ALIEN ABDUCTION (Captured by Aliens) (4 page)

She
couldn’t just leave them here.  She had to help these women if she could.  They
were her harem sisters and fellow captives, after all.  They’d already been
stolen away once and that had been terrifying enough for any ten lifetimes.  And
Ebony knew how helpless they all were against these huge and powerful men.

But she also
knew that she was the strongest of all of these women, both outwardly and
inwardly.  There was no one else to help them but her.

Ebony
cast a quick glance behind her at Fallon, wanting to make sure she could keep
him in sight.  “Where are you taking us?” she asked. 

“You
wouldn’t have heard of it.  Keep moving.  Don’t fall behind,” Fallon commanded.

Ebony
cast her gaze ahead.  She tried to see if she could spot any identifying marks
on the surrounding tunnel, but the rough red brick forming the walls appeared
smoothly jointed and solid.  She couldn’t see much past the circle of light
from the lantern held by the man at the front of the line, but there were no
twists or turns and no tunnels veering off from their path.  If they’d passed
any other corridors, they had done so while she’d been unconscious.

It didn’t
look like there was going to be any other way out of here.

She
glanced over her shoulder at Fallon again.  “Don’t you want to know my name?”

His voice
grew louder.  “Do I need to put your gag back on, woman?”

She
sighed.  “My name is Ebony.  Ebony Raines.”

He
grabbed her shoulder and stopped her, and then snatched up the gag resting
around her neck and pushed it back over her mouth.

Ebony
clenched her teeth. 
So much for just talking any information out of him.

“Walk.  Faster. 
Or I’m going to carry you again,” he said, shoving her forward once more.

Ebony
caught up to the line, following obediently.  The stench in the air grew
fainter--or, disturbingly, perhaps she was beginning to grow accustomed to the
smell.

It took
her a few moments to realize that fresher air now moved past her from up ahead. 
As they walked, the air grew damper and cooler, smelling of salt and water--like
the ocean.

Just for
a moment, even as she marched captive through this awful place, Ebony’s mind
was filled with thoughts of things she had not seen for so long--like the ocean. 

She
raised her head and sniffed the air again, and her spirits began to rise a
little.  After nearly a year of being a prisoner within solid stone walls, and
barely seeing the sky, was she about to see the ocean again?  Even if it was
the ocean of another planet?

Then they
rounded a corner and the blinding light of day pierced the blackness of their
surroundings like a spotlight.  The mouth of the tunnel, clearly delineated up
ahead, promised refuge.

The men
gathered near the bright opening and one by one set down their female captives
at the edge of the sewer tunnel.  The women quickly huddled together with quiet
sobs of desperation, patting each other’s shoulders and holding each other
close

Wind
blasted through the entrance, ruffling through her hair.  Ebony breathed
deeply, refreshed by the clean ocean air.  But then, as she watched, two of the
men walked side by side to the brightly lit opening and--in the blink of an eye--dropped
out of sight.

Her
stomach knotted.  She wanted desperately to ask Fallon what was going on, but
the gag prevented her from pelting him with questions.  She could just rip it
off with her hands, but she worried that he might retaliate against her in some
way--or against the other women captives. 

And so
Ebony forced herself to wait.  And wait.

Eventually,
the other men began to fasten leather harnesses around the other women,
buckling them tightly into the rigs even as the women cried out and begged to
be let go.  But when Fallon began strapping a harness around Ebony’s chest and
waist, carefully positioning the straps around her breasts and butt, she
remained still and silent--even though he took much more time to make the
adjustments than he really needed.  He crouched down to pull more straps up
between her legs, and her only thought was the desire to kick him right in the
face.

Stooped
down at her crotch, his head bent as he worked to secure the harness around her
body, he paused and looked up at her.  It was as if he sensed the turmoil
running through her mind, even though she had remained frozen in place and
glaring at him.

“Don’t do
anything stupid, and you’ll live through this,” Fallon promised.  He spoke in a
quiet tone for her ears alone.

The need
to ask him what was going on burned in the back of her throat.  She couldn’t
stand it anymore.  The fact that they were all wearing harnesses scared the
ever-loving shit out of her.  Panic began rising in her chest and threading her
nerves, making her heart gallop within her chest.

“They’ve
reached the bottom,” one of the men said, peering out of the tunnel entrance.

The
bottom?

CHAPTER FOUR

“Two at a
time, just like we practiced,” Fallon said, nodding to his men.

The men
grabbed the nearest two women, who happened to be the plain-looking redhead,
Pamela, and the littlest blonde, Suzanne, and attached ropes to their harnesses. 
The women screamed as they were dragged to the edge of the tunnel--and then
Ebony watched them disappear over the side, instantly out of sight.

Unable to
hold back any longer, Ebony reached up with her bound hands and tore the gag
off of her mouth.  “What are you
doing
to them?” she cried.  The wind
whistled through the tunnel opening, sounding like a ghost out of a bad horror
movie.

