Beast Planet 1: Captive Surrender (3 page)

I finally peeled myself away from the wall and to the bars, my own small fingers curling around the same spot where his had been.
It
still felt warm.

The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach grew with each breath. Somehow, I knew things were about to get a hell of a lot worse.

Chapter Three

Was this how it felt to be a worm on a hook?
I was the third woman to be dragged from the cage out into the bright light. Despite the warm, alien sun on my naked skin, I shivered; whatever the women went through before me I didn’t know, only it was now my turn.

There was not much difference between the ancient Roman Coliseum, in its entire
splendor
and this alien arena. The octo bot shoved me up onto a platform and shackled my arms above my head.
Then i
t removed the collar from my neck with a sharp click before zooming away.

I took in the arena of earthy, red sand, tall black metal sides and floating stands filled with the hum of chattering
Druel
. Robots zoomed about and the white aliens, with their blue
,
tattoo-like patterns, stood out against the red sand.

Some leaned against the black walls; I could barely make out their bored
expression
s
. Others leaned over, hands planted on their thighs panting, and some were splattered in what looked like blue paint. I could only guess it was
their
alien blood.

I felt the weight of their stares. Many of them pushed off the walls, walking in closer to get a better look at me. Slowly, a small
crowd
gathered
;
I counted fifteen in all. Some shoved at each other, eyeing off their opponents.

The one who almost broke the bars of my cage, walked closer to the platform.
I
tensed, expecting him to jump up onto the platform and grab me. I met his bright
,
ice blue gaze and saw the raw determination lurking there.

I swallowed, every part of my body
now
trembled. If I
wasn't
shackled firmly, my legs would
give
out and I would collapse to the ground in a quivering mess.

I knew what they were about to do, and it scared me even more than being abducted by the
Druel
.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out I was the prize
for
the coming fight.

Shit, shit, shit
. I tried to slow my rapid breathing, praying this was only some ongoing nightmare. The white and blue
patterned aliens were pairing off—ridged tension in their muscles.

A horn blared and they jumped into action. My jaw dropped open at the vicious fighting. Back on earth, I was quite a couch potato. I watched action movies with my brothers and their friends, enjoying the action and fighting movies
, b
ut nothing could prepare me for the reality of the fighting before me.

They split into pairs to attack each other, using fists, legs and feet. The sound of flesh hitting flesh was loud, even above the roaring
,
Druel
crowd. I heard growling and grunts
when
blows landed. Two men went down and the remaining two turned on each other. One of the men did a roundhouse kick flinging the other man halfway across the arena. He rolled over and didn’t get up. The last man standing clenched his fists. I stared at his heaving chest. Yes, it was the very same one who offered me his blood.

Four new men replaced the fallen ones and it started again. I flinched at the brutality of it. These aliens were not messing around. Blue blood splattered onto the red sand. I heard one of the alien’s legs
break
during a brutal kick.

The man roared
and
went down clutching his limb. Some of his fellow aliens, who
chose
not to fight, grabbed him and dragged him back from the main action. My blood-offering alien waited for the other two to finish.

What the hell?
My alien?
I didn’t know what else to call him.

When only two remained, they attacked each other. I shut my eyes. I didn’t want to watch any more. The sound of fighting continued above the yelling crowd. It was a vicious sound. Finally, a cheer rose from the
Druel
. My eyes snapped open out of curiosity. The place was filled with men oozing blue blood. A few of them eyed the others and backed away, bowing out of the fighting. Five remained in the centre, ready to fight.

It began again. Roars and growls erupted
while
they fought. The injured were dragged away to the sidelines. It finally came down to the last three. Two of them teamed together to attack the large male.

My blood-offering-man was notably bigger: thicker arms, shoulder and legs. I only glimpsed a small display of his
strength, when he tried to rip my cage door off.

He fought with amazing speed
dodging
fists and feet. He punched one man in the face and I winced hearing something crack. The man staggered back and collapsed onto the sand. Blue blood covered the fallen man’s features. He rolled to one side holding his face with both hands. He didn’t get up.

The last one glanced in my direction and then back at his larger opponent. He put up his hands and backed away.

The winner threw back his head and roared. The crowd went wild, stomping the floor under their feet, making the whole stadium shake.

Terror gripped me. I froze
as he approached the platform, trying
not
to pass out from my rapid, rasping breaths.
I heard the whine of gears
when
the platform automatically lowered to the arena floor, until the winner stood mere inches from me.

Oh
,
no, no, no
! With a click, my arms were free and
they
dropped like rocks. I ignored the rush of blood back into my limbs, making them prickle. The man reached out his large blood-soaked hands,
his thick fingers digging into my hips, yanking me towards him.

I fell forward over his wide shoulder. His thickly muscled arm trapped my legs against his chest while a firm hand gripped my ass, holding me in place. My long brown hair fell over my eyes, blinding me. I couldn’t think
and
I was too weak to put up a fight. The cheers became muffled
while
he carried me out of the arena. I shut my eyes and struggled just to breathe, fighting against the rising terror, knowing what he wanted to do to me. What was worse, I had no way of stopping him.

