Alien Hostage (44 page)

Climax rumbled through, a cyclone of unstoppable violence. It tore through, a devastating, undeniable force. Tasha let it sweep her away, not caring where it took her as long as the man who had brought it down upon her was there when she set down. He and the other two.

When the upheaval settled down so she could think again, they were there. The three men still surrounded her, replacing the wall they’d not climbed but smashed through. And it no longer mattered how they’d managed it. It only mattered that they had.

Wekniz moved off her with a lingering kiss. He stood and began scanning the vid windows, keeping an eye on things while she welcomed the other two.

Falinset kneeled behind her, his livid front cock seeking her tightest entrance. Tasha opened to him, giving herself over to his strength. He held her tight to himself, one arm caging her across her shoulders and chest, the other wrapped around her waist. She let her head fall back on his shoulder, surrendering to him.

“Tasha,” he whispered and plunged inside. She arched against him, her body yielding to his power.

Nur kneeled before her. His thick cocks curved up against his abdomen. Tasha reached for him, wrapping her hands around his slick length.

“Yes,” he whispered, his gaze hot on her face. “Put me inside you, lovely girl. Show how you belong to us.”

She pulled him close, arousal rising in fierce demand yet again. She was already full with Falinset embedded inside. With Nur possessing her too, she would be more helpless than ever. She wanted it, welcomed it with all her being.

The Imdiko was as demanding as the other two, sheathing himself within her womanhood with one determined stroke. Tasha writhed between the two men, pinioned with no way to escape.

As if she was fool enough to ever want to leave. No, this was where she needed to be, for as long as was possible … not long enough, true. But she’d take what she could get.

She rose and fell between the two hard bodies as they thrust into her over and over. With both shafts plunging, the friction was a heady sensation. She was dizzy from it, her brain consumed in a haze of rapture. Everything turned cloudy, and even the sounds of her own moans came from far away.

She was poignantly aware of Falinset and Nur inside her, however. The feeling of two thick cocks pushing in and out of her, rubbing against every interior surface with toe-curling pressure, could not be more pronounced. She felt their every movement so exquisitely, she swore she could detect their pulses in the veins of their shafts. And with each surge, she closed in on another cataclysm.

The unstoppable friction produced sparks, lighting her within. She caught fire, the heat spreading quickly to engulf her entire body. She expected to see Nur glow in front of her, reflecting the inferno now raging through her senses.

Heady brightness flared. She ignited, her body clenching at the cocks she’d consumed. She heard twin bellows ring in the blinding white that filled her vision. Her insides flexed hard, powerful rapture radiating as Falinset and Nur poured their strength into her. Making themselves, as Wekniz had minutes ago, a part of her.

She emerged from the desperate embrace with a sense of completion she’d never known before. It had been more than mere sex this time. Tasha had never imagined what she’d missed before, what more there was than sensual release when it came to sex. It was a shame that she’d discovered the real delight of sharing herself so late in the game.

She grimly tried to content herself with the idea that if this was her last time with Clan Falinset, at least they’d made it count.

* * * *

There was no time to bask in the afterglow, as much as Falinset wanted to. He wanted to hold Tasha for a while, to muse over how much she’d come to mean to him. That she had hinted she felt the same way made his chest hurt. That he glimpsed paradise when it was not his to claim … it hurt more than anything else Maf had denied him.

Sons of traitors. The cousin to the Imperial Clan. It can never be.

The best he could do was keep her alive and return her to her family and the life she was meant to live. He cared too much to consider for one second damning her to the existence he and his clanmates had been forced to endure.

And when their family ties became known? They would be outcasts for true then. It was no life for Tasha.

He pulled himself together, refusing to look at her though she stood right beside him. Her nearness made him want to commit the unthinkable after all. What would she say if he made the offer to clan here and now? If she said yes, he’d have the joy of the perfect clan.

