Bare ass hot and stinging. Savage brute strength. The words sent a wicked shiver down my spine. My pussy clenched at the image of being draped across his thighs and spanked again, then taken hard and rough.
Suddenly I was overcome with guilt for the filthy thoughts he’d put in my head. Damn the creature! He’d killed Andreu. How could I be aroused by such a monster?
He retied my wrists behind my back, so my breasts thrust out. I hadn’t been touched by a man since Dyllan died and I was acutely aware of his hands on my body. When his arm brushed against my nipple, it tightened into a firm red peak. The civilized part of my brain swore I’d kill him if he took advantage of my helpless state and pinched it. The primitive slut in me hoped he would.
Instead he turned his attention to making sure I’d be completely immobile. Turning his back on me, he pulled a handful of leather thongs out of a pouch at his waist. He used the longest one to bind my ankles together, wrapping it securely around them several times, then tying it tight. Though he left my pants pulled down, bunched around my thighs, he never even glanced at my pussy. I should have been relieved that he wasn’t tying me up so he could rape me, but he didn’t show any sign of experiencing the same sexual urges I was having. For some reason that made me even angrier.
When he was sure I couldn’t get loose, he bent down and collected a handful of parts from the weapons cache. He turned back to me with a warning. “Do not move. Do not try to escape. If you disobey me, I will punish you.” Then he headed outside without another word.
I took a good look at what he’d left behind. Even if I managed to get loose, there was no way I could cobble together a single weapon. Either he’d gotten lucky or this uncivilized being knew an awful lot about modern technology.
From where I’d been dumped I could only see one corner of the clearing outside the cave. I had no idea what he’d done with the other pieces from the weapons. He moved so silently I wouldn’t even have known what he was up to if I hadn’t caught a glimpse of him disappearing into the jungle with Andreu’s limp body slung over his shoulder. Despite my screams there’d been no sign of Jaden or Zeke. I was forced to believe him when he said they were dead too.
At first the chill of the damp stones lining the floor of the cave numbed the burning sensation on my bare bottom the way the shock of watching Andreu die had numbed my emotions. But after a while, the cold seeped in, along with the reality of the dire circumstances I was in. My ass ached. My face throbbed where the alien had hit me, each pulse sending a nauseating wave of pain through my head. I was trussed and bound. If something happened to him and he didn’t come back for me, I could die here. With the brute no longer near me, the lustful desires he’d stirred disappeared. I started shaking uncontrollably and my teeth would have chattered if not for the gag in my mouth.
I’d only cried one time since I was grown, on the day my father was murdered and my lover lay dying in front of my eyes. But when I thought of Andreu giving up his life to try and shield me from harm, tears began flowing.
Once I started, it was as though a dam burst inside me. All the emotions I’d held back for so long poured out. I grieved my losses. My friends, my family, all gone. I sobbed for all the brave souls who’d given their lives to the cause of freedom, now dead along with my father. I cried bitter tears of self-pity. Had I really fought all these years, only to die alone in the darkness of this cave, abandoned on a hostile planet?
For months, I’d wished I was dead. But when my nose started stuffing up from my crying jag, I panicked. With the gag in place, I couldn’t breathe through my mouth. I was suffocating.
The will to survive kicked in. Big time. My tears vanished and I forced myself to concentrate on taking shallow breaths.
I closed my eyes, exhausted. It was all too much to bear. My chest hurt from crying and my lungs were starved for air. I twisted my body, so I could wipe my runny nose on the leg of my pants and breathe.
The move scraped my sore butt against the hard stone floor. A jolt of stinging pain shocked me back to my senses. I could hear Andreu’s voice inside my head.
“You’re Aria DiMello, daughter of Gaius DiMello, commander of the Insurrection. Your lineage dates back to ancient Rome. Your ancestors were wise scholars, gifted artists, powerful leaders—and among them were the most ruthless bitches and bastards ever born. Are you going to let one ignorant savage take you down? As long as your heart is still beating, you fight!”
I started shaking again, this time with anger. My enemies might be strong, but I was cunning. The blood of the legendary Borgias flowed in my veins. I’d avenge the deaths of my dear friend and my protectors.
I’d slit the throat of the man responsible for Andreu’s death—and as I did it, I’d look into his eyes and smile.
Chapter Three
Kaal
The old man’s body lay heavier on my conscience than on my shoulder.
I jogged down the rough trail I made earlier, my progress slowed by tangled vines and the corpse I carried. My left arm held it in place so I couldn’t barrel through the underbrush as easily as I did before, using one hand to grab vines in my path and the other to slash them away. I’d sprinted though the jungle then, drawn by the faint echo of a female’s scream.
The wound the old warrior inflicted sent pain shooting through me every time my feet hit the ground, but I didn’t blame him. In his place, I’d have done the same. Attacked any stranger who I thought meant to do harm to my female. He was well past his prime, which made me regret what I’d been forced to do even more.
In my culture, we were taught to respect the elders of our tribe. During their many sols, they acquired wisdom. Sitting at the feet of my sire as a lad, learning from him as I listened to his tales—those were memories I treasured. Though I was saddened that my father’s life force was no more, I took comfort in the thought that his spirit was with our ancestors.