Alien Hostage (26 page)

“If Maf is blackmailing them—”

Wekniz wouldn’t let her finish making an excuse for them, though he appreciated her kindness. His parents were guilty and that made him guilty as well. He choked on the shame. “They aren’t held by fear anymore. They are willing to continue their crimes because Maf rewards them so well.”

Tasha shook her head. “Threats to make them comply, payment to short-circuit their consciences. That’s an old story.”

Impotent rage swept over him, fury that had no outlet because he was still trapped. Spitting the words like venom, he said, “Last time I saw them, they showed off their latest shuttle. Plus they were looking into buying a big vacation home. It made me sick. They were not the people who raised me to be honorable.”

“But you are honorable. I can see that.” She stated it as a fact.

“I want to be. If it wasn’t for Nur’s situation, I’d have turned them in some time ago.”

“What is Nur’s situation? Is it the same for his parent clan?” She sounded eager to know.

“Not exactly. My parents aren’t victims, but his are.” Now that they no longer spoke of his family, Wekniz was able to face her again. “They are in a terrible place, Tasha. Terrible. What Maf is making them do – it’s unconscionable.”

She sounded almost afraid to ask but she did anyway. “What is it?” 

Wekniz heaved a breath. “I’d rather Nur tell you, if he wants to. It’s not my place.”

“It’s not more weapons, is it?”

He shook his head. “Maf makes money on many ventures, legal and not. He uses Nur’s fathers to add to his accounts.”

“Nur’s mother is innocent of any wrongdoing?”

“Nur’s mother is institutionalized.”

Shock filled her eyes. “Oh.” She seemed incapable of saying anything else.

“I think Earthers have something similar to what she suffers from. You call it schizophrenia? It’s not quite the same, but almost. His mother requires constant care and medicating to maintain certain brain chemicals at minimal levels. Otherwise, she couldn’t function at all.”

Tasha looked around the room, as if searching for an answer. “But – but Kalquor has such good medical resources. You guys cure stuff we Earthers thought were incurable. Nothing can be done for her?”

“She’s kept comfortable for the most part. But a permanent solution? One that will allow her to live in regular society? No. After her final massive breakdown, only one drug ever made her able to be like the rest of us. Because it is so highly addictive, however, the Medical Board made it illegal for any patient to use.”

Tasha’s eyes grew bright. Wekniz was awed at the compassion she showed for a woman she’d never met. Or maybe her sympathy was all for Nur.

“That’s awful,” she said when she’d recovered enough to speak.

Wekniz nodded in full agreement. “It is. I can’t imagine the strain on Nur’s fathers between their Matara’s pain and being pushed around by Maf.”

She spent several seconds thinking again. Finally she said, “Falinset won’t turn in Maf because he wants to protect you and Nur’s parents. Otherwise, he has no loyalty to Maf. Right?”

Wekniz managed a grim smile. “None. What evil he does on Maf’s behalf, he does for us.”

Her gaze was direct, piercing his eyes. “Is Falinset going to give Noelle up to the Basma? I need to know the truth, Wekniz.”

With all the assuredness he could muster, the Nobek insisted, “He will not. He’s in his office now, pacing the floors and trying to figure out a way to get you two out of here.”

“Are you sure? He won’t do it even to keep his clanmates and your families safe?”

Wekniz wanted to shake her. Falinset had his faults as they all did, but he was not a man who would hand over a child to his hated sire. Never.

But Tasha didn’t know that. Falinset had kept himself separate from her as much as possible, still holding a little bit of a grudge at her presence. He hadn’t shown her the honorable man he was.

Wekniz had to ease her concerns as best as possible. “Even if he considered it for an instant – and he would not – Nur and I would not allow it. This is bigger than our parents. It’s bigger than us. Falinset may be angry that it has come to this after all he’s done to keep Maf from hurting any of us, but he has reached his limit. I know it for a fact.”