Until the Imperial Clan declanned them, he thought. He could feel his stomach turn as heavy as a stone at the prospect. But at least he could call Tasha his for at least a few hours. That would be something.

He glanced up at Wekniz and Nur as he thought about the idea. He found Nur watching him. The Imdiko’s gaze was pleading. He looked from Falinset to Tasha and back again.

His poor clanmate. Nur wanted him to do it. But Nur had lost so much already being part of Clan Falinset. Was a brief moment of being Tasha’s Imdiko worth the awful loss that would come later? The Dramok wasn’t sure, and that uncertainty decided him on the matter. It had been a ridiculous idea anyway.

But a beautiful one nonetheless.

Falinset’s personal com went off. His heart slammed into overdrive as he checked the frequency. The others watched him breathlessly, and he nodded at them before answering it.

“Dramok Falinset here.”

Narpok’s breezy voice couldn’t have sounded more unconcerned. “Hello, Falinset. Guess what I got hold of?”

He was relieved to hear how natural she sounded given his coms were being monitored. Striving to sound as nonchalant as her, he said, “Do tell, dearest.”

“Ket’s fancy-pants shuttle. You know, the one that looks like a little bug?” In a lower, confidential tone she added, “Is he still drinking?”

Falinset snorted into the com. “Yes, and cursing at the kurble match on the vid. I don’t think he noticed you left.”

She sounded suitably offended. “Falinset, no lady wants to hear her presence hasn’t been missed, even by a lunkhead like Ket. Anyway, I know you’ve been waiting breathlessly for my return so we can take that run into Nalta City, but this shuttle is so much fun! I want to take it instead of yours.”

“I could ask Ket. Or we could assume he’ll never notice given his condition.”

“Ha! I like that. I’ll be there in a few minutes to pick you up.”

“All right. I’ve been wanting to see why he brags on that thing anyway.”

“Okay, but be nice and not a control-happy Dramok. I want to pilot this the rest of the day.”

Falinset answered the grins Tasha, Nur, and Wekniz wore. Narpok was telling them in a pre-arranged signal that she had gotten used to how the mini-shuttle operated. There had been some concern over that since she hadn’t piloted in several years and it was a new craft. If she was going to make it to Kalquor, she needed to know what she was doing.

Falinset sobered as he thought of the gauntlet she’d have to run to succeed. He forced merriment into his tone for the benefit of whoever listened in. “Let you pilot for me? I don’t think so, Matara. Besides, Ket’s been rubbing my face in the fact my father bought him that thing since he got it. I have to have a go at it.”

Her voice came back, haughty and obstinate. “I refuse to pick you up until you promise I can drive.”

Another code. This time she was asking if they were ready to go ahead with the plan, that she awaited their go-ahead.

He looked to the others again. They were serious once more, their bodies singing with tension as if they’d explode into movement at any moment. Three heads nodded.

Falinset once more had to force a lighthearted tone. “How about a compromise? You pilot to Nalta City and I’ll do the flying on our way back.”

“Well, maybe. I’ll see after we consult with the builder on our bigger home.”

“I think you’ll see things my way, Matara.”

Narpok teased, “That’s not how this works, Dramok. I’ll be there in a moment, so be ready.”

“I already am.” He switched his com off and gave the word. “All right. Everyone, you know what to do.”

Three oxygen masks were sealed to their wearers’ faces. Wekniz picked up a fire retardant rifle. Nur and Falinset were unarmed. Yet to Falinset it was Tasha who seemed the most vulnerable even though she hefted Ket’s blaster.

There was no help for it. They were committed now, and Falinset could only hope for the best.

Chapter 26

Tasha smiled at Noelle with a confidence she didn’t feel. Nur held the little girl in his arms as they walked down the corridor, having roused her from her nap. She’d been told as much as they thought she could understand: Narpok was bringing a shuttle to take her home but the bad soldiers were going to try and stop them. That she must be a very good girl and do whatever she was told, just as she’d done when Tasha had gotten her out of the prison compound.

