by Corin Cain
I nod. “Maybe that’s a good idea…” Then, my cheeks redden. “But, ahem… maybe not on the bed.” I’m shocked at how hot my cheeks feel.
Gods - I’ve dealt with cringy, predatory men for the last few years while I survived on that crime-ridden planet these Aurelians took me from. After all their clumsy advances and crude propositions, I didn’t think I’d ever blush again. I didn’t think there was a single man in this universe who could make me feel that innocent, giggling feeling of embarrassment again. I’m so used to shame, self-loathing, disgust...
Gods! These damned aliens are making me feel like an innocent girl again!
“Come with me,” Daccia says – and it’s a suggestion, not an order.
I feel the calm reassurance through our Bond, so I follow the Aurelian out of the bedroom. He leads me down the corridor, to a chamber I assume is the mess hall.
Daccia is playing it cool – trying to reassure me by controlling that seething, bubbling lust beneath his marble exterior.
I don’t have that power. Even as he walks in front of me, I can’t help but focus on the great view of his taut buns. I’d never really thought of men’s backsides as attractive before – not until I had Daccia’s pert ass in front of me, looking like you could bounce a credit-token off it.
But his body isn’t a distraction.
In my mind, I’m already thinking over the schematics of the ship I’m in. This is a prisoner transport-outfitted Reaver, much larger than the standard warships of the Aurelian Empire.
I’ve researched the designs of the various ships, always anticipating one day being a reluctant passenger aboard one. I know the difference sizes, weapons, and capabilities of all the major ships that the Aurelian Empire employs – especially those of their Law Enforcement agents.
As I’d quoted Sun Tzu saying earlier – you need to know your enemy if you want to conquer them. If you have any intention of surviving out here in the cold, cruel universe – while you’re being hounded at all sides by people who want you.
People who want your body. Your credits.
Or, in the case of these three Aurelians – your everything.
Because the ship is outfitted for up to five separate prisoners, the Reaver is equipped with considerably more extensive hospitality functions than regular warships. This includes a large dining hall, where the AI can produce food from a dispenser, or somebody can cook using burners and stoves if they’re so inclined.
This mess hall has a large wood-look table bolted down in the middle of the room. The chairs are built to Aurelian dimensions – larger than thrones to a human like me. I know none of this furniture is actually made from real wood – I know the chairs and table were fabricated artificially, from fire and combustion-resistant material – but there’s still something about the wood-look of nature that will always call to me. I think it’s a human thing. We see ourselves living among wood and plants, not in the rock and marble more typical of Aurelian design.
I shake my head. No time for philosophy. I’ve got a warrior to trick.
I sit down in one of the huge wooden chairs. Because of its huge size, it makes me feel like a child again – my feet dangling above the floor.
Daccia walks to the kitchen area.
“Are you hungry, Allie?”
My belly answers his question with an embarrassingly loud rumble. Daccia grins, and I feel an instant surge of attraction for him – one that’s more than physical. There’s a boyish side to him – one I’d never would have guessed existed beneath that stern exterior.
Sadly, that emotional attraction makes me feel a twinge of guilt for what I’m about to do to him – to Daccia and his triad.
Stay strong, Allie, I tell myself.
I force myself to laugh. “I’ll eat anything.”
Daccia chuckles. “That’s good.” He barks at the computer: “AI - two rations.”
I roll my eyes. “Fuck! Aurelian rations? When I said I’d eat anything, I didn’t mean anything.”
“Your little stunt of blowing out our Orb-Drive fucked with some of the other functions of our ship,” Daccia laughs. “That includes food service.” His smile widens. “I lived off these rations for a hundred years, little human. They aren’t pretty, but you’ll survive off them.”
The AI spits out two rations from a slit in the wall. Daccia grabs one and tosses it to me. It lands on the table with a loud thump, like he’d just tossed a brick. I’m so hungry I tear open the foil wrapper and dig in with a huge bite.
