by Mary Auclair
Tamsin reflected on what he’d told her, and the little she knew of Tellurian culture. He had chosen her, made her his Ajena, his wife. Only, an Ajena wasn’t really a wife, was she? She was a possession, something that had been Claimed, something to own. She was a breeding tool, not an equal partner in his life. As the warm fuzz of physical ecstasy dissipated, she was left with the bitter aftertaste of ownership. She couldn’t deny she wanted anything more than to live a life as Jareth’s wife but being some property he claimed, well, was an entirely different species altogether. Tamsin felt the two halves of her desires tear apart inside her. Jareth was the king, meaning her life with him would be filled with comfort and luxury. She would never want for water or food again. The world he lived in, Havlan, was a paradise, a place where food grew out of the ground and water fell from the sky, like Earth had been before the great Drought. She could stay here with him—she should stay here with him. He would protect her, cherish her, even. She would lie in his arms, shiver and cry out in pleasure at his hands every night.
Tamsin wriggled slowly, trying to disentangle herself from Jareth’s arms. His biceps curled around her like warm, flexible tree trunks. He growled with displeasure when she slid down and she pushed a pillow in the place where her body had been. He frowned and his arms closed around the pillow, pulling it to his chest. His face relaxed, falling back into the depths of sleep.
She was mesmerized by the sight of him. He looked so peaceful, so calm, with his mouth stretched in a blessed smile. His breath came in and out with a soft, satisfied, almost feline purr. He was perfect, in every way.
It pained her to leave, something she didn’t expect just a few hours before. She was sure her disappearance wouldn’t just anger him, it would hurt him too. She remembered his words. She was the center of his life, his precious mate. In an instant of head-turning hesitation, she asked herself how much of a fool she was to abandon a male like that. Then she forced herself to remember that he didn’t love her, only her body and its promise of children. She hadn’t been given a choice. He claimed her and the fact that she had drawn the winning number on the mate lottery didn’t make a difference. She was not going to accept a life where she was mere property, where she was subject to the law of someone else, no matter how attractive.
She had worked too long to be independent to give up control of her life.
It took all her willpower to get up from the bed, but she did it. She stood in front of it and studied Jareth’s sleeping face one last time. When she finally tore her eyes from him, they burnt with the threat of tears. She wasn’t sure she would be able to find the courage to leave him if she waited more.
Tamsin got up and walked, leaving the sleeping figure of Jareth behind. The action left her with a tearing sensation in her chest, like a piece of fabric giving way to tension, and she wondered if this was what it felt like to have a broken heart. As much as it hurt, it gave her resolve. The decision was taken and there was nowhere to go now but forward.
She scanned the floor. She had no clothing except for the sapphire-blue gown from the Claiming. She grabbed it from the floor where she’d dropped it the night before and a flash of the pleasure she shared with Jareth sent a jolt of pain through her chest. Steadying herself, she slid the gown over her body. She would have to rip the lower half to make walking in the forest easier but that could wait. She didn’t want to risk making noise so close to him.
Tamsin walked through the unfamiliar room, straight to the window, and stuck her head out. She sighed with relief. There was a sharp, rocky slope, then a pebble beach that stretched for a few dozen feet before the water licked the rocks in a lazy, almost sensual caress. A boat waited there, at the end of a short wooden dock. It would be a hard climb down but she was used to rock climbing, since she regularly scavenged in the mountains around New Montpelier. Maneuvering the boat was going to pose a bigger problem but she would cross that bridge when she got to it.
Tamsin swung her legs over and sat on the windowsill. The smell of the ocean and the salty, moist breeze brought a flutter of hope to her chest. Yes, she could live in this world. She just needed to go far enough from Jareth to ensure her freedom, then she could work on creating a shelter. Her mind filled with the promise of exotic fruits growing in the forest and she was dizzy from the thought of a life where such luxury grew in abundance.