Tasha studied him for a moment before reluctantly nodding her head. “Unfortunately, that may have happened too late. If Maf has control over the moon, it’s only a matter of time before he sends Ket in to grab Noelle and probably kill me.”

Wekniz found it fascinating that while Tasha was passionate with anger when she spoke of Ket taking Noelle, her voice fell flat when it came to the possibility of losing her own life. She was ready to die trying to save her little cousin.

He assured her, “I will do everything in my power to keep that from happening.”

Her eyes went cold with a Nobek’s brutality. “As will I. No matter what else happens, Ket dies. I will see to it.”

She meant every word of it. Who was this woman, so sweet with concern one moment and killer cold the next? The combination made his warrior nature rise to the fore.

“You have my vow that I will help you. My life for you and my princess.”

At his words, Tasha softened again. She smiled up at him, her eyes warm. It made his heart stutter for her to look at him in such a way. He’d offer to kill a lot more men to keep her gazing at him like that.

He was shocked when she reached up to stroke the scar dragging the corner of his mouth down. Her husky voice even lower than before, she murmured, “So strong. So fierce.”

He swallowed hard. He did not dare to think she could be interested in him, and silently warned the throb in his groin to depart. “Strong and fierce. And not pretty.”

Tasha snorted as if he’d said the most ridiculous words ever uttered. “I don’t care about pretty. Give me vigor. Intensity.” She rose up on her knees on the lounger so they were eye to eye. Her hand cupped the melted side of his face with the air of a connoisseur admiring a fine piece of statuary.

Wekniz couldn’t believe it when she leaned close to press her lips to his marred cheek. “Give me power and might.” Her hands moved down, touching his chest and abdomen, her hands skimming over his shirt to feel the body beneath. “Bravery. Guts.” She pulled at his shirt, drawing it up to uncover the rest of his scars to touch them with reverence before bending to run her mouth and tongue over the disfigured flesh. “To hell with pretty. I want the body of the conqueror, the man who has faced the worst and lived to tell about it. The magnificence of the warrior who can’t be defeated.”

Wekniz watched her, too stunned to move consciously. Yet his instincts blazed to life. His cocks pounded with the beat of his pulse, the hairs on his body standing on end. As she kissed and stroked the scarred skin with frenzied excitement, his being drew closer to the violent moment when he must take her.

She abruptly stopped her near-frantic embraces to stare at him with want-filled eyes. “You are magnificent. Will you have me? You don’t have to offer sweet words. You don’t need to worry if I want you to fuck me senseless, because I do.”

One part of Wekniz thought she had to be joking. Surely this beautiful creature couldn’t want him. But the burning in her eyes said something else. Seeing that eagerness slammed shut any arguments the Nobek might have come up with. Hunger roared forward, taking away all hesitation.

In an instant, Wekniz had Tasha on her back, his body covering hers, passion pouring from him as he tore at the shirt she’d borrowed from Nur. All was devouring need.

She was as ardent, her hands everywhere, her mouth latched onto his. Damn it, she was a little wildcat. He felt ravished, ravaged, ready to be made a meal of by the fervent Earther. The dominant in him rose up, but Wekniz held it off. He didn’t want to mess this chance up.

But when her hand clamped on his crotch, the need to be in charge overwhelmed him. He wanted the woman his way. His need to be in charge was quick to remind him she’d practically begged him to take her. He heeded that call, moving fast to grab her wrists and pin them over her head. He heaved up to stare at her.

Tasha gazed up at him, her eyes growing wide and round and soft. Her mouth parted open, a tiny sigh escaping. Her breathing was quick and shallow. Her expression – it was all want. Complete surrender.

Wekniz’s cocks swelled at the sight of willing, compliant woman. The wildcat had wanted to be tamed. The thought swamped his senses, and his shafts gave a massive jerk.

By the ancestors. This could be amazing.

His thoughts flew, wondering what she’d respond to. Being held down played havoc with her desires. He scented the raw need coming from her lush little body, the smell drawing his more animalistic instincts to a razor-sharp point. Oh, he had a thought or two of where an interest in bondage could lead.