It’s plain, but not entirely unappetizing.
Daccia sits down opposite me, holding two glasses of water. I grab the one he offers me eagerly. The dry ration makes my mouth feel like I’ve been chewing sand. I take a big sip and watch my Bonded partner – no, wait, my adversary – out of the corner of my eye.
As long as Daccia thinks I’m on his side – it will make betraying him all the easier. Except emotionally, perhaps.
Oh, Daccia. I look at him and think: The bastard is handsome; I’ll give him that. Even for an Aurelian, and that’s really saying something.
All Aurelians are all blessed with gorgeous, obscenely muscled bodies. I’ve never seen one of them who wasn’t in seemingly perfect shape. Part of that seems to be their obsessive training routines. The other part, though, is the result of their alien genetics. They’re born to fight and to fuck – and a lean, well-muscled body is essential for both activities.
I swallow the last of the rations, and ask: “Tell me everything about the Bond.”
The dining room is huge, but it suddenly feels small with Daccia sitting across from me at this table. The sudden mental image of him – reaching over, grabbing me by the root of my hair, and dragging me over to him – flashes through my mind.
I bite my lip, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. I hate knowing that Daccia can sense my emotions – my lust. I wish the Bond would leave me alone for just one-fucking-minute!
Why? Because the thought of being pulled roughly across this table – of being forced to pleasure this enormous, alien beast… Well, it’s turning me on.
Daccia nods slowly, studying my reaction – perhaps tasting my arousal.
“The Bond,” he explains, “almost faded to legend. For thousands of years, it lay dormant. For thousands of years, my species were dying out. Do you know how we reproduced during that period?”
“Let me guess. Sticking it into each other didn’t work?”
For a second, I think Daccia is going to be offended. Instead, he suddenly gives me a small, triumphant smile. I guess this hyper-masculine alien species doesn’t suffer from the fake machismo of some human guys, when their sexuality is questioned.
The truth is, I barely have any idea how the all-male species stays alive. Aurelians are secretive about many things. They don’t give information to potential rivals – and they never fully trust humans, even the ones under their control.
“We live,” Daccia explains, “and we die – but our resting places are not under the green grass. Our bodies are not cremated and placed in urns, like you humans do with yours. If we can make it to them in time, we die in cryo-chambers. One Aurelian leaves this life, and another takes his life. Our DNA is replicated. A clone is created. That clone might be a perfect match – or he may have defects. The priests say that when our species was young, we were eight-feet-tall. However, our race doesn’t grow stronger through cloning and cryo-chambers. Each generation is weaker – a copy of a copy. Only the Bond allows our kind to breed normally – to bear powerful sons. The Bond is the only thing that brings hope to our species.”
Anger flares up in me. “Brings hope? You mean it turns human women into breeding slaves.”
Daccia doesn’t wince at my accusation. His aura doesn’t change. He’s completely comfortable with that accusation.
For a moment, he stares me down, and his slate-grey eyes glint with that hint of diamond. They’ve only grown harder with the changes of the Bond, and I’m reminded that it doesn’t matter i
f Daccia has a kind side to him. At his core, he’s still a ruthless alien warrior – one who has survived a hundred years of hell in battlefields across this universe.
If there’s anything left of goodness in him, it’s nothing compared to the blood he’s spilled.
Daccia murmurs: “No. Never a slave. A woman who never wanted children will still never want children. The Bond can’t change that.”
Wanted children.
Did I ever want children?
One day, I’d dreamed of having a large family – but I’d long abandoned those dreams.
Not in this universe.
Not in the universe I’ve seen. Not with the chaos and violence that fills it…
But with three Aurelian warriors? Who’d literally die for me? Three powerful men who’d do anything to keep me and my children safe?
Maybe.
Maybe…
…but not now.
I still have so much to do in my life.
I pick at the crumbs of the ration pack and think about what I want from life. Ever since I’d tried and failed to save my sister, my life has been one, long escape. It’s felt like one, long chase – only ever once step ahead of Law Enforcement.