She grabbed the long train of the gown in one hand and climbed down the shore. She bit down a small yelp when her foot slipped on a rock and a sharp pain burned her sole. Cursing her lack of shoes, she kept on climbing down until she was on the pebbled beach. Once she was safely down, she stopped and inspected her foot, wincing when blood sparkled a merry red under the moonlight. She had no solution for her naked soles but knew she couldn’t ignore the situation. People walking in the desert without shoes didn’t last long.
In a flash of inspiration, she picked up a sharp-looking rock and used it to slice a tear in the fabric of her gown, just over her knees. She yanked the fabric in two parts, then made a fast job of wrapping her feet with it. It wasn’t ideal by any means but it would do until she could find something else.
Her gaze fastened on the boat. Now that, she had no idea how she would manage.
Chapter Six
Tamsin tried to stand in the shallow, rounded bottom of the boat and it was harder than she expected. After a few ungraceful half-slips, she finally gave up, then dropped to her knees. The boat rocked and water splashed inside. It splashed on her face and some dashed inside her parted lips. It was fresh and her tongue lapped at it in wonder. What little water was left in Earth’s oceans was so salty it could be used to preserve meat. Nothing lived in those conditions but the most primitive of sea worms. On Havlan, there were oceans of fresh water. The thought made her brain fog with the possibilities. Her hands were trembling as she fumbled with the ropes that held the boat to the dock. She had been trying for too long and her time was running out. The second moon was long gone and the sky was turning a bright shade of pink. Dawn was close and with it, the end of her freedom. Her frantic hands finally got rid of the last knot and she swallowed a cry of victory. The boat was free but now came the hardest part. She turned to the small square device at the front. It had to be the engine, or whatever the Tellurian used for propulsion.
Tamsin hesitated, looking up at the long expanse of water. It was so beautiful, so perfect, like oil shining under the sun. It would be her tomb if she made any mistake. On the other hand, Jareth’s reaction to her betrayal was equally frightening. He told her in no uncertain tones that she belonged to him. What if he came after her? Would he be angry enough to hurt her? She swallowed, hard. There was no going back. She was too far gone.
She stared in frustration at the control panel. There was nothing she recognized in that technology. She closed her eyes and counted to ten. Yes, that helped. She opened her eyes again and looked down at the control box suspiciously, then placed her palms on each side. The box was cold and when her skin came in contact with its surface, her fingers became embedded in the material. The box vibrated and she hoped it meant it was ready to move. Surprise caused her hands to squeeze and the boat jolted forward with a surprising speed. It glided on the water, silent like a snake over the sand dunes, and faster than anything she had imagined. She yelped in fear and forced her fingers to relax. The boat automatically slowed down but it continued to skip across the surface, pushed by its own momentum.
Tamsin was panting as she took in the distance from both shores. The boat was halfway across already and the momentum continued to push her toward the forest. She tried not to think of what would happen if she went overboard. Drowning was a haunting death, even more so for a desert rat like herself. Grinding her teeth, Tamsin gripped both sides of the small vessel as freedom approached in front of her.
Something splashed and a huge fin broke the water’s surface. She stared wide-eyed as a long shadow stretched alongside the small boat. She hadn’t thought about the monsters that might lurk in the
depths of the ocean. Fear gripped her as a heavy body thumped the boat, rocking it dangerously. When a second thump came from the opposite side of the boat, she screamed. Horror filled her at the idea of a hidden monster dragging her below the surface.
“Tamsin!” A voice roared her name, coming from far behind. “Do not make a sound! Do not move inside the boat! I am coming to get you.”
Tamsin turned around to see Jareth standing on the beach. It was too far for her to see the expression on his face but she didn’t need to see it to understand the fear in his voice. The fear and the fury too. Whatever those creatures from the ocean were, they weren’t of the cuddly kind. Controlling her breathing, she forced herself to stay still in the boat. She was out of time and out of luck.
If those monsters didn’t eat her first, Jareth was sure to kill her.
Tamsin turned away from Jareth and stared at the control box, then back at the shore. Jareth was gone but she could hear the rumbling of an engine. She remembered the small two-seater transport of the night before. He was going to be on her in minutes.
