But knowing why it happened didn’t take away the craving. The raging fever every time I felt his touch or caught his scent. This primitive alien from another world brought out the dirty wicked slut in me—and I loved it.
Kaal stirred and his hand tightened on my breast. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”
“See for yourself.”
I moved his hand down, slid it between my dripping wet folds.
“Mmmm.” His cock, nestled against my ass, stiffened. “You feel empty. Hot and wet—but empty.”
“You’re right. I feel empty... Master. Will you fill me?”
He crooked a hand under my knee and pulled my leg up to rest on his, then slid into me from behind with one deep thrust. There was no civilized discussion, no prolonged teasing and tempting. It was elemental. Raw. I felt the first wave of my climax building and clenched around him, reveling in the way my body responded to his mastery.
He fucked me hard and fast, then came with a groan torn from deep in his chest, as though yesterday’s event had been nothing more than foreplay. His cry triggered my own, and I came again, shuddering in his arms.
* * *
We did talk, later, while we ate another serving of lukewarm gruel. “It was kind of the old man to give up his hut for us,” I said, trying not to grimace when I got a look at the filthy rags I’d slept on. “Maybe I can return the favor and clean the place up before we leave.”
“We won’t be going anywhere for a while,” Kaal replied. “There’s no place I can take you in Zibaru that’s safer than where we are. We have guards outside right now. They’ve been there all night while we slept.”
“Guards? You mean Starn’s men?”
“Starn doesn’t know where you are. We’re deep inside the warren of shanties the convicts have built. It would be dangerous for him—or any of his men—to venture too far in, even with the wands. Everyone here is serving a life sentence. Putting a prisoner to death for killing the warden or one of his guards would be a mercy.”
“Then who’s guarding us?”
“Men who were loyal to your father. That’s Starn’s dirty secret. Zibaru doesn’t just house hardened criminals and convicted murderers. The Federation has been sending captured rebels here. Locking them up where they can’t continue causing trouble. Nye lied when he said you’d be kept here until you went on trial. There’s never going to be a trial. Not for you. Not for any of them. The Federation doesn’t dare allow you to speak the truth about how they really rule the colonies in a public forum. The wealthy citizens in the capital might not enjoy their feasts as much if they knew others were starving so they could live in luxury.”
“There’s a band of rebels in Zibaru? Kaal, that’s good news! We can join together and find a way out of here.”
“It won’t be that easy. Commander Nye was once allied with the rebels. He betrayed Harald and many of the others long ago in exchange for a position of authority in the Federation. There may be other traitors hidden among the prisoners. Men who would carry the information of a planned escape to Starn in exchange for a reward. Whiskey, extra rations—anything would better the misery of a life spent in this hellhole.”
A commotion outside interrupted Kaal’s news.
“Stay here,” he ordered.
He yanked his pants on, then shoved aside a wooden barricade in the far wall, dragging it back to hide the opening before disappearing into the gloom. I crept forward and peeked through a crack.
Kaal crouched on the ground by a gray-cloaked figure groaning and holding his head. Next to him another shapeless lump lay unmoving, his cloak stained with blood. Five thugs surrounded them.
“It’s the alien warrior.” Claw-like metal spikes protruded from between the clenched fists of the one nearest Kaal.
“He’ll be no problem,” declared another, brandishing a makeshift club made of a sharpened rock tied to one end of a hunk of wood. “He’s been fuckin’ his whore all night. He’s all wore out.”
“Now it’s our turn to fuck her,” grunted the third. “We know she’s in there, wild man. Get outta the way.” He had the wooden handles to a garrote clenched in his fists. The thin wire between them glowed red, reflecting the flames shooting out of a deep crevice nearby.
The last two hung back, waiting in the shadows. I couldn’t tell what weapons they carried.
Kaal dragged the groaning man aside, leaving him slumped against the wall of another hut. Then, with a roar, he charged at the assailants.
The first took a swipe with his metal claws, leaving bloody gashes across Kaal’s arm. When he tried to strike again, Kaal caught both his wrists in an iron grip, bending them backward. The man’s face turned white and he struggled to break free. Kaal kept up the pressure until claw man let out a high-pitched scream and fell to his knees, both hands dangling uselessly at his sides.
Club swinging in an arc, the second man attacked. Kaal grabbed the handle and pulled him in close, then head-butted him. Blood streaming from his nose, the man grappled with him, but Kaal was stronger. He delivered a punch that knocked the man to the ground, then wrestled the weapon away. I saw him swing the club in a downward arc and heard a sickening crunch.
The third man crept up from behind. He slipped the wire garrote around Kaal’s neck and crossed the handles behind his head, pulling it tight. Kaal groaned and dropped his head to his chest. The man leaned forward, increasing the pressure, and never saw the club swinging back. The huge rock hit him square in the face. He staggered, then dropped like a stone.
Kaal struggled to his feet, the garrote still digging into his neck. He let go of the club, reached around and managed to free himself from the wire. A ring of blood encircled him like a necklace. Dripped down his chest.