I’m tired. I’m so, so tired.
A rabbit can only run so long from the fox. I’ve been looking over my shoulder for Aurelian Law Enforcement for so long, I’m not sure if I’m programmed for anything else.
If I escape Daccia, Hadrian, and Kitos, I’ll then be looking over my shoulder for them, too. They’ll be even more relentless than Law Enforcement. They’ll never let go of the one woman who can bear them sons.
Unless I turn them into the law.
Gods! What a thought!
It would be the ultimate betrayal. It would make stealing from those Aurelian Elites look like littering.
The three of them will be jailed – or killed…
…and yet, I’ll finally be safe.
Daccia sits across from me, waiting for his words to sink in. I feel a knot in my stomach. He’s completely unaware that I’m plotting his captivity… or even his death.
When we first met, he was the one who was bringing me in to rot in a jail cell.
How fitting would it be if I was the one to put him right where he wanted to throw me? That I’d going to get away with my freedom, my life, and thousands of years to enjoy it all – while he and his battle-brothers regret ever crossing paths with me.
Oblivious to my scheming, Daccia continues: "The Bond can’t make you do anything you don't want to do – but it can make you lose your inhibitions. It can make you push forward and enjoy things you might not have even realized you liked.”
Like the fact that Kitos’ cruelty turns me on so fucking much?
Gods! I need to do everything in my power to keep these Aurelians thinking I’m on their side. I can’t let them know I’m going to betray them at the first chance I get. I dread to even think what would happen if that were the case.
I’ll do whatever it takes – even if that means enjoying their bodies and their desires while we’re en route to wherever we are going…
Where the hell are we going?
“Are you taking me back to Colossus?’
Daccia shakes his head. “No. We’re going to a nearby planet. Salcus. There, we’ll get our Orb-Drive repaired.”
Salcus. We’re still not in Aurelian territory. If it’s like any planet I’ve been on that’s not administrated by the Aurelian Empire, it’ll be a hotbed of crime, slavery, and debauchery.
Exactly the sort of place to get rid of some pesky Aurelians.
“But it’ll take weeks to fix the ship. Wouldn’t it be faster to just standard travel back to Colossus?”
Daccia shrugs. “Yes – but we’ve been tasked to pick up more prisoners along the way.”
I feel a sudden flutter of anxiety through the Bond.
Daccia looks up at me – and although his face is a hardened mask, I can feel him pondering the wisdom of what he’s going to say to me next.
“At least, that’s what our Inspector thinks we’re going to do.”
Daccia leans towards me. “Allie… Can I trust you?”
I keep my face straight – and my emotions straighter. When you’re dealing with someone who can feel what you’re feeling, betraying surprise – even internally – is a rookie mistake.
But the reason I need to hide my smile is because this is sounding fucking perfect. If the Aurelians are picking up additional prisoners, it’ll mean more Aurelian Law Enforcement officers on the scene. I just need to get one of those officers alerted – and then Daccia, Kitos, and Hadrian will be ones captured and hogtied; and I’ll finally be free.
Free!
Free from the triad forever. If those three gorgeous bastards are trapped serving a lifetime in maximum security on Colossus, they can’t follow me.
A pang of guilt hits me. I try to be callous in this cruel universe, but some remnants of weakness still remain inside me. I know I need to burn such compassion from my mind. This is about survival right now, and nothing else.
I can’t let Daccia feel my guilt through the Bond, or he’ll get wise to my scheme.
I still don’t know the ins and outs of the Bond – how it works exactly. Daccia at least has the advantage of learning about this near-mythical connection from a young age. All of this is so much more real to him – he already lives part of it. For example, rumors have always existed that Aurelians can communicate telepathically with the other members of their triad – and now I know that rumor is vividly true.
I look at Daccia, and feel cold-blooded as I murmur: “You can trust me, Daccia. Can I trust you?”