With a deep breath, she grabbed the control box and squeezed carefully to control the motion. The boat roared to life, lunging forward. Behind her, the water exploded in a flash of scales and teeth. A scream tore from her lips and she dug her fingers into the box. The small craft flew forward instantly. At her side a huge mouth filled with long, conical teeth snapped and the head of the aquatic creature broke the water’s surface. It was a bulky mass of gray scales, dominated by three round golden eyes. Her panic reached a new level when she imagined the beast cutting her defenseless body in half.
The shore was approaching fast and she hoped she wouldn’t crash. Those rocks were as sure to kill her as the mouthful of teeth that snapped in a stubborn pattern behind her. Still, if she had to choose between being eaten and dying of a crash on the rocks, she preferred the rocks. She kept her fingers dug deep into the control and the boat continued skimming over the water at a blazing speed. The sea monster’s mouth closed inches from the end of the prow and another scream bloomed from her throat.
Then, as suddenly as they appeared, the sea monsters abandoned the pursuit. Tamsin panted heavily and it took all her willpower to relax her fingers. The shore was almost there, its rocks visible through the crystalline surface. She realized the water must be too shallow for the huge bodies to follow. She’d escaped death, this once, but she wasn’t out of trouble. Tamsin let go of the controls, hoping the boat would slow in time not to crash on the rocks.
The small vessel had too much residual speed and it took her only a few seconds to understand she wouldn’t be that lucky. She braced for impact, holding the side of the boat with both hands. It didn’t do her much good, because she went flying over the rocks. Time suspended in a crazy instant where she was weightless. She was no bird, though, and the next thing she was aware of was her body crashing on a hard, unyielding surface.
She rolled, absorbing the bulk of the impact with her shoulder. Pain shot through but she knew instinctively it didn’t break bones. As soon as the pain subsided enough for her mind to clear, she jumped on her feet, adrenaline coursing through her body. A quick inspection of her shoulder showed a vicious cut and red blossomed against her pale skin like a maleficent flower. There were scratches over most of her bare skin and it was clear her bruises would be expansive but as she moved them, her joints rotated in their sockets without too much pain. Nothing was broken.
Her head snapped up as a small transport hovered directly above her. Shit. She had been blinded by her fear of the aquatic monster, so much that she forgot who she was running from in the first place. An angry golden head shot above the side of the transport and she felt her blood freeze in her veins at the sight of Jareth’s furious face. His eyes were two black pools and his mouth was closed in a cruel line. Fear shot inside her like fireworks, sending waves of adrenaline into her bloodstream.
“Stay there, Tamsin.” Jareth’s voice was flowing lava, burning with rage. “I’m coming down.”
It only took a second for her survival instincts to kick in. Tamsin turned around and her feet pounded the ground. She ran in a beeline for the trees as a roar resonated through the trunks. As she ran, she knew perfectly well her only hope was to hide in the vegetation before her monstrous alien lover hunted her down.
Heavy boots hit rocks in a loud thud behind her but she was already gone, her breath coming ragged and fast from her aching throat. Jareth was hot on her trail—she could almost feel his anger as he ran her down like prey. Panic and stubbornness made her keep up the pace but she was tiring fast and her footing was unsure on the unfamiliar green carpet of vegetation.
Not long after, her foot caught in a treacherous vine and she went tumbling down, sprawling on the damp forest floor. The fall didn’t hurt as there was a thick layer of vegetation on the ground and moisture met her hands and knees. She turned around instantly, low on the ground, too tired to get up. Tamsin fought the fog of fear that surrounded her brain, and inspected her new surroundings. The forest floor smelled of dirt and moisture and something else underneath, something spicy and tart at the same time. She wondered if it was what Earth forest used to smell like, the dense, chaotic smell of the circle of life. The thick ocean of green leaves swallowed up everything and she had no idea where she was. The thought that Jareth must have lost her made her fear lessen a bit and she forced her breathing to slow to a more rational pace.