* * *

I could smell him. Despite the blood, he didn’t smell too bad—sweat, sand and something raw, I couldn’t quite identify. Some of the sounds I could make out, such as his
labored
breathing, the grating of metal doors opening and closing, the low rumble of voices and the electric pings and humming of hovering machines.

It felt like an eternity before he came to a halt, gripped my legs and slid me down his body. My hands automatically shot out, touching warm, firm flesh. My hair still covered my face, but he gripped me with
one strong arm, reached up and gently pushed aside the veil.

I swallowed, staring into his pale eyes, which were mesmerizingly beautiful. His irises gleamed like polished diamonds.

“Nor ikk.” His chest rumbled with his foreign words.

“I… I don’t understand.” My voice sounded breathy and laboured.

He stroked his finger down my cheek, his soft touch surprised me. “Nor ikk.”

He lowered me
until
my naked ass hit a firm mattress.  I tore my gaze away to glance around. He’d brought me to a sparse room; looking at the bars on the door, I knew it was a prison. He pushed me back onto the bed, like a dangerous predator stalking his prey. He crawled over me, gripping my wrists and pinning them above my head. I didn’t fight, I didn’t struggle. I stared up into his eyes, pleadingly. Praying
,
more than hoping
,
he understood.

He leaned closer and bent down. My breathing quickened. This was it. Would he rape me now?

He started sniffing me from my stomach, up over my breast, before nuzzling at my throat with his wide nose. I
shuddered; Goosebumps broke out over my skin. My chest heaved with
the
effort to draw in breath, when I felt his hot, wet tongue slide over my skin.

Oh
,
god, I felt my abdomen clench, along with a stir of sexual desire. Confusion fogged my mind, battling with my fear. What was going on? Wasn’t I supposed to fight him, not get excited? My mind screamed at my body.
How the hell can you betray me! He’s an alien for god’s sake!

He growled low in his throat and raised his head. He pulled away from me and released my wrists. Once more, he took his own wrist and bit it, the blue blood oozed down.

Without warning, his fingers speared into my hair and yanked, the shock and stinging pain made me gasp. He shoved his bloodied wrist to my open mouth.

Tangy fluid dripped onto my tongue and into the back of my throat
and my
reflexes forced me to swallow. I started to kick and struggle under his heavy weight. He removed his wrists and nodded, seemingly satisfied and licked his wound.

But he was far from finished. He grabbed my wrist, his sharp pointed, white teeth flashing briefly before he bit down. I
yelped in pain when he broke through my skin, making me bleed. He suckled briefly at the wound, before
pulling away
and licking the wound.
A
mazed, I watched it close.

I was even more surprised when he climbed off the bed. Standing tall, his white body was splattered with blood.

I stared at him in disbelief. What the hell was the blood thing all about? He waited for a long moment, simply staring at me. Making no more sudden moves towards me,
and then
he crouched down, as if trying to appear less intimidating. Instead it made him look like a dangerous predator, ready to spring into action. He tilted his head to the side, his lips curving up in a small gentle smile.

He touched his chest.
“Morrdrook.”
He pointed at me. “Pa?”

He repeated the word again, “Morrdrook, Morrdrook…” pointing again at me “pa?”

My mind calmed,
when
it hit me. He was telling me his name, basic communications, an introduction.

Curiosity and a need to understand everything slowly overrode my fear. Maybe he didn’t mean me any harm. I sat
up straighter and put my legs over the side of the bunk.

I raised my hand, noticing how badly it trembled. “Anna.” I pointed at me then pointed at him.
“Morrdrook.”

His face split into a wide grin. I blinked in momentary shock at how handsome he was, for an alien. He nodded.

“
Aunna
, Morrdrook,
te
u
norp
pa.
” Again he pointed at me, gestured his fisted hand, slamming into his other fist. He shook his head.
“
Aunna
,
te
u
norp
pa.”

“You won’t hurt me?”

His head tilted to the side and mimicked. “You won’t hurt me.”

My eyes widened at his slow words. “Why did you bite me and make me drink your blood?”

He nodded, his smile returned, and he sighed in a surprisingly soft gesture for one who looked so hardened.

“Blood bond for us, speak same words.”

He
spoke
English, or was it I understood what he said. “You speak my language?”

He shook his head. “My blood helps you learn words. I take your
blood,
help me learn
Aunna
words, quick.”

It hit home; the blood acted as some kind of translation between us. That’s why he
gave his
and
took my
blood.

“You hear my words clear now?”

“Yes.” I blinked in astonishment.

“Good, makes easier to tell you.
Druel
make us fight to win female we want.
I biggest
,
strongest, win best of all females.”

I gaped at him.
“Best of all females?”
What the hell did that mean?

“You bigger, softer, best, better, will breed.”

“Oh!” I was a little taller than the average woman at five
nine
, but I
have
always had a weight problem, ever since I was little. This alien man assumed I was the ‘better’ female for being taller and fatter. Who was I to argue with him about that?