She stared at Tasha over Nur’s shoulder, her eyes fearful. She didn’t understand why Tasha wasn’t going too, but there was no time to explain.

Falinset, Wekniz, Nur, and Tasha trooped past the common room. Tasha glanced into the room as they went by, noting Ket was still lying on the floor in exactly the same position they’d left him. At least that threat had been neutralized.

“Window vid on,” Wekniz ordered as they neared the front door. His voice was muffled behind the oxygen mask. “View from door.”

The vid came on to the right of the home’s entrance. Narpok was landing the mini-shuttle steps away. It kicked up a little dirt as it settled on the ground.

Narpok hadn’t been kidding when she likened it to an insect, Tasha thought. The thing looked like a metallic mosquito with thin landing struts and a long, thin tail. The front of it was egg-shaped and seemed not big enough to carry a full-grown Earther, let alone a couple of Kalquorians.

Her mouth dry, she looked at Noelle in Nur’s arms. The child stared at the vid, her lower lip trembling.
Be strong
, Tasha silently coached her.
Just a little longer.

The blaster in her hands felt like it weighed a ton. She still nodded confirmation when Falinset looked at them all for one last check-in. When they signaled their readiness by stepping back out of the door’s sight line, he drew in a deep breath. Arranging his expression in an anticipatory smile, he ordered the door to open.

From her vantage point, Tasha had a clear view of the vid showing him leaving the house and walking out to the shuttle. The sight made her nauseous. Falinset was unarmed. Vulnerable. There was no doubt in her mind that at least two of the armed guards were nearby, watching as the Dramok made his way to Ket’s shuttle. Watching and waiting for the first sign of trouble.

The shuttle was yards away from the open front door, but the distance seemed to stretch for miles. Falinset was halfway to the shuttle when its hatch finally opened. Narpok grinned at him.

He laughed, a loud but brittle sound that didn’t come close to seeming sincere. “Look at this thing!” he called to her. “It’s small enough for me to carry.”

He was closing the distance, but he paused to twist to call back to the house. “Hey Nur! Wekniz! Come check this out!”

Tasha tensed, readying to run. Falinset’s first signal, that he saw no more than two guards nearby, had been delivered. Now it was only left for him to confirm that.

In front of her, Noelle turned from the vid to look over Nur’s shoulder once more. “Tasha?” she whimpered.

Trusting that none of the sentries were close enough to overhear, Tasha murmured soothingly. “It’s okay, sweetie. It’s time to put your face against Nur’s shoulder. Keep it there so you don’t breathe the bad stuff Wekniz is going to shoot. And keep your eyes closed. You’ll be home with Mommy before you know it.”

“Get ready,” Wekniz warned them.

Falinset had been walking around the shuttle, examining it and chatting with Narpok. He rounded the front. Facing the house as he neared the hatch again, he called out the signal they’d waited for, the one that said the risk was acceptable.

“Guys, come on and make it fast!”

Wekniz ran out the door, setting off his fire retardant gun as he went. It went out in a long stream before billowing out in a cloud. Nur was on his heels, carrying Noelle who had buried her face against his neck and shoulder. They were hidden by the white fog of the extinguisher’s spray, dim shadows that moved within its concealing vapors.

As soon as Nur cleared the door, Tasha took up a position just inside. She could hear the soldiers who’d been spying yelling in alarm, but the drifting gasses prevented her from seeing them. The white fog was dissipating however, and she saw movement approaching from the side of the house.

She knew the clan, Noelle, and the shuttle were directly in front of her. She opened fire on the quickly moving figure that approached from her right. It sprang back with another yell. It raced around to shelter behind the corner of the house.

She checked to her left. Sure enough, there was another figure heading in the general direction of the shuttle. Tasha shot at the soldier. He also ducked behind the corner of the house, but on the opposite side. Then he jerked out again, facing her. Tasha ducked back inside the house as the air nearby began to shiver from the percussion blasts aimed at her.