The plants that grew in tight spirals, unfolding from the center, had leaves that were at least twice her height and three times as wide as her body. The tree trunks were wider than Earth’s cars, towering over the forest floor like sentient giants. She felt like a pixie in the middle of a fairy-tale forest. Panic rummaged through her at the thought of the size of the wildlife prowling in such an environment.
Tamsin scrambled to her feet and turned her head at a snapping sound in the nearby overgrowth. The possibility that the noise came from Jareth was no relief to her fears. Movement in a dense bush captured her attention and she snatched up a large stick from the ground. Her throat was tight and all her senses were on high alert. Suddenly, the leaves parted to make way for a golden giant.
Jareth stood there, his naked chest shimmering softly in the dense shade. His face was a mask of pure fury, with his brows furrowed so deeply they met in the middle and the muscles of his arms flexing and rolling with tension. He must have sensed her fear at the sight of him, because he brought one large, strong hand forward to grab her.
“Stay!” he roared.
In a flash of instinct, Tamsin lurched in the opposite direction, her mind void of any rational thoughts. The ferns closed around her and she ran blindly in the middle of the vegetation, unaware of where she was going. She ran and ran, taking sharp turns whenever her instincts pulled her. Suddenly, steel arms closed around her waist and she screamed. Jareth’s momentum was too strong and she fell under his weight. She closed her eyes, certain his weight was going to crush her when they landed, or at least break a few bones but Jareth rolled over and took the blow of the landing on his back. They fell hard but he didn’t even groan as they hit the ground.
As soon as she realized she wasn’t hurt, Tamsin screeched like a wildcat, wriggling in the steel grip. She didn’t even succeed in moving an inch. Her legs kicked with all the frenzy of a wounded animal and she landed a blow somewhere on his tibia. Jareth shouted in pain but then his long, strong legs wrapped around hers, pinning them down. He was so much stronger than her she felt as if she was wrestling against a stone wall.
As she moved, she became aware of the hardness in his pants pressing on the light fabric covering her ass. Cruel hands closed around her breasts and squeezed, enough to elicit a yelp of pain from her lips. Jareth pushed his erection against her until the distended fabric dug between the twin cheeks of her ass and rubbed in the secret place there. A wild groan burst in her ear as Jareth licked the sensitive skin of her neck. He was aroused by the fight and her frenetic movemen
ts against his body only exacerbated his hunger. A flash of last night’s pleasure darted in the front of her mind and hot wetness dampened her pussy.
With anger, Tamsin pushed away her stupid body’s suggestion and tried to think of another way to escape her captor. She was down to her last line of defense and with one last vicious attack, buried her teeth deep in the skin of his forearm where it wrapped around her chest. Unlike last time, she bit with the full might of her fear, sinking her teeth deep in his flesh, not caring for his anger. She was that desperate. Powerful lungs released a scream of pain and fury into the cover of the forest.
With a mighty twist of his body, Jareth flipped them over and Tamsin found herself facefirst in the damp moss covering the forest’s dirt. His body pinned hers down, covering it down its full length.
“Damned female!” Jareth yelled over her head. “Stop fighting me this instant or I swear you will regret it.”
Somehow his words penetrated the fog of her panic and she gradually stopped her struggle. She recognized her defeat, knew there was no escaping. Her only hope was that he wouldn’t kill her for her offense. She panted, waiting for what was to come next. Jareth remained quiet, straddling her body, his knees on each side of her hips, his chest pressing her shoulders down. She was completely at his mercy. She could hear his breathing, fast and furious on her neck. The pressure suddenly lifted and he moved down but left one of his large hands pressing between her shoulder blades, pinning her in place. He was not hurting her but the pressure was enough to tell her he could if she kept resisting. Tamsin kept quiet, wondering what he was thinking, what he was planning to do to her. She yelped when the fabric of her dress was ripped from the shallow of her back to the bottom. Jareth opened the ruined dress, exposing her bare ass to the view, then a sharp blow landed on her soft skin. Tamsin squealed, more in surprise than pain, but held perfectly still.
