sorry he’d done it however. The intoxicant erased her guilt. While the venom held sway, she wouldn’t suffer over the lust her sinful body subjected her to. Now she wouldn’t mind that Tranis’ touch made her wet and aching for his magnificent body. His bite freed her from all responsibility for her desires.
His fangs withdrew. He lapped the beads of blood from the punctures with long, languorous strokes of his rough tongue. Cassidy relaxed into the wash of intoxicant, her sex spasming to have Tranis’ face so close to it. She moaned as he licked higher on her thigh, coming closer to where his mouth would feel best.
Sitting naked at the computer station, deciphering codes as he waited for his turn with her, Lidon chuckled. “Tranis has a very talented tongue, doesn’t he, pet?”
Cassidy wondered how the Nobek would know something like that? He spoke as if he’d been on the receiving end of such pleasure from his clanmate. Perhaps the rumors of Kalquorians’ bisexuality were true. Maybe Lidon and Tranis were lovers. As the Dramok crept closer to her center, his tongue leaving a wet trail, Cassidy found she didn’t care.
Tranis’ mouth closed over her core. Cassidy sighed with deep pleasure, loving how his tongue parted the trembling petals of flesh to lap hungrily at her flowing juices. His palms reached to cover her breasts, molding the supple flesh. She put her hands over his, enjoying his strength.
His mouth worked her wonderfully. Lips, tongue, and teeth brought heat licking through her womb, eliciting groans as she climbed to the pinnacle of pleasure. Her first climax was gentle sweetness, lapping in soft waves th
rough her loins.
When she quieted, Tranis moved up her body, his mouth leading the way. He kissed a slow path up her belly to her breasts where he paused to suckle each hard nipple. Then he continued his journey, leaving a wet trail that led over the hollow and up the column of her throat. As he rounded the hill of her chin, Cassidy parted her lips to invite his tongue.
Tranis invaded her mouth, sex, and anus all at once. His cocks forged deep inside, following the yielding path that welcomed him. Fresh desire ignited Cassidy’s senses at the delicious invasion. She clutched the muscled alien to her, arms and legs wrapping around him. Her welcoming embrace excited him, and he rutted hard against her, making their groins thud together in a wild tattoo.
She accepted his rough use, her body opening to him, demanding him. The ache of Tranis’ powerful lovemaking mixed in a heady potion with the excruciating pleasure of his sex rubbing the sensitive part of her womb. Her cries were muffled by his mouth still pressing an unrelenting kiss to her lips.
Climax broke over Cassidy, a hot and heaving wave that left her jerking and clawing at Tranis’ broad back. Still he rode her, his thrusts growing more powerful still. He growled deep in his throat, and she screamed as fresh convulsions clutched his sex, trying to milk the sweet liquid from his loins. Her sheath pulled, entreating him to fill her with his pleasure.
At last Tranis gave in, rearing back and surrendering his seed to her with a deafening roar. Cassidy writhed beneath him, feeling his flesh pulse hugely within her. He came for a long time, his body rigid over hers.
Finally he relaxed, rolling over to lie spent and gasping beside her. He pulled her close, drawing her into the warmth of his body. She snuggled against him.
As their breathing quieted, the rapid-fire taps of Lidon’s fingers on his computer claimed Cassidy’s attention. She craned her neck to look at the Nobek over Tranis’ shoulder.
Alien Conquest Page 17