“Yes,” he answers, but his lips don’t move.
He willed his thoughts into my mind. A wave of surprise hits me. I need to learn this skill.
Good.
Good.
“Good.” My eyes widen as I can feel myself transmitting the thought.
“You got the hang of that quickly.”
I snort: “I’m a quick learner – and the one thing that I’ve learned the most in this life is not to trust men.”
Daccia shakes his head. “We’re not like the pirates who stole your sister, Allie. We aren’t like your former employers who sold your body. You don't understand us. You are our purpose in this life. You – our Fated Mate – are the only reason Kitos, Hadrian and I exist."
I shiver. Now, that's a lot for a girl to handle. Another pang of guilt hits me.
Daccia detects my emotion – but misreads its source.
"You don't have to feel bad. I know what you did, Allie. I know you seduced us to win your freedom. It wouldn't have worked – not unless you’d been our Fated Mate. As attractive as you are, we could have resisted you… Except you looked, and felt, and smelt so… right.”
I remember the heat and near-obsessive furor of the looks these three Aurelians had given me, right from the moment we’d first met.
“We could have resisted you,” Daccia repeats, “if you were any normal woman – but you’re not. We were drawn to you so deeply and so quickly because it was programmed into our DNA. Your plan only worked because we were destined to be Bonded. You are ours, Allie – and we are yours."
Oh, Gods…
If nothing else, his words mean that Daccia can read the overwhelming sense of guilt I’ve been trying to hide. I’m going to have to get a lot better at hiding my emotions if I’m ever going to outsmart him, or his two battle-brothers. I’m just lucky that Daccia thinks my guilt is for what I’ve done already – and not for the betrayal I’m planning to commit down on Salcus.
I lean closer to this towering, gorgeous alien.
“I need more than just words, Daccia,” I demand. “If you really trust me, you’ll restore my enhancements – like the electro-shock in my arm.”
Daccia’s face remains a mask, but I feel his curiosity through the Bond.
I answer his unspoken question:
“What happens i
f those Aurelians you meet down on Salcus decide to take me to Colossus, instead of you? Right now, nobody knows what you three have done to me. Until they do – or you three confess – I’m still a wanted woman.”
“Clever.” I can feel the respect pouring from him.
My guilt swells. Daccia is a good, honorable man. I hate the thought of what I’ll have to do to him.
“The second we’re safe,” the Aurelian promises, “we’ll send message to our Inspector. A full confession. They’ll send agents after us – that’s inevitable. Our crime is serious.” Daccia’s eyes meet mine. “But you won’t be in any danger – no one will find us. We’ll go out into the deep reaches of space… We’ll find those places where people go to just… disappear.”
Disappear.
Just like my little sister. Daccia might be right, after all. The universe is a big, dark place – big enough for four people to disappear forever, even if three of them are towering, Greek Gods of warriors, and one of them is a wanted fugitive from justice.
“So, that’s it?” My mind is still reeling. “Because of what you’ve done, my crimes are just… wiped away? Everyone says the Aurelian Empire has the harshest laws. Now, though, I’m just innocent again. My slate is clean?
This is the first time I detect that Daccia feels truly uncomfortable. I only sense it through the Bond, though. Any human would be shifting in his seat – but Daccia remains as still as a statue; always abiding to that incredible stoicism of his people.
Eventually, the towering warrior reaches forward, to take my hand in his huge palm. When our skin touches, I feel tingles down my spine. It just feels… right.
“What we did is against our laws,” Daccia explains. “The Aurelian Empire won’t accept that you seduced us. They will see a triad of officers having sex with a helpless prisoner – the vilest form of rape. If we’re captured, we’ll probably be killed, or at the very least jailed for the rest of our lives. Nothing you’ve ever done could come close to the stain we’ve left on the honor of Aurelian Law Enforcement.”
The warrior takes a deep breath.
“So, you aren’t innocent – but our guilt is so great that you’ll no longer be charged.”