Wekniz held her down with one hand. The other unbuckled his belt. He pulled it free of his waist, sliding off pouches that held the things he liked to carry as he went. Tasha watched him do so, her blue-green eyes gleaming with delighted knowledge. So she thought she knew what he was up to, did she? He was about to surprise her.

He let go of her arms to put the belt in position. She had no time to figure it out before the belt circled about her neck and he closed the loop. The Nobek kept his fingers between the strap and her throat, making sure it wasn’t tight enough to choke. He locked down the buckle’s latch. There. She was collared and leashed, a perfect pet harnessed nice and proper.

Tasha gasped. Her mouth gaped open wide, and she breathed faster than ever as her fingers grabbed at the belt.

“Is it choking you at all?” Wekniz asked, just to be sure.

She shook her head, as if she wasn’t capable of speech. Her arousal scent grew even stronger. Her taste for restraint was as great as he’d hoped.

“Excellent. We will go to the sleeping room.” He stood and tugged carefully at the end of the strap when she didn’t move right away.

As if coming partly out of a dream, Tasha got to her feet. Nur’s shirt hung from her shoulders, the front ripped and shifting when she moved, allowing glimpses of her large, full breasts. She swayed a little, and Wekniz took her arm to steady her. After a moment, she stood balanced.

He started for the door, using the leash to lead her into the hallway and to the clan’s sleeping room. He went faster than needed, because he wanted her to trot after him, to show he was the master of the situation.

They reached the sleeping room. He led her to the foot of the mat so that they stood on a plush fur rug, made especially thick for kneeling. “Lights up three-quarters,” Wekniz ordered. He wanted to see her. Every delicious inch of that rounded body, every twitch of emotion on her face.

Tasha bit her lip. “Nur usually makes it dimmer in here,” she ventured.

“I’m not Nur. I have little use for romantic lighting. I want you on full display for my pleasure.” He waited to see her reaction to that.

Her eyes dilated. He could see the flutter of her pulse in her throat where the strap didn’t cover it. Would this strong and confident woman really let him have control?

“Clothes off.”

To his immense gratification, she wasted no time in shrugging off the torn shirt. She kicked her shoes off and her skirt slithered down her legs to be kicked aside as well. He admired how quickly she obeyed orders. He thought he might test her willingness though, to see how far the dichotomy of self-assured woman and compliant pet went.

“On your knees,” he ordered. “Stay there while I gather a few things.”

She dropped down immediately. Her face was level with his bulging crotch, which she stared at in rapt fascination. His cocks twitched to see such avid interest. It was difficult to turn away and fetch the items he wanted from the closet. He made sure he kept them hidden from her.

He walked around her, taking up the loose end of the belt again as he did so. She was exquisite, her body a sumptuous vision of hills and padded flesh, the kind of flesh a man could sink in with pleasure. Her fair skin with its sheen of sun-kissed gold was exotic. The pale mounds of her breasts excited him. The soft pelt over her pussy demanded to be stroked. The lush orbs of her ass needed to feel the iron of a man’s desire between them.

But for now, there was that plump, moist mouth.

Wekniz came around to stand before her again. He looped the strap around his fist once, drawing her up straight on her knees. The other hand gripped the waistband of his pants where the crotch seam began and pulled it open.

She’d made him hard enough to hurt when she’d gone into her eager tumult of touching and kissing him. His cocks damned near leaped out of his trousers the moment they were released.

“I think you know what to do,” he whispered to the woman at his feet. He used the belt to pull her close.

Her mouth encased him, sliding over his secondary shaft. Wet. Warm. Silken. The area between his cocks tightened, drawing inward hard.

He looped the belt again. His other fist gathered in her hair, holding the feathery tresses at the top of her head. He pulled her onto himself, immersing his throbbing cock in that sweetness. His hips rocked, each stroke deeper than the last until she slammed her palms against his thighs.