Fallon
frowned at her, his hands on his hips, as he watched his men heave at the ropes
looped around their bodies for support—as if they were lowering the two unlucky
women down the side of a mountain.  “I didn’t suppose any of you had the
strength or experience to climb down the rope.  They’re being lowered to the
bottom,” he finally said.

“The
bottom? The bottom of
what
?” Ebony’s stomach began knotting once more.

Fallon
grabbed her arm and walked her forward to the edge of the tunnel, pushing her
head outside so she could see what new obstacle she faced.

Her
stomach dropped to her feet.  All romantic thoughts of seeing the ocean again
were forgotten.  A wave of dizziness washed up to her head, leaving her feeling
hot and terrified all at once.  Cold sweat broke along her brow, chest, and
arms as the horror of what she faced finally sank in.

Far
below, perhaps a hundred feet or more, the sheer face of the cliff she perched
on dropped down a narrow strip of beach and the lapping waves of the sea.  She
could see Pamela and Suzanne clinging desperately to the ropes on their
harnesses.  They were being lowered down like so much cargo to the beach, where
the first two men waited.  It was so far down that, to Ebony, they all looked
like miniatures.

A quick
and panicked look at the cliff wall showed her that the sewage tunnel had been
carved right through the face of the rock, allowing the city’s refuse to be
washed out into the ocean--and so it was, even now, in a small fall of brown
mud.  The tunnel’s great height would prevent anyone from using it to gain
entry into the Auresial Palace and Ebony was sure it was going to kill them all
now if they tried to use it to get out.

“I can’t
do that.  I can’t go down there,” she said, flinging herself back and away from
the dangerous edge.  She held her chest with her bound hands, feeling her heart
thump against her ribcage.

Fallon
glared at her.  “I didn’t ask you if you wanted to go.  I’m ordering you.  We
are all going down and that includes you, whether you like it or not.”

The men
finished lowering the first two women, and then the next two were sent down.  When
those were down, two more men went down behind them, and then the process was
repeated until only Ebony and Fallon remained at the top.

Fallon
turned to her, grabbing her hands.  “It’s our turn.  Everyone is waiting for us
at the bottom.”

Ebony was
inclined to plant her foot in the middle of his chest and let him fall to his
death--but, to her horror, he snapped a manacle around her wrist and then
connected it to his own.  This quite effectively prevented her from
implementing any haphazard plan to murder him and run away instead of falling
off a cliff with him.

“I’m
going to die,” she said, stiffening all over as he propelled her unwilling body
toward the edge.  He looped a rope around her, tying her harness off to his,
joining their fates together as he grabbed the rope with one hand and her waist
with the other.

“Not
today,” he promised, and with a strong shove he took them both over the edge. 

The
sensation of freefalling hit her first.  Air surged around her in every
direction.  Her heart leaped into her throat.  Ebony closed her eyes and
screamed until her throat ached from screaming, and then she screamed some
more.

“Gods,
woman!  You are splitting my eardrums!” Fallon yelled, above her shrieking.  “You’re
not going to die any more than I am!  If it will make you cease this noise, I
will slow down.”

It took a
few moments to realize that Fallon had taken them into a controlled rappel.  When
he slowed, using his massive legs and arms to lower them down, she realized she
was cuddled against him, chest to chest, her legs wrapped around his hips.  She
clung to him gratefully, burrowing her face into his chest to avoid looking at
the fast-approaching sand down below.  In some ways, the ground couldn’t greet
them fast enough--but she was still terrified that somehow he would slip and
they would both go crashing down to the beach.

Ebony
knew she was no lightweight.  She liked to think of herself as pleasingly
plump, but--though she was much shorter than Fallon--she was dead weight to him
in this case, unable to help him leverage them down the side of the cliff.

Beneath
her hands, she could feel his pectorals flex as he maneuvered downward.  Between
her thighs and calves, his buttocks and legs took the brunt of their weight.

As panic
lessened its hold on her brain, allowing her mind to regain some control, she
realized just how strong and powerful he really was.  If she’d had any thoughts
about physically gaining the upper hand, that idea was quashed as utterly
preposterous.

Trembling
from the fear that still surged through her veins, Ebony snuggled against him. 
“All right, then,” she whispered.  “I’ll put my faith on the chance that you’re
at least unwilling to kill
yourself
.  If you make it down, I make it
down, too.”

He made
no answer, and so she simply continued to cling tight to him.  She was a little
disturbed to find that she liked the hot scent of his skin, liked feeling the
way his muscles curved along his belly.

Suddenly
there was a hard jar and a sudden stop.  Ebony realized they’d reached firm
ground once more.  Fallon disentangled her from his body and set her down on
the warm sand, but her knees threatened to buckle beneath her weight after the
terrifying journey down the cliff face. 

She
steadied herself on his rock-hard arm.  “I’m so thankful to be alive that I
could kiss you--if you hadn’t been the one putting me through this nightmare in
the first place!”

Fallon
ignored her.  “We’ve wasted enough time,” he said, pulling off his own harness
and then Ebony’s.  He looked up at the women.  “All of you!  Get in the water!  Wash
off the smell of the sewer, or they’ll be able to follow us with one whiff of
the air.”

Ebony
stumbled towards the sea.  She glanced back at Fallon and cocked her head up
towards the high tunnel where a thin but steady stream of brown sewage ran in a
long fall down to the sea.  “I don’t think bathing in seawater will get any of
us any cleaner, since that’s where all the shit ends up anyway.”

This time
he looked directly at her and stared, and then glanced down the beach towards
the north.  Ebony followed his gaze and saw the other men leading the seven
women away from the runoff area to a ribbon of beach where the water appeared
to be clean. 

“Oh.”
Ebony turned and walked towards the group, her head held high.

The water
churned rapidly.  She thought she remembered reading somewhere that water cleansed
itself every so many feet, so maybe moving ahead of it would keep her from
contracting some horrible infection.  The coolness of the water felt wonderful
on her bruised and aching feet.  The cold salty smell of it soon erased any
remaining stench, whether real or imagined, that remained in her nostrils.

She
cupped her bound hands together and splashed some water on her legs.  Then she
looked up and caught Fallon standing at the edge of the surf a short distance
away, watching her, his eyes riveted to her chest. 

Ebony
realized that the cold seawater, combined with the fresh ocean breeze, had made
her nipples harden against the thin gauze brassiere and sari-like top which
were all that covered her breasts...and that both the brassiere, and the long and
equally gauzy red skirt, had turned quite transparent at every spot where the
water touched them.

Uncomfortable
at his notice, she turned away from him and covered her bouncing melons.  She
tried to make sure she was as clean as possible before she left the water.

Then,
beneath her toes, she felt something hard and sharp in the sand.  Bending down,
acting as if she were still washing off, she caught the little object with her
toes and brought it quickly to her hands.

It was a
broken seashell.  It might be very useful if she found a chance to escape.  She
tucked it into the front of her panties and then turned to rejoin the group,
hoping she hadn’t been too conspicuous in her movements.

***

Watching
the women bathe in the ocean, the sight of dark nipples delineated by wet red
silk fabric arrested Fallon’s gaze.  For a moment he thought he’d been punched
in the gut.

Then he
sucked in a harsh breath and quickly doused his head in the shallow waves,
ripping his eyes off of the dark-skinned beauty’s body and getting a grip on
his raging libido.

What
had she called herself?
 He searched his brain, trying to remember through the
sudden fog filling his mind--and then he remembered.

Ebony.

The name
suited her, with her long, thick black hair that waved gently around her face. 
Her smooth, dark skin was exquisitely exotic--something he’d never seen before
in his life.  He had no doubt why his brother had selected her as a concubine. 
She had the figure of a goddess.

If her
ample curving hips and generous backside weren’t enough of a distraction to him
on his mission, the large melons perched and bobbling on her chest certainly
were.  Added to that, he recognized a strength of spirit that the other
concubines simply did not possess.

The other
women had been broken.  This one, this Ebony, still retained her fight.

He
admired that.

He also
recognized that she could, and probably would, be trouble.  His attraction to
her assets aside, he knew that he must keep his distance and watch her very
closely.

Fallon
stood up straight, shaking the water out of his hair.  His eyes narrowed as he
stared at her, watching as she stooped down to the shallow waves and gathered
more cold water to splash on her chest.  Was she deliberately trying to provoke
him?

“Move,
woman!” he shouted to her.  “We need to take cover before they unleash the
Zhala riders on us.” Fallon grabbed Ebony’s bound hands and forced her to keep
stride with him.

“Unleash--what?
Zah-lah?” she asked, stumbling forward as she tried to look around for some sort
of riders.  “What’s that?”

But
Fallon only looked up at the sky, scanning the cliffs above them.  “Zhala,” he
said again.  “In your tongue--
dragons
.”

He
clenched his jaw and then shouted at the other men.  “Move on!  All of you!  There
is no time to waste.  Get them moving!” Grinding his teeth, he started walking
down the beach towards the rest of them and made himself look only at the sky
above them. 
I will not be distracted by feminine wiles, no matter how
charming they might be!
 He stood watching them, glaring angrily at all
eight women and the six men who pushed them along, until they were all finally
moving together along the beach towards the north.

Damon,
his second in command and a man he trusted with his life, walked up beside him. 
“I see she has caught your eye.  The one in the red dress.  The very dark one.”
He grinned.  “No one would blame you.  I’ve never seen her like, either.”

Fallon
jerked his head toward the horizon and away from Ebony.  “No pretty little
female is more important than accomplishing our goals.”